By name: jam-musical-policy description: Interpret jam boss directives into nuanced tempo, energy, and arrangement intent while preserving creativity-first musical autonomy and v3 deterministic boundaries. Use when jam agents need phrase-to-intent guidance, anti-overshoot behavior, and precedence-safe tempo decisions.
Jam Musical Policy
Use this skill to translate boss language into musical intent in jam mode. This is a policy skill, not a rigid composition template.
Trigger
Use when one or more are true:
- The directive uses relative or nuanced language (for example: "a bit faster", "more energy but keep pocket", "make it darker")
- The turn requires interpreting tempo, energy, or arrangement intent
- Multiple cues conflict and need continuity-first resolution
- The user explicitly invokes
/jam-musical-policy
Do not use this skill to decide routing, session ownership, websocket behavior, or server composition.
V3 Boundary Contract
Model-owned musical autonomy:
- Nuanced directive interpretation and expressive realization
- Groove, density, articulation, timbre, and phrasing choices
- Micro-arrangement evolution across rounds
Code-owned deterministic guarantees:
- Deterministic
@mentionrouting and broadcast behavior - Explicit parser/context anchors, bounds, and precedence enforcement
- Session lifecycle, turn serialization, canonical jam state, and fallback handling
- Schema validation and deterministic server-side final
stack(...)composition
Rule: preserve this boundary. Keep creative choices model-owned and runtime guarantees code-owned.
Tempo Resolution Order (Required)
Always resolve tempo in this exact precedence:
- Explicit BPM
- Half/double time
- Model-relative tempo intent
Written explicitly: explicit BPM > half/double time > model-relative tempo intent.
Additional rules:
- If explicit BPM and half/double-time language both appear, explicit BPM wins.
- Relative tempo language (
faster,slower,push,lay back) applies only when no explicit BPM or half/double-time match exists. - If confidence is low, hold current tempo/context (
no_changeis valid).
Phrase-to-Intent Guidance
Interpret phrase strength before deciding magnitude. Continuity and pocket come first.
Tempo
| Phrase strength | Example phrases | Intent realization |
|---|---|---|
| Gentle | "a bit faster", "nudge up", "ease back" | Small perceived shift; prefer subdivision/accent/articulation moves before large BPM changes |
| Medium | "push it", "pick up", "bring it down" | Clear movement with controlled deltas and groove stability |
| Strong | "way faster", "hard pullback", "half time now" | Large shift only when wording is explicit/strong; keep downbeat clarity |
| Pocket-protecting modifiers | "keep pocket", "don't rush", "stay locked" | Cap abrupt jumps; maintain rhythmic cohesion over raw speed |
Energy
| Phrase type | Example phrases | Intent realization by role |
|---|---|---|
| Raise energy | "more energy", "lift it", "hit harder" | Drums: accent/density contrast; Bass: drive/register pressure; Melody: contour/tension; FX: motion depth/rate |
| Lower energy | "cool it down", "settle", "less intense" | Reduce density first, then soften attack and motion |
| Controlled lift | "more energy but keep pocket" | Increase one expressive dimension while keeping core groove stable |
| Extremes | "max energy", "minimal" | Strong but coherent shifts; avoid one-turn overcorrection |
Arrangement
| Directive | Intent |
|---|---|
| "build", "lift", "open up" | Staged layering and rising tension |
| "drop", "hit" | Coordinated contrast moment and impact timing |
| "breakdown", "strip back", "thin out" | Subtractive simplification with groove identity preserved |
| "bring X forward" | Feature target role and reduce competing density elsewhere |
| "hold", "keep it here" | Continuity-first sustain with subtle internal variation |
Anti-Overshoot Guidance
- Match change magnitude to wording strength; subtle language should produce subtle deltas.
- Prefer one primary move per turn; secondary changes should be supportive.
- Ramp large relative changes over multiple rounds unless the directive is explicitly immediate.
- Avoid simultaneous extreme tempo and energy jumps unless explicitly requested.
- When ambiguous or low confidence, choose continuity-first behavior (
no_changeor minimal delta), not a hard reset.
Creativity-First Behavior
- Start from intent, then invent role-specific realization.
- Keep musical responses fresh across rounds; do not reuse one fixed mechanic.
- Use Strudel capabilities broadly as a substrate, not as a narrow recipe list.
- Maintain role boundaries (drums, bass, melody, FX) while maximizing expressive freedom inside each role.
Warning: Avoid Style/Template Lock-In
- Examples are anchors, not templates.
- Do not map phrases to one invariant pattern formula.
- Do not collapse recurring directives into a single house style.
- Vary strategy across groove, timbre, density, and phrasing while staying coherent.
Progressive Disclosure and Token Budget
Use a three-pass policy and stop at the smallest sufficient depth:
- Fast pass (default): detect anchors, apply precedence, choose primary move.
- Standard pass: add only role-specific details for dimensions that changed.
- Deep pass: brief conflict/ambiguity rationale only when needed.
Token discipline:
- Keep outputs concise by default.
- Expand reasoning only for conflicts, uncertainty, or explicit request.
- Spend tokens on actionable intent translation, not long prose.
Quick Self-Check
- Precedence honored:
explicit BPM > half/double time > model-relative tempo intent - Model-owned creativity preserved; code-owned determinism not redefined
- Tempo, energy, and arrangement intent all resolved with phrase strength sensitivity
- Anti-overshoot and continuity safeguards applied
- No style/template lock-in introduced