SynthMakertracert ·
how to know if are holding down one or two notes? i need this, because if are one note do a generation of major chord, with two notes do a generation of minor chord. Thanks
how to know if are holding down one or two notes?
From the original SynthMaker forum (2004–2014), with its members’ names and dates.
trogluddite ·
The primitive "MIDI Mono" has an integer output for the current number of voices. I have used it myself for some crude voice management modules, and I have not experienced any problems with timing etc. so far.
oddson ·
On the assumption you may need to know which notes are playing check out this (ancient) thread: Adding note ons and removing note offs from list?
trogluddite ·
oddson wrote: On the assumption you may need to know which notes are playing check out this (ancient) thread:
Oooh, nice link - I had never come across that one before. And quite right about knowing which note...
A limitation of he "MIDI Mono" is that it always uses Last Note priority - so there is no way to know whether its pitch output would be the "root note" or the "modifier note". You cannot, for example, set it to be Lowest Note priority, so that the root note is always the lowest one played with the modifier always above it.
trogluddite ·
Did some more reading on that thread, and while the stuff there is very good and could be just the right solution, it struck me that for this particular "Root Note plus Chord Type" system, there might be another way... Here's a module that I quickly knocked together to demonstrate an alternative...
Input is regular MIDI, and there are three outputs... - Root Note - when more than one is held, it will always be the lowest of the notes. - Chord Type - for one note, always zero. If there is a second note, it will be the interval between - i.e. one if the second note is a semitone above the root. Extra notes after the second one are ignored. - Playing - true if there are notes held, false when you let go of the keyboard.
Now, this may not be what is wanted at all, as I have made it to work a bit like those old Casio keyboards with "Auto-accompaniment" - that is, all the values are latching. So you can let go of the keyboard, the current root and "chord type" are remembered. Likewise, if you let go of the "modifier" key, the chord type also stays latched. And you have to completely let go of ALL keys if you want to use a completely new chord.
But maybe it is still useful for other "one fingered" keyboard players like me who want to set up simple drone pads etc. to solo over the top of, without all the bother of having to learn some proper keyboard skills!! 😉
philter5 ·
thx for sharing trog!for sure usefull
tracert ·
Thanks for answers, for bad keyboard player like me, it is useful !
oddson ·
Nice one trog... never would have occurred to use the Transition primitive for this... I'd probably have cobbled together something with sample and holds and logic tests and switches with triple the component count.
I once started a project like this... never got very far because I wanted more than major/minor/7th chords and by the time you make enough rules to cover everything it's almost as complicated to play as learning to play the chords directly.
trogluddite ·
oddson wrote: by the time you make enough rules to cover everything it's almost as complicated to play as learning to play the chords directly.
Indeed - I had just been giving that some thought myself. The talk of arpeggiators etc. in another other recent thread got me thinking about finding a cool way to make a latching chord function - and I recalled how those old "auto-backing" synths used to be confusing, just as you describe. I got to wondering if utilising some of the stuff from your Guitar Scale Mapper might be a good way to go. So long as the key of the song is constant, then for any given root note, there are a much reduced number of chords which are 'sympathetic' to the scale being used. So choosing, for example, between major, minor and diminished, would only require pressing a single key, and finding out which degree of the scale it is - with maybe one or two modifier keys for choosing the more obscure 'Jazz Chords' (technical term used by bass players!).
oddson ·
trogluddite wrote: ...'Jazz Chords' (technical term used by bass players!).
LOL - Bass players have technical terms! I thought they just ask --- what's the root note?
Coincidentally I had just been looking at adding chord features to that project when I saw your reply.
There I'm stymied by the problem of viable chord patterns. I could (relatively) easily add diatonic triad/7th chord palates across the bottom so it would highlight all the notes involved but showing where viable playing combinations are would require encyclopedic data management I'm not keen to get into.
But for something like you're suggesting, selecting a tonality and then getting it to play accompaniment based on single notes, wouldn't be too difficult... but I don't see there'd be much to harvest out of the Guitar Scale Mapper project.
I would start instead by looking at this post as it claims to be just such a thing: newbie question: generate chords from single note
trogluddite ·
oddson wrote: I would start instead by looking at this post as it claims to be just such a thing:
Lovely! Thanks for that - I really couldn't see the wood for the trees, it really is quite simple now that I see your schematic.
oddson wrote: ...what's the root note?
He he, root note? I can barely remember which notes have sharps/flats when I start counting semi-tones up from the nut - much easier just to get the guitarist to point at the right fret! 😊
martinvicanek ·
oddson wrote: LOL - Bass players have technical terms! I thought they just ask --- what's the root note?
Well, that may depend on the band's style. At times I enjoy playing a walking bass where you have chromatic movements etc. so you need to know the entire harmonic structure not just the root. However, I admit that playing power chord based stuff (= root note essentially) can be fun, too (if it is loud and has - erm - BASS!)! 😈
oddson wrote: this post [...] newbie question: generate chords from single note
Sometimes it is frustrating to see what you and others have accomplished back in the early days!
oddson ·
martinvicanek wrote: Sometimes it is frustrating to see what you and others have accomplished back in the early days!
I don't remember that one... I searched on my posts & 'diatonic' thinking I might have done a module that was closer to what Trog was talking about but I had completely forgot about this one.
I'm sure there's plenty of room for improvement in this early effort.
If anyone is wondering the graphic keyboard I used to show the notes playing doesn't have the velocity-zero = note-off equivalence built in to it. So it leaves notes showing on some (most) keyboards --- you can double-right click to clear them.
trogluddite ·
martinvicanek wrote: Well, that may depend on the band's style
Oh yes. Last band I was in (long time ago now) was just me on bass and vox and a drummer - inspired by the likes of Primus and The Ruins (also drum'n'bass). Being part of the "scaffolding" is just a convention, and being the dum-dum-dum behind everyone else's showing off always bored me. Current project is just layering up a 6-string bass using my Loopa plugin - here's some (very bad 32k mp3) snippets from one of my recent practice sessions - just bass, beatboxing and SM (and maybe a beer or two - well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)...
PS) Apologies to the OP for getting so off-topic.
oddson ·
Some nice ideas and playing here... the first 30 sec. had me worried there was more than a few beer at work but after that there were a lot of good and interesting stuff (of course the mixing/mastering has problems but you did say practice sessions).
Curious what the role of SM was in this.
P.s. -- In case you didn't guess I was playing at the stereotypes about bass players... and laughing at the idea that, as a term, 'jazz-chords' is specific to bass players (because only in jazz do you need to know them as the bass player!?).
trogluddite ·
oddson wrote: Curious what the role of SM was in this
The only DSP in there is my Soopa Loopa looping tool; just the FX and chopping/randomising etc. built into the plugin - plus amp-modelling and wah pedals on the bass feed. Sound balance is the biggest struggle (even without the low bit-rate mp3!) - I'm deliberately doing no post-production, as I want to do this as a live set, so I have to train myself to get a good mix on the fly. (long way to go yet!) As for the mad 30sec - well, can't blame that all on the booze, getting a bit insane with the tunes and timing is my antidote to the endless pressure to be "normal" 😉 I really do have a penchant for music that is glitchy and uses polyrhythms and odd time signatures - though I'm a long way off the folks that I feel do that sort of thing well, it is a hard thing to pull of without sounding messy.
oddson wrote: P.s. -- In case you didn't guess I was playing at the stereotypes about bass players
No worries, I guessed that. I am a lanky guy that always looks awkward and shifty on stage -so bass player was my natural role - not quite neanderthal enough to be a drummer, and nothing like enough charisma to be a guitarist (though the boozing is probably a dead give-away that I started out playing brass instruments)! 😉 😠
martinvicanek ·
Trog, you should rate this PG at least. 😈 Incredible stuff, inventive as ever. I like the phrygian feel! You sure there's no guitar in there?
trogluddite ·
martinvicanek wrote: You sure there's no guitar in there?
He he, I think I was sober enough that I would have remembered - and it would have sounded awful if there was, as my big calloused bass player fingers just can't get around the 'miniature' string spacing of a guitar. Has to be said though, that having my new six-string really does help with that - not so much the extra range (I'm rarely that high up the neck), but the "zing" of that top C string really does give the instrument that bit of extra bite that you need for top lines and chord definition.
martinvicanek wrote: I like the phrygian feel!
He he, it's all Greek to me! 😉 I'm actually trying to wean myself off that one - much as I love it, it's one of those ruts that we all fall into from time to time. My fingers are just so comfortable there that I lapse into it when I'm aiming for other harmonic colours.
martinvicanek ·
trogluddite wrote: my big calloused bass player fingers just can't get around the 'miniature' string spacing of a guitar.
There is an invention called pick - maybe you've heard about it, if not see pic below. 😉 I personally would not use it for bass, but guitarists seem to like it a lot. (Sorry OP, now we are completely off topic. 😊 )
trogluddite ·
martinvicanek wrote: There is an invention called pick
I had heard of those - but I never realised they were quite so big! 😉
Wrote something here? To have a post removed or your name hidden, write to [email protected].