Aug 07, 2023 Tutorial
In today's video, I want to discuss melodies, chords, and scale highlighting features. Somebody commented on my previous video about using a note grid that emits random melodies and modifying it with a key filter to accommodate those who are less familiar with music theory. However, I believe this approach is not feasible because the scale highlighting feature in Ableton Live, for example, can be misleading. When you select the scale feature in Ableton Live, it highlights certain notes in green. For C major, all the white keys are highlighted. However, it also selects other scales and modes such as D Dorian, E Phrygian, and so on.
Jul 07, 2019 Tutorial
In this video, I talk about a diatonic transposer that can be used in Bitwig to create chord progressions. By using the diatonic transposer, you can correct wrong notes to the right notes of a scale, making it easier to create chord progressions that stay within a specific scale. I demonstrate how to use the diatonic transposer in Bitwig by choosing a scale and mode, and then using the multi-note function to duplicate the notes to different keys. This allows you to easily find starting chord progressions. I also show how to use the diatonic transposer with an arpeggiator to experiment with chord changes, and how to use it with a bassline by using the note receiver and the arpeggiator. Additionally, I introduce the plugin "Cthulu" which allows you to choose specific notes from a chord to create melody lines. I explain that while diatonic chords can be a good starting point, it's important to break out of the diatonic scale scheme at times to add variation and interest to your compositions. I hope this tutorial provides some ideas for creating interesting melody lines and chord progressions, and I encourage viewers to comment with any questions or tutorial requests.
Jul 02, 2019 Tutorial
In this video, I show you how to create a step sequencer that generates a melody on a click and in scale. I start by setting up a polygrid and creating a clock using a scaler. Then, I use a counter to create the step sequencer and apply some math to get clean integer values for each step. I use a dice to generate random notes and a comparing module to trigger the steps. I also use a pitch scaler to narrow down the range of the notes and a pitch quantize module to further refine the melody. Finally, I demonstrate how to use logic operators like smaller and bigger to manipulate the signals. Overall, it's a basic setup, but you can customize and expand on it as you wish.