6 replies to this topic

[rhythmboy]

Hey all, I'm sure these have been made by other people and posted everywhere but hey I made these so might as well share...

They're a bit different, designed to be used with:
- auto chord makers/processors a'la Ableton, Logic, etc
- multi-voice harmonisers
- multi-oscillator synths

The idea is that you play the root note (eg C) on the keyboard and add the extra interval(s) above using tuning/harmonising/etc geddit? It's that classic cheesy ravey '5th pad' sound that timothy Allan hates so much

Well, you can still get some nice colours and chords if you work it right - I've just spent the night testing a whole bunch out.

Here's some charts to help convert the musical intervals to semitone transpositions your synths and samplers use:

ALL CHARTS ASSUME YOU SEQUENCE OR PLAY THE ROOT NOTE - THESE INTERVALS ADD THE EXTRA NOTES

Basic Intervals to Semitones up and down, in order of tonal 'strength':

Chords you can build with a 2 voice/oscillator harmony and playing 2-note diads on the keyboard:



Chords you can build with multi-voice harmonisers and chord processors:

[neo]

Can someone please explain to me the idea of tonal strength?

[rhythmboy]

Quote

Can someone please explain to me the idea of tonal strength?

Basically I'm referring to what relationship the chords/intervals have to the root/tonic:

- the 5th is strongest as it is harmonically related and is the dominant of 1
- the 4th is next strongest as it is actually a 5th inverted
- the 3rds are next as they form part of major/minor triads in the root position
- the 6ths are next as they are inverted 3rds
- the 7ths are next (although they could be higher up the list, even up there with the 5th) - they lead up to the root note*
- the tritone is last as it it sits exactly halfway between two root notes an octave apart and does not lean one way or the other

I probably haven't made it any clearer... 

* I think I'm going to change my chart now that I've told myself this... later tonight

[neo]

Still not getting it I suppose I should just bash them all out on a keyboard and have a listen, huh? Probably will make much more sense than trying to explain in words.

[Vagrant Producer]

thats a great idea... might get the mrs to print it out... get a bit bore of using the same olds' when playing/programmming keys/synths (which is the biggest prob being self taught muso - just winging it)

[rhythmboy]

Quote

Still not getting it I suppose I should just bash them all out on a keyboard and have a listen, huh? Probably will make much more sense than trying to explain in words.

That's cool mate, it's actually an intermediate music theory concept and you need to know scales, keys and cadences before what I said makes much sense. I was just trying to explain why they're not in numerical order - perhaps think of them as being in order of 'usefulness'.

No matter - I agree, play them, trust your ears and go with what sounds best. You'll find that the 5th and 4th especially sound 'right' pretty much everywhere you play them across the keyboard and can be used in pretty much any key. The others are more hit-and-miss, some work in some keys but not in others. You'll know the second you hear them

[groovewell]

Another fantastic resource from those friendly folk at Soundpunk! Awesome.