Scales & Chords

The Scales & Chords device either transposes incoming notes to fit a set scale, or transposes notes and generates chords that fit the desired scale. Scales & Chords has a number of built-in preset scales, and you can also create your own custom scales!

Here are some examples of how you can use it:

•	to get chords from single note inputs.

•	to get new chord voicings and progressions that feel fresh and inspires your music making.

•	to experiment with existing note lines, by transforming them to different scales.

•	to get the notes you play to automatically fit the music.

•	to easily be able to play chords without using a MIDI Control Keyboard.

You could write single MIDI notes in a Note clip and have the Scales & Chords Player generate the chords for you.

•	to get chords that sound right, without knowledge of tonality/scales.

Scales

In the Scales section you choose which key and scale you want.

Note that all parameters in the Scales section can be automated, so you could change key and scale anywhere throughout your song if you like!

Key

Click to select the desired Key from the list that appears.

12 Keys are available, from C to B.

Scale

Click to select the desired Scale from the list that appears.

13 scales are available, plus a Custom scale that you can create yourself (see below). The preset Scales are:

Major, Minor, Lydian, Mixolydian, Spanish, Dorian, Phrygian, Harmonic Minor, Melodic Minor, Major Pentatonic,
Minor Pentatonic, Hemi Pentatonic and Chromatic.

•	The notes that fit the selected Key and Scale are displayed in light blue in the keyboard display in the Scales section:

The Dorian scale in the key of E.

The notes in the selected Key and Scale are then automatically repeated throughout all octaves of the entire MIDI Note range.

•	Notes you play on your MIDI Control Keyboard/On-screen Piano Keys are indicated in orange in the Scales keyboard display.

Creating a Custom Scale

Create a custom Scale by clicking the desired keys in the keyboard display in the Scale section:

Selected notes are colored light blue. The selected notes are then automatically repeated throughout all octaves of the entire MIDI Note range.

•	You can easily switch between your Custom Scale and any of the preset Scales whenever you want, by clicking the “Scale” display and selecting the desired scale from the list that appears.

•	Your Custom Scale is automatically saved with the song.

Your Custom Scale is also saved in the Scales & Chords patch, should you choose to save your settings as a patch.

Filter Notes

•	When the Filter Notes switch is off (default), incoming notes outside the set Scale (see “Scales”) are transposed to fit the scale.

Wrong notes are automatically transposed to the closest correct note. If the wrong note is equally near two correct notes, the wrong note is transposed to the lowest of the correct notes.

•	When the Filter Notes switch is on, incoming notes that are outside the set scale will be filtered out (silent) instead of transposed.

The display below shows a hand symbol whenever wrong input notes are filtered out (silent).

Chords

Switch on the Chords function to generate chords out of single notes.

When you play a note, you will get a chord that fits the set Scale (see “Scales”), and contains the number of notes set with the “Notes” knob. The generated notes are shown in real-time in the keyboard display at the bottom of the Chords section:

If you play several notes at the same time you will get several chords, which might be cool or just weird. If notes in the generated chords should coincide, only one instance of the notes are played back (to avoid doubled/layered notes).

If you want to create “parallel chords”, i.e. chords that contain notes with the same relative intervals, the Note Echo device is better suited for this, see “Creating parallel chords”.

Notes

Set the desired number of notes in the generated chords.

Range: 1-5 notes.

Inversion

The Inversion knob defines which note in the generated chord should be the lowest. The function tries to keep the lowest generated note in the chord as close to the played root note as possible. Below is an example of inversions of a generated 4-note chord in the Scale C Major, played from a C note of the MIDI Control Keyboard:

Inversions of a generated 4-note chord played from the (orange) C note.

Note that the Inversion function is only relevant if the Inversion number is less than the selected “Notes” value. So, if the Notes value is 4, only a maximum Inversion value of 3 is useful.

Open Chords

When the Open Chords function is active, some notes in the generated chords are transposed in octave steps, so that the notes are not so close to each other. The transposition is different depending on the “Inversion” and the “Notes” settings.

Add

The Add functions can be used for adding notes to the generated chords:

•	The Add Oct Up function adds a note one octave above the root note.

•	The Add Oct Down function adds a note one octave below the root note.

•	The Add Color function adds a note two thirds above the highest note in the tertian chord structure.

If the Notes value in the Chord section is 3, you will get a regular triad (e.g. a C major). Adding a sixth above top will mean adding a 9 (e.g. the note D). Similarly, if the Notes value in the Chord section is 4, this will add an 11; if the Notes value in the Chord section is 5, this will add a 13.

All three Add functions can be used together, simultaneously.

If the added note is already used in the chord (due to inversions, open chord etc), the note is transposed up another octave (or down, in case of Oct Down).

Alter

The Alter button is a momentary button that turns off as soon as you release the mouse button (like the Trig button on The Echo, for example). It alters the chord slightly so that it goes outside the current scale. The result depends on the Key (as set in the Scale section), whether the current scale is major or minor and what note you play (relative to the Scale Key).

The chord is altered by having one of the chord notes changed. For example, a major chord may be changed to a minor chord, or vice versa.