An easy way of designing chord structures

afexz0r · Post by **afexz0r** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 1:46 pm

Okay, so I thought I would be generous and post this little, but very odd tutorial which hopefully some of You will find useful

You probably have had that time in your production flow, where You just find it *impossible* to think of and design some really good interesting chord routines / melody bases, right?...a block, we all go through it at some time.

But with the power that live offers, I'm sure it can complement a smashing mix if You think of some cool chord routines for the bases of your tracks...

So getting to the bottom of what this post is about, I thought I would tell you how I design the bases of my tracks in the very start.

Obviously You will need chords to do this. So many variations, but I just can't think of any now, right?

....wrong. Read Books, Magazines, whatever....grab some chords from that. But how?

Take this example "what a sentance" ... it just looks like 3 words together. But actually, these words contain some cool chord formations, or not so cool for the first example.

You take the notes out of words which can be played on the key editor / keyboard, in this instance, I would extract:

a, a, e, a, c, e......now go make some variations

Many words have interesting chord formations hidden in them. Remember, once You have the bases of a chord structure, let your idea's flow naturally. There are unlimited words out there, with unlimited progressions, take your pick!, as simple as it seems, it really does work for me.

peace ^^

Lo-Fi Massahkah · Post by **Lo-Fi Massahkah** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 3:04 pm

Hi!

Definitely interesting approach, but what about harmony and flow? This seems almost random to me... But then again - I'm all for experimentation!

Regards,
Mikael

funk313 · Post by **funk313** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 10:59 pm

.well for all us "cheaters" out there it would be darn nice to have the chordplug in Live being able to switch between presets whith a parameter swith. think of how brilliant that would be..

Pitch Black · Post by **Pitch Black** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 11:06 pm

10CC did a song where the lyrics are the chord changes:

I bought a flat
Diminished responsibility
You're de ninth person to see
To be suspended in a seventh
Major catastrophe
It's a minor point but gee
Augmented by the sharpness of your
See what I'm going through
Ay to be with you
In a flat by the sea

supster · Post by **supster** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 11:52 pm

yes, this is random

theres no way to know whether or not these chords will harmonize or compliment each other in any way. also, doesnt indicate anything additional about the chord.

a what? Am? Amaj? diminished? suspended? what about sharps and flats for that matter?

i think your equally as likely to get something you like by randomly chording keys together on the keyboard

.

Lo-Fi Massahkah · Post by **Lo-Fi Massahkah** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 8:57 am

supster wrote:yes, this is random

...

i think your equally as likely to get something you like by randomly chording keys together on the keyboard

Exactly what I was thinking. The problem with coming up with chord structures isn't coming up with chords. That's easy - I know plenty of 'em

The hard part is making nice and surprising harmonies. In that case - this "tutorial" wont work...

Regards,
Mikael

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:16 am

Might as well turn Live's Random, Chord, Pitch, and Scale MIDI effects loose with some random follow actions and the IAC driver to randomize the MIDI effect presets.

IMO, if it was this easy, monkeys could do it!

www.chordware.com is one of many intelligent chord and chord progression tools out there.

afexz0r · Post by **afexz0r** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 11:21 am

Yea, same kind of thing here. I also know plenty of cool chords, but sometimes working out structures can be abit of a time consuming job, and plus alot of tracks out there use the same kind of chord progressions.

To produce is cool enough, but to produce originality is even cooler !

Personally I always enjoy thinking of original stuff!, but Trance is easy when it comes to chord structures.

Some only have 2 chords!

Personally I like experimenting with new techniques and variations.

I think a good structure is the bases of a cool track, just take it from there

Gaz

jajja · Post by **jajja** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 2:41 pm

The old classical masters frequently used techniques similar to yours.

I read about a piece where Mozart includes a B-A-C-H chord progression as a hommage to his hero.

Edit. I was wrong about the composer! The B-A-C-H theme was used by Liszt in Prelude and Fugue on the Name B - A - C - H (1855). Sorry about the mistake... Edit.

Why not use ideas like this for inspiration, to put in hidden messages in the music, create a bit of mystery, or doing it just for fun.

Sometimes restricting yourself using certain rules when writing can free the imagination, right..? Just compare yourself to a poet writing in meter and have a go!

rock on!
j

Angstrom · Post by **Angstrom** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:12 pm

B A C H

H?

I guess that's the key we call G ## these days

afexz0r · Post by **afexz0r** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:38 pm

as long as the end result is not classical of course

(sorry for those who you who like classical) lol, personal taste pref speaking then

I guess it's just about experimenting really. I always find myself with fresh new ideas after a long workout...

and going to bed early ensures plenty of sleep to refresh your super creative mind. I always allow creativity to come to me most of the time.

I seriously fell inlove with live from the moment I set eyes on it. I think this is going to provide me a far much better, rewarding and fun way to produce good quality material. This is the kind of application I have been needing for so long...up until 3 weeks ago I did not know one existed!...I've heard about ableton, but overlooked it due to the fact I thought it was like every other sequencer out there.......oh how wrong I was.

only a few days left to wait, but can I wait without going insane, thats the question =/

Gaz

Lo-Fi Massahkah · Post by **Lo-Fi Massahkah** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 4:14 pm

Angstrom wrote:B A C H

H?

I guess that's the key we call G ## these days

Actually, in Swedish notation (Scandinavian?) H and B are the same... For real.

Regards,
Mikael

nolus · Post by **nolus** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 4:36 pm

Lo-Fi Massahkah wrote:
Angstrom wrote:B A C H

H?

I guess that's the key we call G ## these days
Actually, in Swedish notation (Scandinavian?) H and B are the same... For real.

Regards,
Mikael

i dont know anything about Swedish or Scandinavian notation, but in german classical music h = Bb

nolus · Post by **nolus** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 4:38 pm

Lo-Fi Massahkah wrote:
Angstrom wrote:B A C H

H?

I guess that's the key we call G ## these days
Actually, in Swedish notation (Scandinavian?) H and B are the same... For real.

Regards,
Mikael

i dont know anything about Swedish or Scandinavian notation, but in german classical music h = Bb

jajja · Post by **jajja** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 5:07 pm

The old B-A-C-H notation

would be

Bb-A-C-B in modern notation.

One theory that explains why we used h, is that notated b gradually "opened up" at the bottom (because of sloppy handwriting) and finally turned into an h. Is that an understandable explanation? Check out some old notation on the web. This goes way back to before the renaissance days.

j