Ableton Forum

Whenever I try and make a trancy/feel good chord it ends up coming out really cheesy and ends up sounding like something that could be in a 80s workout video. What can i do to make them sound better? Im using massive but i have a bunch of other synths too. I figure most of the time its just supersaws detuned with reverb, but ya its just not coming out right. Also do you guys experiment with other waveforms in this kinda sound? Here are some examples of what im looking for!

http://soundcloud.com/wompworthy/minnesota-stardust

The main chord that hits at 1:30 ishh. Minnesota, if your on here.. your a legend!

And then the quick chord stab at 1:02 in this song...

http://soundcloud.com/jeff-montalvo/abo ... -my-way-to

Thanks for ur help, much love!

bummpp

I realize this probably isnt a trending topic, but if anyone has any advice to offer it would help thanks

google "chord inversions"

I bet you are just playing basic triads

first google result
http://www.pianolessons.com/piano-lesso ... rsions.php

Great! I think the chords i was playing were fine actually, but these inversions will be really nice to know. Thank you! I actually had alot of success fucking around with alchemy. Ended up putting in 32 voices and then putting on one of these special low pass filters (svf or something? im pretty baked and cant remmeber). Smooths out the sound alot. And had a touch of resonance. Sounds a ton better than my massive supersaws. Any other tips would be great though !

I agree with Angstrom, get the notes interesting before the sound. Inversions are a great way to get interesting sounds out of the same notes.

It used to be considered a rule in music composition to not have parallel movement, which is exactly what you're doing if you keep things as 1-3-5 all the time. Obviously those rules haven't stayed as all power chords in rock are parallel movement. Simply changing which note in the chord is the lowest note can have dramatic effects and give listeners more things for their ears to catch.

I always recommend this to anyone learning music theory and chords. It's a fun file to mess with:

Circle of Fifths Chords Tutorial and File

Inversions and at times breaking the rules is necessary to get a really good sound from a track. It's also good to learn about Tonic, dominant, and sub-dominant chord progressions. Google around a bit.

that's a root and a fourth above , not below.

For example:playing the A at the 5th fret on the e string with the adjacent D an the a string. D is the fourth of that A.

You have it backwards.

using just Maj chords always sounds cheezbo 'workout video' to me...in this fuctup world you need some minors, if not all

C > G is a 5th

G > C is a 4th...no way around that

Try a chord tool like tonespace (it's free): http://www.mucoder.net/en/tonespace/

You want to stay away from major keys...you're looking for dissonant cords (that give an uneasy feeling)...so scales like the minor (aeolien) or Phrygian are good candiates.

I also have a lot of theory info on my site - in my signature. I go from intervals all the way up to the modes of harmonic major, lots of stuff in there.

Mike145 wrote:Whenever I try and make a trancy/feel good chord it ends up coming out really cheesy and ends up sounding like something that could be in a 80s workout video. What can i do to make them sound better? Im using massive but i have a bunch of other synths too. I figure most of the time its just supersaws detuned with reverb, but ya its just not coming out right. Also do you guys experiment with other waveforms in this kinda sound? Here are some examples of what im looking for!
http://soundcloud.com/wompworthy/minnesota-stardust
The main chord that hits at 1:30 ishh. Minnesota, if your on here.. your a legend!
And then the quick chord stab at 1:02 in this song...
http://soundcloud.com/jeff-montalvo/abo ... -my-way-to
Thanks for ur help, much love!

Propellerheads Reason...best pads and synths, instantly.
But to give an Ableton synth a pad quality, put a reverb on it, all the way WET, and play with the Decay of the reverb.

Stay away from Cords - jeans, canvas, crimplene flares and even chinos are better than Cords.