Modal and Altered Scale Tips

This is an on-going notes I am taking each time I come back to this topic. Originally published on October 12, 2012.

The 10 Modal Scales

Most textbooks write them in all sorts of different ways on the notation staff. For example, starting C with Ionian then move up one to D and Dorian. Some start with C with bunch of flats and sharps.

But instead of thinking about every note in respective scale, it may be easier to remember which notes are altered from the "standard major" or Ionian scale to me. Since I found out about that I usually relate to the chords, like b7 or minor 7 flat 5.

I personally dislike I, II, III notation of scales, I tend to think CDEFGABC, so when I am thinking in terms of Ab in key of Eb then I would think in my head "The Ab is the F to the C scale." Kind of convoluted, but it works for me.

By the way, if you are new to Greek Numerals. You need to know the following simple rules.

• I, II, III, V: 1, 2 and 3 and 5 from there you create other numbers.
• IV: to mean take 1 from V (5) which makes 4
• VI: now I is on the right so that means add 1 to V making 6
• VII: and that's 7.

X is 10. So now you know how to make IX (9) and X (11) and so forth but that usually do not come up in music.

At any rate, have no fear with 9th, 11th and 13th notes.  Just subtract 7 from these numbers but think of playing one octave higher. In the C scale that's just D, F, and A. So b9, #11, b13 as you will see in the altered scale means simply Db, F# (or Gb), Ab in the chord scale with the key of C.

Also note that the use of b5 is often not correct in theory on scales where you'd skip 4th but hit #4 and also include the 5th. That is the case for Symmetrical Diminished. Speaking of which, it is totally legit to play the 5th on the altered scale though they are often not included in the text books.

Apparently that's to avoid confusion with introducing chromatic scales (the scale in which the note goes up half step from the start to end.)

Below scales are introduced in the order of "Brightest Sounding to Darkest" in general.

There Are Only Two Major Scales - Lydian and Ionian

Lydian = #4
Ionian = "the standard diatonic major scale" in the case of C that's all the white keys.

Then Two Dominant Scales

Two are in Dominant (though there will be altered ones). This means that when a dominant chord is indicated there is a chance to substitute scales (if that sounds good).

Mixolydian = b7 (the regular major 7th chord). When a plain 6th is indicated in the chord like C6, then it is actually this scale.

Lydian b7 = #4 [or b5], b7 (not usually included in the textbook modal scales).

Note that in Jazz and popular music the b5 is notated more commonly than #4, but theoretically it is more correct to say #4 here because V (5th) is in the scale but the 4th is altered.

The Rest are Minor Scales

Dorian = b3, b7 (the regular minor 7th chord). Also when m6 is indicated in the chord use this scale. Blues players take note on this scale. If the chord symbol indicates m7 and m6 this is the common scale.

Aeolian = b3, b6 or (#5), b7 is also called a Natural Minor Scale

Phrygian = b3, b7, b9, b13 (though actually b2, b3, b6 and b7) Noted Sus4(b9)

Locrian = b3, b5, b7, b9, b13 (though actually b2, b3, b5, b6, b7)  If the chord symbol indicates (m7b5) this is the scale.

Also, not a part of modal stuff, but worth a note:

Melodic Minor = 7th is not flat. (i.e. often notated as minor major 7). Note also that this is usually used on ascending melody or solo direction only in Jazz. Compare this with Natural Minor which is Aeolian.

Then Comes Altered Scales

Altered = b7, b9, #9, #11, b13. The 5th is actually OK to play though not in the text book. Another interesting fact on this is that if you raise the half step and play a melodic minor on that scale then you get the ALT scale. So if you see C(Alt) then play the C#m. Or another way to look at it is on and after #4, it is the whole tone scale (thought the 5th is actually permitted.)

Symmetrical Diminished = #4, b7, b9 #9, natural 13, b7 (b2, b3, #4, 6, b7).  5th and 6th are included in the scale!

Both in Sym-Dim and ALT scales b9 and #9 are always in both but on ALT scale b5, b6 are present.

Since in both cases if you see a b9 then it is almost always correct to assume a #9 in the scale.

Important Distinction! If the 6th (or the 13th) is not flat then it is the Symmetrical Diminished. ALT has a flat 13.

So the trick is this. If I see a b9, then I will have to check if 13th is a b13. If it is b13 then it's altered and if natural 13 then it is potentially a Symmetrical Diminished. For example, in the key of C, I would look for Db then if Ab is present then that's likely an ALT otherwise it can be a symmetrical diminished.

When the scale starts "half-full-half-full-half-full-half" scale then that's the Symmetrical Diminished scale. And noted like C7b9 whereas DIM scale which is often written with a ø like Fø is the same as Sim-Dim with one difference, it starts with Full-Half-Full-Half steps.

Dominant Substitution

There are many chords that can be substituted when a dominant 7 (like G7) is indicated in the chart.
Use of the altered scale is a very likely candidate.

Another one that I like is the Tritone Substitution which is to use the dominant chord above 5 step and back down half step (easier than saying 6 half step up). So in the Dm to G7 to C progression, plus 5 of a G is D and half step is Db, which turns out to be a half step above the last chord of C.

In reality you see a lot of situations on Jazz where usually the last dominant chord is approached from a chord half step above, then that's what they are doing.

Scale Selection Hints

So which scale to play? This has been the major mystery to me for the longest time but I was explained basically the following and that makes complete sense to me.

• Look at the Chord Symbol. This gives the basic framework of the scale. For example Cmaj7 would one of two major scales. If it's minor chord then look for one of the modal scales.
• Then use the following ideas to seek notes that will be included in the scale.
• Look for the hint notes in the current measure's melody line.
• Look for the hint notes in the preceding measure. If this is the first measure then the preceding measure is the last measure in the song (makes sense.)
• Usually the last Dominant 7th chord of a song section (like at the 8th measure) is ALTerable.

Hearing the Sound on Keyboards.

• On your left hand play only the root, 3 and 7 or root 7 and 3.
• On your right hand play the whole scale or extensions like b9 etc or melodies including these notes.

KORG Legacy Collection Notes

As many of you know I have recently switched from LOGIC Pro 9 to Ableton Live 9 Standard as the first tool I go for to start writng a new song. To this effect, I use Live as the tool to write a stem of a new song then use LOGIC as the final production system. That draws the strengths of both.

I also decided to stop at the Standard level, at least for a while. Being a keyboardist and also like to do some sound designs in every production. So, if you are like me, you need to have tweakable software instruments. You know that the on LOGIC "out of the box" inclusion of software instruments is really nice, and I'm sure you'd love to use ES1 or even EFM1 for bass, ES2 for leads, and of course the Sculpture.

Ableton 9 Standard has a lot of great sounds but in terms of having "actual synthesizer in front of you" experience, you might be a bit disappointed.

Since I use KORG fairly exclusively I decided on using KORG Legacy Collection. Like Live 9, it is supported both on the PC and Mac which is really nice, and so long as you observe their licensing requirement of "you use on one computer at a time" you can install one purchase on both machines.

I will let you read the specs from the KORG web site, but you may want to know a bit about my experience.

Here is a quick track I wrote, and except for the percussion, all synthesizers in there are from the KORG Legacy Series.



I really like simple Moog like feel of MS-20. If you know analog synthesizers this is very intuitive. What's surprising is that you get a polyphonic version of it. Which is like having multiple MS-20s. This is beat of a cheat but I like it. Because there is MS-20, I do not know if there is any point in using the Polysix in the set. In my mix it is doing the deeper part of the bass.

I really love Mono/Poly in the collection. It has some rich nice set of preset preset banks are larger. All of the ARPing sounds above tracks are from from M/P. Mono/Poly and "newer" synthesizer sets in the legacy collection also has auto-demo mode to audition all persents. I think that's a nice touch.

WaveStation is definitely great for effects and pads. The wave table type systems are fairly rare, and various software instruments try to replicate that method even on ES2, but I really like a tons of patches on the legacy series. Listen for that "icy" sound after 1:27 mark.

One Mac Installation/License Authorization Issue, But Resolved

On my Mac, I kept having license authorization issue with KORG M1.

It turned out I had M1-Le installed from one of the demos I downloaded the past, and I have forgotten about it. Actually it was not even installed initially but I picked this installer and accidentally installed. The correction version in the collection is just "M1" and not "M1-Le" and M1-Le will not authorize the license key and that's not what you want. So please be aware.

If you accidentally installed the Le version of it, you will be asked to license it each time you start your DAW. And a removal can be difficult, but I will tell you how you would do it manually. It all comes down to you knowing where this is stored on your Mac.

1. Shut down all music an video production applications, media players. Ideally just running the Finder.
2. Go to your hard disk top level using the Finder
3. Find the path /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST  You will find the l1me.vst file there. You can remove it.
4. Also find Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components and you will also find  M1 Le component file, and you can remove it.

Ugh! Ableton Live 9 Rewire Bug with Logic - A Loud Buzz Issue, No Solution in Sight!

So, I was a bit stoked that I am going to start slaving Ableton Live 9 to my Logic 9 via Rewire technology.

It all worked correctly until the moment I hit the record button on Logic, it gave a loud buzz for the duration of recording count-in.

Turns out it is a well known issue and Ableton Web Site states that there currently is not a solution.

It sounds like there is an audio-loop during this period. I tried to turn off the metronome altogether on the Logic side and it does not help (so don't even try that.)

So be aware of this issue before you get all stoked and try this out on your logic.

I am sure to post another message if and when I find out this slaving issue is fixed. It is annoying enough hassle for my situation... how can I even record a track without a count-in. I guess I could create one or measures of hi-hat or something, then remove the pre-roll when bouncing the final. Really too bad.

Hope they get to fix this soon!

Chord Alteration Excercise II-V-I Progression Song

 

Tamir gave me above chord progression suggestions in my last lesson, and so I need to analyze what is going on as a homework. If you are curious or into this sort of things, you might also want to learn along with me.

Please note that I have notated substitutions using a vertical bar (|) which is OR in most software programming language notation. When you see that you play one of the chords, and not all of them.

Measure 2 (M2): Going from the Am7 to the Ebo7 to the Dm7  (o is Diminished) with Tri-tone Substitution

This is a standard tri-tone substitution  (TT-Sub) smoothly going into the Dm on M3. Same goes for the Bb9 to the Am.
 

Looks like when the last chord is a dominant 7 chord, major or minor, we can always try choosing this technique, and it is easy, as it is always a half step above the first chord on the next measure. Other TT subs occur at measure 10 to 11, 15-16, 16-17 etc.

Something I've learned about the TT-Sub is the following, and this is perhaps the best explanation of why this works - it is the 3rd and the 7th swapped.

So, for example, taking a look at a move from the C7 to the FM7 (II-V of Bb) with the C7 substituted with the Gb7. The 3rd of the C7 is E and 7th of the C7 is Bb. Now if we say what's the chord that has E as the 7th and Bb as the 3rd. Taking Bb and 3 whole step down will be the Gb, and the 7th of the Gb is E, so it is just a swap of 3rd and the 7th. Get it?

What this also means is that the bass player can play the substituted bass while the piano player stay on the same dominant chord in a rootless voicing.

Another trick to this is to approach the next chord from half step below using a Diminished chord, I will get into that a bit later in this post.

M5: Am to the E7+5 back to the Am7 with the AmM7 Substitution.

This is IIm-V-IIm7 progression on the A scale as originally written. The E7+5 contains E, G#, B, D. The AmM7 is A, C, E, G, G# and so the harmony is still supported. Personally, I think it is the AmM9 with an addition of B will make it closer to the E7+5 harmony since E and B are now covered.  This essentially means that by holding the A note on the bass and playing an E7+5 harmony it will essentially generate an AmM9 harmony.

M15: Use of a V Suspended Chord instead of TT-Sub to Approach The Next Chord

Taking a look at M15 where it goes from the Dm7 into the G7 sus (b9) instead of the Db7, which is the TT-Sub going into the Cm7. 

The G7 sus b9 contains G, C, F, G# and the Db7 is Db, F, Ab (or G#) and B. It appears both are kind of close with F and G# notes in common.

M16: Double Alteration from the Bb9 to the Eb9?

This is a bit puzzling so I will get back on this after a bit more research.

Am7 contains A, C, E, G

Bb9 contains Bb, C, D, F, Ab

Eb9 contains Eb, F, G, Bb

M20: Approaching Am7 from Em7 via G#dim7

This part of harmony is moving from E to A to D. I need a bit more work here on this, but the shared B, D, then onto D, F in the next harmony some has clue as to why this would work.

Em7 contains E, G, B, D and 

G#dim7 contains G#, B, D, F

Dm7 contains D, F, A, C

For now, this apprach of going from Dim7 from 1/2 step below is a viable option for alteration.

One of Gary Burton's suggestions is to the chord scale analysis too. That may elucidate a bit further as to the chord choices and also solo choices. I may do that next time.

See you again soon and any enlightenment is also welcome.

 

Ableton vs. LOGIC My Experience Part II

Have been using Ableton a bit longer and learned a lot more about how this works. Also upgraded to the Standard.

Some big pluses on the Ableton:

• I have both KORG NanoKontrol2 and Axiom 25 Classic and they work fairly smoothly.
• Windows version. I have both Mac and Windows so this is super nice.
• MIDI effects are fairly unique to Ableton. Logic does not quite have it. However, as far as it goes,  KARMA on my KORG M3 offers a lot more features along this line.
• Session mode. This is, for me, the key for quick song writing and I now cannot let that go. I will likely to write new songs with Ableton first then mix with Logic.
• Variable tempo on samples (Warping) is really powerful and intuitive, however, you do need to get to the Standard edition to have better warping algorithms. Along this line the Groove Pool is also a great tool.
• Drum Racks are really intuitive to use for me than the Ultrabeat.
• Ability to chain almost unlimited effects per track. No practical slot limitations like Logic.

 Some big pluses on the LOGIC Pro 9

• Vocal Pitch correction out of the box. Ableton does not have this in any of its versions. If you are a vocalist, this is the way to go.
• Scoring and notation (note, it will become handy even if you currently do not write.)
• Audio effects
• Great "live" sampled instrument set from orchestras to live pop/rock/jazz band instruments.  Even the standard Live is basically full of loops and more electronic or electronically processed sounds.
• Software instruments, like the B3 organ emulation, EP emulation, full sampler to a fully fledged analog synths. You do not get these types of instruments even a comprehensive sampler instrument until you get to  Live Suite version.
• Categorized browsing of loops from the mood to tempo. Ableton does not quite have this.

Ableton Live 9: Cannot Keep "Session Record Button" to Stay On or Toggle From A Control Surface

Symptom:

You wanted to press, for example, a transport RECORD button on your control surface to engage the new Session Record Button (as opposed to the Arrangement Record Button, which seems to work OK.)

You have mapped the Record button on your control surface, for example Axiom, via the MIDI mapping feature.

When you press the Record button it goes into the recording mode but as soon as you release the button, it does not stay engaged in record (i.e., not toggling.)

Root Cause:

This is because on Ableton Live, only way (as far as I know) to get a control to toggle is to use a MIDI Note number and not the CC number. Most transport controls are usually programmed not to toggle but send a CC signal each time it is pressed. Any CC code will not cause the Ableton to act as momentary function.

Fix/Workaround:

Using your control's editor, you can assign an actual MIDI note like very very low C0 key etc that you'd not normally play to your control surface's button. If that's not possible, you could sacrifice a note on a keyboard controller or a drum pad position to accomplish this.

Ideally...

If Ableton's MIDI mapping feature permits more tweaking like they have on Apple LOGIC, that would have been great, for example, also the rotary encoder sometimes act "too sensitively."

KORG NanoKontrol2 Not Working with Ableton Live

Issue:

You thought that by just plugging in the KORG NanoKontrol2, it will recognize the control and automatically maps the controls to some nice defaults like the transport buttons working and fade a few tracks. But nothing happens.

Root Cause:

The Preference's MIDI panel is actually misleading. You cannot select a NanoKontrol as the device and nor have it auso-sense and hope for it to download the configs.

You also probably thought that there is something you can do with the KORG control editor and that's also a wrong answer. There is nothing you can do there either.

Fix:

This is actually clearly in the NonoKontro2's manual. But to make this to work, you need to make the control in Mackie control surface emulation mode.  I would take a thin magic marker pen and write the following in the back of the control (hope yours isn't black one.)

Hold the (Set) and [STOP] button together while plugging in the USB cable to the NanoKontrol2 to set it the Mackie control surface mode.

On the Ableton Live preference, under the MIDI tab, you also need to select Mackie Control as the Control Surface.

Note on the Windows, plugging in a MIDI device after the Live has started won't generally make the Live to sense that it is connected. All MIDI devices must be up and connected before you start the Live. On Macs you can plug things in and out, generally, at any time.

Ableton Live - If Your Scenes Do Not Trigger on the First Beat of a Measure

I am continuing to learn the Live and there was something it took me a bit of time to figure out.

So here is the scenario;

• I drag and drop bunch of loops into the Session view.
• I launch each Scene 1, 2, 3 etc, and the loops start immediately and none of them synchronize to the first beat.

What was going on;

•  On very top left there is the Quantize button. That's the bar contains EXT, TAP, Beat (120 BPM, etc.) This you need to set to at least 1-bar. It was set to None. Now you could use that as an effect, but probably not for most of the cases.

Very very simple stupid error, but I was thinking "quantize" to mean quantifying my MIDI notes.

This behavior is not directly related to the Launch Mode. So don't get there. Check above first.

Ableton Live 9 vs. LOGIC Pro My Interim Impression

I have been a fairly avid (but not AVID Pro Tools) user of Apple LOGIC Pro for many years. I actually tried to use Ableton in the past but finally I have taken some time to learn about it.

If you are starting out with a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) to compose your music and record, you are likely to wind up with one of the two. There are other options like Avid, Sonar, Reason, Digital Performer too, and I am sure they are just as good but have not heard many people using those.

So it is likely that your initial choice boils down to how you get used to the one of the two. Both are equally capable and you can produce same types of songs regardless of which you choose.  So it is not about one is better than the other, but now that I used both for some time I can say confidently that you can produce the very very similar results with either ones.

You may be reading this because you have neither. So if I was in your situation, what would I have chosen?

If you are used to thinking about recording songs linearly on a multi-track tape and thinking in terms of how you'd approach it in a studio setup then he Logic is really the workflow. Granted it has loops, but even on the loops, you would cut and paste the loops on the "tape" type flow that it is like splicing a piece of tape. If you grew up in this mode of operation, actually first time you look at Ableton, you might starting to wonder how would people make music with it.

Also, on the Logic mixing and all that are pretty much works visually the same way as the real equipment, and when you are mixing it is like sitting in front of a huge mixing console you see in a studio. The interfaces are really so polished that it does look like you are right there.

Though many people do not realize when you first see it,  Ableton does support tape or sequencer like workflow too, so if you can work Ableton this way, there is not much difference in how you would record and mix. They also both record all automation of knobs and dials. The UI is minimalist on Ableton and in my opinion kind of ugly.

One of the best attractions of the Ableton is that tempo adjustment is fairly transparent especially at loop level. This means that if you drag and drop a "loop" it figures out the tempo and produces the best possible sounding loop without changing the pitch.  Do note that the Intro version does not have as much of a re-sampling algorithm as the rest of the lineup.

The next attraction of the Ableton is the ability to play songs live by scenes. On LOGIC you could use the Mainstage ($30 more) application. Personally the scenes based track creation is the most unique and single-most productive feature of Ableton.

On the LOGIC flexible tempo changes requires some knowledge and work. Though it is very very flexible once you know how and extremely powerful.

This aspects of dragging and dropping clips is fairly automatic and transparent to users that some people may not even realize that there is quite a bit of computations being done to make everything fit together. And from that stand-point I can see why people say it is more intuitive to operate it.

It is more like building songs from blocks and in many ways users can come up with complete song from intro to outro without even touching any musical instrument. In some ways Ableton is a musical instrument of its own. Whereas LOGIC is more like a recording-studio in a box. I cannot tell which is more intuitive to musicians. I, for one, could not figure out Ableton for the longest time while I can pretty much do LOGIC without a manual. But there are others who swear Ableton is more intuitive. So there is no way around but you try it yourself. I would guess that if you have not seen a mixing studio and starting from a complete clean set of mind then Ablton might do it better.

Incidentally I have a KORG M3 keyboard workstation and its KARMA interface works very much like Ableton's Scenes. That's a handy tool to develop ideas for compositions and arrangements.

Asides from that one of the best attractions about the Ableton for me is that I can use it on the Mac and my Windows PC. This is not possible with the Logic, which is Mac only. In my situation, I do a lot of work on the Windows for my day job, and sometimes that requires a travel. It is nice to know that I can edit my songs with my PC laptop while I am away from home on my "work" PC. Ableton allows you to install the license up to 2 computers. On the LOGIC 9 so long as you are not running the software simultaneously in more than two places it seems to OK. It is kind of important as you may be recording on your laptop but you could be editing on your desktop at home, which is exactly my workflow. Of course, the Ableton project files are interchangeable between the Mac and PC versions (provided that you have the same level of Ableton on both and also you have the same plug-ins on both, which could be tricky as some plug-ins require you to "pay twice" for each PC and Mac versions.

So again if someone is to ask me which to choose. If your primary mode of music production involves live recordings and mixing then LOGIC PRO seems to be a better choice. It also comes with a lot of good "real" instrument samples, synthesizers and much more sophisticated sampler plug-ins built in right from the start.

If you are a song-writer and need to come up with song ideas quickly, assembling intro, A, B to outro sections then knowing Ableton may work to your advantage. It is much like a music construction kit and like I said it is a musical instrument in its own category. Especially if you are looking at the Push controller or N-I Maschine, they are dedicated instruments specifically for Ableton.

Finally if you need to work both on the PC and Mac, then Ableton is great. If you need software like LOGIC on the PC then I may consider going to Digital Performer.

By the way, a $100 Ableton Intro seems to be fairly crippled. The free sounds you can load are very much dance centric and much of its key attractive features are disabled. You cannot create demo in most pop music styles out of the box on Ableton, as far I can tell while on Logic I can come up with various styles out of the box.

One major draw for Logic is that for its $199 price, you get a whole lot more "out of the box" software instruments, and plug-in effects. For Ableton, you pretty much have to go to the Suite to get the level of effects plug-ins the Logic has out-of-the-box which is $749.00  So LOGIC wins significantly in the price (though I did not talk about committing yourself into the Apple culture.)

In the end the best scenario is to learn these two. You can learn a lot too from two different approaches in software design and workflow differences, and both being the industry leading tools, the knowledge of both would become handy some day! I also know that people start writing on Ableton and finish up on Logic. Ableton is definitely fast in terms of composing songs on the fly.

Great Jazz Chord Voicing Practice Book - Phil DeGreg "Jazz Keyboard Harmony"

I am currently studying Jazz improvisation from Tamir Hendelman, and one of his first recommendations was to study Jazz Keyboard Harmony book by Phil DeGreg.

I am sure that there are many books covering this topic, but this one is one of the most practical books I have laid my hands on and I am practicing the lessons in this every day ever since.

My issue with many other books of this nature is that they just tell you the theory of Jazz chords but they do not guide you step by step how to actually play them correctly. In fact some theory books tend to miss the whole point of what are the key elements of chord harmony. For example, I actually did not know playing just 2 notes in any given chord is often very adequate and those notes are 3rd and the 7th (minor 3rd, 7th and major 7th including).

The book begins with practice on playing Root + 3rd and Root + 7th (called shell voicing) then gradually add more tones, more fingers, both hands etc in the chords as the book progresses. So you will get to learn how to form and recognize more complex chords and will have ability to voice all differently

The approach is very systematic and practical and even if you do not sight-read the music, the book gives you formulaic diagrams for harmonization. It also comes with a CD which can be used to "comp" the drums and bass for all the patterns and also it includes 4 songs written by Phil at the end of each major chapter. As you make more progress you can add more complex voicing on the same song.

If you have been like me only knowing a few basic chord voicing, but never totally understood how to voice chords or how other great Jazz pianists do this, I can really recommend this book as it will require us to more systematically look at how Jazz chord voicing works on keyboards and also you can methodically step by step from 2 fingers to all 10 fingers with a pedal making actual progress by playing all the lessons every day and then do the Appendix B exercise once you've mastered each chapter; it is just like you would do with classical method books like Hanon and really no way around this.

In the end if I see a chord symbol coming up on the chart, I can instantly recall all possible voicing pattern that can be applied.  This can be practiced by reading the appendix of the book with many "tables" of chords to practice progression once I mastered the voicing in the main text of the book.

Making Transport Buttons on Axiom 25 Classic to Work On Both Logic 9 and Ableton Live

EXTREME CAUTION:

Please note that if you load my Logic keyboard mappings, this will certainly wipe out everything else you did to map your own, so work with caution.  I advise that you export or backup what you have done first then import my stuff to see what I've done.

Same goes with Enigma setup. Backup everything first before you load someone else's configs.

---

What I Wanted To Do:

I have the Logic Pro 9 and also the Live 9 now. Since I do have the old trusty Axiom 25 Classic keyboard controller, I wanted to get the transport control to work on my Logic similarly to Live 9. I really like the quality feel of the keys and also the pads on the controller.

In order to make the LP9 and the Live to work the same way, I have mapped the transport control's CC numbers in the Logic's key mappings exactly as they are mapped on the Live 9's. So regardless of which app I am using, the transport will work basically the same way.

I am sharing two files in this Public Dropbox folder. Again, be sure to back-up (EXPORT and save) all your settings from the Options menu in your Logic key mapping dialog box, it is guaranteed that these will wipe out your own settings, if you made any. My settings also have mapping from the KORG NanoKontrols 2 which I use.

One file goes to Logic and another goes to Enigma. You will have to Import the XML file for Enigma and then Upload that to Axiom. The one with the XML extension is the one that goes to Enigma. Proabaly it is best not to import my Logic settings but manually learn these settings on your Logic.

Important: The Group Setups Really Does Matter on the Axiom

Whenever you are dealing with the transport and encoder programming, be sure that Groups A, B, and C are all turned on, and also the Zone 1 setting is active. Without these groups turned on the transport and other control programming will not change. To activate the zones and the groups, press the [Zone Group] button then press [Zone 1]. Then press groups A, B, and C together until all groups are indicated active on the LCD.  Namely, Group B enables the rotary encoders and transport control buttons, and Group C enables the trigger pads.

The Enigma XML file I have provided is basically straight out of Live 9 defaults except for Presets 1, 2 and 3 where I have programmed Ultrabeat on Logic and Drum Rack on Live pads.

Once loaded P18-20 are the ones that the transports are mapped to Live (as with how Live 9 works) and Logic. Press Recall and then press +/- keys to get to the program numbers.

For the drums, if you use P01 to P03, the drum pads go up from C0 onwards in chromatic (i.e., half note step) up, providing all 24 notes the Ultrabeat and Drum Rack works. The transports are also mapped exactly like P18-20.

Rest are all up to you to program. A nice trick in Enigma is that you can copy group of presets from one to another. So you can copy the transport controls from one preset to another in one copy and one paste action. On mine however there is a bug in that the first parameter does not copy the label information, though the rest does copy.

Once you are happy with the results, I suggest that you save each preset by [Advance] then Store (second or center white C key) then Enter (highest C key). Once you do this the Axiom will keep that setup between power on/off.

Note on My Logic Key Mapping:

How the control works on the Logic is a bit different from the Live. But if you get this far, I know you can modify your mapping yourself. On my file, and for Logic they are defined as:

• Cycle: Toggles the Cycle mode. This is my imitation of the NanoKontrol.
• Fast Forward and Rewind: Move to the next Marker area then enable cycle also. This is a powerful workflow I use when editing tracks. You do need to use Markers but once you get a hang of using Markers, I can almost grantee that you work much faster with your edits.
  
  To set markers, just start playing your song then each time a new section of a song starts just press Control-K and it will create a marker. Open the Lists and you will find the Marker list. You can rename markers like Verse 1, Chorus etc, edit or delete markers from there.
• Stop: Just stops whatever it is playing. If you press it again, it will go to the start of a cycle region and if you press it one more time again, then it will go to the absolute start of your tracks.
• Play: It will start playing but if you press Play again, it will also stop.

• Record: You should know what this does already. Record and release often!

---

Axiom 25 Classic Rotary Knobs Tips With the Logic 

There is also another bit tricky thing going on with "learning" the rotary knobs especially if you want to assign the knobs to the faders on Logic.

So here are some tips:

• The rotary knobs should send MIDI CC (Control Code) of 146 which is "Relative Bin(ary) Offset" mode. You would set this in Enigma as above but if you followed my instructions, P18-20, the knobs are already set in this mode.
• When you Learn the knobs from Command-K, please do the following steps;
• Set Value  Min Max to 0 - 127 (this is default)
• Format: 2's Compliment
• Multiply: -0.05 (this is important, smaller the finer the movement on the fader). Minus is also added so that the right twist will increase the value instead of decreasing it.
• Mode: Relative

Then learn the knobs.

Using Axiom 25 Classic with Aboleton Live 9

I just happened to hook up my old trusty Axiom 25 Classic with Ableton Live 9, and I have found out many issues like the rotary knobs (encoders) do not work right or cannot assign notes to pads etc.

Here are some tips;

• Quit the Live
• Connect Axiom Classic 25 to the USB interface and leave it on.
• Select Group A, B and C all together. This can be accomplished by turning Zone/Group button on then pressing A, B and C group buttons altogether. The group buttons are important because certain controls are only activated for programming by activating them. Also select Zone1 only.
• Now go to Live's preference, click the MIDI tab then you should find Axiom Classic 25 loaded. There is a DUMP button, and press it. This will load the presets.
• The usable presets are presets 18, 19, and 20 only so Press Recall button and then using +/- button select one of them. On program 20, the "drum pads" should trigger scenes. If you want to use them as pads use the Program 18. Also on program 20, the rotary knobs are assigned to the volume faders on tracks 1 through 8 by default. You can reassign them from Live.

How To Exchange Tempo and Marker Info in LOGIC with Just Audio!

On my previous article, I have shown you how to exchange a tempo list from a MIDI file. The MIDI file can come from various sources, including other DAWs or other keyboard workstations.

LOGIC has another way of accomplishing tempo changes. That's embedding the tempo and marker information in audio file by exporting a track. Like the MIDI situation, once the tempo information is in the Tempo list you can then cut and paste that information into yet any of other LOGIC project.

Enjoy!

How To Import or Export MIDI Tempo Information with Apple LOGIC 8 and 9

When you are collaborating with another musician, it may become necessary to exchange MIDI files with tempo information intact.

I recently had to do this for the first time, and I had some challenges, but finally figured out how to do this completely. So here is how.

The key for you to know are the following pieces of information:

• MIDI track EXPORT does save the tempo change information.
• MIDI IMPORT however does not load the tempo change information.
• File->Open a MIDI file with a conductor info in it, and it will import the tempo information.
• You can cut and paste the Tempo List between Logic projects.

The BIG Tricks Are:

• Do not IMPORT MIDI, instead File->Open the MIDI file (and it will open) and LOGIC will create a temporary General MIDI project.
• Open the Tempo List from the temporary project, then you can cut and paste the tempo list from that project to another.

Logic: Why My First Note Never Records (or Plays?). Pre-Roll It!

So you do the count-off and start to record on the Measure 1 on your timeline. You realize that the very first note you hit never plays back (though it's recorded on the Piano Roll) on your Logic MIDI or Software Instrument recording.

There is nothing wrong with your technique or timing. You are not trigger happy nor your timing is completely off. Nobody in the right fame of mind can play exactly at the 1.0.0.0  Just about anyone will get into this issue.

Almost all of us hit a note slightly earlier from time to time. We tend to swing a beat a bit early to a bit late and that makes the music sound more naturally played. In syncopated Jazz tunes that's almost required!

The Best Solution:

Let the Logic roll one measure and then start recording your piece. That's called a pre-roll and there is nothing wrong approaching your recording that way. In most professional recordings, you do need to include a pre-roll so get in the habit of including one.

Excess pre-roll can be dealt with during bounce by you specifying the in and out points (start and end points) in the bounce dialog box. Also a bit of a pre-roll space gives listener a bit of breathing room in albums. You should give a bit of gap between tunes. If you do not give this space, and if you cut your album that way, every song starts abruptly as soon as the last song ends.

Having a pre-roll also is a good idea if you have many other stuff in your recording chain. It will help "boot up" from your FireWire sound source to external synths when the Start signal is sent.

If You Absolutely Have To Start the Note at the Very First Tick in a Measure...

Just go to your Piano Roll and look for the very first note. Mark that note then just select the Quantize and it will line up with the very initial point of a grid, or manually drag in the first note. You will find the first note sticking a bit left of the grid.

Effectively Provide Monitor/ Cue Mixes for Vocalists with Logic or Garageband?

If you have previously worked with analog gear with tapes or just played live with analog boards this issue is such an intuitive stuff that it does not even occur to you... unless you make a big leap into a Digital Audio Workstation such as Logic or even Garage Band.

Now you have your own 32-track "virtual" board, and you are all excited to record with it. Then the reality hits.

Here is what happens,

Your vocalists are used to hearing the live mix with effects, mostly reverb to be added in the monitor or headphone mix.

You probably through or already tried turning on the software monitoring. If you have not done this yet, you will soon you realize that that the mix that come out of the computer is slightly but significantly delayed (and you cannot make this to absolute zero delay.) This is the latency which everyone is talking about.

This is definitely not acceptable in any musical performance. You could adjust the latency and buffers etc., but as soon as you do that the CPU is over-taxed and your DAW software starts to do some glitchy crackly or poppy nasty stuff as you add more tracks and effects, worst yet, your DAW says "system overload" and refuses to record.

You could get an out-board reverb box to supply the cue mix for the vocalist while getting the dry mic out to the DAW. But for most home recorders like myself, we don't (want to) have such a luxury to have a mixer board plus an out-board effects (and if you have the money, I'd invest in a control surface instead to make your mixing tasks easier.)

Well, this is a common enough problem that there are "boxes" you can buy these days to fix this issue.

Unfortunately you (and I too) probably bought more simpler (not necessarily inexpensive) converter box like a Duet or M-AUDIO Fastrack type deals, but they are not really designed for this type of application.

What I needed to get into is to get an effect processor box (and you can Google for it). 

What I am using right now is the MOTU UltraLite mk3. Also there is another product from TC Electronics called Desktop Konnekt. There are many more from low to high end and if you know of them please commenting on this post. I have no relations to any of these companies I mentioned.

These boxes have the following circuits;

• Signal processor with digital reverb, compressor and limiter. The compressor and limiter are also a welcome additions as these tasks are done in the box before the signal hits the DAW.
• Internal mixer that can route the raw input straight to the DAW and also sends input separately to internal mix buses for headphone and monitor outputs through its own effects.

So with this, I can provide a latency-free vocal monitor with any amount of reverbs added and also independently adjustable levels to the vocalist while recording the raw vocal into my DAW. This lowers the CPU requirement for the DAW too and also prevents accidental clipping.

To get into this, you do need to shell out anywhere from $200 (TC) to $600 (MOTU) for this set up, but if you do need to record vocals or other live instruments this is pretty much a "must have" setup. They are USB and/or Firewire connected so they will work with your PC or Macs with most DAW software. Check the spec though to make sure that USB support is there.

The more price you pay, more inputs and output lines you get, which, in the end, saving you money since even in my meager setup, I do have two synths (that takes already 4 inputs) a WaveDrum plus a vocal mic going so that's 7 out of 8 provided in mkIII.

Another Tip:

If you have a lot of tracks going, you may over-tax your CPU and causes a lot of issues, among which is some latency.

Bounce a headphone monitor mix and record the vocal separately on a separate project. This will reduce the CPU based latency.

LOGIC PRO - How Can I Adjust The Piano Roll Grid

I am sure you are here for this specific issue.

I can even guess...

You are probably doing your first dance tune and wanted to do that drum roll before the break-down, but you cannot enter any shorter than 1/16th notes in the piano roll, right?

Apple Logic Pro is really great but sometimes things appear to be not very intuitive.

And if you post your question on a forum, chances are that you get a snide remark about "read the manual."  Well, I've read the manual, but I am willing to say in this case the manual is not even very clear.

As a software engineer myself, I can clearly see the engineering side's argument as this feature is already covered and documented on a separate part of the software, and it should be so obvious to you that if you cannot figure this out, you might as well not be a musician.

I totally disagree, if you are looking at a part of the UI that has a grid in it then there ought to be a control-click-menu in there as "Adjust Grids" and even if there are other ways to do it, it should also allow you to make the change there. I would right click in the ruler on top and expect a menu to adjust the grid spacing!

But I did not write Logic. So let's figure out how to do this now.

Anyhow, it actually is easy. The key is that you probably did not know all of the grid is controlled in the Transport Bar!

Here is my "Drum Roll" which hits the snare every 16th of a beat. Idea is to show the grid every 32nd of a beat with the Piano Roll grid showing every 32nd.

 

The reason why my piano roll above is showing only every 16th is because of the setup in the Transport bar.  On "out of the box" Logic it is the standard division (that's how they call that.) You see that my transport is currently showing 131 PBM 4/4 time signature (so far you follow, right?) OK now, look under 4/4, it says /16. That's the problem!

 

What you should do now is to click in where it says /16 and type in 32.

 

Now go back to the piano roll and you can now see that grid has doubled!

 

Now you know how, you can use 1/48 division and you can make neat triplet sounding drum rolls or super fast 1/64 drum rolls. Have fun!

KORG Hanon to the Rescue! M3 and KRONOS RH-3 Note Dropping or Choking?

I have a very low serial number M3 88 with the RH-3 keyboard, and have had occasional note dropping or choking issue ever since I bought this.

For the longest time nobody seemed to have complained about this issue, but now I am starting to read them all over the places on the Internet, so if you have landed on this page, then rest assured that it is a well known issue now and with a bit of modifying yourself, it can be fixed for free!

I decided to post this, as I was also listening to another person's performance on her brand new Kronos, and lone behold! I can hear this same happening to her too.

What's The Problem?

Under some playing style, the RH-3 sends out two same short notes very rapidly on the MIDI interface; two very very fast staccato notes. Even if you got a pedal pressed down, the note does not seem to sustain, in fact, that's where the problem happens the most... when you are pedaling.

Why is This Happening?

This is due to the key bouncing very fast when you press it.  I think that this probably escaped the QA because they probably used experienced strong piano players to test the RH-3.

Many of you have, like myself, came from playing synth keys and not have been playing a true weighted action keyboard or a piano. Our weak fingers are actually forming a classic oscillation-damping (bio) mechanical circuit with the weight on the piano and spring on your muscles.

You will likely notice that this happens mainly on fingers 4 and 5. With these fingers, they do not have the strength to press and hold the key steady enough, it bounces off the bottom rubber then somewhere half way it oscillates up and down at some frequency which triggers MIDI on/off twice in very fast succession.

And those are the weakest fingers so that's explains why.

I do agree that Korg should have caught this issue sooner and corrected them, but on the other hands, it actually is pointing also to our poor piano playing technique.

We can correct this issue by adjusting our playing style a bit, and also train our two of the weakest fingers by some arpeggio exercises.

Just make sure that all fingers will press the key all the way to the bottom and keep it there for the duration of a note. After all, those notes will not sound good on a true grand piano if we are keep playing that way. For me, just playing a few weeks on Hanon exercises, I am starting to eliminate them.

It's really a shame as otherwise this RH-3 is a very excellent keyboard with the feel, and I am a big Korg fan with M3 Karma and the sound it comes with are always great.

It is likely a fundamental mechanical issue in the design of the thing that I am afraid it cannot easily be corrected by software updates, and also the bouncing issue seems to get worse as the keyboard wears. I see this happening a lot more in the middle of the keyboard than the outside.

Another Workaround

If you are sequencing using a DAW like LOGIC or Pro-Tools, Live etc., then just let it play and you can edit out the MIDI notes when you hear them. You see two rapid notes successively. I take a pencil tool and edit out these notes or do the List view and see two successive notes very easily.

Discovering Guide Tone Lines with 3rd and 7th Notes on the Chords

I was doing some comp practice using two-note chords, and writing those out.

The idea of the practice is to only use the 3rd and the 7th (or equivalent of the intervals such as major 7th or minor 3rd) of the chords in the progression and alternate between 3rd on the bottom and 7th on the bottom on each chord change.

As I was doing this with "Like Someone in Love (Van Heusen, Burke),"  I found something interesting happening with this specific composition.

Take a look at the chart below, take note, for example on the measures 2 and 3. You can see that the bottom note is moving from G to Gb to F to E. This is a perfect chromatic down movement. And that's not even considering chord alterations in place. Just the notes in the 3rd and 7th.

From the measures 9 through to the ending of the first verse, both top and bottom notes are going down very smoothly taking no more than a half step. Contrast to that with the root of chords written, it's all over the scales like Ab - D - G - C - Bb.  To me is was not very obvious by just looking at the chords how these harmonies are built around these chords.

The idea of Guide Tone Lines is very important in Jazz improvisation technique as my former teacher Gary Burton taught us that it is the "Clothes line to hang a melody on." So here it is, try this technique on some of the tunes you know and you might be surprised for finding some hidden clever harmony to hang your melodies on!

I think this technique works especially well with compositions that have II-V-I (e.g., D, G, C) chord movements.

 

Even Better Transcription Tool - Transcribe!

Happy 2013 Everyone.

Thank you for all your support in 2012 when I decided to re-launch my music "career." In 2013, I will be studying some Film/TV music production at Berklee as well as taking more piano coaching.

So I posted a note about the Amazing Slowdoner.  Shortly after that I have also found Transcribe! Which is also Mac/PC software. This one is much more geared towards musicians doing serious transcribing job. In addition to being able to slow down, it has a lot of nice workflow feature that can facilitate the job.

Why I found it so much more useful?

• I can scroll over the samples. 
• I can slow down with preset rates like 25% or 50%
• You can loop through sections easily. You can drag a marker in the sample. You can also slide the loop section, so if the song is played in a steady tempo then you can set the width of the section to exactly 1 measure + a second or so of lead in, and you can continue to transcribe the whole song without typing in or changing the loop setup. There are also shortcuts to move along by a section of a measure.
• It shows on the keyboard where the dominant frequencies are. This greatly aids in guessing complex Jazz harmonies. 
• While I do not use it, it also has a chord guessing feature. If you are still not yet familiar with Jazz harmonies, this may aid you in coming up to speed.
• Like the ASD you can use the MIDI controller programming to control the transport on the software to start, stop, rewind etc.
• It's actually cheaper than ASD, and going for $39.00 per computer. Also there is a fully functional 30-day evaluation period.

Here is Some Useful Tip Using this Tool

• Mark the Sections and Measures using the keyboard. What you should do is to play the whole tune and using the keyboard mark major sections with letter S. This will put section markers.
• Once the sections are defined, slow down if needed, and play again and now start marking measures.
• If necessary, you can play again and mark the beats. This is helpful in figuring out syncopated and tied beats between measures.
• Now you have the structure well marked on the material, you can print a lead-sheet you have and with this in front of you, loop each section or each beat and begin transcribing notes.
  
  At this point you would loop and try to play the same passage on the piano until you think you got it completely and if you have a direct input option to charting software,  that could help you in speeding up the input process.
  
  Note there are many free options to write out the charts on a computer. I use Noteflight.COM which is an online service, and also there is Finale Notepad, which is an App. I like Noteflight.COM because I can pull up a chart anywhere there is a computer and internet.

Some Drawbacks

I am not completely versed with this software, but here is some annoyances:

The marker idea is great but there is no easy way to clear them out of a section as far as I can tell right now.

While it is not a drawback of software, in complex band scenario there will be a lot of frequencies and none of the spectrum analysis will work well. The only way out is your ear training to discriminate melodies and chords coming out of specific instrument. You can adjust the EQ settings.

Overall I will give this product a 4-Stars out of 5.