X-Treme SFX 13 [EZ Harmonized Melodies]

Let's try something different this time around: first, the good stuff, and leave the dry theory for another day:

Open up a synth/track [I'm using the Dual Head guitar program in Dimension], and Create an additional Layer. Important: Make sure that at all times the MIDI Override buttons are defeated. Select the second 1.1 layer, and in the Track Inspector, Transpose up to +12 semitones. That's all you really need to octave-double your melodic lines. In V2, you can now choose different Transpose settings for each layer, and that now affects both the patterns in the track and your 'live' KB controller input. This is great if you want your lines to be at parallel intervals, like octaves, fifths, fourths, and any other static interval. Or twelve-string guitars, bass & lead lines, etc. This is just another option, as you can do very much the same thing with the MFX plugins: Echo Delay and several modes of the Transpose plugin. You can also Transpose a pattern in the Editor independently.

But what if you want truly harmonized melodic lines, restricted to intervals within one scale, or even polychordal or polyharmonic lines [containing two or more distinct scales]? Here's another cool feature of the Track Layers: You can load a different chain of MIDI FX plugins in the main track or any of its layers. Reset Track 1.1's Transpose to zero. Click on Add MFX, and select the Transpose plugin. Choose Key/Scale as the Transposition Method.

Now it's decision-time. Choose your root note of the scale that you're playing in the From section. Choose the harmony interval that you desire in the To section. If you're playing in C, and you want a fifth above that, select G in the To section. Now for the scales themselves. Concentrate on the first seven choices in the dropdown ('natural' modes) and leave the others ('synthetic' modes & world music scales) alone for now. If you're playing C major, choose the Ionian mode in the From, and the Mixolydian mode in the To section. Now all of your lines [KB and patterns] will be harmonized perfectly (at or around a perfect fifth apart), constrained within the major scale. [Note: The complimentary minor scale would be A(minor) Aeolian.]

Would you rather try a major third? Set it up as above, but change the To section to E with the Phrygian mode as a scale. The best part about this procedure is that it's easy to harmonize existing patterns. Load the original pattern into the main Track 1, and Ctrl+click and drag a copy to the Track Layer 1.1. Instant harmonized melodies!

Now if you want that to sound more like a double-track of two distinct instruments, you'll need to gain some separation between the parts. Unfortunately, you can't just tack on an audio delay at 100% wet to one of the layers and fake it; not even with an Aux. The Track Layers are divisions of one actual track, which shares the same output and Audio FX chain. You can take some other paths, though.

One method is to disable the Snap To Grid and gently nudge one of the harmonized patterns off of timeline sync with the other with the left & right arrow keys. You can do this in the Arrangement Pane and see the results, but the Editor zooms in for a bit more accuracy. Either way: Don't nudge too much. You can preview the harmonies together and shift the timing of the selected pattern while you listen to it. You'll know when you've hit the "sweet spot". The results are even more realistic if you select small sections of each pattern, and nudge them ever-so-slightly in either direction. Then repeat the procedure with other small selected divisions.

Another method of separation can be done by adding more MFX. You can add an Echo Delay in either track and set it to 1-30 milliseconds at a single Echo. That'll fatten it up just a bit. Experiment with the Swing timing and the Decay percentage for more variation. The MIDI FX Velocity can add a degree of randomization to your notes, and the Tendency setting there can make your harmonized line generally louder or softer than the original tonic line.

You can gain a clue on harmonizing in any key at any interval by realizing that the first seven listed modes are in a cycle. Find your root key, and add up the desired interval by counting through the modes. If you go past 7, cycle back to Ionian, and continue counting. Here's a quick link with some charts to help you get started.

For those of you considering polyharmonic lines ... well, I probably don't have to explain that procedure to you. You've already escaped what Bela Bartok called "the tyrannical rule of the major-minor keys", and need no further explanation. I'll just say that Project5 is made for generating multiple scalar melodic lines and polychords, and its applications extend beyond 20th-century "contemporary" music to modern genres, like hip-hop, industrial, and electronic [if not electronica] music. Now go in harmony ... <g>

Omission Edit (surprised?): Although the title of the tutorial is [EZ Harmonized Melodies], don't let this dissuade you from trying chordal input. You get some really complex chord shapes by inputting simple traids and inversions. Adding additional layers and harmonies to the original track and layer lead to larger chords and more complexity. If you're enterprising enough, you can invert the harmonies with a Custom Map setting in the MFX Transpose plugin, and be treated to simultaneous ascending & descending lines. Then save your work as a preset within the MFX for use later on. Have fun ...

you knew!,, you'd get my attention with this,,,,,

I just love it when you get all worked up over these, Marcella; the commas start flying, and the inevitable garden springs forth. And this isn't even the "big" secret in P5 that I alluded to before. I'd better give you a couple of days R&R before planting that seed.

this is ,,"insane in the membrane",,,,,

And yet, even stranger things have now come to the surface with this setup. I wasn't confident in the presented music theory structure; something weird happening with the major/minor sevenths. It's been a long time since I formally studied any theory, so I was uncertain that the presentation was sound.

So I started toying around with the straight Transpose function in the Track Inspector, while maintaining the harmonized structure detailed above. My idea was to 'hard-transpose' up in the original track to match the harmony layer, and see what shakes out. The results are fascinating: Some of the notes come out in a beautifully imperfect unison; some are a full semitone off; others appear to drift a quarter-tone or so. It's either my theoretical mis-steps, enharmonic errors, or an algorithm straining at the seams. Personally, it doesn't matter which one it is ...

Who cares about the theory? This new discovery is deliciously consonant and slightly dissonant in an alternating manner; depending on the scales, track transposition, and note played. Equally good & nasty results can be had by 'straight-Transposing' the Track Layer 1.1 down to match the original root [tonic] note. Controlled chaos; you have to hear it to appreciate the extreme 'mood swings' between unison and "anarchy".

Here's the next amazing discovery: Evidently, the Arpeggiator scans each layer first before looping back to the start point in its selected algorithm. If you have two notes harmonized in layers (as above), and switch on the default Arp 'preset', a single note will produce four arp'ed note events. In the example above, a Track at the tonic C with a layer at G will produce C, G, then C & G one octave higher. If you add another layer at E, six notes will be produced [two triads; repeated an octave higher) for each note fingered.

You get a huge amount of arpeggiated notes out of some simple four-note chords, with the simplest of algorithms. And each one of those notes are constrained to the proper scales. Now for the really crazy stuff: Playback a pattern that's been duplicated in each layer, and stretched out over a few dozen bars in the Arrange pane. Enable the Arp, and arm for recording in each of the Track Layers. Proceed to record your live keyboard input played over those patterns, all of which are going through the Arpeggiator. Record that long pattern in the Arrange pane and ... Groove Matrix? What's a Groove Matrix ...? [j/k]