Maschine chords names and harmony

Alta
Alta Member Posts: 17 Member
edited March 2023 in Maschine

Hi,

So in step mode view on the hardware...how can I tell what chords I have created in my harmony group? Currently I keep the names of the chords in order on a piece of paper and refer to it so I can create a diatonic melody...which is beyond ridiculous...looking at so much technology around me..Is there a more elegant way?

Thanks!

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Comments

  • D-One
    D-One Moderator Posts: 2,811 mod
    edited March 2023

    On what hardware? MK3 / M+?

    What mode are you using to input the chords? Chord Sets?

    Maschine won't tell anything about what chords you used since it prints them directly, you either take note, memorize it, or you have to know how to read the intervals of the MIDI (on the Events Menu, Pattern Menu, or the computer GUI Piano Roll if it applies).

  • Alta
    Alta Member Posts: 17 Member

    MK3. Is it a different story on M+?

    I used some Maj 1 Chd Set... (for speed I thought ha-ha). Now, meaning 10 days later, I forgot what my selection input was and I wanted to create a diatonic melody in top... So I was hoping to avoid wasting time reading each note from each chord and figure what is the name of the chord... and be able to see the names somewhere. They had names already, I chose them from the CHORDS tab by their names...meaning I recorded a pad/click of a button to call them up in the first place...they must be somewhere. Writing now I see myself using Scaler 2 to detect the key, meaning Scaler will record / display the chords for me. Problem solved. Better than pen and paper. But...why??? I only needed a tiny field to display the name. The code has it already...anyway..dreams for a new firmware update.

    Cheers.

  • D-One
    D-One Moderator Posts: 2,811 mod
    edited March 2023

    It's the same for the M+ and MK3. Personally, I use Scaler as well, it's really the best solution (or any other plug that reads MIDI input)

    Unfortunately, the names aren't anywhere, the Pads send the MIDI to the Pattern and once it's there it's no longer connected in any way to the Chord Mode, it's just normal MIDI. It would be great if it was stored somehow or if Maschine could tell us what the Chords are like Scaler.

    If you don't use inversions and play all the Chords in Root position then the bottom note is always the root of chord, at least in a simple Chord Set like the Maj 1, which also has all the Chords in Key but I think it's actually the only Set that does that. So if you know the root of each chord then you just have to see if the interval between the 1st and 2nd degree is of 2 or 3 semitones, 2 will be minor and 3 major, so it's fairly easy but if you use more advanced sets and/or inversions than it gets much harder. Chord Sets increase in complexity as their name number goes up.

    With Chords Sets your problem is bigger than just figuring out the Chord Names, the Sets (other than min/maj 1) are not locked to diatonic Chords of the selected root note, so whatever you pick might not be "in Key".

    Meaning: just because you select the Major 2 Chord Set in C it doesn't mean that you will end up with a Major Chord Progression in C, it all depends on what Chords you pick. 🤷‍♂️

    So yeah.... use Scaler. 😬

  • Alta
    Alta Member Posts: 17 Member

    Gosh. Scaler it is! :) Thanks for the detailed message! :) Cheers!

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