Your thoughts on Ableton Push and things like Harmonizer?
I'm a big user of my chord/scale library (I have every well known chord and scale and even some 4 bar 4 chord progressions saved as MIDI) along with Harmonizer plugin from 7aliens. I honestly regard Harmonizer as a secret weapon and didn't even want to discuss it here because I believe it is extremely dangerous in the wrong hands, but it is what it is. Ableton push now has something similar, where regardless of the button you push, the note played is in key.
What are your guys thoughts on these types of tools?
Cool ?
Lame ?
My personal view is its the end product that matters and it doesn't matter how you get there. These products are time savers. At the end of the day I still have to choose which chords to use.
Jun-04-2013 15:40
MSZ
godspeed
Registered: Jun 2005
Location: kill me
Most of the guys on top of the EDM production scale all have self-configured secret weapons. All that matters is that you're happy with yourself and you do whats important to YOU, unless you care about every single opinion out there directed at you, do it from scratch sheeesh.
YOLO
Jun-04-2013 20:38
cryophonik
Boom shanka
Registered: Jan 2008
Location: Elk Grove, CA USA
Never used Harmonizer and I'm not really familiar with it, so no comment or opinion really. I haven't seen Push yet, either, aside from some of the promo vids. Liine just released their LiveControl2 module for the Lemur app (free to all Lemur owners), which seems to share a lot of the functions as Push, including key and scale filters (at 1:46):
My understanding is that all this does is limit the note selection to the user-assigned key signature so that no matter what notes/chords you play, they will always be in the correct key. Since 99% of all EDM (and most other forms of pop/rock music) stays within the same key throughout the song and makes no use of non-scale tones, it's probably a convenience feature. Personally, I usually find these sorts of features more difficult to work with because I'm accustomed to the conventional piano keyboard or fretboard conventions.
Sonar Platinum | Ableton Live 9 | Logic Pro X | Access Virus TI2 Keyboard | Kurzweil PC3X | Nord Lead 4R | NI Maschine
Jun-04-2013 21:04
tehlord
Supreme tranceaddict
Registered: Jan 2009
Location: Windsor
My thoughts are that if you persevered with actual music, theory, playing, learning then the time saved would be even greater than using plugins or midi packs.
Originally posted by tehlord
My thoughts are that if you persevered with actual music, theory, playing, learning then the time saved would be even greater than using plugins or midi packs.
It becomes instant in your head.
Yeah, but that's time wasted that could be better spent downloading cracked software with harmony-to-MIDI functions that could be used to copy riffs from pirated songs, layered with other people's loops, and processed using presets from warez'ed plugins to create music that you can say is original.
Sonar Platinum | Ableton Live 9 | Logic Pro X | Access Virus TI2 Keyboard | Kurzweil PC3X | Nord Lead 4R | NI Maschine
Jun-04-2013 21:55
DjStephenWiley
Supreme tranceaddict
Registered: Jun 2002
Location: Columbus, OH
You have to be careful about what you assume when people use these. I know the "science" behind things such as chord progressions like the typical 1 3 5 stuff. I use these tools because, for me, they save time. If I didn't have them I would be forced to look up and manually punch in every single chord. I know that eventually (probably years) I would memorize them, but I'm not so sure exactly how helpful that would be.
Jun-05-2013 02:07
tehlord
Supreme tranceaddict
Registered: Jan 2009
Location: Windsor
quote:
Originally posted by DjStephenWiley
but I'm not so sure exactly how helpful that would be.
More helpful than any plugin, believe me.
It's not about memorising chords or even chord patterns. It's about training your brain to think musically. You start to hear melodies and progressions in your head as you write (or I do at least) and I really can't see how the ability to do that is a waste of anybody's time.
i was thinkin about this today actually......and personally, the mpc pads are great for banging on and banging out good clusterfucking arangements,,,i dont want to be banging on my virus keyboard too much. i think the push is good for beats and sampling mashing up but not for playing actual music. juist because someone can play in key always doesnt mean they know shit babout aranging or music theory, its good for live stuff cause you dont miss a note but i woulds never use a push as a piano keyboarrd
Originally posted by DjStephenWiley
You have to be careful about what you assume when people use these. I know the "science" behind things such as chord progressions like the typical 1 3 5 stuff. I use these tools because, for me, they save time. If I didn't have them I would be forced to look up and manually punch in every single chord. I know that eventually (probably years) I would memorize them, but I'm not so sure exactly how helpful that would be.
having big stacks of prearranged midi chords is like the most stale UNmusical thing you can do, totall fail
what about playing all your chords and phrasing live always and sliucing to midi for each new arrangement, if you have stacks of idenetiical chords you get stale bro, so unininspiiring
i hate hate hate midi notes and stacks and that god awful piano rolll but midi has its purposes
