Thu Jun 14, 2007 3:57 am   Reply with quote      

hi there, just new to the producing world using ableton live and been trying to understand key and scale theory over the last couple of nights and just wondering once you have created a drumloop for your track how do you determine which key your going to create your bassline and lead
around eg c major, c minor etc and is it correct that the chords or strings would have a root key which is the first key used in the bassline you create.

Any tips or advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated even if its just a couple of basics to stick by until I start to understand it better as I didn't know about any of this and was just chucking any old notes in when creating a midi bass/lead or chord.

Thankyou for your time.

Mon Jul 02, 2007 4:53 am   Reply with quote      

Hi Adam,

It sounds like you are interested in music theory. This is actually a pretty complicated topic, but here are some pointers:

1) If you are writing a song from scratch, you can pick any root note. If you play piano/guitar/some instrument, then your first job is to come up with a melody. There are lots of ways to do this. But if you aren't already proficient, then you should probably start with a base sample. See http://sonictransfer.com/samples-sampling-music-samples.shtml. The rest of these tips assume that you are using a sample for inspiration.

2) Assuming that you already have a loop in place, your next job is to find the root note of the sample. If you are playing everything with a keyboard, just hit all the keys from C to B and listen to see which note sounds closest to the pitch of the original sample. NOTE: Your sample should not change keys - the easiest way to ensure this is to use a short (< 2 second) sample.

2a) A useful trick is to tune your synth so that C on your keyboard matches the root note of the sample. This is because the C major scale on the keyboard is all white keys and the C natural minor scale is almost all white keys (Eb is played instead of E). You can use the Ableton MIDI plugin called Pitch to transpose your incoming MIDI notes so that your keyboard's C note matches the root note of the sample. If you then insert a scale plugin with a C minor preset, you can hit any key on the keyboard and it will probably sound OK.

3) The next step is determining the rhythm of your bassline / lead. If you are programming everything by hand, the easiest way to start is to write the rhythm using the root note. Then move the pitch of the notes you've drawn to create a melody. Then layer additional notes on top of the existing notes to create chords. Then add any ghost (quiet) notes as needed.

My Best Tip: Instead of focusing on learning music theory, you should writing music! There is a way to do both: cover other people's songs. Here's how:

1) Load up one of your favorite songs into Ableton.
2) Use the warp markers so that it aligns with the metronome.
3) Try to find a synthesizer patch that approximates the bass used in the song.
3) Use the synthesizer to copy the notes as close as possible. I usually work one measure at a time.

The more you do this, the better you will be at seeing vertical distance between notes (intervals) as well as horizontal spacing between notes (rhythm). You'll also have a collection of patches that closely approximate your favorite songs.

Sun Oct 05, 2008 8:39 pm   Reply with quote      

HI Matt,

i realize this is an old thread..but could you pls clarify on points 3 & 4? Do you mean to say that one should play all notes to see which fits the rhythm of the bassline?

Thanks for you help