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Scaler 2 fans, how are you actually using it for song writing?
So I've listened to most of the Sound for More tutorials, and have gotten past the initial learning curve with the full iOS version of Scaler 2. My gut feeling is that this could be one of the best song-writing software tools I have.
Though I've played instruments a long time and have written a few songs lately, my workflow has been to write melody and lyrics first, then work on chords or harmony. Not easy! Seems either like voodoo, or innate unteachable instinct, or an arbitrary choice to just pick a progression. And maybe to some degree that will still be the case.
Anyway, Scaler 2 so far seems like a great way to get a much better handle on chords, and extend and explore harmony. Last night, I worked on a song that already had melody and vocals, and used my guitar to finger chords and Scaler to sound out chord ideas quickly. I've also worked out using it via AUM to send MIDI out to my MPC (my primary music-making platform for now.)
Scaler goes way, way, way past my knowledge of harmony. But it appears I can dip into it well enough with what I know.
So for you Scaler 2 fans... how has it worked for you in your song composing workflow!
Thanks
Comments
For the workflow you have going, I'd suggest getting your basic chord progression down with guitar, then using Scaler 2 to explore voicings and alternate chords that you can use instead of the basic chords you recorded. So if you have an Am Em F G, use the main window of Scaler 2 to explore different versions of those chords, like an Am7 Em11 Fsus2 Gsus4. You can also explore doubling your chord progression, but using twice the number of chords that use the basic skeleton. So let's say you have that initial progression across 4 bars, keep the 4 bars but have the chords change at every two beats and use different voicings or replacements for the second chord in each bar... Like Am Am7 Em Em11 F Fsus2 G Gsus4.
This way you can use Scaler 2 to add more harmony, movement, and tension to what you already do.
In the future, you might consider starting with a chord progression first instead of melody. That way you can punch out an interesting progression, then create a melody that works with that... Your current way of writing will dictate the chords you can use, but starting with chords will give you a way to explore voicings that then dictate the melody you can use.
Just a couple thoughts given what you shared.
Thanks!
So are you using Scaler 2? If so, how much are you using it with audio-MIDI integrated to your setup? Yesterday, my creative workflow went better without the tech integration.
I do everything inside AUM, hook up my live instruments or just use ipad instruments.
There are a lot of things you can do once you're anchored with your chord sequence. Some overarching ideas once you've found a progression and melody...
-send the chords to an arp (Bleass Arp, Cykle, Arpbud 2, Steppolyarp, etc.) then an instrument
-send the root to Kebarp then to Rozeta Scaler to make sure notes are in scale and key
-play with a step or more creative sequencer in the same key and scale and get a repeating or evolving riff that sounds good over the chords (Riffer, Neon, Harmony Bloom, Cykle, Polybud, etc)
-send the chords to Ibassist and find or write a bassline you like
-create more Scaler 2 instances, sync chords, then find bass, arpeggios, phrases, etc. and have them all play out of different Scaler 2 sounds (or send the midi to your chosen instruments)
-play with Riffler and Riffler Flow to find riffs that sound good with your chords
-use Midigates on any sequences to thin them out. Or, send a sequence already going to an instrument to Midigates, then to Rozeta Scaler pitched up or down, locked to scale and key, then send to another instrument to get harmony (this combo of Midigates and Rozeta Scaler can be really powerful... You can take one sequence. Send it to multiple chains of the two apps, then to multiple instruments to get lots of harmony going that isn't too busy since Midigates can take down the busy-ness)
I think the big key is really using Scaler 2 to find interesting progressions that work with a melody, then using the progression and melody as an anchor to create harmony using many of the aforementioned ideas. Since everything above is based on your chords and melody, it will all work harmonically. Then it's just a matter of style and taste.
One way I use Scaler 2 is to make a chord progression I like. Have that play a piano for instance.
Then work out a melody line or at least an evolving monophonic line that I like. I'll use my guitar, violin hooked up to AUM, or a piano roll or step sequencer hooked up to a synth. If I'm doing something less songwriterish I might start playing with a more creative sequencer like Neon or Harmony Bloom to get something going over the chord changes.
The I might take a melodic monophonic sequence that works over the chords and send it to Rozeta Scaler, pitch it up like 5 or 7 semitones, and send that to another instrument for some harmony. I might put a midi gates in between to thin out the stream so it doesn't always play notes at the same time as the melody.
I'll then start another Scaler 2 and then go back to the first Scaler 2 instance and sync the instances (press the Scaler 2 icon on the upper left and you can sync all your instances). I'll then choose a bass sound, then turn on perform and choose a bassline.
I might send the original chord sequence to an arpeggiator then to another synth, sometimes with midi gates in between to thin things out. Or I might start another Scaler 2 instance, sync the chords, then choose an instrument and a performance mode that plays phrases, arps, etc..
Then add drums.
This is just one way I might go about using Scaler 2 starting with chords to get something up and running. There are so many cool things you can do with it.
If I were doing something with a consistent melody and lyrics, I might work on a melody that works with the chords, then lyrics.
The add other elements like the bass, beat, harmony lines, harmonic textures like arps and pads, etc..
You can do a lot just using multiple instances of Scaler 2 by syncing the chords and having one instance play chords, another bass lines, another arps, and another phrases. The included sounds are high quality and diverse enough that you can get pretty far without opening another synth/instrument.
Hope this helps!
Wow! A MasterClass in iOS in one post. Thank you, sir.
You are very welcome! I love talking process. How are you currently using the MPC with AUM and Scaler 2? To compose? Trigger?
I've made sequencers in AUM my main composition brain (like Scaler 2 for chords, Playbeat 3 for beats, then various step sequencers, piano rolls, or creative sequencers for the melody, harmony, and texture). It's a far cry from when I used AUM mostly to mix instruments together, but I also enjoy and miss when loops of my acoustic/electric instruments would form the backbone of what I make. I find that the creative process is all about ebb and flow as you want to explore new things.
I've been playing my guitars and violins less as I've been busy exploring what I can do with ios sequencing... But I am excited to see what looping with Loopy Pro can get me doing now that I feel like I have a clearer sense of how to take advantage of all the sounds and sequencing possibilities that AUM provides with its incredible routing. The follow actions in Loopy Pro look like a powerful way to get a song structure going using recorded loops, and if everything is recorded well in time, I can start adding sequenced instruments into the mix. Oh boy!
Last night, I had Scaler 2 set up to send MIDI to the MPC via AUM. But I ended up listening to the melody I had on an MPC track, and doing most of the chord identification by my guitar. Scaler 2 helped me to stay on track with the scale and chords in that scale, so it was like an interactive reference book with sound capabilities. To get the chords on an MPC track, I recorded them using a keyboard with the MPC playhead not moving (List Edit mode on MPC), then tweaked the note lengths and velocities via the MPC grid.
My "problem" as a composing musician is that -- despite deep frustrations with the instrument -- I know guitar so well it is by far easier for me to intuitively hear and play notes with it, and finger at least the typical triad chords with it -- than any other way.
It'd be nice someday to have the keyboard under my fingers so well.
I eventually cracked and bought it to see what I could use it for. So far it’s been kind of as expected, but maybe I need to dig a little deeper to get to some less expected structures.
What I did find it useful for is accompaniment for soloing with various instruments.
I hear you. Violin is like that for me... Deeply frustrating but I have the most facility with it and can just play by ear and feel.
Have you sent the audio from your guitar into Scaler 2 to grab the chords? I do that sometimes to noodle on guitar chords, find what I like, then actually ID the chord since my music theory knowledge isn't nearly as high as my ability to play.
What has really helped me is every time I have picked up an unfamiliar instrument and played it. Sometimes there are certain keys that work better than others, sometimes the instrument is typically tuned to a non-chromatic set of notes, sometimes it transposes, etc. Putting yourself in unfamiliar territory is a really good way to stretch your knowledge and ability.
Good advice. I don't have access to instruments I don't know how to play at the moment, but when I did I loved just experimenting.
Scaler 2's chord ID is really great for helping people use instruments they know how to use to write chords if they, like me, can play more than their knowledge of music theory might suggest. I can play chords on mandolin that I like the sound of but would take me a good amount of thinking to figure out those chords are named for when I want to program out chords using a sequencer.
I got Scaler 2 when it came out and I've opened and closed it many times without really getting anywhere. That there is a nice tips and I tried and actually got something going. So, thank you.. 😃
You don’t really need to know what the name of chords are, but music theory does generate some great ideas that might take a little longer to figure out without it. Good composers run the entire gamut of music theory (or lack thereof).
The more Scaler 2 use the better... I'm glad it got something started for you, bud!
True, but the names definitely help when sequencing chords...until they make an app that can sequence what I hear in my head lol
To answer your question, no, I haven’t run guitar yet through Scaler 2. I’ll give it a try thx.
Let us know how it works for ya.
So do you folks who use Scaler 2 iOS also use the VST version for desktop DAW? If so, is it fairly painless to swap Scaler files between iOS and desktop?
For me, Scaler 2 is half performance tool and half music training tool. I'll use some of the built in progression styles to get an idea of the chord movement of a particular style, and study the movement of the harmony, then try to create something based on that style, using some of the chords. It's great for finding very unusual chord progressions too - pick a scale and a key and start building a chord set, and changing out different chords types - 9ths, 11ths, altered, and so forth. If you already have a chord progression that you like it's a fantastic tool for finding chord voicings that bring out the smoothest and most pleasing movement - it can automatically select chord voicings that provide good voice leading. I also use it to find alternate chords for existing progressions, and use the harmony tools to find ways to bring in borrowed chords. The Mod page is very useful for leveraging some theory to find chords that fit together, without having to know about modal interchange or all that stuff. The performances are very useful for bringing out accompaniment with the chord progression. And finally, this is a bit nerdy, but the most interesting part for me is looking at the note movement on the top piano keyboard display when switching between chords, and understanding the inner and outer movement that creates the distinctive sounds of each style, although it is tough going!
Thanks for sharing…great advice and ideas here.
A little talked about feature is that you can feed chords (notes) into Scaler and use its performance features without programming chords inside of it. AND the instruments inside of Scaler aren't bad at all.
Yeah honestly the instruments are pretty great. The performance features by genre are spot on too.
Scaler 2.9 (soon coming to iOS) video dropped yesterday. Passages, new arp patterns (converge, diverge) and Live suggest mode look like very useful additions.
No word on when this will drop?
I use Scaler like a NDLR, triggering multiple plugins in AUM. I will usually create my own chord progressions then send the MIDI chords to Pianoteq, a poly synth for pads, a mono synth for leads, and an arpeggiator connected to another mono synth for bass. I usually got drums synced with Splat-to-Clat. This is a great foundation to build a song from.
Yes, yes it is
Very interesting topic, thank you all for the insights. Does it make sense to buy both Scaler2 and Progressions from 4Pockets or is Progressions just a subset of what Scaler can do? I don't have any of them and I'm a little worried about learning curve and complexity of Scaler. If that's the best I can get in this category of apps, I'm ready to torture my brain in a good way.
I'm also interested in the kind of results you can get from these two.
Does Scaler 2 have functions that can give results similar to Progressions' "Freedom" and "Complexity" settings?
@Tyronn Within a week or two, according to some posts on their forum.
Perhaps consider that they have started talking about Scaler 3, which will be a separate purchase. Maybe 2.9 is the last update in the 2.x series. Who knows how many months until that happens.
@filo01 I wouldn´t worry too much about complexity, there are so many good tutorial videos out there, and the basic concept of dragging chords into place then setting up performance modes isn´t all that hard
Thank you @bleep. I see in their release history that they made 2.x.y subversion quite often in the past so it may still be worth buying 2.9 instead of waiting for 3.0 with an unclear release date. I found there was possible to upgrade from Scaler1 to Scaler2 so I hope they hold the line with Scaler3 as well.