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Author Topic: Scale Question  (Read 6580 times)

trans6

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Scale Question
« on: December 25, 2016, 10:00:12 pm »
Hi, I don't think I quite understand how scales work on the Beatstep pro. I'm used to using scales on apps like Gadget and ThumbJam, where you select the key  and a scale e.g.: "D minor" scale or "C major", but on the beatstep although I can make something major or minor etc I can't  work out where you select the key of the scale.

megamarkd

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Re: Scale Question
« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2016, 07:52:26 am »
The scales will only work when assigning notes via the knobs.  They will only use the notes in the scale selected when you use the knobs but will allow any note to be entered via the pads (I guess to allow for notes to be entered that are not apart of the selected scale if you wish to use them).
Currently running https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/1311723 / www.modulargrid.net, sequencing with KSP and recording with a Zoom (no DAW involved, for better or worse ;) )

funktree

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Re: Scale Question
« Reply #2 on: March 08, 2017, 01:07:56 am »
So when I transpose by hitting the SEQUENCER X + PAD (Bottom line) all the notes in sequence will get transposed by what ever the interval is. So going from C to E (selected C and clicking SEQUENCER X + BOTTOM PAD3):

a) will shift all the notes by 5 semitones up... correct ?
b) the BSP will keep the intervals in selected scale/key ... making all the correction to keep all transposed notes in  C major (if my scale was set to major upper pad row)

which of these two ? 

megamarkd

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Re: Scale Question
« Reply #3 on: March 08, 2017, 02:43:04 am »
It will transpose the notes chromatically by whatever interval you punch in.  So if you have a sequence running C-E-G-A-F-D and then hit the E pad in transpose mode, that string will change to E-G-B-C#-A-F#.  Transpose doesn't work like a composer manually transposing a piece while following the rules of musical composition. A simple note shift 'tis all it effects.  Would have been more accurately named "Note Shift", but it's become a standard to call note shift transpose for a long, long time now.  I used to think it was due to some electronic engineer naming it that in the 70's on his first sequencer when someone out of Pink Floyd asked him to make a transposable sequencer.

Setting the scale of a pattern will ensure that if you specifically programmed a particular (musical) scale mode and key, when you adjust that pattern using the knobs, it won't fall out of key.  It won't ensure that the correct scale is kept intact when playing-in the note of a pattern using the pads or an external controller.  Sorta useful, but also not really, as people who want to keep everything musically correct are generally practised musicians and will want to play those notes into the sequence, not set values with knobs.
If there was a way to change all the note values of a selected pattern, then proper musical transposition would be achievable in a single action.

Oh yeah, the top line of pads work in transpose just like when punching in notes to a sequence.  All the black keys are available so you can get any interval shift you want.
Currently running https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/1311723 / www.modulargrid.net, sequencing with KSP and recording with a Zoom (no DAW involved, for better or worse ;) )

funktree

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Re: Scale Question
« Reply #4 on: March 09, 2017, 03:14:43 am »
thanks megamarkd!
so it behaves like most of the equipment these days... 

megamarkd

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Re: Scale Question
« Reply #5 on: March 11, 2017, 06:46:23 am »
Heheh, yeah.  I remember getting my M1 decades ago (my first digital synth) and wondering why transpose was labelled as such when it didn't "transpose" at all (I was a trombone player at the time).
I have a BCR2000 loaded with the Zaquencer firmware and it does real transposing.  It's wild to hear everything actually change key when I use the function.  With it, I can right a 1min30sec pop song and extend it to 2min by employing a key change just like the pros do!  ;)
Currently running https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/1311723 / www.modulargrid.net, sequencing with KSP and recording with a Zoom (no DAW involved, for better or worse ;) )

 

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