Few things I don't find solutions to

Scaler 2 Support
1

I have a few topics here that I can’t find solutions to them, maybe it’s there somewhere, and if someone knows please show me how to do it.

  1. in the middle of a progression I want to play manually, with my launch key, a chord of my own, how can I easily do it?
  2. I want to find a Bpart for my composition, and want to find ideas with the “Songs\Artist” presets, how can I lock the scale of the presets to the root note im on?
  3. substitutions, common, give me options there, I want a list of chords that I can substitute a chord that does not match, not the same chord with tensions, an actually substitute chord, that matches the chords before and after, how can I do that?
  4. I like a phrase or any other preset that scaler gives me inside the “perform” mode, but I want to change a few things in it, to match my composition a bit more, how can I do it inside the preset, without midi capture and change it manually? (because then I cannot use it later)

There are many more, but ill start with finding solutions to the basic stuff that I need, if someone figured it out please give me a shout

2

Hi @Mr.Talchik

If you like a preset but it is not in the scale you want you can easily change the scale by transposing the patterns (see my tutorial on Transposing Patterns).

There are a number of options for this within Scaler. The firsta is to use the CHORD page to find chords as described in Searching for Chord Variations and Extensions.

I think a second option may be to use the MOD page, exploring Modal Interchange, Secondary Dominants, Mediants and Neo-Reimannian modulations.

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thanx ed for your response!
im asking questions that I don’t find answers to them, later ill post in “future requests” if Ill does not find an answer.
for the transposition question, I know i can transpose manually, my question is how to lock the scale\root note to something I already composed, I know there is a button for it, but practically it works only sometimes. it’s really impractical in the middle of compositions to go randomly on a different scales\root keys. ill give an example here. my root is Gb and I locked the root key, now it ignored me completely and found something new in C# -

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and for the chord substitutions question. I know those options, but non of them is a chord substitution, it only ways to shoot in the dark, I use sometimes the mod options, but it’s not real. for example, a possible substitution for Cmaj, is Am7 or Am9. thers is no option for that anywhere, and this is so basic. or is there is and i don’t find it?

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Have you tried Suggestions button on the main page C section? Chords need to be in C section already.

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Yeah, it give a suggestion to what comes after, not to the chord itself. I wish they would do something similar to chord substitutions

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If you right-click the chord in Section C and choose COMMON TONE → SUBMEDIANT → MORE CHORDS You will find these and many more

chord subs 2
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You could also choose COMMON TONE → MEDIANT → MORE CHORDS or COMMON TONE → MODAL INTERCHANGE → TRIADS or SEVENTHS

chord subs 4
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Thank you for raising this as I have learnt something new on finding these chords: sometimes one has to explore around an app to find its hidden gems.

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Yeah man you’re right!
I actually found this option after I wrote, but it is not satisfying, there aren’t many options there, there are only two, again, with tensions, and the third one is the same chord, with tensions, again.
also, I cannot hear the chords before I choose, and even after I choose they appear in a different range than my section C progression. which in conclusion makes this almost unusable while working.
Further, the fact that you mentioned this as a hidden gem for what should be a basic option indicates the program’s efficiency.
I wrote that and more in a post to the Scaler developers because I use it for almost a year and I find it very frustrating. Despite all the potential this program has, I’m unable to do more than find a few chords on it, and it’s a missed opportunity because it claims to be so much more.

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Have you looked at potential alternatives to Scaler ? Are there any candidates you have seen which might provide the functions that you need ?

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Not yet, I did not search deeply, I wish there was. do you know any?
I think Scaler is really close to being a really smart program, they just do not connect the parts correctly at the moment.

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No. I haven’t.

VST wise, Rapid Composer has some things in, and are there are apps like Hookpad’s Magic Chords e.g. Hookpad User Guide , but these are nowhere near the sophistication that you require, or have such a tight focus.

I do use a couple of helpful guitar apps to supplement Scaler.

One challenge for the Scaler developers is that I believe the user community is a very ‘broad church’, with divers users with widely different needs. So, for example you cited some aspects of Scaler you thought were irrelevant or superfluous, but which many user might see as key. There is also IMHO a big difference in the requirements of guitarists like you and piano focused users.

It’s hard to be all things to all men.

I’m sure that it will evolve and get better going forward. a big difference to many apps in my view is that Scaler has been built by people with a deep involvement with the music industry, and which they use daily to make their daily bread, so to speak…

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Hands down, Scaler is the most advanced program I saw, actually, my mind was blown when Scaler 2 was out and I saw the promotion video. Since then I’m using it for almost a year and I’m frustrated every time I want to compose with it.
If I break it down, I think the chord substitution is the biggest flaw right now. The ability to find substitutes for the chords given is a really basic function, for all users. If they could fix this part, I can take a detour to all the other things that are almost done correctly.
Writing a program is a challenging task for sure, but I think most options the program gives are…really almost there. Some examples:

SYNC- Having the ability to choose which instances I can control will allow me to use this option, but without it, I won’t be able to use it at all, since I have so many parts in my composition… so SYNC is so clever, that with one simple step could turn from unusable to genius.

SOUND PRESET - Why should that area be developed? Scaler controls all of your VST’s, giving you much greater control over the sound. This is such a brilliant feature! By adding more and more sound presets Scaler becomes heavier and heavier, which is a step backward… use your DEV team resources to make the program more usable, not less. Since it’s pretty much easy to do, they could say they added something in the update, but I don’t think it’s a clever thing to do, and I think it’s kind of lazy.

SUBSTITUTIONS OPTIONS - If you right-click on a chord, you’ll find some basic substitution options, but! You can’t hear them, and clicking on them doesn’t seem to put them in the range of your progression, making this option only useful for people who actually know how it will sound, which are people who don’t really need Scaler, making this option truly unusable… with an option to hear the chord before and lock it to the scale this option would be nice. without it, it’s almost better to not have this option at all.

Sound like I’m ranting, but that is not the intention! Since this software is close to being groundbreaking, I’m trying very hard to bring the difficulties I’m experiencing to light.
In general, it seems like the “creative department” brings brilliant ideas, but then the “software development department” just ain’t executing them smartly, they’re missing an option or two.

Hands down, I would pay a lot of money, much more than what it currently costs, if this software would glue everything together. Honestly, I don’t think what I’m suggesting is niche. If they want it to be a “composer tool”, guitarists and pianists’ basic needs are generally similar. The program is currently more based on randomness than focus, but it claims to be focused, and that is the direction it is headed in. Because I know it’s not easy to figure things out, I’m trying to help by “ranting”, I don’t think saying everything is fine will help me save time, or, most importantly, help the developers to make a breakthrough program, even though they are so close…

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Thanks for the feedback - we are listening. I sense a defensive tone because I know many of our followers can also be a little defensive. The two things I would say is that Scaler is far from perfect, it never will be but we are improving and our vision for the future is strong. So I am hopeful that all areas will improve especially with lots of helpful feedback like yours. Secondly do remember that we do have many of the worlds top composers and producers using it whom we are also in close dialogue with. So whilst you’re option is x=y it is one persons opinion amongst the many we are always considering.

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