How to use Scaler (partially) to do a Rick Wakeman synth solo - Part one

Well, actually, having a virtual minimoog is not enough to make a Rick Wakeman synth part :grin: but I had a lot of fun testing the amazing sounds of the Minimonsta

I started soloing with the synth on a C major Locrian scale and my Broomstick Bass
I used an Ableton scale, instead of Scaler, because I wanted just auditing the Minimonsta sounds, and I ended to select a mix of vocals and flutes called Voices Pad - With Wind

The first problem was that BB includes just 4 prog riffs and no one enticing, so I had to select a rocky preset to jam on

I also tried to add a prog guitar (driven by Scaler), but I realized that my AAS Strum-GS 2 doesnโ€™t have prog patterns, so I used a mix of rock presets to build the part

After a while a nice riff came out from the Minimonsta, so I developed the mock a bit adding EZbass and EZdrummer (that have both many prog patterns :grinning:)

Now, this lack of prog MIDIs in the plugins I usually use to jam will likely drive me to change the workflow, and Iโ€™ll show it in the Part 2, but now let me show the first test

The routing for jamming is easy: one track with Minimonsta and one for BB

To drive AAS Strum-GS 2 I used one Scaler and I found by ear a scale different from the Minimonsta one, but able to produce a nice rhythm

To have the guitar variation I used the 2-tracks trick, that is putting a MIDI track with Scaler chords and send them to the guitar with the routing below, while on the AAS Strum-GS 2 track you audit and select suitable loops by ear

Here you see the Scaler chords in the MIDI tracks, and a series of AAS Strum-GS 2 patterns pasted by ear

Here is Scaler for the guitar

Scaler for guitar.xml (11.6 KB)

here is the MIDIs for the bass the drums and the guitar

bass.mid (7.1 KB)
EZDrums.mid (16.9 KB)
Guitar.mid (7.6 KB)

I also tried to make bassline and drumsline more variable, as they usually are in the prog tunes

And here is the result Moogy Voice

3 Likes