I don't totally get what this is... :)

Scaler 2 General Discussion
1

Ok, so I read about this and am checking it out. I have little actual theory knowledge.

It seems to me like it’s a chord and progression tool, with a giant library of chords and… something.

I’ve watched a few videos that seem to show people getting suggestions for chord progressions and inversions and related things (which I am particularly interested in), and seems to also show users pulling general “melody lines” (motifs?) from drop down lists. Also… a bunch of intstruments.

It also appears that something needs to be composed within Scaler first, then sent/copied/dragged into a DAW.

I understand the draw of having thousands of progressions from artists and so forth - as well as an instrument library - but I’m actually not interested in any of that. What I’m looking for is something that I can use to help discover chord progressions, and possibly melodies.

I’ve begun using Ableton 11 Suite and Bitwig, and don’t need instruments. Would kind of hope a chord tool could be recorded in real-time in a DAW - I think I saw this with Scaler, but can’t find it now.

Last… Am I missing something here? Would Scaler be overkill?

Thanks!

2

HI @andr3w Welcome to the forum. I am a little bias so best some other users chime in here but Scaler does all of what you want it to do. Sure it has hundreds of chord progressions, melodies etc but at its heart it’s a music theory workstation to help you write music, chords, melodies etc.
This playlist here may help (you can start with the first video but there is hours of content there):

You can download a free trial of the desktop or iOS version to use and check out too.
Scaler is a nice little environment that can be very rewarding and fun.

1 Like
3

Thanks! Watching now. I’ve watched a few others, and they’ve been pretty interesting.
Just realized that’s you, I think, in the videos? If so (or, even, if not) - they’re really enjoyable presentations. I’m the person who commented on Michael Hedges and octave buttons… :slight_smile:

1 Like
4

HI Andr3w

Davide was maybe too modest to say so, but it’s worthwhile noting that Scaler was created by musicians for musicians , and he has been deep in the music scene for a long time in the UK and in Oz.

The tag line with the product is ‘enable the composer within’ and although there is a library of both standard progressions and genre examples, think of these as maybe being a starting point or maybe as a hint. Importantly, get your head round performances, as there is a wealth of material to create musical lines, plus really useful motif and theme snippets etc, to trigger creativity.

But IMHO from my amateur bedroom situation it a fantastic learning tool for creating your own compositions. Sketch something out (which you can instantly audition) and then enhance that with chord extensions, the ‘suggest’ tool, multiple voicing as simple stuff, moving onto aids to doing things like modal interchange, secondary chords, and very comprehensive stuff on modulation.

If you haven’t already done so, check out https://www.youtube.com/@scalerplugin, or better still subscribe to the School of Synthesis Scaler course which is barely more than a cup of coffee, after which you will be a master.

Any of the scaler nuts here will tell you that it repays time getting into to it N fold, but it’s got a lot if little crannies and nuances to discover.

Finally if you have a passably good MIDI controller, then things like ‘bind’ and ‘keylock’ either enhance your jamming capability or if (like me) your piano skill are essentially zero, you can still turn out something musical by hitting random keys and Scaler takes care of making it fit…

On the more advanced side, multiple Scalers in your host (or indeed split across hosts) will sync together so if you are creating multiple tracks, Scaler changes made in one copy are automatically mirrored in the others. Scaler is also good for feeding things like orchestration apps like Divisimate, or arpeggiators like Blue Arp, Phrasebox etc,

I’m sure as you start to get into it, you will be able to answer your question as to what “… something” is.

5 Likes
5

Thanks! This is great info.

I think this may in fact be pretty helpful for learning a bit, and I’ve got a lot to learn. I’ve watched a few more videos now and it looks great.

I’m still trying to figure out, though, how melody works into it. I’m not sure, but thought I saw someone adding some kind of melody line, to which the software suggested a key and chords, but I may be imagining things… ?

I have a few decent MIDI controllers. Not much of a player, but I generally like to play/compose on a device. Recently got a LaunchPad, and the notes mode is really interesting… and it has a scale function, so it can lock you in to playing “legal” notes, too.

I think being able to see / learn the chords here will be nice when using this with a keyboard, as I typically just noodle around until things sound good.

Are the tutorials (paid or otherwise) updated along with the software?

cheers!

6

Hi @andr3w - While you can generate melodies in Scaler 2, sometimes I find Scaler 2 is better at the focusing on generating chord progressions and I use Melody Sauce 2 for generating melodies.

Check out this video here for ideas on a potential workflow and how the 2 plugins can work together.

VIDEO: Scaler 2 and Melody Sauce 2 Workflow

Hope it helps you. :smiley:

1 Like
7

Thanks!

I think I may just start with chords, as I’m feeling somewhat confident about creating simple melody lines… that said, I’ll take a look at Melody Sauce too.

8

As well as Melody Sauce, I’d audition two others to see which of the three fit whatever genres you are interested in.

Chord Potion, from Feel Your Sound

Phrasebox, from Venomode

However, the more I explore Scaler’s Performances, and ways to manipulate them, the more I fees there is a wealth of ideas all in the one box, so to speak.

1 Like
9

Actually, Scaler 2 is perfect for melodies (I call them solos), using your hands and A Little Help from Scaler, but it works better in the non-canonical mode i.e NOT using Keys-Lock :upside_down_face:

Check for example this mini-tutorial of mine

Because it’s not very clear how to produce a solo (melody), maybe I’ll drop a deeper tutorial, a day or another

1 Like
10

Thanks! I’ll take a look at this tonight. Appreciate the help.

1 Like
11

I always struggled to have some help for solos indeed, because the instruments able to create accompaniments are many

Scaler is very useful if you want full control, but the MIDI-based plugins like e.g. EZKeys let you make lines easily if you like just jamming

1 Like