Sundog Scale Studio 1.3.0 out now: Standalone MIDI tool for chord progressions and melodies

[hauke]

Hi everybody,

I just released v1.3.0 of Sundog Scale Studio.

Sundog is a standalone MIDI tool for Mac OS X and Windows. Perfectly fine to do the following things:

• Explore different scales
• Find chords and chord progressions by clicking and listening
• Create arpeggios, basslines, and melodies by binding rhythmic patterns to chord progressions or scales
• Create whole songs from scratch: Use Sundog as a sketchpad for melodies, then export your results as standard MIDI files

To cut it short: You can either use it to dive deeper/quicker into music theory - or to bypass it

Here is a short description of the way it works:

1. Connect Sundog to your DAW via MIDI.
2. Pick a scale - like C Major or E Minor.
3. Sundog will show you a list of chords that can be used on this scale.
4. Create a chord progression by clicking and listening.
5. Use the internal step sequencer to create melodies or arpeggios on your chords and scale notes.

In this 2.5 minutes video you can see the workflow in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzRm3Lxaiww

New in version 1.3.0:

• Velocity for instruments and steps.
• Select instruments by their GM names.
• Select fixed notes by their GM drum names.
• Easier value selection by clicking.
• Songs and chord progressions with up to 16 bars.
• Change base-note and scale in Chords View.
• Change base-note and scale in Jam View.
• Remove already played notes by holding down the right mouse button during recording-playback.
• Step numbers above pattern steps.
• Songs load faster.
• Ask before Exit (you can turn this off in the settings).
• Replay from current position in Chords View (Ctrl + Play, or right mouse click on position-field).
• Better polyphonic note support.
• Patterns with up to 64 steps.
• Faster MIDI drag and drop.

You can get the demo here:
http://feelyoursound.com/sundog/

I hope you like it . Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or feedback!

Cheers,
Hauke of feelyoursound.com

[tatanka]

Hello,

just want to tell evrybody this is really a cool and fun application !

I started trying it with 1.2.0 and the new version really ads some good additional functions. It really helps in composing from complete songs to just additional riffs and phrases. I use it in cooperation with these great musicmashines from H.G. for some ambient kind of stuff. This way I can use the weirdest scales for example without any knowledge of musi theory at all

The demo is really fair and you could tryout really evrything you need, even drag and drop the midi file for a few times. You have to be open for the really new concept and structure of the software, just give it an hour to get familiar with it, but then it is really fun and easy to use.

Develloping of the tool goes on so I am sure cool thinks to come in the future

Richard

[artificial]

Hello,

just want to tell evrybody this is really a cool and fun application !

I started trying it with 1.2.0 and the new version really ads some good additional functions. It really helps in composing from complete songs to just additional riffs and phrases. I use it in cooperation with these great musicmashines from H.G. for some ambient kind of stuff. This way I can use the weirdest scales for example without any knowledge of musi theory at all

The demo is really fair and you could tryout really evrything you need, even drag and drop the midi file for a few times. You have to be open for the really new concept and structure of the software, just give it an hour to get familiar with it, but then it is really fun and easy to use.

Develloping of the tool goes on so I am sure cool thinks to come in the future

Richard

+1
I'm also a user of Sundog and it defintely helped me overcome quite a big writers block. So far, I really like its straightforward approach! Very much recommended.

And Hauke, thanks for the update - it really adds some useful features.

[valerian_777]

demo it and bough it!

[untimelyman]

How does this compare with RapidComposer?

[tatanka]

Hello untimelyman,

I must say I have only used Rapid Composer demo a while ago. But first point: I had the feeling that it would take me ONE MONTH to decide if I really could handle it and if it would be really usefull for me. So just load the demo from sundog, invest ONE HOUR with installation, video and first own song then you know ther difference .

O.k., lets get honest as far as I know some differences:
- Sundog at the moment (the development is really fast and strong though !) is, in my opinion, something inbetween a very evolved chordprogression generator/step sequencer and a complete song composition tool
- Sundog has no sound integrated nor vst version, so (at the moment) you have to use a midi connection to another sound resource but that works without problem. I for example use a midi keyboard/sounddog/Mulab free or Tracktion, works with no problems
- the basic concept for Sundog is really new and innovative (for that you need the one hour to understand this concept, then evrything explains itself) and in the center stands one idea: ease of use ! To be honest, in my tries with rapid composer I did not get this concept, for me there where many great ideas and basic approach but maybe more from a develloper sight then from a musician
- maybe that leads to the main difference: rapdid composer tries to be evrything in one place, sundog is mainly for easy generating of song chord progression, phrases and melodies that fit together perfectly and that you could easily assemble into a song

Hope that helps a little, but tryout the demo is really worth it and without this "this is not possible in the demo version" shit,

Richard

[hauke]

tatanka: Thanks for your reply concerning Rapid Composer!
I'm a little bit biased here, so I would prefer to remain silent . But tatanka's main points are valid I think.

My plan is to keep the user interface and the main concept as easy as it is now, but for future versions I want to "complete" the songwriting process as good as possible (e.g. supporting different song parts in one Sundog file etc).

[buhrmi]

Hello hauke,

I love your app and bought it in a heartbeat. What I'm missing the most, I guess, is an option to add inversions of chords instead of only the main chord. Would be cool if something like this can be added

Stefan

[hauke]

Hi Stefan,

chord inversions are already included! They use the same notation as the main chord, but also have a slash symbol and another note in their names.

Example:
Let's take the C Major scale and inside that the E minor chord. You can find the first inversion - Emin/G - in the fifth column (where all chords share the base note G). The second inversion - Emin/B - can be found in the seventh column (where all chords share the base note B).
Due to space constraints I didn't write down the number of the inversion. But I hope I could make clear now how you can find chord inversions within the chord matrix .

Greetings,
Hauke

[TheKid]

This looks easy indeed, i will try the next few days. Is there a way to prolong a key instead of triggering it again when a part of the next chord doesnt change e.g. C major to C minor?

[hauke]

On prolonged notes: No, that's not possible at the moment. But it's a good idea! I think this will be a new point on my todo list

[golddustwoman]

I bought too. I would recommend this software to anyone using a standard DAW - it hooks up easily and the operation is incredibly quick, so ideas flow very quickly. Download the demo and you'll get what I mean!

[BrockHardcastle]

Hauke

I bought Sundog last month. Is the upgrade free to paid users?

Thank you!

[dsan@mail.com]

Hauke

I bought Sundog last month. Is the upgrade free to paid users?

Thank you!

From the FAQ pages:

"What is your Update Policy?
You will get all updates for free, forever."

I suspect dl the demo and if needed, enter your registration code and you're good to go.

Good question Brock

His policy makes me more interested

Happy Musiking!
dsan

[goatgirl]

Watching the demo video (on the website) has literally made me hungry !