Question about Evolution guitars custom chord mode

[rrichard63]

I've been using Flatpick 6 to explore custom chords. I think my question applies equally to all of the Evolution guitars.

True or false: when defining custom chords, at least one of the note(s) in the triggering chord must be in the range C2 to B2.

I was hoping to define a set of custom chords such that holding down a single note between C2 and B2 plays the corresponding major triad, single notes between C3 and B3 play the corresponding minor triad, single notes between C4 and B4 play the corresponding 7th chord,
etc. Am I correct that this can't be done?

Thanks in advance,
Bob Richard

[Gregjazz]

True or false: when defining custom chords, at least one of the note(s) in the triggering chord must be in the range C2 to B2.

It will recognize notes played in the entire main playing range (E1 to D5 or so depending on the range of the exact guitar).

I was hoping to define a set of custom chords such that holding down a single note between C2 and B2 plays the corresponding major triad, single notes between C3 and B3 play the corresponding minor triad, single notes between C4 and B4 play the corresponding 7th chord,
etc. Am I correct that this can't be done?

The chord detection doesn't account for the register in which you play the chord, so that isn't possible. However, you could try a setup like this:

Single note: major chord voicing
Root + minor 3rd: minor chord voicing
Root + major 7th: major 7 chord voicing
Root + minor 7th: minor 7 chord voicing

That way you can trigger all those chords using either a single note (for major) or two notes for minor/m7/M7 chords.

Alternatively you could just set up the diatonic chords based on the key you're in. So in the key of C, holding down a C will select a C major voicing, holding down D selects the D minor voicing, and so on. And then should your song need a chord outside those options, you could add more voicings that use two notes to be selected.

[rrichard63]

... It will recognize notes played in the entire main playing range (E1 to D5 or so depending on the range of the exact guitar). ...

Thanks. I have no idea how I came to my original conclusion, unless I wasn't paying enough attention to the "Learn New Chord" and "Play Chord" prompts.

The chord detection doesn't account for the register in which you play the chord, so that isn't possible. However, you could try a setup like this:

Single note: major chord voicing
Root + minor 3rd: minor chord voicing
Root + major 7th: major 7 chord voicing
Root + minor 7th: minor 7 chord voicing

That way you can trigger all those chords using either a single note (for major) or two notes for minor/m7/M7 chords.

Alternatively you could just set up the diatonic chords based on the key you're in. So in the key of C, holding down a C will select a C major voicing, holding down D selects the D minor voicing, and so on. And then should your song need a chord outside those options, you could add more voicings that use two notes to be selected.

I had already tried both of those approaches, and they are workable. But I now have a way to do exactly what I want with a chord-maker MIDI plugin in front of Kontakt, and Flatpick 6 set to its "Automatic Chords" mode. "Held Notes Only" also works if you don't mind a few notes being played on the wrong string.

[Gregjazz]

I realized that if you go the route of using root notes for diatonic chords (in the key of C, holding C will give you C major, D will give you D minor, etc.), you could use the five keys outside of the scale tones to provide alternate voicings with single keys. Ultimately when you create a custom voicing, the input note/chord can be whatever you want--whichever "alias" for that chord you want to use.

By the way, we've made some improvements to the automatic chords mode which will debut in the upcoming Evolution Hollowbody Blues library (available 1-2 weeks from now). I'm hoping to quickly release updates for the rest of the Evolution guitar libraries to bring them up to speed with these improvements--plus the big addition of the new guitar cabinet impulse collection.