Chordware Progression Assistant

[trewq]

What are the demo limitations again? I may purchase if I can spend some time with it and catch on to it.

It's a demo/trial: 90 days.

The demo lets you store the first 16 locations only, and you cannot export.

Thanks,
Steve

[Musical Gym]

thanks Steve

I sure hope you can post a how-to video as the getting started document was too deep for me off the bat.

If you can show setup (what to do to get sound out of it) and a basic beginner's practical workflow, that would help immensely.

[trewq]

An important note about exporting, since I mentioned it (also mentioned in the Help):

Prior to export, you can clean up the midi by applying note lengths to each channel - makes sure each note has a midi-off, with no stacked notes.

It has an option that cleans up without actually changing note lengths.

[highkoo]

Not sure what is up with that error image..
This is a new link;



But yeah, no midi stuff installed on this machine I dont think...

[trewq]

thanks Steve

I sure hope you can post a how-to video as the getting started document was too deep for me off the bat.

If you can show setup (what to do to get sound out of it) and a basic beginner's practical workflow, that would help immensely.

The intention was to cover some need-to-know stuff before starting to check it out on your own. I should have made that more clear. Apologiz.

But I can definitely see how relying too much on the Help can be confusing - use about 50/50 with checking out features.

'Practical beginner workflow' will take some thought as most of what I do, other than solve problems, is take advantage of tools, tricks, and sometimes other peoples' midi having grown up playing the guitar.

So I may need some advice to help beginners help themselves.

Here is what I'm using with cwpa:

LoopMidi router (free)
Midi-Ox (free) if your audio software does not have enough midi-out capability.
Orion or FL Studio mostly. Any having midi in/out routing should do.
Audacity for any final wave or mp3 editing.

[Musical Gym]

Thanks Steve, I'll use looBe30 and see what I can do in Studio One 3.

[trewq]

An update is ready.

Harmony Replace using chord lists is much faster now! Less need for one chord at a time, just click progressions to store in real-time!

There's also an option added[*] to using input chords to filter the output list for modulating chords. Just right-click ' Filter On' on the main list window top right. This narrows it down to the most commonly used chord and scale types.

http://www.chordwarepa.com

Thanks for the feedback on this feature.

Otherwise I probably would not have considered that it needed optimization!

Best regards,

Steve

[lingyai]

P.S.
There's no sea of apps that does all this does. Simpler as in fewer features, yes, if that's what you need but don't listen to first-glance opinions.

Googling

"chord progresssion vst"

https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid ... t&start=10

gives you a sea of apps. Pages and pages.

Perhaps yours is different. But without even a basic video showing it in action, who will know? Others will win the battle for attention, whether yours is better or not.

Again, if this is successful, great. But as there is a sea of music-making apps (not just chord-related) whose developers make it easy to quickly get an idea of what their stuff does, I for one won't spend any time trying yours out if you won't lift a finger in this regard. Maybe I'm unique, lazy, spolied etc, but yes, you have to show me the thing in action before I'd even consider downloading it.

[lingyai]

Whereas this developer

http://fabriziopoce.com/progressive_se.html

makes an attempt to show what the app is about. Watch his first video, for example.

This is easy to do.

[Musical Gym]

+1 for video of basic step one, step two, etc. Otherwise I seem to get lost in a sea of windows.

[trewq]

+1 for video of basic step one, step two, etc. Otherwise I seem to get lost in a sea of windows.

Ok, got it. Thanks.

A lock-step style first video is needed I assume. Just something to get everyone started?

For now just have open: (these are positioned to accommodate and each show on the screen)

1. Player, and open the sample '*.sng' file
2. Keyboard
3. Mix

Or to just start by playing straight chords (without any content stuff)

1. Click 'scales' on the main window.
2. Right-click a scale and select 'Chord list'.
3. Click chords (with the Play box checked).

remember, almost everything has a right-click option.

Let me know about suggestions for video(s), or if you have any questions.

@ lingyai
You're right about may lack of any marketing to help in understanding.
I'll probably end up hiring someone for that.


Thanks for all your help. I really appreciate it.

Steve

[Musical Gym]

Could you do a walk-through of constructing a simple two minute song from start to finish?

[trewq]

Could you do a walk-through of constructing a simple two minute song from start to finish?

This will assume that you've looked over the Help doc, opened the sample .sng file, and started checking it out with a Player button playing.

Mostly these days, I just have fun playing with controls on Player content. And when the notion strikes, I'll put something together for release.

And content I'm always willing to share, so there will be more program files coming soon to the download page. (Most of this content started from right-clicking on chords to use Arp shuffling.)

So given that, I'll start with what I do when I put something together for release.

For me a 'song', or even just an 'instrumental', should have at least a verse, a chorus, and a bridge. The bridge is very important cause it adds closure and energy to the verse and/or chorus. (This might sound just 'old school' to some, but some form of this is inherent in any song that moves the listener, imo.)

There will often be systematic change-ups to rhythm between play buttons in a program file, so listen for that. I often will have a rhythm change when going from verse to chorus, with the bridge being a dramatic break from the verse and chorus. There's unlimited possibilities to transform rhythm with this.

For the harmony, start by staying within the same scale. Check out mode possibilities using 'Arrange' given the Keyboard's display of the notes, or use the 'Mode' selector before clicking 'Replace' on the Player (other options will also move around notes and channels). When you have found the voicing you want, take advantage of default 'Replace' which uses minimal changes for other chords. When you have a chord progression established (which sometimes sound more like a melody than chord changes), place them as input chords and click 'Filter off/on'. This chord filter removes the input scale, and uses input chords to filter the output chords (when you click Run) which will have notes from other scales (notes are highlighted). Use Replace on these 'modulating' chords until you find one that sounds good, and place it at the input to help filter chords when you 'Run' the list. 'Rinse and Repeat' as they say. This is the trick that has really helped me with any key changes, and the song as a whole. I've found that the inputs work best to filter is they are 5 note chords (pentatonic), or just suitable 5 note extensions. You can read more about this on the Help's Output List tab.

There is much more to it, but music falls in place with this when you're off to a good start. Of course you should rely on your ear, and your intuition. To get familiar with the tools and train your ear, just jam with it every day, store whatever sounds good, and just have fun. Completing a song is always a challenge though, no matter what you use.

[Musical Gym]

I was hoping you might be able to show it in a video unless you don't have the capability to create one for some reason.

[trewq]

I was hoping you might be able to show it in a video unless you don't have the capability to create one for some reason.

Yes I have the capability. But wondering how I could do that (your question) justice on video.

Or is it just a matter of needing to see 'the thing in action' first? Like lingyai wrote.

In that case there is already a video on YouTube. But its an old one using a slow computer.

I'll make an updated video soon.


Regards,
Steve