Scaler 2

[djdriver]

Hi,

I've tried Scaler 2 for chord progressions but it's hard for me to get something more original out of it.
Do you guys think it's a good tool?
Or should I not bother with it and do music theory instead?

Scaler 2 is reliable workhorse. It'll make piloting chord progressions and different scales much much faster even if you already know music theory. It's not about replacing the need of music theory. It's about streamlining the experience of testing things out with music theory.

I urge you to watch tutorials and maybe even buy the Scaler 2 course from the developer where they go through everything in a structured manner. It's a very powerful tool, but you need to actually learn to utilize it in order to benefit from it.

I agree -- the official tutorials are long and detailed, but worth the effort if you really want to take advantage of the more complicated functions this plugin is capable of!

[lekima]

As a newbie, I love how easy it is to find common chord progressions (of various genres), as well as adding similar chords (via Suggest feature) to existing patterns. I think it's a great learning tool. (Felt Piano sounds great as an instrument too!)

[PureFrancis]

also the detect function is usefull tool

[tommyzai]

I'm trying to figure out if Scaler 2 or any app can import a user's melody, analyze it, then provide chord suggestions.

[machinesworking]

I'm trying to figure out if Scaler 2 or any app can import a user's melody, analyze it, then provide chord suggestions.

Yeah that's essentially what it does. What I will do is figure out the scale the melody is in, and input the scale in to get chord suggestions.

My biggest complaint is that I will know the root note of the melody/scale i input in, and Scaler will toss out a list with every possible scale with those notes, i.e. there's nothing in the code that lets you tell Scaler what the root note is.

I need to write them about this, it doesn't seem like that hard of an issue to fix, and IMO there should be a way to tell Scaler what the root is.

[Soundsphat]

Love Scaler 2 and own it already. I was wondering if it's worth upgrading to Scaler 3? What are the advantages of upgrading here?

[Alexander_D]

Love Scaler 2 and own it already. I was wondering if it's worth upgrading to Scaler 3? What are the advantages of upgrading here?

Love it as well. You can check the prevew videos on YouTube and decide. I already purchased the update to Scaler 3. Waiting 25th of March

[greenmind72]

There’s also a separate thread here for Scaler 3, with the videos showcasing new features, and other chat.

[jancivil]

Scaler 2 is reliable workhorse. It'll make piloting chord progressions and different scales much much faster even if you already know music theory. It's not about replacing the need of music theory. It's about streamlining the experience of testing things out with music theory.

If you speak a language fluently, any tests are in advances of your use of the language. There won't be basic questions of grammar or how syntax works; you're conversant with the language enough to get your thought expressed. If you're testing to see if a grammar works, great, but the fluent person is doing this other whole thing.

My objection to an argument like that is not that any person should be ashamed of not knowing but the intellectual and ethical irresponsibility in trying out that argument for others. The people that run the race are not relying on crutches

[AmethystClassic]

Scaler 2 has a tonne of features. All of them are somewhat impressive, but I find a subset of them extremely useful.
Primarily, i use it as a birds eye harmonic organizer for my compositions. As someone who has been writing music mainly by writing traditional notation on paper, having a simple drag and drop toolbox where I can store chord progressions, inversions, or explore variations with a few clicks is not only more convenient, it's helped me grow as a composer. I'll often quickly lay out the harmonic idea in scaler then drag the chords into my DAW sequencer throughout the process.
I've also used scaler 2 to help my son learn harmonic theory as part of his formal training, including exams. The included library of chord progressions is the kind of thing you would find in a quality textbook and are easy to explore and analyse, and the interactive ui is quite simply a powerful and intuitive learning environment. Common theory exercises like "construct the dominant seventh chord for the key of D major" are interactive with scaler 2. I find the idea that it would hamper your knowledge of music theory fairly ridiculous, to be honest.
I don't use the arpegiator or the automatic song analysis much - i find them too prescriptive - but can see how others would find them useful.
EDIT: Some have called it bloated becuase of it's multi-gigabyte install size - that's entirely optional. You can omit the included samples by unticking a box during install.

[dps]

I think tools like this best serve to compliment the user, rather than replace skills. Music is an art, and I think it's important to take as much ownership as you can, otherwise we lose what makes your art valuable - you. I love seeing people use tools to extend their sound rather than rely entirely on tools for their sounds.

All that being said, I built a standalone, 'chord composer' app, which helps partner with you to write chord progressions. Hope that it may provide value as a tool for any and all to come!

https://canonchords.com/

[Dirtgrain]

Scaler 2 is reliable workhorse. It'll make piloting chord progressions and different scales much much faster even if you already know music theory. It's not about replacing the need of music theory. It's about streamlining the experience of testing things out with music theory.

horseshit

If you speak a language fluently, any tests are in advances of your use of the language. There won't be basic questions of grammar or how syntax works; you're conversant with the language enough to get your thought expressed. If you're testing to see if a grammar works, great, but the fluent person is doing this other whole thing.

My objection to an argument like that is not that any person should be ashamed of not knowing but the intellectual and ethical irresponsibility in trying out that argument for others. The people that run the race are not relying on crutches, etc, fill in yer own metaphor.
You're still working on convincing yourself and it couldn't be more sheer that's what this is.
'workhorse' tells us of a reliance on the crutch.

Two examples (metaphors?): Engineers should not use CAD? Authors should not use word processors?

[jancivil]

I have no beef with Scaler or its use per se. Scaler 3 looks like it might be pretty hip. I had a kind of allergic reaction to one post which seemed super pretentious at the time. Maybe I should've smoked a bowl or something first. But I just write, if I'm using 'music theory' I'm typing words and chord figures in Notes. I was all about creating music in real time, ages ago. Everything happens from an improvisation.
So I do feel strongly that coming to composing music with maximum fluency is the thing to do.

I haven't used eg., Word in a long time but I'm familiar. I turn off every correction of spelling or grammar in such an application because I know the language in the first place. I have used the sort of device that was called a word processor in like 1980, I'm not seeing the analogy. Maybe the collating materials aspect in that 'testing out in music theory even if you know music theory' post is like something in Word or that.

Some people are able to use a tool with serious intent. There are two examples in the posts before yours.
Again, there is no shame if one comes to software which avails music making having no clue, seems as good a place to start as any.

But I've seen too many instances where the goal is producing your own tracks, as though to have your name on something seeking approbation from others, and you know fuckall about music it's a different matter.

[Dirtgrain]

I just get stuck in ruts sometimes. Scaler 3 isn't exactly the tool I envision to be helpful (per its design), but it has sent me in directions that I know how to go--but that didn't occur to me here and there, for whatever reason. That's the only value I see in it for someone who knows music theory well enough to create/change chord progressions, change keys and invent modulations, play with tritone substitutions, and play all sorts of chord variants and voicings.

[jancivil]

I don't know, but the other day something had me check to see what Scaler 3 actually does. One thing in it really surprised me. "[Modulation] suggestions help solve your modulation puzzles in five ways: Progression, Secondary Scale, Modal Interchange, Mediants, and Neo-Riemannian." That does teach music theory.

My response to 'testing out music theory' guy was rude and miserable so I apologize. I'm kind of ill for a while but that's excessive.

My own approach is I make music by ear. I don't think of music theory in those kinds of terms. I had my fill of chromatic harmony in school. I liked it, I excelled in it but I never thought like that. I don't care a lot for tonal music, for 'keys' anyway.
The theory kind of thing that interests me is for instance Zappa's chord bible, which is something he decided to do fairly far on in his journey. It opens up areas that don't exactly occur to you 'naturally'. In general the so-called chord is a scale, a synthetic scale and you voice it to your ear/taste. Could be a 12-note chord.
He liked an idea he called Lydian Minor, or Minor Lydian (typically 'minor' just means m3 and it's Dorian), for seven note sonorities. I made a few of my own things (not all were seven-note, '8' or '9' occurred to me) for one recent thing I made, and while by the time I got in there to make something I wasn't following the script or thinking, the thought I did in preparation led me to things that I really got off on.

Before that, I was in a kind of rut, I made something that worked but I'd essentially done it all before. I got tired of my thing a while back and went to Satie adaptations which changed everything. The Satie Scale, six notes was kind of the same thinking as the chord bible thing. Funnily enough it's a "Minor Lydian" type (Dorian #4), no seventh.