remix a song with new chords ?? what alternate chords to use

[leighbeynon]

so i have an acapella and want to create a new remix......new chord progression..etc

would i first need to find out what key the vocal is in ?

lets say its in B, then how would i determine what chords would fit this key?

any chords within the scale of B ??

i want to understand as much of this as i can, i used melodyne to check what key the vocal was in,

[Kim Lajoie]

any chords within the scale of B ??

Yes, I think there are some.

would i first need to find out what key the vocal is in ?

lets say its in B, then how would i determine what chords would fit this key?

[...]

i want to understand as much of this as i can, i used melodyne to check what key the vocal was in,

The best way to do this is to determine what the notes of the melody are, and then work out what chord progression to use. I don't want to go into this step by step because I'll be here all night...

Basically, you need to find a chord progression that makes sense and that also works with the melody. There will be many combinations of chords than might work. Some won't make sense as a progression, some might provide a context in which the melody doesn't make sense. You need to experiment. If you have a keyboard, use that to play chords while the melody is playing.

Seeing as you've got Melodyne, that opens up another world of possibilities in changing the melody to suit a new chord progression. Resist the temptation at first...

Not sure how helpful that is.

-Kim.

[leighbeynon]

well there is no melody the vocal in melodyne is just sat on B and doesnt alter, its just an acapella, i dont have the orginal music

sorry for being a novice, just want to understand how i would proceed and stay in key with the vocals

[Kim Lajoie]

well there is no melody the vocal in melodyne is just sat on B and doesnt alter, its just an acapella, i dont have the orginal music

That's still not conclusive. When Melodyne can't detect the pitch (usually because the sound is not monophonic - one note at a time) it displays every note on the one pitch.

So if we disregard Melodyne for the moment... does the melody sound like it's all on one note? Is it really than monotonous?

If that's the case, you're working with one hand tied behind your back harmony-wise. Your choices are probably limited to B (major or minor), Ab minor, G major or E (major or minor). Maybe you could use two or three of those chords to shake things up a bit, but otherwise there's not a lot you can do with that.

sorry for being a novice, just want to understand how i would proceed and stay in key with the vocals

Don't apologise for being new.

-Kim.

[bugs]

so i have an acapella and want to create a new remix......new chord progression..etc

would i first need to find out what key the vocal is in ?

lets say its in B, then how would i determine what chords would fit this key?

any chords within the scale of B ??

i want to understand as much of this as i can, i used melodyne to check what key the vocal was in,

You're kidding, right?

[Rottweiler]

well im pretty sure the acapella has got melody too.

[leighbeynon]

i did think it was odd how the whole vocal is in B, as it clearly shifts up and down in notes,

so in this case melodyne is no good for helping me work on this vocal?

i know the musicians who have been doin this for years can just listen and play by ear i dont have this skill and just want to be able to work around this if possible, thats why im asking for help,

im learning piano and have only been doing it for 1 year, so this is not an easy thing for me at all

[Kim Lajoie]

i did think it was odd how the whole vocal is in B, as it clearly shifts up and down in notes,

so in this case melodyne is no good for helping me work on this vocal?

Yes, it sounds like Melodyne is not going to help you here.

i know the musicians who have been doin this for years can just listen and play by ear i dont have this skill and just want to be able to work around this if possible, thats why im asking for help,

im learning piano and have only been doing it for 1 year, so this is not an easy thing for me at all

I suggest you find a musician who can spend some time going through it with you. That's the best way for you to learn this - by getting someone to show you, and for you to hear it (and see the notes) as it's being done.

-Kim.

[offthewall]

Just a long shot here.
If you had Reaper, you could put in the acappella track with ReaTune as an effect. This will tell you the notes as it runs through. You could slow down the playback speed to be able to read the notes if necessary.

James

[Kim Lajoie]

Just a long shot here.
If you had Reaper, you could put in the acappella track with ReaTune as an effect. This will tell you the notes as it runs through. You could slow down the playback speed to be able to read the notes if necessary.

James

Does ReaTune do polyphonic pitch detection? Melodyne couldn't detect the pitch so the track is either polyphonic (backing harmonies etc) or really noisy.

-Kim.

[dacaumodo]

Try the following chords:

B - E - F#(7)

or

B - Emin - F#min

First.

You have approx 50% odds that the above will work.

[jancivil]

i did think it was odd how the whole vocal is in B, as it clearly shifts up and down in notes,

so in this case melodyne is no good for helping me work on this vocal?

i know the musicians who have been doin this for years can just listen and play by ear i dont have this skill and just want to be able to work around this if possible, thats why im asking for help,

im learning piano and have only been doing it for 1 year, so this is not an easy thing for me at all

Yes, forget all about Melodyne, whatever that is, as it's only confusing your process.

"IN B", can mean a couple of things. In the 'key of' B, as in "B Major", which means that to begin with, the notes F, C, G, D, and A are assumed to be raised by a half-step or semitone F#, C#, G#, D#, and A#.
OR, it simply means that the 'tonic', or central tone or note (as in the primary bass tone) is B.
IE, it might not have the properties of those 5 sharps, and it might not even use seven notes in the given melody. "IN B" doesn't necessarily mean that there is only the one note, "B".

Before you use software to determine the properties of things like this, which you don't appear to yet have a working grasp on, get that working grasp on the thing. Kim's advice is basic; find someone who does to help and pay attention to what they do, ask questions no matter how silly they may seem at first.

I'm not sure from your post what you are looking for, it must simply be some acceptable-sounding way to 'harmonize' that tune.

Now, armed with these thoughts, can you try again? I might be able, someone might be able to help you from there. If you have a quick way of posting say an mp3 of the tune by itself, someone here can possibly show you the ropes.

[jancivil]

Try the following chords:

B - E - F#(7)

or

B - Emin - F#min

First.

You have approx 50% odds that the above will work.

Could well be, but Jesus would teach her to fish instead of just giving the fish.

[bernhardtjeff]

Try the following chords:

B - E - F#(7)

or

B - Emin - F#min

First.

You have approx 50% odds that the above will work.

Could well be, but Jesus would teach her to fish instead of just giving the fish.

hahaha...
why would he do that?

[leighbeynon]

sorry guys, i basically just used melodyne to try and tell me what notes were sung in an acapella,

so i could then try to figure out how i could attempt a remix,

when i said B i did mean B major sorry my mistake,

lets say you want to remix a track, with new chords new direction, but the same vocal, how would you determine what fits and what doesnt,

of course i would use my ears but you need to have some guidelines to work with the vocal, No ?

this could be a case of my running before i can crawl,
i can read music and play simple piano, but i want to be able to creat my own chord progressions and remix music,

think i need another 6 years piano lessons !!