Scaler 2 is good at... Toontrack plugins

Scaler 2 Tutorials
1

Hi pals

I found a super easy way to build a song with one Scaler instance, AAS Strum-GS 2, EzBass, EzDrums and EzKeys and a few dozen of minutes of D&D work

Here is the routing: just the guitar is fed directly by MIDI Polysher and Scaler
All the other instruments are fed by Scaler but indirectly

Routing
Routing810Ă—598 110 KB

I found a series of chords starting from a preset, then I used my ear to find other chords suitable for my AAS Strum-GS 2: I used Suggest > Fill to add 3 chords, while the last chord was found using Edit chord

Here is the final Scaler state
Scaler-State.xml (12.2 KB)

I recorded the MIDI in Scaler, then I started the D&D (Drag & Drop) work

The first instrument fed was EzBass: I dropped the Scaler MIDI directly in the EzBass chord field, then I put it in loop and applied a suitable rock groove

Bass
Bass1201Ă—837 206 KB

Then I repeated the D&D work for EzDrummer, but in this case I dropped the MIDI into the Song Creator, then I select a rocky drums track

Drums
Drums901Ă—694 172 KB

I repeated the D&D work for EzKeys, dropping the Scaler MIDI directly in the EzKeys chord field: When you do that, EzKeys asks what to do with the MIDI; I left the default options the 1st time, but EzKeys used a wrong root chord (Fa# instead of Em), so I repeated the process selecting the root chord manually

Again, I put it in loop and applied a suitable emotional ballad groove

Keys
Keys900Ă—659 151 KB

At the end, I exported the MIDI from Ezbass and dropped it in the Ableton bass track (the direct D&D doesn’t work with Ezbass, so I always use the Export option)

With EzKeys and EzDrums the process is easier because you can just D&D their MIDI in the Ableton Live tracks

And here is the result All D&D

I love this test especially because it’s the 1st time I am able to drive well EzKeys with Scaler 2 with little effort and zero MIDI editing :smiley:

2 Likes
2

It doesn’t sound like you’re “jamming” on this one. Are you?

1 Like
3

hahahaha I hope you understand Italian enough

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Claudio, just so I understand what you’re doing:

  1. Scaler 2 is directly driving MIDI Polysher, which in turn is directly driving AS Strum Guitar. No drag & drop here - the Scaler chord pattern is doing all the work.

  2. Everything else is drag & drop, based on the Scaler chord sequence:
    a. You D&D Scaler’s chord progression into EZ Bass, find a groove you like
    b. You do the same thing with EZ Keys
    c. You do the same w/ EZ Drummer

  3. Once you’ve got the individual grooves you like, you drag & drop from the EZ VSTs directly into your DAW. You might then replace the instruments, or edit the midi sequences, and otherwise fine-tune your arrangement.

  4. Summary: You use Scaler mostly for finding your chord progression. You use the EZ VSTs mostly for finding your grooves. You’ll use other VST instruments mostly for getting the exact musical sounds and tones you want.

Is this right? Or what am I missing?

1 Like
5

Sometimes I use Scaler riffs to make AS Strum Guitar patterns more variable

I don’t use always Points 2 b and 2 c because I may prefer the Toontrack Bandmate o MIDI input features

I don’t go to Point 3 because I hate editing :grin:

And, it may also happen that I use Scaler after to guess the best scale for solos

So, in the example above, it is mostly a D&D workflow as you say

In other cases it’s a hybrid workflow, but Scaler is always at the base

A total Scaler-based workflow in Scaler is possible, I sometimes succeed, but it is difficult and slow, so I prefer using MIDIs also

6

Can you help me understand the difference between using EZ Keys Bandmate feature, vs D&D’ing a Scaler chord progression directly into the EZ Keys chord track in the Grooves window? It seems to me they do the same thing, but I’m not sure.

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The difference is that EZ Keys suggest the best matches automatically, retrieving them in multiple families of patterns

And if you have Bandmate, you can also start jamming with the 1st suggestion, skipping the search routine

8

Aha! Thank you. I will try it out.

1 Like