As I read all the comments about Scaler 3 it seems there is a real bifurcation between those who loved how Scaler 2 works vs Scaler 3 and I wonder if it comes down to use cases or preferred workflow. For me I am really struggling with Scaler 3. Scaler 2 was a bit clunky to be sure but the things it could do were worth the struggle. For Scaler 3, it doesn’t really add a lot more that I find really useful so the pain of the user interface is frustrating.
For me, all I mostly want to do is explore chord sequences to find something that resonates with me. Then I want to find some patterns/performances that inspire me.
I want to organize it into sections that I can easily see as a whole and then drop the whole thing into my DAW.
so the most important features for me, is finding and exploring chord sequences. Scaler 2, for me, was easier to do this.
I much appreciate all the work the team put into this tool. It has so much promise.
I find both Scaler 2 and Scaler 3 to be quirky with their UI but once you’ve taken a bit of time to learn them they are both usable.
I was surprised at how the first release of S3 had seemingly forgotten the main purpose of the program - finding scales and chords. I had to google to find the search box. But they’ve made that a bit better and I guess they’ve been more focussed on the arranger stuff. We know they’ll continue to expand and improve the program over the coming months and years.
Maybe one day the search box will even be able to recognise “Cm” as C minor rather than presenting a blank search result…
Yes you are right. I suspect clarity of the key use cases got lost a bit. Having been in charge of a product management dept it’s very easy to lose sight of the things customers really value.
For me, the main difference is that Scaler 2 was simpler and great for jamming out quick ideas - but I always found myself needing to leave the plugin to actually finish my tracks.
Scaler 3, on the other hand, gives me the flexibility to stay inside the plugin for much longer. I can either continue building my track within Scaler, or take things out and integrate them however I like. It opens up multiple workflows and lets you do so much more creatively and practically.
That said, we’re just getting started, version 3.2 is coming in a few months with some major workflow refinements that we think will really solidify the UX for many users.
We’ve also got a new video on the way that walks through different Scaler 3 workflows and shows how to make the most of all the new features.
It took a year for Scaler 2 to fully mature and we’ve already made huge strides in just six months with Scaler 3. Exciting times ahead!
You’ll be able to do this on Thursday with lots of other improvements, refinements and goodies in 3.1.2
Hi Davide - much appreciate your comments. I know it is extraordinarily difficult to please everyone! I’m very impressed how you and the team are responsive to comments and I’m really excited to see the future development of Scaler 3. I’ve tried a variety of other tools, and none have the depth of Scaler. With such a strong foundation to build-on, I really think Scaler has the potential to be awesome.
From my perspective, it would be pretty cool if the UI could be oriented around use case (or in the meantime, training videos -as you noted is coming - looking at it how to accomplish particular tasks). Perhaps the community here could help develop the list of use cases or review the ones you must already have. For example, here are a couple of use cases I would find valuable:
I am beginning a song and I’m looking for some chord combinations as a place to start. I browse through some kind of library and then want to start substituting some of the chords. That might lead me to other chords in an iterative sort of way. I might want to keep a few of the variations in case I change my mind later. I would want to do this for other sections of the song and then be able to assemble them all to hear the whole thing.
Sometimes I have a melody in mind and I want to find chords that would fit that melody. It would be great if Scaler could suggest chords that might fit my melody. Then it would be an iterative process again. I might change the melody a bit when I listen to the chords or I might want to explore different variants as in #1. Somewhere to keep these variations with perhaps tags of some kind would be helpful
Now I have my chord structure, I’d like help with some of the performances in terms of arpeggios or patterns, etc. It should be quick and easy to explore different ones with again, the ability to keep variants if I change my mind or for future use like a different song mix.
I then want to get all that midi (or audio) into my DAW for further development.
For 1, 3 &4 I think Scaler 3 has that functionality, for me it is just not obvious how to do it in a logical way.
This is of course just the thinking of one person but that would be my dream version! I’m sure others have functionality requests that would be different.
Point taken. There is a very simple solution for all this. The current Scaler 3 needs a “switch” on the top menu that offers a simpler Scaler 2-like interface.
I too preferred Scaler 2 option in Pad view to be able to arrange and test progressions and play just those selected in a particular order (and move around etc) to firm up different parts in song structure. In Scaler 3 the sketch option seems much more limited - just individual slots. If I am missing something that would allow me to do the same - would welcome some pointers. If not can some functionality be added back in next version please. Thanks All
Welcome to the forum @PaulBird
Sketch Page is going to be expanded when we get to 3.3 - We’ve got some great ideas for this but first we need to introduce ‘Scenes’ which we are working on now for 3.2 release later this year.
I think the combination of the above will make Sketch Page much more powerful and flexible in a compositional and live performance environment.
Thanks for feedback.
I feel the same way. Scaler 3 seems to make everything harder and fiddly. Even adding chords to current pattern seems more complicated. I have not been able to do any song using it. I try all the time and I’ve learned the interface. There is far too much going on. The additions of scaler 3 are welcome but the way to use them isn’t.
I really like to use scaler to figure out what i came up with myself & then use its tools to expand on what I have created. To help me get over writer block & get out of the loop i’m in. But also simply to play out chords quickly to see what works.
For me it’s the first section i struggle with in version 3. Finding scales is still way easier in version 2 there is no ‘all notes‘ you can’t simply get a list of all the keys in a scale. Instead we only get the modes in whatever key. And all the other filters like mood they are just useless to me. So to play all the keys in Major requires so many extra clicks as you are required to selected that mini keyboard then unclick the key you want to turn off (its a bit buggy)then you have to select the actual scale again. This whole front section is just awkward to use imo like it’s designed for a touchscreen rather than a mouse.
It would also be very nice not only to be able to modulate the keys easily in the first scale section but also in the second tab. We have the very nice circle of fifths tool but it would be so useful to be able to audion the scales using the COF (maybe with a double click rather than a modifier key).
Overall the second tab is fine so i will use scaler 3 for this section over version 2 & i just do not use the arranger bit at this point.
