I’m new to Scaler 3 and enjoying it for starting new projects as I have no music theory and I can use an off-the-shelf-progression. However, I also want to use it as a tool to match chords to existing tracks or vocals - mainly for creating remixes.
Last night, I spent over an hour trying to match chords to a 4-chord vocal line. Even though I read that the key was G minor, I was just clicking through chord after chord trying to find what sounded right. Eventually, I gave up and used Chordify instead and copied the chords
I also tried Scaler’s audio detection on both the full track and isolated vocal, but the results were completely off.
Does anyone have tips or workflow suggestions for using Scaler in this way? Would really appreciate it. Thanks!
Hi @controlz. With the G minor scale selected on Scaler 3’s Browse page, you should be able to find some appropriate chords for a G minor vocal line within the diatonic chords in section B. You can also open the Colors browser to find interesting variations of the scale’s diatonic chords.
You can also head to the Explore page via the Create tab and use the lock icon to transpose the Explore presets into G minor, then browse chords via genre and mood.
Interesting you say that audio detection results were off. I’ve found them to be pretty accurate for chords or full songs. Monophonic material like isolated vocals won’t work so well as it is looking for chords. Make sure you have updated to Scaler 3.1 as there were some issues with audio detection in prior releases.
something else to consider; the detect works on bar-by-bar… If your chord changes within a bar, it will miss detection… so it will not sound right when you playback…
I’m fighting with this with a midi detection that has some chords a little as 2 beats…
If auto scale detection isn’t working for you, and you don’t have Melodyne or alternatives, the OLD SCHOOL is to find a BASS NOTE for each bar. Then pick a chord off that (major, minor, or sus2/4 by ear).
It might be your lyrics use borrowed noted from different scales, or something like that.
In the end, yur EAR wins
The bass note tends to be a lot easier to match without confusion, that trying to find a full major/minor chord.
I find it can also really open up new chords that are out of scale, which ultimately is what I’ve learnt. Scales are a starting point. The great stuff happens whe you break the scale rules!
I have one singer who just sings any note, C C#, with no scale in mind. And she sings off key so it’s C# and third (33 cents off one way or another). And the C is 40 cents sharp. SO she’s trying to sing C and being sharp or flat…
It’s murder to work like that unless you melodne the vocal to a scale first.
YES I’m altering the melody!
But it’s very hard to find a scale with c c# D D# B in it - ROF LMAO.
I think the key here is identifying the correct scale and then look for the chords that work and if necessary try and find the extensions that work. Often this is the point where it gets difficult in that a track you are trying to work on / remix has borrowed chords, extensions etc so it’s not purely diatonic. These two videos are using Scaler 2 and audio detection but same principles apply.
PS - As other users have suggested Melodyne is the king for this type of thing (single note, complex chord detection) but Scaler can do the job too with some tinkering:
