Music Theory vs Chord VST

[Forgotten]

learning to play guitar or piano to do chord progressions... takes too long.

But the rewards of taking that time are that you are then capable of creating your own music rather than let a computer reassemble 0s and 1s into a finished piece that is essential not your own work.

and then there is the trying out of "okay i just played a c chord, what other chords that i know shall i play next, okay i know how to play a dm chord lets hear how that sounds after the c chord", and so on.

why do it that way when there is a software that lets you do that so much faster?

Firstly it doesn’t necessarily get you there faster (unless you’re looking for a completed piece of music out of the box for which you had no part in the composition), and secondly (and to me more importantly) it takes every ounce of pleasure out of the process - might as well just listen to someone else’s pre-recorded music.

[vurt]

i suppose it depends "why" you are doing it?
if for example, you are a poet/wordsmith who just wants a demo backing track for some singing?

or even a sound designer looking to put a demo of your sound design together?

why is music something you are pursuing? if you domt want to learn an instrument (in the widest sense imo, from maestro to fannying about with synths ) ?

i can see certain uses for anything, not everyone can play drums or programme them convincingly, so jamstix and the like add a little flavour to someone who can play guitar...

not that what i can see is the be all and end all...

[Gamma-UT]

learning to play guitar or piano to do chord progressions... takes too long. and then there is the trying out of "okay i just played a c chord, what other chords that i know shall i play next, okay i know how to play a dm chord lets hear how that sounds after the c chord", and so on.

It takes too long...until you've learned the keyboard or fretboard sufficiently well enough to construct the chords on the fly. (And there's a good chance you will be thinking more in terms of I, ii, iii, IV chords rather than specific C, Dmin etc, which makes transposing a cinch). The gap between not being able to play chords on the fly and being able is narrower than you expect.

At that point, tools like Cthulhu become more frustrating than useful - unless you use them to inject some randomness into the process to try to find combinations you wouldn't normally find. Even then it will probably be dip into Cthulhu for five minutes and then start working on the sequence.

One big advantage of doing it on the fretboard/keyboard over a chord tool is that putting in the connective tissue like passing notes and ascending/descending basslines is way, way easier than trying to use a tool - though it's not impossible that someone will build a tool that does some of that. For things like oldskool techno, there are advantages to having a tool that just planes up and down the keyboard (or you can just sample a dominant 7 and play that as a series of notes) but for many other styles, including all those Future styles that pop up in readymade Cthulhu presets, having that horizontal voice leading, connective tissue is important and possibly the difference between a me-too track and something that sounds "good".

[harryupbabble]

learning to play guitar or piano to do chord progressions... takes too long.

But the rewards of taking that time are that you are then capable of creating your own music rather than let a computer reassemble 0s and 1s into a finished piece that is essential not your own work.

and then there is the trying out of "okay i just played a c chord, what other chords that i know shall i play next, okay i know how to play a dm chord lets hear how that sounds after the c chord", and so on.

why do it that way when there is a software that lets you do that so much faster?

Firstly it doesn’t necessarily get you there faster (unless you’re looking for a completed piece of music out of the box for which you had no part in the composition), and secondly (and to me more importantly) it takes every ounce of pleasure out of the process - might as well just listen to someone else’s pre-recorded music.

in that example video, all the choices of what chord to play next is up to the music-maker. it's the same problem you face when using a guitar... what chord to play next.

[harryupbabble]

and what happens if you get arthritis or can't afford a piano or replace broken guitar strings?

[Gamma-UT]

and what happens if you get arthritis or can't afford a piano or replace broken guitar strings?

There's always live-coding: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_coding

One thing that's missing from these more basic tools as far as I can tell is the easy ability to generate arbitrary chords on the fly on the computer keyboard (eg root or root+bass in the left hand, quality+extensions in the right). With the chord tools you pretty much have to fumble around hitting multiple buttons to get the one you want.

[Hink]

Harry, I'm sixty, worked with my hands all my life, I got a bit of arthritis (fingers too short in the morning), it slows me down...not, and ftr I'm a kinda fast player...I'm faster now than this time last year, I am more accurate as well...I'm not against your pov but I have to be honest, this is a bit clutching at straws...what ifs are very far from productivity and is just making excuses .

What if you cant afford the computer for the software? Just doesn't work

[harryupbabble]

i suppose it depends "why" you are doing it?
if for example, you are a poet/wordsmith who just wants a demo backing track for some singing?

or even a sound designer looking to put a demo of your sound design together?

why is music something you are pursuing? if you domt want to learn an instrument (in the widest sense imo, from maestro to fannying about with synths ) ?

i can see certain uses for anything, not everyone can play drums or programme them convincingly, so jamstix and the like add a little flavour to someone who can play guitar...

not that what i can see is the be all and end all...

why pursue music? I want to make songs like the songs in my music collection. do I need music theory to make punk songs or certain Beatles song like taxman?

[donkey tugger]

and what happens if you get arthritis or can't afford a piano or replace broken guitar strings?

I still wouldn't need any kind of chord generator to make choices for me. I can input notes manually into the piano roll because I know what I'm doing. Not in terms of music theory, but through experience of the intervals and chords/scales, and knowing how instruments work.

And I have tied guitar strings back together before....

[Forgotten]

and what happens if you get arthritis or can't afford a piano or replace broken guitar strings?

I think you’ll find that guitar strings are cheaper than the computer he is using...

Arthritis might make it difficult to play, but what happens if that guy loses power to his house?

The more reliant you are on a bunch of technology to do things for you, the more failure points you have. You’re also screwed if you don’t have access to electricity.

Guitar? Pick it up and play.

[Gamma-UT]

why pursue music? I want to make songs like the songs in my music collection. do I need music theory to make punk songs or certain Beatles song like taxman?

For that you need eartraining - which is a lot easier with an instrument (though the instrument can just be your voice) in order to connect the sounds/pitches you hear with what you can recreate.

[harryupbabble]

Harry, I'm sixty, worked with my hands all my life, I got a bit of arthritis (fingers too short in the morning), it slows me down...not, and ftr I'm a kinda fast player...I'm faster now than this time last year, I am more accurate as well...I'm not against your pov but I have to be honest, this is a bit clutching at straws...what ifs are very far from productivity and is just making excuses .

What if you cant afford the computer for the software? Just doesn't work

two of my computers are donated to me. I use freeware. the only thing I ever paid for is a license for reaper. and only because I felt super-indebted to reaper.

[harryupbabble]

and what happens if you get arthritis or can't afford a piano or replace broken guitar strings?

I still wouldn't need any kind of chord generator to make choices for me. I can input notes manually into the piano roll because I know what I'm doing. Not in terms of music theory, but through experience of the intervals and chords/scales, and knowing how instruments work.

And I have tied guitar strings back together before....

but but but chord gun is not making choices for you. you still have to select the chords. check out the video, please.

[vurt]

i suppose it depends "why" you are doing it?
if for example, you are a poet/wordsmith who just wants a demo backing track for some singing?

or even a sound designer looking to put a demo of your sound design together?

why is music something you are pursuing? if you domt want to learn an instrument (in the widest sense imo, from maestro to fannying about with synths ) ?

i can see certain uses for anything, not everyone can play drums or programme them convincingly, so jamstix and the like add a little flavour to someone who can play guitar...

not that what i can see is the be all and end all...

why pursue music? I want to make songs like the songs in my music collection. do I need music theory to make punk songs or certain Beatles song like taxman?

it was rhetorical, you have no need to defend your choice to me

as for what happens when you get arthritis, where guitar is concerned...
despite all the issues, i play better than before

i play different now admittedly, no more will i be thrashing out mc5/stooges jams, now it's all meandering noodling ambient stuff.

[harryupbabble]

okay I guess chord gun is not a generator, just a tool to try out chord progression.