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Chord positions, inversions, octaves : Help.

Hello.

Thank you for this fantastic Chord Chain update, which I've been waiting for.

I see the potential of Chord Inversion, but I don't quite understand what a position is versus inversion (see page 14 of the manual) as Midicake displays "Pos" but not "Inv", and why the Midicake no longer displays octaves (in the explanation video you say that "Pos" replaces it).

For example: if I want my first chord to be C3 major, my second chord to be D4 major, and my third chord to be A2 minor, what positions should I indicate to my Midicake for these chords (and how does it know that the first chord is a C3 and not a C1, or C4, etc.)?

Sorry for these newby questions, but once again, thank you very much for this fantastic Chord Chain firmware.

Regards.

5 comments

Comments (5)

Denony

Apr 02

Hello Chris.

Thank you for your reply. It's much clearer now.

So, if I use a Major 7 chord (which contains 4 notes), then I have to add Pos+4 to go to the next octave?

Regards

Chris Brown

Apr 02

Replying to

Yes, that's right. It's perhaps not as immediate as the Octave parameter, but it is much more versatile.

Denony

Apr 04

Replying to

Thank you Chris for this confirmation.

Do you think that it is possible to add a shortcut Octave+ / Octave- that automatically adds Pos+3, Pos+4, Pos+5, Pos-3, Pos-4, ... depending on the Cord xxx 7, Chord xxx 9, ... selected in the chain editor. For example with a "long press" on Octave+ or Octave- keys ?

Thank you

Chris Brown

Apr 04

Replying to

Cheers for the suggestion. I can certainly look into it. Up/Down already have a hold function assigned, but perhaps this could be overridden for this specific case. Cheers

Chris Brown

Mar 28

Chord Positions are ARP's way of enabling Inversions. Inversions are usually thought of as alternate playing positions on a keyboard. Take your C Major example: -

ARP doesn't differentiate between chords and scales, they are just a pool of notes from which sequences are built. Chords are just scales with a limited number of notes.

For ARP to simulate Inversions, you just move the root position up and down the scale notes as needed. Yet ARP can go beyond this, up to 12 transpositions in either direction. The diagram below hopefully explains that there isn't really any practical difference between Chord Inversions and Chord Positions but ARP uses "Positions" to describe the ablity to shift the root note up or down the scale.

The Octave option has been removed for Chord Chain (to keep the UI simple) because you can achieve the same thing with Position. For a 3 note chord, move it up or down 3 positions to shift it by 1 octave. (as shown above) ARP will always store Chord Chain Links (chords) at the middle octave (3). The Position value is relative to this.

If you enter the Chain Editor in a different octave, you'll hear it auditioned in this octave but it will be stored at octave 3. This allows the global octave to be changed while the chord chain is playing and everything still works as it should. I hope this makes sense.