Producer's Guide to Scaler 1

Important Note: This course uses Scaler 1. The Producer's Guide to Scaler 2 course is also available.

Scaler is a unique and inspirational MIDI effect that makes finding chords and progressions intuitive and fun! With note detection, scale selection and chord suggestions, Scaler is a comprehensive but easy-to-use toolbox that will help anyone make better music.

A first of its kind, Scaler can determine what key and scale you’re in and suggest chords that match your music, or it can inspire a tune from scratch by providing a set of initial chords in an unexplored key. With the onboard bank of over 2,000 scales and modes including genre and artist presets, there’s more than enough to keep the juices flowing.

In this course, you will learn how to use this fantastic tool in a variety of scenarios so that you can start including it into your creative workflow right away.

Sample Module

Course Breakdown

Module 1 - Jazzy Hip Hop Groove 

In the first groove, on a jazzy Hip Hop tip, Producertech Senior Tutor Rob Jones introduces some of the fundamentals of the plugin, such as how to choose a scale and then lock notes to the keyboard to enable easy playing of melodies using instruments in the DAW. He then moves on to Scaler’s Arpeggiator and Strummer facilities, before showing how chords sequences are made using the Songs presets as well as entirely from scratch.

• Lesson 1 - Playing Melodies in Key - 5.21
• Lesson 2 - Playing Arpeggios and Strummed Chords - 3.58
• Lesson 3 - Editing & Recording a Song Preset Chords Sequence - 7.35
• Lesson 4 - Creating & Recording your own Chords Sequence - 4.55

Module 2 - Liquid DnB Groove 

The next module then guides students through the making of a Liquid DnB groove, inspired initially by a moody chords sample, which is converted to MIDI and then run into Scaler’s Detection section to work out the harmony involved. This allows a variation on the theme to be explored, sequenced into a fast arp pattern and accompanied by a rolling bass. Rob then shows how to reincorporate the original sample back into the groove to go in an alternative direction, by transposing each of the parts in the required way.

• Lesson 1 - Detecting MIDI & Audio to build a Chords Sequence - 5.09
• Lesson 2 - Voicing Chords Customisation & Arpeggiated Chords Exporting - 6.52
• Lesson 3 - Additional Chords Manipulation & Bassline Creation - 4.38
• Lesson 4 - Involving Original Chords Sample & Modifying Arp Sequence - 5.49

Module 3 - Deep House Groove 

Combining a variety of techniques for the last module, Rob builds up a pounding Deep House groove, by playing in a bassline with a MIDI keyboard, then using Scaler to work out chords and arpeggios to accompany it, along with a breakdown bassline that modulates to a different key.

• Lesson 1 - Playing in the Bass & Picking a Scale - 3.50
• Lesson 2 - Creating the Main Chords Sequence - 7.47
• Lesson 3 - Recording the Arp Lead with a Cross Rhythm - 5.21
• Lesson 4 - Working with the Breakdown Bass in a New Key - 7.50
• Lesson 5 - Bonus Pluck Sequence from Loopcloud - 3.20

Features

• 90 mins of streamed tutorials
• Access 24/7/365
• Theory Tips & Tricks
• Included Live Projects & Samples

Please note: The modules included in this online guide can be streamed within the Courses section of your account area and are not available to download.