Who Uses Chord Mode in 2XL?

I played around with it a few times, and thought it was cool. But I never found enough of a use to keep coming back to.

Anyone have tips for using Chord mode?

same here. maybe its cause i'm not very 'musical' and so have filled it with rubbish chords, but its not something i use.

i wish the arp would get improved though, as i think it would definately get more use

chord is excellent if you have taken the time to fill it with well organized, oft-used chords - especially if you have a corresponding wall chart.

i do not fit into the above categories but i intend to

i forget who but someone put up their chord list a while ago and it was quite good, would be useful to anyone who does any midi composition whatsoever

I guess it's more for when you don't have a keyboard available, right? I haven't tried it in that context yet

more than just that - it's good in combination with any instrument. it'll be invaluable as i bring in my mandolin for determining progressions, etc with minimal guessery. chord function is pretty invaluable for those with less theory training - set up your list to contain a large number of well organized chords and play different chords on your tonic until something makes aural sense.

i've got little music theory training and i've just relied on chance to stumble across something that works for a long time despite a working knowledge of some of the basics - there are a lot of other, more midi-related/mandolin related things i'm learning right now but i anticipate CHORD becoming more valuable to me later

chord > arp because chord can = arp

I don't use it. It can be used as a cheat sheet but in my opinion playing it the real way has much nicer feel. The chord program doesn't account for inversions, closed/open spacing, and it also strikes every note at exactly the same time.

Someone could say "well go back and adjust the midi data." My answer is, if I'm gonna do all that, I might as well really play the chord, and possibly come across some nice inversions/spacings.

I think it's a lame feature. I am sure some find it useful but that's just my opinion for my personal workflow.

and it also strikes every note at exactly the same time.

there's a setting to fairly realistically stagger the notes (hence why it > arpeggiator) depending on what instrument you're sampling/playing/emulating

Nym wrote:

and it also strikes every note at exactly the same time.

there's a setting to fairly realistically stagger the notes (hence why it > arpeggiator) depending on what instrument you're sampling/playing/emulating

Yea I am aware of it. It just didn't float my boat.

whether or not it floats your boat, it's incorrect to say that the CHORD function "strikes every note at exactly the same time"

i agree that its a pretty bunk feature. just learn how to play the chords and they will sound better every time over the chord feature. if you dont know how to play then it will sufice. but im not in that catagory. so to me its pretty useless. i have had that feature on my mc-909 since it was made and i have never used it. i have played with it to see how it handles but its just better to play the chords live.

Nym wrote:whether or not it floats your boat, it's incorrect to say that the CHORD function "strikes every note at exactly the same time"

My point is that it does not sound realistic either way and I should have clarified that. I never even mentioned the appregiator function to space them out because it is lackluster (IMO). I wouldn't even recommend it to anyone.

It doesn't sound realistic, even with the appregiated spacing. It sounds bunk.

As I already said, it doesn't take into account: spacing (open/closed), velocity (having some notes in a chord harder/softer then it others), inversions, realistic timing.

Like I said, this is just my opinion. If someone uses it in their workflow to make nice music, so be it. I just think it is cheesy and by no means captures the expression of really playing the keys.

Wanna play chords? Nothing is better then really playing them.

I have my qualms about it, just like I think autochop/transient finding is garbage too. I've never been into automated functions. But again, thats just me, and everyone has their likes/dislikes.

In know way am I hating on JJ's work. I love the JJ OS. I would not have bought an mpc 1000 if the JJ OS did not exist. I just think some features are dog and pony show.

I bought XL and really have not been making any beats as of yet i have been mixing and post mastering my beats.

I have not used the Chord function or really researched it yet I would be nice to have it so it automatically assign the notes once you drop a sample note in. Again I have not really used this feature yet so be kind on a brotha