Chord Generators, Weird Synths, Kendrick Lamar – Tops & Flops!
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Chord Generators, Weird Synths, Kendrick Lamar - Tops & Flops! · Source: Telepathic Instruments
Cyberweek and Black Friday madness are in full swing, but there was so much else this week! Outside of capitalism’s own Christmas (and Easter, and NYE – all-in-one) celebration, another batch of chord generators was released. And we got more weird software synthesizers! As for music, another surprise release happened with one of the most fun hip hop records in ages – tops and flops!
This Week’s Tops and Flops!
Make it Jazz: Chord Generators from Tame Impala and Toraiz
What’s with the constant stream of hardware chord generators? I mean, sure, chords are hard. When I’m composing, it’s a lot of counting and trying out finger combinations. So, I do feel the frustrations of many synth heads and producers being lost when it comes to music theory.
However, as much as tools like the Telepathic Instruments Orchid (from Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker) or the Toraiz Chordcat may be helpful tools for those of us not in the know, one thing I rarely see, which is crucial to songwriting and arranging, is voice-leading. You know that thing where you work with second and third inversions of chords to minimize movement… Have I lost you there?
As confusing as this may sound and as inspiring as these and many other tools may be, this is the one area where most chord generators fail because they can’t “know” what chord you’re going to play next. Sure, you can manually change each chord voicing into the best fitting inversion on the Orchid for example, but then, why not take the extra step and create the actual chord?
It’s the one area of applying music theory to production that’s, in my opinion, the most helpful to understand and learn more about. Because I promise you, your tracks and compositions will sound that much better, and arranging will become that much clearer if you apply proper voice leading to your chord progressions. So, as interesting as these devices may seem, to me, they’re both more on the floppy side.
Weird Synths: Sumu and Scapeshift bring endless sonic oddities into your DAW
On the other hand, underneath all the Cyberweek noise, the pedal clones, and all the sales, two pretty interesting new software synthesizers came out in the past week. Madarona Labs Sumu has been a long time coming. I own and love Virta, this company’s take on a vocoder. And its results are hilariously out of this world.
When I demoed the beta of Sumu a while back, I didn’t get too far with it because its workflow was just too confusing, but the sounds it generated were some of the most unique I have heard in ages. I highly respect instrument makers who completely think outside the box. Who combine workflows and sound generation technologies in ways that seem at odds with the consensus. And Sumu is that in so many ways – a semi-modular additive synthesizer that can sound so beautifully weird.
Speaking of highly respect – Tim Exile. How much can a person endure in a lifetime and still be so creative, so motivated? And with Scapeshift, it seems like a bit of a trip back to his Reaktor roots. Because Exile is, among many, many other instruments and companies, the mind behind the beloved Reaktor instruments Flesh, The Mouth, and The Finger. Fingers crossed Native Instruments doesn’t decide to can Reaktor with Komplete 16… Tops of the week!
New Music: Kendrick Lamar’s surprise record
I’m still high (or low? or both at the same time?) from The Cure. You’ve got to admire Robert Smith for this. And, surely, no chord generators were used during the production of Song of a Lost World. And then came Kendrick. To Pimp a Butterfly, to me, is one of the all-time greatest music albums in any genre.
Damn, good kid, m.a.a.d city and Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers also all had amazing beats, showcased Lamar’s lyrical genius, and a depth in story-telling that’s rare in Hip Hop. Then, out of the blue, just like Tyler the Creator a couple of weeks before it, comes GNX. No concept, all west-coast, and so. much. fun.
And fun isn’t an emotion I’d previously associate with a Kendrick Lamar record. Anger, grief, introspection, and just feeling weird existing in this mad world – these were the emotional palettes of most of Kendrick’s work prior. But I can’t help but grin and keep nodding my head for most of the record. And that production… How do you make beats sound so 3D, with so much depth? Mad respect to the beatmakers and mixing engineers on this album.
More on Chord Generators and Plugins
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