Scaler 2
- Thread starter DM60
- Start date
spantini
COO of me, inc.
I don't use it. Looks like this would be fun and creative. I like how it offers keyboard and fretboard info, as well as note/chord ID along with suggested progressions. I also like the ease of dragging selections from one instrument to another. When I'm doodling around on guitar, I like the process of searching for 'the next chord' which will really connect and propel me forward, and searching again for 'the next chord' until I've completed the composition. I like the rush I get from plowing through it and having it all come together into a neat resolution. This would take that excitement away from my approach but still, it might just speed things up and I might get used to that too. The price seems quite reasonable.
LazerBeakShiek
Well-known member
I play melodies in my leads. Relative harmonics. Scale execution during a rake is one thing. But its just a lil flash. The meat is to come from the melody you create on the fly. Look to the common notes or chords played in the song. That makes up your finger 'race track'. Only thing left to do ....is drive
Its all major and minor. 'D' D-minished and shit.
Its all major and minor. 'D' D-minished and shit.
Papanate
Well-known member
Great after you play with your song - what then? Keep churning out songs and replacing parts? Also the Song he works on is pretty bland.
Joseph Hanna
Active member
Scaler is my single most powerful tool and by a long, long shot. Nothing in my career of cue creation has even remotely been as prominent. It is, however, not a toy, as it can be complex. It also requires learning the plug-in as it is, without a doubt, not plug-and-play. It can push those with a modest comprehension of music theory into a new world of understanding. One can go in and out of the traditional composition box with ease. It will suggest or set up modulation transitions and can easily take things in wonderful new directions. It's a genuinely bottomless, endless source of information. He's produced a complete tutorial series that explains things easily and understandably.
It's simply the plug-in of the century, and I continue to be amazed at what he charges for it. The only plug-in I have that just couldn't be replaced.
Joseph Hanna
Active member
Well, everyone is, of course, different with their workflow and what is and isn't an acceptable writing tool. I also completely support you because it's not a tool you would use.
However, as someone who has created cues for television and film for 23 years now ( I dunno if that makes me advanced or not
) Scaler, on absolutely no imaginable level, is a crutch. It can take me to places I never would have gone, period. It could be something as simple as a single chord suggestion in an already pre-conceived chord sequence or a modulation sequence for something already well into being finished. It can suggest alternative voicings for an already finished cue. It can suggest alternate inversions for existing cues, or it can suggest a complete pattern based on endless input information. It also requires constant input from the composer as it doesn't simply serve up an AI-created "song." That territory is more in line with the Reason+ Chord Sequencer. It is also a tool that's taken my music composition knowledge to a whole new level.I certainly get it might not be for everyone but a crutch; it is decidedly not.
DM60
Well-known member
In the past, I will use the Beatles for example, those guys had a lot of crutches, aka people to assist them as they learned. Helping them decide BPM, key and key changes, so forth and so on. Even pitch correction software I use to show me where I am not where I should be (a third view), so I can go correct it. I don't have the ear, but I know once I run the correction, there a problems.
In our world of Home Recording, these tools should be consider a poor man's "team assistant", just like the Beech Boys had the Wrecking Crew and producers and, and and.
I think using these types of plugins don't negate having to learn, but helping get out of a closed loop so that one can expand. I think I will purchase if nothing more than to see if I can get my compositions to a higher level. Maybe not, but for $50, it is very well worth a try.
In our world of Home Recording, these tools should be consider a poor man's "team assistant", just like the Beech Boys had the Wrecking Crew and producers and, and and.
I think using these types of plugins don't negate having to learn, but helping get out of a closed loop so that one can expand. I think I will purchase if nothing more than to see if I can get my compositions to a higher level. Maybe not, but for $50, it is very well worth a try.
markmann
Active member
Joseph, that's quite an endorsement and well stated. Like I said, I could be wrong and I probably am
Joseph Hanna
Active member
I can't reconcile $50.00 with the power of this plug-in. It doesn't compute. It could be $300.00, and I wouldn't change my mind. As mentioned, however, this is a plug-in that requires time. It's almost an instrument in and of itself, and wrangling it into a smooth process is an investment. Not hard, mind you, but it's not like a new reverb plug-in with presets. Ultimately, it's as deep as you want/need it to be.
I don't know what "level" your compositions are currently, but they'd have to be pretty high to realize Scaler didn't advance that ball
Joseph Hanna
Active member
HaJoseph, that's quite an endorsement and well stated. Like I said, I could be wrong and I probably am
There's no right or wrong here. I don't know if Plug-in Boutique offers a demo of Scaler, but if they do, it might be worth a look. It's a powerful tool. The only caveat I'd submit is that it takes a couple of days to start understanding everything. A demo might provide for time challenges.