Hi Dennis and all, Out of curiosity, I always glance at the metrics for my songs as I’m working on them. I’m typically getting high numbers in all the categories except for the Chord Bass Melody analysis. I’m apparently oblivious to what this is measuring and how it functions. I am using slash chords as I can find them, and lots of substitutions etc. but nothing seems to move that metric! What is this thing measuring? Thanks!
Hey Yabba, I’m also not completely sure myself, but I think the Chord Bass Melody analyses how well the bass notes of chords are connected. Here I wrote a chord progression where each bass note is one scale degree lower than the previous one and I got pretty high results.
Hi Dennis, thanks for your quick and helpful reply. Not that I know that much, but in western popular music it seems that a bass movement from I to IV is possibly among the most common bass moves. It appears that that’s too great a distance for the Chord Bass melody to find associative. Dunno, but it suggests walking bass lines common to jazz forms would be given greater points. I never allow the metrics to guide my creative process, but it’s a nice affirmation when the metric tool awards you with high marks! So after all that, I guess, I’ll await the moment when I’m writing a tune that uses a more chromatic bass line.
So, then this leads me down the rabbit hole…is there a way to take control of the bass line independently of the chosen chords? I’ve often noticed the question regarding adding a bass note into a slash chord that’s outside of the offered variety. Sometimes it’s fun to voice lead from a little taste of dissonance. I’m playing Devil’s advocate here, I understand it’s a program and it is where it is for now…hopefully some day we’ll gain control of all the separate instruments as an option! For now, I’m pretty pleased with the bass lines as they’re working, they’re often pretty instructive. As a guitar player, the physicality of bass playing isn’t too hard, but effective playing on the fly is mentally challenging. Thank you and have a great Thanksgiving!
Yes, I think the metrics do not award how common jumps between your bass notes are but only how smooth the transitions are. In general high marks only say that your song has more complexity and perhaps finesse. That doesn’t always mean that the song is better in the end. Some really simple songs can be great, some very complex ones can be not good at all. It very much depends on style and taste.
For the decoupled bass, right now there is no easy way to do this with our chord engine. After all we have lots of pre-programmed bass patterns which could be easily confused by slash/chords. So right now the only way to achieve those chords is to write the bass line yourself, for example in melody voice 4. It’s a bit inconvenient but you gain lots of freedom and practice during writing.
Hi Dennis, the previously lost song has been rewritten and improved…Just an FYI. Thanks again!
I’m glad to hear you could rewrite your song. Redoing things is always a great way for improvement as it gives you an opportunity to look at everything from a different perspective.