I have purchased Hookpad and the books. However, to say that the interface is clunky, is being kind. I have my Yamaha DGX670 keyboard attached via midi. This is next to useless. Hookpad says it is easy to input via a midi keyboard - it is not, it is, seemingly impossible.
For instance; try inputting a chord (triad) - say for the first beat of a 4/4 bar - playing CEG should input the full chord - it does not, it only inputs a broken chord - C, E then G. I have the following settings, as advised by Hookpad support.
This should be simple to achieve via midi or laptop key input. No, it is impossible. Hookpad is not new - this should be basic functionality. All the rest of it is useless for it’s, supposed, purpose, without such basic function.
Let me explain a few of our concepts. In Hookpad we have a strict division between melody and chord area. The first is for writing melodies, the other for writing chords. So the melody area is strictly monophonic as it is not intended for chords. When the melody area is selected you can see the option to write up to four individual melody tracks. This can be used for second lead melodies or custom bass lines, guitar riffs etc. and in theory also to write chords. This is how the examples in the Hookpad book were made.
Now to write chords, the best practice is to write them in the chord section. This should also be possible with your midi controller. I believe you can write a standard C-Major chord by just pressing any C you like, if your project has a key that has a C-Major chord in it. If you want those chords to have special rhythms, press B to open the band browser and select some of our rhythmic patches.
So basically the workflow in Hookpad is a bit different than what you are used to in your DAW. You write a monophonic melody, add some chords and some band instrument to create a full song. This has many limitations but might boost your creativity as it’s really quick and easy . If your happy with your basic arrangement, you can export stems or midis and continue to produce your song in your DAW. So in other words you’ll use Hookpad for songwriting and your DAW for song production.
