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The latter will define the initial spacing of any notes in our melody. IВ tend to find the latter confusing, given how ingrained it is to think of this shading as reflecting the pattern of white/black piano keys.ДЇinally, before we start to create melody ideas, engage Snap (to Grid) and select aВ suitable quantise resolution. The former simply removes note lanes for all outвЂ‘ofвЂ‘scale notes from the display, whereas the latter changes the pattern of lightвЂ‘grey/darkвЂ‘grey shading of the note lanes. IВ prefer the Key EditorвЂ™s Pitch Visibility вЂShow Pitches from Scale EditorвЂ™ option over the Scale AssistantвЂ™s вЂShow Scale Note GuidesвЂ™ option. If you wish, you can change the note lane display in the Key Editor. With this engaged, if we add or edit notes within the clip, theyвЂ™ll automatically snap to notes within the scale. As weвЂ™re going to use the noteвЂ‘drawing tools to create some melody ideas, Snap Pitch Editing is probably the most important of the other tickboxes. Choosing вЂUse Editor ScaleвЂ™ then lets us use the dropвЂ‘down options to select the key of D and the major scale to match our chord sequence. With this clip open in the Key Editor, you can expand the Scale Assistant pane in the Inspector. The Scale Assistant works within the Key Editor so, for our melody, the first step is to create an empty eightвЂ‘bar MIDI clip on our вЂmelodyвЂ™ track. As shown in the screenshot, IвЂ™ve used these options to change the voicing of the last chord hit of each bar and then, in the final two bars to add aВ sense of upwards motion to the chords. These allow you to select any chord(s) in your MIDI clip and adjust the voicingВ -В so you get to keep the chord sequence while still developing aВ sense of musical movement in the performance. While the Chord Pad system lets you add chord voicing variations on the fly, IвЂ™ll often use the Key EditorвЂ™s Chord Editing panel for this stage and the most useful options here are provided by the Inversions and Drop Notes sections. IВ opted for aВ classic (indeed, clichГ©!) fourвЂ‘bar sequence that repeats twice but with slightly different rhythm/dynamics in the final two bars the second time around. Experimenting with different chord sequences, including the ability to add both rhythm and dynamics, then becomes easy, singleвЂ‘finger work. IВ discussed the Chord Pads back in SOS May 2015 and for this example IВ followed the same basic methodology, populating the pads with some basic chords in D major (D, G, AВ and Bmin), with two different voicings of each chord.

I generally like to start songwriting with aВ chord sequence and, as my own piano skills tend towards the вЂone hand, three fingersвЂ™ level, IвЂ™m aВ big fan of using CubaseвЂ™s Chord Pad and Chord Editing features to experiment. You can also add aВ basic drumbeat or loop to provide aВ rhythmic bed if you find that helps.

CUBASE DOWN PATCH

WeвЂ™ll start with two instances of HALion Sonic SE, one with aВ simple electric piano (for the chord sequence) and the other aВ synth lead patch (for the melody). This is potentially very useful as aВ corrective toolВ -В if the piano keyboard isnвЂ™t your primary instrument, for example, or your music theory is aВ bit rustyВ -В but it can also be great when you need aВ little melodic inspiration.ДЇor our example this month, IвЂ™ll construct the bare chordal and melodic bones of an eightвЂ‘bar musical вЂchunkвЂ™, highlighting some easy ways to play with repetition and variation, and then use CubaseвЂ™s Scale Assistant to lend aВ creative hand when developing aВ melody to sit within this chunk. In the Pro, Artist and Elements versions of Cubase 11, the already impressive suite of compositional aids was joined by the new Scale Assistant. In need of melodic inspiration? Cubase 11's ScaleВ Assistant can help. Having used Chord Pads to create an initial chord sequence, the Chord Editing panel allows you to easily add further interest via the Inversions and Drop Notes options without changing the actual chords.

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