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CORE TECHNOLOGY 07 · MUSIC THEORY ENGINE

The theory is built in, so you don’t need it.

At the heart of Harmonic Pro Studio is a music theory engine. It knows your song’s key and chords, hears them in your recordings and in your singing, and keeps every tool in the studio in key: the band, the effects, the editors and Nimi. Know theory, or don’t. Your music stays in key either way.

THE SONG · WHAT THE STUDIO KNOWS
KEYC major · heard 92 %

C

I

Am

vi

F

IV

G/B

V

  • The band plays G with B in the bass
  • Advance EQ leaves G, B and D alone
  • Voice Factory sings the third above, on B
  • Nimi writes the next chord from the key
An illustration: one chord, and what every tool does with it.

ONE BRAIN FOR THE WHOLE STUDIO

It knows what your song is made of.

Most studios treat a song as tracks of sound. Harmonic Pro Studio also knows it as music, and shares that knowledge with every tool.

The key

One Master Key for the whole song. Change it, and everything that follows the key follows the change.

The chords

One chord track, shared by the Arranger, the timeline, the effects and Nimi, with chords on the beat or off it.

The notes being played

The notes of every MIDI part, at the moment they play, including the Arranger band.

The notes in your recordings

The notes heard on audio tracks, such as a bass, a guitar or a voice, with nothing to write down.

The sections

Where the intro, verse, chorus and bridge are, so tools can treat each part of the song as its own.

The tempo and the meter

The tempo map and the time signature, so everything lands on the bar.

IT HEARS THE MUSIC

Play it or sing it. It works out the theory.

You don’t have to write the key or the chords down. The theory engine listens for them.

The key of a take

It hears the key of a recording or a sung line, and shows how sure it is.

The chords in a melody

It works out the chords a sung melody points to, bar by bar, with real chord names such as Em/C.

The chords your band plays

It hears the harmony in your MIDI parts and audio tracks, even when nobody wrote the chords down.

Audio to MIDI

A sung line, a bass, a lead or an 808 becomes a MIDI part you can give to any instrument.

Scale degrees

The Pitch view’s keyboard shows each note’s place in the key, from I to vii.

You can always choose

Set the key or the chords yourself at any time, and every tool uses yours.

EVERY TOOL FOLLOWS

One theory engine. Every tool in key.

Because the knowledge is shared, the tools work together instead of each guessing on its own.

The Arranger band

Every note keeps its job in the chord: the root stays the root, the third stays the third, and slash chords put the right note in the bass.

Key-aware effects

Advance EQ and Voice Front tell the notes of the music from the problems around them, and Harmonic Space’s shimmer follows the chords.

Voice Factory

Harmonies land on the notes of each chord: thirds stay thirds and sixths stay sixths.

The pitch editor

Notes snap to the key, or to the notes of the chord they sit under.

The piano roll

Conform to Chords moves a part onto the harmony, and Transpose can move notes in steps of the scale.

Nimi

Chords from your key, and loops, parts and vocals generated in your key and over your chords.

THEORY TOOLS, WITHOUT THE HOMEWORK

Everything a musician would check, done for you.

If you know theory, these are the tools you would want. If you don’t, they keep you right without you having to think about it.

A chord picker that never chooses for you

It shows the chords of your key in musical order, from I to vii, and how each relates to the chord before. You pick by ear.

Every chord you need

Majors, minors, sevenths, sixths, suspended, diminished and augmented, added ninths and elevenths, altered dominants and slash chords.

Chords spelled right

Transpose a song or one section, and every chord is spelled correctly in the key it lands in.

Nine scales

Major, natural, harmonic and melodic minor, Dorian, Mixolydian, major and minor pentatonic, and blues, in the piano roll.

Conform to Chords

Move a part to the nearest note of each chord or of the scale, leave notes that already fit, and keep the bass where it is.

Off-beat chords

Chords on the “and”, an eighth early or on a triplet, read and written the way charts write them.

Questions

Do I need to know music theory to use it?
No. The theory engine works in the background. You set a key or let it be heard, write or pick chords, and every tool keeps your music in key for you. If you do know theory, every tool shows it the way you expect.
Can I overrule it?
Always. Set the key yourself, choose the chords yourself, switch a snap off, or keep a note that is “wrong” on purpose. The theory engine helps; it never decides for you.
Does it work with the plugins I own?
A plugin from another company cannot read your song’s chords. But MIDI you shape with the theory tools, such as Conform to Chords or a scale transpose, plays on any instrument, your plugins included.
What if my song changes key?
Transpose one section on its own for a key change, or move the whole song. The chords are spelled in the key they land in, and everything that follows the key follows the change.
Which editions include it?
The theory engine is in every edition. The tools that use it, such as the full Arranger band, the key-aware effects and the Audio Editor, depend on the edition: see Pricing.

THE CORE TECHNOLOGIES

They work together.

Everything in Harmonic Pro Studio →

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