kirkdickinson wrote:I watched a tutorial about creating custom presets. I want to create chord presets for the common keys our band uses. So for instance in the key D..
When a D is pressed, it will play D, F#, A
E -- E, G, B
F# -- F#, A, C#
etc... just triads that fit the key.
So, my question is:
How can I replicate one octave across all the octaves without programming every single key?
I tried setting up chords in different keys like that and gave up as it was too difficult to play like that with my feet. Instead of trying to fit the chord to the respective note ( C chord on the first or 8 buttons) I am developing a system per key using the roman numeral system. (1 button corresponds to the first chord in the key signature and so on using the 1 through 7 buttons and taking notes off the other buttons)
What I am doing now is I first created a preset called C Major Chords (also A minor has the same chords but in a different order) using the lower buttons (white keys on a keyboard) I ii iii IV V vi vii dim (minor is different) and saved that. Then I opened it up again and transposed it up 1 step and saved it as C# Major (also Bb Minor Chords) and so on until you have all chords in Major and Minor. Then I mark my chord changes using numbers 1 through 7 on my sheet music and make sure I have the correct key preset on the 12 step. So when you see a 5 you just hit the 5 button and so on. This way I can just use the bottom keys and both my feet (12 Step must be mounted and you need to be sitting) are starting to remember where 6 or 2 .. are. I have my 12 step mounted in a fixed position and actually play it with 2 feet while sitting while reading my sheet music which is centered just above the 12 step so I can see both. If your song uses other chords like 7ths you can either substitute the triad or use the upper keys (black notes) or any other notes your song does not use but then save the changes as the name of the song and you will have more practice ahead. The other alternative would to leave the buttons set up to correspond to their respective chromatic notes and set the chords up using MidiChords (free) on your Mac if you are interfaced with a Mac and using a DAW like Reaper. I think the important part is keep it as simple as you can, keep the 12 step in the same place and practice practice practice.