Write chords
To see the list of available chords, run import Sound.Tidal.Chords
. This command will import the internal list of chords. Running chordList
will output the list of the available chords registered by Tidal. Here is the list:
major maj aug plus sharp5 six 6 sixNine six9 sixby9 6by9 major7 maj7 major9maj9 add9 major11 maj11 add11 major13 maj13 add13 dom7 dom9 dom11 dom13sevenFlat5 7f5 sevenSharp5 7s5 sevenFlat9 7f9 nine eleven 11 thirteen 13 minormin diminish ed dim minorSharp5 msharp5 mS5 minor6 min6 m6 minorSixNine minor69min69 minSixNine m69 mSixNine m6by9 minor7flat5 min7f lat5 m7flat5 m7f5 minor7min7 m7 minor7sharp5 min7sharp5 m7sharp5 m7s5 minor7flat9 min7flat9 m7flat9 m7f9minor7sharp9 m in7sharp9 m7sharp9 m7s9 diminished7 dim7 minor9 min9 m9 minor11min11 m11 minor13 min13 m13 one 1 five 5 sus2 sus4 seven Sus2 7sus2 sevenSus47sus4 nineSus4 ninesus4 9sus4 sevenFlat10 7f10 nineSharp5 9s5 m9sharp5 m9s5sevenSharp5flat9 7s5f9 m7sharp5flat9 elevenSharp 11s m11sharp m11s
(See the chord table below for a more comprehensive view.)
The list above can be combined with a root note using the '
to use with the synths in Super Dirt like this:
d1 $ n "c'maj e'min" # s "supermandolin"
Samples tuned to concert C can also be used:
d1 $ note "c'maj e'min" # s "gtr"
Chord inversions can be achieved by appending the '
to a chord, along with one or more i
characters.
The default state, without an i
, indicates the root position.
A single i
is the first inversion. A second inversion looks like this:
d1 $ n "c'major7'ii" # s "supermandolin"
The number of notes in a chord can be modified by appending the '
to a chord, along with an integer. 6 notes can be played in the above chord inversion like this:
d1 $ n "c'major7'6" # s "supermandolin"
An Open Voicing for a chord can be created by appending 'o
to a chord. This will move the 1st and 3rd note in a chord 1 octave lower (usually Root and Fifth):
d1 $ n "c'major7'o" # s "superpiano"
The root can be set as sharp
or flat
with s
or f
respectively:
d1 $ n "cf'maj c'maj cs'maj" # s "supermandolin"
The octave can be set with a number. The default is 5:
d1 $ n("c4'maj c5'maj c6'maj") # s "supermandolin"
The chords can be patterned using the |+
operator:
d1 $ n ("c e f" |+ "<'maj 'min>") # s "supermandolin"
This will give a pattern equivalent to:
d1 $ n "<[c'maj e'maj f'maj] [c'min e'min f'min]>" # s "supermandolin"
Voicings
There are a variety of different chord modifiers available, designed to change the way a chord is “voiced” (note ordering, octave choices, etc). A significant amount of discussion on what these should be and how they should work was covered in this forum thread, and (largely) implemented by polymorphic.engine.
All of the different modifiers can be patterned together.
Number of Chord tones
You can set the number of chord tones in a chord. Extra tones are created by working through the existing list of tones and either duplicating them an octave higher; reducing tones subtracts items from the chord tone list starting from the highest notes. This can also be patterned.
By default, c'min9
has 5 chord tones [0,3,7,10,14]
- we can increase that to 8, ie [0,3,7,10,14,12,15,19]
:
d1 $ n "c'min9'8" # sound "superpiano"
We can reduce it to 4 chord tones (ie take away the 9th), [0,3,7,10]
:
d1 $ n "c'min9'4" # sound "superpiano"
Open voicing
This emulates an “Open” Piano voicing, where the first and third note of a chord are dropped down an octave/12 semitones, spreading the range of the chord tones by an extra octave.
d1 $ n "c'min9'o" # sound "superpiano"
Drop N voicings
Drop voicings are similar to Open voicings, dropping the Nth highest note in the chord down by an octave/12 semitones. This is a “drop 3” voicing:
d1 $ n "c'min9'd3" # sound "superpiano"
Chord Inversions
A chord is inverted by taking the lowest N notes in a chord, and raising them by an octave/12 semitones. This is the 2nd inversion for c'min9
:
d1 $ n "c'min9'i2" # sound "superpiano"
Chord table
The chordTable
function outputs a list of all available chords and their corresponding notes.
Here is the table showing the chords along with the corresponding notes and alternative names.
Name | Notes | Alternatives |
---|---|---|
major | [0,4,7] | maj , M |
aug | [0,4,8] | plus , sharp5 |
six | [0,4,7,9] | 6 |
sixNine | [0,4,7,9,14] | six9 , sixby9 , 6by9 |
major7 | [0,4,7,11] | maj7 |
major9 | [0,4,7,11,14] | maj9 |
add9 | [0,4,7,14] | |
major11 | [0,4,7,11,14,17] | maj11 |
add11 | [0,4,7,17] | |
major13 | [0,4,7,11,14,21] | maj13 |
add13 | [0,4,7,21] | |
dom7 | [0,4,7,10] | |
dom9 | [0,4,7,14] | |
dom11 | [0,4,7,17] | |
dom13 | [0,4,7,21] | |
sevenFlat5 | [0,4,6,10] | 7f5 |
sevenSharp5 | [0,4,8,10] | 7s5 |
sevenFlat9 | [0,4,7,10,13] | 7f9 |
nine | [0,4,7,10,14] | |
eleven | [0,4,7,10,14,17] | 11 |
thirteen | [0,4,7,10,14,17,21] | 13 |
minor | [0,3,7] | min , m |
diminished | [0,3,6] | dim |
minorSharp5 | [0,3,8] | msharp5 ,mS5 |
minor6 | [0,3,7,9] | min6 , m6 |
minorSixNine | [0,3,9,7,14] | minor69 , min69 , minSixNine , m69 , mSixNine , m6by9 |
minor7flat5 | [0,3,6,10] | minor7f5 , min7flat5 , min7f5 , m7flat5 , m7f5 |
minor7 | [0,3,7,10] | min7 , m7 |
minor7sharp5 | [0,3,8,10] | minor7s5 , min7sharp5 , min7s5 , m7sharp5 , m7s5 |
minor7flat9 | [0,3,7,10,13] | minor7f9 , min7flat9 , min7f9 , m7flat9 , m7f9 |
minor7sharp9 | [0,3,7,10,14] | minor7s9 , min7sharp9 , min7s9 , m7sharp9 , m7s9 |
diminished7 | [0,3,6,9] | dim7 |
minor9 | [0,3,7,10,14] | min9 , m9 |
minor11 | [0,3,7,10,14,17] | min11 , m11 |
minor13 | [0,3,7,10,14,17,21] | min13 , m13 |
minorMajor7 | [0,3,7,11] | minMaj7 , mmaj7 |
one | [0] | 1 |
five | [0,7] | 5 |
sus2 | [0,2,7] | |
sus4 | [0,5,7] | |
sevenSus2 | [0,2,7,10] | 7sus2 |
sevenSus4 | [0,5,7,10] | 7sus4 |
nineSus4 | [0,5,7,10,14] | ninesus4 , 9sus4 |
sevenFlat10 | [0,4,7,10,15] | 7f10 |
nineSharp5 | [0,1,13] | 9sharp5 , 9s5 |
minor9sharp5 | [0,1,14] | minor9s5 , min9sharp5 , min9s5 , m9sharp5 , m9s5 |
sevenSharp5flat9 | [0,4,8,10,13] | 7s5f9 |
minor7sharp5flat9 | [0,3,8,10,13] | |
elevenSharp | [0,4,7,10,14,18] | 11s |
minor11sharp | [0,3,7,10,14,18] | m11sharp , m11s |