Follow Chord Track - super confusing

Hi,

I have a more complex workflow than this but I’d like to give a simple example please and ask for explanations

I have a chord track with two one-bar chords, G and Am

Now I have a VST inst track with two one bar parts aligned underneath those chord - each has a single one-bar long C2 note and follow chord track is off.

I’d like to make these C notes follow the root (or 3rd, 5th etc) of the chord track… Let’s say root for now.

So I selected Chords/Follow Chord Track and chose Root. I expect the first midi note to be a G and the second midi note to be an A.

Attempt #1 In the Dialog I leave “follow directly” selected. The notes remain on C2

Attempt #2 I turn off follow and turn it on again (having reset the notes to C3’s), this time I choose “Analyse Chords”, then chose “Root”. On my VST track which just had two C notes, under the G chord I get a C (not the Root of G obv) and under the Am I get a D… what?

<<UPDATE EDIT - I made a new project to upload as an example, and repeated the same steps and the notes are different!!! this time I get D and F#>>

Attempt #3 I turn off follow and turn it on again (having reset the notes to C3’s), this time I choose “Apply a known chord”, then chose “Root”. Since I only have C notes I reckon a C Maj will do. Under the G chord I get a G (woohoo) and under the Am I get a B… so confusing. What is going on.

<<UPDATE EDIT 2 - I made a new project to upload as an example, and repeated the same steps and the notes are different!!! this time I get G and A - bingo>>

The manual is not clear here if the track on which I “follow chord track” already has notes, for example a rhythm. What if the notes in my track were not 1 bar then 1 bar C but instead 1/2 C then 1/2 G in each bar. How should these be affected by Root Notes.

And how are slash chords treated. Presumably A9/B should see the root note as B?

And how in my example would Single Voice (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass, Soprano 2, Alto 2, Tenor 2 and Bass 2) work - what should I expect in my simplest of example - how should my C note be moved to follow a G and an Am chord with those options?

Ultimately I’d like to split the notes of four-note chords in a chord track across 4 instrument tracks one note per track.

Thanks anyone!
Voicedrone-02.zip (84.5 KB)

I use single voice and set to Bass in the second selection box to follow the root note - and yes, generally it follows the bass note for slash chords in my experience. I’ve not actually tried the ‘root’ mode before - but it certainly sounds odd what you’re getting.

That said, i don’t review the MIDI data, i usually listen by ear as to if it sounds ok.

Thanks for the swift response.

I just tried that - using a C note under each chord in my current project - Amin7 and a CMaj7.

Whichever option I choose Follow Directly/Analyse Chords/Apply A known chord Cmaj — I just get two A notes using Single Note / Bass

So infuriating as I have a nice bassline VST (Trk-01) which I just want to play the bass notes of my chord track (dynamically, so if I adjust the chords, I don’t have to go editing Midi) - not sure why this is so hard!

Thanks again SkiJumpToes

Saxobob,

no help, I have exactly the same issue in latest Pro 10.5 version . Using “root note” one gets random notes that do fit in the chord but simply are not always the root note of the chord. For example on a Cmaj I get a C, but on a Cmj7 I get an E, adaptive voicing has no impact.
If one defines different bass notes in the chord (right hand column in the Chord dialog), it is completely ignored. I hope a steinberg person is monitoring this conversation. It would be so simple, that is one uses “root note”, it will ALWAYS simply follow the root or when different, the bass note of the chord, how hard can that be?

dNoise

Hi dnoise - yes making Chord Track and Follow Chords then play the root note of a chord should be so easy!

Can anyone assist?

Saxobob,
found a workaround. Put your bass on Mono and then put in an arpeggiator, like Apache 5 or SX.
Then choose a simple Up only pattern, and set step and length more or less equal to one bar (you can experiment with this).
This will only play the first lowest note from the chord so it even follows the bass note if you have defined that.

dNoise

1 Like

Thanks dNoise - not sure how I missed this I’ll give it a go. Still no idea what Single Voice is supposed to do!

Have you guys shocked what inversion of the chords on the chord track you are using.

The inversion will set the root note differently.

In Cubase 11, I can’t get a midi track with a single note to follow the Root Note of the Chord Track either. Is this a bug, or is this intended behavior? I’ll try the Arpeggiator hack.


UPDATE: I got this to work, but not with Root Note. If you change it to Follow Single Voice, and then choose Bass from SATB, it follows the Bass Note.

I think I figured it out. It has to be a full chord, and not single notes. So take for example CEG, and it duplicate for a total of 4 bars. Using the chord track, create a random chord like E minor or G major. Select Root Notes-Then Analyze chords. You should see it work here. For single notes, what you said is how I’ve been doing it.