In the documentation for the Proximity mode (Assigning Chords with the Chord Assistant – Proximity Mode) it says, “Right-click the chord pad that you want to use as a starting point and activate Use X as Origin for Chord Assistant” with the latter text shown in bold, suggesting it’s a menu option or command. But when I right-click on the pads as it suggests, nothing happens. Also, what exactly does Cubase mean by “origin”? Is it just the big pad at the bottom of the Proximity panel (Ab, here) or is it more like “the key you’re in right now”?
That seems reasonable, but it begs the question of why Ab is the origin. They use the term “origin” with respect to chord-editing several times in the manual so I thought it had a broader meaning. It seems to almost correspond with the first chord in the track because in my case that’s F minor, and Ab major is the relative major to F minor. As a noob I want to make sure I understand Cubase’s terminology. If I could figure out the first part of my question - what do I right-click on in Cubase Pro 11 to change it? - that would probably clarify it.
I did a series of experiments, and the big pad at the bottom was always the previous chord in the chord progression. Which makes sense because it’s trying to suggest where to go next in your progression.
Still no idea about the “ Right-click the chord pad that you want to use as a starting point and activate Use X as Origin for Chord Assistant ” Right-clicking on a pad does nothing in my version of Pro 11 but back in version 9 there was a report of some problems in this area: A Chord Pad Bug after update to v9.0.20
What do other people here get when they right-click on a pad in that tool?
…I’ve seen them called chord pads in discussions on the web but those people were probably confused too… So what are those things in the Proximity tool called? And when I right click on the real chord pad (i.e., the one on the track), where do I activate Use X as Origin for Chord Assistant?
You need to have a pad with a chord assigned to it, for example Dm7. Then you right click on it and you select Use Dm7 as Origin for Chord Assistant. This makes the diagrams in “Proximity” and “Circle of Fifths” update accordingly.
You can drag those unnamed things back to a chord pad and they are assigned to it for use.
You right click on those pads in the lower zones, and you can use the chord as an origin. For example, if I right click on the F key simulacrum that contains the F chord and then “Use F as Origin for Chord Assistant”, the Chord Assistant will treat F as the origin, and update the display accordingly. F will be in the middle of the Circle of Fifths, like so: