How to Play Extended Chords?

Support, Help & Resources
1

Hi, again… I was looking on how to play custom/extended chords. Used this code, but as you guess… didn’t work :

# Extended Chords

use_debug false
use_bpm 86

ext = [
  " '1', '3', '5', 'd7', 'd9', 'A11', '13'",
]


## SEE "DEGREE/LANGUAGE" TO ADD NOTES TO PROGRESSION

env = [
  attack: 0.1,attack_level: 1,decay: 0.2, sustain_level: 0.7,
  sustain: 1.7, release: 2,
]

use_synth :organ_tonewheel
use_synth_defaults env.tick,
  oct: 4,rs_freq: 1,rs_freq_var: 0.2,rs_pan_depth: 0.07,rs_amplitude_depth: 0.2,
  amp: 1,pitch: +12

live_loop :prog do
  ext.each do |e|
    play [0],(e,:Fs, :major)
    sleep 4
  end

How can i create a “list” of custom chords to play through ?
Best Regards.

2

Did you consult chord at all?

Possibly one way to play chords would be:

progression = (ring 
               (chord :a, 'minor'),
               (chord :f, 'major'),
               ( ring :c4, :f4, :a4, :d5 ),  #  we can create our own chords
               ( ring :d4, :g4, :a4, :d5 )
               )

use_bpm 120

live_loop :progression do
  
  current = progression.tick
  4.times do
    play current
    sleep 0.5
  end
end
3 Likes
3

Very nice and simple;
most important: customizable.
Thank you very much !

4

And, just to add to everything else that’s been discussed. You can also make composite chords from those already named in SPi

#Composite A major 7
a = (chord :a3, :major, invert: 0)
b = (chord :cs4, :minor, invert: 2)
# Composite A minor 9
c = (chord :a3, :minor, invert: 0)
d = (chord :c4, :major7, invert: 2)


live_loop :partchords do
  8.times do
    play a + b, release: 0.4
    sleep 0.5
  end
  
  8.times do
    play c + d, release: 0.4
    sleep 0.5
  end
end

Or as a composite of fifths, or any other interval you care to use:

#Composite of fifths
e = (chord :a3, '5')
f = (chord :c4, '5')
g = (chord :e4, '5')
h = (chord :g4, '5')

play e + f + g + h
sleep 2.0
play_pattern_timed e + f + g + h, 0.25

Use invert to make some variations:


#Composites of fifths
e = (chord :a3, '5')
f = (chord :c4, '5', invert: 2)
g = (chord :e4, '5', invert: 1)
h = (chord :g4, '5')

8.times do
  play_pattern_timed e + f + g + h, 0.125
end

Obviously this is a quick and dirty version to illustrate.

2 Likes
5

There’s an interesting point on it…
Perhaps we can add extensions to
the chord via :

ext = ['7','9+','11']
e = (chord :a3, "ext")

I don’t know,will test later.
Thank you very much !

1 Like
6

@GWB70 a lot of those chords are already named in the library, so it’s a question of identifying the ones you want. My suggestions is that you can also approach chords of this type as part chords or exploit bi-tonality such as F#/C as two distinct triads. As ever, there are lots of ways to solve a problem, just that we have to identify the ‘right’ one at that time.

You might also want to look at knit as a means of joining lists together.

Enjoy!

1 Like
7

My favorite way to play chords
in Sonic Pi (derived from the 1st example):

# PLAY CHORD

use_debug false
use_bpm 86

define :cho do |note|
  play note
end


use_synth_defaults amp: 1,release: 0.8

use_synth :pluck
live_loop :chord do
  density 1 do
    cho([:a3,:c4,:e4])
    sleep 1
    cho([:a3,:b3,:d4])
    sleep 1
  end
end