Out of scale Chords ?

[Jesse Johannesen]

Hello,

Waiting to receive my NDLR (for a loooong time ;-)), I'm reading the manual to learn basics and I have a question about Chords in NDLR.

How can I tell NDLR to play Chords that are not in the scale selected such as secondary dominant chords or chords from parallel scales (eg . C major selected and I want to play a chord from Cminor scale) ? Can I do that with NDRLR ? Do I have to use the Chord Sequencer ?
I did'n find an answer in the manual.

 Can you also please explain how alt1 & alt2 chords are built ?

All the best.
Eric.

Hey Eric, thanks for reaching out. First of all, sorry about the wait, I think you'll find it's worth the wait. Let me take a minute to see if I can clear up some of the questions you have.

While NDLR doesn't really "specialize" in playing borrowed chords, it is possible to get them to happen a number of ways. The first way and the most straight forward is to use the chord sequencer, where you can set one of the steps of a section (say A5) to the scale you want to borrow the chord from. This is the easiest way to get there, but doesn't offer much in the way of playability, as it's deterministic, you compose and play back. If you want to get borrowed chords while noodling around, there are a couple options, each with it's own benefits and limitations.

First you can use the modulation matrix to change the mode, which can provide that variation in a rythmic pattern. This can be surprisingly functional with the Pulsewidth lfo or even one of the motif patterns as the modulation source. 

The second way is to use an external midi controller like the launch control xl and set up buttons to send CC messages to select the scales you want to switch between. The MIDI CC for mode is #74 and it takes values between 0 and 15, so to switch between major and minor, you would set one button to send CC74 a value of 0 and another to send CC74 a value of 5. If you wanted to change the key at the same time you would have it send a value to CC73 as well. This is the best way to get it to play explicitly to your design, but requires extra hardware and a little homework.

EDIT: Just realized I forgot to cover the other part of your question! The alt 1 and alt 2 chord types play a set chord type per degree, so where normally if you wanted to play a triad (default shape) on chord degree I then a 7th on degree 2, you would hit the I degree, then [shift+II] to select the shape of 7th chord, followed by the II button. With the Alt 1 & 2 shapes each degree has a prescribed shape, so you don't have to do the extra step to change shapes before changing chords. Here's a list of how they line up:
Alt1: I=triad, II=7th, III=triad, IV=triad, V=7th, VI=7th, and VII=6th
Alt2: I=7th, II=7th, III=triad, IV=7th, V=7th, VI=6th, and VII=7th

I hope that helps, let me know if you have more questions and I'll do my best to help.
Jesse