In this Logic tutorial Logic Café’s Paul Yarrow shows you how to open up a new world of performance capabilities for Korg’s most affordable monosynth.
This post was originally published in DJ Magazine’s free online edition DJ Weekly issue 106
Today we explore using the inputs, routing options and plug-in features of Logic Pro to turn the fantastic Monotron, into a kind of polysynth that can play diatonic chords. Diatonic chords are all of the chords contained within a given scale and here we are working in the key of C.
The Monotron is connected to input 1 on the computer (in this case the mini jack input on the side of a Macbook Pro). In order to hear the Monotron, input monitoring needs to be enabled on the audio channel.
The output of the audio channel is routed through the Bus 1 output rather than the default output. This is because we’ll be making a few channels, but would like to treat the sum output of these as one instrument. Working with Bus 1 will enable easy recording of performances and adding any effect inserts.
As the Monotron is to play chords in the key of C, the next step is for it to play an accurate C major scale. To do this the pitch correction plug-in is inserted into the input channel with the major scale selected and the response is set to fast. Now when played, the Monotron should produce an accurate scale played with clear intonation between scale pitches rather than the smooth glide between notes you normally get from playing the ribbon. It’s a good idea to tune the Monotron if you are going to visually use the ribbon to perform with as I demonstrate.
Now that the root channel for the chords is set up, we need to duplicate the track in order to set up our next interval. To do this, click on the duplicate track button in the Arrange Page. All of the previous settings will be duplicated, however now we’re going to add our first interval, which is the 3rd note of the chord. In order to do this we add the pitch shifter plug-in, set the Mix to 100% and adjust the interval to 4, which indicates a rise in pitch of four semitones. Now when played, it should be possible to hear that the Monotron is playing a major interval throughout the ribbon. Although in some cases a fixed interval may be the desired effect, in this tutorial we’re after both major and minor chords. To achieve this, the pitch shifter plug-in needs to be moved before the pitch correction plug-in in the signal path. That way the intervals are corrected according to the scale.
Logic Connoisseur Paul Yarrow
In order to add the second interval or fifth note in the chord, we repeat the same process but change the pitch correction to 7 semitones. Again you can also repeat the process adding the third interval or seventh note for jazzier chords. You can also add effects to the Bus channel. To record your Monotron performance, set up a new audio track with the input set to Bus 1 and record as you would with any audio input channel.
If you want to work in a different key or scale, simply make sure that key and scale are selected in the initial channel set-up and the Monotron is tuned to that key.
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Video Transcription:
Hello. I am Paul Yarrow, Point Blank Online. I currently work as a producer and song writer for Box Music, and the creator of the control scheme for Logic Pro. I run a website, LogicCafe.com, for Logic Pro users. If you enjoy this tutorial, there is plenty more content like this at PointBlankOnline.net. You are watching Logic Tutorials. In this Logic tutorial, we are going to turn the fantastic little monosynth, the Korg Monotron, into a polysynth that can play diatonic chords. Just a mention about the setup, the Monotron is connected to Import One, on the computer. In order to hear the Monotron, you got to enable the input monitoring on the audio channel.
The output of the audio channel is routed through Bus 1, rather than the default output. This is because we will be making a few channels, but would like to treat the sum output of these as one instrument; this could be for adding effects and things later on. The first thing we need to achieve is for the Monotron to play an accurate scale, with definition between the notes. To do this, we load up the Pitch Correction plug-in. As we are going to make the Monotron play diatonic chords, which are the chords within a given scale, the major scale is selected, and the response is set to Fast. If I play the Monotron, we should hear an accurate scale played with clear intonation, rather than the smooth glide between notes that you normally get from playing the ribbon.
It is a good idea to tune the Monotron before starting. Do this by playing the C note, indicated by the ribbon, then adjusting the pitch until the input monitor on the pitch correction reads C. Now the scale should play from C to C, as indicated on the ribbon. To introduce our next interval, we need to duplicate the track. All of our previous settings are duplicated, however, now we are going to add our first interval, which is the third note of the chord. In order to do this, we add the Pitch Shifter plug-in, set the Mix to 100, and adjust the interval to 4, which indicates a rising pitch of 4 semitones. Now if I play, you can hear the Monitron is playing a major interval throughout the ribbon.
That is not what we want. It is playing the harmony, but we do not want that major interval all the time. We are after the diatonic chords within the key, so we need the majors and the minors. To achieve this, the Pitch Shifter plug-in needs to be moved before the Pitch Correction plug-in in the signal path. That way, the intervals are corrected according to the scale. You can hear that working now with a mix of major and minor chords. To add the second interval, or fifth note in the chord, we repeat the same process but change the pitch shifter to 7 semitones. Again, you can also repeat the process, adding the third interval, a seventh note, for jazzier chords. I am going to add some effects from the pedal board unit, perhaps a phaser and a delay unit. To record your Monotron performance, setup a new audio track with the input set to Bus 1, and record as you would with any audio track.
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