Silverlake Soundlab — Damo

★ GOAL

Build a chord progression using Sine Keys, Rhodish, or Childhood Piano
Create and loop a MIDI clip
Make the chords more interesting
Duplicate the loop and add a variation, same chords, slightly different
Duplicate the MIDI and transpose it down to create a bass line

★ ASK

Does it feel intentional?
What mood does it create?
Can I listen to this on loop?

★ OPTIONS

Start simple, experiment once you have a foundation
Lead into chords, play just before or just after the 1
Vary velocity so some notes hit harder than others
Shorten or lengthen individual notes to change the feel

★ TOOLBOX

Leading In

Play the chord just before or just after the 1

Velocity

Louder notes feel accented and forward
Quieter notes recede into the background

Note Shaping

Drag notes up or down within the chord to find new shapes
Shorten notes for a plucky feel, lengthen for sustained pads

Variation

Duplicate the loop to double its length
Change one or two notes in the second half

Humanization

Use Ableton's humanize function to add subtle variation

Bass

Duplicate the MIDI clip to a new track
Delete all but the root note of each chord
Transpose down one or more octaves