Chord Player

$49

Web www.rfmusic.net Format PC/Mac, VST/AU The sister plugin to Rahman Fotouhi’s Scale Player (8/10,

252), Chord Player loads as a VST/AU plugin on an instrument track and forwards processed MIDI data to an actual instrument on a separate track – except in Logic Pro, where it works as an AU MIDI Effect. While Scale Player dealt with the effortless generation of complex melodies and arpeggios, Chord Player turns single-note input into strummed and stacked chords. Chord roots, modes, voicings and octaves are keyswitched with one range of notes, while an array of playing styles (stacked note combinations and up/down strums at four speeds) is navigated using another. With a few chords defined and a handful of playing styles set up, expressive progressions are easily performed and recorded.

As with Scale Player, there’s a bit of a learning curve, and the manual’s not much help, but when you get into its particular flow, Chord Player reveals itself to be a clever, well conceived compositional assistant and performance tool that music theory novices and experts alike will get plenty of mileage out of.

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