I came across an excellent app named SCALER for learning and experimenting with Music Theory.

Here is a brief YouTube Demo of the features:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq9zRKG0SW8

This is on sale for $29

https://scalermusic.com/products/scaler-2/

The iPad iOS Version is $12.99.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/scaler-2/id1603180235

I purchased both and I am thoroughly fascinated how you can select any scale and it lays down interesting Chord Progressions that you can bind to your keys. You can add complex arps.

It opens up interesting possibilities of generating automated music playback.
One member posted an example of how to combine the output of SCALER to UJAM.

https://forum.scalermusic.com/t/scaler-and-ujam-virtual-pianist-driving-everything/17772

David

Learn how to use the circle of fifths in all keys, practice scales in all keys, then learn to recognise intervals and you will then be ready for the programs above. (In either case you need to put the work in and also learn proper chords)

Bill

Hello!!

I once had a band director in high school who lived and breathed The Circle of Fifths. He insisted we study it and demonstrated examples during class. Like algebra, he promised this is something you will use all the time, and not even realize it!!

This software looks interesting and I will watch the videos and probably buy it. The only thing I'm reluctant abbout is this:

"Scaler 2 is not available in standalone mode"........I was hoping it was. -charley

Hi Charley,

Scaler can be installed as a standalone iOS App on an iPad.

Scaler can be a useful composer’s tool.

Here is a 5-min demo showcasing how Scaler can be used as a plugin within Logic Pro.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O35U6gb9UEQ


Scaler detects a simple Chord Progression in C minor like this from your MIDI input:

C, Ab, G, F, C, Ab, G, Bb

Rather than use simple Triads you can have Scaler replace them with 9th and 11th chords.

Scaler plays back with this complex chord progression that sounds much richer.

Cmin11, Abmaj9 #11, Gmin11(b9), Fmin11, Cmin11, Abmaj9 #11, Gmin11(b9), Ebmaj11



Captain Chords Epic is another popular plugin that helps lay down complex chord progressions.

Here are some tutorials explaining how the Captain Chords, Captain Melody, Captain Deep, Captain Beat and Captain Play work.

https://mixedinkey.com/captain-epic-tutorials


With all these myriads of plugins and tools, music making is approaching full auto generation.

And therein lies the problem with music today.

Bill

Hi Bill,

I agree with your sentiments.

All these auto chord generation apps are so easy to code is because music is mathematical.
The popularity of these apps amongst beat makers is because they let you bind complex chords to a single key.

For example, the user plays G on their keyboard, the app plays back Gmin11(b9).

Furthermore, these apps make it trivial to lay down complex chord progressions along with arpeggios that would otherwise take years of musical training to master.

Automation through AI is infiltrating all aspect of our lives.

Sara Dietschy recently uploaded a video showcasing how far these AI Tools have advanced to create a clone of herself complete with all her mannerisms and voice inflections.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdQaiDT-Ecg

She states that it is possible to write down a script and the AI Clone Generator would create a convincing video clip to fool her audience into thinking she was speaking live in front of a camera.

Such tools could become a time saver for YouTube content creators.

Just a stopgap measure. AI generated full music production from text prompts is already a reality. Quite honestly, if I were in the commercial music industry any more, I’d be looking at leaving. The same with commercial illustration, and soon commercial video production. AI is doing some amazing things already, easily as good as most boilerplate stuff produced by humans (we’ll always be better, but most commercial art doesn’t need ‘better’).

It’s obvious our legislators are dragging their heels on protecting human jobs from AI bots using commercial human work as a training tool for AI (guess who benefits from them not legislating this… of course, the rich who own the companies that will save a fortune using AI for their advertising needs!). I have a nasty feeling the genie is out of the bottle and AI is going to destroy these jobs as efficiently as they destroyed the auto manufacturing jobs.

The only bright side is, I think people won’t want to watch a robot play live! Everywhere that doesn’t want live music already has a DJ or Muzak. The club and restaurant/bar business is probably safe in our lifetimes… 😂🎹💵

Hi Diki,

I share your thoughts on AI generated content. It will eventually replace the need for humans for most of our creative work.

AI Tools can greatly enhance the creative potential of talented individuals. Sara Dietschy, the lady in the previous video made $800,000 in 2019 on YouTube just by talking about all the cool gear available to content creators. She has a massive following. Obviously, there is a growing public interest for this technology.

Here is KARRA, another popular YouTube content creator giving us a complete walkthrough on how she created an entire pop song “Love Like That” just using her Apple M4 MAX MacBook Pro Laptop and Logic Pro 11 with some third party plugins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tatLRLjYehY

She explained the entire process of Producing, Recording, Mixing and Mastering this entire pop song in one session.

She used several Virtual Instruments, Synths, Vocal Chains, Mixing Plugins and Mastering Plugins clearly showing how she dialed in the settings to get the desired results.

This is a truly fascinating video that shows her mastery over all this technology.

She begins by setting the Buffer Size down to 32 samples to reduce latency and starts off by laying down a Chord Track using a Guitar sound from Logic’s Stock Instrument Catalog, then proceeds to add a kick drum.

She lays down the vocals, background vocals and ad libs and yes she does use AUTO-TUNE PRO.

If you just want to skip to the final mix here is the cued up link:

https://youtu.be/tatLRLjYehY?t=2322

I would say that all this technology has democratized the landscape for music making. Anyone gifted with some musical talent coupled with the curiosity and passion to learn and embrace all of this wonderful technology is only limited by their imagination.

The sky is the limit.

I watched a European television program the other day, where the TV program host was an AI, this "thing" was in a red dress, a "Lady" in red, I'm sure Chris De Burgh didn't sing about "her". I attached the link below if you want to see it. Anyway, as I was watching, I was asking myself, don't they have a flesh and blood human being who could host this TV program, instead of this "thing" ? I know they are trying to get the public used to AI, and sadly it's working, because instead of an outcry, viewers are wondering, when is "she" going to change her red dress, to a different one. I wonder why does she even need a dress?

https://youtu.be/l1tmE3Fu6jM?feature=shared

Music is no excuse from this trend, it's becoming more machine and less human. Imagine the concert halls of the future, the performers a bunch of robots, and the audience filled with "vacuum cleaners", and other intelligent "appliances".

Wow!

Thanks for sharing that YouTube video Dengizich.

If you had not told me this lady in red was AI generated, I would have thought I was watching a live TV host in flesh and blood.

The realism is uncanny.

I guess as AI technology advances, it could be put to either good or bad use depending on the humans that program this.

You're welcome. If the TV host made you say "wow", watch this!

https://youtu.be/vIzSTz0uF_s?feature=shared


And even this is just the tip of the iceberg...

Hi Dengizich,

Thanks for linking that thought provoking video showcasing the state of AI and its endless possibilities. The explosion of AI has accelerated in the past few years into all facets of our lives.

AI was the star of the show at this year’s CES.

YouTuber AI Revolution captured all the AI related gadgets that stunned the CES 2025 attendees.

Day 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2OWbXaDbpI


Day 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfLVNMqQX9g


Day 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmU4JTORze8

All 3 videos were narrated by an AI Voice.


Gary Shapiro, CEO & Chair of the Consumer Technology Association said that companies need to adapt or die.

The same holds true for common folks. They would need to embrace the new technologies to thrive and flourish or be left behind.

The future is filled with wonders we have not dreamed of yet.

The problem with AI is the same as with everything else, no matter how good it is, humans will always use for bad, and AI used for bad will be a complete nightmare. (It's already used to scam millions of people who think they are talking or seeing someone they know, when in actual fact it is AI generated and is being used purely for deception)

Bill

Hi Bill,

I share your concerns. AI in the wrong hands can be used for nefarious purposes from scamming trusting individuals to causing mass panic to waging global warfare.

I watched this sequence of video clips from AIQuest Academy in suspended disbelief. Every scene was generated through the use of Google VEO 2.0.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6sIJNBg52A


The crazy part is that this technology is free to the public.

https://labs.google/fx/tools/video-fx


https://blog.google/technology/google-labs/video-image-generation-update-december-2024/


Things on the AI landscape seem to be morphing at lightning speed. The demarcation between Reality and Simulation is getting blurred to the point where the human brain can be tricked into believing anything.

That is a scary feeling.

At the same time AI has the potential to enhance our lives, boost our creativity, save us time and money when applied judiciously.

Personally, I think a lot depends on your interpretation of the word ’creative’…

I don’t think AI used in the arts is in any way creative. It is essentially software sent out on the internet to copy and learn from already existing work, and then used to create music or illustration ‘in the style of’ any text prompt it gets. And while this is impressive in and of itself, it isn’t really ‘creating’ anything, it is imitating. It’s doing it very quickly and very cheaply, but it’s not creating in the sense of making something never heard or seen before.

The thing is, most commercial application of the arts doesn’t WANT anything new, challenging, different. It wants something comfortable, something familiar, something that appeals to the demographic the user wants. The only way to appeal to a specific demographic is by aping what they already listen to, read, or watch. That is the main need of commercial art.

As great as some have pushed commercial art, it is extremely rare to find anything utterly original. Even things like John Williams doing film scores, it is still, in essence, a distillation of orchestration styles and writing long familiar to classical music listeners. Most of the avant gard would be difficult to meld with say a science fiction soap opera or an adventure potboiler!

That’s not to say it doesn’t happen from time to time (Ligeti with 2001 A Space Odyssey for instance or the electronic soundscape of Forbidden Planet) but by and large, art for anything but its own sake is pretty familiar. Perfect for a technology that copies existing art.

I’d love to hear Russ’s input on this topic, as he is the one closest involved in that aspect of the industry.

We need to be careful though. We are binding together all kinds of different technologies and calling them all ‘AI’, but they don’t all operate the same way. Interactive large language model AI’s used for things like customer service and things like that aren’t exactly the same as video generation tools or music generation.

There’s upsides and downsides to any new technology, but the one thing driving it all is money. Those AI server farms cost billions. In today’s political climate, I honestly don’t expect to see any significant pushback or legislation because primarily they benefit the ultra wealthy, who apparently have a stranglehold on our legislators.

It’s hard to stop a boulder once rolling downhill. Best to get out of its way!

Hi Charley,

I have good news for you!

Scaler 3 was announced today.


https://scalermusic.com/


It will be released in March, 2025.

Scaler 3 will run as a Standalone App as well as a plugin.

You can buy Scaler 2 today and get a free upgrade to Scaler 3.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR-w-T2Vy00&t=224s

Thanks for the info. It still looks quite interesting. -charley

Hi Charley,


I found 4 Standalone Options to run Scaler 2 on the Scaler Forum:


1.
Cantabile Lite

This is a free VST Host for Windows.
It can Host and Play virtual Instruments live.
It Works on Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8.1, 10 and 11.

https://www.cantabilesoftware.com/free-vst-host

This is the best solution.


2.
NanoHost

This is a free DAW for Windows that can load VST-synths.

You can convert any VST-Synth into a standalone application.

https://www.tone2.com/nanohost.html


3.
Bitwig Studio

All 3 versions of Bitwig Studio – Essentials, Producer and Studio can host Scaler 2.
The Producer and Studio versions come with Multi virtual MIDI Out options.

https://www.bitwig.com/


4.
Blue Cat’s PatchWork

This is a universal patchbay for plug-ins.
It can host up to 64 VST, VST3, Audio Unit or built-in plugins.

https://www.bluecataudio.com/Products/Product_PatchWork/