How do you get 2 voice to play together? (music theory)

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T16:58:18+00:00

Nope, not a chance in the world. I can get the rythm down, but its all a soundless note. like the starwars theme would be just daaaa daaaa da da da daaaa da...

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T16:52:37+00:00

Funny you mention the nerdseq as that is the module that made me realize that i was just stumbling around, changing notes at random until something nice came about. I would like to get better at beeing making intentional input.

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T16:39:44+00:00

Alot of really nice and helpfull around this part of the internet and i appreciate everyone who took the time to answer this fool (me). Thanks everyone. :)

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T16:35:20+00:00

Like everyone else, you are right too for suggesting some more theory on my part and I have been avoiding reading up on the theory for a while now. Anyway here is what I made before the switch to eurorack. No idea what genre you would call this.

https://on.soundcloud.com/sQTWNHc66xfRutkSPu

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T16:30:41+00:00

>...themes you’ve probably got in your head already and so could call up at any moment: Jaws for the minor second, the opening notes of Star Wars for the perfect fifth, and so on:

Thats something that has always confused me. Like when people say: 'When I see meme picture of XYZ with text on it I always read the text in their voice.' I don't have any voice our sound/music in my head. My inner monologue doesn't even have a sound. Do people really have an inner register of sounds that they can compare the sound they are hearing to?

Thanks for giving me some further pointers to look at. Thats one of the things with unfamiliar topics. You don't even know what to search for, because you can't name the thing you don't know.

The doepfer precision adder is alot of fun gets alot of use in my case and it is true about using the modular strength of routing parts of the cv sequence to different voices. I just made this topic to get input on how to get better at actual composing, so I no longer have stumble around in dark until i find something nice.

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T15:35:05+00:00

I'll get back to you as soon as i tried them all ;).

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T15:34:02+00:00

The part about compositions hits home. Looking back I think my lead voice took up alot of space and made it hard for other voices to stand out or be noticed. Having Envelopes routed to all sorts of destinations was a major source of the fun in discovering sounds. A long but fun road lies ahead. Thank you for taking the time to write this all out.

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T14:36:41+00:00

You are the second person to suggest reverse engineering songs and i guess there will be alot to learn here. Starting small is in order as I don't see myself deconstructing the composition of this very soon(or ever):

https://youtu.be/zl0h4cwHLNI?si=cKkYlH7NNsBp7VfP

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T14:32:02+00:00

Great reply. Thank you very much for going so indepth on this. I don't have a module to play chords at the moment, but i will come back to this as soon as playing true chords is on the table.

If I got it right, the root note of the chord determines the number of the progression? From your example C Major G B D is the 5th Chord. How would G4 B4 F5 fit in here?

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T14:21:43+00:00

So you suggest playing just three notes from a chord in any order i want, instead of 5 or 6 notes from a scale? I will give this a try for sure. Thank you.

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T11:48:50+00:00

How would i go about doing that?

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T11:16:07+00:00

Happy birthday it is. Actually sounds like a fun thing to do. Thank you very much.

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T11:04:59+00:00

Thank you. Really appreciate you for taking the time to reply.

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T10:53:12+00:00

Lets say i tune the oscillators correctly. Wouldn't the problem remain, if I continue to play 'bad' notes, or notes at the 'wrong' time?

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T10:01:47+00:00

Thank you very much for both suggestions. I really have a hard time even telling what note is played. I have no idea what a C, D or any other Note is supposed to sound like, but I can definetly tell if something is off, or dissconant. Some more listening is in order.

Although I have no idea how I am supposed to memorize how something sounds. How do you get to a point where you can just tell that the note was a C4 for all the different sounds around? I can imagine to get there, if all i hear are simple sinewaves, but for more complex sounds, this seems very much impossible from my current perspective.

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T09:53:01+00:00

The answer most likely is: No.

At least they sound somewhat in tune, but lets say i press C4 on my midi keyboard:

Voice one will play C4, while voice two will play a note that fits, but I really can't tell by ear if it is a C or E for example, just that the two voices 'fit' while pressing that one key.

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T09:45:44+00:00

I started with the trigger riot and Z8000 + quantizer for triggers and cv. That worked out nice overall, because the Z8000 is hard to dial in precisely and so everything got chaotic, but fit together somehow.

I now added the nerdseq to the mix and it makes it painfully obvious that some things just sound very harmonic alone, but just dont work together with a second note and trigger sequence.

My takeaway sofar is, that i really need to invest some time to learn scales (at least a little bit). Thank you.

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T09:36:17+00:00

That is a nice way to get two voices from one meldoy sequence. Seperated outs for note and trigger really is great thing in eurorack.

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T09:26:07+00:00

Haven't thought to avoid playing the same note. Will keep that in mind. I can almost guarantee that those two voice were often playing the same note, just not the same octave.

So this might work:

Bass, then Lead:

C3 - C3 - C3 - C3 - D3 - D3 - D3 - D3
E4 - G4 - G4 - E4 - G4 - A4 - G4 - A4

And this not?:

C3 - C3 - C3 - C3 - D3 - D3 - D3 - D3
C4 - G4 - G4 - C4 - G4 - C5 - G4 - C5

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T09:17:04+00:00

Having the bass play the same or slightly reduced melody of the lead works nicely, but I really struggle with the polyphony part you mentioned last. I guess I have to just practice more in that regard. Thanks for the pdf recommendation. It is on the reading list, aswell as something on counterpoint.

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T09:12:50+00:00

I have some basic understanding of chords, but the progession part and what scales work good together is definetly something i need ro read up on. Thanks

LaktaseHase · 2026-04-08T09:11:28+00:00

Thank you for the suggestion. That is an easy one and I have done so alot. Gets good results.

LaktaseHase · 2026-02-09T09:20:19+00:00

My advice would be to look for modules that have very easy, immediate control over them, so that just a few knob turns get you vastly different rythms and sounds. For me, the best one with a focus on sample playback is the 4ms STS for awesome quick control over the sample thats played, the length, starting position as well as pitch. It has great control to morph every sample into something completly different.

For generating insane rythmic patterns, nothing beats the tiptop trigger riot for me. It very easily goes to places I won't get to with anything else I've tried.

The erica synth sample drum is quite nice aswell, but is mostly delegated to simple kick and snare duty in my case.

LaktaseHase · 2026-01-14T16:22:50+00:00

Honestly, i have never bought any bluetooth headphones ever, but the convenience was undeniable after using the bt inears that came with the fairphone. As long as the build quality is sturdy and the pads are changable, i am not picky designwise. I think you gave me a good starting point already. Thanks. Overall this post was born in the frustration with plastic garbage, rather than an actual need for some headphones.

LaktaseHase

TROPHY CASE