parallel motion chords - music theory question

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steevio
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parallel motion chords - music theory question

Post by steevio »

for techno i never use regualr chords like majors / minors, 7ths etc. because they sound like regular western music to my ears

i'm really into secundal and quartal harmony and chords and tone clusters, and inversions thereof.

one of the problems with using a monosynth with three oscillators, is that you are effectively making triad chords and if you send lead lines, arpeggios etc. to them you are playing parallel motion chords, and many chords just dont sound right in parallel motion, we've become so indoctrinated by western chord progression.

there isnt much info about this on the web, but one thing that came up was that quartal chords (chords made from 4ths instead of 3rds) work well in parallel motion,

sooo.. my qusetion to the theorists out there is;
' what chords work well in parallel motion ' ????

ive found that some tone clusters work well eg C/D/D# etc.. but i just wondered if there was any theory on this subject
loopdon
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Post by loopdon »

Can't really help you, bro but i am pretty sure i remember having read something related to this topic on k-v-r in the 'Music theory' subforum.
There are loads of theory buffs there that could probaly lend a helping hand there if you post there as well. 8)
lem
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Post by lem »

Hmmm, I'm not sure I understand the question fully. But I thought that most chords work well with parallel motion? It's just our perception of whats right and wrong, like you said.

Is there no way to make your modular 'pretend' to be a polysynth?
Sorry for going off topic. But I thought this was what you might do already?
steevio
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Post by steevio »

lem wrote:Hmmm, I'm not sure I understand the question fully. But I thought that most chords work well with parallel motion? It's just our perception of whats right and wrong, like you said.

Is there no way to make your modular 'pretend' to be a polysynth?
Sorry for going off topic. But I thought this was what you might do already?
i've been studying jazz theory for a while now, and its a concept that comes up, apparently some chords work better than others in parallel motion, stacked fourths for instance, but i cant find much info on what other chords do and why..
btw i was asking this is relation to my Moog voyager not my modular.

there are certainly some chords that dont seem to sound right in parallel motion, ive no idea why, i was asking the question from a music theory point of view.
i totally understand that it is conditioning which gives us our sense of consonance and dissonance, but there is some physics behind it too.
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Post by marcneyen »

In the end it only depends what sounds right to your ear.

From a theoretical point the first thing you will have to decide on is if you wanna stay in a tonality/modus.
If so your options will be limited as theres only a few that will work once you've got your oscillators tuned to a triad.
-whole tone scale obviously (won't sound good imo in techno related stuff)
-octatonic scale works too but cant build triads with all the notes
-diminished works fine in minor 3rds
-sus4 chords work in a multitude of examples

I probably forget some but after all there's not really a theory behind this as it is very focused on the way one works with 2/3/4 fixed voice synth's.Your best bet to find more info on this is to look for the theory behind neighbouring tonalities like Cmaj/Am.

In Jazz the principle is the same. When arranging f.ex. for big band where you need chords for different melody notes there's a few techniques like diatonic or chromatic approaches.
The thing is you'll always check the scale of the tonality you're in and there can be some notes that clash which is entirely left to the arranger if he leaves them or alters/omits them.

A last note, chords in 'stacked 4ths' work so well because it's a very neutral sound and can be found/used in a multitude of scales. Take f.ex. C/F/Bb triad ,works in Cm / Dm / Fm/ Fmaj / Gm and other more complicated scales.
Furthermore the sus4 chord is a very common 'sound' used in modal jazz f.ex. and the possibilities using it are sheer endless, from chromatic to diatonic movements and different voicings of it.
Here's a good example with McCoy Tyner whos famous for the use of stacked 4th chords :
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1xhc_ ... yner_music
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tone-def
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Re: parallel motion chords - music theory question

Post by tone-def »

steevio wrote:one of the problems with using a monosynth with three oscillators, is that you are effectively making triad chords and if you send lead lines, arpeggios etc. to them you are playing parallel motion chords, and many chords just dont sound right in parallel motion, we've become so indoctrinated by western chord progression.
i use diminished chords a lot, if you use the diminished scales you can play lead lines and arpeggios in the way you want.

suspended chord also sound good to my ears.
lem
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Post by lem »

i could ask the jazz lecturer at my work if there is a good book on the subject if u like?
unless u kno any jazz muscians?
lem
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Post by lem »

i could ask the jazz lecturer at my work if there is a good book on the subject if u like?
unless u kno any jazz muscians?
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