Dear Support and users,
After reviewing the manual more in depth I started to realize what might be happening with this issue. On page 31 of the Misha User Guide v1.1 it states the following:
Chords
A chord on Misha consists of up to 3 notes sounded simultaneously when a single
button is pressed. A chord may be as simple as one note plus the same note one octave
lower plus the same note two octaves lower. Or, two instances of the same note plus
one of another note. Of course, a chord can also be a chord such as a triad- the present
pitch plus a note two steps down, and a third note four steps lower. This is akin to
playing a piano with the fingers fixed like the teeth of a rake.
Misha sends the three pitches simultaneously via MIDI, and also one through each of
the three CV Out’s.
Below is the format for the 9 chords pre-installed in Misha. The first item in the list is the
top (“lead”) note in relation to the button pressed- always 0 here- and then each
subsequent number represents the interval (relative) move from the lead note.
The default chords are:
Chord #/Button | Chord Name | Chord Structure | Notes Used (Assuming we are in the Key of C Major)
1 /-4 | Octaves | {0,-1 octave,-2 octaves} | C4 | C3 | C2
2 /-3 | Third | {0,-2, 0} | C4 | A3 | C4
3 /-2 | Sixth | {0,-5, 0} | C4 | E3 | C4
4 /-1 | Triad | {0,-2,-4} | C4 | A3 | F3
5 / 0 | Triad 2 | {0,-3,-5} | C4 | F3 | D3
6 / +1 | Triad 3 | {0,-2,-5} | C4 | A3 | G3
7 / +2 | Jazz | {0,-3,-9} | C4 | G3 | A2
8 / +3 | Copland | {0,-6,-12} | C4 | D3 | E2
9 / +4 | Wide | {0,-11,-22} | C4 | F3 | B2
The moment I read the following:
“Of course, a chord can also be a chord such as a triad – the present
pitch plus a note two steps down, and a third note four steps lower. ”
I said really?
For some reason the Chord Section is built off the idea chords are created by added notes in intervals lower than the root note seems odd to me. In the music theory I have studied, chords are built off of the root note and adding notes going up the scale. The logic in the manual and Misha is rather building a chord off the root note and adding notes lower than the root note. Which makes no sense to me because now the home (root) note its no longer the root note. (unless we are talking about Chord inversions which is just where the notes reside relative to the root note).
I wrote up some recommendations to update Chord Section if your interested as it would make Misha much more useful in the Chord Section catagory and make Misha more congruent with current western music theory.
Base the Chord section of a root note and two addtional notes above the root note and add an inversion function to each chord structure you’ll want at least three inversions
Lowest note first:
First inversion is Root, Third, Fifth.
Second inversion is Third, Root, Fifth.
Third inversion is Fifth, Root, Third.
It would be amazing if you could treat this like you treat the modes of scales so that each Chord option would also include up to three Chord Inversions for each Chord option.
Here is my recommended changes to the existing Chord Structures you currently have and updated to have the chords built off the Root note as mentioned above.
Chord #/Button | Chord Name | Chord Structure | Notes Used | Musical Theory Chord Name*
1 /-4 | Octaves | {0,-1 octave,+1 octaves} | C4 | C3 | C5 | Octaves
2 /-3 | Third | {0,+2, +1 octaves} | C4 | E4 | C5 | Major Third
3 /-2 | Sixth | {0,+5, +1 octaves} | C4 | A4 | C5 | Major (natural) Sixth
4 /-1 | Triad | {0,+2,+4} | C4 | E4 | G4 | Major Triad
5 / 0 | Triad 2 | {-5, 0,+4} | E3 | C4 | G4 | Major Triad 2st Inversion
6 / +1 | Triad 3 | {-3, 0,+2} | G3 | C4 | E4 | Major Triad 3st Inversion
7 / +2 | Jazz | {-9,0,+4} | A2 | C4 | G5 | Major 6th 3st Inversion
8 / +3 | Copland | {-7,+1,+9} | C3 | D4 | E5 | Major Suspended 2nd
9 / +4 | Wide | {0,+3,+6} | C4 | F4 | B4 | Major Suspended 4th add 9th
Also if there is a way to edit these Chords would be a extremely useful as well as having a function to invert the chords would be epic.
Thanks for your attention an time reviewing this info and if you would like help programming this or updating the info require I am more than happy to contribute.
Hopefully this helps,
Thomas
