KOOROW
In electronic music it is easy to get lost in noise, sound design and endless processing. But the part that gives a track its soul is music theory: which chords you use, how your chord progression moves, which scale you work in and what emotion it carries. Scaler 3 is a plugin that makes applying that theory much faster. In this tutorial KOOROW walks through its main sections and shows how he uses it with Ableton Live.
The video is in Persian. This article walks through every step in English.
Scaler 3 is a tool, not a replacement
Having this plugin is no reason to stop learning music theory. It does not do the work for you. It speeds up applying the knowledge you already have. Beginners can use it too, but the people who get the most out of it are those with strong theory or years on an instrument: a two-hour job becomes twenty minutes, or five.
Why theory matters in electronic music
A few principles KOOROW gives before opening the plugin:
- Avoid plain three-note chords (triads) where you can. Every ear knows them. Use their variations instead.
- Learn the scales and the emotion each one carries.
- There are far more scales than major and minor. There are many modes, and mastering them takes a lot of practice. Scaler helps you explore them, but you should still aim to master them.
What Scaler does is prepare that knowledge for you: ready chord progressions with their mood, chord variations, scales and modes with their emotions written next to them, a circle of fifths you can hear with one click, and it warns you when something is out of key. Instead of spending hours working out sevenths, elevenths and thirteenths by hand, you choose and listen.
The layout
Scaler 3 has three main sections. At the top you set your chord set, your scale and the progression you are building. The middle section is the creative area for people with more theory knowledge, where they can work faster. The plugin also has a standalone mode that can build a whole song, with a chord progression for an atmosphere, a melody and an arpeggio under it, a mixer and presets, and export it all. KOOROW does not use that part, because he arranges everything in Ableton.
Step 1: Find your scale
- In the explorer, set the view to All Scales to see every scale.
- Pick a note on its keyboard. That note becomes the tonic, or root, the note the scale is named after.
- Select several notes and the list shows only the scales that contain all of them. Use this when a few notes you love must be in the scale.
A mood filter sorts the long list of scales by emotion, for example eastern, Japanese, Latin, emotional or classical. This is not the same as a mode of a scale. It describes the feeling the scale gives. For example, with D selected you can see every scale on D with its mood, then choose D harmonic minor, described as epic and tragic. Scaler shows the chords built on each of its seven degrees.
Step 2: Start from presets or build your own
Below the scales are ready-made progressions by genre, artist and mood. Click one and it is laid out at the top, and the bottom shows every scale that contains all of its chords, the scales you can safely work in. Or build your own progression from the chords of your scale.
Step 3: Colour your chords
Click a chord to see its variations, its other “colours”. A triad is the simplest form. From there you can move to four- and five-note chords, inversions, suspended chords and more unusual voicings. In the Colors view you can apply a voicing to the whole progression, for example suspended chords in their second inversion.
Step 4: Stuck on the next chord?
If you do not know what should come next, Scaler suggests chords, colour-coded:
| Colour | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Dark blue | Every note of the chord is in your scale. |
| Light blue | One note is outside your scale. |
| Grey | More than one note is outside your scale. |
You can also change how chords are played. Instead of one block hit on the keyboard, give them an accent so they play as a rhythm or a melody.
Step 5: Drag it into Ableton and spread it out
This is the part KOOROW uses most. Drag the finished progression into Ableton and you have every note as MIDI. Then distribute it across your instruments:
- the lowest note, the root, to your bass,
- a couple of upper notes to your atmosphere,
- other upper notes to your lead.
You do not have to use it as it is. Stretch chords, shorten them, use two at the start and two at the end, or spread one progression over three minutes. The point is that your creativity goes up, and choosing chords, harmony and emotion gets much faster.
Step 6: Circle of fifths, modulation and explore
- Circle of fifths: click any key to see its chords and their variations (major, augmented, suspended and more), with the chords in your scale highlighted in blue. You can also search for a chord by name. It often reveals chords that your current scale view did not show, so your progression gets a wider range of emotion.
- Modulation: moving from the scale you are in to another one in the middle of a track is a broad, complex topic. Scaler lets you pick a destination scale and gives you the chords that take you there.
- Explore: looking for new chords or sounds? Choose a mood such as dark or bright, a genre and a scale, audition what fits, and generate progressions with different accents.
Learn the theory behind it
Koorow Premium includes weekly lessons, including music theory, plus project breakdowns, presets and feedback on your tracks. Private lessons cover theory, harmony and arrangement on your own project.