@Tim_ale ; here mate, I've put a simple progression under your melody. I'ts actually a sweet melody. I think you now have a little to go on.
Good luck bro! Keep us posted.
Luiz.

 

I have a small device too (Akai MPK mini), but when I connect it to Cubase it delays, so playing melodies is no real fun.

 

What drivers and interface are you using?

 

nice chords @artwerkski but with that counterpoint you had to work with, it still uphill man. vivaldi, bach and brahms couldn't save it

 

I'm using an internal RME HDSPe AIO on a pro grade workstation incl. its Hammerfall drivers.
Actually this should be enough 'horsepower'. But it's connected via USB.

 

Last edited: May 25, 2016

Thanks Sir very kind of you ...And I will post the finished song here just to show the idea (the chords as string pads, the main melody as a reverbred/lush piano sound + some arps/fxs and so)

 

I follow some artists "tip of the week" and someone gave a similar tip to this subject. I'm not sure if it works for all keynotes (didn't try it myself) but maybe someone here has the time and motivation to find out and see if it could help the OP.

 

@Tim_ale ..next time start with the chords! (the 4 ones)
Joking.. the best thing is to learn some theory, practice till you "forget" the theory... and then picture the song as a whole. Here is my suggestion. Did not touch your midi though..
http://www92.zippyshare.com/v/jkqb3vlG/file.html
Now you have some ideas to play with and we are waiting for the finished song
Good luck!

 

Bad melody!
I give this loop for improvising over it. You can make thousands of lovely melodies on it (Key of C, Tempo = 110). Load it into your DAW and use any lead sound. I suggest don't start from pure melody.

 

Last edited by a moderator: May 25, 2016

Wow...Thanks and yes, all of your advice will be my starting point to learn more about chords and I will be able to make more songs to satisfy my needs. ..soon 

 

... I wonder wether there is such a thing as a 'bad melody'. . .

 

Last edited: May 25, 2016

Yeah, that what I was trying to say. Sometimes you can "extract" chords from melody.. but you are not there and it depends. What will you do if the melody is 10+ consecutive same note..

which is not always bad...

 

Thanks @artwerkski!
Yes, you're right. My fault.

Two ways to listen to melodies:
1- Solo mode.
2- Accompanied mode.

In the accompanied mode, no matter what the melody is. For example you can improvise any melody over my loop (at least respecting C scale's notes) and all of them would sound good.

But in the solo mode, we can distinguish them as pleasant or unpleasant. What completes the melody is other elements. You can also make a pleasant melody but accompany it badly that overall sound would suck.

 

Harmonizing a melody is like reverse-engineering.

Creating a melody from the harmony is like direct engineering and making a full track by it is almost easy.

 

Knowing at least the fundamentals of music theory (entailing melody/harmony/chord, as well as rhythm/meter/tempo/syncopation) and taking pride in what one has learned experientially, with time and effort and study, does not qualify someone as a "snob," nor implicate someone as making music only to produce a "product." The understanding of how music "works" leads to enriched creative exprience and process, just as knowing the "rules" presents greater creative and expressive opportunity in bending or breaking them.

Therefore, the people who have done the chordal work for this guy have done him a disservice, by not taking the educational opportunity to explain why the chords "work" with the melody line.

Apps to create chords and such might be good for jogging the creativity of someone who understands the fundamentals of music theory, but in the hands of someone who hasn't a clue as to what's going on, they're either a great educational opportunity or like a driverless car in which one can sit behind the wheel and play video games and grandly fib when one says, "I made this. This is my creation."

 

@stevitch!
You're right but accept that harmonizing a melody is not a simple task. Millions of possibilities. Every progression gives different feeling. The guys implies its simplification, do not know more about the music theory. Me too. Selecting some chords and putting them together and alleging its perfection is not interesting.

The apps doing that is so rare and all of them treat the melodies using traditional knowledge and do not give more choices.

 

Last edited by a moderator: May 25, 2016

I use Onyx Arranger 2.1:

Harmonizing a Melody
The tutorial teaches you the basics of the Harmonizer feature. You will learn how
to set various parameters and modes used by this amazing tool.
The Harmonizer dialog has four shortcut sections which can all be opened and
closed independently:
1. Key Recognition Mode and Harmonization Style
2. Best Progressions AutoSearch
3. Chord Assignment Control
4. Quality Estimation and Statistics
(Sorry No Links Allowed)

 

Last edited by a moderator: May 25, 2016

This is one of the thousands melodies. I made it right now just using the white notes. It sounds good in the solo and also the accompanied modes.

Edit:
You can also hear the counterpoint in the second part.

 

Last edited by a moderator: May 25, 2016

It's simply amazing to me that there are some people here who are quite at ease punching a 'nooby' in the mouth simply for asking a question. Let's understand this: everyone starts from zero and evolves from there. No one starts from the stratosphere and then devolves back to zero. Learn to be generous and respectful. Even if you don't want to be "generous", at the very least, afford the lesser informed, a modicum of courtesy and respect. No need to lash out when you feel that an innocent question is beneath your level of dignity or expertise.

 

@foster911 , no harm done, I got what you were saying when you said it.
@stevitch ,are you f***ng kidding me?

??
Maybe I PM'd the OP, @Tim_ale with my explanation of 'why' the chords work with his melody. And that's the thing; I'd be doing Tim a 'diss-service' breastfeeding him any explanation to the 'meaning' of the chords to his melody. The original question, @stevitch was, 'help me with some chords'. Not,: "help me with some chords and give me a clear explanation of and why, these particular chords work with my melody bitch!"
WE just tried to help Tim out. ... we did. Cheers.