ez keys suggestions

[mikewbragg]

Just purchased ezkeys today and I’ve enjoyed the ease of doing some quick progression sketches. I am still trying to determine if there is a way to do inversions of the chords for better voice leading it seems there are only root chords with the ability to change (add) a different bass note. If there is no way to do this please consider this a suggestion for a new feature – pretty important in my book – I know I can drop the midi file into ableton and change it pretty quickly but it would still be nice to do it and save it in my favorites folder.

Also seems you have a great start for midi patterns but I would love to see some more arp patterns and a little more variety in the rhythmic section – not a lot of variations within the variations. I know I’m a little greedy.

One more: a cinematic/classical expansion pack would be absolutely amazing. Please.

Thanks first time ez buyer but pretty happy so far.

Topic

[Erik Phersson]

Hi and thanks for your input. Chord inversion is something that we have on our feature request list and it’s pretty high up. I cannot say when we will get it done however since it is not as straight forward to implement. There’s a lot of considerations needed to make it right.

Erik Phersson - Toontrack
Head Of Development

[Tom]

I am somewhat disappointed in EZKeys. I had thought it worked like Band in a Box and similar programs, but for a single instrument and as a vst directly in my DAW.

But no. There is no way to enter what chords I want for a song. I can move a clip from the browser, but it comes with it own chords. I can then change them to fit my song. But as soon as I move another clip into the same space in the song track it will change to its own chords, not the ones I want. So I can start all over again … So how can I quickly audition what sounds best to add to my song.

Analyzing an imported midi track is great. But again, the should be an option to keep the chords and the have a clips dragged into the song track adjust to the chords of the imported song so that you could quickly add a piano.

Also, EZKeys should be able to output midi so that I can change to another instrument in say Kontakt, perhaps even an organ or a synth.

These are the two major disappointments to me.

[Michael]

I’m truly loving EZ Keys right now! Excellent program!!!!

Glad to hear chord inversion is on the short list!

I would prefer some UI enhancements to aid in the zoom and scroll functionality within VST. After playing around with it for a few hours last night, I found that I inadvertently stretched and zoomed the view by mis clicking. I think it would be better if the scale of the items on screen was more proportiate to use. For example, the timeline is such a small part of the screen, and a huge part of my work area in the application. I have a giant image of the piano, which is nice – but static. I’d like to see the timeline have more focus, or be given the option to resize it. It might make sense to move it to another tab- so we have an instrument (kit) tab, and then another tab for arrangement. Just thinking out loud for now.

I would also appreciate the addition of a humanize/swing option added to the performance whereas the user can adjust the playback performance of the ‘player’. This would really help wake us some of the sterile sounding midi, especially in the rock or jazz genre. Users should have simple dial controls that control velocity, note emphasis, timing and the overall feel to the groove.

[Cygnus64]

ORIGINAL: tombuur
Also, EZKeys should be able to output midi so that I can change to another instrument in say Kontakt, perhaps even an organ or a synth.

That one’s pretty easy. Midi is midi. If you are using a DAW, simply drag the midi loops into the DAW. After that, assign them to any softsynth you want.

[Tom]

I know, but what I am talking about is auditioning from inside EZKeys while composing an instrument to go along with other tracks in the DAW. I can’t keep copying and pasting to tracks in the DAW just to hear what it sounds like in context with a different instrument.

If EZKeys worked as I believed it did when purchasing, I could just have the sequence of chords corresponding to the melody in the DAW inside EZKeys. I could then pick various clips from the browser and move them down in the song track to hear how they fit in the whole project. And if midi was output I could even hear how it would sound with another instrument like an organ.

Presently the whole workflow is slowed down. As soon as I pick another clip to audition the whole chord sequence is lost. I have to put it right again bar by bar, and finallly paste the whole thing into a track in the DAW to hear what it sounds like with organ. Then start all over again if I don’t like it.

Compare to how you can audition various styles in Band in a Box by just double clicking another style. It was something as easy as that I believed that EZKeys could do. But no.

[Rasmus Fynbo]

I’ll go with tombuur… It’s quite a big issue that you cannot set the chords for the songs track and then drag new patterns to the chords you have already defined.. It seems like a totally no-brainer and I’m rather surprised that it is not included in this version. Ezkeys is still a great product, but this lacking feature means that is not that easy to work with.
I thought that if you dragged a midipattern onto an area on the songtrack it would replace the existing midi but keep the chords. It should be fairly easy to implement.
I’d like to know if this is on the list?
Thanks
Rasmus

[Erik Phersson]

Possibility to retain the chord progression is one of the things that are high on our feature request list. However, although it seems like a simple thing to fix on the surface, it is not as straight forward as one might think. If it where, we would have implemented it already 🙂 The songwriting part of EZkeys is based upon having access to lots of MIDI that is played by a real pianist. Different styles, tempos progressions, song parts and so on. This means that the chord intervals are not fixed but determined by the needs for a particular situation. To be honest, it would have been much easier if we would have included MIDI where the chords have been simple “one chord per bar” but we wanted to acheive something a bit more… useful. As is the case with inversion, there are lots of situations we need to cater for and not all of them are straight forward. We are working on a solution but we will not release anything until we are certain that the result achieved is the result that one would expect.

Erik Phersson - Toontrack
Head Of Development

[NevsNL]

Seems to me like they’re on it, and knowing Toontrack will come with an update out of the blue which will make everything right in this world again. 🙂
Cant wait till EZkeys develops into something i would gladly fork out my hard earned ca$h for.

[Tom]

I just hope it won’t take as long for “retaining chord progressions” to be implemented as it took for EZMix to go to version 2 before meaningful descriptors were assigned to the knobs…

There is an alternative to EZKeys which will work inside a DAW. It is called Rapidcomposer. I have the LE version. It is very capable, but also has a steep learning curve which combined with a high price and the lack of a decent manual makes it less interesting. I am sure Toontrack can do better.

I also have Jammer Pro which has a vst plugin that will make it work with some DAWs and some OS, but a bit clumsy. In fact I have all the arrangers out there, but none works fine inside a DAW. So just make EZKeys deliver. I think you are close, but the few things lacking are unfortunately also crucial.

[Juicy]

Not seeing it yet,would be happier to say Wow .i’m in, no questions like when EZ drummer first hit.
Yeah EZ Drummer saves time for sure but this just eats my inspiration especially that detune on the demo.
Use a silence ,anything but don’t make me feel sick plz !

Even if my playing is average i can at least play what i want freely on the spot ,mistakes and all in my daw keeping up (just) with flow and inspiration.
Very niche perhaps just for fully non keyboard players unlike EZdrummer which works so well on more levels.

I would be interested in EZkey Licks and Fills and EZkey Organ with the same,EZ EP with way more of the fancy stuff i cant play.

[sevenhook]

It’s a big issue when you drag new patterns and have to reassign the chords every time. To get the right loop to fit the song you are writing this is a must.
Without being able to lock in the chords it will take hours to find the right loop.

Without this feature unfortuately I am not interested in this product. I think ezkeys is extremely innovative and is something I want if a few tweaks were made.
I’d buy every rock/pop loop pack, ezorgans, ezstrings, etc. expansions that I hope will be available in the future.

PS. I love Superior Drummer and use it everyday.

Thanks.

Sevenhook

[Whitten]

The simple solution is to drag all your clips into a DAW, and do the arrangement there. Isn’t that what everybody is doing with EZdrummer and Superior?

[sevenhook]

Ezkey is completely different than Superior; if you auditon drum loops the key doesnt’ apply. To audition piano loops the chords have to follow
the song you’ve written. I see this being used more has a secondary instrument. I’m a guitar playing so I write using a guitar, not a piano so
the melodies and key is determined on the guitar first. Then I’d like to audition piano loops to fit around the guitar parts/vocals. Cheers.

Sevenhook

[Jay Coover]

Possibility to retain the chord progression is one of the things that are high on our feature request list. However, although it seems like a simple thing to fix on the surface, it is not as straight forward as one might think. If it where, we would have implemented it already 🙂

Knowing a little bit about software, but not as much as you…the only reason it would be more difficult now is because it wasn’t accounted for early on.

The chords are associated to the disconnected MIDI files and no ability to keep them associated to the timeline was accounted for…perhaps even ignored to the point that backtracking and redesign is necessary.

I realize this is a challenge that no one else has undertaken. Certainly when you begin transposing majors to minors and visa versa and chord progressions where certain bass lines or leading tones flow gracefully into one another, only to be jarred by the user entering some unpredicted chord change, then the real challenges beginning.

Thank you for doing this. Keep up the good work.

SD 2.3 NY vol 2/Metal Foundry/C & V/Roots 1 & 2/Music City Latin Percussion/Funkmasters/The Classic/Jazz/Pop!/#1 Hits/Electronic/Twisted/Claustrophobic EZKeys 1.1 with all the trimmings

[Juicy]

Yes if you could get these chords to “stick” and any new changes create the odd wrong note or line ,that is when you daw editing comes
to the rescue.That would be fine.
Also i imagine if EZK could be told what key you are in,it may automatically fix some of the oddities on the fly before you hit play.

[Author]

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