The Harp xd rolled chord

pad · soft · 80 BPM (68–92) · Bb major · 8 bars

Harp xdPoly SynthChords rolled into the beat rather than struck on it

Every patch on the KORG minilogue xd

The technique

Four notes a chord, rolled bottom to top, two sixteenths apart, and every one stays down. The chord is not struck and it is not arpeggiated: it arrives.

Start the roll before the bar line so the top note lands on the beat. Six sixteenths early, a beat and a half, for a four-note roll at this spacing. What the ear hears on the downbeat is the top of a chord that is already complete.

The first chord is the exception and you can hear why: there is nothing before bar one to roll from, so it is rolled from the bar head instead. Play the figure twice round and the first chord is the one that sounds late.

Keep the hand down. A roll where the early notes have already released is four notes in a row, which is a different thing and a worse one here.

The chords are a major seventh, a minor seventh, another major seventh and a dominant. Roll all of them at the same speed; changing the speed makes the roll the subject, and it is the placement that is the subject.

Never play the key’s root while the last chord is sounding. It is a suspension over that chord, and this figure has nothing after it to resolve one.

The chords

4 chords over 8 bars, in Bb major.

DegreeChordNotesBarsUnder the figure
IBbBb · D · F1–2●
viGmG · Bb · D3–4●
IVEbEb · G · Bb5–6●
VFF · A · C7–8●

The figure is played over these chords; supply them separately if your rig allows.

The rules

  • Over V, never the 1st — the tonic over the dominant is a suspension, and this figure has no bar left to resolve it in.

The notes

8 bars in Bb major. Each note is in force across the steps shown.

  • steps 1–26·over I Bb·Bb3·degree 1·MIDI 58
  • steps 3–26·over I Bb·D4·degree 3·MIDI 62
  • steps 5–26·over I Bb·F4·degree 5·MIDI 65
  • steps 7–26·over I Bb·A4·degree 7·MIDI 69
  • steps 27–58·over I Bb·G3·degree 6·MIDI 55
  • steps 29–58·over I Bb·Bb3·degree 1·MIDI 58
  • steps 31–58·over I Bb·D4·degree 3·MIDI 62
  • steps 33–58·over vi Gm·F4·degree 5·MIDI 65
  • steps 59–90·over vi Gm·Eb4·degree 4·MIDI 63
  • steps 61–90·over vi Gm·G4·degree 6·MIDI 67
  • steps 63–90·over vi Gm·Bb4·degree 1·MIDI 70
  • steps 65–90·over IV Eb·D5·degree 3·MIDI 74
  • steps 91–128·over IV Eb·F4·degree 5·MIDI 65
  • steps 93–128·over IV Eb·A4·degree 7·MIDI 69
  • steps 95–128·over IV Eb·C5·degree 2·MIDI 72
  • steps 97–128·over V F·Eb5·degree 4·MIDI 75

On the KORG minilogue xd

minilogue xd · Voice

Settings for this voice

Settings for a pad · soft voice on this box, written here. They are not the preset’s own values: load the preset to hear it as it ships.

Settings

MASTER

  • PORTAMENTO12(0…127)
  • SWING0%(-75…75 %)

    0 is straight; the arpeggiator uses the same value

    EDIT MODE, PROGRAM EDIT, button 7

VOICE MODE

  • VOICE MODE TYPEPOLY
  • VOICE MODE DEPTH0(0…1023)

    Left at 0 — turning right crosses into DUO, which spends two voices on every key

VCO 1 / VCO 2 / MULTI ENGINE

  • VCO 1 · WAVETRI
  • VCO 1 · OCTAVE8'
  • VCO 1 · PITCH0c(-1200…1200 c)
  • VCO 1 · SHAPE300(0…1023)

    Shape, complexity, or duty cycle of the selected wave

  • VCO 2 · WAVETRI
  • VCO 2 · OCTAVE8'
  • VCO 2 · PITCH7c(-1200…1200 c)
  • VCO 2 · SHAPE240(0…1023)
  • VCO 2 · SYNCOFF

    Locks oscillator 2 to the phase of oscillator 1

  • VCO 2 · RINGOFF

    Oscillator 1 ring-modulates oscillator 2

  • CROSS MOD DEPTH0(0…1023)

    Oscillator 1 modulating the pitch of oscillator 2

  • MULTI ENGINE · NOISE/VPM/USRNOISE
  • MULTI ENGINE · TYPELow
  • MULTI ENGINE · SHAPE900Hz(10…21000 Hz)

    CUTOFF — the low-pass filter on the noise

MIXER

  • VCO 1720(0…1023)
  • VCO 2600(0…1023)
  • MULTI90(0…1023)

FILTER

  • CUTOFF430(0…1023)

    Set too low and the patch may be barely audible

  • RESONANCE120(0…1023)
  • DRIVE0%

    The filter drive circuit, in three stages

  • KEYTRACK50%

    100% moves the cutoff with the key, centred on C4

AMP EG / EG / LFO

  • AMP EG · ATTACK560(0…1023)
  • AMP EG · DECAY700(0…1023)
  • AMP EG · SUSTAIN830(0…1023)
  • AMP EG · RELEASE720(0…1023)
  • EG · ATTACK400(0…1023)
  • EG · DECAY620(0…1023)
  • EG · INT22%(-100…100 %)

    Negative applies the envelope downwards

  • EG · TARGETCUTOFF
  • LFO · WAVETRI
  • LFO · MODENORMAL
  • LFO · RATE150(0…1023)
  • LFO · INT90(0…511)

    Hold SHIFT, turn INT to invert

  • LFO · TARGETSHAPE

EFFECTS

  • DEL/REV/MODREV

    Selects which effect the two knobs below are setting; the other two keep their stored values

  • OFF/ON/SELECTON

    Hold SHIFT, flip to SELECT

  • DEPTH55%(0…100 %)

This block draws on the minilogue xd Owner's Manual E 9, pp.17-41; its values are starting points.