The Lush m7 parallel root line

stab · dark · 82 BPM (72–92) · D minor · 4 bars · 64 steps

Lush m7ChordMinor-seventh chords from single keys, parallel one-four-five

Every patch on the KORG minilogue xd

The technique

One key at a time, and each key is a whole minor seventh chord. Play the key’s root for two bars, its fourth for one, its fifth for one, and the sound turns the line into i7, iv7 and v7.

Two strikes a bar: the head, held for two beats, and a push on the "and" of three, held to the bar line. The push is what makes four chords feel like a groove and not a hymn.

Only those three. Every key sounds the same shape, so a key outside those three sounds a chord outside the key. The second in particular carries the raised sixth, which the key does not have.

Keep it in one octave. Every chord is the same shape moved along the keyboard, and the shape reads best when the roots stay close.

The head of the first bar is the loud one and the pushes are lighter. Four bars, then round again; the loop is the point.

The chords

3 chords over 4 bars, in D minor.

DegreeChordNotesBarsUnder the figure
i7Dm7D · F · A · C1–2●
iv7Gm7G · Bb · D · F3–3●
v7Am7A · C · E · G4–4●

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

The rules

  • Over i7, never the 2nd — a minor seventh built on E carries a B natural the key does not have.

The notes

4 bars in D minor. Each note is in force across the steps shown.

  • steps 1–8·over i7 Dm7·D3·degree 1·MIDI 50
  • steps 11–16·over i7 Dm7·D3·degree 1·MIDI 50
  • steps 17–24·over i7 Dm7·D3·degree 1·MIDI 50
  • steps 27–32·over i7 Dm7·D3·degree 1·MIDI 50
  • steps 33–40·over iv7 Gm7·G3·degree 4·MIDI 55
  • steps 43–48·over iv7 Gm7·G3·degree 4·MIDI 55
  • steps 49–56·over v7 Am7·A3·degree 5·MIDI 57
  • steps 59–64·over v7 Am7·A3·degree 5·MIDI 57

The grid

Every step below strikes the note in force at that point. The grid is where the figure is played.

  • —1 (vel 112)
  • —11, 27, 43, 59
  • —17, 33, 49

On the KORG minilogue xd

minilogue xd · Voice

Settings for this voice

Settings for a stab · dark 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

  • PORTAMENTO0(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 · WAVESAW
  • VCO 1 · OCTAVE8'
  • VCO 1 · PITCH0c(-1200…1200 c)
  • VCO 1 · SHAPE320(0…1023)

    Shape, complexity, or duty cycle of the selected wave

  • VCO 2 · WAVESAW
  • VCO 2 · OCTAVE16'
  • VCO 2 · PITCH-7c(-1200…1200 c)
  • VCO 2 · SHAPE260(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 1620(0…1023)
  • VCO 2740(0…1023)
  • MULTI90(0…1023)

FILTER

  • CUTOFF330(0…1023)

    Set too low and the patch may be barely audible

  • RESONANCE160(0…1023)
  • DRIVE0%

    The filter drive circuit, in three stages

  • KEYTRACK100%

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

AMP EG / EG / LFO

  • AMP EG · ATTACK0(0…1023)
  • AMP EG · DECAY360(0…1023)
  • AMP EG · SUSTAIN90(0…1023)
  • AMP EG · RELEASE320(0…1023)
  • EG · ATTACK0(0…1023)
  • EG · DECAY280(0…1023)
  • EG · INT18%(-100…100 %)

    Negative applies the envelope downwards

  • EG · TARGETCUTOFF
  • LFO · WAVETRI
  • LFO · MODENORMAL
  • LFO · RATE130(0…1023)
  • LFO · INT0(0…511)

    Hold SHIFT, turn INT to invert

  • LFO · TARGETCUTOFF

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

  • DEPTH24%(0…100 %)

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