Hi folks! I am using an Apple Loop that was originally in G minor in a project in the key of E major. Logic transposed it of course and it sounds awesome, and totally in tune with the rest of the track. But i'm wondering how Logic did it - Did it recognise the sample as minor, and then transpose it to the relative minor of the project ie C# minor, since the project is in E major? Or was it just good luck that the sample (a piano riff) sounds totally spot on with everything else? Hoping someone with a more musically gifted ear can help me out, and hope you are all well Cheers Hamish

Logic can't tell major from minor when it comes to audio, so I think you must have stumbled upon a happy set of circumstances. Also, the keys for some Apple loops aren't always correct. Would have to hear a clip of it to know what happened tho. Could you post one? Regards, Ski

Hi Ski Thanks for the reply! I've emailed you some links, please let me know what you think Cheers Hamish

Hi Hamish, Got your links, thanks much. What had me mystified when I read your post was that you mentioned E major, and I was having a hard time figuring out how G minor stuff would work transposed to E major. But... your track is in [b]e minor[/b], so now it makes sense. Without giving away what you've done, here's how things break down harmonically for the first 4 chords, with the original chord name (based on g minor) on the left, your usage on the right in e minor: g minor = e minor d minor first inversion = b minor first inversion/E g minor = e minor F#b5 (or D7, no root) = D#b5 (or B7, no root)/E ...and so on. So indeed, it works, and very nicely I might add!

Thanks Ski! Ah, eminor! I had a sneaky suspicion that was it, the bass sample was listed as being in E, but it must also be minor. It definitely sounds a bit spooky/jazzy which is why it jumped out to me in the first place. The project is set for the key of E major, does this mean that I should change it to eminor? Or doesn't it matter if I'm not planning to print a score? Thanks again Hamish

Hi Ski What does /E mean? I've got this far... eminor = E G B (1, 3b, 5) b minor first inversion = D F# B (3b, 5, 1) but /E? how does that fit in? and D#b5 - is this a diminished chord? which means its Eb Gb A (1 3b 5b) Logic theory and music theory.... welcome again to the forums! Hope you stick around for a long time yet. Cheers! Hamish

Hi Hamish, The "/E" means that the named chord is played over an E in the bass. The D#b5 is almost a diminished chord, but for a dim. chord to fully qualify as a dim. chord it needs to have four notes (more on this below). Your piano chord had only three, so I identified it ([i]incorrectly[/i], as it turns out) a D#b5 chord. I should have written [b]D#min b5 chord[/b]. And that is: D# F# A Here's how this breaks down... D# minor would be D# F# A#, where the A# is the fifth. Since the A# is flattened by a semitone, it's a D#min b5. And if that chord had a C on top it would have been a full-fledged D dim. chord. To further the point for identifying the chord as minor-flat-5 as opposed to diminished... If you play D# F# A and put a B on the bottom, you have a B7 chord ("B dominant 7th"). So the flat-5 triad can go both ways: a dim. chord with a C on top, or a B7 with a B on the bottom. So while the chord as you used it in your arrangement definitely has a diminished quality, were you to write out a chart for someone you would want to write D#min b5 (as opposed to D# dim) so that they wouldn't play the C. Not that the C would sound bad, but it would lend a different flavor to what you'd written. Also, one fine "theory point". When you're working in minor, you would write out E G B as (1, 3, 5) because in minor, the third is not "flat" as it's not being compared with anything else, and it's not an enharmonic or altered tone in the scale. So... E Major Chord, triad, = E G# B (1, 3, 5) E Minor Chord, triad, = E G B (1, 3, 5) Thanks again for your welcome! Looks like I'll be sticking around for a bit... : - )