AROIOS

https://theproaudiofiles.com/midi-basics/ https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/midi-basics-part-1 If you had experience with computer programming, it helps to start by asking yourself: "How would I represent all value changes on a synth (pitch, velocity, filter cutoff, attack time, LFO speed... etc) with 7 bits of data (128 levels)?" and "what if I want finer levels of control than that?"

The only thing interesting about that song is the first 5 seconds of drum loop. The arrangement, Alicia's singing and her body jerking all sound/look [deleted]. John Legend and Alicia Keys are two of the least soulful artists out there, it takes quite some effort for a piano player to be that boring. (Now Jordan better pay me up for sidetracking the bashing)

Of course he is. It's satire.

Yup, "mirrored" voice leading, in both "contracting" and "expanding" directions, is also very common. Unfortunately... that is 1) inaccurate transcription; 2) over-complication that'll only serve to confuse the OP again. It helps to point out that OP used a live version in his original question and later shared a lead sheet based on the studio version. And the last two chords in question were slightly different in these versions. It was F6 - D/F# (or sometimes referred to as "m#5") in the original recording (1st progression in the attachment) and Fadd9 - F#(b9) in the live version (2nd progression in the attachment). The reason I didn't bother with these details in my previous replies, is because the OP is clearly no harmony buff and simply sharing the essence of the progression will offer him most help. The b9 is just an incidental pedal note and the 6, add9, and m#5 variations are just toppings he can sprinkle on later as he grows more comfortable with the lick. And regardless of the differences between the studio and live versions, the last two chords in both were "lead-up"s, and have nothing to do with the dim stuff you kept bringing up, as can be clearly seen and heard in the attachments. (BTW, I like the voice leading in the D7+/F# - G progression you shared, the Cm/F? Too bland.) CHD Pro -062.mp3

Although there's nothing illegal with playing that, it helps to simply treat the "Bbdim - Adim - G" progression MOE mentioned as a lick totally separate from the last two chords you asked about. What happened in JT's recording was a "lead-up" lick, where the chord notes move UP toward the target (I major or I dominant). What MOE offered, was a "lead-down" lick, where the chord notes move DOWN toward the target. The easiest way to nail the "lead-up", is to simply move the same voicing (of the target) chromatically from 2 steps below towards the target. Attached is demo of how this trick is commonly applied to "lead-up" from IV/VI to I major, I7 and I13 in Blues/Gospel. CHD Pro -065.mp3

Thanks Tusker, that's another great insight. I've only used room/hall size and mix ratio to control the perceived distance of instruments from "the listener", and density/diffusion to emulate surface materials, but never paid much attention to early reflections. Will definitely experiment with ER in my next mix, to see what I've been missing this entire time.

Thanks for the insight, Tusker. Those techniques apply perfectly well to pads programming.

Excellent demo, that MS-20 sounded great with it.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Was noodling around and got this version of the bVII - VII - I progression in discussion. This is the kind of modern sound I can't get enough of from 80~90's Pop Jazz. CHD Pro -063.mp3

The publisher should have put that on the lead sheet instead, along with a note in fine print: "play with a ton of grease". You risk confusing him and others by explaining why that #IV chord works, with an example that builds off of bIII. It's easier to simply look at the #IVdim - I/V or bIIIdim - I/V progression from an Idim - I angle. Since #IVdim7, bIIIdim7 and Idim7 all share the same notes (from one of the three diminished scales), either C#dim (the actual #IV of G) or Bbdim will resolve to G or G/D nicely, for the same ole reason Idim resolves to I nicely in Classical music: proper voice leading. It's for that same reason the Bbdim - Adim - G progression you mentioned works beautifully. Proper voice leading is beyond obvious there. IIdim has the same notes as IVm6/I, and Idim - IVm6/I - I (1st progression in the attachment) is one of the most commonly heard progressions in Classical music. Bbdim - Adim - G, or IIIbdim - IIdim - I in general (2nd progression in the attachment), can be simply viewed as an inverted version of that. CHD Pro - 60.mp3

Yup, at best an opinion, just like the also frequently touted myth of 432Hz.

Thanks for sharing it. A small nit: at 1:30, he starts spreading the bad ole urban myth of the "sweet sounding key of F#". While it's perfectly possible that many folks might find that particular maj7 voicing he played more pleasing at F#, it doesn't prove that F# has this magical "color" he described. The pleasing sound is much more likely just a result of proper voicing, in other words, avoiding muddying up the lows or thinning out the highs. To those with golden ears (and imagination) like that YTber, see if you can pick the "best sounding" version of the maj7 chord played in the attachment. Test - F# Myth.mp3

That's why I called it "vagued hinted". Trust me, it's there.

With some good voice leading, Db dominant chords could totally work here. Although not as safe as Dbdim7 would sound in this context, bD9b5 is no more exotic than the bD Lydian played in JT's recording. CHD Pro -061.mp3

What's played is more of a "Db lydian" chord. And it is a pretty different sound from Eb. As I mentioned in my reply to OP, Dbdim is the most common choice in this type of progression, and sticking to Db-based chords makes things a lot easier to decipher. In the particular context of the recording, that chord (Db--Ab-Eb-G)'s Lydian quality was not prominent, and it was most likely just effective voice leading between IV and V. It's only a Edim if we fill in the diminished 3 (G), which wasn't present in the recording. There's actually a vague hint of natural 3 (Ab) being played. If we go by that, the chord, E-Ab-Db-Bb, would also have a Lydian sound in isolation. But again, in the context of the recording, it functioned much more likely as simply voice leading between V and bVII. Just chromatic passing chords for G, extremely common in Blues/Gospel. Yup, voice leading and common tones are our best friends when it comes to Gospel and Blues harmony. That said, the two angles you mentioned, tritone substitution and relative major/minor, are very useful and can explain tons of progressions as reharms of simpler alternatives.

3rd movie in the "Men In Bikinis" franchise

😃 That should be part of Neo-Classical's WIKI page.

It's a classic Blues/Gospel progression: I - I7/III - IV - bVdim7 - Vsus, and then VI7 followed by two passing chords, bVII7 and V7, moving chromatically back to I or I7. The 4th chord in this pattern is usually a bVdim7 (bD--|G-bB--bD-E). This performance featured a hipper, Lydian sounding alternative, by keeping both a diminished 5 and a natural 5 in the voicing (bD--bA-bD-bE-G). The VI7 in this performance was also played hipper than usual, with a Lydian sounding, open, quartal voicing of (E--bA-bD-bG-bB), instead of (E--bA-B-D)

Never heard that boring tune either. It's as simple as cutting commercial Pop radio out.

Neo-Classical Shred

Lipstick on a pig

Just hold them for 20 years. The next generation of sucker... ahem...I meant players, will take out a loan to make tasty bleep and fart sounds with them.

Sorry for your loss, GRollins. Attached below are 3 examples of how I would use common tones and voice leading to decide where to go next after a I - bVII lydian progression. - CHD Pro - 60 - .mp3 - CHD Pro -061 - .mp3 - CHD Pro -062 - .mp3