Chord Level

The properties of all chords in DirectMusic Producer include four levels of chord structure that you can use to combine multiple layers of chord tones, thus creating chords with as much complexity as you need. The properties of each level include a chord scale and settings for acceptable inversions of the chord.

You can set instrument parts in a pattern to use different chord levels, so that as a part encounters a chord, it uses the chord, scale, and inversion settings of the level to which it is assigned.

As a pattern encounters various chords, the parts in the pattern respond to the chord and scale at their assigned levels. If the chord is simple, where all four levels of the chord contain the same chord structure and scale, then the resulting notes are transposed in all parts of the pattern in a regular manner. If the pattern encounters a complex chord, where each level has a different chord and scale, the various parts in the pattern play a complex mixture of chords and scale notes that combine in interesting layers of tonality.

For information about creating chord levels and the effect that chord structure has on the playback of a pattern, see the following topics:

• Chord Properties
• How a Pattern Interacts with a Chord
• Simple and Complex Chord Structures