Electronic music producers often put a lot of focus on their beats, basslines and lead parts, but in many cases, the chord progression is the harmonic glue that holds everything together.
In an ideal world, we’d all be able to cook up earworm-worthy progressions at the drop of a hi-hat, but sadly, life isn’t like that, and stringing together a listenable, original set of chords can be a challenge.
Fortunately, the smart technologists at Audiomodern are on the case, coming up with a Chordjam - a PC/Mac plugin and iOS app that can generate both chords and progressions based on your direction.
Unlike some similar plugins, Chordjam uses intuitive user-guided randomisation to go about its business, ensuring that you won’t feel like it’s taken creative control away from you.
You can adjust parameters such as voicing velocity and voicing time delay, but perhaps most importantly, you can determine custom scales and rhythmic patterns, then let Chordjam sprinkle some unpredictable yet always-musical fairy dust on them.
What we have here is nothing less than a creative real-time compositional assistant - a software tool that works with you rather than making you feel redundant. Whether you’re seeking happy accidents or a plugin that will take your ideas to the next musical level, Chordjam can help.
Chordjam’s regular price is €49, but until 3 June, it can be yours for just €39. Find out more on the Audiomodern website.