Hi
@freddiphin, I’ve finally found the time to put together a more detailed explanation of how it works.
The Harmonize Melody macros are essentially ready-made presets for the
Create Chords command. They choose useful combinations of scale source, voicing, direction, number of voices and chord placement, so you can get musical results quickly without configuring every option manually.
View attachment 3836
The important point is that Create Chords is a
scale-voicing and melody-harmonization tool. It is not simply adding arbitrary notes.
Harmonize with random chords in scale
In this mode, Harmony Wizard first builds the diatonic chords of the scale selected in the Note Editor.
With
Advanced chords disabled, it uses diatonic triads. With Advanced chords enabled, it uses four-note chords with an added diatonic seventh. It then keeps only the chords that contain the current melody note.
For example, in C major, an E melody note can be harmonized with chords such as:
- C major: C–E–G
- E minor: E–G–B
- A minor: A–C–E
One of the suitable chords is selected, so the result can vary between runs while still remaining connected to both the selected scale and the melody note. In other words, “random” does not mean completely arbitrary - the choice is made from a musically restricted set of matching diatonic chords.
The selected chord is then voiced above or below the melody note. The melody note remains the reference voice, and Harmony Wizard searches for the appropriate chord tones in the selected direction. The Voicing setting controls whether the next available chord tones are used or whether chord tones are skipped to create wider voicings.
This is intentionally a
note-based harmonization method. It gives you several valid harmonic interpretations of a melody and leaves the final progression open for creative editing, rather than trying to replace the composer by automatically imposing one complete functional chord progression.
Stack notes based on scale
This mode creates what jazz musicians often call
scale voicings.
Starting from each selected melody note, Harmony Wizard stacks notes from the current scale above or below it. With
No skip, this produces normal diatonic third-based structures. The Skip options create wider scale voicings by moving farther through the scale between voices.
For example, in C major, starting from C and adding notes above produces:
- No skip: C–E–G–B
- Skip 1 Note: C–F–B–E
- Skip 2 Notes: C–G–D–A
So
No skip creates conventional diatonic third-based voicings, while the Skip options create progressively wider, more open scale voicings.
So this mode is especially useful for parallel scale voicings, harmonized melodies, string arrangements, brass writing and more experimental modal structures. The number of added notes determines how many additional voices are created.
Stack notes based on Chord Track
This mode uses the chord that is active in the Chord Track at the position of each melody note.
Harmony Wizard takes the pitch content of that chord and places suitable chord tones above or below the melody. This means the Chord Track defines the harmony, while Create Chords generates the actual MIDI voicing around the selected notes. When there is no Chord Track event at a note position, no additional chord notes are inserted there.
Chord Placement
Chord Placement determines how often a new voicing is created.
You can harmonize every selected note, or restrict the generated chords to bar, half-bar, quarter-note or eighth-note positions. This is useful because a melody does not always need a separate chord on every note. Notes between chord positions can remain part of the melody while the generated harmony continues underneath them.
So, in practical terms:
- Harmonize with random chords in scale finds suitable diatonic chords containing the melody note and creates a voicing from one of them.
- Stack notes based on scale creates scale voicings by stacking diatonic intervals above or below the melody.
- Stack notes based on Chord Track creates voicings from the harmony already defined in the Chord Track.
- The Harmonize Melody macros are convenient starting configurations for these possibilities.
The idea is to provide a quick musical starting point - whether you need a second voice, a complete chord, open orchestral voicings or alternative harmonic ideas - while still leaving you in control of the final arrangement.
I hope, this helps.
And, although it doesn't seem to touch on the (very niche, I know, but oh so satisfying!) methods and theory behind harmonizing naked melodies (the very thing that goes on silently in our brains brought to life with math!) that I am interested in (and now working to create for myself), it certainly seems like a huge boost for workflow with an existent chord chart, which is %90+ of what is wanted anyway. 