Let me tell you about chord planing 

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I know that this video is 2 years old, but the message is so important. Theory is a tool, not the law.

This is a little off topic but here's a little tip when it comes to sampling chords. When you sample the chord, sample it being played using the higher octave range, then play it back on your sampler at the correct octave range. Sampling at the higher octaves then playing at the correct octave once sampled will create some nice lofi artifacts and grit in the chord. Back in the day people did this because of the limited sample time available on samplers and the work around was to sample at higher octaves which created a shorter overall sample time length thus saving them vital storage space. They would also do this when sampling from record, if the record was 33 they would sample it at the 45 speed, then play it back at the correct speed once sampled. If you're trying to recreate those "good life" type chord stabs, using this method of sampling makes a huge difference and gives a much more "era authentic" feel to the chords. Sometimes truncating a little of the start of the chord helps so it's triggering slightly into the waveform, this is nice if you want a more of a sharper sound as you are also extending the original ADSR parameters when pitching the sample back down. This technique also works really well for pad sounds that have some kind of modulation as it stretches out things like lfo lengths to odd timings or lengths beyond what the original synthesizer was capable of. It takes a little bit more time to do, but if you sample a chord using both methods and then compare the two you will hear the difference. The higher up the octave you play the original chord before sampling, the more lofi the sampled sound will be, so there is a bit of experimenting to find the sweet spot.

Some of the gatekeeping around music theory reminds me of linguistics. Actual linguistics is the descriptive study of language. There's very few things that are linguistically wrong. It's always about trying to explain why people might be speaking a certain way and how concepts are connected between languages. But that's not the view of it you'd get in some corners of the internet. With music theory it feels very similar: music theory is the descriptive study of music. There's very few things that are music theoretically wrong. It's about trying to explain why certain kinds of music sound a certain way, and to compare concepts. Maybe that's a comparison you can use too. Feels like a lot of people look at music theory as this beast that's telling them what to do when it's really just an analytical framework

You are a gifted, exceptional teacher.

"the tool dictates" - thats why i love to use the TB-303/TD-3 sequencer: the "fuzzyness" while you basicly program in your mind without a display, the outcome is always very refreshing and it gives a feeling of "we both playing/creating together" instead of its just me who program the sequences

Always saw things like the "chord memory" on something like a juno and thought 'why, it isn't in key?' now I understand!

1st video that i can begin to understand the theory... 2 thumbs up... big fan of this channel!!!

Oscar you are an excellent teacher.

You have the greatest music production channel. Please keep up the great work! And thank you!

"Once you free your mind about the concept of harmony and of music being correct, you can do whatever you want". Amazing Video!

Really cool approach to creating chords and melodies and wonderfully explained. It really has this ostinato effect to it where repetition and patterns really help when using notes that would be in an unusual or nonexistent key. This technique also really frees you up when you are stuck in music theory! ^^

Love this. Just found this channel and love the style and delivery. Not too slow, not too basic but really human. Nice work!

Oscar, that was a really nice message on keeping the communication kind! Your videos rock and we are all getting better because of you. Education at its best. Dank u well!

Absolutely brilliant! Thanks for taking the time to make this video, Underdog :)

Awesome, thanks for this. I get bogged down in the theory a lot and it slows down my process, this has been useful to remind me to play around with sound more

Can't thank you enough Oscar. Thank you for bringing nuance and artistry to electronic music. ❤️

Thanks Oscar i really love your channel. Composing is always challenging for me, now i'm a lot more inspired

Oscar, I really like your teaching. You are always calm and explain very well. I learned so much from your channel. Other channels are too much hyper in their presentation. Hopefully your channel grows big 👍

That was so informative. Thank you once again Oscar!

Great Video Oscar! Thanks for constantly teaching me new stuff in a great and understanable way

What's amazing about this channel is the breadth of insight it provides.

A lovely video that almost makes me want to travel to Belgium to get some one-on-one education. Thank you for spending your time on teaching others.

thank you man! you helping young producers to not stick their head so much into theory and do what they like to do!!!

Great video. I’ve been using these techniques for ages but have never seen them explained this simply. When it comes to hip hop and dance music the techniques and the features of the gear used to make them always went hand in hand. “Chord mode” on certain synths and sampled chords made this music feel fresh and surprising compared to the “by the rules” chord theoretical or classical approach. So fun!

Great to see someone talking about his. I had no theory when I started and always worked by ear. Planing was second nature. Always interesting content

I've always struggled with the theory, thank you for showing this video, I now sort of understand my own mind and the processes it goes through to create.

The impact this video just had on me in incalculable. Chord planing is not talked about in my music theory travels as a baby producer, and I wonder if that has to do with the fact that most entities that champion Music Theory are really pushing a very specific outlook towards music, which a lot of modern music genres and creation methods eschews. I will definitely be playing with chord planing in my future productions. Thank you SO MUCH for putting this video out.

Great video! I love that you emphasise 'when it sounds good, it *is* good'. Music theory is extremely useful but the most important thing is using your ears and your gut feeling to make music. Groetjes uit Nederland!

I love this video in how you explained chord planning in a way that wasn’t over the top in music therapy. extremely helpful in my work planning and production progression. Please keep making videos for beginner like myself. Cheers.

I've really gotten in some music theory over the past few years (where this is my favorite channel) and now that I know that stuff it is delicious to see how to break away from that stuff again also! I think this is your best movie so far, especially with the diverse examples!

Love your videos. You explain everything so well

Hey Oscar! Great video brother. Honestly, I think I like this one the most as it's depth goes beyond just teaching how to do something. It is in my opinion that far too many people learn how to do "this" and don't understand the fundamentals of how or even why. This video really helps with both of those. I also like how eloquently you pre-emptived the nerds :)

WOW! thank you soooo much for this video. I have been into electronic music for 30+ years as a dj, producer, dancer, and fan. You have unveiled some heavy, masterful secrets with this video. Thank you so much.

Thanks Oscars for your kind sharing!

Fascinating and inspiring! 💫 Thx Oscar!

Finally you explained the principle of house music. Love it 🎧

I love to just try adding a major instead of the minor of a chord (or vice versa obviously) to see if it's more interesting! Very much agree "if it sounds good, it is good!" No rules needed

ive always thought bout how they created those house chords and i discovered it myself after doing some experimental stuff...but i never found a video addressing those stuff....now i finally got a detailed explanation thank you man,u r the best there is

I am using that trick ralatively often and always wanted to understand that, thank you so much!

always such good videos! thanks for your knowledge

Thank you for this! You have solved a riddle that has gone on in my mind since beginning production. I couldn't understand it. So well explained!

This chord shift to me musically signifies that they gave the melody a Spanish nuance at this spot, it can be either a result of such an intention or like you say result of shifting a chord shape down on the guitar - in any case, these Spanish progressions are played just like that: sliding the same chord shape up a semitone, a whole tone, then same reverse down. I can think of a song El Diablo by Grace Slick (is on RU-vid) that has this lovely vibe! Thanks for your amazing videos! If you have time, make one day one about vocal line phrases composition in techno and trance, they are not long but hit the target usually!

I love videos like this, sent this to a student of mine who has a masters of classical music but is just getting started in Ableton Live / Electronic music production. You explain the concepts very well for a wide range of skill levels and backgrounds, eg. people with not a lot of music theory background but are delving deeper into electronic tools and helping them understand some ideas behind what they are doing. or people who actually have a lot of music theory background but are starting out with electronic music tools and the differing approaches they can have to your music (along with an over view of historical context!) Any many people in between! One other example I don't think you mentioned that I think also applies, (alongside resampling chords / rave stabs and sequencer/programmable arp tricks) is tuning oscillators of a synth to a fixed interval. I think this is how I first came across this idea on some presets for a Korg MS2000 I had in the 2000's, and probably Native Instruments old Pro-53 Vst. Just tuning osc 1 to normal and osc 2 to +7, +4 or +3 semitones (the 5th, major 3rd or minor 3rd) I found you can get some very prodigy sounding lead lines really easily with this!

I loved that tip for sampling chords! As always great content

Excellent video!! Love this channel!

Single-handedly learn more from this channel than anywhere else. Great job as always

This is something i've been thinking about a lot but could never put it into words.. thanks.. this really really helped me a lot

This video is amazing for noobs. I had to watch it twice to catch most things, but it answers a lot of questions.

Awesome tutorial Oscar. Thank you.

Thanks again for your wisdom.

Hello this is a good one and I like the way you approach the parallel chords (it can also be one finger chords by synthesis design) I would love to watch another one explaining music harmony and switching mode in the context of a track construction. Cheers and Thanks

Fantastic. I'd always wondered how that was really done. I didn't have a sampler so the nearest I could get to it was using Chord Memory on one of my synths. Some of the Korgs and Rolands from the 80s had it. You could record a chord and then play it with one note. I used to think it was probably born out of using hardware to assist when a musician didn't have much musical training. Then I guess it was probably adopted by others and became a characteristic sound. Really interesting how it fits with music theory.

Really nice video about chords , and it is nice to always have a better understanding why things work the way they do in music

This was super helpful! Thanks, your videos are awesome

Great content as always! I also wondered how this was possible being able to use major and minor chords interchangeably despite the scale. What i've discovered since then is that all you're doing is using different modes e.g. a raised 4th scale degree in major is the lydian Mode so any chords that are in the path of the raised 4th will either change to a major, minor or diminished chord. Knowing which modes are either side of major or minor scales can help out massively because you know that there will only be 1 note that is changed in the scale so it will always sound good. Changing more chords in the scale just means that you are moving further away from major / minor in the modes. It's definitely worth it to try and memories the chord pattern of each mode if your already familiar with the major and minor scale chords

Awesome video thank you!

I am loving these videos and your overall approach to teaching! And I really love "let's try not to gatekeep this topic too much" -- wow! What great framing that really points to how music theory can be exclusionary, but also being very western oriented it denies other approaches and paradigms around what music can be.

Yes this was very helpful, thank you very much!

The theme of this video once again confirms that you need to allow yourself to do what you like and even a little above the rules. Quite usefull stuff good job!

Great video - useful concepts with clear explanation - thank you!

Incredibly insightful. This is so cool.

Really cool video! Very well explained!

Lightbulb moment! Thank you! I never bothered with theory at all until recently and I've been writing songs for decades😱. I've used "Chord planing" because I often write on the guitar and also with sequences (I learned with pro 24 in the mid 80's) but the essential, pounding repetition of house and techno was a real barrier for me and has remained so. Recently I have come to understand the circle of fifths and the conventions of harmony and I would like to apply this new knowledge to add a dimension to my writing that was missing, without falling into the formulaic patterns acceptable in pop culture. Your examples here are so well chosen. They are all in very different ways iconic pioneering musical ideas. One thing that really surprised me was how you got from the root notes of the "I feel love." chords to the sequencer riff. I'm going back to it to see if I can understand how, initially, they sound like harmony when you played them on the piano but plugging them into the sequencer they sounded scrunchy and inharmonic. It's that minus 5 and minus 2 moment. I'll get there. Thanks again.

love your explaining, man!

Amazing man, great content, thank you very much.

another good one! Thank u Oscar!

Awesome. Stuff I've observed, but has left me wondering 🤔 This gives me both confidence and inspiration. Lade out simply and effective for the modern bedroom producer- love it 💖

This was really REALLY useful and informative, thank you!!!

Thank you for the amazing content you produce man.

Super tuto comme d'hab !!! un tout grand merci à toi...👌👍😊❤

Great video as always! 👍🏼

Maravilloso tutorías oscar, muchas gracias por ayudarme a soltar el miedo a jugar con los parámetros de mis máquinas y dejarme guiar por ellos :) Un abrazo desde Valencia, España

excellent. u helped me to understand what tricks they use to create hits escaping the music theory

Needed to hear this.. I am not musically trained and naturally was chord planing... then started thinking about chord theory... started to get very restricted.. now I know I was doing it right for my house and rave music.. ty

Another fantastic video. Great explanation.

Going through all the videos! This one‘s super useful

Very interesting! I do play the guitar so I already knew the concept without knowing it has a name, but I never made the transfer of how it would apply it to electronic music. One thing I'd like to add is that when you play open Chords on a guitar in that way you transpose the notes on the strings that your left and presses, while the open strings maintain the same note. This can lead to some very interesting harmonics.

WICKED!!! Thank you for Sharing. Greetings from Cabo Verde Islands. Cheers

Thanks - This was just the level I needed to learn this at.

great knowledge content, very impressed, thanks for the video

Great stuff, I always wondered how 'Good Life' (first CD I ever bought!) got that weird tuning sound to its piano riff. All makes sense now..

Another quality tutorial Oscar. The best on RU-vid.

Awesome, thank you Oscar

I loved this tutorial!!! Thanks a lot!!!

Hi Oscar, its mind blowing video , thank you!

dude this blew my mind, thank you!

Thank you so much! It’s very helpful lesson.

Damn man, I'm learning so much from your videos. I'm totally going to sign up to one of your courses.

Great stuff Oscar gonna try those principles

best teacher ever! thanks 🙏

Oh man, Oscar !!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was incredibly enlightening, so much so, I shared/forwarded this to my oldest son !!!!!!! Thank you for all your help !!!!

This topic is very interesting. When using sequencers I always program them in the midi editor to fix those "illegal notes" on certain scale degrees. It is fine, but more often I feel it kind of loses the fun of making electronic music. Sometimes I ended up giving up using that sequencer, even its own sound is cool. I should try starting a song from a sequencer and let its shape decides what notes and chords I will use. Thanks for sharing. Love your videos!

Damn man. Music theory and Electronic music history all in one lesson. I have such a feeble grasp in music theory but Im now using tools such as captains and scaler 2 which to be honest have been very helpful in breaking patterns and exploring chords and melody. I find I sometimes play things that sound good that I think are in the scale and then find out they aren’t after double checking. I always end up changing the notes to make sure theyre in scale but after seeing this maybe i leave things alone if it still sounds good.

definitely a good approach to avoid this "fear to touch" the piano roll when we are uncomfortable with the music theory structure we want to make for the track

Interesting as always!

Great, man! Plorificated teacher!! Keep it on, thanks!!!

Really helpful video dude. Thank you.

beautiful man! your videos really go to the heartof music, giving so much inspiration. And your way of seeing music theory in my opinion matches also with Giorgio Moroder himself..when he says: once you free your mind about the concept of art and music being CORRECT, you can do whatever you want. Keep it up man, and thanks! :)

I'm sitting by myself saying "Chord Planing".... Your voice is kinda iconic