Ok, lets for example try to play an ostinato in A4 and use a Lead sound for the riff and a Piano sound for the chords.
Should i start from aligning the oscs from both Piano and Lead sound?
If you are accustomed to playing piano then, when making your own sounds, start off by by tuning the oscillators together. Later you can try only slightly detuning the main oscillators by a few cents in order to get a āthickerā sound, or using an octave sub-oscillator for a more layered (but still harmonious) sound.
In the past, polyphonic analog synths were expensive and the manufacturers of monophonic synths enabled tricks like tuning oscillators to musical intervals to give their limited instruments a more versatile sound. Elektron specializes in ingenious tricks like this to allow their instruments to have more capabilities than initially appear possible.
As you pointed out, if you detune the oscillators and sub-oscillators to make a chord when you press a single key, that chord will get shifted around in āinterestingā harmonic ways when pressing other keys.
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If you are accustomed to playing piano then, when making your own sounds, start off by by tuning the oscillators together. Later you can try only slightly detuning the main oscillators by a few cents in order to get a āthickerā sound, or using an octave sub-oscillator for a more layered (but still harmonious) sound.
In the past, polyphonic analog synths were expensive and the manufacturers of monophonic synths enabled tricks like tuning oscillators to musical intervals to give their limited instruments a more versatile sound. Elektron specializes in ingenious tricks like this to allow their instruments to have more capabilities than initially appear possible.
As you pointed out, if you detune the oscillators and sub-oscillators to make a chord when you press a single key, that chord will get shifted around in āinterestingā harmonic ways when pressing other keys.[/quote]
Now i got it, the comparison between mono and poly synths helped a lot.
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Lets revive this post!
iĀ“ve been stuck in C Minor/Eb Major for ages and need a reboot to find a new favorite key.
what ive realized lately is the power of a really nice bass line. for me it can really create a sensation of emotion.
this song comes to mind when i think of simple yet very powerful chord progression (including bass line)
so whats your favorite key/chord progression?
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I still donāt have a favorite, but since Iāve been getting into neo soul, I like minor 9th->minor 9th->minor 9thā¦ Itās all minor 9th chords. You get a progression just by changing the key of the chord. Not all neo-soul is like this but itās a signature sound
I suspect this was influenced by somebody sampling a minor 9th chord - probably a piano or organ preset on a Korg M1 or Triton - then just trigging the sample at different pitches to create a track.
To sound a little bit fancier, mix in major 9th chords, like what Shin Sakiura did here - still only 2 chords for the most part, just changing keys
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That was actually pretty sick! looks like im gonna learn myself B flat scale and the minor 9th chord 
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i like the one that reminds me of the mistakes iāve made but thereās the lingering chance to make amends in the future.
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I still get a cheesy thrill from just majoring an expected minor or vice versa. And when I have a heavily used chord itās nice to vary the 3rd to a sus4 or sus2 occasionally.
totally. that dudeās minor 9 video is awesome. i dove deep into minor 9s awhile back after watching his stuff and need to get back there. so flexibleā¦
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E minor & D minor are my gotos because I only have to deal with one sharp/flat each. I also get two major scales and two modes of c for free. Which goes to show that just remembering which black keys to press will get you pretty far 
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If anyone wants some music theory lessons via Zoom, drop me messageā¦ I donāt want to be a **** and hijack the thread or slap my bio in here (you can read some of it here if you really want), but I could likely help anyone serious about improving their knowledge!
I tried to find the video that walks you through the process of sampling a minor 9th piano chord, such as on a Korg M1, then using the sample for one-finger entry into a sequencer. No luck.
i did however find this short demo:
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Ah I found it. He actually sampled organ chords, not piano. But the idea is still the same
A mystic response 'cos I should be asleep:
The thing with notes/keys/scales thatās different from mixers and MIDI is that itās a body skill, a slow skill, an emotional skill, like kung fu or capoeira. Follow boring instructions; repeat them; let it sink in without worrying that it doesnāt make any sense. Donāt try to remember them; just do them. Relax; repeat; āforgetā. After a while, youāll be playing melodies over chords, telling stories and singing songs, and you wonāt know how.
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That said, Iām fairly rubbish at this stuff because I donāt practice much and get stuck into phases of just playing one or two sequences for months or years at time.
For fun I like to play bouncy, but slightly melancholic ska with Amin -> E repeated a few times (making a point of emphasising the G# just before returning to the Amin), with an interlude of F C D E.
Iām obsessed with Fmin9 -> Gmin9 but with the root note an octave down, and the 9th played as a 2nd so theyāre really scrunchy. Iāve been hammering those two back and forth for 20 years and Iām still not quite bored.
I plays with D all the time, but thatās kinda makes me unproductive.
i love that progression as well!
why not A minor ? then you dont have to remember any black keys.
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Iāve mastered the white keys, Iām slowly working my way up 
Half joking/half serious:
You can make great tunes by only playing the black keys. Try it - you canāt make them sound bad. You can play away like youāre the greatest improv player in the world. Itās the white keys you need to be afraid of.