Using ROLI Studio Player to Explore Music Modes

ROLI Studio Player: The basics

The ROLI Studio Player is one of the easiest ways to explore your instrument. Provided with all Seaboard purchases, Studio Player is one of two plugins within the suite alongside Studio Drums, that’ll provide hours of inspiration. Today, we’ll focus on only Studio Player, but you can learn more about the full options and uses of ROLI Studio here.

ROLI Studio Player is meant to fuel your inspiration. Operating as a standalone app along with DAW integration, exploring hundreds of sounds takes little setup time and can be done on the go. Upon opening Studio Player and assigning your hardware, there are seven core elements to the app to experiment with. Looking at the interface (pictured below) from the top left to bottom right you may select sounds, adjust macro parameters, set key and global scale, set BPM, utilize Smart Chords and/or a Multi-Layer Arpeggiator, and add audio effects. Depending on if you are using multiple blocks, the usage of the additional sections across the top and bottom margins may be more relevant to you.

Exploring global scales

Now that we know the basics of ROLI Studio Player, let’s dig into the global scales parameter. Each time a new scale is selected, the notes included in that scale will be visualized at the bottom of Studio Player. If you are using one or multiple LUMI Keys rather than a Seaboard, those notes will also illuminate on the instrument. Adjustments to this will not only change your experience in terms of visual cues, they also significantly change the way that Smart Chords especially function. If you are eager to learn about this, please visit our Smart Chords editorial.

There are 19 different scales available to choose from in ROLI Studio Player. A number of these are likely familiar to you if you’ve studied Western music theory, whereas other options are less commonly taught in those classrooms.

Whatever musical or cultural background you’re coming from, there will be at least a few new scales to explore and experience your sound through. Here’s what these options look like within the interface:

7 Western music modes

Western music theory offers us seven modes of a major scale, each one starting on a different note in that scale’s cadence. The full order of modes is Ionian (major), Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian (minor) and Locrian.

The Ionian mode is created by a root, followed by intervals in this step order: whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. Sound familiar? It should, as this mode is identical to what we most often refer to as simply the major scale.

While all modes are inherently related to this cadence, Ionian is less often used as a name given its identical nature to what theory considers most standard.

Similarly, the sixth mode of Aeolian is utilizing the same intervals as natural minor, therefore this name is most often used in musician circles.

We begin with this explanation to emphasize: Don’t get confused when you open the scales dropdown in Studio Player and don’t see seven options in order! While the other five modes which start on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th notes are referred to by their Greek names, the other two are simply labeled as major (Ionian) and natural minor (Aeolian) at the top of the dropdown list.

When building chord progressions, the selection of these modes can make a huge difference in the mood, dynamics, and message of the song. As musicians, when we select a mode which is outside of Ionian and Aeolian, we are actively deciding to resolve to a note or chord which is more unexpected, possibly dissonant. Your chosen key becomes centralized around a note that listeners of popular music and trained musicians alike might not expect, and it is how a number of particularly iconic scores, soundtracks, and pieces of popular music have made such a strong imprint on our minds.

For a deep dive on all seven Western modes, including history and examples to explore, check out this guide from Splice.

But what of non-Western music modes?

These seven modes of Western music, all names rooted in Greek names, branched off from the same historical period which forged the beginnings of Arabic music. Referred to as Maqams or Maqamat, these scales were utilized throughout the Ottoman Empire and boast a larger set of notes. These scales chromatically include intervals smaller than a half step. Often nicknamed 'Micro Tones’ this increased range of note options is a crucial element which allows for such a unique, and versatile sound.

There are still, however, many ways to explore these sounds using 12 notes in half steps which is why we were eager to include two such scales in Studio Player. Upon opening the dropdown menu of global scales, you will find two such scales entitled Arabic (A) and Arabic (B), along with a number of non-Western scales for your expression.

We know that there are always more scales which could be represented. Some common modes not yet included which you may work with include but are not limited to the Chinese Pentatonic and any of the numerous Indian Ragas and Turkish Makams.

Ideas for learning modes

The mastery, and crucially, memorization of these modes in practice in order to improvise and compose, can take years of discipline.

This is where we believe Studio Player can be of service to you. Learning and playing through the single notes of each mode will stick with you faster through both visual cues and the ability to contextualize these notes into chord progressions. Here are a few methods that could help you speed up your muscle memory of modes:

Each time you open Studio Player, warm up by…

Selecting one chromatic note, and playing each mode related to its major scale (i.e. C Ionian, D Dorian, E Phrygian, etc.). All 7 modes would sound like this:

You will notice that each of these modes are utilizing the same notes, though in seven different orders. Given we began with C major (Ionian), this example did not utilize any sharps or flats. The preset used is the SY 1980s FM Keys from Cypher2.

Pick one mode, and play through it’s unique note combination with different starting points (i.e. D Dorian, F# Dorian, A Dorian).

For this one, I played through the same root notes as above (D-E-F-G-A-B-C) each in Dorian mode. Could you hear that the intervals were the same, but the notes themselves were changing with each playthrough?

Keep in mind that, with incidental notes included, there are up to 12 ways to do this second activity. For this reason, we recommend maybe spreading this across a few sessions if you’re new to modes.

Select one of the 19 mode options at random, and compose at least one melody, chord voicing, or full chord progression. Document these along with the key for future use.

If you fancy this music theory exercise, or have just been playing a lot of Pokémon lately, try out a short piece of counterpoint in the mode you choose!

From both the learning perspective and output perspective, ROLI Studio Player can help you level up your relationship to music modes.

In and beyond Western music theory lay a plethora of ways to approach music making differently, whether for a studio setting or live. We are eager to hear how you are using these tools, and what we can do to make them even better for you.

The author

Matt Brooks is an event producer, musician and poet based in Berlin. The grandson of jazz musicians in 1940s Chicago, music was ever-present, permeating the fondest of memories that would shape his life and career.