Korg Pa3XLe User Manual page 283

Diatonic and Chromatic
We've described scalic and chordal harmonies as diatonic, and
shift harmonies as chromatic; but what do those words mean?
Look at a piano keyboard. Between middle "C" and the next "C"
there are twelve keys – 7 white keys and 5 black keys. Each of
those keys are pitched one semitone apart for a total of, you
guessed it, 12 semitones. The chromatic scale uses all twelve
semitone notes opposed to the diatonic scales. Thus there is only
one chromatic scale, but 12 each of the major, minor, etc. dia-
tonic scales (C major, C# major, D major, etc). Most of us have
grown up hearing the traditional "doh ray me fah so la tee doh"
diatonic scale, so that harmonies based on the diatonic scale
sound correct.
What does this mean, harmony-wise? Diatonic scale harmonies
can only use notes within specified scale or chord, so a "third
above" harmony voice actually varies between three and four
semitones above the lead note where the chromatic harmony
would stay exactly four semitones (a major 3rd) above each note.
To recap: we have three different harmony modes that use chro-
matic or diatonic scales.
Harmony and Tuning with the Voice Processor
Shifting, which uses the chromatic, 12 semitone scale, changes
the input pitch by a fixed number of semitones:
Chordal, which uses the root, third, fifth and sometimes seventh
of the many diatonic scales, pitches the harmony voice to the
closest note contained within the chord:
Scalic, which uses one of many diatonic scales, pitches the har-
mony voice to the nearest note contained within the scale:
Theory aside, the best way to get great sound is to experiment
with all of Voice Processor' possible harmony modes. Not only
will you develop an intuitive sonic sense of what works best
where, but by investigating different permutations and combina-
tions you could discover some delightful sounds you might oth-
erwise have missed.
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