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@@kubakolanko7256 XDDDDADFFSS

tremendous track..its in Em

There is something special about Mike Ratledge's compositions. In many ways, I prefer his ideas to "proper" (conventional) Jazz, proper.

In the original key (as opposed to my transposition, which is down a Major-3rd), the chord cycle is, simply: 'a' min.7 ; 'g' min.7 ; "A-flat" Maj.7 ; 'c' minor (add) 9 ; then: 'e' minor 7 (9th, 11th, even) ; and 'd' minor 7th (possibly extended with 9th, even 11th). In the slow ballad first-half, the cycle is iterated through, modulated up one whole-step, meaning: 'b' min.7 ; 'a' min.7 ; "B-flat" Maj.7 ; and 'd' minor (add?*) 9 ; then: "f#" minor 7 (9th, 11th, even) ; and 'e' minor 7th (possibly extended with 9th, even 11th). * "add-9" means omit the 7th Do you play a musical instrument?

This video is rambling and it needs re-organization and editing -- or, better yet, a re-do. I took a phrase from the sax/woodwind line (the melody in the head of this composition) and "chord-ed" it up. I should work on some new, more focused, bite-sized musical instructional materials.

Impressions SoftMachine - please do keep on exploring this theme!

I also like it because it reminds me of Bill Evans thoughtful expressive way of playing.

Also i think the original recording chords are Am 9 and Gm 9

More or less, yes. I had liked the sound of the recording played back at 80% or so playback speed, which slows it down and darkens the tone/timbres + transposes down a Major-3rd, from the tonal centre of 'A' down to 'F'. The way the Soft Machine performed this music is in '*A*' Phrygian mode. So, yes, the chords of - 'a' minor 7 (or extended to a 9th) and - 'g' minor (9th/7th) ( 'g' min.9 includes "B-flat" Maj. 7 ). One arrangement idea of mine is to add a series of ascending 7th chords that fits the Phrygian mode. (See "Intuitive Jazz"). If you are in the original key, those would be , .'a' min. 7(9) ."B-flat" Maj.7 / 'g' min.7 .'C' Maj.7 .'d' min.7 .'e' min.7 .'F' Maj.7 and if the ascension (pattern) continues, one leaves A-Phrygian and goes into A-dorian mode, maybe : 'G' Major 7 (which has 'b' min.7 stacked atop that). It's a series of stacked 3rds.

Or, I realise -- maybe not 'A' Phrygian mode. Instead, a better interpretation of the harmonic structure might be this: Dorian mode in 'A', alternating with 'G' dorian mode. (Back-and-forth between two dorian modes, a whole-step / Major-2nd apart.) Also, the (beginning*) chords, for each of those two dorian mode (scales) are the "III7" of each dorian mode. ('C' Maj. 7 in 2nd or 3rd inversion -- is the III7 of Dorian mode in 'A'. Likewise, "B-flat" Maj. 7 is the "III7" of dorian mode in 'g'.) * Mike stays on those chords, but I like using other minor and Major 7th chords (which, combine to form 9ths, 11ths).

@@impressionssoftmachine5621 is that the common move that third-era Soft Machine usually does? that whole step down in Dorian move? you hear them do that a lot and I always wonder what's going on harmonically. it just sounds so wild.

Great to hear from you Miguel. The original key is one whole-step (Major-2nd) higher : 'C' dorian mode. That has only two flats: E-flat and B-flat. Maybe you could visit the score on Note Flight dot-com and download / export as Music XML and .mid (MIDI) file and transpose. I might be working on some more musical instructional materials in the future. It _is_ easier in the original key that Mike wrote this composition in. 10 years ago, I liked playing the recordings of the Soft Machine back at 90% (lower) playback speed, which slowed down the tempo, darkened the tone/timbre, and also transposed the pitches down. The easiest way to play Dorian mode on a piano is 'D' dorian - which is all white keys. Just take what I have here and transpose up 2 whole-steps (i.e. a Major-3rd). From the original C-dorian , that would be one whole-step (Major-2nd) higher.

+Miguel Alemparte Here is a guide in the original key (2 flats) - dorian mode in 'C' which matches the Soft Machine's recordings: Bass riff/ostenato: bluepianoKeyboard.com/dorian-explained/OutBloodyRiff-fragments-in-C-dorian.html Sax melody: bluePianokeyboard.com/dorian-explained/OutBloody_phrases_inC-dorian.html And, the accompanying 7th chords are explained: BluePianoKeyboard.com/dorian-explained/3chords-in-dorian.html

Bb because of the saxes - they love this key !- this a tonality for saxes

Impressions SoftMachine in doing so, however, you made the sax parts out of the range of the instrument

@@impressionssoftmachine5621 Hello my friend, I cant download the xml only the pdf. Maybe you can share a midi or something for the transposition?

You are referring to Bill Evans and (... I had to Bing to find the first name...) Claus Ogerman, right?

+Always Curious Wow, you perservered. You evidently have a good attention span.

+ Always Curious In my later teens I was listening to Keith Emerson's music quite a bit. He used modal Jazz harmony in quite a number of places.

Presentation slides (quartal harmony voicings) + melody in terms of scale degrees (relative harmonic terms) : docs.google.com/presentation/d/1PQKq4Vt_xyQXF2rV-FBvOd_-1_olhmJsjPCqT1GHVXY/view

HETMEGORNY is a guitarist. His channel is : kzbin.info/door/hPRd28XLSZNcTadA48WTXw

The composition is in dorian mode. That is like the minor scale, except with a raised 6. My transcription is transposed down a Major-2nd (whole-step) from the original key of 'C' to "B-flat." As a guitarist, transposing (or modulating) isn't as difficult as it is on a keyboard. On the fretboard, you don't have to deal with a different arrangement of black and white keys. The tonal centre modulates between the home ( C ) down a minor-3rd to =A= . The original composition moves, in other words, between C-dorian , and A-dorian . In the case of my transposition here, those tonal centres are, instead : B-flat and G . Oh, right, the soloing after the head : modulates, instead, _up_ a semi-tone / half-step (minor-2nd), from C to D-flat. Or, in the case of my transposition, that is B-flat to C-flat (or B-natural, is the enharmonic equivalent). That's like the harmonic structure of "So What?" by Gil Evans / Miles Davis -- as well as "Impressions" by John Coltrane.

Ben Berry - I find it difficult to dance to this passage as I'm usually floating about 6 inches off the floor! It gets me every time.

closest I got to a lowrey midi was some farfisa free plugin; being it free makes it sound cheap so close enough to the original sounds

@@jhonandafoolalien yup free vst has a great Farfisa

may i suggest mda e-piano to get closer to the pianet and organ reed from a gm bank, usually the standard soundfont, to get closer to the lowrey. I recently found that my MiniEngine Pro sound bank, program 20 (organ reed) is more than similar to Mike's sound, I think it would be enough to use some chorus or something like that to be closer to that sound.

@@SkereforD will check them out, thank you very much!

I have tried as well. But, to be honest, I have never heard a huge difference between electric piano sounds. The Hohner is a little bit woody, the Rhodes can be a bit bland (probably because it was used so much) and marginally more sensitive, and the Wurlitzer lends itself to more brightness and "round" sounds, if that makes sense. I think you can eq out the stock electric piano sounds. My favorites were the Hohner and RMI. The Ratledge organ sound might be accessible if you can add some vibrato to a Farfisa combo setting and add fuzz.

Presentation slides (quartal harmony voicings) + melody in terms of scale degrees (relative harmonic terms) : docs.google.com/presentation/d/1PQKq4Vt_xyQXF2rV-FBvOd_-1_olhmJsjPCqT1GHVXY/edit?usp=sharing

"Slightly All the Time" structure harmonique : www.KZbin.com/watch?v=yihQ-4bu9GU et: www.youTube.com/watch?v=fO-9B8bcMBk dorian 3 accord avec racine P5th sous (English is my language, not French . )

+HETMEGORNY I'm so glad that you found this video posting. Thank you for your encouraging comment. I am curious -- how did you a) learn about the music of The Soft Machine and b) How did you come upon (find) this particular post that I made? I see, by your channel (video uploads) that you play guitar. Back when the Softs were working out/on and performing this composition by Mike Ratledge, they did not have a guitarist (if you don't count the bass guitar of Hugh Hoppper, that is!).

Ever since I stumbled onto Canterbury stuff, I've loved the Soft Machine (this song in particular). Once I found Hatfield and the North, I haven't stopped listening to such prog. A friend recommended Hatfield, and it took off from there. I used to very into jazz and rock, oblivious to any fusion. Several KZbin hops and Wikipedia links later and I found them. I have been looking to replicate it on guitar, and your post has made that possible (I owe you one!). I look at all the covers of this song, as well as any versions that have been played. I love your knowledge of Soft Machine!!! Anyways, thank you for posting and sorry for the delayed response.

+HETMEGORNY I look forward to seeing what you can do with this composition.