How do user chords interract with Session Key?

Hey Everyone!

I’m excited about notes, it’s an interesting take on chord generators.

Is there a manual? I’m so confused.

I’m having trouble understanding the effect of Session Key and user chords.

i have selected “Session Key” of C Maj.

In the lab, i typed in c maj, g7.

When I press one, i would expect a cmajor b ut get A C and E flimmering in blue.. (a minor triad?)
When i press key 2, i would expect a g7 but i get e g# b d. hmm.

When i change the session key to A minor .. i don’t know what i expect, probably to get A minor when i press the ‘c’ key for the first chord that is C major?

exporting the midi does change what i get when i change to A minor (F3minor, C#7)…

What would make sense to me is in chord entry mode, you are explaining chords in the context of some key. The simplest being “i’ll put everything in Cmajor” so a C major triad is just the cmajor triad. an E major is E G# B.

then as i change the Session key from C major to D major, i’d increment all the notes by 2 seminotes for all the chords. so then my first “chord” is now D major, and my second chord is F# major

IF i had changed to Session to D MINOR than we’d have to move the “E” of the first chord one semitone less??

I’d be really happy to learn some alternate way to think about all this (half the reason i buy these melody / chord generators is to see how they approach things). And I also allow that i’m not terribly good at music theory so I may be way off base with all of it, Thanks!

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Hey @clameram welcome :waving_hand:

We’re working on a manual, tutorials, etc. right now so they’re on the way.

If your session key is set to C major and you type in a C major chord, you’ll get C-E-G. If you want a GM7, you’ll get G-B-D-F.

If you switch to another key with a different key signature while you’re still typing in that Lab page, the chords aren’t going to be shifted or transposed until you “add” them. The “input” so to speak is still whatever you typed in (C major chord).

So type the chords in the key you want, click the “add chords” button and then your new chords will be moved out of The Lab and down to the main chords/keyboard area. Now when you change the session key it will shift the chords up or down to fit your new session key.

And if you like your new chord progression, save it for later! You can always change the session key in the future.

Let me know if that makes sense :folded_hands:

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Hi Julia, That would make sense, But that is not what I’m seeing.

From a new project (FL studio 2025), I add Notes to the instrument rack.

It starts in “Dead Wrong” preset (which is awesome, btw). I change the Session Key to “C Maj”, it shows the lock icon activated.

I pick Lab, from scratch, type “C Maj” and add chord. click blank area to return to main screen.

Now, when i press the C3, It alights B, D, and F#.

Choosing to export the midi, and re-importing it into a piano roll, i see the notes B, D, and F#

Tech Specs:

Version: 1.0.0
Build Date: 19 Oct 2025 2:51:00pm
Format: VST3
JUCE Version: JUCE v7.0.10

Operating System: Windows 11
Device Manufacturer:
Device Model: Windows (Desktop)
CPU Vendor: AuthenticAMD
CPU Model: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8-Core Processor
CPU Cores (Physical): 8
CPU Cores (Logical): 16

OpenGL Version:
OpenGL GLSL Version:
GPU Vendor:
GPU Model:
Machine ID: -3693394858413264201

Hmm…okay, thanks for the info. Could you take a quick screen recording so I can see exactly what’s going on? You can send via dropbox / google drive link here or else you can send the video as an attachment to support@futureaudioworkshop.com

Hi Julia,

Here’s a video, I used the standalone to further isolate it.

Thanks

1 Like

Thanks for the video, I just did the same steps on my computer and I’m having the same issue. That’s definitely a bug and I’m going to pass this info onto our developers! I’ll keep you updated.

I recently saw there is a new update 1.0.1 for Notes, (annoyingly not on plugin boutique yet, i saw the other post yesterday saying we have to wait for them).

Question: Is the Session key bug addressed in 1.0.1?

Thanks

We’re fixing it today, with release 1.0.2 coming once it is tested…

We’ll try to get it done before Christmas…else it will be around the 28th of December.

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Hey @clameram we’ve got a fix for this in our 1.0.2 beta - we only have macOS beta ready right now but Windows is coming soon. Keep an eye out! I’ll post it here: Notes Beta [1.0.2]

If you’re still waiting on the 1.0.1 version (although I hope it’s updated already on PIB, could be slow bc of the holidays) I posted those installer links in this thread but it still has that bug with typing in chords/session key: Notes Update [1.0.1]

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Hey i wanted to know if I was added to the beta testing list ? How can I test it ?

Awesome, i’m really looking forward to diving back into this plugin! I’ve been playing with ‘sampling from my DAW straight into Sp404 and chopping’ and this plugin would be excellent for that!

1 Like