It happens to everyone: creative blocks. You want to do something musical, but you keep falling into the same old patterns, or you need something new and different to prod you into being creative. Well, that's when it's time to load the Songwriter's Assistant preset into Studio One's Chorder Note FX. And although this uses virtual instruments, you don't even need to know how to play keyboards. Really!
Note FX Basics
A Note FX plug-in processes MIDI data coming from an external controller or Instrument track, before passing the data along to a virtual instrument. The Note FX inserts in an instrument track's Inspector (fig. 1).
Figure 1: Insert Note FX in the Inspector, like you would insert an Event FX for audio. We'll describe input mode later.
Studio One has several Note FX, but for assistance with smashing creative blocks, this tip uses Chorder as our Note FX of choice. And in the spirit of the holiday season, there's a gift you can download-the Songwriter's Assistant preset for Chorder.
Songwriter's Assistant.preset
Why Chorder Is Cool
Chorder can stack chords on a single key. This is why you don't need to play keyboards-just hit a key, and a chord of whatever complexity you want will play. The Songwriter's Assistant uses two keyboard octaves (fig. 2).
Figure 2: The Songwriter's Assistant preset.
The range C2 - B2 plays major chords. C3 - C4 plays minor chords. So if you don't know how to voice chords on a keyboard, no problem! And if you don't even know what notes correspond to C2 through C4, no worries there, either. Just hit keys that sound good, and later on, we'll deal with how to show what chords to play on guitar or other instruments.
Studio One's Help file has plenty of information on how to create your own Chorder presets or modify existing ones (like adding more chord types, like 7ths, to other keyboard octaves), so we'll just concentrate on using the Songwriter's Assistant as a plug-and-play Note FX.
Using It
After downloading the Songwriter's Assistant preset, import it into Chorder. Studio One saves Chorder presets in [drive]\Studio One\Presets\PreSonus\Chorder. Insert an instrument, and then insert Chorder as shown in fig. 1.
Now start playing notes, and come up with cool chord progressions. Record them in the Instrument track to build up your song's chord progression. That's all there is to it.
The instrument track can show the note(s) you played, or the notes Chorder generates. With Input Mode (fig. 1) set to pre (the same graphic as a send being pre), the track records Chorder's output. With post, it records your original input, although you'll still hear chords play back. If you selected post but want the track to include the Chorder-generated notes, right-click in the track, and choose Render Instrument Tracks. Now you'll see what Chorder generated.
Finally, if you don't play keyboards, just open the Chord Track and drag the instrument track up to it. Studio One will parse your chord progression, and show you the chord letters. Better yet, choose View > Chord Display to see giant chord letters marching across your screen.
And don't overlook the factory presets, where you'll find plenty more ideas for generating chord progressions. Is this cool, or what?
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
17/10/2025
Q&A with Boston Conservatory Choral Conductor Stephen Spinelli How his research into the lost manuscripts of composer Florence Price led to a Grammy-winning c...
16/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: FUJIFILM Execs on GFX ETERNA 55 Camera, Importance of Shallow-Dept...
16/10/2025
Squash's Most Ambitious Broadcast Production To Be Deployed at Comcast Busin...
16/10/2025
Main Street Sports Group Inks Deal With Omaha Productions, Launches Original-Con...
16/10/2025
A Historic Precursor? FIFA, HBS, DAZN Offer an Inside Look at Production of FIFA...
16/10/2025
Prime Video Offers Sneak Peak at New NBA on Prime StudioThe massive 13,000-sq-ft, two-story studio features a LED regulation half court and hoopBy Jason Dachman...
16/10/2025
SVG Remote Production Forum Draws Record Crowd for Visit to PGA TOUR Studios, De...
16/10/2025
BitFire's Ben Grafchik on How Growing Cloud Workflows Are Impacting the Live...
16/10/2025
AI technology is advancing quickly, bringing both new creative possibilities and...
16/10/2025
In 2017, Imani Ellis launched CultureCon, a conference that's become a must-attend event for more than 10,000 diverse creatives and Black professionals to c...
16/10/2025
It might still be a little early to break out the tinsel and mistletoe, but Spotify's already queuing up some holiday magic. This year's Spotify Singles...
16/10/2025
Earlier this year, our in-house publishing imprint, Spotify Audiobooks, put out ...
16/10/2025
VAMPIRE has been integrated onto GM Defenses Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV), providing a mobile solution to effectively and affordably counter small drone threat...
16/10/2025
The AgilePod mounted on the host aircraft....
16/10/2025
60% say infotainment systems are a critical purchasing or leasing consideration,...
16/10/2025
NEW YORK The Broadcasters Foundation of America has launched its 2025 Year-End Giving Campaign, which seeks to raise donations from tax-deductible personal and ...
16/10/2025
Roku has added several new features to its user interface and operating system meant to make it easier to discover and personalize content, the company said....
16/10/2025
NEW YORK CNN has announced that its All Access subscription tier will launch in the U.S. on Oct. 28, providing audiences with a centralized destination for CNN&...
16/10/2025
Student Spotlight: Alan Villanueva The graduate student and saxophonist, who performed on Natalia Lafourcades Latin Grammy-nominated Live at Carnegie Hall alb...
16/10/2025
The XR Sports Alliance (XRSA) has announced the third cohort of members. The new members include Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), the Vegas Golden Kni...
16/10/2025
NEW YORK The Broadcasters Foundation of America has launched its 2025 Year-End Giving Campaign which seeks to raise donations from tax-deductible personal and c...
16/10/2025
NEW YORK Australia's Nine Network and the NHL today announced a media partnership that will bring the world's premier professional ice hockey league to ...
16/10/2025
Parks Associates has released new data showing that nearly half (45%) of U.S. internet homes watch free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) services and 89% of U.S...
16/10/2025
TROY, Mich. -New data from J.D. Power's 2025 U.S. Residential Internet Service Provider Study shows that residential wireless internet providers are growing...
16/10/2025
TV's most charming detective drama * Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investi...
16/10/2025
Back to All News
Thailand's Legendary Outlaw Returns: Tee Yai: Born to be ...
16/10/2025
Back to All News
Christmas Is Just Around The Corner: Home For Christmas Season...
16/10/2025
Back to All News
Trist n Ulloa Stars in El crimen de Pazos, the New Netflix Ser...
16/10/2025
ABS Completes Redomiciliation to Dubai Development Authority as Part of Strategi...
16/10/2025
This Saturday October 18 Katja Mia will burst onto the radio airwaves for the first time as she joins 2FM. Katja will be standing in for Bl thnaid Treacy on Sat...
16/10/2025
This October, RT is delighted to support Wexford Festival Opera, Babor International Arts Festival for Children, Open House Dublin and 36 other arts and cultu...
16/10/2025
GeForce NOW is more than just a platform to stream fresh games every week - it offers celebrations for the gamers who make it epic, with member rewards to sweet...
15/10/2025
Across the world, early-career reporters are interrogating systems that shape daily life, from mortuaries and classrooms to the corridors of legal education and...
15/10/2025
St. Louis Blues Pay Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne in New Pregame Open VideoThe NHL franchise worked with production firms 2WEI and 4th Floor CreativeBy Mark J Burns,...
15/10/2025
Cobalt Digital, G3DVu, Proxima Vision, and Telos Alliance Renew Premier Sponsors...
15/10/2025
By Paige Bethmann
Before my grandmother passed away in 2019, I went to visit her in the hospital where she'd been for a few weeks. When I arrived, the nurs...
15/10/2025
Two years ago, Spotify set out to grow the entire publishing industry by making ...
15/10/2025
People turn to DJ for a listening experience that feels personal, dynamic, and j...
15/10/2025
Las personas recurren a DJ para vivir una experiencia de escucha personal, din m...
15/10/2025
Rock legend Bruce Springsteen and luminary actor Jeremy Allen White came togethe...
15/10/2025
At Spotify, we're all about supporting rising talent and helping them connec...
15/10/2025
New SBS Documentary Series THE CANCER KILLERS Premieres 4 November on SBS & SBS ...
15/10/2025
SBS celebrates the Festivals of Lights with bold, illuminating stories across th...
15/10/2025
One of humanity's most profound questions continues: Is there any place in our galaxy suitable for life beyond Earth? NASA intends to find out, with the hel...
15/10/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
15/10/2025
Scality, a global leader in cyber-resilient storage software for the AI era, today announced the advancement of its comprehensive AI ecosystem certification pro...
15/10/2025
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today unveiled key highlights of the 2026 HPA Tech Retreat, scheduled for Feb. 15 19 at the Westin Rancho Mirage Go...
15/10/2025
At NAB Show New York 2025 (Stand 244), Interra Systems will showcase the future of media QC, monitoring, and captioning, highlighting its award-winning, AI- and...
It happens to everyone: creative blocks. You want to do something musical, but you keep falling into the same old patterns, or you need something new and different to prod you into being creative. Well, that's when it's time to load the Songwriter's Assistant preset into Studio One's Chorder Note FX. And although this uses virtual instruments, you don't even need to know how to play keyboards. Really!
