def agree it’s objectively a thing. I couldn’t care less how someone makes music whether they want to program everything and never touch an instrument, sound design absolutely everything or chop samples of records or even AI. who cares it’s all playing with toys that make noise. People use all sorts of stepping stones to get into it. Some people start out playing guitar, others just start fucking with pirated VSTs and become sound engineers. It seems to me that most people don’t end up making any finalised music and just get caught up having fun in the process playing with gear and software, which is completely fine. there’s not exactly a shortage of music and it all creates a larger audience funding technological growth. My real issue is companies holding out on us as they’d rather maximise profits than innovate. But even then that’s what businesses do and is a necessary evil
The ‘purity’ debate is interesting, because I do honestly feel a little bit guilty about setting up a chord progression using one of the ‘Motions’, as I wouldn’t be able to play it myself in a billion years. It makes me feel like a bit of a fraud. I would rather create my own drum patterns than use Logic’s Drummer. But I don’t feel bad about using drum samples, manipulating sample loops created by others or using synth presets, for example!
It’s weird how our brains can worry about some stuff but not others! Mine, anyway! I think I should just go with it and not give a crap, tbh. It’s not like I’m doing this professionally.
I aired a similar internal dilemma in a thread about using preset/sound packs with premade patterns (like the NI packs that have sounds with midi patterns - just press play!).
I came to the conclusion that as long as I’m proud of my creations that’s all that matters. It’s so grey anyway, from defining new musical scales from scratch through to using premade chord progressions. Or hearing an emotive chord progression and copying it, which has been done a million times by professional artists. As long as I’m happy 
Here’s my opinion on Scaler 3.
Perhaps it’s because I’m from the birthplace of hip hop and was raised in the culture of sampling, remixing something…or nothing (special)…turning it into something else that leaves me unapologetic about how I express myself.
Doesn’t matter if it’s fashion, cooking, painting or music. I can find inspo in a simple generic painting from IKEA scores of others have, mash it up with my own pigments until I turn it into my own far out imaginative or simple statement.
I’ll take a traditional Italian dish and put some soul, funk and ox tail in it until it tastes like a James Brown record sounds.
I’ll go to a thrift shop or Saks Fifth Avenue, buy a perfectly nice shirt and take scissors and thread to it creating something complety different. Just last week I bought a woman’s dress, cut it up and lined a YSL jacket with it just because I loved the print.
I’ll sample any sound, group of chords or drum break; chop, slice, bend, break and scratch it into a new vibe. Feels just as good to me as grabbing any one of my horns or EWI’s and starting from scratch.
There is no opinion or attitude that can distract me from having a blast creating, expressing myself or pursuing happiness. I’m 4 decades into this Life and I can’t imagine wasting a second of what’s left in it; apologizing for how I experience it.
I think our inner voice can be the worse person ever, specifically for creatives if we allow doubt, judgment or the limitations of others influence our behavior.
he said what he said
Haha. Perhaps TMI but I guess I like to believe that we are all born with just enough space in this world to create some meaning and purpose for ourselves before our brief human experience is over. I also want to believe that everyone can feel as safe in their own space as I do in mine. However, I do understand and empathize with the reality that there are infinite reasons why that isn’t the case.
Our own minds can be wonderfully liberating playgrounds or oppressive regimes.
At any rate, I hope everyone is enjoying Scaler as much as I am. Despite some bugs and a few needed tweaks I’m having a good time with it.
…from a back in the 80ies/90ies persective, scaler is half magic and half cheatcode…but hey, this is the early age of information and the second decade, where “fake it 'til u make it” is rule number one…everybody is cheating…does not change the quality of outcome…is it authentic and curated with style and feel…or not…even scaler3 can’t help u with that…so, hurrraayyyy to progress…the only constant thing there is…
Cheating implies that there are rules to how I am supposed to make music. I don’t see it that way.
For me “cheating” implies cheating myself. As in, feeling inside that I used too many auto-tools and therefore feel like I didn’t truly express myself creatively, or that all I did was press a few buttons in some software and it was all too easy, leading to feelings of shame and not being as proud of the product as I would be, if I did more of it ‘myself’.
It’s an internal thing for sure. and I think everyone can only decide for themself where that line is
Looks like a pretty good tool!
This is the type of high-quality post that I come here for. Thank you.
Scaler 3.0.1 is available via your account
This update includes stability improvements and additional enhancements.
Prior to installing the update
If you’ve been experiencing crashes, we recommend performing a clean installation:
Mac - Clean Install:
- Delete the standalone state file:
/Users/[USERNAME]/Library/Application Support/Scaler 3.settings - Delete the personalized files:
/Users/[USERNAME]/Library/Scaler Music/Scaler 3 - Delete the shared user files:
/Users/Shared/Scaler Music/Scaler 3 - Reinstall.
Tip: The Library folder is hidden by default. To access it, open Finder, click Go in the menu bar, and hold the Option (⌥) key to reveal Library.
Windows - Clean Install:
- Delete the standalone state file:
C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\Scaler 3.settings - Delete the personalized files:
C:\ProgramData\Scaler Music\Scaler 3 - Delete the shared user files:
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Scaler Music\Scaler 3 - Reinstall.
Tip: The AppData folder is hidden by default. To access it, you can either:
- Type %AppData% in the File Explorer address bar and press Enter to go directly to the Roaming folder
- Or navigate to C:\Users[USERNAME] and make sure “Hidden items” is checked in the View tab
Optional
You may also remove the plugin binary files for VST/VST3/AU/AAX, though these will be overwritten when reinstalling with your DAWs closed.
Installation Steps
- Remove files as outlined above
- Reboot your machine
- Install the 3.0.1 update
- Reboot again after installation is complete
Still Experiencing Issues?
If you’re still experiencing issues, please confirm you’ve followed the above steps and upload your crash files to the Scaler 3.01 thread here, along with details of your setup (e.g., OS, DAW, or standalone version) and any steps to reproduce the problem. This will help us better address the issues you’re encountering in the 3.0.1 update.
Also some features confirmed for Scaler 3.1 expected mid-late April Include:
- Main Track Live Sync - Syncs Main track across instances and DAWs
- Batch User Chord Set Import - Ability to import several XML files at once and choose destination folder
- Play Bar in MIDI Editor
- Drag and Drop MIDI files
VST hosting and not having to switch between apps is a big plus. Maybe over time, Scaler can be a full-fledged DAW by itself?
I’m not sure how much audio editing will ever find its way in but I can say that it is already my main digital midi workstation DMW.
How are you receiving this information? I assumed registering my v3 upgrade from PB with them would get me emails about updates etc. I’ve had a crash all 4 times I tried to use it. VST and standalone.
Update: meant to also say that I’m excited to try this new update out! Hope it brings stability!
If they implement Ableton Live Set export, that would be a really interesting workflow. Start building chord progressions and song structure in Scaler standalone, then move to Ableton for full arrangement and production.