Do you have any tips when you want to create a style from an existing song? I read in the manual that it is best to use C, E, G, A, and B notes. for existing songs you need to translate patterns to these tones. Any tips how to do that best?

Hi,
What notes we need to use depends on in which key the style will be created. C-key is often used in style creation and that's why C,E,G notes are recommended -because they define Cmaj chord. But we can create style in any key we wish (or need) and in this case we need to use different notes.
For example, if original song is in D-key, then it can be confusing to convert notes from D-key to C-key (in head) and so it might be easier to simply create style in D-key (now we will use D,F#,A notes instead).

If you haven't created styles before, then I recommend watching some video tutorials, because manual isn't really helpful to start with.
I have made a short series of Styles creation videos -maybe you start with 5th video and if something isn't clear, check preceding videos.
And if there's still a particular question, I'm sure someone here will help 

Bogdan

There are two aspects to style creation - the mechanics of how the style creation system works and the musical aspects of arranging of suitable accompaniment.
I think you can get tips on the first here, but successful musical arranging is a different kettle of fish that requires knowledge and experience. You are probably not going to get the here. You need to study, listen, experiment. It's not simple, so your best bet if you are a novice is to stick with making minor changes to existing styles.
Mike

I have made over 400 custom song styles. I also have posted several how to videos on my You Tube channel.

You have to record in the key of C. You have to play the pattern or riff only over a C chord. Most important is to always record in the PAD channel of the style. You can play any note if you use this channel.

If you record in the other channels you are LIMITED to the notes you can record. Meaning in the other channels if you record a Bb note, it will play back as a C note every time.

It takes a lot of time to make custom song styles but once you figure it out, it is the only thing you will ever use at your gigs.

Cheers
Drake 

Thank you guys for all your explanations and tips! I have work to do 

Quote from: DrakeM on Apr 08, 2025, 04:27 PMYou have to record in the key of C. ...

That is not true. We can record in any key we wish. In fact, it can happen that we need to record pattern in some other key than C.

QuoteMost important is to always record in the PAD channel of the style. You can play any note if you use this channel.
If you record in the other channels you are LIMITED to the notes you can record. ...

That's not true. All channels have exactly the same capabilities and the result depends only on SFF settings. That is, if we apply the settings of Pad channel on Chord1, then the result will be the same on both channels.
The only difference between tracks is:
Rhy1 -we can assign any voice (Normal or DrumKit)
Rhy2 -we can assign DrumKit only (not Normal voice)
Bass..Phrase2 -we can assign only Normal voice (not DrumKit)

Bogdan

Also I forgot to add. After you record in the PAD channel, you can then move any or all of that recorded track to any of the other channels and they will then also play correctly.

I found Recording in the other channels will occasionally work correctly. It is better to record every time in the PAD and not waste time experimenting to see if it works or not. 

All I know is what has worked 100% of the time for me for years now and I have posted well over 300 videos of me demonstrating using the styles on YouTube.

Good Luck getting hooked on style creations

Drake

hi Drake,

Quote from: DrakeM on Apr 09, 2025, 06:52 AM...
I found Recording in the other channels will occasionally work correctly. It is better to record every time in the PAD and not waste time experimenting to see if it works or not. 

All channels always work correctly and Pad channel is not some special channel that we should prefer using. It is actually a bad advice to record every time in the Pad (and then copy to other channel), because that will for sure result with poor style. For example, we should definitely not use Pad channel (at default SFF settings) for guitar strumming.
They key is, to understand what exactly each setting in SFF does. Only in this case we will know what we need to change to get the result that we want -and not the result that we got by coincidence.

Greetings, Bogdan

Style creation is a large and complicated subject and asking for tips is a bit like asking for tips on performing brain surgery.

The way to get started on style creation is to read the manual, and the articles on the forum. Then get hands on by doing easy alterations to existing styles. Things like changing bass lines, swapping variations from other styles, changing instruments. Then maybe progress to easy intros. This way you get your feet wet and learn how the system works (and doesn't work). Then progress to styles for very simple songs. Post specific questions here for help when you run into road blocks - not general questions like give me some tips.

Most people will opt for style creation in key of C, in fact Cmaj7, which is the seven white notes, but as stated you don't have to. It's fairly straightforward to create simple styles for simple 3 or 4 chord songs. But regardless of what key you choose, a major challenge is anticipating how phrases, riffs etc will actually sound when in real time playing you use different chords from simple major triads. Like minor, diminished, extended, altered, half diminished, tritone substitutes. How well does it work when you use different fingering like fingered on bass, or full keyboard. Or what if it is all in a minor key? It takes a lot of learning, repetition and trial and error.

A complete style has multiple instrument parts, 3 intros, 4 variations, 3 endings, fills.... It's time consuming and demanding to get half decent results on anything except the very simplest styles, but starting easy will let you learn the system basics, and progress to your comfort level.

Mike