Beatmaker 3

The new Beatmaker moves away from the fixed layout of the on-screen keyboard and allows you to drag loops to any key you want. 

Song Structure is written in caps in this new series: The Loop Browser has a dedicated column called “Song Structure”, and all the loops are identified by the song parts described above - so you can browse for different song parts and custom assemble them on the keyboard to your liking.

Virtual Guitarist, Virtual Bassist

Unlike drummers or beatmakers, guitarists or bassists don’t have a specific way of playing verses vs. choruses or breakdowns - while the beats build the foundation of the song, it is rather the interplay of all the other instruments that creates the song structure. Virtual Guitarists and Bassists support song structure by controlling the energy of their performance - less or more notes, less or more dynamics.

This is reflected in both series by way of the style phrases - the small, one-octave middle section of the On-screen keyboard in Player mode. Phrases are organized in increasing energy from left to right, so in a super-simplified world you just pick a phrase further right when going from verse to chorus.

Tip 1: All Virtual Guitarists and Bassists feature over 20 so-called “common phrases” that work for any style - they are also a rich arsenal of options for creating song structure, particularly the intro, breakdown and fill parts!

Tip 2: Try the Modwheel for palm muting (like guitarists do by pressing the palm of their strumming hand against the strings) - this is an additional element for varying the energy within a certain song part.

Virtual Pianist

The Virtual Pianists support song structure in a way that considers the piano being a two-handed instrument that sometimes supports whole parts of the song. Like the Guitarists and Bassists, the Pianists offer an octave with style phrases of ascending energy - here at the left end of the on-screen keyboard. In Virtual Pianist though, there are a few more things worth knowing:

• The left three phrases (C2, D2, E2) are all right-hand only, while the right ones are complete accompaniments that can carry a song even with no accompaniment (a vocal intro)
   
• You can vary song parts significantly by using the Pitchwheel for dynamic control and the Modwheel for adding “busyness”, a clever articulation that makes the player sprinkle in more and faster notes.
   
• Pretty hidden but incredibly powerful: You can record and automate movements of the low- and high range sliders above the on-screen keyboard, e.g. to go from a subdued to a full-on verse without even changing the pattern.

Symphonic Elements

Symphonic Elements is the only series within the UJAM catalog that is comprised of different instrument categories, and therefore the way of controlling song structure is slightly different, as are the number of phrases available within one style - e.g. Drums can offer more selector keys because no keys need to be dedicated to a chord playing range.  

But ideas and concepts are nonetheless consistent with all the other series, and it won’t take any learning curve here if you’re already familiar with other UJAM instruments:

• All Symphonic Elements instruments feature a phrase range with increasing energy from left to right. 
   
• Here, phrases are usually laid out on the white keys while extra additions and variations are available on the black ones.
   
• The Pitchwheel always allows you to blend between the low and high sections within the instrument, while the Modwheel allows you to turn down the energy temporarily

Usynth

Usynth is slightly different from our other series in that it doesn’t heavily rely on a Player mode, i.e. it doesn’t offer a real musician, but an instrument. So how it responds to or supports song structure depends on what you play on it.

That said, the Sequencer in Usynth does, of course, follow the same basic concept as our instruments in that when you activate it, the left end of the keyboard changes to a phrase octave - the white keys representing phrases that - you guessed it - become more intense as you go upwards, and the black keys offering variations.

So when you add Usynth to a song with a certain song structure and you want it to play say a basic chord phrase, start on C1 for the intro and go up as the song builds.

Wrap-up

We hope this article has inspired you to make song structure an active part of your song ideation process. Let us know how you do or ask us for any other topics you might like to see covered - just write us a direct message on social media or join the UJAM discord channel – we’d love to hear from you!