So I’m still a newbie in the music/ableton world, and I know this is a very amateur question, but I don’t see a B# or an E# key for the sounds I’ve made in operator?
Also…
There are no flats-- Can someone explain how that works, as well as how I produce a B# and an E#?
Try not to laugh too hard when you read this, lol…
thanks
They are called enharmonics. Since every note has three different possible names, there is the need sometimes for weird notes like E# and B#, similar to the other weird notes F-flat and C-flat, and it all surrounds the construction of major and minor scales. E# is simply F, and B# is going to be C.
Ableton isn’t smart enough to know what key you are actually in, so it defaults to sharps, which as far as I know is not able to be changed in Ableton. So, to make a long story short, you just have to know the scales and do the transfer in your head.
J
[quote]Tisdale (17/05/2011)[hr]So I’m still a newbie in the music/ableton world, and I know this is a very amateur question, but I don’t see a B# or an E# key for the sounds I’ve made in operator?
Also…
There are no flats-- Can someone explain how that works, as well as how I produce a B# and an E#?
Try not to laugh too hard when you read this, lol…
thanks[/quote]
Awesome that answers my first question, thank you very much… and for the second, ok, I’m trying to arrange all of the major scales to familiarize myself with key signature, so how would, for instance, the Cb major scale (Cb Db Eb Fb Gb Ab Bb Cb) translate into ableton, seeing as how there are no flats displayed?
thanks
Gonna try to explain a simple way to remember it: All your notes, in order, are here:
A - A# or Bb - B - C - C# or Db - D - D# or Eb - E - F - F# or Gb - G - G# or Ab - then to A again
One step on this is called a semitone. So like going from A to A# (A# is the same thing as Bb) would be a one semitone jump. The reason there is no B# or Cb, or E# or Fb, is because B and C, and E and F, are only one semitone apart. So if you see Cb it really just means B. So for your example, just look up the B major scale. Using that, you should be able to translate any scale to be able to use in ableton.
Hope that helps you make sense of it, music theory can be really confusing 
welcome by the way.
Like I said, you’d need to know the notes of the scale in your head and be able to quickly convert the enharmonics to meet Ableton’s deficiency. So say you have a C-flat scale, where every note is flat. Since that is the enharmonic equivalent of B-major, you would have B-C#-D#-E-F#-G#-A#-B. That works well because the notes all fit Ableton’s system.
The problem starts becoming apparent when you have a flat-based scale like A-flat major. Here is that scale:
Ab-Bb-C-Db-Eb-F-G-Ab.
Ableton sees it as this…
G#-A#-C-C#-D#-F-G-G#.
See how you have a doubling up of the C and G notes? That never occurs in a correctly constructed scale, as it is shown in the Ab version. One of the rules of scales is that each letter needs to be present in the scale in some form, whether it be sharp, flat, or natural. Notice how the G# skips the letters B and E? That’s no good, which is why I say you’d need to just know the scales and make the transfer in your head. Now, the only other way you’d be able to do it is if you stack the notes in C major in a MIDI clip and simply drag the collection of notes up and down the grid and compare what you get to the piano roll on the side of the clip. By default the intervals would remain the same, so all you’d need to do is just select them all and drag it until the bottom MIDI note is on the note you want as your tonic.
Quite frankly, if composer came to me with a piano piece in the key of G-sharp major, I would tell him to get serious and transpose it to a key I’d like to read! Logic Studio is able to handle key as one of the global parameters, most likely because it has a “score” function which allows you to print an actual notated score of your tune. But even with Logic, you’d have to go in and arrange chromatic tones to look correct on the page. There’s a real method to notation, and seasoned musicians will tell you quickly if your system is not ergonomic.
J
[quote]Tisdale (18/05/2011)[hr]Awesome that answers my first question, thank you very much… and for the second, ok, I’m trying to arrange all of the major scales to familiarize myself with key signature, so how would, for instance, the Cb major scale (Cb Db Eb Fb Gb Ab Bb Cb) translate into ableton, seeing as how there are no flats displayed?
thanks[/quote]
So, looking at the question and responses again, I guess what I’m saying is: don’t use Ableton to learn your major scales correctly. It’s not nearly as capable in helping you in that task.
Learn the half and whole steps and start the following pattern on each note of the keyboard from C to B:
W = Whole step
H = Half step
Major scale:
W-W-H-W-W-W-H
J
very helpful-- thank you!
[quote]JamieinNC (18/05/2011)[hr]Learn the half and whole steps and start the following pattern on each note of the keyboard from C to B:
W = Whole step
H = Half step
Major scale:
W-W-H-W-W-W-H
J[/quote]
That’s a nice simple explanation 
Another way to visualize it is to look at a keyboard…
you’ll notice that there isn’t a black key between every white one. Specifically, there are no black keys between B & C and between E & F.
The tricky bit is when you change keys from C-major or A-minor then the whole steps and half steps don’t align with the black & white keys…but the relationship of whole steps and half step that Jaimie showed remain the same.
For example, the key of G looks almost like it is made up of white keys until the last (or 7th) note…which turns out to be F# because it is a half step from G again.
So when you see a flat it means go down a half step from the note and in the case of C there is no black key down a half step…it’s just B.
Also, the regular natural minor key is shift down two notes like this:
W-H-W-W-H-W-W
Very helpful everybody-- THANK YOU
don’t want to beat a dead horse but here is something I have printed out and tapped on my laptop and computer monitor at home yesterday!
This is a little cheat sheet that helps me identify the minor key signature for every major scale and also which of their keys are either flat or sharp.
Also, think of sharps and flats as it pertains to tone. So when you are going up the scale, notes are sharp and when you go down the scale, notes are labeled as flat notes.
I also have this which helps a ton as well… It’s the same principles as the W W H formula posted earlier, I just think it’s easier to use numbers as you can count how many notes you need to skip in order to get to the next one.
Note Interval Formula for Major and Minor Scales
Major Scale = Root Note - 2 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 1
Minor Scale = Root Note - 2 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 1
2 = W or whole step
1 = H or half step
Good post nonetheless, this is often something many new producers often don’t take the time to learn! I’m one of them! 
Knowing this makes producing SOOOO much easier and faster as well…