The Voice Count setting is used to fix the number of voices in a voicing.
This feature can be particularly useful for controlling the harmonic density/thickness of a voicing. This can be particularly helpful when creating voice lead orchestral themes, where it is important to make sure voices don’t drop out or get added arbitrarily as a result of their natural voice count. Voice Count is also particularly helpful for controlling the number of voices being sent to the arpeggiator.
A chord’s natural voice count refers to the number of voices in a chord’s primitive derived form. (doesn’t include any duplicated chord tones or have any voices missing). To determine a chord’s natural voice count, open the chord menu in the dashboard – all chords are sorted by their natural voice count.
When Voice Lead is off:
- When Voice Count setting is higher than a chord’s natural voice count, the algorithm will duplicate chord tones and shift them up an octave starting from the lowest voice and moving up until the number of voices matches the Voice Count setting number.
- When Voice Count setting is lower than a chord’s natural voice count, the algorithm will remove the highest voice and work its way down until the number of voices matches the Voice Count setting number.
When Voice Lead is on:
- When Voice Count setting is higher than a chord’s natural voice count, the algorithm will duplicate the chord tones that will result in the most efficient voice lead until the number of voices matches the Voice Count setting number.
- When Voice Count setting is lower than a chord’s natural voice count, the algorithm will reduce the number of voices to reflect the Voice Count setting, where the chord tones that remain result in the best voice lead, and the rest are removed.
