There’s never been a better time to record guitar. Here’s a look at the newest toys out there.
Every year, guitar equipment gets more studio-friendly. Small tube amps—many with USB ports—analog and digital preamps, effects, guitar amp plug-ins, and other recording-ready devices are now about as novel as NFL end-zone celebrations. But because they fit under the banner of “guitar gear,” we’ll save those for our normal product review and news sections. Instead, this roundup highlights a dozen recent items you won’t find next to the stompboxes and Finger-Ease—software, mobile apps, mics, monitors, controllers, and other tools ranging in price from free to $2,000. Dig in.
Ableton Live Suite 9.5
DAW SoftwareWith upgraded sampling and other under-the-hood improvements, the latest version of Ableton’s unconventional DAW may seem like it’s squarely aimed at beat making. And that it is. But Live’s clip-based workflow also makes it a great platform for guitar production—especially if you’re into writing riffs and manipulating guitar sounds—and the audio improvements help there, too. Live’s formidable set of plug-ins includes decent guitar and bass amp simulations, but its strengths are in more unconventional audio processing—try running an arpeggio through Grain Delay—as well as easy and versatile looping and exceptionally effective pitch and tempo manipulation. Plus, the pitch-to-MIDI feature introduced in version 9.0—coupled with a nice complement of software instruments and audio content—lets you turn guitar parts into synth and drum tracks. With a foot controller like Keith McMillan Instruments’ 12-Step, the program can be an onstage performance powerhouse for a looping guitarist. Version 9.5 also introduces a new Link feature that lets multiple devices sync across a network. Along with Live, Ableton announced a new version of its controller-cum-instrument Push, a nice alternative for non-keyboard players. If you don’t need all the content included with the Suite, you can opt for Live on its own ($449). A fully functioning 30-day demo is available.
$749-799 street
ableton.com
Shure MOTiV Series
Mobile Recording DevicesThe ubiquitous SM57 and SM58 dynamic mics have given Shure a well-deserved reputation for durable performance. So when the company used “durable” to describe its new series of mobile recording devices, it got our attention. The MOTiV line includes the MV5 Digital Condenser Microphone ($99), MV88 iOS Digital Stereo Condenser Microphone ($149), MV51 Digital Large-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone ($199), and MVi Digital Audio Interface ($129), all of which work with the free ShurePlus MOTIV Mobile Recording App.
Of the set, the MV88 and MVi seem to be especially guitar-friendly. The former may be especially appealing to acoustic players; it can connect directly to any Lightning-equipped iOS device and has a mid-side microphone element mounted to a rotatable 90-degree hinge. It also lets you tailor the sound with five built-in DSP preset modes, a 5-band EQ, and stereo width control. The MVi—which can connect to a Mac, PC, or iOS device—has two inputs: an XLR for mics and a 1/4" for instruments. It also offers phantom power, its own quintet of DSP modes, a headphone jack, and more. Bells and whistles aside, if the series comes close to matching the near indestructibility of Shure’s stage mics, they should be more than capable of standing up to the rigors of recording in the field.
$99-$199 street
shure.com
iZotope Spire
Recording AppComputer software and mobile apps are great music-making tools. But for all their power, neither has quite managed to capture the elegant simplicity of the old cassette 4-track. Izotope’s Spire comes close—largely because the app doesn’t try to do too much, and doesn’t get bogged down in retro emulations. Using the touch screen to maximize efficiency, the program lets you record up to four tracks and mix by simply sliding each track around on your screen—up for louder, left or right for stereo placement. There are no effects, but the app does include a metronome and DSP processing on the input to improve the sound of your mobile device’s built-in mic. Mixes are easy to share, either as compressed AAC files (for emailing) or as full AIFFs in Google Drive and other cloud services. And did we mention it’s free?
Free
madewithspire.com
Audient iD14
InterfaceWhen you’re on the go, it’s nice to have an audio interface that can be powered from your computer’s USB port. But bus-powered and high-performance don’t always go hand in hand. Audient’s new iD14, however, boasts a few features that add some muscle to its bus-powered frame. In addition to two analog inputs with high-performance Burr-Brown AD/DA converters, the iD14 has an ADAT optical connection that lets you add eight digital inputs from an external mixer or preamp. The two phantom-powered mic preamps are borrowed from the company’s flagship ASP8024 console, while a switchable 1/4" instrument input has guitar-friendly JFET circuitry.
The iD14 also introduces a feature called ScrollControl, which lets you use the unit’s volume encoder (that’s “knob” to you and me) as a mouse-like scroll wheel. It can adjust the iD14’s mixer app as well as your DAW host software, plug-ins, and more. Other highlights include a low-latency DSP mixer, a pair of speaker outputs, and an independent headphone output with software-controlled monitoring, all packed into a small but rugged all-metal enclosure.
$299 street
audient.com
Etymotic ER•4 microPro
EarphonesHeadphones are crucial in many recording situations, and while we love conventional cans, there are also times when we say “stick it in your ear”—in the nicest possible way. Etymotic, a company that makes a wide range of hearing protection and safe-listening devices, has a solid reputation for combining high fidelity and hearing safety, which is why its ER•4 earphones make this list. When inserted correctly, ER•4s are designed to block outside noise and provide a balanced sound with plenty of bass. The logic is that, because you don’t have to crank up to overcome outside noise, you’ll listen at a safer volume, so if you’re recording in a room full of amps, next to a loud drummer, or mixing in the outside world, these should have you covered. Each set comes with a number of ear-tips, but if you have the budget for the optional custom-molded ear-tips, they’re said to improve the noise-blocking seal. If the ER•4s are too rich for your budget, you might check out the lower-priced hf3s ($149).
$299 street
etymotic.com
Eventide Anthology X
Plug-in SuiteEver wonder why your stompboxes never quite matched the creamy chorus and shimmery pitch shifting of Frank Zappa or Eddie Van Halen? More likely than not, that sound was provided by an Eventide Harmonizer. The Anthology X bundle is designed to capture the company’s classic hardware in native plug-in form, while adding what they’re calling “future classics.” A number of the 17 plug-ins emulate vintage hardware with serious guitar bona fides, including the H910 Harmonizer (favored by Frank Zappa), Omnipressor (Brian May), H949 and Instant Phaser (both used by Jimmy Page), and the H3000, a late-’80s multi-effects powerhouse that was the first device to boast diatonic pitch shifting. The set also sports Eventide effects of more recent vintage, including UltraReverb (which has nine algorithms) and Octavox (an eight-voice diatonic pitch shifter using technology from the company’s H8000 hardware)—as well as EQs, channel strips, mastering plug-ins, and more. If the Anthology’s asking price is out of reach, you might opt for the H3000 Factory ($349), which recreates most of the effects found in the original. Demo versions are available by request.
$1,195
eventide.com
Radial Engineering Headload Prodigy
DI and AttenuatorIt’s no secret that power tubes can be shy about unveiling their charms unless you push them a bit. It’s also no secret that “loud amp” and “good recording” rarely go hand-in-hand: Even if you don’t have neighbors to worry about, a loud amp in a small room can be a nightmare to mic, and often ends up sounding thin. Radial’s rugged new Headload Prodigy lets you tackle both problems at the same time. A smaller, more affordable version of the Headload ($899), the Prodigy is housed in a 14-gauge steel chassis and combines a speaker load box with a DI output, letting you reduce the volume going to your amp’s speaker by 50 percent (for miking) and simultaneously send the power amp’s output directly to a mixing console or recording device. The Prodigy has custom-made, cement-encrusted resister coils, and it can handle up to 100 watts RMS and also operate as a full “dummy” load, allowing you to safely disconnect your amp’s speaker and record in silence. Depending on the output you choose to connect, you can take the amp’s tone “dry” or with EQ and an emulation of a 4x12 half stack miked by a Shure SM57. Other highlights include an XLR output with switchable polarity and ground lift, a 2-band front-panel EQ, and a headphone jack with its own volume control.
$399 street
radialeng.com
PreSonus R65
Active MonitorWhen it comes to mixing guitars, the low to low-mid frequencies are often a battle zone. You want to preserve your axe’s bottom without cluttering up territory rightfully claimed by the bass and kick drum. Small monitors—especially when they’re underpowered—can cloud this crucial frequency range, but with 100 watts going to a 6.5" coated Kevlar woofer—and another 50 going to a custom Air Motion Transformer (AMT) tweeter—the R65 Active Monitor is designed to handle lows while responding to transients as well as anything of its size and price point. Offering a 50 Hz to 25 kHz frequency response, the monitor can be adjusted with a set of Acoustic Tuning switches, including Acoustic Space (designed to compensate for the bass boost that can occur when a monitor is placed near a wall or corner) as well as settings for the tweeter and for use with or without a subwoofer. There are both balanced (XLR and 1/4") and unbalanced (RCA) connections for use with pro and semi-pro recording gear. The R80 ($499.95) offers similar features with an 8" woofer, extending the low-end response down to 45 Hz.
$399 street
presonus.com
Steinberg UR22mkII
InterfaceIf you’re new to digital recording or want a portable audio/MIDI interface for both computer and iOS devices, Steinberg’s new UR22mkII might be a good fit. Picking up where the original UR22 left off, this compact device offers two analog inputs with phantom power via Neutrik combo 1/4"-XLR connections, along with 1/4" monitor outputs and a headphone jack with its own volume control. One of the UR22’s two class-A D-PRE microphone preamps can be switched to high-impedance mode for use with guitar and bass. Like the original UR22, the mkII offers audio resolutions of up to 24-bit/192 kHz, fast USB 2.0 connectivity, and an onboard mix control that lets you dial in zero-latency monitoring. The mkII version adds a class-compliant mode for mobile use (you’ll need an optional adapter) and comes with free “lite” versions of Steinberg’s flagship Cubase DAW: Cubase AI (for Mac or PC), and Cubasis LE for iPad. With a rugged metal casing and a loopback function (which lets you combine your live performance with computer audio and stream your music to the internet in real time), the unit seems especially well suited to live recording and computer-aided gigging.
$149 street
steinberg.net
Behringer X-Touch Compact
Control SurfaceWhen you’re a guitarist, mouse jockeying and track padding are more than inconvenient—they can be damaging. We know more than a handful of player-producers who blame their carpal tunnel on the constant slide-and-click movements required to run a DAW. A control surface, therefore, is a worthy investment. There are many from which to choose, but the price, size, and features of the X-Touch Compact make it especially appealing. With Mackie Control emulation, it’s designed to work with just about every DAW and/or software instrument on the market, and its “dual layer” mode lets you quickly toggle between DAW and instrument parameters. It has nine automated, touch-sensitive 100 mm (think “full-sized”) faders, 16 rotary controls with LEDs to indicate each knob’s position, and 39 illuminated buttons (the latter group includes a full tape-style transport section). A pair of 1/4" inputs lets you add a footswitch and/or expression pedal—helpful when you need to punch in and out while playing your axe. The X-Touch comes pre-configured for a number of popular programs, but there’s also free downloadable editor software if you want to customize the controls. Once connected to the computer via USB, it can even serve as a MIDI interface, and multiple units can be ganged together for extended control. A three-year warranty doesn’t hurt, either.
$399 street
music-group.com/brand/behringer/home
Avid Pro Tools 12
DAW SoftwareWhen Pro Tools 12 was unveiled at the 2015 NAMM Show, it made news—and not just because it added important features to an already powerful program. The bigger story—which has implications beyond the DAW itself—was that Pro Tools would now be available via subscriptions, as well as through the outright purchase of a $599 “perpetual license.” Subscribers have two options: month-to-month ($29.99) and annual (12 monthly payments of $24.92). Every subscriber gets access to the latest version of the software, and each time there’s an update, it becomes accessible. If you do decide to buy, you still subscribe to future updates for $99 per year. This “subscription” upgrade path is intriguing because it removes the developer’s incentive to hold new features until a future major upgrade, instead making them available as soon as they’re ready.
By the time we went to press, Pro Tools was already up to version 12.3, and since the initial release, the software has added more tracks, new plug-ins, and some significant operational enhancements, including a new “commit” feature that can be used to free plug-in resources. There’s also a free remote iOS app that lets you control the software via touch screen—great if you’re manning the guitar and don’t want to be near your computer.
Under the old system, any or all of the above might have been saved for a “version 13” release sometime down the road, and owners of the old version would have to decide when and if to pony up for its replacement. As for the software itself, it’s as robust and guitar-friendly as ever. If you’ve never used Pro Tools or haven’t gotten your hands on a recent version, you can get a feel for it with the free-yet-effective Pro Tools | First version. But as for our early point about the wider implications of Pro Tools new pay-to-play options, Avid wasn’t the only music developer to launch a subscription plan in 2015: EastWest did so with Composer Cloud ($29.99/month) and Noteflight scoring software also offers subscription plans starting at $49 a year.
$24.92-29.99/month, $599 (plus $99 per year for updates)
avid.com
Royer Labs R-122 MKII
MicrophoneNo wish list would be complete without at least one high-ticket item. At an MSRP of nearly two grand, Royer’s new “MKII” version of the venerable R-122 ribbon microphone definitely qualifies. Once an endangered species, ribbon mics are now among the most popular choices for guitar duty, handling both cabinets and acoustic guitars with equal grace. And if one company is responsible for the ribbon revival, it’s Royer, which introduced the original R-122 back in 2002. It was the first phantom-powered, active ribbon mic to hit the market, and its real-world versatility has been winning converts ever since. The R-122 MKll increases that versatility with a switchable -15 dB pad and a switchable bass-cut filter. Put in guitar terms, they’re both “true bypass”—when they’re off, the MKII functions like an original R-122. Sweet.
$1,850 street
royerlabs.com
Day 6 of Stompboxtober is here! Today’s prize? A pedal from Revv Amplification! Enter now and check back tomorrow for the next one!
Revv G3 Purple Channel Preamp/Overdrive/Distortion Pedal - Anniversary Edition
The Revv G3 revolutionized high gain pedals in 2018 with its tube-like response & tight, clear high gain tones. Suddenly the same boutique tones used by metal artists & producers worldwide were available to anyone in a compact pedal. Now the G3 returns with a new V2 circuit revision that raises the bar again.
Beauty and sweet sonority elevate a simple-to-use, streamlined acoustic and vocal amplifier.
An EQ curve that trades accuracy for warmth. Easy-to-learn, simple-to-use controls. It’s pretty!
Still exhibits some classic acoustic-amplification problems, like brash, unforgiving midrange if you’re not careful.
$1,199
Taylor Circa 74
taylorguitars.com
Save for a few notable (usually expensive) exceptions, acoustic amplifiers are rarely beautiful in a way that matches the intrinsic loveliness of an acoustic flattop. I’ve certainly seen companies try—usually by using brown-colored vinyl to convey … earthiness? Don’t get me wrong, a lot of these amps sound great and even look okay. But the bar for aesthetics, in my admittedly snotty opinion, remains rather low. So, my hat’s off to Taylor for clearing that bar so decisively and with such style. The Circa 74 is, indeed, a pretty piece of work that’s forgiving to work with, ease to use, streamlined, and sharp.
Boxing Beyond Utility
Any discussion of trees or wood with Bob Taylor is a gas, and highly instructive. He loves the stuff and has dabbled before in amplifier designs that made wood an integral feature, rather than just trim. But the Circa 74 is more than just an aesthetic exercise. Because the Taylor gang started to think in a relatively unorthodox way about acoustic sound amplification—eschewing the notion that flat frequency response is the only path to attractive acoustic tone.
I completely get this. I kind of hate flat-response speakers. I hate nice monitors. We used to have a joke at a studio I frequented about a pair of monitors that often made us feel angry and agitated. Except that they really did. Flat sound can be flat-out exhausting and lame. What brings me happiness is listening to Lee “Scratch” Perry—loud—on a lazy Sunday on my secondhand ’70s Klipsch speakers. One kind of listening is like staring at a sun-dappled summer garden gone to riot with flowers. The other sometimes feels like a stale cheese sandwich delivered by robot.
The idea that live acoustic music—and all its best, earthy nuances—can be successfully communicated via a system that imparts its own color is naturally at odds with acoustic culture’s ethos of organic-ness, authenticity, and directness. But where does purity end and begin in an amplified acoustic signal? An undersaddle pickup isn’t made of wood. A PA with flat-response speakers didn’t grow in a forest. So why not build an amp with color—the kind of color that makes listening to music a pleasure and not a chore?
To some extent, that question became the design brief that drove the evolution of the Circa 74. Not coincidentally, the Circa 74 feels as effortless to use as a familiar old hi-fi. It has none of the little buttons for phase correction that make me anxious every time I see one. There’s two channels: one with an XLR/1/4" combo input, which serves as the vocal channel if you are a singer; another with a 1/4" input for your instrument. Each channel consists of just five controls—level, bass, middle, and treble EQ, and a reverb. An 11th chickenhead knob just beneath the jewel lamp governs the master output. That’s it, if you don’t include the Bluetooth pairing button and 1/8" jacks for auxiliary sound sources and headphones. Power, by the way, is rated at 150 watts. That pours forth through a 10" speaker.Pretty in Practice
I don’t want to get carried away with the experiential and aesthetic aspects of the Circa 74. It’s an amplifier with a job to do, after all. But I had fun setting it up—finding a visually harmonious place among a few old black-panel Fender amps and tweed cabinets, where it looked very much at home, and in many respects equally timeless.
Plugging in a vocal mic and getting a balance with my guitar happened in what felt like 60 seconds. Better still, the sound that came from the Circa 74, including an exceedingly croaky, flu-addled human voice, sounded natural and un-abrasive. The Circa 74 isn’t beyond needing an assist. Getting the most accurate picture of a J-45 with a dual-source pickup meant using both the treble and midrange in the lower third of their range. Anything brighter sounded brash. A darker, all-mahogany 00, however, preferred a scooped EQ profile with the treble well into the middle of its range. You still have to do the work of overcoming classic amplification problems like extra-present high mids and boxiness. But the fixes come fast, easily, and intuitively. The sound may not suggest listening to an audiophile copy of Abbey Road, as some discussions of the amp would lead you to expect. But there is a cohesiveness, particularly in the low midrange, that does give it the feel of something mixed, even produced, but still quite organic.
The Verdict
Taylor got one thing right: The aesthetic appeal of the Circa 74 has a way of compelling you to play and sing. Well, actually, they got a bunch of things right. The EQ is responsive and makes it easy to achieve a warm representation of your acoustic, no matter what its tone signature. It’s also genuinely attractive. It’s not perfectly accurate. Instead, it’s rich in low-mid resonance and responsive to treble-frequency tweaks—lending a glow not a million miles away from a soothing home stereo. I think that approach to acoustic amplification is as valid as the quest for transparency. I’m excited to see how that thinking evolves, and how Taylor responds to their discoveries.
The evolution of Electro-Harmonix’s very first effect yields a powerful boost and equalization machine at a rock-bottom price.
A handy and versatile preamp/booster that goes well beyond the average basic booster’s range. Powerful EQ section.
Can sound a little harsh at more extreme EQ ranges.
$129
Electro-Harmonix LPB-3
ehx.com
Descended from the first Electro-Harmonix pedal ever released, the LPB-1 Linear Power Booster, the new LPB-3 has come a long way from the simple, one-knob unit in a folded-metal enclosure that plugged straight into your amplifier. Now living in Electro-Harmonix’s compact Nano chassis, the LPB-3 Linear Power Booster and EQ boasts six control knobs, two switches, and more gain than ever before.
If 3 Were 6
With six times the controls found on the 1 and 2 versions (if you discount the original’s on/off slider switch,) the LPB-3’s control complement offers pre-gain, boost, mid freq, bass, treble, and mid knobs, with a center detent on the latter three so you can find the midpoint easily. A mini-toggle labeled “max” selects between 20 dB and 33 dB of maximum gain, and another labeled “Q” flips the resonance of the mid EQ between high and low. Obviously, this represents a significant expansion of the LPB’s capabilities.
More than just a booster with a passive tone, the LPB-3 boasts a genuine active EQ stage plus parametric midrange section, comprising the two knobs with shaded legends, mid freq and mid level. The gain stages have also been reimagined to include a pre-gain stage before the EQ, which enables up to 20 dB of input gain. The boost stage that follows the EQ is essentially a level control with gain to allow for up to 33 dB of gain through the LPB-3 when the “max” mini toggle is set to 33dB
A slider switch accessible inside the pedal selects between buffered or true bypass for the hard-latch footswitch. An AC adapter is included, which supplies 200mA of DC at 9.6 volts to the center-negative power input, and EHX specifies that nothing supplying less than 120mA or more than 12 volts should be used. There’s no space for an internal battery.
Power-Boosted
The LPB-3 reveals boatloads of range that betters many linear boosts on the market. There’s lots of tone-shaping power here. Uncolored boost is available when you want it, and the preamp gain knob colors and fattens your signal as you crank it up—even before you tap into the massive flexibility in the EQ stage.
“The preamp gain knob colors and fattens your signal as you crank it up—even before you tap into the massive flexibility in the EQ stage.”
I found the two mid controls work best when used judiciously, and my guitars and amps preferred subtle changes pretty close to the midpoint on each. However, there are still tremendous variations in your mid boost (or scoop, for that matter) within just 15 or 20 percent range in either direction from the center detent. Pushing the boost and pre-gain too far, particularly with the 33 dB setting engaged, can lead to some harsh sounds, but they are easy to avoid and might even be desirable for some users that like to work at more creative extremes.
The Verdict
The new LPB-3 has much, much more range than its predecessors, providing flexible preamp, boost, and overdrive sounds that can be reshaped in significant ways via the powerful EQ. It gives precise tone-tuning flexibility to sticklers that like to match a guitar and amp to a song in a very precise way, but also opens up more radical paths for experimentalists. That it does all this at a $129 price is beyond reasonable.
Electro-Harmonix Lpb-3 Linear Power Booster & Eq Effect Pedal Silver And Blue
Intermediate
Intermediate
• Learn classic turnarounds.
• Add depth and interest to common progressions.
• Stretch out harmonically with hip substitutions.
Get back to center in musical and ear-catching ways.
A turnaround chord progression has one mission: It allows the music to continue seamlessly back to the beginning of the form while reinforcing the key center in a musically interesting way. Consider the last four measures of a 12-bar blues in F, where the bare-bones harmony would be C7-Bb7-F7-F7 (one chord per measure). With no turn around in the last two measures, you would go back to the top of the form, landing on another F7. That’s a lot of F7, both at the end of the form, and then again in the first four bars of the blues. Without a turnaround, you run the risk of obscuring the form of the song. It would be like writing a novel without using paragraphs or punctuation.
The most common turnaround is the I-VI-ii-V chord progression, which can be applied to the end of the blues and is frequently used when playing jazz standards. Our first four turnarounds are based on this chord progression. Furthermore, by using substitutions and chord quality changes, you get more mileage out of the I-VI-ii-V without changing the basic functionality of the turnaround itself. The second group of four turnarounds features unique progressions that have been borrowed from songs or were created from a theoretical idea.
In each example, I added extensions and alterations to each chord and stayed away from the pure R-3-5-7 voicings. This will give each chord sequence more color and interesting voice leading. Each turnaround has a companion solo line that reflects the sound of the changes. Shell voicings (root, 3rd, 7th) are played underneath so that the line carries the sound of the written chord changes, making it easier to hear the sound of the extensions and alterations. All examples are in the key of C. Let’s hit it.
The first turnaround is the tried and true I-VI-ii-V progression, played as Cmaj7-A7-Dm7-G7. Ex. 1 begins with C6/9, to A7(#5), to Dm9, to G7(#5), and resolves to Cmaj7(#11). By using these extensions and alterations, I get a smoother, mostly chromatic melodic line at the top of the chord progression.
Ex. 2 shows one possible line that you can create. As for scale choices, I used C major pentatonic over C6/9, A whole tone for A7(#5), D Dorian for Dm9, G whole tone for G7(#5), and C Lydian for Cmaj7(#11) to get a more modern sound.
The next turnaround is the iii-VI-ii-V progression, played as Em7-A7-Dm7-G7 where the Em7 is substituted for Cmaj7. The more elaborate version in Ex. 3 shows Em9 to A7(#9)/C#, to Dm6/9, to G9/B, resolving to Cmaj7(add6). A common way to substitute chords is to use the diatonic chord that is a 3rd above the written chord. So, to sub out the I chord (Cmaj7) you would use the iii chord (Em7). By spelling Cmaj7 = C-E-G-B and Em7 = E-G-B-D, you can see that these two chords have three notes in common, and will sound similar over the fundamental bass note, C. The dominant 7ths are in first inversion, but serve the same function while having a more interesting bass line.
The line in Ex. 4 uses E Dorian over Em9, A half-whole diminished over A7(#9)/C#, D Dorian over Dm6/9, G Mixolydian over G9/B, and C major pentatonic over Cmaj7(add6). The chord qualities we deal with most are major 7, dominant 7, and minor 7. A quality change is just that… changing the quality of the written chord to another one. You could take a major 7 and change it to a dominant 7, or even a minor 7. Hence the III-VI-II-V turnaround, where the III and the VI have both been changed to a dominant 7, and the basic changes would be E7-A7-D7-G7.
See Ex. 5, where E7(b9) moves to A7(#11), to D7(#9) to G7(#5) to Cmaj9. My scale choices for the line in Ex. 6 are E half-whole diminished over E7(#9), A Lydian Dominant for A7(#11), D half-whole diminished for D7(#9), G whole tone for G7(#5), and C Ionian for Cmaj9.
Ex. 7 is last example in the I-VI-ii-V category. Here, the VI and V are replaced with their tritone substitutes. Specifically, A7 is replaced with Eb7, and G7 is replaced with Db7, and the basic progression becomes Cmaj7-Eb7-Dm7-Db7. Instead of altering the tritone subs, I used a suspended 4th sound that helped to achieve a diatonic, step-wise melody in the top voice of the chord progression.
The usual scales can be found an Ex. 8, where are use a C major pentatonic over C6/9, Eb Mixolydian over Eb7sus4, D Dorian over Dm11, Db Mixolydian over Db7sus4, and once again, C Lydian over Cmaj7(#11). You might notice that the shapes created by the two Mixolydian modes look eerily similar to minor pentatonic shapes. That is by design, since a Bb minor pentatonic contains the notes of an Eb7sus4 chord. Similarly, you would use an Ab minor pentatonic for Db7sus4.
The next four turnarounds are not based on the I-VI-ii-V chord progression, but have been adapted from other songs or theoretical ideas. Ex. 9 is called the “Backdoor” turnaround, and uses a iv-bVII-I chord progression, played as Fm7-Bb7-Cmaj7. In order to keep the two-bar phrase intact, a full measure of C precedes the actual turnaround. I was able to compose a descending whole-step melodic line in the top voice by using Cmaj13 and Cadd9/E in the first bar, Fm6 and Ab/Bb in the second bar, and then resolving to G/C. The slash chords have a more open sound, and are being used as substitutes for the original changes. They have the same function, and they share notes with their full 7th chord counterparts.
Creating the line in Ex. 10 is no more complicated than the other examples since the function of the chords determines which mode or scale to use. The first measure employs the C Ionian mode over the two Cmaj chord sounds. F Dorian is used over Fm6 in bar two. Since Ab/Bb is a substitute for Bb7, I used Bb Mixolydian. In the last measure, C Ionian is used over the top of G/C.
The progression in Ex. 11 is the called the “Lady Bird” turnaround because it is lifted verbatim from the Tadd Dameron song of the same name. It is a I-bIII-bVI-bII chord progression usually played as Cmaj7-Eb7-Abmaj7-Db7. Depending on the recording or the book that you check out, there are slight variations in the last chord but Db7 seems to be the most used. Dressing up this progression, I started with a different G/C voicing, to Eb9(#11), to Eb/Ab (subbing for Abmaj7), to Db9(#11), resolving to C(add#11). In this example, the slash chords are functioning as major seventh chords.
As a result, my scale choices for the line in Ex. 12 are C Ionian over G/C, Eb Lydian Dominant over Eb9(#11), Ab Ionian over Eb/Ab, Db Lydian Dominant over Db9(#11), and C Lydian over C(add#11).
The progression in Ex. 13 is called an “equal interval” turnaround, where the interval between the chords is the same in each measure. Here, the interval is a descending major 3rd that creates a I-bVI-IV-bII sequence, played as Cmaj7-Abmaj7-Fmaj7-Dbmaj7, and will resolve a half-step down to Cmaj7 at the top of the form. Since the interval structure and chord type is the same in both measures, it’s easy to plane sets of voicings up or down the neck. I chose to plane up the neck by using G/C to Abmaj13, then C/F to Dbmaj13, resolving on Cmaj7/E.
The line in Ex. 14 was composed by using the notes of the triad for the slash chord and the Lydian mode for the maj13 chords. For G/C, the notes of the G triad (G-B-D) were used to get an angular line that moves to Ab Lydian over Abmaj13. In the next measure, C/F is represented by the notes of the C triad (C-E-G) along with the root note, F. Db Lydian was used over Dbmaj13, finally resolving to C Ionian over Cmaj7/E. Since this chord progression is not considered “functional” and all the chord sounds are essentially the same, you could use Lydian over each chord as a way to tie the sound of the line together. So, use C Lydian, Ab Lydian, F Lydian, Db Lydian, resolving back to C Lydian.
The last example is the “Radiohead” turnaround since it is based off the chord progression from their song “Creep.” This would be a I-III-IV-iv progression, and played Cmaj7-E7-Fmaj7-Fm7. Dressing this one up, I use a couple of voicings that had an hourglass shape, where close intervals were in the middle of the stack.
In Ex. 15 C6/9 moves to E7(#5), then to Fmaj13, to Fm6 and resolving to G/C. Another potential name for the Fmaj13 would be Fmaj7(add6) since the note D is within the first octave. This chord would function the same way, regardless of which name you used.
Soloing over this progression in Ex. 16, I used the C major pentatonic over C6/9, E whole tone over E7(#5), F Lydian over Fmaj13, and F Dorian over Fm6. Again, for G/C, the notes of the G triad were used with the note E, the 3rd of a Cmaj7 chord.
The main thing to remember about the I-VI-ii-V turnaround is that it is very adaptable. If you learn how to use extensions and alterations, chord substitutions, and quality changes, you can create some fairly unique chord progressions. It may seem like there are many different turnarounds, but they’re really just an adaptation of the basic I-VI-ii-V progression.
Regarding other types of turnarounds, see if you can steal a short chord progression from a pop tune and make it work. Or, experiment with other types of intervals that would move the chord changes further apart, or even closer together. Could you create a turnaround that uses all minor seventh chords? There are plenty of crazy ideas out there to work with, and if it sounds good to you, use it!