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CHORDMASTER - Unregistered Version 1.6
Chord Chemistry Program for Guitar
Copyright (c) 1991,1992 Robert Watson
All Rights Reserved
This software is licensed to you, for your own use. This is
copyrighted software. You are not obtaining title to the software
or any copyright rights. You may not sublicense, rent, lease, convey,
modify, translate, convert to another programming language, decompile,
or disassemble the software for any purpose.
You may make as many copies of this software as you need for
back-up purposes. You may use this software on more than one computer,
provided there is no chance that it will be used simultaneously on more
than one computer. If you need to use the software on more than one
computer simultaneously, please contact us for information about site
licenses.
DISCLAIMER
ROBERT WATSON DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES RELATING TO THIS SOFTWARE,
WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE,
AND ALL SUCH WARRANTIES ARE EXPRESSLY AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMED.
NEITHER ROBERT WATSON OR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE
CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF THIS SOFTWARE SHALL BE LIABLE
FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT
OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE SUCH SOFTWARE EVEN IF ROBERT WATSON
HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR CLAIMS. IN
NO EVENT SHALL ROBERT WATSON'S LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES EVER EXCEED
THE PRICE PAID FOR THE LICENSE TO USE THE SOFTWARE, REGARDLESS OF THE
FORM OF THE CLAIM. THE PERSON USING THE SOFTWARE BEARS ALL RISK AS TO
THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE.
Some states do not allow the exclusion of the limit of liability
for consequential or incidental damages, so the above limitation may
not apply to you.
This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of
California and shall inure to the benefit of Robert Watson and
any successors, administrators, heirs and assigns. Any action or
proceeding brought by either party against the other arising out of
or related to this agreement shall be brought only in a STATE or
FEDERAL COURT of competent jurisdiction located in Los Angeles County,
California. The parties hereby consent to in personam jurisdiction of
said courts.
This is an unregistered version of CHORDMASTER and it comes with fewer
chord library files than the registered version. If you purchase the
registered version you will receive the full chord library which will
display tens of thousands of different chords, as well as an integrated
chord librarian and editor. This allows the user to add new chords
and create custom chord libraries.
See the accompanying README.DOC file for registration information.
***
CHORDMASTER
Chord Chemistry Program for Guitar
USERS MANUAL
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ............................... 1
INSTALLATION ............................... 2
FLOPPY DISK ............................. 2
HARD DISK ............................... 2
SHAREWARE ............................... 2
WINDOWS USERS ........................... 2
CHORD ENTRY ................................ 3
CHORD ENTRY METHODS ..................... 3
CHORD ENTRY TABLE ....................... 3
CHORD ENTRY TABLE OPTIONS ............... 4
COMMAND LINE ENTRY ...................... 4
IDENTIFIERS........................... 4
NOTE ENTRY .............................. 5
ERRORS .................................. 5
SCREEN FORMAT .............................. 6
SCREEN COMMANDS ............................ 7
FRETBOARD COMMANDS ......................... 8
DISPLAYING CHORDS .......................... 9
OPTIONS MENU .............................. 10
DISPLAY ................................ 10
TUNINGS ................................ 11
PLAY ................................... 11
FILES .................................. 12
PRINT .................................. 12
RESOLVE ................................ 13
***
INTRODUCTION
CHORDMASTER is state-of-the-art chord chemistry software designed
specifically for guitarists. Though it was created with guitarists
in mind, the concepts explored can be applied to a variety of musical
instruments. CHORDMASTER is designed to be an educational aid and
reference, useful for a variety of educational and compositional
purposes.
CHORDMASTER UNREGISTERED VERSION 1.6 FEATURES -
NEW!!! - Support for Sound Blaster and other sound cards.
Interactive Chord Entry Table for easy input of chord entries.
Chord entries can quickly be transposed to different keys.
Chord libraries files for over 50 different chords.
Enhances fretboard visualization by showing all notes of a
chord on the fretboard.
Fretboard views can be shifted to show a specific area.
Two fretboards can be viewed simultaneously.
Chords can be played by a MIDI device or internal speaker.
Notes for two chords can be overlayed on one fretboard,
allowing analysis of similarities and differences.
Chords can be viewed either as notes or scale sequences.
Chords can be input by name or by specifying notes to be
resolved to a known chording.
Obscure inputs can be resolved to proper chords,
i.e. Amaj add7 = Amaj7, A C# E G# = Amaj7.
Chords can be resolved to up to five chord synonyms.
Individual chord display can be limited to certain string
and fret ranges.
Context-sensitive HELP screens.
Mouse and printer support.
- 1 -
***
INSTALLATION
CHORDMASTER requires about 250 Kbytes of disk space, and can be run
from either a floppy or hard disk.
Versions distibuted on floppy disk can be run as is by logging the
floppy drive and executing the program.
Example: A: <enter> (logs the drive)
CHORDS <enter> (executes the program)
A floppy disk version can easily be installed onto another disk or hard
drive by copying the CHORDMASTER files and directories to the desired
drive.
Example: C: <enter> (logs the drive)
CD\ <enter> (start from root directory)
MD CHORDS <enter> (create chord directory)
CD CHORDS <enter> (log the chord directory)
COPY A:\*.* <enter> (copy CHORDMASTER from floppy)
CHORDS <enter> (executes the program)
Shareware versions of CHORDMASTER are distributed in ZIP format and
require PKUNZIP to install. Here's a sample hard drive installation
that assumes that the CHORDS16.ZIP file is in the current directory.
Example: MD \CHORDS <enter> (create chord directory)
PKUNZIP CHORDS16 \CHORDS <enter> (unzip CHORDMASTER)
CD \CHORDS (log the chord directory)
CHORDS <enter> (executes the program)
WINDOWS USERS -
CHORDMASTER will run either full screen or windowed in WINDOWS 3.x. A
windows icon (CHORDS.ICO) is included. Create a PIF file for CHORDMASTER
using the PIF editor. 128K of RAM is required. To run CHORDMASTER in its
own window, WINDOWS must be started in 386 enhanced mode. If using the
enhanced mode add a 'w' in the Optional Parameters box of the PIF screen.
This will disable CHORDMASTER's graphical startup screen and avoid a video
error in WINDOWS.
NOTE : Mouse functions will not work if CHORDMASTER is executed in window.
Sound Card functions may not work in WINDOWS.
- 2 -
***
CHORD ENTRY
After the opening screens the program will display a blank fretboard
and the cursor will blink, prompting for a chord entry. There are
several ways to enter chords.
CHORD ENTRY METHODS
Chord Entry Table - A quick interactive method for chord entry.
Command Line - Type in the name of a chord.
Note Entry - Specify the notes in a chord and let CHORDMASTER
identify it.
Each of these methods is discussed below:
CHORD ENTRY TABLE
CHORDMASTER's Chord Entry Table is a quick, convenient way to enter a
chord to be displayed. The table can be accessed by striking the F10
key to access the OPTIONS menu, and selecting the appropriate option
from the DISPLAY submenu.
MOUSE USERS : The Chord Entry Table can be accessed by clicking at
the top of the screen when CHORDMASTER is expecting
a chord entry.
The Chord Entry Table consists of four component sections: KEY, SUFFIX,
ADD, and ALTER. The first and second sections, KEY and SUFFIX, are
essential and one item from each is always selected. The ADD and ALTER
sections are not essential and selections in them are optional.
MAKING SELECTIONS
TAB to move from section to section.
ARROW keys to move around within a section.
SPACE BAR selects/deselects the highlighted item in the ADD/ALTER
section.
MOUSE USERS : Click on an item to select it, click again to deselect.
Note that at any given time certain ADD/ALTER selections are darkened and
not available. Which selections are available will depend on which SUFFIX
and other ADD/ALTER selections are made. The Chord Entry Table reacts
interactively, showing which combinations are musically permissible.
- 3 -
***
CHORD ENTRY TABLE - OPTIONS
FREE ARROW KEYS - Some keyboard users will find this option a
more convenient way to traverse the table.
Using this method the ARROW keys can traverse
the table, moving from section to section. The
TAB key need only be used to anchor selections
in the leftmost columns of the KEY or SUFFIX
areas. This method requires fewer keystrokes
to accomplish many of the same tasks.
REMEMBER LAST CHORD - This option makes the Chord Entry Table remember
the previous chording that was entered with the
table. This is useful when entering successive
chords that are similar in some respect.
COMMAND LINE CHORD ENTRY
Use the following format for entering a chord by name:
[A-G][#,b(optional)] [chord identifier options]
At the very least you must enter an uppercase letter in the range of
'A' through 'G'. Optionally, you may indicate that the note is to be
sharped or flatted by adding a '#' for a sharp or a lowercase 'b' for
a flat. Why the preoccupation with upper and lowercase? Consider a
B flat chord. It looks fine as 'Bb', but kind of silly as 'bb', 'BB',
or 'bB'.
So you must enter the key or root of the chord you want to work with.
If this is all you enter it is assumed that you are looking for a
major chord. To specify other chords you must add one or more chord
identifier options, separated by spaces.
The following are legitimate identifier options:
FIRST GROUP
maj maj6 maj7 maj9
maj11 maj13 minmaj7 minmaj9
min min6 min7 min9
min11 min13 dim dim7
5 6 7 9
11 13 aug aug9
aug11 noroot
SECOND GROUP
add or / sus + or - (followed by numbers 2 - 13)
- 4 -
***
Identifiers may be combined, separated by a space, in any combination that
is musically sensible. Now, what is musically sensible may vary according
to whose rules you are following. For the most part you will use one of
the identifier options in the first group, optionally followed by one or
more of the identifier combinations in the second group.
The identifiers in the first group are common in describing chords. See
a book on chord theory for an explanation of these identifiers.
The identifiers in the second group are less common and are often written
in different ways. Here is brief explanation of the second group:
add or / - Used to add a tone to tone to a chord. These
are useful in creating common and exotic chords
and scales. The catch is that the tone to be
added must not have been described in a previous
identifier or an error message will result.
sus - Generally used to add a 2nd or 4th tone to a
chord at the expense of the 3rd.
+ or - - used to add an altered tone, or alter an existing
tone, to an existing chord.
Here are some of the errors that can be encountered during chord entry.
Errors only occur when using the command-line input method.
ILLEGAL - What you typed is nonsensible.
STEP ALREADY EXISTS - Your trying to add (add or /) a tone
that has already been established.
TONE SPECIFIED IS > 13 - You've tried to add or alter a tone
that is greater than 13.
ILLEGAL TONE SPECIFIED - You've tried add or alter a
non-numeric entity.
NOTE ENTRY
Entry can also be accomplished by specifying the notes to be used in the
chord. CHORDMASTER then attempts to identify the chord. Note entry is
particularly easy with a mouse. Non-mouse users should use the RESOLVE
- NOTE ENTRY item in the OPTIONS menu (pg. 13).
IMPORTANT : A chord entered by notes cannot be properly identified
unless all notes in it's formula are part of the entry.
NOTE ENTRY with a mouse:
Enter a chord's notes by clicking on the desired fret positions on
the active fretboard. Clicking on a previously selected note will
de-select it. Once the desired notes have been selected, click on
the word PROCESS which will appear above the active fretboard. If
the notes can be identified as a chord, its name will be displayed.
The lowest note selected will be considered as the primary root for
the resulting chord.
- 5 -
***
Once a valid chord has been entered, all the notes in the chord are
displayed on a fretboard and the notes are sounded through the system
speaker. Additionally, a display appears above and to the right of the
fretboard showing the relationship of the notes in the chord to the tones
in a scale. This display is the chord formula header.
For instance, if 'A' is entered; the chord formula header will display
the following:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
A C# E
This indicates that the 'A' major chord that was entered has three tones
in it; a 1st or root, a 3rd and a 5th. Therefore, an 'A' major chord has
a formula of 1, 3, 5 . The established spacing of these notes is function
of established music theory and will not be discussed in this section. It
is not necessary to fully understand these mechanisms to begin using and
enjoying CHORDMASTER.
An additional line of text appears immediately below the fretboard, this
is called the RESOLVE line. If you entered 'A', as in the example above,
this line would simply read 'A MAJ'. This may seem kind of redundant at
this point, but as you will see as you read on, the RESOLVE line is one of
CHORDMASTER's most powerful features.
Let's look again at the fretboard. If you have entered the simple example
chord shown above, the fretboard shows all the notes in an 'A' major chord
scattered about the fretboard. This is a powerful visual tool. It allows
the user to visualize an entire section of fretboard. In this case, any
fingerable combination of notes that contains at least one 'A', one 'C#'
and one 'E', is a legitimate 'A' major chord. Don't worry, CHORDMASTER
can also display individual chord fingerings as we will see shortly.
- 6 -
***
SCREEN COMMANDS
If you have been following along, a word should appear in the center of
the screen. This is actually one of a series of possible choices called
the AUTOMENU. If you strike the SPACEBAR repeatedly, alternate selections
will appear. A selection is executed by striking ENTER. Let's take a
look at each of these selections:
REENTER - This selection only appears if there was an error
in the most recent chord entry.
OVERLAY - Allows entry of another chord, whose notes will
appear in combination with those already on the
active fretboard. On a color monitor, the results
may be particularly revealing.
SWITCH - Opens a fretboard on the opposite half of the the
display for chord entry.
CLEAR - Clears the active fretboard for chord entry.
OPTIONS - Displays the OPTIONS menu.
QUIT - Exits the program.
The OVERLAY and SWITCH functions provide added power in fretboard
visualization; allowing the user to view various chord patterns together,
or side by side.
MOUSE USERS : To cycle through AUTOMENU choices, position the cursor in
the center of the screen and click the right mouse button.
Click the left mouse button on the desired selection to
execute it.
Chord entries equivalent to the OVERLAY, SWITCH, CLEAR and
REENTER can be initiated by clicking the left mouse button
over the desired input area.
The OPTIONS menu can be accessed by clicking the left mouse
button at the top of the screen.
- 7 -
***
FRETBOARD COMMANDS
There are several quick key combinations available after a chord is
entered, they are:
<- or -> - Shifts the fretboard view range left or right.
At any one time 16 frets are visible, over a range
of 25.
P - Repeats the playing of the tones in the chord.
- or + - Changes the timing of the playing of the tones
in the chord.
D - Displays individual fingerings for the entered chord.
UP or DOWN arrows - TRANSPOSE the most recent entry to a higher
or lower key.
T - Switch between like keys. For example 'C#' to 'Db'.
F10 - Accesses the OPTIONS menu.
MOUSE USERS : The OPTIONS menu can be accessed by clicking the left mouse
button at the top of the screen.
DISPLAY of individual chordings can be initiated by
clicking on the DISPLAY box which will appear above the
active fretboard.
Entries can be TRANSPOSED thru keys by clicking on the
appropriate side of the TRANSPOSE button. Clicking in
the middle of the button will switch between like keys.
For example 'C#' to 'Db'.
- 8 -
***
DISPLAYING CHORDS
Once a valid chord is entered on fretboard, individual chordings can be
displayed. This can be accomplished by pressing a 'D' on the keyboard or
selecting DISPLAY from the OPTIONS menu.
During DISPLAY the following keys are active:
<- and -> previous and next chords
+ and - to change play timing
P repeat chord play
ESC to quit DISPLAY
MOUSE USERS : If mouse hardware is detected, buttons for some of the
functions listed above will appear above the active
fretboard. Simply click on the desired button to display
chords.
Use basic chord entries to test the DISPLAY system. If all attempts to
DISPLAY result in file errors it is likely that CHORDMASTER is improperly
installed. Be sure that the chord files (.CDF) in the CHORDS directory.
This is an unregistered version of CHORDMASTER and it comes with fewer
chord library files than the registered version. If you purchase the
registered version you will receive the full chord library which will
display tens of thousands of different chords, as well as an integrated
chord librarian and editor. This allows the user to add new chords
and create custom chord libraries.
DISPLAY LIMITS
Limits may be placed on the selection of chords to be displayed. This
is accomplished using the DISPLAY SETUP menu option, which is described
in the next section of this manual. If any limits have been placed on
the chords selected for display, a message will appear advising the user
that not all chords are being displayed.
- 9 -
***
OPTIONS MENU
Let's examine the various features in the options menu. We will work
through the drop-down menus left to right.
DISPLAY MENU
The DISPLAY drop-down menu consists of three items. The first choice,
DISPLAY is equivalent to pressing the 'D' key after chord entry. This
choice initiates DISPLAY of individual chordings within the parameters
specified by the second choice, DISPLAY SETUP.
DISPLAY SETUP
This menu selection brings up the DISPLAY SETUP menu. The DISPLAY
SETUP menu allows the user to specify the fret range, strings, and
number of notes allowed for the chords to be displayed.
Move from from field to field by pressing the up or down arrow keys,
TAB or ENTER. When the setup is as desired press F7 to save. Press
ESC to exit and ignore changes.
For each STRING use the SPACEBAR to indicate whether it should be used
for DISPLAY. If too many strings are disabled an error message will
appear. The number of strings required will vary according to the
formula of the most recently entered chord.
Specify the fret range over which chords should be displayed by adjusting
the LOW FRET and HIGH FRET entries. Remember, not more than 16 frets can
be diplayed at one time. However, individual chordings may be displayed
over a smaller range of frets.
Select the MINIMUM and MAXIMUM number of notes in chords to be displayed.
The MAXIMUM number of notes depends on how many strings are used, the
MINIMUM limit is determined by the formula of the chord.
Select which tone in the chord should be the BASS NOTE. Most commonly
'1' would be entered to select the root note as the bass. However, more
chords will be displayed if '0' is entered, indicating no preference.
The NOTE BLINK selection toggles the blinking of notes in a chord as they
are displayed.
MOUSE USERS : Click on a field to move cursor, click on a command
to execute it.
INTERVALS
This menu selection offers a choice between displaying notes on the
fretboard by their musical names (i.e. A, F#, D, etc.), or by the number
of the scale step that they represent in the selected chord.
- 10 -
***
TUNINGS MENU
The TUNINGS menu allows fretboards to be tuned in a variety of manners.
Tuning changes affect subsequent chord entries on. Menu items allow for
a quick change to STANDARD, OPEN A, OPEN C, OPEN D, OPEN E or OPEN G
tunings. The final menu item provides for CUSTOM TUNING, in which any
string can be altered from the standard tuning up to four half steps in
either direction.
NOTE : Individual chord DISPLAY is only available for standard tuning.
PLAY MENU
This menu consists of two ON/OFF selections . . .
PLAY ON ENTRY - Chord play on entry
PLAY ON DISPLAY - Chord play on DISPLAY
. . . and the PLAY SETTINGS menu.
PLAY SETTINGS
The PLAY SETTINGS sub-menu provides selections that control the ATTACK
and DURATION timings of the chords being played. Units of time are
defined as system ticks; approximately eighteen per second.
Chords can be played through a MIDI device and/or Sound Card, by enabling
these via the appropriate Check Boxes. If either of these devices exist,
additional menus will be available. Press 'F2' for MIDI settings or 'F3'
to set instruments for a Sound Card.
MIDI SETTINGS
PATCH DATA - Set the desired patch number to be transmitted
to the MIDI device prior to playing. Use numbers
'1 -128' for patch data, or '0' to indicate that
no patch data will be sent.
KEY VELOCITY - Set the MIDI key velocity as desired. The default
is 48.
LOWEST MIDI CHAN - While the MIDI specification describes numbers
'0 - 15' for MIDI channel numbers, most devices
use numbers '1 - 16'. Specify the desired scheme
here. The default is '1'.
MIDI CHANNEL - Specify which channel MIDI data should be sent on.
Use numbers '0 - 15' or '1 - 16' depending on the
setting of the LOWEST MIDI CHANNEL selection.
- 11 -
***
SOUND CARD INSTRUMENTS
Use this selection menu to tryout and/or select different instrument
sounds when using a Sound Card. The selection list appears with the
currently selected instrument hi-lited. If a new instrument can be
tested by selecting it from the list and using 'T' to play a test
chord.
NOTE : Sound Card output must have been enabled in the previous menu
for a chord to be played.
Once the desired selection has been made, it may be locked for future
sessions by using the SAVE CONFIGURATION option under the FILES menu.
FILES MENU
SAVE CONFIGURATION
The selection saves information about current program settings in a
file called CHORD.CFG. The settings saved in this file are restored
every time the program is started.
FACTORY SETTINGS
Restores program settings to the original settings distributed with
the program.
PRINT MENU
This drop-down menu consists of several selections which initiate printing
of fretboards. Printed output is sent to the standard print device.
- 12 -
***
RESOLVE MENU
The RESOLVE drop-down menu consists of selections that control the way
chordings are resolved and displayed.
RESOLVE performs two important functions. First, RESOLVE can take an
awkward chord entry and show a more eloquent method of achieving the
same result.
For instance, if you entered 'A MIN /2 /7', RESOLVE would "correct" your
entry by responding with 'A MIN9'. This is a useful educational tool,
helping to reinforce the user's understanding of chord chemistry.
Secondly, RESOLVE's perform is critical to the DISPLAY of individual
chordings. This is very important, so it should be emphasized that
DISPLAY WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR A CHORD UNLESS IT IS RESOLVED TO A
CHORD WITH A ROOT, AND A CHORD FILE EXISTS FOR AT LEAST ONE RESOLUTION.
RESOLVE is capable of revealing chord synonyms. Factory settings limit the
RESOLVE line display to three resolutions, but by altering these settings
up to five synonyms or near matches can be displayed. These synonyms may
or may not include NOROOT chords depending on the settings. This has
implications in DISPLAY mode; if a chord is resolved to more than one
perfect match by RESOLVE, chord library files for both chords would be
combined and the resulting chordings DISPLAYed. While this increase in
DISPLAYed chordings is usually modest, it does provide a means by which
NOROOT chords can be DISPLAYed, despite the fact that no chord library
files exist for them. To see this mechanism in action use the RESOLVE
dropdown menu to set RESOLVE as follows DISPLAY ON, SET COUNT=2, PERFECT
ONLY ON and NO ROOT OFF. Obtain a clear fretboard for entry and enter
'A MIN6'. The RESOLVE line now indicates 'A MIN6 F#MIN7 -5'. Upon
DISPLAY files for both chords will be opened and combined for more
chordings.
Here's a description of the RESOLVE menu functions:
RESOLVE - Resolves the most recently entered chord according
to the current RESOLVE settings.
DISPLAY - Enables or disables the display of the resolve line.
Either way RESOLVE still occurs and the results
affect DISPLAY.
SET COUNT - Sets the number of resolutions RESOLVE will attempt
to achieve.
PERFECT ONLY - This setting decides whether or not non-perfect
chord synonyms will be resolved. On the resolve line
perfect synonyms are shown in reverse video.
NO ROOT - This setting decides whether NOROOT chords will be
resolved.
- 13 -
***
NOTE ENTRY - Provides a means by which individual notes of an
unknown chord can be entered and then resolved to
a known chord. Notes should be entered separated by
a space. Note Entry can be more easily accomplished
using a mouse (pg. 5). The first note entered will
be considered as the primary root note for the chord.
- 13 -