Night Owl 6/Night Owl's Shareware - PDSI-006 - Night Owl Corp (1990).iso/040a/mts2.zip/README.DOC

Text File | 1991-01-03 | 16KB | 403 lines

         WELCOME TO THE MUSIC TRANSCRIPTION SYSTEM II


   The Music Transcription System II is a high-quality,
beginning-level music editor designed for folk songs, church
hymns, children's songs, popular songs, or just about any vocal
music.  With it, you can enter your favorite melodies and have
your computer play them for you, or create your own melodies and
lyrics, store them on disk, and print them out in sheet music
form!

   The program is designed for entertainment, music education,
and beginning-level music publishing.  It features extremely
fast graphics that let you follow along in a song as it plays. A
unique "bouncing ball" type cursor points to each word in the
song as the corresponding note sounds, and the program's paging
score display lets you read the music as easily as you would
from a book or piece of sheet music.  The Music Transcription
System II supports songs up to 550 notes long with lyrics,
guitar chord notation, and basic harmony in any of 15 different
key signatures, 12 different time signatures, and 5 different
clefs.

   Easy-to-use menus and setup screens make entering and editing
music a snap.  You can create original melodies just by playing
on your computer keyboard like a piano.  As you hit the keys,
the program plays the notes and places them on the musical staff
in standard music notation.  Changing pitch of individual notes,
or even transposing an entire song between different key
signatures or clefs is as easy as hitting an up or down arrow
key!  There's even a collection of prerecorded songs on disk.
Pick a song, load it into memory, and sing along!

   And there's more...  With many late model Tandy computers or
with the addition of a "Sound Blaster" board to an 80286 or
faster IBM PC compatible, the Music Transcription System II
provides vocal training and music transcription features not
found in any other software.

   With its advanced sound input capabilities, the Music
Transcription System II is the ideal tool for learning to sing -
or for testing and improving on your current skills.  You can
sing along as your computer plays a song, and the program's
advanced Digital Signal Processing algorithms will compute the
pitch of your voice 18 times every second!  Real-time
"pitch-graphs" let you see what you're singing, while you're
singing it.  Beginning level singers, and self-professed
"non-singers" can benefit dramatically from this instant
feedback showing when notes are sharp, flat, or on-key!  More
advanced singers can try the sight-singing or harmony exercises
included on the disk.

   And if you're a songwriter, or would like to be, the Music
Transcription System II's unique sound input features can help
turn your ideas into printed musical scores quickly and easily -
even if you can't read music.  The program lets you create
original songs just by tapping on the spacebar while you sing.
The software computes the pitch of your voice and places the
corresponding notes onto the musical staff in standard music
notation.  Using the program's easy-to-use music editor you can
add lyrics, harmony, or guitar chord notation, and print your
creation for everyone to see.

   No matter what your background, interest, or computer
hardware, the Music Transcription System II can help you enjoy
the world of music in exciting new ways.  We hope the program
provides you many hours of entertainment, education, and music
publishing fun.



BASIC REQUIREMENTS


   The Music Transcription System II can be used on virtually any
IBM PC compatible computer.  To run the program you will need at
least 256K of memory, DOS 2.0 or above, and a CGA, EGA, VGA, or
Hercules compatible graphics display.  Nearly any late-model
computer will satisfy these requirements.

   To print musical scores, you will need a dot matrix printer
which supports IBM/Epson compatible graphics, or an HP LaserJet
II compatible laser printer. A special "Quick Print" feature in
the program can be used with any printer, but prints using
standard typewriter characters only.



VOCAL INPUT REQUIREMENTS

   You can use the additional vocal training and singing
transcription features of the program if you have a Tandy 1000
SL/TL series computer, a Tandy 2500 XL, or a later model Radio
Shack computer with Tandy's advanced sound capabilities.

   With this latest release of the program, you can also use the
vocal training and singing transcription features on 80286,
80386, 80386SX, or faster IBM PC compatibles with the addition
of a "Sound Blaster" board from Creative Labs Inc.  A clock
speed of at least 10 MHz is required on these machines.

   With either of these setups you will also need a good quality
electret condensor microphone.  We recommend the Radio Shack
model 33-1060 because of its excellent performance and
relatively low cost. Dynamic type microphones may not work
properly with the program because of their relatively low output
level and more limited low frequency response.

   The audio input sensitivity on both the Tandy computers and
the Sound Blaster is quite low.  Therefore, a microphone
preamplifier with adjustable gain is also recommended, but not
required.  A suitable preamp will allow you to sing as quietly
as you like and/or hold the microphone further from your mouth
as you sing.  If you do not have a preamp, you should hold the
microphone close to your mouth (less than one inch) as you sing.
A preamp will also allow the program to be used with good
quality dynamic microphones if they have a low frequency
response that extends to 50 Hz or below.


                 SOUND BLASTER DISCLAIMER

   Every effort has been made to assure that the Music
Transcription System II program works reliably with the Sound
Blaster board on 10 MHz and faster 286/386/386SX PC
compatibles.  However, since the hardware and software interface
protocols are under the control of Creative Labs Inc. and not
Questar Products Ltd., Questar Products makes no warranty that
the Music Transcription System II will work in all
configurations or with future enhanced versions of the Sound
Blaster.



MIDI REQUIREMENTS

   You can use the Music Transcription System II with a MIDI
keyboard if you have a MIDI interface card that is compatible
with the Roland MPU401 standard.  The program supports MIDI
input and output of melody lines in Omni mode.



STARTING THE PROGRAM


   To start the program from DOS simply type MTS and hit the
Enter key.  (See the additional instructions below for starting
the program if you wish to use the Sound Blaster board, MIDI, or
a LaserJet printer.)

   If you use the program on a hard disk, you should start the
program from the directory that contains the program and
associated files.  Otherwise, the program will not be able to
find the help files or the song files.

   If you have a Tandy computer and wish to start the program
from Deskmate, insert the disk containing the Music
Transcription System II into your disk drive and select the Run
command from Deskmate's File menu.  Enter MTS in the "Program
name:" box and leave the "Data File:" box blank.  Verify that
the "CPU Clock Speed" is set to Fast and then select OK.



OPERATING THE PROGRAM


   To help you begin using the program as quickly and easily as
possible, on-screen messages and prompts are displayed which
tell you what keys to use. Most functions of the program can be
operated with the "Keypad" keys ( Up, Down, Left, Right arrow
keys, Enter, Home, End, PgUp, and PgDn ) and with the function
keys F1 - F10.  In addition, the SPACEBAR and = keys are used to
play songs.

   The Esc key is especially important since it allows you to
exit any function you select.  In addition, you should make sure
the CAPS LOCK and NUM LOCK functions on your keyboard are off
when using the program.  Otherwise, the arrow keys and other
keys may not work as you expect.

   The program also contains an extensive set of help files that
can be accessed through the HELP function on the main menu.  If
this is your first time using the program you may wish to make a
printed copy of the help files.  To do so, print the files
help1.txt through help9.txt.



COMMAND LINE OPTIONS


   The Music Transcription System II is designed to automatically
determine what type of computer you are using and what type of
display you have.  The automatic configuration feature has been
tested on a wide range of computers and has been found to be
very reliable. However, if you should experience problems, you
can force the program to operate in particular modes using a
command-line option.  For example, when starting the program from
DOS,

        MTS /IBM /CGA

will force the program to assume it is running on a standard IBM
PC/XT/AT or compatible computer in CGA graphics mode.  This is
the most common configuration and should work with CGA, EGA, and
VGA displays.  For Hercules compatible displays, use /HERCULES
in place of /CGA.

   Command line options are also used to setup the program to
work in special modes, such as for using LaserJet printers, or
using a MIDI interface card. These special options are explained
in detail below.

A list of all available options can be displayed by typing:

        MTS ?

   Deskmate users can enter the ? or the desired options in the
"Data File:" box when starting the program.

   As with DOS commands, any number of options can be used
together.  For example, if you wish to use the program with the
Sound Blaster board and a MIDI board at the same time and print
on a LaserJet compatible laser printer, simply issue the options
as shown below:

       MTS /SB 220 7 /MIDI 330 2 /LASERJET


                    *****  WARNING:  *****

   Selecting certain inappropriate options (such as using
/TANDYSL on a regular PC compatible) may cause the computer to
lock up, and force you to reboot. Be sure to choose only
appropriate options.



USING THE SOUND BLASTER BOARD


   If you have a Sound Blaster board and an 80286, 80386,
80386SX, or faster computer, you can use the Music Transcription
System's advanced sound input features by starting the program
with the following command:

        MTS  /SB <port> <interrupt>

where <port> and <interrupt> are the hex IO port and interrupt
vector locations at which the Sound Blaster is installed.  If
you have not changed these settings from the Sound Blaster's
factory configuration you can type the following command to
start the program from the DOS prompt:

        MTS  /SB 220 7

   If you have problems with the program when using a Sound
Blaster board, please check the jumper positions on the board.
The IO port and interrupt vectors used are determined by reading
the numbers on the board next to the jumpers.  Also make sure
that the DMA jumper is installed.  Note the warning below if you
are using Microsoft Windows.


             **** MICROSOFT WINDOWS USERS ****

   If you are using Microsoft Windows with the Sound Blaster
board, you may have to exit windows and start the Music
Transcription System from DOS to make the program work
properly.  Some programs (including Microsoft's own Flight
Simulator) do not work correctly when started from Windows in
some modes (such as "386 Enhanced Mode").  The program should
function correctly from Windows when started in "Real Mode".



USING MIDI


   If you have an MPU401 compatible MIDI interface card, you can
use the Music Transcription System's MIDI features by starting
the program with the following command:

            MTS /MIDI <port> <interrupt>

where <port> is the hex IO port address at which the MIDI card is
installed, and <interrupt> is the hardware interrupt number used
by the card.  The stardard configuration for the Roland MPU401
interface card is port 330, interrupt number 2.  Thus, you would
type:

           MTS /MIDI 330 2

to start the program using the standard MPU401 settings.

   If you wish to start the program from Deskmate, you should
enter the /MIDI and appropriate port and interrupt numbers in
the "Data File:" box.


                  *****  WARNING:  *****

   The standard interrupt number used by MPU401 interface cards
(interrupt number 2) conflicts with the interrupt used by hard
disks on some Tandy 1000 computers.  On Tandy 1000 computers
with hard disks, your MIDI card should be configured to use a
different interrupt, and you should specify the appropriate
interrupt when starting the program.  The program will warn you
if you attempt to use interrupt 2 on a Tandy 1000 machine.


USING LASERJET PRINTERS

   If you wish to use an HP LaserJet II compatible laser printer
for printing scores, you must supply the /LASERJET command line
option when starting the program.

            MTS /LASERJET


USING BATCH STARTUP FILES

   If you wish to use any of the command line options described
above, you may wish to use a DOS "batch" file to start the
program.  A number of batch files are included on the Music
Transcription System II program disk:

        MTSSB.BAT      Use Sound Blaster at standard settings
        MTSMIDI.BAT    Use MIDI interface at standard settings
        MTSLJ.BAT      Use LaserJet II compatible printer

   For example, if you have a LaserJet printer, you can start the
program without explicitly issuing the /LASERJET command line
option by simply typing:

        MTSLJ

at the DOS prompt.  Similarly, if you wish to use the program
with a Sound Blaster configured at the factory port and
interrupt settings, you can type:

        MTSSB

at the DOS prompt.

   If you wish to use a Sound Blaster or MIDI board configured
at non-standard settings, or if you wish to use some combination
of options not handled by these files, you will need to modify
the appropriate batch file or create one of your own.  Refer to
your DOS manual for more information on modifying or creating
batch files.


REGISTRATION


   This is a user supported (shareware) product.  It is not
public domain, and it is not free software.  You are granted a
limited license to use the program on a trial basis and to
distribute copies to others for trial use provided that no fee
is accepted.

   If you like the program and intend to use it beyond a
reasonable trial period, you are encouraged to show your support
for the author and for the shareware concept by registering.  In
return you will receive the bonuses listed below, together with
our sincere thanks!  Your support helps pay for the thousands of
hours of development time invested in this product.


   Basic Registration:  $15.95

        Includes disk with latest version of program,
        additional songs and vocal exercises,
        and user support.


   Full Registration:   $24.95

        Includes disk with latest version of program,
        additional songs and vocal exercises,
        User Manual with illustrated tutorial,
        and user support.


   To register, please send a check or money order payable to
Questar Products Ltd. to the address shown below.


                  Questar Products Ltd.
                  1252 Westover Trace
                  Acworth, GA 30101


   Please specify your disk format (5 1/4 or 3 1/2 inch) when
registering.


               THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!