![]() |
DirectMusic Producer provides compatibility with the variation choices format used in Microsoft Interactive Music Architecture (IMA). You can choose to use the IMA variation choices settings with the patterns you create, as well as with IMA files. Switch selected rows from one format to the other by using the shortcut menu; see Variation Choices Window.
The following figure shows variation 1 using the standard format and variation 2 using the IMA format.
The four types of criteria in the IMA format are applied as follows:
Selects a chord root, based on the seven pitches of a major scale, on which the variation can play as it encounters chords in a segment. When you choose a chord root, you are selecting from the seven tones in the major scale of the segment's key.
Enables the variation to use chords with roots outside the major scale of the segment's key. The chord root can be one of the seven tones in the major scale or a chromatic alteration (sharp or flat) of a scale tone.
In using the M, m, and oth buttons, you choose chord qualities over which the variation can play as it encounters chords in a segment. When you choose a chord quality, you are identifying whether the basic triad of the chord is major, minor, diminished, or augmented. When the M button is enabled, the variation plays with any chord in which the bottom three notes form a major triad. When the m button is enabled, the variation plays over any chord in which the bottom three notes form a minor triad. For all other triads, diminished or augmented, select the oth button.
Indicates whether a variation can play over a simple (Sim) or complex (Com) chord. Simple chords include triads or chords with an added 6th or 7th tone. Complex chords contain more than four notes and are usually a 7th chord with an extension of a 9th, 11th, or 13th.
Indicates whether a variation can be used with a chord that leads to a destination chord built on the 1st or 5th step of the segment's key. For example, if the ->I button is selected, the variation is used with a chord that leads to another chord built on the first of the key. However, the chord being played must also fit all other criteria settings for function, root, and type.
You can turn on the ->I or ->V button in more than one variation. In this case, a chord that leads to a chord built on the 1st or 5th of the key can use any variation set for ->I or ->V, respectively, selecting from them at random.