Windows Media Encoder SDK banner art

Variation Choices Settings

When you choose a setting for whether a variation plays with a chord, you are not choosing a chord built on a specific chord root, such as C or F. Instead, you are choosing the functional position, such as I or IV, of the chords in the segment.

The variation choices work jointly with the key of a segment. After you create settings in the Variation Choices window, the behavior of the variations in a pattern remains consistent for any segment you use to play the style or pattern. If you place a new chord in a segment, the variations in the pattern are selected to play with that chord according to the chord's role in the key of the segment.

All segments use a key setting identified by a root name only. It is assumed that the key is major, regardless of whether you intend the segment to have a minor sounding key. For example, a segment you design to sound as though it is in the key of A minor must have a key setting of C major. A minor is the relative minor of C major. The relative minor of a major key is always a minor third below the root of the major key.

For information about setting the key of a segment, see Chord Track Properties.

The Variation Choices window is not affected by a pattern's chord for composition. If you use the Variation Choices window to enable a variation for a chord type, the notes of the pattern adjust to fit that chord and its scale, even if the new chord is radically different from the original chord for composition.

For example, if you create a pattern using a Gmi 7 chord and place the notes Bb, C, D, and F in a variation, these pitches are considered steps 3, 4, 5, and 7 of the Gmi 7 chord and its scale. If you enable the variation to play with an Fmaj 7(#11, #5) chord, the steps 3, 4, 5, and 7 are interpreted as the notes A-natural, B-natural, C-sharp, and E-natural. The nature of the variation changes considerably from what you may have intended when you chose the original chord for composition.

The chord criterion buttons are grouped into the following four categories:


© 2000-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.