═══ 1. About PMPoze ═══ PMPoze is a music composer/player for MOD files. The composer is notational, meaning a music sheet (a score) is created that looks very similar to a printed sheet of music. Digital audio samples are associated with the score which enable the program to create the actual musical sounds. The system must have MMPM/2 installed and have a supported sound card. See: MOD File ═══ 2. ModFiles Menu ═══ The ModFiles menu contains commands that are used to open and play MOD music files. These are files that traditionally end with the extent .MOD. They are ready to play and do not involve the use of the score sheet. In addition, musical samples (.SAM files) may be extracted from the MOD files to use in a music composition. This menu option also contains the option to exit the program. Open... Open a MOD song file or a list of MOD files. Play File Plays the Opened MOD song file(s) Terminate Play Terminates all playing (MOD file or score) Pause Pause the playing of music Resume Resumes playing of music from the paused position Next Advance immediately to next song in song list Loop Repetitively play through the song file list Sam info... Show samples contained in a MOD file. Samples can be 'played' and, optionally, saved to a file for later use in the composer. Edit info... Brings up the sample info in an editor. Changes can be made and saved. Exit Exits the program ═══ 2.1. Open... ═══ A multiselect file dialog appears with a file mask of *.MOD. All selected entries will be placed in a mod file list. The Play file command will play files from this list. See: MOD File ═══ 2.2. Play file ═══ This will start the player playing at the beginning of the song file list. ═══ 2.3. Terminate play ═══ This will stop the player immediately ═══ 2.4. Pause ═══ Pause will pause the player and reatain the position in the song ═══ 2.5. Resume ═══ Resume will resume playing from the paused position ═══ 2.6. Next ═══ Next will advance immediately to the next song in the song file list. ═══ 2.7. Loop ═══ Loop will set the player to loop indefinitely through the song file list. ═══ 2.8. Sam info... ═══ The Sam info... option will display the samples within a MOD file. It brings up a single-select MOD file open dialog. When a MOD file is opened, the following information about the file is displayed: o file name o song name o sample info - consisting of - sample name - sample length - finetune value - sample volume - sample reapeat point - sample repeat length The sample names are free-form text and song authors sometimes opt to not include the actual sample names. Instead you may see copyright information or an advertisement. A sample may be selected and played, or it may be saved to a file (usually with a .SAM suffix). NOTE - This is a chief source of sample files for use in the composer, but copyright information should be respected. ═══ 2.9. Edit info ═══ Sample info is free form text information stored in the MOD file. The default information is the name of the samples used in the song. This option allows editing and saving that information. There is room in the file for 21 characters per name and 31 sample names (lines). Many music authors prefer not to disclose the names of the their samples and copyright information is often included. NOTE - Copyright information should not be changed or removed. ═══ 2.10. Exit ═══ This command will exit the program. ═══ 3. SamFiles Menu ═══ The SamFiles menu option contains commands for selecting which sample (.SAM) files will be used in the creation of the musical score. These files are audio data and are simialar to WAV files, but contain no header. Typically, they are recordings of a single musical instrument playing a single note and play for less than a few seconds. Ultimately, thirty-one samples at most can be used in the score. Collect... Select as many samples as desired from a file dialog Remove Clears all previously collected sample files. File List... Collect samples using a file list instead of a file dialog. The file list is a previously created text file with one fully qualified file name per line. Sound... This will bring up a dialog box to play the sample. It allows changing sample frequency, duration, and experimentation with repeat points. ═══ 3.1. Collect... ═══ A multiselect file dialog appears with a file mask of *.SAM. Any number may be selected. The samples that make up the music score will come from this list. The File list... option is preferred if this becomes a repetitive task. ═══ 3.2. Remove ═══ This removes all previously collected samples and removes the song assignments. ═══ 3.3. File list... ═══ The File list provides an expiditious way of loading samples. The file list is a text file created to match the available sample files as in this example: C:\SAM\PIANO8.SAM C:\SAM\BASSDRUM.SAM C:\SAM\GUITAR3.SAM ... The names should be fully qualified (drive letter and path) and there can only be one file name per line. There is no limit to the number of names in this list. Hint - try - DIR /F *.SAM > SAMLIST.TXT Typically, only one such file is needed so the default has to be initialized only once. ═══ 3.4. Sound... ═══ A file dialog box is opened with a *.SAM file mask. Selecting a sample file will open another dialog box to play the sample. Optionally, the sample frequency and duration can be changed. Note - Owing to the heavily buffered nature of MMPM/2, there is usually a considerable time delay before the frequency or duration changes become audible. Repeat points can be used to make the sample play continuously. The repeat point marks the start of a loop and the repeat length determines the length of the loop. These values are in number of bytes and should be chosen based on the sample file length, which is also displayed in the dialog box. Normally, repeat points are only used on samples with a constant (non-decaying) tone and loudness such as a wind instrument. Similarly, string and percussion instruments are examples that would not contain repeats. This option is only for testing to obtain the desired effect. To apply the repeat points to a score, choose the Options menu and select Sample... ═══ 4. Score Menu ═══ The Score menu relates to creating a music composition in the PMPoze window. Title... Provides for naming the song. This name cannot be more than 19 characters and is placed in the MOD file. The default is "Song Title". Play Score Plays the notes currently making up the score. Terminate Play Terminates all playing (MOD file or score) Loop Replay the score from the beginning Save notes... Save the contents of the current score to a file Load notes... Load a previously saved music score Save MOD... Save the contents of the current score as a .MOD file Info Show additional info about the score New Clear the current score and restore defaults. (The score should be saved before using this option.) ═══ 4.1. Title ═══ There is a 19 character limit to the song title. It is saved in the MOD file. ═══ 4.2. Play score ═══ The Play score option plays the current score. The score sheet must contain notes and samples must have been assigned before a score can be played. ═══ 4.3. Terminate play ═══ This will stop the player immediately ═══ 4.4. Loop ═══ This will play the current score repetitively. ═══ 4.5. Save notes... ═══ This allows saving the current score to a file with a default extent of .NTS. The samples associated with the score are not saved. If notes are reloaded from a file, samples must be reassigned. Note that the sample data files are usually quite large. ═══ 4.6. Load notes... ═══ This allows retrieving a song score from a disk file and placing it in the window. The current score, if any, will be replaced. The instrument samples are not saved with the notes file. Therefore, samples must be re-assigned before a newly loaded score can be played. See: Assign Sample ═══ 4.7. Save MOD... ═══ This allows saving a score as a MOD file. A wide selection of MOD players exist for DOS, Windows, and OS/2. Songs that authors wish distributed use this format. See: MOD File ═══ 4.8. New ═══ This clears the current score sheet and restores defaults. Note - Many songs consist of several thousand notes. It may take several seconds to execute this command. ═══ 5. Scales Menu ═══ The Scales menu relates to applying global music information to the score Set staves... Permits assigning a treble or bass cleff to a staff, or turning a staff completely off. Key signature... Assigns the key to the song Time signature... Assigns the time signature to the song ═══ 5.1. Set staves ═══ There are four staves (tracks) in a score. This dialog allows changing the default bass and treble of a staff. Optionally, a staff can be turned off so that it won't be heard. ═══ 5.2. Key signature ═══ The Key signatue assigns which notes will automatically be played as sharp or flat. The key signature is uniquely determined by the number of sharp signs ( ) or flat signs ( ) appearing near the cleff. For example, 3 sharp signs is A-major (F#, C#, G#), 2 flat signs is B-major (Bb, Eb), and no signs is C-major. Notes which are expressly given a sharp, flat, or natural sign override the key signature. ═══ 5.3. Time signature ═══ Assigns the time signature to a score. The time signatue appears like a fraction in large type near the cleff. It tells the number of beats and type of beat in a measure. The most popular is 4/4 (default), meaning 4 quarter-note beats in a measure. For the beat, the first note in a measure is given more emphasis than the remaining notes in a measure. PMPoze does not directly support this concept of a beat, so 4/4 and 2/2 mean the same thing as does 3/4 and 6/8. 4/4 time is sometimes written as a large, lower-case c. Note: Some printed music sheets might show a whole rest in a 3/4 time measure. PMPoze does not allow this. Instead, a half-rest and a quarter-rest should be used. ═══ 6. Edit ═══ The Edit commands allow cut/copy/paste operations on the music notes and rests. Cut selected Cuts (deletes) all notes and rests in the select box. All cut symbols are copied to the copy buffer for later pasting. Copy selected Copies all notes and rests in the select box to the copy buffer. Cut measures... Cuts (deletes) all notes and rests in a range specified in a dialog box. Copy measures... Copies all notes and rests in a range specified in a dialog box. Paste Copies all notes and rests in a copy buffer to the song sheet. The select box determines the position and must be created first. ═══ 6.1. Cut selected ═══ Cuts (deletes) rests and notes inside the select box. The deleted notes are copied to a copy buffer for later pasting. The select box is formed by holding down mouse-button one and dragging at an angle. CAUTION: The select box must intesect the staff. ═══ 6.2. Copy selected ═══ Copies rests and notes inside the select box to a copy buffer for later pasting. The select box is formed by holding down mouse-button one and dragging at an angle. CAUTION: The select box must intesect the staff. ═══ 6.3. Cut measures ═══ A begining measure number, ending measure number, and a list of track numbers are entered in a dialog box. Clicking OK will delete all affected notes and rests and copy them to a copy buffer. The contents of the copy buffer can be pasted. Note: It is possible to paste multiple tracks at once. ═══ 6.4. Copy measures ═══ A begining measure number, ending measure number, and a list of track numbers are entered in a dialog box. Clicking OK will copy all affected notes and rests to a copy buffer for each track in the list. The contents of the copy buffer can be pasted. Note: It is possible to paste multiple tracks at once. ═══ 6.5. Paste ═══ The contents of the copy buffer are pasted (restored) into the paste destination. The paste destination must be created first. It is formed by holding down mouse-button one and dragging at an angle to form a box. The box is usually a skinny rectangle containing no symbols and it must intersect a track (staff). It may intersect multiple tracks. In this case, each track copy buffer will be pasted. It is not possible to cut from one track and paste into a different track. The destination track must be the same as the source track. ═══ 7. Options ═══ The Options commands are an assortment of commands that aid in creating and playing music. Control panel... This will bring up a dialog box containing a number of multimedia contols for controlling the player. Sample... Brings up a dialog box for changing sample characteristics that have already been applied to the music score. Change Octave... This allows raising or lowering the entire score by one or two octaves. Show Guide Shows green grid lines to aid in placing notes off the staff. ═══ 7.1. Control panel ═══ The control panel is a dialog box with the following multimedia cotrols: 1. speed Changes the playback speed as a percentage of normal. 2. volume Changes the volume as a percentage. 3. L/R Mix This applies only for stereo. It controls the amount of the left channel playing out the right speaker, and vice versa. 0 percent means there is no mix. 50 percent gives monophonic play, and 100 percent effectively reverses the left and right speakers. 4. Bass Controls the amp/mixer bass. Some audio cards do not support this. 5. Treble Controls the amp/mixer treble. Some audio cards do not support this. 6. Balance Conotrols the amp/mixer balance. Some audio cards to not support this. 7. Rate in Samples/sec Controls the playback sampling rate. This does not have to equal the recording rate. Lower speeds have lower fidelity but are much less load on the CPU. Most audio boards can play up to 44100 hertz, but not all can play at this speed in stereo. ═══ 7.2. Sample... ═══ This dialog box allows changing how a particular sample is played. 1. Repeat Point This value is a byte offset. The player branchs to here when it reaches the lessor of (a) sample length, or (b) repeat point + repeat length. The player will loop continuously until a new note is encountered. 2. Repeat Length This value is in bytes. If it is less than or equal to 2, no repeats are performed. For values greater than 2, the sample plays repeat length bytes begining with the repeat point 3. Volume Sets the volume for the sample. A value of 64 is the maximum and is also the default. 4. Finetune Adjust the tone of a sample by number of half-steps. Legal range is -8 to +7. Only samples that have been assigned to a note are listed. ═══ 7.3. Change octave... ═══ This control allows raising or lowering the octave of the entire score. A change of one octave changes the note pitch by a factor of two. ═══ 7.4. Show Guide ═══ This option display grid lines as an aid in placing off-staff notes. It is on by default. ═══ 8. Help Menu ═══ This option is a guide to getting online help ═══ 8.1. Index ═══ This will bring up a display panel showing an index of all avalable help for PMPoze. Selecting an item from the index will give additional help on that item. ═══ 8.2. General help ═══ This option gives a very brief description of PMPoze. ═══ 8.3. Using Help ═══ This option gives information on the help subsystem. ═══ 8.4. Keys ═══ This option gives a description of what keyboard keys are used by PMPoze. ═══ 8.5. Product information ═══ This option brings up a product information dialog box. ═══ Help for Open ═══ ═══ Help for Open ═══ 1. Select the down arrow to the right of the Drive list to display all the drives on your system. 2. Select a drive from the Drive list. 3. Select a directory from the Directory list. 4. Select a file name from the File list or type in a file name and select the Open pushbutton to display the file you want to edit. For specific help, select a topic below. ═══ List of Fields ═══ File name Type of file Drive File Directory Open pushbutton ═══ Help for File name ═══ ═══ Help for File name ═══ Type the name of the file you want to open in the File name field and select the Open pushbutton. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ List of Fields ═══ File name Type of file Drive File Directory Open pushbutton General help ═══ Help for Type of file ═══ ═══ Help for Type of file ═══ Select the down arrow to the right of the Type of file field to display the available file types. The sample has set this field for all file types. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ Help for Drive ═══ ═══ Help for Drive ═══ The Drive list displays the drives on your system. Select the drive that contains the files you want to edit. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ Help for File ═══ ═══ Help for File ═══ The File list displays all the files in the directory you selected from the Directory list. Select the file you want to open. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ Help for Directory ═══ ═══ Help for Directory ═══ The Directory list displays the directories on the selected drive. Select a directory to display the list of files from that directory in the File list box. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ Help for Open ═══ ═══ Help for Open ═══ Select the Open pushbutton to display the file you want to edit. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ Help for Save ═══ Use Save to store the file you are editing. After the file is saved, the text remains in the window so that you can continue editing it. Note: If you are editing a new file, select the Save or Save as choices to display the Save as pop-up so that you can name the file you are editing. A file must have a title to be saved. ═══ Help for Save as ═══ Use Save as to name and save a new file or to save an existing file under a different name, in a different directory, or on a different disk. ═══ Help for Save as ═══ ═══ Help for Save as ═══ 1. Select the down arrow to the right of the Drive list to display all the drives on your system. 2. Select a drive from the Drive list. 3. Select a directory from the Directory list. 4. Type the name of the file you want to save in the File name field and select the Save pushbutton. For specific help, select a topic below. ═══ List of Fields ═══ File name Type of file Drive File Directory Save pushbutton ═══ Help for File name ═══ ═══ Help for File name ═══ Type the name of the file you want to save in the File name field and select the Save pushbutton. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ List of Fields ═══ File name Type of file Drive File Directory Save pushbutton General help ═══ Help for Type of file ═══ ═══ Help for Type of file ═══ Select the down arrow to the right of the Type of file field to display the available file types. The sample has set this field for all file types. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ Help for Drive ═══ ═══ Help for Drive ═══ The Drive list displays the drives on your system. Select the drive that contains the files you want to save. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ Help for File ═══ ═══ Help for File ═══ The File list displays all the files in the directory you selected from the Directory list. Select the file you want to rename and save. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ Help for Directory ═══ ═══ Help for Directory ═══ The Directory list displays the directories on the selected drive. Select a directory to display the list of files from that directory in the File list box. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ Help for Save ═══ ═══ Help for Save ═══ Select the Save pushbutton to save the file to the drive and directory you selected and with the file name you specified. For more help, select a topic below. ═══ 9. MOD File ═══ MODs are music files that were first popularized on Amiga computers and subsequently migrated to the PC. They can be characterised as being similar to a combination of WAV and MIDI files. They contain digital sounds and instructions on how to play the sounds. The sound pieces are called either samples or instruments. MODs have the potential of producing very high quality audio, and because the instructions allow reuse of the sampled sounds, they are not overly large. Another advantage is that there are many MOD players for DOS, Windows, and OS/2. Also, most public bulletin boards carry a selection of MOD files. The chief drawback of a MOD file is that the play requires a considerable amount of CPU power. The software has to do all the work in setting sample frequency and combining the various samples into one or two output channels. There are a number of different MOD file formats. PMPoze only recognizes the original 15 sample format and the extended 31 sample format. The player will skip over any other format. MODs that are saved to a file are saved in the 31 sample format. ═══ 10. Hints ═══ Written music often contain scripts that are not directly supported by PMPoze. Many of these can be simulated in some way. This section contains an assortment of how to answers. ═══ 10.1. Triple notes ═══ Triple notes are three consecutive notes played in the time of two notes. They are drawn with a heavy, straight bar over them with the numeral 3 written in the middle of the bar. To enter triple notes in PMPoze, enter one-half the value of the first two notes. For example, a triple eighth-note would be entered: sixteenth note, sixteenth note, eighth note. Triple note Entered like this ═══ 10.2. Ties and slurs ═══ Ties and slurs are curved arcs that connect two or more notes. A tie connects two adjacent notes of the same tone. It means that the two notes should be sounded as one note. This effect is achieved in PMPoze by changing the second note to a rest of equal value. A slur means the connected notes should be played smoothly. There is no equivalent of this in PMPoze. The slur should be ignored and the notes should be entered as written. ═══ 10.3. Repeat signs ═══ A repeat sign is a double bar with two dots. If the dots face to the left, the music is continued by jumping back to a repeat sign which has dots facing to the right. If there is no beginning repeat sign, music is continued from the beginning of the song. The repeat sign is honored only once. The second time it is encountered, play continues through the sign. PMPoze does not use repeat signs. Instead, the repeated music has to be re-entered. Typically this is done by using the Copy measures option in the Edit Menu. The quickest way to do this is to copy all four tracks at once and paste them all at once by making a paste target that spans all four tracks. ═══ 10.4. References ═══ There are a number of books that teach the basics of music notation. One such book is How To Read Music by Roger Evans, Crown Publishers, Inc., ISBN 0-517-56237-5. Suggested retaile is $7.00. ═══ 11. Product information dialog ═══ This dialog displays information about the application, such as version number and copyright notice. ═══ 12. Tool Bar ═══ The tool bar is used for selecting and placing notes and rests, editing notes, and editing tracks. Selecting a note or a rest brings up a cross-hair pointer that is used to place a note or rest on a staff. Selecting a blue button brings a blue vertical arrow that is used as a note-selector pointer This is used to select and edit notes on the staff. Selecting a red button brings up the I-beam cursor. This is used to make changes to all notes downstream of the cursor's position on a staff. ═══ 12.1. Cross-Hair pointer ═══ Selecting a note or rest in the toolbar window will display the Cross-Hair pointer. This is used to position a note or rest on a staff by clicking a location with mouse-button one. The range of vertical positioning is +- 3 lines above or below the staff. If the note is beyond these limits, the note-selector.change octave can be used to reach the desired tone. The Cross Hair pointer Selectable notes and rests are: dotted half note dotted quarter note dotted eighth note dotted sixteenth note dotted thirtysecond note whole note half note quarter note eighth note sixteenth note thirysecond note whole rest half rest quarter rest eighth rest sixteenth rest thirtysecond rest dotted thirtysecond rest A dot on a note or rest makes the count last 1.5 times. Note: Unlike notes, rests are additive. Thus, most dotted rests are created by using two rests. For example, a dotted half rest is a half rest and a quarter rest. Because PMPoze does not have 64th rests (or notes), a dotted thirysecond rest is needed. ═══ 12.2. Note-Selector pointer ═══ Selecting a blue button will bring up a blue vertical arrowhead pointer which is used to modify notes on the staff. The note is selected by clicking the pointer on the note hot spot. This is the left most part of the note. For example, this is where the bulb meets a staff line. Note selector on a note hot spot The selectable tools are: assign accidentals (sharps, naturals, and flats) change tone by sliding a note vertically change note duration change note octave The actual change is done via a dialog box that appears when a note is selected. ═══ 12.3. I-beam cursor ═══ Selecting one of the red symbols in the toolbar window will bring up the I-beam cursor. The cursor should be placed on a track and to the left of any notes that will be affected. This means the track must contain at least one note. The I-beam cursor The available tools are: assign a sample set volume assign an effect change octave Pressing mouse button one will bring up a dialog box to perform the action. See: Assign Sample Effect Track Volume Track Octave ═══ 13. Assign Sample Dialog ═══ The Assign Sample dialog is brought up by choosing the tool and then clicking with the I-beam cursor positioned on a staff. The list of samples in the dialog comes from the Collect... or the File List... menu options in the SamFiles menu. The selected sample is assigned to all notes downstream (to the right) of the I-beam cursor. This permits assigning different samples to different notes on the same track. All newly appended notes assume the sample of its predecessor. REMINDER: A sample must be assigned before any notes can be heard. When starting up, a sample should be assigned to the first note on each track. The sound push button previews the sample. The frequency slider can be used to change the sample frequency by as much as +- two octaves as shown by the major tick marks. The minor tick marks are in one-note increments. Note: Samples cannot be assigned or played while the player is running. Thus the OK button and Sound button are greyed out if the player is playing. ═══ 14. Track volume ═══ The I-beam cursor. can be used to alter the volume over a track interval. Select the red speaker symbol, and then select a note on a track by placing the cursor to the left of the note to be changed. A slider control appears that allows setting volume anywhere from 0 to the maximum of 64. The volume is only changed downstream of the I-beam cursor. ═══ 15. Effect ═══ Each individual note in a MOD file can be assigned an Effect. Some effects persist only for the duration of a note, while others, such as volume or speed, persist indefinitely. To assign an effect, place the I-beam cursor. to the left of the note to be changed. There are a total of 16 effects, but not all of these are used by PMPoze. Each effect can be given a value (a command) that is one byte in size. The command value is set by the vertical XY-sliders where X and Y are 4-bit hex values, or nibbles. The different effects interpret this XY-cammand value in different ways. For example, in some cases, XY is byte value. For other cases, XY are treated as two independent nibbles as discussed below. Only those effects marked with a * are supported by PMPoze. Effect/ Description 0 - arpeggio play three pitches in rapid succession. X = first interval and Y = second interval. 1 - pitch slide up increase pitch at the rate XY. 2 - pitch slide down decrease pitch at the rate XY. 3 - pitch slide to note continuously change pitch until it reaches that note. XY is the rate of pitch change. 4 - vibrato produces a vibrato effect. X = rate, Y = depth. 5 - note slide + volume slide 6 - vibrato + volume slide XY 7 - tremulo XY 8 - (not defined) XY 9 - sample offset XY 10- volume slide * increase or decrease volume. X0 = increase volume at rate X. 0Y = decrease volume at rate Y. 11- position jump * jump to pattern number XY. A pattern is 4 measures. 12- set volume * Set volume to XY where XY is a percentage. Note that 64 hex is 100 percent so the XY range is 0 to 64. 13- pattern break * jump to the next pattern. 14- (not defined) 15- set speed * XY is percentange of default speed with 100 (64 hex) being normal play. Values less than 20 hex are ignored. Thus, the total range is 32 percent to 255 percent. The speed effect persists until another speed effect is encountered or until the song ends. ═══ 16. Track octave ═══ The I-beam cursor. can be used alter the octave of notes over a region on a track. Select the red figure 8 symbol, and then select a note on a track by placing the cursor to the left of the note to be changed. A spin button control appears that allows changing the track octave by +- 2 downstream of this point. ═══ 17. Accidental note ═══ Accidental notes are notes on the staff that are expressly given a sharp, natural, or flat sign. These signs take precedent over the Key signature. The accidentals look as follows: Sharp Flat Natural Note: If the first note in a measure has an accidental, all notes of the same value in that measure are given the same accidental value even though there is no visible accidental. For example, if the first E note is flattened, all the E-notes in that measure are also flattened. PMPoze does not do this automatically. It must be done by the user. ═══ 18. Note octave ═══ Choosing the blue figure 8 allows raising or lowering a note by 1 or 2 octaves. This is most often used in a situation where a printed note is beyond the reach of the staff. A note can be positioned high or low by one or more octaves and then the tone can be corrected with this option. An octave covers 7 notes (3-1/2 lines) which can be counted off. Also, the tool for sliding the note vertically has slider control graduations that may be helpful.