Copyright: Visual Help Copyright® 1993 Firas Bushnaq


Contents
MIDIART™ Command Keys

A Quick Reference Guide

While MIDIART is playing music, several keys on the computer keyboard can be pressed which will affect either the music being played, the graphics being created by the Image Generator, or the general function of the MIDIART program itself.  The following is a list of these MIDIART command keys and descriptions of what will happen when these keys are pressed.  The command key list is divided into three groups based on their function.

It is important that you take some time to learn about these command keys because they provide a great deal of interactive capability and are the keys to fully enjoying the MIDIART experience.  You should also make sure the CAPS LOCK is turned off before using MIDIART, since some commands act differently depending on whether or not the SHIFT key was pressed.  Commands keys that are activated using the SHIFT key are listed in upper case.

Music Control Keys

Image Generator Control Keys

Program Control Keys


music
Music Control Keys

The following command keys listed below will control the playback of the MIDI music within MIDIART:

s

Stops the music and clears the screen.

r

Rewinds back to the beginning of the current song.

p

Begins playing music and creating graphics.  (Used after the 's' key.)

n

Begins playing the next song in the play list.

b

Begins playing the previous song in the play list.

a

Advances forward 10 seconds into the current song.

A

Advances backward 10 seconds into the current song.

+

Increases the tempo or playback speed of the current song.

-

Decreases the tempo or playback speed of the current song.

1 -  9

Selects a single MIDI channel number to control with the command keys listed below.  Key '0' will select MIDI channel 10 and the SPACE bar key plus keys 1 through 6 will select MIDI channels 11 through 16.  Press one of these keys before using the keys listed below.

You can also select multiple MIDI channels by pressing and holding the 'CTRL' key followed by a number key.  For example, to select MIDI channels 1 and 2, first press '1', then press and hold the 'CTRL' key while pressing '2'.

=

Selects all MIDI channels.  This will cause the command keys listed below to act on ALL MIDI channels.  Press this key before using the keys listed below.

Up Arrow

Increases the volume of the instruments on the selected MIDI channels.

Down Arrow

Decreases the volume of the instruments on the selected MIDI channels.

Right Arrow

Selects the next instrument in the General MIDI list for the current MIDI channel.  Use with SHIFT to skip 10 instruments.

Left Arrow

Selects the previous instrument in the General MIDI list for the current MIDI channel.  Use with SHIFT to skip by 10.

]

Transposes the pitch of the instruments on the selected MIDI channels up one octave.

[

Transposes the pitch of the instruments on the selected MIDI channels down one octave.

m

Mutes the instruments on the selected MIDI channels.


IG Control
Image Generator Control Keys

The following command keys and function keys listed below will control the graphics being created by the individual Image Generators within MIDIART.  Most of these keys are MIDI channel specific.  This means that when you press these keys, they will control the graphics being created on the currently selected MIDI channels.  To control the graphics on a single MIDI channel, you must first select a MIDI channel using a number key.  To control the graphics on all MIDI channels, you must first press the '=' key.

c

Clears the screen and selects a new random color for graphic objects being created for the instruments playing on the currently selected MIDI channels.

C

Starts random color cycling.  Most effective when used  with function key F2.  Press this key again to stop color cycling.

e

Clears (or erases) the screen like the 'c' key, but does not change the color of any graphic objects on the screen.

g

Enables or disables the creation of graphic objects for the instruments playing on the currently selected MIDI channels.

i

Selects a new Image Generator.  (Next one in the list.)

I

Selects a new Image Generator.  (Previous one in the list.)

TAB +  1 -  9

Holding the TAB key while pressing a number key selects a new Image Generator from the list of MIDIART Image Generators.  Key '1' selects the first Image Generator in the list.  Key '0' selects the 10th Image Generator and the SPACE bar key plus keys '1' through '9' select Image Generator 11 through 19.

The following function keys will affect the visual elements being created on the currently selected MIDI channels.  Before using these function keys, press the '=' key to select ALL MIDI channels, or press a number key to select a single MIDI channel.

Note:  The following function keys perform the indicated action for most but not all Image Generators.  Each Image Generator may interpret these function keys differently.  You may need to experiment with their effect by repeatedly pressing the specific function key.

F2

Starts the collage effect.  Objects created by the Image Generator are left on the screen.  Press this function key again to reverse the effect.  (Note: You may want to clear the screen after pressing this function key.  Use the 'e' key to erase the screen.)

F3

Slows down the movement of graphic objects being created.

F4

Speeds up the movement of graphic objects being created.

F5

Decreases the size of graphic objects being created.

F6

Increases the size of graphic objects being created.

F7

Increases the shrink rate of graphic objects.

F8

Increases the expansion rate of graphic objects.

SHIFT + F1 - F8

Pressing these keys will affect an Image Generator in different ways depending on the Image Generator.  The Image Generators currently supplied with MIDIART do not handle these function keys.  (They do not modify the graphics in any way.)  Future MIDIART Image Generators may use these extended function keys to perform other special effects.


Program Control
Program Control Keys

The following command keys listed below will control the general function of the MIDIART program itself:

q

Quits the program and returns back to Windows.

F1

Brings up the MIDIART configuration dialog box.

ESC

Same as F1.

?

Stops the music and displays the MIDIART Keyboard Command Summary dialog box.

h

Puts the MIDIART program in the background.  Music continues to play.

L

Displays or hides the MIDIART control bar.

w

Shrinks the MIDIART graphics display window.  To move the graphics window, press and hold the CTRL key while pressing the arrow keys.

W

Enlarges the MIDIART graphics display window.  To move the graphics window, press and hold the CTRL key while pressing the arrow keys.

f

Expands the MIDIART graphics display window to cover the full screen.  Use this key to restore the graphics window to its full size.

R

Disables the random Image Generator selection mode.  This prevents MIDIART from selecting Image Generators at random for each new song.  Pressing the key again will re-enable the random selection mode.

S

Saves the sequence of key presses that were pressed  during the performance of the current song.  The next time MIDIART plays this MIDI file, the same keys will automatically be pressed in the same order, and at the same positions in time.

D

Deletes the key press file that was created when the 'S'  key was pressed.  This will prevent MIDIART from automatically pressing the sequence of keys that were previously saved for the current song.

CTRL + OK

Holding the 'CTRL' key while clicking on the 'OK' button in the configuration dialog saves the MIDIART configuration for the current song.  The next time MIDIART plays this MIDI file, the configuration will automatically be restored.

X

Deletes the current song configuration file.  This will prevent MIDIART from automatically restoring the configuration that was previously saved for the current song.