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1990-09-23
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ACCOMPANIST - A 16 Voice Sequencer
----------------------------------
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Features
3. The Desktop
4. Menus
5. Dialogues
6. Glossary
1. Introduction
---------------
This manual describes how to use this 16 Voice Sequencer. Key
concepts, such as the Map, start with a capital letter, and are
explained in the glossary at the end. Numbers such as tempo,
time signature, channels etc are all changed by Rolling the
mouse. Read the glossary section on Rolling first.
In Dialogues, all shadowed boxes are text, i.e. not
selectable. All other boxes may be selected to change values,
make choices etc.
2. Features
-----------
1. Multi-Voice recording using seperate MIDI channels or
programs, split MIDI keyboards and/or velocity ranges.
2. Variable resolution Map of 8 Voices on Desktop contin-
uously, the Mouse is used for most movement around music.
3. Mouse click sampling of any music in the Map.
4. Simple editing using mouse and MIDI keyboard on blocks
down to hemi-demi-semi-quavers, with no MIDI event lists!
5. Sections for naming passages plus setting Time signature,
tempo, and local quantization.
6. Variable resolution metronome on any MIDI channel,
program, note, velocity. May be driven by external MIDI clock.
7. Full Voice/Block copy, move, quantize, randomize,
transpose, velocity update.
8. Filtering of controllers, note ranges and velocity ranges
on input, output or by direct manipulation.
9. Undo/Redo on all operations that change the music.
10. Through channel specification for each voice.
11. All MIDI notes/channels/programs may be input from a
MIDI keyboard.
12. MIDI channels and progam numbers base may be selected to
be 0 or 1.
3. The DeskTop
--------------
The Desktop has 7 main areas:-
1. The Menu bar (top).
2. The Voice box (top left).
3. The Map box (top right).
4. The Commit box (bottom left).
5. The Conductor box (bottom mid-left).
6. The Play/Record box (bottom mid-right).
7. The Punch-In box (bottom right).
8. The Title box (under Play/Record box)
3.1. The Menu Bar
This drives the program in the normal GEM manner. See below
how to use these menus.
3.2. The Voice Box
This contains information about 8 of the 16 Voices. Each
Voice has a number and a name. A Voice is selected for recording
and most other manipulation by clicking on its name, which will
then appear inverted. If the Voice has no name, then you are
prompted for one.
Normally only one Voice may be selected for Recording etc.
This may be overridden by selecting the MV (Multi-Voice) Icon at
the bottom of the Voice-box. Whilst this is selected, i.e.
appears inverted, any number of Voices may be selected
simultaneously, e.g for Multi-Voice recording, or for Multi-Voice
copying.
The only, or most recently selected, Voice may have its
properties such as MIDI Channel and MIDI Program, updated by
selecting Change in the Voices menu, see below. The Voice number
of the most recently selected Voice appears inverted.
Clicking directly on the Voice number changes it to
light grey ,or back to black. Black indicates that voice will
play, grey that it is silent. This may be changed while the music
is playing.
Other Voices can be displayed in the Voice-box either by
clicking on the arrows at the bottom left of the Voice-box, or by
selecting the number on the left of the arrows and Rolling it to
a new value (1-9).
The Percentage figure at the bottom right of the Voice-box
shows what percentage of the Voice memory has been used so far.
The /** in the top right of the Voice-box shows the
resolution of the Map, see below.
The CONDUCTOR Voice represents the commands set up with
the Conductor in the Voice-menu.
The CHORUS Voice represents the contents of all Voices,
including those not currently showing in the map. Selecting
CHORUS immediately selects all Voices. This is useful when using
AUTO.AUD (See Punch box).
3.3. The Map box
This shows the contents of each Voice to the resolution
shown in the top right of the Voice-box. The default resolution,
/** is one bar per '-'. i.e. any bar with at leat one Midi event
in it will be represented by a '-' , otherwise a space. The
resolution can be Rolled(see Glossary) up to /96.
If the Map-box is not wide enough to show the whole song at
a particular resolution, then the slide-bar at the top of the
Map-box shows which part of the song is showing on the Map. This
slide-bar may be used to move between different parts of the
song. Whenever the Marker is changed(see below), the Map is
adjusted to ensure that the Marker is showing.
The vertical position of each '-' in a Voice can vary. At
higher resolutions this gives an indication of how the notes go
up and down.
Bar numbers are shown under the slider. At the bottom of
the Map-box are two further boxes. The upper shows the position
of the Marker,see below, and the lower shows the position of the
Sections defined so far.
The Map box shows the current Fragment (see below) as an
inverted box.
3.4. The Commit box.
Various operations such as Record, Quantize, Clear can be
UnDone if the result does not sound right. When such an operation
has been selected, the Commit-box shows the current state of the
operation. This is indicated by DONE or UNDONE. The box showing
REDO or UNDO may be selected any number of times, followed by
PLAY to listen to the result. When you have decided on whether to
keep the result, or not, select COMMIT to finish the operation.
If you forget to select COMMIT, before selecting another
operation, then a Dialogue box will appear asking you to complete
the previous operation.
3.5. The Conductor box.
This shows the current Music-Time while playing. It also
shows the current Time-signature, Tempo, and Metronome
resolution.
Selecting either of the two arrows under the Tempo, while
playing, causes the Tempo to be changed accordingly. The Tempo of
the current Section is updated automatically.
3.6. The Play/Record box.
Selecting PLAY causes music to be played from the current
Marker Music-Time, which is shown under PLAY. Selecting RECORD
causes recording to take place from the Marker, for those Voices
selected in the Voice-box. When recording, a Count-In is given of
a number of bars, as specified in the current Section. If the
Marker is not at the start of a bar, the Count-In always starts
from the beginning of a bar.
There is no limit to the number of Voices that may be
recorded together, subject to the overall limit of 32 notes being
input simultaneously.
It is human nature to be inaccurate in playing a MIDI
keyboard, particularly in playing the first note, which sometimes
gets pressed a few beats before the Marker time. To allow for
this, a recording tolerance may be defined in each Section, e.g.
/32, which opens the recording window a few beats earlier,
avoiding the loss of the first note.
RECORD should be used for the initial input phase as it
wipes out all previous contents of the Voices after the Marker.
RECORD is confirmed or undone by using the Commit box.
There are three Icons in the Play/Record box that may be
selected to set the Marker. The three right-hand arrows move the
current Music-Time showing in the Conductor box to the Marker.
This is very useful when reveiwing and editing. The three left-
hand arrows set the Marker to the start of the first bar. The two
left-hand arrows move the current Punch-In time to the Marker.
When recording more than one Voice simultaneously, each
input MIDI note and subsequent event is allocated to a particular
Voice, by examining each selected Voice in numerical order. The
Voice chosen is the first to satisfy one of the following
criteria, which are also applied in order.
a. Both the Voice input Channel and the Voice output Channel
are **.
b. The Voice input Channel is **, and the Voice output
Channel equals the note Channel, and the Voice program is either
** or equals the the current program for the note Channel. This
allows Multi-Voice recording from a single MIDI Channel by using
Program Changes while playing.
c. The note Channel equals the Voice input channel , and
the note pitch/velocity is within the Voice range. This allows
Multi-Voice recording from a single MIDI channel with split
keyboards.
3.7. The Punch-In box.
This is used to sample/edit a Fragment of previously
recorded Voices. The Fragment is defined by the Punch-In(above)
and Punch-Out(below) Music-Times shown in this box. The Fragment
may also be specified by dragging a box in the Map with the
mouse. This causes an inverted box to appear, and sets the times
accordingly. It also selects the Voice chosen. Simply clicking in
this area produces a single width Fragment.
Selecting PUNCH causes music to play with Count-In as for
RECORD. Recording takes place in the selected Voices only between
the Punch-In and Punch-Out times, allowing for the recording
tolerance (see RECORD). PUNCH is confirmed or undone by using the
Commit box. AUDIT plays only the selected Voices from the Punch-
In time, with Count-In if previous Punch-In has just taken place.
AUD.CHORUS plays all voices from the Punch-In time with Count-In
as for AUDIT.
Selecting AUTO.AUD switches Auto-Audition on and off, (on
when inverted). When Auto-Audition is on, any new Fragment
created by dragging or clicking in the Map-Box, is immediately
played as though AUDIT had been selected. This is a very useful
way of reviewing, then editing a song.
Selecting AUTO.PUN allows very simple editing of a single
note or chord. The Fragment must have been previously defined to
cover a single note or chord, for a particular Voice. The Map
resolution will need to have been increased to crotchets(/4), or
quavers(/8), etc. After selecting AUTO.PUN, play a note or chord
on the MIDI keyboard. This will automatically be punched into the
start of the Fragment, with duration the length of the Fragment.
AUTO.PUN times out after about 10 seconds, if a note has not been
played.
Selecting the two right-hand arrows sets Punch-In from the
Marker. Selecting the three right-hand arrows sets Punch-In from
the current Music-Time showing in the Conductor box. Selecting
the left-hand arrow sets Punch-In and Punch-Out to the start of
first bar. Selecting the two downward arrows sets Punch-Out to
the next bar after Punch-In.
3.8. The Title box
Selecting the Title box opens a text field for editing a title
for the current song. This should be terminated by RETURN.
4. The Menus
------------
There are 5 menus:-
1. File menu.
2. Voice menu.
3. Block menu.
4. Option menu.
5. Section menu.
4.1 File Menu
This provides various operations for manipulating files of
music. LOAD copies a whole piece from a disk file. MERGE merges
the MIDI events of a file with existing Voice data. SAVE
saves to a file that has been previously LOADed. SAVE AS saves to
a file with a new file name. CLEAR clears ACCOMPANIST back to its
initial state.
4.2 Voice Menu.
This provides various operations to change the properties and
contents of each Voice. CHANGE displays a dialogue-box showing
the properties of the most recently selected Voice. CONDUCTOR
allows Time-signature, Tempo etc to be set at arbitrary bars (see
Conuctor-Dialogue below). MOVE moves all details and MIDI events
of a particular Voice number to a different Voice Number. COPY
copies the MIDI events of one or more Voices, or part thereof, to
a different Voice (overwriting, or merging).
FILTER-IN/OUT specifies filters to be used on a MIDI event
during recording or playing. These filters are switched on and
off in the CHANGE dialogue. CLEAR reinitialises Voices.
4.3 Block Menu
This provides various operations for manipulating the MIDI
events for each Voice. For each such operation, All Voices,
currently selected Voices (i.e. with inverted names), or a single
numbered Voice, can be selected for manipulation. Also ,the whole
Voice, or a selected Block, may be specified to be operated on.
Selecting the upward arrow Icon, causes this region to be set
to the current Fragment times.
All operations in this menu are confirmed or undone by using
the Commit box.
QUANTIZE allows the start times and/or durations of selected
Voices/regions to be quantized to specified resolution. The /1
is a divisor, which may be changed to quantize 3rd's, 5th's etc.
RANDOMIZE does the inverse of QUANTIZE.
COPY copies the selected Block in each Voice to another Time
in the same Voice. The receiving area must be empty, and have the
same time signature.
MOVE moves the selected Block in each Voice to another Time
in the same Voice. This serves for both deleting and inserting
Time.
CLEAR clears the selected Block in each Voice.
TRANSPOSE transposes the notes in the selected Block in each
Voice.
VELOCITY changes the velocity of notes in the selected
Block in each Voice
FILTER causes the selected Block in each Voice to be
filtered according to the current output filter of each Voice,
irrespective of whether the output filter is switched on.
4.4 Options Menu
METRONOME displays a Dialogue box for defining the MIDI
charactistics of the Metronome. The Metronome can be assigned to
any MIDI Channel/Program/Note/Velocity. (The default channel is
13 which is one of the ATARI channels, the others being 14 & 15)
So, by default, the Metronome sounds from the ATARI sound system.
An external clock can be selected, in which case the tempo
is set by the driving clock in your rhythm generator. When the
internal clock is being used, appropriate MIDI real time messages
are sent to other devices which can be driven by an external
clock.
MIDI BASE 0 specifies how MIDI channel and program numbers
appear. If it appears with a small tick sign on the left then the
Midi Base is 0, otherwise it is 1.
AUTO COMMIT may be selected when an operation such as
AUTO.PUN is being used repeatedly. When selected, AUTO COMMIT
appears with a small tick sign on the left. When an operation is
used again, the previous operation is committed automatically if
AUTO COMMIT has been selected. Once selected AUTO COMMIT stays on
until selected again or a different operation, using commitment,
is begun.
4.5 Sections Menu
This provides for creation,change, and deletion of Sections.
OPEN displays a dialogue box to define a new Section.
Typically Sections are used for some bars of music with a
paticular Time signature and/or Tempo. The name of each Section
appears at the bottom of the Map box.
CHANGE displays the data for the current selected Section,
chosen by clicking on the Section name in the Map box. All except
the first Section may be moved to a different time.
DELETE removes the currently selected Section.
5. Dialogues
------------
5.1 Conductor Dialogue
This is entered by selecting Conductor in the Voice Menu, It
is used to specify Time-Signature, Tempo, Pause, and Synchronize.
At the moment, Repeat is not implemented. The Conductor is
typically used for specifying changes of short duration, which
dont merit a Section being defined.
Each time this dialogue is used it will carry out one
operation, e.g. insert, change, delete, if OK is selected.
To insert a new conductor operation, select the operation
you require, e.g. TIME SIGNATURE, or TEMPO, then specify the
particulars of that operation. Then, specify the time range in
which the operation is to take place, by changing the two Music-
Times at the top. Finally, select INSERT followed by OK. Time
signature ranges should not cross Section boundaries.
Selecting SCAN allows the scanning of the already defined
Conductor operations, by selecting NEXT or PREVIOUS. The left
Music-Time may be Rolled to set the start time for scanning. The
currently displayed operation may be changed or erased by
selecting CHANGE or ERASE, followed by OK.
5.2 Voice Dialogue
This is entered by selecting Change in the Voice Menu, or
by double clicking on a Voice name. Various MIDI parameters such
as input and THRU channels, program numbers etc, may be
specified. LOCK ON prevents subsequent inadvertant changes to a
Voice. Multi-Voice recording allocates MIDI events to Voices from
the values defined by this Dialogue.
5.3 Metronome Dialogue
This is entered by selecting Metronome in the Options Menu. It
defines the MIDI Channel, program and note to be used. The MIDI
clock can be set to external. This allows ACCOMPANIST to be
driven by a MIDI rhythm unit. Alternatively, your rhythm unit
may have the feature that allows it to be driven by ACCOMPANIST's
clock.
5.4 Section Dialogue
This is entered by selecting Change in the Sections Menu, or
by double clicking on a Section name under the Map. Most of the
attributes are self explanatory. Sync On specifies that during
this Section, Playing wont start until a MIDI note is played.
Quantization specifies the steps when Rolling a Music-Time Beat.
6. Glossary
-----------
Block. A Block is a time-range. It may be as short as 1/24
of a crotchet, or as long as a whole piece of music. Blocks are
used for copying, quantizing, filtering etc.
Cursor. A vertical line drawn in the Map to show the current
Music-Time, during playing and Rolling. When the cursor is off
the Map, it appears as dash-dot line.
Filter. A Filter specifies what MIDI events may pass at
record/play/Block filter time. Pitch Bend, After pressure, and
Channel pressure, and each of the 32 continuous controllers can
be set, as well as note and velocity ranges.
Fragment. The Fragment is defined by the Punch-In(above) and
Punch-Out(below) Music-Times shown in the Punch-In box. The
Fragment may also be specified by dragging a box in the Map, or
just clicking, which gives a single width Fragment. It is used
for reveiwing and editing a song.
Map. The Map appears in the Map-box in the top right hand of
the DeskTop. It shows a Music-Time range, which may be changed by
sliding the box above the Map in the normal manner. The Map
indicates which of the Voices shown in the Voice-box have Midi-
events for each of the time intervals. The resolution of the Map
may be altered by Rolling the Map-Resolution Indicator in the top
right hand corner of the Voice-box. A resolution of '**'
indicates that each interval represents a bar, whatever the Time
Signature.
Marker. The Marker is the Music-Time displayed in the
Play/Record box. It is also indicated by a small Marker-box under
the Map, and above the Section names. The Marker can be changed
by standard time-editing, or by dragging the Marker-box to the
left or right, or by selecting one of the arrow Icons in the
Play/Record box. After changing the Marker, the Map may be
adjusted to ensure that the Marker is showing. When the Marker is
off the Map, it appears as a hollow (i.e.not coloured) box.
MIDI Channel/Programs. These may be specified by playing a
note on a MIDI keyboard, They may based at 0 or 1. ** is a dont
care value. Channels 13 to 15 are allocated to the ATARI sound
channels.
Music-Time. This represents a position in the song. It
consists of three numbers, i.e. bar,note & beat. Bar numbers
range from 0 to 9999. The number of notes per bar is set by the
current Time-Signature. There are 96 beats in one crotchet.
Music-Time starts at bar 0, note 1, beat 1, but conventionally,
recording starts at bar 1.
Each of the bar,note,beat may selected and Rolled (see
Rolling below). When Rolling the beat, the increment by which the
beat changes, is defined by the Quantization set in the Section
to which the bar belongs.
Punch-In. The Music-Time to start recording when PUNCH is
selected
Quantization. This is a unit of time that may be one of the
following:- a Minim,'/2', a Crotchet, '/4', a Quaver, '/8', a
Semi-Quaver, '/16', a Demi-Semi-Quaver, '/32', a Hemi-Demi-Semi-
Quaver, '/64'. /3 is triplet Minim, /6 a triplet crotchet and so
on.
Rolling. Numeric quantities, such as bar numbers, note
numbers, Quantization, are changed using the mouse. First, select
the object you want to change(e.g. the Marker bar number), then
roll the mouse while keeping the left button pressed down, and
release it when you reach the value you want.
Rolling up or right increases the value, and rolling left or
down decreases the value. Rolling in the vertical direction gives
a slow rate of change, and in the horizontal direction gives a
faster rate of change.
For large changes, you can make many sweeps with the mouse.
After the first sweep, while keeping the left mouse button
pressed, press on the right button as well. Now release the left
button and reposition the mouse, keeping the right button
pressed. The value does NOT change as you you do this. Each
subsequent sweep is started by pressing the left mouse button,
rolling then releasing the left button and repositioning, keeping
the right button pressed all the time. At any point, releasing
both buttons terminates the roll.
Section. A Section is a named time-range with several
attributes. These include Time-Signature, Tempo, Metronome beat,
Count-In, Beat quantization, Recording tolerance. Section names
appear under the Map on the Desktop. A ** Tempo means use the
tempo of the previous Section. Up to 20 Sections may be
specified. The first Section cannot be moved from the bar 1.
Tempo. A Tempo consists of a number of Metronome beats per
minute, plus a Tempo type. If the Tempo type is changed from,
say, /4(crotchet) to /8(quaver), then Tempo beats are updated
appropriately (in this case doubled).
Time Signature. This is the normal musical time signature,
containing a Quantization unit on the right (e.g /4 = Crotchets),
and the number of notes on the left. Normal time appears as 4/4.
This is set for each Section, and by the Conductor-Dialogue.
Voice. A Voice is used to record Midi notes, with up to 32
note polyphony. It also records certain controller events. A
Voice must be given a name before use (no anonymous Voices
here!). The default is "V" followed by the Voice number.
A Voice may be allocated to a specific MIDI output and/or
input channel, and MIDI Program (** is a dont care value). It may
also be restricted (for recording purposes on a split MIDI
keyboard) to a subrange of notes and/or velocities. If seperate
input and output channels are specified, e.g. for use with a
master keyboard, then a THRU switch may be set to cause input
MIDI events to be sent immediately through to the output channel.
A Voice may be shifted by a number of beats, so that each
note is played before or after the actual note time. This allows
adjustment for different Voice envelopes.
There are also two switches for controlling whether MIDI
events are to be filtered on input or output.
A Voice may be locked to prevent further changes.