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Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-1
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COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-2
GETTING STARTED
TERMS USED ... WHAT THE WORDS MEAN
----------------------------------
In order to make this manual meaningful, it is necessary to
define some terms.
SONG
----
A song is a collection of sequences and other information such as
the tempo it should be played with, whether clocking is
external/internal, etc. A song has a name associated with it and
ultimately some computer files where it is stored and loaded
from. A song can have a name of up to 8 characters.
SEQUENCE
--------
A sequence is a collection of EVENTS. There are many types of
events such as Note-On, Note-Off, Program Change, Set Tempo,
Start a Sequence, etc. Some of these events are Midi events and
some exist purely to provide functionality to GFMUSIC.
A sequence always has a name associated with it and it is by name
that you reference a sequence in order to edit, copy, delete,
load, save, and start a sequence. A sequence name can be up to
15 characters and can contain embedded blanks.
EVENT
-----
An event is information that describes something that is to
happen. An event always has a start time. It may also have
other attributes depending on what type of event it is. For
example, a Note-On event has not only a start time, but other
information such as which note is to be played, the duration of
the note, and the velocity of the note. The Note-On event
corresponds directly to "Midi". GFMUSIC also has an event called
a Sequence Start event which has nothing to do with Midi per se.
A sequence start event contains information that describes which
sequence is to be started, when it is to be started, whether the
started sequence will have any transpositions imposed upon it
(e.g. play all notes 1 octave higher), and whether the 'starter'
will simply start the other sequence and forget it, or wait for
it to complete before continuing on to its own next event. There
are many different types of events of which the above are only
examples.
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-3
STARTING GFMUSIC
----------------
When running GFMUSIC, you should always 'be in' the
disk/directory where GFMUSIC resides. If you are running off of
a floppy disk drive using the original (or better yet, a backup)
floppy disk, then 'go to' the disk where GFMUSIC is. E.g. if you
have the GFMUSIC disk in the A drive then type in "A:" on your
computer keyboard. If you have the GFMUSIC disk in the B drive
then type in "B:" and press enter.
Now type in "GFMUSIC YOURPASSWORD" and press enter to start the
program.
The password you received when you purchased GFMUSIC must be
entered. You could create a batch file to invoke GFMUSIC with
your password to make things easier.
If using floppy drives it takes about 50 seconds from the time
you see the copyright notice to the time the Main Menu appears.
If you have a hard disk and have followed the installation
instructions you should type in CD\GFMUSIC and press enter.
This will take you to the proper subdirectory where GFMUSIC
resides. Now you can type in "GFMUSIC YOURPASSWORD" and press
enter.
The reason that you must 'be in' the disk/directory where GFMUSIC
resides is because GFMUSIC will look for some of its own files on
the current drive/directory.
When you see the copyright notice, press Enter to get to the
GFMUSIC Main Menu.
****************************************************************
Remember to use your password that you received when you
purchased GFMUSIC. If you don't, you won't be able to save your
songs to disk unless they consist of 3 or less sequences !! If
you start GFMUSIC with the wrong or a missing password, GFMUSIC
will warn you at the beginning of the program.
*****************************************************************
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-4
The following is a "screen print" of the Main Menu. Other Screen
Prints will appear from time to time in this manual.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MAIN MENU
1. PLAY / RECORD 11. SAVE SEQUENCE
2. EDIT SEQUENCE 12. SET TIME / ECHO
3. DELETE SEQUENCE 13. PRINT SEQUENCE
4. SPLIT FUTURE 14. MEMORY STATS
5. COPY/MERGE SEQUENCE 15. DRUMS FUTURE
6. LOAD SEQUENCE 16. LIST SEQUENCES
7. LOAD SONG
8. DIRECTORY SEQUENCE
9. DIRECTORY SONG
10. SAVE SONG 99. EXIT
---
|0 | <============== ENTER SELECTION HERE
----
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-5
From the Main Menu you can see all of the things you can do. The
best thing to do right now is to actually create a song in order
to see how things work. But first, you need to know how to find
your way around and how to enter instructions for GFMUSIC.
GFMUSIC uses 'full screen' data entry. That is, you enter
information into fields on the screen and when you are done, you
press ENTER to tell GFMUSIC that you are done entering the
information and that you want it processed. Information is
entered into fields on the screen. The fields can be identified
by the fact that they have a background color of red. They will
appear as red rectangles on the screen. The Main Menu that you
are looking at now contains only one field in the lower left
corner and the cursor should be there right now. Sometimes the
information that you must enter has to be numeric. The main menu
is one such case. If you enter 'xx' into the data entry field
(the red box in the lower left corner) and then press ENTER you
should get an error message. If you try to enter information
anywhere but in a red box the PC will beep and you will get an
error message. Try it.
To get the cursor back to the entry field use the arrow keys or
the TAB or HOME keys. When you press the TAB key the cursor will
be placed into the next field. Of course the Main Menu only has
one field so the tab key will take the cursor to the start of
that field. When you press the BACKTAB key (shift/TAB) you will
go the previous field on the screen. The HOME key will take the
cursor to the first field on the screen. The arrow keys work as
you would expect.
****************************************************************
The F9/F10 keys move the cursor to the first field on the next
line. For those of you familiar with IBM 3270 terminals, this is
the same as the New Line key on those terminals. You should get
used to using F9/F10 as it will prove very useful, especially
with the event editor. The following table describes how the
keys are used. Make a copy of it and keep it handy until you
become proficient.
****************************************************************
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-6
KEY USAGE
---------- ------------------------------------------------
HOME Moves cursor to first data entry field on screen
Enter/Return Tells GFMUSIC to process what you have entered.
Note: F1..F8 will also do the same. Be aware of
of this but stick with the Enter/Return key.
TAB Moves cursor to next data entry field
BACKTAB Moves cursor to previous data entry field
ARROW KEYS Move cursor left/right or Up/down as expected
DELete key Deletes character above cursor and shifts rest
of field to left.
INSert key Toggles insert mode on/off. When insert is on
characters keyed in will be inserted into line
being typed on.
END key Erases all characters above and to right of
cursor.
F1 .. F8 Like Enter/Return in most cases, but stick with
Enter. It's less confusing.
ESCape key Press twice to exit from screen/function you are in.
Press once followed by "H" to get help for a screen.
Press once followed by "R" to 'refresh' the screen.
I.e. to redisplay the screen prior to your making any
changes on the screen.
Note : When you use the help feature, changes you have
made on the screen since the last enter key will be lost.
PgUp/PgDn Data entry key. Used in edit and play mode for paging
up or down thru a sequence (edit mode) or paging up/down
thru the display of PLAY KEYs assigned to sequences.
More on this later.
F9 and F10 New Line key. Moves the cursor to first field on the
next line.
*************************************************************
The above applies to all screens EXCEPT the PLAY/RECORD Screen.
Key usage for the PLAY/RECORD FEATURE is explained later.
PLAY/RECORD is different for a reason and will be covered later.
*************************************************************
To get more familiar with how the keys work, key in "5 " in the
data entry field on the main menu (i.e. 5 followed by a space).
This corresponds to asking for the COPY/MERGE SEQUENCE function.
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-7
Although no sequences currently exist, you can go to that screen
and play around with the keys to see how they work. After
entering "5" on the main menu, press ENTER. Next you should see
the COPY/MERGE screen. Try out the different keys and see what
they do. Enter some names in the fields and press ENTER. Since
no sequences currently exist you will get error messages but that
is OK. When your are done press ESCape twice. This will take
you back to the Main Menu.
**********
The ESCape key is how you always exit a function/feature that you
are done with. E.g. you pressed ESCape twice to return to the
Main Menu from the COPY/MERGE screen. If you press ESCape once
and then press "H" you can get help for the screen you are
viewing. Remember, ESCape twice to exit, ESCape followed by "H"
to get help.
**********
Now you should be on the Main Menu again. Enter '1' in the red
box followed by a space and press ENTER. This will take you to
the the PLAY screen. We are going to record a sequence and play
it back.
THE PLAY SCREEN
---------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
K SEQUENCE NAMES SEQ NAME___________ ---WAIT/FROM--- REM MUTE VEL PIT
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
MEAS = 0 FILTERS => 1=BEND 2=CTL-CHG 3=AFT-CHNL 4=AFT-POLY
BPM = 120 TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE
MIDI CLK = O
ECHOCHNL = 0 SKIP MEASURE = 0 SKIP ACTIVE = FALSE
XPOSE NOT ACTIVE PAUSE=TRUE
VEL= 0 PITCH= 0 RECORD MEMORY USED = 0
** LOAD MODE ** A..Z LOADS, PGUP/PGDN FOR PLAY KEYS, ENTER PLAYS, ESC=EXIT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-8
Play and record functions take place on the same screen. I.e. on
the PLAY/RECORD screen.
The PLAY/RECORD screen is the only screen that does not have data
entry fields like the rest of GFMUSIC. In fact, there is not
even a cursor present. This is because while in PLAY/RECORD mode
the cursor would move around the screen as it continually updates
information. On some monitors it can be quite distracting.
***************
In addition, in PLAY/RECORD it is necessary to be able to have
things happen quickly. I.e. we want things to happen (such as
starting a sequence) with just one or two keystrokes. As you
work with GFMUSIC you will see why this becomes an advantage.
***************
Depending on the type of graphics adapter and/or monitor you
have, you may notice some 'flicker' when in Play/Record. This
problem is strictly a function of the hardware since we have
tested GFMUSIC on some equipment that is rock solid (no flicker
or snow) while on others there is significant flicker. We have
found, however, that when the screen flickers, you tend not to
look at it except when needed. And that you don't have to look
at the screen as much as you think because much of what you are
doing is by ear, not by sight.
PLAY/RECORD has two modes of operation. When you first enter
PLAY/RECORD you are in "LOAD MODE". This is where you would
normally tell GFMUSIC what sequences you want to start. To do
that you would press a key (A..Z) that corresponds to the
sequence to start. Such a key is called a PLAY KEY. Not all
sequences need to have a PLAY KEY associated with them. However,
in order to start a sequence from the computer keyboard, it must
have a PLAY KEY. You will learn later how to assign a PLAY KEY
to a sequence. Since you have just entered PLAY/RECORD you are
in LOAD MODE (see the flashing message at the bottom of the
screen).
Right now no sequences exist so there are no sequences to load in
preparation of playing them. Just press ENTER. This tells
GFMUSIC to leave LOAD MODE of PLAY/RECORD and to start
playing/recording. Since there are no sequences to play, you
will hear nothing. However, you can record. Go ahead and start
playing something on your synthesizer. As you play you will
hear the metronome. To turn off the metronome just press the END
key. To turn it back on press the END key again. Turn off the
metronome for now. As you play your synthesizer you will see
some numbers in the lower right corner of the screen increase.
This is the record memory used. There is room in the record
buffer for 14,000 true Midi Events. When the record buffer fills
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-9
up, recording will stop (but any currently playing sequences will
continue). For now, go ahead and play something simple such as a
scale. When you are done your music exists only in a record
buffer. Now you need to get it processed into a sequence. We
will do that in just a minute but first press the LEFT ARROW
key. Notice that the record memory counter went back to zero.
Pressing the left arrow is like rewinding the tape recorder. You
are now ready to record again. Play the scale again. This time
when you are done press the RIGHT ARROW key. This tells GFMUSIC
that you are done recording and that you want to create a
sequence out of the record buffer.
Left Arrow <--- = Reset Record Buffer to zero.
Right Arrow ---> = Process recorded music into a Sequence.
If you are using a Controller Keyboard, you will need to use the
ECHO Channel feature in GFMUSIC. Basically, since the Midi Out
port of the Controller Keyboard is connected to the Midi In of
the PC (401), there is no way to have the messages transmitted
to an attached Sound Module unless the PC (i.e. GFMUSIC) Echos
the Midi Messages it receives... i.e. sends a copy of these
messages to the Midi Out of the PC that is connected to the Midi
In of a Sound Module.
GFMUSIC will echo the Midi messages it receives to the PC's Midi
Out port if you tell it to. To do this, you go to option 12 of
the Main Menu (Set Time / ECHO by entering "12" on the Main Menu
screen). When you do this, you will then be presented with the
SET TIME/ECHO screen. One of the fields on that screen is "ECHO
CHANNEL". Enter a number here that corresponds to a Midi Channel
(1-16) and GFMUSIC will echo Midi messages on that specific
channel on the Midi Interface Out port. If you enter a number
greater than 16, then GFMUSIC will echo whatever comes in on the
Midi In port, to the Midi Out port without modifying the channel
information. Entering a value of zero tells GFMUSIC not to echo.
All you need to do is to make sure that the Sound Module is set
to receive on the same channel that you specify on the SET
TIME/ECHO screen. Generally, if you will need to use the echo
feature, setting the echo channel to greater than 16 (echo as is)
is the most common and useful method. Then, you set the channel
information via the Controller Keyboard directly.
See the diagram at the end of Section 1.
You should also note that :
- When you save a song, the echo channel in effect is also
saved with the song. And, when you later LOAD that song, the
echo channel will be set to whatever it was when you saved it.
- It is possible to set the echo channel and/or turn off
echoing via commands within a sequence. You will learn more
about this later.
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-10
For now, if you are using a Controller Keyboard that does not
produce sound, you should set the ECHO channel via option 12 of
the Main Menu. Then attach the Midi Out of the PC Interface to
the Midi In of the sound module that you will use to produce the
sound. Make sure that the channel settings on the SET TIME/ECHO
screen and the sound module are the same.
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-11
PROCESS RECORDED DATA
---------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PROCESS RECORDED DATA
-------------------
SEQUENCE NAME | SCALE 1 |
SET 1ST EVENT TIME = 0 | Y | Y/N
COMPUTER PLAY KEY | A | A..Z
REPEATS | 2 9 | 1 TO 999
DISREGARD XPOSE | N | Y/N
-------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Where were we ???????...... Oh yes... you had just recorded a
scale and pressed the Right Arrow key ( ---> ).
After you press the right arrow you will be presented with the
PROCESS RECORDED DATA screen. You are about to create your first
sequence. First you will need to assign a NAME to the sequence.
Call it 'SCALE 1'. Put 'SCALE 1' in the red box next to the
SEQUENCE NAME title. A sequence name can be up to 15 characters
and may contain embedded blanks. Press F9/F10 to move the cursor
to the next box where you will assign a START TIME for the first
event. You can also use the TAB key to move the cursor to the
next field.
When you entered PLAY/RECORD mode by pressing ENTER from LOAD
MODE, a clock started ticking. When you pressed the first key on
the synthesizer GFMUSIC recorded that note and tagged it with a
time. All subsequent notes recorded were also tagged with a time.
If you had waited 30 seconds before playing the first note, then
the first event would have a start time of '30 seconds'. At this
point, however, you can have GFMUSIC give a start time of zero
for the first event. What this will mean is that when you go to
play it (or start the sequence from another sequence), the first
note will be sounded right away instead of 30 seconds later.
Sometimes this will be what you want, sometimes you'll want the
delay in the sequence to remain, and sometimes you will have to
EDIT the sequence to set the start time to a particular value.
For now place a 'Y' in the SET 1ST EVENT TIME = 0 field. Press
F9/F10 or TAB to get to the next field (or TAB will also do).
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-12
The COMPUTER PLAY KEY field is where you tell GFMUSIC what key
will be pressed on the computer keyboard to start this sequence.
It can be A to Z. A sequence can only be started from the
computer keyboard if it has a PLAY KEY assigned to it although it
can be started from another sequence regardless of PLAY KEY
assignment. The idea here is to be able to start a sequence from
the computer keyboard by pressing just one key. For the sequence
just recorded, assign it a PLAY KEY of "A". That is, later on,
all you will have to do is press A to start this sequence.
Sequences can NOT have duplicate PLAY KEYs assigned. I.e. two
sequences can not have the same PLAY KEY. Place an "A" in this
field and press F9/F10 or TAB to get to the the next field.
A special note. Avoid assigning "Z" as a PLAY KEY for a
sequence. This is because GFMUSIC uses it as a "work" PLAY KEY
when you "play from edit". More on that later when EDIT is
discussed.
Now move the cursor to the REPEATS field. Put a number in here.
This number is how many times this sequence will play if you
start it from the computer keyboard. For this exercise enter a 2
here. Now a helpful tip on how to enter numeric data into fields
for GFMUSIC. For numeric fields, you can enter a number and
follow it by a space. Anything to the right of the space is
ignored. The field you are about to enter 2 in currently
contains 999. You can enter '2 ' at the beginning of the field
giving '2 9' in the field (or 2, followed by a space, followed by
9). Since anything to the right of the first space is ignored
it's like entering only the 2. Remember this helpful tip as it
will save you alot of time later on, especially when editing a
sequence. Here is another helpful tip on entering either numeric
or character data in fields. All leading spaces are ignored.
I.e. the field is shifted left and space filled on the right
until a non-blank is encountered. Thus "blankABC" is the same as
"abc". The leading blanks are removed.
Press F9 or F10 to move the cursor to the DISREGARD XPOSE field.
This field tells GFMUSIC whether all transpositions are to be
ignored. For example, when playing back a song, you may want to
play it in a different key. The easiest way to do this is to
transpose the pitch of the controll sequence that you will
probably create to play the song. When you transpose a sequence,
any sequence it starts is also transposed by the same amount.
However, for some sequences you may not want to allow transposes;
especially for sequences that contain drum patterns. Transposing
these sequences may cause undesirable results on a drum sequence.
To avoid this problem, you can indicate to GFMUSIC that under no
circumstances is it to perform any transpositions on this
sequence. However, for now, enter an "N" in this field. I.e.
do not disregard transpositions.... or in other words you DO want
transpositions on this sequence when they are asked for.
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-13
All fields should now be filled in. To recap, you have assigned
the recorded data a sequence NAME, you have determined whether
you want the FIRST EVENT TO HAVE A START TIME OF ZERO, you have
assigned a PLAY KEY to the sequence so that it can be started
from the computer keyboard, you have specified how many times the
sequence will REPEAT when started from the computer keyboard, and
you have indicated whether transpositions will affect this
sequence or whether you want GFMUSIC to disregard transpose
requests in all cases.
Now just press ENTER. The recorded data will be processed as a
sequence which you can invoke from the computer keyboard.
The next thing you will see is the play screen again. In the top
left corner you will see the name of sequence next to the
character "A". In addition, it appears in RED. More on
the color meaning later. However, the characters on the left (A
thru P) indicate the PLAY KEYS and the sequences associated with
them. Notice that the name of the sequence you just recorded
shows up next to "A". That is because you assigned a PLAY KEY of
"A" to the sequence. Now press the PgDn key. You will see the
left column change to see the PLAY KEY assignments for PLAY KEYs
K thru Z (right now there are none). Press PgUp and see PLAY KEY
assignments for A thru P again. You are ready to play back the
sequence. To do this, press "A".
**********
Something to remember at this point. When in GFMUSIC, make sure
that the Num Lock key is off. If it is not, keystrokes will be
mis-interpreted.
**********
When you pressed the "A" key the sequence you recorded should
have started immediately. And, it should have played twice
because you set the number of REPEATS to 2. On the 2nd repeat
you may have noticed a delay. This is because when the sequence
ended the first time it it may not have been the exact length
necessary to start the second time on the right beat. More on
this later.
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-14
Now record another sequence. This time with the metronome. Turn
on the metronome (press the END key until it comes on). Play in
time with the metronome. Not alot of notes. In fact play 8
Middle C notes in time with the metronome. Remember you can
start again by pressing the left arrow key.... this will reset
the record memory to zero. After playing 8 notes, press the
right arrow key to process the recorded data into a sequence. On
the PROCESS RECORDED DATA screen give it a name of '8NOTES'.
Again put a Y in the SET 1ST EVENT TIME = 0 field. Assign a PLAY
KEY of "B". This time set REPEATS to 999. Set DISREGARD XPOSE
to "N". Press ENTER to process the 8NOTES sequence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PROCESS RECORDED DATA
------------------
SEQUENCE NAME | 8NOTES |
SET 1ST EVENT TIME = 0 | Y | Y/N
COMPUTER PLAY KEY | B | A..Z
REPEATS | 999 | 1 TO 999
DISREGARD XPOSE | N | Y/N
------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You should be back at the play screen again. You can turn off
the metronome (END key). Now press the B key and your 8NOTES
sequence should start. Since it will repeat 999 times this will
give you a chance to see how other features work while listening
to the 8NOTES sequence.
**********
Let 8NOTES play and follow along with the exercises that follow.
**********
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-15
***************************************************************
When you pressed the Right Arrow key, GFMUSIC processed what you
had played into a sequence. Now, all sequences MUST end with a
Null Event (i.e. an event that does nothing) so GFMUSIC appended
a Null Event onto the end of the sequence it created from the
notes in the record buffer. In addition, while processing the
record buffer into a sequence, GFMUSIC will always make the
sequence a whole number of measures long. The way it does this
is :
The time of the last Null Event (generated as part of
processing the record buffer) is given the Start time of the
previous event + the duration of the note played in that event.
Then, if that results in the sequence ending exactly on the
measure, nothing more is done. Otherwise, the time of the Null
Event is increased to the next measure boundary.
This is done so that usually, you can start the sequence you just
recorded from the computer keyboard and have it loop in a
'smooth' manner. As you read this manual, you will develop more
of a feel for timing and why this is done. Right now, this is
probably all Greek but later, please come back to this point and
ponder it. Also, when you record sequences, go into Edit on them
to see how GFMUSIC created the last event for you. Again, this
may not mean anything right now, but later, come back and revisit
this section and these last few paragraphs.
Note : this means that when recording, don't 'hold' a note
longer than it should be. If anything, make the last note(s)
slightly 'shorter' than they would normally be. For example, if
the last note should end at exactly the end of a measure, and you
hold it slightly too long, then GFMUSIC will initially make the
sequence 1 measure longer than you intended. I.e. it will round
up to the next measure based on the start time and duration of
the last note played. So, if anything, end the note just shy of
the measure boundary. Later, you can easily EDIT the sequence to
make it exactly the length you require.
Again, you will understand this more later.
****************************************************************
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-16
TEMPO
=====
While the 8NOTES sequence is playing, press the UP ARROW key and
hold it down. Notice the tempo increasing. Press the DOWN ARROW
key and hold it down. The tempo decreases. On the left side of
the play screen toward the bottom you will see "BPM =". The
number there is the tempo in Beats per minute. Look at the
number while pressing either the up or down arrow. This is how
you can set the tempo manually. You can also set it up, down, or
to a specific value from within a sequence but that is for
later.
You will often adjust the tempo manually with the up/dn keys to
determine how fast you want a song to play. Then, the common
technique is to add a BPM event to the Controll Sequence that
starts the song in order to set the tempo automatically at the
beginning of the song. More on this later. Also note that when
you save a song, the current tempo at the time you save it is
also saved along with the song. Later, when you load that song,
the tempo will be set to what it was when you saved it. Later
on you will learn more about this when the SET TIME feature is
discussed.
There is also another method of changing the tempo from the
computer keyboard. This is the FAST FORWARD feature. With the
8NOTES sequence playing, press the right bracket (i.e. ] ). This
will increase the tempo by 50 BPM. Press it again and it
increases another 50 BPM. Continue pressing it and it will
eventually increase the tempo to a maximum of 350 BPM. I.e. you
can press the ] key multiple times in succession and the music
will play much faster. To return to the original tempo, just
press the left bracket key (i.e. [ ) and the BPM will go back to
what it was prior to going into Fast Forward.
Remember, ] to Fast Forward, and [ to reset to original tempo.
MEASURE
=======
Above the BPM field on the screen is the MEAS = field. This
shows you how many measures have elapsed since leaving LOAD MODE
and entering PLAY/RECORD mode.
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-17
PAUSE
=====
Press the space bar. The music should pause. Press it again and
it will pick up again at the point you paused it. The space bar
pauses whatever is playing. When you PAUSE, the PAUSE=TRUE
message near the bottom of the screen will change color and start
blinking.
TRANSPOSE
=========
Press the HOME key (number pad 7). You will see a message. When
you see the message, press "P". This will set real time
transpose to affect the pitch. Now press F1. The pitch was
lowered by 1 step. Now press SHIFT and F1 together. The pitch
went up 1 step. Press SHIFT F2. The pitch went up 2 more steps.
In play mode, the function keys control the transpose amounts.
F1 is down 1 step, F2 is down 2 steps, .... F10 is down 10 steps.
Shift F1 is up 1 step, .... Shift F10 is up 10 steps. Try it
while the sequence is playing. When you pressed the HOME key and
followed it with a "P", a line near the bottom started blinking
and indicated that "note transposition" was now in effect. This
line indicates whether transpose is active and which of two
transpose parameters will react to the function keys. You can
only transpose one parameter at a time. Either pitch or
velocity. To change from pitch transpose to velocity transpose
press HOME again and when you get the message at the bottom of
the screen, press "V" for velocity.
If you don't have a velocity sensitive synthesizer or sound
module you can ignore this test. If you do, press the function
keys to transpose the velocity up and down just like you did for
pitch. A shifted function key transposes velocity up and an
unshifted key shifts velocity down.
At the bottom of the screen you will see a line that contains
"VEL=" and "PITCH=". These values are the current velocity and
pitch transpositon values in effect for real-time transposition.
Activate pitch transpostion (HOME followed by P) and press some
function keys. Notice that the value next to PITCH= will change.
Not all sequences will be impacted by transpositions from the
computer keyboard. Only "Affected" sequences will be impacted.
When you Record a sequence, GFMUSIC initially makes it an
"affected sequence". One way to identify an "affected" sequence
is that it shows up in RED on left side of the play screen
where you see the PLAY KEYs associated with sequences. The ones
in BLUE ARE NOT "affected sequences".
Only affected sequences will react to transpose commands from the
computer keyboard. Remember however that if you have DISREGARD
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-18
XPOSE = Y, then transpose will never affect the sequence. So
the question becomes, how do you turn on/off this attribute ??
You can do this in two ways. First, you can change it by editing
the sequence (but that is for later). Second, you can add it or
delete it from the affected sequence list during PLAY/RECORD (in
either Play/Record or LOAD Mode). To add it you press the "+"
key followed by the PLAY KEY associated with the sequence. I.e.
the SHIFTED EQUAL SIGN or the BIG + key on the keyboard. To
delete/drop it from the "affected list" you press the "-" key
(minus sign) followed by its PLAY KEY (A..Z). Go ahead and try
this with the two sequences you just recorded. When you press
the +/- keys notice the message at the bottom of the screen.
Also note how the color of the PLAY KEY column for these
sequences changes. RED means that it's in the affected
list. BLUE means it is not in the affected list. Whenever
you add a sequence to the affected list it will take on whatever
active transpose values are current. I.e. whatever is in PITCH=
or VEL=. When you delete it from the affected list, all
keyboard transposes for that sequence are deleted.
When you are putting a song together you may want to try
different transpositions. For example, you may record a bass
line but often want to try it an octave higher or lower depending
on what voice you will use on the synthesizer. In order to try
out different voices you will want to be able to play it in
different octaves because different voices sound better in
different octaves.
Or you may want to try an entire song in a different key. The
easy way to do this is to drop all sequences from the affected
list except for the MAIN CONTROLL sequence, then transpose pitch
up or down via the PLAY/RECORD screen, and finally start the
controll sequence.
Transposes "cascade" (are inherited). If you transpose the pitch
of sequence A by two steps, then all sequences it starts will
also be transposed by two steps plus whatever transpositions are
contained in the sequence start command in sequence A.
To clear transpose, press HOME followed by a space (or any key
other than V, P, or N). Then read the message at the bottom of
the screen. Another way to clear transpos is to press ^HOME
(CTRL and HOME together). This will clear all computer keyboard
transpositions in all sequences. In addition, it will clear any
MUTES in effect. When using keyboard transpositons, it is best
to keep it simple. Work on only one sequence at a time.
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-19
Remember, you can clear all transpositions by pressing HOME
followed by a space (or ^HOME by itself) and then adding the
sequence you want to the affected list by pressing + followed by
the PLAY KEY for the sequence you want to transpose. To hear the
sequence as originally recorded, simply delete it from the list
by pressing '-' followed by the sequence's PLAY KEY. Or, clear
all keyboard transposes by pressing ^HOME.
MUTE
=====
Now with the 8NOTES sequence playing, press the DELete key and
then press B. Notice that the sound stops. This MUTEs the
sequence. Observe high up on the screen under the MUTE column.
When a sequence is muted the MUTE field will blink TRUE in RED.
The sequence is muted, it is not stopped. It is still playing
along in time, it is just not sending out the notes. Press
DELete then B again and the sequence will be un-muted. Pressing
DELete followed by the PLAY KEY for a sequence toggles MUTE for
that sequence. Think of DELete as saying "DELete this sequence
from sounding".
Notes.... you can MUTE a sequence whether or not it is currently
playing. If you mute a sequence that is not playing, when it is
started (either at the computer keyboard by pressing the PLAY
KEY or if some other sequence starts it), it will play along in
time but the notes will not be sent out. In addition, the MUTE
flag is stored with the sequence and stays with that sequence for
eternity until you unmute it. I.e. if you leave play/record and
come back to it later, the sequence will still be muted. In
fact, if you save the song and later reload it, it will still
retain the MUTEed characteristic. So, before you leave
Play/Record, or before you save a song, you may want to clear all
MUTEs by pressing ^HOME in play/record to clear all mutes.
Another important note. ^HOME clears all mutes AND
transpositions. To simply clear all mutes and leave
transpositions alone, just press the INSert key twice or the
DELete key twice. This will clear all MUTEs and leave current
Transpositions (note or velocity) alone.
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-20
SOLO
====
Solo is kind of the mirror image of Mute. I.e. when you want to
solo, what you do is to mute all other sequences except the one
you want to hear. To do this you press the INSert key followed
by the Play Key for the sequence to Solo. This will silence all
other sequences except for the one associated with the PLAY KEY.
I.e., it MUTEs all sequences (whether or not they have a play
key) except the one you are SOLOing. Again, the MUTE
characteristic will stay with all those other sequences so when
you are done, you probably want to clear all MUTES before leaving
Play/Record. In any event, you'll see RED TRUE BLINKING for all
of the muted sequences so you will probably not forget.
You can think of it this way..... "the INSert key followed by the
Play Key for a sequence INSerts only that sequence for playing".
************
To clear all mutes (whether caused by Mute or Solo), all you do
is press INSert twice or press DELete twice.
************
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-21
ECHO CHANNEL
=============
When you are putting a song together, if you have sound modules,
you will often want to see how something sounds thru them as you
play, and often you will be playing along with parts of a song
you have already recorded. To do this, you specify an ECHO
channel. When an echo channel is specified (option 12 of Main
Menu) then GFMUSIC will send anything it receives on the PCs
Midi In, and send it out the Midi Out with a channel assignment
of whatever you had specified. Thus, you could be playing on a
keyboard that is sending on channel 1, but when GFMUSIC echos
it, you can have any Midi channel assigned to the messages. Or,
you can have GFMUSIC echo the input "as is" (without reassigning
the channel).
Near the bottom of the Play/Record screen you will see the
current Echo channel assignment. If it is zero, then echoing
will not take place. If it is 1-16, then all input is echoed on
that specific channel. If it is greater than 16, then all input
is echoed "as is".
SKIP to Measure
============
SKIP to measure allows you to skip quickly to a specific
measure when you leave Load Mode and start Play/Record Mode. On
the bottom left of the Play/Record screen you will see two
things.
First, you will see what the SKIP MEASURE setting currently is.
This is the measure that GFMUSIC will skip to when leaving Load
Mode, if SKIP is in effect. Second, you will see a message
indicating whether SKIP is active or not.
You use SKIP when you want to overdub to a specific bar/measure
but don't want to wait for the song to get there by starting
from the first measure.
To invoke SKIP you do the following :
- Press the = key (the equal sign). When you do this in
LOAD MODE, you will be prompted to enter the measure to skip to.
E.g., you might respond with 11, meaning that when you leave LOAD
MODE by loading a controll sequence and then pressing enter,
GFMUSIC will skip to the 11th bar without playing the first 10.
I.e. it gets you to your overdub point much quicker. When you
press the = key in Play/Record mode, what you are doing is
telling GFMUSIC that the current measure is what you want to set
the SKIP Measure to. I.e. later you will want to go right to
this measure when you leave Load Mode. I.e. you press the = key
when you 'hear' your overdub point (or better yet, 1 or 2
measures before the overdub point). In both cases, when you
press the = key, the SKIP Measure is set and SKIP is set active.
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-22
- When SKIP is active, then whenever you leave LOAD MODE on
your way to Play/Record, GFMUSIC will skip to the SKIP Measure.
You can toggle SKIP active without disturbing the SKIP Measure
setting. To set SKIP inactive (SKIP active = False), just press
the < key or the comma key (it is the same key, the only
difference is whether you've got the shift key held down). To
set it active (SKIP Active = TRUE), press the > or period key
(again it's the same physical key). The effect is the same
whether in LOAD MODE or PLAY/RECORD MODE.
Again, you will use SKIP to get to your overdub point faster.
Note that when you leave LOAD MODE and SKIP is active, you will
get a blinking message at the bottom of the screen indicating
that GFMUSIC is SKIPping to the SKIP measure. The terminal will
then appear to lock up until GFMUSIC finds the measure. How long
this takes depends on how many measures it has to go. With a
sequencer like GFMUSIC it is not instant because it has to go
thru alot of calculation. Why ?? Because how you get to the
measure is more than just a little complicated, especially
considering that sequences can start other sequences (as well as
playing notes). I.e. how you get to the SKIP measure is
important, considering that sequences can start other sequences.
If your PC has a 286 or 386 processor, it won't take long. If it
is a 'standard' XT, the time it takes is longer and in either
case depends on how many measures you have to skip to, and how
complex the structure of your song is (taking into account
controll sequences, etc.).
A "Cousin" to SKIP is Fast Forward, discussed above under TEMPO.
They sound like names, don't they ? Both SKIP and FAST can be
helpful in getting you to your overdub point faster.
FORCING REMAINING REPEATS TO 1.
===============================
Now press ^B (hold down the CTRL key and then press B). Notice
that the REM for the sequence goes to 1 immediately. Holding
down the CTRL key and pressing the PLAY KEY for a sequence
simultaneously will set the remaining repeats to 1..... i.e. put
the sequence into its last loop. By now the sequence has
stopped. See the top row in white for the column "REM".
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-23
SEQUENCE STATUS LINE
--------------------
While you were doing the above you probably noticed that high up
on the screen a line appeared when you started the sequence and
that the values under VEL and PIT changed when you transposed
velocity and pitch. This is the "sequence status line". When a
sequence is playing, the total of all transpositions impacting
that sequence shows up in these columns. The total of all
transpositions is the sum of those imposed on a sequence started
by another sequence plus whatever transpositions are invoked from
the computer keyboard (like you did) if any. I.e.,
transpositions "cascade".
It may not be obvious, but "cascading" is important in order to
keep the song "in key" when doing transpositions, especially from
the computer keyboard.
There are other things to observe on the line that appears when
you start a sequence. For example, when the sequence is first
started there will be a number under the REM column (see top line
on monitor). This number starts out with the number of repeats
specified when the sequence is started. If it is started from
the computer keyboard, the number of repeats (initial value of
REM) is what you filled in for REPEATS on the PROCESS RECORDED
DATA screen. If you start a sequence from another sequence you
specify how many times to repeat (loop). If another sequence had
started our sequence, then REM would start out with the number of
repeats specified in the controll sequence when it started the
sequence. REM stands for REMaining repeats (or REMaining loops).
As the sequence plays, REM is decremented with each iteration of
the sequence. I.e. REM shows you how many loops a sequence has
left. When it goes to zero, the sequence will stop and the
entire line will be be blanked/zeroed out.
Also notice that when the sequence started, its name appeared
under SEQ NAME.
On the top line you will see the character string "WAIT/FROM".
This shows whether a sequence was started from another sequence,
or whether it is waiting for a sequence that it started to
finish. More on this later.
MIDI CLK
--------
At the bottom left of the screen you will see "Midi CLK =". This
indicates whether Midi clocking is Off, External, or Internal (O,
E, or I). The default is Off when you first start up GFMUSIC.
More on this later when setting of timing parameters is
discussed.
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-24
FILTERS
========
Finally you will see some lines near the bottom (in white)
pertaining to "FILTERS". When recording, you have the option of
filtering (throwing away) various Midi information. The reason
that you would want to throw this information away is because
these Midi messages are generated so frequently by some keyboards
that they would consume vast quantities of memory if they were to
be recorded. For example, some keyboards will generate after-
touch information in great quantities. Try an experiment. Turn
off the filters so that GFMUSIC will allow recording of this
information. Each filter can be toggled on/off by pressing a key
associated with it. "1" Toggles the filter for pitch bend. "2"
toggles the controll-change filter. "3" toggles the After-Touch-
Channel filter. "4" toggles the After-touch-poly filter. Toggle
the filters by pressing 1,2,3,4 so that each filter says FALSE
(i.e. GFMUSIC will not filter these out). Now play your keyboard
and use the pitch bend wheel. See how quickly the record memory
is used up (see lower right on PLAY/RECORD screen). Depending on
your synthesizer, you may see memory used up very quickly when
you play just a single note. Normally the playing of a single
note will use up 2 units of record memory. However some
keyboards generate After Touch information and a single note may
use up many more units of record memory. If you have a
controller wheel (maybe a mod wheel or breath controller) try
activating it and using it while in PLAY/RECORD mode and see how
quickly record memory is used up.
Play around in PLAY/RECORD for awhile. Try going to LOAD MODE
and selecting the sequences you recorded and then press ENTER to
start them. You can see if you are in LOAD MODE by looking at
the message at the bottom of the screen. If it says "***LOAD
MODE *** ....." (it will blink) then you are in LOAD MODE. When
you press ENTER from here you will go to PLAY/RECORD mode. To
get to LOAD MODE from PLAY/RECORD mode you do it by pressing
ESCape twice. At this point in the learning process, whatever
you do, you should read the messages that will appear at the
bottom of the screen from time to time. By thinking about what
you have done in conjunction with the message content, you will
quickly develop a grasp of what is going on.
*************
Note: getting the hang of play mode and edit mode will be the
most difficult part of learning GFMUSIC. It is here where the
most functionality is. In Play Mode, everything is done with one
or two keystrokes so that it can occur quickly. Because of this
it may seem cryptic at first. It will take you a little while to
get the hang of things. A helpful tip.... try doing things while
the music is paused. To pause the music, just press the space
bar.
*****************
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-25
Now to recap. You get to PLAY/RECORD from the main menu by
selecting option 1 and pressing ENTER. When you first get to
PLAY/RECORD you will be in LOAD MODE where GFMUSIC is waiting for
you to specify the sequence(s) to initially load. You can select
sequences to load at this point by pressing the PLAY KEY
associated with the sequence(s). To see all of the PLAY KEY
assignments look on the left side of the screen. To see the rest
of them try PgUp and PgDn keys. Next, press ENTER and the
sequences you selected in LOAD MODE will start in unison. You
will then be in PLAY/RECORD mode.
******************************
You can also start sequences in PLAY/RECORD mode but if you want
to have more than one sequence start simultaneously, you should
select them from LOAD MODE and then press ENTER... or use the
following technique .........
**********************
In PLAY/RECORD mode you can pause by using the space bar, then
load the sequences you want via PLAY KEYs, and then press the
space bar again and the sequences will take off in unison.
You don't have to "load" a sequence to go from LOAD MODE to
Play/Record Mode. The purpose of LOAD MODE is to :
- Allow you to pre-load sequences so that when you
press ENTER (go to Play/Record mode) the following
occurs :
1 The pre-loaded sequences will start in unison.
2 Everything will start at Measure 1 / Step 1.
3 Allows you to use SKIP to Measure
4 Allows for more controll of Overdubbing
(related to 1 and 2 above).
**********************
In PLAY/RECORD mode there are many things you can do. A summary
of the keys that accomplish these things is listed below :
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-26
KEY(S) USAGE
-------------- -------------------------------------------------
A..Z Starts/Loads sequences associated with
these PLAY KEYS
^A..^Z * Immediately sets associated sequence
in last loop.
INS then A..Z Solos the Play Key sequence
DEL then A..Z Mutes the Play Key sequence
INS then INS or Clears all Mutes everywhere
DEL then DEL
UP/DOWN Arrow Changes tempo up or down
LEFT Arrow * Resets record buffer to zero (rewind tape)
RIGHT Arrow * Process Recorded Music into a sequence.
HOME Activates/Deactivates Real-Time Transposition
HOME/P or HOME/N activates transpose pitch.
HOME/V activates transpose velocity.
^HOME Clears all Computer keyboard xposes and mutes.
F1..F10 * Decrements currently active transpose value
Shift F1..F10 * Increments currently active transpose value
1,2,3,4 toggles pitch bend, controll-change,
after-touch-channel, and after-touch-poly
respectively.
PgUp/PgDn scrolls up/down the PLAY KEY assignments
SPACE * pauses/resumes play
END * toggles metronome.
+ Add a sequence to the affected list
- Delete/drop a sequence from the affected list
Follow the +- key with a Play Key (A..Z).
= (equal) In Load Mode, it will cause you to be
prompted for the measure to SKIP to.
In Play/Record Mode, when you press this key
it sets the SKIP Measure to the
current measure.
< or , (comma) Makes SKIP not active but leaves the
current SKIP Measure alone.
> or . (period) Makes SKIP active.
] (right bracket) Fast Forward (increases BPM by 50)
[ (left bracket) Cancels Fast Forward and restores
original BPM.
* = Play/Record Mode only. All others are active even in LOAD Mode.
COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
Getting Started - Part A Section 5A-27
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COPYRIGHT 1988 Gerald H. Felderman Tampa, Fl
