TO INSTALL: Place Guitar.opa into an \APP\ directory, then install its icon on the system screen in the usual way. Place Guitar.fon and Guitar.dat into an \OPD\ directory. Any drive will do.
If you create files at any time while using
this program, it will make a \GUITAR\ directory to store them under. The default drive for this is :M, but again you may select another. It's common sense I know, but use this directory exclusively for GUITAR files, otherwise the program will simply refuse them. For those unconversant with the Series 3, the file selector (press TAB during a file dialog) will primarily produce a list of existing files under the current directory, in this case \GUITAR\.
TECHNICAL REMARKS: I have to point out that in terms of OPL programming knowledge I'm an apprentice bricklayer rather than a skilled architect, and because of a possible long-winded technique here and there GUITAR could well be a little bigger than it need be. I considered dividing the opa into two separate modules, the chief one for standard chord reference, the other for creating files etc, but didn't think it really was so big as to justify the reduced selfcontainment (or is 'big' a misconception of the reason why this is done?) My only disappointment is that I never managed to work out how professional programs lose no memory to limbo when MENU is used excessively. Just how is that done? I don't suppose it will be a problem though. Most people presumably learn to use the hot keys and don't work with dangerously low levels of memory. Also, when I wrote this program I didn't understand EVENTS, so you can't close it down from the system screen. But then again, like all the above, that's just a simple technicality which won't pose any practical disadvantage with a program of this type.
Despite thoroughly checking them, I cannot guarantee on my life that no chords contain errors. If you find one and you're a programmer, you're welcome to alter the data in Guitar.dat (each chord and its positions occupies a separate field, and is identified by three letters i.e. AAA for A, CCA for C flat, FBH for F sharp ninth, etc. Then the finger positions are read in an alphabetical form similar to that described in the program's 'Make chord' option. If you're not a programmer, drop me a line, and I'll send you the simple steps to take. The same goes for any bugs that might crop up (though in this case you'll need a reverse translator). I was told that a bug refers to a program being inexplicably buggered. Is that really what it means? However, I'm hopeful that none of this will be necessary.
Only one known bug has been left uncorrected, because it fortuitously appears in some circumstances to help prevent second-hand registration.
USAGE INFORMATION: When displaying any chord box, GUITAR doesn't indicate which open strings, if any, should be deadened. This will mainly concern high-position chords. But anyone who plays the guitar works this sort of thing out for themselves if they follow the logic of chord shapes and know a bum note when they hear one.
The incorporated tuner may well be regarded as a novelty by some serious players. Certainly the Series 3 sound capabilities, or that of any computer for that matter, comes nowhere near matching the quality of authentic pitch pipes. But use it as a guide when you need to tune your guitar. That's all it's meant for.
The reference screen (psion-R) gives a bare rundown of the keys, the musical ones, not those you press, and more importantly shows how the chords in the database are usually written on music. 'A' is used purely as an example, and could just as well be 'C','C#','F','Gb' and so on. They are listed in the same cursor-running order as their counterparts in the selection window. For instance, Amaj7, listed fourth in the reference screen, corresponds to MAJOR SEVENTH, which is listed fourth in the main window. You shouldn't however need to consult the reference very often. If you want to look up, say, C#7b9 from a sheet of music, it's not hard to see that you should select C/SHARP/SEVENTH FLATTENED NINTH to produce the chord shape. You'll quickly get the hang of it.
The default position for a chord is 1. But select 2 or 3 if you need to play your chord higher up the fretboard for flexibility or speed. The new position will remain current for all further chords until you re-select. The position buttons, if you like, can be used instead of ENTER after cursors have been shifted.
User-created files are limited to sixty chord boxes. This number was set arbitrarily in the interests of simply having a ceiling for good sense. But if you can think of a reason for this being a handicap, bearing in mind that the search option will comb through all files to find any non-database chord, then provided you're sane, let me know.
You will find general operating instructions by pressing HELP when the program is run. On the very first run HELP: ABOUT will appear after the nag screen.
GUITAR is shareware and costs
5.00, which will cover any future versions. Ideas I have in that direction include the displaying of the number of beats between chords in files dedicated to individual pieces of music, and a facility for searching for chords matching finger positions. I'll only take this step however if enough people register.
My intention to make this program freeware crumbled after many days of work, beginning enjoyably enough but ending up giving me nightmares about a rampaging race of six-stringed beings strapping me into a chair under an interrogation lamp. And besides, I've written another little program, Perm.opo, for those like me who are fascinated by permutations, and another I won't mention, and a short story on Psion word processor file, all of which cost nothing.
I hope that some people will find GUITAR useful. I certainly could have done with it when I encountered sheet music without chord boxes while learning to play. Send your appreciation or comments to the address in HELP: ABOUT. For a quick response, mark the envelope 'PSION GUITAR'.
GUITAR was written directly onto an isolated Series 3-S. If any 3a programmer likes it enough to want to modify it for the Series 3a (that big expensive thing), so utilising the larger screen etc, and put it out as shareware, get in touch and we'll arrange something. The one condition will be that the form of the main display remains the same.
Finally, thanks to my friend Ashley, who gave me the idea for this program, by picking up his guitar in apathy toward my excitement over my new pocket computer, and remarking with a yawn, "Yeah, but other than tell the time in lots of fancy ways does it do anything helpful?" And also thanks to Steve Litchfield of 3-Lib for his permission to copy the tiny fon. file from Fairway, and of course to whoever compiled it in the first place.
Other programs I aim to write in the near future are:
(.txt)