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CHORDMASTER - Unregistered Version 2.0 Chord Chemistry Program for Guitar Copyright (c) 1991,1992,1993 Robert Watson All Rights Reserved This software and the disks on which it contained is licensed to you, for your own use. This is copyrighted software. You are not obtaining title to the software or any copyright rights. You may not sublicense, rent, lease, convey, modify, translate, convert to another programming language, decompile, or disassemble the software for any purpose. You may make as many copies of this software as you need for back-up purposes. You may use this software on more than one computer, provided there is no chance that it will be used simultaneously on more than one computer. If you need to use the software on more than one computer simultaneously, please contact us for information about site licenses. DISCLAIMER ROBERT WATSON DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES RELATING TO THIS SOFTWARE, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND ALL SUCH WARRANTIES ARE EXPRESSLY AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMED. NEITHER ROBERT WATSON OR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF THIS SOFTWARE SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE SUCH SOFTWARE EVEN IF ROBERT WATSON HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR CLAIMS. IN NO EVENT SHALL ROBERT WATSON'S LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES EVER EXCEED THE PRICE PAID FOR THE LICENSE TO USE THE SOFTWARE, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE CLAIM. THE PERSON USING THE SOFTWARE BEARS ALL RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE. Some states do not allow the exclusion of the limit of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the above limitation may not apply to you. This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of California and shall inure to the benefit of Robert Watson and any successors, administrators, heirs and assigns. Any action or proceeding brought by either party against the other arising out of or related to this agreement shall be brought only in a STATE or FEDERAL COURT of competent jurisdiction located in Los Angeles County, California. The parties hereby consent to in personam jurisdiction of said courts. *** CHORDMASTER Chord Chemistry Program for Guitar USERS MANUAL TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ............................... 1 INSTALLATION ............................... 2 CHORD ENTRY ................................ 3 CHORD ENTRY METHODS ..................... 3 CHORD ENTRY TABLE ....................... 3 CHORD ENTRY TABLE OPTIONS ............... 4 COMMAND LINE ENTRY ...................... 4 IDENTIFIERS........................... 4 NOTE ENTRY .............................. 5 ERRORS .................................. 5 SCREEN FORMAT .............................. 6 FRETBOARD COMMANDS ......................... 7 TAB VIEW SEQUENCER ......................... 8 TIMING ROW .............................. 8 POSITION ROW ............................ 8 BUTTON ROW .............................. 9 SEQUENCE EDITING ........................ 9 ADDING NOTES ......................... 9 SETTING NOTE LENGTHS ................ 10 DELETING/ERASING NOTES .............. 10 BLOCK OPERATIONS .................... 10 HINTS ............................... 11 MAIN MENU ................................. 10 FILES .................................. 12 PRINTING ............................ 12 EXPORTING ........................... 12 SEQUENCER .............................. 13 SONG SETTINGS ....................... 13 MIDI ............................. 13 SOUND CARD ....................... 13 METER & TEMPO MAPS .................. 14 TIMINGS ............................. 14 CHORDINGS .............................. 15 DISPLAYING .......................... 15 TUNINGS ................................ 17 OPTIONS ................................ 18 *** INTRODUCTION CHORDMASTER is state-of-the-art chord chemistry software designed specifically for guitarists. CHORDMASTER PRO PLUS is not only a valuable aid and reference, useful for a variety of educational purposes; but a unique compositional tool that uses the guitar fretboard as a metaphor. This unregistered version demonstrates some of capabilities of the CHORDMASTER programs. See the README.DOC file for more details. CHORDMASTER PRO PLUS VERSION 2.0 FEATURES - NEW!!! - Tab View Sequencer plays songs in tablature while fingerings are shown on the active fretboard. NEW!!! - "Point and Shoot" Editor lets you create new songs by using your mouse to select notes on the fretboard. NEW!!! - The Guitarist's File Standard, the "AXE" file stores fingering, timing, tuning and patch data. AXE2MIDI file export utility lets your transfer your work to a MIDI file. NEW!!! - Sequencer supports Tempo and Meter mapping, as well as STEP mode. NEW!!! - Rudimentary string by string transposition of pieces into different tunings. NEW!!! - Tablature can be output to printer or text files. NEW!!! - Improved chord resolution capability enhances synonym recognition, and identifying of obscure inputs. NEW!!! - Integrated Guitar Tuner. Support for MIDI, Sound Blaster and other sound cards. Interactive Chord Entry Table for easy input of chord entries. Chord entries can quickly be transposed to different keys. Notes for two chords can be overlayed on one fretboard, allowing analysis of similarities and differences. Chords can be input by name or by specifying notes to be resolved to a known chording. Chords can be resolved to up to five chord synonyms. Obscure inputs can be resolved to proper chords. Chords libraries are provided, allowing for the display of thousands of individual chordings. User chord libraries can be maintained for custom chord display capabilities. Individual chord display can be limited to certain string and fret ranges. Context-sensitive HELP screens, mouse and printer support. - 1 - *** INSTALLATION CHORDMASTER requires about 550 Kbytes of disk space, and can be run from either a floppy or hard disk. Unregistered versions of CHORDMASTER are distributed in ZIP format and require PKUNZIP to install. Here's a sample hard drive installation that assumes that the CHORDZ.ZIP file is in the current directory. Example: MD \CHORDS <enter> (create chord directory) PKUNZIP CHORDZ \CHORDS <enter> (unzip CHORDMASTER) CD \CHORDS (log the chord directory) SETUP (creates subdirectories) CHORDS <enter> (executes the program) WINDOWS USERS - CHORDMASTER will run either full screen or windowed in WINDOWS 3.x. A windows icon (CHORDS.ICO) and PIF file (CHORDS.PIF) are included. To create your own PIF file for CHORDMASTER using the PIF editor, consider the following. 384K of RAM is required. To run CHORDMASTER in its own window, WINDOWS must be started in 386 enhanced mode. If using the enhanced mode add a 'w' in the Optional Parameters box of the PIF screen. This will disable CHORDMASTER's graphical startup screen and avoid a video error in WINDOWS. When CHORDMASTER is run in a window, mouse functions will only work if the program is first started as a full screen application, and switched to a window via ALT-SPACEBAR. Because CHORDMASTER takes control of specific timing functions, chords and songs may not play smoothly under windows. - 2 - *** CHORD ENTRY After the opening screens the program will display a blank fretboard and wait for commands from the the main menu. There are several ways to enter chords. CHORD ENTRY METHODS Chord Entry Table - A quick interactive method for chord entry. Command Line - Type in the name of a chord. Note Entry - Specify the notes in a chord and let CHORDMASTER identify it. Each of these methods is discussed below: CHORD ENTRY TABLE CHORDMASTER's Chord Entry Table is a quick, convenient way to enter a chord to be displayed. The table can be accessed by via the CHORDINGS submenu. The Chord Entry Table consists of four component sections: KEY, SUFFIX, ADD, and ALTER. The first and second sections, KEY and SUFFIX, are essential and one item from each is always selected. The ADD and ALTER sections are not essential and selections in them are optional. MAKING SELECTIONS TAB to move from section to section. ARROW keys to move around within a section. SPACE BAR selects/deselects the highlighted item in the ADD/ALTER section. MOUSE USERS : Click on an item to select it, click again to deselect. Note that at any given time certain ADD/ALTER selections are darkened and not available. Which selections are available will depend on which SUFFIX and other ADD/ALTER selections are made. The Chord Entry Table reacts interactively, showing which combinations are musically permissible. - 3 - *** CHORD ENTRY TABLE - OPTIONS FREE ARROW KEYS - Some keyboard users will find this option a more convenient way to traverse the table. Using this method the ARROW keys can traverse the table, moving from section to section. The TAB key need only be used to anchor selections in the leftmost columns of the KEY or SUFFIX areas. This method requires fewer keystrokes to accomplish many of the same tasks. REMEMBER LAST CHORD - This option makes the Chord Entry Table remember the previous chording that was entered with the table. This is useful when entering successive chords that are similar in some respect. COMMAND LINE CHORD ENTRY Use the following format for entering a chord by name: [A-G][#,b(optional)] [chord identifier options] At the very least you must enter an uppercase letter in the range of 'A' through 'G'. Optionally, you may indicate that the note is to be sharped or flatted by adding a '#' for a sharp or a lowercase 'b' for a flat. Why the preoccupation with upper and lowercase? Consider a B flat chord. It looks fine as 'Bb', but kind of silly as 'bb', 'BB', or 'bB'. So you must enter the key or root of the chord you want to work with. If this is all you enter it is assumed that you are looking for a major chord. To specify other chords you must add one or more chord identifier options, separated by spaces. The following are legitimate identifier options: FIRST GROUP maj maj6 maj7 maj9 maj11 maj13 minmaj7 minmaj9 min min6 min7 min9 min11 min13 dim dim7 5 6 7 9 11 13 aug aug9 aug11 noroot SECOND GROUP add or / sus + or - (followed by numbers 2 - 13) - 4 - *** Identifiers may be combined, separated by a space, in any combination that is musically sensible. Now, what is musically sensible may vary according to whose rules you are following. For the most part you will use one of the identifier options in the first group, optionally followed by one or more of the identifier combinations in the second group. The identifiers in the first group are common in describing chords. See a book on chord theory for an explanation of these identifiers. The identifiers in the second group are less common and are often written in different ways. Here is brief explanation of the second group: add or / - Used to add a tone to tone to a chord. These are useful in creating common and exotic chords and scales. The catch is that the tone to be added must not have been described in a previous identifier or an error message will result. sus - Generally used to add a 2nd or 4th tone to a chord at the expense of the 3rd. + or - - used to add an altered tone, or alter an existing tone, to an existing chord. Here are some of the errors that can be encountered during chord entry. Errors only occur when using the command-line input method. ILLEGAL - What you typed is nonsensible. STEP ALREADY EXISTS - Your trying to add (add or /) a tone that has already been established. TONE SPECIFIED IS > 13 - You've tried to add or alter a tone that is greater than 13. ILLEGAL TONE SPECIFIED - You've tried add or alter a non-numeric entity. NOTE ENTRY Entry can also be accomplished by specifying the notes to be used in the chord. CHORDMASTER then attempts to identify the chord. Note entry is particularly easy with a mouse. Non-mouse users should use NOTE ENTRY under the CHORDINGS submenu. NOTE ENTRY with a mouse: Enter a chord's notes by clicking on the desired fret positions on the active fretboard. Clicking on a previously selected note will de-select it. Once the desired notes have been selected, click on the word PROCESS which will appear above the active fretboard. If the notes can be identified as a chord, its name will be displayed. The lowest note selected will be considered as the primary root for the resulting chord. - 5 - *** Once a valid chord has been entered, all the notes in the chord are displayed on a fretboard and the notes are sounded through the system speaker. Additionally, a display appears above and to the right of the fretboard showing the relationship of the notes in the chord to the tones in a scale. This display is the chord formula header. For instance, if 'A' is entered; the chord formula header will display the following: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 A C# E This indicates that the 'A' major chord that was entered has three tones in it; a 1st or root, a 3rd and a 5th. Therefore, an 'A' major chord has a formula of 1, 3, 5 . The established spacing of these notes is function of established music theory and will not be discussed in this section. It is not necessary to fully understand these mechanisms to begin using and enjoying CHORDMASTER. An additional line of text appears immediately below the fretboard, this is called the RESOLVE line. If you entered 'A', as in the example above, this line would simply read 'A MAJ'. This may seem kind of redundant at this point, but as you will see as you read on, the RESOLVE line is one of CHORDMASTER's most powerful features. Let's look again at the fretboard. If you have entered the simple example chord shown above, the fretboard shows all the notes in an 'A' major chord scattered about the fretboard. This is a powerful visual tool. It allows the user to visualize an entire section of fretboard. In this case, any fingerable combination of notes that contains at least one 'A', one 'C#' and one 'E', is a legitimate 'A' major chord. Don't worry, CHORDMASTER can also display individual chord fingerings as we will see shortly. - 6 - *** FRETBOARD COMMANDS There are several quick key combinations available after a chord is entered, they are: <- or -> - Shifts the fretboard view range left or right. At any one time 16 frets are visible, over a range of 25. P - Repeats the playing of the tones in the chord. - or + - Changes the timing of the playing of the tones in the chord. D - Displays individual fingerings for the entered chord. UP or DOWN arrows - TRANSPOSE the most recent entry to a higher or lower key. T - Switch between like keys. For example 'C#' to 'Db'. S - Brings up the Tab View Sequencer window. MOUSE USERS : DISPLAY of individual chordings can be initiated by clicking on the DISPLAY box which will appear above the active fretboard. Entries can be TRANSPOSED thru keys by clicking on the appropriate side of the TRANSPOSE button. Clicking in the middle of the button will switch between like keys. For example 'C#' to 'Db'. - 7 - *** SEQUENCE CHART The Tab View Sequencer window can be accessed in many ways, including: opening an AXE file under the FILES menu, selecting SEQUENCE WINDOW from the SEQUENCER menu, or by pressing 'S'. Most CHORDMASTER options, including Chord Entry and Display, are still available when the Sequencer Window is open. TAB VIEW SEQUENCER Tab View combines standard guitar tablature with timing information in a way that makes it easy to visualize, play and edit songs, without having to read music. TIME SIGNATURE | ┌──────────────────────────────────────── └--------» │ 4/4 001 - | - | - | - 002 - | «--- TIMING ROW │ E │ B │ G STRING/NOTE STRING ROWS │ D AREA │ A │ E │ BPM« «--- POSITION ROW │«120» INFO «ZOOM» ««≤≤ ≥≥»» STEP «--- BUTTON ROW └──────────────────────────────────────── PARTS OF THE TAB VIEW WINDOW STRING NOTE AREA - The fret numbers of fingered (and open) notes are displayed on the row associated with a given guitar string. The notes are spaced horizontally to indicate their proper timing. Sustained notes are shown with dashes following for the length of the note. TIMING ROW - The top row of the Tab View Window is the Timing Row. In the upper left, is the Time Signature of a song. The numbers across the timing row serve as measure markers, and the vertical bars reflect the beats as described in the Time Signature. CHORDMASTER supports Meter Mapping, allowing Time Signatures to change throughout a song. To access the meter map press 'M' or use the mouse to click on the Time Signature. POSITION ROW - The triangular Position Marker moves as the song is played, indicating the current position in the song. When a song is not being played a mouse click on the row moves the marker to that position. Click on the left and right arrows at either end of the marker row to single step the marker in that direction. Editing functions affect data at the marker position. - 8 - *** BUTTON ROW - Provides quick access to the most commonly used sequencing functions: BPM Use mouse to click on the left and right segments of this button to change the tempo of a piece. The keyboard equivalents are CTRL+ and CTRL-. INFO Brings up CHORDMASTER's integrated text editor. Use this to add comments, explanations or other information about a particular piece of music. This text becomes part of the SONG file. ZOOM Controls the density of notes pictured in the Tab View window. The minimum zoom is dependent on the shortest note in the piece. Use the mouse, or 'Z' and 'ALT Z' to zoom in and out, respectively. REWIND / FF These button segments imitate the associated tape recorder functions. The outer button segments are the full Rewind and full Fast Forward buttons. These move the Position Marker to the beginning or end of the song, respectively. The inner button segments are used to step thru the song a screen at a time in the appropriate direction. Keyboard: Use 'R','CTRL R', 'CTRL F', 'F'. EXECUTE Starts and stops the playing of a song. SHORTCUTS Each of above functions can be accessed by clicking with the mouse or by using the highlighted hot keys associated with each button. METER MAPPING - Can be accessed by pressing 'M' or clicking on the Time Signature symbol at the upper left corner of the Tab View window. TEMPO MAPPING - Can be accessed by pressing 'B' or clicking on the BPM symbol at the lower left corner of the Tab View window. SEQUENCE EDITING Sequence editing is not available in this unregistered version. The following text shows how easy it is! See README.DOC for information on ordering CHORDMASTER PRO PLUS. Sequence editing requires a mouse. ADDING NOTES Move the Position Marker to the desired point as described above. Add notes by clicking on the active fretboard at the desired frets. When the mouse cursor is over the fretboard, a left click adds a note, while a right click moves the Position Marker to the right. Whole chords can be added in while in DISPLAY mode by left clicking on the Timing Row at the desired position. - 9 - *** SETTING NOTE LENGTHS There are two ways to set the length of a note: (1) Adjust the length of existing notes by left clicking at a position to the right of the note. Dashes will appear, indicating the new length. (2) When adding a note by left clicking on the fretboard, additional clicks will cycle the length of the note from the shortest length to a whole note. When a note length is established in this way, it becomes the default note length for future entries. Left clicking directly on an extended note truncates its length to the shortest length (for a given resolution). Left clicking again erases the note. DELETING/ERASING NOTES Single notes may be erased by clicking directly on the note. All notes at a position may be erased by right clicking on the Timing Row above the target position. All notes at a position may be deleted by double right clicking on the Position Row below the target position. MANIPULATING A RANGE OF A SONG A marked range of notes may be deleted, copied or moved. Mark a range by positioning the mouse cursor over one end of the range, depressing and holding the right mouse button, and dragging the cursor. When the desired range is highlighted, release the right button. Once a range is marked it can be manipulated via the EDIT submenu. Open the EDIT submenu from the main menu at the top of the screen. If the main menu is not visible, left click at the top of the screen to access it. The EDIT menu functions are analagous to those of a typical word processor. CUT - Deletes the marked section from the song, but preserves it in the Clipboard, at least until the next CUT or COPY. COPY - Copies the marked section to the clipboard, leaving the song unaltered. PASTE - Inserts the contents of the Clipboard at the current marker position. CLEAR - Deletes the marked section from the song. BE CAREFUL!!! - 10 - *** HINTS - The shortest length for a note depends on the selected ZOOM setting. For instance, in 4/4 time, if the ZOOM is set at 8 positions per measure, the smallest note that can be entered is an 1/8 note. When entering a new song, always start by setting the ZOOM at the coarsest appropriate setting. For instance, if the shortest note in a piece is a 1/4 note, and there are no dotted quarter notes, set the ZOOM at four positions per measure. In this way only notes longer than a 1/4 note will need to be extended. The True Power of "AXE" Files . . . Finally, a way for guitarists to exchange and store music! The "AXE" file stores the fingering, timing, tuning, and patch information created in the "Tab View" Sequencer/Editor. Better yet, "AXE" files can be exported or converted to standard MIDI (.MID) Type I files! Multiple tracks can be created in CHORDMASTER, exported in the MIDI format, and merged into your favorite standard MIDI sequencer! Why create guitar (or any other tracks!) in a keyboard-based sequencer if your more comfortable with a guitar fretboard? All new versions of CHORDMASTER come with AXE2MIDI.EXE, a standalone AXE to MIDI file convertor that you can include with your compositions. In this way you can share your compositions with others, whether they have CHORDMASTER or not! LIMITATIONS - While CHORDMASTER is a powerful compositional tool, and can be used to create songs in a variety of styles and instrument types; it has some limitations. The sequencer does not support note lengths that are not multiples of a 1/32 note. Triplets, quintuplets, and so on, are not supported. Certain effects possible with stringed instruments can not be duplicated; these include vibrato, tremolo, bending, harmonics, etc. Many of these effects can be added in work-arounds when files are exported to a MIDI sequencer. The inclusion of most of the above features was precluded by the nature of the interface used for this version. While DOS text mode, allows the greatest number of PC users to enjoy CHORDMASTER, a graphical interface (such as MS Windows) will allow for more capability. An MS Windows version IS in the works. - 11 - *** MAIN MENU Let's examine the various features in the main menu. We will work through the drop-down menus left to right. FILES MENU OPEN - Use this selection to open an existing piece of music for playing or printing. PRINT - This menu selection accesses CHORDMASTERS print menu; providing a means to print fretboards or sequences. PRINT ACTIVE - Prints the active fretboard on the printer. PRINT ALL - Prints the entire screen on the printer. PRINT TOP - Prints the top fretboard on the printer. PRINT BOTTOM - Prints the bottom fretboard on the printer. PRINT SEQUENCE - Prints the currently loaded sequence. PRINT TO FILE - Print to a file rather than the printer. PRINT GRAPHICS - Use this selection to enable printing of graphics characters on printers that support graphics. This should work with most dot-matrix and laser printers. PRINT PORT - Select the desired printer port. Valid selections are LPT1, LPT2 or LPT3. FILE EXPORT The export utility saves the song currently in CHORDMASTER's sequencer to a MIDI type 1 file. Enter a valid filename. and press F7 to complete the conversion. Be sure to save your work as a ".AXE" file for later use in CHORDMASTER. Technical : The type 1 MIDI files created by this function consist of two tracks. The first track contains tempo and meter data, while the second contains the actual music. These files can be played and combined in a standard MIDI sequencer application. When creating pieces of music to be merged later; be sure to use the same Tempo and Meter Map for each piece (duplicate tempo and meter tracks can be eliminated from the merged file). The export utility calls the AXE2MIDI.EXE program to perform the conversion. This file must exist in the CHORDMASTER base directory, or a system error will result. AXE2MIDI.EXE can also be used at the DOS command-line. - 12 - *** SEQUENCER MENU The Sequencer Menu provides access to many of the functions related to the Tab View Sequencer. Some of these functions may be accessed directly from the Tab View window. SEQUENCE WINDOW This selection accesses CHORDMASTER's Tab View Sequencer window. Once visible, songs can be played, or printed. The window can be hidden by pressing ESC. SONG SETTINGS This menu selection accesses MIDI and sound card selections that determine how a song will be played thru these devices. This information is stored in the CHORDMASTER song (.AXE) file when it is saved to disk. This data is overwritten when an existing file is loaded. SEQUENCE STRUM FACTOR Use this value to set the amount of stagger for the attack of individual notes in a chord. A larger number results in a slow stroke of a chord, while a smaller number gives a faster attack. A zero value causes all notes to be sounded simultaneously. MIDI SETTINGS Various MIDI settings can be selected for playback of sequences, and stored in a sequence (.AXE) file. These settings are the same as those used for general PLAY SETTINGS under the OPTIONS menu. See page 20 for an explanation of these settings. The PLAY SETTINGS under the OPTIONS menu become the default settings for this menu. SOUND CARD INSTRUMENTS This menu selects an instrument for the current piece of music. The selection list appears with the currently selected instrument hi-lited. NOTE : Sound Card output must have been enabled in the OPTIONS/PLAY SETTINGS submenu before sound can be output during playback . Instrument voices are stored in the CHORDS.IBK file. Other voices can be read from other .IBK or .SBI files supplied by the user. In the case of duplicate voice names, voices stored in .IBK files take precedence. The desired selection is stored in each sequence (.AXE) file when it is saved. - 14 - *** METER MAP This selection accesses the METER MAP, used to set one or more time signatures for a piece of music in the Tab View sequencer. Meter information is stored in the sequence(.AXE) file when it is saved to disk. The Meter Map can also be accessed by clicking on the Time Signature in the upper left hand corner of Sequence Window. TEMPO MAP This selection accesses the TEMPO MAP, used to set one or more tempos for a piece of music in the Tab View sequencer. Tempo information is stored in the sequence(.AXE) file when it is saved to disk. The Tempo Map can also be accessed by clicking on the BPM symbol. SEQUENCE TIMING SETTINGS This menu selection accesses controls that affect the playing of sequences in CHORDMASTER. Generally these settings will not need adjustment on an AT or better class PC. WARNING: Improper adjustment of these settings may degrade sequencer performance! DRAW COMPENSATION On slower machines the timing of a sequence being played may be affected as the screen is updated at the end of each frame. This effect will be heard as a 'hunting' at the end of each frame and is most obvious when rapidly playing a series of 1/16 notes. The DrawComp value should reflect the number of milliseconds required to update the screen. This value is subtracted from the time allotted for the final step on each screen, in effect forcing the screen redraw to become part of that delay. Typical values are from 0 - 50 milliseconds. On faster machines no or a little compensation is required. Too much compensation may have a reversed effect, whereby the last element of each frame sounds accelerated. MILLISECONDS PER SECOND This value is critical for the proper tempo of sequences. There SHOULD be 1000 milliseconds in a second. However, for CHORDMASTER's purposes this may appear to vary from machine to machine. When the AutoCalc feature is engaged CHORDMASTER attempts to set the ideal value for this settings. On faster machines this number should be close to 1000. However, on slower machines and in multi- tasking environments this value may have to be determined manually. To determine this value manually, disengage the AutoCalc feature, and load the TIMING.AXE sequence or some other piece with an easily measurable tempo and time. Adjust this value until the proper tempo is achieved. If this value is set manually, be sure to lock in the changes for future sessions by choosing OPTIONS - SAVE CONFIGURATION before exiting CHORDMASTER. - 15 - *** CHORDINGS MENU Use these menu selections to enter and resolve chord entries. CHORD ENTRY Use this selection to enter chords at CHORDMASTER's command line. This provides a wide variety of entry possibilities. See page 4 for a complete description of the Chord Entry syntax. CHORD ENTRY TABLE An interactive method of entering chords; the CHORD ENTRY TABLE provides an error proof way of exploring chord chemistry. See page 3 for more details. OVERLAY Allows entry of another chord, whose notes will appear in combination with those already on the active fretboard. On a color monitor, the results may be particularly revealing. SWITCH Opens a fretboard on the opposite half of the display. CLEAR Clears the active fretboard. DISPLAY Once a valid chord is entered on fretboard, individual chordings can be displayed. This can be accomplished by pressing a 'D' on the keyboard or selecting DISPLAY from the CHORDINGS submenu. During DISPLAY the following keys are active: <- and -> previous and next chords + and - to change play timing P repeat chord play ESC to quit DISPLAY MOUSE USERS : If mouse hardware is detected, buttons for some of the functions listed above will appear above the active fretboard. Simply click on the desired button to display chords. Use basic chord entries to test the DISPLAY system. If all attempts to DISPLAY result in file errors it is likely that CHORDMASTER is improperly installed. Be sure that the chord files (.CFD) in the CHORDS directory. - 16 - *** RESOLVE Analyzes the most recent chord entry; figuring synonyms, etc. Resolve is performed automatically when a chord is entered, so generally you would only use this selection to re-resolve a chord entry when the RESOLVE SETTINGS have been changed. See the discussion of RESOLVE on page 21. NOTE ENTRY Use note entry to identify an unknown chord. Enter the names of the notes, separated by a space. CHORDMASTER then attempts to identify the chord. Note entry is particularly easy with a mouse. Non-mouse users should use NOTE ENTRY under the CHORDINGS submenu. NOTE ENTRY with a mouse: Enter a chord's notes by clicking on the desired fret positions on the active fretboard. Clicking on a previously selected note will de-select it. Once the desired notes have been selected, click on the word PROCESS which will appear above the active fretboard. If the notes can be identified as a chord, its name will be displayed. The lowest note selected will be considered as the primary root for the resulting chord. INTERVALS This menu selection offers a choice between displaying notes on the fretboard by their musical names (i.e. A, F#, D, etc.), or by the number of the scale step that they represent in the selected chord. - 17 - *** TUNINGS MENU The TUNINGS menu allows for a quick change to STANDARD, OPEN A, OPEN C, OPEN D, OPEN E or OPEN G tunings; as well as CUSTOM TUNINGS, in which any string can be altered from the standard tuning up to four half steps in either direction. NOTE : Individual chord DISPLAY is only available for standard tuning. When a sequence is loaded and a tuning change is attempted, CHORDMASTER attempts to transpose the sequence into the desired tuning. If this is not possible, the existing sequence must be cleared or the sequence window must be closed. When a newly loaded sequence does not match the current fretboard tuning, the user may be given a choice to either retune the fretboard OR transpose the sequence. NOTE: Attempted transpositions are of the rudimentary "string by string" method, and may make the piece more difficult to finger. AUDIO TRANSPOSE Use this transpose setting to affect the pitch of tones sounded in CHORDMASTER. This does not change the key of the song or the notes displayed by CHORDMASTER; only the pitch of notes played. Normally this setting is '0', indicating normal pitch (A=440). The available range for this setting is -14 thru +14. This provides enough range to accommodate bass lines as well as the '-1' step tuning used in many rock tunes (Hendrix, Van Halen, etc.). This setting is stored in CHORDMASTER's '.AXE' files, and is therefore implimented when these files are exported to the standard MIDI format. TUNER This menu selection accesses CHORDMASTER's guitar tuner. Start with the string you wish to tune and select SOUND to enable the tones. Select each tone (using arrow keys or mouse) and tones will sound. CYCLE will cause the tones to be repeated every few seconds. Tones will depend on the currently selected tuning and audio transpose settings. - 18 - *** OPTIONS MENU DISPLAY SETUP This menu selection brings up the DISPLAY SETUP menu. The DISPLAY SETUP menu allows the user to specify the fret range, strings, and number of notes allowed for the chords to be displayed. Move from from field to field by pressing the up or down arrow keys, TAB or ENTER. When the setup is as desired press F7 to save. Press ESC to exit and ignore changes. For each STRING use the SPACEBAR to indicate whether it should be used for DISPLAY. If too many strings are disabled an error message will appear. The number of strings required will vary according to the formula of the most recently entered chord. Specify the fret range over which chords should be displayed by adjusting the LOW FRET and HIGH FRET entries. Remember, not more than 16 frets can be diplayed at one time. However, individual chordings may be displayed over a smaller range of frets. Select the MINIMUM and MAXIMUM number of notes in chords to be displayed. The MAXIMUM number of notes depends on how many strings are used, the MINIMUM limit is determined by the formula of the chord. Select which tone in the chord should be the BASS NOTE. Most commonly '1' would be entered to select the root note as the bass. However, more chords will be displayed if '0' is entered, indicating no preference. The NOTE BLINK selection toggles the blinking of notes in a chord as they are displayed. MOUSE USERS : Click on a field to move cursor, click on a command to execute it. PLAY SETTINGS The PLAY SETTINGS menu accesses options that affect when and how sounds are played by CHORDMASTER. By default CHORDMASTER plays tones through the systems internal speaker when chords are entered or displayed. Optionally, chords can be sounded through a MIDI device or sound card. Output from CHORDMASTER's sequencer can onlly be played through a MIDI device or sound card. PLAY EVENTS PLAY ON ENTRY - This selection allows the user to enable/disable the sounding of notes when a chord is entered. PLAY ON DISPLAY - This selection allows the user to enable/disable the sounding of notes in DISPLAY mode. - 19 - *** PLAY TIMINGS STRUM - The separation between notes in a sounded chord. LENGTH - The length of time the the chord sounds. SOUND OUTPUT OPTIONS Sounds can be played through a MIDI device and/or Sound Card, by enabling these via the appropriate Check Boxes. If either of these devices exist, additional menus will be available. Press 'F2' for MIDI settings or 'F3' to set instruments for a Sound Card. These settings become the default settings for songs created in CHORDMASTER's Tab View Sequencer. MIDI SETTINGS SEND PATCH DATA - Use this check box to force the indicated patch to be sent to your MIDI device. LOWEST PATCH - Some midi devices use 'zero'-based patches, while others use 'one'-based patches. Select the the setting that best suits your needs. PATCH DATA - Set the desired patch number to be transmitted to the MIDI device prior to playing. KEY VELOCITY - Set the MIDI key velocity as desired. The default is 127. LOWEST MIDI CH - While the MIDI specification describes numbers '0 - 15' for MIDI channel numbers, most devices use numbers '1 - 16'. Specify the desired scheme here. The default is '1'. MIDI CHANNEL - Specify which channel MIDI data should be sent on. Use numbers '0 - 15' or '1 - 16' depending on the setting of the LOWEST MIDI CHANNEL selection. SOUND CARD INSTRUMENTS Use this selection menu to tryout and/or select different instrument sounds when using a Sound Card. The selection list appears with the currently selected instrument hi-lited. If a new instrument can be tested by selecting it from the list and using 'T' to play a test chord. NOTE : Sound Card output must have been enabled in the previous menu for a chord to be played. Once the desired selection has been made, it may be locked for future sessions by using the SAVE CONFIGURATION item under the OPTIONS menu. - 20 - *** RESOLVE SETTINGS The RESOLVE drop-down menu consists of selections that control the way chordings are resolved and displayed. RESOLVE performs two important functions. First, RESOLVE can take an awkward chord entry and show a more eloquent method of achieving the same result. For instance, if you entered 'A MIN /2 /7', RESOLVE would "correct" your entry by responding with 'A MIN9'. This is a useful educational tool, helping to reinforce the user's understanding of chord chemistry. Secondly, RESOLVE's perform is critical to the DISPLAY of individual chordings. This is very important, so it should be emphasized that DISPLAY WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR A CHORD UNLESS IT IS RESOLVED TO A CHORD WITH A ROOT, AND A CHORD FILE EXISTS FOR AT LEAST ONE RESOLUTION. RESOLVE is capable of revealing chord synonyms. Factory settings limit the RESOLVE line display to three resolutions, but by altering these settings up to five synonyms or near matches can be displayed. These synonyms may or may not include NOROOT chords depending on the settings. This has implications in DISPLAY mode; if a chord is resolved to more than one perfect match by RESOLVE, chord library files for both chords would be combined and the resulting chordings DISPLAYed. While this increase in DISPLAYed chordings is usually modest, it does provide a means by which NOROOT chords can be DISPLAYed, despite the fact that no chord library files exist for them. To see this mechanism in action use the RESOLVE dropdown menu to set RESOLVE as follows DISPLAY ON, SET COUNT=2, PERFECT ONLY ON and NO ROOT OFF. Obtain a clear fretboard for entry and enter 'A MIN6'. The RESOLVE line now indicates 'A MIN6 F#MIN7 -5'. Upon DISPLAY files for both chords will be opened and combined for more chordings. Here's a description of the RESOLVE setup functions: RESOLVE COUNT - Sets the number of resolutions RESOLVE will attempt to achieve. SHOW RESOLVE LINE - Enables or disables the display of the resolve line. Either way RESOLVE still occurs and the results affect DISPLAY. RESOLVE NO ROOT - This setting decides whether NOROOT chords will be resolved. RESOLVE NO3RD/NO5TH - This menu selection allows chords (with 4 or more notes in their formula) that are missing a 3rd and/or 5th to be considered as chord synonyms during resolution. This considerably broadens the resolve count and helps in proper resolution of unknown inputs, as complex chords are typically missing a 3rd, 5th or root. PERFECT ONLY - This setting decides whether or not non-perfect chord synonyms will be resolved. On the resolve line perfect synonyms are shown in reverse video. - 21 - *** SAVE CONFIGURATION The selection saves information about current program settings in a file called CHORD.CFG. The settings saved in this file are restored every time the program is started. FACTORY SETTINGS Restores program settings to the original settings distributed with the program. - 22 - ***