Copyright: Copyright (c)1999 Fast&Soft


Index
EARPOWER Index

Copyright ©1996-1999 Fast&Soft

1. How to Register

2. What this program does

3. Music and ear training

4. Special features

5.The Interface

Melody

Rhythm

Intervals

Harmony

6. MIDI

7. Microphone

8. Options

9. Troubleshooting, Tips, Keyboard

10.Connect to the Ear Training WebSite


How to Register

The fee is US $25.

If you got the demo, not the full version of Ear Power,

then you need the registration number, which is

rather some sort of a password.

After you type this number at the beginning, the demo

will become the real program. The registration

window will not appear anymore.

There are several ways to get this number:

1.Internet

2.Phone

3.Regular mail (US, Denmark, Germany)

What else you will get as a registered user:

1. A copy of a little utility - Ear Steady, which

will help you with the rhythm, to keep a  steady beat at different tempos.

2.Free future upgrades for either Ear Power or Ear Steady.

3.Technical support. Send e-mail to

sheep13@aol.com

or visit the Ear Training WebSite.

Back to Contents


If you have a Web browser installed

You can safely use your credit card to pay

the $25 registration fee, over the Internet, to

1. Public Software Library - click HERE

Or start your browser and go to

http://www.pslweb.com/cgi-win/psl_ord.exe/ITEM14915

or to

2. 	Soft Shop

Or start your browser and go to

http://www.soft-shop.com/cgi-bin/order.html?13371+91565107957

How to Register


1. CREDIT CARD ORDERS - US $25.
CREDIT CARD ORDERS - US $25.

Product number is #14915.

You can order with MC, Visa, Amex, or Discover

from Public (software) Library by calling

800-2424-775 ext. 14915 in USA

7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. CST Monday-Thursday and

7:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Friday.

Ask for product #14915.

or 713-524-6394 ext. 14915 from other countries

or by FAX to 713-524-6398

or by CIS Email to 71355,470.

You can also mail credit card orders to PsL

at P.O.Box 35705, Houston, TX 77235-5705.

THE ABOVE NUMBERS ARE FOR CREDIT CARD

ORDERS ONLY. THE AUTHOR OF THIS PROGRAM

CANNOT BE REACHED AT THESE NUMBERS.

Any questions about product details, technical

support, volume discounts, dealer pricing,

site licenses, non-credit card orders, etc, must

be directed to Sheep13@aol.com.

To insure that you get the latest version, PsL will

notify us the day of your order and we will send you

the registration number right away, either by regular

mail or, more convenient, e-mail, if you have an

e-mail address.

How to Register


By regular mail
Registration by regular mail

send a $25 check or money order to:

Nick Baciu

402 Onderdonk Ave. #1R

Ridgewood, NY 11385

USA

or

(in Denmark)

Bo Knudsen

Søbredden 6, Svogerslev

4000 Roskilde

Denmark

tlf: 46 38 43 36

på giro: 1-663-7920

or

(in Germany)

Günter Riemann

Beim Spieker 71

28865 Lilienthal

Deutschland

and we will send you this secret number either by regular mail or, more convenient, e-mail, if you have an e-mail address.

How to Register


What this program does

The computer will play random sounds,

(melody, rhythm or harmony), and you are

supposed to play back what you hear.

Use the piano on the screen or select from the menu

(Input) either guitar, microphone, notation or by name.

Then your response will be evaluated as

correct or wrong. If correct - the computer will

continue with a next shot, otherwise will wait until

you get it right or press the NEW button.

Select the dificculty level yourself - from

Beginner up to Excellent - or let the computer

measure your skills. For this you should click on the

TEST button.

This program will help you determine

your musical abilities and improve them.

Back to Contents


T

Troubleshooting

Tips

Keyboard shortcuts

Back to Contents


Troubleshooting
Basic troubleshooting

Crash soon after start

No sound

Program is sluggish

Colors messed up

Microphone - no response

I receive the error: "Wave device cannot open!"

On the mic screen the indicator is too jumpy.

Midi - hanging sounds

Tips, Keyboard


Midi - hanging sounds

In case you get hanging sounds, press the 'Esc' key to stop them.

Some sound cards may not support well both Midi and Wave, so the

vocal comments ('good!', 'wrong!', etc) should be disabled from menu-

Options-General.


Crash
Crash - one of the files may be corrupted.

Delete EarPower directory and reinstall the program.

Get the latest version from www.EarPower.com

If it still crashes, please reinstall your sound card driver.


No sound
No sound - go to menu-Options-Midi and select other

MIDI out devices beside Midi Mapper. Check also the MIDI volume.

If still no sound usually the sound card needs to be reinstalled.

Sometimes the wave device works but not the MIDI.


Program is sluggish

too slow and delayed?

Go to menu-Options-Midi and select a different MIDI Out port;

this may solve the problem.


Colors
Colors - sometimes colors get distorted with the 256 colors

systems. Solutions: minimize-maximize the program's window or change

the display to 65k (16 bit) colors.


Microphone
Microphone - if the indicator does not move, check the

recording volume of the sound card. Try another voice recording program.

You may need a different microphone.

- try other program which uses the Wave device ( a sound recorder).

If it doesn't work the sound card driver may need to be

reinstalled, or you may need a different microphone.

- close any other program which may use the microphone.

- check the wave recording volume, it might be too low

(for Win95 click the right mouse button on the

little speaker from the Task-Bar and select

"Adjust Audio Properties")


I sing the correct pitch but the indicator

is moving back and forth a lot.

The microphone picks up too much of the background noise.

- turn the filter level higher and lower the recording volume a bit;

- use an unidirectional mike (not an omni directional);

try www.ComputerGate.com;

- sing or hum softly - don't blow too much air into the mike.

Try using certain vowels ("OO" or "AAh" are better

than "EE")

- some microphones are not sensitive to low pitch, so Basses and

Baritones may need to select Tenor from "Mic Settings" and

sing one octave higher (using falsetto).


Wave device cannot open

- close any other program which may use the microphone

and restart EarPower.

- some sound cards (particularly  AWE 64) seem to have

an aversion towards this program. Solution: go to 'Options'

and change the MIDI out port; do not use the Midi Mapper or

the Wave Table but the Synth device. Then restart EarPower;

this may help.


A few tips

- Make a habit to practice everyday. Short daily sessions are

better than lot of practice once in a while. The results will

become obvious after several weeks.

- The best way to practice pitch is with the voice, hopefully

the microphone works fine.

- For each section (melody, rhythm, intervals and chords)

you can select different drill types (from menu-Options):

recognition, imitation and creativity (or writing music) drills.

This way you can configure the program in many possible ways.

Save these configurations and create various practice sessions.

- For each section (melody, rhythm, intervals and chords)

you can select different input methods: on-screen piano (or

guitar), mic, notation or by name. This adds to the drills variety

and makes it less boring.

- Here is a great way to learn the notes on your favorite instrument:

if you have a MIDI keyboard, or other MIDI instrument, select

the Notation screen and every note you play will be shown on the

screen's staff.

- You can practice also with an acoustic instrument using

the microphone.There is some inconvenience though.

The 'Evaluate' button is hard to reach so you can press

instead the right mouse buton (maybe with the toe :))

Anyway, this new version provides a better way:

from menu-Options-Microphone select 'holding', which

means you'll have to hold steadily a note for about a second,

and the computer will evaluate it then.

- If you encounter a difficult rhythm and consider it is worth

to  study it, just press F5 key and the computer will start

playing this pattern repeatedly; you can play it along

trying to keep it up; after a while press F6, the computer

will be mute and you do it alone, checking visually the movement

along the graphic figures at the bottom of the window.

- A good way to practice rhythm: select a pattern and play (or

sing) a scale or any melodic phrase along with that rhythm

repeatedly ('Repetitive' mode).

- Create custom scales, rhythms or chords according to

any desired music style. It's better to back up the following files:

'scales.epc', 'melodies.epc', 'patterns.epc', and 'chords.epc';

in case of reinstalling Earpower, you can still use the

custom drills from these files.

Troubleshooting, Keyboard


Keyboard shortcuts

General

Esc = panic button. Cut possible hanging sounds.

Ctrl = repeat the question.

Enter=confirm the answer.

F1 = Use random timbre (toggle on-off).

Melody section

You may play on the computer keyboard the following notes

(for the guitar screen sounds lower than C will be missing)

   2 = c#,  3 =d#, 4=f,  5=f#, 6=g#, 7=a#, 8=c', 9=c'#, 0=d'#

 Q = c,  W = d,  E =e, R=f,  T=g, Y=a, U=b, I=c', O=d', P=e'

   S = C#,  D = D#,  F =F, G=F#,  H=G#, J=A#

  Z = C,  X = D,  C =E, V=F,  B=G, N=A, M=B

and press 'Enter' to confirm finding the right note.

Rhythm section

Shift = change MIDI channel (10 or 16)

Delete = After a bad start, press 'Delete' before the computer

estimates the wrong answer.

F5 = loop the pattern and play along (toggle on-off).

F6 = when playing a loop, mute the computer volume (toggle on-off).

Interval section

you may try to find the correct interval (intervals' names screen only)

on the computer keyboard as follows:

2 = minor second;	Shift+2 = major second;

3 = minor third;	Shift+3 = major third;

4 = perfect fourth;	Shift+4 = augmented fourth;

5 = fifth;

6 = minor sixth;	Shift+6 = major sixth;

7 = minor seventh;	Shift+7 = major seventh;

8 = eighth.

Troubleshooting, Tips


About Ear Training

      This program is designed to help anyone who

has any interest in music,at any level, from those who

like to sing a little or play with an instrument up to

well achieved professionals who want to improve their skills.

Music students should know how important ear training

is for their development. Also experienced professionals

still need to stay in shape, especially with the rhythm.

Even those not interested in music should realize that a

"tone-deaf" ear will somehow affect their personality as a

whole.

      The very first requirement for a

musician is to be able to imitate sounds.

You hear sounds in your imagination or

from the outside world. You should be able to

replay those sounds using your voice or an

instrument, and this is the real task for any

player or composer.

Technically this is what "making music" means.

Musicianship starts here.

A professional musician, especially one with the perfect

pitch may consider this as childish. In fact even a pro

should strive to improve the ability to memorize and

replay sophisticated rhythm patterns. This contributes

a lot to better musical phrasing.

Of course, music comes from the soul, it is

not a mere juggling with sounds, but many times

players from a lower spirituality platform look better

just because they have - a good ear-, and a common

misconception is that this cannot be improved.

The author of this program has plenty of experience

and I can assure you that the attentive ear can be

improved to the highest levels, even for someone

considered tone-deaf. It requires a lot of practice and

discipline, of course.

                          x   x   x

It doesn't make sense for somebody to learn

how to read music or play a musical instrument, and not

be able to imitate sounds with the voice or the instrument.

      Being able to reproduce anything you hear,

related to pitch or rhythm,  is what the program is

trying to improve. It's simple: the computer

will play something randomly and you have

to play (or sing) back exactly what you heard.

Interactive indeed, the computer will

estimate your answer and it will continue

accordingly.

      Besides being fast, compact,

comprehensive and discreetly helpful,

this program is indeed musician friendly.

      This package was designed to help you improve

your natural ear. No music theory is involved.

      The computer becomes your partner in ear

training, playing for you random sounds, intervals,

rhythm patterns, melodic lines, chords, and all you

have to do is to guess which is which. Your

response will be impartially evaluated by the

computer.

      This program is very easy to use. The goal is

to help you improve your natural listening abilities to the

point where you will be able to reproduce any sound

you hear. And this is actually the bottom line of real

musicianship, in a technical sense, of course; not

talking about the spiritual dimensions here.

      It is not easy to practice these things. It requires a lot of discipline.

All the other ear training programs

we've checked have their merits, but they lack

something most important: MUSICIAN FRIENDLINESS.

       That's why we tried to make this program as

easy to use as possible, so you can practice daily.

        The best part of the program is the rhythm

section which will help you improve the ability to deal

with rhythm patterns, which in fact, are the framework of

music. Very few people, even among pros, are able

to memorize and replay some intricate rhythm patterns.

       Also, using a microphone you can check and

improve the pitch accuracy of your voice.

Back to Contents


Special features

There are several important features within Ear Power,

which make this program unique:

1.Voice pitch recognition using a microphone.

The computer plays one or more sounds randomly,

then the user has to sing each note into the

microphone and the computer will estimate how

accurate the pitch of the user is.

2.Learn to recognize sounds, imitate and create.

From the menu-Options you can select what type

of drills you prefer for each section; the program offers a wide

variety of drills organized along these 3 areas of musicianship:

recognition, imitation and creativity; for instance if you select

'create' harmonic drills, the computer will play a note and you

will be required to construct a certain chord containing that note, etc…

3.Sophisticated rhythm drills.

The computer will play a random rhythm pattern and

the user has to play it back either on the keyboard's

Space-bar or a MIDI instrument. Then the computer

will calculate how accurately the rhythm was played

regarding the duration and tempo.

Also, in order to improve the execution of a certain pattern,

you can play it repeatedly, alone or in parralel with the

computer, with or without the metronome.

Also available rhythm dictation and reading drills.

4.The possibility to create custom

melodic drills, custom rhythm patterns and

any kind of chord of up to six notes, for specific

drills, according to the music style desired.

This is a feature especially useful for educators who

want to customize specific drills for each student.

5.Simple but efficient music reading drills

based on one note at a time. When you play a note

on the instrument (on-screen) of choice -guitar or piano-

it shows what note it is and also how it looks on the score in

either the G clef or the F clef.

Also, if you have a MIDI keyboard, select the Notation screen

and every note you play  you can see it on the screen's staff.

 Back to Contents


The Interface

For more details about each section see either:

Melody, Rhythm, Intervals or Harmony.

NEW button - click on it to hear a new sound,

melody, rhythm pattern, interval or chord -

depending on  what section is selected.

REPEAT - click on it to hear the previous drill.

(CTRL key from keyboard does the same).

TEST - after you click on this button it will start

blinking, which means the computer is testing

your skill level, starting with melody, rhythm, etc.

During this procedure you cannot change

the levels or the drill section. To leave the

Test mode click the Test button again.

According to your responses, the computer

will change the difficulty levels and after a few tries

it will skip automatically to the next section, until

you reach the last section - Harmony.

Then it will show you the result, and this

will be saved as the new configuration.

The next time you start the program, for each

section you will have a different difficulty level, according to

the skills detected.

For instance someone may score Excellent

for melody, but less than average for rhythm.

Of course, in the practice mode you can select

any level you want anyway.

The test results may not be that accurate.

It depends on many factors. But you should try the

test more often and then your strong and weak points

will be quite obvious.

INPUT buttons - you can select up to 5 different

screens to input your answer: either piano

or guitar (on the screen),  notation staff, by name or

microphone as an external input.

An external MIDI instrument can be used at any

time, also the computer keyboard.

Back to Contents


Microphone

This is the best way to practice ear training.

Unfortunately it depends entirely on the quality of the

microphone, coarseness of voice, sound-card settings,

computer speed, etc.

1. How it works: Select Microphone from the menu.

Sing a long note in front of your mic and the indicator

on the screen scale will move accordingly. You can

use the little keyboard as reference instead of a pitch

fork. You may notice that when singing a scale, the voice

tends to go off pitch, partly because of the tempered

tuning, a well known problem.

For the higher notes you can control better the

intonation; the indicator will show fractions of a tone

smaller than the half-tone.

To match any of the sounds played by the computer:

    -press the EVALUATE button;

    -sing the note until the indicator gets to the position;

    -release the EVALUATE button;

For the advanced levels the computer will play a melodic

line made of 2 up to 7 notes; follow the above procedure

for each of the notes.

Under the rhythm section the mic is very difficult to use;

it is unlikely that you will get correct answers unless you

will sing very accurately short syllables; adjust the noise

filter by raising the cursor if necessary.

2. Options: you may want to choose the evaluate by

holding the note option, but first make sure the background

noise is under control, otherwise the needle moves and that

will be considered as a wrong answer. Reduce the noise from

the 'Filter' control: increase the filter so the computer will

disregard the accidental noises.

Also select your voice range, so the

computer will play the drills within that range.

3. Requirements: at least a 486DX or anything with a

Math Coprocessor. Also the microphone should be either

-condenser- those cheap mics with a stereo jack or

-dynamic - with a mono jack, but in this case you need

a good one, uni directional.

       We tried several mics and the condenser performed

the best, even cheap ones..

With a dynamic microphone the lower notes were read

inaccurately. In this case a baritone should sing one

octave higher, using falsetto.

Also, depending on the computer speed, it may take up

to 1 second to get the reading, so you should sing

slowly longer notes.

A good place to get inexpensive mics is

www.ComputerGate.com

The voice quality is also important; ring a pitch-fork

in front of the microphone and the reading will be

100% accurate.

4. Using acoustic instruments: this is another great

feature of this program. If your microphone reads

properly set it near your instrument (piano, acoustic

guitar, horn etc.). The only inconvenience is that you

cannot use the mouse to press the EVALUATE button,

instead put it on the floor and press the Right button

with your toe (regardless of the pointer position).

(This idea came from Richard Webster, horn player).

Now, with the new version, you can select another way;

from 'Mic Settings' check the 'by holding' button; this

means that you have to hold a certain sound steadily

and the program will estimate it after a short while.

Back to Contents


      MIDI

      Instead of the instrument drawn on the

screen, any MIDI instrument  can also be used.

      Rhythm on Midi is especially useful if you have a Midi

guitar or drum. Play the pattern composed by the

computer and then wait a second.

      On the other sections, any note you

touch is considered to be the response. This

will be no problem for those who possess perfect

or good relative pitch. But also you can select from

Options-Midi  to use control keys, this way a note will be

evaluated only after you touch a certain key; select these

control keys at one end of your Midi keyboard, depending

of its range.

Here is a great way to learn the notes on your favorite instrument:

if you have a MIDI keyboard, or other MIDI instrument, select

the Notation screen and every note you play will be shown on the

screen's staff.

In case you get hanging sounds, press the 'Esc' key to stop them.

Some sound cards may not support well both Midi and Wave, so the

vocal comments ('good!', 'wrong!', etc) should be disabled from menu-

Options-General.

Back to Contents


Melody

1. How it works:  Select the desired instrument from

the menu, unless you use a MIDI instrument.

Play with the left mouse on the instrument selected

(piano or guitar) until you recognize the sound played

by the computer and click the right mouse button on that

note (or press Enter) to verify. Or sing that note into the

 microphone , if there is one.

      If more advanced, you can play directly with the right

mouse button; any note you touch is considered to be the

response.

2. Levels: for the advanced levels the computer

will play a melodic line made of 2 up to 7 notes ( or

you can cahnge that from Options-Melody); follow

the above procedure for each of the notes.

At the Excellent level, the melodic line played by the

computer has a rhythmic feel also, but you do not need

to play back it rhythmically, just the notes, one by one.

For the less than average levels the computer will

show each note of the selected scale on the piano

or guitar on screen.

      This way it should be easier to find the note

without too many errors and it is also a useful

practice scheme.

3. Drill notes selection: you can select

which notes you would like for pitch drills. This works

only for the 'input by name' screen.

The computer will play random notes out of those selected only.

This adds a great deal of configurability to the 'Melody' section.

You can quickly create any scales, arpeggios,  increase or

decrease the number of notes available for drill.

4. Timbre:

a)From the start the instrument on the

screen will play with a piano sound or guitar; to add

some variety you can change that from Options-Sound.

b)The computer will play random notes with same timbre

as the instrument on the screen.

If you want to change this, so the timbre should

be different each time, press the F1 key.

5.Configure.

From menu-Options-Melody you can select any scale,  key,

length of the melodic line, how many notes and the duration

of each note;

also choose

a) if the computer will create

random melodic lines or will use custom melodies,

b) randomly or

c) one custom line in particular.

And then you can create your own custom melodic lines .

Back to Contents


Create custom melodic lines

You can create different custom melodic lines for each level

of difficulty; changing the level will update the list of existing

melodies.

New melody- click the right mouse on the desired notes,

and then type a name and save it as a new melody; or

Edit old melodies- select any melody from the list,

change either the name or the notes and save it to

replace the old melody.

If you change both name and notes, it will be saved as a new

melody.

In order to have the computer play custom melodic drills

go to menu-Options-Melody and select either

the 2nd option

a) 'Custom melodies' to hear them randomly or

the 3rd option

b) one particular melody from the list.

The custom melody will be saved on a file called 'melodies.epc'

from the Earpower folder. It's better to back up this file;

in case of reinstalling Earpower, replace the new 'melodies.epc'

with the back up so you can still use the

custom melodies you created and saved on this file.

Back to Melody

Back to Options


 Rhythm

1.Play.Hit on the Space-bar of your computer

keyboard (or on a MIDI instrument) and play the

rhythm pattern composed by the computer. After

that press Enter or simply wait one second and the

computer will compare your pattern with the original.

On the bottom of the screen you can see the original

rhythm shown as simple graphic figures, where the

upper parts represent how much tolerance is permitted.

Then the pattern which you played will be represented

as some sticks aligned along the original figures. You

will be able to check visually your performance.

Under the rhythm section the mic is very difficult to use;

it is unlikely that you will get correct answers unless you

will sing very accurately short syllables; adjust the noise

filter by raising the cursor if necessary.

2.Sound problem. If not able to hear anything, or the

sound does not ressemble a drum (and a soundcard

is present) then try to change the sound by pressing

Shift on your computer keyboard. This may correct

the problem which occurs due to different MIDI sound

configurations.

3.Change speed. If the rhythm played by the

computer seems to be incomprehensible you can

play it back at a lower speed. Move the left cursor

of the metronome to a lower tempo and press

Repeat (or CTRL key) to hear how it sounds played

slowly. It is a good method to study the patterns.

4.Test mode. On the test mode you will be permitted

to try the same pattern twice.

Also you can use a little trick. Anytime you make a

mistake in playing that pattern, quickly press

the Delete key (or the CTRL key which does the same

as  the Repeat button) and then restart playing it.

5.Options. From the menu-Options-Rhythm you can

select the drill type (imitate, write, read), the sound, the

rhythm units which will be used to create random patterns.

Also choose a) if the computer will create

random rhythm patterns or will use custom patterns, b) randomly or

c) one custom pattern in particular.

Besides imitation drills, in order to improve

the execution of a certain pattern, you can play it repeatedly,

alone or in parallel with the computer, with or without the

 metronome.

And then you can create your own custom patterns .

Back to Contents


Create custom rhythm patterns

You can create different custom patterns for each level

of difficulty; changing the level will update the list of existing

patterns.

New patterns- click the left mouse on certain rhythm units,

each of which counts as one beat, and then

type a name and save it as a new pattern; or

Edit old patterns- select any pattern from the list,

change either the name or the structure and save it to

replace the old pattern.

If you change both name and notes, it will be saved as a new

pattern.

In order to have the computer play custom rhythm drills

go to menu-Options-Rhythm and select either

the 2nd option

a) 'Custom patterns' to hear them randomly or

the 3rd option

b) one particular pattern from the list.

The custom rhythms will be saved on a file called 'patterns.epc'

from the Earpower folder. It's better to back up this file;

in case of reinstalling Earpower, replace the new 'patterns.epc'

with the back up so you can still use the

custom rhythms you created and saved on this file.

Back to Rhythm

Back to Options


Intervals

1.How it works. (on the 'input by name' screen).

The computer plays a melodic or

harmonic interval. You have to click the right mouse

button on one of the selected boxes. This is the way

to tell the computer which interval you guessed.

(Or you can use the left mouse button and Enter.)

If the difficulty level is 'Average' or lower you can

hear how a specific interval sounds by clicking

on it with the left mouse button.

Also for the levels 'Average' or lower, the intervals

will be either ascending or descending, depending what

you select on the 'Options'.

2.Options. You can check only the intervals

which you want to practice with. The computer

will play randomly an interval out of those selected

only. For instance, if you find it difficult to recognize

a fourth from a fifth, select only these two boxes

and the computer will play randomly only a fourth

or a fifth.

Also you can select the prefered type of drill:

a) recognize an interval, b) hear a harmonic interval

and write or play (or sing) its notes and c) create

intervals on certain notes (this is especially useful

for a second singer when trying to double at thirds,

or other intervals).

3.No theory. Many people, even among musicians,

may not know too much about what intervals are,

however this type of training should be useful to

them too. And they need it. Anybody should be

able to recognize consonance from dissonance,

without getting into any theoretical detail.

Back to Contents


Harmony

1.How it works. (on the 'input by name' screen).

The computer plays one chord.

You have to click the right mouse button on one

of the selected boxes. This is the way to tell the

computer which chord you guessed.

(Or you can use the left mouse button and Enter.)

If the difficulty level is Average or lower you can

hear how a specific chord sounds by clicking

on it with the left mouse button.

   At the Average level this can be misleading

because the chord may be higher or lower than

the original. But at the levels lower than average

you can in fact compare the chords and decide

which is which.

2.Options: you can select the prefered type of drill:

a) recognize a chord, b) hear a random chord

and write or play (or sing) its notes and c) create

chords on certain notes (this is especially useful

for a composer).

Also you can select which chords you need

to practice, and the computer will play randomly only

those which were selected.

For instance if you have difficulty recognizing major

from minor chords, you can uncheck all the others

and the computer will play only major or minor

chords, randomly.

There are 30 chords available, plus

30 more chords which can be designed as you wish .

So if you prefer piano you'll have a total of 60 chords to

practice with;

same for the guitarist : 60 more (30 +30 custom) guitar chords.

A total of 120 chords are available for harmony practice.

Quite plenty.

3.No theory. Many people, even among musicians,

may not know too much about harmony,

however this type of training should be useful to

them too. And they need it. Anybody should be

able to recognize consonance from dissonance,

without getting into any theoretical detail.

Back to Contents


New chords construction site:

      You can design your own chords, according to the favorite music style, and save them.

This is how it works:

- click the mouse on any chord you want replaced;

- design a new chord ( up to 6 notes ) on the

instrument selected from menu (piano or guitar);

- press 'Play' to hear how it sounds;

- rename the new chord and press 'Enter' or

'Save'.

There are 30 possible piano custom chords, and 30 for guitar.

In order to have the computer play custom chords

go to menu-Options-Chords and select 'Custom chords'

as opposed to 'Original chords' (provided with the program).

The custom chords will be saved on a file called 'chords.epc'

from the Earpower folder. It's better to back up this file;

in case of reinstalling Earpower, replace the new 'chords.epc'

with the back up so you can still use the

custom chords you created and saved on this file.

Back to Harmony

Back to Options


Options

Ear Power is a very configurable program. An excellent toy, turn it any way you like and you'll find more and more ways to train your musical abilities.

You can save any new option settings as a *.c30 file from menu-File-Save Configuration command.

A music teacher can use these configuration settings as profiles for different students.

Ear Power comes with a small list of configuration files; each will provide various different ways to practice: sing on all 4 sections (melody, rhythm, etc.), all piano, or guitar, imitation drills, dictation, etc..

General

Sound

Midi

Microphone

Melody

Rhythm

Intervals

Harmony

Custom Scales

Custom Melodies

Custom Rhythms

Custom Chords

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Options - MIDI

You should change the Midi Out port in case the program is

sluggish or the microphone isn't responding.

Also there is an option to choose using control keys; in case

you have a Midi keyboard or other Midi instrument, any note you

touch is considered to be the response. This

will be no problem for those who possess perfect

or good relative pitch. Otherwise you may choose

to use control keys, this way a note will be

evaluated only after you touch a certain key;

select these control keys at one end of your Midi keyboard,

depending of its range.

Back to Options


Options - General

Intro - the introductory part with the falling keyboard and the rest,

may become annoying to see each time you start Ear Power, so

turn it off.

Vocal comments - turn this feature off, if annoying;

A tip: you can record your own comments, replacing the wave files

"good.wav", "wrong.wav", etc., from the Earpower folder.

Auto-Start - after a correct answer the computer will play a new

question automatically, but if you prefer to insist on a specific drill,

turn this option off and click the 'New' button when ready to have a new drill.

Levels - select to use the levels you prefer - for each section (melody, rhtythm..),

or the levels resulted from a previous 'test' session.

Accidentals - choose sharps if you prefer to see

C#, D#, F#, G#, A#,

or flats for

Db, Eb, Gb, Ab, Bb

In a way, they are the same notes: C# = Db, D# = Eb, etc.

Back to Options


Options - Sound

Computer Sound - the question will be played with this timbre.

Select either 'Random timbre' or one in particular.

My Sound - the timbre used by the on-screen piano (guitar), or

the Midi external instrument.

Back to Options


Options - Microphone

You may want to choose the evaluate by

holding the note option, but first make sure the background

noise is under control, otherwise the needle moves and that

will be considered as a wrong answer. Reduce the noise from

the 'Filter' control: increase the filter so the computer will

disregard the accidental noises.

Also select your voice range, so the

computer will play the drills within that range.

Turn off Midi - is an option you should choose if there is no

sound under the mic screen; some sound cards may not support

 a Midi port and a Wave port opened in the same time.

Back to Options


Options - Melody

Select drills which will improve your ability to:

a) 	recognize any tone and name it; this will be the

'by name' input screen;

b) 	imitate melody on piano, guitar or by singing

c) 	write music (dictation)

also choose

a) if the computer will create

random melodic lines or will use custom melodies,

b) random custom melodies or

c) one custom line in particular.

Also you can select any scale,  key, how many notes has

a melodic line, and the duration of each note.

Back to Options


Options - Rhythm

Here you can select the drill type for rhythm:

imitate, write, read;

Also, in order to improve

the execution of a certain pattern, you can play it repeatedly,

alone or in parallel with the computer, with or without the

 metronome.

Other options: select the sound (drum and metronom),

the rhythm units (different selection for each level)

which will be used to create random patterns.

Also choose

a) if the computer will create random rhythm patterns or

will use custom patterns,

b) random custom pattern or

c) one custom pattern in particular.

Back to Options


Options - Intervals

Here you can select the prefered type of drill:

a) 	recognize an interval,

b) 	imitate a harmonic interval (hear its component notes)

and then write or play (or sing) each note;

c)	create intervals on certain notes (this is especially useful

for a second singer when trying to double at thirds,

or other intervals).

Selections for each level:

you can check only the intervals

which you want to practice with. The computer

will play randomly an interval out of those selected

only. For instance, if you find it difficult to recognize

a fourth from a fifth, select only these two boxes

and the computer will play randomly only a fourth

or a fifth.

The 1st note of a melodic interval may be random or

one in particular - for lower levels is better to choose

the first note to be fixed.

Direction of melodic intervals - usually the descending

intervals are harder to recognize.

Back to Options


Options - Harmony

you can select the prefered type of drill:

a) 	recognize a chord,

b) 	imitate a random chord (hear its component notes)

and write or play (or sing) each note and

c)	create chords on certain notes (this is especially useful

for a composer).

Selections for each level:

you can select which chords you need

to practice, and the computer will play randomly only

those which were selected.

For instance if you have difficulty recognizing major

from minor chords, you can uncheck all the others

and the computer will play only major or minor

chords, randomly.

Choose the original chords provided with the program, or

the custom chords created by yourself.

All chords may be played on a fixed or random root.

Choose piano or guitar designed chords.

There are 30 chords available, plus 30 more chords

which can be designed as you wish;

So if you prefer piano you'll have a total of 60 chords to

practice with;

same for the guitarist : 60 more (30 +30 custom) guitar chords.

A total of 120 chords are available for harmony practice.

Back to Options


Options - Custom Scales

New scale- click the left mouse on the desired notes,

and then type a name and save it as a new scale; or

Edit existing scale- select any scale from the list,

change either the name or the notes and save it to

replace the old scale.

If you change both name and notes, it will be saved as a new

scale.

The custom scales will be saved on a file called 'scales.epc'

from the Earpower folder. It's better to back up this file;

in case of reinstalling Earpower, replace the new 'scales.epc'

with the back up so you can still use the

custom scales you created and saved on this file.

Back to Options