The Datafile PD-CD 5/DATAFILE_PDCD5.iso/demos/serenade/DemoNotes

Text File | 1995-04-19 | 10.5 KB | 232 lines

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#SERENADE (c) Clares Micro Supplies & Chris Parks 1993 #
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NOTE: This demonstration version of Serenade has no SAVE option implemented.
This demo disc may be copied and given to others provided no charge is made
and all the files are copied and are unaltered in any way. PD libraries may
supply this demo as long as they do not charge more than £2 for a single
disc inclucding P & P.

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Serenade is available NOW and costs £99.95 (inc VAT) from:

Clares Micro Supplies
98 Middlewich Road
Rudheath
Northwich
Cheshire
CW9 7DA

Tel: [phone]  or  Fax: [phone]

Contact Clares for details on their wide range of MUSIC software for the
Acorn RISC OS range of machines.

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Serenade is a 16 track MIDI sequencer for the range of Acorn RISC OS
machines. A great deal of effort has gone into creating a graphical user
interface that gives access to the power of Serenade without making it
complex to use.

Using Serenade and any MIDI keyboard you can create and manipulate music
with ease. The user interface has been designed to be as intuitive as
possible.

What do I need ?
================

Although Serenade can be used without MIDI in a limited way if you want to
get the best from it then you need a MIDI set up. The first thing that you
will need is a MIDI card for your computer. These currently come in two
forms; one for plugging in to a backplane on computers such as the 400
series, A5000 etc and the other for use in the internal expansion slot found
in the A3000, A3010, A3020 and A4000. If you do not have one of these Clares
can supply them.

In addition you will require a MIDI keyboard. Any type of MIDI keyboard will
work as long as it has a MIDI connector fitted.

The only other things that you need are the connecting cables to link
between the keyboard and the MIDI card in your computer. These can be bought
from any musical instrument store or your local Tandy. When connecting up
ensure that the cable from your keyboard MIDI Out socket is connected to the
MIDI In socket on your computer's MIDI card. Likewise the keyboard's MIDI In
should be connected to the MIDI Out of your computer's MIDI card.


Loading Serenade
================

Following the usual RISC-OS conventions, Serenade should be loaded by
double-clicking with Select on the Serenade Icon shown in the directory
viewer.

Once loaded, a single click on the icon opens the main editing and recording
window. A single click anywhere within the window gives Serenade the input
focus thus enabling you to enter data.


You are presented with a window containing various icons in three main
blocks down the left hand side, the representation of a piano style
keyboard, a numbered grid and a mode tools panel below this grid.

There are three ways of working called Modes. These are EDIT, RECORD and CUT
& PASTE. The default mode on starting the program is the Edit Mode which
allows the entry and manipulation of notes using the mouse. This and the
other modes are covered in detail later.

The Grid
========
Once notes have been entered they are shown on the grid as lines of
differing length and position.

The notes line up with the keyboard to the left of grid. The vertical
position of the lines represent the pitch of the note and the horizontal
position on the screen its relative timing. The numbers in the ruler, at the
top of the grid, and the horizontal divisions of the grid represent the
bars. The sub-divisions (vertical grey lines) are dependent upon the grid
values chosen, the default value is four divisions (beats) to the bar.

The current track is shown below the Functions panel at the bottom left of
the window. To change tracks click Select to move forward or Adjust to move
backward.

Recording a Song
================

Before recording you need to switch into the correct mode by clicking on the
Record/Play icon (Second one down) in the Mode Select Panel.

Selecting this mode changes the Mode Tools Panel to show the the relevant tools.



Before actually recording any music you need to set up the Metronome so that
you can play in time. This is done by clicking on the green Metronome icon.

Click on the arrows at the side of the Channel number until you hear a
percussion sound, check your keyboard's manual if you are unsure. Next click
on the arrows at the side of the Note number until you get a sound that
sounds like a metronome. The volume of the metronome can be altered by
clicking on the arrows at the side of the Level icon. When you have a sound
that you are happy with click on OK.

To record some music click on the Track Sheet icon, the big letter T, this
opens the Track Sheet window. Set track 1 to record by clicking on the icon
below the letter R. The Record icon turns red to indicate that the track is
ready to record.

Close the Track Sheet window and click on the red Rec (Record) button to
enter record mode. Note that this does not start recording immediately as
recording does not take place until you click on Play. The use of the Record
and Play buttons is similar to those on a tape recorder where you have to
depress both Record and Play to start recording. An info window informs you
which track you are recording on.

To initiate recording click on the Play button. The Metronome will play a
one bar count in, after which you can start playing. The default number of
bars that you can record is 32 but this can be increased using the Spanner
icon and the Insert Bars option which is the first icon in the Edit box.
When you have finished playing click on the Stop button.

To hear your masterpiece click on the Play button. If you do not hear
anything it is probably because your MIDI keyboard is set up to receive MIDI
data on a channel other than channel 1. To overcome this open the Track
Sheet window again by clicking in the T icon and whilst the track is playing
click on the Channel parameter to move from channel to channel until you
hear something.

Loading a MIDI file
===================

The demonstration file GYMNOPE1 only requires a piano voice so it is
suitable for use on single voice keyboards and multi-timbral keyboards.

To load the file open the directory called Demos.Classics.Piano and double
click on the GYMNOPE1 icon - we assume that you already have Serenade
loaded.

When it has loaded you will see that Track 1 is empty but tracks 2, 3 and 4
contain data. Bring up the track sheet by clicking on the T icon. Here you
can clearly see that tracks 2, 3 and 4 contain data. You should also note
that as you click on each track number all Instruments are set to Off in the
Parameters panel. This is because the file is set up to use the General MIDI
standard. The creator of these files has used Program Changes in the Event
List to set the instrument voices. If your keyboard is General MIDI
compatible then the song will play as it should. However, as your keyboard
is not multi-timbral it is unlikely to be General MIDI compatible.

To hear what this song sounds like on your keyboard go into Play/Record Mode
and click on the Play icon below the main grid. Most keyboards have a piano
on voice 0 and usually voice 1 as well so the piece will probably play
correctly on your keyboard. To understand what is happening click on the
Event List icon, to the right of the green Metronome icon, to see the
events for the currently selected track - which should be track 2. You can
change tracks by clicking with Select and Adjust on the number icon in the
top left of the Event List window.

If you look at the first line with white background you will see that in Bar
1 at Clock position 000 there is a Pc (Program change) to set Channel 1 to
use Instrument voice 0. In the General MIDI standard voice 0 is an Acoustic
Grand piano. The program change will set the track to use whatever
instrument is assigned to voice 0 on your keyboard.

If you want to use a different instrument when replaying you can do this in two ways:

Editing a Program Change
========================

To do this you click on the Program Change in the Event List. This puts the
data from that line into the cream Edit Line at the bottom of the list
window. Click on the value in Data1 to change it to the required value -
your keyboard handbook will have a list of voices assigned to each number.
When you have finished editing click on the Fix button at the top of the
Event List window. Now when you play the song this track will use the new
voice. These changes are saved with the file when you save it.

Setting the Instrument Parameter
================================

Open the Track Sheet by clicking on the T icon. Click on the Track number 3
to select track 3. Note that the Parameters panel has the Instrument set to
Off as the Program Change is used to select the instrument voice. However,
if you select an instrument by clicking on the button to the right of
Instrument, the panel below it shows the instrument name. Serenade will use
this Instrument setting to override any Program Changes used to change the
voice within the first bar. Note that any subsequent Pc's will be acted
upon.


It is important to note that setting values in the Track Sheet Parameters
panel does not change any data in the tracks. The values are applied to the
data as it is sent out to the MIDI instrument. Although these parameters are
stored in the MIDI file they are specific to Serenade and will be ignored by
other sequencers.

Other Files
===========

If you have a multi-timbral keyboard you might like to try loading some of
the other demonstration files that utilise more than one voice. The editing
and modifying is done in the same way except that you use different channels
for different voices.

Configuring Serenade for your keyboard
======================================

Serenade starts up configured to use a General MIDI compatible keyboard. If
your keyboard does not conform to this standard you need to re-configure
Serenade by loading a new Patch file. A Patch file is simply a list of the
instruments available on your keyboard.

The Patches directory on the Serenade program disc contains Patch files for
several keyboards. The file PatchInfo contains a list of the patches
currently supplied, together with the keyboards they support. If your
keyboard is not listed try one from the same manufacturer. If this does not
work modify one of the existing ones to list your keyboard's instruments.

There are many more features in Serenade but it is not possible to document
the program fully in these notes.