VocalEasel/mma/docs/html/ref/node20.html

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN">

<!--Converted with LaTeX2HTML 2002-2-1 (1.71)
original version by:  Nikos Drakos, CBLU, University of Leeds
* revised and updated by:  Marcus Hennecke, Ross Moore, Herb Swan
* with significant contributions from:
  Jens Lippmann, Marek Rouchal, Martin Wilck and others -->
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Fine Tuning (Translations)</TITLE>
<META NAME="description" CONTENT="Fine Tuning (Translations)">
<META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="mma">
<META NAME="resource-type" CONTENT="document">
<META NAME="distribution" CONTENT="global">

<META NAME="Generator" CONTENT="LaTeX2HTML v2002-2-1">
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Style-Type" CONTENT="text/css">

<LINK REL="STYLESHEET" HREF="mma.css">

<LINK REL="next" HREF="node21.html">
<LINK REL="previous" HREF="node19.html">
<LINK REL="up" HREF="mma.html">
<LINK REL="next" HREF="node21.html">
</HEAD>

<BODY  bgcolor="#ffffff">
<!--Navigation Panel-->
<A NAME="tex2html635"
  HREF="node21.html">
<IMG WIDTH="37" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="next" SRC="next.png"></A> 
<A NAME="tex2html633"
  HREF="mma.html">
<IMG WIDTH="26" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="up" SRC="up.png"></A> 
<A NAME="tex2html627"
  HREF="node19.html">
<IMG WIDTH="63" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="previous" SRC="prev.png"></A>   
<BR>
<B> Next:</B> <A NAME="tex2html636"
  HREF="node21.html">Other Commands and Directives</A>
<B> Up:</B> <A NAME="tex2html634"
  HREF="mma.html">Reference Manual</A>
<B> Previous:</B> <A NAME="tex2html628"
  HREF="node19.html">Low Level MIDI Commands</A>
<BR>
<BR>
<!--End of Navigation Panel-->
<!--Table of Child-Links-->
<A NAME="CHILD_LINKS"><STRONG>Subsections</STRONG></A>

<UL>
<LI><A NAME="tex2html637"
  HREF="node20.html#SECTION002010000000000000000">VoiceTr</A>
<LI><A NAME="tex2html638"
  HREF="node20.html#SECTION002020000000000000000">DrumTr</A>
<LI><A NAME="tex2html639"
  HREF="node20.html#SECTION002030000000000000000">VoiceVolTr</A>
<LI><A NAME="tex2html640"
  HREF="node20.html#SECTION002040000000000000000">DrumVolTr</A>
</UL>
<!--End of Table of Child-Links-->
<HR>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION002000000000000000000"></A>
<A NAME="finetuning"></A>
<BR>
Fine Tuning (Translations)
</H1>

<P>
A program such as 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  which is intended to be run of various
computers and synthesizers (both hardware keyboards and software
versions) suffers from a minor deficency of the MIDI standards: mainly
that the standard says nothing about what a certain instrument should
sound like, or the relative volumes between instruments. The GM
extension helps a bit, but only a bit, by saying that certain
instruments should be assigned certain program change values. This
means that all GM synths will play a "Piano" if instrument 000 is
selected.

<P>
But, if one plays a GM file on a Casio keyboard, then on PC
soft-synth, and then on a Yahama keyboard you will get three quite
different sounds. The files supplied in this distribution have been
created to sound good on the author's setup: A Casio WK-3000 keyboard.

<P>
But, what if your hardware is different? Well, there are solutions!
Later in this chapter  commands are shown which will change the
preselected voice and tone commands and the default volumes. At this
time there are no example files supplied with 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> , but your
contributions are welcome.

<P>
The general suggestion is that:

<P>

<OL>
<LI>You create a file with the various translations you need. For
  example, the file might be called <TT><B>yamaha.mma</B></TT> and contain
  lines like:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>VoiceTR Piano1=Piano2 
<BR>
ToneTr SnareDrum2=SnareDrum1 
<BR>
VoiceVolTr Piano2=120 BottleBlow=80 
<BR>
DrumVolTr  RideBell=90 Tambourine=120   </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
Place this file in the directory <TT><B>/usr/local/share/mma/includes</B></TT>.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Include this file in your <TT><B>~/.mmarc</B></TT> file. Following the
  above example, you would have a line:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>Include yamaha  </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
</LI>
</OL>

<P>
That's it! Now, whenever you compile a 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  file the translations
will be done.

<P>
All of the following translation settings follow a similar logic as to ``when''
they take effect, and that is at the time the V<SMALL>OICE</SMALL>,
V<SMALL>OLUME</SMALL>, etc. command is issued. This may confuse the unwary if
G<SMALL>ROOVES</SMALL> are being used. But, the following sequence:

<P>
<TABLE  WIDTH="60%">
<TR><TD>

<OL>
<LI>You set a voice with the V<SMALL>OICE</SMALL> command,
</LI>
<LI>You save that voice into a G<SMALL>ROOVE</SMALL> with D<SMALL>EF</SMALL>G<SMALL>ROOVE</SMALL>,
</LI>
<LI>You create a voice translation with V<SMALL>OICE</SMALL>TR,
</LI>
<LI>You activate the previously defined G<SMALL>ROOVE</SMALL>.
</LI>
</OL></TD></TR>
</TABLE>

<TABLE  WIDTH="30%">
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE="+4">Wrong!</FONT></TD></TR>
</TABLE>

<P>
<I>does not have the desired effect</I>. In the above sequence the
V<SMALL>OICE</SMALL>TR will have <I>no</I> effect. For the desired
translations to work the V<SMALL>OICE</SMALL> (or whatever) command must come
<I>after</I> the translation command.

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION002010000000000000000"></A>  <A NAME="set-voicetr"></A>
<BR>
VoiceTr
</H1>

<P>
In previous section you saw how to set a voice for a track by using its
standard MIDI name. The V<SMALL>OICE</SMALL>T<SMALL>R</SMALL> command sets up a translation
table that can be used in two different situations:

<P>

<UL>
<LI>It permits creation of your own names for voices (perhaps for a
  foreign language),

<P>
</LI>
<LI>It lets you override or change voices used in standard library
  files.

<P>
</LI>
</UL>

<P>
V<SMALL>OICE</SMALL>T<SMALL>R</SMALL> works by setting up a simple translation table of
``name'' and ``alias'' pairs. Whenever 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  encounters a voice name
in a track command it first attempts to translate this name though the
alias table.

<P>
To set a translation (or series of translations):

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>VoiceTr Piano1=Clavinet Hmmm=18   </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
Note that you additional V<SMALL>OICE</SMALL>T<SMALL>R</SMALL> commands will add entries to
the existing table. To clear the table use the command with no
arguments:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>VoiceTr // Empty table  </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
Assuming the first command, the following will occur:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>Chord-Main Voice Hmmm  </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
The V<SMALL>OICE</SMALL> for the <I>Chord-Main</I> track will be set to ``18''
or ``Organ3''.

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>Chord-2 Voice Piano1  </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
The V<SMALL>OICE</SMALL> for the <I>Chord-2</I> track will be set to
``Clavinet''.

<P>
If your synth does not follow standard GM-MIDI voice naming
conventions you can create a translation table which can be included
in all your 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  song files via an RC file. But, do note that the
resulting files will not play properly on a synth conforming to the
GM-MIDI specification.

<P>
Following is an abbreviated and untested example for using an obsolete and unnamed synth:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>VoiceTr  Piano1=3   &#92;
<BR>
Piano2=4  &#92;
<BR>
Piano3=5  &#92;
<BR>    ...  &#92;
<BR>
Strings=55  &#92;
<BR>    ...   </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
Notes: the translation is only done one time and no verification is
done when the table is created. 

<P>
For translating drum tone values, see 
<A HREF="#set-drumtr">D<SMALL>RUM</SMALL>TR</A>.

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION002020000000000000000"></A> <A NAME="set-drumtr"></A>
<BR>
DrumTr
</H1>

<P>
It is possible to create a translation table which will substitute one
Drum Tone for another. This can be useful in a variety of
situations, but consider:

<P>

<UL>
<LI>Your syth lacks certain drum tones--in this case you may want
    to set certain D<SMALL>RUM</SMALL>TR commands in a <SMALL>MMA</SMALL>RC file.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>You are using an existing G<SMALL>ROOVE</SMALL> in a song, but don't
    like one or more of the Drum Tones selected. Rather than
    editing the library file you can set a translation right in the
    song. Note, do this <I>before any</I> G<SMALL>ROOVE</SMALL> commands.
</LI>
</UL>

<P>
To set a translation (or set of translations) just use a list of
drumtone values or symbolic names with each pair separated by
white space. For example:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>ToneTR SnareDrum2=SnareDrum1 HandClap=44   </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
will use a ``SnareDrum1'' instead of a ``SnareDrum2'' and the value
``44'' (actually a ``PedalHiHat'') instead of a ``HandClap''.

<P>
You can turn off all drum tone translations with an empty line:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>ToneTR  </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
The syntax and usage of D<SMALL>RUM</SMALL>TR is quite similar to
<A HREF="#set-voicetr">V<SMALL>OICE</SMALL>TR</A>.

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION002030000000000000000"></A>  <A NAME="set-voicevoltr"></A>
<BR>
VoiceVolTr
</H1>

<P>
If you find that a particular voice, i.e., Piano2, is too loud or soft
you can create an entry in the ``Voice Volume Translation Table''. The
concept is quite simple: 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  checks the table whenever a
track-specific V<SMALL>OLUME</SMALL> command is processed. The table is
created in a similar manner to the V<SMALL>OICE</SMALL>T<SMALL>R</SMALL> command:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>VoiceVolTr Piano2=120  105=75  </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
Each voice pair must contain a valid MIDI voice (or numeric value),
an ``='' and a volume adjustment factor. The factor is a percentage
value which is applied to the normal volume. In the above example two
adjustments are created:

<P>

<OL>
<LI>Piano2 will be played at %120 of the normal value,

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Banjo (voice 105) will be played at %75 of the normal value.
</LI>
</OL>

<P>
The adjustments are made when a track V<SMALL>OLUME</SMALL> command is
encountered. For example, if the above translation has be set and

<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  encounters the following commands:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>Begin Chord
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Voice Piano2
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Volume mp
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sequence 1 4 90
<BR>
End   </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
the following adjustments are made:

<P>

<OL>
<LI>A lookup is done in the global volume table. The volume ``mf''
  is determined to be %85 for the set MIDI velocity,

<P>
</LI>
<LI>the adjusment of %120 is applied to the %85, changing that to %102.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Assuming that no other volume adjustments are being made
  (probably there will be a global volume and, perhaps, a
  R<SMALL>VOLUME</SMALL>) the MIDI velocity in the sequence will be changed
  from 90 to 91. Without the translation the 90 would have been changed to 76.

<P>
</LI>
</OL>

<P>
To disable all volume translations:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>VoiceVolTr  // Empty table  </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION002040000000000000000"></A> <A NAME="set-drumvoltr"></A>
<BR>
DrumVolTr
</H1>

<P>
You can change the volumes of indvidual drum tones with the
D<SMALL>RUM</SMALL>V<SMALL>OL</SMALL>T<SMALL>R</SMALL> translation. This command works just like the
V<SMALL>OICE</SMALL>V<SMALL>OL</SMALL>T<SMALL>R</SMALL> command desribed above. It just uses drum tones
instead of instrument voices.

<P>
For example, if you wish to make the drum tones ``SnareDrum1'' and
``HandClap'' a bit louder:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>DrumVolTr SnareDrum1=120 HandClap=110  </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
The drum tone names can be symbolic constants, or MIDI values as in
the next example:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>DrumVolTr 44=90 31=55  </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
All drum tone translations can be disabled with:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>DrumVolTr  // Empty table  </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>


<P>
<HR>
<!--Navigation Panel-->
<A NAME="tex2html635"
  HREF="node21.html">
<IMG WIDTH="37" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="next" SRC="next.png"></A> 
<A NAME="tex2html633"
  HREF="mma.html">
<IMG WIDTH="26" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="up" SRC="up.png"></A> 
<A NAME="tex2html627"
  HREF="node19.html">
<IMG WIDTH="63" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="previous" SRC="prev.png"></A>   
<BR>
<B> Next:</B> <A NAME="tex2html636"
  HREF="node21.html">Other Commands and Directives</A>
<B> Up:</B> <A NAME="tex2html634"
  HREF="mma.html">Reference Manual</A>
<B> Previous:</B> <A NAME="tex2html628"
  HREF="node19.html">Low Level MIDI Commands</A>
<!--End of Navigation Panel-->
<ADDRESS>
bob
2007-03-07
</ADDRESS>
</BODY>
</HTML>