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<A NAME="CHILD_LINKS"><STRONG>Subsections</STRONG></A>

<UL CLASS="ChildLinks">
<LI><A NAME="tex2html658"
  HREF="node17.html#SECTION001710000000000000000">Skew</A>
<LI><A NAME="tex2html659"
  HREF="node17.html#SECTION001720000000000000000">Accent</A>
<LI><A NAME="tex2html660"
  HREF="node17.html#SECTION001730000000000000000">Delay</A>
<LI><A NAME="tex2html661"
  HREF="node17.html#SECTION001740000000000000000">Notes</A>
<LI><A NAME="tex2html662"
  HREF="node17.html#SECTION001750000000000000000">Summary</A>
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<H1><A NAME="SECTION001700000000000000000"></A> <A NAME="swingmode"></A>
<BR>
Swing
</H1> 

<P>
In jazz and swing music there is a convention to apply special timing
to eighth notes. Normally, the first of a pair of eights is lengthened
and the second is shortened. In the sheet music this can is sometimes
notated as sequences of a dotted eighth followed by a sixteenth. But,
if you were to foolish enough to play the song with this timing you'd
get a funny look from a jazz musician who will tell you to &#8220;swing&#8221;
the notes.

<P>
The easiest way to think about swing eighths is to mentally convert
them to a triplet consisting of a quarter note and and eighth.

<P>
<DIV ALIGN="CENTER">
  <IMG WIDTH="75%"  SRC="mupex/swingconv.png" ALT="Lost Image">

</DIV>

<P>
In the above music the first shows &#8220;straight eights&#8221;, the second
&#8220;dotted eight, sixteenths&#8221;, and the third a rough indication of how
the first line would be played in &#8220;swing&#8221;. It all depends on the
style of music ... if we are playing a classical piece the first line
would have eight notes of the same length, and the second line would
have a sixteenth note one third the length of the dotted eights. In
contemporary music it might be that way ... or either or both could
be played as the third line.

<P>

<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  can handle this musical style in a number of ways, the control
is though the S<SMALL>WING</SMALL>M<SMALL>ODE</SMALL> command and options.

<P>
In default mode 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  assumes that you don't want your song to swing.

<P>
To enable automatic conversions, simply set S<SMALL>WING</SMALL>M<SMALL>ODE</SMALL> to
&#8220;on&#8221;:

<P>

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

<P>
This directive accepts the value &#8220;On&#8221; and &#8220;Off&#8221; or &#8220;1&#8221; and
&#8220;0&#8221;.

<P>
With S<SMALL>WING</SMALL>M<SMALL>ODE</SMALL> enabled 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  takes some extra steps when
creating patterns and processing of S<SMALL>OLO</SMALL> and M<SMALL>ELODY</SMALL>
parts.

<P>

<UL>
<LI>Any eighth note in a pattern &#8220;on the beat&#8221; (1, 2, etc.) is
  converted to a &#8220;81&#8221; note.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Any eighth note in a pattern &#8220;off the beat&#8221; (1.5, 2.5, etc.)
  is converted to &#8220;82&#8221; note, and the offset is adjusted to the prior
  beat plus the value of an &#8220;81&#8221; note.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Drum notes with a value of a single MIDI tick are handled in the
  same way, but only the offset adjustment is needed.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>In S<SMALL>OLO</SMALL> and M<SMALL>ELODY</SMALL> tracks any successive pairs of
  eighth notes (or rests) are adjusted.

<P>
</LI>
</UL>

<P>
<SPAN  CLASS="textit">Important:</SPAN> when defining patterns and sequences remember that
the adjustment is made when the pattern is compiled. With a
D<SMALL>EFINE</SMALL> command the arguments are compiled (and swing will be
applied). But a S<SMALL>EQUENCE</SMALL> command with an already defined
pattern will use the existing pattern values (the swing adjustment may
or may not have been done at define time). Finally, if you have a
dynamic define in the sequence the adjustment will take place if
needed.

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION001710000000000000000">
Skew</A>
</H1>

<P>
S<SMALL>WING</SMALL>M<SMALL>ODE</SMALL> has an additional option, S<SMALL>KEW</SMALL>. This factor is
used to create the &#8220;81&#8221; and &#8220;82&#8221; note lengths (see
<A HREF="node4.html#notelength">here</A>). By default the value
&#8220;66&#8221; is used. This simply means that the note length &#8220;81&#8221; is
assigned 66% of the value of an eight note, and &#8220;82&#8221; is assigned
34%.

<P>
You can change this setting at any point in your song or style
files. It will take effect immediately on all future patterns and solo
lines.

<P>
The setting:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>SwingMode Skew=60  </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
will set a 60/40 setting.

<P>
If you want to experiment, find a G<SMALL>ROOVE</SMALL> with note lengths of
&#8220;81&#8221; and &#8220;82&#8221; (&#8220;swing&#8221; is as good a choice as any). Now, put a
S<SMALL>WING</SMALL>M<SMALL>ODE </SMALL>S<SMALL>KEW=</SMALL>V<SMALL>ALUE</SMALL> directive at the top of your song file
(before selecting any G<SMALL>ROOVE</SMALL>s). Compile and play the song with
different values to hear the effects.

<P>
If you want to play with different effects you could do something like
this:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>SwingMode On Skew=40  
<BR>  ... Set CHORD pattern/groove
<BR>
SwingMode Skew=30  
<BR>  ... Set Drum-1 pattern/groove 
<BR>
SwingMode Skew=whatever 
<BR>  ... Set Drum-2   </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
This will give different rates for different tracks. I'll probably not
enjoy your results, but I play polkas on the accordion for fun.

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION001720000000000000000">
Accent</A>
</H1>

<P>
It's natural for musicians to emphasize swing notes by making the
first (the longer one) a bit louder than the second. By default 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  uses the internal/default volumes for both notes. However, you can
change this with the A<SMALL>CCENT</SMALL> option. The option takes a pair of
values joined by a single comma. The first value sets the percentage
change for the &#8220;on-the-beat&#8221; notes; the second set the adjustment
for the &#8220;off-the-beat&#8221; notes. For example:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>Swingmode On Accent=110,80   </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
will apply changes of 110% and 80% to the volumes. Use of this
option will create more natural sounding tracks.

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION001730000000000000000">
Delay</A>
</H1>

<P>
By default, the logic for setting the start positions of each note generated by
S<SMALL>WING</SMALL>M<SMALL>ODE</SMALL> is that the first note of the pair doesn't move and
the second is set at the duration of a &#8220;81&#8221; note from the first
(remember, &#8220;81&#8221; is set by the S<SMALL>KEW</SMALL> value).

<P>
However, you can move either or both notes forward to backwards with
the D<SMALL>ELAY</SMALL> option. This option takes 2 arguments (a comma pair)
with the first setting a delay for the first note and the second a
delay for the second. The delays can be negative, in which case the
note would be sounded early. The values represent MIDI ticks and must
be in the range -20 ... +20.

<P>
Example:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>Swingmode On Delay=5,0   </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
would push the first note of each pair just past the beat. 

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION001740000000000000000">
Notes</A>
</H1>

<P>
So far in this section we have assumed that all swing notes are eight
note pairs. But, you can also set the function to work over sixteenth
notes as well:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>Swingmode On Notes=16   </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
The only permitted values for N<SMALL>OTES</SMALL> are &#8220;8&#8221; (the default) and
&#8220;16&#8221;. This is, probably, only useful in very slow tempo settings.

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION001750000000000000000">
Summary</A>
</H1>

<P>
S<SMALL>WING</SMALL>M<SMALL>ODE</SMALL> is a <SPAN  CLASS="textit">Global</SPAN> setting which functions are
patterns and solo note sequences  are defined or created. This can be
confusing ... you can't take an existing G<SMALL>ROOVE</SMALL> and just do a
S<SMALL>WING</SMALL>M<SMALL>ODE</SMALL> after calling it up ... the command will have no
effect. Instead, you'll have modify the actual library code. Or write
your own.

<P>
The complete S<SMALL>WING</SMALL>M<SMALL>ODE</SMALL> setting is saved in the current
G<SMALL>ROOVE</SMALL> and can be accessed via the $_S<SMALL>WING</SMALL>M<SMALL>ODE</SMALL> built-in
macro.

<P>
The easy (and ugly and unintuitive) way to handle swing is to
hard-code the value right into your patterns. For example, you could
set a swing chord pattern with:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>Chord Define Swing8 1 3+3 80; 1.33 3 80; 2 3+3 80; 2.33 3 80
  ...</B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
We really don't recommend this for the simple reason that the swing
rate is frozen as quarter/eighth triplets.

<P>
If you refer to the table of note lengths
(<A HREF="node4.html#notelength">here</A>) you will find the cryptic
values of &#8220;81&#8221; and &#8220;82&#8221;. These notes are adjusted depending on the
S<SMALL>WING </SMALL>S<SMALL>KEW</SMALL> value. So:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>Chord Define Swing8 1 81 80; 1+81 82 80; 2 81 80; 2+81 82 80
  ...</B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
is a bit better. In this case we have set a chord on beat 1 as the
first of an eighth note, and a chord on the off-beat as the
second. Note how we specify the off-beats as &#8220;1+81&#8221;, etc.

<P>
In this example the feel of the swing will vary with the
S<SMALL>WING </SMALL>S<SMALL>KEW</SMALL> setting.

<P>
But, aren't computers supposed to make life simple? Well, here is our
recommended method:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>SwingMode On 
<BR>
Chord Define Swing8 1 8 80; 1.5 8 80; 2 8 80; 2.5 8 80 ...</B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
Now, 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  will convert the values for you. Magic, well ...
almost.

<P>
There are times when you will need to be more explicit, especially in
S<SMALL>OLO</SMALL> and M<SMALL>ELODY</SMALL> tracks:

<P>

<UL>
<LI>If a bar has both swing and straight eighths.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>If the note following an eighth is not an eighth.

<P>
</LI>
</UL>

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<ADDRESS>
bob
2010-11-07
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