<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <!--Converted with LaTeX2HTML 2008 (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>Automatic Melodies: Aria Tracks</TITLE> <META NAME="description" CONTENT="Automatic Melodies: Aria Tracks"> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="mma"> <META NAME="resource-type" CONTENT="document"> <META NAME="distribution" CONTENT="global"> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <META NAME="Generator" CONTENT="LaTeX2HTML v2008"> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Style-Type" CONTENT="text/css"> <LINK REL="STYLESHEET" HREF="mma.css"> <LINK REL="next" HREF="node13.html"> <LINK REL="previous" HREF="node11.html"> <LINK REL="up" HREF="mma.html"> <LINK REL="next" HREF="node13.html"> </HEAD> <BODY bgcolor="#ffffff"> <DIV CLASS="navigation"><!--Navigation Panel--> <A NAME="tex2html581" HREF="node13.html"> <IMG WIDTH="37" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="next" SRC="next.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html579" HREF="mma.html"> <IMG WIDTH="26" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="up" SRC="up.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html573" HREF="node11.html"> <IMG WIDTH="63" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="previous" SRC="prev.png"></A> <BR> <B> Next:</B> <A NAME="tex2html582" HREF="node13.html">Randomizing</A> <B> Up:</B> <A NAME="tex2html580" HREF="mma.html">Reference Manual</A> <B> Previous:</B> <A NAME="tex2html574" HREF="node11.html">Emulating plucked instruments: Plectrum</A> <BR> <BR></DIV> <!--End of Navigation Panel--> <H1><A NAME="SECTION001200000000000000000"></A> <A NAME="chap-aria"></A> <BR> Automatic Melodies: Aria Tracks </H1> <P> A<SMALL>RIA</SMALL> tracks are designed to let <FONT Face="Serif" Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> automatically generate something resembling melody. Honest, this will never put real composers on the unemployment line (well, no more than they are mostly there already). <P> You might want to use an A<SMALL>RIA</SMALL> to embellish a section of a song (like an introduction or an ending). Or you can have <FONT Face="Serif" Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> generate a complete melody over the song chords. <P> In a traditional song the melody depends on two parts: patterns (IE. note lengths, volume, articulation) and pitch (usually determined by the chords in a song). If you have been using <FONT Face="Serif" Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> at all you will know that that chords are the building block of what <FONT Face="Serif" Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> does already. So, to generate a melody we just need some kind of pattern. And, since <FONT Face="Serif" Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> already uses patterns in most things it does, it is a short step to use a specialized pattern to generate a melody. <P> It might serve to look at the sample song files enclosed in this package in the directory <TT><SPAN CLASS="textbf">egs/aria</SPAN></TT>. Compile and play them. Not too bad? <P> Just like other track, you can create as many A<SMALL>RIA</SMALL>s as you want. So, you can have the tracks A<SMALL>RIA-1</SMALL>, A<SMALL>RIA</SMALL>, and A<SMALL>RIA-SILLY</SMALL> all at the same time. And, the majority of other commands (like O<SMALL>CTAVE</SMALL>, A<SMALL>RTICULATE</SMALL>, H<SMALL>ARMONY</SMALL>, etc.) apply to A<SMALL>RIA</SMALL>s. <P> The following commands are important to note: <P> <DL> <DT><STRONG>Range</STRONG></DT> <DD>Just like scale tracks. A R<SMALL>ANGE</SMALL> of 2.5 would let <FONT Face="Serif" Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> work on a two and one-half octave chord, etc. <P> </DD> <DT><STRONG>ScaleType</STRONG></DT> <DD>Much like a scale track. By default, the setting for this is CHORD. But, you can use AUTO, SCALE, CHORD or CHROMATIC. AUTO and SCALE are identical and force <FONT Face="Serif" Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> to select notes from the scale associated with the current chord; CHROMATIC generates an 11 tone scale starting at the root note of the chord; CHORD forces the selection to the notes in the current chord. <P> </DD> <DT><STRONG>Direction</STRONG></DT> <DD>As <FONT Face="Serif" Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> processes the song it moves a note-selection pointer up or down. By default D<SMALL>IRECTION</SMALL> is set to the single value "1" which tells <FONT Face="Serif" Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> to add 1 after each note is generated. However, you can set the value to an integer -4 to 4 or the special value "r*". The “r” setting creates a random direction. You can have 1 to 4 “r”s: <P> <BLOCKQUOTE> <TABLE CELLPADDING=3 BORDER="1"> <TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT"># of 'r's</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">Direction Adjust</TD> </TR> <TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT">r</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">-1 to 1</TD> </TR> <TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT">rr</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">-2 to 2</TD> </TR> <TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT">rrr</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">-3 to 3</TD> </TR> <TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT">rrrr</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">-4 to 4</TD> </TR> </TABLE> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P> With "r" a random value -1, 0 or 1 will be used. <P> <SPAN CLASS="textit">Important: in an A<SMALL>RIA</SMALL> track the sequence size/point is ignored for D<SMALL>IRECTION</SMALL>.</SPAN> <P> </DD> </DL> <P> A bit more detail on defining an A<SMALL>RIA</SMALL>: <P> First, here is a simplified sample track definition: <P> <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3> <tr><td> <B>Begin Aria <BR> Voice JazzGuitar <BR> Volume f <BR> Sequence 1.5 8 90; 2 8 90; 2.5 8 90; <BR> 3 8 90; 3.5 8 90; 4 8 90; 4.5 8 90 <BR> ScaleType Scale Range 1 Direction 0 0 1 2 -4 0 1 r <BR> End </B> </td></tr> </Table> <P> Next assume that we have a few bars of music with only a CMajor chord. The following table shows the notes which would be generated for each event in the set S<SMALL>EQUENCE</SMALL>: <P> <BLOCKQUOTE> <TABLE CELLPADDING=3 BORDER="1"> <TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT">Event</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">Direction</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">Offset Pointer</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">Note</TD> </TR> <TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT">1</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">0</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">0</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">c</TD> </TR> <TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT">2</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">0</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">0</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">c</TD> </TR> <TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT">3</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">1</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">1</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">d</TD> </TR> <TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT">4</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">2</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">3</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">f</TD> </TR> <TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT">5</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">-4</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">6</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">b</TD> </TR> <TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT">6</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">0</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">6</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">b</TD> </TR> <TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT">7</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">1</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">0</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">c</TD> </TR> <TR><TD ALIGN="LEFT">8</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">r</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">??</TD> <TD ALIGN="LEFT">??</TD> </TR> </TABLE> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P> If you were to change the S<SMALL>CALE</SMALL>T<SMALL>YPE</SMALL> or R<SMALL>ANGE</SMALL> you would get a completely different series. Really, tables like this one are very difficult to determine and quite useless. Just try different D<SMALL>IRECTION</SMALL> and R<SMALL>ANGE</SMALL> settings, S<SMALL>CALETYPE</SMALL>s, etc. Most combinations will sound fine, but Chromatic scales might not be to your liking. <P> Please note the following: <P> <UL> <LI>A<SMALL>RIA</SMALL>s are <SPAN CLASS="textit">not</SPAN> saved or modified by G<SMALL>ROOVE</SMALL> commands. Well, almost ... the sequence size will be adjusted to match the new size from the groove. This might be unexpected: <P> <UL> <LI>Load a groove. Let's say it has a S<SMALL>EQSIZE</SMALL> of 4. </LI> <LI>Create an A<SMALL>RIA</SMALL>. Use 4 patterns to match the groove size (if you don't <FONT Face="Serif" Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> will expand the sequence size for the A<SMALL>RIA</SMALL>, just like other tracks). </LI> <LI>Process a few bars of music. </LI> <LI>Load a new groove, but this time with a S<SMALL>EQSIZE</SMALL> of 2. Now, the A<SMALL>RIA</SMALL> will be truncated. This behavior is duplicated in other tracks as well, but it might be unexpected here. </LI> </UL> <P> </LI> <LI>D<SMALL>IRECTION</SMALL> can not be changed on a bar per bar basis. It applies to the entire sequence. After each note in the A<SMALL>RIA</SMALL> is generated a pointer advances to the next direction in the list. <P> </LI> </UL> <P> You can make dramatic changes to your songs with a few simple tricks. Try modifying the D<SMALL>IRECTION</SMALL> settings just slightly; use several patterns and S<SMALL>EQ</SMALL>R<SMALL>ND</SMALL> to generate less predictable patterns; use H<SMALL>ARMONY</SMALL>O<SMALL>NLY</SMALL> with a different voice and pattern. <P> Oh, and have fun! <P> <P> <DIV CLASS="navigation"><HR> <!--Navigation Panel--> <A NAME="tex2html581" HREF="node13.html"> <IMG WIDTH="37" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="next" SRC="next.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html579" HREF="mma.html"> <IMG WIDTH="26" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="up" SRC="up.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html573" HREF="node11.html"> <IMG WIDTH="63" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="previous" SRC="prev.png"></A> <BR> <B> Next:</B> <A NAME="tex2html582" HREF="node13.html">Randomizing</A> <B> Up:</B> <A NAME="tex2html580" HREF="mma.html">Reference Manual</A> <B> Previous:</B> <A NAME="tex2html574" HREF="node11.html">Emulating plucked instruments: Plectrum</A></DIV> <!--End of Navigation Panel--> <ADDRESS> bob 2010-11-07 </ADDRESS> </BODY> </HTML>