Window 84

Previous - Up -  Next = Scales and Arpeggios for Parts =

Part
Select the part you want to highlight

What is a part?

In a program without instant pitch bend retuning, this window would just show the midi out channels. However when you use pitch bends to change the tuning of the scale, it is the software that deals with the midi out channels rather than the user. The user doesn't work at that level at all (normally).

This is why: To play a chord, e.g. a justly tuned major chord 1/1 5/4 3/2, using midi pitch bends, the only way to tune it correctly is to play the notes on different output channels - for instance the 1/1 may be played on channel 1, the 5/4 on channel 2 and the 3/2 on channel 3. That's because in midi, (normally anyway) the pitch bend is set for a channel as a whole. The software does this channel swapping automatically - the notes change channel frequently to let them be retuned correctly and smoothly. So it is normal for the notes of a single chord or melodic phrase to be spread out over several midi channels. This sort of thing is something software can be programmed to keep track of in a routine (though complicated) fashion, but is mind boggling for a user of the software.

So as a user of the software, you need something else to work with rather than Midi out channels, and that's where the Parts come in. You just set up a part much as you would do for a channel in twelve equal type Midi work. You set it up with a midi instrument, controllers, pan position etc. You don't need to worry about the techy details of which midi out channels to send all the pitch bends and other messages to. FTS keeps track of all those details for you. The software will send the notes on whatever channel is appropriate, depending on its records of which notes have been sent on them previously - and it will also set the pitch bends accordingly for each channel, and also send any controllers and other messages to the correct channels as well.

However, if you are interested to see where the notes did get relayed to, just show the Out | More | Notes Currently Playing (Ctrl + 47) window and you will see them all listed there, with the pitch bends in cents for each channel.

You will find that notes that need the same pitch bend often share channels, for instance all the 5/4s may play on one channel, or notes a quarter tone sharp or flat or whatever may all get played on the same channel - as long as they have the same requirements in terms of other controllers such as pan position etc.

To make sure that FTS does the channel mapping optimally for your current out device(s), run the Out Devices Capabilities Wizard in the Out menu.

Presets...
Useful or interesting presets - tonality shifts, diesis shifts, CPS sets,...

Play Arpeggio With
Set which notes from Midi In play the current arpeggio (alternatively scale)...

Any in between midi notes will play any scale pitches between the arpeggio degrees. To take an example, you can set the white notes to play the notes of the diatonic (major) mode in any larger scale, and then the black keys will play whatever sharps or flats are available between them, if any. There are various options to configure whether e.g. the sharp of the note below or the flat of the note above is played in scales where they differ.

For details, see Help | Midi In | Play in arpeggio (etc) drop list, and Help | Midi In | Playing fine shades of accidentals from the music keyboard

Scales for parts
Switch on scales and arpeggios set individually for each part

Pause
Pause playback, or continue play

Play
Play midi clip, chord progression, fractal tune or metronome..

What this plays depends on the task selected from the Tasks menu.

SHORTCUT FOR FRACTAL TUNES OR METRONOME

You can use Shift + click to fast forward...

Also Ctrl to fast forward even more. Shift multiplies the tempo by 10 and Ctrl multiplies it by 100, so the two together would play a fractal tune at for instance, 60,000 instead of 60 as the tempo. This is useful sometimes for fast forwarding through fractal tunes.

Volume
Set overall volume. Check also Bs | Play control - Volume, && Parts window...

The volume is also affected by the volume for individual parts in the Parts window. Also in the case of midi instruments you can configure the volume for windows as a whole using Bs | Play Control - Volume.

For the Waveform player (triangle wave etc), go to the Waveform Player Audio Properties window (Ctrl + 188)

For CSound instruments, you can set the overall volume in the CSound Options window (Ctrl + 168)

You can also vary the volume in Out | Options | More | Volume Remapping (Ctrl + 158) and if playing from Midi In there's another setting at In | Options | Keyboard Options | Touch (Ctrl + 91)

See also Help | FAQ - trouble shooting | Why is everything so quiet

Help = F1
Click for help for this window. Or F1. Other opts: Shift, Alt, Ctrl + click...

F1 or click shows the help for the current window in your web browser.

Some windows may have no help yet in which case the help icon is shown crossed out with a red line.

Shift + F1 or Shift + Click brings up the tool tips extra help window (this window) to show any extra help for a tool tip.

You can tell if a tool tip has extra help if it ends ... like this one.

Ctrl + F1 or Ctrl + click takes you to the list of keyboard shortcuts for Tune Smithy.

Alt + F1 or Alt + click (alternatively Caps lock physically held down + F1 or Click) takes you to the on-line page at the robertinventor.com web site about the current main window task - which gives a short introduction to it for newbies to the program. If there is no on-line page specific to a task, takes you to the main tune smithy page on the web site.

Since the help for Tune Smithy is currently a bit out of date and needs to be redone completely for the new 3.0 release, then you may find the on-line page for some of the newer tasks particularly useful.

Organise Windows = F2
Or F2 - Reset / save / open for individual windows, right click for cat. list...

Shows the Organise windows window - which you can use to reset all the parameters for the current window - or save them all, or open previously saved parameters for just this window. Also has a drop list of all the windows and their shortcuts.

You can also right click on this icon as a quick way to get the floating drop menu of all the Tune Smithy windows organised by category

Midi In Dialog Star
Tip of the day - Relaying category - right click for neighbouring windows...

Left click for a tip of the day in this category.

Right click to see a menu of neighbouring windows.

The neighbours are the ones you most often move to after this one or within a minute of this one, arranged by popularity.

So as you continue to use FTS, it will learn your habits, and the neighbouring windows listed here, should be the ones you most often visit after this one.