Melody (Phrases) Window

Previous Contents Index Next

MELODY (PHRASES) WINDOW

The Melody (Phrases) window is where melodic phrases are made up for use in the Form (Melody) window.

You can make a melody phrase by incrementing the Pitches spinner. The phrase created will move by Step (the default Movement) in a Rising Line (the default Contour) up notes of the major scale (the default scale).

The Melody (Phrases) window has these components:

Phrase Button Bar, at the top of the window, containing:

Phrase 1 button	view Phrase 1, color coded by the background color, orange
Phrase 2 button	view Phrase 2, color coded by the background color, pink
Phrase 3 button	view Phrase 3, color coded by the background color, magenta
Phrase 4 button	view Phrase 4, color coded by the background color, cyan

Contour Tree Button, toggles a list in tree form (using headings and sub-headings) of various contours or phrase shapes.

Play Button, plays the currently showing phrase.

Help buttons, for window and field-level help:

Scr Help button	Help for this window (screen)
Item Help button	Help for any item - click this button and then click the item that you need help for

Look and Feel Combo Box, to set the Look and Feel to Windows, Java or Solaris.

Phrase Grid, on the left hand side of the window below the Tool Bar, showing a block representation of pitch and note values. The Phrase grid is made up of:

Pitches Spinner, for setting the number of different pitches in a phrase,

Phrase Length Sliders, at the top of the grid, for setting the duration of the phrase between:

Phrase Start slider	the upper horizontal slider, indicates the onset (beginning of sound) of the first pitch in the phrase. The default position of this slider is the first beat of the first (full) bar. This slider can be moved to the left or to the right to advance or delay the phrase.
Phrase End slider	the lower horizontal slider, indicates the release of the last pitch in the phrase. The default position of this slider is five major ticks (five full beats) from the Phrase Start slider. This slider can be moved to vary the phrase length from zero to eight beats.

Phrase Range Sliders, at the side of the grid, for setting the interval from the lowest to the highest pitch between:

Bottom Note slider	the left vertical slider, indicates the lowest pitch in the phrase. The default position of this slider is at the tonic of the scale. This slider can be moved from a fourth below the tonic to an octave above the tonic. This slider positions at the bottom edge of the cell corresponding to the lowest pitch,
Top Note slider	the right vertical slider, indicates the highest pitch in the phrase. The default position of this slider is the same as that of the Bottom Note slider (i.e., the default number of pitches is zero.) This slider can be moved to vary the range from unison to one octave. This slider positions at the top of the cell in the grid representing the highest pitch.

Movement Tabs, at the upper right of the window, for setting the musical interval between successive pitches. The Movement tabs are made up of:

Scale tabs	on the left, for selecting among scales (major is the only currently enabled scale)
Interval tabs	on the right, for setting the interval between pitches at: Leap - intervals of a 4th or more, Skip - 3rds, Step - adjacent notes of the scale, Stand- unison; no movement, Reset- "null" interval; clears the grid of all highlighted cells and sets them all to gray.

Contour Panel, midway at the right of the window, containing tabbed panes which in turn contain buttons which control the contour or shape of the phrase,

Rhythm Panel, at the lower left of the window, with controls for setting the number and spacing of onsets. The Rhythm Panel is made up of:

Onsets Spinner, which sets the number of onsets. When the number of onsets is greater than the number of pitches, the difference is the number of repeated notes.

The Onsets Spinner changes colors as follows:

green	when the Onset Slots tab is selected
blue	when the Onset Spread tab is selected
gray	when the Pitch Placement tab is selected
flashing yellow	when the number of onsets exceeds the default phrase length of five beats
flashing red	when the maximum phrase length of eight beats has been reached

Onsets Slots tab [is under construction]

Onsets Spread tab, containing these combo boxes:

Density combo box	sets onsets by half note, quarter note or eight note values
Fill From combo box	inserts onsets into the phrase from the: Front - the first available position in the phrase, Back - the last available position in the phrase, Middle - the middle position of the phrase (working outwards toward the ends), Ends - the end positions of the phrase (working inward toward the middle).
Priority combo box	sets the priority between positions of equal weight, to either, reading from left to right, the First of them, or the Last of them This combo box is enabled only when the Fill From combo box is showing either the Middle (list) item or the Ends (list) item.

Pitch Placement tab, containing the Converts combo box.

Repeated pitches can be converted into differing pitches by incrementing the Pitches spinner. In reverse, differing pitches can be converted into repeated pitches by decrementing the Pitches spinner. Pitches converted in this way can be set to appear first at the Front of, Back of or Even(ly) throughout a phrase, as selected in the combo box.

Ornaments Combo Box, at the lower right of the window, currently being developed.

see also Basic Patterns, Melody (Phrases)