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SuperConductor - Microsound International

1. 143 Ritard A ccelerando 144 Version 4 0 Pulse Weight Factor During ritardandos and accelerando it may become desirableto increase or decrease the effect of the hierarchical pulsewith the progress of the Ritard Accelerando This slider controls the amount of weighting thatis applied to the pulseduring aRitard Accelerando Itis equivalentto increasing decreasing the TimeW eighting sliders only of thetwo lowest levels of the pulse simultaneously The range of values is 0 1 to 2 0 with 1 0giving no changein the pulse weighting during theRitard Accele rando Normal settings in ritards range from 1 1 to 1 35 0 8to 1 0in accelerandos Crescendo Factor During ritardandos and accelerando it may become desirableto increase or decrease the overall loudness with the progress of theRitard Accele rando This slider controls the amount of crescendo that is applied to the music during aRitard Accelerando Therange of valuesis from 0 00 to 4 00 12 dB with 1 0 giving no changein loudness during a Ritard Accelerando N otethat thecurveof this crescendo will bethesameas set by theritard curveslider unless itis separately modified in the crescendo panel Save Choosing the Savecommand from the File menu writes the current settings of thefileto thehard disk at thedirectory whereitis currently located WARNING thenew settings overwritetheold settings of this music file Save As TheSaveAs menu item in theFile menu is configured
2. The Note Length is displayed in a decimal fraction of the nominal length of thenote Legato These sliders adds duration to the sounding length of the current note The sounding length of the tone will increase by the value of theslider without changing thetiming of the notes following in this voice Graduated in decimal fractions of the nominal note length the range of the control is from Oto 256 0 A typical valuemight be 0 1 Larger values areused for pedal effects Coarseand finesliders allow adjustment for short or long legato Notethat legato is applied to the note specified lengthening it to link with the following note It isnot applied to thenext adjacent note Long Note Parameters iin pam bebe Sal Seth Notes that are longer than oneor two seconds in music tend not to func tion as melodic elements but contributeto the musical texture and sus tained harmony Therefore the note shaping parameters used in the normal melodic setting are not appropriate With this function you can direct SuperConductor to apply different parameters to notes that have durations longer than thethreshold you specify M eter T empo Note Length Seconds This slider controls the duration threshold for long notes Tones whose durations are longer than thevalue specified will betreated as long notes A typical setting is 1 5 seconds The length of a whole note is shown for reference Amp Factor Theamplitudeof notes longer than
3. button to delete the currently selected piece Conducting in Real Time see Conducting Using aJ oystick on page 106 91 Crescendo 92 Version4 0 Crescendo Vike iai Woe jr Pa Tore Es Tre Sat Eaj ime ne eile Choosing the Crescendo item in the Interpretation menu or clicking on the Crescendo icon causes the Crescendo Diminuendo window to appear This window allows you to enter bar ranges in the piece wherea gradually changing increase or decrease in loudness is desired The window s display shows alist of ranges where a crescendo or diminuendo over a particular voice or range of voices has been specified Adding a New Crescendo or Diminuendo To specify a crescendo or diminuendo click the Add button The Cre scendo Diminuendo Editor window appears It contains a graphic display of the parameters that will be applied to the bar rangeyou specify Editing an Existing Crescendo or Diminuendo To modify an existing Crescendo or Diminuendo section click on the section to be modified and then click on the M odify button Delete a Crescendo or Diminuendo To ddetea Crescendo or Diminuendo section from thelist select the section by clicking on it Then click on the Delete button The section disappears from thelist Crescendo Voice s The Voicenumber box indicates the number of the voice or a range of consecutively numbered voices to which the current settings apply Start and End Bar and Tone These boxes
4. direct access to the heart of musicinterpretation To preserve thesesettings as new interpretations use theSaveAs command inthe Filemenu Givea new nameto each fileas you create it that will allow you to compare the various interpretations Saving and Closing a File Using the Save command in the File menu or clicking on the Saveicon will writethe current settings in themicro scoreto thecurrently open fileon disk Thereisno need to closea file before opening another SuperConductor will reolacethe current microscoresettings with ones from the file being opened when you initiate the Open command Y ou will be prompted to save any changes you madeto the current file beforeopening a new fileor exiting SuperConductor 85 SuperConductor User s Manual 86 Version 4 0 CHAPTER 5 SuperC onductor Reference This section of the manual contains detailed information on all the windows menus controls and other screen objects in SuperConductor It is organized in alphabetical order by subject Add a Voice of Rests Choosing this item adds an additional empty voiceto the musicfile Clipping Check When this item is checked SuperConductor indicates when clipping occursin thedigital audio output during play Copy Choosing Copy makes a copy of theselected bar rangeon the Clipboard for use elsewhere Copy To TheCopy To command places the contents of the selected bar rangein thefile you select SuperConductor User s
5. Long and Short Notes Pizzicato 160 160 161 161 164 165 168 168 169 170 172 172 173 174 175 175 176 178 179 179 180 181 183 184 185 186 Micropause 187 Staccato Legato 188 Note Length 189 The Music Editor 191 File Organization 192 Creating a New File 193 Editing an Existing File 194 Keyboard Editing Commands 194 Menu Commands 195 The Keyboard 196 Transposing Notes 199 Interaction with SuperConductor 199 Talls 199 MIDI Input 200 Creating and Editing Instruments 201 Changing Instrument Settings 202 Creating a New Instrument 203 Recording and Editing Samples 206 Straightening your Samples 206 Importing from Other Samplers 206 References 207 nex 209 R SuperConductor User s Manual 12 Version 4 0 CHAPTER 1 Getting Started Introduction SuperConductor is radically new music interpretation and perfor mance software that gives natural life like expressiveness to computer generated musical performances Focusing on musical meaning SuperConductor enables people of widely varying musical back grounds to create and perfect music interpretations that are masterful in their quality and sensitivity SuperConductor software will operate on any high quality Intel based computer with audio capability or Macintosh Power PC An easy to use graphical user interface is provided which allows global control of expression functions Through the use of the musical microscore SuperConductor all
6. e Click on the Play icon e Click on the Start Play button After the music has begun playing click on the Reverb button Pee M a m apy Twe uu E TN ni a L A The Reverb Parameters window appears 7a e Uncheck the Enable Reverb check box In afew moments the reverb stops Recheck the box to enable reverb How to Use SuperConductor e Click OK to dismiss the Reverb Parameters window The details of all the reverb parameters are discussed in the Reverb reference section of this manual e Click the Cancel command bution to discontinue play and dismiss the Play window Pulse The next step in creating an interpretation is to apply the correct hierarchi cal pulseto the music In the following example you will adjust Beethoven s pulseas applied to thethird movement of the Violin Sonata in A major Opus 47 e Click the Open icon The Open Filewindow appears Scroll down to the file named D MSC BEETHOVN BE473 Double click on this file After the file is completely loaded click on the Pulse icon The Current Pulse Settings window appears Beethoven s hierarchical pulsehas threelayers They are represented by the three sets of colored rectangles displayed in this window Thetop pulse level has a length of 32 bars divided into four groups of eight bars Under itis middle pulselevel which has the length of eight bars and is divided into onebar units The bottom pulsele
7. individual staccatos can also be designed as desired This is not often necessary however since the pulse and the predictive amplitude function where it is enployed vary the effective staccato length depending on context so that the actual stacca tos are in effect varied as they may well advantageously need to be without superimposing any individual alterations Thus the use of the manual staccato function of this pane is actually rare Indeed it is there as an emergency and is not recommended as a required practice The effect of a staccato is not only brought about by its duration the loudness of that tone also contributes to its character The combined effect of duration and loudness is what the listener experiences The duration of staccatos is related to the general character of the music and the composer Shortest staccatos are encountered in fairy dance like pieces as in Mendelssohn scherzi and give especial airiness and light ness But if you make them too short they sound like insects not fairies dancing However that duration of the note itself is an indication also composers often write rests after notes to give them shorter duration rather than just stacccato dots for example in the last quartets of Beethoven he often used this more precise method So that one cannot give a general rule Beethoven scherzi that demand greater solidity will need somewhat longer staccatos than M ozart s Magic Flute Ove
8. looping and other conversions to the sampled sound The SuperConductor Pro CDROM includes the shareware versions of Cool Edit for Windows and SoundEffects for the Macintosh Each of these programs must be installed manually by running the installation program found in the appropriate folder on your CDROM Samples should be looped if they are to continue playing beyond the actual time of the recorded sound Both Sound Forge and Alchemy offer simple looping tools and a program called Infinity for the Macintosh is devoted to developing the best loops possible using a number of algo rithmic approaches Note however that storing the samples on hard disk which SuperConductor provides allows very long samples to be used without looping Straightening your Samples In order for Predictive Amplitude Shaping functions of Super Conductor to work optimally the sampled sounds should be straight ened especially the first quarter second of the sample This allows the predictive amplitude function of SuperConductor to providea full range of attacks and decays which are possible on that instrument through the choice of the shaping parameters Most high quality digital sound editing programs offer what are known as Amplitude Fitting or Enve lope Shaping functions If your recorded samples vary in amplitude over the duration of the note you will need to straighten the sound by using one of these functions to apply a straight line amplitude fit to the
9. nstrumentation Balance and Panning window to appear This window is the control interface for several important functions in assigning instruments and their relative balance and placement In SuperConductor the number of voices that an instrument must haveis equal to the maximum number of notes that theinstrument must sound simultaneously For example afluteor atrumpet only requireonevoice since they can only sound a maximum of one note The cello or violin can require up to 4 voices since they have four separate strings and can sound that number of notes simultaneously Instruments like harpsichord guitar or piano usually requirefrom 3to 10 voices The maximum number of voices that SuperConductor can reproducein real timeis dependent on the speed of your computer The SuperConductor program will support up to 128 voices The size of the Instrumentation Balance and Panning window expands with the number of voicesin apiece The voices are represented by num bered Level sliders Panning sliders Instrument designators and Solo Mute buttons The functions of each of these items are described below Level Sliders TheLevel sliders control the loudness of each voice and are graduated in arbitrary units ranging from 0 00to 25 00 minimum to maximum The slider value can be changed by dragging thethumb whee with the mouse clicking the mouseon theslider surface or by selecting thetextin the text box and typing in thenew value V oice Bala
10. vibrato piano tails and reverb can be loaded from configurations saved for other similar pieces as a good head start from which you can modify the values to optimally suit the particular piece you are work ing with Instrumentation Balance To get a good overall sonority the top voice of a piece should be approximately 30 50 louder than the others as displayed by the slider controls The bass should also be generally somewhat louder about 20 to 30 with the inner parts set softer at about the same ratio For example if all the voices of a piece started at a loudness level of 5 0 the first voice might be increased to 7 2 the bass increased to 6 4 and the inner voices decreased to 3 5 The exact proportions will differ from piece to piece and will vary with the composer i e Mozart requires a lighter bass than Beethoven and Brahms as a general rule Chords sound best when the inner parts are somewhat softer about 30 to 40 in piano and harpsichord chords as well as in string quartets A generally good balance can be achieved by adjusting the loudness of all the voices for the whole piece A deliberately harsh sound can be created by adjusting the inner voices to be equal to the outer voices SuperConductor User sM anual 161 SuperConductorUser s Manual 162 Version 4 0 With pairs of instruments such as two oboes two clarinets or two horns the second of each of the two instruments should generally play about 30 to 40
11. 0 84 145 Staccato 146 Version 4 0 Shaping Min Note Time This setting is the threshold in seconds below which shorter notes will have note shaping modified by the Falling and Rising Constant sliders N otethat this threshold isindependent of theN oteLength setting above Useonly when fast skipping notes areencountered Falling and Rising Constant These factors modify the shape of the ends of short skipping notes whose durations are smaller than the threshold set in the above slider These limiting factors gradually diminish the effect of noteshaping only on notes that skip rapidly over intervals greater than 7 semitones avoiding a sqeaky sound that such fast skips producethrough an exaggerated predictive note shaping Set theslider near thetop of therangewherethis protection is required Staccato This function shortens the sounding length of a particular note That is the written duration of the note remains the same so that it remains in synch with the other voices but the length of timethenote sounds during that duration is shortened by the amount of units displayed in the Staccato slider text box Staccatos are already entered in the flat file so this function is used only rarely to modify these A II thestaccatos that have been entered in the flat filecan be globally modified in length in the M usic Editor Staccatos can also be entered in the Edit N ote option in the Single N ote menu Staccato cont V
12. 33 KHz 22KHz 11KHz These items allow you to choosethe sample play rate of the sound that is generated by SuperConductor In complex pieces of music containing many voices it may be necessary to choosea lower samplerateto maintain real time play For the highest play quality choose the highest setting that will allow play in real time Stereo Mono These choices let you choose whether SuperConductor will output in stereo or mono Choose mono if your machineis slow 16 bits 8 bits Theseitems switch SuperConductor s output resolution Choose 8 bit resolution if your machineis slow or 16 bits for the highest quality How to Use SuperConductor Virtual Sample Memory Checking this item will direct SuperConductor to read sound samples from the hard disk files or CD ROM files if installed rather than loading the samples into program memory This should bechecked whenever possible Set Sound Buffer Choosing this item calls the Sound Buffer Timewindow where you can set thelength of SuperConductor s sound buffer The List Menu SuperConductor can output the result of applying the microscoreto the musicin the form of lists This menu contains various destinations for this output View Original Score Choosing this item displays the score of the current piece if present on the hard disk Music Notes with MicroScore This item displays alist of all the notes in a piece by bar number including major parameters of the microsc
13. C CGF Expraceen Epes Tor fe Erain Shaping F beep Mar Absa bcs Tred I Eraihia ip yia RF Free A y hoah te Heke Tika spar F Eraba Fag inaa P Flat Mdh gt Enate hie po iici Teir pu Eee Evari Velocity Section Velocity usually represents the volume of thenote being played In some cases velocity also changes the attack of a MIDI note thetimbre of the note or even theinstrument sample being used The Expand C ompress slider transforms variationsin MIDI velocities to haveless dynamic range compressed or more dynamic range expanded The default value of 2 0 offers the best average dynamics for most standard MIDI players and samplers A larger value accentuates the changes in velocity A smaller value diminishes the changes TheVelocity Shift slider shifts all MIDI note velocities up or down and can be used to optimizethe resulting output so that notes fall into the desired velocity ranges Itis often the casethat MIDI players and samplers Export M IDI File cont map certain ranges of velocities to different instrument timbres and even different samples Default 1 0 The FlatV elocity checkbox if selected will cause all exported notes to have equal MIDI velocity Tempo Section MIDI files typically useatempo map to control thetempo of a piece dynamically whileitis being played Another variation on controlling tempo isto play the notes with the correct timing and duration ignoring the MIDI metronome If this s
14. Change the Rise slider setting to 3 5 Change the Fall slider setting to 0 50 These settings will cause the violin notes to have a slow swell to their attack and in longer notes to crescendo over most of the length of the note Click on the Play icon Notice that the violin sounds likeit starts late on the fast notes and swells into the longer notes Thisis theresult of an Envelope Rise shape that is too long for thestyle of music being played How to Use SuperConductor e Click on the Stop icon Change the Envelope Rise slider back to 1 0 This returnsthe note shaping to the correct setting for this piece e Click OK and dismiss the Note Shaping window You now havea basic understanding of SuperConductor s pulse and note shaping tools An in depth discussion of this function is found on page 115 Ritardando Accelerando The following demonstration shows how to modify an existing ritardando inapieceof music You will alter the shape and speed of the ritardando and in the process learn how to operate the controls for the Crescendo Diminuendo editor as well e Click on the Ritard icon The Ritardando Accelerando window appears It contains a list of ritardandos that areused throughout the piece Select the eighth line down as shown in the illustration e Click on the Modify command button 79 SuperConductor User s Manual 80 Version 4 0 The Ritardando Accelerando Editor appears It contains a graph
15. H enh Imas mni ea a Emakina Wie 2 a a da Gasba rd Haahi Temisan D bia bie l ia igi de Cane rd Hanh paresis wD bia Mis d bie Wey he eg ed Heed Clicking on the N ew or Open item in the File menu causes the File window to appear Thedirectory display in theupper left corner shows theselected directory the contents of which aredisplayed in thefilelistin the lower part of the window Click on afilenameto select it or typein the name of a new file Clicking on the Filelnformation button brings up the M usic File Informa tion window where data about the composer piece name interpreter and comments can be entered and saved Click Cancel or hit lt esc gt to dismiss the window Clicking OK opens the selected fileand dismisses the window Output Menu The Output M enu allows you to select how SuperConductor will generate audio output Piano Tails Paste The Paste command places the contents of the Clipboard at the selected bar Paste From Paste From allows you to paste another music file into the currently open file Choosing this menu item calls the Open Filedialog from which you choose thefile you want to paste The pasted data is inserted atthe se lected bar Points Per 16th Note This item allows you to choose the number of timeunits used in the minimum pulse unit Default setting is 200 points per unit Piano Tails Lend Saing Pisa a Mis TION DD Tella Lenghia Legie ries Tai Eisi ine Face Mote Hoare
16. MIDI fileand try to understand it s organization beforeimporting it It is best to do this in a program which allows you to at least view and edit the event list This will help to understand problems that may arise during theimport process Somesignsthat aMIDI file needs some work aretoo many resulting voices after importing to SuperConductor wrong instruments or badly aligned notes In order to conserve voices make sure that notes for the same instrument are playing to thesame MIDI channel For example in the case of a MIDI file which has 2 flutes one playing out channel 6and the other channel 7 set them both to channel 6 Makesure correct instrument patches arein place SuperConductor looks at the first patch in each channel to determinewhich instrument to use Sometimes there is an incorrect patch immediately followed by a correct patch at the beginning of the MIDI file This will causethe wrong instrument to beassigned By removing the incorrect patch with a MIDI editor this problem can be resolved Quantizethe MIDI file correctly M ake sure notes start at bar lines and that notelengths are accurate Some MIDI files are played in in order to get a particular interpretive effect but by doing so arenot synchronized to the MIDI metronome This can causeawkwardness for someinterpretivefunctions of SuperConductor but will not affect global note shaping and organic vibrato Import M IDI File cont Import MIDI Options A
17. SuperConductor User s Manual Emotion and Meaning in Music Sentic Form The Double Stream of Music Musical Structure Melody and Harmony Rhythm and Tempo Music as a Story The Basics of Musical Interpretation The Microscore Hierarchical Pulse Note Shaping Vibrato Crescendo Diminuendo Accelerando Ritardando What is the right interpretation How is the composer s pulse determined How To Use SuperConductor The Basics Using Commands Playing from the Collection Playing from the Play Window Making your Own Interpretations The Icons and Their Functions Balance 6 Version 4 0 27 21 28 29 29 31 31 33 34 35 38 40 42 42 43 44 47 47 47 49 50 52 52 53 Pulse Shaping Ritard Crescendo Vibrato The Menus The File Menu The Play Menu The Interpretation Menu The Single Note Menu The Output Menu The List Menu The Edit Menu The Utilities Menu The Help Menu Tutorial Adjusting the Microscore Balance Voices Panning Reverb Pulse Note Shaping Ritardando Accelerando Crescendo Diminuendo Vibrato Saving the Current Microscore 54 59 56 57 58 59 59 60 6l 62 64 65 65 67 68 69 69 69 70 72 73 77 79 82 82 85 SuperConductor User s Manual SuperConductor Reference 87 Add a Voice of Rests 87 Clipping Check 87 Copy 87 Collection 88 Concert 90 Crescendo 92 Cut 94 Delete a File 94 Delete a Voice 94 Edit Menu 94 Editor 95 Expansion Compression 95 Export MIDI File 9
18. bar sequence Perhaps there should sometimes be a special different top level three bar pulse but this is a subtlety we leave to the user if he is so inclined Similar considerations occur for 6 bar sequences or the much rarer 5 bar sequences In some rare instances like in the scherzo of the Beethoven s ninth symphony the composer specifically indicates a certain section as being in three bar rhythm In this case a three pulse at that level is of course required which is readily accomplished by SuperConductor Some pieces will require no resets and others quite a handful Incomplete Bars If there is an upbeat at the beginning of the piece the pulse group should start with 1 after the upbeat With an upbeat there always are rests before the upbeat to make an entire bar called bar 0 This is to satisfy the needs of the computer So either begin the piece with a last bar of the pulse group so that the first bar of the group falls on the first bar of the piece or simply reset the pulse to start again at bar one regardless of the upbeat before The first note of a piece or upbeat is usually taken at a slightly slower tempo than what follows The tempo is so to speak eased into One of the teachings of the great master Pablo Casals 171 SuperConductor User s Manual 172 Version 4 0 Pulse Weight Sliders For a given pulse configuration the most important interpretive actions are adjustments of the pulse weight slid
19. basic organizing unit is on the scale of one half to several bars A typical Bach pulse containing 8 bars in Level 1 Inside or underneath this level is Level 2 This level of the pulse deals with the beats inside each bar In most music some beats are stronger than others in the bar In the waltz which has three beats in each bar the first beat is strong and the next two are relative weak This accounts for the oom pah pah oom pah pah feel of that dance In contrast the polka has two beats per bar the first being stronger than the second Most music typically has from two up to twelve beats per bar The lowest level of the hierarchy is Level 3 which deals with the notes inside each beat Typically each beat is divided into three or four sub divisions As before each note gets a different emphasis depending on 37 SuperConductor User s Manual 38 Version 4 0 its order inside the beat N otes in the score which are shorter in duration than one third or one fourth of a beat are played inside the time warp for the basic unit of Level 3 In the finished pulse setting for a composer all three levels are function ing simultaneously Starting on the first sub division of the first beat of the first bar and proceeding sub division by sub division through the music time and amplitude are warped to a greater or lesser extent as a function of the combined effect of the three levels at the current instant The details of how t
20. consists of the note value equal to one beat that applies to the tempo indication in beats per minute Meter Thesetwo boxes display thecurrent meter of the section Thetop number is thenumber of meter units per bar The bottom number is the typeof note that is equal to the meter unit For example 3 4means three quarter notes per bar 3 8means three eighth notes per bar Therange of the controlsis 1 to 32 Usable values for the bottom number are 1 2 4 8 16 and 32 M icropause Tempo This slider controls the amount of tempo change that will occur in the section relativeto the overall tempo set in the Play window Therange of values is from 20 to 440 beats per minute This control should only be used when thereisachangein meter in the music Otherwise Terrace Ritard Accelerando is recommended for tempo changes within the same meter Key Usethearrow keysto set the key signature of thesection for the score displaysin SuperConductor Main Tempo If theM ain Tempo check box is checked this tempo setting is controlled by the main tempo slider on the play panel If itis not checked this tempo setting is always kept in the same proportion to the main tempo as speci fied in the Ratio to Main Tempo box Micropause In some music master players will take short pauses in theflow of the music at certain points to clarify musical structure or occasionally to create a special articulation The Micropause function allows you
21. denser the resulting reverb A largenumber of reflections is psychoacoustically associated with aroom that has complex reflective surfaces Therange of theslider isfrom Oto 10reflections Usesmall numbers for chamber music and solo instruments and larger numbers for orchestral and other larger ensembles Reverb cont Channel Delay It is Sometimes desirable to introduce minute delays in the audio output of the reverb unit to simulate echoes in the acoustic environment The Delay sliders are graduated in seconds and allow for introducing separate delays in each channel The range of thesliders is from 0 00 seconds to 0 500 seconds Filtering Section The Filtering Section contains a Freq Resp slider that controls the fre quency response of the feedback filter in the reverb algorithm Theslider is graduated in arbitrary units Larger values filter out more high frequency fromthereverb Small values allow morehigh frequencies into the rever berated sound Therange of the control isfrom 0 00 to 2 00 The defaultis 10 141 Ritard A ccelerando Ritard Accelerando Voce fi Tome Ba Jow Stet Ded Core Pade Damdo CE tlp ik Choosing theRitard Accelerando item in the Interpretation menu or clicking on the Ritard icon causes the Ritard Accelerando window to appear This window allows you to enter bar ranges in the piecewherea gradually changing increase or decrease in tempo is desired The window s display shows a list of range
22. described below to modify thetenpo and or range Click OK to enter the changes at the end of the Terrace Ritard A ccelerando list To modify an existing tempo or rangefor a section click on thesection to bemodified and then click on the M odify button Enter the changes as aboveand click OK To deleteatempo changefrom thelist select the section by clicking on it Then click on the Delete button The section disappears from thelist Voice Thevoicein which thetempo changeshould begin and end The other voices will automatically participate in the tempo change Start and End Thestarting and ending bar and tonefor the tempo change Time Factor The amount of changein the overall tempo in the range specified A setting of 0 9 will increasethe tempo ten percent A setting 1 2 will decreasethe tempo by twenty percent 151 Transpose V oice Piece 152 Version 4 0 Transpose Voice Transpose Piece Theseitems allow you to transpose oneor all voices or up or downin pitch Voice This number is the voicein which the transposition occurs Semitones Thenumber of half steps away from the original pitch that the voicewill be transposed The range of the control is 24 semitones or 2 octaves Greater transposition can bedoneby reiteration Vibrato E F I F i i Segs2228eee22288 F t i F E SEES SSeS sobbecooooeesosoo aa RESJSERERSARE T tinder 4 Shade yh aandaa E The Vibrato wi
23. give a more singing tone to the melody if used appropriately If the melody tone occurs a little after or before the accompaniment 10 15 milliseconds say then it will ring out more being less masked by the accompaniment tones This is especially true of piano and harpsichord music Sometimes the melody will want to be ahead of the accompaniment sometimes a bit behind mostly at the beginning of phrase it may like to take the lead and near the end be at little lagging but it depends on the piece These are ddiays of a shorter magnitude than in rubato and are done primarily for beauty of tone It is not recommended that this local Length Control be used extensively to create expressiveness with SuperConductor since the global controls of hierarchic pulse and predictive amplitude shaping already cause local length changes which when supplemented by ritards and terrace ritards where appropriate already efficiently provide the necessary possibilities of expressive length changes APPENDIX A The Music Editor Introduction The Music Editor for SuperConductor is a simple way to enter and edit notes in a format compatible with SuperConductor The music Editor uses the Step Method of music entry which is the only way to create a fully quantized file necessary for SuperConductor to accurately interpret a piece of music In the step method you first specify the correct note length and other attributes such as staccato or t
24. gradual increase and decrease in speed of the music s tempo Pronounced ack ceh ler ahn doh and ree tar dahn do they can be used to increase and decrease the excitement of the music and for structural demarcation such as slowing down at the end of a piece or section Like crescendos and diminuendos accelerandos and ritardandos have a contour Ritards and accelerandos can be composer specific that is their shape and weight are often a function of the style of music in which they are used The Basics of Music Interpretation The illustration below shows SuperConductor s Ritardando Accele rando window It is virtually the same as the Crescendo Diminuendo window because what is being controlled is the contour or envelope of a gradually changing parameter tempo in the former case loudness in the latter What is the right interpretation Throughout history teachers have tried to pass down to their students true methods of interpreting the great music of our culture Until recently it was unclear what was being taught or not taught that could give access to deeply musical performances of the great composers Every great performer finds his own insights into those secrets to musical meaning Authentic performances cannot be derived by copying what others do or have done With the discovery of the microscore functions it is now possible to distinguish elements of meaningful interpretation and teach them consc
25. have little enveloping effect Large values of Rise cause the note start to begin quietly and swell Large values of Fall causethenote ending to taper to silence quickly Shaping Factor SuperConductor s predictive amplitude shaping algorithm uses the timeto the next note and the melodic interval to the next noteto determinethe changein theamplitude envelopeit appliesto the current note If thenext noteis higher than the current note the envelopeis modified in form and effect to havea longer riseand a shorter fall If the next noteis lower than the current note the envelopeis modified to haveashorter riseand a longer fall If the next note comes sooner these effects become more pro nounced Predictive amplitudeshaping is not applied to staccato notes and notes followed by arest they retain their basic shape unaltered by what follows The amount of shape change that is applied to the note shaping envelope is controlled by thetime interval slopeto theupcoming note ThePredic tive Shaping Factor slider controls the overall degreeto which this hap pens Theslider s range of values is 0 00 to 1 0 Higher values cause larger differencesin thenoteshaping envelopes Thenormal setting is 0 5 If set to 0 the basic shape is used unchanged for all notes and spans the dura tion of each note 119 Open 120 Version 4 0 res aila Pig Mee ee aa Ge Ge ed He Scag yp eg ln fg Why des een See Hp marni hig irri Pr Vice da Garba ra
26. in pitch This function allows you set the amount of increase in loudness as a function of pitch for each voiceindividually The correct amount of pitch crescendo allows for a natural rise in intensity and expression following the contour of the melody This function iscommonly called pitch amplitudetracking in synthesizer parlance It is set preferentially for different composers and often individual pieces To add a pitch crescendo setting for a voice click the Add button The Pitch Crescendo Diminuendo Editor window appears Usethe controls described below to specify the pitch crescendo desired for the chosen voice Click OK to enter the changes at the end of the Pitch Crescendo Diminu endolist To modify an existing Pitch Crescendo Diminuendo section click on the section to be modified and then click on the M odify button Enter the changes as above and click OK To deletea Pitch Crescendo Diminuendo section from thelist select the section by clicking on it Then click on the Delete button The section disappears from thelist Voice The Voicenumber box indicates the number of the voiceto which the current settings apply 125 PitchCrescando cont 126 Version 4 0 Start and End These boxes specify the starting bar and note and the ending bar and note over which thePitch Crescendo Diminuendo settings will take effect The default rangeis thewhole piece Per Octave Factor This slider controls the amplification fac
27. mutes all the other voices 9 Click the Play icon and begin play Notice the use of vibrato especially on the longer notes 10 Stop play and uncheck the Enable checkbox at the lower left of the window This disables all vibrato on Voice 1 11 Click on the Play icon to hear the result The trumpet sound takes on a mechanical quality 12 Check the Enable check box After a short time vibrato is added to the tone making it sound more lifelike 13 Click OK to dismiss the Vibrato window 41 SuperConductor User s Manual 42 Version4 0 Crescendo Diminuendo These Italian terms refer to the gradual increase and decrease of loud ness of music A crescendo creh sh n doh is a gradual increase in the loudness of a part or all of the music and is often used to increase the intensity of expression A diminuendo dih mih nu n do is a gradual decrease in the loudness of the music Both crescendos and diminuendos have a contour to them The illustration below shows the difference between a linear contour and a power function contour in a crescendo The audible effect is quite different Power Function Crescendo Linear Crescendo Crescendos and diminuendos can be applied to one instrument s part or to the whole musical texture Details of using SuperConductor s cre scendo diminuendo functions are discussed in the reference section of this manual Accelerando Ritardando Also Italian terms these refer to the
28. notation would overwhelm the performer The job of the performer then is to turn the musical score back into the original musical expression How do performers turn lifeless dots of black ink on paper into the living sound that the composer in tended They add their own interpretation to the basic facts of the music sketched by the composer Training in the art of correct musical interpretation is the work of the music conservatories around SuperConductor User s Manual 33 SuperConductor User s Manual 34 Version4 0 the world The essence of what is individually rediscovered by each student is hopefully the right stuff which when applied to the raw score results in an authentic re creation of the composer s original intentions his musical thought and brings the music to life What is it that is added to the notated music that makes the difference between the wooden performance of a beginner and the eloquent performance of a master What the performer adds to the written score to reconstitute the living music is called the microscore The Microscore When we speak we add inflections of pitch loudness duration and tempo to our speaking to bring out certain emotional qualities and communicate a context which shapes how the listener hears our words Consider the sentence I told you so There is a broad range of ways in which these words could be spoken In the hands of a great actor anything from playfu
29. of meter there generally will be notes which have an approximate whole number relation to notes of the previous meter The relationship between the tempo of one meter and the other is given by the tempo factor Your Own Pulse If you are a composer you will want to find your own pulse That may not be hard You may find that once you optimize the pulse for one of your pieces a few of your pieces that soon the pulse will fit your next piece with surprising and satisfying results even if the music is very different Don t try to fit a great composer s music to your own That is no way to compose good music nor to get the qualities of that composer infused into your music Pulses are not transposable into other composers Unless the 173 SuperConductorUser s Manual 174 Version 4 0 notes fit the pulse will not be integral In a good piece of music the pulse and the notes are made from the same cloth they are organic Importing a different composer s pulse into your own is not recom mended except as a prank Of all the composer s pulses we know the Haydn pulse is probably the most flexible and produces least atrocities when stolen but even to introduce that into other music is an insult to the person of Haydn like making believe that you are Haydn You aren t and cannot be Just be yourself and it will be great The true is beautiful and here you can prove it To find your own pulse simply change the
30. of voices or most often to all voices together In Bach Mozart and Haydn this function is essential In that time dynamics were of a terrace kind predominantly allowing contrast which related to the musical structure But for later composers this function is also used besides the gradual crescendos and diminuendos The latter become frequent in Beethoven and Schubert where they constitute the fabric of the music itself It is hard to imagine Beethoven adding the dynamics afterwards to the music as earlier composers often did rather he seems to have thought of the dynamics integrally with the shaping of the music With Schubert we may additionally see that a crescendo followed by a diminuendo as often occurs finds the diminu endo ending considerably lower in loudness than the level from which the crescendo started It is not a mere returning to the initial level but going well below that In general the ear finds a proper balance by a sharper diminuendo than one would expect from just symmetrical mathematical proportions This is because the ear adapts and after a loud passage the diminuendo must be especially marked or it will be masked by the adaptation After such a diminuendo the basic loudness is resumed in what follows without any special notation of that by the composer And also after a very loud tutti passage the immediately following soft notes need to be louder than otherwise or they will not be properly heard for th
31. on the Pulse Configuration window The new pulse is applied to the piece Click on the Play button Notice the distinctively different feel of the music The application of a foreign composer s pulse gives the piece an almost ridiculous quality This concludes the chapter on the Basics of Music Interpretation SuperConductor User s Manual 46 Version4 0 CHAPTER 4 How To Use SuperC onductor This chapter describes how to use SuperConductor to create your own interpretations of the great composers music Morethan onehundred works areincluded with SuperConductor Y ou can also input your own music Thetopics covered include basic information about the interface a tutorial on making an interpretation from scratch and a description of all themenu functions The Basics Using Commands Commands in SuperConductor are chosen in the same way asin other Windows applications by using amenu in the menu bar clicking on an icon or button or using keyboard command equivalents Using a Dialog Box Asin other Windows applications a dialog box can contain scroll lists pop up menus radio buttons command buttons check boxes and text boxes This section describes features of various dialog boxes with which you might not be familiar SuperConductor User s Manual 47 SuperConductor User s Manual 48 Version40 Pop up Menus To choose from a pop up menu click on themenu hold down theleft mouse button and point
32. part of anew revolution in music Super Conductor is a breakthrough in music interpretation and performance giving natural life like expressiveness to computer generated musical performances Itis so revolutionary that it can be compared not to invent ing the electriclight but to inventing the wheel in interpreting music Asaregistered user of SuperConductor you areentitled to notification of software upgrades technical support and to special introductory offers on our upcoming products Wewill bein contact with you to announcenew opportunities and to solicit your feedback Printing of the original scores in perfect hardcopy is made possible by ScorePrint MicroSound s special inexpensivesoftware Complete your masterworks collection with works availablefrom MicroSound in thefuture Wehope you discover the beauty and pleasure that is available to all through the music of the great composers Enjoy Table of Contents Endorsements Welcome Getting Started Introduction The Things You ll Need Owner Registration Installing SuperConductor Starting SuperConductor Playing Music Technical Support Introduction to SuperConductor The Computer Music Problem A New Possibility In Music Making SuperConductor Features Basic Concepts in Music What is Music The Parameters of Musical Sound Pitch Duration Timbre Loudness Location 13 13 14 15 15 16 17 18 19 19 21 22 23 24 24 24 25 25 26 26
33. patch changeor volumecontrol called an event A MIDI sequencer reads each event froma MIDI filein theorder itisto be performed and when the correct time comes issues the command to whatever device isto play thesound MIDI devices arevaried and rangefrom electronic keyboards and drum machines to simpleblack boxes that produce sound Thesound card in most standard PCs contains all the necessary equip ment to play MIDI files directly to a speaker or to send commands through aMIDI cableto external devices SuperConductor File Organization SuperConductor files are organized as up to 128 voices with each voice being monophonic ableto play a single note at atime When a MIDI fileis imported SuperConductor begins by assuming that each track in the MIDI filerepresents a single instrument N otes within that track arethen separated into different voices if they areplaying atthesametimeor are playing to different channels Some instruments such as the flute can only play one note at atime and thus when imported will resultin asinglevoicein SuperConductor whereas other instruments such as the piano can play as many as 10 notes at a time 10 fingers so may result in up to 10 voices Since MIDI files don t follow astandard organization it is often necessary to edit the MIDI filebefore importing it H eearesometips 101 Import M IDI File cont 102 Version 4 0 Most files will import without incident but some will not Listen to the
34. play the violin at a level sufficient to enjoy the pleasures of playing chamber music or to participate in a community orchestra With SuperConductor anyone can create performances of famous violin pieces or music for any other instrument or combination of instruments vary the style and expression of the performances and record the output without ever setting bow to string All the instru ments of the orchestra and chorus can be played with outstanding musicality using SuperConductor s simple controls This freedom from the drudgery of practice allows for experimentation and discovery in the area of music interpretation the creation of emotional content and meaning in music It is now possible for laymen and students to develop the sensibilities of skillful artists without decades of practice and study SuperConductor Features e SuperConductor requires only a fast Intel based computer and a Sound Blaster compatible sound card or equivalent internal hardware to operate e No MIDI equipment is required SuperConductor is completely self contained The soundfiles that are used to perform the music are included with the application software e Allows for independent global control of the basic parameters that shape the performance of the music Eliminates the hours of program ming required to produce musically expressive results using MIDI or other computer based systems e The Collection feature plays programmed sequenc
35. pulse values given in SuperConductor are merely suggestions We expect that they will be further refined and improved with coming generations of musicians Can you determine the pulse of a composer from the score No but there are hints in it in the accents and note densities distribution of note densities that the composer favours These hints tend to confirm the pulse in general terms but are far too inexact and loose to be able to derive the precise values of the pulse components which is so impor tant The true test for a pulse is does it add to the vitality the meaning the uniqueness of the music Does it reveal something that makes you really love that composer Does it feel like it makes you a friend of the com poser an intimate friend even Does it help to give reality to the music to show you a truth that is somehow in the music that it is a privilege to share Hints Rules and Suggestions As the answer to these questions becomes yes you will have understood what the pulse can do to music and how dead it is without it And you will have sensed some of the wonders of being human that great music can attest to wonders that make life an incredible gift As Pablo Casals said to us one day Bach Beethoven Mozart Schubert they have the answers to life s problems Be happy Pulse Configuration To get the pulse right it needs to have the right pulse configuration This means that it should correspond to the
36. rchives com See thesection on Importing MIDI files for details NOTES For best results put thejoystick on atable and position the joystick about 30 degrees counterclockwise You may need to goto the Windows Control Panel and select Game Controllers to enable and calibrate your joystick Calibration is asimple wizard that will take you step by step through the process Legato With someinstruments especially keyboards and harp players overlap adjacent notes within a melody to createa smoothly flowing melody The Legato function allows you to lengthen the sounding length of anote without changing its written duration This has the effect of overlapping or smearing the end of onenotewith the beginning of the next It isthe logical opposite of the Staccato function This can be done with all instruments in SuperConductor even wind and string instruments For piano thelegato function can also be used to providea pedal effect by sustaining desired tones even justin middle voices Voice This box displays the number of the voiceto which thelegato will be added Bar This box displays the number of the bar to which the legato will be added Tone This box displays thenumber of thetonein the chosen bar to which the legato is added Pitch This box showsthenameof the pitch of the current note If the valueis R thenoteisa rest or measured silence 107 LongN ateP anders 108 Version 4 0 Note Length
37. sample Both Cool Edit and SoundEffects which are included with your SuperConductor Pro CDROM offer straightening functions spe cially designed for use with SuperConductor NOTE Straightening samples only applies to instruments like the violin or flute whose amplitude can be varied by the performer and not to instruments such as the piano guitar or drum which have their own natural decay of the sound APPENDIX C R eferences Clynes M Interpretation of M usic for the 21st Century in preparation MIT Press Clynes M 1995 Microstructural Musical Linguistics Composer s pulses are liked best by the best musicians COGNITION International Journal of Cognitive Science vol 55 pp 269 310 Clynes M 1994 Entities and brain organization Logogenesis of meaningful time forms Proceedings of the Second A ppalachian Conference on Behavioral N eurodynamics Erlbaum Press N J In press Clynes M 1992 Time forms nature s generators and communica tors of emotion Proc IEEE Int Workshop on Robot and Human Commu nication Tokyo Sept 1992 pp 18 31 Clynes M S Jurisevic and M Rynn 1990 Inherent cognitive substrates of specific emotions Love is blocked by lying but Anger is not Perceptual and M otor Skills 70 pp 195 206 Clynes M 1990b Mind body windows and music M usikpaedagogische F orschung Vol 11 pp 19 42 Essen Germany Verlag Die Blaue Eule Cly
38. shapes Diminuendos on the other hand are the opposite the curve should also be concave upward but to do this now the slider values are greater than 1 1 3 1 4 say The end loudness level of a diminuendo may need to be lower than what follows This is because the curve usually follows to the end of the last note in a diminuendo even though any further decrease or increase of the curve after the last note is struck has no effect You will want to shape each crescendo and diminuendo individually to get it right as you want it to be Often a crescendo should best start at a loudness level that is lower than what has preceded immediately before it In that way by dropping in loud 179 SuperConductorUser s Manual 180 Version 4 0 ness before you increase the effect can become enhanced A pianissimo may bein the range of 12 to 2 say a piano around 6 1 may be mezzoforte 1 3 forte 2 2 5 fortissimo But this is merely a rough guide in practice every piece will demand a different dynamic palette Quite often composers distribute the voices so that the dynamics they wish are at least in part produced by the number of instruments playing i e by the massiveness of the orchestration or ensemble As more and more instruments come in it gets louder and louder At other times though this needs to be supplemented Terrace Dynamics This is highly useful and may be used frequently in many pieces It may apply to one voice to a group
39. shown At this point you can delete one or more samples from the list so they won t be included in the new instrument This will not delete the actual sample file from disk fvvelable Sampler Step 5 Enter the instrument name ID MIDI number and whether or not to use note shaping with this instrument In most cases the Sample Offset and the Default Shaping Rise and Fall should be left at 0 You will be given a warning and an opportunity to correct it if the Unique ID you have chosen already exists in SuperConductor s samples Creating and Editing Instruments nobuminl Slt Step 6 Save the new instrument It is recommended that you use the Unique ID as the filename for the instrument as it will make it easier in the future to find and edit the sample settings Step 7 Exit the Instrument Editor by selecting the File Exit menu Restart SuperConductor if you were running the Intrument Editor as a stand alone program 205 SuperConductor User s Manual 206 Version 4 0 Recording and Editing Samples You can record samples using any simple sound recording program on your computer but in order to achieve the best results a high quality digital recording and editing program is recommended There are a number of these types of programs available including Cool Edit or Sound Forge for Windows and SoundEffects or Alchemy for the Macintosh Each of these programs let you record the sound then perform various filtering
40. sliders will prob ably have to be readjusted Is the composer aware of his own pulse configuration Probably Good composers are very aware of bar structure 167 SuperConductor User s Manual 168 Version 4 0 Many compose in rather regular 4 bar sequences But many of the great composers while using 4 bar sequences predominantly will intersperse them with 6 bar 2 bar or 3 bar segments at various times SuperCon ductor makes you become aware of how they build their pieces Fugues generally do not have as regular bar patterns Beethoven Mozart and Haydn Pulses The strength of the Beethoven pulse is the result of a combination of the light second tone with a pronounced and somewhat elongated fourth tone Both the third and fourth tones are of relatively high amplitude If it were not for the softened and shortened second tone the pulse would consist of four rather emphasized tones which would make it sound quite heavy as indeed it does in some performances By having the light second tone the pulse has a subtle strength that avoids heaviness The fourth tone strongly contributes to this specific Beethovian quality an even more marked and elongated fourth tone is found in the Brahms pulse The Mozart pulse exemplifies grace and symmetry and also a degree of abstraction The duration deviations are less marked than for Beethoven and more symmetrical The Haydn pulse configuration has an elasticity similar to the Beethoven p
41. softer than the first Note The Balance controls operate on a linear scale The terrace crescendo and crescendo functions are used to bring out various instruments during certain passages For most pieces this extra enhancement will be unnecessary Groups of instruments can be selected to be louder or softer for certain ranges within a piece This is particu larly helpful in concertos where the group of instruments that accom pany a solo sometimes needs to be softer than in tuttis when the whole orchestra plays together Certain instruments may require a boost or cut in volume just to sound equally loud compared to the other instruments These instruments may include timpani bassoon cello etc The orchestration of the particular passage will have a large effect on the audibility of these instruments Panning It is not desirable to hard pan to the extreme left or right of the panning controls For string quartets and most other pieces panning values of 5 to 6 and 5 to 6 provide a large lateral placement of the voice Other instruments might be placed in the 2 to 2 range Ina quartet the usual spacing is first violin about 5 second violin 5 viola 2 and cello 3 Alternatively the viola and second violin may be switched But of course you may try various other combinations Generally the melodic lines are best if they come from the left and rhythmic events from the right This seems to work best because the brai
42. steps below demonstrate their use e Click on the Play icon How to Use SuperConductor Noticethe flow of the music and theregularity of the tempo If you listen carefully you will hear that the second bar of each phraseis quieter than theothers Click on the Stop icon Adjust the Amp slider for the middle level to 1 5 This vertical slider is located to the right of themiddlelevel pulse display This adjustment increases the differencein loudness between the barsin this pulselevel hence weighting the differences The display adjusts to show thedifferencein weighting A valueof 1 0 gives loudness ratios that are exactly equal to those set in the composer s pulsesetting Click the Play icon N oti ce that the second bar of each phraseis now far quieter in relation to the other parts of the phrase SuperC onductor has exaggerated the differences in loudness between the bars Stop Play Change the value of the middle level Amp slider to 0 00 This change will nullify any differencein loudness between the bars Noticethat thedisplay adjusts to illustrate this difference Start play This time each bar of the phrase is equally loud The sense of dancing and lightness that was present in the first play is now missing Stop play Set the middel level Amp slider to 1 0 This will restorethe amplitude weighting to its original state 75 SuperConductor User s Manual 76 Version 4 0 To demon
43. structure of the music to its flow How is that determined The composer hardly gives any indication He does give a meter but that does not specify the pulse structure uniquely nor even as a good starting point necessarily Each level of the pulse takes a chunk of time the lowest level the smallest and the highest level the greatest The chunk of time of one whole bottom level is a single element of the second next higher level The chunk of time of the whole second level pulse is a single element of the highest level pulse The composer s meter 1 bar may cover a chunk of whole lower pulse level or it may cover two chunks or even at times half a chunk That depends on the piece However whatever that proportion is it carries through for the whole piece except when the composer changes the meter A pulse configuration for a 4 4 time may be 4 x 4 x 4 for the three levels or it may be2x 4x4 or2x8x4 2x4x2 or8x4x4or any similar combination One of them will be the magic wand to make the piece sound really right Which one We can t always tell So you might have to experiment We do provide suggested pulse configurations with the flat files and of course with the interpreted files It is one of the wonders of interpreta tion that changing the pulse configuration gives rise to different levels of musicality and at times to more profound levels of meaning Remember when changing pulse configurations that the weight
44. the note being sounded Vibrato is often applied after a note starts and has sounded for a time and may end before the note ends Vibrato is usually introduced gradually in coordination with the shape of the note and has an envelope different from the note shaping envelope of a note Espe cially effective on longer melodic notes it is used judiciously by the best players to create warmth and persuasion and to bring out the line they are playing from the general texture of the music Like the other interpretive elements vibrato can create and enhance or destroy musical meaning depending on how it is applied with SuperConductor it can be globally and organically applied giving it appropriate organic variety suited to the particular music Play this example to demonstrate the use of vibrato 1 Open the D MSC MOZART M3701 file 2 Click on the Vibrato Icon 3 Select Voice 1 and click on the Modify button The Basics of Music Interpretation 4 Click on the Bal icon This causes the Instrumentation Balance and Panning window to appear 5 Click on the word Oboe in the Instrument field for Voice 1 A menu of instruments appears 6 Click on Trumpet You have just changed Voice 1 from an oboe to a trumpet Weare using the trumpet for this example because it has absolutely no vibrato in the raw sample 7 Click OK to dismiss the window 8 Check the Play Solo check box under the Play icon This solos Voice 1 and
45. the piece that have a different meter and pulse are related by tempo to one another by the tempo factor that applies to the subsections It is often the case that pieces are organic by their choice of whole number relation ships between the tempi of the various subsections In that way relation ships of tempo between the various sections can be set while they often are close to whole number relationships or simple fractions yet they generally will somewhat deviate from this When the main tempo is modified by adjusting the tempo slider on the tempo screen all the subsections having different pulses will also be adjusted in the same proportion automatically To change the relative tempo between them you can change the tempo factor of that subsection This is very useful in that it keeps the proportions of all the tempi constant when the main tempo is changed when experimenting with the interpretation Usually this is very desirable In that way the tempo of the subsections behaves just like terrace ritards do The tempo factors of course can be individually changed having the new main tempo is established so that changes in proportions if re quired can be achieved Crescendo Diminuendo Functions In operation in Superconductor these are formally very similar to the ritard functions Curve slide values for crescendos are typically in the 0 6 to 0 9 range Longer crescendos tend to have lower slide values i e more concave
46. thelength in time width and amplitude height of each of theindividual pulse elements Pulselength and amplitudeare controlled by sliders associated with each pulseelement The PulseAmplitude sliders aregraduated in arbitrary units ranging from 0 1to 1 5 minimum to maximum The Pulse Length sliders are graduated in arbitrary units from 25 to 125 Theslider value can be changed by dragging thethumb wheel with the mouse clicking the mouse on the slider surface or by selecting thetext in the text box and typing in the new value Click Cancel or hit lt esc gt to dismiss the window Clicking OK saves the current settings and dismisses the window Elements Text Display This text box displays the number of pulse unit elements at the level of the pulse with which itis associated Values range from 2 to 16 133 Pulse 134 Version 4 0 Weight Factor Sliders To theright of each pulselevel display area set of two sliders one labeled Time the other labeled Amp for A mplitude These sliders are called the Weight Factor sliders They control theintensity with which the pulse settings at that level are applied to the music Thereis oneset of sliders for each level of the hierarchical pulse Thevertical Amp slider controls therdative difference in loudness be tween the elements in the pulselevel with which it is associated hence weighting thedifferences Thedisplay adjusts to show thedifferencein weighting A value of 1 0 gives loud
47. them Default 125 Length to Note Duration Sets the relationship of tail length to thenote s duration Default 0 Length to Note Amplitude Sets the relationship of tail length to the note s loudness Default 0 Length to Note Frequency Sets the relationship of tail length to the note s pitch Thehigher the value the more sustained thehigh frequency tones and the moredistinct and articulated the bass tones Begin Tail Sets the phase of the notes when the tail starts to comeinto play Itis given in seconds before thenominal end of thenote 122 Version 4 0 Piano Tails cont Begin Tail to Note Duration Sets thetime of the beginning of thetail to the note s duration Lower values in relation to the begin tail setting increase the degree of phrasing Higher values give a brighter sound Save Settings This function is used to save the current tail settings into the tails database with auniquename This function can be used to copy thesettings from one musicfileto another or to save your favorite settings for usein any file Load Settings This function is used to load settings from the tails database into the current music file Piano Palette This function imparts a smooth rangeof tone color to each Boesendorfer note depending on loudness likethe physical piano does Lower settings 1 3 will resultin amoremellow voiced instrument higher settings 4 8 for greater brilliance and harshness N otetha
48. to add a short silence after a specific note or section The pauseis the equivalent of adding a short rest to the melodic line so itis important to add the same length pause to all the voices in the music so that they stay synchronized This occurs automatically in SuperConductor 111 M icropause cont 112 Version 4 0 SuperConductor will usually make phrases breathe If more separation at the end of phrases is desired a micropause can be inserted This should be necessary only rarely This will interfere with the pulse and continuity if too large but may bevery appropriate at the end of major sections Voice This box displays the number of the voiceto which the micropause will be added Bar This box displays the number of the bar to which the micropause will be added Tone This box displays the number of thetonein the chosen bar Pitch This box shows thenameof the pitch of the current tone If the valueis R thetoneisa rest or measured silence Note Length The Note Length is displayed as a decimal fraction of the note s nominal length as shown in thescore Micropause This slider controls the duration of the micropause that will be added to the end of the current note Inserting this small silence after thetonewill makethe next tonein this voice and all voices delayed by the length of the micropause If somenotes end later they will belengthened to fit Graduated in milliseconds the range of th
49. will automatically use as many voices as are necessary to accomodate all the notes in the track Use caution because existing notes will be overwritten in any voice needed for importing Keyboard Editing Commands The Insert key will insert a Rest of the currently selected note size at the cursor location The Delete key will delete a note or selection of notes To move around in your music file use the arrow keys Page Up or Down Home and End keys to navigate To change voices enter a new voice number or use the spin control in the Voice box in the upper left corner of the screen The Music Editor Menu Commands Cut Copy and Paste e Cut Copy and Paste operations function similarly to a word proces sor You can select a region of notes using the mouse and Copy them to the Clipboard You can then reposition the cursor at another location and Paste which will insert all the notes which are in the Clipboard at the current cursor location The Cut operation will copy all the selected notes to the Clipboard and delete the selected notes Undo e Undo will reverse the previous function that you performed The undo list extends to the beginning of the current editing session of a particular file Use the Undo function carefully as you may undo some thing that you really meant to keep Clear Voice e Clear Voice will remove all the notes in the currently selected voice Be careful with this one Copy Voice e Copy Voice will
50. 1 Voice Balancing 61 153 wW Weight Factor Sliders 74 168 Weight Sections 170 Y Your Own Pulse 169
51. 119 Pulse 126 Reverb 134 Vibrato 148 Voice Balancing 53 153 Location 26 Long Note Parameters 62 105 Long Notes 180 Loudness 26 M Melodic Interval 29 Melody and Harmony 29 Memory 14 Menus 59 Meter Tempo 62 106 Micropause 63 108 182 Microscore 34 109 MicroSound International 18 MIDI 20 22 190 Mozart and Beethoven Allegros 165 Music 24 computer music 19 concepts 23 emotion in music 27 music as a story 31 music as organized sound 29 musical feel 35 musical interpretation 33 musical scores 33 musical structure 29 musical time 35 song and dance 27 Music Notes with MicroScore 65 Music Editor 187 211 SuperConductorUser s Manual Clear Voice 191 Copy Voice 191 Cut Copy and Paste 191 Editing Notes 190 Jump to Start 192 Keyboard 192 Keyboard Editing Commands 190 Keyboard Shortcuts 193 MIDI Input 196 New File 189 Select All 191 Set Start Bar 192 Transpose 191 Transposing Notes 195 Trills 195 Undo 191 New 59 116 New Pulses 169 Notation 33 Note Editor 112 Note Length 63 110 184 Note Shaping 38 55 61 77 114 171 O Open 59 Output Menu 64 117 Owner Registration 15 P Panning 70 158 Parameters of Musical Sound 24 Paste 66 117 Paste From 66 117 Phrasing and Articulation 38 Physical Modeling Synthesis 21 Piano Tails 61 118 179 Pitch 24 Pitch Bend 118 Pitch Crescendo 62 121 179 PB Version 4 0 Index Pizzicato 181 Play Menu 60 Playin
52. 198 Version 4 0 lt Ctrl Down gt Select Down lt Ctrl Up gt Select Up lt Ctrl Home gt Select to beginning of file lt Ctrl End gt Select to end of file lt Ctrl T gt Transpose selected notes Function Keys F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 Whole Note Half Note Quarter Note Eighth Note Sixteenth Note Thirty second N ote Sixty fourth Note Dotted Note Triplet F10 Staccato F11 Portamento F12 Phrasing Number Pad NF OD WU B CO N Whole Note Half Note Quarter Note Eighth Note Sixteenth Note Thirty second Note Sixty fourth Note The Music Editor 9 Triplet Decimal Point Dotted Multiply Portamento Minus Staccato Plus Phrasing Transposing Notes To transpose a section of notes in a single voice select the notes with the mouse and use the Transpose menu option You will be queried on how many semitones you wish to raise or lower the selected notes Interaction with SuperConductor The Music Editor may be run as a stand alone program or can be launched from SuperConductor when the Editor menu item is selected When run as a stand alone program all interpretive effects of SuperCon ductor are discarded so this mode is most useful for entering new pieces before interpretation with SuperConductor When the Music Editor is run from SuperConductor all data are pre served but appear flattened or quantized for editing Trills Trills are entered by first entering a single note w
53. 5 SuperConductor User s Manual Pure less colored timbre Flute playing C4 Rich highly colored timbre Violin playing C4 Loudness The loudness of a sound is an obvious parameter Music can be played loudly or softly or an infinite number of gradations between the two extremes More importantly the subtle differences in loudness between one tone and another in a sequence often carry important information that gives the music its meaning and structure Even within one note changes in loudness shape the expressive qualities of the music See Chapter 3 The Basics of Music Interpretation for a discussion of SuperConductor s predictive note shaping technology Location Location is the subjective assessment of the apparent source of the sound Composers often use the location of various instruments as an expressive element Examples include off stage trumpets choirs and marching bands stereo pans of lead instruments in a mixdown and any other expressive use of changes in sound source for artistic effect Every piece of music is affected by how its various instruments are distributed in space 26 Version 4 0 Introduction to SuperConductor Emotion and Meaning in Music Over the centuries all the cultures of the world have developed musical languages In the Western cultures as in most others musical language developed from song and dance These simple forms became more and more complex over the last millen
54. 6 Flatten File 97 Import MIDI File 98 Import MIDI Options 103 Joystick Conduction 106 Legato 107 Long Note Parameters 108 Meter Tempo 109 Micropause 111 Microscore 113 New 113 Note Length 114 Note Editor 114 Note Shaping 117 8 Version 4 0 Open Output Menu Paste Paste From Piano Tails Points Per 16th Note Piano and Harpsichord Tails Pitch Bend Pitch Crescendo Play Music Pulse Pulse Configuration Pulse Sections Pulse Weight Sections Reverb Ritard Accelerando Save Save As Set Directories Short Note Parameters Staccato Statistics Stereo Mono Terrace Amplitude Terrace Ritard Accelerando Transpose Voice Transpose Piece Vibrato View Original Score Voice Balancing Panning and Delay 120 120 121 121 121 121 121 124 125 127 126 135 136 137 139 142 144 144 145 146 148 148 148 150 150 152 157 158 SuperConductor User s Manual 10 Version 4 0 Undo Utilities Menu Hints and Suggestions for Interpreting Instrumentation Balance Panning and Delay Choice of Instruments Pulse Pulse Configuration Beethoven Mozart and Haydn Pulses Other Composers Pulses Pulse Reset Pulse Weight Sliders New Pulses Your Own Pulse Weight sections Pulse in Long Trills Note Shaping Ritards or Accelerando Terrace Ritards or Accelerando Tempo of Subsections Crescendo Diminuendo Functions Terrace Dynamics Vibrato Piano and Harpsichord Tails Pitch Crescendo
55. Bar This box displays the number of the bar to which the length change will be added Tone This box displays the number of the tone which is to belengthened or shortened in the chosen bar Apply to All Voices 114 Version 4 0 thecurrent musicfile N ote Editor Note Name This box showsthenameof the pitch of the current tone If the valueis R thetoneisa rest or measured silence Note Length TheN oteLength is displayed asits length in points Increment or decre ment the value by using the arrows Individual voicenotelengthening is displayed in points to ensurethat absolute synchrony is maintained Current Changes This Voice This box displays the number of points that have been added or subtracted through changing thenumber of points In order to maintain absolute synchrony when making length changes to a single voice this number must beadjusted back to zero before leaving this function Note Editor Choosing this item from the Single N ote menu calls the Single N ote Editor window This function allows you to changethe pitch loudness ampli tude envelope shape staccato legato and pitch bend for any onenoteina piece To pick anote to edit click on thenotein thescoredisplay 115 N ote Editor cont 116 Version 4 0 Voice Bar Tone These boxes display the voice bar and tone for which the change will be made Pitch This box shows thenameof the pitch of the current tone If the val
56. Hoteles Hammered or plucked strings such as the piano harpsichord or guitar cannot be shaped as compared to instruments like the violin or flute whose loudness can be continuously changed by the performer over the duration of the note When a string is plucked or struck it continues to vibrate at a gradually decreasing amplitude and can only be stopped by dampering it The piano tails function defines the length of timethat the sound contin ues to play after dampering begins Sincehigh or soft notes decay faster than low or loud notes the variables used in this function allow you to adjust the relationship of thetail length to the pitch loudness and length 121 Piano Tails cont of the notes being played The tail start function allows you to vary the timethetail damping begin Adjusting the tails function accomplishes two aims 1 allows you to adjust the piano or harpsichord sound to suit different composers and periods eg Mozart Beethoven Brahms or Scarlatti 2 provides for global microphrasing varying the degree of legato and staccato using predictivetechnology likein thenoteshaping function NOTE Thisfunction is computing power intesive soit may be advisable to disableit if you experiencesound buffer overflows on slower computer Tail Length Factor This valueis the length in seconds of a nominal tail Increasing this value will increase the sounding length of notes being played Decreasing this valuewill shorten
57. Load Composer s Basic Pulse Clicking on this button calls a dialog which contains a list of composer s pulses stored in the SuperConductor resourcefiles To select acomposer s data drag down thelist with themouse releasing on thecomposer of choice or click on themenu then on thecomposer and then click OK The composer s parameters will be entered into the Pulse Configuration window 135 Pulse Configuration cont 136 Version 4 0 Level n Elements TheLeve n Elements number boxes control thenumber of pulsedivi sions or elements in each level of the pulse hierarchy Usethearrows to increment or decrement the valuein thebox Therangeof valuesisfrom 1 to 16 Normally aleva will havetwo three four six or eight elements Five or seven elements per level arerarely encountered Double Checking the Double checkbox doubles the number of pulseelements in therespectivelevd Type When thenumber of pulse divisionsin alevel isan integer multiple of 3 or 4 theTyperadio buttons becomeactive This control allows you to choose how to dividethegroup of divisions For examplein the case of six divi sions per pulselevel you may choose between dividing into three groups of two or two groups of three Thechoiceis dependent on the meter of the music being interpreted Total Elements The Total Elements number box displays thetotal number of pulseele ments in acompletepulsecycle Itis equal to the product of thenumber of d
58. M anual 87 Collection 88 Version 4 0 Collection The Collection feature of SuperConductor allows you to play a sequence of music files back to back without stopping to load the files individually This sequence is saved in the Collection list The list contains a list of the music files currently on the hard disk plusa list of other important pieces which can beadded to the collection at a later time Playing Music from the Collection Click on the Play button to begin playing from the piece currently high lighted or double click on any pieceor movement to begin playing imme diately from that point Check the Play in Random Order checkbox to play entire music pieces in arandom sequence Check the Don t Play Flat Files checkbox to bypass files which are not interpreted Collection Adding to or Editing the Collection Click on the Add or Edit button in the Collection window Add adds anew group to the collection Edit makes changes to an existing group Choose the composer of the piece you wish to add using the composer pop up menu Click the Add or Insert button below the Movement window Add adds the movement to theend of thelist and Insert adds it beforethecurrently highlighted movement Select the piece you want to add to the collection from the list of files that appears Thenameof piece you select will automatically be added to the Piece window for thefirst movement selec
59. SuperC onductor Music Interpretation Software User s Manual Version 4 0 1997 1998 1999 2007 M icroSound International Ltd SuperConductor User s Manual 2 SuperConductor 1997 1998 1999 2007 MicroSound Int l Ltd 19181 Mesquite Court Sonoma CA 95476 707 939 1566 website http www superconductor com email mclynes1 aol com SuperConductor is protected by the following US patents 4 704 682 4 763 257 4 999 773 5 590 282 5 763 807 6 924 426 foreign patents and patents pending SuperConductor software and this user manual are protected by copyright law Making copies adaptations or derivativeworks without prior written consent of MicroSound Int l Ltd is prohibited by law and constitutes a punishable violation of thelaw MicroSound Int retains all ownership rights to SuperConductor software and other software offered by MicroSound Int l and their documentation Useof SuperConductor softwareis limited by thelicense agreement printed on theenvelopecontaining your CD Rom All trademarks are the property of their respective holders Version 4 0 Endorsements In his SuperConductor program Manfred Clynes has created aunique interactive program which enables those who useit to discover the very nature of musical expression believethis program marks a major breakthrough in our relationship with the essence of music Itis a revolu tion and arevelation Prof Paul Robertso
60. Voicel Violin 1 Voice2 Violin 2 Voice3 Viola Voice4 Cello Voice5 Violin 1 second note Voice6 Violin 1 third note Voice7 Violin 2 second note Voices Violin 2 third note Voice9 Viola second note The only exception to the rule above is for piano harpsichord or other instruments played with many notes at one time In these cases it is best to separate the voices based on the different melody lines in the music This approach allows the user to set different parts of the music to different loudness panning and other interpretive effects The Music Editor Creating a New File Files may be edited by running the Editor as a stand alone program or by calling the Editor from within SuperConductor The following examples will create and edit files from SuperConductor To begin anew file e Select New from SuperConductor s File Menu Enter the file name and other information including number of voices meter and name of piece in the File Information window e Click on OK Choose Editor from the Edit menu The Music editor will be started The cursor will be placed on Voice 1 Tone 1 of the new file See the Keyboard section of this appendix for information on how to enter notes Enter notes for Voice 1 Using the Voice Number box in the upper left corner of the screen move to the next voice you wish to enter To enter a meter change in your piece e Click once on the bar number in the bar column of the sheet A me
61. a beginning a middle and an end The length of asound from beginning to end is its duration The duration of sounds and the silences in between sounds are used by musicians to create the most basic musical element rhythm Subtle adjustments in the duration of musical sounds and the silences in between them are among the materials used by musical artists to create great performances Timbre Pronounced tam ber this term refers to the basic tone color of a musical sound In the visual world the color white is composed of all the colors of the spectrum added together in equal amounts Tone color or timbre can be described as the spectral composition of a musical sound Musical sounds are composed of their basic pitch and a series of over tones and noise that are mixed in with the basic pitch An overtone is a pitch that is usually harmonically related to the fundamental pitch of the sound A sound that has a pure tone with few overtones or little noise added is said to havea rather less colored timbre Examples of instruments that have a less colored timbre include the French horn the tuba the harp and the flute Instruments that can be described as having a rich timbre in other words having many overtones and noise in the sound include the violin cello trumpet oboe and bassoon Described another way the vowel sound u as in flute has a pure colored timbre The vowel sound ee as in meet has a rich timbre 2
62. achieved as result of the global parameters For longer sustained trills however the effect of the pulse needs to be largely but not completely suppressed See helpful hints under trills and orna ments Trills can be shaped very subtly in the editor Without touching single trill notes the overall shape of the trill can be designed readily to be as required subtly accelerated or slowed or both You may also want to use the crescendo diminuendo function appropriately as well for shaping the loudness of the trill at times 185 SuperConductor User s Manual 186 Version 4 0 Pizzicato Shaping is also used to create pizzicato Use values in the neighborhood of 0 16 0 40 for Rise and 1 5 1 8 for Fall and bar regions The exact values to use will depend on the tempo and nominal duration of the note and on the character of pizzicato desired Lower pizzicato voices such as those of a cello or bass require slightly larger values for Rise and somewhat smaller values for Fall Vibrato can be applied to pizzicato with good results as appropriate Precise optimal values chosen will also depend on the tempo of the piece The third slider the predictive shaping factor appropriately has no effect in pizzicato if the notes are entered as staccato or are separated by rests Micropause In traditional music teaching there has been a concept to separate sections and sometimes phrases with a short breathing pause often called Luftpa
63. anges in the performer s input So much so that even thinking differently can affect the tone quality of the instrument the timing of the music or the shape of the note being played Skillful artists use this flexibility to express the manifold moods and emotions which are possible in the music being played Being able SuperConductor U se s Manual 19 SuperConductor User s Manual 20 Version 4 0 to control and then intelligently use this wide expressive range is the work of artist performers in music Traditionally computer based music has been unable to achieve this level of expression or if approaching it required a huge amount of programming time and computer power In the last ten years much progress has been made in the field of com puter generated music In 1985 it became possible to connect analog synthesizers to computers via MIDI the Musical Instrument Digital Interface The advent of MIDI and the availability of cheap personal computers caused an explosion of participation in computer music which for decades had been the reserve of the academic elite The increase in quantity of machine made music didn t do much for the quality of its enotional expression however The nuances characteristic of traditional acoustic instruments were either still out of reach of digitally controlled instruments or required vast amounts of program ming time A notable attempt at giving digital synthesizers the expressive control o
64. aragraph Sentence Phrase Word Syllable In Music Piece Movement Section Subsection Theme Phrase Motive Note CHAPTER 3 The Basics of Musical Interpretation Introduction When composers create music to be played by acoustic instruments they imagine the music in its full blown form with all the nuance and power of the artistic expression intact They then notate the music using a standard form of written notation which reduces the living sound to symbols on paper much like writing down a spoken conver sation The result of this notation process is called the musical score The score is the barest skeleton of the composer s original musical thought and intention Like the script of a film or play it is merely a sketch of the whole that the composer imagined when composing the piece The problem with notating music is that the notation cannot carry enough information to adequately record the emotional expression and its shades in the music For example composers have only 8 symbols to record overall loudness ppp pp p mp mf f ff fff and 2 symbols to record changes in loudness lt and gt In digital terms this is a 3 bit resolution and doesn t come close to the level of subtlety necessary to record all the nuances of artistically expressive playing Even if there were a way to clearly write down the actual sound of the music moment to moment the mental investment it would take to learn and play from that
65. art to require slightly less emphasis on a repetition of a phrase or counterbalancing phrase and of Beethoven the opposite a slightly increased emphasis This subtle difference can be felt also as a contrast in an implied philosophical attitude for Mozart viewing things from a perspective considering with a degree of detachment of serenity something like saying as we have already heard Beethoven on the other hand saying as told you so before and you d better believe it to put it in a semi farcical Way These pulse configurations 4 x 8 x 2 seem to apply to many Mozart Allegros whether in the major or in the minor key and regardless of the specific emotional character It seems to represent the pulse aspect of the Mozartean musical logic It seems also that many Beethoven pieces from his early and midperiod symphonies to his concertos may partake of that pulse cofiguration take this as a hint rather than as a firm rule As a rule Beethoven may not rule out a change in the rule However recently we found that even the ninth symphony apparently partakes of this We cannot say if similar constructs may benefit other composer s works as yet that needs more exploration We invite you to share this explora tion Such pulse organization reflects a massive power of intellect almost a superhuman quality in the music we cannot say yet if and which later composers imbued the music with that kind of po
66. as you proceed to the Romantics Pulse One of the most important functions of SuperConductor is the pulse Without it nothing can flower With it as if touched by a magic wand everything comes to life The pulse is hierarchical to get the full meaning the three levels of the pulse work together Although the top level of the pulse is also given by default as the composer s pulse other pulse forms can be usefully experimented with at the top level for some pieces While mostly the composer s pulse will give the best results sometimes special pulses at the top level can be very interesting and meaningful Some Notes About The Pulse What are composer s pulses A good question How come a composer s personality can be expressed by the pulse and how did composers discover this The idea of composer s pulses was first aired by Gustav Becking a German musicologist in 1928 Following his teacher Eduard Sievers who earlier discovered that he could tell where authorship shifted in the bible and which poet wrote particular lines of poetry merely from the rhythm of the writing by following it with the movement of a finger Sievers noted that different but consistent shapes were produced by the finger movements that the scansion of the poetry or prose produced 165 SuperConductorUser s Manual 166 Version 4 0 independent of the verbal significance Somehow these shapes reflected the identity of the author Bec
67. at can t be resolved by reading the manual contact M icroSound International at 707 939 1566 Monday through Friday between 9AM to5PM PST 18 Ve rsion3 1 CHAPTER 2 Introduction to SuperC onductor This chapter contains a basic overview of SuperConductor what it is and what it can do Also introduced are the basic musical concepts that help to understand how SuperConductor works Tutorials are included to get you started with using SuperConductor to make your own performances of great music The Computer Music Problem When the subject of computer generated music comes up many people think of the random beeps and glides that we all associate with the robotic depictions of the science fiction cinema or the early attempts of academic computer musicians in the 1960 s Those early pioneers were using instruments like main frame computers programmed with paper tape and crude analog synthesizers like the first generation Buchla and Moog instruments While interesting on an experimental level these first attempts didn t come close to the emotionally expressive capabilities of even an inter mediate level performer on any of the established acoustic instruments like piano guitar violin flute etc Acoustic instruments generate their tone by turning energy input by the performer into sound The interface for these instruments the fingerboard and bow the keyboard the reed and mouthpiece are inherently very responsive to ch
68. at your choice When you releasethe mouse your choice will be showing in the menu Alternately you can click on the menu and then click again on your choice If your choiceis not showing in the menu because it isn t fully displayed drag the mouse down through the menu whileholding down the mouse button This will causethe menu to scroll If you change your mind about choosing from the menu drag outsidethemenu before releasing the mouse button Sliders To useaslider drag the thumbwheel theactuator handle with the mouse or click in thescaleof theslider Thethumbwheel will moveto the location where you clicked Asthethumbwheel moves the numbers in thetext box will change accordingly You can also typein thetext box by selecting the text using the mouse cursor asin a word processing program When the text is sel ected typein thenew value Spin Controls To usea spin control click the mouseon theup or down spin arrows to increase or decrease the valuein thetext box If you hold down on the arrow thevaluewill increase or decrease repetitively You can also typein the text box in somespin controls How to Use SuperConductor Playing from the Collection The Collection contains a library of many of the greatest examples of Western Music by major composers already entered in SuperConductor format interpreted and ready to enjoy It also has locations for other important pieces of the Great M asters which can beadded later Hundreds
69. ay Stop Play The Stop Play button quits the play function and resets the play pointer to the Start point displayed in the Start number box 129 Play M usic cont 130 Version 4 0 Cancel Clicking the Cancel button stops play and dismisses the Play Music window Reverb Clicking on the Reverb button calls the Reverb Control window Seethe Reverb section of this manual for details about using this window Balance Clicking on the Balance window brings up the nstrumentation window It has the same function as the Balance icon except that it can be accessed during real time play Seethe Voice Balancing section of this manual for details Tempo TheTempo slider controls the overall tempo for the play of the current music file Graduated in beats per minute its range is 40 to 220 beats per minute Volume TheVolumeslider controls the overall loudness of play for the current music file Graduated in arbitrary units its range is from Oto 255 Joystick Conducting When aJoystick is plugged into your PC you can use the joystick to control Tempo and Volumeof the piece whileit is being played By clicking on the Record button joystick movements will be recorded so that you can play back your conducting session Click the Reset button to zero out therecorded joystick conducting Seethesection Joystick Conducting for moreinformation Pulse Pulse Choosing this item from the Interpretatio
70. cent anywhere form 1 to 12 percent say Several of these may be good to use in alonger piece where for example the second subjects second sec tions of a piece may well be taken say 3 slower with good effect Even a 2 slowing is quite effective the amount needs to be judiciously chosen A trio of a minuet can be taken at a very slightly different tempo than the minuet itself as another example Such terrace ritards always point to and correspond with the larger structural aspects of a piece and are generally not used for local effects They are used in sizes that are equivalent to a fraction of one metronome mark 5 or a little more Always use the terrace ritards for sustained tempo changes within a piece Use the tempo function only when the meter changes within a piece The metronome mark of the piece at the play panel will be unchanged during a terrace ritard or a ritard or accelerando and will only change when there is a meter change That means that the metronome mark will be wrong for that section and stays unchanged as the basic tempo for the piece The advantage of this is that you can make small changes in the basic tempo and all the other tempo changes will correspondingly follow without any adjustments as they are entered as percent changes from the basic tempo whatever that might be Hints Rules and Suggestions Tempo of Subsections Every piece is considered to havea main tempo Subsections of
71. change notes and values for those notes in each voice of a piece N ew Pieces arealso entered into SuperConductor using How to Use SuperConductor the Music Editor See A ppendix B The M usic Editor for moreinforma tion Flatten File Choosing Flatten File will neutralizethe parameters of themicroscore except for default note shapes vibrato and balance The resulting performance will bewhat the score would sound likeif it were performed exactly as written with those default settings When afilehas been flattened the menu item reads Unflatten File Choosing this item will restorethe microscoreto thefile Points Per Unit This item allows you to choose the number of timeunits used in the minimum pulseunit Default setting is 200 points per unit Transpose Voice This item allows you to transposea voice up or down in semitones Itis useful for entering transposed instrument parts as written in thescore and transposing them on thefly during play Transpose Piece This command allows you to raiseor lower awholepiecein single semitone increments Add a Voice Choosing this item adds an additional voice to the music file Delete a Voice This function allows you to choose which voiceto deletein total The Utilities Menu This menu contains utility functions which facilitate working with SuperConductor files as awhole 67 SuperConductor User s Manual 68 Version 4 0 Clipping Check When thisitem is
72. checked SuperConductor indicates when clipping occursin the digital audio output during play Signal Display The Signal Display is similar to the Play window except that the stereo sound output is plotted to the display Import MIDI File This function allows you import a standard MIDI fileinto SuperConductor Export MIDI File Choosing this item opens the Export File window whichis similar to the Save Filewindow After giving the exported file a name SuperC onductor will writea MIDI fileto thechosen directory using the currently opened musicfile The Help Menu Contents Choosing this item starts the SuperConductor H elp System About SuperConductor Choosing this command brings up a window which contains information about SuperConductor and MicroSound International How to Use SuperConductor Tutorial Adjusting the Microscore The following tutorial isa guided tour through the steps of modifying an existing interpretation using SuperC onductor s tools e Click on the Open icon e Selecta file named D MSC BACHCELL B10283 and click OK Balance Thefirst step to take in creating your own interpretation isto adjust the balance of theinstruments To begin e Click on the Balance icon The Instrumentation window appears You will adjust the balance of the instruments in this window JInctumentation Delance and Panning Sowell LL Lt oe Lt Voices Even though this piece uses two instruments it contains s
73. ches you many things first it shows you how that instrument sounds by itself whether it has the right shapes and how musical it sounds by itself This often is quite surprising in that Super Conductor allows every voice to be musically shaped as an independent voice and without having touched that voice you may be amazed about its phrasing This feature is very useful also in adjusting the shapes and vibrato for that instrument Then try combining that voice with one or two of the others bass or neighboring instrument strings with wood winds etc You will learn about balance and orchestration You will also learn that sometimes when combining voices the shapes and vibratos that were ideal for them as solo voices need to be slightly adjusted they now have to cut through the other instrumental sounds before they are heard The attacks may need to be a little more pro nounced p1 slightly smaller and the amount of vibrato may need to be a little larger But this sort of adjustment depends on how big the ensemble is and on the style of music For a small group of instruments no adjustment at all should be necessary The mute button is useful when you want to rehearse and play that part yourself and let SuperConductor play with you as in a concerto It is also useful in studying orchestration enabling you to hear how the omission of this or that instrument affects the music You can also try doubling some of the voices transpose them an
74. copy all notes in the currently selected voice to a specified voice All the notes in the destination voice will be erased Transpose e Transpose will transpose a single note or range of notes in the current voice by a specified number of semitones Select All e Select All will highlight all notes in the currently selected voice This is useful for large cut copy or transpose functions 195 SuperConductor User s Manual 196 Version 4 0 Set Start Bar e Set Start Bar labels the first bar of the current piece to a specified number This is useful if you enter your music in small sections and paste them together at a later time Jump to Start e Jump to Start End Bar Line will move your cursor to the specified position in the file The Keyboard Octaves Rest Piano Keys Note Length and Type To enter notes with the computer keyboard first select the note length using the function keys or number pad as illustrated above then select any special attributes such as dotted staccato portamento or phrasing The note which you have selected will appear in the status window in the lower right corner of the screen Select the octave of this note using the keys on the QWERTY row Finally play the note using the ASDF and ZXCV rows which are ar ranged like a piano keyboard with C of the octave selected starting on the X key Use the space bar to insert a rest The Music Editor In addition to using function keys for note le
75. d instruments you can click on the Balance icon and use theM ute check boxes as described in Voice Balanc ing in the reference section of this manual 51 SuperConductor User s Manual 52 Version 4 0 Making your Own Interpretations Thefirst step to creating your own interpretations with SuperConductor is to know your way around theuser interface The next section describes the various screen objects menu items and their functions E Be rimcretaton pge Guipa at Et Lies tek a The Icons and Their Functions The SuperConductor window is dominated by aset of 6largeicons which give you access to the main functions used in creating an interpretation Clicking on theicons on the left side of the screen will instantiate the Collection Open and Play windows respectively These functions have been described above Theiconson theright side of thescreen Help Save and SaveAs servethesame function as their respective menu items Theicons arranged across the top of the screen give access to the main tools of SuperConductor When starting to interpret a new piece it is best to begin with the first of these the Balance Icon and then continue in left to right order How to Use SuperConductor Balance Clicking on the Balance icon causes the Instrumentation window to appear Instrumentation Balance and Panning X OK BR galau Den Master Level PLAY STOR Cancel Voice 2 5 Load Save T Voices b
76. d with Master Level Master Level control sets the overall level at which SuperConductor reproduces the samples it uses to play music This control is independent of theloudness slider in the Play M usic window and is not affected by any 159 Undo 160 Version 4 0 pulseor note shaping parameters The possible range of adjustmentis from 1 64 For most music a setting of 6 12 is appropriate It is chosen to avoid clipping at the loudest points of the music Undo Choosing this menu item reverses the last action taken whilemodifying a file Utilities Menu This menu contains utility functions which facilitate working with SuperConductor files as awhole 16 bits 8 bits Theseitems switch SuperConductor s output resolution 16 bit resolution has better fidelity than 8 bit resolution The only reason one would choose 8bit playback would be to realize a score with many instruments on avery slow computer or to createsound for 8 bit multimedia use 44 KHz 33 KHz 22KHz 11KHz Theseitems allow you to choosethesample play rate of thestereo filethat is generated by SuperConductor In complex pieces of music containing many voices it may be necessary to choosea lower samplerateto maintain real time play For the highest play quality choose the highest setting that will allow play in real time CHAPTER 6 Hints Rules and Suggestions for Interpreting General Note All the global settings such as balance pulse shaping
77. e from the same panning location Later versions of SuperConductor will enable panning to vary during a piece that is the instrument may be heard to move variously around in the orchestra an interesting effect for some music seldom possible in conventional orchestras and then only much slower than can be done with the computer Delay The instrument delay settings serve two purposes 1 To keep in syn chrony instruments which have different attack shapes and thus appear to sound at slightly different times and 2 to create voices which lead the rest of the instruments in the piece The cello in relation to the violin often sounds late The cello voice can be advanced negative delay as much as 30 milliseconds to synchronize the voices The same effect would happen if you delayed the violin by 30 milliseconds The piano and harpsichord with their sharp attacks sound early in relationship to shaped instruments such as the flute or violin Delay the piano voices up to 30 milliseconds to synchronize them with other Voices It is often a good effect to have the first violin lead the other instruments by a slight amount Advance the lead instrument by up to 20 millisec onds for this effect 163 SuperConductor User s Manual 164 Version 4 0 Choice of Instruments Check the Solo checkbox to hear an instrument by itself and in combina tion with others mute if you want that instrument eliminated Soloing an instrument tea
78. e control is from Oto 2000 The most common settings are from 100 300 milliseconds N ew Microscore Th of Pi i Te me Keg DF we Choosing this option calls the List Microscore window which allows you to indicatewhich elements of the microscore parameters you want listed New Clicking on the N ew item in the File menu causes the File window to appear Thedirectory display in the upper left corner shows theselected directory the contents of which are displayed in thefilelist in the lower part of the window Click on afilenameto select it or typein thenameof a new file Click Cancel or hit lt esc gt to dismiss the window Clicking OK opens the selected fileand dismisses the window 113 N ote Length Note Length With the Staccato and Legato functions you can change the sounding length of a particular note The N ote Length function allows you to change the actual written length of anote This can be dangerous because this has the effect of lengthening or shortening the music for awholevoice thus putting the voice out of synch with the other voices Asa result this function is mostly applied to all the voices simultaneously Notelengthening can beapplied to onevoiceonly but requires that other notes of that voice be compensated in length to maintain alignment Individual voice rubato can be achieved in this way Voice This box displays the number of the voice in which the length change will be added
79. e pulse levels set at 1 initially There may be an upbeat for other levels than the lowest This is often the case for Schubert where the first main bar my well be bar 2 i e the top level pulse begins at bar 2 bar 1 being an upbeat bar Hints Rules and Suggestions Sometimes a composer shifts the middle level pulse in the middle of a piece for a while Mozart likes to do his every so often This will revert to the previous relationship having been shifted for perhaps 16 bars SuperConductor readily allows you to shift any of the levels of the pulse using the reset feature New Pulses Does a piece have more than one pulse Yes when the meter changes A composer may write a slow introduction or a final presto within the same movement or he may change the meter time signature a several times during the piece alternating different meters as in the last quar tets of Beethoven and more pervasively in modern composers such as Bartok Stravinsky or Schoenberg Sometimes a composer indicates that in the new meter a particular note value equals a note value from the previous meter for example a dotted quarter note of the new meter may equal a quarter note of the previous meter Other times such relationships are implicit rather than explicit New pulses are entered at the reset panel similarly to how the same pulse is reset Important however are the tempo relationships between the old and the new pulse With changes
80. e same reason as explained above Hints Rules and Suggestions So a good crescendo is easier to make than a good diminuendo In SuperConductor you can do both however rather easily Asin ritard the choice of where to begin and end these needs care Composers usually are very careful about this in their indications The hierarchic pulse will often provide dynamics that already incorpo rate some of the desired results How much of this it provides depends of the piece and the composer But it can be very surprising in many cases Often the proper pulse configuration and attenuation will pro vide very subtle dynamics so that little else is necessary to supplement these by using the dynamics functions of this section There is no change in the pulse parameters with crescendos or diminu endos It naturally participates in the dynamics without any need to modify it A change in tempo may occasionally occur either a slight deceleration or acceleration in more romantic music Quite often it may better to decelerate slightly to hold back as greatest loudness is reached rather than the opposite and conversely This can be done by appropri ate combinations of the terrace ritard and ritard functions with the crescendo diminuendo functions For short pieces say 16 32 bars the dynamics and tempo changes may be designed as a single pulse so that one hierarchical pulse comprises the entire piece Each bar then may be a pulse element of a
81. econd option is used bar lines are meaning less Flat Timing isthedefault This option puts the main tempo for each bar in thetempo map butignores all other tempo changes created by ritards or pulse Timing to Tempo M ap This option translates all timing information from the SuperConductor pulseas well as ritards to the tempo map By choos ing this option the MIDI filewill grow considerably in size and some MIDI devices may overload with too much information Timing to N ote Lengths This option varies note lengths to accommodate tempo changes This is ideal in creating MIDI files which remain small yet still contain all thetempo changes The MIDI file will not be easily editable as notes will not appear on bar lines or for that matter even in the same bar as they originated Expression Section SuperConductor has a variety of functions that aren t directly supported by MIDI Each of these functions can be emulated by sending a stream of controller information along with each track and notethat controls the subtle variations in pitch and loudness that are necessary to create vibrato and dynamic note shaping The Enable Shaping checkbox when selected will emulate predictive amplitude shaping of notes by sending continuous volumecontrol infor mation with each channel of the MIDI data TheEnableA mplitude V ibrato checkbox when selected will emulate amplitude vibrato tremolo by sending continuous volumecontrol infor mation w
82. ects involve controlling the placement speed and contour of vibrato periodic modulations of pitch and loudness to add conviction and warmth to a note the contour of crescendo or diminuendo the increase or decrease in loudness over the length of a musical phrase sentence or section and the speed and contour of ritardando or accelerando the increase or decrease of tempo over the length of a musical phrase or sentence The next sections of this chapter explain each of these parameters in detail Hierarchical Pulse To understand how hierarchical pulse operates in music we need to draw a distinction between the notion of absolute time and musical time The kind of time that physicists talk about flows smoothly and continuously from the past into the present towards the future It is the paradigm of time that we use to organize our activities and measure physical reality Musical time is subjective Our personal perceptions vary with our internal states Tempo and feel in the music require fluidity of flow Master musicians intentionally warp the musical flow of time that is they change moment to moment the length of otherwise equal notes motives and phrases to add emphasis or create mood In addition to stretching and compressing time they also play some notes and phrases louder than others in the same sentence This particular time amplitude warp is what is referred to as the hierarchical pulse It has been demons
83. empo and volumeof a piecewhileitis being played Fast small movements of the joystick bring the musicto life with accents aoquent phrasing subtle and rapid shades of loudness changes After a short time you become as it were one with theinstrument thejoystick and do your own dance with it differently for each piece of music Experiencethefull feeling excitement and satisfaction of musicthat you conduct yourself in the present moment Thetwo dimensions of motion of the joystick instantly control tempo and loudness in any combination depending on angle of motion Motion is largely quick and subtly penetrating Various elliptical patterns different for different pieces and composers can impart to music characteristic expression in thesmallest details Instant connection to the heart of music Increases theliving and dynamic quality of music Control the shape of tones even after they have begun even piano One button on thejoystick handle when pressed pauses the music Releasing the joystick will bring thetempo and volume back to the starting values To record your conducting session click on the Record button Once you start the music again all your joystick movements will be played back Clicking on record a second timewill allow you to touch up your previously recorded conducting You can conduct any of thetens of thousands of MIDI files that may be downloaded from theInternet from sites like ClassicalA
84. en double click Alternately you can click on theOK button after selecting the musicfile you want Thefileis opened and its name appears in the status window atthe bottom of the SuperConductor window To display information about thefile and music click on the File nforma tion command button whilethefileis selected To changethe directory that is displayed in the Open Window click on thenameof the desired direc tory in thedirectory display inthe upper left corner of thewindow If you want to dismiss the dialog click the Cancel command button or hit the lt esc gt key 42 Pla How to Use SuperConductor Playing a File A filemay be played only after itis opened To play afile e Click on the Play Icon or choose Play from the Menu Bar The Play window appears e Click on the Start Play command Button After a moment the music begins to play To stop play click on the Stop Play command button To pause play click on the Pause command button The button s label changes to Resume Clicking again will resume play Thetempo and overall loudness of the play can be adjusted using the Tempo and Volumesliders respectively To dismiss the window click on the Cancel command button or hit the lt esc gt key Dismissing the window will automatically stop play The details of the Play Window interface and functions are documented in Play Music in thereference section of this manual If you want to hear only afew selecte
85. engths and attributes N ote size must be selected before playing the note on your MIDI keyboard This is the most common way to enter data into SuperConductor It is possible to become extremely proficient using the computer keyboard and the musical keyboard together APPENDIX B Creating and Editing Instruments The Instrument Sample Library Editor Professional Version Only You can add your own sampled instrument sounds for use in SuperConductor with the Instrument Sample Library Editor included with the Professional version of the SuperConductor The Instrument Editor allows you to take a set of notes recorded into WAV or AIFF files from any instrument including the human voice and convert them into the instrument format used by SuperConductor It can be run as a stand alone program or by selecting the Utilities Instrument Editor menu in SuperConductor SuperConductor User sM anual 201 SuperConductor User s Manual 202 Version 4 0 Changing Instrument Settings Run the Instrument Editor either by selecting the Utilities Instrument Editor menu from SuperConductor or starting it as a stand alone program Select the instrument you wish to change from the list on the left of the Sample Library Editor main window The settings for the instrument will appear in the right half of the main window Make any necessary changes and use the File Save menu to save your new settings See below for a full description of each
86. er and depth of the reverb Thecontrols are Time Thelength of the reverb decay to 60 dB of initial input graduated in seconds Therange of the control is from 0 1 to 4 0 seconds 139 Reverb cont 140 Version 4 0 Mix Theratio of direct signal to reverb algorithm output Therangeof the control is from 0 0 reverb to 0 75 75 reverb Separation Adding separation to thereverb creates alarger spacial separation between the left and right channel The greater the separation the greater the sense of space Use especially for orchestral pieces Initial Delay Also known as pre delay this isthe amount of time between the onset of thesignal and the onset of reverb Theslider is graduated in seconds Therangeis from 0 01 secs to 0 100 secs 1st Reflections Section The 1st Reflections Section contains controls that modify the density and complexity of thereverb sound Time Factor Increasing the Time Factor increases the apparent size of the acoustical space thereverb is emulating The Time Factor isa multiplier for the basic early reflection table used to generate the reverb Gain The Gain control determines thestrength of the first reflections Number less than 1 0 causethe reverb to decay as the first reflections are being absorbed by thevirtual room A good starting valueis 0 9 Qty This slider controls the number of early reflections used in the reverb algorithm The larger the number of reflections the
87. er is also useful though you might wish to create a curve for it different from that of the ritard curve which it automatically assumes as default Hints Rules and Suggestions Initial Tempo Setting The tempo at the beginning of a ritard is often chosen already slower than the main tempo by a few percent The end of the ritard may be as much as 50 slower i e 1 5 or more at times without seeming unduly slowed This is sometimes because the last note of the ritard can be a relatively longer note The resumption of the main tempo is often best done slightly gradually the first note of the resumed tempo or even the first few notes can be a little slower than the main tempo and it will seem a natural resumption of the tempo Boundaries of the Ritard The boundaries of the ritard and accelerando are important to get right Sometimes the tempo will pick up at the upbeat before the actual marking in the score On what exact note to begin the ritard is another instance where the artistic judgment of the interpreter is called upon Sometimes a change in that makes a big difference in the naturalness of the ritard The beginning of a ritard sometimes is left a little ambiguous by the composer to the extent of one or two notes or he simply does not exactly notate it Often ritards are not notated at all especially at the ends of pieces Values for the Ritard Curve Parameter Values for the ritard curve usually range between 0 40 to 0 70 de
88. erConductor This method precludes you from adjusting thetenpo with the main Tempo slider or with the M eter Tempo functions of SuperConductor Tempo changes may be madeusing the Ritard functions Import M IDI File cont MIDI Tracks and Instruments Report After choosing the MIDI import options above a summary of each track of the MIDI file is presented in alist Check this list to see that each track has the correct patch assigned You can choose at this time discard certain tracks by clicking in the mport Y N column of thetable If things don t seem correct at this point cancel the operation and edit the MIDI filewith your favorite M IDI editor to fix the problems 0 Cheney gaj tn When satisfied with thelist click the Finish button to completetheM IDI import process Thefinal step in importing a MIDI fileis to review the way SuperConductor organized the instruments during the import process Click on the Balance con and check that each voice has been assigned the correct instrument and that the Level and Panning sliders are set to reasonable numbers Savethefilewith anew nameand you re ready to begin interpretation of your new piece of music 105 Joystick Conducting 106 Version 4 0 Conducting using a Joystick When you plug astandard joystick logitech attack3 recommended into your PC s gameportor USB port SuperConductor detects its presence automatically and thejoystick may then be used to control the t
89. erformers shape vibrato in addition to shaping theamplitude envelope of a note The Riseand Fall sliders in this window allow the vibrato to beapplied and removed gradually throughout thenote duration Therange of mean values is from 0 00 no envelope to 3 0 strong envelope effect Low values of Rise will havefull vibrato applied from its beginning on the note High values of Rise will causethe vibrato to be very shallow atthe beginning and then to becomemoreintenseas the note continues High values of Fall will havethe vibrato gradually disappear towards the vibrato end Low values of Fall will givea deep vibrato towards theend of the vibrato period Start and End This regulates the mean value wherethe vibrato begins and endsona note As for theamplitudeshaping thevibrato placement varies from note to notewith the melodic structurein a predictive manner looking ahead to thenext noteto determinethe appropriate vibrato shape Offset Cents This shifts the centerline of the pitch of the vibrato s up or down in cents 1 100 semitone Amplitude Ratio Factor This allows adjustment of ratio between amplitude vibrato tremolo and the frequency portion of thevibrato for each voice Vibrato cont Phase Checking this box inverts the phase of the vibrato that is normal phase starts by going sharp negative phase by going flat Most string and wind players begin by going sharp Invert AV Checking this box puts the amplitude and
90. ers These vary with the piece and setting them is a sensitive guide to the spirit of the music Time weight sliders mostly are adjusted to lower values for the higher two pulse levels For faster movements time deviations for the upper two levels of the pulse are often appropriately set at as little as half and a quarter for the middle and upper level respectively but sometimes higher settings are appropriate For slow movements however the time sliders often should not be reduced much below 1 even in the higher pulse levels For the lowest level the time sliders may often be increased somewhat beyond 1 Amplitude Weight Sliders These are not usually reduced for higher levels of the pulse unlike the time weight sliders In fact it will be noticed that the effect of the amplitude pulse at the top pulse level is not as marked as on the lower levels This is because slower acting amplitude changes are perceived differently by the brain Consider those accents and loudness changes we are used to in speech say in the articulation of different words and syllables When different sentences are spoken with different loudness however this provides a different kind of emphasis So amplitude variations of the pulse often do not have to be reduced at the top pulse level but time variations often do Phase shifted pulses With the three level pulse we may find occasionally that the composer does not always begin the piece with all thre
91. es of musical selections from SuperConductor s library It is also the quickest way to select and play a piece from SuperConductor s music library Hundreds of pieces are included with the program which can be arranged in an unlimited variety of sequences Important pieces of the Great Masters which are not currently on your hard disk can be added later as you increase the size and scope of your Collection Introduction to SuperConductor e The SuperConductor program and music files take up a tiny fraction typically 1 500th of the hard disk space of the equivalent amount of wav files e The very best sound resources are used in SuperConductor insuring the highest sonic quality Samples include Stradivarius violins Steinway and Boesendorfer pianos and other instruments of the highest caliber e SuperConductor allows the use of custom sound samples Include instruments of your own design even your own voice e Easily enter your own musical scores into SuperConductor and let it perform them expressively with all the details of your own interpreta tion on your desktop SuperConductor is a revolution in computer generated music For the first time the computer can generate a truly musical and intelligent performance of the great music of the past or of newly composed music with full control of the essential expressive elements given to the interpreter By separating the interpretive function from the mechan ics of per
92. es of phrasing and linein the music The Beethoven Violin Sonatain A major Opus 47 DA MSC BEETH OVN BE473 should still beopen If itis not open it now e Click on the Shaping icon Ti The Note Shaping list appears It contains a list of voices and their note shaping parameters A detailed description of the elements in this window can befound in the N ote Shaping reference section of this manual e Select the top line Voice 1 the violin by clicking on the line then click on the Modify command button The Note Shaping window appears It contains a graphic display of the basic amplitude envelopethat will be used for shaping the notes On either side of theenvelopedisplay isaslider They arelabeled Riseand Fall The Envelope Riseslider controls the shape of the rise of thenote Envelope Fall controls theshape of the note fall These parameters are interactiveand are in effect mirror images of each other 77 SuperConductor User s Manual 78 Version 4 0 Set the Envelope Rise and Envelope Fall sliders to 0 06 The envelope display changes to reflect the new settings These settings providealmost no envelope for the violin Click on the Play icon Noticetheflat expressionless quality of the violin notes This resembles thesound of aMIDI controlled violin sample The mechanical quality of this performance is directly correlated to the lack of expressive note shaping Click on the Stop icon
93. ess anxious rhythm z oe fo a i n e gt ae eet ee zee Sess esis E 5 Violino I SS ee ae 5 Ale Saar Viota j per serrearr Sere erp Seer uer err iarr derrer r BIAI Viena yes Pe EE ee Ee e Basso te jis e Follow the steps below to hear SuperConductor play this piece 1 Start SuperConductor 2 Click the Open icon The Open File window appears 3 Select the D MSC MOZART directory and then the file M5501 4 Click on the OK button SuperConductor loads the file 5 Click on the Play icon 6 Click on the Start Play button SuperConductor plays this movement The First and Second Violins play the melody while the Violas Cellos and Basses play the harmony Introduction to SuperConductor Rhythm and Tempo Musical rhythm is a pattern of strong and weak elements in the flow of sound and silence in music The rhythm of a musical expression can derive from natural breathing rhythms speech rhythms dance rhythms be an analog to sentic form the wind or rain or can be designed inde pendent of such imaginative influence Underlying the flow of rhythms in music is a grid of silent time entities repetitive in
94. et ee l a a la l la Instrument Solo Mute T TT TT ff Tf ft ff TITT The nstrumentation window is used to adjust the relative loudness and spatial mapping of each of theinstrumentsin the piece you are working with Thetutorial in the next section describes how to usethis window The Solo and M utecheckboxes allow for singling out voices or groups of voices from theoverall mix The Saveand Load functions allow you to saveand retrievecommon level panning and dday values in the balance database 53 SuperConductor User s Manual 54 Version 4 0 Pulse Clicking on the Pulseicon makes the Current Pulse Settings window appear This window is used to program and adjust the hierarchical pulse that is used in the piece you reworking on The Pulse Displays show the relation ships between the various elements of the pulse and their relative ampli tudes and durations How to Use SuperConductor Shaping Clicking on the Shaping icon calls the N ote Shaping window The win dow shown below is the one used to modify the note shaping that has been programmed This control window allows you to adjust the attacks releases and shapes of the swell of notes for each voiceindividually The graphic display shows shapes of the amplitude envelopes that are used to shapethe notes which vary individually with each note unlike MIDI realizations which require note by note adjustment Thetutorial includes instructions on how to m
95. even voices In SuperC onductor the number of voices that an instrument must have is equal to the maximum number of notes that theinstrument must sound simultaneously For example afluteor atrumpet only requireonevoice since they can only sound a maximum of one note The cello or violin can 69 SuperConductor User s Manual 70 Version 4 0 require up to 4 voices sincethey have four separate strings and can sound that number of notes simultaneously Instruments like harpsichord guitar or piano usually requirefrom 6to 10 voices to reproduce accurately The maximum number of voices that SuperC onductor can reproducein real timeis dependent on the speed of your computer the sample rate and bit resolution Voices onethrough threeare used for the cello Adjust the level of voice one to 8 20 voice two to 5 30 and voice three to 6 20 by using the Level sliders Voiceoneis usually louder than voices two and three Voiceoneis used most often because the cello is usually playing only one note Voices two and three are used occasionally as needed Voices four through seven are used for theharpsichord Set the level for voice 4 to1 6 voice 7 to 1 6 and voices 5 and 6 to 1 2 Voices for amulti voiceinstrument should beset so that thetop voiceis loudest the lowest voice next loudest and the middle voices set least loud This will makechords sound better balanced and less harsh especially for the piano e Click on the Play ic
96. f acoustic instruments was the introduction of the Yamaha FM synthesis instruments This type of digital synthesis allowed for a wide range of real time control of loudness and tone color through the use of interac tive programming and human interface innovations like the breath controller With this device the performer could use the breath to shape the notes s he created These instruments were the first successful attempt by electronic instrument manufacturers to give players the tools they needed for real musical expression FM synthesizers were particu larly good at emulating plucked and struck strings wind instruments and percussive sounds They were a real improvement but still required an experienced human performer and hours of programming time to create the basic voices of the instrument About the same time as MIDI became available sampling synthesizers samplers hit the scene These instruments digitally recorded the sound of live instruments and played those recordings back on command Each note in the range of an instrument could be recorded and assigned to a separate key on the sampler s keyboard This enabled the performer to reproduce the sound of a Stradivarius or a Steinway at the touch of a switch By loading other samples into the instrument the performer could emulate the sound of any instrument including the human voice While better than the earlier analog simulations of real instruments samplers were still
97. formance SuperConductor allows anyone to participate in the making of great music Basic Concepts in Music Before you can understand how SuperConductor works and how to create your own musical interpretations you need a basic understand ing of how music itself works The technology on which SuperConductor is based wasdeveloped by Dr Manfred Clynes distin guished neuroscientist and musician It is an outgrowth of a new under standing of how emotions and emotional qualities are generated and expressed This field of research the study of sentic form applied to music is highly revealing and rewarding in its implications for anyone who wishes to participate in music making We won t be going into the details of the science of sentic forms but references to this subject can be found in Appendix C The next section deals with the basic conceptual groundwork needed to understand how SuperConductor works 23 SuperConductor User s Manual What is Music This has been an open question for hundreds of years M any people assume they know what music is but when they inquire thoughtfully realize that the subject is and difficult to talk about It has been said that music expresses that which is inexpressible in words For the purposes of this discussion we will consider music as organized sound which expresses and discourses about human emotion and relationship The Parameters of Musical Sound Before we get into the world of emotiona
98. frequency vibrato 180 degrees out of phase with each other Show Notes Checking this box causes the score display to appear Thewholevoiceis displayed in music notation and can bescrolled Thelineabovethe musical staff displays the vibrato N egative going waveforms are sharp positive waveforms areflat to the original pitch Zoom Clicking on the Zoom controls allows you to see moreor less of the scorein onewindowful Show Note Shaping Checking this box overlays the note shaping envelopeon the vibrato waveform 155 Vibrato cont 156 Version 4 0 Global Settings Amplitude Vibrato This control adjusts the ratio between amplitudevibrato and frequency vibrato The vibrato of someinstruments likethe oboe is primarily in the amplitudedomain Other instruments likethe strings have mostly a pitch vibrato Therange of theslider is from 0 0 to 20 0 The default is 10 0 Amplitude vibrato phasecan beinverted with respect to the frequency vibrato phase by clicking on the Invert AV box Loudness Factor Thisnumber determines how much more vibrato gets applied to notes of greater loudness Therangeis from 0 35 to 0 40 Coloration This control modifies thetibral quality of the vibrato making for amore natural sound The default valueis 0 11 Min Note Time This slider controls the threshold for notes which will not get vibrato In most musical examples quick notes are not vibrated The effect of this slider can be v
99. fter choosing the File Import M ID I File option from the menu and selecting the MIDI file you wish to import choose the options for importing as follows D Faren fore hii O Paruman i Japas ion Fo Feisa bree iN Amplitude Dynamics This slider controls the relationship between the loudness of a MIDI note and the corresponding loudness of the SuperConductor note A larger value accentuates the changes in loudness A small value diminishes the changes This slider s default value is 1 85 Level Amplitude MIDI files which are played in usenotevelocity and loudness for expres sion SuperConductor adds these expressive qualities globally with its interpretive functions such as pulse By choosing this option you will start with a flat file and can gain in a direct way from SuperConductor s interpretive functions Alternately if you want SuperC onductor to play the MIDI fileincluding how itis already interpreted don t choosethis option You can then add SuperConductor s powerful functionalities to the interpretation limited by MIDI 103 Import MIDI File cont 104 Version 4 0 Percussion Options MIDI files by convention usechanne 10 for percussion Instead of notes in this channel playing a particular pitch the pitch number selects an individual percussion instrument Because of the limited number of channels in MIDI some pieces that don t use percussion overridethis opt
100. g Music 17 51 123 Points Per Unit 67 117 Pop up Menus 48 Pulse 54 61 73 126 161 Configuration 130 Hierarchical Pulse 35 36 H ow is the composer s pulse determined 44 Phase Shifted Pulses 168 Pulse Configuration 163 Pulsein Long Trills 171 Pulse Reset 166 Pulse Weight Sliders 168 Sections 132 Weight Sections 133 R References 203 Rename a File 60 Reverb 72 134 Rhythm 31 Ritard Accelerando 42 56 61 79 137 172 Boundaries of the Ritard 173 Ritard Curve Parameters 173 S Samplers 20 202 Samples 23 64 197 Save 59 140 Save As 59 140 Saving and Closing a File 85 Save Settings See Load Settings Sentic Form 23 27 Set Directories 60 Set Sound Buffer 64 Shaping See Note Shaping Short Note Parameters 62 141 Short Notes 181 Signal Display 68 Single NoteMenu 62 142 213 SuperConductorUser s Manual PB Version 4 0 Sliders 48 Staccato 63 142 183 Starting SuperConductor 16 Statistics 65 143 Stereo Mono 64 143 Stretching and Compressing time 35 SuperConductor Features 22 Getting Started 13 How to Use SuperConductor 47 Reference 87 System Requirements 14 T Technical Support 18 Tempo 31 Tempo of Subsections 175 Terrace Amplitude 108 144 Terrace Dynamics 176 Terrace Ritard Accelerando 146 173 Timbre 25 Transpose 67 Tutorial 69 U Undo 65 155 Utilities Menu 67 155 V Vibrato 40 58 61 82 148 177 View Original Score 65 152 Virtual Instruments 2
101. g the settings by ear to fit several examples of that composer s music This process if done by a person with deep understanding of the composer in question is convergent and results in pulse settings which apply generally to that composer s music It should be noted that some composers do not appear to have a charac teristic pulse at all That is their music is not based on the same kind of lyric and rhythmic premises as composers whose music have a clearly definable pulse Music which is based primarily on tone color and sound effect rather than regular structures of melody and harmony may not have a hierarchical pulse per se In SuperConductor the user is free to change all suggested pulse parameters to his own liking Future versions will contain updates of suggested composer s pulses refinements of existing pulses and new composer s pulses To hear the results of applying the wrong pulse to a composition follow the steps below Open the file named D MSC MOZART M3701 Click on the Pulse button The Current Pulse Settings window appears Click on Play Listen for the characteristic feel of the music The Basics of Music Interpretation Click on the Config Pulse button Click on the Load Composer s Basic Pulse button This brings up a menu of composer s pulses which come preset with SuperConductor Load Comporm Elementary Poze T E Click on the popup menu and choose Beethoven Click OK and then click OK
102. hat are the elemental components of musical thought and how do they relate The next section deals with the struc tural issues that make up musical language in the Western tradition Melody and Harmony Musical sounds are represented on paper as notes written on the musical staff See illustration below Each note represents a particular pitch sounded for a particular duration The vertical distance between one note and the next note adjacent to it is called a melodic interval The larger the melodic interval between notes the greater is the difference in 29 SuperConductor User s Manual 30 Version 4 0 their pitch Notes that are played one after the other often forma meody Notes can also be stacked vertically to make chords Chords are groups of notes which sound simultaneously The vertical interval between notes in a chord is called a harmonic interval N otes that sound together often form a harmony Simple forms of music often contain a melody which is being played over a harmony This means that some instruments are playing a series of notes which are related to one another by melodic intervals the melody while other instruments are playing groups of notes sounding simultaneously with each other a harmony The illustration below shows the resignedly lamentful begining of the first movement of Mozart s Symphony 40 where the top two lines are the melody and the lower lines flesh out the harmony as well as create a restl
103. heN ote Shaping window allows for adjusting the predictive note shaping parameters for each of the voices This is usually adjusted first globally for each voice for the entire piece Each note gets a different shape as a result of this function Occasionally in a section of a piece the basic note shaping envelope may need to be modified to accommodate some special feature or section in the music for example pizzicato for strings The Note Shaping window allows you to program when this occurs and what settings areto beused i Li o Oboe aiae Parce Ta bat L i Obes taas Pace lz lm BM E Oya Vai Fit IE L Doe 6 Chere iol Parn 15 1 2 050 T Bano Maitas Pacs 12 1143 GS E Eio Taiaha Taa lat 1a OR 5 Fheaph Hier able Fane 0 12 fe ibl Ferchheoe iiae Pace O38 1 22 050 11 Fenchlion aias Facs w tan 50 17 Trampi pane Piece m 17 po TE Tiei aiaks Ft am Lm BaD ii Taori iiin Piin 15 25 GoD Sa All ta Datla Saws Cotes Load Fatir To add new shaping for a voiceover arangeof bars click the Add button The N ote Shaping Editor window appears It contains a graphic display of the amplitude envelope that will beused for shaping the notes Usethe controls described below to modify the note shaping parameters Click OK to enter the changes in the N ote Shaping list To modify an existing note shaping section click on the section to be modified and then click on theM odify button Enter thechanges as above and click OK To deleteanote shap
104. hich has the full value of the trill Select the note then choose A djust Trill from the Edit menu Trills may have 1 to 4 lead in notes a main body consisting of any number of notes and 1 to 4 termination notes of any length and pitch You may also assign a curve to the main body of the trill which will vary the timing of the notes slowing down or speeding up during the course of the trill 199 SuperConductorUser s Manual 200 Version 4 0 Here is an example of the trill setting dialog This trill has two lead in notes twenty notes in the main body and 3 termination notes A curve has been applied using the Trill Time Shaping parameters To add more lead in or termination notes just type in the correct note values To remove lead in or termination notes set the note length to 0 in the appropriate box MIDI Input MIDI input for this program works with any standard Sound Blaster compatible sound card which has a MIDI interface You will probably need a special cable to connect your MIDI keyboard to the sound card A Windows MIDI driver will have to be installed and enabled for this to work The usual name for the MIDI driver is MPU 401 found in the Microsoft section of sound drivers When the MIDI driver is successfully installed each time you play a note on the MIDI keyboard that note will appear at the current cursor location in the Music Editor screen See the section on Keyboard for a description of how to select note l
105. ibed below Install Samples to Hard Disk Checking this option will cause all the digital audio files that are used to createthe sounds SuperConductor makes to be installed on your hard drive This will require approximately 60 MB of hard disk space This option should always be checked unless there is insufficient hard disk space SuperConductor may not play at its highest sampling rate and best quality without the samples it uses being located on thehard drive 15 SuperConductor User s Manual 16 Version3 1 Install Music Files to Hard Disk This option is recommended if you don t want to insert the CD ROM each timemusicfiles need to be accessed by SuperConductor Musicfiles arethe data that SuperConductor uses to create musical performances This option will require approximately 108M B of hard disk space If this option is not chosen music files can still be saved to the hard disk as you work with SuperConductor Install Score Files to Hard Disk A musical scoreis a visual record of the composer s intention Original scorefiles areincluded with SuperConductor for display and for following the music Checking this option will copy the scores for the pieces that are stored on the CD ROM to your hard disk during installation If this option isnot chosen SuperConductor may run slightly slower when displaying scores The useof a quad speed or faster drive will improve performance when playing scorefilesfromtheCD ROM Star
106. ic display showing the relationship of tempo from thebeginning of the ritard to the end Thesliders on either sideof the graphic display control thetempo setting at the beginning of theritard and at the end respectively Note that the Start time of the ritardando is at bar 460 note 1 and ends at bar 466 note 1 Click on the Play icon Listen for the tempo of the music slowing down to the end of the phrase and then resuming in the original tempo Click on the Stop icon Set the Time Factor End slider to 2 5 This will cause thefinal tempo in the ritard to be 2 5 times slower than the overall tempo of the piece Start Play Starting at bar 460 thetempo gradually slows to 2 5 times slower than the overall tempo of the piece resuming at normal tempo at bar 467 Stop play How to Use SuperConductor Set the Curve slider to 0 23 The graph indicates a change in the shape of the ritardando This value places most of the tempo changenear the end of the six bar passage Start Play Notice how thetempo at bars 460 and 461 is almost the same as the normal tempo M ost of the ritardando is applied at the end of the passage Thisinterpretation whilestill extreme is more acceptable musically To changetheritardando into an accelerando follow the steps below Stop play Set the Time Factor End slider to 0 5 This will causethetempo to double by the end of the passage Set the Curve slider to 1 0 Start Play Not
107. ic structure A mean placement is entered for beginning and ending the vibrato as a proportion of the note duration and that placement is moved forwards or backwards on each note according to its melodic function using Hints Rules and Suggestions similar criteria to that used in the predictive amplitude shaping of the notes It turns out that the mean placement of the vibrato on the notes is an important variable to set both for individual pieces and also for compos ers There is early vibrato and late vibrato and stretched vibrato The expressive character of the music is subtly altered by the choice of the mean placement of the vibrato The emotional character of the music is affected by this You can makea piece sound more loving or more sad by appropriate choice of vibrato placement more longing or more serene It can even differentiate among different kinds of longing if you adjust it right Combining the basic amplitude shaping setting and the basic vibrato placement setting give you a great scope to change the meaning of the music in subtle and not so subtle ways When the pulse is well designed the combined effect of all three can be magical The mean abruptness in which the vibrato begins and in which it ends can be separately adjusted also For vigorous pieces vibrato will usually be applied more abruptly but the choice is not always obvious but has a relatively minor effect But even the abruptness i
108. ice how thetempo increases in speed over the length of the phrase Stop play Return the Time Factor End slider to its original setting of 1 5 Click OK to fix the setting and dismiss the Ritardando Accelerando window This concludes thetutorial on Ritardando Accelerando functions You now know thebasics of how to modify existing tempo adjustments The details of all the features of this function are described in the Ritardando Accelerando referencesection of this manual p 137 Crescendo Diminuendo TheCrescendo Diminuendo window is configured with thesamecontrols as the Ritardando Accelerando window with the exception that the parameter that is being controlled is loudness not tempo An in depth 81 SuperConductor User s Manual 82 Version4 0 explanation of the controls in this window can be found in the Cre scendo Diminuendo reference section of this manual p 92 Vibrato The following tutorial section will illustrate the use of the Vibrato features of SuperConductor Vibrato is used to color and add warmth to asinging line e Open the file D MSC MOZART M3701 e Click on the Vibrato icon The Vibrato list appears Vom beer En Ba Ham dmi Pag Fia fal Sin Ered De dat Ue a 1 70 Fib iid Oe oe 1 T 11 710 i0 oO oe 1 Diiia yO Wefie TO FIDO OM he 1 ar Peer 70 710 041 Od8 Deo 4 1 1 i a x 3 70 o h 13 Y Whole Pace TO 710 O82 G45 bed 3j haw fleece TD 710 OS Od OB T E
109. ice of Rests 67 87 Analog Synthesizers 19 B Balance 53 157 C Clipping Check 67 87 Clynes Dr Manfred 23 43 Collection 49 88 Commands 47 Composers Pulses 44 162 Bach pulse 166 Beethoven Pulse 164 Haydn Pulse 164 Mendelssohn pulse 166 Mozart Pulse 164 Schubert pulse 166 Schumann pulse 166 Computer Music 19 Concert 59 90 Contents menu item 68 Copy Copy To 66 87 Crescendo Diminuendo 42 56 61 92 174 Cut 66 94 D Deletea File 60 94 Deletea Voice 67 94 Delay 154 159 Dialog Box 47 Double Stream 28 209 SuperConductor User s Manual PB Version 4 0 Duration 25 E Edit Menu 65 94 Edit Note 63 Editor 66 95 See also Music Editor Emotion and Meaning in Music 27 Exit 60 Export MIDI File 68 96 F File Information 59 60 FileMenu 59 First Stream 31 Flatten File 66 97 FM synthesis 20 H Harmonic Interval 30 Help Menu 68 Hierarchical Pulse See Pulse Icons 52 Import MIDI File 68 98 Incomplete Bars 167 Initial Tempo Setting 172 Installing SuperConductor 15 Instrumentation 157 Instruments choice of 159 Instruments creating new 197 Interpretation Hints Rules and Suggestions for Interpreting 157 Making your Own Interpretations 52 The Basics of Music Interpretation 33 What is the right interpretation 43 Interpretation Menu 61 Introduction 13 Index L Legato 63 103 183 List Menu 65 List of Recent Documents 60 Load Settings Note Shaping 114 Piano Tails
110. iewed in the score display View Original Score View Original Score This function allows you to view thescore Thescores are scanned from existing old Urtext editions likethe Bach Gesellschaft or Breitkopf und Hartel editions Unlike M IDI scores they show the composer s original indications To display the score of a loaded piece click on the Score menu item The score appears The menu bar contains three commands Cancel PrevPage and N extPage Click on the appropriate command to view the desired page or to dismiss thescore To display thescore whilethefileis playing check the Show Score box on the play panel then click on the Play icon While playing the menu will contain the following commands Stop Clicking on the Stop command causes play to discontinue and the score to disappear The Play M usic window is presented Pause Clicking on Pause momentarily stops playback The menu item changes to Resume Clicking on Resume starts playback whereit was paused Balance Clicking on the Balance item calls the Instrumentation Balance and Panning Window Volume Clicking ontheVolumemenu item calls a volume adjustment window Adjust theslider to the playback volume you desire PrevPage and NextPage Clicking on thesemenu items moves the score forward or backward 157 Voice Balancing 158 Version 4 0 Voice Balancing oe a ala aaraa tonenl TOT Tn Choosing this item in the Interpretation menu causes the
111. ing section from thelist select the section by clicking on it Then click on the Delete button The section disappears from the list 117 N ote Shaping cont 118 Version 4 0 Usethe Set All to Defaults button to reset all the shaping values to their defaults Save Settings saves all theshaping parameters for this filein the shap ing database and Load Settings retrieves these settings This can be used to copy settings from onefileto another The Note Shape Display is a graphic representation of the basic envelope shape that will be used for varying the shapeof notes in thespecified bar range N otes which arevery long will be modified in shape by theLong Note Parameters in theSingleN ote menu Voice TheVoicenumber box shows thenumber of the voice being edited Incre ment or decrement the value using the arrows Start and End The Start and End boxes show thesegment of the piece that will beaffected by the current note shaping parameters Default is for the whole piece Adjust therange for the current section by using the arrows next to thetext boxes or typein thebar and notenumbers N ote Shaping cont Envelope Rise and Envelope Fall On either sideof theenvelopedisplay is aslider They arelabeled Riseand Fall The Rise slider mainly controls the shape of the note rise Fall controls theshapeof the notefall These parameters areinteractiveand are in effect mirror images of each other Small values
112. ion so asto free up channel 10for another instrument Percussion from channel 10is the default All notes from channel 10 will be automatically mapped to the correct percussion instruments and placed inaminimum number of voices Percussion to separate voices will break out each percussiveinstrument into aseparate voice which allows for greater control over individual sounds but adds greater complexity to the music file Since there are 128 different percussion instruments itis possible although unlikely that percussion could use 128 voices or morein SuperConductor No percussion from channel 10 must be used if theM1DI filedoes not follow the standard percussion format and instead uses other instruments in this channel Tempo Options MIDI files usewhatis called atenpo map to control the tempo of a piece dynamically whileitis being played Simplefiles may haveasingletempo setting at the beginning of afile Complex MIDI files may havemany tempo changes per measure in an attempt to createa morehuman feeling Bar Tempo Changes Only is thedefault This option picks up the main tempo changes for the piece but ignores morethan onetempo change within a bar This option is recommended if you wish to have full control over all of theinterpretive functions of SuperConductor No Tempo Information This option ignores all MIDI tempo information Entire Tempo M ap This option reads the entire tempo map and uses it while playing thefile with Sup
113. iously In 1989 1993 Dr Clynes conducted research on his landmark discovery of the hierarchical pulse Through this research it was demonstrated that recognized masters of the art of musical interpretation found the composer s pulse more true to their ideal of the music than other composers pulses See references in Appendix C This confirms that the imprimatur of the composer can be sought in the hierarchical pulse 43 SuperConductor User s Manual 44 Version4 0 as well as the technical elements of the music composition Having the composer s pulses available as a resource in SuperConductor allows for easily zeroing in on an optimum personalized interpretation and allows for manifold valid and authentic interpretations using the many param eters available in SuperConductor for interpretation each bringing out different aspects of meaning How is the composer s pulse determined Since the combined warping of time and amplitude in the pulse is subtle it is not possible in effect to simply analyze the performance of a great artist to determine the pulse used in the performance The exist ence of the composers pulses included in SuperConductor were discov ered with the aid of sentographic input from artists Rudolf Serkin Pablo Casals Murray Perahia Yehudi Menuhin and others of world class stature The numerical values were determined by starting with a general approach to a composer s music and gradually refinin
114. ireman Sy Synth Ad peter Sy rectal Sa Saath Minne G s Wipes aks Fa Geath Merza Gi Wirasaba TA Sarih Heraa G3 Wired HA Canth i Wagar S5 ured ole Sia Exar L Aino Ga wires Da ganthi i Instructions for the Expand Velocity Controller and Expression param eters of the MIDI Settings panel are described in detail in the Export MIDI File section above By clicking in the various columns of the Patch Port Channa list you can change the instrument the port and the desired channel of each voice 99 Import M IDI File 100 Version 4 0 Flatten File Choosing Flatten File will neutralizethe parameters of the micro score except for default note shapes balance panning delay and vibrato The resulting performance will bewhat the scorewould sound likeif it were performed exactly as written with default settings When afilehas been flattened the menu item reads U nflatten File Choosing this item will restorethe microscore to thefile Import MIDI File MIDI files may beimported into the SuperC onductor music file format using the File Import M IDI File menu The differences between the organization of MIDI files and SuperConductor music files must be understood in order to successfully import MIDI files MIDI File Organization MIDI files are organized in a tracks b channels c patches d ports and e events MIDI files can have any number of tracks with each track used for group ing notes together Track
115. it remains in synch with the other voices but the length of timethenote sounds during that duration is shortened Legato With someinstruments especially keyboards and harp players sometimes overlap adjacent notes to create a smoothly flowing melody TheLegato function allows you to lengthen thesounding length of anote without changing its written duration This has the effect of slightly overlapping or smearing the end of onenote with the beginning of the next It can be used 63 SuperConductor User s Manual 64 Version 4 0 effectively in SuperConductor for violins string instruments and wood winds as well Itis also used for pedal effects in pianos particularly for bass notes which can be considerably sustained with this function Note Length With the Staccato and Legato functions you can change the sounding length of a particular note The N ote Length function allows you to change the actual written length of a note This would be dangerous because this has the effect of lengthening or shortening the music for a whole voice thus putting it out of synch with the other voices This function is mostly applied to all the voices simultaneously as aresult Alternately you can also changethelength of another note or notes in the same bar or later bar of that voiceso that the net length of the voice part is the same The Output Menu The Output M enu allows you to select how SuperConductor will generate audio output 44 KHz
116. ith each channel of MIDI data 97 Export MIDI File cont 98 Version40 The Enable Frequency Vibrato checkbox when selected will emulate frequency vibrato by sending continuous pitch control information with each channel of MIDI data The Enable Intonation checkbox when selected will emulate SuperConductor s patented Expressive Intonation functions by sending variationsin pitch control information with each MIDI note Shaping A mplitude V ibrato to N ote T racks and Freq V ibrato I ntonation to N ote Tracks determinewhether the controller information is written to separate M IDI tracks or to thesameM IDI track asthe notes M idi Ticks per Expression Event controls thenumber of controller events that aresent over each MIDI channel Thedefault valueis 10 To reducethe number of controller events you must increase this value Controller for Shaping and Vibrato Therearea variety of MIDI controllers that are used by various sequencers and samplers to control continuous volumechanges Thereis no industry standard for these In order to determinethecorrect controller channel for your sequencer please refer to the documentation of the sequencer SuperConductor can send continuous volume change information for dynamic note shaping and vibrato over four possiblecontroller channels M od Breath Control CCO1 Expression Control CC11 Key After touch and VolumeControl CC07 Important N otes 1 By enabling any of these features a
117. itiations called beats upon which performers organize the beginnings and endings of notes and silences The rate at which the beats occur is called the tempo Tempos in music typically range from about 40 beats per minute up to 180 beats per minute Music as a Story Now that the basics of melody harmony rhythm and tempo are in place the question of musical structure arises How is music put to gether What are composers thinking about when they create a piece of music Music is the most abstract of the arts and as such is perhaps the most difficult to describe One good metaphor for music is music as story the aforementioned first stream Viewing music this way gives us access to the basic architectural elements of musical structure Consider that music is a story which is either sung or danced Like other stories it can be divided into chapters movements which are com posed of sections called exposition development recapitulation coda etc depending on their function Asin the written word musical sections contain paragraphs subsections which are composed of sentences themes which contain phrases phrases composed of words motives made up of syllables notes The table on the next page shows this hierarchical arrangement of musical and literary structure 31 SuperConductor User s Manual 32 Version 4 0 Similarity of Structure in Two Linear Art Forms In Literature Novel Chapter Section P
118. ivisions at all three levels of thehierarchy Meter Usethe arrows and typein the meter of the pulse being edited Thisisfor referenceonly Smallest Element Size Usually the fastest notes of a piece are chosen as el ements of the lowest pulselevel Trills and ornaments are excluded from being considered as fast notes Pulse Sections Pulse Sections Geet 1 1 1 17 l 1E Beshir i 1 1 1 iether tel bb From timeto timein a piecethe pulse needs to be reset to track some asymmetrical feature in the architecture of the music The Pulse Section window allows you to program when and with which pulsea reset begins Click on the Pulse Section button to access the Pulse Section window Clicking Add or Modify causes the Pulse Reset dialog to appear Choose the pulseto beused in the PulseNum text box Thename of the pulse will appear in thetext box aboveit Select the bar of the piecewherethe pulse will reset by typing in the Start Bar text box To start the reset pulse at the begining of the pulse array which is onetotal cycleof theentire pulse type Oin the Reset Pulse at Position text box If you wish to start the pulse at some other pointin the array typethenumber of the position you wantin thetext box Pulse Weight Sections Because of changes in the character of the music it may occasionally be advantageous to changethe weight of the pulse The Weight Sections window allows you to program theparticular bar range o
119. keitis coming from the left of the stereo image Below the panning sliders arethe Instrument indicators As you pass the cursor over an instrument indicator it expands to show thename of the sample that is played when that voiceis activated Instruments can only be changes when the pieceis not playing Below theInstrument indicators are the Solo Mute check boxes Click on the Solo check box for Voice one It is the left box of the pair All voices except that of the cello aresilenced This allows you to hear precisely what is happening with that part of the music Uncheck the Voice one Solo check box and check the Mute check box Now all the musicis playing except the cello This is useful for music minus one practicing of solo pieces Tosavethe changes you vemade click OK 71 SuperConductor User s Manual 72 Version 4 0 Reverb Asyou listen to the Bach Cello Sonata you may find that the music sounds rather dry and artificial This is mostly because the sound of the instru ments is not accompanied by any room acoustics This is the equivalent of playing this music outdoors Reverberation reverb is a complex set of reflections caused by the random diffusion of thesound in a room It is what gives a sense of the size of the room themusicis being performed in and has avery salutary effect on the sound of most instruments It isthe most widely used effectin recording studios To add reverb to the performance
120. king applied this to composers The shapes were first scientifically measured by Clynes in 1967 and graphs of motor pulses for the various composers obtained from the experimental conducting by great artists on a pressure sensitive finger rest the input device to the sentograph which he constructed for that purpose These motor pulses when averaged looked very similar and distinctive for the same composer no matter what piece was being conducted But it was not until 1983 that it was discovered how the composer s pulse was manifest in each note of the music through its microstructure The pulse values given in SuperConductor are the results of Clynes research since 1983 on this While pulse component values are now available for most major com posers more remain to be found SuperConductor users will be given upgrades periodically with additional composer s pulse as they are being found The pulseis an integral part of the music and contributes to reveal the intimate personality the point of view of the composer It does this regardless of the particular piece and for both fast and slow pieces It is necessary but not sufficient for interpretation Without it even if other wise well shaped the performance lacks the presence of the composer his authentic feel Who can say what is authentic None but you can feel the difference And if you can find a better pulse that better ex presses the music then good The
121. l expression through music there are a few basic concepts and terms which should be understood The terms explained below will be the foundation for the discussion on how music is created and how SuperConductor works Pitch Sound can be described as rapidly changing pressure waves in the air When these pressure waves are regular and constant in wavelength we say that the sound has a pitch Pitch is the musical quality which gives a sound it s particular note on the musical scale Instruments like cymbals and snare drums have little or no pitch because their sound output is largely random noise The trumpet has a well defined pitch because almost all of its sound output is regular and coherently aligned in time ih NAVARA AA MANNA AAA AWAY NAY Trombone playing a high pitch M Trombone playing a low pitch 24 Version 4 0 Introduction to SuperConductor A low pitched instrument creates sound waves with longer wavelengths and fewer vibrations per second than a high pitched instrument Ex amples of low pitched instruments are tubas basses trombones and male voices Examples of high pitched instruments include piccolos violins flutes and female voices Instruments that have a wide range of pitch include the piano the organ the harp and harpsichord The human brain has the ability to think a pitch without it being sounded This ability to imagine a tone allows us to think musically Duration Musical sounds all have
122. l sarcasm to damning self righteousness can be expressed using these words It could be said that the difference between the various readings is the actor s interpreta tion or the meaning he she is assigning to the basic script How these differences in meaning are communicated is through changing the rhythm and tempo of the speech adding inflections in pitch while speaking and creating variations in loudness while delivering the line These are the same parameters which are varied in interpreting a musical phrase or sentence In playing a piece of music an expert performer introduces slight variations in the speed duration and loudness of the notes depending on which beat they are played and in which section of the phrase or theme they belong With a master per former these variations are intentional and are different for each com poser and musical style This subtle rhythmic framework encompasses the hierarchical pulse of the music and gives the music its characteristic feel In addition to rhythmic variations good performers shape the notes they play by changing the loudness of the beginning middle and end of the notes to give them meaning The phrase He can make that instru ment talk is a reaction to a great performer s abilities to shape the notes in meaningful ways The Basics of Music Interpretation Finally a master interpreter of music uses various other effects to add meaning to musical expressions These eff
123. largenumber of controller messages aresent for each note and each track and depending on the MIDI se quencer being used can causean overflow and loss of information in the MIDI player If you notice erratic performanceor timing when you play the resulting MIDI file try disabling some or all of these features or increase thenumber of MIDI ticks per event 2 Since each midi channel has only asinglevolume controller difficul ties will arise when two notes are playing in the same channel at the same timeand shaping or amplitude vibrato information is needed for each note independently SuperConductor addresses this problem by attempting to separate voices into different channels but in pieces with greater than 16 voices the number of MIDI channels available thereis bound to besome overlap of notes Playing to MIDI Playing Directly to MIDI Playing your SuperConductor music directly toa MIDI sequencer or sampler can bedoneby selecting the O utput O utputto MIDI fromthe menu or the O utput to MIDI option on themain play panel Settings for direct MIDI output aredoneeither in the O utput M idi Set tings menu or M idi Settings on the main play panel 0 Peris al Clieraete T F t F Miah 5 aipee Da Eart L Hiao S Apasia DA Seth Messa 5 W rena D Synth Miadi Ga Wiraka Shy Ean Hira G aiie A ah Memeh 79 Wlrvetebla Oa Seth L Bica 5 rei aia D Earih i Miara BS ged giie P Caarh l B once OG ipaa A anit Biera 73 W
124. liketheOpen window Thedirectory display in theupper left corner shows the selected directory the contents of which are displayed in thefilelist in the lower part of the window Typein thenew filename or click on an existing file to overwriteit After clicking OK the Filelnformation window will appear so you can make comments about the new interpretation Short N ote Parameters Set Directories Choosing this item from the File menu calls up the Directories window Thetext box in this window shows the current directory where data will be written during the Save and SaveAs functions Change the directory by typing thenew directory nameand path in thetext box and clicking OK Short Note Parameters 111117 wie E Very short notes such astrills and ornaments often sound too loud At times grace notes need to be louder than they would be otherwise With this function you can tell SuperConductor how to handle notes that are shorter in duration than thethreshold you specify Be careful not to increase the threshold too much as this would influence notes of normal length Note Length Seconds Tones whose durations are shorter than the value specified in this slider s text box will be treated as short notes The default is 0 08 seconds Amp Factor The amplitude of notes shorter than the N ote Length threshold above will be multiplied by this value Therange of values is from 0 00 inf dB to 2 0 6 dB Thedefault valueis
125. limited by the size of their memory spaces and by the fact that they were playing back recordings fixed musical events not Introduction to SuperConductor living breathing tones generated by the player They could only hold a limited amount of recordings and were therefore limited in the amount of nuance they could provide Many schemes involving audio filters and amplitude shaping envelopes were used to give the player some control but these adjustments took large amounts of programming time to arrange and an equal amount of time to learn in performance Skilled electronic musicians became one part programmer one part player one part recording engineer and one part composer One could argue that it would be easier and perhaps ultimately more satisfying to spend the time learning to play a real instrument The latest development in computer synthesis is called physical model ing synthesis Instruments designed around this technology literally mode or emulate the physical characteristics of real instruments by using huge amounts of computer power This results in very credible imitations of real instruments and the possibility of making expressive virtual instruments Unfortunately the time necessary to master the playing of the synthesized instrument is almost as long as with the real one Again a high level of dedication and mastery of technique is required Wendy Carlos achievement in Switched On Bach 1968 he
126. mal value 5 to 6 or more for solo instruments This effect should be decreased say to 0 2 for the very fast notes of trills and notes which are tremolos and textural repeated patterns like the so called Alberti bass and similar non melodic patterns Use the bar range of these patterns for this reduction The basic shape should remain throughout except when there is a marked change in character for sections of the piece or for pizzicato Small values of p2 will result in a greater legato say 0 4 0 6 Larger values of p2 such as 1 8 3 will result in very detached staccato like effects Slower pieces can require different settings than fast ones within such ranges 175 SuperConductorUser s Manual 176 Version 4 0 Selecting p1 and p2 are truly wonderful exercises in musicality they sharpen one s discrimination and sensitivity to nuance feeling and musical meaning Note that if there is a rest after a note or the note is staccato that note will not participate in the predictive function The p1 and p2 values for that note will have the values set for the basic shape In most cases this is quite appropriate This is also true of the last note of the piece which however may need to be set for p1 and p2 with the single note function selected from the menu Ritards Few things are as valuable for an interpretation as really good ritards The shape of the ritard where the ritard starts and ends at times all contribute t
127. music neurobiologic patterns of communicating feeling M usic Mind and Brain the N europsychology of M usic edited by M Clynes Plenum New York pp 47 82 Clynes M and J Walker 1982 N eurobiologic functions of rhythm time and pulse in music M usic Mind And Brain the N europsychology of M usic edited by M Clynes Plenum New York pp 171 216 Clynes M 1980 The communication of emotion theory of sentics Theories of Emotion Vol 1 edited by R Plutchik and H Kellerman Academic Press New York pp 171 216 Clynes M 1977 Sentics the touch of emotion Doubleday Anchor N ew York Clynes M 1973 Sentics biocybernetics of emotion communication Annals of the N ew Y ork Academy of Sciences 220 3 55 131 Clynes M 1972 Sentography Dynamic forms of communication of emotion and qualities Comp Biol M ed 3 pp 119 130 Clynes M 1970 Towards a view of Man Biomedical Engineering Systems edited by M Clynes and J Milsum McGraw Hill New York pp 272 358 Clynes M 1969 Precision of essentic form in living communication Information processing in the nervous system edited by K N Leibovic and J C Eccles Springer New York pp 177 206 A vailable from Microsound International 19 95 Index Symbols 16 bits 8 bits 64 155 44 KHz 33 KHZ 22KHz 11KHz 64 155 A About SuperConductor 68 Acoustic Instruments 19 Add aVo
128. my m uwe Poi e Select the first item in the list for voice 1 and click the Modify button This causes the Vibrato window to appear How to Use SuperConductor Check the Play Solo check box beneath the Play icon Click on the Play icon to begin play You will noticethat the melody is played with vibrato Change the depth of the vibrato by increasing the Amount Cents slider to 30 cents Noticehow widethe vibrato sounds Adjust the speed of the vibrato by decreasing the Rate Hz slider to 3 0 Thevibrato becomes slower Check the Show Notes checkbox Thescoreof the part being played is displayed Thelineabovethe score shows the vibrato applied to each note Short notes don t normally receive vibrato Theminimum notetimecan be adjusted in the Global Settings dialog Use the Rise Fall Start and End sliders to modify the vibrato 83 SuperConductor User s Manual These modifications can be observed on the Show N otes display e Click Cancel to return the file to its original condition and dismiss the Vibrato window For the details of all the Vibrato window s functions see page 148 84 Version 4 0 How to Use SuperConductor Saving the Current Microscore Thetutorial above has been a guided tour that introduced you to the basics of themicroscore As you progressed through thetutorial you may have discovered various settings that you liked Thesediscoveries arethe essence of what SuperConductor provides
129. n Leader of the Medici Quartet Dr Clynes computer realized performances of the great masters of the past are unreservedly convincing But his acutely sensitive realizations of my own music areno less than amazing How oneasks could a mere machine make decisions about the interpretation of my music which have eluded even the most careful dedicated and experienced performers Clynesisawizard whoseimportant work must continue Donald Martino Walter Bigelow Rosen Professor of Music Harvard University That s the beauty of these pulses Suddenly there s no notethat s not justified in the wholework Dennis Vaughan conductor AAAS National Meeting February 1993 haveto concur with M aestro Simon s evaluation of the SuperConductor system ithas an unbelievably remarkable lack of artificiality to it 1 can only say that can t wait to have it available for my own realizations will finally beableto leave MIDI to meresketching Al sddom delivers likethis Itis indeed abreakthrough of monumental proportions Jeff Harrington composer I am quitesurethat SuperConductor really opens anew door to the understanding of music My students like your work as well It s so exciting Dr Wolfgang Mastnak Professor of Music Hochschule f r Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mozarteum Salzburg Austria SuperConductor User s Manual 4 Version 4 0 Welcome Congratulations on becoming
130. n a few notes The other function of changing the Length is within a voice Here you can lengthen or shorten a note without affecting the length of the notes in other voices When you do this you have to compensate for the change by changing other notes or rests of the same voice so that the total change is zero This allows you also to achieve a real rubato such as written about by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and by Chopin generally for slower tempi where the rubato is to let one voice proceed freely while the left hand keeps the same tempo going causing the two voices to be temporarily apart in time but then catching up or gradu ally waiting resuming togetherness Such rubato while recommended by those authorities as being their practice in their day has been largely lost in the ability of today s artists who mostly tend to slow down and accelerate with all voices With the length change you can now experi 189 SuperConductorUser s Manual 190 Version 4 0 ment to resurrect this effect powerful when done right At this time any rubato of this nature is constructed by controlling individual notes In later versions of SuperConductor it may be possible to have rubato functions which would make it easier to design a local rubato optimally A third function is to allow a slight delay between voices over a particu lar short range Using milliseconds such a delay will improve voice leading clarity and
131. n extended highest pulse level eg 16 elements The loudness and durations of the highest pulse level elements are adjusted to contour the entire piece as one large pulse Vibrato Different instruments different pieces and different composers have need for different kinds of vibrato How do these vibratos differ from each other A uniform vibrato as often found in synthesizers or in inferior perfor mances applied like a lacquer to a musical piece can ruin the meaning of a fine interpretation Vibrato needs to be organic to the piece organic to the composer and even organic to the particular instrument Then it 181 SuperConductorUser s Manual 182 Version 4 0 adds to the eloquence and conviction of the music What does this mean And how do we do it Consider first the instrument a flute requires a greater amount of vibrato than an oboe or a violin for an equivalent expressive quality a piano should have none or at most very little A harpsichord can some times benefit from a very small amount of vibrato however even though it normally is played without it but note the clavichord often benefits from vibrato Bebung it was called and was achieved by a vertical vibrating of the hand on the key There is frequency vibrato and amplitude vibrato Mostly these are combined and sound more natural in combination than each does alone In Superconductor frequency and amplitude vibrato are combined in a suitable proportion
132. n menu causes the Current Pulse Settings window to appear Theillustration below shows this window Its functions aredescribed below Add Pulse Clicking on this button adds an additional pulse to the one already applied to thefile Any number of pulses can be created in amusicfile The default settings for anew pulse are those that were set when the A dd N ew Pulse button was clicked The new pulse nameis UNNAMED and its number displayed in thePulse N umber display is one greater than the number of the previous pulse 131 Pulse 132 Version 4 0 Pulse Number The Pulse N umber display shows the numeric designation of the pulse displayed in the Current Pulse Settings window As the value changes so does the pulse settings which are associated with it M ost pieces will use only one pulse Configure Pulse Clicking on the Configuration button calls the Pulse Configuration dialog See Pulse Configuration Pulse Name This text box shows the name of the pulse displayed in the Current Pulse Settings window This text can be edited Pulse Unit Display Thisis a graphic display of the basic units that make up the pulse at the designated level Symbolized as rectangles pulse units havevarying widths and heights corresponding to duration and amplituderespectively Each pulselevel has a different display color Pulse Set Pulse n The Set Pulse n command button calls the Set Pulse Dialog This dialog allows you to adjust
133. n processes melodies better with the left ear and rhythm better with the right Traditionally the first violins of an orchestra always are on the left of the audience Changes in panning can change the apparent loudness without any change in balance or amplitude controls It also can change the clarity of certain voices When voices are close together in space they tend to merge with one another and mask each other Sometimes this is desir able and other times not The further apart they are placed in stereo space the more distinct from one another they will sound and also the less unified The optimum separation depends on the piece Some pieces have contrapuntal textures that have many different voices that con Hints Rules and Suggestions verse with one another or homophonic textures i e harmonies blend and need to blend Sometimes a group of instruments needs to be close together and yet separated form another group that are also closer together for example wood winds and strings in an orchestra setting Controlled three dimensional depth is not easy to achieve in stereo but can be sometimes be achieved with judicious choices and combinations When a violin or viola part uses more than one string i e double stops or certain tremolos use different pannings for each string As a general rule a difference of 0 1 in the panning value may be a good choice Two flutes two trumpets two horns or other instruments should never com
134. ncing cont Panning Sliders The Panning sliders control the apparent position of the voice in stereo space Thevalues range from 1 00 to 1 00 N egative values pan thevoiceto the left with 1 00 as the most extreme position Positive values pan the voice to theright with 0 00 at dead center Theslider value can be changed by dragging the thumb whee with the mouse clicking the mouseon the slider surface or by selecting thetext in the text box and typing in the new value Master Panning Pan theentire orchestra left or right Delay Slider The Delay sliders control the delay in milliseconds that each voice has in relationship to each other Use this to advance the cello and double bass instruments about 30 msecs that start with the same inertia to sound moresynchronous with theother instruments Also useit to delay the piano or harpsichord about 25 msecs when used in chamber music or concertos so as to sound together with the violins and other instruments Instrument Designators ThelInstrument designators arelocated below the delay sliders They display thenameof the instrument or other samples which are currently assigned to the voice Click on theinstrumentto pop up alist of available samples Solo Mute Check Boxes Checking the Solo check box for a voicewill mute all the other voices Checking the Solo check Boxes for two voices will play only those voices The Mutecheck boxes mute only the voicethey are associate
135. ndow controls the amount speed depth and envelope shape of the vibrato that is applied to each voice It is accessed by choosing theVibrato item from the nterpretation menu or by clicking on the Vibrato icon Each note automatically gets a different appropriate vibrato for all the vibrato variables Load and Save Settings functions load or save the vibrato settings for all voices to the vibrato database Vibrato To add or modify or delete a vibrato section click on the buttons The following Vibrato Editor window appears Voice Indicates which voiceto which thefollowing parameters are applied Enable Check this box to enablevibrato in this voice Start Bar End Bar The starting and ending bars of this range of vibrato Amount Cents This slider controls the depth of modulation in the pitch component of the vibrato Graduated in cents the rangeis from 0 00to 50 The most useful values lie between 3 and 15 cents Settings are for the mean value Each note will havea different customized value Individual notevalues can be read in the List Music menu 153 Vibrato cont 154 Version 4 0 Rate Hz This slider controls the mean frequency of the vibrato The values range from 0 1Hz to 20Hz Themost common settings lie between 6 and 9Hz Both the amount and rate are compensated for pitch and duration of each note and also in a predictive manner looking ahead at the next note Rise and Fall Master p
136. nes M 1988 Generalised emotion how it is produced and sentic cycle therapy Emotions and Psychopathology edited by M Clynes and J Panksepp Plenum Press N ew York pp 107 170 Clynes M 1987 What a musician can learn about music perfor mance from newly discovered microstructure principles P M and P A M Action and Perception of M usic edited by A Gabriesson Publi cations of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music No 55 Stockholm pp 201 233 The full text of these publications can be found at http Awww microsoundmusic com SuperConductor User sM anual 207 SuperConductorUser s Manual 208 Version 4 0 Clynes M 1986 Generative principles of musical thought Integra tion of microstructure with structure Communication and Cognition CCAI Vol 3 185 223 Clynes M and J Walker 1986 Music as Time s Measure M usic Perception 4 1 85 120 Clynes M 1985a Secrets of lifein music Analytica Studies in the description and analysis of music in honour of Ingmar Bengtsson Publication of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music No 47 pp 3 15 Clynes M 1985b Music beyond the score Communication and Cognition 19 2 169 194 Clynes M 1983 Expressive microstructure linked to living qualities Publications of the Royal Swedish Academy of M usic No 39 edited by J Sundberg pp 76 181 Clynes M and Nettheim N 1982 The living quality of
137. ness ratios that are exactly equal to those set in the composer s pulse setting The range of values is from 0 00 no amplitude variations to 1 50 exaggerated amplitude variation The horizontal Timeslider controls the relativedifferences in the durations of elements in the pulselevel with which it is associated thereby weight ing thedifferences A valueof 1 0 gives length ratios that are exactly equal to those set in the composer s pulse setting Therange of valuesis from 0 00 no length variations to 1 50 exaggerated length variation Theslider value can bechanged by dragging the thumb whee with the mouse clicking the mouseon theslider surface or by selecting thetextin thetext box and typing in thenew value The Bass sliders on pulse level 2 and 3 are used to enhance the amplitude differences of the pulsecomponents for instruments in thelower register such as the cello and double bass thereby emphasizing the rhythmic effects of amplitude Pulse Configuration cont Pulse Configuration The Pulse Configuration window is accessed through the Config Pulse button in the Current Pulse Settings window Its function isto set up the basic elements of each level of the Pulse and definethe subdivisions of each pulse level The pulse configuration is at the heart of the pulse function and the choice will effect the performance considerably Pulse Number Pulse Name These designatethe current pulse being edited
138. ngths you may use the number pad for all of the same functions The note length keys all stay in effect until you select another note size so if you wish to enter a series of 16th notes press the 16th note key once then play in all the notes including rests The Dotted Staccato Portamento and Phrasing keys are one time toggles Press the key once to enable the function Press it again to turn off the function The status window in the lower right corner of the screen reflects the currently selected item if any As soon as a note is played the function turns off automatically For example in order to play successive staccato notes you must press the staccato key each time you enter a note The Triplet key requires that you enter 3 notes before the triplet function returns to anormal note When using the triplet key the computer automatically divides the note lengths to fit into a full note size Keyboard Shortcuts lt Home gt Moveto beginning of file lt End gt Move to end of file lt PageUp gt Move up apage lt PageDn gt Move down a page lt Uparrow gt Moveto preceding note lt Down arrow gt Move to next note lt Enter gt Begin edit mode or move to next note lt Esc gt End edit mode or cancel lt insert gt Insert a rest at the cursor position lt Delete gt Delete note at cursor position lt Ctrl X gt Cut lt Ctrl C gt Copy lt Ctrl V gt Paste lt Ctrl Z gt Undo 197 SuperConductorUser s Manual
139. nium resulting in the rich palette of colors and textures that we know today But what is it that makes the best music emotionally expressive What are the underlying principles in the structure of the sounds musicians make that contain the essence of the emotion being communicated Sentic Form Underlying all emotionally expressive actions are fundamental time based physiological entities known as sentic forms Sentic form is a property of the central nervous system the biologically evolved lan guage of emotional communication It is the unconscious precursor for the generation perception and communication of emotional qualities It is common to various sensory modes seeing hearing touching and in a sense more primary than any one of them Sentic form is biologically given and appears to be genetically preserved In research involving hundreds of subjects from various cultures Clynes determined that the basic expression forms of anger love sex hate grief reverence etc are common to people of many cultures That is the biological basis of the way people express the various emotions is the same across cultures and time In music dance and art sentic form may be represented through various culturally determined parameters In Western music sentic form is embodied in the sound mainly through the pitch loudness and timing of musical tones the fine structure of melo dies as thought and performed This is the reason why music
140. ns of these functions can be found in the SuperConductor Referencelater in this manual The File Menu New Choosing this item opens theN ew Filewindow and allows you to createa new musicfilein thedirtectory of your choice Open Selecting this item calls the Open window It allows you to search for an existing music file and load it Save As The SaveAs command allows you to savethe current file under anew name or in anew directory Save The Save command writes the current fileto the hard disk in the directory whereit currently resides Changes over writethe previously saved file Collection Selecting this menu item has the same effect as clicking on the Collection icon Concert Choosing the Concert menu item calls the Play Concert window In this window you can arrangeoneor more concert programs of pieces to be played in theorder you choose 59 SuperConductor User s Manual 60 Version 4 0 File Information This command calls the M usic Information window Data about the current fileand piece and comments about the interpretation can be recorded here Set Directories This function allows you to changethenameand location of the directo ries where SuperConductor files are stored Import MIDI File Import a standard MIDI fileinto the Supe Conductor format Export MIDI File Export SuperConductor to astandard MIDI file Rename a File This function allows you to renamean existing file without making a cop
141. nt of MIDI performances 8 When you ve heard enough click Cancel to stop the music and return the settings to their original values In SuperConductor predictive amplitude shaping of notes works by causing the amplitude envelope of a note to be altered depending on what tone follows it and when N ote shaping alters the meaning of the music and the listener s experience of the emotional and intellectual content in the music The shape of the note is skewed to an extent that is determined by the slope of the pitch time curve drawn from the present note to the next note In other words SuperConductor measures the melodic interval between the notes and the amount of time between the notes and calculates the rate of change This figure is then used to alter the shape of the envelope which shapes the present note Because this pitch time slope is constantly changing as the music unfolds the shape of the notes is forever new This process empowers one to realize the composer s original design for phrasing and articulation in subtlety and organic variety as understood by master performers 39 SuperConductor User s Manual 40 Version 4 0 Vibrato On many instruments playing along perfectly stable tone produces an unattractive result Players often add a touch of vibrato vih brah to to provide warmth and eloquence Vibrato is a relatively quick 5 to 8 times per second modulation of either the pitch or the amplitude of
142. o This function duplicates the function of the Ritard icon Pitch Crescendo The Pitch Crescendo function allows you to set the amount of increasein loudness as a function of pitch for each voice individually This is prima rily amusical function but also many instruments naturally change loudness with pitch level Examples of instruments that get louder with an increasein pitch aretheflute trumpet and thehuman voice Other instruments like the oboe and bassoon get quieter as they go up in pitch Overall phrasing sounds morenatural when Pitch Crescendo is applied This function is commonly called pitch amplitudetracking in synthesizer parlance Long Note Parameters Notes that are longer than oneor two seconds in music mostly do not function as melodic elements They aretextural and sustain harmonies Therefore the note shaping parameters used in the normal melodic setting arenot appropriate With this function you can direct SuperConductor to apply different shaping parameters to notes that have durations longer than thethreshold you specify and produce suitable attacks and decays for those notes Short Note Loudness Parameter Similar to the function described above very short notes likethose of trills and ornaments often need to sound quieter than normal melodic notes With this function you can tell SuperConductor how to handletherelative loudness of notes that are shorter in duration than thethreshold you specify Expre
143. o configure your own pulse settings is discussed in the next chapter How to use SuperConductor Predictive Note Shaping Another aspect of the microscore which is critical to fulfilling the poten tial locked within the score is note shaping While playing a melody master performers vary the loudness contour within each note to bring out the emotional meaning they are expressing They are creating an amplitude envelope for each note This shaping of the notes in a mean ingful way greatly helps to achieve musicality the subtleties of which musicians refer to as good phrasing and articulation To hear the effect of removing SuperConductor s predictive amplitude shaping follow the steps below 1 Click on the Open icon 2 Choose the D MSC BACHCELL directory and then double click on the B10071 file in the file window to open it 3 Click on the Shaping Icon The Note Shaping window appears Select the first item 4 Click on the Modify command button 5 Check the Show Notes check box The window now displays the shapes of the notes in the piece Note how each note is shaped differently 6 Adjust the Rise and Fall sliders to read 0 00 This causes each note to be played without shaping N ote the change in thenote display The Basics of Music Interpretation 7 Click on the Play button to begin play In this example the absence of note shaping produces a computerized character to the melody reminisce
144. o the musical quality But SuperConductor offers a unique feature that makes ritards incomparable the ability to increase the weight of the pulse during the ritard That means that the deviations from evenness in time of the pulse components can be enlarged during the ritard there is no enlargement for the amplitude deviations and none seems to be required The relatively longer notes become longer and the relatively shorter notes become shorter when the weight slider is set above the value 1 This is over and above the general slowing down of the ritard As a result of this there is a difference between a Beethoven ritard a Mozart ritard a Schubert ritard a Chopin a Bach ritard and so on A good useful value for the weight slider in the ritard is 1 20 to 1 35 For accelerandos you might want to try values slightly less than 1 say 0 9 0 8 for the weight slider This is especially valuable at ends of pieces where you as it were say good bye to the composer A great ritard suddenly gives you a frame for the whole piece a moment when you perceive it in retrospect and when you might concentrate on the composer s identity like bidding farewell to someone who visited you at your house Only a few great artists have been able to do a really good ritard Toscanini Casals Schnabel Landowska are examples Too often others merely slow down With the pulse enlargement feature you can try to make a really fine ritard The crescendo slid
145. octave higher or lower look under the edit menu and enrich or change the orchestration using the solo and mute buttons to test the effect of the change Sometimes you may wish to use the Stradivarius even for the viola part Unlikea real violin the computer can play the Stradivarius for the full range of a viola by transposing the sounds down You merely select Stradivarius and it will play all the viola notes This may be a preferable sonority to that of the viola itself in a string quartet In this case of course there will be three Strads and one cello This works out well at times But do not replace the cello with a Strad For orchestral pieces the Strad may also be used or the group violin in such combinations as you may like But there is only one cello one viola one doublebass so they are used in an orchestra or in chamber groups and solos You can make them as loud as you want and vary the timbre with the timbre function Hints Rules and Suggestions We will try to provide massed string sounds in a later version but this may not be really always necessary as the loudness factor is certainly available already Do twenty violins sound different from one violin playing as loud as the twenty together Yes But is that difference essential to the music At times it is at times not For Bach it seems not to be of consequence and may even not be desirable For later compos ers yes it makes a significant difference especially
146. odify noteshaping 55 SuperConductor User s Manual 56 Version 4 0 Ritard The Ritard icon calls the Ritardando A ccelerando window This window allows you to shape local or sectional changes in tempo over particular regions of the music For example you could usea ritardando near the end of apieceto bring it to a satisfying close The controls in the window allow you specify when the ritardando starts and ends and how it progresses How to Use SuperConductor Crescendo Clicking on the Crescendo icon causes theCrescendo Diminuendo window to appear The window allows you to control local or sectional changes in loudness It functions almost exactly likethe Ritardando Accelerando window described above 57 SuperConductor User s Manual ae 58 Version 4 0 Vibrato Clicking on the Vibrato icon calls the Vibrato window This window allows you to globally shape the characteristics of the vibrato used on each individual voice You can control the mean vibrato depth speed attack attack delay swell shape decay decay delay and the ratio between theamplitude component of the vibrato and its pitch compo nent For every global setting theindividual notes of the voice are pro vided with a different customized vibrato How to Use SuperConductor The Menus The following section is a short description of each of the menu functions described in the order they appear on the menus In depth explanatio
147. of pieces can be stored on your hard disk The Collection is the easiest and most accessible way to enjoy using SuperConductor To usethe Collection feature Click on the Collection icon The Collection window opens This window displays thelist of files in the collection directory foie Cone Piogathe Faj Sra be Van ak ete Gash Ebony seh e Click on the collection piece and movement you wish to play Click on the Play button or double click on the title of a piece SuperConductor plays thecollection from the selected pieceand movement For moredetailed information on using thecollection seethe Reference section of this manual 49 SuperConductor User s Manual 50 Version 4 0 Playing from the Play Window To open an existing music file Choose Open from the File menu or click on the Open icon in the SuperConductor window per Fik E tues oe Bo ei cere al 4 D maish ml Pig Ma l Ka WEDA iF Lana a Hapa iT dE Bah hiir Ga bus tow ida he iisi coe Haed ia Bach maini bis fierd fer Vick da Barba mra H epeh nane LI bah Tmin Pia Mie L ja biia da hama ad Hae Les e a dE pah Terese iD la ie 2 a ia da Gaa rd Haach WES 45 Ewi E ies 1 e ee Ga ed Hee EE iE i4 Bah oe m D bia bem d bie iid Pee Hid Double click on the music file name you choose in the scroll list If the file you wantis not visible Use the scroll bar arrows to scroll down until it is visible th
148. oice This box displays thenumber of the voice at which the staccato will be added or changed Bar This box displays the number of the bar at which thestaccato will be added or changed Tone This box displays the number of thetonein the chosen bar at which the staccato is desired or changed Apply to All Voices Checking this box will add the effect of the staccato to all the notes that end simultaneously with the selected notein the other voices of thecurrent musicfile Pitch This box showsthenameof the pitch of the current tone If the valueis R thetoneisa rest or measured silence Note Length The Note Length is displayed in a decimal fraction of the nominal length of thenote Staccato This slider controls the duration of the staccato that will shorten the sounding length of the current note Thewritten duration of the note will be preserved as will the timing of the subsequent notes in this voice Graduated in a fraction of the nominal length of the note the range of the control is from Oto 0 95 147 Terrace Amplitude 148 Version 4 0 Statistics This function outputs alist to the screen which shows the maximum and minimum values for each voicein thearea of amplitude pitch numbers of notes and rests and duration Stereo Mono These choices let you choose whether SuperConductor will output in stereo or mono Terrace Amplitude This window allows you to enter bar ranges in the piece wherethe o
149. on described below Audio Settings The Settings command button allows you to change sound output param eters such as sample rate mono or stereo and output buffer size Sanga Fla fy Balle Sane in C ARK He Seconds Cancel S66 Hr Gramnehs HFI Birse I dk He E iaeo 20 Nbps C Hoa 256 Fat ade Hr C 128Kbos HE MP Dually 22K Hz a High Resolution Clw hab f Tunded ET C GPycho Play M usic cont Loop Play Checking theLoop Play box will causethe music fileto play repetitively Repeat play begins shortly upon completion of the previous play Plays from specified Start Bar to End Bar Show Score Checking the Show Score check box will causethe written score attached to the music fileto appear when the Start Play button is clicked If ascoreis note available for this piece this check box will not appear Start and End These two number boxes contain the bar numbers of thestarting and ending points for play Usethe arrows to modify the rangeof bars to played Bar Time These boxes show the current play timein bars and in seconds The empty box abovethem displays vertical strokes during play which represent the current pulseunit of the highest pulselevd SMPTE Duration Displays play length of theselected bar rangein SMPTE timeunits Start Play The Start Play command button initiates play Pause The Pause button suspends play when clicked During Pause mode the button reads Resume Click again to resume pl
150. on to hear the effects of setting the Instrument Balance Click on Stop when you are finished Delay Different instruments audibly sound later or sooner depending upon the shape of their attacks Someinstruments are meant to lead and someto follow The Delay function allows you to makefine adjustments in the relationships between thetiming of each instrument Set the delay for voice 1 2 and 3 to 25 15 10 respectively Set the delay for voice 4 5 6 and 7 to 10 20 20 and 20 respectively Click on the Play icon to hear the effects of setting the Instrument Delay Click on Stop when you are finished How to Use SuperConductor Panning The set of sliders below the Level sliders are called the Panning sliders Pan is short for panorama and refers to the apparent location of the voicein stereo space Drag the panning slider for Voice 1 all the way to the right Click on the Play icon Makethe following adjustments whilethe music is playing Theeffects of these changes will takefrom 1 to 16 seconds to become audible depending upon the buffer length setting Thesound of the cello will beto the right of the stereo image N otice that the number in thetext box is positive Positivenumbers designate pan positions to the right of center negativenumbers to the left A panning valueof zero will put the voice dead center in the stereo image Drag the panning slider for Voice 1 back to 0 70 Thecello soundsli
151. one can be legato to the next one overlap it a little even when played on the same string a feat that no violinist can do no matter how desirable The same can be done with any woodwind instrument even horns trumpets and the human voice on Superconductor This enlarges the expressive arsenal of music ito satisfy natural musical requirement not for weird effects but to give music greater eloquence beauty and persuasion Remember that legato is used from one note to the next within phrases That means the last note of a phrase should not have a legato on it connecting it to the next note otherwise it will destroy the separation of phrases Not all phrases benefit from legato also And most phrases have in them a varied articulation that combines various degrees of non legato or staccato with legato for different notes in the melody or phrase These terms allow almost infinite shades of variation In traditional music notation and teaching they cannot be given all their individuality and subtlety that they need by a verbal or notational description It is the feel of the phrase that governs it Here you can see how the principles of hierarchic pulse and of Predictive Amplitude shaping provide much of the phrasing subtlety when properly adjusted At times however this can be supplemented and heightened with the judicious selective use of touches of the legato function A typical Hints Rules and Suggestions amo
152. ore Statistics Choosing this menu item lists the number of voices the maximum and minimum amplitudes for each voice thenumber notesin each voiceand other pertinent information regarding the quantitative aspects of a piece Thelist can beprinted out by clicking on the Print command button Compare to Another Microscore This featureallows you to comparethe major interpretivefeatures of the current music file with asecond version of that file This comparison will be displayed in alist window which can be printed 65 SuperConductor User s Manual 66 Version 4 0 The Edit Menu This menu contains many of the normal Edit functions found in Windows programs Undo Choosing this menu item reverses the last action taken whilemodifying a file Cut Choosing Cut deletes theselected contents of thefileand places them on the Clipboard From herethey can be pasted into another file or a different location in the current file Copy Choosing Copy makes a copy of the selected data on the Clipboard for use elsewhere Paste The Paste command places the contents of the Clipboard at the specified bar Copy To The Copy To command places the specified range of barsin the file you select Paste From The paste From command allows you to paste data from another music file into thefile you are currently working with Editor Clicking on this menu item initializes the M usic Editor application You can usethe M usic editor to
153. ows you to conduct the music of the masters with global control over expressive elements that create great musical interpretations For musicians and music students SuperConductor provides the capability to sculpt truly satisfying performances of musical master pieces Individual instruments can be interchanged or deleted from a performance at will This enables you to play with music minus one but interpreted in your own way For composers and music producers SuperConductor provides the ideal environment for realizing expressive music designed for real acoustical instruments without going to the expense and trouble of hiring and rehearsing an ensemble SuperConductor allows anyone to simply and easily create and enjoy truly expressive performances of great music on their computer without needing any external device or synthesizers SuperConductor User s Manual 13 SuperConductor User s Manual 14 Version3 1 The Things You ll Need The following items are enclosed in the shipping carton e CDROM e User s Manual Information about other MicroSound International products System Requirements SuperConductor requires aminimum system configuration containing the following IBM PC compatible computer 500 MHz processor e 512MB memory Windows 95 98 NT XP Vista Sound Blaster Compatible sound card e 100 MB free hard disk space e CDRom Drive e Audio monitoring system or head phone
154. parameter Instrument Name This is the name that will appear in the instrument list in SuperConductor Unique ID This number must be different for each instrument in your collection of instruments Midi Number This is the General Midi number of the instrument This number is used to categorize instruments in the SuperConductor list MIDI supports up to 128 different instruments Number 129 is a special case used by SuperConductor to designate a percussion bank Sample Offset This is the time that SuperConductor will skip at the beginning of each sample This is useful to remove clicks breath noise or silence from the beginning of sounds The default setting is 0 Use Note Shaping There are two main categories of instruments in SuperConductor those that use shaping and those that don t Instru ments like the violin and flute who s sound can be shaped by the per former either with the breath or a bow should use the shaping feature Plucked hammered or percussive instruments such as the piano guitar or drum which once started decay at their own rate and can t be shaped should not use this option See the section on Predictive Ampli tude Shaping in the SuperConductor manual for more details about how this functions works Default Shaping Rise and Fall These are the default start and end shaping parameters that will be used with this instrument when you create a new piece of music in SuperConductor They do not ha
155. pend ing of the length of the ritard and the tempos but values less than this also occur for ritards that slow down most right near the end of the ritard Accelerandos may require curves with values greater than 1 say 1 1 to 1 2 but this depends on the piece accelerandos often are more extended in bars than ritards A ritard can always be pieced together as a series of terrace ritards and this is an alternative that sometimes give excellent results Often a quite small but extended terrace ritard may precede the final ritard A micropause is often useful somewhat before the ritard starts perhaps as much as a few bars before to give a signal we are coming towards the end or just before the final note of the piece 177 SuperConductor User s Manual 178 Version 4 0 With a ritard that ends with a long note consider that the ritard range may include that last note if so then much of the ritard duration may be occupied by that last long note and so the ending portion of the ritard curve may be used up by that long note only a portion of the curve is then used for leading up to it But if alternatively you exclude the last note from the ritard then that long note may be too short It can then be lengthened using the length single note function however Terrace Ritards or Accelerando Terrace ritards are exceedingly useful Usually they are employed over larger sections of a piece and cause the tempo to change a few per
156. pulse elements starting on the bottom pulse level by changing the durations and amplitudes and finding a suitable configuration until it sounds as you want it to sound For a 4 pulse you need to find three amplitudes and three timings For the first amplitude you can simply take one as the value And one of the timing elements can be 100 So you need only to find three values for each It is easiest to do this with music that has sometimes four notes of equal duration nominally at that level e g four sixteenth or four eighth notes Take sixteen bars say Don t try to find your pulse at the top level initially Once you know your pulse you can prescribe it now notate it for others who want to perform your music Like the metronome mark only several orders of greater subtlety And any performer and any computer can endeavor to follow your wishes and meaning Weight sections Sometimes there are sections of a piece that change radically in nature from what has gone on before There may be a much slower section or a much faster one Then you might wish that the weight sliders for the pulse were adjusted differently for that section You can do this in fact by using the weight section feature of the pulse This allows you to change any of the slider positions of the three pulse levels for that section only Slower sections might require increases in the time slider settings of the higher levels faster ones a reduction Highly expre
157. r ture for example where the sense of magic and adventure makes the shortness of the notes the air between them itself be pregnant with fun and mystery Staccato is a single word but the reality is a varied world of gradations that words cannot describe but even slight differences will provide different character and meaning to the music in a chain of staccatos each has its own organic function like a group of people no two the same 187 SuperConductorUser s Manual 188 Version 4 0 In SuperConductor the global Pulse and Predictive Amplitude shaping functions creatively adjusted provide much of the organic variety the articulation they need the organic combination of shades of duration and shades of loudness Legato Legato means a slight overlap between notes bringing about a fusion between notes giving a sense of continuity within a phrase or melody While an increased legato effect can be obtained by choosing a small p2 in the amplitude shaping function this cannot provide overlap In the piano the tail function does provide an adjustable overlap When certain notes are desired to be closely tied together or fused then the legato function may be used to connect the present note to the next one The amount of legato should not be too much otherwise the next note will not be heard clearly Unlike most of the physical instruments the instruments of SuperConductor are all able to provide legato Thus a violin t
158. r land mark realization of Baroque masterpieces using analog synthesizers and multitrack tape recording techniques can today be executed with ease using any off the shelf multi timbral synthesizer workstation without the use of recording media external computers or hundreds of person hours of work The technology of today makes the creation of computer music easier than ever before But the critical element of musical expres sion is still out of reach of machine made music That is until now A New Possibility In Music Making SuperConductor is a completely new way of making music Using the power of today s desktop personal computers SuperConductor re moves the traditional impediments to creating satisfying musical performances of the great music of Western Culture By using a unique and powerful technology based on the seminal discoveries of Manfred Clynes SuperConductor can create an artistically valid performance of any piece of music from the European Common Practice period the time from the early 14th century to the present It is now possible for a person who has no skill at playing an instrument to experiment with the 21 SuperConductor User s Manual 22 Version 4 0 nuances of music interpretation those elements of music performance normally available only to master instrumentalists without having to learn to play Normally one would have to invest at least five to ten years of practice and study to be able to
159. ral ebb and flow of time and amplitude give the cello line an expressive and emotive character consistent with the aesthetics of Bach Adding the composer s characteristic pulse allows the music to take on most of the characteris tics of a live performance 10 Click on the Stop Play button 11 Click Cancel to dismiss the window How does hierarchical pulse work In the last chapter musical structure was explained in literary terms Each section of a piece of music can be divided into paragraphs sen tences phrases words and syllables Since these elements occur in time and in meter we can divide the music up into blocks of time called bars In other words a musical sentence could contain eight bars of music divided into two phrases of four bars each Another word for bar is measure The two terms are used interchangeably Each bar of music contains a fixed number of beats usually two three or four beats per bar The illustration below shows a musical sentence of four bars in length divided into two equal phrases of two bars each The Basics of Music Interpretation Sonata W A MOZART K 545 composed in 1788 Allegro ya ri E a or a f ti SSS SSS aa ae A areas SS SS BE e ee eee The hierarchical pulse is often long enough to contain a whole four or aight bar phrase Some bars are emphasized and others are weak This level of the pulse is called Level 1 and its
160. riplet and then enter the note value either from the computer key board or the MIDI keyboard Rests of the correct duration are also entered Although this method is slower than playing in the notes it is far more accurate and the user need not be concerned with keeping an exact tempo ab SUELO UT aon ese SuperConductor User sM anual 191 SuperConductorUser s Manual 192 Version 4 0 File Organization You may have up to 128 voices in a SuperConductor file but there are some restrictions Each voice represents only a single tone from a single instrument at any given time therefore you must enter a separate voice for each additional note an instrument is playing at one time For example if a violin is playing a double stop you must enter the top note in one voice and the bottom note in another It is best therefore to plan your voice organization in advance of entering notes First determine the maximum number of notes that any given instrument will play in your piece then make a list of voices for your own reference For consistency we recommend that you use the same basic organization set out below Microsound uses the following voice arrangements for consistency and ease of interpretation Voice 1 through N represents the first voice of each instrument in the orchestra then voices N 1 and on represent the additional notes for each of the main voices in the same order A list for a string quartet would be as follows
161. s Recommended system enhancements include e 1 GHzor faster processor e 1 GB or more memory Owner Registration Your purchase of SuperConductor entitles you to technical support special introductory offers on new products from M icroSound Interna tional and notification of software updates Software updates will be Getting Started published as the program evolves Please fill out and return theowner registration card The information on thecard will allow usto communicate more effectively with you and will enableus to serve you better in thefuture Installing SuperConductor Like many other PC applications SuperConductor is easy to install and configure Follow theinstructions below to install your software 1 Insert the CD ROM in your CD ROM player If theA utoRun featurein Windows 95 has been enabled the installation will take place automatically If this isthe case disregard the following steps If not go to Step 2 below 2 Select the Run item from the Windows Start Menu 3 Type D SETUP where D is the letter designating your CD ROM drive The installation continues under machine control At several points during theinstallation you will haveto make choices about what gets installed and where After selecting the desired options all the chosen files will be copied automatically to the hard disk drive This may take as along as five minutes if all the options are selected The options are descr
162. s programs Editor Editor Choosing this item starts the M usic Editor application The first dialog that is presented allows you to select the rangeof bars you will be working on The default valueis thewhole piece Upon clicking OK thefollowing window is presented The M usic Editor window presents alist editor interface that allows you to change the pitch duration and articulation of each notein the music file Trills can be entered shaped and edited using thetrill editor For an in depth explanation of this application see A ppendix B The M usic Editor Exansion Compression Found in the Interpretation Expansion Compression menu this slider lets you adjust therelative amount of dynamic range of a piece Raising the slider expands the sound giving it more dynamic range and lowering the slider compresses the sound giving it less dynamic range 95 Export MIDI File 96 Version40 Export MIDI File SuperConductor files may be exported into the MIDI file format using the File Export MIDI File menu Each voicein the SuperConductor file will bewritten out as a separate track in the MIDI file Instruments will beset to their closest approximation in theMIDI file Seethesection Import MIDI File for acompletedescription of track channel and patch Thereare several export options available which aredescribed below Te Tmegi Tanpi kup Timya llicte Langha F Rep Attertouch F C Aa Tinig DT vme
163. s can be organized in many ways but are usually created so that one track contains all the notes for one instrumentin a piece Each MIDI devicesuch asa keyboard synthesizer sampler or drum machineis typically assigned one port Each port has 16 channel s available in MIDI Every notein a MIDI piecemust be played out on oneof these ports and channels Morethan one note may be played on a single channel at atime polyphony if the devicesupportsit but at any given timea single channel on any port can only generate sounds from a single instru ment patch An instrument patch is a unique sound that is assigned to a single MIDI channel on a given device Instruments can bechanged whilea MIDI fileis playing but only oneinstrument can be assigned at any given timeto each channel TheGeneral MIDI GM specification assigns a unique number from 1thru 128 to every instrument patch Import M IDI File cont Below isan illustration of the organization of atypical MIDI file The tracks and channels in this example are arbitrarily chosen by the person who arranged the M IDI file Theonly exception is that channel 10 is often reserved for percussion and follows special rules TRACK NAME CHANNEL PATCH 1 Flute Channel 5 74 Flute 7 1 Violin Channel 2 41 Violin 8 2 Violin Channel 2 41 Violin 9 Viola Channel 3 42 Viola 10 Cello Channel 4 43 Cello Each track is organized in atime sequence with each operation such asa note on note off
164. s graded from note to note by SuperConductor according to the melodic structure Different composers will tend to favor different kinds of vibrato This is specially marked with regard to the mean position of the vibrato on the notes You can roughly classify composers as to tending to favoring early vibrato or late vibrato Mendelssohn favors early vibrato Schumann late vibrato Bach early vibrato Beethoven medium Mozart medium Brahms broad vibrato You will discover that finding the right mean vibrato placement for the piece you are interpreting is a paramount interpretive action Piano Tails In SuperConductor the piano damper action can be regulated according to what kind of piano sonority is suitable Is it the lovely Mozartean clarity the Beethoven solidity or the Brahmsian opulence The Chopin singing tone its virility or the scintillating Scarlatti colors These are 183 SuperConductorUser s Manual 184 Version 4 0 selectable through the piano tails adjustment as well as many shades in between But most specially for all these selections the piano tails function is not static The damper action is made to vary organically with the melodic structure Like the custom shaping of notes for violins voice wood winds and brass that predictive amplitude shaping uniquely provides in SuperConductor the tails of the piano or harpsichord dampers are made to vary organically with melodic structure so that there is a
165. s where a ritardando or accele rando over aparticular voice or range of voices has been specified To add aRitard or Accelerando for a voice click the Add command button The Ritard Accelerando Editor window appears It contains a graphic display of the parameters that will be applied to the bar rangeyou specify Usethecontrols described below to modify thetempo Click OK to enter the changes at the end of the Ritard A ccelerando list To modify an existing Ritard Accelerando section click on the section to bemodified and then click on the M odify button Enter the changes as aboveand click OK To deleteaRitard Accelerando section from thelist select the section by clicking on it Then click on the Delete button The section disappears from thelist 142 Version 4 0 Ritard A ccelerando Voice TheVoicenumber box indicates reference voice for the ritard Start and End These boxes specify the starting bar and note and the ending bar and note over which the Ritard A ccelerando will take effect Time Factor Start and End These sliders controls the multiplier which will be applied to the tempo of the voice at the beginning and end of theRitard Accelerando Therangeis from 0 00 to 4 0 Curve This slider controls the power function that determines the contour of the Ritard Accelerando When the valueis 1 0 the rateof tempo changeover timeis linear The graphic display changes to show the effect of changing this value
166. specify the starting bar and note and the ending bar and note over which thecrescendo diminuendo will take effect All Voices Checking All Voices will apply the dynamic changeto all the voices playing in the bar range specified Amp Factor Start and End These sliders controls the multiplier which will be applied to the loudness at the beginning and end of thecrescendo diminuendo Therangeisfrom 0 00 inf dB to 4 0 12 dB Curve This slider controls the power function variable that determines the contour of the crescendo diminuendo When the value equals 1 0 the rate of amplitude change over timeis linear Generally use values greater than 1 for diminuendos less than 1 for crescendos 93 Cut 94 Version4 0 Cut Choosing Cut deletes theselected bars of the musicfileand placesthem on the Clipboard From herethey can be pasted into another musicfileora different location in the current file Delete a File This function from the Filemenu allows for choosing and deleting afile from the current music directory Its design is identical to theOpen and SaveAs windows To deleteafile dick on thefile nameand then click OK A warning dialog appears asking if you aresure you want to delete Click Y esto delete no to cancel Delete a Voice This function allows you to choose which voiceto deletein total This function cannot beundone Edit Menu This menu contains many of the normal Edit functions found in Window
167. ssitates appropriate resetting of the hierarchical pulse Also for a two second long 8 pulse a second level hierarchy would be four times as long as in a corresponding two level hierarchy comprised of 4 pulses In slow movements the lowest level of the pulse configuration often is 4 thirty second notes and the two higher levels are otherwise similar to the configuration of Allegros but of course on a different time scale Pulse Reset When irregular bar structure occurs the pulse needs to be reset This is done using the reset function Discover where to reset the pulse This will help you understand the music and its structure more intimately Hints Rules and Suggestions N ote that Resets involve the high levels of pulse the low level does not need to be reset generally Resetting a 4 pulse when a 3 bar sequence occurs there is a choice of resetting the three bar section as the first 3 bars of a four bar group bars 1 2 3 or as the last three bars of such a group bars 2 3 4 In the first case the reset is placed at the bar following the third bar In the second case the reset is at the first bar of the three bar group calling it bar 2 of a 4 bar group The choice to take will depend on the music and often ether way can work pretty well The question is whether in the composer s mind the first bar is as it were omitted or the fourth bar in what otherwise would have been a four bar sequence to produce a foreshortened three
168. ssive sections will often benefit from an temporary increase in slider settings Hints Rules and Suggestions Pulse in Long Trills Another use of the weight section feature is for longer trills Mostly it is desirable for such trills to reduce the lowest level amplitude slider setting to about 0 2 and possibly reduce the middle level amplitude settings a little also Otherwise those trills have too much pulse effect in them Doing this will temporarily change the corresponding settings for the other voices also but this usually can be tolerated for the few bars that the trill occupies and not be burdensome It is usually not necessary or desirable to change any other slider settings Note that it is not good to completely eliminate even the lowest level pulse effect in the trill a slight pulse effect is good to avoid that the trill sounds like an electric bell Note Shaping Tone Contour Shaping contributes greatly to phrasing and musicality It does this in two ways 1 By suitable choice of the basic shape for each voice or region of the voice Even slight differences in shape that can hardly be seen on the screen do in fact change the character of the music In the region of 7 to 1 4 say for p1 differences of 0 05 already have a sizable effect 2 By their predictive function which changes the shape note by note always looking ahead at the next note This effect can be increased by increasing the predictive factor from its nor
169. ssive Intonation Add thehumanizing effect of very small variations in the pitch off each note using special Patented algorithms invented by Dr Manfred Clynes Expansion Compression Increase or decreasethe dynamic range of the entire piece How to Use SuperConductor Meter Tempo This function lets you specify a range of bars that havea meter and tempo different from that of the general piece The changethat you enter will stay in effect until thenext M eter Tempo reset The Single Note Menu This menu contains functions which control the parameters of single notes These functions are used in addition to the expressive nuances that areapplied globally through pulse and noteshaping Edit Note Choosing this item calls the Single N ote Editor window The pitch loud ness and shaping of asinglenotein asingle voice can be edited from here Micropause In some music master players will take short pauses in theflow of the musicto separate sections or occasionally to create momentary hesitation The Micropause function allows you to add ashort silence after a specific note or chord The pauseis the equivalent of adding a short rest to the melodicline so itis important to add the samelength pause to all the voices in the music so that they stay synchronized This is done automati cally Staccato This function shortens the sounding length of a particular note That is the written duration of the note remains the same so that
170. strate the effect of the Timeweighting sliders follow thesteps below Adjust the middle level Time slider to a value of 1 5 This setting exaggerates the differences in duration between thebars at this level of thehierarchy Start play The speed of the music varies obviously and thesense of flow is missing This is becausein the Beethoven pulse bar two and threeare shorter than thebars oneand four With exaggerated weighting this difference translates into obvious changes in tempo that arenot musical Stop play Set both the top level and the middle level Time slider to 0 00 This will null out any differences in the duration of the bars Start play Notice that the music sounds less flexible and expressive This is a result of removing the effect of thetop two layers of the pulse Stop play Set the top level Time slider to 1 0 Set the middle level Time slider to 0 2 Thesesettings return the weighting to the proper balance for this piece Click OK to dismiss the Pulse window You now havea basic understanding of SuperConductor s hierarchical pulse controls The details of the pulse function can befound inthe Pulse reference section of this manual How to Use SuperConductor Note Shaping Thetutorial section aboveintroduced you to the basics of applying the hierarchical pulse to a piece of music In the following section you will learn how to usetheN ote Shaping window to control the expressive qualiti
171. subtle difference between ascending and descending intervals depending on timing translating into delicate nuances of slight variations in the effective gradations of legato and staccato from note to note whether in Mozart or in Chopin or in Brahms appropriately adding special rich ness and subtlety to expressiveness in a way even a great pianist will not always succeed In this capacity musical qualities are guiding principles rather than just historical verisimilitude Pitch Crescendo The use of pitch crescendo is very different for different composers It largely supplies what Casals used to call the rainbow the crescendo diminuendo as the melody rises and falls However different composers have different affinities to rainbows if one can stretch the analogy a bit Beethoven restrains pitch crescendo You need it very sparingly or not at all perhaps a little more for his later works It is part of his ethical restraint Mozart and Bach use more say 1 15 1 25 Schubert quite a lot 1 3 1 35 The more melodic and songlike and the more romantic the music is the more pitch crescendo will generally be appropriate Sometimes bass parts benefit from a negative pitch crescendo an increase in loudness as the bass goes lower Use values less than 1 about 9 85 Hints Rules and Suggestions Long Notes Notes longer than about 1 5 2 seconds should often be considered not melodic but textural they provide a s
172. t for each single setting the notes will havea variety of tone colors depending on loudness This is not afilter function 123 Pitch Bend 124 Version 4 0 Pitch Bend The pitch bend function allows you to change the pitch of anote gradually over the course of the note This function is useful for creating portamentos in string solos and for making glissandi It can also be used to provide expressive intonation that is slightly changing the pitch of anote to achieve expressiveness with an equal temperement tuning Pitch bend may be placed on any individual notein a music file and is found in the Single Note Editor menu selection Pitch bend is defined by 5 variables as follows Start Semitones The pitch of thenote s beginning expressed in semitones from the nominal note pitch Middle Semitones The pitch of the note at the Peak Position described below End Semitones The pitch at theend of thenote Peak Position The position along thenote wherethe M iddle Semitones point occurs Curve The curve factor that determines theshapeof the pitch bend through the three points above Pitch Crescendo Pitch Crescendo emp baai pri Oe Test Be Tee Faa i Tirem 1 ia 30 Seder E i om 5 te 4 Sacer i a 5 i 2 hss 1 g L t ele Many instruments get louder asthey play higher pitches Good examples aretheflute trumpe and thehuman voice Other instruments likethe oboe and bassoon get quieter as they go up
173. tarting bar and note and the ending bar and note which this dynamic will effect 149 Terrace Ritard A ccelerando Amplitude Factor Ranging from 0 1 to 4 0 this slider controls the amount of changein the overall dynamic range of the voices specified A setting of 0 1 will lower a voice s loudness by 20 dB A setting 4 0 will increase the loudness by 12 dB All Voices Checking All Voices will apply thedynamic changeto all the voices playing in thebar range specified Terrace Ritard Accelerando Vike Bi Toe Fe Tos Thike le e E Fife This function is similar to Terrace A mplitude except it controls tempo With this function you can specify a region of the piecewherethe tempo changes This is particularly useful when introducing a slight tempo change in major sections of a piece e g slowing 3 4 in the second theme area of asonata form Tointroduced aterraced ritardando or accelerando specify the starting and ending of the section and the voice where the change occurs When thesection is over tempo goes back to its original level set in the Play window Choosing this item from the Interpretation window callsthe Terrace Ritard A ccelerando window which displays alist of ranges wherethetempo has been shifted up or down 150 Version 4 0 Terrace Ritard Accelerando Toadd achangeof tempo for a voiceor group of voices click theA dd command button TheTerrace Ritard Accelerando Editor window ap pears Usethe controls
174. ted Repeat the previous step for each piece or movement you want to add to the collection Type a description for the new group in the Description text box Click on OK Thenew or edited group now appearsin the Collection Group Window Deleting a Collection Highlight the collection you wish to delete using the mouse and then click on the Delete button Thefile name disappears from thelist 89 Concert 90 Version 4 0 Concert TheConcert featureis activated by choosing Concert from the Filemenu or by clicking on the Play Concert pad which appears in the center of the SuperConductor window upon start up The Concert feature allows you to easily play a sequence of pieces de signed to be heard together as a program N ew programs can be created from music filesin your collection Playing a Program e Click on the tab of the program you want to play e Click on the Play button or double click on the piece you wish to play Adding a New Program Concert e Click on the Add Program button A blank Program form is displayed e Click on the Add Piece or Ins Piece button Add adds a pieceto the bottom of thelist Insert adds apiece beforethe highlighted piece Choose the piece you want to add from the Collection list then click OK Deleting a Program or Piece e Click on the Del bution to delete the currently selected program e Click on the Del Piece
175. ter dialog will pop up Enter the new meter for this section and press OK It is Suggested that you save your work periodically Click on OK to return control to SuperConductor then use the Save and Save As functions to save your work To return to the editor choose Editor from the Edit Menu again 193 SuperConductor User s Manual 194 Version 4 0 Editing an Existing File To edit an existing file open the file in SuperConductor then select Editor from the Edit Menu You will be asked to specify the range of bars that you wish to edit The default is the whole piece Editing Notes You may place the cursor at any position in the music and enter anew note using the computer keyboard or MIDI keyboard Existing notes at the cursor location will be replaced If you double click on a note pitch or length an edit box will appear allowing you to type in the new length or note name using the keyboard Pressing Enter will move to the next note for ease of changing a series of notes When ready to enter more notes using your MIDI keyboard or computer keyboard press Escape to exit the edit mode Importing a Track from a MIDI File You can import notes from one or more tracks of a MIDI file using the Import MIDI Track menu item Select the file and tracks you wish to import the data from and the voice you wish the data to be applied to Note that a single MIDI track may require more than one voice in SuperConductor The import routine
176. that is not normally altered The amount of vibrato and its main frequency are the two variables which will differ to an extent for different instruments Lower pitch instruments will require slightly lower frequency vibratos Normal ranges of basic vibrato frequency is 6 5 to 8 0 per second with lower pitched instruments favoring the lower part of this rather narrow range No two voices should have exactly the same vibrato frequency it is best to separate the frequencies slightly unless one wants to have the voices fuse more Identical vibrato will tend to make voices sound more as one and as coming from the same space Even slight differences in vibrato frequencies avoids this Generally solo instruments will want to have somewhat more vibrato amplitude than others In a string quartet the first violin may have slightly more vibrato as a rule Cello needs rather less vibrato in Super Conductor because the samples used already contain a certain amount of vibrato N ote that this is not so for the Double Bass In SuperConductor uniform vibrato is completely avoided because what is entered refers only to the basic vibrato which is then altered by SuperConductor for every note according to its pitch its duration the step the melody takes Both the frequency and the amplitude of the vibrato is changed from note to note But most importantly the placement of the vibrato on the note is changed for each note in accordance with the melod
177. the N ote Length threshold will be multiplied by the A mp Factor The rangeof values is from 0 00 inf dB to 4 0 12 dB A typical setting is 0 70 Envelope Rise Factor Envelope Fall Factor These values are used to scale the global Envelope Riseand EnvelopeFall values for notes longer than the long notethreshold This enables long notes to risefaster and decay less quickly that they would otherwisedo without needing to adjust each onemanually Typical values arefrom 0 2 to 0 5 Larger values cause Rise and Fall to be faster Meter Tempo a s biam epa Aie imp E tlk This function lets you specify a range of bars that have a meter tempo or key different from that of the general piece Thechangethat you enter will stay in effect until thenext M eter Tempo reset 109 M e amp er T enpo cont 110 Version 4 0 To add adifferent tempo or meter for a voice click the Add button The M amp er Tempo Key window appears Usethecontrols described below to make modifications Click OK to enter the changes in the M eter Tempo list To modify an existing meter tempo section click on thesection to be modified and then click on the M odify button Enter the changes and click OK To deleteameter tempo section from thelist select the section by clicking on it Then click on the Delete button The section disappears from the list Bar This box displays the bar where the section will start Metronome Mark This
178. the music the second is the itera tive subtle character of the beat or the pulse If the first stream tells us the story the second stream tells us who is telling the story Meaning in the music is created by combining both streams Different styles of music emphasize the two streams differently Rap music is almost completely dominated by the pulse The feel of different grooves produced by rap and rhythm and blues artists are very characteristic and identifiable On the other extreme is Gregorian chant an impersonal other worldly expression of the story element in music European music of the 18th and 19th centuries is a balanced blend of both streams Notably much of the present day avant garde academic music has lost the pulse as a separate stream This tendency seems to have originated to some degree with the impressionistic music of Debussy Folk music and most ethnic music show a fine balance between the two streams The pulse here expresses the ethnic identity rather than the composer s and the microstructure of the ethnic pulse appears to be related to the rhythmic fine structure of the spoken language Musical Structure Working inside the definition of music as organized sound which expresses human emotion the question arises How is music orga nized Sounds can be assembled in seemingly random patterns that contain no meaning or they can be composed into emotionally eloquent musical statements W
179. ting SuperConductor Wethink that you will find SuperConductor to be simple and easy to use Torun SuperConductor doubleclick on the SuperConductor icon or choose SuperConductor from the Programs M enu To learn the details of SuperConductor s functions seethe H ow to Use SuperConductor section of this manual Getting Started Playing Music To get a quick start on hearing the magic of SuperConductor Click on the Collection icon Pisek Donnie Pinaithe red Spray ber Vans Soak Akpo nuh rai Lark rete de lle i vajh hepa Dae EIE Tatre pII Fiat Fiki brisani Pii Fia TheCollection window appears Click on a collection of the composer you wish to audition The pieces in the selected collection are listed on theleft The movements of multi movement pieces arelisted on theright Click on the piece you wish to play Click on the Play Icon The Concert Feature Another simpleway to hear SuperConductor s amazing interpretive abilities isto usethe Concert feature When starting up the program you will notice alarge Play Concert pad appears in the middle of the SuperConductor window Click on the pad to activatethe Play Concert window This window contains collections of works selected to be heard together in sequence To find out more about the Concert feature see Concert on page 90 17 SuperConductor User s Manual Technical Support If you havesome problem using SuperConductor th
180. tor that will beused to increase or decrease the loudness of the present note as a result of its distancein octaves from thefirst notein that voice Numbers greater than 1 0 cause the loudness to increase as the pitch increases Numbers below 1 0 causethe loudness to decrease as the pitch increases The range of values is from 0 5 6 dB to 2 0 6 dB per octave The range including 0 8to 1 3 isthe practical range Play Music Play Music The Play M usic window is accessed from the Play icon or the Play menu item The window controls various aspects of the play of musicfiles Only onefilecan be played at atimefrom the Play Music window Thevarious controlsin thewindow aredescribed below Play Fhusi Output The Output section of the Play M usic window controls wherethe play signal will bedirected Click on theappropriateoutput for your applica tion 127 Play M usic cont 128 Version 4 0 to Sound Card Thedigital audio is directed to the audio outputs of your sound card to MIDI The output is directed to the MIDI section of thesound card Set the desired MIDI output devicewith the MIDI Settings section described in thesection Playing Directly to MIDI on page 99 to Sound File The output is written to a wav aiff pcm or mp3 fileof your choice The sample rate and number of channels will correspond to the output settings currently set in the music file Set desired output parameters in the Audio Settings secti
181. trated that the musical presence of the personality of a composer can be evoked through the masterful shaping of the flow of time and amplitude in a piece of music See the research references in Appendix C The illustration below is designed to demonstrate this It is an excerpt from the Bach Cello Suite in G Major composed of continu ously flowing notes of the same written duration Follow the steps below to hear how this excerpt sounds when played precisely as it is written 1 Start SuperConductor 2 Click on the Open icon 35 SuperConductor User s Manual 36 Version 4 0 3 Click on the D MSC BACHCELL directory and then double click on the B10071 file in the display area in the bottom half of the window 4 Pull down the Edit menu and select Flatten File 5 Click on the Play icon and the Start Play button to begin play This performance could be characterized as wooden or mechanical sounding Each of the time units sixteenth notes in the piece were played with precisely equal length and emphasis All the notes were also played with the same level of loudness as well To hear the effect of Bach s hierarchical pulse on the interpretation of this piece do the following steps 6 Click on the Stop Play bution 7 Click Cancel to dismiss the window 8 Pull down the Edit Menu and select Unflatten File 9 Click on the Play icon and begin play again In this performance the music comes alive The natu
182. ueis R thetoneisa rest or measured silence Amplitude This control adjusts the amplitude of the current note Therange of the control is Oto 32767 The check box to the left of the Amp box indicates if the amplitude of this note has been changed manually Rise and Fall These controls adjust the current note s rise and fall contour Small values givea faster risein the beginning of the note or amore sustained legato effect at the end of the note Largerise values cause thenoteto sound late and to swell in longer note durations Large fall values cause the note to diminish quickly likea graded staccato Very large fall values produce percussive effects when combined with small rise values Note Envelope Rise and Envelope Fall characteristics are scaled to the overall length of the note The basic shape that is displayed is stretched over the length of the note so that a very long note will havea long onset and release compared to a shorter note Manual Shaping This box becomes checked when the rise or fall values are changed Uncheck the box to allow the global predictive amplitude shaping param eters to apply to the current note Zoom The Zoom boxes allow you to increase or decrease the amount of score shown in thescore display N ote Shaping Micropause Staccato Legato and Pitch Bend See the respective reference sections of this manual for detailed descrip tions of these functions Note Shaping T
183. ulse but replaces the characteristic strength and ethical constraint of the Beethoven configuration of tones three and four with a pattern that is more in accordance with a characteristic H aydnian sense of playful ness wonder and of natural piety in slower tenpos N oteworthy is that the Haydn 4 pulse shows no marked subdivision unlike the Beethoven and Mozart 4 pulse Mozart And Beethoven Allegros and Slow Movements Much recent experience with Mozart and Beethoven Allegro movements has led to additional insights on how to best configure the pulse for these movements It is actually a further extension of the pulse concept that particularly fits these composers Hints Rules and Suggestions The mid level pulse is doubled two sets of pulse groups are placed side by side resulting in eight pulse elements consisting of two groups of four In the case of Mozart the second group is somewhat reduced in ampli tude compared to the first The opposite is the case for Beethoven the second group is slightly larger A reduction factor of 8 and an enlarge ment factor of about 1 2 is suitable The top level of four elements can suitably represent a 2 by 2 pulse So effectively there are 5 levels to the pulse Or 4 if the top level is a four pulse The time factors for the double mid level pulse can be made identical for the two sets of four elements or given minor alterations as preferred This isin accord with the tendency in Moz
184. unt of legato is 0 1 to 0 2 seconds It too is rather infrequently needed but can be quite magical when used appropriately especially in the new sense which physical instruments can not do In the old days a special legato singing quality was highly prized in singers especially the ba canto style in Bellini s operas for example in Chopin s melodies also But all music Bach and before Bach can use the legato effect meaningfully But it too like vibrato is not a uniform lacquer to be applied en masse and indiscriminately To do that results in dullness Lifein music results through interplay between the shades of legato and staccato as it does in speech between vowels consonants phonemes syllables and silence Note Length The note length function really has two main different functions de pending on whether you useit for all voices together or for a single voice Using it for all voices together is appropriate for fermatas where the notes of a chord have to be lengthened suitably or at the end of a piece for the last note or chord Alternatively in such cases you can use the terrace ritard just for that one note It is also useful at the beginning of a piece where the first note or upbeat might be lengthened some what to ease into the piece often a good practice This can also be achieved by a slight ritard at the beginning accelerating into the tempo of the piece but this should not generally be extended over more tha
185. use These are of the order of 150 250 milliseconds The need for these comparatively larger pauses is very obvious and can be accomplished with the use of the micropause function However micropauses are especially useful in places where no luftpause would have been contemplated A small micropause of perhaps 50 100 milli seconds or so can be very helpful occasionally to prepare an event such as the last chord of a piece or a sudden modulation a subito piano such as Beethoven often uses or the separation of sections where normally no luftoause is contemplated With good pulse application and well designed ritards micropauses are only rarely required perhaps two or three in a piece It is not recommended to attempt to achieve expressiveness by an abundant use of micropauses Sometimes a micropause is very good to use a few bars before the final ritard in a piece if placed judiciously particularly in Bach This signals that something is about to happen that we are coming to the end of the work Then when the final ritard begins it does not come as a shock but as a fulfillment Hints Rules and Suggestions Staccato The staccatos indicated by the composer are already entered in the flat file in a generic way before any interpretation is done On the whole staccatos in Mozart for example are somewhat shorter than in Beethoven But all staccatos together can be altered at the choice of the interpreter in the editor However
186. ustained harmonic background or texture SuperConductor learns to distinguish these from melodic tones through the Long Note Function Long notes would start and decay too slowly otherwise The cutoff point needs to be checked for each piece as some faster pieces may have some long notes as short as one second that should be treated as non melodic tones Generally there is little problem to draw the line Adjust the sliders to give the right attack and decay for the textural tones If some long tones don t have the required shape after adjusting the long note function to satisfy most of the others then use the single note shaping function from the single note menu In working with symphonies this occasionally may be required mainly for very long tones held for many bars Short Notes Trills and ornaments are often too loud or less often too soft The values for the cutoff of this function sometimes need careful adjusting so that other fast notes not quite as fast as the ornaments and trills don t get included in the reduction or increase of loudness For Scarlatti orna ments often are suitably played with an increase in loudness In Sym phonies too as they otherwise may be masked by other instruments But mostly in solo instruments and in chamber music trills and orna ments need generally to be softened so that they sound as ornaments rather than protrusions Trills and ornaments also need to have shape Partly this is
187. ve any effect on existing pieces of music Creating and Editing Instruments Creating a New Instrument The Sample Library Editor will assemble a collection of audio samples from an instrument into a single instrument file used by SuperConductor Audio samples may be mono or stereo 8 or 16 bit and sampled at 11025 22050 or 44100 hertz Samples may be looped but only sustain loops in the forward direction are supported Step 1 Copy all your audio sample files for the new instrument into a new directory or folder Each sample must bein either WAV or AIF audio file format and must be named with the pitch and octave of that sample C4 is middle C so a wave file into which you recorded a middle C of an instrument would be named C4 WAV Sharps are designated with a and flats with a right bracket so C 4 WAV and C 4 WAV would beC sharp and C flat respectively Step 2 Run the Sample Library Utility either by selecting the Utilities Sample Library Editor menu from SuperConductor or starting it as a stand alone application Step 3 Select File New from the menu of the Sample Library Editor program and select the drive and directory where the audio samples are located then click Next Litale a Hew Supelco Imum x Sakect the wha ee pai carps re tor the nee naurani samples fA hason 203 SuperConductorUser s Manual 204 Version 4 0 Step 4 A list of samples found in the selected directory will be
188. ve divides each bar into six eighth notes per bar Notethatin top level thefour units of three bars areof almost equal width but have unequal heights This means that they occupy virtually equal amounts of time but have unequal loudness In the case of the Beethoven pulse thethird and fourth groups are quieter than thefirst group and the second group of bars is much quieter than first group This samerelation ship istruefor themiddlelevel pulse but the bars are more unequal in length as well as in loudness In the bottom level pulse thefirst fourth and sixth eighth notein each bar are emphasized It is interesting to note that 73 SuperConductor User s Manual 74 Version 4 0 the last eighth notein the bar is the loudest and the longest in the Beethoven 6 8 pulse Note Timein music can bedivided into two three four six and other divisions The way itis divided is called its meter This pieceis divided into six eighth notes per bar or 6 8 meter The pulse for this pieceis set up to take this into account A piecethat was conceived in four eighth notes per bar would havea different pulse setting even though it is composed by thesamecomposer Weight Factor Sliders To theright of each pulselevel display area set of two sliders one labeled Time the other labeled Amp for A mplitude These sliders are called the Weight Factor sliders They control theintensity with which the pulse settings are applied to the music The
189. ver which the weight change will occur and how much change will be applied A typical 137 Pulse Weight Sections 138 Version 4 0 usefor the Weight sections is to reduce pulse effects during sustained trills To add a weight section click the Add command button In the window that appears adjust theA mp and Timesliders specify the starting bar and ending bar Click OK to add the weight section to thelist in the Weight Section window To modify an existing weight section click on thesection to be modified and then click on the Modify button Enter the changes as above and click OK To delete a weight section from thelist select the section by clicking on it Then click on the Delete button The section disappears from thelist Reverb Reverb TheReverb Parameters window controls theapplication of reverbto SuperConductor s output NOTE Audiblefeedback from changes in the reverb settings during real time play becomeavailable only after the amount of timeallocated to the play buffer in the Buffer Timecontrol inthe Play Music window Set this control to the lowest usable value between 1 and 16 seconds sre serre Ea or Acer m coca Hl id Palsi m nn Twe Uu Mad Ber Oe peta piled ton eet Enable Reverb Checking the Enable Reverb button directs thedigital audio output of SuperConductor through the Reverb algorithm Reverberation Section The controls in this section control the charact
190. verall loudness of the music is changed from the average level set in the Play window Choosing this item using theradio buttonsin the Crescendo window calls the Terrace A mplitude window which displays a list of ranges where the loudness of a particular voice or range of voices has been shifted up or down J Shaker J3 Sida 1 2 1 30 Seeker dhere 1 ae 5 1 2 Soedeeerer 2o Jine i m 5 110 2 heee Shade 1 a3 110 i Be ll To add a dynamic change for a voice click the Add button The Terrace Amplitude Editor window appears It contains a display of the parameters that will be applied to the bar range you specify Usethe controls described below to modify thedynamics Click OK to enter the changes at the end of theTerrace Dynamics list Terrace A mplitude cont To modify an existing dynamic change section click on the section to be modified and then click on theM odify button Enter thechanges as above and click OK To deete a dynamic change section from thelist select thesection by clicking on it Then click on the Delete button The section disappears from thelist Clicking on Add or Modify in thelist window will call the Terrace A mpli tude Editor window Thefollowing isa description of each parameter in that window Start Voice and End Voice These boxes allow you to specify a voice range for dynamics change Set theseto thesamenumber to specify a single voiceinstrument Start and End These boxes specify the s
191. wer 169 SuperConductor User s Manual 170 Version 4 0 Other Composers Pulses The Schubert pulse notable for its lack of subdivision is also remarkable for its relatively shortened first and fourth tone particularly its length ened second tone and the pronounced amplitude of the fourth and third tone The lengthened and moderately soft second tone largely contrib utes to the Schubertian flavor the gentle but strong element of longing of anon erotic quality With Schumann there is an inversion of the subdivided loudness pattern found in Mozart This syncopation oriented pattern is conducive to the uniquely intimate quality that special gentleness and ardor that charac terizes so much of Schumann as well as his particular kind of enthusi asm in short both Florestan and Eusebius The Mendelssohn pulse is characterized by a marked elongation of the first tone a relative shortening of the second and a pronounced al though not strongly lengthened fourth tone It has aspects of innocence and child like openness Our recent studies of the Bach pulse have shown it to be of two seconds duration rather than the approximately one second typical of later composers The Bach pulse is properly an 8 pulse rather than a 4 pulse It provides a deep sense of peace which nevertheless allows for the full range of emotions as a superstructure preserving the essence of Bach s music In his fugues the irregular bar structure often nece
192. written four hundred years ago can move us deeply today Great music has always been shaped by the basic forms inherent in the experience and expression of the emotions Since the biologic basis of the experience of emotion for people is similar over time and culture music that incorporates sentic forms in its design can truly claim the title the universal language 27 SuperConductor User s Manual 28 Version 4 0 The illustration below shows graphic representations of various sentic forms These forms were derived from the measurement of the finger pressure of subjects asked to generate the various emotions No emotion oe Love TT N K SO Reverence aN ee oe we rei ce Anger a Grief fap s Joy Sex _ pur eee Y 200 gm L 2sec a For more information about the science of sentics and how it applies to music see Sentics The Touch of the Emotions by Dr Manfred Clynes originally published by Doubleday and Co Inc and now available in a new reprinting by Prism press see A ppendix C p199 The Double Stream of Music There are many theories concerning the nature of musical language The theory that underlies SuperConductor is called the double stream theory It can be said that music particularly Western classical music is composed of a double stream or flow simultaneously processed by the listener Introduction to SuperConductor One stream is the unfolding story of
193. y of it Delete a File Choosing this menu item displays alist of the files stored in the music directory and allows you to deleteoneat atime List of Recent Documents This list contains the file names of the four last music pieces that were opened by SuperConductor Exit This item quits SuperConductor Y ou areasked to confirm the command beforethe program quits How to Use SuperConductor The Play Menu Selecting this item is equivalent to clicking on the Play icon The Interpretation Menu Voice Balancing Selecting this item has the same effect as clicking on the Balanceicon Pulse Choosing this item is equivalent to clicking on the Pulseicon Note Shaping Choosing this item has the same effect as clicking on the Shaping icon Vibrato This item duplicates thefunction of the Vibrato icon Reverb This function allows you to set the current music file s reverberation qualities Piano Tails Choosing this item allows you to set how SuperConductor handles articulation and legato of notes in multiple voiceinstruments like piano harpsichord harp and guitar SuperConductor uses predictive note shaping technology to vary theamount of legato and the damper action that is used to connect notes and also how that varies with different registers of theinstrument Crescendo Diminuendo This item duplicates thefunction of theCrescendo icon 61 SuperConductor User s Manual 62 Version 4 0 Ritard Accelerand

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