7.- Blocks

The Block Tab is where you "shape" the sequences as you want. It is the most important section and has many parameters, but all of them should be easy to grasp. Block parameters are divided in various sections. Each one of them is described here:
 

General


 
Description: The name or description of the block
Length: The length of the block in measures. A block can be 1 to 8 measures long.

 

Rhythmic Probability Distribution

Here is where you tell the program how short or long the notes of a sequence can be. You do this by specifying a probability for each length value. If the slider is all the way down, then the probability for the corresponding value is zero (ie.- you will NOT have notes of that length). If the slider is fully up, then it means 100% probability.

You must have in mind that these probabilities will be normalized; that means they will be scaled so their sum equals 100%. For example, if you set the 1/4 slider and the 1/16 slider fully up and the other sliders fully down, the probabilities will be scaled down to 50% and 50% for 1/4 and 1/16. It is a good idea to click the "Normalize" button after you tweak the sliders to see what the real distribution will be.

You can only move those sliders in the range specified by the Note Duration Range settings in the Global Tab.


 

If you don't want to set the probabilities manually, you can choose one of the curve presets. First you must choose a "center value" which determines which values will be emphasized (except in the Homogenous curve). The preset curves are these:
 
Fixed Value: The center value will hava 100% probability.
Homogenous: All the values in the valid range will have the same probability.
Gaussian 1/2/3: This distribution emphasizes the center value. 1/2/3 selects the degree.
Accelerated 1/2/3: Emphasizes the shorter values, starting from the center.
Slow 1/2/3: Emphasizes the longer values, starting from the center.

 

Rhythm


 
Dotted Notes: Selects the probability of a note being dotted.
Triplets: Selects the probability of a note being divided in a triplet.
Legato: Selects how tied each note will be to the next one.

 
 

Melody


 
Sequence: Selects the microsequence that will be mapped to note pitches.
Range: Selects the range of notes used from the selected scale.
Offset: Specifies a transposition value within the scale.

 
 

Velocity


 
Sequence: Selects the microsequence that will be mapped to note velocity values.
Range: Selects the "dynamic range" of the sequence. 100 means full dynamic range. Lower values will "compress" the dynamic range and pump up the velocity values, leading to louder sequences.
Amp: Selects the amplification level from 1% to 300%.
Threshold: Selects a silence threshold value. Notes with velocity below this threshold will be considered as silence and will be removed from the sequence.

The velocity of a note is compared with the threshold AFTER applying the compression given by the range value. This means that lower ranges need higher threshold values in order to take effect. For example, if you set the range to 70, then all the notes of the sequence will have velocity of at least 30% of the highest velocity value. If you want to apply a threshold, it must be greater than 30% (probably some more) or else it will do nothing (you will hear all the notes). A simple formula to apply a threshold is the following:

Range + Threshold > 100

Accent

When a note falls right on a beat, you can apply a degree of "accent" to it. This can improve the rhythmic characteristics of some sequences. All you have to do is select which beats of the measure you want to emphasize and the accent degree: from 0% (which does nothing) to 100% (which doubles the velocity of accentuated notes).


 
 
 

Midi

Here is where you specify which MIDI channel and instrument patch will be used to play this block. You can select instruments according the General Midi standard. Use a GM compatible sound module to hear the blocks played exactly with the instrument you selected.


 
 

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