First ArtSong MIDI

This first tutorial provides a general overview of composing and playing compositions in ArtSong.

Several pre-saved data structures, Templates, Presets, and Patterns, are used to simplify setup of our first MIDI project: a short fractal ‘atonal’ woodwind, brass, and percussion quintet.

Templates, Presets, and Patterns

ArtSong Templates, Presets, and Patterns are useful for creating custom libraries of project or component ‘setups’ that you might frequently use in your work.

For example, if you frequently use chord progressions or a tempo track in your projects create a blank project containing them and save that project to the Templates folder as a Template. If you frequently use a ‘chordal’ strings track, you can set it up once, save it as a Preset, and then just reload that Preset whenever you need a ‘chordal strings’ track.

We use Templates, Presets, and Patterns in this tutorial in order to focus on the general process rather than component setup details.

A First Look at the ArtSong Workspace

Please launch ArtSong:

Each time ArtSong starts it creates a new blank project and displays it in an editor window as shown below. This workspace as actually contains two windows:

• the Main program window containing the application menu, and the toolbars at the top, left, and bottom of the screen,
• An interior Editor window displaying the actual project components and data. You can navigate between multiple projects/editor using the Window menu.

The key areas and controls used in this tutorial are labeled in red.

A – Compose Button: Click to start and stop the algorithmic composition process.

B – Component Pane (Editor): Displays the project components; the default blank project contains 1 Composition component and 8 Track components. (Right-click for the component pop-up menu)

C – Data Pane (Editor): Displays component data. (Right-click for a pop-up menu)

D – Import Template Button: Opens a dialog for creating new components and importing project templates.

E – Save: Click to open Save File Dialog Window; projects can be saved as ArtSong Project files (*.apr) or MIDI Type 1 files (*.mid)

F – Play: Click to Start or Stop project output over selected device; default is MIDI output.

G – Stop Play: Click to Stop output.

H – Tempo: Click and drag to change output tempo.

About `TutorialEx1' Template

The TutorialEx1 template produces a short (24 BAR) chromatic (Chromatic scale) composition using the IFS ChaosMapper to generate fractalized pitch, volume, and note durations for five instruments (Tracks) in two Layers. A Bass-Relative Pattern Generator controls the sixth Track’s pitch generation.

The underlying composition harmony is controlled by Track 1. This track uses a Preset to generate 3-note block chords built upon a generated root pitch value and using the IFS ChaosMapper to generate ‘fractalized’ pitch intervals (Track composition-variable name: Chordal Interval) over the root pitch value. These generated chords are sent back to the composition engine and used to filter generated pitches for the remaining Tracks.

The other Tracks use basic instrument Presets to set note generation parameters and initial MIDI instrumentation.

Loading our first Project Template

ArtSong Project Templates are complete project files that have been saved into the Templates folder (located in the ArtSong program directory). Any project (*.apr) saved to the Templates folder will appear as a new project template on the ‘Templates’ Tab of the New Components Dialog Window.

Load Project Template:

• Left click on the Import Composition Template (D) button on the left toolbar. This will open the New Components Dialog Window having a component ‘Types’ tab and a ‘Templates’ tab.
• Templates’ Tab to display the list of currently available Templates.

  

• Select the ‘TutorialEx1’ template and click on the ‘OK’ button.
• After clicking the button the template will be loaded into a new ArtSong project.

NOTE: At this point ArtSong actually contain two different projects; the initial blank project (created when the program started) and the new project created by loading the template. ArtSong can contain any number of open projects (limited of course by computer memory).

Navigate between open editors (Views) using the Windows menu or by using the CTRL-Tab shortcut.

Loading Component Presets

ArtSong component Presets consists of an individual component’s setup properties and component event data. For example, Chord Progression component presets are chord progressions, Track component presets contain the setup info for all the variables, options, and instrument, etc.

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