The music typing keyboard |
|
|
Entering music faster [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist]
The music typing keyboard is a hardware keyboard specifically
designed to enter music. It is a way to enter music faster and
more efficiently than ever. You can test the idea for yourself by
using the window that represents the keyboard.
The real keyboard is available from now on, with the release
of Pizzicato 3.6. You can buy it directly on our Arpege Music
site or through our authorized resellers and distributors.
It connects to the PC through a USB cable and directly
activates the keys that you can see in the music typing keyboard
window.
Please note that at this point (November 2011, publication of
Pizzicato 3.6), the real keyboard does not yet work on MAC
computers. We hope to make it soon available on Mac too.
You can open the window representing this keyboard, in the
Windows, Music typing keyboard menu item:

As you can see, the layout and the shape of the keys are
somewhat different than a normal computer keyboard. The above
yellow keys are used in combination with the orange keys to enter
the pitch and the duration of notes. Several other keys help you
modify or fill in many other aspects of music notation.
The real hardware keyboard is shown here:

Notes and rhythm [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist]
The main idea of this keyboard is oriented around the central
set of keys, colored in yellow.
The selection of pitch is horizontal, similarly to a piano
keyboard (higher pitch to the right, lower pitch to the left). By
default, you see that the note name is displayed in the upper
left corner of these keys. Each line has the same notes: C, D, E,
F, G, A, B. You will notice that between E and F, a key is used
as a rest.
The three lines of yellow keys are the same regarding the
pitch, but offer different durations. By default, the central
line corresponds to the quarter note (or rest). The upper line is
twice the duration of the central line, by default the half note
(or rest) and the lower line is half the duration of the central
line, by default the eighth note (or rest). The rhythmic value is
shown on the lower right part of each key.
This keyboard is used in Pizzicato as a specialized
application of the MIDI cursor tool (see the previous lesson).
When you buy the keyboard, you receive a guide explaining how
each key works for entering music. Each key of the real keyboard
corresponds to a key of the screen keyboard. To use the screen
keyboard, you must click on the keys with the mouse. This can
help you understand how the keyboard works, but obviously only
the real keyboard can help you to reach a faster speed to enter
music, as you can use your ten fingers to be more efficient.
When you connect the USB keyboard to the computer, start
Pizzicato and go in the Options, Connecting a music typing
keyboard... menu item. A dialog box appears. Check the box
to activate the use of the keyboard. Then type several keys of
the real keyboard so that Pizzicato can locate its keyboard
identifier. Then click OK. If you do not have the real
keyboard, it is better to keep it disabled in that dialog box.
After activating the keyboard as described above, when you
next open a document or restart Pizzicato, you will see the
following additional icon in the tool bar of the score window:

By clicking on this icon, you activate the note entry mode
through the music typing keyboard. Notice that the window
keyboard will not automatically be open. Indeed, this window is
not usefull when you have the real keyboard, as you have it in
front of your eyes and in contact with your fingers, so the score
can occupy the whole window. However (mostly at the beginning),
you may display the window also, with the Windows, Music
typing keyboard menu item.
- Once this mode is entered, the MIDI cursor appears, but
it takes another form than explained in the lesson about
the MIDI cursor:

- This little blinking line shows approximately the octave
of pitches you can currently enter with the keyboard.
Click on the first yellow key of the central line (or
directly on your music typing keyboard): the C note
appears on the staff:

- A number is shown just below the note names on the yellow
keys, in the keyboard window. It shows the current octave
of the notes.
- There is an automatic progressive octave change, as you
type in the notes. For instance, you will notice that
after typing the C3 key, the keyboard now displays the
last two notes (A and B) in dark yellow and their octave
number have changed to 2 instead of 3. The other 5 notes
stay the same, with octave 3. This means that you can now
enter a C, D, E, F or G note and that it will be in the
same octave than the last C note you entered. But if you
use the A or B keys, the octave will be just below the
last C.
- This automatic octave shift is based on the last note you
entered and is adapted so that most of the time you have
the correct octave for the notes you need. Enter the
following notes on the central line: G, A and B, each
time watching how the dark yellow keys display octave
changes, as well as the vertical position of the blinking
rectangle. Then start again on the left part, with the C,
D and E notes. You get the following:

- By using the upper or lower line of keys, the pitches are
the same, but you get another rhythmic value (half note
or eighth note).
- To enter a rest, use the fourth yellow key on each line.
- By default, the rhythmic values are (from top to bottom
line) the half note, the quarter note and the eighth
note. You can shift these values permanently by using the
two orange keys below the yellow keys. These two keys
display at any moment the ryhthmic values that they will
force on the three main lines of keys. Click for instance
on the left one, then on the right one. You can see that
the rhythmic values displayed in the central keys are
updated accordingly. Notice that the blinking cursor
takes each time a specific form, so that you can easily
see what is the current central line duration.
- If you only need one isolated different rhythmic value,
you may use the SHIFT 1 and SHIFT 2 keys to modify the
current rhythmic value. These two keys are available to
the left and right of the main set of keys and they
display respectively one and two large up arrows. Click
on one of them and you will see the the upper and lower
rhythmic values are temporarily changed while you hold
that key down. The SHIFT 1 key multiplies the duration
ratio by 2 and the SHIFT 2 multiplies that ratio by 4.
While holding down both SHIFT keys, the ratio is
multiplied by 8. The SHIFT keys are not useable without
the real keyboard, as with the mouse you can only click
one key at a time on the screen..
- If you want to force the pitch octave, you can do so by
using the two orange keys just to the left and right of
the main yellow keys. The left key displays a staff with
a down arrow, as well as the octave number that will be
used if you press it. Similarly, the right key displays a
staff with an up arrow and the octave number that will be
used. Click on both of these keys to see how the octave
numbers are changed on the yellow keys.
These are the basic functions for entering notes and rhythms.
We suggest you to explore these various keys and enter a few
measures of notes and rests, with different rhythms and octaves.
Using this keyboard window with the mouse of course does not
give you a fast method to enter music. You must however imagine
that with a real, physical keyboard showing these keys, all your
fingers can be used to enter notes. After some training period,
you will reach an efficient and fast method to enter music on a
computer.
A series of exercices are available in configuration 2 of the
document manager (blue buttons above the left part of the window,
showing the documents), in the folder entitled Music Typing
Keyboard. The exercises are progressive. There are existing
melodies and an empty staff so you can enter the notes in it as
an exercise with the keyboard. You will find some fingering
advices in them.
Other aspects of entering music [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist]
Here is the description of several other keys related to
entering the notes.
- The accidental (flat, natural and sharp) keys just above
the yellow keys are used as follows. When you click on
one of them, it displays itself in yellow, which means
that the next note will have this accidental. When you
click a note, the accidental is applied to it and the
accidental key is displayed again in white, to say that
it is no more active. When you use the flat or sharp key
twice, you get the double flat and double sharp
accidentals. A third press on that key cancels the
accidental.
- The chord tool (left to the flat key) is used to add more
than one note to a stem. To enter a chord, enable this
key, then enter the notes of the chord. You will notice
that the blinking cursor stays in front of the front,
until you release the chord mode. If you need to enter
several chords in sequence, you can use the ENTER
key to switch to the next chord.
- To the right of the sharp key, you will find the tie
tool, that is applied to the last note entered, or to the
note just next to the cursor. If you apply it again, it
changes the tie orientation. If you apply it again, it
removes the tie.
- The next key is used to flip the stem up or down. It is
applied to the last note entered or to the note just next
to the cursor.
- The next key lets you split apart or attach together
eighth, 16th,... note stems.
- The next key is used to enter triplets. Press this key
then enter for instance 3 eighth notes. They are added
automatically as triplets. Then disable this key.
- The voice key "V 1-8" is used to shift between
rhythmic voices. For instance, you can first enter 4
quarter notes in a measure. Then, switch to voice 2 using
this key and you can enter a second voice for instance
with 4 other quarter notes. It controls in fact the voice
menu that you can find in the score window menu bar, on
the left.
- The backspace key
can be used to
delete the last entry. Combined with the SHIFT 1 key, all
notes before the cursor (in that measure) are deleted.
Then, if used again, the previous measure is deleted.
- The DEL key is used to delete the note right
next to the cursor. Combined with the SHIFT 1 key, the
whole measure is deleted.
- The 4 arrow keys below the numeric keypad can be used to
move the blinking cursor back or forward, as you edit the
content of measures. The up and down key are used to go
from one staff to another, if the score has more than one
instrument playing together. When the left or right arrow
keys are combined with SHIFT 1, the cursor moves to the
previous or next measure. Combined with SHIFT 2, the
cursor goes respectively to the first and last measure of
the score. The up and down arrows are used to go from one
staff to another, when the score has more than one
instruments playing.
- On the bottom left part of the keyboard, you will find
three symbols that can be attached to a note: Staccato,
Accent and Tenuto. They can be applied to the last note
you entered or to the note next to the cursor. Using the
same key again removes that symbol.
- To the right of the two keys used to change the rhythmic
values, you have the dotted note/rest key. When you hit
that key, the last rhythmic value entered will be
modified with a dot attached to it. You can also use it
to add a dot to the note/rest next to the cursor.
- The LOCK key is used to automatically add the
above symbols or a dotted value, to each note you add.
When you press that key, the following dialog box
appears:

You can use the function keys or the mouse to
enable/disable these symbols. You can use the ENTER
key to validate or F8 to cancel. If you keep at
least one these symbols active, then the active symbols will
be automatically applied to each new note. press the LOCK
key again to cancel this automatic feature.
- The "p f" key is used to add a nuance. When you
press that key, the following dialog box appears:

You can then select one of the nuances with the arrow
keys, the function keys or the mouse. Once added, the symbol
can be moved simply with the mouse.
- The "n" key is used to enter irregular groups
(tuplets in Pizzicato). When you press this key, a dialog
box asks you to specify the tuplet:

From there on, the notes you enter are tuplets as defined
above. By pressing the key once more, you disable the tuplet
mode. If you use it with the SHIFT 1 key, Pizzicato opens the
full specification dialog box for a tuplet.
- The next key (with two small 16th notes) is used to
enable/disable the grace note mode. All notes you enter
are then grace notes.
- The next key is used to enter slurs. Two methods are
possible. If you enter the notes and slurs together,
press this key after adding the first note of the slur.
Then enter the notes and the slur will follow the current
note. Press the key again to stop the slur. A rest will
automatically stop the slur.
You can also first enter the notes, then place the cursor
at the beginning of the slur and press the key. You can
then move the cursor to the last note. The ENTER
key may be used to stop the slur and start a new one.
- The key with the slashed grace note calls the following
dialog box, which provides various grace notes that you
can add to the current note or the note just next to the
cursor:

Use the ENTER key to validate or F12 to
cancel, or one of the function keys or the left/right arrow
keys to select a grace note.
- The key next to the right is used similarly to select a
trill or mordent:

Similarly to the nuances, you can adjust the graphic
position of these symbols by dragging them with the mouse.
- The following key is used to enter a tremolo. Start with
a note, then use this key and then the second note. The
tremolo sign is then automatically adjusted. If you want
the lines of the tremolo sign to touch the note stems,
combine the key with SHIFT 1.
- The next two keys are used to enter the octava signs (8a
and 8b).
- The next key adds an arpeggio sign to the current chord
or to the chord just next to the cursor.
Additional functions [Light] [Beginner] [Professional] [Notation] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] [Drums and Percussion] [Guitar] [Choir] [Keyboard] [Soloist]
The following functions are also available through the
typewriting keyboard.
- When pressing the clef key, the following dialog box is
used to select a clef (according to the Pizzicato license
you have, some keys may be missing):

To select the clef, you can use the function keys, the
mouse of the left/right arrow keys.
If you press this key while holding down SHIFT 1, then the
Pizzicato standard clef dialog box appears.
- When clicking on the key signature key (with 3 flats or 3
sharps), the following dialog box is used to select a key
signature:

To select the key signature, you can use the function
keys, the mouse or the left/right arrow keys.
If you press this key while holding down SHIFT 1, then the
Pizzicato standard key signature dialog box appears.
- When clicking on the time signature key (3/4), the
following dialog box is used to select a time signature:

To select the time signature, you can use the function
keys, the mouse or the left/right arrow keys.
If you press this key while holding down SHIFT 1, then the
Pizzicato standard time signature dialog box appears.
- The ENTER key can be used to add one measure
next to the current measure. Combined with SHIFT 1, two
measures are added. Combined with SHIFT 2, 4 measures are
added. Combined with SHIFT 1 and SHIFT 2, 8 measures are
added. Notice that for this last combination, you need to
press the SHIFT 1 and SHIFT 2 to the left of the
keyboard, otherwise the electronic part of the keyboard
prevents that key combination.
Twelve function keys are also provided and they correspond to
practical shortcuts of Pizzicato features.
- F1 - Cancels the last operation; combined with SHIFT 1,
redo the last operation that was cancelled.
- F2 - Disables/Enables the use of the music typing
keyboard inside Pizzicato. When the keyboard is disabled,
this is the only key that may still have an effect, as it
enters the music typing keyboard mode again.
- F3 - Start/Stop : plays the score starting at the current
measure, or stops the score if it is already playing.
- F4 - Increases the zoom value on the screen. Combined
with SHIFT 1, decreases the zoom value.
- F5 - Duplicates the content of the current measure into
the next measure. If the current measure is empty, the
content of the previous measure is duplicated into the
current measure.
- F6 - Starts selecting content of the measure. Two modes
are available. The first is used by pressing F6 and then
continuing to enter notes and rests. The content is
selected as the cursor moves forward. The next mode is to
set the cursor at some position, press F6 and then move
the cursor to the end of the selection. The selected part
is displayed on a light red background.
- F7 - Copies the selected content into the internal
clipboard of Pizzicato.
- F8 - Pastes the content of the internal Pizzicato
clipboard into the current position of the cursor. The
F6-F7-F8 keys are commonly used in that order: F6 to
select, F7 to copy and F8 to paste.
- F9 - Switches between Linear/Page/Global view mode
(according to the Pizzicato license you have, some
versions do not have all these modes).
- F10 - Decreases the number of measures in the current
system, by shifting one measure down through the other
systems up to the end of the score. Combined with SHIFT
1, increases the number of measures in the current
system.
- F11 - Decreases the number of systems in the current
page, by shifting one system down through the other pages
up to the end of the score. Combined with SHIFT 1,
increases the number of systems in the current page.
- F12 - Adds a new instrument (a new staff) below the
current staff. This is applied to the whole score. With
SHIFT 1, deletes the current staff in all systems for the
whole document.