Composition tools - The graphic vectors |
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Drawing a melodic curve [Professional] [Composition Pro]
In a previous lesson, we explained the music vector. Even if
the music vector is quite powerful to represent a melody, it may
seem too complex or esoteric to the musician, as its description
speaks a language that is more mathematical than an intuitive
musical language. With Pizzicato version 3.4, six intuitive tools
help you to manipulate the music vectors in a much more natural
way for a musician. You will find here the description of these
new tools, as practical examples.
With this tool, you can draw a melodic
shape on the staff and Pizzicato will find the notes that fit the
chords already present.
- Open the Ex88.piz file in the DataEN /
Examples directory. The score already contains a
series of chords. This is an example, as you may change
or define your own chords with the chord tools of
Pizzicato. Select the
tool in the Composition
palette. The score now presents itself like this:

The green grid array is use as a reference mark. Vertical
lines show the beat position in the measure and extended
horizontal lines show where the ledger lines are outside the
staff. They help you to orient the drawing of the melody.
- You will now draw a melody that goes from the first beat
of the first measure and covers the four measures. Click
at the beginning of the first vertical green line, in the
first staff and hold down the mouse button. Then move the
mouse slowly through the 4 measures. A red line shows you
the melodic curve. You may go up and down freely. Just
before releasing the mouse button, you may have something
like this:

- You can now release the mouse button. Pizzicato displays
something like this:

What happened really? Pizzicato analysed the melodic curve
according to its position inside the staff as well as to the
chords present at each point of the curve. The closest note
of the chord was selected in each case.
You will notice that the melodic line is automatically
broken into quarter notes. This is beacuse no rhythmic
pattern existed before you draw the melodic curve. If you
enter a rhythmic pattern in the first staff before drawing
the curve (the note pitch of the pattern does not matter, you
may use all the same notes), the melodic curve would have
been designed on that same rhythm. For instance, if the
following rhythm was entered:

The melodic curve would then become something like this
(the exact notes depends on the precise movements of the
mouse during the drawing of the curve, so even if you try to
approximate the same shape, you may not get exactly the same
result):

In each case, you will notice that the staff also displays
your original curve as a thin red line. You also see right at
the beginning of the first measure, the icon of a music
vector, as explained in a previous lesson. If you
double-click that icon, you can edit the vector in a more
mathematical way and you should then refer to the lesson on
music vectors for more details. But this is not necessary at
all, as the 6 tools described in the present lesson will let
you handle these vectors much more intuitively.
- At any moment, you can redraw a part of the curve, to
reshape the melody. The rhythmic form will stay the same.
For instance, try to reshape the second measure, just by
clicking at the beginning, drawing the shape you want up
to the end of the measure and then releasing the
mouse.You may start anywhere inside the existing curve
and draw a small part or the entire melody again. To
start drawing, you should not click on a note head,
because this will be interpreted by Pizzicato as if you
want to move the note itself. Pizzicato will move the
notes accordingly. You may for instance change the melody
to have:

If you analyse the notes generated by Pizzicato, you will
notice that some notes are not part of the chord. Click the
tool to display the note colors. The
above melody will display like this:

Green notes are part of the chords and orange notes are
part of a scale that Pizzicato automatically assigned to that
chord as the more probable scale. Red notes are chromatic
notes, not part of the scale and chord.
When you draw a melodic curve on the staff, Pizzicato
tries to find the closest note to the chord if the rhythmic
duration of that note is longer than a dotted 8th note. If
the duration is less than that but longer than a dotted 16th
note, Pizzicato will select a note from the scale (this note
may also be part of the chord). For a shorter duration,
Pizzicato selects the closest chromatic note, whether or not
part of the scale or chord. In that case, the note is
displayed in red.
This is the default behaviour, but you can modify this by
using the SHIFT and/or CONTROL keys while drawing the melodic
curve. Here are the possible combinations.
- CONTROL key: if you keep this key down while drawing
any section of the melodic curve, Pizzicato will only
use notes from the chords.
- SHIFT key: if you keep this key down while drawing
any section of the melodic curve, Pizzicato will
limit the notes to the scale (some of which may of
course be also part of the chord).
- CONTROL+SHIFT keys: if you keep these two keys down
while drawing any section of the melodic curve,
Pizzicato will take any closest note to the melodic
line.
While drawing the melodic curve, you may use these key
combinations. Temporarily, Pizzicato draws the curve in
green/orange/yellow to show what mode you are in
(chord/scale/any note). These combinations are important to
give shape to the melody. You can also use these combinations
when you correct the existing curve.
When you draw one melodic curve, the duration and shape of
that curve are represented by the vector icon. This means that
this vector is still able to generate this melodic curve, on the
existing chords or on any other chords if you change them.
Whenever you ask Pizzicato to compute all vectors of the score
(shortcut CTRL + R or on Mac: Apple key + R), any change in
chords and scales may modify the existing melodic lines.
- Try to change one or two chords of this progression
(double-clic a chord symbol, with the arrow tool
selected), then use the Edit, Update smart
links and you will see the melodic curve modified.
As a vector is a note generator, when you move the notes
attached to a vector, the vector is in fact not modified. So when
you recompute the vectors, all vector notes will be again
computed and the custom changes will be deleted.
- At any time you can remove a vector, by pointing its icon
with the mouse and by using the delete key (or backspace
key). The vector as well as its notes are removed from
the staff.
- Once you have designed a melodic line and if you do want
to keep it exactly the same in the future, you may remove
the vector and keep the notes. To do that, point the
vector icon, hold down the SHIFT key and use the delete
key (or backspace key). The vector disappear but the
notes are not removed. They are now normal notes and will
never be changed automatically by Pizzicato.
- You can have many vectors in the same staff or on any
staff. They may even superimpose themselves. The only
restriction is that to create a new vector, you must
start outside an existing one, otherwise Pizzicato
consider that you want to correct or lengthen the
existing one.
Please note that this is NOT a contrapuntal tool, as Pizzicato
only selects the notes from the existing curve and the
chord/scale present at that time. It does not take into account
any rule of counterpoint. This can help you to design a melodic
shape, but YOU are the composer !
Assigning a rhythmic structure [Professional] [Composition Pro]
The rhythmic vector tool
is used to adjust the rhythmic pattern of
an existing vector.
- Open the Ex089.piz document, in the DataEN /
Examples directory. Select the
tool on the Composition
palette. This score is displayed:

The first way to use this tool is to split an existing note
into two notes.
- Click the mouse exactly between the first two vertical
green lines of measure one, so that the first beat is cut
into two. This is a simple click, you may immediately
release the mouse. You can click anywhere vertically,
inside, above or below the staff as long as you avoid
clicking on any note head. This cuts the first quarter
note into two 8th notes:

The precision level is by default half of the duration of one
beat, so here it means an 8th note precision. If you hold down
the CTRL key, you can increase this precision up to a 16th note.
The idea of cutting a note into two notes is that you must
click between the horizontal position of that note and the
horizontal position of the next note. The resulting note
durations will be proportional to the position where you click
and whether or not you hold down the CTRL key.
- For instance, hold down the CTRL key and click to 3/4 of
the length of the first C quarter note in measure 1. You
should have:

Another way of using this tool is to group two or more
existing notes into one note. To do that, you must click on the
vertical line of the first note you want to group, hold down the
mouse button, drag the mouse to the right up to the end of the
duration of the last note you want to group, then release the
mouse button.
- Click at the beginning of the above C quarter note, hold
down the mouse button and drag the mouse so as to cover
the duration of that note as well as the duration of the
next note, then release the mouse button. You should now
have:

You may use this method even accross measure boundaries.
The notes will be tied together. Each time the notes of the
vector are computed again, so as to match as closest as
possible to the original melodic shape. You will notice that
the reference point of the note pitch is the starting point
of the note. So if you make a note tied over three different
chords, only the first chord will be taken into account to
decide which note pitch must be choosen.
You can also use this tool to add a note duration at some
point of the melodic shape where a rest exists.
The last way to use this tool is to create rests in the
melodic shape. You must click, hold down the SHIFT key, drag the
mouse over the expected duration of the rest, then release the
mouse button. A rest will be placed to cover that duration.
- To change the second 8th note (A) to a rest, hold down
the SHIFT key, click at the beginning of that note, drag
to the right, up to the end of that 8th note, then
release. You should have:

Here also, you can cover more than one note and that area
will be filled with rests.
Moving and transposing a melodic line [Professional] [Composition Pro]
The next tool is used to transpose, move or
duplicate a melodic curve associated to a music vector.
- Open the Ex090.piz document from the DataEN
/ Examples directory. Select the
tool on the Composition
palette. The following score appears:

This is an existing melodic curve. You can see a big red
spot on the first note of the melody. You can move this spot
to another location. Moving it horizontally will just shift
the melody to another time position. This may be in the same
measure, another measure or even another staff. If you move
it vertically, you will transpose the melody and Pizzicato
will reshape it to the target note. So in fact this is not
exactly transposition. The curve will be transposed exactly,
but the closest notes to the curve will be computed by
Pizzicato according to the chord, scale and mode of the
melodic curve. The resulting melody will keep the general
shape, but may have different intervals.
- Click the red spot, move it to the middle of measure 2,
to a pitch that is a bit higher. The score becomes for
instance:

- If you hold down the CTRL key while dragging the melody,
it will be duplicated, so that the original melody stays
in the score. For instance, move the melody back to its
original position. Then, while holding down the CTRL key,
drag the melody to the 3rd measure, but in the second
staff. You will have for instance:

This simple way of manipulating a melodic line may be very
useful when composing an orchestral arrangement, as you may very
quickly try and hear many variations, change chords (as they will
influence the melodic shape) and reshape a part of the curve with
the previously explained vector tools.
Vectorization of an existing melodic line [Professional] [Composition Pro]
What if you already have an existing score
with melodic lines, for instance imported in MIDI or written
without using the vector tools? The next tool will transform an
existing melodic line into a music vector. Once this is done, you
can manipulate the melodic line with the other tools (move,
transpose, reshape, adapt to other chords,...).
- Open the Ex091.piz document in the DataEN /
Examples directory. Select the
tool in the Composition
palette. The score contains one single melody, with no
vector:

Note: to display the notes in color, just select the
tool on the Composition palette.
- Click somewhere on the first beat of the first measure
and drag to the right while holding down the mouse
button, to enclose the melody. A red line follows the
mouse. When you release the mouse button, Pizzicato
creates a vector with the melody. The vector is created
so that the notes will stay exactly the same. The
original melody is not modified. The score becomes:

You can create a vector for the complete melody or create
several vectors to split a longer melody into various
sections. You can then manipulate them with all other tools.
This operation is called the Vectorization of a
melody.
- If you hold down the CTRL key during the vectorization,
the vector will be created in the context of the existing
chords and scales, so that when you move or transpose the
vector, the melody will be adapted to fit the chords and
scales in the same way as in the original melody.
Applying a rhythmic density [Professional] [Composition Pro]
The
tool is an experimental tool to design
the rhythmic density of an existing melodic shape. Rhythmic
density is here defined as the number of notes per unit of time.
- Open the Ex090.piz document in the DataEN /
Examples directory and select the
tool on the Composition palette.
The score is displayed as follows:

You will notice 6 different color shades displayed
vertically on the staff. They represent the rhythmic density
levels. Each level is displayed covering the space of two
lines of a staff. The following table shows the rhythmic
correspondance (from dark to light, from top to bottomof the
staff):
32nd notes |
16th notes |
8th notes |
Quarter notes |
Half notes |
Whole notes |
There is no relationship between these density levels and
the notes displayed at a given time on the staff. This scale
is only used as a reference to draw the rhythmic density with
the mouse to influence the rhythmic dimension of the melodic
line.
- Click in the quarter note range (for instance at the
level of the G note, seond line of the staff) of the
first measure, on the first vertical line and hold down
the mouse. Move the mouse to draw the following curve (as
an example) :

- Release the mouse button and the score will become
something like this (it may be a bit different, depending
on the precision of the drawing):

By drawing inside a density level, the corresponding
sections of the melodic curve get assigned to that rhythmic
value. You will notice that the density is not continuous.
There are only 6 levels of density.
Combined with the vector drawing tool, this tool can help you
to design a melodic curve. You can use it on the full range of a
melodic line or just for a section of it.
Changing the velocity [Professional] [Composition Pro]
This last vector tool is used to define the
velocity associated with each note of the curve. You can of
course establish velocity with the musical effects view, but if
you define it inside the vector, any change or move of the vector
will keep the original velocity curve. Velocity is a MIDI
parameter that originally expresses the force with which a note
is struck on a keyboard. The use of velocity has been extended to
any instrument, meaning the force of the attack of a note. Its
main influence is of course on the volume level of the sound, but
it often also influences the sound quality and timbre.
- Open the Ex090.piz document from the DataEN
/ Examples directory and select the
tool on the Composition
palette. The score is displayed as follows:

Each note is displayed with a vertical dark blue bar. They
represent the velocity values of the notes, in a scale made
of 12 staff line intervals. The values are in fact in the [1,
127] range. The above score displays a value of about 100 for
each note.
- Using this tool is very easy. Click and drag
horizontally, at the level of velocity you want. Whenever
you go accross a note, this note will be assigned that
level of velocity. Then release the mouse button. Try to
draw a velocity curve on the score, you may for instance
get:

With this tool, you can influence the expression of the
melodic curve you are designing.
The 6 tools explained here are music experimentation tools. If
you have any idea or suggestion as how they could be improved or
what new similar tools could be added, just tell us!