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Graphics Menu  

The Graphics Menu provides options for how music is represented in the Graphics Area. Only the Blocks that are currently in the Playroom Area are represented in this Graphics Area.

The Graphics menu contains the following options:

These commands can also be found by clicking and holding down your mouse button in the Graphics Area. This will open a pop-up window with these commands.

Pitch Contour

Dots are used to show the shape (pitch contour) of a melody. The horizontal space between the dots indicates the time between the attacks and the vertical space indicates the intervals between the pitches. Pitch Contour graphics show a "spatial analog" for pitch and time.

Piano Roll

The piano roll graphic can be used to portray melodies or rhythms.

Horizontal line segments are used to represent the pitch and duration of events. The vertical position of a line segment indicates the pitch. The length of a line segment indicates the duration of an event.

 

rroll Similar to the Rhythm Bars, this representation is also used to show only the duration of events, not the pitch. The length of a line segment indicates the duration of an event.

Rhythm Bars

rbar This representation is used to show only the duration of events, not the pitch, thus the name "Rhythm Bars". Vertical lines are used to show the attack times of events. The distance between two lines indicates the time between the attacks of two events. All the Vertical lines have the same height. (But see Graphics Scaling, below).

None

No graphics display in the Graphics Area.

Scale

Scale Allows users to adjust the spacing of the graphical elements. This is only for the purpose of easy-viewing. It will not change the pitch and time duration.

Tonic / Dominant Grid:Clicking on this button adds a background grid to the pitch graphics. The Tonic / Dominant Grid shows how pitches of a melody move on and around the tonic and dominant pitches of the given key.

Color

Allows users to change the colors of the graphical elements. To select a color, click on the colored block on the left of the window to open up a color menu. There are two options for changing colors -- Voice Color or Block Color. Voice color gives a selected color to all elements in a selected Voice. Block color gives each block in the graphics the color of that block in the Playroom Area.
   
Impromptu 2.0 beta 1 © 2004 Jeanne Bamberger