Noatikl User Guide

View: Voice - Chords

This view allows you to define some of the key properties that allow you to configure any Voice Type to generate chords automatically.

The properties in this view are incredibly powerful and very easy to use!

In outline, use the Depth and Depth Range values to define the "Chord Depth"; which is the number of notes that Noatikl will play at any one time for a given voice. The first note in any chord is composed according to the normal mechanism for a voice type; additional notes that cause a chord to be built-up may be generated automatically by Noatikl according to the properties in this view.

Name

The name of the Voice.

Mute

The Mute parameter.

Depth

Specify the minimum Depth of chord that you want your Voice to play with. A value of 1 will mean that the Voice will not chord (unless the Depth Range property is greater than zero)!

The Depth defines the number of notes that are played by the voice at any one time.

Depth Range

Specify the relative maximum Depth of chord that you want your Voice to play with. A value of 0 means that whenever the Voice is played, it will play a number of notes equal to the Depth. A value of one or more means that whenever the Voice is played, it will play a number of notes equal to a randomly selected value between the Depth and the Depth plus the Depth Range.

Percent

This property tells Noatikl the percentage chance that it should actually emit any given note in the chord (after the first note, of course!). Set to 100 if you want the Chording Voice to always emit a note for every note played by the Followed Voice. Set to a smaller value if you want to thin-out the notes played within the chord.This allows you to create chords of varying depth; sometimes dense, sometimes thin.

Strategy

This property tells Noatikl what it should do when it decides the pitch to use for a note generated within a chord. The available values are:

Chordal Harmony

This causes the Voice's chord notes to be selected according to the currently defined Scale, Harmony and Next Note Rules.

Interval Within Scale Rule

This causes the Voice's chord note to be selected offset from the followed note, such they it is at an interval within the Scale Rule beyond the previous note in the chord, defined as a value randomly selected between the Shift / Interval and Shift / Interval plus Shift / Interval Range values.

For example, if these values are 1 and 2 respectively, then each time a note is chosen within the chord, it will be between 1 and (1+2)=3 Scale Rule intervals up from the previous note in the chord. It is important to understand that this refers to the non-zeroed elements in the current Scale Rule, in other words only those notes that are available within the Scale Rule.

So, in our example, if we were using a Major Scale Rule, and if the first note in the chord were C4 (Middle C), and if Noatikl chose a value of 2 as its random value; then the played note would be E4 (Middle C), which is the second note up from Middle C within the Major Scale Rule.

Semitone Shift

This causes the the Voice's chord note to be selected offset up from the previous note in the chord, such it is offset from the previous chord note by a number of semitones which is a value randomly selected between the Shift / Interval and Shift / Interval plus Shift / Interval Range values. A note chosen in this way ignores the current Scale Rule.

For example, if these values are 1 and 2 respectively, then each time a note is chosen, it will be between 1 and (1+2)=3 semitones up from the previous note in the chord.

So, in our example, if we were using a Major Scale Rule, and if the previous note in the chord were C4 (Middle C), and if Noatikl chose a value of 3 as its random value; then the played note would be D#4 (Middle D#), which is the third semitone note up from Middle C. This value is used even though it is not in the current scale rule!

Units

You define the Unit of Measure by which the Delay and Delay Range parameters are interpreted. This may be one of the following values:

Seconds (thousandths of a)

The properties including Duration are all interpreted as being in thousandths of a second (i.e. Milliseconds). So, a Duration value of 1000 means one second.

Beats (60ths of a)

The properties including Duration are all interpreted as being in 60ths of a beat. In Noatikl a Beat is defined as being one crotchet; you get 3 beats in a bar of 4:4 music. So, a Duration value of 60 means one beat. A Duration value of 30 means a quaver. A Duration value of 20 means a triplet. A Duration value of 15 means a semi-quaver. A Duration value of 240 means 4 beats (which is a full bar if the Piece Meter is 4:4).

Quantized Beats (60ths of a)

This works the same way as Beats (60ths of a) except that where the Delay has a special value of 10, 15 or 20; the delay is interpreted in a special way that is very useful for some breakbeat-based music. Specifically, in this case, the calculated value for the delay is rounded to the nearest sub-multiple of the Delay value. So, for example, if the engine calculates a value of 43, and if Delay is 20, the used value for the delay is actually 40 (which is the nearest multiple of 20).

Delay

This defines the minimum delay after which the Chording Voice will play a followed note. The actual value chosen for each note is a value between Delay, and Delay plus the Delay Range. Each and every note composed for this Chording Voice will have a note whose delay is separately calculated.

Delay Range

This is combined with the Delay parameter, to determine the delay after which the Chording Voice will play a followed note. The actual value chosen for each note is a value between Delay, and Delay plus the Delay Range. Each and every note composed for this Chording Voice will have a note whose delay is separately calculated.

Shift / Interval

Used when the Strategy is either Interval Within Scale Rule or Semitone Shift.

This causes the Chording Voice to choose notes which are offset in some way from the followed note, according to the Strategy; where the offset is defined as a value randomly selected between the Shift / Interval and Shift / Interval plus Shift / Interval Range values.

S/I Range

This represents the "Shift/Interval Range", and is used when the Strategy is either Interval Within Scale Rule or Semitone Shift.

Pitch Offset

This property defines the amount that the pitch of each note in the chord should be offset, in semitones, from the previous note in the chord; the actual value selected might be overridden according to the various rules that apply to the Voice, but in general, this parameter allows you to "shape" a chord to have a given range of pitch values. In combination with the Delay-related parameters, this allows you to create some very interesting arpeggiation effects.

For example, a value of +12 would tend to space each note in the chord by a range of 12 semitones (which is one octave), with each subsequent value in the chord being higher in pitch that the previous.

For example, a value of -12 would tend to space each note in the chord by a range of 12 semitones (which is one octave), with each subsequent value in the chord being lower in pitch that the previous.

Velocity Factor

This property allows you to specify the range of relative velocities for the notes in a chord. Each subsequent note in the chord is the defined percentage louder (for a positive value) or quieter (for a negative value) than the previous note in the chord. A value of zero means that all notes in the chord are played with the same velocity.

The Voice velocity envelope values are ignored when this parameter is applied.

For example, a value of -30 would tell Noatikl to generate this Voice's chords such that each auto-chorded note is 30% quieter than each preceding note in the chord; giving a noticeable tailing-off effect.