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| Newsletter #120 - February 28, 2019 - Music Software for Everyone |
| Dear
Musicians,
Some news about Pizzicato ... ... already one year since the last Pizzicato newsletter, time goes too fast! I must tell you that we have been quite busy moving the offices of Arpege and with our intensive collaboration with MakeMusic. Here is our new address: ARPEGE MUSIC 27 Avenue du Grand Nichet 5570 DION - Belgique Please take note of our new phone number : ++ 32 82.74.42.01. Technical support is not always available by phone, but most of the time I answer technical support emails within a day or two. You can send your questions to info@arpegemusic.com The work on Pizzicato 4 continues, but not as fast as I would like. However, you will see below a screen copy of how Pizzicato looks like at this point. The whole user interface of Pizzicato 4 is zoom-able, so that you can increase the size of the palettes and of some other list of icons that were getting much too small otherwise. The user interface is exactly the same on Windows and Mac. I will soon be working on the review of the audio and MIDI features of Pizzicato, including the VST instruments. When that will be done, I expect to publish a test version so that the most courageous users can try it. Please note that version 4 will be a free upgrade for users who bought the present version 3.6.x or the previous version 3.5.x. In other words, it will be free for users who have a license number equal or above to #25001. You will find below the next section of our main article on music composition. Have a nice reading and - more important - a good musical practice ! And here is the Pizzicato 4 screen copy (of course it will be available in English too!) :
Musically, Dominique Vandenneucker
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Table of
Content
Theory and practice of music composition... Tips and advices on Pizzicato... Which Pizzicato version would fit your needs ... ? Discover in 10 minutes why Pizzicato is so different than other music software:
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| ARPEGE-Music
27 avenue du Grand Nichet B-5570 DION Belgium |
Visit our site :
http://www.arpegemusic.com |
Technical
support +32 82.74.42.01 email : info@arpegemusic.com |
| Editorial |
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Read all previous articles on page http://www.arpegemusic.com/editoriaux.htm |
| Theory and practice of music
composition (part 8)
Last time, we examined how to add musical interest to a melody with the use of rhythmic harmonics. But what about using them in the structure of an accompaniment, a quatuor, a rock band or a symphonic orchestra? If all instruments in a band would always play the same rhythm, polyphonic music would be rather monotonous. The introduction of one or more instruments (or voices) to accompany a melody may be done in various ways, but the common point is to diversify and add interest to the existing melody. You can vary the instrument sound, act on the melodic diversity or on the rhythmic diversity and of course the three may be combined. 1 - The sound of the instruments A simple melody can be made much more expressive just by changing the sound of the instrument that plays it. Here is an example, first with a simple sound, then a more real instrument, then a ensemble.
Singing a melody with lyrics will of course make the sound more rich and the melody more interesting, as well as some effects like reverberation. Listen to this Plain-chant example: You can always increase the expression of a melody by combining several instruments to play it. 2 - Melodic diversity The other instruments will play different notes than the main melody. The fact that more than one note is played at the same time introduces the concept of chords, as experience shows that only a limited number of note combinations have a nice effect together. The study of the nice combinations of notes, their context and sequencing is the subject of a full development since the beginning of polyphonic music. It is called harmony. The simple fact of playing different melodies, even with the same rhythm for all instruments, adds inevitably a new dimension to music. Here is an example of the above simple melody for several instruments, with the same rhythm: 3 - Rhythmic diversity If we add also new rhythmic content, another dimension is created. By listening, we perceive that various elements happen together in the time dimension. Here is an example, still with the above small melody:
So that rhythmic diversity gives a coherent accompaniment, the voices must have a rhythmic relationship with the main melody and also between themselves. This is verified when the voices have simple harmonic relations between themselves. In the above example, the main melody is based on quarter notes and slightly varies around the quarter note, using occasionally eighth notes and half notes. If we take the measure duration as a reference (4 quarter notes), the quarter note is harmonic 4 of the measure duration. The second voice is base on the half note, which is harmonic 2 of the measure. Voices 3 and 4 are based on the full measure, the whole note, which is harmonic 1 of the measure. Harmonic 2 is also used occasionally (two half notes). Voice 5 uses eighth notes, which are harmonic 8 of the measure or harmonic 2 of the main melody. Rhythmic layers A rhythmic layer is made out of one or more instruments that seem to form a unit to the ear. In the above example, the instruments are all present at the same time. A way to make an atmosphere evolve is by sequencing various rhythmic layers at different points in time. The auditor's attention is then each time renewed and the interest for the music is continued. At any time, something happens in the music and the auditor may follow the various rhythmic layers. Listen for instance to the following example:
This is typical to film music, as it must follow the corresponding atmospheres of the film. Listen to it by noticing when the various elements of rhythmic layers appear, how they evolve and when they disappear. A the most intense moments, you will find many rhythmic layers, often based on fast rhythmic elements, with higher rhythmic harmonics. The tension is often added by using faster rhythmic elements but also simultaneous rhythmic layers where harmonics combine themselves or oppose against each other. The calm moments are created by slower harmonics and more regular relationships between the harmonics used. You will find several rhythmic layers in most music. For example, in piano music, the left and right hands are often responsible for two different rhythmic layers. In other styles than above, listen to the following examples and try to notice the various rhythmic layers used by the composers.
Practical application As simple as they may look to you, the above observations apply directly to music composing. I suggest to you a practical application as follows.
Do these exercises by concentrating mainly on the rhythmic aspects, which is the point stressed in our last articles. You can for instance create a score with various instruments, all based on the C Maj chord (C - E - G) and work on different rhythmic layers on an orchestral score with the same notes over and over, by varying the rhythm, the layout and the instrument combinations. Take the holyday opportunity to make some music! Dominique Vandenneucker |
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| Tips and Advises on Pizzicato |
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See also the frequently asked questions on page http://www.arpegemusic.com/clients4.php |
| Launching Pizzicato on Mac OS Sierra, High
Sierra, Mojave If Pizzicato does not start on Mac OS Sierra, do the following. - Keep the Pizzicato folder on the desktop (not in
the Applications folder) This problem will be fixed in Pizzicato4. Empty document manager ?If the document manager does not display the documents, the main Pizzicato folder has probably been moved or modified. Go in the Options menu, Restore preferences... then click the Document management check box and click OK. The default paths will be corrected. Upbeats and uncompleted measuresOften, the first measure of a score contains less beats than the others. The music starts for instance on the last beat of the first measure and this is called an Upbeat. This measure is usually written as such, without filling the measure with rests. A 4/4 measure that would only contain one quarter note should be played and displayed as a one beat measure. There are other cases, for instance when repeat signs are crossing a measure boundary, where a measure should be displayed and played with a different number of beats than the natural content of that measure. Pizzicato Professional gives a full control over the measure parameters, but with Pizzicato Beginner and Professional, an easy function can be used to handle that situation. Here is how to create an incomplete measure: Fill in the notes or rests in the measure With the right mouse button (ALT+click on Mac), select the Measures and staves menu item, then choose Incomplete measure or upbeat. This measure will then be played correctly. If you go again in the above menu for that measure, you will see that the Incomplete measure or upbeat menu item is now checked, which means that this measure has an incomplete duration. To reset the measure to its real duration, just use that menu again. |
Order
Pizzicato
Order one of the Pizzicato versions today on our secured site by clicking here. Free upgrades Buying one version of Pizzicato gives you the right to about 3 years of free upgrades. If your license number is superior to 19000, you can download the lastest upgrade 3.6.2.3 for Mac and Windows by clicking here. Advanced upgrades At any time, you can upgrade to a more advanced version of Pizzicato, for a special upgrade price. See the upgrade order page by clicking here. Pizzicato in the US and Canada
You can always contact Blair Ashby, at Broadlands Media, Inc. for any information you need on Pizzicato and the way to use it. Located in Denver, Colorado, Blair is the official representative of Pizzicato for the United States and English speaking Canada. You can visit the site and buy Pizzicato directly at www.writing-music.com email: info@writing-music.com |
| Music course for Beginners |
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Read the full Pizzicato music course on page http://www.arpegemusic.com/manual36/EN090.htm |
Tuplets
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With Pizzicato Composition Light:
With EarMaster Pro 6, improve your music abilities:
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| The Pizzicato Music Software range of products |
| What version of
Pizzicato would fit your needs?
1. Pizzicato Light is an introductory version to learn music, make exercises, write small scores (1 or 2 pages) and use basic MIDI and audio recording features. You can start practicing the music keyboard and make your first steps into music composition. [20 euros as a package, 15 euros as a download]
2. Pizzicato Beginner is a general purpose score editor, that contains most of the tools you need to write, print and listen to music scores for the choir, solo instrument or small orchestras up to 16 instruments playing together. [99 euros as a package, 67 euros as a download] 3. Pizzicato Notation is a full score editor that offers you all the notation features found in any other Pizzicato versions. It contains all the tools you need to write, print and listen to music scores, from the soloist to the full orchestra. [199 euros as a package, 129 euros as a download] 4. Pizzicato Guitar contains all the tools you need to write sheet music for the guitar or other fretted instruments like the banjo, the bass, etc. You can use a tablature or TAB, or a standard staff. A guitar fret board window helps you entering the notes and you can create chord diagrams. [39 euros as a package, 29 euros as a download] 5. Pizzicato Choir helps you write and print nice sheet music for the choir. Learn to sing your voice while Pizzicato plays the other voices. Increase your knowledge of music theory with the full music course included. [39 euros as a package, 29 euros as a download] 6. Pizzicato Soloist contains all the tools you need to write music for a solo instrument. You can print nice solo sheet music, whether for the brass, woodwind, string instruments or any solo instrument written on one staff. [39 euros as a package, 29 euros as a download] 7. Pizzicato Drums and Percussion is specifically designed for music notation of drums and percussion instruments. You can use up to 8 staves, each one with 1 up to 16 lines to which you can assign a percussion or drum instrument. [39 euros as a package, 29 euros as a download] 8. Pizzicato Keyboard contains all the tools you need to write music for keyboard instruments like the piano, the organ or the synthesizer, with up to 4 staves. [39 euros as a package, 29 euros as a download] 9. Pizzicato Composition Light introduces the concept of intuitive music composition for a small budget. This is where you can start exploring music composition like never before, up to 8 instruments. [49 euros as a package, 39 euros as a download] 10. Pizzicato Composition Pro offers you the most advanced tools for intuitive music composition, with no limits to the number of instruments. [149 euros as a package, 99 euros as a download] Finally, Pizzicato Professional contains every function available in the 10 versions already described. You can use all the features for music notation as well as all the tools for intuitive music composition and combine them in the same software. [299 euros as a package, 195 euros as a download]
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Godelieve
Cuylits,
clarinetist
(Belgium) -
"I
transpose, reduce scores and help our conductor to write his
own arrangements on paper"
Free online money management tool for bands.
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