Adagio in Record Mode

Overview

Record mode is a combination of Play and Transcribe modes. It is used to record performances via MIDI and to translate them into Adagio while simultaneously playing an Adagio score. This allows you to enter scores one part at a time. Section ``Merging Adagio Scores'' discusses how you can combine several Adagio scores into one.

Tutorial

Before using Record mode, you should first create an Adagio score, either with an editor or with Transcribe. This will be the score that Record plays while recording a new score. Let us assume that the existing score is called old.gio and you want to record another part called new.gio. Start Adagio and type ``r'' to get into Record mode. You will be prompted for a file as in Play mode. Type ``old'' to load the score. Record then prompts you with:

RECORD MODE: type <return> to record, ? for help, q to quit :

The possible responses are described in detail in Section ``Running Adagio''. Normally, you should just type RETURN to start playing and recording. Next, you will get a prompt for the file you want to create:

output file:

Type new. The extension .gio will be added automatically if you do not provide any extension. As with Transcribe you will be asked about recording continuous controller information.

Then, after a delay of one second, Record begins to play the score in old. The delay is not precise, so you would normally put something into old to ``count off'' the start of the piece. Record also records anything you play. Recording does not stop until you type the space bar, even if old finishes playing.

After you type the space bar, you will again get the prompt:

RECORD MODE: type <return> to record, ? for help, q to quit :

You can erase and re-record new by repeating the instructions given above. (This time, you will have to confirm that you want to erase new.gio.) Otherwise, just type q to quit.

You now have two files, old.gio and new.gio. The next section describes how to merge files to create a single file for Adagio.

Merging Adagio Scores

A few tricks are helpful in merging two scores into one. This section will describe the basics of making two scores play at the same time as well as getting two scores to play in sequence. It should be remembered that the goal is simply to create an Adagio score. If you try something that does not work, you should be able to look at your scores using an editor and figure out where the problem is.

Playing Two Scores in Sequence

To play two scores in sequence, you should edit the first score file so that the last line contains the last event of that score. Since Adagio scores are not necessarily written in time order, this may or may not be the case. Transcribe and Record always write scores in the order of note start times. The last note will specify a next N attribute that corresponds to the time you typed the space bar.

Once you get the timing of the last note right, it should be apparent that if you insert some notes at the end of the score, they will be played after the score (unless they specify a time T attribute). You might want to conduct an experiment to find out where your score ends. If you insert the line

C6 LFFF U20

at the end of your file, you should hear a distinctively loud and high note at the end of your score. If the ``end'' comes too early or too late, you should edit your file accordingly.

You can insert an entire file at the end of another file using the (PC) DOS copy command. The following appends score2.gio to score1.gio.

copy score1.gio+score2.gio

DOS knows nothing about Adagio, so the .gio extensions must be specified. An alternative form is

copy score1.gio+score2.gio score3.gio

which puts the result into score3.gio, leaving score1.gio and score2.gio intact.

The corresponding Amiga DOS command is:

join score1.gio score2.gio as score3.gio

There is no corresponding Mac command, so you must join files using a text editor.

If score2.gio does not specify T attributes, then appending the scores should be adequate. On the other hand, if score2.gio specifies times relative to the beginning of the score, you can insert a !TEMPO command at the beginning. Then, when score2.gio is appended to score1.gio, the !TEMPO command will occur at the end of score1.gio, and everything in score2.gio will be measured relative to the !TEMPO command.

Playing Two Scores at the Same Time

To get two scores to play at the same time, you should make sure that the second score includes a time (T) attribute on or before its first note. Otherwise, the second score will be played after the first one. (Record automatically inserts a time attribute on the first note of each file it creates. The time is the correct one assuming you want to merge the recorded file (e.g. new.gio with the played file (e.g. old.gio). Merge the two files as described above. A typical problem is trying to play two scores on the same voice (MIDI channel). This is only a problem if both scores try to play the same note at the same time. MIDI synthesizers often assume that notes are turned on by pressing keys, and it is impossible to press the same key twice without first releasing it. This problem usually manifests itself as notes that get cut off early. If you are trying to merge two files with the same voice, you might want to change the voice specified for the second file to make sure the two scores do not interfere. (This of course assumes you have several synthesizers or that you can play several channels at once.)

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