A great use for RIFFs is in setting up melodies ... single and multiple (chords)

[bvdp]

A great use for RIFFs is in setting up melodies ... single and multiple (chords) are
supported and easy to enter. After you do this a few times the process will become pretty
automatic and you'll wonder why you never used this feature before!

First off, you need a MMA TRACK. In this case we're just using the generic SOLO track, but it
would be just as easy to use something named SOLO-SILLY or Solo-Guitar. Like so many things
in MMA, it's your choice. In this little nursery rhyme example we are going to use a flute patch:

Code:

Begin Solo
  Voice Flute
  Octave 5
  Articulate 90
  Rvolume 10
  Rtime 5
  Harmony 3Below
End

For folks new to MMA and BEGIN/END blocks, please note that you could do this with single
lines:

Code:

Solo Voice Flute
Solo Octave 5
... etc

Guess it depends on whether or not you like typing Again, it's up to you.

One important line to note is the last one in the block setting up a HARMONY. This command
instructs MMA to generate a harmony note based on the underlying chord in your piece. Yes, if you
change the chord the harmony note will also change.

Next, we need actually generate our melody. The extensive MMA manual covers the syntax of
entering notes. Sorry, it's not the simplest. But, it gives an awful lot of options

The individual notes can be added to a CHORD DATA RIFF like this:

Code:

SOLO RIFF 4.a;8g;4f;g;
1 F
SOLO RIFF 4a;;2
2  F

This is great if you only have one or two measures in your composition in which you
want melody in addition to your chord. But, even in this simple case, it's easier to
use the builtin expansion:

Code:

1  F  { 4.a;8g;4f;g; }
2  F  { 4a;;2; }

Just remember that in the above, MMA is assuming you want the melody added to the named track
SOLO (again, lots of detail in the fine manual).

Finally, you can a complete song in a block:

Code:

Begin SOLO Riff
    4.a;8g;4f;g; 
    4a;;2; 
    4g;;2; 
    4a;c+;2; 
    4.a;8g;4f;g; 
    4a;;;; 
    4g;;a;g; 
    2.f; 
  End /// end riff
End  /// end SOLO

Please visit our website: www.mellowood.ca/mma for more information. And, remember that your contributions to our "Buy me a Coffee" program are motivating us for more features
and enhancements to MMA. Let's all make more music and make this world a happier place!

[sciurius]

Great tutorial! It would be nice to end it with a complete song (you know, a click'n'play thing) ☺
And add this song to the examples collection.

[bvdp]

See ... I knew it. No one reads the real docs anymore I extracted most of this from the file egs/solo/solo.mma

But don't feel bad! It just took me several minutes to find the file just now, even though I found it right away the other day when I was preparing the post. I think there might be "too much stuff" in mma and its docs But, the main reference manual is one page short of 300 ... plus the chord reference, plugins, short tutorial and library.

[folderol]

Ah yes! The 'nobody reads the manual' syndrome. If I had a penny for every time I answered a question that would have been explained on page {mmfty}{mmmf} ... well I wouldn't be rich, but it would certainly pay for a few beers!
What I did for project I work with was to create a short HTML guide of just under 40 pages, which referenced the main PDF one - also about 300 pages!

[bvdp]

I think the good thing about HTML pages is that they can be linked. I should do more like that ... but it does assume access to a browser on a device. And, old guys like me like to wander around with manuals to pass the time is rooms with porcelain fixtures