This short topic is dealing with a fairly advanced, but VERY POWERFUL option. We will take a simple solo line and use it as a sequence. You might find this useful if you want to use something like a repeating walking bass line or just a very cool riff. The beauty of what we are doing here is that all the notes in the line will be adjusted based on the current chord at the appropriate part of each bar. Please note that the majority of the mini-tutorial is detailed in the egs/solo directory.
Here is the example file:
/// This creates a standalone, playable midi file.
/// The idea is for you to extract the information without the chords and
/// incorporate it into a usable library/groove file.
Tempo 132
Time 4
Seqsize 4
Keysig c
/// This just creates a voicing for a very boring set of chord changes
/// Remember: This is just an example :)
Begin Chord
Voice Piano1
Volume p
Articulate 90
Sequence {1 2 90; 3 2 90}
End
// Now, that magic.
// This could be a SOLO track, but we're using MELODY
// so it can included in a groove.
Begin Melody-AltoSax
Voice AltoSax
// The FollowChord=ON is absolutely necessary here! "FollowKey" is off by default
// Root=C is important as well since it tells MMA the starting position for its calculations.
Voicing FollowChord=On FollowKey=Off Root=C
Articulate 60
Harmony OpenAbove
/// this is a silly line. Maybe it works better with a low instrument (standup bass).
Sequence { 4.c;8;4g;;} {2c;g;} {4c;;g;;} {8c;;;;d;e;4d;}
Octave 5
End
/// That's it. Now play it over some chords. Note that we had a 4 bar sequence
/// above, so it won't repeat until bar 5
1 C
2 D
3 E
4 F
5 G
6 A
7 B
8 C
For more reading on this topic, we suggest you get the wonderful MMA manual out, open it up to the section on Solos and the subsection on Voicing.
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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, tutorials,
and enhancements to MMA. Let's all make more music and make this world a happier place!
