Composition libraries (5) |
Creation of a rhythm folder [Professional] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] We continue the exploration of the
libraries elements. Similarly to melodies, we will create
folders to contain rhythms, themes and chords. The properties
of these folders are similar to the melody folders options.
The idea is to be able to create an object which may contain
several rhythmic cells which could be used orderly, backwards or
in a random way. The options of the rhythmic folder modify the
behavior of all included rhythmic cells. Melody 1 is a random melody similar to the one we
built in the last lesson. The 3 rhythms each contain the
equivalence of one quarter note. The first is a quarter note, the
second is made of 2 eighth notes and the third contains one
eighth note and two 16th notes. We will create a rhythmic folder
and place these 3 elements in it. In the previous lesson, we had dragged the melodies into the
folder and they automatically disappeared from the main view. It
is sometimes useful to avoid encumbering the view when many
elements are present. If you wish to use an element several
times, for example to drag it into several folders, it is
possible to keep it present in the main view. Therefore you need
to drag the element into the folder without holding down the
Control key. Drag the 3 rhythms one by one (quarter note,
eight note and 8'+2x16') into the R1 file.
The 3 rhythms stay visible. Double-click the R1 icon.
The folder opens and displays its contents: Let us consider the options of a rhythmic folder. Close the
folder and open its characteristics dialog box (double-click with
the Control key). The options Multiply and Divide
act as for the rhythmic cells. They possibly combine with the
multiply/divide factors located in the elements placed in the
folder. In the case of an ordered or inverted sequence, all elements
may be repeated several times using the Repeat result
X times option. Zero is used to repeat ad infinitum. The Limit total duration to X quarter notes
option can be used to limit a random sequence to a multiple
duration of a quarter note, an eighth note, an half note
Close this dialog box by clicking OK. Open Score 1 and drag R1 and Melody 1
in the first measure. The score becomes (not necessarily with the
same note pitches, because the melody is random): By using notes of the melody, Pizzicato picked the three
rhythms placed in the R1 folder one after the other. The rhythms were used in the inverted order, as required. Calculate the score several times (Edit menu, Generate
score item). You will get each time a different result. It
is a 3 beats random sequence, and each beat may be a quarter
note, 2 eighth notes or an eighth note + two 16th notes. The note
pitches continue to follow the rules of the Melody 1
folder. Each random note is then combined with the random
rhythmic value, which gives a result even more varied,
considering the number of possible combinations. All durations of the rhythmic values were doubled. Creation of a theme folder [Professional] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] The idea is to create an object which may
contain several themes which could be used orderly, backwards
or in a random way. They are 5 different themes each one
containing 3 beats. Open them one by one to see what they
contain, then close them. The theme is a direct association of notes
and rhythmic values. When using the random options, it lets
you define an indissociable link between notes and rhythmic
values. Conversely, if you define a theme by a melody and a
rhythm, when several melodies and intricate rhythms exist,
the rhythm/melody combination will be done randomly. All
depends on the result you want to get. Sometimes it is
simpler to define a theme, for example for percussion
sequences where the same note is repeated with several
different rhythmic values. Close the document without saving the
changes.
Creation of a chord progression [Professional] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] In most music styles you find a succession of chords. A chord
is a group of notes played simultaneously. It forms the base on
which the various instruments "agree" to play (notice
that in French, the words "Agree" and
"Chords" have the same translation). At each moment of
the score, when a chord is present, it coordinates the
instruments. It is a significant point which contributes to the
coherence of the whole sound result of a score. In most music
styles, only one chord is present at one. They can very quickly
be sequenced one after the other. One often calls this series of
chords a chord progression. We will sometimes use this term to
refer to a chord folder. You find 7 chords in it. Open some of them to visualize them.
The Quarter note icon represents a rhythmic value of one
quarter note repeated ad infinitum. We will create several chords
progressions of 2 chords. We will now create a chords progression with these 4
progressions randomly sequenced. Two by two, you obtain chords sequences among the 4 defined.
Let us see now how to define a random series of chords among the
7 chords defined. The difference with the preceding example is that the random
selection is now done among the 7 chords and no more among the 4
groups of 2 chords. It is by exploiting the creation of various
groups and random/ordered options that one manages to create
chords progressions directed towards a specific music or
harmonization style. Music being the art of organizing sounds, it is obvious that a
purely random sequence of some notes, chords or rhythms will not
make an art work, because the random term precisely means that it
is not organized! By composing with libraries and by using the
random options, the purpose is to channel the chance to organize
it according to your own taste so as to make an art work of it.
In other words, Pizzicato provides you raw material and it is
you, the composer, who organizes this material to form something
which expresses your art. For a sculptor, the raw material is
found in nature in a state of disorder and it is the sculptor who
executes his art by organizing this raw material. Close this document without saving the changes. Arranging a melody on chords [Professional] [Composition Light] [Composition Pro] We will now see how to use a chord
progression in relation to a melody. Melody 1 is a random melody and R1
a random rhythm. Half note is a rhythmic value of
one half note repeated ad infinitum. Then, on the right you
have 5 different chords found in the C major scale. Each chord is associated to one half note.
The chords are followed in the order they were dragged in the
folder. Notice that there is not yet a link between
the melody and the chords. The link is made only when the
chords and the melody are in the same measure. For the
moment, by viewing the libraries, you have: The two staves are developed independently
one of the other. There are only 6 chords in the progression.
As the rhythmic values are faster than the half notes of the
second staff, the 6 chords were used much more quickly (one
by rhythmic value), and thus not at the same time as the
second staff. From the 7th rhythmic value, Pizzicato
continued to use the last chord, i.e. Major C. The two staves
are thus not in synchronization with each other. We need a
means to synchronize the progression of chords for all
staves, otherwise it will be impossible to create a musical
work of several staves. We will associate a duration to the chords
located in the A1 file. Open the dialog box of the A1
characteristics. Select the Durations associated in
multiples of half notes option. Click OK and
generate the score several times. You will obtain scores as
this one: Each chord now has a two beat duration, for
both staves, because it is the same progression used in both.
The notes of the melody were arranged and use only notes of
the current chord. As for the other types of folders, you can
modify the order of the elements and assign to them
priorities (0 to 15) to influence the chance when a random
option is selected. Below the priority box, there is a text
box named Duration. The unit of the chord duration
is here the half note, as previously set. The number present
in the Duration box shows the number of half notes
during which the chord will be played, for each chord of the
list. By default, these values are all set to "1".
If a chord lasts for example a whole note in a 4 beats
measure, fill in "2" in the text box associated
with this chord. It will then be used for a duration of 2
half notes. When you create a piece of music with a
chords progression, you need to specify at the beginning the
maximum rate chords will be able to change. If some chords
are used only for a duration of an eighth note, it is the
eighth note which must be selected as the duration unit.
Specify it in the dialog box of the chords progression
characteristics. Then, in the above dialog box, specify for
each chord the number of eighth notes during which a chord
will last.