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POLYPHONIUM GENERAL NOTES - 30NOV06

These descriptive notes are later than and replace those published in EPE.

FONTS AND OTHER MATTERS

If the above line of boxes does not contain music symbols, make sure you have the Musical.ttf font copied from the Polyphonium folder into Windows' own Fonts folder:

My Computer\Control Panel\Fonts

Also, please ensure that the file MSCOMM32.OCX is in the Polyphonium folder, as supplied. This is used in connection with the serial link (PIC Link).

Additionally, note that if you wish to use the VB6 code rather than the EXE file, then Joe Farr's EPE Serial files must be install on your PC. The file is in the Downloads section of the EPE website (www.epemag.co.uk). VB6 will not run the full Polyphonium program unless it is, crashing when trying to use the serial link.

CREATE A NEW SCORE PAGE MAIN TITLE

Left-click on the green DIR button above to reveal the Directory screen, then use the "Make File" option. Full details of the Directory screen are given in its Notes file, selected by clicking its Notes button. Having created a new file, it is automatically shown on screen for immediate use, suffixed "01".

LOAD EXISTING FILE

Click on the DIR button to reveal the files available, then select the one required as described in the Directory's own Notes file.

SELECT AND USE A SYMBOL

Left-click on any of the above symbols to select them, then position the mouse cursor over the screen position at which you wish to place it, and left-click in that position. The selected symbol is shown highlighted in red. The symbol remains selected until a new one is chosen (also see "Delete A Symbol" below), allowing it to be placed where desired without reselecting it.

Only notes with their vertical lines going upwards are provided. The normal cosmetic music convention of some vertical lines descending, depending on the position within the stave, is ignored. The same applies to the "tail flags" direction of some notes - they all face to the right.

DELETE A SYMBOL

To delete a symbol, position the cursor on or near the symbol to be deleted until that symbol is also repeated in the lower yellow box above, which appears when the correct position has been found, then right-click the mouse whilst still in the same position to delete that symbol. That symbol then becomes the active one when the mouse is again left-clicked on any position.

The deleted symbol is shown in red. It remains visible until the screen is cleared and then redrawn, or another symbol is put in its place (which is made easier by showing it in red). Any symbol shown in red is no longer in the memory and is not saved when Save It is used.

If you have difficulty finding the "trigger point" at which a symbol can be deleted, gently move the mouse cursor around and down along the symbol until it is displayed in the yellow box. Such positions are not always what they seem (for a variety of complicated reasons).

It is possible to write a new symbol directly on top of, and replacing, an existing symbol. In some cases, though, that new symbol may only become apparent once the screen has been cleared and subsequently redrawn.

Be aware that the author has found occasionally when deleting symbols, that they fail to be removed from the screen, even though they have been removed from the memory. The way to check is to Save the page in the usual way, then click Clear and then click Redo. The reason for the problem has not been found even though he has done much searching for it. The problem usually goes if the program is exited and restarted.

SHARPS, FLATS AND NATURALS

To select the sharp or flat of a note, click the sharp, flat or natural symbol above or below it. This automatically selects both the note and that symbol for immediate use.

Music scores on which a general sharp or flat symbol is shown at the beginning of, or during, a stave, must have those symbols placed in the area enclosing the clef. They are automatically positioned immediately to the right of the clef's vertical position. Each stave line affected must have the symbol in that position, above or below the five main stave lines always displayed.

Such general sharps or flats when specified are repeated (but not shown) for all octaves of the note referred to in that clef. This is for the benefit of the compilation program.

If a score calls for a general sharp or flat, the screen display must start at the next available double staves, and the symbols placed at the start of that.

Symbols for "natural" notes are only required if the score calls for them when a general sharp or flat is specified in the score, it then only refers to that note (as is also the case for individual sharps or flats).

GRIDS

The three vertical lines button to the left of the symbol options selects the vertical grid, turning it on and off.

Horizontal short intermediate lines above and below the main stave lines are drawn automatically when either mouse button is clicked in those areas. Left-clicking places the selected note in position, plus those lines. A right-click just draws the lines, and clears the memory of any selected symbol. At any time unwanted intermediate lines can be cleared by using the Clear button and then the Redo button.

A left-click when no symbol is selected also causes the intermediate lines to be drawn, but without a symbol.

Even when the grids are not shown, moving the mouse cursor across the screen causes the note and its raw octave data for that theoretical grid point to be shown in the smaller top centre yellow box above.

BAR LINE

The long vertical line button selects the bar line marking for placing on the score in the position then clicked. It is cosmetic only and not used by the compilation program.

"REPEAT" SYMBOLS BUTTONS

The two symbols to  the right of the bar line symbol, respectively, indicate the start and end positions in a score of those sections which are repeated when playing the score after compiling. That repitition is done during compilation, assuming both a Start and an End repeat symbol have been found (if only one of the pair has been found, in the case of a keying error on the user's part, for example) then the repetition is not made.

REST SYMBOL

The symbol to the right of the End Repeat symbol indicates where a short rest period occurs. The length of pause depends on the rate at which the play-rate potentiometer has been set.

PANNING BETWEEN PAGES

To select the next or previous page in a sequence of files for one theme, click the forward or backward arrow box surrounded by yellow above. If the page exists it will be displayed and its name shown in the long green box. If it does not exist, you are offered the choice of creating it as a blank, or of exiting the option. Pages are automatically numbered consecutively, page 01 being the lowest. A maximum limit of 99 has been placed on the number that can be generated for any theme. Other factors such as disk capacity, for instance, may impose its own limits.

VIEW FILE BUTTON

The file in which the basic score data is held for any selected page may be examined by clicking the View File button. The file could be amended while open, but the needs are complicated and not are described here.

SAVE IT BUTTON

This button only appears once a file has been selected via the DIR button. Left-clicking it causes that file to be resaved to disk under the same name. No facility has been provided for a given file to be renamed. Such must be done through the normal Windows facilities if desired.

SAVING PRE-CHANGES

Any symbols you key in before a file has been loaded cannot be saved and will be lost when any file is opened or panning between pages occurs, and in other similar circumstances.

PIC LINK BUTTON

This button only appears once a file has been selected via the DIR button. There are basically three choices within the sub-screen revealed when clicking the PIC Link button. The first, Comp Data, causes all files of the theme title selected, from the selected numbered file to the last, as shown in the changeable text boxes, to be compiled into a form suitable for the PIC, creating a new file of the same basic title with a CNC extension. This enables just a small selection of files (including just one) to be played if working on a score.

The second button, Send Data, causes the named file's latest CNC file data to be sent to the PIC, which stores it in the memory currently selected by its switches.

The third button, Exit, allows you to exit the screen without either above action being performed.

The two changeable text boxes on this screen allow the start and end number for the files to be compiled to CNC. The CNC file name does not reflect which pages are represented within in it (could make high demands on disk capacity if were to have been).

This screen also allows selection of the COM port through which the serial data is sent to the PIC, COM1 or COM2 (this program is not designed for use with USB links). Click on the port required to reveal a black dot in its "radio button". Data is automatically stored to disk for future recall when the program is loaded. The choice may be changed at any time.

Data transmission is always at 9600 Baud.

CLEAR BUTTON

This option allows the screen data to be totally cleared without changing the contents of the recorded files. Saving in this blank or later amended form will then totally write over the previous file data.

REDO BUTTON

Causes the entire screen data to be redrawn for cosmetic purposes if needed, as for example, after calling either of the View options opened through Notepad.

FONT BUTTON

Clicking this button reveals the full font from which the above symbols have been selected. It is for interest only and cannot be used.

NOTE SPACING

It is not important how far apart notes and other symbols are on the screen grid. Totally blank columns in any stave are ignored. The important thing is that notes which are to be played simultaneously as a chord are immediately in line with each other vertically in the relevant treble and bass clef staves. Each full stave consists of one treble and one base clef stave.

VIEW CNC FILES (PIC LINK SCREEN)

This button allows the contents of the compiled (CNC) data for the PIC to be examined. The file is specific to the base file title selected. The format of the data is complicated and is not described here.

DECODING FACILITY

The decoding facility was produced for the author's own benefit, but has been left in just in case you can find a use for it. It takes data from the CNC file for any subject and decodes back into notes and stores them into files prefixed "Decode" which can be displayed on the PC screen. No bar lines or general sharp/flat symbols at the beginnings of staves are included. All such notes have the appropriate symbol alongside.

Note also that some notes are common to both treble and bass clefs. Where they are encountered, notes A0 and above are allocated to the treble clef, below A0 they are allocated to the bass clef (and thus the resulting scores may appear to be different from the original in this respect).

All notes are allocated to just the first treble/bass clef pair.

TOOLTIPS

Hovering the mouse cursor over any option button causes a "tooltips" text box to appear, describing its basic function.

SCORES ACCURACY

All the author's test scores supplied with the software are those which he used during development of the software, and which are supplied "as is". No claim is made about their accuracy in relation to the original scores. Indeed, he can hear some notes when played on the Polyphonium which have obviously been keyed in incorrectly by him.

ADDING YOUR OWN NOTES

These notes are displayed via an "Active" text editor and you may add your own notes to them, saving them to disk in the usual way.

John Becker

