More time support

[bvdp]

If you've played with time signatures other than 4/4 you'll have found that mma's limited setting can cause problems when adding in solo tracks. For example, the current 6/8 march sounds okay as far as chording and percussion go; but, when you add in a solo line you have to enter it all as triplets (which is what 6/8 time is avoiding).

So, I've added an option to the TIME command. I got it working today ... and now you can do things like:

    Time 6 8

Which sets mma up for 6 beats per bar and 1/8 notes getting a beat.

Not that there aren't side issues

If you were to implement a 6/8 time with "Time 2" then you can specify chord lines in intuitive manner with 2 chords per bar, ie:
   
           C G

with time set to 6, the same chord line becomes:

           C / / G
or        C G@4

But, solo lines are simplified. Also, creating patterns is, probably, easier. In 2 you really have to think though any beats other than 1 and 2 ... with 6 it becomes a matter of transferring from a piece of sheet music.

Time will tell if this really is an improvement, but so far I'm happy with it.

Right now I have 2, 4 and 8 (with 4 being the default) for time. All this does is to select a table of note lengths. I still need to go though the source and find any other spots where we're accessing time durations. Does anyone have a need for other values?

Before I finalize this, you're welcome to comment!

[bvdp]

I spent a bunch of time on this yesterday and dumped all the code today. There was too much in MMA relying on existing beat sizes ... but, not to worry. I came up with a simpler, better and cooler solution today. And, it works (so far).

What I've done is to introduce a simple STRETCH variable/setting to solo/melody tracks. This is a percentage value by with all the notes in a solo are "stretched". So, here's the coolness ... assume you have created a groove in 6/8 time. You decide that the easy way out is to have 6 beats per bar (this makes setting up the chording much easier). One minor issue is that you need to triple the tempo (if you have a 6/8 march at 110 bpm that assumes 2 beats per measure ... so in the mma groove you'll need to set this 330).

Now, if you do solo notes you will need to convert each 8th note in your score to a quarter ... which quickly becomes old. And if you did the track as 2 (mma) beats per bar, you need to set all the notes into triplet timing (which is what 6/8 is trying to avoid).

So, enter the STRETCH setting. In the 6 beat 6/8 time you just set this to 200 (percent). Now, each note is converted from an 8th to a 1/4, etc. Same happens in 4/4 vrs 2/2 time ... just set to 50 and values get halved.

I applied a similar switch to midiinc so you can now adjust an incoming midi track to match mma TIME. Again, simple and it works.

So, a new version is on the horizon. More testing to do here to make sure it all works. But, probably before the end of the month

[Oren]

So, enter the STRETCH setting. In the 6 beat 6/8 time you just set this to 200 (percent). Now, each note is converted from an 8th to a 1/4, etc. Same happens in 4/4 vrs 2/2 time ... just set to 50 and values get halved.

I applied a similar switch to midiinc so you can now adjust an incoming midi track to match mma TIME. Again, simple and it works.

So, a new version is on the horizon. More testing to do here to make sure it all works. But, probably before the end of the month

Good news!