Peaceful.DQM MIDI Setup

• Play Sample: Peaceful - Kaleidosynth (35 KB)
• Play Sample: Peaceful - DaqMusiq (43 KB)

When this setup is loaded, right-clicking on the Pitch-to-MIDI title bar or any non-control portion of the dialog will open Help at this topic.

Peaceful.DQM uses Orchestral Harp (46) with Scale set to Pentatonic Major and +/-Note at -8. Track Min-Max range is 200-500 Hz. Tempo is 200 BPM.

This is intended for KaleidoSynth use with Input feedback, but you can use it for DaqMusiq as well. The KaleidoSynth mode is more interesting and generally more pleasant, but the difference can be subtle.

In DaqMusiq mode, the +/-Note value has no effect other than changing the overall pitch range. In KaleidoSynth mode it also affects the nature of the feedback and hence the general note pattern. (In DaqMusiq mode there is no pattern other than remaining within range and scale.)

In either mode, raising the Track Threshold can create pauses or complete stoppage of the performance. This is particularly interesting in KaleidoSynth mode because it interacts with the environment: With the threshold set just right, the presence of people in the room can increase sound absorption and, if they are very quiet, reduce the feedback so much that performance eventually halts. Then any motion or random noise can initiate a new burst of playing.

The Changes script is in Voice 1 and is off by default. Use the Changes button there to toggle it on. Comments are added here, preceded by semicolons:

E1=1                ;PreScale On
W8 n1=?(-12,+12)    ;Wait 8 beats, set random +/-Note

The essence of this script is to randomly change +/-Note every 8 beats. This requires PreScale to be set so that all notes stay in the Pentatonic scale even at the time of the change. If there was no change, adding or subtracting a constant number of semitones to a performance would result in a simple transposition; for example, adding two semitones would change it from a Pentatonic scale in C to one in D... but it would still be perfectly Pentatonic after the change.

On the other hand, at the moment of the change there would be a "splice" between the scales, which could result in an off-key sensation for a while until your ear adjusts to the new scale. With PreScale the change happens ahead of the Scale operation, so the resultant notes are an extension of the same scale. To hear the difference, add a semicolon ahead of the first line to disable it.

See also Example MIDI Setup Files, MIDI Setup Files, Musical Frontiers, DaqMusiq, KaleidoSynth, Pitch-to-MIDI dialog, Pitch Track Toolbox - Overview, Spectrogram / Pitch Track Controls, Spectrogram / Pitch Track (Sgram/PT)