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General Discussion: EigenTab key/scale/chord helper app available

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written by: mikemilton

John, the idea of stepping through is neat. That said, even without show me or stepping, EigenTab makes working out things much easier

written by: jsn

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:52:59 +0100 BST

EigenTab v1.0.18 released.

Now with the root/scale setting set in the editable script, but more importantly TEXT! A simple implementation, but useful for comments and (a hint) of lyrics. Can only be edited in the Script, not interactively through UI.

For example, 


T:House of the Rising Sun

S: A chromatic

T:Arpeggiate the chords from the root.

T:If the key group is small the D of the E7 will wrap but still should be the last note struck in the chord

T:

C: Am,C ,D ,F ,

T:There is a house in New Orleans,

T:

C: Am,C ,E7,

T:They call the "Rising Sun",

T:

C: Am,C ,D ,F ,

T:It's been the ruin of many a poor boy,

T:

C: Am,E ,Am,E7,

T:And God, I know, I'm one.

T:


This wiki has stripped out the HTML elements in the above script, but you can use HTML markup in the text.

Give it a go.

Thinking of doing a smarter chord/text mix so the lyrics line up. Thoughts?


written by: jsn

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 17:56:27 +0100 BST

EigenTab v1.0.19 released.

Now with Slash Chords for chord inversions and alternate bass. Edit the Script and add the / notation for chord - e.g. D/F# to invert the D chord to start on the bass note of F#. Try this: 


S: D major

C: G , D/F# , Em,


written by: jsn

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 11:33:38 +0100 BST

EigenTab v1.0.20 released.

Now with inline lyrics and smarter chord diagrams.

Lyrics can be placed inline with chords using the following syntax in the Script:

C: [lyric],chord[lyric],chord[lyric],

For example: 


S: D dorian

T: Aint' No Sunshine When She's Gone

T: Bill Withers

T: 

C: Am[Ain't no sunshine when she's],Am[gone],Em,G ,Am,

C: Am[It's not warm when she's],Am[away],Em,G ,Am,

C:  [Ain't no sunshine when she's],Em[gone, and she's always gone too],Dm[long],

C:  [Any time she goes],Am[away],Em,G ,Am,


Which gets rendered like this

The chord diagrams are a bit smarter now and try to minimize the hand/finger movements you need to make when transitioning chords.


written by: NothanUmber

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 14:39:34 +0100 BST

EigenTab is really nice, thanks a lot for the program and all the ongoing updates!
The feature I would be most glad about would be (guess what ;) ) support for custom layouts. If this should prove to be tricky, would perhaps support for custom course offsets be within reach? (Then you could e.g. "fake" the chromatic horizontal Tau layout with the standard layout, a custom scale (69,65,)61,57,53,49,45,41,37,33,29,25,21,17,13,9,5,1 and one semitone/scale interval offset between courses - like it had to be done with EigenD 1.x in the pre musical/physical layout era)

All the best,
Ferdinand


written by: jsn

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 15:50:41 +0100 BST

No surprise there :-)

I have been avoiding it, but now have only "show me" (using the Illuminator) and custom layouts left on the feature list. Then the re-write to do full Tab + all these features...


written by: NothanUmber

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:52:29 +0100 BST

Ok, I see, the best features are reserved for the finale :)
Thanks for considering!

Will be interesting which tab representation you will be going with (there is a German proverb "wer macht hat die Macht" - which could be translated with "those who actually do something have to power to choose the direction" - ok, it rhymes better in German :P )


written by: benjamind2008

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 01:53:51 +0100 BST

Sorry to say, but I'm getting all confused. There seems to be a break in the lineary when looking at the notes of the scale. It seems OK in Chromatic scale but once you use the exotic scales it seems to change. I look at it as rows of 4 keys, from one side to the other, or as columns as long as the scales (ie, 7 keys for C major), and there seems to be a discontinuity.

Can someone please help me out on this, I'm totally frazzled as to what to do or how to understand this. I'm sure this is very confusing for others too, so if anyone can tell me exactly what is happening here I'd much appreciate it.

Thanks ;)


written by: jsn

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 10:00:52 +0100 BST

Not quite sure where you confusion lies - are you referring to a Pico or a Tau/Alpha layout?

On the standard Pico there is an 'odd' disconuity between the top 8 and bottom 8 keys where the rising tones swap from one side to the other. This makes it easier to play with both hands and means that you get the fifth offset between columns to make chording easier. Is this what you mean?

On Tau/Alphas with bigger key blocks there is an offset between courses to help with chording/playing. Usually this is the fifth note of the scale you choose. So in a 7-note scale (like major or minor) this is five notes (a fifth), but in chromatic this is 5 semi-tones.

This does mean the 'pattern' of a chord changes as you move across columns (I.e. up an octave), however, if you choose (or create) an 8-note scale you can get symmetry - try a C chord in C-major vs. C-bebop-major. You'll see the latter has mer symmetry (you can also ply with course offsets)

Does this help, or have I misunderstood your problem? If so can you give me a specific example?


written by: benjamind2008

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 23:01:29 +0100 BST

It seems hard to work out how to play the tones, going by the diagram. I'm sure with learning it will become easier, but it looks strange. Still, if a scale is selected it locks the keys to that scale, so you won't play any sour notes, so it should work out, but I'd really like to know how this layout works in more detail. I use a Tau. I sold my Pico as it didn't give enough keys for me to really work with, but a Pico is easier to play for sure, less keys makes it easier for some things, especially just playing harmonies of a chord, which with the 18 keys (if they can enable the scroll-keys as playing keys) would give one access to 6 octaves for a triad say C Major/Minor, 4 octaves for a 4-note say C Major 7, 3 octaves for a 5-note say C Major 9, so the Pico is definitely useful in that context.


written by: jsn

Mon, 28 May 2012 11:13:09 +0100 BST

EigenTab v1.0.21 released.

Now with "show me" functionality for EigenD 2.0+

By pressing the '^' in the top left of a chord diagram, the chord will be displayed in lights (using an Illuminator) on your Eigenharp keyboard. Makes finding/learning a bit easier.

Considering doing a 'play all' functionality which will show them in sequence with a pause between. Thoughts?


written by: jsn

Mon, 28 May 2012 12:49:02 +0100 BST

Looks like a bug in 2.0.50 - works OK in 2.0.48.

Let me see if I can narrow it down....


written by: carvingCode

Mon, 28 May 2012 12:57:21 +0100 BST

Hi John - I tested the new version with my Tau and couldn't get the chords to light. Using 2.0.50 Factory. All other aspects work fine. Something I'm not doing?

Randy

Follow up: Confirmed that it works with 2.0.48. So another small bug in 50 to squash.


written by: jsn

Mon, 28 May 2012 12:57:09 +0100 BST

Yup. Looks like 'name ify' in Belcanto is failing. Will report


written by: mikemilton

Mon, 28 May 2012 13:13:32 +0100 BST

John, the idea of stepping through is neat. That said, even without show me or stepping, EigenTab makes working out things much easier



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