Computer Music: Isadora Tutorial All Notes Off

Computer Music: Musc 216
Isadora Tutorials: All Notes Off

When you start programming Isadora to play notes there is a possibility that you will turn a note ON and not be able to turn it back off. Consequently, a note will continue to sound and you may have to quit the application or even restart your computer. In this tutorial you will implement a standard MIDI command to TURN OFF ALL NOTES that are currently sounding when you press the SPACE BAR on your computer keyboard.

FORMAT OF THE MIDI COMMAND

The command, ALL NOTES OFF is part of the CONTROL CHANGE family of MIDI commands and has this format:

STATUS

DATA 1
(Control #)
DATA 2
(Control Data)

$B0 - $BF 123 0

STEP 1: Open your Project2Controller file. [Download the file HERE]

Open your Project2Controller which you completed in the previous tutorial. If you did not complete the previous tutorial, please do that now.

STEP 2: ADD A NEW SCENE; NAME THE SCENES

So far you have only one SCENE in your Project2Controller and it probably looks something like this:

Create a NEW SCENE by doing this:

1. Place your cursor to the right of the Scene ICON, "Untitled" at the bottom of the Isadora window. The Actors in the Play a Note scene will disappear and your cursor will start blinking.

2. Under the SCENES pull down menu, select "Insert Scene." You will see a new Scene ICON appear to the right of the previous one and it will be labeled, "Untitled-1."

3. Option-click your cursor on the original scene ICON and change the label to "Play Notes"

4. Change the label of the new scene ICON to "Ctl Changes"

You window should now look like this:

STEP 3: ADD THE ACTORS TO TURN OFF ALL NOTES when you press the SPACEBAR

1. From the Mouse and Keyboard group of Actors add a new Keyboard Watcher Actor.

2. From the MIDI group of Actors add a Send Control Actor.

3. Set the parameters on each actor like this:

- In the Keyboard Watcher Actor key range parameter field enter ' ' (single quote, SPACE, single quote).

- In the Send Control Actor change the "controller" parameter value to 123. This is the "controller number" for ALL NOTES OFF.

- Send Control Actor output to the Send Control Actor TRIGGER input.

Now, if you should get a "hung" note (a note that won't turn off) all you have to do is press the SPACEBAR.

STEP 4: ADD A NEW SCENE which will activate ALL SCENES.

In Isadora, the Actors in a Scene only become active when the Scene is SELECTED. Consequently, when you are in the Play Notes Scene and a note should become "hung" you would have to click the mouse on the Ctl Changes Scene for those Actors to function when you press the SPACEBAR. This, of course, is very inconvenient. It would be nice for ALL SCENES to be active all the time. To do this, you will have to create a new scene called "Main" and place it to the left of the "Play Notes" Scene. In addition, you will have to add Actors in the new scene which tells Isadora to ACTIVATE ALL SCENES. Do this:

1. Create a new scene to the left of the Play Notes Scene and name it, "Main"

2. Choose the "Control Group" of Actors (group #7) and place an Enter Scene Trig Actor.

3. In addition, add TWO Activate Scene Actors.

4. Make the connections as shown below.

5. Change the Scene parameter field in one of the Activate Scene Actors to "+2 Ctl Changes." You can do this by clicking on the field and then DRAGGING the mouse up or down. Any Scenes which you have created will automatically appear in this parameter field and can be selected individually.

Your new "Main" Scene Actors should look like something like this:

Your Main Scene window should look something like this:

STEP 5: Configure SimpleSynth to play notes from Isadora

See the previous tutorial for how to do this.

STEP 6: Try it out!

1. Click on the Main Scene ICON at the bottom of your window.

2. Press the 'a' key to play a note (leave it down).

3. Press the SPACEBAR and the note should turn off.

STEP 7: Troubleshooting (debugging)

1. If you do not hear any notes play, you will have to reconfigure the MIDI setup with Simple Synth. See the previous tutorial.

2. If you still don't hear any sound, go to Isadora's MIDI Setup window. In the DESTINATION port, change the selection to "None" then change it BACK to "SimpleSynth virtual input."

3. If you still don't hear any sound, ask your Instructor for assistance.

STEP 9: Save your work

When you complete this tutorial:

1. Save your Isadora file. You will want to keep the OLD Project2Controller file you created in the last tutuoral. So you can either RENAME that file as something like Project2Controller.OLD, or you can name this new file something like Project2Controller.CURRENT. Which ever you decide to do, you should always keep the copies of your older tutorial files in case you "mess up" and have to start over again.

2. Save another copy of this file and call it Homework10.YourLastName. See the Class Schedule for specific details about submitting this Homework assignment.

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