Play menu


Play From Actual Page

Plays the music from the actual chord page.


Play From Start

Plays the music from the beginning (first chord on first page).


Play From Loop Start

Plays the music from the start of the loop region (if any).


Stop

Stops playing.


Repeat All

Plays the music (the actual chord page sequence) repeatedly.


Repeat Page

Plays the actual chord page repeatedly.


Repeat Off

Plays the music (the actual chord page sequence) once.


Fade Out...

Here you can specify a fade out time for your music:




Mixer...

In this window you can make fine adjustments to volume levels of the MIDI output. Also, you may store your settings as a custom mix for the actual music style.

In the 'Drums' section, you can control the loudness of kick drum, snare drum, hi-hat, extra percussion, ride cymbal, crash cymbal, and fx (splash and china) cymbals. Note that these sliders (blue labels) are actually controlling MIDI note velocities and not volume levels. The 'Chords' section consists of three layers (a,b,c). The actual musical content of these layers varies with the music style. Typically, layer 'a' is a sustained sound (e.g. organ, strings, or synthesizer pad), layer 'b' is a rhythmic/percussive component, and layer 'c' is an additional decorative item (e.g. a guitar arpeggio). Use the three buttons to reset all sliders for 'Drums', 'Bass', and 'Chords', respectively. Music style's custom mix Click on the button in the Session Mixer to store your mix as the actual music style's custom mix. Custom mixes are saved independently of sessions so they can be accessed from any session later. You can load a custom mix by clicking on the icon next to the name of the music style in the music style selector (assuming that "Lock Mixer" is not enabled):

Accompaniment...

This gives you access to some accompaniment options on the session level:

Auto cymbal Defines how often the crash cymbal will be hit automatically. By default, the frequency is determined by the actual music style's default value. You can overwrite this value and specify a custom one. Restart music style on page change If activated (default), the accompaniment pattern will be restarted when a chord page switches to the next one in the page sequence. Repeat music style segment in loops If enabled, the accompaniment pattern will be synchronized to the song position whenever a loop restarts (similarly to a CD player). If disabled (default), the accompaniment pattern will loop independently (i.e. it will play its full length pattern regardless of the length of the loop). This way it is possible, for example, to define a short progression (e.g. two chords in two bars) and have an 8-bar accompaniment pattern playing its full length without restarting after the first two bars every time.

Chord Voicing...

In this window you will find (session level) options to customize chord voicing:

Use rootless voicing for chords defined by more than 4 notes ChordPulse uses 4 note voicings for all chords (except for power chords). This means that if a chord is defined by more than 4 notes (for example, ninth or eleventh chords), one or more notes are omitted. You can choose to always keep the chord root or you can choose to omit the root assuming that the bass will play it. Rootless voicing offers a more complete representation of complex harmonies within the bounds of 4 note voicings. By default rootless voicing is enabled. Open harmony (drop 2 voicing + raised voice leading) If enabled, chords will be played using drop 2 voicing (the second highest note of the chord will be lowered by one octave) and the default voicing leading pitch will be raised by three semitones. This will result in a more open sound typically useful in jazz applications. If disabled (default), close harmony will be used (chord notes will be positioned within one octave). This option has no effect on arpeggios or broken chords, only full chords are affected.

Chord voicing options define a default (or primary) chord voicing. In many cases, musical instruments of the accompaniment (playing chords) will follow this default voicing. However, instruments (typically playing broken chords or arpeggios) may use a different voicing/inversion depending on their type or function in the actual accompaniment style. Also, an instrument may add notes that are not included in the actual chord (e.g. in some of the blues music styles) or it may play only a subset of chord notes (e.g. power chords in some rock music styles). As another example, the chord root may be played by instruments that explicitely reference the root (e.g. octave based synthesizer arpeggios) even if rootless voicing is specified.