10/17/2020 Quick Start Guide
MusicDevelopments
Quick Start Guide
This tutorial explains how you can set up a composition,
and set basic properties like scale, tempo, signature, and
how to use the structure editor.
Step 1: Start a new composition
Press the 'Files' button: .
Click on 'Create New Composition':
Close the panel.
Step 2: Set scale, tempo and
signature
In RapidComposer the composition is a hierarchical structure as shown on this
image:
You can set properties (scale, chord, tempo, signature) on any level. Lower levels
inherit these properties by default, but they can also override them. On the
following image 'C Major' scale is speci ed at the composition level, but it is
overridden by 'Verse2':
The composition structure is presented as a collapsable list in RapidComposer.
Click on the 'Structure' icon to open the Structure Inspector.
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In the Structure Inspector you can add or remove lines and verses, and set scale,
tempo and signature if you right click on any units. Now right click on 'Untitled'
which is the highest level in the list. This will open another inspector:
You can set the composition global scale, tempo and signature in this window, as
well as composition title and composer name. You can choose whether to use
absolute chords, or chords with scale degrees.
Step 3: Add a new line
Click on 'Line1' in the Structure Inspector. Click on the lower green '+' icon to add a
new line below the existing line:
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The active view (that you edit on the composition workspace) is displayed with
blue text in the list. By default the whole composition ('Untitled' on the
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screenshot) is displayed. Double-clicking on 'Line1' will display only 'Line1' in the
composition workspace.
Step 4: Zoom And Resize
If you double-clicked on 'Line1', you can close the Structure Inspector. Now only
'Line1' is shown. Resize the track vertically by dragging the bottom of the track
header. Zoom the timeline using Ctrl-drag on the timeline. You can make the line
shorter or longer by dragging the right edge of the timeline:
Hint: if you double-click inside the track header, the track is automatically zoomed
to ll the workspace.
Step 5: Specify a chord
progression
Click on the small button at the top left corner to open the browser menu. Here
you can open/close browsers, and decide which browser icons to display in the
top bar. Click on the 'eye' button for Progressions:
Click on to open the chord progression browser. Select a progression,
and drop it on the Master Track as shown here:
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Step 6: Preview and edit chords
Select the track (click in the track header, e.g. on the Piano label). If you press 'H'
the track will be lled with phrases that are suitable to preview master track
chords. You can divide or join the chord sections by double-clicking. Move chord
section boundaries by horizontal dragging:
You can set the individual chords in many di erent ways: clicking on the chord
o ers chord suggestions, opening the chord selector, typing the chord name, or
entering a chord from your MIDI keyboard. Right-clicking on a chord section which
opens the Master Track Inspector
Step 7: Setting the track
properties
Right click on a track header to open the track inspector, where you can set the
name, colour, instrument, voicing, articulation and other properties for tracks. You
can make percussion tracks, which are optimized for percussions, but are still
phrase-based. Use the 'Acoustic Guitar' voicing if you want to use acoustic guitar
chords. In this case the track will look up the master track chords from a guitar
chord database and use the guitar chord notes instead of the keyboard chord
notes.
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Step 8: Done! You can move on
to the 'Working With Phrases'
tutorial
This tutorial ends here, but there is still a lot to discover. Generally if you right-
click on a track, phrase, master track, transport buttons, etc, an inspector window
will open. At the top of the window you can choose whether to display the
properties, operations or help for the clicked object. If you leave the mouse over a
UI element, a help window will pop up. (You can turn o pop-up help in the
settings when not needed anymore.) At the left bottom corner of the window you
will nd two small buttons that provide information about mouse
operations and keyboard shortcuts.
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