Using the Scale Feature (w/screen keyboard)

dmstar1956 wrote on 2/27/2024, 7:00 AM

Is there a fuller discussion of the 'Scale' feature available somewhere?

The user's manual says 'the circles on the playing areas will guide you."  Oh, really?  How?  The manual explains that the double-circles indicate the tonic note.  Ok. That's the first note in a scale.  But what about the single circles?  What do they indicate?  For example, if I've selected the Harmonic Minor scale (A,H,C,D,E,F,G#,A), what circles correspond to the notes on this scale?  And what does the 'H' stand for? None of this is properly explained or illustrated in the manual.

On an annoyance scale from 1 to 10, this ranks as a 20!!!

Other questions:

How do you open the MIDI Editor so that it fills the screen like the Arranger?

Is there a more updated user's manual available?  I have the 2022 edition, but some features have changed or been updated since then.  

Comments

SP. wrote on 2/27/2024, 7:39 AM

@dmstar1956 For historical reasons the note B is named H in parts of Europe, which is where Music Maker is mostly sold.

I haven't tested it but maybe the single circles keys represent some important scales intervalls starting from the tonic, like thirds and fourths, so you can easily build chords? Simply record some notes and test it for yourself.

You can dock and undock the MIDI Editor by dragging its title tab with the mouse cursor. This way it can fill up the whole screen when it's not docked.

The newest manual should be available via the Help menu.

dmstar1956 wrote on 2/27/2024, 9:03 AM

Thanks for helping me better understand the Scale feature. The circles correspond to the various scale intervals.

But I can't get the MIDI Editor to dock though. I can move it around the screen, change its size, but it refuses to dock on any side of the grid; hence, my confusion. What am I missing?

 

johnebaker wrote on 2/27/2024, 1:58 PM

@dmstar1956

Hi

The images below show how I do this once the undocked MIDI pane has been maximised as required.

To dock the MIDI pane:

To expand Midi pane to last preset size:

HTH

John EB
Forum Moderator

 

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