Installation/Configuration

You may wish to output the samchillian MIDI to external MIDI devices, but typically you will probably want to send the MIDI data internally, through the IAC bus. To use this, it will be necessary to run a utility called "Audio MIDI setup", which is found in "/applications/utilities"

Under the MIDI Devices tab, find "IAC Driver". Double-click on it and on the 'properties' tab make sure the box "Device is online" is checked off. Now on the 'ports' tab make sure there is "Bus 1" listed on the "Ports" list. If not, click on "Add Port" and "Bus 1" should appear there. Click on apply and close the "Audio MIDI setup" program.

By default the mac function keys (top row of keyboard) are assigned to functions in the mac operating system, and are not seen by the samchillian application. In order to get the function keys to work in samchillian, it is necessary to go into "System Preferences"/"Keyboard/Mouse"/"Keyboard Tab" and check off "use the f1-12 keys to control software features." Realize, however, by turning your mac into a samchillian you are losing the ability to control some convenient mac functions - such as being able to control volume with keys instead of the mouse. Obviously you can change this back and forth. It's possible you can compromise somehow - let me know what you find

1. Unzip the samchillian file, if it is still zipped, by double-clicking on it.

- samlights3.mov (graphics file)
- lights.qtz (graphics file)
- set.xml ('set' file for live performance)

2. Put the samchillian application anywhere. Put this file (samOSXmanual.html) anywhere. Note that the only file that is absolutely necessary for operation is the application ("sam beta 1.0 285").

Set.xml stores information about songs for live performance; the other two are necessary only if you want to see the flashing lights. There may be some speed improvement without the lights - you can test this by renaming the graphics files.

3. Start the program. Make sure that under Preferences, MIDI Output is set to IAC Bus if you are going internally.

Note that because samchillian uses the computer keyboard as input, it must be the current application in focus in order to work. (Also note that should you desire a more exciting stage look you can plug any external USB computer keyboard into the laptop and use that as the keyboard.)

Start your receiving music application of choice - see list below. It may be necessary to go into the set-up/preferences menu and select the IAC bus channel one as MIDI input. Switch back to the samchillian application and play the letter 'a' repeatedly. At this point any music application that accepts MIDI internally should see the output of samchillian. At the moment these music programs are known to work, though any application that receives MIDI should work:

- Garageband
- Reason
- Ableton Live
- Logic Express

There should be no difference to your application whether the MIDI on channel one is coming from samchillian or from an external MIDI or usb keyboard. If your application does not indicate that it is receiving MIDI from samchillian, there is a problem and you should solve it before going on.

Display

From left to right:

- Scale Name ("major", e.g.)
- Key signature ("Eb")
- Last Note Sounded ("F#") - this information moves left to right to indicate approximately which octave you are in.

Keyboard layout

Movement keys (MV+n, MV-n)

The movement keys are the basis of the entire samchillian concept. Each key, rather than denoting a pitch - as is usual on pretty much any musical instrument - denotes a change in pitch, relative to the note heard just prior (within the current key and scale). So to play a melodic line, one needs to decide if the next note is up or down from the last, and by how many steps in the scale, and then press the appropriate key. This takes a bit of practice, but eventually it can become second nature. Furthermore, anything you learn in one key signature can be immediately applied to other key signatures, without having to re-learn any fingering.

Example: "Yankee Doodle"

Here's how the melody goes, written in traditional music notation:

To play this on samchillian, you must first analyze the differences in pitches from note to note.

Now, there are a number of ways to play these notes, as I have built in some duplication and alternate methods to the key functionality. But I have picked a simple one below. The letters below refer to the keys with those letters printed on them on the keyboard itself:

So to play this melody, you need to start on middle c in the major scale, which is where the instrument begins when you turn it on. Then just type the letters "a, a, d, d…" that appear under each note of the song.

Other Movement Keys

Most movement keys are of the type "+n" or "-n" where n is some integer. However, I have added a few special movement keys that can make things easier or more interesting.

P_UN ('o'): Undo key - this key brings you back to the note you heard just prior. The use of this can be quite intuitive, and in addition this key is quite helpful in the learning of new fingering. (When learning some new melody, when one makes a mistake one can immediately press the UNDO key and go back to just before the mistake and try again, figuring out which is the correct key to press.)

MV_SM ('j', [space bar]): Same key - this key repeats the movement made by the last key - to press this key is equivalent to pressing the previous key once more (moves the same number of steps as the last key struck, within the scale)

P_SM ('g') Same pitch - this key is similar to the 'same key' above, except it repeats the actual frequency ratio, not the interval. this means the result may not actually be in the current scale

+1_UN ('t'): same as P_UN but increases the pitch jump by one (i.e., it's one higher if the jump went up, one lower if down)_-1_UN ('y'): same as P_UN but decreases the pitch jump by one (i.e., it's one lower if the jump went up, one higher if down)

+1_SM ('b'): same as MV_SM, but adds one step (NOT CURRENTLY FUNCTIONAL)

CR_U: ('u'): moves you up one chromatically (as defined in scale data)

CR_D: ('l'): moves you down one chromatically (as defined in scale data)
note that 'chromatically has an extended meaning when you are not in the major scale. for example, in chromatic mode, when you move chromatically you actually move 1/4 step, so that two 'chromatic moves' while in chromatic mode are required to move to the next tone in the scale.

Chromatic Shift Keys

Left shift: Holding this key down makes everything you play a small amount lower in pitch. While depressed each subsequent note is a chromatic shift down (as defined in scale data)

Right shift: : Holding this key down makes everything you play a small amount higher in pitch. while depressed each subsequent note is a chromatic shift up (as defined in scale data)

(You can think of the analogy of the chromatic shift key on a harmonica)

Scale keys

(Important Note: By default the mac function keys (top row of keyboard) are assigned to functions in the mac operating system, and are not seen by the samchillian application. In order to get the function keys to work in samchillian, it is necessary to go into "System Preferences"/"Keyboard/Mouse"/"Keyboard Tab" and check off "use the f1-12 keys to control software features")

There are a number of pre-set scales that you can use. In the samchillian system, a scale is a set of notes, possibly microtonal. The default set of scales is as follows:

F1: Major (standard western scale)
F2: Chromatic (standard western scale)
F3: Pentatonic (standard western scale)
F4: 10 (10 note equal-tempered)
F5: 20 (20 note equal-tempered)
F6: Overtone (simulation of overtone series)
F7: Hebrew (harmonic minor, standard western scale)
F8: Shifto (slightly compressed major scale where every two octaves scale is shortened by a semi-tone)
F9: Shiftup (slightly expanded major scale where every two octaves scale is augmented by a semi-tone)
F10: 48 (48 note equal-tempered)

The scale name appears in the display, on the top left

Please note that when selecting a microtonal scale, you ought to set the receiving synth to a pitch bend range of 2. Other numbers may also produce interesting results, but '2' is the one that it is expecting.

Selection of the scale determines the set of notes, the harmonic palette if you will, that you will be drawing from. This can be further modified by changing the key signature with the transposition keys - see below.

Note that in the samchillian method there is no real difference between major and minor scales, or any of the 7 modes, for that matter. That is, if one wants a minor scale, one still selects the major scale and starts on the 6th chord tone, etc.

You may find it interesting to create a spiraling pattern of 3 or 4 repeating keys that you like in one scale, and then change the scale to hear the same 'harmonic contour' in another scale

Pentatonic mode is probably a good one to start on to see the ease of playing a good percentage of 'right notes' in a jam session. Play a repeating groove you want to solo over, and then try playing over it with the pentatonic scale. If it sounds wrong, press a few transposition key and see if this improves things. you may have to press a few keys until it sounds right.

Transposition Keys

Playing in one set of notes for too long may be confining, and you may be interested to change the key signature. While this is something with its original meaning in standard western harmony - i.e., with major, chromatic, pentatonic mode, or hebrew - I have extended it here to work on any scale. As with the movement keys, transposition is done relatively as well. That is the number key stands for the number of flats one wants to add to the key signature

'1' - add 1 flat
'2' - add 2 flats
'3' - add 3 flats
'4' - add 4 flats
'5' - add 5 flats
'6' - add 6 flats
'7' - add 7 flats (or 5 sharps)
'8' - add 8 flats (or 4 sharps)
'9' - add 9 flats (or 3 sharps)
'0' - add 10 flats (or 2 sharps)
'-' - add 11 flats (or 1 sharp)
'=' - UNDO last transposition

The new key signature appears next to the scale name, on the top line of the display.

As an example, a typical blues progression played with the major scale mode might go like this

So since C major is the same as G mixolydian, the scale that one might play on the blues to start with above, then the equivalent transpositions might go like this

Sometimes it is possible to ignore a scale change if you know you will not be playing the notes which would conflict - in the above example if you avoid the notes 'B/B flat' and 'F/F#' you will not need to transpose at all. more practically, you might transpose only for some portion of the time indicated above. (Though if you do skip a key signature changes you will have to make an adjustment to the subsequent change)

Another approach would be to strictly play pentatonic mode over those changes

Harmony key

HARM ('\'): This is a way that samchillian can play more than one note at a time, equivalent to making a fixed, 'rake-like' chord on the piano keyboard. This key cycles through 4 pre-fixed 'chords', the first being a single note.

1: single note (default)
2: "triad" {0, -2, -2} (i.e., plays the note you want, plus a note 2 down in the scale, and another one 2 down from that).
3: {0,-2,-4,-4}
4: {0,-6,-6,-7}

All Notes Off/Panic button ("CLR")

'q' is the "all notes off" key - at times it might be necessary to press it more than once, it seems.

Learning the layout

Obviously it takes some practice and ear training to become familiar with the keyboard and what each key does. I recommend a combination of just 'playing around' and learning specific melodies that you might want to play.

For some examples of exercises designed to help you learn the layout, see "The licks"

On the left is the pattern written in samchillian notation. In the center is the pattern as it will sound in standard notation. And on the right is my suggestion for a fingering for pattern.

The idea with most of these is to repeat them when you get to the end - should create a spiraling pattern.

Try a few of these out, and then write some of your own exercises.

Kinesis keyboard

The Kinesis (see http://kinesis.com) is an ergonomic keyboard that I use with this program. In addition to being more comfortable to play rapidly, it also has a separate function for the left thumb (backspace key) which is mapped to "MV+2", which is on the normal keyboard is assigned to the 's' key.

Serial mode

Serial mode is a special mode in which notes are essentially 'recorded' and then played back in the ordered in which they were played, or in reverse, or by skipping over notes.

This is more or less the concept of the "tone row", the basis of the style of classical music called serial music (Schoenberg, etc.), except that here it is extended to other scales besides the chromatic. Here's how it works:

There are 2 stages to serial mode: recording and playback.

Recording: depressing the key 'SER' ('[')switches the system serial mode. Now, as additional keys are pressed the software keeps track of the notes played, and will not allow an exact repetition of any note played since SER was depressed. We switch into the 2nd stage of serial mode ('playback') when one of the following two conditions are met: either the 'END' (']') key is depressed, or the default case which is when all the notes of the scale are used up.

Playback: in this stage keypresses work as they do normally, except we are restricted to the current 'scale' which is the cyclic set of notes we have recorded. This is to say, at this point repeatedly pressing "MV+1" will move us forward in our set of notes, cycling back to the beginning when all notes have been sounded; "MV-1" will move us backwards through the set. "MV+2" will skip by two's etc. In the case of a chromatic scale, one can imagine that the notes are the numbers on the face of a clock, and one is cycling around the clock in various ways.

Note that in this mode there is a special use to the 't' key: while in this mode, pressing the 't' will restart the sequence on the first note. This is useful in the case of a pattern of odd length, in the case you want to start it on the downbeat in a more regular key

example #1

you are on middle C in the chromatic mode, and you press the SER key.

Pressing MV+1 will move you to C#
Pressing MV-1 will move you to C
Pressing MV+1 will move you to D (this is because we are skipping over C#, which we have already heard)
Pressing MV-1 will move you to B (this because we have already heard all the notes between B and D
Pressing MV-3 will move you to G# (as normal)
Pressing END will bring us to stage 2, playback
Pressing MV+1 repeatedly will sound C#, C, D, B, G#, C#, C, D, B, G# etc. (the sequence we recorded)
Pressing 0, then MV-1 repeatedly will sound C#, G#, B, D, C, C#, G#, B, D, C, etc.
try other combinations of keys

example #2

select the 20 tone scale and press SER. this time don't press the END key, letting the software decide to end the sequence automatically when all 20 notes are used up. Once in the playback stage, try different combinations of repeating letters (for example: "r", "space bar", "j") to hear some unusual patterns

Set.xml:

Note that one can define other scales through the use of the set.xml file - try to figure it out, but hopefully someone will contribute a GUI to help edit this file, so I won't explain it at the moment. Here are the sections:

- scales

- keymap (not yet functional)

- songs: for live performance. You can preset the opening scale, key, starting note, and give it the name of the song

Please note that if you plan to change set.xml, it might be smart to make a back-up copy so you can replace the scales you have modified

Other

Through the menu it is possible to change MIDI channels, song/patches. This can also be done with combinations of command/option keys plus function and number row keys - see the menu

Relevant Websites:

Forum for bug posts, feature requests and other news/discussion of interest to samchillianists.