Lyra Demo Documentation (version 1.6) Thanks for obtaining the demo version of Lyra for the IBM PC! Lyra is a music composition program that is designed to be affordable, easy to use, and powerful. In addition, large ready-to-use libraries of music files are available from several sources. Lyra will work with any IBM PC (AT recommended!) compatible that has a Hercules, CGA, or EGA (including VGA) display. A Microsoft mouse, while not necessary, is highly recommended. If you wish to play music, you must have an MPU-401 and a MIDI synthesizer connected, or an Adlib or Sound Blaster card. This version also supports the Optronics MIDI interface, the Key Electronics Midiator, and the Covox line of sound boards, including the Speech Thing, Voice Master, Sound Master, and MIDI Maestro. This demo version is exactly the same as the full commercial version with one exception: file save is partially disabled. You can save your work, but you must follow this rule: first do a file NEW. Enter any music you want, then do a file SAVE. If you load a file and then try to do a file save, you will find that the program will not let you do it. If you are using a music device other than the MPU-401, you will need to configure Lyra so that it will play music correctly (more on this later). All of the files on the disk can be copied to a hard disk; just make sure that everything is in the same directory. (Note: the commercial version is not copy protected.) Load the program by typing lyrademo and pressing the return key. The screen will change to a 640x200 2 color graphics mode and a box in the center of the screen will give you a brief introduction. Press any key to continue. This version will add color if you have a EGA or VGA color display. It not only makes the display prettier, but easier to read. Instead of an unselected part being displayed in "half-tone", it displays in gray. Unfortunately, the added color may slow things down a bit. If you want to run in the older, faster CGA mode, type LYRA /CGA when you start PC-Lyra. Please note that if you force the CGA mode and you actually have a Hercules compatible display, you could destroy your monitor! Please take care. If you find that PC-Lyra does not display in the correct mode even though you have a Hercules compatible, CGA, EGA, or VGA display, you can force the program into a display mode: LYRA /HERC LYRA /CGA LYRA /EGA As previously mentioned, be sure that you are selecting the right mode for your monitor as the wrong selection could permanently damage it! Move your mouse about and you will see a cursor shaped like an arrow or diamond moving around the screen. Using Lyra is basically knowing what you can do with the arrow. ENTERING NOTES The cursor keys at the right hand side of the keyboard can be used to move the note on the screen, or you can use the mouse, or a combination of the two. By moving the note up or down on the musical staff, you select a pitch. This pitch is displayed just below the bass clef. When you have the right pitch, press the left mouse button or "return" (or "enter") key. The note will be entered into the score. CHANGING NOTE PITCHES Once you have entered several notes, you can experiment with changing notes to different pitches. This is done by simply positioning the cursor (the movable note) directly above or below the note you wish to change and pressing the left mouse button or "return" key. ENTERING SHARPS AND FLATS A note that should have a sharp or flat in front of it can by entered by positioning the cursor and pressing the "S" or "F" key. A natural (used only when the key signature is being used) is entered with the "N" key. If you have added an accidental to a note (that is not in the key signature), all the following notes of the same pitch in that measure will have an accidental displayed. This will remind you of exactly what pitch PC-Lyra will play. INSERTING NOTES You can just as easily insert notes. Position the cursor just before a note and press the "return" key or click the left mouse button. DELETING NOTES Deleting a note is done by putting the cursor directly above or below the errant note and pressing the "Del" key (on the right hand side of the keyboard) or the "D" key. The right mouse button or ESC key also deletes a note. CHANGING VOICES Lyra is capable of 8 simultaneous notes (or 8 note chords). When you start the program, all notes are automatically entered into voice 1. You can change this to one of the 7 other voices by pressing the ALT key (left hand side of the keyboard) with a number key. ALT+2 selects voice 2, ALT+8 selects voice 8, and so on. You can also select a voice by moving the cursor to the upper right hand corner of the screen with the mouse. When it is over the box with the voice number you wish to select, click the left mouse button. The voice you want to use must have its box displayed as a solid white (or whatever is the same color as the box border). Only one voice can be selected at a time. You'll notice that repeatedly selecting the same voice will cause the box to change from white to gray to black (or the background color). When it is black, that voice will not be displayed on the music staff. When the voice box is gray then the corresponding voice is displayed in "halftone". This makes it easy to pick out a voice when the display gets crowded. MAKING CHORDS Lyra "thinks" in terms of eight independent voices instead of multi- note chords. Writing for Lyra is similar to writing music for a choir. At first this might seem to be a limitation when writing music for an instrument like a piano. The piano does not care how many notes you play at once. On the other hand, a singer protests violently if told to sing a three note chord. Each voice in Lyra can have only one note at a time. To make chords, you have to put notes in several voices. To do this, enter the top note in voice 1. Select voice 2 and enter the next note down. Continue with as many voices as you need to fill the chord. If a particular voice has not been filled with rests or notes before the chord, Lyra will fill it with rests so that the new note will be positioned correctly. SELECTING NOTE LENGTHS Note lengths are selected by pressing one of the number keys (1 through 7) or moving the mouse to the row of notes and rests at the bottom of the screen and clicking on the desired note or rest. You can select a rest by pressing the SHIFT key with the number key. When you do, the selected rest will change colors. You can also select a note or rest with the mouse; move the cursor over the desired item and press the left button. The selected note or rest will be highlighted. TRIPLETS, DOTTING AND TIEING NOTES All notes can be modified by making them triplet, dotted, or tied to the previous notes. Just position the cursor directly over the note you wish to change and press the "," (triplet), "." (dot), or "T" (tie) key. Please note that the tie is NOT the same thing as a slur! EDITING NOTES The Edit Note command lets you "edit" a note that is directly under the cursor. If you are using a mouse, this command is also accessable by pressing the right mouse button. To edit a note or option in this way, it is not necessary to first select the right voice so that the note is displayed in solid white. In fact, this command can be used to select the voice that a note is in. When this command is called, a menu in the middle of the screen will pop up. Three possible choices are listed: DELETE, which will delete the note or option (this does require that the note is in the selected voice), VIEW OPTION, which will give you more information about options, and SELECT VOICE, which will select the voice that the note or option is in. This edit command should make your editing process faster and easier. MOVING THE DISPLAY The cursor can be quickly moved up or down an octave with the "Pg Up" or "Pg Dn" keys. The "Home" and "End" keys move the cursor to the left or right ends of the score. When the cursor it at either side of the score, it changes shape into an arrow pointing to the side. If you press the left mouse button or the left or right cursor keys, the whole display will move in that direction. You can move to an approximate point in the score by moving the cursor over the area directly above the notes and rests at the bottom of the screen. Click in the box and the bar positioned at the extreme left will move to where you clicked, and the display will change. If you click in the middle of the box, the display will start at about the middle of the score. If you click at the point one-third from the left side of the box, the score will display at about one-third from the beginning. And so on. You can also use the "Goto bar" command under the Edit menu. A NOTE ON DIALOG BOXES Many of the commands accessed through the menus request information from you through a box displayed on the center of the screen. If there is more than one line to enter, you can move about using the up and down arrow keys to move from line to line. You can use the right and left arrow and HOME and END keys to move from one letter to another. The INS and DEL keys can be used to insert spaces or delete letters from a line. When you are finished entering everything, press the ENTER key. If you want to abort, press the ESC key. Pressing the left button of the mouse is the same as the ENTER key and the right button as the ESC key. Some dialog boxes display a list of items with a large inverted color selector cursor. Just move the cursor about with arrow keys or mouse until the item you want is selected, and press ENTER (or the left mouse button). USING THE MENUS At the top of the screen is a list of the various menus that have different commands. You can access a menu by pressing the "Alt" key plus the first letter of the menu. For example, to access the "File" menu, press ALT+F. Or move move the cursor to the top of the screen directly under the menu you wish to access. Select a command by moving the highlight down either with the arrow key or mouse and pressing "return" or the left mouse button. Pressing the key corresponding to the first letter of the menu item will immediately execute the command. You can move to a different menu by pressing the right or left arrow keys or moving the mouse in the desired direction. You can abort by pressing the "Esc" key, or moving the highlight bar to beyond the bottom of the menu. When an item is displayed in half-tone, it is not available. This is due to the fact that you must perform some other command first (as with the block commands). Most of the menu commands are fairly self-explanatory. Of those that may cause you trouble, here's a brief explanation. THE CONFIGURE COMMAND The configure command is accessed through the EDIT menu. While there are a number of parameters that can be modified with this command, the only one we are interested is the "MIDI Device", "Address", and "Interrupt". Sound Card MIDI Device Address Interrupt ------------------------------------------------- MPU-401 MPU-401 816 2 Optronics OPTRONICS 2E8H 3 Adlib ADLIB 904 Sound Blaster SBLASTER-S 544 Speech Thing SPTHING LPT1 Sound Master SMASTER 544 Voice Master VMASTER 559 MIDI Maestro MMAESTRO 816 2 MIDIATOR MIDIATOR COM1 or COM2 If you are using a Sound Blaster card with the MIDI connection box, set "MIDI Device" to "SBLASTER-M". You can type in either upper or lower case. If you have a Sound Master II, select the "ADLIB" device; the "SMASTER" is for the older card. The "Address" and "Interrupt" lines should be set to the correct numbers, depending on how your particular card is configured. The numbers should be entered in decimal or hex. If you use hex, then make sure that the last number is followed by an "H". The interrupt number is important only for step time or system exclusive MIDI recording. THE OPTION COMMANDS The purpose of these commands is to let you enter musical or MIDI information that is not a note. Select the desired option; the cursor changes to a box. Move the box to where you wish to put the option and press the "return" key or the left mouse button. The instrument option transmits MIDI program changes. You can set up the names of the instruments and their associated program numbers in the Instrument command under the MIDI menu. "Tempo" is used to enter a "local" tempo change. The actual tempo is a combination of the Master Tempo (which is set under the Play menu) and the local tempo. When the Master Tempo is set to 1.00, then the local tempo is the beats per minute (not exact in this version). Setting the Master Tempo to 2.00 will double the overall tempo, and setting it to 0.50 will halve it. "Byte" instructs Lyra to send the specified hex byte (you must enter two hex digits) unaltered to your synthesizer. By stringing several together you can send almost any type of MIDI information. "Octave" is used to either raise or lower the pitch of a voice by one octave. If the marker is placed above the staff, then it raises the pitch; if placed below the staff, it lowers the pitch. "Loco" cancels the effect of a previous Octave command. "Volume" lets you change the volume of music. You can customize the exact MIDI volume by using the Set Volumes command under the MIDI menu. "Events" is used to send larger amounts of MIDI data than can be conveniently sent with the MIDI byte option. In fact, you can send a whole file of MIDI data such as a system exclusive dump. The actual data in the event is set up through the MIDI menu. Events are also used to load in new instrument files for the Adlib card. THE BLOCK COMMANDS These commands let you work with blocks of music. You first must mark a block by positioning the cursor over the starting and ending points and pressing the "M" key each time. The music within a block is displayed in inverted colors. A block may be cleared by selecting the Reset command under the Block menu. Always make sure that the start of a block is at a point in music in which all voices have a note starting at that point. Lyra will warn you if this is not the case. If you select the Copy command, the music in the block will be copied to a special area of memory and held until you make use of it with the Paste command. The Cut command copies the block of music to the holding area in memory and also deletes that music from the score. The Paste command takes the music in the holding area of memory and puts it back into the score at a spot you designate. When you select the command, the cursor changes shape. Move it to where you want the pasting to occur and press the "return" key or the left mouse button. The Transpose command lets you transpose a block by a given number of steps (use negative numbers to lower pitches). You can specify either a "harmonic" transposition which will move the notes to a new key, or "modal" which keeps the notes in the current key signature. The block commands work only with music that is currently displayed. You can selectively work with different voices by turning off the undesired voices first. Take care with these commands. They all assume that when you paste, all music at the paste point aligns at that point. If one or more voices are empty or are in the middle of a long note, then the new music for that voice will be out of alignment with the other voices. PLAYING MUSIC In order to play music, you must have an MPU-401 (or compatible) properly connected, and a MIDI synthesizer hooked up to the MPU-401. Or, if you have corrected set up the Configure command (see above), you can used an Adlib or Sound Blaster card. If you have everything connected up correctly, then you might check the channel assignments under the MIDI menu to make sure your synthesizer is "listening" on the right channels. With an Adlib or Sound Blaster or MIDI synthesizer, you can set different voices to different channels and make each channel play a different sound. This makes it possible to make music that sounds like a small band playing! The Filter command under the Play menu is used to filter out certain types of data. Putting any letter on a line will make Lyra ignore that type of MIDI data. For example, putting a letter on the "Byte" line will make Lyra ignore all byte option markers. If you want to filter the channel, you should enter a number 1-16 on that line to indicate which channel you want all notes to be transmitted on. This command is very useful for playing music that has not been correctly set up for your synthesizer. The Play command will play only the music that is displayed on the screen. If you wish to mute a voice, turn its display off. PRINTING MUSIC Lyra will print your music; the result is very similar to the screen display. If you want to produce a professional score printing, you should convert the music to a MIDI file and read it into one of the available printing programs (that can cost 10-20 times as much as this program!). Before you start printing, you must make some changes in the Configure command (in the Edit menu). The last two lines are to describe your printer. The first, "Printer Number", is the ID number of your printer. 25 is for Epson compatibles, 39 for HP LaserJet series II, 44 for IBM PC Graphics Printer, and 45 for IBM Proprinter. The last line, "Printer Port", should be set to "LPT1", "COM1", or whatever printer port your printer is connected to. Also, if you have an EGA or VGA display, you must exit back to DOS and restart Lyra in the CGA mode (see below). Load in the music file you wish to print. Position the music so that the first notes you want printed are at the beginning of the staff. If you wish to print only certain voices, turn off the undesired voices. All voices that are in solid white or gray will print. Now you are ready to print. Select the Print command from the File menu. The display will change so that only the music staff is shown and printing will begin. If you press the Escape (ESC) key, Lyra will stop printing after the current staff is finished. It is not possible to print music while the program is running in the EGA display mode. To print music, exit back out to DOS and type: LYRA /CGA This changes the display mode to CGA and allows you to print music. Please note that if you force the CGA mode and you actually have a Hercules compatible display, you could destroy your monitor! Please take care. MIDI NOTE INPUT If you have a MIDI keyboard hooked up, then you can input notes directly into PC-Lyra from the MIDI keyboard. Select the NOTE INPUT command (under the MIDI menu). The cursor will change to a '+' in the middle of the staff. Whenever you hit a key on the MIDI keyboard, a note will appear on the staff. The pitch is controlled by the MIDI keyboard, and the length by the selected note or rest at the bottom of the display. You can change the note length by pressing keys '1' through '7' (or SHIFT plus the number to make a rest). Having one hand on the MIDI keyboard and another on the computer keyboard lets you input music very quickly and accurately. When you are done, press the ESCAPE key. STANDARD MIDI FILES PC-Lyra can produce standard MIDI format files (format 1). Since file save has been disabled on this demo version, the music files included with the demo are in two formats: the usual Lyra format (*.lyr) and the MIDI format (*.mid), which were generated by PC-Lyra. Please note that PC-Lyra does not read MIDI format files. ADLIB ROL FILES The CNVADL.EXE program that is included with PC-Lyra will convert Adlib .ROL files to Lyra format. You must exit PC-Lyra, and type CNVADL FILENAME where FILENAME is the name of the ROL file you wish to convert (wildcards are OK) after the program name. While the conversion process is not perfect, you will find this a useful tool. USING PC-LYRA WITH THE ADLIB FM SYNTHESIZER The Adlib music device (which is compatible with the Sound Blaster, Sound Master II, and other similar cards) is capable of playing up to 8 voices. As with most MIDI synthesizers, each voice can be set to a different sound by the use of the Instrument option markers. There are 145 preset sounds in PC-Lyra, corresponding to the sounds in the Adlib STANDARD.BNK file. Please note that several of these sounds are "percussive", and do not sound well with PC-Lyra, which uses the "melodic" mode. 1:ACCORDN 31:ELGUIT4 61:JEWSHARP 91:PIANOF 121:SYNSNR1 2:BAGPIPE1 32:ELORGAN1 62:KEYBRD1 92:POPBASS1 122:SYNSNR2 3:BAGPIPE2 33:ELPIANO1 63:KEYBRD2 93:RKSNARE1 123:TINCAN1 4:BANJO1 34:ELPIANO2 64:KEYBRD3 94:SAX1 124:TOM1 5:BASS1 35:EPIANO1A 65:LASER 95:SCRATCH 125:TOM2 6:BASS2 36:EPIANO1B 66:LOGDRUM1 96:SCRATCH4 126:TRAINBEL 7:BASSHARP 37:FLUTE 67:MARIMBA1 97:SDRUM2 127:TRIANGLE 8:BASSOON1 38:FLUTE1 68:MARIMBA2 98:SHRTVIBE 128:TROMB1 9:BASSTRLG 39:FLUTE2 69:MDRNPHON 99:SITAR1 129:TROMB2 10:BDRUM1 40:FRHORN1 70:MLTRDRUM 100:SITAR2 130:TRUMPET1 11:BELLONG 41:FRHORN2 71:MOOGSYNT 101:SNAKEFL 131:TRUMPET2 12:BELLS 42:FSTRP1 72:NOISE1 102:SNARE1 132:TRUMPET3 13:BELSHORT 43:FSTRP2 73:OBOE1 103:SNRSUST 133:TRUMPET4 14:BNCEBASS 44:FUZGUIT1 74:ORGAN1 104:SOLOVLN 134:TUBA1 15:BRASS1 45:FUZGUIT2 75:ORGAN2 105:STEELGT1 135:VIBRA1 16:CBASSOON 46:GUITAR1 76:ORGAN3 106:STEELGT2 136:VIBRA2 17:CELESTA 47:HARP1 77:ORGAN3A 107:STRINGS1 137:VIBRA3 18:CLAR1 48:HARP2 78:ORGAN3B 108:STRNLONG 138:VIOLIN1 19:CLAR2 49:HARP3 79:ORGNPERC 109:SYN1 139:VIOLIN2 20:CLARINET 50:HARPE1 80:PHONE1 110:SYN2 140:VIOLIN3 21:CLAVECIN 51:HARPSI1 81:PHONE2 111:SYN3 141:VLNPIZZ1 22:CROMORNE 52:HARPSI2 82:PIAN1A 112:SYN4 142:WAVE 23:CYMBAL1 53:HARPSI3 83:PIAN1B 113:SYN5 143:XYLO1 24:ELCLAV1 54:HARPSI4 84:PIAN1C 114:SYN6 144:XYLO2 25:ELCLAV2 55:HARPSI5 85:PIANO 115:SYN9 145:XYLO3 26:ELECFL 56:HELICPTR 86:PIANO1 116:SYNBAL1 27:ELECVIBE 57:HIHAT1 87:PIANO2 117:SYNBAL2 28:ELGUIT1 58:HIHAT2 88:PIANO3 118:SYNBASS1 29:ELGUIT2 59:JAVAICAN 89:PIANO4 119:SYNBASS2 30:ELGUIT3 60:JAZZGUIT 90:PIANOBEL 120:SYNBASS4 WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE PROGRAM? Obviously, there is a lot more that Lyra can do than we've covered here. Feel free to experiment! The only commands that have been disabled are those that display the message "Not Available: Demo Version". If you have questions about what certain functions can do, feel free to write or call for more information. ABOUT THE COMMERCIAL VERSION Version 1.00 was released January, 1990. As of this writing (January 6, 1992), the version is 1.6. As you can see, the program is in a constant state of evolution and improvement. Purchasing a copy puts you in touch with the latest changes and makes you elegible for inexpensive updates. The price is $39.95, which includes a printed page manual and a disk full of music. As with all MusicWare products, your purchase includes a 30 day money back guarantee of satisfaction, free bug fixes, and free telephone help (when purchased directly from MusicWare). Payment may be made with a personal check, Visa, MasterCard, or money order. The phone number is (800) 321-1490 or (503) 738-0119; ask for Lester Hands. Please use the 800 number for orders only, please! MusicWare Hamlet Route Box 1261 Seaside, OR 97138 Your comments and suggestions are appreciated. Lyra is a trademark of MusicWare. Copyright (C) 1989-1991 by Lester Hands. You are permitted to distribute copies of the demo program disk, provided that no changes are made in any of the files and only a nominal charge is made for the media (no more than $5.00).