CREATING SONGS

   The CREATE function on the main menu allows you to enter and create songs
and lyrics through the following eight functions:

  CREATE NEW SONG    -  Erase the current song and display a blank staff
  ENTER MELODY       -  Enter or edit melody line of song
  ADD HARMONY        -  Enter or edit harmonizing note below melody note
  ADD LYRICS         -  Enter or edit lyrics below staff
  ADD CHORDS         -  Enter or edit guitar chord notation above staff

  COPY NOTES         -  Copy a section of notes
  DELETE NOTES       -  Delete a section of notes
  TRANSPOSE SONG     -  Transpose entire song up or down in pitch

   Using the first five functions, you can transfer a song from a book or
piece of sheet music into the computer and have the program play it for you,
or you can create songs and lyrics of your own.  COPY NOTES and DELETE NOTES
can be used to copy or delete entire sections of a song.  Sections of songs
can also be moved around by first copying a section and then deleting the
original section.  TRANSPOSE SONG lets you transpose a song between different
key signatures simply by hitting an up or down arrow key.


ENTERING A SONG

   To enter a new song, select CREATE NEW SONG to erase the current song and
display a blank staff.  If you plan to enter a song from a book or piece of
sheet music, you should be sure to set the "Key Signature" properly before
entering any notes.  The key signature is determined by the number of #'s or
b's on the far left side of the staff.  CREATE NEW SONG will ask you if you
wish to change the key signature.  If the key signature currently displayed is
different from the one in the song you are about to enter, hit F1 when
prompted by CREATE NEW SONG and change the key signature control setting as
appropriate.

   Next, use ENTER MELODY to create the melody line. This option provides a
wide range of functions for placing notes on the staff and editing their
pitch and timing.  If you are entering a song from a book or piece of sheet
music you can put several notes on the screen and then move them up and down
with the arrow keys, and change their timing with the + and - keys to match
the notes in the song you are entering.

   If you wish to create a song of your own, you can use the TRANSCRIBE NOTES
selection from within ENTER MELODY.  TRANSCRIBE NOTES allows you to create
songs just by playing on your computer keyboard like a piano.  As you play on
the keyboard the notes are displayed instantly on the score display with
proper pitch and timing information.  After playing in the last note,
remember to hit the ESCAPE key to tell the program that you are done.  This
will return you to the ENTER MELODY menu so that you can edit the notes you
just entered if you like.


ENTERING SONGS BY SINGING

   If you have an appropriate Tandy computer or a Sound Blaster (See the
Introduction help screen), TRANSCRIBE NOTES will also let you enter songs
just by singing into a microphone and tapping on the computer's spacebar.  As
you tap, the notes you sing are placed onto the musical staff with the
correct pitch and timing.  For best results you should hold the microphone
close to your mouth and sing at a slow to moderate pace, tapping at the
beginning of each note.  Once you have entered a melody line, you can hit
ESCAPE to return to the ENTER MELODY menu and then have the computer play it
back by moving the cursor to the beginning of the song and hitting the = key,
or by tapping on the spacebar.  Any note that sounds off-key can be easily
corrected by positioning the cursor under the note and using the up or down
arrow keys to change its pitch.


ADDING LYRICS, HARMONY, AND GUITAR CHORDS

   When you've finised entering the melody line of your song you can return
to the CREATE menu and use the ADD LYRICS option to type in words below the
notes.  You may also wish to add a second voice below the melody line with
the ADD HARMONY option, and add guitar chord notation above the staff with
ADD CHORDS.

   If you wish to create multiple verses of a song, you can enter a single
verse as described above and then use COPY NOTES to copy the verse one or
more times and ADD LYRICS to enter the lyrics of the additional verses.