Deluxe Piano!

          Are  you a budding Chopin or Elton John just waiting  to 
     be  let loose on a keyboard?  Well,  now is your chance  with 
     this  superb  simulator which enables you  toplay  your  ST's 
     keyboard like an electronic piano.

          After  booting up in medium resolution color select  the 
     Mode menu,  click on Play Piano and a keyboard will appear on 
     screen.  Pressing  the  ST  keyes will  now  play  the  notes 
     indicated on the keyboard.

          Select the Piano menu and you will see that Notes On  is 
     ticked indicating the current mode of play.  Click on  Slider 
     On in the Piano menu and you will hear the pitch slide up  to 
     the note.

          Click on Chords On and play the keyboard.  Now each  key 
     you  press  will produce a three -note chord.  Click  on  Set 
     Chord  in  the middle section of the Piano menu and  you  can 
     choose the type of chord to play.

          You  can create your own chords by selecting Custom  and 
     following the on-screen prompts.

          The  keyeboard has range of just under two  octaves.  By 
     clicking  on Set Octaves in the Piano menu you can alter  the 
     octave range of each of the three voices. Click on voice A, B 
     or C and then on the desired range.  Use Set Voice to  select 
     which one will sound.

          The sequencer section lets you store a sequence of notes 
     in  memory and you can store different ones for  each  voice. 
     Click on Sequencer On in the Piano menu then on Set Sequencer 
     and finally on the voice you wish to program a sequence for.

          Next  select  a  time  signature,  this  isn't  terribly 
     important  as note durations are selected  independently  and 
     there are no bars.  Follow the onscreen prompts.  It can be a 
     little laborious clicking on all the dialogue boxes,  but you 
     can  only store a maximum of 24 notes in a  sequence,  so  it 
     won't take too long.

          If you enter a note incorrectly, click on Redo and enter 
     it  again.  Click  on  Stop when the  sequence  is  complete. 
     Selecting  Edit Sequence will play each note in the  sequence 
     and give you the chance to  change it.

          Copy Sequence lets you copy a sequence from one voice to 
     another.  Sequence Tempo sets the speed at which the sequence 
     plays back. The lower the tempo value the faster the playback 
     speed - the opposite of normal music convention.

          You can create lots of interestin effects by programming 
     scales or short arpeggios- runs of notes - such as C,  E,  G, 
     C. When you have created a good sequence you can save it to a 
     blank formatted disc, using the Save Parameters option in the 
     File  menu.  Don't forget to give it a .PAR extension  so  it 
     shows  on  the  file selector box when you come  to  load  it 
     again.

          The final part of the program is the Instrument  Control 
     panel  which lets you alter the sounds produced by the  three 
     voices. Select it from the Instrument menu or press F10.

          Art  Wave lets you alter the way the sound  is  produced 
     and  Attack determines how quickly the sound reaches  maximum 
     volume,   in  other  words,   how  percussive  it  is.  Decay 
     determines  how quickly the sound dies away.  You can hear  a 
     voice  by clisking on the Hear box.  When you  are  finished, 
     click on OK.

          Next  select  Envelope  from  the  Waveform   Instrument 
     Control  Panel.  This  is rather more complex  in  operation. 
     Choose which voice is to be affected by clicking on the upper 
     part of the screen. The slider in the center is used to alter 
     the parameters. You can hear any of the voices bu clicking on 
     Hear.

          Cont  will  make  a  sound  repeat,   but  some  of  the 
     parameters-  Hold,  Alt  and  Attack - seem  to  be  mutually 
     exclusive. Experimentation is the order of the day.

          Next  stop  is  the Mixer which lets  you  select  Noise 
     and/or Tone sounds for each voice. The Cycle Speed determines 
     the timbre of the Noise produced. When you have created a set 
     of  sounds you like,  save them to disc.  Give them  an  .INT 
     extension.

          If  you  enjoy Deluxe Piano it will sertainly  be  worth 
     looking  at  some of the commercial programs on  the  market. 
     These  are  more sophisticated and have many  more  features. 
     Some even play music via Midi.