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If either "Accordion" or "Harmonica" are selected in the "Tuning" dialog, [Tuning] and [Reverse Tab] are replaced by a single button labeled [Instrument Configuration]. Clicking on this button will, in turn, open the following dialog: In the case of the accordion, this allows you to create a custom keyboard configuration by defining the key/note relationships for each row of keys. As concerns the harmonica, it allows you to define the hole/note relationships with the extra rows being used for bends and over-bends. At the top of the dialog, you'll find two fields. The first one is a combo box containing a number of preset definitions corresponding to the currently selected .dat file. The .dat files furnished with TablEdit contain 16 instrument definitions, eight accordions and eight harmonicas. These files are used to augment the popup list of instrument definitions. The second field is editable and simply allows you to assign a name of your own to a given configuration. The dialog also allows you to change the name used for the "Push" and "Pull" rows. The initials of the names you select will be used for both display and printout of the tablature. The first time you open the dialog, you'll notice that the fields for these two names are in French (thus, the use of the letters "P" and "T" in the tablature as well as in the explanations below). As you can see, translation into English presents a problem in the fact that both "Push" and "Pull" begin with the letter "P". One solution might be to use "P" for "push" and "p" for "pull". The choice is up to you. Below each of the two name fields is a box which allows you to define the pitch of the note used to define the "Push" string (string 1) and the "Pull" string (string 2). [Default] resets the grid to the default settings (G/C accordion with 2 1/2 rows or C major diatonic harmonica). [Init] clears the entire grid so that you can create a completely custom configuration. [Open] let's you load the item currently selected in the list from the currently selected .dat file into the configuration editor. [Save] allows you to save onto the .dat file the configuration you've just modified into the list under the currently selected heading. This will modify the currently selected .dat file permanently, so you may want to save an unmodified copy of the original file either in another location or under another name. You shouldn't, normally, have to do this repeatedly. The eight pre-defined configurations should be enough. If you don't use the default configuration, TablEdit will save the custom configuration you've selected or defined with your *.tef file. The appearance of the "Special Effects" palette will also change: Doesn't this illustration just scream "Click on me" ? Diatonic Accordion TablEdit automatically recognizes this instrument as soon as a tablature has been created using the pre-defined tuning proposed for it in the "Tuning" tab of the "Instrument..." dialog. You can enter both the melody and the bass from either the tablature or the notation. Notes entered in the notation are automatically placed on the "Pulled" (T) line unless this is made impossible by the bass. Two of the buttons in the alternate "Special effects" palette illustrated above can be used to force "push" or "pull". You can transfer notes found on the "Pull" line to the "Push" (P) line by using [Ctrl]+[-]. Conversely, notes on the "Push" line can be sent to the "Pull" line using [Ctrl]+[+]. Entering notes via the tablature is simple. Enter the number of the button on the destination line and then press ['] if it's a second row note or the corresponding button from the palette (same thing for third row notes). In cases where the note can be played on any of several rows, the row can be forced using ['] or ["] in the notation. To enter the bass notes, enter the initial of the note in Upper Case. To enter chords, re-enter the initial a second time. If necessary, you can adjust using [+] and [-]. On-screen, TablEdit displays the basses in the notation. This makes it easier to adjust the duration. On printout, the basses and the chords are removed from the notation. By default, TablEdit provides two lines for the entry of basses and left hand chords. The "Accordion" palette allows the entry of right hand chords. To do this, first select the note to be used as the fundamental. Now select the second note (Major 3rd, minor 3rd or 4th) followed by an eventual third note (if you don't want the natural 5th). TablEdit displays the corresponding chord in both notation and tablature. You can inhibit the display of the third note of the chord by clicking on the crossed out "5"in the palette. Last, but not least, you can superimpose two notes in the display by selecting one or the other of the buttons representing superimposed notes. Right-hand chords In order to enter a right-hand chord consisting of three notes:
To access the individual notes in order to edit them you'll first have to separate them by re-selecting them as a block and once more clicking on the chord effect in the palette. You can enter chords of from two to four notes. The notes of two-note chords will be displayed one above the other in the tablature rather than side-by-side as is the case with three and four note chords. Note that by pressing [&], you automatically enter "row" mode. This mode affects display and printout only. Entry from the tablature is almost impossible. It should also be noted that the pre-defined tuning used by TablEdit is that of the G/C accordion, this being the most common. You can, of course, very simply specify, for instance, an A/D tuning by raising the three "strings" by two semi-tones in the Instrument Tuning dialog box. Harmonica The instructions provided above for the diatonic accordion are, for the most part, also applicable to the harmonica. In order to enter notes in the tablature, enter the number of the hole on the destination line and then press ['] if the note is bent or ["] for an overbend. Bends and overbends are displayed as an apostrophe or a double-quote, respectively. The "Diatonic instrument" dialog shown at the top of this page allows you to change the default initials "P" and "T". If, for instance, you replace "Push" with "Blow" and "Pull" with "Draw", the two lines will begin with "B" and "D". |