Special Instruments
Diatonic wind instruments
This category includes the diatonic accordion and the harmonica. As both of these instruments make use of a special variant of the Tuning portion of the "Instrument..." dialog, a separate page has been dedicated to them.
Chromatic accordion
Florence Glorion had the ingenious idea of adapting to the chromatic accordion the Corgeron tablature system, conceived in the 80's for the diatonic accordion.
In this tablature system, each of the treble strings represents a row of the right hand keyboard. The left hand basses and chords are played on the two bass strings both tuned in C(1). A 3-row accordion will have 5 strings. A 5-row accordion, 7 strings.
The Instrument-> Tuning function allows you to obtain a tablature adapted to your keyboard. First select the predefined tuning "Chroma Accordion". Then use the "Instrument Setup" button to access the dialog box that allows you to:
- enter the note that corresponds to the first button on the first row (from the top of the instrument).
- choose the number of rows (from 3 to 5)
- choose the progression from the four available (Glorion, Italian (standard), Bayan, French)
From this tuning, TablEdit is able to automatically recognize the instrument as a chromatic accordion and to convert the notes of the notation staff into a perfectly legible tablature.
The instructions for entering notes on a diatonic accordion apply to the chromatic accordion except that the discussion about the rows and the push/pull direction is irrelevant.
Banjo - Mountain Dulcimer - Strumstick
TablEdit recognizes these instruments as a function of the number of strings and the tuning used (the bottom string having the highest pitch). Having been recognized, TablEdit manages all of the peculiarities of these instruments automatically, including the diatonic capo for the dulcimer.
Clawhammer banjo
The 5th string can be assigned a special capo. Use for this purpose the "Capo 5th" field under normal capo. Unlike the main capo, which changes the tuning of all strings (including the 5th), this partial capo does not affect the pitch of the notes. In the tablature, it changes the display of the fret numbers and prevents a lower fret number from being entered.
Notes equal to the capo position of the 5th string will be displayed as 0's. Impossible notes above the capo position will be displayed as negative numbers. Notes fretted below the capo will be displayed according to their absolute physical position on the neck.
The above rules do not apply if the main capo is placed on a fret beyond the 4th fret. In this case, the capo will have the same effect as on a normal instrument. More importantly, they also do not apply if the two capos are "aligned", for example, main capo on 2nd fret and 5th string capo on 7th fret. In this case, TablEdit will display the fret numbers for all strings counting from a capo placed on the 2nd fret.
The option "5th counted from the main capo" allows to display the fret numbers by counting from the main capo.
Naming the instrument "Capo-ble" or "All-Key" makes it easy to use a capo on your banjo to play in other keys. Even if the tuning is that of a banjo, TablEdit will not recognize it as a banjo and will not apply the special 5th string treatment.
TablEdit uses the Choke effect on an open string to emulate the action of Keith tuners
Dulcimer - Strumstick
In order to force TablEdit to display the tablature using a diatonic fingerboard, simply enter "Dulcimer" as the instrument name. Conversely to manage a chromatic dulcimer, just change the name of the module to prefix it with "Chroma".
To create a tablature for dulcijo, a tree string banjo/dulcimer combo that looks as a small banjo, simply enter "Dulcijo" as the instrument name.
To get a Strumstick Merlin the name of a Strumstick module must start with "Merlin".
Four string banjo
This instrument has no specificity except one: if the name of the module starts with "Banjo", the chord position is not displayed on the top left of the chord diagram but to the right of the first fretted string.
Hammered Dulcimer
To create an hammered dulcimer, you have to use the "Custom Tab Instrument" tuning. You will then be able to define in the Custom Tab Instrument configuration dialog the courses and the bridges of your instrument.
The lute is generally represented (since the Renaissance) in seven lines of tablature, with numbers or letters (a=0, b=,1 c=2, etc.) for the position of the fingers, depending on the writing used (see General Options). The first six strings of the tablature have no particularity except that frets greater than 9 are written in Roman numerals if the option "a=0 b=1 c=2" is not checked.
The seventh string alone represents all the bass courses (so courses seven to thirteen). For example, "//a" means that the ninth course (7 + 2//) must be played open. A simple "6" means that the thirteenth string (7+6) must be played open, etc... TablEdit applies these rules as soon as the instrument has been initialized with the predefined FDAFDAA tuning. The tuning of the strings can of course be changed later.
The entry of notes in the tablature on the seventh line is done by the finger position that would produce the desired bass note on the lowest course: "10" produces the first open bass course, "8" the second, "7" the third, "0" for the last etc."
To configure a lute, first select the "Tuning" tab in the "Instrument" dialog box, then select the "Lute" instrument from the list of preset instruments. You define in this dialog box the tuning of the first six strings and for the virtual 7th string, the tuning of the lowest physical course (the 13th).
A specific dialog box, which opens from the "Instrument configuration" button, allows you :
| • | to define the number of physical strings of the instrument n (from 7 to 21) |
| • | to set the pitch of the bass strings 7 to n-1. Remember that the pitch of the lowest course has been defined in the "Tuning" tab. |
| • | to define the tablature line on which the bass strings will be displayed (normally "7", entering the number "1" in the "Bass" field allows you to invert the tuning for example)... |
The "Import..." button allows you to import a lute configuration from another .tef file.
In other words, in the Tuning dialog box, we define (as usual) the tuning of the first 6 strings and the lowest string (n). The "Lute Tuning" dialog box allows to define the tuning of the virtual strings 7 to n-1. For example, for a lute with 11 courses, you would define in the "Tuning" dialog box the strings 1 to 6 and the 11th course. In the "Lute Tuning" dialog box, you will define courses 7 to 10.
Tips:
TablEdit can also create a tablature for harp-guitar, a guitar with open bass strings. If the name of the instrument, entered in the "Name" field of the lute module, starts with the 4 letters "Harp" (e.g. "Harp guitar"), TablEdit displays the name of the open bass string note; if the name of a lute module starts with "harp" (in lower case), TablEdit displays the open bass string numbers
TablEdit is able to import files in Wayne Cripps format
In tablatures written for the violin, the numbers don't indicate hypothetical, non-existant frets. Instead, they indicate the finger used to fret the string, this finger corresponds to a note in the ongoing scale. To ask TablEdit to use this type of notation just enter "Fiddle" as the module name.
To indicate the sharps and flats, simply select the note you have just entered and type [+] or [-]. The number in the tablature will be flanked by either an "L" (low) or an "H" (high). The algorithm used for deciding when a "L" low of "H" high finger position is displayed is relative to the diatonic scale.
If you have a C
displayed as "3H", you can change it into a "4L" by forcing a D
.
A separate page has been dedicated to this instrument.
Tin Whistle / Recorder / Xaphoon / Native American Flute fingering charts
TablEdit can also create "tablatures" for flutes or xaphoon (this is a kind of mini-saxophone, also known as a "pocket sax" cf. www.xaphoon.com). Just select any of these four instruments in the "Instrument>Tuning" sub-dialog" and TablEdit will automatically display a graphical image representing the body of the instrument below the notation. Filled circles indicate closed finger holes, open circles indicate open finger holes, half-filled circles indicate partially covered finger holes. It goes without saying that the tablature, itself, has no significance in this case. The size of this image depends on the "Chord diagrams" font selected in {File | Options}>Fonts,
The "tablature" portion of tunes written for reed instruments contains three hypothetical strings which always maintain the same internal relation. You can change the tuning but make sure that all three strings are modified to the same degree (by, for example, pressing [Ctrl] while modifying a "string"). If this isn't done correctly, TablEdit will no longer recognise the instrument for what it is.
Tips:
The tab can be shown on screen but will be never printed. For the native american flute, if the tablature display is selected, TablEdit will print some numbers indicating the fingerings above the notation.
If the name of a Xaphoon module begins with 'M', TablEdit treats the instrument as a minisax.
If the name of a Tin Whistle module begins with 'B', TablEdit treats the instrument as a bombard. If the module name begins with 'U', TablEdit handles it as a Uilleann pipe. In this case TablEdit applies the staccato fingering as default unless the module name contains "Legato". If the module name begins with "Scottish", TablEdit applies the fingerings of the Highland bagpipe,
See also: http://el-kay.com/tabledit/en/Xaphoon.htm
In an autoharp tablature, the five lines of the tablature grid do not, obviously, represent the 36 actual strings of the instrument. Instead, they mirror the five lines of the classical notation by displaying, on the same line as the that of the corresponding pitch, fingering indications for rhythm and melody.
By default, melody notes are "plucks", that is to say that the player, using the thumb and a finger, picks the fundamental of the chord and two or three adjacent strings at the same time. You can enter a "pinch" (a single string) by assigning the note a right-hand thumb attack indication.
For rhythmic or accompaniment figures, enter the fundamental of the chord and assign it a "Brush" or "Roll" effect. (see Special Effects)
In order to force TablEdit to display the tablature in an autoharp-specific format, simply enter "Autoharp" as the instrument name. Given the fact that notes are not displayed on the string where they're actually located in the tablature, it's recommended that this display mode not be activated during editing.
The tablature normally does not make sense for a trombone. The fret number is even the exact opposite of the physical instrument : the more the pipe is extended, the more the sound is low. By pressing [W] (for Wind instrument), you define the module as a wind instrument. Thus the logic is inverted : The 0 will be displayed as a 7, the 1 as a 6, and so on. In printout, the standard display of the tuning is replaced by a special display where each string represents an hole.
Some instruments, in particular oriental ones, produce naturally microtonal sounds. TablEdit allows you to emulate these instruments. In order to do this:
| • | Apply to the module any name starting with "Arab", for example "Arabic Oud". |
| • | Select the note to be adjusted and apply the "Choke" special effect ([c]). TablEdit will then display an half sharp in the notation (which means that the note is augmented by one ¼ tone) and suffixes the number by '+' in the tablature. To achieve a half-flat, select the note, apply the "Choke" effect and type [<] twice. |
With some instruments, it is physically possible to play different notes simultaneously on the same "string". For example, the Ztar, the hammered dulcimer or the accordion.
To manage the tablature of these instruments TablEdit allows you to display numbers aligned on the same tablature line. The instrument must be an accordion or the module name must begins with "Ztar" or "Hammer"
To enter simultaneous notes:
| 1. | Scale up to the 1/64th Notes view |
| 2. | Enter the notes separated by an interval of 1/64 notes. |
| 3. | Select the notes you have just entered |
| 4. | Finally, select the Chord effect  in the Special Effects palette. The Chord effect replaces the Muted note special effect if the instrument is defined as Multitouch |