SmartScore has some really nice drum features including MIDI support for the percussion clef, automatic drum patterns and a "drum kit" which records a drum track by tapping keys on your computer keyboard.
Percussion clef (Clefs Palette)
When the Percussion Clef is entered on a staffline, the MIDI channel assignment for that staff and part switches to 10; the default drum channel. Notes can be entered, deleted and pitch-shifted normally, and will playback as MIDI drums. The percussion clef works in den tic ally as all other clefs, including Unify Clefs (See "Unify Score ("U")").
Drum instruments are linked with staff lines and spaces when the drum clef is active. An editable drum-to-pitch map is accessed by selecting Playback > Drum Set.
Drum-to-pitch links (Drum Set)
To change the pitch assignment of a drum instrument,
a. Click on a drum instrument name and drag to a new line or space. If another instrument is linked to the line or space, it will unlink.
b. Clicking and dragging a line or space to an instrument name will also create a new link and delete any existing link.
c. Press
OK to finalize changes. Press
Cancel to undo changes.
NOTE: Accidentals are ignored regardless of the key of the score.
Creating a drum pattern in ENF
a. From the
Navigator palette, select "
Score". In the
System Type in Score pull-down menu, select
Solo/Part. Click
OK.
b.
Right-click (
Ctrl + click for Mac) on any open palette and select
Clefs. Click on the rectangular "percussion clef".
c. Position your cursor over treble clef of the first system until it highlights yellow. Click to change the clef. All clefs of that part in subsequent systems will update to drum clef.
d. Select
eighth note from "Notes" palette and using
beam direction tools, create the following pattern. Hit
Spacebar to play back.
NOTE:
Simultaneous drum sounds must be contained in the same voice. Therefore, you will need to use the
Cluster tool to add additional drum "note heads" to an existing note stem. Holding down
Shift and dragging a notehead up or down will allow you to hear each drum sound associated with each space and line.
It's more fun if it's got a beat! Simply select a drum accompaniment or you can add customized patterns to the drum library yourself.
Play back with automatic drum pattern
To select an instant drum pattern for ENF playback,
a.
With any ENF file open, click on the
Drum Pattern button in the SmartScore toolbar.
b. Sort each column by clicking on its name in the column header.
Automatic Drum Track Window
c. Click on a pattern that matches the time signature and style of your ENF file.
d. Choose a starting measure in the "
from measure no." field and push the
Insert button.
e. To enter another drum groove at another location, repeat steps c. and d. above.
f. If you wish to mute drum playback for one or more measures, select the starting measure and push the "
Insert Silents" button.
NOTE: Insert Silents are automatically inserted if the
Begin and
End points of 2 or more patterns are not sequential.
g. Press
OK to accept the selection.
h. Press the
spacebar to hear your file playback with drum accompaniment.
To Remove a drum pattern from the library,
Locate the
Styles folder inside the SmartScore application folder and delete the
.ssd file you wish to remove.
Adding custom drum patterns from ENF
The drum pattern library is expandable. You can add new patterns that you have either created yourself or imported from a MIDI file which contains a drum track on MIDI Channel 10.
To add an ENF drum pattern to the automatic drum pattern library,
a. Open an ENF file which contains a percussion part (written with a percussion clef) or,
b. Open an ENF file in which you have created your own drum pattern. Refer to
"Creating a drum pattern in ENF" for more information on how to create drum patterns.
c.
Click the
MIDI button in the
Navigator to open the MIDI Overview.
d. Select
Edit > Create Automatic Drum Pattern.
Creating a drum pattern from a MIDI file
e. Locate the track in which the drum is played and select it in the
Track field. Note that MIDI drums will sound only if they are assigned to MIDI Channel 10.
NOTE: To check the channel number of a track, right-click (
alt + click for Mac) next to the track number in MIDI Overview then select
Piano Roll. The channel number (and its color) will appear in the upper left corner of the Piano Roll View. Close the Piano Roll window to return to Overview window. Another option is to simply open the Playback Console (
Ctrl + 9). Next to each track number listing is a colored box containing the MIDI channel number assigned.
f. Enter the name you wish to give the pattern in the
Name field.
g. Select a musical style to classify the new pattern and enter it in the
Style pull-down menu.
h. Locate the first measure where you wish the pattern to begin and enter it into the
Beginning Measure field.
i. Decide how many measures you wish the pattern to contain and enter it in the
Length (in Measures) field. This is a very important decision if you want to have proper-sounding patterns.
j. Click
Generate to add the pattern to the library. It's name will then appear in the
Automatic Drum Pattern window.
TIP:
Add "fills" to longer patterns (8 or 12 measures). Repeated fills in patterns having 1 or 2 measures usually sound dumb.
Importing MIDI drum patterns
a.
Push the
Open button in the Navigator (
File > Open) and click to select
MIDI from the "
Files of Type" pull-down menu. Browse to a MIDI file containing a drum track and double-click.
b. Push the
Play button to hear the MIDI file play back. Push
Close.
c. The imported MIDI file will appear in the MIDI Overview window.
d. Repeat the process from Step d) above.
This option allows you to create a drum track to accompany any ENF playback without requiring a drum machine or any other external MIDI device. It maps selected MIDI drum sounds to the keys of your computer keyboard. MIDI quantization to sixteenth notes is applied by default. For more information about quantization, see "Snap to".
Recording a virtual drum track
To create a virtual MIDI drum track in ENF,
a. Select
Options > Virtual Drum Kit.
b. In the
New MIDI View window,
New Track is selected. Press
OK.
c. A MIDI Record view will open. Test drum sounds by hitting the center keys on the two front rows of your computer keyboard.
d. When ready, hit the
Record button. You will hear a metronome sound for one measure. Playback and drum recording begins.
e. Hit Stop when finished. Close the MIDI window to return to ENF.
Defining Virtual Drum Kit
To change a MIDI drum and link to your computer keyboard,
a. Select
Options > Virtual Drum Kit Definition
Virtual Drum Kit Definition
b. Click on an instrument / key in
Instrument list.
c. To reassign a MIDI drum instrument, push
Change Instrument and make another MIDI drum selection in the pull-down menu.
d. To reassign a keyboard key for that instrument, push
Change Key and press any keyboard key to be linked to that instrument.
e. When finished, press
OK.
To add a MIDI drum and link it to your computer keyboard,
b. Press a key to become associated with the sound.
c. Select a new drum sound from the pull-down menu.
d. When finished, press
OK.
