Introductions

Hi Brighton,

if there is a Scales track present in the song, it can be linked to the Melody track you are editing, using the Show Scales option. In this case, scale guides will appear in the background of melody segments to indicate which pitches are part of the key centres in the song. The dark colors indicate the root note of the scale used at each location.

When a piece of music is notated, it is represented with a series of divisions called bars (or measures). Bars provide a convenient way to refer to location within a piece of music, for example "the chorus starts at bar 33".  Bars are usually numbered starting with 1 for the first bar. Bars can vary in size, depending on their time signature. The default time signature is 4/4, which tells us the bar is based on a 4-beat rhythm, and each beat is represented with a quarter note (solid head and stem, but no flags). In Songtrix, you will encounter the Quarter Note (Qtn) used in event timing as Tpq (Ticks Per Qtn) or for other time divisions such as grid lines (eg.  Qtn/6).  It is also used to measure tempo. Tempo is the overall speed at which a piece of music is played.  It is measured in quarter notes per minute (qpm).  This may or may not be the same as beats per minute, depending on the time signature. Songtrix maintains a master tempo setting for the song, which is visible on the mixer panel.  But you can also vary tempo throughout the song, by placing a tempo change event wherever needed.

For more information see Sontrix Help menu and  How Music Works in the Network panel.

Cheers,
André