The Extract Chord Options window appears when you press the Options button in the Extract Chord Rhythm step of the Import Midi process (or the Exchange Tracks process).

It displays and allows you to update the options used to extract chords and rhythm events from the notes of melody track(s).  Matching chords are identified for the notes.

Reasonable default values are used the first time, many of which are automatically derived from the source events, but you may wish to make adjustments to achieve better extraction results.

Controls

Chord Tones

Specifies the number of tone lines that the Rhythm track will use.  This is the same setting that appears in the Chords track setup.

A smaller value gives tighter rhythm event clusters, but may result in more dropped notes.  A larger value produces a more flexible harmony with less dropped notes, but may result in more scattered events.

The default value is automatically set to the maximum number of simultaneous notes in the source track(s).

Chord Inversions

Specifies the precision with which chord inversions are extracted into the Chords track.

Ignore - only the chord itself (eg.  Gmaj)

Bass Pitch - the chord and the bass pitch of the chordshape (eg.  Gmaj/G3)

Exact - the chord and the exact pitches of the inversion (eg.  Gmaj/G3,B,D,G,D,G)

Exact inversions more precisely reflect the sound of the source tracks, but the extra detail can make the work sheet look untidy, and may not be necessary.

Minimum Duration

Specifies the minimum duration of each chord segment, and it can range from Qtn/6 (the absolute minimum size of chord segments) to 1 Qtn.  This can avoid the generation of several tiny segments in a rapidly changing part (eg.  from an arpeggio).

Snap To Beat

Attempts wherever possible to put chord segment boundaries on exact beat divisions to create a tidier structure.

Segment boundaries can only be shifted to the left, and often by a limited amount, since they must continue to be synchronized with the rhythm events for which they are providing the harmony.

Merge Subtriads

Areas of the source track(s) which have less than three simultaneous notes are problematic, because they could be identified as one of many different chords.

This option permits adjacent groups of one or two simultaneous notes to considered together, instead of separately, when their harmony is being assessed.  It is most effective with arpeggios or similar distributed chord styles.

Bass Guide Track

Often the source track(s), even if chordal, do not contain the full set of notes of the chord, and could match with multiple chords.

In this case, it is very helpful to nominate the source track which contains the bass line, to provide additional guidance when interpreting the chords during the extraction.

This option is usually recommended for best results.  The track with the lowest pitched notes is the default selection.

Multitone Events

Normally notes are converted into single tone rhythm events.  However, to provide a tidier output, you can allow rhythm events on adjacent tone lines to be joined together as multitone events.

This is only possible when the rhythm events have compatible timing, in strongly quantized parts.

Update

Closes the window, returns to the Extract Chord Rhythm step, and executes the extraction operation again using the updated options.  They can be adjusted as many times as necessary to achieve a satisfactory result.

Cancel

Returns to the Extract Chord Rhythm step without changing the options or executing the extract operation again.

Help

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