Perfect Intonation Manual
Guide to Features
Freeform Singing Mode
The Freeform Singing mode allows you to sing whatever you want and watch your pitch in real time. You can also save your recording and load it back into Perfect Intonation later.Display
The Freeform Singing display opens when the program is launched. You see a basic piano roll style display, slightly modified to show each individual half-step (so the staff lines are not equally separated, as they are in score). To tune to specific notes, mouse over the piano keyboard at the left and press and hold the desired key. In this mode, you can change the display by zooming in and out, and you can change the range and temperament that are displayed, but functionality is otherwise limited. You can also select and calibrate the microphone in this mode or at any other time (Edit > Preferences > Microphone).Panel Buttons
The main panel contains many of the basic program controls. In Freeform Singing, the available buttons are: Record, which begins pitch detection and records your performance; Erase, which erases your pitch history and resets the display; Rewind, which moves the green pointer back to the beginning but does not erase your recording; Play, which plays back your recording, and Stop, which stops either recording or playing, whichever is active. (Pressing "Record" or "Play" again during recording or playback will also stop the action.) In addition, the buttons at the far right allow you to zoom in the display or select certain parts of the display. The lever on the far left allows you to "smooth" your pitch detection.Exercises Mode
In Exercises mode, you can practice tuning to a specific sequence of notes, either from a built-in exercise (in the Options > Exercises menu) or from a MusicXML or MIDI file. Perfect Intonation automatically moves into Exercises mode when you load an exercise or song file. As in Freeform Singing mode, in Exercises mode you can save and reload your recordings.Display
In Exercises mode, the display splits into two parts: the top is still a modified piano roll, on which target notes are displayed in red. The goal is to make the blue line (the pitch you are singing) match the red lines (the target notes) as closely as possible. On the bottom, a new display shows the notes contained in the exercise file on true musical score--a single staff for each track contained in the file; the target track is highlighted in pink.Panel
In Exercises mode, controls to enable and disable the click track (which keeps time) and a count off (so you know when to begin singing) are available in the lower left of the panel. The Demo button in the main panel begins playback of the currently selected music tracks (see below). Finally, the tempo control at the right allows you to change the tempo of the current song or exercise.Loading MusicXML files
Perfect Intonation comes with some built-in exercises meant for warm-up or basic practice (in the Options > Exercises menu). But you can also load your own MusicXML files to work on specific songs. Note: you can load MIDI files as well, but MIDI support is limited (see "MIDI Support" below).Number of Tracks
Perfect Intonation can load MusicXML files with up to sixteen tracks of data. By default, only the first four tracks on the MusicXML file are displayed when a new file is loaded, and the first track is selected as the target track. Commonly, MusicXML files have a single track for each "voice;" for example, there may be four tracks for soprano, alto, tenor, bass (SATB) arrangements. If so, the system would display each voice on its own staff. Be aware, though, that not all MusicXML files are written this way, so the display will be different depending on the structure of the file. Another common arrangement is a single track for the voice part and a second track for the accompaniment part--both treble and bass staves in the same track. If the accompaniment part is denoted as "harmony" in the musicXML file, only the chord symbols are displayed on the harmony staff (similar to a lead sheet. To see the individual notes in the chords, you can select the harmony track as the target track -- the notes will be shown on the piano roll display (though evaulation will not work when there are chords in the target track; see "Evaluation" below).Track Options--Display
The display and playback settings of each track can be changed in the Track Options window to the left of each track. Designate whatever track you are trying to learn as the "target" track by clicking the Target button at the top. The target track will be displayed in red bars on the piano roll at the top of the display. You can choose to display any number of tracks in the score display, though it is recommended not to display more than four tracks for best visibility. To remove currently-displayed tracks, click on the "x" at the top right of the track options window. To display new tracks, select them from the Tracks menu at the top.Track Options--Playback
Use the check boxes in the Track Options windows to choose when you want to hear each track played. Your options are: during recording (Rec.)--while you are singing along and your pitch is being detected; during demonstration (Demo)--while you are listening to the music only, without singing; and during playback (Play)--while you are listening to the recording of your performance. For example, you might want to hear only the target track while you are singing, so you can match your pitch to it (using both the auditory and visual feedback to improve your tuning). Or, you might want to only select other tracks, so you can practice singing your part to accompaniment. Listening to any part of the song or exercise while your pitch is being detected will work best if you use headphones instead of speakers.MIDI Support
Perfect Intonation supports MIDI files to a limited degree. MIDIs can be loaded in the same way as MusicXML files, and the notes will sound correct when played. However, the score that is created from MIDI files is only an approximation, as MIDI files contain only simple notes and durations. For best results, use MusicXML files. Information about MusicXML can be found at http://www.recordare.com/xml.Setting Preferences
Use the Preferences window (Edit > Preferences) to change default settings for the program. All settings in the Preferences will be saved and applied each time you open Perfect Intonation.Ranges Tab
By changing the range in the Preferences window, you're setting a new default range for the program. The next time you open Perfect Intonation, or select View > Default Zoom, the display will show the new range. If your default range is tenor or bass, all the built-in exercises will be transposed to bass clef. Changing the range through the Options menu, however, will only temporarily change the display; it will not change your default range or transpose the exercises.Microphone Tab
Audio Source on PC: Select your default microphone from the drop-down menu. To have Perfect Intonation choose the best microphone in your setup, click the Auto-Identify button and follow the prompts. Every time you launch Perfect Intonation, it will check to make sure your preferred microphone is available. If it is not, it will prompt you to go to the Preferences > Microphone tab and select a new mic.
Audio Source on Mac: Mac users must select their mic from the Mac system preferences before launching Perfect Intonation. If you change your system preferences while Perfect Intonation is open, you must close an re-launch the application before the new setting is detected.
Volume Calibration: use the sliders to change the volume range detected by Perfect Intonation. Sing into the microphone -- the input from the microphone is gray when the volume is below the bottom slider. Be sure the normal noise level (when you are not singing) falls below the slider. The bar turns green when the volume is between the two sliders -- this is the range in which Perfect Intonation will detect your pitch. If you sing too loudly, the bar becomes red; adjust the top slider to change this level. To have Perfect Intonation calibrate the volume automatically, click the button and follow the prompts to calibrate your selected microphone.
Once your microphone is successfully selected and calibrated, your settings will be saved, even if you exit the program. There is no need to re-calibrate unless you change microphones or users. If your microphone setup changes, Perfect Intonation will notify you that you must select a new microphone at the next launch.
Latencies Tab
Different computers have different latencies that affect MIDI synthesis and microphone recording. These values can be adjusted in this tab.
Skill Level Tab
Choose your skill level--beginner, intermediate, or expert on this tab. Skill level is used when evaluating your singing performance (see "Evaluation", below).
Evaluation
Every time you record your pitch while singing an exercise or song, Perfect Intonation evaluates your performance. To see the evaluation for each note, hover the mouse over the target note (the red bar in the piano-roll display). A bubble will pop up with information about how well you matched your pitch. In the simple evaluation display (the default,) one line will tell you how close the pitch was ("very sharp," "sharp," "hit," "flat," or "very flat"); the other line gives information about how tightly you sang ("very tight," "tight," "uneven," "very uneven.") When you get both a "hit" and "very tight," the evaluation tells you that note was "perfect." To see all the notes' evaluations at once, go to Evaluation > Show Song Evaluation. You can also change the display of the evaluation bubbles (to provide more details about your performance) in the Evaluation menu. Note: your performance will not be evaluated if the target track contains chords.
Temperaments and Tuning Systems
Equal Temperament
The modern standard for tuning most instruments is called "equal temperament"--that is, all semitones are exactly the same size, 1/12 of an octave. In practice, this means many of the musical intervals such as thirds and fifths are moderately different from "pure" mathematical intervals. Other sizes of intervals have different qualities; to some ears, the pure intervals have a more pleasant sound. Equal tempering is a contemporary compromise that trades off the purity of some intervals in return for the ability to play music in any key equivalently. However, singers and players of fretless instruments do not need to make this compromise--they can adjust their intervals to achieve any quality they desire.Other Temperaments
Historically, many other tuning systems have been created, each with its own advantages and drawbacks. Perfect Intonation can display a selection of them, available from the Options menu. When you select a different temperament, the lines on the screen are adjusted to show the differences in interval size. NOTE: This does not affect playback of MusicXML or MIDI files; the software in your computer is preset to play in equal temperament. Provectis Music, Inc., is examining the issue and hopes to develop a playback engine that can accommodate temperaments in the future.- Equal Temperament - the familiar modern temperament. All semitones have exactly the same spacing; all intervals are equally "good" and equally "bad".
- Werckmeister III - a 16th century German temperament that is probably very close to the temperament for which J.S. Bach originally composed The Well-Tempered Clavier. All keys are playable, but they have different qualities.
- Pythagorean Temperament - In this mode, only the pure pythagorean intervals (relative to C) are shown, eight notes in total. For example, the interval C-E is a "true" major third; a 4/5 frequency ratio. C-F is a true perfect fourth, etc.
- LaMonte Young - An experimental temperament that assigns the notes based on a balanced cycle of major 7ths.
- Mean Temperament - A meantone temperament
- Young's Well Temperament - (more info coming soon)
Getting Help
For specific problems, first see the Troubleshooting section of this manual.
For technical support, go to http://provectismusic.com/support.