Dec 232017
 
Play simple music through the keyboard. Good for kids.
File VIRTUOSO.ZIP from The Programmer’s Corner in
Category Music and Digitized Voice
Play simple music through the keyboard. Good for kids.
File Name File Size Zip Size Zip Type
KB.000 4103 109 deflated
MAP.001 4103 568 deflated
MAP.002 4103 569 deflated
MAP.003 4103 571 deflated
MAP.004 4103 564 deflated
VIRTUOSO.DOC 3512 1620 deflated
VIRTUOSO.EXE 57994 36458 deflated

Download File VIRTUOSO.ZIP Here

Contents of the VIRTUOSO.DOC file


VIRTUOSO

copyright 1988
by Robert Greenhouse
Palo Alto, California

VIRTUOSO is a program which maps out the standard AT/XT keyboard in several
ways to play musical arpeggios with a fair degree of flexibility and
control over the music it plays.

PURPOSE

VIRTUOSO was originally created as mindless entertainment and amusement.
While testing the program, however, I noticed that my 3 year old daughter
was fascinated by it. I pointed to the keyboard and said "Go ahead, play",
and she spent the next half hour curiously pecking at the keyboard,
delighted at what she heard. Thus I propose this program either for
mindless entertainment for adults, or as a means to interest small children
in the computer.

HOW IT WORKS

Begin by typing VIRTUOSO, and after a short animated introduction the
default keyboard map appears on screen. The bottom row of keys from Z to ?
will play major arpeggios. The next row up, A to :, play minor chord
arpeggios. The second row, Q to P, gives dominant 7th arpeggios, while the
top row, 1 to 0 plays minor 7th chords.

You start playing music by hitting any of the active keys. The shift key
determines the direction of the arpeggio: lower case, down/up or upper
case, up/down. The up/down arrow keys control the tempo (40 to 255 beats
per minute). The left/right arrows remap the keyboars from its original
mapping (see below).

F1/F2 control the octave offset. F1 lowers the octave by 1 or 2 octaves
while F2 raises the octave.

F3/F4 control the number of repetitions executed per keystroke. The default
value is 2, but this may be adjusted from 1 to 10. At the faster tempos,
more repetitions than the default 2 may be effective.


THE FILES INCLUDED IN VIRTUOSO.ARC

The following files should be included within VIRTUOSO.ARC:

VIRTUOSO.EXE The main executable file
KB.000 Introductory screen file
MAP.001-.004 Various keyboard mapping diagrams
VIRTUOSO.DOC This document



SUMMARY OF KEYS

row 1 (1 to 0): minor 7th arpeggios
row 2 (Q to P): dominant 7th arpeggios
row 3 (A to :): minor arpeggios
row 4 (Z to ?): major arpeggios

SHIFT keys: lower case, down/up arpeggio
upper case, up/down arpeggio

F1/F2: octave offset (-24,-12,0,12,24) [0]
F3/F4: # of repeats per keystroke (1-10) [2]
F5/F6: arpeggio inversion # (1-4) [1]
F7/F8: mode of play (staccato, normal, legato) [normal]
F9: reset default values
F10: quit program

ARROW UP/DOWN: tempo (40 to 255 in 10% increments) [160]
ARROW L/R: remap keyboard (fourths:C,F,B-,E-,etc; fifths:C,G,D,A,etc;
chromatic:C,C#,D,D#,etc; diatonic:C,D,E,F,etc) [fourths]


If you wish to register your copy of this program, send $5.00 to me at the
address below and you will automatically receive an upgrade of the program
when it is ready. Several people have already suggested improvements to me,
but I welcome others as well as bug reports.



Robert Greenhouse
3401 Hillview Ave. R6-123
Palo Alto, Ca. 94304
February 26, 1989


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