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Why horizontal symbols do not follow my custom global key

Posted

Hello,

I'm aware of the fact that horizontal symbols actually follow the global key instead of the (local) horizontal scale. However, even if I create my custom global key (via Palette -> Save Scale Set to Catalog) and use this custom global key in my progression (for instance, Bebop Minor), the horizontal symbols still play common E.Minor instead of my E.Bebop Minor, and it happens even if I bypass Interpretation. So, it seems that the factory Scale Sets (global keys) are somehow hard-coded in the software which limits the flexibility of Synfire for my experimental usage.

Or, is there a way to overcome this limitation?

Thanks for your suggestions!

Miloslav

P.S.: Of course, my needs would be also satisfied by introducing some sort of "genuine" horizontal symbols obeying a local horizontal scale. In such a case, this post would turn itself into a feature request, I guess ;-)


Wed, 2020-08-26 - 21:24 Permalink

No worries. Almost nothing is ultimately hard-coded in Synfire. 

In Scale Selection Preferences, you should enable "Include Alternative Scale Sets" and "Create ad-hoc Horizontal Scales". Otherwise Synfire will attempt to use more traditional keys and scales when it matches a progression with "Estimate".

You can of course select a mode of your custom scale for every chord's vertical scale manually, but the above should be more convenient.

Ultimately Synfire uses the vertical scale of each harmonic context, whether it's part of the current key or not.

Tue, 2020-09-01 - 09:48 Permalink

Thanks for your help, Andre.

I had the Scale Selection Preferences set as you suggested, however, I have found out that my problem could be solved by not bypassing Interpretation but instead setting Interpretation Strategy to "None". When I bypass Interpretation completely, the horizontal symbols really play the corresponding traditional global key (Major/Minor) and seemingly nothing can be done about it. As soon as I switch Interpretation on and set its Strategy to "None", the horizontal symbols obey my custom horizontal scale which is what I wanted.

Miloslav

Wed, 2020-09-02 - 08:53 Permalink

For Synfire 2.0 I would suggest either a simplyfied control of interpretion settings or a better explanation of the many parameters, e.g. through tool tips. I always find it hard to understand what's going on there...

Wed, 2020-09-02 - 13:59 Permalink

I agree completely. Even after several years of using Synfire, I still haven't got used to the fact that the included AI is a black box. I would prefer a transparent set of user-customizable rules. Although I know it is tricky to come up with a rule language powerful enough to express all peculiarities of figure interpretation and voice leading.