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Beat Effects

There are various effects that can be applied to a beat. All beat effects are specified in braces after the beat: Beat{Effects}. Multiple effects are simply separated by spaces, like 3.3{f v}.

Simple Effects​

Please find the list of supported effects in the example below.

// fade in 3.3{f} // vibrato 3.3{v} // tap 3.3{tt} // slap 3.3{s} // pop 3.3{p} | // dotted 3.3{d} // double dotted 3.3{dd} // pick stroke (su => up, sd => down) 3.3{su} 3.3{sd} | // grace (on beat) 3.3{gr ob} 3.3 // grace (before beat) 3.3{gr} 3.3 | // Tuplets (supported variants: 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12) 3.3{tu 3} 3.3{tu 3} 3.3{tu 3} 3.3{tu 5} 3.3{tu 5} 3.3{tu 5} 3.3{tu 5} 3.3{tu 5} | // tremolo picking (tp duration - where duration can be 8, 16 or 32) 3.3{tp 8} 3.3{tp 16} 3.3{tp 32} | // Crescendo / Decrescendo 3.3{cre} 3.3{cre} 3.3{dec} 3.3{dec}
// fade in
3.3{f}
// vibrato
3.3{v}
// tap
3.3{tt}
// slap
3.3{s}
// pop
3.3{p}
|
// dotted
3.3{d}
// double dotted
3.3{dd}
// pick stroke (su => up, sd => down)
3.3{su}
3.3{sd}
|
// grace (on beat)
3.3{gr ob}
3.3
// grace (before beat)
3.3{gr}
3.3
|
// Tuplets (supported variants: 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12)
3.3{tu 3} 3.3{tu 3} 3.3{tu 3}
3.3{tu 5} 3.3{tu 5} 3.3{tu 5} 3.3{tu 5} 3.3{tu 5}
|
// tremolo picking (tp duration - where duration can be 8, 16 or 32)
3.3{tp 8} 3.3{tp 16} 3.3{tp 32}
|
// Crescendo / Decrescendo
3.3{cre} 3.3{cre} 3.3{dec} 3.3{dec}

Dynamics​

Dynamics are beat effects with the indicator dy followed by one of the supported dynamics values FFF, FF, F, MF, MP, P, PP or PPP.

1.1.8{dy ppp} 1.1{dy pp} 1.1{dy p} 1.1{dy mp} 1.1{dy mf} 1.1{dy f} 1.1{dy ff} 1.1{dy fff}
1.1.8{dy ppp} 1.1{dy pp} 1.1{dy p} 1.1{dy mp} 1.1{dy mf} 1.1{dy f} 1.1{dy ff} 1.1{dy fff}

Tuplet Ranges​

You can also specify the tuplet as part of a ranged duration. This makes writing tuplets a bit easier if there are many. To reset the tuplet range, a new duration range can be started. For individual notes other tuplets can be specified too. {tu 1} can be used to specify no tuplet while a tuplet range is active.

:4{tu 3} 3.3 3.3 3.3 :8 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 | :8{tu 3} 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3.16 3.3.16 3.3.16 3.3.2{tu 1} 3.3.16{tu 1} 3.3.4 3.3.4 3.3.4
:4{tu 3} 3.3 3.3 3.3 :8 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 |
:8{tu 3} 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3.16 3.3.16 3.3.16 3.3.2{tu 1} 3.3.16{tu 1} 3.3.4 3.3.4 3.3.4

Tremolo / Whammy Bar​

The tremolo/whammy bar effect is a bit more complex than the others. You can specify a number of values which are evenly distributed over the time when the note is played with the format tb (value1 value2 ...). The values indicate the number of quarter notes increased or decreased while playing.

3.3.1{tb (0 4 0 8)} | 3.3.1{tb (0 -4 0 -8)} |
3.3.1{tb (0 4 0 8)} |
3.3.1{tb (0 -4 0 -8)} |

Brushes / Arpeggio​

Brush stroke effects are: brush down bd, brush up bu, arpeggio down ad, and arpeggio up au. By default, the duration between notes is calculated based on the number of notes in the beat (the chord). A custom duration (in MIDI ticks) can also be specified with, for example bd 120.

:2 (0.1 0.2 0.3 2.4 2.5 0.6){bd} (0.1 0.2 0.3 2.4 2.5 0.6){bu} | (0.1 0.2 0.3 2.4 2.5 0.6){ad} (0.1 0.2 0.3 2.4 2.5 0.6){au} | (0.1 0.2 0.3 2.4 2.5 0.6){bd 360} (0.1 0.2 0.3 2.4 2.5 0.6){bu 60}
:2 (0.1 0.2 0.3 2.4 2.5 0.6){bd} (0.1 0.2 0.3 2.4 2.5 0.6){bu} |
(0.1 0.2 0.3 2.4 2.5 0.6){ad} (0.1 0.2 0.3 2.4 2.5 0.6){au} |
(0.1 0.2 0.3 2.4 2.5 0.6){bd 360} (0.1 0.2 0.3 2.4 2.5 0.6){bu 60}

Chords​

If you want to specify chords on top of your beats this can be done via the ch "ChordName" effect. This will annotate the chord name above the beat.

(1.1 3.2 5.3 3.4 1.5){ch "A#add9"} (1.1 3.2 5.3 3.4 1.5)*3 | (4.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 4.5){ch "C#"} (4.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 4.5)*3 | (6.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 6.5){ch "D"} (6.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 6.5)*3 | (0.1 0.2 1.3 2.4 2.5 0.6){ch "E"} (0.1 0.2 1.3 2.4 2.5 0.6)*3
(1.1 3.2 5.3 3.4 1.5){ch "A#add9"} (1.1 3.2 5.3 3.4 1.5)*3 |
(4.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 4.5){ch "C#"} (4.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 4.5)*3 |
(6.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 6.5){ch "D"} (6.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 6.5)*3 |
(0.1 0.2 1.3 2.4 2.5 0.6){ch "E"} (0.1 0.2 1.3 2.4 2.5 0.6)*3

Chord Diagrams​

A global metadata tag \chord can define the chord diagram for each chord. The format is \chord ChordName String1 String2 .... A value must be defined for all strings. x annotates that the string is not played. Additionally there are 4 properties which adjust the chord details:

  • FirstFret Number - shifts the first fret shown in the diagram higher.
  • Barre Fret1 Fret2 ... - defines on which frets a barré should be played (visually joins the dots to a bar).
  • ShowDiagram True/False - enables/disables whether the chord diagram should be shown.
  • ShowName True/False - enables/disables whether the chord name is shown above the diagram.
// Simple Chord \chord "C" 0 1 0 2 3 x // With barré \chord{barre 1} "A#add9" 1 3 4 2 1 x // First Fret higher \chord{firstfret 6 barre 6} "D#" 6 8 8 8 6 x // Hide diagram \chord{showdiagram false} "E" 0 0 1 2 2 0 // Hide name and multiple barre \chord{showname false barre 1 3} "Special" 3 3 3 1 1 1 . \ts 2 4 (0.1 1.2 0.3 2.4 3.5){ch "C"} (0.1 1.2 0.3 2.4 3.5) | (1.1 3.2 5.3 3.4 1.5){ch "A#add9"} (1.1 3.2 5.3 3.4 1.5)| (6.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 6.5){ch "D#"} (6.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 6.5) | (0.1 0.2 1.3 2.4 2.5 0.6){ch "E"} (0.1 0.2 1.3 2.4 2.5 0.6) | (3.1 3.2 3.3 1.4 1.5 1.6){ch "Special"} (3.1 3.2 3.3 1.4 1.5 1.6)
// Simple Chord
\chord "C" 0 1 0 2 3 x
// With barré
\chord{barre 1} "A#add9" 1 3 4 2 1 x
// First Fret higher
\chord{firstfret 6 barre 6} "D#" 6 8 8 8 6 x
// Hide diagram
\chord{showdiagram false} "E" 0 0 1 2 2 0
// Hide name and multiple barre
\chord{showname false barre 1 3} "Special" 3 3 3 1 1 1
.
\ts 2 4
(0.1 1.2 0.3 2.4 3.5){ch "C"} (0.1 1.2 0.3 2.4 3.5) |
(1.1 3.2 5.3 3.4 1.5){ch "A#add9"} (1.1 3.2 5.3 3.4 1.5)|
(6.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 6.5){ch "D#"} (6.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 6.5) |
(0.1 0.2 1.3 2.4 2.5 0.6){ch "E"} (0.1 0.2 1.3 2.4 2.5 0.6) |
(3.1 3.2 3.3 1.4 1.5 1.6){ch "Special"} (3.1 3.2 3.3 1.4 1.5 1.6)