First steps

To edit a score, you must first create a section and set the necessary parameters: Key, time signature, instruments, etc. The software will create a section automatically and open the Section properties dialog when you create a new document or add a new section.

Rhythm pattern editor

Next you will be prompted to set a bar rhythm pattern. This allows you to create a number of bars filled with rests or ghost notes. You can use the rhythm pattern editor for instance to create 24 bars with 2 halfnotes per bar in a 4/4 signature, or 4 quarter notes per bar, or 16 16th notes. This can be useful to speed up input but it is not necessary. You can re-use the rhythm pattern editor at any time in the process, but you must start on a blank staff. Because the rhythm pattern editor fills out set numbers of bars it can be useful to pre-align staves when there are multiple instruments. You can fill out for instance 12 bars for the first instrument with 8 1/8th notes per bar, and fill out the second instrument also with 12 bars with 2 half-notes per bar.

The rhythm pattern editor is available form the ribbon under Transformations.

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I. General functions common to notation and tablature

Keyboard input varies depending on the instrument definition, specifically whether the instrument is in regular notation mode, or if it uses tablature and which particular type of tablature it uses. There is however a common set of behaviors between all those modes, whether you are modifying rhythm flags or navigating or adding meta-events.

Staff formatting: After you input new chords on a staff, you should use the staff formatting tool (F12 or CONTROL+DECimal) to allow the software to calculate barline position and format groups of notes. Most barlines in Fandango are dynamic, i.e. they can be recalculated and reset at any time based upon the section's basic time signature or new time signatures added in the course of editing.

Flags modifications: of course, flags do change in the course of a piece of music. In Fandango you may decide to first input chords and notes and in a second pass modify the flag values for either a single chord or several consecutive ones. To do this, you can select the group of notes either by dragging the mouse over them, or by first positioning the cursor at the beginning of the group and then clicking the mouse with the SHIFT key pressed. Once the group is selected, you can select the desired flag value from the flags toolbar, or use the flag rotation keys ( < and > ) to modify their flag value. Note: once you select a new flag value, other notes you input after that will use the new flag value.

• the < key rotates the value of a flag by doubling its value: i.e. used on a quarter note, it generates a half-note
• the > key rotates the value of a flag by dividing its value by half: i.e. used on a quarter note, it generates an 8th note flag.

Note: In regular notation mode only, there are keyboard shortcuts to setting new flag values, i.e. the letters q to i on a QWERTYUIOP keyboard.

Splitting chords or rests: You can split a chord or a rest into even values with the split key: '\'. In combination with the ALT key, the notes of the 2 chords will be tied. Useful for instance if a chord straddles 2 bars because it is too long to fit in that bar.

Some common input computer keyboard actions: (see a complete table here)

• Insert key: inserts a blank space on staff
• CONTROL+Insert key: copies a chord - or set of chords highlighted with the mouse -
• SHIFT+Insert key: inserts a copied chord or set of chords at cursor position
• Delete key: Deletes a note at cursor position
• CONTROL+Delete key: Deletes a chord at cursor position

Lenghtening a chord followed by rests: if you use the < on a chord it will double its value and try to absorb as many following rests as possible. If you have a bar with a quarter note followed by 3 quarter note rests. doubling the value of the first chord will result in a half-note followed by 2 quarter note rests. If you double it again, it will result in a single whole note.

Meta events: Meta events are elements in the score that do not produce sound - although some may modify sound. There a large number of those in Fandango, from text captions to legatos to time signature changes, etc. Meta-events are common to notation and tablature and they have some common properties:

• They need to be attached to a chord or a barline
• They can be repositioned by dragging them with the mouse. Their position can be different in tablature mode and notation mode.
• Their specific properties can be accessed by double-clicking the mouse over them

Note: Although there is a meta-event specific palette tool, not all meta-events are located there.

Chord versus note context: Some elements and features affect chords as a whole, while others - ornaments, fingerings, etc. - affects specific notes in a chord. To alter a chord, the cursor must be positioned on that chord, while to affect a note the cursor must be positioned on a note. The software will automatically detect whether it is possible to input a note or a chord event based upon the cursor position.

Tooltips: When you move the cursor you will see a small tooltip that either indicates the note name at that position in notation mode, of the tuning of the string in tablature mode. If a note is set at cursor position, you will get a bit more detail and the tooltip will be highlighted in blue.

Automatic cursor advance: There are 2 editing modes, with automatic cursor advance or without. With automatic cursor advance, the cursor will automatically move to the next available spot on the staff when you input a note. Otherwise the cursor will remain on the same chord after a note is input.

• There are two different cursors depending on the current input mode, i.e. auto forward or static.
• You can toggle between the two modes by pressing the SHIFT key.

Ornaments and fingerings: These are input from the palettes in the same way. For more detail on ornaments, see the ornaments section in the instruments help document.

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II. Notation specific keyboard input.

Any letter on the keyboard will generate a note at cursor position on the staff. The value of the note will automatically be adjusted depending on the key signature: in the key of G, with one sharp, if you insert an F, it will automatically be an F sharp. Etc. Some letters though have special significance:

• The letters d (for diese) and s (for sharp) generate a note with a forced sharp sign - i.e. G sharp in the key of C.
• The letters b (for bemol)and f (for flat)generate a note with a forced flat sign - i.e. B flat in the key of C.
• The letters q to i will input the note AND modify the flag value: q being a double whole note, and i a 64th note
• The letter p will input a rest.

Numeric pad input in notation mode: Numeric pad input in notation mode follows a different rule: numbers you type will generate a new note based on the previous one and th e number itself will represent an interval from the previous note's value.

• NUM PAD zero: no interval, same value as previous note
• NUM PAD one: one interval up from previous note.
• NUM PAD five: a fifth up from previous note
• NUM PAD seven: an octave up from previous note

If the CONTROL key is pressed the interval becomes negative. CONTROL+NUM PAD 3, for instance, yields a note a third down from the previous one. In combination with the auto advance mode this can allow for very fast input: pressing the NUMPAD 1 key 7 times should produce an ascending scale. If there is no previous note on the staff, the input will revert to the default and input a note at cursor position. If you do not remember the previous note, use the letter 'a' or any of the other regular options available.

Most of the input keys - and note modification actions - in notation mode are grouped towards the bottom of the keyboard and use various combinations of the SHIFT, CONTROL and ALT keys. For example:

• Arrows navigate the cursor left, right, down and up the staff. In combination with CONTROL key, arrows alter the relative duration of a note within a chord.
• ALT+period: Dots a chord value. CONTROL+SHIFT+period: dots a single note within a chord.
• Switch alteration uses the question mark.

A. Voicing If you are only using one of the two voice streams available, voicing only consists of switching the stem direction of chords and notes.

• To switch the stem direction of whole chords, you can use CONTROL+F. This will switch the stem direction of all chords following that one until the end of the staff.
• To switch the direction of a single note within a chord, position the cursor on that note and use the left parenthesis key.

B. Automatic voice parsing:

Under the ribbon Transformations, there are some automated tools to help with voice parsing, i.e. tools that help when you have transcribed a piece in tablature and you want to generate notation in two or more voices. The basic tool acts on a single voice stream and tries to orient the notes stems appropriately, i.e. down for bass and up for treble. There are a couple of parameters that may help the algorithm achieve better results. The main one is the cut off value between bass and treble, the default being middle C. The algorithm modifies this value as it runs but it uses it as a default back when in doubt.

After you have parsed the treble/bass voices you can use the results to split the data, perhaps to create grand staff notation score or a guitar style score with the corresponding buttons on the Transformation ribbon.

C. Voice stream switching: While tablature does not represent voicing generally, notation does. Each Fandango instrument can use two separate "voice streams", which you can think of as the treble clef and the bass clef on a grand staff model. Each voice stream can have notes with their stems up or down. In total this allows Fandango to support up to 4 voices. Fandango uses this model to present music in grand staff mode and in "guitar" mode. In that mode the two data streams use the same staff as opposed to piano grand staff mode where each voice stream occupies its own staff.

In guitar mode, only one stream is available at a time: the active voice. You can switch between the two with the left curly bracket, or from the voice related buttons on the Ribbon under Editing. There are two conditions to be met for this to happen:

• The instrument definition must be set to support both voice streams
• The view colored voices option must be on

Note: From the Editing ribbon, you can decide to show only one voice stream or both, as well as show the active voice in black and the inactive voice in gray. This is useful if you need to switch notes from one voice stream to the other.

Note: Unless you absolutely need 4 voices, editing both streams together on the same staff is quite a bit more complicated than just handling stem up and stem down notes.

Switching notes from one voice stream to the other: Because the two voice streams are truly independent one from the other, it can be tricky to switch a note from the upper to the lower voice stream. This requires that the two streams are aligned properly. This is done using the CONTROL+F12 combination. Unless the two streams are aligned, and unless there is an available chord or rest at that precise position in the other voice stream, switching a note is not possible.

Once all the above conditions are met, you can position the cursor on the note you want to switch in the currently active voice, and use the right curly bracket to switch it to the other voice stream.

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V. Chord effects

Chord effects are effects that affect the chord as a whole: strumming for instance. They can be easily confused with a note effect in some cases, for instance if a chord only has one note. But an accent on a chord and an accent on a note are still different things.

Fandango allows for a number of chord effects:

• Strum
• Slide
• Tremolo
• Portamento
• Arpeggio
• Accent
• Breath

Those effects have some properties:

• Direction: Up or Down
• Speed of execution
• Amplitude: for instance how far to slide
• Graphical alignment
• Visibility - you can chose to hide strumming for instance

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