Subject: Fandango software Back to Index

Category: General See also: Documents | Editing

• Software requirements
• Main features
• Tablature systems
• Installation
• Preferences
• Finding files

What is Fandango?

Fandango is a music notation program with advanced features for the handling of tablature in particular, and some features designed specifically for the handling of early music: basso continuo, old style fonts, and special characters.  Fandango evolved from an earlier software, Django, itself derived from StringWalker, that was dedicated to tablature alone. 

Currently, Fandango works best for people who need to write in tablature format or who need to mix staves in modern notation and tablature, or people interested in transposing lute music for other instruments.

Fandango is somewhat unique in score editing software with its support of the book format that allows you to group many different sections - or scores - within a single document. As a consequence, Fandango has many function to manipulate formatting globally for the document. This makes it also useful to manage large collections of scores.

Fandango was developed in the course of the past 16 years and has evolved and survived thanks to the generosity and enlightened feedback from its registered users.

Main features

• Book format documents, organized in sections, that help you better manage the thousands of pieces of music you love.
• Automatic indexing of documents organized in book shelves for easy access to individual pieces, searching and posting on the Net
• Full-page WYSIWYG editing of multiple systems
• Transparency between tablature and regular notation
• Customized tuning of tablature instruments, including re-entrant tunings
• Supports up to 16 courses (strings) and 24 frets
• Support for regular notation, chord charts, basso continuo, etc.
• Customizable instruments database
• MIDI format import and export
• Custom chord grids and alfabeto
• Square notes, baroque manuscript, and modern music font for regular notation
• Customized tablature fonts
• Tablature and notation transposition and global manipulation and formatting
• Support for early music clefs such as F clef on 4th line and G clef on third
• Baroque guitar alfabeto and chord charts
• Export to the XML format and automated indexing functions
• Up to six foot pedals and 4 knee pedals for pedal steel guitar.

Note: A description of new functions is provided on the main site with each new release on the download page.

Software requirements

Django is a Windows 10 32-bit Windows application.

Note: Django can also run on a Mac machine that runs the Virtual PC interface.

Django will also run on LINUX systems using the WINE emulator. (Tested on Ubuntu)

Tablature systems

Tablature was used in Europe as early as the 15th century if not much earlier. It was commonly used for fretted instruments, including at the time the violin, lute, guitar, gamba, bandora, cittern, etc.

The basic concept consists in notating fingerings rather than pitch. For instance, an A on a Renaissance G-tuning lute can be represented by the fret position, normally for the A immediately above middle C, the second fret on the treble strings.

Many variations of that basic principle were in use from the Renaissance all the way to the classical era. The main ones that are supported by Fandango are the following:

• French tablature French tablature represent the strings with the treble at the top of the staff and uses letters to indicate the fret positions: a is unfretted, b is the first fret, etc.
  The letter "J" was not distinguished from the letter "I>" during the Renaissance and most of the Baroque era. So that letter is skipped for historical reasons: "I" represents the 8th fret and "k" represents the 9th fret.
• Italian tablature: Italian tablature represent the strings with the treble at the bottom of the staff and uses numbers to indicate the fret positions.
• Spanish –or modern – tablature represent the strings with the treble at the top of the staff and uses numbers to indicate the fret positions. This is the generally accepted way of writing tablature by guitar players today, hence the modern.
• The German tablature is now supported.
• The Neapolitan tablature system is not supported
• Fandango offers limited support for keyboard tablature. It is quite complex and the demand is non-existent.
• Fandango does not currently support harp, accordion, or recorder and other non fretted instruments tablature.

Installation

When you run the installer for the first time, Fandango creates a directory structure with some important files. The root directory is called Fandango, and by default it resides under your my_documents user's account on Windows systems. You can move this directory elewhere but you must indicate the new location using the Preferences dialog.

The directory structure is as follows:

• I.Collections: this is intended to hold your Fandango documents and PDF or MIDI exports from the software. You can however save them anywhere on your disk. This sub-directory holds an extensive set of Fandango samples under a sub-directory called "Examples". I recommend you create a sub-directory for each Fandango document, particularly if you want to associate images or facsimiles to your documents. See the Examples structure to get an idea.
  Note: Placing your Fandango documents under a single node will allow you to use the File finder tool more efficiently and create document groups for each category of music you have: Renaissance lute, Baroque lute, guitar, etc.
II.Config: this subdirectory holds important files needed by the program and it is itself subdivided into several subdirectories:
• Assets: this contains background bitmap file, sound files, and an images directory to store images frequently used by the software.
• Document groups: This directory holds document group definition files in XML format. On first shipping it has the Examples document group definition.
• Instruments: This directory holds XML format instrument group definitions. You can create your own instrument groups or modify the existing ones with the Instrument database tool in Fandango. If you customize an instrument group, give it a different name so it does not get overwritten by the next installation.
  You can also save alfabeto definitions (chord dictionaries) and ornament table definition. These files reside under the Instruments\Alfabetos and Instruments\Ornaments directories.
• Session: This holds the XML definition for your Preferences settings. You might need to delete this file in case the installation does not go right.
• Templates: The templates directory holds XML definition for document templates. These are reusable templates for all the possible settings in Fandango - there are many - You can create templates directly from Fandango by using the Save as template tool.
  On first shipping, you get a set of some common templates for Renaissance and Baroque lutes, guitar, SATB, etc. but this is only a very small collection compared to the infinity of needs of users.
  Again if you create your own templates give them distinctive names so they don't get overwritten by successive updates.
• WEB: This holds some WEB specific files (CSS and JavaScript) needed to create HTML pages from Fandango documents.
• III.Documentation: This directory holds the HTML format documentation you are reading right now.

				<fandango-session root-path="J:\Fandango\Config\Session\" filename="preferences.xml" major="7" minor="0">
			 

Preferences options

The Preferences dialog allows you to set to values that persists across sessions of the program. Those values are saved in part in a file called preferences.xml, located under the main Fandango/Config/Session directory. In case of serious problems, when the session default values are faulty and new documents fail to create properly, you may want to delete this file. The program will then regenerate a new default settings file, but you will have to reset your Preferences. Fandango looks for the location of the preferences.xml file in the Windows registry. If it does not find the file based on the registry, you will be prompted to create a new one and to reset your preferences from the Preferences dialog.

The Preferences dialog has several logical sections:

I.Instruments

• Default instrument: This allows you to set a default value for the instrument that is used whenever a new section is created. It is also used by the MIDI import utility.
• Default instrument database: Fandango support multiple customized instruments databases. These are located under the Fandango\Config\Insstruments directory and they have a jtix extension. You can set a default database in Preferences by selecting one of those files. You can for example design a set of instruments for Modern music, one for Baroque and one for Renaissance music. You can easily switch from one set to another either from the Instrument database tool or from the instruments tool in the side tabbed tools within Fandango. Illustration of the instrument database editor.

II. Directory paths.

Fandango files path: the root directory for all kinds of files needed by the software and also used to keep your own creations. By default the software creates a Fandango subdirectory under your "my documents" directory at installation time, unless you specify another location. (see the Installation section in this document for more detail)

Usually you only have to care about the location of the root directory: Fandango, but you need to preserve the subdirectory structure.

HTML URL: this points to the location of the CSS and JavaScript file sused to create HTML files from Fandango documents. If empty, the software will use the default css and js files under Fandango/Config/WEB. You can point to either the WEB version: django.musickshandmade.com, or if you are a pro at coding, you can customize those css and js files to your taste and copy them to your own WEB site. In that case, use your URL without the leading http prefix.

III. Appearance

• Default font:This sets the default font for newly created documents and documents imported from other systems that use fonts not found on your system
• Default zoom: Default zoom value whenever you open the program. This might vary depending on your eyesigfhtr, screen resolutiuon and many other factors. I personally like 120%.
• Screen background color
• Score page background: note you can set this as a color or use a bitmap file to create a textured background
• Paper texture: Use this tool to select the bitmap texture you want. Note you can toggle that option on and off from Preferences or from the Document ribbon.
• Use texture: toggles textured page background.
• Use bitmap backgrounds: This indicates whether you want the dialogs to use a textured background. You may want to disable it if memory is low on your machine

IV. Tablature voices colors: customize the colors for tablature voicing. You can set a maximum of 4.

V. Sound

• MIDI Out port: this is the MIDI port used by Fandango to output MIDI. This pulldown is automatically populated depending on the hardware and software capabilities of your system. If you have several MIDI Out ports you can switch between them there. Normally that value is automatically selected by Windows, but you may want to override it for instance to send output to a keyboard attached to your computer.
• MIDI2Wave program: this is the path to the program you use for MIDI to WAV conversions. I personally use the TiMidity++ player for this both on Windows and Ubuntu. That function is used by the "Play thru TiMidity" menu command under Play. Note: This will only play a MIDI format file as opposed to MIDI streaming.
• Percussion channel: The default is channel 9 (zero-based notation, i.e. or 10 if you count from 1 instead of zero). You may need to override that default value if you have an advanced system. 
• Metronome patch: this is the percussion patch that is used if you select to play metronome ticks together with your MIDI output. Fandango supports also a stand alone metronome, i.e. independent of the score. That metronome uses a fixed WAV generated sound and the Metronome patch defined here will have no effect on it.
• Play opening jingle: If checked you will hear a little tune each time you start the software. The file payed is called jingle.wav and it is saved under /Fandango/Config/Assets/Sound. You can delete it if you don't like it or just leave the option unchecked in Preferences. Note: because of problems with older hardware, you need to have that option checked to use the standalone metronome.

V. Options

• Open last document: If you check that box, each time you start the program, the last opened document is automatically opened for you. Note: This may cause trouble if the last file was corrupted. In that case, delete the JazzTabini file under DjangoFiles and restart the program.
• Maximum undo depth: This sets the maximum number of undo operations stored in memory. If the document is very large or your computer does not have too much memory avaiable, you may want to decrease the value
• Auto-save time: Sets the interval of time for Windows automated auto-save services to happen.

Templates

A template is an empty Django document pre-formatted in a certain way. Django uses hundreds of different variables, from fonts to instrument definitions to image locations, etc. You can save those options as a template to be used and reused so you don't have to recheck everything every time you create a new document. In fact the default way of creating a new Fandango document is by using a template. The Django installation provides a number of ready-made templates, but it is expected that you would prefer to create your own. Templates are easily created by selecting the Main File Menu->File->Save as template command in an existing document. Django will then save the template based on the currently opened document and it will place it in the templates directory A list of available templates appears in the Templates sidebar to make it easier to review and access. That list consists of all the templates found in the templates directory on your disk.

Note: The default location of templates is under My documents\DjangoFiles\Templates. That location may be overridden in the Preferences dialog.

Note: Django templates have a different file extension: *.jttx   

HTML Export

That features creates an HTML document based on the current document. It allows you to include information from the metadata (book settings) and it creates a list of all available sections, with the detail of the instruments used, the key, time signature, comments, etc. You can also add MIDI files and an associated image. That features takes the chore out of generating an HTML page and exporting it to your WEB site.

It uses two files: a CSS file that defines the appearance of your HTML, and a Javascript file that manipulates the data originally generated. Those files are directory and they are customizable if you know what you are doing - i.e. if you know enough CSS and Javascript, including jquery. It is fairly easy and reasonably risk-free though to modify the CSS.

File finder tool

This tool allows you to search for Django and Fandango files on your disk. It can also be used to create document groups and HTML index files with sections listing. To select a group of files, set the Root directory where you want the search to begin. Check the Recurse folders box if you want the search to include all subdirectories under the root one. Once you have selected a group of files, select the action you want to perform: Create HTML page or Create document group, then follow the prompts.

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Creator

Alain Veylit

Modified

2016-11-14