Winter NAMM 2008 NewsWinter NAMM 2008 NewsNovember 5, 2007. Practica Musica, Counterpointer, and Songworks have all been updated to make the music font work with Apple's new OS 10.5 "Leopard." Songworks needed some additional changes as well, which are now completed. All three updates are free to owners of current versions and can be obtained with the "Check for Updates" command in each program's file menu. Practica Musica 5.133 also includes a new feature: activities that have been completely "passed" are now marked by a checkmark in the activity menu.
October 19, 2007. Practica Musica 5.132 gives you the ability to directly run any activity stored in the Ars Nova online activity library. Of course, this requires that your computer have an internet connection, but you don't have to download anything or unstuff anything - you just choose the activity you want from the list (organized by topic) and the program will read the activity stored at the site and run it directly. This is similar to the command that lets students run activities posted by their instructors at WebStudents, but it doesn't require a WebStudents account. The complete list of Practica Musica activities continues to be included with your program whenever you install it, but since we often add new activities that might not be part of your collection this is an easy way to run the new ones. This is a free update for owners of Practica Musica 5 or later (use the Check for Updates command in the Practica Musica file menu to obtain it).
October 19, 2007. Songworks 2.740 adds a safeguard: if you've made a rhythmic error that would throw everything just a little off when using the automatic barline feature, the program will highlight the vicinity of the apparent error and ask you if you'd like to fix that before using Autobar. Of course, there's always Undo for the Autobar command, but this will save you trouble if you didn't think to Undo in time. This update is free to owners of Songworks 2.6 and later (use the Check for Updates command in your Songworks file menu).
October 9, 2007. An important free Counterpointer update! Counterpointer 1.040 is now available to any Counterpointer owner using the "Check for Updates" command in the Counterpointer file menu. Version 1.040 offers a valuable new feature: fixed measures. In any exercise involving a cantus firmus, Roman numerals, or figured bass Counterpointer can now fill in all the measures with blank space, allowing you to enter the last measures before you do the first one. Often it is very helpful to first figure out how the piece will end, then work up to that. The new fixed-measures feature can be turned off in the Score Menu if desired, but we think most people will want to use it. Another feature is a "Set Staff Volume" command in the Score menu that lets you set the volume of all or selected notes in a staff, or even to change the default volume for all staves.
Counterpointer is the first software ever to offer evaluation
of both species and free counterpoint, and can serve both as a self-contained
introduction to counterpoint and as a tool to accompany counterpoint textbooks.
Counterpointer includes notation tools for entering and saving music and more than 150 user-controllable style rules. It offers
* Species exercises based on the Fux examples (2, 3, and 4 parts)
* Species exercises based on generated c.f.s that are always new
* Exercises in realizing Roman numerals in 4-part vocal harmony (harmony based on Bach examples)
* Exercises in realizing figured bass in 4-part vocal harmony (harmony and bass from Bach examples)
* Free composition in 2-8 voices using your own choice of style rules
* An onscreen manual offering a basic introduction to counterpoint and explanations of each rule
Compositions can be saved, heard, printed, and exported as MIDI files. Counterpointer's student file is the same type as those used by Practica Musica: if you are already a Practica Musica student you can use the same student file to do work in Counterpointer, and your exercise scores will be added to those earned in Practica Musica.
Counterpointer will be available on CD-ROM for $75 retail. Available for Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP, Macintosh 9.1-2, and Macintosh OS X (native).
Clicking a red box produces error explanations like those below:
Practica Musica 5 contains all the great features found in previous versions (see below), plus Intel Mac compatiblity and these useful new additions:
Practica Musica the award-winning music training software includes more than 80 theory and ear training activities, each allowing students to focus on specific skills, such as rhythm tapping, interval recognition, chord spelling, polyphonic dictation, etc.
Best of all, Practica Musica allows students to work at their own pace, providing interactive feedback and tracking user progress until mastery of each concept is achieved! Purchase a copy and begin enjoying Practica Musica's many features and benefits right away.
A Wide Variety of Customizable Activities
Practica Musica currently features more than 80 activities, 27 of them specifically designed to accompany Ars Nova's new textbook, Exploring Theory with Practica Musica. As more activities are created, they are posted to a special section of Ars Nova's web site for free download. Difficulty levels range from beginning to advanced. Here is a list of many activities included with Practica Musica:
Additional Beginning Activities:
Each of the above activities can be customized to meet the needs of a specific individual or curriculum -- instructors can even create their own activities for inclusion in their students' activities folders.
Polyphonic Capabilities
Many theory and ear training activities have been included in Practica Musica 4 that take advantage of the program's unique polyphonic capabilities. Practica Musica can now perform rhythm tapping or sight reading exercises in two parts and can tutor students through more advanced ear training exercises such as four-part dictation or chord progression identification. In the chord progression exercises, the voicing of each chord can be displayed in full.
Sounds
Practica Musica for Macintosh can use Quicktime instruments for output, as well a variety of sampled instruments with 16-bit output resolution for clarity in inner voices. Practica Musica for Windows uses either the sampled sounds, the computer's sound card sythesizer or SoftSynth (if available).
MIDI Compatibility
Though MIDI is not required (except in sight-reading exercises involving both pitch and rhythm) it is often helpful. Practica Musica for the Mac OS X uses OS X's built-in MIDI capabilities so no third party MIDI management software is required. Mac users with OS 8.6 - 9.2.2 can use OMS or FreeMIDI, either via a serial port or USB. Windows users can plug directly to the joystick port found on most sound cards, or to a USB port with a USB interface.
Vocalis Voice Input Technology
Vocalis voice input technology allows Practica Musica users to sing or play instruments into activities such as Pitch Reading, Interval Playing, etc. Voice input is done using any standard USB microphone.
Notation Tools
Practica Musica's notation tools allow students to write not only melodies, but also chorales and other polyphonic compositions. Music can be heard, saved and printed -- perfect for class assignments. The music file format is the same for both the Macintosh and Windows versions, so files created on one platform can be read and edited by the other.
Coordinated Textbook
Exploring Theory with Practica Musica (Evans) is a friendly and engaging textbook that provides full coverage of music fundamentals topics, plus a section of tear-out written exercises and music for class use (view table of contents). Using Practica Musica in conjunction with Exploring Theory... enables students to put concepts into practice with immediate feeback -- the new "Textbook Activities" illustrate and reinforce nearly every topic introduced in the book. Students also can refer to Practica Musica to hear all of the music examples printed in the text. Students respond enthusiastically to this multimedia approach because it makes the subject matter both more accessible and more vital, and the new Student Edition makes this advantage available to academic institutions at textbook prices.
Practica Musica 4.5 for OS X
It's here! Practica Musica 4, Ars Nova's award-winning music theory and ear training software, is now available for Mac OS X!
A complete music theory/ear training tutor for both Macintosh and Windows computers (Mac OS 8/9, Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP). Includes the coordinated textbook Exploring Theory with Practica Musica and a wide variety of customizable activities, including everything from simple pitch reading or rhythm-tapping to chord progressions, polyphonic dictation, transposition exercises - even including notation tools for student compositions.
New features:
Other improvements
Pricing for OSX upgrade:
Standard or Student Edition Downloadable Upgrade from version 4: $30
Standard or Student Edition boxed upgrade (for upgrading from version 2-3 or to have the new CD. Includes textbook. (Available January) $40 + shipping
Site Edition Downloadable Upgrade: $200
Your Personal Music Tutor!
Practica Musica, Ars Nova's award-winning music theory and ear training software, is compatible with both Windows and Macintosh, Practica Musica 4 has many features that make it the new standard for music education software.
Here are some of the activities currently offered:
System Requirements
Macintosh
Windows
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Music Composition and Exploration!
Songworks II for Windows is now available on a hybrid CD that includes
versions for both Macintosh and Windows 95/98. Songworks for Win/Mac retails
for $125.
The Win 95/98 version of Songworks is fully file-compatible with the Mac version; the downloadable scores in the musiclibrary at this site will work on either platform. Owners of the Mac version can send scores to friends running the Windows version, and vice-versa.
Songworks II can automatically notate music that you play on a MIDI keyboard (both hands this time) or simple tunes that you play on the computer keys. Songworks II music plays via 16-bit Macintosh sound, QuickTime instruments, or MIDI (now including OMS compatibility). Unique capabilities such as Active Listening, Take a Picture, Idea Generators, Chord Analyzer, and Transform Tools make Songworks II more than a notation program: it's a composer's workshop and a great tool for exploring music.
It's Polyphonic
Whether you're writing a simple leadsheet, a piano work or an orchestra score, Songworks II will meet your needs. You can write a score that includes transposing parts (instruments that don't sound at the written pitch), extract orchestra or vocal parts from a score, and listen to any part or combination of parts without connecting to MIDI. Though Songworks is inexpensive you'll find some capabilities that aren't always present even in programs costing twice as much: the ability to drag note stems to adjust beam angles, for example, or to drag bar lines to control the width of individual measures. Neither can all music programs notate the above example, in which chords are formed of notes having different rhythm values - a common occurance in piano and choral music.
Pick a part in a polyphonic composition and join your computer in performing it! You merely tap the rhythm of your part on the letter keys of your computer and the pitches come out right automatically. Songworks accompanies you with the other voices, stopping at the first opportunity if you stop, jumping ahead if you play too quickly. The next best thing to performing in a live musical group, Active Listening is a great way to explore musical literature, practice rhythm reading or full melodic sightreading, proofread your own composition, or learn your part in a choral piece. You can listen to the computer play your part alone, or with any combination of the other voices, just to hear what it sounds like. Then try it yourself. Try it with just the bass accompaniment, or with all the other parts joining in. If you want, turn off the automatic pitches in Active Listening and convert this to a real melodic sight-reading exercise with automatic accompaniment!
Realtime volume control enables you to play more expressively and to bring your part into prominence where appropriate, just as if you were performing in an actual chamber ensemble. Even with limited musical training, students using Active Listening can turn a group of Macs into a Macintosh quartet or a small orchestra and experience the fun of ensemble playing.
Academic users will appreciate this quick way to make music examples for a publication or for use in an assignment for (or by) students. With the Take a Picture command you just drag a rectangle around the music you want to "photograph," and Songworks will export a high-resolution image to the Clipboard or to a disk file. That image is not just a picture of the computer screen - it will print at the highest resolution of your printing device and also can be exported to other types of documents, such as this one.
If you're stumped trying to add chords to a melody you've written, Songworks II can suggest harmonies. If you're at a loss for melody, it can stimulate your creativity with melody ideas to go with your own chords, or it can invent both melodies and chords. The idea generators are now adjustable; choose your preferred level of melodic and harmonic complexity. The ideas are always new and often interesting enough to start you down a new creative path. Again, all this can be done without a MIDI device - you can compose and listen to the results on a laptop.
When the "chord layer" is active you can play any notes and have Songworks tell you what chord it is that you're playing. It can then automatically enter the correct symbol for that chord when you press the Enter key. This is useful when writing a leadsheet; especially if you know how to play a chord but are not sure what it is called.
These convenient tools, the regular transforms, are used by composers to extend and elaborate thematic material. "Real" and "tonal" inversion, transposition, retrograde, and retrograde inversion offer variants of selected melodic passages that keep a recognizable connection with the original tune.
Multimedia
Songworks II inputs and outputs MIDI files, outputs sound files (in the AIFF format), PICT files, and PICT images through the clipboard. MIDI or AIFF files can be opened as QuickTime movies and either sent to a friend directly or incorporated into multimedia documents such as those created in Adobe Acrobat - readable even on Windows computers. At the Ars Nova web site you can download several Acrobat files that demonstrate both visual and aural images from Songworks.
Flexibility and Ease-of-use
Songworks II compositions can incorporate any number of internal clef, key, or meter changes. Bar lines can be placed automatically or wherever you choose. You can adjust stem heights and beam angles for individual notes by dragging the stems up and down; triplets, tuplets, slurs, and ties all have drag controls to adjust their appearance. Alter individual measure sizes by dragging bar lines right or left; bar lines between staves can be extended individually if desired.
To enter text you just choose the text tool, click it where you want the text to appear, and start typing. If the text is on a"lyric line" it will automatically line up with the notes (each staff can have as many lines of lyrics as you want). Chord symbols are entered by clicking, or by playing the desired chord notes and pressing Enter to automatically enter the appropriate chord symbol. Songworks II includes its own TrueType music font, allowing high-resolution printing even on non-Postscript printers. It also compensates in page layout for your choice of size reduction or enlargement, so that you can print "big note" song sheets or an orchestra score in miniature.
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