Parameter reference

The following parameters can be set in tonespace:

PRESET. Selects the preset program to use. In hosts that support it you can rename programs yourself and save/load either single presets or complete preset banks to/from .fxp, .fxb files respectively.

SPACE. Selects the space to use in the central grid. Spaces differ in how they distribute midi note numbers across the grid. Generaly the [N:M] notation means that the grid increases by N semitones horizontally and M semitones vertically. See also Introducing spaces.

LABELS. Controls how cell labels are displayed within the space. A cell label always has a main label and a subscript. For either main label or subscript you can select

MIDI note number

Note name (only for cells that are part of the current scale/key)

Roman numeral for scale degree (only for cells that are part of the current scale/key)

KEY. Selects the key or starting note from which we will apply the SCALE intervals. You can hover the mouse over the combobox to see which interval set corresponds to each possible value. The KEY parameter works in conjunction with the SCALE parameter for enabling/disabling notes within the space. See also Understanding keys.

SCALE. Selects the scale or set of note intervals to apply to the space. You can hover the mouse over the combobox to see which interval set corresponds to each possible value. The SCALE parameter works in conjunction with the KEY parameter for enabling/disabling notes within the space. See also Understanding scales.

CH FILTER. Restricts the kind of chords that can be selected by the user and by the automatic chord fitting algorithms. You can turn the filter off by setting it to All. Typical filter settings allow to use dyads, triads and sevenths only or up to dyads, triads and sevenths.

CHORD. Shows the currently active chord name. This parameter can only be set interactively when the ASSIST parameter is set to any of the manual modes (Play chord ...). If ASSIST is set to any of the automatic chord fitting modes, the CHORD parameter will be overridden by tonespace. See also ASSIST.

VOICING. Controls transposition of chord member notes by multiples of 1 octave. Examples are inversions, root note transpositions and making chords open/closed. For each possible value you can see the exact transpositions used by hovering above the combobox. See also Chord voicings.

ASSIST. Controls whether the user can select chords manually (Play chord ...) or tonespace will select chords automatically (Fit ...).

Play chord anywhere: the chord root can be played anywhere in the space (by clicking any cell, even when cell is disabled)

Play chord where root in key: a chord can only played if the root note (cell) is part of the the active scale/key (only on enabled cells can be clicked)

Play chord if fully in key: a chord can only be played if all of its notes (cells) are part of the active scale/key (all chord cells are enabled cells)

Fit most compact shape: tries to fit a chord automatically at the current root cell, using the geometric chord fitting algorithm

Fit chord to scale (best): tries to fit a chord automatically at the current root cell, using the common chord fitting algorithm, and selecting the best candidate chord.

Fit chord to scale (cycle): like previous mode, but cycles through all candidate chords when repeatedly clicking the root cell

Fit chord to scale (rand): like previous mode, but picks a random chord from all fitting candidate chords each time the root cell is clicked

TRIGGER. Controls how mouse/MIDI input affects triggering of cells in tonespace.

Mouse click triggers cell: the MIDI input is forwarded either to the tonespace MIDI out. Apart from that it will also highlight the cells corresponding to the incoming MIDI notes. In this mode tonespace can be fully controlled by mouse movements and clicks.

Midi triggers clicked cell: tonespace will use the incoming MIDI notes to trigger a chord in the cell where you are currently left-clicking and holding down the mouse button. If the on click parameter is set to Trigger & hold cell, then you do not have to keep the mouse button down.

Midi triggers hovered cell: this is very similar to the previous mode, but here it merely suffices to hover the mouse pointer over a cell to have the incoming midi notes trigger that cell.

Midi triggers note: the incoming midi controls both the rhythm and the pitches, triggering a cell corresponding to the incoming midi note number. In this mode tonespace can be completely controlled from an external keyboard or midi track.

Midi triggers note (mod.) :the behavior is almost identical to the previous setting, with one difference: the incoming midi note will be assumed to be played in the CMajor scale and will first be modulated/transposed to the selected scale/key in tonespace before it will trigger any chords. This allows you to play the white keys on a keyboard and still generate chords that are in key with another scale/key.