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HarmonyBuilder (Basic) is a music score editor designed to maximize the ease and speed of composing and editing, while at the same time structuring the compositional process into 4 independent parts. It is ideal for the exploration of complex harmonies and rhythms, particularly in chorale format, throughout the 26 major and minor keys, utilizing any combination of binary and ternary rhythms. It employs intuitive controls which can be easily understood, with helpful pop-up Tool Tip windows for every command on the panel. Installation In order to function, HarmonyBuilder (Basic) requires that the Java Runtime Environment (otherwise known as "Java") be installed on the computer. This is a free download from www.java.com. If it is not present, please carry out the installation. This will also enable the correct functioning of the HarmonyHub Forum and Archive. If, following the installation and launch of HarmonyBuilder (Basic), you do not hear any sounds, it is possible that, during the installation of Java on your system, the soundbank was not correctly installed in the Java > Audio folder inside the Program Files. To correct this, simply click on the button below:
A free demo version of HarmonyBuilder (Basic) can be downloaded and installed from www.harmonybuilder.com. This can be used to play native HarmonyBuilder (Basic) files (.HAB format), but will not have some of the functionalities of the activated version, as seen by the greyed-out sections of the File menu show below: To enable all the menu items, a Unique Activation Key must be purchased from www.harmonybuilder.com, and pasted into the Activate an Upgrade window. Why does HarmonyBuilder (Basic) deal with at most 4 parts? First, because the essence of all tonal music compositions can be expressed both melodically and harmonically within the confines of 4 parts. Second, because this architectural decision gives HarmonyBuilder (Basic) the advantage of presenting the user with a score in which the 4 parts - Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass - have already been configured for easy and fast manipulation. With just one click, rests can be converted to notes or chords; notes can be readily split into two or three smaller notes, or melded into larger notes, or simply reconverted to rests. HarmonyBuilder (Basic) provides 5 independent navigation modes, apart from the classic “playback” mode at a selected tempo. Every note that is heard is visually reinforced with orange coloring. In the 2 "snapshot" modes, this coloration feature highlights the subtle harmonies of inner parts, providing the user with a valuable analysis tool. Furthermore, the 4 parts are all completely independent, with separate volume and instrument controls. Cinematic Scrolling: Innovative auto-scrolling technology enables the active notes to automatically and smoothly scroll to the center of the screen, exactly where the user wants them. This frees the user from awkward clicking and dragging operations, because the notes being heard and edited are always at center stage! Line-flip Scrolling: This is the classic viewing method whereby as the cursor reaches the far right of the screen, a fresh line of music is instantly replaced on the screen. This provides a stationary score, as an alternative to the moving score of cinematic scrolling, and is also faster to use during speed editing. 4) Mouse-free Composing and Editing Great effort has been made to reduce mouse-clicking to a minimum. Most of the commands for note navigation, editing, and playback can be executed with simple keyboard shortcuts or with the four arrow keys, and will allow for extensive “mouse-free” editing. 1) The Text Tool: You can enable the Text Tool by checking the box under Settings > Enable Text Tool. The text box is opened by double-clicking the desired location in the score. Then, the user can type some text. By clicking the mouse again (anywhere), the text will be committed to the canvas. To further edit text that is already committed to the canvas, double-click on the text when the "hand" appears. This will open a Text Editor in the top-left corner of the screen. This will enable retyping, as well as changing the font, size and type face. 2) The Line Tool: You can enable the Line Tool by checking the box under Settings > Enable Line Tool.You can draw straight lines across any portion of the canvas, by clicking & dragging. Once a line has been drawn, you can select it by clicking on it when the "hand" appears (a little red arrow appears at one end of the line), and drag it by clicking again and dragging to the desired position. 3) Undo/Redo Actions: Every action performed during the composition or editing process can be 4) Inserting Chords: By default, a Tonic chord, containing the Root, 5th, 3rd and Root above, is entered when Chord > Add is pressed. These chord elements can later be edited by the user. 5) Voice Muting : Each of the 4 voices - Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass - can be muted, using the adjacent check box. Also, any volume can be assigned to each of the 4 parts, with a range of 0 - 127. 6) Choosing Instruments: Any of the 128 General Midi instruments can be assigned to each of the 4 parts. 7) Printing: A printable version of the score can be compiled, by selecting File > Print. Note: Printing of checker errors is only available in the Educational and Professional versions. Launch your copy of HarmonyBuilder (Basic) from the Start > Programs index or the Desktop Icon. The canvas will appear with only the treble and bass clefs visible. You must now begin entering the necessary parameters for your composition. Step 1: Choose a Key Signature;
When the Play button is pressed, playback always starts from the position of the square cursor. The notes that are playing will turn orange, and the score will start scrolling. You can chose between either Line-Flip or Cinematic scroll modes. Playback can be stopped at any time, by pressing the Stop button (the Play button turns into a Stop button when the score is playing). Note that the square cursor will remain positioned on the starting note during playback. When the Play button is re-pressed after stopping, playback will start from the location of the square cursor.
Once the position of the square cursor is set , the same portion of music can easily be replayed for analysis, without having to reset the start position each time. Note: ensure that the Midi On checkbox is selected. The 4 Arrow Keys on your computer keyboard Option 1: Note mode: In this mode, the square cursor (which surrounds the selected note) will play the selected note as well as turn it orange. The left/right arrow keys will move the square cursor to adjacent notes within the selected part, while the up/down arrow keys will move the square cursor to the adjacent parts.
Option 2: Snapshot mode: In this mode, the actively sounding notes at any instance in time can be heard and seen in orange. This enables the user to evaluate the interaction of later notes with previous notes whose sound holds over to the time when the later note is played. The left/right arrow keys will move the square cursor backwards or forwards one chord at a time. The up/down arrow keys will move the square cursor within the elements of the chord.
Option 3: Snapshot (p/w) mode (p/w means “part-wise”): The aural and visual feedback is the same as the Snapshot mode, but there is a restriction on the way the square cursor moves through the score. The left/right arrow keys will move the square cursor to adjacent notes within the selected part, while the up/down arrow keys will move the square cursor to the adjacent parts. Option 4: Step mode: In this mode, only the notes within the vertical line selected by the square cursor will be heard. The square cursor’s navigation is identical to Snapshot mode, which is: the left/right arrow keys will move the square cursor backwards or forwards one chord at a time. The up/down arrow keys will move the square cursor within the elements of the chord (all the chord notes will be heard at each movement of the square cursor).
Option 5: Fixed Position mode: This is a fast scrolling method, allowing the user to move rapidly through the music, one step at a time, without having to wait for the continuous scroll to complete. To scroll, press Shift + right/left arrow keys. The square cursor will remain in a fixed position throughout the scroll. When Chord > Add is pressed:
Therefore, to obtain note durations that are different from the basic note duration for the chosen Time Signature, use the Split and Meld buttons. Splitting creates shorter notes, and melding creates longer notes. Please note that melding will only occur between notes of equal pitch and duration. Split > Binary: this will convert the selected note into two notes with half the duration of the selected note. Note: melding is not possible between notes of equal pitch and duration in separate triplets: a pop-up will suggest using the Tie/Untie button instead. The following diagrams show the different levels of division obtainable with binary and ternary splitting:
Any two neighboring notes, provided they have identical pitches, can be tied together. They do not need to have the same durations. The result is to extend the duration of the first note by the duration value of the second note. Any tied notes can be untied by simply re-pressing the Tie/UnTie button. Any selected note can be nudged up or down the chromatic scale by using the Shift + up/down arrow keys. The note alteration symbols have been chosen to reflect the most commonly used chord extensions on a dominant chord. For example, in the Key of C major, we have the following extensions of a G7 chord: while in the Key of C minor, we have the following extensions of the G7 chord:
If notes need to be named differently from the way they are written automatically by the program, use the Enharmonic Equivalent drop-down menu (Enharmonic Equiv.), in the Selected Note panel, and select any of the alternative name options for the selected note. The first time Empty Bar > Add is pressed, a pop-up will appear, asking “Do you want to add Pick-Up Bar?” The pick-up bar allows for an empty bar to be entered before the numbered bars begin:
Each time the Empty Bar > Add button is clicked once, an extra bar, populated with rests, is added to the composition. The keyboard shortcut for adding an empty bar is Ctrl + Space Bar. There are four ways of moving to different parts of the score during the process of composition: (1) Navigate through the notes using the left/right arrow keys. The score will automatically scroll left or right, bringing the square cursor to the center of the screen each time it approaches the edge of the screen. This is ideal for the initial stages of composition, where rests are being converted to chords. (3) Select a note, then press the Play button. Auto-scrolling will start when the notes being played reach the far right of the screen. When the score has reached the desired place, press the Stop button. Click on a new note to set a new playback start position. The scrolling speed will adjust automatically to the Tempo setting, which can be set between 30 and 240 b.p.m. (beats per minute). (4) Press the Home key on your computer keyboard to jump the score instantly to the first bar, or press the End key to jump the score instantly to the last bar. (5) Select a bar number in the Go To menu, then press "Go To". The score will jump to the desired bar. 2) Harmonic Sequences Archive: If the application is activated, it will save save to and from the Harmonic Sequences Archive, a free, public, music score archive, hosted by www.harmonyhub.com . 3) HarmonyHub Forum: If the application is activated, it will confer Super User status to the email address used to purchase the Activation Key. If this email is used to login to the HarmonyHub Forum, and provided you use the same computer on which HarmonyBuilder was activated, the Player and Editor applets inside the Forum will also allow saving forum compositions to the local hard dirk, or importing compositions from the local hard disk to the Forum 4) Auto-Save: If the application is activated, it will be possible to enable auto-saving. To do so, go to Settings > Auto-Save, and check the "enable auto-saving" check box. The default location of the "autosaved_backup.HAB" file is shown in the Auto-Save Settings panel. This can be re-set to another location, if desired. The backup file does NOT overwrite the file saved manually by the user using the File > Save (To Disk) menu. The intervals at which the auto-save is performed can be changed manually. By default, it is every 2 minutes.
An important feature of HarmonyBuilder (Basic) is its capability to easily share compositions over the internet. There are 3 ways this can be done: 1) Once a composition has been completed, it can be saved to a free public archive, hosted by www.harmonyhub.com, where anyone can see the composition link and click it to see and play the score. This is ideal for providing a showcase for a composition, as well as creating a permanent archive of the score. The upload date is automatically included, providing documentary evidence of its publication date. 2) Compositions can be uploaded to a password-protected private database, accessible over the Internet, but only to those people who know the access password. This is ideal for teachers, students, or workgroups who wish to share compositions among themselves, but not with the wider world. Contact support@musilogic.com for subscription details. 3) Compositions can be shared with a friend (or group of friends) by e-mail. From the File menu, the Email This Score item can be selected, and this will open a form which allows the user to enter up to 10 e-mail addresses. Once the form is sent, the composition is stored on the server for no less than 7 days, and the recipients of the email will then be able to click on a dedicated hyperlink that opens the composition in their browser. This is ideal for sharing musical ideas between two or more people via email. This service is free. Keyboard Controls and Shortcuts A few commands can only be executed by the keyboard, and have not been included on screen panel, in order to keep it uncluttered. Here is a comprehensive list: Commands only available on keyboard:
Most of the commands present as buttons or menus on the screen have a keyboard shortcut counterpart. Here is a comprehensive list: Commands available on screen and also as a keyboard shortcut:
Top As the mouse is moved over each of the control buttons or drop menus on the control panel, a text box will appear.This explains the function of the button, and sometimes offers a suggestion of how to apply it. Full list of control panel Tool Tips:
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can be used to navigate to all the notes and rests in the score. The aural and visual feedback during navigation can be one of four options. 
