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vielklang
instant harmony 2
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Content
Copyright 2012 zplane.development GmbH & Co KG. All rights reserved.
This manual, as well as the software described in it, is furnished under license and may be used or
copied only in accordance with the terms of such license. The content of this manual is furnished
for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a
commitment by zplane.development. zplane.development assumes no responsibility or liability for
any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this book.
Except as permitted by such license, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or
otherwise, without the prior written permission of zplane.development.
zplane.development is a trademark of zplane.development.
Mac, the Mac logo and Mac OS are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and
other countries.
The Audio Units logo and GarageBand are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.
Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other
countries.
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.
All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
holders.
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Content
Content
CONTENT 3
INTRODUCTION 5
INITIAL WORDS 5
FEATURES: VK2 VS VK2 LE 5
INSTALLATION & REGISTRATION 6
GET STARTED 7
LOAD VK2 7
QUICK INTERFACE OVERVIEW 7
IMPORT AUDIO/MIDI 8
VIEWS 8
HARMONIZE 9
MIXER & VOICE CONTROL 10
USER INTERFACE 11
OVERVIEW 11
MENU 11
TOGGLE BUTTONS 16
HARMONIZE BUTTON 17
VIEWS 17
SETTINGS TABS 24
SUMMARY OF KEYBOARD/MOUSE SHORTCUTS 30
INPUTS & OUTPUTS 32
AUDIO ROUTING 32
MIDI ROUTING 32
IMPORT & EXPORT 33
HOW TO…? 34
SETUP VK2 IN DIFFERENT HOSTS 34
SETUP MIDI HARMONIZATION 38
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Content
DO ADVANCED PITCH CORRECTION 39
ADD NATURAL VIBRATO AND TREMOLO 39
TROUBLESHOOTING 40
PLUGIN DOES NOT SHOW UP IN THE HOST AFTER INSTALLATION 40
UNLOCKING 40
SAVING/RENDERING/FREEZING DOES NOT WORK 40
THE INPUT MELODY IS AUTOMATICALLY MODIFIED 40
MIDI-OUTPUT DOES NOT WORK WITH THE AUDIOUNIT 40
FEEDBACK & SUPPORT 41
GLOSSARY 42
CHORD 42
CHORD LABELS 42
HARMONY 43
INTERVAL 43
KEY 44
ROOT 44
SCALE 45
TREMOLO 46
TUNING FREQUENCY 46
VIBRATO 46
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Introduction
Feature
vk2
vk2 LE
MIDI harmonization
Pitch correction
Time correction
Stretching
Chord selection
Mixer
Global voice manipulation
MIDI input harmonization
Introduction
In this chapter you will learn:
How to install vielklang instant harmony 2
How to handle the registration
About new features of vielklang instant harmony 2
About differences between vielklang instant harmony 2 and LE
Initial words
Thank you for purchasing vielklang instant harmony 2 (abbreviated: vk2), a plugin incorporating
zplane’s next generation of audio harmonization technology. vk2 allows you to load any singlevoiced melody and get a fully harmonized four-voice output instantly even if you do not have any
deeper musical knowledge. It allows you to focus on the musical issues rather than technical or
theoretical ones.
vk2 is not just a harmonizer. It makes use of musical intelligence and knowledge of music theory,
particularly voice leading. It analyzes the selected melody and can then synthesize up to four
voices with the pitches selected to sound the most natural. You never have to bother about things
like root note, scale, tuning frequency, harmony progression, voice leading etc., although you can, if
you want to.
In addition to its harmonization capabilities, vk2 is also a powerful editing and pitch correction tool
with special optimization for vocals. You can control every aspect of the performance including
adding vibrato and tremolo even when they were not present originally.
For news on vielklang2, information about our other products or to get in touch with other users,
please visit vielklang2 website and join the support forum.
Features: vk2 vs vk2 LE
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mode
Advanced single note editing
Vibrato tremolo editing
All voice audio/MIDI export
Single voice audio/MIDI
export
Arranger view
Piano roll view
Hybrid score view
Multiple file import
Snapshots
MIDI triggering
Multitrack output
Installation & Registration
Introduction
After buying vk2 you’ll receive a serial number and a download link for the full version of vk2.
Please go to the zplane products site and click on MYACCOUNT at the top right. Log in If you
already have an account, otherwise create a new one. In the My Products section you can register
your serial, receive the corresponding unlock code and you can download the latest full version of
vk2.
Installation
Windows
Double click on the Windows installation binary (*.exe)
Click next in the installer window
Read the license agreement and if you agree click next
Follow the instructions of the installer
Mac OS X
Double click on the DMG file
Double click the .pkg file
Click continue in the installer window
Read the license agreement and if you agree click next
Follow the instructions of the installer
If you have not unlocked your copy of vk2 yet, you will be presented with a splash screen upon
opening the plugin for the first time. That screen will give you the option to switch to the unlock
screen. For your later reference you can always access the unlock screen by opening the
preferences.
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Get started
Get started
In this chapter you will learn:
How to load vk2 in your host
About the basics of the interface
How to import audio or MIDI
How to edit and harmonize
How to change global performance parameters and the mix
Routing and exporting
Load vk2
Load the vk2 instrument just like you would load any other virtual instrument; the detailed
procedure depends on the host application you are using.
Although vk2 processes audio data, it is not a real-time audio effect, but rather a virtual instrument.
This means that you have to load the audio/MIDI data into the it (see below)before you are able to
control the audio playback either via host synchronization or MIDI triggers.
Quick Interface Overview
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Get started
Import Audio/MIDI
After an empty instance of vk2 has been loaded, the single-voiced audio/MIDI data has to be
imported for the harmonization and/or editing.
Import Menu
To load an audio/MIDI file, click on the file folder icon in the menu section. This will open a
standard file window for your particular OS, and allow you to navigate to the file you want to
harmonize.
Drag and Drop
You also have the option to drag and drop an audio file from a host track or from the host browser
to vk2, if the host supports this functionality. MIDI drag and drop usually does not work from the
host, but you can drag from a file browser or from your desktop. The MIDI file has to be a compliant
MIDI file with a .mid extension.
The input audio has to be single-voiced to be used in the context of this instrument.
Regions have to be consolidated/rendered to one single audio file before being dropped into
vk2.
Views
Arranger
In the Arranger view you can drag audio/MIDI files to the desired time position. Remove a file
simply with a right click.
Piano Roll
We recommend to do the initial vocal editing and pitch correction before harmonizing. You can still
edit after the harmonization but then the editing has to be done for each voice separately.
Dragging a note at the
Outer left edge horizontally lets you change the beginning of the note
Inner left area horizontally lets you move the note’s position
Inner right area vertically lets you change the pitch of the note (hold ALT for fine
tuning)
Outer right edge horizontally lets you change the ending of a note
For more detailed editing, simply double click a note or make use of the toggle buttons at the top
right of the plug-in.
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Get started
Hybrid Score
The Hybrid Score view combines the time line of Piano Roll with a more traditional score
visualization on staffs. It offers the same editing features as in the Piano Roll view as mentioned
above.
Harmonize
General Concepts
After importing an audio/MIDI file, click the Harmonize button in order to bring up the
harmonization options. If you only want to harmonize certain sections of the file, simply select the
desired sections before you click the Harmonize button. Each harmonized section has its own
settings allowing you to mix different types of harmonization.
Harmony settings
After harmonizing the settings pane will switch to the harmony settings. Here you can change the
root note, scale and harmonization algorithm to your liking.
Note that the root note and scale here do not represent the file’s original root and scale but
rather the desired output root and scale. This lets you transpose the whole arrangement to
another key.
By default after harmonization the melody is quantized to the chosen key. This might modify
your original melody. To disable the quantization disable the magnet button right beside the
chosen scale.
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Get started
parameter
description
Tune
Controls the deviation of all notes from fully
quantized pitch. 100% means that the pitch is
100% quantized.
Drift
Controls the deviation of the pitch curve from
average note (e.g. vibrato).
Timing
Humanizes the timing of the voice. +1 means
maximum timing variation with a laid back feel.
-1 maximum timing variation with a forward
feel.
Shape
Shifts the timbre/formant shape in semitones.
Mixer & Voice Control
Mixer
You can either use the XY-Pad to adjust volume and panning at the same time or use the separate
sliders that appear when hovering over a XY-Pad. Double clicking the number displays allows to
enter the values manually. Volume and panning can also be automated from your host.
The headphone symbol sets the voice to solo and the speaker symbol mutes the voice.
Voice Control
These parameters adjust global performance attributes for each voice.
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User Interface
In this chapter you will learn:
All about the menu options
The purpose of the toggle buttons
More details about the different views
About all setting options
All keyboard and mouse shortcuts
Overview
User Interface
Menu
Import
In order to import audio or MIDI hit the import button in the menu. Alternatively, drag and drop a
file from your desktop or file explorer (Finder). Some hosts also support drag and drop from the
arrangement or the internal file browsers.
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User Interface
You should always render your recorded audio to one file before import. To import MIDI you’ll have
to export it as a compliant MIDI file first (having a .mid or .midi extension). For more details in your
host, please refer to the how-to section.
After the imported audio/MIDI file is analyzed you will be shown a dialog telling you the
estimated root note, key and standard pitch and original tempo. Please check if these are
correct and edit them if necessary.
Export
Clicking the export menu button on the top left allows you to export either all or separate single
(not available in LE version) voices as audio or MIDI file. If nothing is selected, everything is
exported starting from bar one. Otherwise, only the selected time range in the currently active view
is exported.
Selecting ‘Collect’ allows you to copy all imported samples to one specific directory. After collection
save your host project, otherwise the new file references will get lost.
Undo/Redo
Use these buttons to undo and redo your last action. The number of undo steps is unlimited.
Note that after re-loading a project all undoable actions are discarded.
Changes to the "Mixer" and "Voice Controls" cannot be undone within the plugin, because they
are under control of the host automation.
Edit
Undo/Redo
Same as the Undo/Redo buttons.
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User Interface
Shortcut
Description
SHIFT + Z
Undo
SHIFT + Y
Redo
f
Toggle ‘views follow transport’
SHIFT + A
Select all
SHIFT + C
Copy
SHIFT + X
Cut
SHIFT + V
Paste
Views follow transport
Unselect this if you do not want the views to follow the transport position. This is particularly useful
if you’re editing a certain section and want the views to stay at that position. This setting is enabled
by default and can also be toggled with the key shortcut 'f'.
Select all
Selects all objects in the current view.
Note that you can have different selections in the different views. All actions with selections
always refer to the selection in the currently active view.
Copy
Copies all selected objects in the current view into the clipboard.
Cut
Copies all selected objects in the current view into the clipboard and removes them from their
original position.
Paste
Pastes the clipboard to the current transport position.
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Preferences
Opens the preferences/registration overlay.
User Interface
Preferences
The preferences box lets you choose the desired output tuning frequency and if everything should
be mapped to that frequency. This is useful if you have audio from different sources with different
tuning frequencies and you want them all adapted to the current one.
By checking the Enable host tempo synchronization checkbox all audio and MIDI files will be tempo
synchronized to the host tempo with respect to their original tempo.
Registration
In the registration box you can unlock your version of vk2. If you are not upgrading, but have
purchased a full vk2 license you just enter your serial number and unlock keys into the text fields.
When you enter your vk2 LE or old vielklang2 1.5 serial and unlock key, vk2 will run in LE mode. If
you buy the upgrade to vk2 you can then enter the upgrade serial und unlock and it will run in vk2
full version mode.
Entering the upgrade serial/unlock without having entered the LE serial /unlock will not work.
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User Interface
Help
Hitting the help button and selecting tutorial will open an overlay that shows you the basic features
of vk2. If you need more in depth information please consult this manual.
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User Interface
Toggle Buttons
Vibrato Edit
This selects the vibrato edit mode (shortcut: ‘v’). Enabling the vibrato edit mode will automatically
enable the advanced edit mode if it has not been enabled before. For more details refer to the
‘Views’ chapter.
Advanced Edit
This selects the advanced edit mode (shortcut:’e’) or by double clicking a note. For more details
refer to the ‘Views’ chapter.
Cut/Glue
This selects the cut/glue mode right (shortcut: ‘c’). By standard you are in cut mode and can click
anywhere on a note to cut it into two parts. Glue two adjacent notes together by selecting them
while holding the ALT key.
Link to Host
If enabled (shortcut: ‘l’), vk2 will follow the exact position of the transport in your host. If disabled,
the transport of vk2 will be independent of the host and the play/pause button at the left of the
waveform overview will become enabled.
.
Unlinking the transport from the host transport is useful if you want to edit without using the
transport controls of the host. The playback should be linked to the hosts transport to check if
your edits and harmonies fit the arrangement.
In unlinked mode selections will loop automatically.
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User Interface
Shortcut
Description
v
Toggles Vibrato Edit mode
e
Toggles Advanced Edit mode, alternatively double click a note
c
Toggles Cut/Glue mode
ALT + mouse select
Glues adjacent notes in Cut/Glue mode
l
Toggles Link To Host
m
Toggles MIDI Trigger mode
MIDI Trigger
Enables the MIDI trigger mode (shortcut: ‘m’) and automatically disables the Link To Host playback.
MIDI trigger mode allows you to trigger snapshots with individual MIDI notes. You have to assign
MIDI notes to the snapshots in order to make them triggerable.
Shortcut summary
Harmonize Button
Hit the Harmonize button to harmonize a selected phrase of audio/MIDI. After import, the last
imported file is selected automatically. So, if you want to harmonize everything just hit the button.
In case you only want to harmonize portions of the file, select the part you want to harmonize
before you hit the button. Each harmonized section can have different settings.
If the imported file needs correction or modification it is advised to do the editing before
harmonization.
Views
Navigating the views
Transport
Left clicking in an empty area of any view moves the transport cursor to that position. If the
transport is linked to the host the transport cursor will reset to the host position as soon as the
playback of the host is started. If it is unlinked it will play from the selected position. The transport
cursor can also be dragged to any position.
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User Interface
Shortcut
Description
SHIFT + mouse wheel
Move view horizontally
SHIFT + ALT +
mouse wheel
Zoom view horizontally
mouse wheel
Move view vertically
ALT + mouse wheel
Zoom view vertically
CMD (CTRL) + ALT +
mouse drag
Move view vertically and horizontally
CMD (CTRL) +
right click
Zoom to selection. Iif nothing is selected, zoom out full.
Horizontal scrolling and zooming
Use the Horizontal Zoom Bar. Dragging in the middle of the selected area in the Horizontal Zoom
Bar moves the position of the viewed pane. Dragging either the left or the right side changes the
size of the pane.
Alternatively, you can move horizontally by pressing SHIFT and using the scroll wheel. You can
zoom in and out by pressing SHIFT & ALT and the scroll wheel.
Vertical scrolling and zooming
If present, use the vertical scroll/zoom bar at the right of the view. Use the scroll wheel to navigate
vertically. Hold ALT+ scroll wheel for vertical zooming.
Changing the position
You can move the current position of the view by holding CMD (CTRL) + ALT and dragging an empty
region of the view.
Zoom to selection
Selecting objects and right click the mouse while holding CMD (CTRL) zooms into the selection. If
nothing is selected the views will zoom out completely.
Shortcut summary
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User Interface
Shortcut
Description
ALT + move object
Unquantized move in Arranger
SHIFT +
double click object
Moves object to current play cursor position
Arranger
The Arranger view lets you position your imported files on a timeline in order to align them to the
playback in your host. If you locate the play cursor at the desired position before importing, the
imported file will be put there. You have the possibility to drag the file to any location you want to.
Normal dragging is locked to a 1/16 per bar grid. If you want to move the object freely, hold ALT
while dragging.
You can also put the transport to the desired position and then select and double click an object
while holding SHIFT: it will jump to the transport position then.
To remove a file from the arranger, right click the object and select ‘remove’ from the pop up
menu.
Note that when using copy/cut & paste, only the main (orange) voice is pasted. Your additional
harmony voices will be lost.
Shortcut summary
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User Interface
Piano Roll
The Piano Roll will be your main editing view when working with vk2. It shows the imported audio
or MIDI files as well as the generated harmony voices as notes on a Piano Roll. It allows individual
note editing as well as selecting regions for harmonization. A note can only be edited if the
corresponding voice is activated. The activated voice will show up in a darker color and have a
waveform in the background. By default, selections can only be made within the activated voice. If
you want to do a selection across multiple voices hold SHIFT while selecting.
Note that paste actions will only work on the main (orange) voice.
Simple Edit
By default, the Simple Edit mode is activated. It lets you do basic editing like pitch shifting, resizing
and repositioning single or multiple notes. If you drag the outer left or right edge of a note, it will
be resized. Dragging within the left part of the note will change the position of the note while
adapting the length of the notes before and after. Hold ALT while dragging and the adjacent notes
will detach. Drag the right part of the note up and down to change the pitch. Pitching is locked to
semitones. If you want to fine tune the note, hold ALT while dragging the pitch. In order to quickly
pitch correct a note, simply right click the note and it will jump to the nearest quantized pitch.
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User Interface
Function
Description
1
Pitch shifting
See Simple Edit
2
Time movement
See Simple Edit
3
Formant shift
Drag up/down to shift the formants of the note
4
Drift
Controls the variation of the pitch around the average pitch.
Use this to de-/increase the vibrato
5
Transition beginning
Drag up/down to control the steepness of the transition at
the beginning of the note. Drag the vertical green line
left/right to control the length of the transition
6
Transition end
Drag up/down to control the steepness of the transition at
the end of the note. Drag the vertical red line left/right to
control the length of the transition.
7
Volume
Drag up/down to change the volume of the note
8
Fade in
Drag up/down to control the start volume of the fade at the
beginning of the note. Drag the vertical green line left/right to
control the length of the fade.
9
Fade out
Drag up/down to control the end volume of the fade at the
end of the note. Drag the vertical red line left/right to control
the length of the fade.
Advanced Edit (not available in LE version)
Advanced Edit mode makes most edit options directly accessible without the need of changing edit
tools all the time. To enter Advanced Edit mode, double click a note. Alternatively, you can switch
to Advanced Edit mode by selecting the toggle button in the upper right corner. The following table
explains all the edit options in the Advanced Edit box
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User Interface
Function
Description
1
Vibrato frequency
Drag left and right to change the frequency of the vibrato.
Dragging left increases the frequency
2
Vibrato end amplitude
Drag up/down to change the end amplitude of the vibrato
3
Vibrato start amplitude
Drag up/down to change the start amplitude of the vibrato
4
Amount of tremolo
Drag up/down to change the amount of added tremolo.
Vibrato/Tremolo Edit (not available in LE version)
Vibrato/Tremolo Edit mode lets you add artificial vibrato/tremolo to each note. Enter
Vibrato/Tremolo Edit mode by either hitting ‘v’ or click the toggle button in the upper right. In
order to add vibrato drag the vertical blue line (1) at the right end of the note to the left. Dragging
to the left will increase the vibrato frequency. Upon first opening of the edit box there is a vertical
green line indicating the estimated original vibrato frequency.
If vibrato is already present it is advised to lower the drift of the note in order to remove the
original and then add the artificial vibrato.
Note that you can only add tremolo if you’ve added vibrato before. The tremolo will always
have the same frequency as the vibrato.
The chords bar
The estimated harmony progression (only used in the intelligent harmonization modes) can be
changed in the chord bar on the top of the Piano Roll or Hybrid Score. Click on a chord symbol and
select the desired one in the pop up menu. Hold SHIFT and click the first and the last chord symbol
to change all chords in between. When holding CMD (CTRL) you can select several symbols that are
not adjacent. SHIFT + ALT selects all chord symbols of the same kind as the first clicked between the
first and last selected chord.
Unless you are in MIDI trigger mode or have MIDI Harmonization selected you can also use your
MIDI keyboard to change chords. Simply place the play cursor at the desired position and play the
chord on the keyboard. You can also do that on the fly during playback or use an aligned MIDI track
as input.
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Shortcut summary
Shortcut
Description
ALT + pitch note
Fine tune notes
ALT + resize note
Detaches notes upon resize
ALT + move note
Detaches notes upon move
SHIFT + mouse select
Select notes across multiple voices in Piano Roll and Hybrid Score
right click note
Pitch note to perfect tuning
SHIFT + mouse select
Select chords from the first to the last selected in chords bar
CMD (CTRL) +
mouse select
Select different chords at once in chords bar
SHIFT + ALT +
mouse select
Select chords of the same kind as the first chord between the first to the
last selected in chords bar
Hybrid Score (not available in LE version)
User Interface
The Hybrid Score gives you a score-like representation of your melody and harmonies. The pitches
are shown in a score while the note lengths are represented as they are in the Piano Roll. Editing in
Hybrid Score offers the same functionality as the Simple Edit mode in Piano Roll except that fine
tuning is not possible.
The key signature will be shown at the beginning of each part underneath the notes and will stay at
the beginning of the display when scrolling left/right until a new key signature begins. The
accidentals of individual notes will appear as note overlays.
Dragging the clef symbols up and down adjusts the score to the actual note range of the melody
and/or harmony voices. You can move the score up and down by a maximum of 2 octaves.
The chords bar
See Piano Roll.
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User Interface
parameter
description
Tune
Controls the deviation of all notes from perfect
tuning. 100% means that it is 100% in tune.
Settings Tabs
Mixer
The mixer tab lets you adjust the levels and the panning of each voice. When hovering over a mixer
X/Y-pad separate controls for volume and panning will appear. Either use these or the X/Y-pad to
adjust both at the same time. The value of the volume is displayed in the upper right corner and
panning value in the lower left. Double click on the values to edit these manually.
When hovering a X/Y-pad of a voice the corresponding voice is activated in Piano Roll or Hybrid
Score.
The headphone symbol in the lower right side represents the solo and the speaker symbol the
mute button.
Hold CMD (CTRL) and click on the horizontal or vertical fader to reset these to zero or center
position.
Volume and Panning are automatable by the host.
These settings only apply to audio voices, MIDI is not affected.
Voice Control
The voice controls adjust the global performance parameters of each voice. These controls affect all
notes per voice at the same time:
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User Interface
Drift
Controls the deviation of the pitch curve from
average note (e.g. vibrato amplitude).
Timing
Humanizes the timing of the voice. +1 means
maximum timing variation with a laid back feel.
-1 maximum timing variation with forward feel.
Shape
Shifts the timbre/formant shape in semitones.
The voice control parameters are automatable by the host. Try to avoid continuous
modification since some of these parameters involve some intensive computations.
MIDI is only affected by the Timing parameter.
Harmony Settings
The harmony settings will appear after a harmonizing an audio or MIDI region. It shows the settings
of the currently selected harmonization, or - if nothing is selected - the harmonization at the play
cursor position. For non-harmonized areas the tab will be empty.
In (1) you select the output root. By default this is set to the estimated original root note. By
changing the root, both the melody and the harmony voices will be pitch shifted either up or down
depending on the shortest distance.
(2) selects the scale. Usually this is either Major or Aeolic minor, but other scales such as two gipsy
scales, a wholetone scale and the western church scales can be selected. The magnet button beside
the scale quantizes the melody to the chosen scale. This is enabled by default.
Changing root note will shift the chords accordingly but preserve the relative chord
progression.
Changing the scale will recalculate the chord estimation and discard all changes you’ve made to
it.
By default after harmonization the melody is quantized to the chosen key. This might modify
your original melody. To disable the quantization disable the magnet button right beside the
chosen scale.
In Box (3) you select the harmonization mode. The available modes are listed below.
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Harmonization modes
Mode
Description
4 voiced intelligent
Intelligent 4 voice harmonization with voice leading based on key and
harmony progression
3 voiced intelligent
Same as above with 3 voices
2 voiced intelligent
Same as above with 2 voices
Parallel
Traditional harmonizer with fixed diatonic intervals
Block Chords
Jazz harmonization style (which has, for example, been used by Count
Basie or Duke Ellington)
Fauxbourdon
Harmonization style used in the Middle Age and early Renaissance
Organum
Middle Age harmonization style, usually doubling the melody by a
perfect fifth or fourth.
MIDI input (not available
in LE version)
Use MIDI input to play the harmonization by yourself.
Box (4) changes according to the harmonization mode chosen.
User Interface
4/3/2 voiced intelligent
The intelligent modes will show an accordion for control of additional harmonization parameters.
Drag (1) up/down to change the range of the vocal arrangement, i.e. how far the voices are spread
from each other. Drag the orange bar (2) to any other of the colored bar positions to change the
voice order of the harmonization.
Parallel
In parallel mode, use the slot machine controls to select the intervals for each of the voices. The
intervals are represented by roman numbers, e.g. III means a third either above or below
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User Interface
depending on which direction you’ve spun the wheel. The main (orange) voice is fixed, the red
voice is also always present and you can choose any interval from a prime (same as the main voice)
to an octave. The blue and green voice are optional and can be turned off by moving the wheel to
the middle position (‘-‘).
Block Chords/Fauxbourdon/Organum
Block Chords
Block modes add three voices under the melody voice to form a narrow 7th chord. Shearing modes
double the melody in the bass - as we only have four voices, the fifth of the chord is omitted.
Drop2 modes "drop" the voice which should have been in alto to the bass with minor modifications
aiming at plausible voicing. The intelligent modes detect dominant-relations and modify the chords
accordingly. Free mode switches randomly between dominant 56 and dominant 2 chords.
Fauxbourdon
Each pitch is harmonized with two additional voices to form a sixth-chord.
Diatonic modes simply build diatonic 6-chords
Intelligent modes correct occurring tritones into perfect fourths
In Tenor modes the melody pitch is in the second voice
In Descant modes the melody pitch is in the top voice
Organum
Each pitch is harmonized with a single voice (except the Octave Around mode which has two
voices) moving parallel to the melody with the indicated interval.
Above modes indicate that the additional voice is above the input melody
Below modes indicate that the additional voice is below the input melody
Octave Around mode adds two additional voices: a fourth above and a fifth below the
input melody
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User Interface
MIDI input (not available in LE version)
In MIDI input mode no automatic harmonization is generated. Harmonization is controlled by MIDI
input. Play up to 3 voices on a MIDI keyboard or a MIDI track at the input of vielklang2 to control
the harmonies.
Snapshots (not available in LE version)
Snapshots allow you to save a specific phrase from your arrangement and recall it at any time.
Simply select some notes and hit the + button in the snapshot list. To switch between snapshots
click on the entry in the list. Snapshots are saved ‘as is’; they do not have any harmonization
settings available anymore but can be edited on a note-by-note base.
By dragging a snapshot entry to the keyboard on the right, a snapshot is assigned to a MIDI note. If
MIDI trigger mode is enabled (the MIDI toggle button at the top right) the snapshots can be
triggered by playing the corresponding MIDI note.
Vielklang 1 users should note that the snapshot system has been changed a bit: Now snapshots
are mainly used for MIDI triggering. To compare different versions of harmonization, please use
the preset bank save function of your host (after loading a preset bank all undoable actions will
be lost).
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User Interface
Shortcut
Description
CMD (CTRL) + click
Resets Sliders to their default position
Info Tab
The info tab shows the original key, tuning frequency and tempo of the imported audio/MIDI file.
This is the same information as shown when importing a file. It always refers to the file at the
current transport position or the current selection.
These settings should always reflect the properties of the unmodified input files. Modify these
settings only if you know the properties of the input file. To change, unlock the settings first by
clicking on the lock button on the left.
Changing the settings may affect your current harmonization. It is recommended to change
these settings before harmonizing.
Shortcut summary
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Summary of keyboard/mouse shortcuts
Shortcut
Description
v
Toggles Vibrato Edit mode
e
Toggles Advanced Edit mode, alternatively double click a note
c
Toggles Cut/Glue mode
ALT + mouse select
Glues adjacent notes in Cut/Glue mode
l
Toggles Link To Host
m
Toggles MIDI Trigger mode
Shortcut
Description
SHIFT + Z
Undo
SHIFT + Y
Redo
f
Toggle ‘views follow transport’
SHIFT + A
Select all
SHIFT + C
Copy
SHIFT + X
Cut
SHIFT + V
Paste
Shortcut
Description
SHIFT + mouse wheel
Move view horizontally
SHIFT + ALT +
mouse wheel
Zoom view horizontally
mouse wheel
Move view vertically
ALT + mouse wheel
Zoom view vertically
CMD (CTRL) + ALT +
mouse drag
Move view vertically and horizontally
CMD (CTRL) +
right click
Zoom to selection. Iif nothing is selected, zoom out full.
Shortcut
Description
ALT + move object
Unquantized move in Arranger
SHIFT +
double click object
Moves object to current play cursor position
Menu
User Interface
Views (general)
Arranger
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Piano Roll/Hybrid Score
Shortcut
Description
ALT + pitch note
Fine tune notes
ALT + resize note
Detaches notes upon resize
ALT + move note
Detaches notes upon move
SHIFT + mouse select
Select notes across multiple voices in Piano Roll and Hybrid Score
SHIFT + mouse select
Select chords from the first to the last selected in chords bar
CMD (CTRL) +
mouse select
Select different chords at once in chords bar
SHIFT + ALT +
mouse select
Select chords of the same kind as the first chord between the first to the
last selected in chords bar
Shortcut
Description
CMD (CTRL) + click
Resets Sliders to their default position
Settings
User Interface
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Inputs & Outputs
Inputs & Outputs
In this chapter you will learn:
About the different audio output channels
About MIDI in- and output
Import & Export
Audio Routing
vk2 outputs a stereo mix and 4 separate stereo channels for each voice. The stereo mix contains all
voices of the harmonization. Consult the manual of your host application on how to route the other
channels to your mixer.
MIDI Routing
MIDI input
Since vk2 is an instrument, it will always receive MIDI input from the assigned MIDI or instrument
track. If the MIDI input of that track is set to an external MIDI keyboard, the keyboard can be used
to control vk2 directly.
MIDI input is used in vk2 to
Change the chord estimates in the chords bar
Place the play cursor at the chord you want to change and play the chord on your
keyboard. Alternatively, you can play the chords during playback and that way change
the chords on the fly. A MIDI track with the pre-recorded chords can also be used
Change the harmony voices according to MIDI input when MIDI harmonization mode is
enabled
Trigger snapshots when MIDI trigger mode is enabled.
MIDI output
All notes played in vk2 (both audio and MIDI notes) are played as MIDI notes to the MIDI output of
the instrument. Consult the manual of your host application on how to route the MIDI output of
vk2 to another instrument or MIDI track.
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Inputs & Outputs
Import & Export
Import
Vk2 can import the main voice from WAV, AIFF and MIDI files (.mid, .midi). Import is done by
clicking the import button. Drag and drop is also supported. This works from your desktop or file
explorer (finder), and - in some hosts - from the arrangement or the internal file browser.
Imported files are always positioned at the current play cursor position.
Export
All your melody and harmony voices can be exported as audio or MIDI. If nothing is selected,
everything is exported starting from bar 1, otherwise only the selected region is exported. The
export menu offers to save all voices at once (either mixed or separately) or each voice individually.
Furthermore, the chord track can be exported as a MIDI file.
Imported MIDI files cannot be exported as audio.
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How to…?
In this chapter you will learn:
How to use vk2 in your specific host
How to work with MIDI harmonization
How to do advanced correction and editing
Setup vk2 in different hosts
ableton Live
Loading vielklang2
How to…?
Go to the VST/AU plugin folder in the browser. Look up vielklang2. Now, either drag it on the MIDI
track of your preference, or just simply double-click it. The latter will open a new MIDI track for
vielklang2 automatically.
Setting up MIDI input
Midi input is set up automatically by dropping vielklang2 on a midi track or by double-clicking it.
Setting up stereo output
Stereo output is also set up automatically.
Setting up multichannel outputs
Add a new audio track. In Audio From select the vielklang2 midi track. In the drop down menu
below you can choose which voice output channel you want to route to the audio track. Do not
forget to set the Monitor of the channel to In.
Setting up MIDI outputs (VST only)
Add a new MIDI track. In MIDI From select the vielklang2 midi track. In the drop down menu below
choose vielklang2.
Annotations
Live only supports drag’n’drop of audio from the internal file browser to vielklang2, alternatively
you can use the Import button or use drag’n’drop from the file explorer.
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How to…?
Apple Logic
Loading vielklang2
Add a new instrument track. In I/O go to Stereo/AU Instruments/ or Multi-channel/AU
Instruments/ and look for vielklang2 and select it.
Setting up MIDI input
Midi input is automatically set up from the chosen instrument track to vielklang2.
Setting up stereo output
Stereo output is automatically set up to the output of the instrument track.
Setting up multichannel outputs
In order to use the multichannel output option of vielklang2 you have to load vielklang2 as a
multichannel instrument (see above). If you have been working with the stereo version so far, that
is no problem. Simply choose the multi-channel version in the same track instead of the stereo
version. All your data will be preserved.
In Logic 7: For each single voice output channel add a stereo AUX channel. In I/O of each one of
these AUX channels select in the drop down menu below I/O the desired vielklang2 output.
vielklang2 3-4 corresponds to the orange voice, vielklang2 5-6 corresponds to the red voice,
vielklang2 7-8 corresponds to the blue voice and vielklang2 9-10 corresponds to the green voice.
In Logic 8 and above: Open the mixer and look for the standard stereo output of vielklang2. Below
the MUTE and SOLO buttons you will find a "+" and a "-" button. By hitting the "+" button you can
add the additional outputs of vielklang2 to your mixer.
Setting up MIDI outputs
Midi output is not supported by AudioUnits at the moment. The only way to get midi output is to
use the export as midi option.
Annotations
If the transport is not playing, Logic doesn’t tell vielklang2 about the current transport position. This
way the play cursor in vielklang2 will not follow the cursor in Logic unless you let the transport in
Logic play.
Cakewalk Sonar
Loading vielklang2
Go to Insert/Soft Synths and select vielklang2. If vielklang2 doesn’t show up after installation
youmight have to rescan your VST-plug-ins. This is done in Tools/Cakewalk Plug-In Manager.
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How to…?
Setting up MIDI input
The vielklang2 instrument track has a midi sub-track that is automatically routed to vielklang2. If
you prefer to use another midi track then select the preferred track and choose vielklang2 in the
output drop down menu right below the volume fader on the left.
Setting up stereo output
Stereo output is automatically set up when inserting a new vielklang2 soft synth.
Setting up multichannel outputs
When inserting a new vielklang2 soft synth select in the Insert Soft Synth Options All Synth Audio
Outputs. Sonar opens up 5 audio tracks of which the first one represents the mix output, and next
four the orange, red, green and blue single voice outputs.
Setting up MIDI outputs
In order to enable vielklang2 midi output you have to:
check the Enable MIDI Output checkbox in the Insert Soft Synth Options dialog box
when inserting a synth from the Insert menu or the Synth Rack
right-click a synth name in the Synth Rack to enable or disable Enable MIDI Output from
a popup menu.
Then choose a midi track and set the input of that track to vielklang2.
Annotations
Sonar supports drag’n’drop from Sonar to vielklang2. If you experience trouble with entering names
or numbers, click on the window menu button at the upper left corner of the plug-in window and
select Disable Floating.
When using the 64bit version of Sonar please use the dedicated 64bit version of vielklang2.
Digidesign Pro Tools
Loading vielklang2
Add a new stereo instrument track. Click one of the insert selectors of that track and select
multichannel plug-in/Instrument/vielklang2.
Setting up MIDI input
The midi output of the instrument track is automatically routed to vielklang2’s midi input.
Setting up stereo output
vielklang2s stereo mix output is automatically routed to the audio output of the instrument track.
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How to…?
Setting up multichannel outputs
For each desired single voice output add a new stereo AUX track. Switch to the Mix window. In each
AUX track you can select the input which is usually set to no input by default. Click on the drop
down menu and select the appropriate vielklang2 output voice in the submenu plug-in/vielklang2.
Setting up MIDI outputs
Add a new midi track, switch to the Mix window and select vielklang2 MIDI out as midi input for
that track. In a submenu you may also choose if you want to route all channels or only a single
channel to the midi track.
Annotations
Pro Tools supports drag’n’drop from Pro Tools to vielklang2. When dragging from the arrangement
the imported file will be automatically set to the correct time position.
On the Mac when dragging a region (which must be consolidated first) either from the
arrangement or from the region list to vielklang2 it must be dragged to the header of the
vielklang2 window.
Imageline FL Studio
Loading vielklang2
Go to Channels/Add one, look up vielklang2 and select it. If vielklang2 doesn’t show up in the menu
select More... and find it there.
Setting up MIDI input
Midi input is automatically set up from the channel to vielklang2.
Setting up stereo output
vielklang2s stereo mix output is automatically routed to the master output. To change this, click on
vielklang2 channel in the step sequencer, this will open the vielklang2 window and the channel
settings. In the upper right corner of the channel settings - called FX - you can assign the stereo mix
output to a channel of the mixer.
Setting up multichannel outputs
Open the plug-in menu by clicking on the upper left down arrow of the plug-in window. In the
menu enable the option Enable multiple outputs. The 4 additional outputs are now routed to the
subsequent channels in the mixer.
Setting up MIDI outputs
Open the plug-in menu by clicking on the upper left down arrow of plug-in window. In the menu
enable the Show MIDI output port. Then, you may assign a port in the upper right corner of the
plug-in window. Use this port as the input to the synthesizer you want to control.
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How to…?
Annotations
FL Studio supports drag’n’drop from the FL Studio browser to vielklang2.
Steinberg Cubase/Nuendo
Loading vielklang2
Select Devices/VST Instruments, then choose vielklang2 in an empty VST instrument space. You can
also add an instrument track by choosing Project/Add Track/Instrument and selecting vielklang2 as
instrument, but this way you will not be able to use the extra output channels.
Setting up MIDI input
If Cubase asks you on loading vielklang2 if it should add a midi track to the instrument and you
confirm, the new midi channel is connected to vielklang2. Otherwise add a new midi track and set
the output of that track to vielklang2
Setting up stereo output
vielklang2’s stereo mix output is automatically routed to the audio output of the VST instrument
track.
Setting up multichannel outputs
If not already displayed, click on the output symbol to the left of vielklang2 in the VST Instruments
dialog. Select the additional output channels.
Setting up MIDI outputs
Add a new midi track and set the input to vielklang2.
Annotations
Cubase supports drag’n’drop from Cubase to vielklang2.
When using the 64bit version of Cubase please use the dedicated 64bit version of vielklang2.
Setup MIDI harmonization
Besides audio harmonization, vk2 can also handle MIDI input. In order to harmonize MIDI, import a
MIDI file via the import button. The process of harmonization is the same as for audio. To listen to
the results you have to route the MIDI output of vielklang to a MIDI device capable of synthesizing
audio output from MIDI input. Follow the steps for setting up the MIDI output for your host as
described in the section above. If your host is not mentioned, consult the manual of your host.
After setting up the routing of the MIDI output either place a virtual instrument in the new MIDI
channel or route the channel to an external MIDI device. After that you should be able to listen to
the results of your editing and harmonization within vk2.
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How to…?
Do advanced pitch correction
Good and natural pitch correction is not only about putting notes into perfect tuning. It often
involves a more detailed look at the pitch curve to check the intonation across a note. It is not
always advantageous to apply ‘perfect’ tuning since the deviation from the fully quantized pitch
may be intentional – adding more feeling to a melody. So, before putting all notes to fully quantized
pitch (select all and right click one note) listen to the melody in the given context and trust your
ears. Notes that sound wrong to you should first be corrected by right clicking them. If they still
sound wrong, first check if the note has been corrected to the intended note. In that case put the
drift to 0% and listen if the note sounds correctly then (this will sound a bit unnatural but will give
you an idea if the average pitch is correct). If not, apply fine tuning by holding ALT while pitching.
Put the drift back to 100% and have a look at the pitch curve. Is it well centered around the
average pitch? If not, try to reduce the drift. If there are unintended jumps in pitch try to cut these
parts out and treat them separately.
Finally have a look at the transitions into and out of the note. These should be consistent with the
transition out of the note before and with the transition into the next note, respectively. Also,
check the transition time. For example, it might be a problem that it takes too long to reach the
desired pitch. Use the drift and transition controls to correct these.
Add natural vibrato and tremolo
For adding natural sounding artificial vibrato, start off by reducing the original drift. We
recommend not to reduce it to 0%. If there is an original vibrato, reduce the drift to 10%-25%,
otherwise a drift around 50% is a good starting point. Switch to Vibrato Edit mode. First, use the
proposed vibrato frequency: move the vibrato frequency slider to the green line. Then move it
while listening until it sounds good to you. Adjust the amount of vibrato at the end and then at the
beginning. Usually, vibrato starts with a low amplitude and then increases, but this may vary
depending on the use case.
Tremolo is usually in sync with the vibrato. In case there is an original tremolo present which
doesn’t fit the new vibrato, you should add an artificial tremolo by dragging the tremolo handle
down. Be careful with that and don’t overdo it. Adding an artificial tremolo removes all volume
variation of the original note, so it might be useful to adjust the volume fade in and out to create
proper volume transition to the adjacent notes.
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Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
Please find the answers to some common problems below. If the problem persists, do not
hesitate to contact us directly.
Plugin does not show up in the host after installation
Note that vk2 is a virtual instrument, not a real-time effect, so you have to look under the
instruments menu of your host. If you still cannot see the plugin try to do a rescan of your plug-ins
and delete any potential blacklists before. Please check the host documentation on how to do this.
Unlocking
If you have trouble with unlocking vk2, please make sure that the info you entered in the
registration dialogue is exactly the information you received from our web-shop.
Freezing does not work
In order to freeze an instrument properly the host needs to know at what time the instrument
produces audio output. Usually this is done by checking where the instrument has MIDI input. So, in
order to freeze a vk2 track you need to generate a dummy MIDI part for whole time where vk2 is
supposed to produce audio output. In some host it is sufficient just to generate an empty MIDI part,
in others you might need to add a dummy note ranging from the beginning to the end of the MIDI
part.
The input melody is automatically modified
Vk2 does this automatically because the input pitch was not in the harmonization scale, and it has
assumed that for proper harmonization, it should be quantized to that scale. You have the option to
switch this automatic behavior off by disabling the small magnet icon in the scale selector in the
harmony settings. If this option is turned off, the input melody pitches will remain unaltered.
Midi-Output does not work with the AudioUnit
Unfortunately live MIDI output is not supported by the AudioUnit interface. But you can use the
export MIDI function from the menu.
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Feedback & Support
Feedback & Support
The vielklang2 website always provides the latest information and news about vk2. You can also
always post in our forum to discuss your impressions, tips and tricks, questions, and feature
requests with other users and the zplane team.
Any issues you encounter may also be reported in the forum, or directly to us via post or email.
Before contacting us directly, please ensure you are using the latest version of vk2. Please also
make sure that your problem is not covered in the manual, the forum, the faq or elsewhere on the
vielklang2 website.
In your email or letter, please provide the following details to enable us to help you as fast as
possible
your registration information
your system specifications (hardware, operating system, host software)
the exact version number of vk2(see the about dialogue by clicking on the help button).
a detailed description of your problem, including a step-by-step description of how to
reproduce the issue
Please use the following contact information:
zplane.development
katzbachstr. 21
d-10965 berlin
germany
mail support
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Glossary
Glossary
Chord
In the context of vk2, a chord consists either of three pitches (triad) or of four pitches. The pitches
are always separated by (diatonic) thirds. Due to the integrated voice leading, a chord is not
necessarily complete: pitch doubling or missing pitches can occur if preferred by the voice leading
engine.
A chord inversion means that a pitch other than the chord’s root note is the lowest pitch.
Chord Labels
The following table explains all chord labels used by vk2 with respect to a root note of C.
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Harmony
Interval
Distance in
semitones
Prime
0
Minor Second
1
Major Second
2
Minor Third
3
Major Third
4
Fourth
5
Tritone
6
Fifth
7
Minor Sixth
8
Major Sixth
9
Minor Seventh
10
Major Seventh
11
Here, a Harmony is basically the same as a Chord.
Glossary
Interval
An interval describes the distance in pitches between two pitches. One can differentiate between
chromatic intervals and diatonic intervals. The chromatic intervals as shown in the following table
always define the exact distance in semitones, while diatonic intervals always refer to their scale.
In the case of diatonic intervals, there is no need to refer to intervals as major or minor, as the
number of semitones is defined by the scale itself. The next table shows intervals from the pitch C
for two scales, major and aeolic minor.
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Glossary
Key
The key of a musical piece is defined by the combination of a root note with a scale. It thus defines
all possible or “allowed” pitches in this specific key. For example, the Major scale starting at pitch C
leads to a key of C Major.
Root
The Root or Root Note is the “most important pitch” of a musical piece. Together with the mode, it
is used to define a key.
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Glossary
Scale
A simple and in the context of this software valid definition of the term “scale” is an ordered series
of intervals.
Together with a Root Note, the scale determines the key and thus the “valid” pitches in tonal
context. vk2 offers the following scales (in this example plotted over a Root Note C):
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Glossary
The most popular scales are Major and (Aeolic or Harmonic) Minor. The usage of vk2 does not
require exact knowledge of the mentioned scales. You may just switch between different scales and
listen to the results.
Tremolo
Periodic loudness variation around the mean loudness of a tone. In most cases in-time with the
vibrato.
Tuning Frequency
The frequency of pitch A4. In many cases, it is at 440Hz, but deviations from this tuning frequency
are easily possible.
Vibrato
Periodic frequency variation (usually 4-8Hz) around the mean pitch frequency of a note.
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