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12.10 PrintChord
Chord Voicing
² Do Not include a chord name (ie: C or B♭) in the definition. Just the type.
The final example handles a minor problem in MmA and “diminished” chords. In most of the music the
author of MmA encounters, the marking “dim” on a chord usually means a “diminished 7th”. So, when MmA
initializes it creates a copy of the “dim7” and calls it “dim”. But, some people think that “dim” should
reference a “diminished triad”. It’s pretty easy to change this by creating a new definition for “dim”:
DefChord dim (0, 3, 6) (0, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 )
In this example the scale notes use the same notes as those in a “dim7”. You might want to change the B♭♭
(9) to B♭ (10) or B (11). If you really disagree with the choice to make a dim7 the default you could even
put this in a mmarc file.
It is even easier to use the non-standard notation “dim3” to specify a diminished triad.
12.10
PrintChord
This command can be used to make the create of custom chords a bit simpler. Simply pass one or more
chord types after the command and they will be displayed on your terminal. Example:
PrintChord m M7 dim
in a file should display:
m : (0, 3, 7) (0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11) Minor triad.
M7 : (0, 4, 7, 11) (0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11) Major 7th.
dim : (0, 3, 6, 9) (0, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9) Diminished.
a diminished 7th.
MmA assumes
From this you can cut and paste, change the chord or scale and insert the data into a D EF C HORD command.
12.11
Notes
MmA makes other adjustments on-the-fly to your chords. This is done to make the resulting sounds “more
musical” . . . to keep life interesting, the definition of “more musical” is quite elusive. The following notes
will try to list some of the more common adjustments made “behind your back”.
² Just before the notes (MIDI events) for a chord are generated the first and last notes in the chord are
compared. If they are a separated by a half-step (or 1 MIDI value) or an octave plus half-step, the
volume of the first note is halved. This happens in chords such as a Major-7th or Flat-9th. If the
adjustment is not done the dissonance between the two tones overwhelms the ear.
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