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Author Topic: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes  (Read 6363 times)

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Ebor_fiddler

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ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« on: July 08, 2017, 11:04:37 PM »

Before my recent Laptop disaster, I had an ABC app which would add chords to existing work. For the life of me, I can't remember what it was. Can anybody help please?

Chris B.
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Roger Hare

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Re: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« Reply #1 on: July 09, 2017, 09:07:29 AM »

Before my recent Laptop disaster, I had an ABC app which would add chords to existing work.
For the life of me, I can't remember what it was. Can anybody help please?

I'm guessing it was ABCExplorer - I use it for exactly the same purpose (because
I'm too much of a musical numptie to work out what chords to use for myself!).

I recommend downloading from:

http://stalikez.info/abc/abcex.php

as this seems to be the 'home' site for the software?

I do any subsequent processing using EasyABC, as generally, I find the interface
easier to work with.

ABCExplorer seems not to have been updated since 2013 (version 1.6.1). Does
anyone know of a later version?

Roger
« Last Edit: July 09, 2017, 09:18:14 AM by lachenal74693 »
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Jack Campin

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Re: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« Reply #2 on: July 09, 2017, 12:46:42 PM »

Are the resulting chords much like what a human would want to play?
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Anahata

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Re: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« Reply #3 on: July 09, 2017, 01:19:14 PM »

A very unimaginative one, I'd guess.
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malcolmbebb

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Re: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« Reply #4 on: July 09, 2017, 01:55:26 PM »

A very unimaginative one, I'd guess.
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Roger Hare

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Re: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« Reply #5 on: July 09, 2017, 05:25:59 PM »

Are the resulting chords much like what a human would want to play?

A very unimaginative one, I'd guess.

I guess that both JC and Anahata are justified in their mild scepticism! However, the
generated chords are (usually) 'acceptable' from a tool which I'm using primarily as an
aid to learning a tune. I'm at the 'not-quite-halfway-there' stage of learning tunes partly
from a score, and partly by ear, and I find that the (generated) chords make the MIDI
output I use that bit more 'pleasant' to listen to - it's very subjective...

I have briefly looked in a qualitative sense, at the 'algorithm(s)' used to generate the
chords, and can't really claim to be that much wiser! (That's the numptie effect kicking
in, I suppose.)

I'm sure that somewhere there is a clearly stated 'set of rules' for doing this job, but
a (desultory) search on my part has not yet uncovered anything particularly inspiring.

One mystery (to me at least) is that choosing to add one or two chords per bar can
lead to very different chords being chosen (sometimes).

S'not a major concern for me - I only use this for the occasional tune I find which does
not already have chords in the score...

Ebor_fiddler - was ABCExplorer the software you were looking for? Is this the same sort
of job you are using the software for?

Roger

« Last Edit: July 09, 2017, 05:43:35 PM by lachenal74693 »
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John Golightly

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Re: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« Reply #6 on: July 09, 2017, 09:03:24 PM »

Hmmmmm

Selecting a Chord is part & parcel of the creative process. My advice is, try stuff out. If you like what you hear, keep it & practice it. Else bin it.

There is no "right" chord for any note. There are many possibilities. Depends on what came just before and what's coming after... depends also on the emotional feel of the tune.. snappy & happy, slow & reflective... as a lifelong melodeon player (and software designer) my advice is, DIY.

Cheers

John
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vof

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Re: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« Reply #7 on: July 09, 2017, 11:18:20 PM »

ABCExplorer seems not to have been updated since 2013 (version 1.6.1). Does
anyone know of a later version?
I know of no later version. I use 1.6.1 and have done for some years.

I have very occasionally used Trantor's Harmony v3.4.2 - shareware from http://www.greenhedges.com/ - for automatic chord suggestions. It still seems to work on W7 though I'm not sure what the development/support status of the software is.
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Ebor_fiddler

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Re: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« Reply #8 on: July 10, 2017, 12:50:06 AM »

It doesn't seem to be ABC Explorer, unless I've missed something.  :(
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syale

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Re: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« Reply #9 on: July 10, 2017, 01:38:47 AM »

ABCEdit gives chord placement.

Stephen
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Roger Hare

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Re: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« Reply #10 on: July 10, 2017, 02:37:15 PM »

...There is no "right" chord for any note. There are many possibilities. Depends on what came just
before and what's coming after... depends also on the emotional feel of the tune.. snappy & happy,
slow & reflective... as a lifelong melodeon player (and software designer) my advice is, DIY...

Yes - that's why I am solidly lukewarm about the whole idea - even though my current level of
expertise 'forces' me to go down that particular road occasionally. Fortunately, most of the tunes
I have wanted to investigate so far seem to come with chords 'pre-installed'...

Initially, I only intended to point up a piece of software which may have been the one Ebor_fiddler
was looking for. As often happens, the discussion 'expands' (my fault, I guess).

R

Roger.
« Last Edit: July 10, 2017, 02:41:32 PM by lachenal74693 »
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Jack Campin

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Re: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« Reply #11 on: July 10, 2017, 03:10:30 PM »

It would be interesting to feed one of these utilities something like Pachelbel's Canon or Corelli's variations on La Folia and see if it figured out the original ground.
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Ebor_fiddler

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Re: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« Reply #12 on: July 10, 2017, 11:01:10 PM »

ABCEdit - yes, that's it. I recognise the format immediately. Thank you everybody!  :||: :||: :||: :||:  :|glug ;D

PS: I have in the past used it to put chords in ABC'd tunes, but as wisdom above suggests, mainly for guidance.

Chris B.
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My other melodeon's a fiddle, but one of my Hohners has six strings! I also play a very red Hawkins Bazaar in C and a generic Klingenthaler spoon bass in F.!! My other pets (played) are gobirons - Hohner Marine Band in C, Hohner Tremolo in D and a Chinese Thingy Tremolo in G.

Ebor_fiddler

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Re: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« Reply #13 on: July 11, 2017, 04:02:34 PM »

@syale: Having downloaded and, I thought, installed ABCedit, when I try to start it up, I get "file\\temp\0langs.tst is missing, connect to the internet and start again". "Program stops. No language loaded". I thought I'd covered this by downloading and installing "install_langs". As you seem to know more than most of us about this, can you suggest what I should do next please?

Thanks,

Chris B.
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Ebor_fiddler

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Re: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« Reply #14 on: July 15, 2017, 03:09:20 PM »

Two days later: it seems to have sorted itself out. Probably some sort of sulk. Thank you again everybody!  ;D
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Clive Williams

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Re: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« Reply #15 on: July 16, 2017, 07:29:29 PM »

I used to use an application called ABCMus for that; I'm not sure if it's still out there or not. It's chord generator was actually very good, but the best bit was it had a 'strangeness' factor built in - set it 0% and you get dull, dull, dull, set it to 100% and you get stuff that makes no sense at all. I found about 20%-25% produced a very pleasing set of chords, with just the right amount of quirkiness to my ears. Clever little program, working off some cunning music theory. You need to set the chord player to use piano style chords rather than block chords to get something convincing, and to set it to change chord each bar rather than each note, as I recall.

Ebor_fiddler

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Re: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« Reply #16 on: July 16, 2017, 11:40:16 PM »

You've tempted me Clive ...
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Re: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« Reply #17 on: July 16, 2017, 11:50:31 PM »

I used that, years ago.  It worked very well and its playback was brilliant.  I'm a Mac user but I considered getting a Windows machine just to run it.  If you can still find it, go for it.
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Re: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« Reply #18 on: July 17, 2017, 12:26:09 AM »

I used to use an application called ABCMus for that; I'm not sure if it's still out there or not. It's chord generator was actually very good, but the best bit was it had a 'strangeness' factor built in - set it 0% and you get dull, dull, dull, set it to 100% and you get stuff that makes no sense at all. I found about 20%-25% produced a very pleasing set of chords, with just the right amount of quirkiness to my ears. Clever little program, working off some cunning music theory. You need to set the chord player to use piano style chords rather than block chords to get something convincing, and to set it to change chord each bar rather than each note, as I recall.
Yes, it's still available on Henrik Norbeck's page here: http://www.norbeck.nu/abcmus/download.html

The latest version of Windows mentioned in the supported list is XP but it seems to install & run on Windows 7 provided you install it as Administrator. I tried the chord generator following Clive's suggestions - 25% strangeness! - and it sounded fine..
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Roger Hare

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Re: ABC Software to add Chords to tunes
« Reply #19 on: July 17, 2017, 07:14:22 AM »

...it seems to install & run on Windows 7 provided you install it as Administrator....

After a bit of a struggle, I got this to work. On my W7 64-bit machine, I needed to
select 'Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth' after:

Options>Playback and MIDI options>MIDI Output Device

to get stuff to play. The quality of playback seems superior to that in (for example)
EasyABC.

I selected a 'strangeness' factor of 25%, and the chords sound OK, although my
living room is suddenly full of quarks looking for a home!

I see that there are some fairly sophisticated chord selection options, but I was
unable to see the option which allows me to change to piano-style chords (as
suggested in an earlier post).

The help information does not work at all on my 64-bit W7 machine - which slowed
things down a bit. It seems to require some Microsoft software which simply ain't on
that machine.

LATER EDIT: Successfully installed on a W7 32-bit machine and a W10 machine.

More investigation needed, thank you CW for pointing this one out...

R
« Last Edit: July 17, 2017, 06:03:37 PM by lachenal74693 »
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