Playing Ranges

Setting the target MIDI range for an instrument

Almost all Parameters that make up a Phrase are relative (parametric) and thus require context to be resolved against. There is no way to tell in advance what the final MIDI output will be, until all of an arrangement's container hierarchy and Harmony is considered.

In contrast to a piano roll in a DAW, looking at a Figure in Synfire does not tell you anything about the MIDI pitches that will be used. So for Synfire to be able to dynamically transpose and transform musical expressions in order to make them land within a desired pitch range, three playing ranges are set for every Instrument: Lower, Middle and Upper.

The total of all three ranges combined implies the maximum pitch range an instrument is capable of playing. Natural instruments have physical limits and even synthesized sounds might not sound great across the entire spectrum of MIDI notes. You decide what the best playing ranges are for any particular instrument.

Each range has an adjustable Typical Pitch that works best for the instrument in the respective range.

  1. Lower: Typical Pitch should be optimal for using the instrument in a bass voice. The magenta bass symbols of a Figure use this range by default.
  2. Middle: Used for chords and melodic segments by default. Set the Typical Pitch to what sounds best for narrowly voiced chords.
  3. Upper: Not used unless you assign it to a Figure segment. Set the Typical Pitch to what sounds best for a bright lead melody.
Tip: Ranges can be set in advance by creating a Device Description that aggregates this and other meta-data for all sounds it provides. Or you do it on-the-fly while an arrangement is evolving: Fire and forget. The former is more sustainable in the long term, while the latter gets you going faster on an ad-hoc basis.
Tip: Each range should be at least one octave wide. For instruments with a narrow total pitch range (e.g. flutes), you can set all three ranges to the physical limits of the instrument and have the Typical Pitch merely reflect slightly different registers.
CAUTION: Do not confuse these ranges with voices! For counterpoint movements with multiple voices, you would set the ranges for each instrument that renders one of the voices.

Inheritance

Instruments use the ranges of the Sound that is currently assigned to them (default) until you override them in an Arrangement or anywhere else an instrument can be configured (e.g. for Global Instruments).

Scanning Ranges Automatically

For sounds of any plug-in, you can let Synfire scan the ranges of a sound automatically. Press the Scan button and it will analyze the acoustic properties of the sound to determine its ranges. For this to work, Synfire needs to know the sound's category.

Editing Ranges

Use the Playing Ranges Inspector to adjust the ranges of an instrument or sound manually.