Introduction to the terms and fundamentals of Synfire
Music Prototyping
What it's all about
Parameters
The components music is rendered from
Figure Notation
The most influential parameter that intuitively denotes musical expressions
Harmony Concept
About scales, chords, keys and everything that constitutes harmony
Phrases
A bunch of parameters bundled together
Rendering
Mapping the entirety of all parameters to MIDI output
Arrangements
About tracks, containers and everything that goes with an arrangement
Snippets
Small containers for live performance and improvisation
Palettes
Surfing the space of harmony
Libraries
Collections of phrases and parameters, the building blocks for arrangements
Factories
Generating random parameters and phrases based on musically meaningful rules
Sketches
Conducting music in real-time
Audio System
About instruments, devices, racks, Drones and the general architecture of the Audio/MIDI system
User Interface Basics
Fundamental principles you should know to get started more quickly
About the user interface of all apps, parts, inspectors, panels and more
Sidebar: Rack Module Library
Adding sounds made easy
Sidebar: Phrase Library
Your repository for parameters, phrases and ideas
Parameter Inspector
The multi-purpose sidebar on the right
Help Browser
Your interactive user manual
Phrase Editor
Editing parameters in full detail
Arrange App
Edit one or more arrangements that belong to your project
Sketch App
Editing real-time sketches
Song App
Legacy window from Harmony Navigator 2
Library App
The standalone editor for libraries
Palette App
The standalone editor and panel for multi-palette surfing
Progression App
The standalone editor for one or more progressions
Catalog App
Edit the fundamental interval structures Synfire is working on
Audio/MIDI Setup App
Configure basic audio communication and edit the current global rack
Panels
Standalone widgets floating on your desktop
Dialogs
Dialog windows that pop up to accomplish a certain task
Drone
The Cognitone Drone audio plug-in
Documentation of KIM Factories
Elements
List of common elements
Parameter Factories
List of parameter factories
Line Factories
List of line factories
Phrase Factories
List of phrase factories
Step-by-step instructions of common tasks
Audio Setup
Setting up audio drivers, devices, sounds, racks and drones
Editing
Common tasks while you are developing a project
Recording
How to record phrases and parameters and live-detect incoming chords
Making a Sketch
How to make and optimize a Sketch
Import, Export, Printing
About importing, exporting and printing documents
File Management
How to organize and handle your projects and files
Installation
How to install or uninstall Synfire
Backup
Where to find the files and folders to include with a manual backup of Synfire
Suggestions for approaches you may want to try
Strategies
General approaches to staying focused and productive
Songwriting
Arrange a song based on sections like verse, bridge and chorus
Instructions and links to videos and examples online
Solutions to problems and confusion that may arise
Appendix with tables, lists and other resources
Encyclopedia of Parameters
Complete list of all parameters, their meaning and purpose
Harmonic Functions
Brief introduction to the theory of harmonic functions according to Hugo Riemann
Roman Numerals
Popular notation for chords and progressions
Parameter Conversion
Table showing which parameters convert best to other parameters
Syntax
How to read and write chords, scales and lengths (durations).
Synchronization Settings For DAWs
Settings known to work with several DAWs
Feature Comparison
What distinguishes the Sparks, Express and Pro editions of Synfire
Glossary
Terms not explained elsewhere but useful to know
Legal fine print and formal stuff