SCALE PLAYER

MIDI Processor Plug-in

Manual
Rahman Fotouhi
Sarab, Iran
website: rfmusic.net
email: [email protected]
Version 1.0.0 released in Oct 2016.
Version 1.0.1 released in March 2017.
Version 1.0.3 released in November 2017

Copyright 2017 rfmusic.net

This document is created in 6/30/2017. Updated in 11/8/2017.

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Contents
Contents ........................................................................................... 3
Introduction ...................................................................................... 4
What is it? ................................................................................................... 4
Concept ...................................................................................................... 4
How does it work? ..................................................................................... 4
Features ............................................................................................ 6
Installation ........................................................................................ 8
Demo and CM versions Limitations ............................................................. 9
Authorization .............................................................................................. 9
Reference ...................................................................................... 10
Interface Overview ................................................................ 10
1. Scale ............................................................................................ 10
2. Octave ......................................................................................... 10
3. Root ............................................................................................ 10
4. Home .......................................................................................... 11
5. Playing Keys ................................................................................ 11
6. C2 Menu ...................................................................................... 12
7. Edit Page ..................................................................................... 13
8. Main Menu ................................................................................. 13
9. MIDI Mode .................................................................................. 14
10. Read Out ................................................................................... 14
11. Virtual MIDI Keyboard - Input .................................................... 14
12. Virtual MIDI Keyboard - Output ................................................. 14
How To Use Scale Player ........................................................ 16
Setting Up And Using ...................................................................... 16
Playing ........................................................................................... 18
Credits ................................................................................... 19

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Introduction
What is it?
Scale Player is a MIDI processor plug-in which processes the MIDI messages it
receives and sends out the result that can be used to play other instruments.

Concept
In regular keyboard instruments, each key is assigned to a specific note. So in
order to play a certain note, we need to press the key that's been assigned to.
In Scale Player things are a little bit different, the plug-in uses relative notes.
Which means each key can play different notes depending on the previous note
and selected scale. The plug-in calculates the intervals and the user can move up
and down the scale playing melodies, arpeggios or even chords using a few keys.
The result is an unusual way of playing instruments, which can be fun,
inspirational and much easier to play since you don't have to worry about hitting
the wrong note, memorizing all the scales in all keys and practicing complex riffs
and phrases that can be a challenge to play the usual way.
Since scale player is a new kind of instrument, like any other instrument it may
take some time to learn and master, but it can be a rewarding experience.
The plug-in is ideal for live playing and with some practice you can play
complicated licks and phrases that would possibility impress anyone.

How does it work?

Scale player works as a VST instrument and AU MIDI processor plug-in. It receives
midi data from the controller and swaps it with the processed data. In VST mode
the output can be routed to any other instrument in the host application using
DAW's internal functions. The AU version works as a midi effect in hosts like Logic
Pro x that supports the type.
There are 16 playing keys that are actually being used to play the target
instrument. What these keys do and where they're placed on the controller can
be customized. They can have static offset values like 'Home' or a relative one like

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'+2' or '-3'. Using this offset value and the previous note, the plug-in calculate the
actual note the key plays. you can read more about the playing keys in the next
section.
In addition to playing keys there are some control keys that can be used to change
and control some of the parameters of the plug-in like scale and octave directly
from the MIDI controller.

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Features
 Scales: A list of commonly known and used scales such as Major, Minor,
Melodic Minor, Harmonic Minor, Spanish, Arabic, Major Pentatonic, Minor
Pentatonic, Blues, In Sen, Hirajoshi and more.

 Edit or Add Scales: Users can edit existing scales or add their own scales
(Full version only).

 Home Note: The home note can be changed from root to some other note
on the scale making it possible to play different modes.

 Playing Keys: For each 16 playing keys, there are two menus. The mapping
menu, and the action menu. First one determines where the key is placed
on the controller, and includes a list of MIDI notes. The second menu
determines what the key does and includes some static and some relative
options. You can read more about the playing keys in the reference section.

 Control Keys: There are several control keys that can be set and used to
improve live performance. These keys provide an easy access to control and
change the scale, octave, root and home parameters using midi notes on
the controller.
o Root -/+, Scale -/+, Home -/+, Octave -/+: When assigned to a midi
note, these keys can be used to change the Key(root), Scale, Home
Note and Octave by switching up or down the values.
o Scale, Root, Home, Octave Switch keys: These assign a series of midi
notes to be used to switch between specific values just by hitting a
single note. For example by setting Root Switch to 'C2-B2', C2 on the
controller will set the key to C, C# will set the key to C# and so on.

 Poly: Multiple notes can be played at the same time.

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 o Note: Same notes can be stacked on top of each other. For example
in C major, Home key plus two stacked +2 key will produce C major
chord (C+E+G).
o Note: Playing keys will change the last playing note value and
because of that the order of notes are important. So even if you're
using piano roll in your DAW and placing them at the same point in
time or even on top of each other, the first note created will be the
first one processed and so the second note's value is based on the
first one.

 Octave Shifter: Shifts the output octave up and down. Input octave also can
be shifted to match a more preferable playing position using 'C2' menu.

 Map Playing and Control Keys: Scale Player allows users to change the
default settings and map all the keys to desired midi notes.

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Installation
WIN: Copy the dll files to your plug-ins folder that your host scans. It's usually
something like this:

32bit: C:\Program Files (x86)\VstPlugins

64bit: C:\Program Files\VstPlugins

OSX: Copy the provided files to your plug-ins folder that your host scans. It's
usually something like this:

VST2: ~Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST
VST3: ~Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3
AU: ~Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/

Note: OSX have more than one Library folder. Make sure you're copying
the files in the right path.
Tip: Navigating to the root library folder:
On the menu bar, select Go then hold down the Option key (marked ALT)
and you will see the ~/Library folder appear.

Note: Scale Player creates a folder named 'RFMusic/ScalePlayer' inside

application folder when loaded at the first time.
Note: Scale Player does not touch the system registry or connect to internet
without permission.
Note: Use VST2 instead of VST3 (if provided) when possible. VST3 MIDI in/out is
not reliable in some hosts.
Note: AU Version is not an instrument like VST version. It's a MIDI effect and can
be used only by hosts like Logic Pro x that supports the type. In hosts like Live and
Reaper that support both AU and VST, use the VST version.

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Demo version and CM edition Limitations
In demo mode only C Major is available and editing scales are disabled.
In CM (Computer Music Magazine) edition editing scales are disabled.

Authorization
If you have purchased Scale Player and finished the payment, you'll receive an
email with your authorization information. After receiving the email navigate to
the about page of the plug-in, fill out your username and serial, and hit the 'Get
Authorization Code' button. It will open up a webpage and returns your
authorization code. Now copy the code and paste it on the last form and hit the
'Authorize' button.
Note that you can get up to 4 authorization codes at a time.

Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions.

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Reference
Interface Overview

1. Scale
Here you can:
 Choose a scale from the list.
 Assign '<' and '>' control keys to move up or down the list using MIDI
controller.
 Assign an octave to switch between scales. For example when we have set
the switch to C7-B7, hitting C7 on the controller sets the scale to the first
one, hitting C#7 sets it to the second one and so on.

2. Octave
Here you can:
 Choose the output octave.
 Assign '<' and '+' control keys to move up or down the list using MIDI
controller.
 Assign a set of 5 notes to switch between octaves.

3. Root (key)
Here you can:

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  Set the key for the scale (C,C#, etc).
 Assign '<' and '>' control keys to move up or down the list.
 Assign an octave to switch between root notes.

4. Home
Here you can:
 choose one of the notes in the scale to be set as Home Note.
 The default is 1st which is the root note. In C major for example 1st note is
C, 2nd is D and so on.
 Assign '<' and '>' control keys to move up or down the list.
 Assign an octave to switch between home notes.

5. Playing Keys
16 Playing Keys can be used to play the target instrument. For each playing key
you can assign a MIDI note (a) and an offset value (b). The note determines where
the key is placed on the controller and when its pressed the plug-in calculates the
actual note it is going to play using the offset value.

5.A - Offsets (Action Menu):

 Home: Plays the home note (reset).
Home is one of the static options. Which means any key with home action,
always plays the home note, regardless of the previous note was. By
default, home is the root of the scale, but it can also be changed and set to
be any of the other notes on the scale. This is useful when you want to
follow a chord progression or play another mode based on the current
scale. For example we can play D Dorian on C major by setting home to be
the second note.
We call this note home, because while playing it acts like a guide or an
anchor and helps to find and maneuver around that specific note.
 Home + Octave: Plays the home note one octave higher.
 Home - Octave: Plays the home note one octave lower.

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  Home Don't Play: Resets the current note to home position but doesn't
play it.
 Repeat: Plays the previous note.
 Relative Notes (+1,...,+14 and -1,...,-14): These represent notes with
relative values. Which means the actual note will be calculated based on
the previous note and the current scale. For these options the number
determines the step size and the sign determines the direction.

Example: If the scale was set to C Major and the last note was C5, a +1 key
will move one step forward or up the scale and play the next note which is
D5. Now pressing +1 again will play the next note which is E5.
The same goes for actions with negative numbers. For example in C major
with the last note being C5, -2 will move 2 notes down the scale and play
the A4.
Note: Replaying the same + or - key will not repeat the same note but
moves relative to it.

5.B - MIDI Assign (Mapping Menu):

Assign a MIDI note to the playing key from this menu.
Note: Currently the plug-in doesn't prevent user from setting the same
note for multiple controls.
5.C - Playing Key Labels:
These are just simple labels that represent the playing key's ID.

6. C2 Menu
In some hosts the note numbers labeled in the piano roll (MIDI editor) doesn't
match with the plug-in. This is because some hosts start from something like C-2
and some start from C0. If by default it didn't match with your host, you can use
C2 menu to shift the input up or down so for example A3 in the plug-in is A3 in
your host's MIDI editor.
Note: If you have set C2 = 12 instead of 24, you're going to play an octave lower
on your keyboard.

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7. Edit Page
To open up the edit page hit the edit button on the main page.

a) Scale Name: Edit the scale name here. When editing is done hit the save
button.
b) Number of notes: Enter the number of notes in the scale here. For example 7
for a Major scale. Maximum number can be set to 12.
c) Intervals: Edit interval values for the scale here. 1 is half step, 2 is whole step
and so on. The order is from left to right. For example: Major: C (2) D (2) E (1) F (2)
G (2) A (2) B (1).

 Important Note 1: Scales are being stored in a file on the hard drive and
they are independent from the plug-in preset system. So if you change
them it will affect other projects that are using the same scale. Plus side is
you have to do it once and every time you load the plug-in you can use the
new scale.
 Important Note 2: Nothing will change before clicking the save button!
 Important Note 3: You're responsible for the correct input format and
range, since currently the plug-in doesn't check them before saving.
 Important Note 4: You can reset the all scales using the 'Reset Scales'
option from the menu.

8. Main Menu
 Save and load presets. Scales won't be effected by presets.
 Reset Scales to default.

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  Open about page.

9. MIDI Mode
Use this to bypass the plug-in when needed. When pass through is enabled you
can play the target instrument normally.

10. Readout
Displays the name and number of the last note.

11. Virtual MIDI Keyboard - Input

Input keyboard helps visualizing the input keys. It displays their mapping and
statues while playing. It also gives the option to play them by mouse.
White label (bottom) on each key shows the actual MIDI note number, and
colored label (top) displays the assigned control.
 Playing keys: If the note is a 'Playing key', the label will display the offset
value in a light blue color.
 '-' and '+' Control keys: These will be displayed in yellow.
o <S and S>: Scale Down (-) and Scale Up (+).
o <O and O>: Octave Down (-) and Octave Up (+).
o <R and R>: Key Down (-) and Key Up (+). R as in Root.
o <H and H>: Home Down (-) and Home Up (+).
 Scale Select keys: These are labeled as S1,..,S12 and colored in light pink.
 Octave Select keys: These are labeled as O1,..,O5 and colored in light violet.
 Key Select keys: These are labeled as RC, RC#..,RB and colored in green.
 Home Select keys: These are labeled as H1,..,H12 and colored in cyan.

12. Virtual MIDI Keyboard - Output

This keyboard helps visualizing the output and shows what notes are being
played, it also highlights the notes for current scale and displays last notes
position on the keyboard.

 Cyan: The root note of the selected scale.

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  Blue: Other notes of the scale.
 Bright green: On notes (Currently playing notes).
 Yellow: Current position (Next note is based on this one).

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How to use Scale Player
Setting up and using
VST: The details depend on the host application you're using but basically you
need to insert the Scale Player as an instrument plug-in in your project, then
route its MIDI output to the instrument you want to play it.
In order to do that we have to set Scale Player's MIDI output to the MIDI input
port of the target instrument track or device.

AU: AU version is a bit different and it can only be used in hosts like Logic Pro X
that supports Midi effect (Processor) type. You only need to insert it as a MIDI
effect on your instrument track.
Note: In hosts like Live use the VST instead of the AU.
Note: When using as AU, the plug-in doesn't start processing before it receive the
first note. So when you click on the virtual keyboard first it won't react.

Example 1 - FL Studio
Set the MIDI routing for both the target instrument and scale player from the VST
wrapper settings tab.

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Example 2 - Ableton Live
Set the MIDI routing using 'MIDI To' and 'MIDI From' menus on the instrument
and scale player tracks .

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Playing
Like any other instrument learning and playing Scale Player needs a bit of time
and practice, since we are used to traditional keyboard mode.
You can customize and set the keys in an order that you're comfortable with and
experiment with different settings and combinations to create a unique
instrument. Even if you're not using the plug-in in production the process is fun
and the outcome can be musically inspiring.

Tip 1: Use and remember the home key to stay in a good range and find your way
back when getting too far up or down.
Tip 2: You can set multiple repeat keys, or keys with the same offset to play
particular phrases faster and more easily.
Tip 3: Turn off any unnecessary keys and controls to prevent accidental hits.
The example blow show how things work in scale player. Look how repeating the
same key (+1 or -1) produces a new note each time.

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 Credits

Developing, Coding and GUI design by Rahman Fotouhi.

Visit rfmusic.net for latest updates and news.
Contact [email protected] for support.

The idea used in this plug-in is inspired by Samchillian midi device invented by the
ingenious keyboardist Leon Gruenbaum.

VST plug-in technology by Steinberg.

Audio unit plug-in technology by Apple.

Special thanks to testers and customers for their support.

We hope Scale Player help you in your future projects and bring you more
creative ideas.
- Rahman

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