Note Slider Settings

Figure 1. Note Slider Settings

This page configures the appearance and behaviour of the Note Sliders (formerly called Overtone Sliders). Many of these settings are also available on the sliders toolbar.

show sliders

When checked, sliders are drawn on top of the spectrogram and spectrum. When unchecked, the sliders continue to exist (and continue to play back) — they just are not drawn. Useful when you want to hear a slider arrangement without obscuring the visual analysis.

fixate sliders on screen

When checked, sliders stay in the same screen position as the recording scrolls past them — like a measuring overlay. When unchecked, each slider is bound to a specific time range of the recording, like the notes in a piece of music. Time-bound sliders can also be exported as a MIDI file.

Number of note sliders

The number of distinct sliders shown. Each slider can have a separate fundamental frequency.

The spin box can only set the slider count when sliders are fixated on screen. When sliders are time-bound, add and delete them via Tools Insert note slider at selection and Tools Delete selected note sliders.

Note Slider Labels

Each visible slider position can be labeled with a note name, a frequency in Hz, or both.

note name

Show the nearest tempered note next to each slider label, plus its distance from the slider’s pitch in cents (e.g. A3+12ct).

frequency

Show the frequency of each slider label in Hertz (e.g. 220 Hz).

hide middle labels

When checked, only the fundamental and the highest visible harmonic (and lowest visible undertone) of each slider show full note name and frequency. Middle harmonics show just their harmonic number, which keeps the display readable when many harmonics are visible.

Transparency

When checked, sliders are drawn semi-transparently so the spectrogram underneath shows through, which makes it easier to position them accurately. The spin box to the right sets the transparency percentage. The same value can also be adjusted from a slider on the status bar.

undertone octaves only

When checked, only undertones that are octaves of the fundamental are drawn. Useful when constructing scales that span many octaves.

Snapping

When you drag a slider along the frequency axis, it can snap to nearby landmarks. Hold Alt while dragging to invert the snapping decision temporarily; for the full set of keyboard modifiers (including slider-to-slider snapping) see Note Slider Mouse Commands.

no snapping: Sliders move freely along the frequency axis.
snap to nearest musical note: Sliders snap to the frequency of the nearest tempered tone.
snap to nearest peak in spectrum: Sliders snap to the nearest spectral peak in the current recording at the current cursor position. Useful for accurately measuring prominent frequencies.

Editing

highlight note borders

When checked, the borders between time-bound notes are drawn with high contrast. This makes it much easier to grab a slider’s start or end edge while editing.

Playback

These options control which slider tones are played, and when.

play sliders during playback

When checked, time-bound sliders are played as audio playback progresses past them — turning the slider arrangement into an audible melody on top of the recording. Only applies to time-bound sliders; fixated sliders are not affected.

play top labels

When checked, clicking the fundamental of a slider also plays its highest visible harmonic, so you hear the overtone melody together with the fundamental.

play bottom labels

When checked, the slider of the first harmonic (the fundamental) is played during slider playback alongside the upper harmonics.

play multiple sliders in stereo

When checked, multiple simultaneous sliders are split between the left and right output channels. With four sliders the left two are sent to the left channel and the right two to the right. When unchecked, all sliders mix to mono.

Practice

Two convenience options for practising single notes from a longer arrangement.

set single slider when playing tones in other view

When two views are active and one of them has only a single slider, clicking on a slider (or piano key) in the other view sets the fundamental of that single slider. This lets you "jump" the practice slider around without picking it up directly.

Piano sets active slider

When checked, pressing a piano key sets the active slider’s fundamental to the corresponding frequency. Useful for quickly auditioning a known pitch on the active slider.