Introduction to Scala's Chromatic Clavier

In the Analyse->Chromatic clavier dialog you can play all notes of
the current scale via a screen keyboard and the mouse. The program
decides on the basis of the current scale and notation system where
there will be black keys, and if they will be split (in the same way
as on an Italian "cembalo cromatico"). On the screen the black keys
are light blue, to keep the note names visible in black. One can
experiment using different notation systems to see which delivers
the best ergonomic result. The notes with natural note names, C, D,
E, etc., if present, will be mapped to the white keys. For some
nondiatonic or non-octave scales that result may not be quite
satisfactory, but the algorithm to assign the keys was not designed
to handle all of these. The Bohlen-Pierce scale is supported
(notation systems BP, KL, KD and KG) as are some other systems which
don't map to a 7+5 keyboard like S10, R13, C22, P22 and B72. To
change the notation system, press the "Select..." button.
When you press the "Scale preset" button after changing the notation
system, a scale will be loaded (replacing the current scale) which
is typical for that system, often it is an equal temperament. For
unequal scales, the current directory must be where the scale
archive is unzipped, and the scale will be loaded from there, for
example for I22 the shruti scale "indian.scl" will be loaded.
The Shift key can be used in combination with the left mouse button
to select and hold notes. When it's pressed together with the left
mouse button, the mouse can be moved over the keys and they will all
be played. The Control key acts as a sustain pedal, but the notes
will not be released immediately when the key is released, but at
the next mouse button press. The maximum polyphony is 16 minus the
number of excluded MIDI channels, so typically 15.
In the sound settings dialog you can choose the sound (program
number), MIDI device and velocity, and playing mode. The latter has
three options, normal on and off with the left mouse button press
and release (staccato), or on with the left mouse button press and
off at the next one (legato), and a "mouse over" mode not requiring
button presses.
When some notes are held by having used the Shift or Control key,
the left and right cursor key will move this chord down- or upwards
one scale degree, or two if you press Shift simultaneously, or three
with the Control key. The number of octaves can be controlled with
the up and down cursor keys, and has a maximum of 10.
Also a chord can be remembered and played at any position by first
selecting the notes with the shift key, and while holding the shift
key, pressing the right mouse button. Then the chord can be played
with the right mouse button. The Control key can also be combined
with this button to sustain notes.
When the mode selection window is on the screen (via Modify->Mode or
the Mode button on the Clavier window) and a mode is selected
(highlighted), the unavailable notes in the scale will be dark green
and not playable, to allow experimentation with the modes. When the
Apply button in the mode window is pressed, these notes will be
removed from the scale and subsequently from the Clavier, which can
be undone by the Undo button in the mode window.
The Clavier window can be resized horizontally and vertically with
no restriction. When the keys become too small, the note names are
left away. You can also bring it up by pressing the F4-key from the
main window.
See http://www.xs4all.nl/~huygensf/scala

Manuel