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Overview
Mazzika allows the user to record the music he/she plays using the
keyboard. The recorded music can then be replayed, or saved as MIDI file. In Mazzika,
recording and replaying have the following features:
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When the music is replayed, the piano keys are animated as if someone is
playing the music on the piano.
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The user can control the replay speed. The desired speed applies to both sound
and key animation. The user can change the speed at any point during the
replay.
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The user can replay the recorded music in an instrument different than that
used when recording
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The maqam changes in the recorded music are encoded into the recording. On
replay, these maqam changes will be shown on the piano keys. Further, if the
recorded music is saved as MIDI file, the maqam changes are saved with midi
file. When the MIDI file is later loaded into Mazzika
and replayed, the maqam changes will be shown on the piano keys.
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Recording is cumulative: if the user stops recording and then resumes it, the
new music is appended to what was recorded before. The user can choose to start
a new recording by explicitly clearing what has been recorded so far.
Using the Record/Replay Features
The following figure shows the Record/Replay frame, with annotation.
Record Button: The record button has 2 states. When first
clicked it is pushed down and remains down, indicating that the recorder is in
a "recording" state. When clicked again, it pops up and the recorder is no
longer recording. Recording is cumulative; if the user stops recording and then
resumes it, the new music is appended to what was recorded before. The user can
choose to start a new recording by explicitly clearing what has been recorded
so far (by selecting "Clear recording" from the record/replay menu).
Play Button: This is used to replay the recorded music from the
beginning.
Pause/Resume Button: This pauses replay, or resumes a paused
replay.
Stop Button: This stops replay or recording, whichever is
active.
Speed Indicator: This shows the current replay speed relative
to the recording speed. For example, x2 means that the current replay speed is
twice the speed of the recording.
Speed Slider: The user uses this slider to change the replay
speed. The speed can be changed on the fly while replay is going on.
Recorded Length: This is the time length of the recorded piece,
in a format "minutes : seconds". For example, "002:45" means that the recorded
length is 2 minutes and 45 seconds.
Replay Time Position: This indicator shows the current time
position during replay. It slows down or goes faster with the replay speed so
that at the end of the replay it becomes equal to the recorded length.
Replay Slider: The replay slider shows the current replay
position. Besides, It can be used by the user to jump to another replay
position, forward or backward.
Menu Button: Clicking this button shows a pop-up menu related
to recording and replaying.
Record/Replay Menu
The Record/Replay menu has the following items:
Save Recording As...
This allows the user to save the recording as a MIDI file.
Clear Recording
This clears everything that has been recorded. Recall that recording is
cumulative. If the user stops recording and then resumes it, the new music is
appended to what was recorded before. To start a new recording, the user must
select "Clear Recording".
Force Selected Instruments
By default, replaying a recorded piece will replay it in the instrument in
which it was recorded, regardless of the instrument that is selected during
replay. To override this default, and have the piece replayed in a different
instrument, the user should select "Force Selected Instrument".
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