E85.1810: MIDI for NON-MAJORS
FreeStyle Sequencer Program
© Copyright 1997 John V. Gilbert All Rights Reserved
Starting FreeStyle
Freestyle is a sequencing program which keeps track of MIDI channels and patches as you compose your music. Remember that you must activate the FreeMidi extension to use Freestyle. If OMS is currently running as an extension, you should deactivate Open Music Transport(OMS) in the Extensions Manager. Once FreeStyle has been launched, it will load with a default Player Ensemble. You will also see a recording console on the screen which has the typical record, play, pause, fast forward and rewind buttons common to most recording devices.
The recording console must have the record mode selected (red light will be on) in order to record the tracks (i.e. MIDI channels).. Each instrument represents a different MIDI track or channel. 
The names of the instruments are at the extreme left of the Ensemble palette and may be changed by you to identify whatever you wish to call that particular instrument. You select the sound or patch of the instrument under the "SOUND" column. When you hold down the Mouse button on a specific player in the SOUND column, the entire menu of patches for each sound module becomes available. Select the patch by moving the mouse over the patch name until it is highlighted, then release the mouse and the patch name will now appear in the SOUND window. You change the name under the PLAYER column by highlighting the name and typing in a new name to correspond to yoour selected patch. Once you have created your ensemble you can save to the ensemble library so that you have that ensemble available for future work. However, the ensemble you have created is automatically saved with the file you are currently working on.
You will see a light on the track or instrument that is currently active. You make another track or instrument active by clicking on it. The red light will come on. However, it will only record if the master record button has been pressed so that the red light on the recording console is own. You can leave the record off if you just want to sample patch sounds. By selecting patches for each instrument, you gradually build your ensemble. You can always add a player from the menu and then change its name and select a patch for it. In the beginning it is usually easier to have only three or four instruments in your ensemble. You can always add more later.
When you press the record button, you will hear the metronome. You can adjust the metronome speed in the metronome window. Recording will not start until you play the first note. This is an option in the menu called "Wait for Note." After the first track you may want to turn off this option.
When you record, you can have the looping feature continue playing what you have just recorded. It will play even while you go to the next track or instrument. Record that track against what you are hearing on the first track, It will also repeat while you go to the third track and record against the other two tracks. You can continue this for as many instruments as you have in your ensemble.
Explore FreeStyle by doing a short eight-bar sequence with instruments and patches you have selected. Save the work in your folder by selecting "Save As" and giving the piece and name. Be sure you are in your folder before saving.
Open up the current MIDI setup by selecting this command from the menu ("Open Current MIDI setup"). FreeMidi will launch and you will see a diagram of the MIDI configuration. You can check if the MIDI signals are reaching the interface and the sound modules by clicking on test channels. Be careful to lower the volume of the mixer when doing this since this often plays the modules at very high audio levels.
FreeStyle can be used to create soundtracks or works specifically meant to be played by the computer on through a recording. The emphasis is on the quality of sound. But Freestyle can also be used to quickly explore a compositional idea. Because you can quickly set up different sections and freely place them in different orders, FreeStyle becomes a useful laboratory to try out ideas.
The composition below is entitled "Suite for Strings and Mallets." The concept is to contrast a freely treated linear section of strings with the percussive and vertical structures of marimbas and vibraphones. About 10 sections were composed, all based on the same pitch material but treating them in slightly different ways. Also, FreeStyle enables you to do several "takes" of the same instrument in the same section so that you can compare the material and the performance and select the one that suits your needs. This technique was used. The final result is a piece that explores minimal materials in contrasting structures creating an ABA'Coda Structure.
The Arrange Window allows you to place sections in any combination horitizontally and vertically. Here the arrange window summarizes the form of the piece, including the overlapping ("dove-tailing") of the B Section with the Return of the A Section as A' prime symbol indicating the A section has been modified.
The Arrange Window provides a useful capsule overview of the form which was actually created using the graphic "piano-roll" score mode. In the example below all of the sections have been joined and condensed to fit the screen, but each section can also be viewed separately. One can see that the graphic score shows contours of the musical shape. The graph below the piano-roll score is the velocity controller where the dynamics of each instrument and all instruments together can be carefully shaped.
The example below shows the string Coda in graphic score.
Composing With the Sections Feature of FreeStyle
The Sections Feature of Freestyle can be valuable asset in trying out ideas, or taking a completely different approach to composing music. In the Example below, "Make a Joyful Noise," about twenty brief sections were composed on a limited set of melodic and pitch material. These were then freely fitted together in sequence and by stacking and dove-tailing sections to create texture and counterpoint.
