Music Mouse User Guide
Music Mouse User Guide
Eventide Inc.
One Alsan Way
Little Ferry, NJ 07643
201-641-1200
[Link]
Contents
1 Welcome 1
1.1 About This Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Why Music Mouse? - An Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2 Music Mouse 3
2.1 Navigating the Application Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Perform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2 Types of Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Selector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Fader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Cycler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Specifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.3 Performance Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Polyphonic Cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Voices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Sound On/Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Voicing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Harmony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Transposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Interval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Articulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.4 Sound Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Pitch Mod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Tremolo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.5 MIDI Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Mod Wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Breath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Foot Cont . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Portmnt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
After Tch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.6 Additional Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Reset All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Expand/Collapse Panel (J) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.7 Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
I
Sample Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Buffer Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
External Clock Sync . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
External Port:
Destination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
External Port:
Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Grid Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.8 Keyboard Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
macOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3 Conclusion 15
II
Welcome part 1
Thank you for your purchase, and before you forget, please take a few minutes to register online. This
helps us keep you informed of any important software updates, and any special offers that may only be
available to registered users.
1
1.2 Why Music Mouse? - An Introduction
In January, 1986 Laurie Spiegel came out with a program to turn the computer into a unique musical
instrument that has by now come to be described as “historic”. Here is her Preface to that initial software
release:
”Up to this time, of the new powers which computers bring to music, commercially available music soft-
ware has focused mainly on precision and memory. These are wonderful attributes, but one of the com-
puter’s greatest strengths remains barely touched. Logic, the computer’s ability to learn and to simulate
aspects of our own human intelligence, lets the computer grow into an actively participating extension
of a musical person, rather than just another tape recorder or piece of erasable paper.
I firmly believe that logic, when used well, does not conflict with intuition, emotion, or other aspects of
music which are often considered contrary to it. Rather than constraining musicality, logical structures
can serve to support, extend, and amplify our ability to express and embody the undefinable qualities of
aesthetic meaning which we are forever trying to capture.
This is a very exciting time for music. With the advent of computers, many of music’s past restrictions
can begin to fall away, so that it becomes possible for more people to make more satisfying music, more
enjoyably and easily, regardless of physical coordination or theoretical study, of keyboard skills or fluency
with notation. This doesn’t imply a dilution of musical quality. On the contrary, it frees us to go further,
and raises the base-level at which music making begins. It lets us focus more clearly on aesthetic content,
on feeling and movement in sound, on the density or direction of experience, on sensuality, structure,
and shape – so that we can concentrate better on what each of us loves in music that lies beyond the low
level of how to make notes, at which music making far too often bogs down.
This simple program hopes to provide an introduction to the vast and still-barely-explored realm of musi-
cal intelligence in software which doubtless includes possibilities beyond anything we conceive of now.
For those who have wanted to do music but have lacked the background, computer intelligence may
make it possible. For those of us who have already gone a long way in music, it may let us go further than
we ever imagined before. This program is a small beginning, written to some extent as a pointer.”
- Laurie Spiegel
New York City, 1986
2
Music Mouse part 2
Music Mouse differs from other music programs currently available in that it is not designed for the stor-
age, editing, and replay of musical compositions using keyboards or involving notation. Instead, it turns
the computer itself into a musical instrument which you can play.
Unlike traditional musical instruments, however, Music Mouse doesn’t require years of practice, or knowl-
edge of music theory or notation. It has a variety of options built into it for harmony and melodic pat-
terning, freeing its player to focus on the movement of melodic lines, the shape and density of their
elaboration, their electronic ”orchestration”, and on the overall form and expressive content of the music
itself. It is a controller program designed to let your computer function either as a stand-alone musical
instrument, using the application’s Sound, or as a control interface for MIDI synthesizers. Also it can send
the music you play to audio, MIDI or music notation software, where Music Mouse will show up as a se-
lectable input device just like a hardware controller.
The Polyphonic Cursor shows a grid of note pitches with piano keyboards in each axis, providing a do-
main for translating mouse cursor position into pitches.
3
2.2 Types of Parameters
Selector A Selector key represents a single option from a group of choices. Only
one member of any selector group is in use at any time.
Switch A Switch key toggles a value between two states. Some switches turn their
option on and off, and others switch between two states. Holding a switch
down for more than the duration of a normal keypress will produce a rapid
alternation, which may be musically useful in some cases (and musically un-
desirable in others). For example, you can get a nice tremolo by holding
down F , but if you hold down the spacebar for more than a normal key-
hit’s-worth of time, you won’t know until you move the mouse again whether
you’ve left yourself in a ”sound” or ”silent” state.
Fader A Fader key moves a value higher or lower when pressed. If held down, it
will continue to move the value further in the same direction until it is re-
leased. Faders always occur in pairs on the keyboard, where the left key
decreases and the right key increases the value. Faders clip, rather than
wrapping at their extreme values (they will stay at their highest or lowest
value after they’ve reached it even if they’re still held down). When a Fader
key is combined with shift , a Fader will set its value to its minimum or maxi-
mum value.
Cycler A Cycler key moves a value repeatedly through a range. When a Cycler
reaches the extreme value in whichever direction it is moving (to the bottom
or top of its range), the value wraps back to the minimum/maximum value.
Like Faders, Cycler keys move only one step each time they are pressed in
a normal typewriting manner, and they continue moving as long as they are
held down. When a Cycler key is combined with shift , the Cycler will set its
value to its minimum or maximum value.
Specifier A Specifier key sets a parameter to a specific pre-defined value (so holding
a specifier key will have no effect).
4
2.3 Performance Parameters
Polyphonic Cursor To connect the computer mouse to the application, press delete or backspace ,
click on the Polyphonic cursor or Connect Mouse button.
Once engaged, the mouse cursor will disappear and the application will
begin tracking the mouse position. The mouse’s position will determine the
selected pitches for each Voice. Any changed Voices will play on the next
Tempo beat.
To move the Polyphonic Cursor quietly, press and hold the mouse button
while moving.
Voices Turn each of the Voices on or off using Switch keys shift + 1 , 2 , 3
or 4 . Reverse the states of all Voices using Specifier key tab and turn all
Voices on using esc .
Level Control the output volume of either the Sound or MIDI Global Channel
Volume value using Fader keys < and > . Use shift + < to set the value
to 0, and shift + > to set to 100.
Sound On/Off Mute and unmute playback using Switch key space .
Motion Change the paradigm for the direction and movement of Voices using
Switch key D .
When set to Parallel, all voices follow the mouse cursor position. When set
to Contrary, Voices in the same axises move in opposite directions. Holding
D will alternate between the two modes at the key-repeat rate.
5
Voicing Set how Voices 1, 2, 3, 4 should be assigned to each axises using Switch key
F .
When set to Voice Pairs, Voices 1, 3 are on the horizontal axis and Voices
2, 4 are on the vertical axis, where the intersection of Voices 1, 3 follows the
mouse position.
Holding F will alternate between the two modes at the key-repeat rate.
Group When enabled using Switch key G , all Voices will play when at least one
Voice has changed. When disabled, each Voice will only play when it’s po-
sition is changed. Holding G will repeat playback of all Voices at the key-
repeat rate.
Harmony Set the harmonic mode for pitch quantization using the following Selector
keys:
Q - Chromatic
W - Octatonic
E - Middle Eastern
R - Diatonic
T - Pentatonic
Y - Quartal
When a different mode is selected, any pitches that have changed will be
played immediately. To switch quietly, combine with option / alt .
Transposition Set the number of semitones to transpose pitches, using Cycler keys Z
and X , which will be increment and decremented by the Interval amount.
Changing the Transposition will cause immediate playback; combine with
option / alt to change quietly.
6
Articulation Set the duration of notes using Cycler keys / and ? .
When set to Full Legato, all active Voices will play immediately. Combine
with option / alt to change quietly.
Treatment Determines the rhythmic timing to apply to Voice playback. Select using
or ctrl with Selector keys:
Pattern Turn on sequenced pitch changes using Selector A . Use the numbers
1 - 0 to change the selected Pattern sequence:
Symmetry Set the direction and movement of how Pattern pitch changes are applied
to each Voice using Switch key S . This is similar to Motion, where Parallel
applies pitch changes such that all Voices move in the same direction, and
Contrary causes Voices on the same axises to move in opposite directions.
Display Determine whether the Polyphonic Cursor should display pitch changes
from Pattern sequences, using Switch key shift + A to toggle on/off. This
will have a visible effect only when Pattern is enabled.
Tempo There are two Tempo parameters available, with their own sets of keys.
Tempo 1 defaults to 75 BPM, and can be set using Fader keys - and + .
Tempo 2 defaults to 150 BPM, and can be set using Fader keys [ and ] .
Switch between Tempo 1 and 2 using Switch key \ .
Set the currently selected Tempo to its default value using Specifier key shift
+ \ .
Combining shift with any of the decrement or increment keys will set the cor-
responding Tempo to the minimum (12 BPM) or maximum (240 BPM) value.
7
2.4 Sound Parameters
When the application MODE is set to SOUND, the MIDI generated will played only through Music Mouse’s
internal synthesizer, which includes a selection of presets created by Laurie Spiegel.
Combining any of the following Fader keypresses with shift will set parameter to the minimum or maxi-
mum value.
Pitch Mod Set the amount of pitch modulation to apply using N and M .
8
2.5 MIDI Parameters
When the application MODE is set to MIDI, the application directly outputs all generated MIDI via the
”Music Mouse” MIDI Output Port and the selected External Ports - Destination.
Combining any of the following Fader keypresses with shift will set parameter to the minimum or maxi-
mum value.
Program Send a MIDI Program Change message using U and I . When Music
Mouse is launched, no message will be sent until the value is explicitly
changed.
Channel Assign each Voice to a MIDI Channel (1-16). All MIDI Parameter change
messages generated will be sent to all of the selected channels.
Mod Wheel Send a MIDI Controller Change message for CC 1 using N and M .
Foot Cont Send a MIDI Controller Change message for CC 4 using K and L .
After Tch Send a MIDI Channel Pressure change message to all selected MIDI Chan-
nels using K and L .
9
2.6 Additional Controls
Reset All The Reset All button within the tab bar is used to reset all the Music Mouse to
the current preset’s settings. If no preset is opened, this will reset parameters
to their default settings.
Expand/Collapse Panel The J button within the tab bar is used to hide the Parameter Panel,
(J) showing only the Polyphonic Cursor.
When collapsed, click the Expand button to show the Parameter Panel.
10
2.7 Preferences
The Preferences tab consists of all the application-level Audio, MIDI, and Display settings.
Audio
Output Select the audio output device.
NOTE: an Audio Output device is required for playback, even when using
an external MIDI destination device.
MIDI
Mode Set the application Mode to Sound or MIDI.
When MIDI mode is selected, Music Mouse can receive and send MIDI
messages.
MIDI generated by the application will be sent to the virtual MIDI port
”Music Mouse ” and to the selected External Port: Destinaton.
In MIDI mode, External Clock Sync can be enabled to sync Music Mouse
to another MIDI Clock source, either from the virtual port ”Music Mouse ” or
the External Port: Source.
External Clock Sync When enabled, Music Mouse can sync to an external MIDI clock source.
Your MIDI clock source must output MIDI clock messages either to the ap-
plication MIDI Port ”Music Mouse ” or to the MIDI device selected in Prefer-
ences » External Port - Source.
External Port: Select a MIDI port to send MIDI messages generated by Music Mouse.
Destination
11
External Port: Select a MIDI port to receive MIDI Start, Stop and Clock message.
Source
View
Scale Set the percentage to scale the application window.
Panel Set the Parameter Panel to appear on either the left or right side of the Poly-
phonic Cursor.
Hints Show or hide the Hint Bar at the bottom of the application window.
Grid Lines Show or hide line separators between white keys in the Polyphonic Cursor
bordering keyboards.
12
2.8 Keyboard Maps
macOS
Esc + 1 2 3 4 Delete
1 2 3 Return
SOUND ON / OFF
Option +
0 .
Change Spacebar
Silently Mute Voices Reverse All On
13
Windows
1 2 3 Enter
SOUND ON / OFF
Alt +
0 .
Change Spacebar
Silently Mute Voices Reverse All On
14
Conclusion part 3
We hope you enjoy Music Mouse and put it to good use in your composing and performing endeav-
ors.
15