NAME

MIDI::Tab - generate MIDI music from ascii tablature

TO DO

Document each function properly Explain about first parameter to functions Maybe simple test suite

Try to make it so that from_guitar_tab etc can be called as a normal method or function call (instead of passing object as first parameter)

SYNOPSIS

  use MIDI::Tab;
  use MIDI::Simple;

  new_score;  # From MIDI::Simple

  my $drums = <<"EOF";

  CYM: 8-------------------------------
  BD:  8-4---8-2-8-----8-4---8-2-8-----
  SD:  ----8-------8-------8-------8---
  HH:  66--6-6-66--6-6-66--6-6-66--6-6-
  OHH: --6-------6-------6-------6-----

  EOF

  my $bass = <<"EOF";
  G3: --------------------------------
  D3: --------------------------------
  A2: 5--53-4-5--53-1-----------------
  E2: ----------------3--31-2-3--23-4-

  EOF

  for(1..4){
      synch(  # From MIDI::Simple
          sub {
              from_drum_tab($_[0], $drums, 'sn');
          },
          sub {
              from_guitar_tab($_[0], $bass, 'sn');
          },
      )
  }

  write_score('demo.mid');  # From MIDI::Simple

DESCRIPTION

MIDI::Tab allows you to create MIDI files from ascii tablature. It is designed to work alongside Sean M Burke's MIDI::Simple. There are currently three types of tablature supported:

Drum Tab

Each horizontal line represents a different drum, and time runs from left to right. Minus or plus characters represent rest intervals. As many or as few drums as required can be specified, each drum having a two or three letter code. Currently supported are: BD - Bass Drum, SD - Snare Drum, HH - Hi-Hat, OHH - Open Hi-Hat, CYM - Crash Cymbal. More can be added by writing to the hash %MIDI::Tab::drum_notes (see source for example). The numbers on the tablature represents the volume of the drum hit (from 1 to 9, where 9 is the loudest). Any parameters to from_drum_tab specified after the tablature string are passed to a call to 'noop' at the start of the tab rendering, so for example the length of each unit of time can be specified by passing a standard MIDI::Simple duration value (eg 'sn'). The channel that is used to play the drum notes can be changed by altering $MIDI::Tab::drum_channel (defaults to 'c9').

Guitar Tab

Notes here are specified on an ascii representation of a guitar with each horizontal line of ascii characters representing one string on the guitar (as if the guitar were laid face-up in front of you). Time runs from left to right. You can 'tune' the guitar by specifying different root notes for the strings. These should be specified as a MIDI::Simple alphanumeric absolute note value (eg 'A2'). The numbers in the tablature represent the fret at which the note is played. Any parameters to from_guitar_tab specified after the tablature string are passed to a call to 'noop' at the start of the tab rendering, so for example the length of each unit of time can be specified by passing a standard MIDI::Simple duration value (eg 'sn') and the instrument can be selected (eg 'c3').

Piano Tab

Here, each horizonal line represents a different note on the piano and time runs from left to right.

USAGE

from_guitar_tab

from_piano_tab

from_drum_tab

Each of these routines generates a set of MIDI::Simple notes on the object passed as the first parameter. The parameters are:

 MIDI:Simple object
 Tab Notes (as ascii text)
 Noop Arguments (for changing channels etc)

See synopsis for examples.

EXAMPLES

Examples can be found in the 'examples' directory.

AUTHOR

        Robert J. Symes
        rob@robsymes.com

COPYRIGHT

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included with this module.

SEE ALSO

MIDI::Simple, perl(1).

cpanm MIDI::Tab

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install MIDI::Tab