application FAQs

How can I install MuSIC-TeN Pianos on a drive different than C: ?

If the C: drive capacity is low and not desirable for the approx. 375MB disk space requirements of MuSIC-TeN Pianos, then another drive from the existing local drives can be chosen to install the app. There are various instructional clips on YouTube like this one that show how to select a drive for installing any Microsoft Store app in general.

Can MuSIC-TeN Pianos be used with an external MIDI keyboard/device?

No, the application is not intended for that type of use case. The application is foremost a "score" player where the scores are either MIDI files or text in MuSIC-TeN format - for instance manually translated from sheet music and saved in text files or entered in the text editor provided by the application. And the sound is rendered through SoundFont files, not some external device.

In terms of user interaction, the capabilities are limited to just computer mouse and keyboard. There is also an interactive timing aspect that relies on user interaction to induce tempo variations in a MuSIC-TeN score. This interaction is also via the common computer peripherals - keyboard/mouse. See the M10 Timing section in the user console.

Can MuSIC-TeN Pianos read or write sheet music?

No, those are features specific to a type of software referred to as music notation software, which this application is not, at least not for sheet music.

How are SoundFont files used by MuSIC-TeN Pianos?

The app keeps a SoundFont file always loaded in memory and the app can only load one file at a time. Apart from the files included with the installation package, the app should be able to load any SoundFont 2 file (extension .sf2) and it can also load SoundFont 3 files (Vorbis-compressed SF2, extension .sf3). The Help section of the user console contains links to some good sources of .sf2 files.

SoundFonts can contain anywhere from one single instrument to a standard MIDI list of instruments - so-called GM (General MIDI) Soundfonts, and even more through the use of multiple "banks" - the limit has more to do with file size considerations rather than anything else. Remember the file is loaded in its entirety in RAM; the larger the file, the more memory is required.

Although MuSIC-TeN Pianos is (obviously) geared towards piano music, it actually renders the sound of any instrument selected from the loaded SoundFont, be that a piano, a violin, a guitar etc. For a GM Soundfont file there are at least 127 possible different selections.

How do I show/hide/move the user console?

The user console (a.k.a. M10 Console) is the central place to initiate actions (e.g. Play), to configure various play/visual settings, to refer to help, etc. When the app starts, the console is initially hidden.

Show/hide: toggle show/hide by just clicking the display of the piano top cover, or by pressing the "F5" key on the computer console. Alternatively, click the round button marked * in the bottom-left corner of the top cover to show the console, and the Exit button on the top-right corner of the console itself to hide it.
Move: just click anywhere in a free area of the console (no controls) and drag the mouse while keeping the left button pressed.

How do I zoom and pan the piano instrument?

The actions below are performed with the mouse and require the mouse pointer to be over any area of the main window, but not over the user console.

To zoom in and out: use the mouse wheel while keeping the Ctrl key pressed on the computer console. Note that zooming is allowed up to a limit; if the mouse wheel keeps rolling past that limit, the image stops shrinking or growing and becomes a bit translucid.
To pan in any direction: click the mouse right button and drag the mouse while keeping the right button pressed.
To reset the zoom and pan (to default position and size): click the mouse wheel. Note that every time when switching between grand, upright and digital pianos, any previous zoom and pan is lost and the appearance is reset to default.

How can I interact with the piano instruments?

Press piano keys with the mouse - click the left button for one key at a time, or drag the mouse across the keyboard for nice glissandos. Note that different vertical positions of the mouse pointer within a piano key yields different key velocities. A "velocity point" is by default displayed for each key press.
Press piano keys with the computer keyboard - there are 12 computer keyboard keys that correspond and are assigned to an octave of the piano keys. To visualize the assignment enable the "Show Assigned Console Keys" option in the Settings section (Instrument sub-section) of the console. Don't miss the ⓘ widget next to the option, which pops-up more information.
Press piano pedals with the mouse - click the left button with the pointer on a pedal. Note each click is a toggle-click, which allows the pedal to stay pressed while doing something else like playing keys.
Move piano top cover up/down - this can be done with the Top Cover sliding selector in the Settings section, Instrument sub-section. There is also a shortcut - the F2 key toggles the up/down position. Note this does not apply to the Digital piano, whose top cover is not movable. For the Grand piano the cover can be also removed completely.
Raise/Close/Remove piano hood - this applies only to the Grand piano, and can be done with the Hood sliding selector in the Settings section, Instrument sub-section.

How is the selected instrument used when playing MIDI files?

For single-instrument MIDI files: If, for example, the MIDI file is for violin and the selected instrument in the Instrument section is Grand Piano, then the playback will render piano, and vice-versa. I.e. the instrument chosen for playback is the one currently selected in the app, regardless of the instrument indicated by the MIDI file.
For multi-instrument MIDI files: The selected instrument in the app takes part in the file playback if the file uses that instrument, or if it uses some instrument that can be matched to the selected one, based on some internal rules. Otherwise the selected instrument is not used, and the sound of the instruments used by the file is rendered without visual feedback - no pressed keys, no piano roll, etc.

Reverb/chorus settings don't seem to have much or any effect. Why?

This may happen because in addition to the settings from the Reverb/Chorus sections in the user console, there is an additional need to manipulate the MIDI Controllers #91 Effects 1 Depth (Reverb Send Level) or #93 Effects 3 Depth (Chorus Send Level) and increase the value for those. That can be done in the Tuning section. Test the reverb/chorus effects with different values for those controllers. It is best to test by just pressing some piano keys or by playing a MuSIC-TeN score. Note that MIDI files may contain commands that set their own values for the said controllers, and on playback those overwrite any previous values set in the user console.

It may also be possible that some SoundFont instruments just don't respond to Reverb/Chorus signals, nor are they affected by Reverb Send Level or Chorus Send Level.

Some controls on the user console are disabled. Why?

There are quite a few controls that get disabled during playback of a file or notes in M10 Notes. Some of those include selecting a different instrument, loading a different SoundFont, or changing the appearance of the piano. Disabled controls appear blurred and do not respond to mouse clicks or other user interactions.

Outside of playback, there are some instances when controls are disabled - for example turning reverb or chorus off disables the sliders that control different parameters for those effects. Or flipping the piano top cover is disabled for the digital piano display, as this type of piano has an immobile cover.

The piano keyboard seems sluggish; what can I do?

If the piano keys don't seem to keep up with the pace of the playback and appear to get skipped, it's likely the graphics performance required of the CPU exceeds its capabilities. In this case it is advisable to decrease the graphics performance requirements by rendering the piano instruments with less detail. In the Instrument section of the user console select a lower level of instrument details such as Medium Detail or Low Detail.

Also, the Settings section - Instrument sub-section allows disabling some animations like hammer hits, string highlights or even hiding different piano parts, which also helps improving the graphics performance.

Last but not least, make sure other applications that can hog the CPU are closed and the CPU is on its most powerful settings, such as a high-performance plan. The Help section offers more instructions on that topic in the paragraph CPU & GPU High Performance.

MuSIC-TeN FAQs

Is MuSIC-TeN widely known?

MuSIC-TeN is used so far only by MuSIC-TeN Pianos and doesn't enjoy the reach of other, more popular text-based notations. With so many of those around, MuSIC-TeN may resemble some of them, but it hasn't been influenced by any other particular notation and is original in its creation. Its distinguishable feature is that it allows one's personal interpretation to be instilled into the score playback through the notation syntax (score personalization).

Do I need to be knowledgeable in sheet music notation to use MuSIC-TeN?

It kind of depends on what it is used for. It pays a dividend to be able to read sheet music if translating sheet notes into MuSIC-TeN. Even then, one can get away with not knowing note names and octaves, by using the Positional notation. On the other hand, if you have a melody, a phrase, a tune stuck in your head, you can use the M10 Notes editor in the app and attempt to materialize that music thought into an audible piece, with only some basic knowledge of MuSIC-TeN. The app can make that easier by allowing to capture pressed piano keys into the editor.

Does MuSIC-TeN support multiple instruments?

In its current form, the notation syntax only supports one instrument and is largely intended for "discrete-pitch" category - e.g. keyboard instrument types. Theoretically the syntax can be enriched to support multiple instruments such as in an orchestra arrangement and this may be a direction for the future.

Is there a public MuSIC-TeN parser available for developers and programmers?

Not at this moment, but that can be materialized in some library API packaged in a NuGet package, at some later point.

If you require answers you cannot find on this page or in the app's Help section or info widgets, you may send questions to support@music-ten-pianos.com. Please keep your questions on the topic - MuSIC-TeN Pianos app functionality or MuSIC-TeN as a notation system.

You may also report a problem you have with the app, but please note that it may take some time for problems to be addressed and their handling is according to severity and frequency of occurrence. It will help a lot if the report of a problem includes the following information:

System information such as CPU type & clock frequency, GPU type, RAM size, Windows version
Steps to reproduce the issue
Screenshots, if helpful
Optionally, the app log file as attachment (it will be requested if needed).

The current log file and older copies can be retrieved from the Help section of the user console. Note that a new log file is started each time the app is launched and up to 5 older copies are saved. Also a log file can grow up to 5MB before it rolls into an old copy and a new copy is created. It helps if the problem is (re)produced shortly after the application start to keep the e-mail attachment size to a minimum.

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