Tuesday, December 5, 2006
GETTING KTabs

Some things take a while to catch on.

KTabS is Kalimba Tablature Software for Windows, which makes writing kalimba tunes a snap, and I can attest to KTabS being worthy of catching on. So this week, I am aiming to help people GET KTabS --not just downloading it, but also UNDERSTANDING it. If YOU use KTabS, drop me a line and give me a short writeup about how you use KTabS and why you like it.

This Tuesday's Tip is about GETTING KTabS and starting to use it. You get it by going to ktabs.theirhouse.org and clicking on "registration" in the upper right corner. You provide an email address, a screen name, and a password. Once you have done the free registration as a KTabS user, you will go to the My KTabS page where you will see several songs and kalimba templates which you can download for KTabS to play. But before you do that, you need to download the latest version of KTabS (1.0.8 on this date). This version of KTabS will work for two weeks and won't be able to save songs to disk, but you can play other people's songs or write your own to get the feel for the usefulness of the program.

As you download the KTabS Demo, you will want to save to disk - probably to your desktop. A KTabS icon will appear. Double-click on it. Your computer will ask you if you trust this puplisher before it proceeds to install KTabS on your computer (I have to admit, when I first installed KTabS in June 2006, I didn't know Randy and Sharon Eaton, the KTabS authors, and I hesitated for 3 days before I installed; needless to say, my computer didn't blow up - in other words, I trust the KTabS publisher). When you install KTabS, you are given the option of where to put it on your hard drive. I pick a folder under "My Documents" because I like to be able to easily copy files in and out of the KTabS folders, attaching them to emails and such, and My Documents is easier than Program Files.

After you have installed KTabS, KTabS will start running. You can either OPEN a file which someone else wrote (i.e., download something from the My KTabS page or from Kalimba Magic), or you can start something new with NEW in the file menu. If you open an existing file, you will want to click the PLAY button on the toolbar near the top of the KTabS window. If you don't hear anything, click on the MIDI button and you can adjust the MIDI device and the MIDI sound you prefer.

If you are starting a NEW file, up comes the configuration (or setup) window. You get to set up the new tablature for whatever kalimba you want. The starting configuration is the 17-note Treble kalimba. In the configuration window, you can adjust the number of tines you have on your "virtual kalimba", adjust which tines are painted, adjust the color of the paint (red, blue, or you name it), retune the tines by clicking on the tine and then selecting a note on the keyboard, and a small host of other parameters, which you will come to understand soon.

Basically, you need a different configuration for each type of kalimba you will be writing for. You can download configuration files (called Templates) for the Hugh Tracey Alto, Hugh Tracey Treble, Hugh Tracey karimba, the 8-note kalimba, and major or minor tuned Hugh Tracey Pentatonic kalimbas from the My KTabS page. (If you make a handy template file, you might want to share it on the My KTabS page.) As you can imagine, you can make a configuration template for any sort of kalimba out there, so this is a useful tool for you no matter what sort of kalimba you've got.

After you 'OK' the configuration template, you are ready to start adding notes. When you start, there are only 4 measures of blank tablature in 4/4 time. But underneath the "blank measures" is room for 4 quarter notes in each measure. Start at the bottom by left clicking on one of the tines. The first left click will select that horizontal "time slice", and the second left click will put down a note. You can put down multiple notes in the same horizontal slice to make a chord, or if you put down the wrong note, click on it again and it will go away. Plop down 8 notes to fill two measures, then select them all by left click-drag over the 8 notes - they will be highlighted. Now, find the Notes Toolbar that shows the different kinds of notes - quarter notes, eighth notes, half notes, etc. Select a different kind of note and see how it changes the music you've written. Hit the PLAY button in the top toolbar to hear how it sounds. Feel free to change any of the notes.

Try clicking the right mouse button to get the context menu. You can add more space for notes above or below the spot you are editing. If you are at the beginning of a measure, you can change the time signature. You can change the tempo to make the music faster or slower. If you are at the end of a measure, you can insert a repeat sign.

And if you get confused, go to the KTabS documentation.