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## The Options menu

Options and info for selected item. Every symbol has an associated information window that you can bring up by selecting the item and then either pressing command-i or choosing this command . The information windows are different according to the type of symbol, and often will present an extensive list of choices. For example, the information window for a note lets you choose to use an X head notation, to hide the note, and much more.

Sound options.

Sound and MIDI Settings... Not needed unless you need to make some adjustments to a MIDI setup.

Set Tempo... Or, press command-T to use the tempo window. This window is discussed in the Score menu

Set Temperament... Temperaments are ways of dividing up the octave. The modern standard is Equal Temperament, in which the octave is divided into twelve equal steps. These can be used only with the sampled instruments. The pipe organ probably is the best one for hearing the subtle differences in tuning.

Metronome channel/instrument/volume Normally you don't need to change this. On a standard "General MIDI" device the percussion channel is 10 and the metronome sounds are already chosen appropriately when the program is first installed. But this does let you change those settings if you have a non standard device of some kind.

Keyboard options.

Plain piano.Display the standard piano keys. The comma and period keys can be used to lower or raise its range by an octave, and the small yellow triangle above the keys tells you the location of middle C.

Enharmonic keyboard. This is very convenient if you like to enter music using the mouse and screen piano. Each clave is divided so that you can explicitly choose, say, D# instead of Eb, or E# instead of F.

Guitar fretboard. Replaces the piano with a representation of a guitar fretboard. To play open strings, click on the string to the right of the last fret (just past the double-dot octave marker).

Keyboard volume. Adjust the volume of the live keyboard. This is really "MIDI attack velocity" if you're using QuickTime or synthesizer or MIDI output. MIDI attack volume is not the same thing as a volume knob - it refers to the speed with which a pianist's fingers strike the keys. On most MIDI devices a higher MIDI attack velocity will produce a harsher tone as well as louder sound. If all you want is more volume, it's better to use an external speaker that has an amplifier volume knob.

Display options.

Restore default keyboard position.. Your student file remembers the last position of the onscreen piano keyboard. If you somehow slide it offscreen, or have changed to a smaller screen computer, this will put it back in its normal starting position.

Display tool tips.. If you have learned the meaning of all the tools you can turn off tool tips if desired.

Display music in double size.. Doubles the size of the music in the edit window, as if you had zoomed in for a closer look. This doesn't affect printing - if you want to change the size of a printed image you should change the print scaling to more or less than 100%.

Hide desktop.(Mac only). Having the desktop hidden makes it easier to avoid accidentally clicking out of the program. On Windows computers you can show the desktop by minimizing the program's main window (the one holding the menu bar).

Listening options.

Scroll as smoothly as possible during play. This is really the best, and looks good, particularly on a Macintosh computer (scrolling on PCs will also look good with this setting, but the glide is not quite as smooth). There is a limit, though, in the computer's ability to smoothly scroll a very long file. If your file passes that length limit the program will switch this setting to "scroll a screen at a time".

Scroll a screen at a time during play. The screen will jump when the play position gets near the right side of the window.

Observe repeats and first/second endings.For just proofing your piece you may not want to observe repeats. But for playing along with it you'll want this to be on.

Tick a bar-for-nothing at the start of play You'll need this if you want to play along with the piece - gets you into the tempo before it begins.

Save current settings. Saves your current option choices to the preferences file so that Counterpointer will use the same settings the next time you start it.

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