This screen displays summary information about each melody stored on the current Musical Discovery Database. It permits direct reading and writing of changes onto the disk file, without loading a melody into memory. The safer way of changing tunes is to work on a tune loaded into memory, then save it when it is right. Please see the footnote. This screen provides a more drastic way of repairing serious errors in stored data!
You can browse through all melodies in the database by clicking on the arrow keys at the top of the screen. A keyboard alternative is to press PageUp or PageDown keys to move forwards or backwards through the database.
Another way to search for a melody is to use the quick search facility, whereby you can type in any word which appears in the title, or you may select a composer. Click the (pale blue) Perform the Search button, and the screen will display details of the first matching tune. To see any more matches, keep clicking the purple Search for Next Match button.
The tune is not loaded into memory by merely browsing it on this screen. However, you can load it and hear it by a single click on the green Play Tune button.
Composer, category, style, ensemble and solo instrument data can easily be changed by clicking on the appropriate combo boxes. This information is used in the Musicology section of Musical Discovery, so you can review information about any composer, or any category of music, etc, and also view a list of melody files belonging to the currently selected composer, category, or whatever.
Tempo, Key signature, beats per bar, Key mode and beat length are items of data that affect the way the music is played.
Tempo is the speed at which the music is played, expressed in crotchet (or quarter-note) beats per minute. A fairly typical moderate tempo is 100 crotchets per minute.
Key signature defines the number of sharps or flats, thereby defining the scale upon which the music is based. This is used in conjunction with the key mode, which is either Major or Minor. For example, the key of A Major has 3 sharps, and the tonic or keynote of the scale is A. The key of F# Minor also has 3 sharps, but its key mode is minor, so its tonic or key-note is F#.
The track data for this melody may be changed by clicking the blue Edit Tracks button. The actual notes can be changed by clicking the yellow Edit Notes button.
If you wish to remove the melody from the database completely, click the pink Delete this melody from the database button. A warning box will pop up to confirm that you wish to delete the notes, tracks, words (if any) and melody data from the database. You may cancel the delete operation at this point.
There is an orange button Database referential integrity report. This displays a screen preview of a report on inconsistencies in the database. For example, this report will list tunes for which there is an entry for a melody, but no corresponding note or track data.
Please note, it will usually be easier to edit melody data and its corresponding note and track data, by using the MENU Edit -> Melody data, MENU Edit ->track data, MENU Edit ->Note data. These all operate on the tune currently loaded into memory. Once you are happy with all changes, you may save to disk. This is usually a safer way of maintaining your tunes, because the database is not altered until you deliberately click the save button.