C6th on Tabledit

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 24 Jan 2002 8:21 am

I recently purchased a copy of Tabledit and have started to become familiar with it. I think I'll like it but I have a question. Is there any way to lock in the pedal and knee changes on the C6th neck? I notice that when I pull down the pitch change, there is a E9th button. I assume the normal pedal and knee changes have been previously locked in and can be recalled. But how about the C6th?
Does a person have to do a pitch change every time you use a pedal or knee when in C6th? I could use some help!

Erv

Joe Donahue · Post by **Joe Donahue** » 24 Jan 2002 11:24 am

I don't think there is an E9 button on the pitch change menu. In Score\Instrument menu in the Module Screen there is a block which has fiddle, dulcimer, etc as choices but you can type in PSG C-6 there. Make sure the Pedal Steel Guitar Box is checked. In the Tuning Screen of that same menu, you can select PSG C6 in the window. Then: Apply, Close. If you hit CTRL-H to get the pitch change menu, you should be able to edit and rename your pulls. When you re-load Tab|Edit the tuning & pitch changes should be as you set them. However, if you change to another Instrument in the Score/Instrument/Tuning menu, you will have to re-set your C6 copedant all over again the next time you want to use it.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 24 Jan 2002 1:46 pm

Joe:
I downloaded Tabledit just recently and there is an E9th button in the pitch change window. When I click on it it brings up the standard E9th pedal and knee changes. It appears that the program is not set up to accomodate the C6th neck very well. As you know, on the C6th neck, some pedals both raise and lower certain strings. The changes are more complex than on the E9th neck. I would like to be able to program in the changes and then when I put the letter for the pedal on a certain string the program will know by itself whether to adjust the pitch up or down. The way everybody was bragging about Tabledit, I thought it would be a standard feature. There should be some place where we could enter our copodents and then forget them. To tell you the truth, without this feature, I'm rather disappointed with Tabledit. I understand that with Clic Tab you can do this, but I wanted a program with the notes along with the tab. Maybe with some encouragement, this feature could be programmed into future upgrades.
Thanks, Erv

Joe Donahue · Post by **Joe Donahue** » 25 Jan 2002 12:12 pm

I saw the E-9 default window in the pitch change screen when I reloaded after changing to C-6 - sorry about that.

Some months ago I had a long e-mail exchange with Matthieu about pedal/KLs which both raise & lower and building a co-pedant into the program. I think Doug Beaumier went through this with him too. There is also a long thread in this section of the Forum about it. Matthieu is not prepared to re-write his program to accommodate a true copedant right now. As far as not having to re-enter pitch changes in C-6, I worked around this by entering the changes and symbols and then saving the Tab under a generic name (only one note entered). If I want to use those changes for new tab, I've had success loading that file, changing the save-name and writing the new tab. I looks to me like the pitch changes for everything EXCEPT E-9 are saved to the tab file while E-9 changes are saved to the program file. The program file seems to retain C-6 string tuning (eg D on top) but not the pitch changes. Not being a programmer, I have no idea why this is so.

There seems to be no satisfactory way of handling a simultaneous raise/lower or a pull which raises one string by 1 and another by 2. I've worked around this by using a capital letters (RL) for semi-tone raise on one string and a lower case letter (rl) for the full tone raise (or a lower) on another string. G2/G9 also works (lever name & string number). This quickly exhausts the number of available symbols though inasmuch as there are only 15 and C-6, U-12, etc quickly gobble them up.

I personally wish Matthieu would add the ability to enter and retain a customized, complex copedant but given the number of pedal steel players versus other instruments, I don't think there is much of a payback on his investment of time from a business standpoint. Now that the stock market seems to be turning around, I'm hoping Click Tab & Tab|Edit will merge like all the banks and drug companies and offer an enhanced product. Then again, I hate my bank and can't afford drugs.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 25 Jan 2002 1:09 pm

Joe:
Thanks for the reply and I have read and reread all the posts back and forth re Tabledit on the Forum. I sent Doug an e-mail today on the subject and hope to hear from him either directly or via the Forum. I would think Matthieu would take the matter seriously as he has worked so hard on this program, you would think he would take the extra step to make it complete. He should realize that we pick a strange beast and our needs and wants are extraordinary. I am sure that he is able to do what we are desiring and it certainly would expand the market for his program. I feel that this change is very necessary to make a satisfactory program for us pedal pickers.
Thanks,

Erv

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 25 Jan 2002 5:56 pm

Hi Erv,

As you know, there are preset values for the E9 tuning in the Pitch Change Box. These presets are what might be called "standard" E9 tuning. Naturally there will be variations in knee levers and pedals (and open tunings) among the players. Matthieu added the C6 module as an afterthought, and as a quick way for users to get the C6 tuning up and running on the screen (of course the user may specify any tuning, any number of strings up to 15 I believe, and assign any pitch changes plus or minus 3 half-tones). Matthieu did not program any C6 presets into the Pitch Change Box. So when you're in the C6 mode, and you access the Pitch Change Box, the preset E9 values will appear and you'll need to enter the proper values for your setup. The same happens when you are doing bass tab, guitar tab, or any other stringed instrument... the Pitch Change Box will always show the E9 preset values and you'll need to enter your changes. (mechanical pitch changes may occur on guitar, as with a tremolo bar).

As far as "saving" your setup, I'm not sure if that's possible. Here's what I'd suggest to speed things up: Do a C6 arrangement in your setup, SAVE it, and then every time you want to do another C6 piece, go to the saved piece and use that as your starting point (alter it). Also... if you need to enter the same pitch change (letter) several times on a string, enter all of the tab NUMBERS FIRST, then highlight the entire row, go to the Pitch Change Box and enter the value and the letters will all pop in at once. Also, work from the Palettes to speed things up. Keep the Tools, Special Effects, Notes, and Dynamics palettes on the screen as you're composing (to access them: DISPLY / PALETTES, and check off the ones you want). The keyboard is faster than the mouse for accessing various boxes. Hitting "enter" usually calls up the last box that you accessed.

Meanwhile, I'll ask Matthieu if it would be possible to program some preset pitch changes for C6 or a "save" option for any tuning. I'm doubtful however because the same E9 presets come up when ANY instrument module is up and running, which leads me to believe that the pitch change presets can only be set one way. Naturally the user can change them as he goes along and they will be saved in each separate composition. Matthieu once told me that anything is possible... if enough people want it. Keep in mind that there are over 5000 TE users... guitar, b@nj0, bass, mandolin, any all other stringed instrument players... even DRUM tab can be done on TE!. How many pedal steel guitarists are registered TE users? Maybe 30? 40? We're lucky to have our own PSG module within the program! Anyway, I'm very happy with TE and fortunately my setup is very close to the presets in the program. I use it mostly for E9 PSG and occasional guitar, bass, and lap steel tab.

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My Site | Doug's Free Tab

[This message was edited by Doug Beaumier on 25 January 2002 at 06:46 PM.]

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 26 Jan 2002 8:18 am

Doug:
I noticed that when I downloaded my registered copy of Tabledit, you are one of the advisers for program, is that correct?
Maybe you could twist Matthieu's arm a little and get this feature added to the program. I would be willing to pay extra for the ability to lock in copedents. He could maybe just publish a special edition of Tabledit for us pedal pickers and charge extra for it. I'm sure some musicians that just want the program for the other instruments it supports, wonder what this pedal steel guitar stuff is all about. If Matthieu would make this copedent feature available for download, I would gladly pay extra for it.

Erv

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 29 Jan 2002 9:55 pm

Erv, I sent an email to Matthieu inquiring about the possibility of saving PSG setups in the Pitch Change box. It might be helpful if other TE users who are interested in this feature send Matt an inquiry at matthieu@tabledit.com

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My Site | Doug's Free Tab

DroopyPawn · Post by **DroopyPawn** » 1 Feb 2002 2:31 pm

Is there anywhere to download some pedal steel tabs for tbledit? Or would anyone like to share a few with me?

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 1 Feb 2002 5:06 pm

Droopy, to see how TE looks, click on my "Doug's Free Tab" link below, and then pick a song and click on it.

There are many other sites that have TE .tef files, which include MIDI (audio), but you need to be a registered TE user to read those files. One such page is Joey Ace's: http://www.pedalsteel.tv/tefs.htm

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My Site | Doug's Free Tab

DroopyPawn · Post by **DroopyPawn** » 1 Feb 2002 9:32 pm

Thanks. I'm a registered user and I checked out your files on the TablEdit site. I looked at the link you sent too. Got any more? How about you write out Tennessee Waltz on TablEdit if you get a few free minutes to waiste one day?