< back

 
 

Info for Keytar

This program was created to be able to play on a cheap instrument while using it as spectaculary as a guitar. This is the reason for calling it a keyboard-guitar: keytar. Almost everyone has got a PC today so it's easy to use and have fun.
Let's see it step by step.

1. Install

First of all you have to download a quite big 27MB file. After downloading just run keytar_4.0_setup_small.exe and get through the installer. Sorry for putting an icon on your desktop but I though it was easier for you to copy it from there.
And let's start!
When starting the program for the first time you have to set the language of your keyboard (it has to be the automatic language of your operating system). Neglecting this, not the right tones will be played. You may change this setting or even customize the keys later.
The demo music is the keyboard theme from Caleb of Sonata Arctica.

2. Choose an instrument

Visualise two pianos on your keyboard. One manual is 21 tones width. If you click the ’Keyboard’ tab you can see the composition of the buttons. You can use every button with the mouse as well. ’Manual I’ is the first and the second row of keys while ’Manual II’ is the third and fourth. The second manual is an octave higher than the first and you can control and customize them separately. Use the function buttons to change instruments quickly, it's practical while playing.

3. Play fine

Unfortunately without delaying you got a staccato sound. The solution of this failure are the delay controller sticks. If they are in a low position the delaying of the tone is very short, if the stick is higher you get more delaying and putting it to the top effects full delaying till the soundfile’s end. There is a quick key for this pushing the space button like the piano’s pedal.

4. Record your playing

Use the ’Recording’ tab or press ’*’ on your keyboard to start or finish the recording. You can only listen to it with this program, because I made an own .ktr file format. You can change the instruments and delaying settings during playback, or even the playback speed. You can’t play anything on keytar during playback or paused playback because if you could overrecord a recorded file it would be the death of my programming knowledge sorry. The program wasn’t written for stupid people so it won’t ask back if you don’t save a recorded file.

5. Settings

You can set the position of the window and chose your keyboard language. You are able to create a new configuration for this so feel free to mail me when you use it in another country to build it in the new versions.
A bit complicated is the saving of delaying configurations. You can save the configuration which was set when you clicked the Settings tab with clicking on ’unsaved’ in the listbox. Change them free using the PageUp and PageDown buttons. You can also delete them except the default configuration.

6. Save chords

This isn’t avaible in Keytar 4.0 only in older versions!
To use this function NumLock has to be switched on! You can save as many tones you want to the numbers 1-9. You have to push "0" button first and then the number you want to save the chord to while not letting off the "0" button. During this you have to push the keys (without rhythm) which the chord will contain. With letting off the keys on the numeric pad the tones are saved and you can use it by pushing the number you saved it to.

It's another practical thing to forbid the reaction of Windows for pushing Shift five times.


I hope you will enjoy it! Improve yourself!