Author: Jason Sonnenschein Homepage Email: jes_jm@yahoo.com
Please read the License for this program.
This program is used to write out guitar tablature in the typical style of ascii tab, often found around the internet. The code is based on TkTab by Giovanni Chierico. Many of the ideas for the alerations found here came from emacs tablature mode by Mark R. Rubin. Guitar icon by Sandy at Around the Pixel. Windows and Mac binaries were created with Tcl/Tk wrapper programs--Drag & Drop Tclets and Freewrap.
Some keybindings changed between version 2.1 and 2.5 to make room for new features. NOTE: All keybindings specified in this file are true for U.S. keyboard ONLY and are merely here to illustrate how to use the program. Look at eTktab's help window after loading a keybindings file appropriate to your keyboard.
The program will initially run with English and United States keyboard support. To change the language support or keybindings, do the following:
The 'Save' feature will save files in eTktab's native file format. This is the only format the program can load. Use the 'Export' feature to create a text file of the tablature as it appears on the screen for use in email, newsgroups, etc. Exported tablature will only look correct in a non-proportional font, such as Courier.
When eTktab is run without an initial document, it will begin with the number of strings in the tablature that you specified in the preferences. New windows pulled up via keypress will also have this number of strings. Menus allow new documents of any type.
The note insertion method mimics the ideas of tab mode in emacs. In 'chord' mode, the cursor will not advance after a new note is placed, so other notes of the chord can be put above and below it. In lead mode, the cursor is advanced after each note insertion, and tablature to the right of the cursor is pushed forwards by the newly inserted tab. The base position for the 'hand' may be moved up and down the fretboard with the + and - keys, or the base fret menu, then the note is inserted with the following keys:
STRING (guitar) STRING (bass) E A D G B E E A D G +-------------+ +---------+ F base+0 | 1 2 3 4 5 6 | F base+0 | 1 2 3 4 | R base+1 | q w e r t y | OR R base+1 | q w e r | E base+2 | a s d f g h | E base+2 | a s d f | T base+3 | z x c v b n | T base+3 | z x c v |
So... for example, if the status bar reads that base fret is currently 5, hitting the 's' key will add to the tab a '7' on the A string.
Using Shift with the first row of keys play the 'open string' (fret 0,) no matter what the base fret is currently set to.
A dialog box can be called up to alter the tuning of the strings in the tablature by pressing the Tuning button or with the ';' key.
Note alterations, such as hammer-on and pull-off, may be added and removed from any note. All their keybindings are Alt-<something> (Option on Macintosh). Two modifiers are allowed on bar lines... they are left repeat and right repeat. Notes may only have one modifier, but bar lines may have both left and right modifiers simultaneously.
Cutting and pasting via keyboard is done by placing a 'mark' somewhere in the tablature, then moving the cursor to the other end of the zone you'd like to select. At that point, you cut or copy the selected tablature, move to where you want to paste and paste it. You may 'unplace' the mark with the same key you use to set a mark. The delete or backspace keys will perform a 'clear' if a mark is currently set (cut without adding to the paste buffer.) Otherwise, they have functions related to the current position in the tab.
Cut/paste within eTktab will only work between documents of the same type (same number of strings.) Tablature pasted into other programs (word processors, email, etc.) only looks right in non-proportional fonts, such as Courier.
Mouse bindings:
An 'undo/redo' feature was added in version 2.0. It remembers 10 steps. Remembering more steps means using more memory. If you have the source... tune as you see fit.
The rest of the key bindings are explained in the help screen, which may be called up with the help button at the top of the window, or by hitting '?' or Control-h (Command-h on Macintosh)