1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
|
% TamTam
%
%
About TamTamMini
================
Welcome to TamTamMini! This chapter of the Users manual is about
TamTamMIni which is part of a suite of four musical Activities for use
on the XO computer. Each of the four Activities is a bit different. In
general they require increasingly higher levels of musical skill to use.
**TamTamMini** is the simplest of the four TamTam Activities but it
offers a surprising variety of sophisticated features. It is simple
enough to have fun with and suitable for ages 2 -92! Yet, it is complex
enough to let you experiment. It can be used by a single XO laptop or
more but does not utilize the mesh network.
You can begin by choosing an instrument or sound and experimenting with
playing simple scales and songs using the XO's QWERTY keyboard. This
manual will help you learn to do that.
For more about TamTamMini, including how to use the Drum Machine and
Loops, see the "[Fun With
TamTamMini](http://booki.flossmanuals.net/fun-with-tam-tam/_full/)"
FLOSS manual.
**TamTamJam** is more complex than TamTamMini, but still suitable for
school age children and adults. It has a different main screen but the
same instruments and is designed for performance. You can record small
melodic phrases and can combine several customizable loops. You can also
share the beat with other XOs through the mesh network.
**TamTamEdit** is the basic TamTamActivity and must be installed in
order to run any of the other Tam Tan Activities. It has much more
sophisticated loops where you can choose instruments, pitches and the
duration of notes on five different tracks. It offers almost 100
different musical sounds and a limitless variety of musical styles.
**TamTamSynthLab** is a highly sophisticated synthesizer program
suitable for advanced work in both music and physics.
Starting TamTamMini
===================
Select the TamTamMini icon (little drum with drumsticks)from the
Favorites View. If you aren't sure you have the right Activity, hover
your cursor over the icon for a few seconds and, a little label that
says "TamTamMini" will appear.
If you cannot find TamTamMini, change to the List View
When you find it in List View first check the little star next to the
name of the Activity. If it is not filled in, click on the star so you
can move it to the Favorites View. In either view, when you find the
icon, click on it to open Tam Tam Mini.
Learning With TamTamMini
========================
Choosing An Instrument
----------------------
TamTamMini offers a wide variety of instruments and sounds. Before
choosing the instrument you will use in these explorations, take time to
try all of the sounds. If you hover your cursor over one of the
pictures, the name of the instrument or sound will appear. Click on the
picture and you will hear the sound. Clicking again repeats the sound.
After trying all of the sounds, choose the instrument you will use.
Please choose a wind instrument or a bowed string instrument to get a
sustained sound as you work. Later, after you understand how Tam Tam
Mini works, you can play with all of the other sounds. Some instruments
that work well for this include the trumpet, flute, violin, or cello.
Other wind and bowed instruments will also work fine.
Introduction To The Keyboard
----------------------------
TamTamMini utilizes the regular keyboard to play the musical notes. This
can be confusing to people who have studied music before as the
traditional names of the notes will not match the letters, numbers and
symbols on the keys. For this reason, we suggest you use a "movable Do"
where a major scale becomes Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Ti-Do. Note: Some
countries replace the "Ti" with "Si."
Playing A Major Scale
---------------------
In most western music a 7 note scale is used and then the names of the
notes start over on the eighth note. We call this an octave.
Interestingly the eighth note, which has the same name as the first one
has exactly twice as many vibrations per second as the first note.
Use the instrument you have chosen to try playing a 2 octave major scale
using these keys on the XO keyboard. We have included the Do-Re-Mi
syllables for you as well.
(First Octave)
Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do
> Z X C V B N M ,
(Second Octave)
Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do
> Q W E R T Y U I
Note: "Do" is repeated in the second line. Leave one out if you like.
You may also want to practice the scale a bit until you feel comfortable
with it.
Playing A Simple Song
=====================
When you feel comfortable playing the 2 octave major scale, try this
simple song. We think you may recognize it. The little line added to
some of the Do-Re-Mi syllables indicates you hold that note twice as
long as the other notes. (Example: Mi\_\_\_)
Mi Re Do Re Mi Mi Mi\_\_\_
C X Z X C C C\_\_\_
Re Re Re\_ Mi Sol Sol\_\_\_
X X X\_\_\_ C B B\_\_\_
Mi Re Do Re Mi Mi Mi Mi
C X Z X C C C C
Re Re Mi Re Do\_\_\_
X X C X Z\_\_\_
**Challenge:** Play this same song using QWERT for the notes.
**Challenge:** If you have more than one XO player, try with the same
instrument but one using the ZXCVB keys and the other using QWERT.
Experiment with other combinations of instruments to see how they sound
together.
**Challenge:** Chords are formed when 3 or more different notes are
played at the same time. This happens when you strum on a guitar,
ukulele, or similar instrument. Three or more wind or string instruments
can combine to play chords together too. Here are 3 simple chords you
can play using the notes you already know. In music these chords also
have names based on the steps of the scale the main note is on, this is
not always the lowest note. For example, a note with Do as the main note
will be called a I (Roman numeral one) chord and a chord based on Sol
will be called a V (Roman numeral five) chord.
Try these:
`Sol B La N Ti M Sol T`
`Mi C Fa V Fa B Mi E`
`Do Z Do Z Re X Do Q`
`I IV V I`
Playing Other Songs
===================
Here is another song already figured out for you to try. It is an old
European children's folk song. It was so popular that two famous
composers, Mozart and Haydn, both it to use in their music.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol\_\_\_\_
Z Z B B N N B\_\_\_\_\_
1 2 3 4 1 2 3\_\_\_\_4
Fa Fa Mi Mi Re Re Do\_\_\_\_
V V C C X X Z\_\_\_\_\_
1 2 3 4 1 2 3\_\_\_\_4
Sol Sol Fa Fa Mi Mi Re\_\_\_\_
B B V V C C X \_\_\_\_\_
1 2 3 4 1 2 3\_\_\_\_4
Sol Sol Fa Fa Mi Mi Re\_\_\_\_
B B V V C C X \_\_\_\_\_
1 2 3 4 1 2 3\_\_\_\_4
Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol\_\_\_\_
Z Z B B N N B\_\_\_\_\_
1 2 3 4 1 2 3\_\_\_\_ 4
Fa Fa Mi Mi Re Re Do\_\_\_\_
V V C C X X Z\_\_\_\_\_
1 2 3 4 1 2 3\_\_\_\_ 4
Challenges
----------
Try to figure out other simple songs on the XO. Write them down to help
you remember the notes and to share them with other people.
If you have enjoyed working with TamTam Mini, you can find more
information and ideas in the FLOSS manual, "Fun With TamTamMini" which
will be available soon.
Note: This introduction to TamTamMini has focused on the Major Scale
which is commonly used in music with a European heritage. To learn about
the Pentatonic Scale, which is used in folk music of almost all cultures
worldwide see the FLOSS Manual, "Fun With TamTamMini," where it is
included.
|
