Getting Started Composer

The Piano Roll Composer has a keyboard to the left, and a grid to the right. The bold lines in the grid mark the beginning and end of a measure. The lighter lines break the measure down into smaller time values: half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes. To enter a note, click your mouse on the grid where you want it to go, using the notes on the keyboard as a guide. The length of a note can be changed using the dropdown menus just above the grid, or by clicking and dragging the note.

By clicking the Add Sounds button, you can change the range of notes available, or in the case of Rhythm tracks, which drums are available. This is pretty much all we need to know to get started. There are many other features Anvil Studio offers, and browsing the Help menu, is a good place to explore these.

On the next page, we will start by laying down a melody line, and build other tracks around it. Click the arrow below to go to the next page.


Getting Started: Composer
There is another screen where we will do all of our actual composing. This is called the Composer. The Composer view is opened by clicking on the button marked "Compose" which is located in the lower left of the Mixer. There are three ways of viewing the Composer. Lyrics: Since our song has no lyrics, we won't use this Staff: Use this to enter notes on a musical staff. This can be done by "drag & drop" or playing notes on a virtual keyboard. (You can change this to a guitar fretboard by right-clicking on the keyboard) Piano Roll: Enter notes as lines on a grid. No need to read music. This is the view we will be using.
Composer View (Piano Roll)
The Piano Roll Composer has a keyboard to the left, and a grid to the right. The bold lines in the grid mark the beginning and end of a measure. The lighter lines break the measure down into smaller time values: half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes. To enter a note, click your mouse on the grid where you want it to go, using the notes on the keyboard as a guide. The length of a note can be changed using the dropdown menus just above the grid, or by clicking and dragging the note. By clicking the Add Sounds button, you can change the range of notes available, or in the case of Rhythm tracks, which drums are available. This is pretty much all we need to know to get started. There are many other features Anvil Studio offers, and browsing the Help menu, is a good place to explore these. On the next page, we will start by laying down a melody line, and build other tracks around it. Click the arrow below to go to the next page.