Pagan

A Music Sequencer

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Table of Contents

Reading The Layout

The Rhythm

Pagan is laid-out on a beat-by-beat basis, rather than by groups of beats (measures). So a time signature wouldn't really make sense to use here.

Each column represents a single beat, regardless of visual width.
So the equivalent of a quarter note or crotchet in 4/4, would be a column's width
The equivalent of, an eigth note or quaver in 4/4 time would be a column divided in 2
A triplet would be a column divided in 3 and so on

Rests are implicated by the lack of an active note in any given position.

These two images represent the same thing:
Some random progression in Pagan The same progression in Musescore

The Notes

Instead of using letters with sharps and flats, Pagan uses the index of the note in the octave.

00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11
A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G#

...and the octave is represented by the subscripted prefix.

octaveIndex

Octaves are counted starting at A (0) rather than C (3). So A0 remains 00, but the proceding C is not 1C, but rather 03

So middle C (C4) would be written as 33

The Instruments

On the left side of the Pagan interface, you'll notice labels that look something like 0::0 or 0!

The lines written like 0::0 are Pitched Instrument Lines.

The first number indicates the channel (or instrument).
The second represents the line number of the instrument
So the first instrument's second line would look like 0::1

The lines written as a number with an exclamation mark (0!) are Percussion Lines.

The number the instrument identifier, it varies based on the soundfont being used, but soundfonts that adhere to the General MIDI Standard will follow this table:
08Acoustic Bass Drum09Bass Drum 110Side Stick
11Acoustic Snare12Hand Clap13Electric Snare14Low Floor Tom
15Closed Hi Hat16High Floor Tom17Pedal Hi-Hat18Low Tom
19Open Hi-Hat20Low-Mid Tom21Hi Mid Tom22Crash Cymbal 1
23High Tom24Ride Cymbal 125Chinese Cymbal26Ride Bell
27Tambourine28Splash Cymbal29Cowbell30Crash Cymbal 2
31Vibraslap32Ride Cymbal 233Hi Bongo34Low Bongo
35Mute Hi Conga36Open Hi Conga37Low Conga38High Timbale
39Low Timbale40High Agogo41Low Agogo42Cabasa
43Maracas44Short Whistle45Long Whistle46Short Guiro
47Long Guiro48Claves49Hi Wood Block50Low Wood Block
51Mute Cuica52Open Cuica53Mute Triangle54Open Triangle

Controls Overview

The App

The Config Menu

The Tuning Table

The Line Control Menu

The Column Control Menu

The Note Control Menu

Settings

Change SoundFont

From here you can either select an imported .sf2 file or select 'import' and use a soundfont from your device. By default, a message will appear if you have no soundfonts, providing a link to the Fluid R3 general midi soundfont on the internet archive.

Toggle Relative Controls

Pagan has the option to set notes based on preceding notes(eg +1, -3, etc). This can control can be enabled here. Projects with relative notes are still viewable if this option is not enabled.