Feature of the Week

Buttons

March 10, 2017 | Feature of the Week

Last week we learned about Links, semi-transparent dots that you can place on a page that direct you to another spot when tapped. Just like Links, Buttons are tappable dots that you can place on a page. Instead of helping you handle repeats, though, Buttons let you easily perform a wide range of different and customizable tasks with just a quick tap.

Choose “Buttons” from the tools menu and you’ll see an interface that looks a lot like the Links creator. Instead of showing you two copies of your score, however, the Buttons creator shows your page on the left and lets you customize the button’s actions on the right.

Buttons can be set up to perform one of seven major kinds of functions, each with its own customizable color:

  • Metronome: start or stop the metronome, after a delay if needed.
  • Tempo: change the metronome’s tempo to a specific value (temporarily overriding your saved tempo), or leave it blank to revert back to the saved setting.
  • Play/Pause Audio: start or stop the currently queued audio track, if available.
  • Pitch: play a specific pitch using the pitch pipe’s last-used sound bank.
  • MIDI: send MIDI messages or presets with a tap (discussed in-depth here).
  • Note: temporarily display a text note near the top of the screen, similar to the page-specific “notes” feature and the “remind me” option.
  • Navigation: program a button to take you to the next score, the previous score, or to perform a full- or half-page turn, whichever is the opposite of your normal settings.

Many of these actions are similar to the options available in the “Gestures” section of forScore’s settings panel, but Buttons are unique in that they’re location-specific. Gestures help you do global things like open a new tab, but Buttons are suited to the kinds of actions that are more strongly connected to your music. Buttons don’t just let you change the tempo, for instance, they remind you that you should do so at a specific point in the song and they store the tempo value so you don’t have to think about it while you’re playing.

When your music requires dynamic changes like these, Buttons are there to help you prepare everything in advance, then execute flawlessly as you play with just a quick tap.