Glossary

Words that show up on screen and in this manual. Written so you can read them with or without playing experience. If this page gets long, it will be split.

Gear and how it connects

• Audio interface — the box that takes a microphone or instrument into the computer, and sends the computer’s sound out to headphones. It connects by USB. This manual does not shorten the name
• Input — the side you plug an instrument or microphone into. The box may say INPUT, MIC, INSTRUMENT, or Hi-Z
• Output — the side you plug headphones or speakers into. It may say OUTPUT or PHONES
• ASIO — a driver that comes with the interface, used on Windows to keep delay small. In Settings → Devices, choose ASIO under Driver (an output whose name ends in ASIO is the same thing)
• Direct Monitor — the interface itself sends the incoming sound straight to the headphones, without a trip through the computer. Some boxes label it Monitor or Mix
• 48V / Phantom — a switch for studio microphones that need power (condenser microphones). A sturdy live microphone (dynamic) does not need it
• MIDI — a way to send “which key, and how hard,” rather than the sound itself

Words on the screen

• Self-mix — sends your own sound back to the headphones. It starts on (Self-mix and latency)
• Return level — how loud that return is (0–12, starts at 2.5)
• Low cut — a Mix checkbox. When it is on, only your return loses the low end (it starts off)
• In · Return · Out — three short bars and numbers across the top. Whether the instrument is coming in, whether it is coming back, and whether the band is going out
• Pitch — the part that listens for the note coming in from a microphone or a line. With it off, a MIDI keyboard and the on-screen keyboard still work
• Gain — the volume of the whole accompaniment (0–1.0, starts at 0.85)
• Reverb — the wash of the room. Return reverb is only on your return. Band reverb is only on the accompaniment
• Click — the metronome. It sounds only while stopped, and during the count
• Count-in — one bar of count before playback
• Devices — in Settings, where you choose the driver (ASIO and so on), the output, the input, and a MIDI keyboard
• Driver — the top of Settings → Devices. ASIO, or the shared Windows audio path
• Diagnostics — the window for delay numbers and detailed device settings (Settings → Window → Diagnostics). Everyday device choice is Settings → Devices

Music words

• Feel — the groove. Swing, Bossa, Ballad, and so on. Walking bass, the drum pattern, and how the piano enters all change together
• Meter — how many beats are in a bar. 4/4, 3/4, 5/4, and so on. You choose it apart from Feel (Feel and meter)
• BPM — tempo. Beats in one minute
• Form — one trip through the tune. The order of the chords
• Chorus — one trip through the form. “From the second chorus” means the second time around the form
• Rehearsal mark — a letter such as A or B on a section of the chart. You can start there
• Two-feel — a light accompaniment with the bass hitting twice in a bar. Often used for the first one or two choruses of the theme
• Walking — the bass changes note on every beat
• Double-time — the tempo and the chords stay. Only the subdivision gets finer (Double-time)
• Brushes — the drums are swept with brushes. You pick it with a switch. Ballad turns it on by itself, and you cannot turn it off. A louder dynamic does not switch it to sticks
• Closed hat — the time is played on a closed hi-hat
• Dynamics — the volume steps from pp to ff. You choose where it starts. It steps up at a chorus boundary only if you played during that chorus. If you played nothing, it stays where it started. Inside one chorus it does not jump far
• Fills — when you leave a short gap, the band answers with a short phrase (Fills)
• Piano — Feelism’s piano is one player. It does not comp and answer at the same time. Turn it off and you have bass and drums only
• Trade — you and the band take solos in turn, for a set number of bars
• Theme — the melody (the head). The current screen does not show a button that plays the melody. The chord accompaniment starts with Play
• Transposing instrument — an instrument whose written chart is not the sounding pitch (alto saxophone, for example). There is a setting that shifts only how the chart looks (Transpose)

Tunes and files

• MusicXML — the file format notation software reads and writes. Feelism reads uncompressed .musicxml (Make a MusicXML file)
• Imported tune — a chart file you brought in yourself. The folder is local (Imported tunes)
• Pack — one file (a ZIP) that bundles chart files. That is the unit you post on Forum (Publish a pack)
• Publisher — the name of who is putting the pack out, written in the pack’s info file. It becomes the folder name after import
• Forum — where people exchange packs. You can browse, register, and post in a browser. Importing a pack and saving the ZIP are done from Feelism’s Forum (next to Find a tune) (Forum)
• Handle — the name you use on Forum. You choose it when you register, and you can change it later from the account page
• Practice form / free tune / paid tune — which tunes you can play (Paid tunes and the lock)
• License key — the key that plays paid tunes. It starts with FEEL-. One computer can use it at a time. It is separate from signing in to Forum (License key)
• SoundFont — the data the instrument sounds are built from. You can switch it in Settings