When you first start FTS Lambdoma

 

Make sure you plug the USB MIDI device into your computer and keyboard. The software should auto detect it.

 

To run the program, look for the red snowflake icon on your desktop, or go to Start >> All Programs >> Tune Smithy Lambdoma 4 >> Tune Smithy Lambdoma 4

 

When it first runs you will be asked to enter your unlock key.

 

Introduction to the software

 

 

You see the Lambdoma on-screen keyboard at top left. This will light up when you play notes from your keyboard. At top right you see the Lissajous patterns.

 

At bottom right you see the instrument menus.

 

In the middle, if there is enough space on your screen, you get a help window as in the screen shot above.
On smaller screens you need to press the F1 key on your keyboard to show the help.

 

At bottom left you see the main window.

 

 

Here you can select the quadrant, set your key note – the pitch of the 1/1 of the keyboard – choose how to show the notes on the keyboard and so on.

 

Basic Lambdoma, Rhythms and Bounce

 

In the drop list at the top of the window you can choose between the Basic Lambdoma, Lambdoma with Rhythm and Lambdoma with Rhythm and Bounce.

 

 

If you want to hear the harmonic polyrhythms, choose “Lambdoma with Rhythm”. You can then use the Play button to stop or start the rhythms.

 

The Bounce feature shows bouncing balls which can help you to sing or play in time with the rhythms.

 


Volume – what to do if notes are too quiet or don’t sound at all

 

You can vary the overall volume of the notes using the volume control

 

You also have a volume control for your computer as a whole which you find in the task bar. It may look something like this:

 

 

Also if you hear no sound at all - make sure that the sound for your computer isn’t muted.

 

You can also get to this volume control from within FTS Lambdoma. To do that go to Play >> Volume Control for your PC

 

Synchronization of bounce with sound

 

On some computers you may find that the bounce is out of sync with the sound – each bounce happens a fraction of a second after the note is played.

 

 If this happens to you, go to the Bounce Preferences (Ctrl + 220) window and choose Set Bounce Synchronization delay. You can then vary the amount of the delay if needed. Most often however, you can just leave it at its default setting (200 ms or a fifth of a second).

 

This problem is most likely to happen with the Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth, and when this issue occurs the latency is usually a fifth of a second (though with other computers using the same synth the issue may not occur at all, delay too short to be easily noticeable).

 

Reset to “Factory Settings”

 

You can do a reset using File >> Reset Everything (like reinstall)

 

Updates.

 

When updates are available, you can download the latest version of the FTS Lambdoma software here:

http://robertinventor.com/software/tunesmithy/fts_lambdoma.htm

 

Out Devices

 

Most computers only have the one device you can use to play notes. But some may have more than one out device you can use.

 

You can see these in the Out Devices window. Use Ctrl + 41 to show it. 

 

On a modern computer you can expect to play the Lambdoma notes at the correct pitch (it uses DirectSound or a midi capable soundcard). But some optional extra devices you can install may not have this capability. To test your currently selected out device, use Play >> Out Device Capabilities Wizard.

 

In Devices

 

Your USB Midi in should get selected automatically. If you have several midi input devices on your computer you may want to choose which one to connect your keyboard to, and if so you can do that in the In Devices window (Ctrl + 249)

 

Changing to a 4 quadrant keyboard – or back to a single quadrant keyboard

 

If you attach a 4 quadrant keyboard, then please go to the In Devices (Ctrl + 249) window, highlight your In Device, and then in the drop list below, select “FOUR QUADRANT LAMBDOMA KEYBOARD with key highlighting”

 

When you want to change back to a single quadrant keyboard, then in the same window, select “SINGLE QUADRANT LAMBDOMA KEYBOARD with keyboard highlighting”.

 

Be sure to contact me with any questions or suggestions. support@robertinventor.com