1. Initialization
In a first step you will need to fix several settings for your Luting. For this part I will
use the song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" as an example.
1.1 BPM
First, the Beats Per Minute (BPM) is defined at the beginning of the luting. Notation is #lute BPM.
BPMs can be any Integer number. It is recommended to pick BPM equal to four times the BPM of
the song you wish to play. The reason for that will be explained in section 1.2.3.
Our
example song is playing at 100 BPM so let's set BPM to 400.
The BPM can be modified at any time during a single Voice (see the next section) using the symbol "@" immediately followed by the new BPM. If no BPM follows the symbol "@", the original BPM will be used.
You may fade between two different BPMs by using the character "~" before the second BPM. E.g. @100cdefgab~@200 fades from BPM 100 to BPM 200 over the course of 7 notes.
#lute 400 ceg@800ceg
1.2 Line-Specific Settings
Lutings are made up of multiple different sequences of notes playing at the same time, called
Voice. They will be discussed later, for now, let's assume there's
only one Voice present. Before writing the Notes, Instrument, Octave,
Default Note Duration, Volume and Panning direction need to be specified.
1.2.1 Instrument
The Instrument (Soundfont) is set once per line and cannot be changed. The
key-letter for Instrument is "i". As of today, there exist the following
Instruments:
| Name |
Abbreviation |
| Lute |
il |
| Bass |
ib |
| Flute |
if |
| Keyboard |
ik |
| Chiptune |
ic |
| The Cat |
im |
| The Bean |
it |
| Percussion |
ip |
| Drumkit |
id |
| Bell |
ia |
| Organ |
io |
| Choir |
ie |
| Violin |
iv |
| Ocarina |
ig |
| Horn |
ih |
| Vibraphone |
ii |
| Overdriven Guitar |
ij |
| Saxophone |
is |
| Harmonica |
in |
| Slap Bass |
iq |
The Drumkit requires further explanation and will be discussed in section 2.2.
For our
example we want to choose the classic "Lute".
#lute 400
il
1.2.2 Octave
The key-letter for Octave is "o". Octaves range
from o1 to o7. Writing "o" without a number makes the Octave
default to 4.
Writing ">" increases Octave by 1. Writing
"<" decreases Octave by 1.
It can be changed at any point
in the Voice.
For our example we want to start on the middle C, so
Octave 4.
#lute 400
ilo4
1.2.3 Default Duration
The key-letter for Default Duration is "t". Default
Duration can be any whole number or fraction (see section 2.1). It can be
changed at any point in the Voice.
When BPM is set to four times the
original song BPM, t1 will be a sixteenth note, t2 will be an eigth note, t4 will be a
quarter note and so on.
In our example we only play quarter notes, thus we will set
Default Duration to t4.
#lute 400
ilo4t4
1.2.4 Volume
The key-letter for Volume is "v". Volume can be
1, 2, ..., 9, being equivalent to 10%, 20%, ..., 90%. When just writing v without a number,
Volume is set to 100%. It can be changed at any point in the
Voice. You may fade between two different Volumes by using the character '~'
before the second Volume. E.g. v1cdefgab~v fades from Volume 10% to Volume
100% over the course of 7 notes.
For our example we want only have one Voice so
we want full Volume, so just v.
#lute 400
ilo4t4v
1.2.5 Panning
The key-letter for Panning is "s". Panning ranges
from 1 to 9, where s1 is all the way to the left, s9 is all the way to the right and s5 is
right in the center. It can be changed at any point in the Voice.
For
our example we don't want any Panning going on so we set it to s5.
#lute 400
ilo4t4vs5
1.2.6 Default settings
That's quite a lot of glorp we have there for just one Voice! That's
why the default settings exist. When a new Voice begins, all the
aforementioned parameters are set to their default values, which are as follows:
| Setting |
Default |
| Instrument |
il / Lute |
| Octave |
o4 / Middle C |
| Default Duration |
t1 / Sixteenths |
| Volume |
v / Full Volume |
| Panning |
s5 / Right in the Center |
Using this we can instead write our Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star like this:
#lute 400
t4
Where all the other parameters are set to their defaults.
2. Notes
Now that we specified BPM and all the parameters for our new voice we can start adding some
notes.
2.1 Notation
Notes consist of the following symbols:
- The Note itself being either c-b, always lowercase, meaning the respective notes, or r,
meaning a pause.
- Optionally the symbol ' to denote that a Note is flat.
- Optionally the duration if it isn't the Default Duration.
Our example of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star would look like this:
#lute 400
t4ccggaag8ffeeddc8
The duration of a Note can be any whole number or Fraction.
Fractions:
The Duration of a Note or the Default Duration can also be a Fraction. Fractions are of
the form a/b, where both a and b can be any integer number. If either a or b are
emitted, they are assumed to be 1. Here are some examples so you can see the syntax:
| Notation |
Meaning |
Remark |
| a |
Note a, Duration Default |
Your average note |
| d'3 |
Note d flat, Duration 3 |
We don't need to write 3/1 |
| e'/2 |
Note e flat, duration 1/2 |
We don't need to write 1/2 |
| d' |
Note c sharp, duration default |
Sharp isn't part of this notation |
| c/2 |
a 32th Note |
Assuming BPM = Song-BPM * 4 |
| c5/2 |
The longer 8th Note in a swing rhythm |
When making swing songs, consider making... |
| c3/2 |
The shorter 8th Note in a swing rhythm |
... BPM twice as high to write c5 or c3 instead. |
2.2 The Drumkit
The Drumkit works slightly differently. Different specific notes in specific octaves have a
specific sound. The sounds are as follows:
| Note |
Sound |
| o0a |
Kick |
| o0b |
Hollow Kick |
| o1c |
Low Tom |
| o1d |
Wood Block 1 |
| o1e |
Wood Block 2 |
| o1f |
Wood Block 3 |
| o1g |
Wood Block 4 |
| o1a |
Mid Tom |
| o1b |
Wood Block 5 |
| o2c |
High Tom |
| o2d |
Bongo Low |
| o2e |
Bongo High |
| o2a |
Rim |
| o3c |
Snare |
| o3d |
Snare with Brush |
| o3a |
Clap |
| o4c |
Closed High Hat |
| o4a |
Open High Hat |
| o5c |
Cymbal |
| o5d |
Cymbal Crash |
| o5e |
Tambourine |
| o5f |
Triangle Low |
| o5g |
Triangle High |
| o5a |
Cowbell |
| o6c |
Ding |
3. Macros
In music, a lot of sections tend to repeat quite a lot or reappear at different points in the
song. Instead of wasting characters on that, we can define a Macro and name
it a capital letter for later use.
Any leter A-Z is legal for a name. The
macro to be defined is written in between Curly {} Brackets. Repeating a
macro section multiple times is done by specifying the number of
repetitions after the closing } Bracket, or after the name if already defined
macro. Here's an example that'll make it more clear.
Example
I want to play the
following:
ababababcccabababab
I could
write:
A{abababab}cccA
This plays the section
"abababab" and defines the macro as A, which is referenced
again shortly after.
Now also making use of repetition we get the
following:
A{ab}4cccA4
This defines the macro
"ab' in A, repeats it 4 times, and then references it again shortly after also
playing it 4 times.
4. Chords
Of course, there is also a way of writing chords. Chords are written in round () brackets.
The duration of the entire chord can be specified afterwards.
Chords are in ascending order. So (cecece) would be ce from o4, ce from o5 and ce from o6
at the same time in a chord. No need for >.
5. Multiple Voices
You can have multiple Voices at the same time! simply separate them with a
"|". Different Voices all start playing at exactly the same
time.
That's all of the syntax for now. If you like, in the next chapter I have
included some tips and tricks. Other than that I wish you good luck and happy Luting!
6. Tips and Tricks
6.1 General Tips
- Twitch has a character limit of 500. To cheer, you need to write "Cheer1 "
which is 7 characters. So your luting can have a maximum length of 493
characters.
- You can define as many simultaneous lines of notes as you like, but it always uses up a
few characters per new line. Still, lots of room to be creative!
- If you accidentally pressed "Generate" on a luting that doesn't work,
you'll need to reload the website. Remember that after refreshing you won't be
able to undo previous changes using Ctrl+Z.
- Luter AnAnnoyingCat made an Extension for VS Code which offers Luting Syntax
Highlighting, Automatic Optimization, Comments and a way to directly download your
luting without visiting the website. Check it out here.
- If you got any questions or need some help or pointers feel free to ask on the Blebs discord. In #art there is a thread for
Lutings 🙂
6.2 Tips for saving space
-
If you're using a lot of fractional note lengths, maybe a higher BPM could help
save some space. Consider:
#lute 100
ilo4t1abcabca/2a/2a/2a/2abcabc
vs.
#lute 200
ilo4t2abcabca1a1a1a1abcabc
-
If you're using a lot of flats, maybe defining them as their own section could
save some space. Consider:
#lute 100
ilo4t1b'b'b'b'b'b'b'b'
vs.
ilo4t1B{b'}BBBBBBB
(of course in this small example using repetition would save more space, but bear in
mind this B can be used all over the song now!)
-
Defined sections can also include octave changing symbols ><. For example if
you use the expression >c< a lot, consider defining it as its
own macro.
-
Section definitions can contain other section definitions. Get creative (or just
automatically optimize it here😉
)
Good luck with your Lutings! 🎸
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