Operation Manual
30 Playing Strum Session
In the case where only one or two notes are played on the keyboard, the notes can be triggered
from both the downstroke or upstroke strumming key and the Range parameter is ignored. If no
note is played on the keyboard, the downstroke and upstroke keys trigger a strum over the range
defined by the Range parameter but the strings are muted. The effect is the same as using the
muffled down- and upstroke keys which are described below.
4.3.2 Palm Muted Down- and Upstroke
Palm muting is a technique used by guitar players to muffle the strings slightly while simultane-
ously playing the strings with the picking hand. It is obtained by placing the side of the picking
hand on the strings just before the bridge. Palm muted down- and upstroke are triggered by using
C] and D[ 5 respectively.
Music engraving by LilyPond 2.10.33—www.lilypond.org
Figure 15: Palm muting with the arp keys.
4.3.3 Muffled Down- and Upstroke
On a guitar, fretted notes can be muted by decreasing the pressure applied by the fretting fingers on
the string. The guitarist can control the effect by applying more or less pressure on the strings and
obtain a percussive effect by striking the strings with the picking hand. This effect is also known
as scratching.
Now, play a chord on the keyboard and use the muffled Down- and Upstroke keys (F] and G]
5). The strings are played as if the guitarist was muting them with the fretting hand. The effect is
the same as using the down- and upstroke keys without playing a chord on the keyboard, but these
strumming keys allow one to obtain the effect without releasing the chord.
4.3.4 Arpeggios
A chord can be arpeggiated using the bass, alternate bass, arp 4, arp 3, arp 2 and arp 1 strumming
keys (E5, F5, G5, A5, B5 and C6). The effect of these keys depends on the chord played by Strum
Session as explained in section 3.2.5. As many chords include only four strings (a bass and three
high notes) it is common for the arp 2 and arp 1 keys to play the same note. Furthermore, depending
on the position of the chord on the fretboard, the alternate bass key (arp 5 key), can play a lower,