Windows 10+ and macOs 11+ (Intel), 64 bit
Note that MAIDENS is an unsigned application; both Windows and macOS will prevent you from installing it, unless you manually mark it as a trusted application. See Installing MAIDENS on Windows and Installing MAIDENS on macOS for details.
This version of MAIDENS produces more natural melodies and better adheres to requested harmonic consonance.
New Features
Improved Melody
Introducing a new parameter (displayed as an on-off switch) to enforce a self-balancing melodic model on the top-most line of the generated structures.
Since the launch of the Multiline Generator in version 1.4.9, its weakest aspect has been in the realm of melody. Melodies generated by the Multiline Generator often sounded mechanical and lacked meaning. This changes with version 1.5.6 through the introduction of the Use Melodic Model parameter.
This feature applies multiple complex, context-dependent evaluations to the top-most tier of generated structures to ensure a balanced melody profile. It adjusts the rise and descent, minimizes repeated notes, varies pitches reasonably, and avoids locking itself within a set range.
You will notice a significant difference, especially in solo or near-solo passages, particularly when compared to previous versions of MAIDENS with similar parameter values.
Improved Harmony
Introducing a new parameter (also displayed as an on-off switch) to ensure the generated harmony is at least as consonant as requested.
The new Enforce Minimum Consonance parameter controls the engagement of a newly introduced consonance validation logic. This effectively rejects all chord candidates with a lower consonance score than the requested one.
This parameter does not influence harmonic structures of less than two voices.
Soloing
The Multiline Generator now interprets setting its Number of Voices parameter to 1% as a solo trigger, meaning it will only output one voice.
Keyboard Shortcuts
MAIDENS now features keyboard shortcuts thanks to its new, native global menu. These shortcuts are functional on both Windows and macOS, substituting the CTRL key for CMD.
Improvements
- Clusters can now be nudged beyond the boundaries of their home measure. This means you can slide a note, chord, or rest into the adjacent measure using the Nudge Element Before or Nudge Element After buttons. This functionality also extends to tuplets such as triplets or quintuplets.
- The Generator Advanced Configuration window has been redesigned to better utilize screen real estate and facilitate easier navigation to various parameters with reduced scrolling. Parameters are now arranged in horizontal columns if space permits.
- The macOS version now incorporates a native application menu as expected.
- Minor optimizations were implemented in the audio playback engine, aiming to enhance speed and stability with audio rendition and generation (particularly of interest when exporting to the WAV format).
- Additionally, there were general code improvements intended to enhance application speed, stability, and maintainability.
Changes
- Switched to a 64-bit architecture to access more memory.
- Switched back to a native global menu (as in the early versions of MAIDENS), displayed attached to the main window on Windows and as an application menu on macOS.
- Switched back to native windows (again, as in the early versions of MAIDENS). All primary and secondary windows of MAIDENS are now native windows, with the same look and functionality as other windows displayed by your operating system (Microsoft Windows or Apple macOS).
- Updated application tagline/motto and removed/updated obsolete menu links.
- Updated documentation to include entries for the two newly introduced parameters.
Fixed Bugs
FIXED: Newly implemented parameters now appear in the Generator Advanced Configuration window when a preset predating their implementation is selected. Previously, selecting such a preset caused them to permanently disappear, and remain unavailable until MAIDENS was restarted.FIXED: Attempting to nudge the first or last Cluster of a tuplet (e.g., triplet, quintuplet, etc.) was previously ignored. Now, the entire tuplet is nudged in the direction of the nudge action.FIXED: On macOS, secondary windows were opening off-center or offscreen in some situations. They are now correctly centered.