Track Dialog

The Track Properties dialog allows you to configure an individual track in Shakuhachi Assistant. You can select a MIDI instrument, adjust playback settings, transpose the track, and enable shakuhachi-specific sound effects.

Opening Track Properties

Open the track properties from the application's Track menu or from the corresponding track control in the page view.

The dialog title includes the track number, allowing you to identify which track you are editing.

Instrument and Track Name

Instrument

Check Instrument to enable the track for playback. When unchecked, the instrument and sound-related controls are disabled.

Select an instrument from the dropdown list. The available sounds follow the General MIDI instrument set, including the shakuhachi.

Name

Enter a descriptive name for the track, such as Shakuhachi, Accompaniment, or Melody.

The name can contain up to 50 characters.

Sound Settings

Volume

Adjusts the playback volume of the selected track.

• Range: 1–127
• Higher values produce louder playback.
• Default: 120

Pan

Controls the track's position in the stereo field.

• Range: 0–127
• Lower values move the sound toward the left channel.
• Higher values move the sound toward the right channel.
• Default: Center

Reverb

Adjusts the amount of reverberation applied to the track.

• Range: 0–127
• 0: No additional reverb.
• Higher values increase the reverb effect.
• Default: 0

The audible result depends on the MIDI synthesizer or sound device.

Shakuhachi Sound Effects

Add breath sound

Enables the track's breath-sound option, intended to make shakuhachi playback more natural.

This option is enabled by default when restoring the standard settings.

Shakuhachi style accents between same notes

Enables shakuhachi-style accents for successive notes of the same pitch.

This can help repeated notes sound more characteristic of shakuhachi performance.

This option is also enabled by default.

Transpose

The Transpose setting changes the pitch of the track in semitone steps.

The dropdown provides values from −7 to +5, along with corresponding shakuhachi lengths and pitches.

Transposition	Shakuhachi length	Key
−7	2.8 shaku	G
−6	2.6 shaku	G♯
−5	2.4 shaku	A
−4	2.3 shaku	A♯
−3	2.1 shaku	B
−2	2.0 shaku	C
−1	1.9 shaku	C♯
0	1.8 shaku	D
+1	1.7 shaku	D♯
+2	1.6 shaku	E
+3	1.5 shaku	F
+4	1.4 shaku	F♯
+5	1.3 shaku	G

Example: Select + 0 (1,8' - D) for the standard 1.8-shaku instrument in D.

Dialog Buttons

OK

Accepts the current settings, updates the track name, and closes the dialog.

Cancel

Restores the track's original instrument, enabled state, sound effects, volume, pan, reverb, and transposition settings.

Default

Displays a confirmation message before restoring the following defaults:

Setting	Default
Instrument	Shakuhachi
Volume	120
Pan	Center
Reverb	0
Transpose	0 (1.8 shaku, D)
Add breath sound	Enabled
Shakuhachi style accents	Enabled

Note: The Default button does not reset the track name or change whether the track is enabled.

Tips

• Use Pan to position multiple tracks across the stereo field.
• Use Reverb to add a sense of space to playback.
• Use Transpose to adapt the music to a different shakuhachi length.
• Enable the breath and accent options when you want shakuhachi-specific playback characteristics.
• Choose Cancel to discard changes to the track's playback settings.