You can play with the pitch, the length of notes, and the sound of vowels in a lyric phrase using this widget which then tests its singability. You can navigate and control things precisely using your computer keyboard, or you can drag things around the screen. Non-literal lyrics becomes a way through melody, something you can playback and change as you go.
The process begins with typing a phrase of lyrics up top into the text box. Separate words into their sung syllable with dashes (e.g., beau-ti-ful, who-le). That will allow the widget to position sounds appropriately on musical runway. Once you click Map lyric to runway, it generates an initial melody, basing its syllable timing and default pitch contour on your entered text. You may then select and edit specific syllable capsule immediately.
How to Use the Singability Tool
The phrase “runway” in the middle of screen is main visual area. Each syllable are represented by a draggable capsule. To adjust a capsule’s pitch, just drag it up and down the vertical pitch grid. As you do so, note names is shown on the grid. Your chosen vocal register is highlighted in comfort band. A warning color will appear if you drag one out of comfort band.
Additionally, the orange tail handle on every capsule can be dragged around to modify that capsule’s duration. Shorten it for the phrase, or hold it longer, as needed. A capsule activates its control panel on the right-hand side of screen where you find sliders to fine tune both length (duration) and the pitch. With the pitch slider, you choose note’s height for each syllable exactly. You do this by moving the slider up or down. The same goes for duration slider; move it across to select number of beats the syllable will take. If you don’t want to drag but want an accurate value, these give you that option, and the changes show up on runway display immediately while you change the settings.
Underneath the sliders are where you create sound of your voice on the chosen syllable. You select from AH, EH, EE, OH and OO using vowel shape buttons. Depending on which vowel you choose, the note will sound more open and have different resonances. On top of that, there is choices for adding little melodic moves with the melisma wing options. These include rise, fall, and upper turn. Each adds some decoration to melody.
Lastly is the consonant runway load indicator showing how dense consonants are in the syllable. This may affect articulation speed. With the breath controls and the register route, you can change the overall context of the phrase. With the register route buttons, you are able to swap from a high, middle or low vocal profile. This transposes the entire melody to work with any vocal range. Your maximum breath capacity in seconds is set with the breath tank slider. Depending on tempo and duration of each syllable, the widget can calculate if there’s enough time for your whole phrase. If not, your breath indicator will go red and your readiness score will be lowered.
Click the Launch breath-aware sung guide button to play through the whole phrase using the selected vowel, pitch, and duration for each note. As it goes along, the playhead will move along the runway showing what syllable is being played at that point in time. Adjust volume of the guided playback using the volume slider. Clicking again on this button (or launching again) stops the playback so you can listen to how it sounds before tweaking any more.
Below that is a section called the flight recorder that offers diagnostic feedback about your phrase. This includes the longest breath segment needed, the biggest melodic leap, and the overall pitch range of the phrase. There’s also a ready score indicating a rough idea of how easy or difficult you think the phrase would be to sing. The diagnostic cards will warn you if there are problems. It might be a too-long breath segment or a too-large leap. Use this feedback to try again. Make adjustments where necessary to get better results or to simply smooth out the melody.
The interface is user-friendly via keyboard or mouse control. On the runway you can use your mouse to click and drag capsules into place. There are also buttons to insert pause (breath) gates at selected syllables. These come in handy when placing where a singer might breathe naturaly. Pressing the one-breath arc button will remove all breath gates and create an unbroken phrase. Toggle between the two to try out various phrasing approaches.
It’s also easier and quicker to edit using keyboard shortcuts. To adjust the pitch of a syllable capsule, simply select it and then press the up and down arrow keys to change the pitch in semitone steps. To move from one syllable to another, press the left and right arrow keys respectively. To edit the length of the selected syllable, hold down the bracket keys (left increases, right decreases). Cycle through the vowel shape options with numbers 1-5 on keyboard. To cycle through the available melisma options, just press ‘M’. Finally, if you wish to hear a single syllable played alone without hearing the rest of the phrase, simply tap the Space bar or Enter key.
The Reverse vocal tweak button lets you easily undo what you’ve changed. If you make an error while tweaking the melody, click this button and it will revert to the previous state. The system retains a record of all your tweaks, allowing you to go back in time. For instance, you might play around with some ideas for the melody and then decide to go back to an earlier version. As long as you’ve made at least one adjustment, this button will work.
Once you begin adjusting the phrase, it’s live. To gain extra space for editing, click the fullscreen button which expands the widget. It is handy if you’re working on something really small or just don’t need any distractions while editing. The help panel gives extra information about the controls and keyboard shortcuts. Click this button on/off to display instructions as required. If there’s something you don’t understand, look here for some specific tips on how the vowel synthesis and breath calculation work.
Experiment with various vowel sounds and hear how they alter sound. For instance, OH and AH are open vowels that tend to ring out well on top notes. Close vowels like EE and OO may be harder to hold in higher registers. Tweak the notes to introduce subtle decorations to phrase endings. It loosens up the melody slightly and makes it sound more natural.
Apply the breath gates to divide lengthy phrases into something that is easier to manage. They will help you map out when a performer might breathe in a live performance. Switch the register route if you feel it is uncomfortable on your voice. This keeps the relative intervals between the notes, so the overall shape of the melody does not change.
The turbulence button (smoothed) reduces the amount of leaping around in the melody. It will restrict the interval between one note and the next to five semitones. It makes a more stepwise line that flows better and is easier to sing. Edit the phrase and check the diagnostics regularly. Try to keep the melody in the comfortable range with a good readiness score. Don’t include any big leaps which could be tricky to perform accurately. Check that the breath sections fall at points that are comfortable for you. If it sounds too slow or too fast, adjust the tempo.
The length of the phrase affects how many breaths you take and when you take them. A slower tempo means you hold each syllable and breath for longer. This is something that will allow you to tune your lyrics so they are ready for rehearsal or recording. You will find out if the lyrics are within your range, pitch, and breath control. You can experiment with settings and shape the melody into a more singable phrase. It provides interactive feedback to help you adjust in real time based off what you hear so you can make the right changes.
Think of it as a tool that closes the gap between writing and singing. Enter a brief lyric phrase, then map it out along the runway. Map lyric to runway to generate an initial melody, then drag the capsules to adjust it so it suits your vocal abilities. Insert the breath gates at natural pauses. Send the guide running to listen back. Tweak the duration and pitch slightly until you’re happy. Then run through the diagnostics to check the phrase is in an appropriate range.
Try various note runs and vowel placements to get something that feels right. Spend some time experimenting with the controls to discover what works for your particular words. Have fun sculpting your lyrics into a singable melody.