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The program (AddGamakam.exe) written by the author of Carnatic Music software Rasika, enables automatic insertion of notation for Gamakams in raw (plain notes) Gaayaka notation based on the Raagam characteristics. The program requires a Gamakam definition file for each Raagam and at present such files (extension .gkd) for 16 Raagams are included in the downloadable zip file. The AddGamakam program is found to work quite well for many varnams or swarajathis which are accurately notated and reasonably well for krithis whose basic notation is adequately accurate. The Raagams included are Aarabhi, Begada, Bhairavi, Dhanyaasi, Kaanada, Kalyaani, Kaambodi, Kharaharapriya, Madhyamaavathi, Panthuvaraali, Sahaana, Sankaraabharanam, Saaveri, Shanmukhapriya Sriranjani, SuddhaDhanyasi. The file also contains some plain notation .gka files which are grouped under folders of the Raagam name. These may be used to see how the program works. AddGamakamHelp.pdf is the help file for AddGamakam.exe. Read this file to understand how the program works and modify or create your own Gamakam definition files. AddGamakam is an independent program. It takes input of notation in Gaayaka format and generate notation with Gamakam in Gaayaka format.. Therefore to play the notation you need Gaayaka program, Gaayaka of any version of Rasika or Gka7.exe the newer version (included in the zip file mentioned below). This version has facility to easily exchange alternatives for Gamakam provided in some cases. Gka7 is also less demanding on CPU usage and does not require any ActiveX control thus avoiding problems of version conflicts. Gka7 can also be directly invoked from within AddGamakam program. Even if you are not interested in AddGamakam program you can use Gka7 for composing and playing. There is no installation program. Download AddGmkGka.zip (2 MB) which contains both the new version of Gaayaka and Add Gamakam programs and all the required support files. Create a new folder in your PC (say) 'AddGamakam'. Extract all the files (including the folders as such) from the zip file into the new folder. Even if you already have Rasika package in your PC, do not extract the files into the Rasika folder, Create a new folder for these files. Full version of Gaayaka is included along with sample .gka files and lessons included in RasikaV2 package. These sample files are manually written and not generated by AddGamakam and are in the folder 'RegularGkaFiles'. The lessons for beginners is in the 'LesnGka' folder. As there is no installation program, short cuts for the 2 programs will not be created. To play the two programs (for the first time) open Windows Explorer, right click on the program name (AddGamakam or Gaayaka7) and click 'Run as administrator'. Subsequently you can run the programs by double clicking on the program name. You can also create short cuts on the Desktop by right clicking and choosing 'Send' > ' to Desktop (Create shortcut)' The help file for AddGamakam is AddGamakamHelp.pdf. To put it briefly - run AddGamakam.exe. Either open a raw notation .gka file or enter bare notation (remember to put "-" hyphen marks to separate phrases - Gaayaka does not allow more than 20 notes in a phrase) in the input window (with heading 'Plain Notation'). If you have entered notation select Note Duration, select the Raagam from the pull down menu (only Raagams in the zip file will be displayed), and click 'Convert' button. The converted notation with Gamakams will appear in the output window. You can play it directly by opening Gaayaka from AddGamakam program by clicking 'Play Output' provided you have once run Gaayaka7.exe as Administrator (Otherwise you may get an error 'Unable to Access Registry'). The converted notation along with Melam number and Note Duration will be automatically loaded in the Gaayaka program. You can play the notation after selecting Sruthi and Instrument. If you like you can also save the converted notation which will be temporarily in a gka file named 'AgTemp.gka' Read AddGamakamHelp.pdf file (included in the downloaded zip file) to understand how the program is to be used. The Raagam Gamakam definition files (extension .gkd) are in the parent folder and sample raw .gka notation files are in separate folders with the Raagam name. Convert some of the sample files and see how it works. You can create new .gka files (for Raagams for which .gkd file is available) by copying raw notation into the Gaayaka program, saving and opening the .gka file in AddGamakam and convert them. You can also enter notation directly into the Input Window (with heading 'Plain Notation'), set Note Duration, choose the Raagam and convert. In either case remember to insert "-" at appropriate places - mostly to coincide with consonants in the Lyric. You can also check the correctness of the note durations by clicking 'Note Count' for the entire notation or selected part. You can listen to the bare notation by clicking 'Play Input' which will open Gaayaka and load the notation into it with the Melam and Note Duration as set in AddGamakam Full version of Gaayaka is included and so you can use Gaayaka even if you do not have RasikaV2 package. All the sample .gka song files of the package are included. The notation in these .gka files was entered manually and not created by the AddGamakam program. To avoid confusion these files are in the folder 'RegularGkaFiles'. The help file for Gaayaka can be accessed from the program through the Help Menu or by pressing F1. To use Gaayaka a basic understanding of the Carnatic Music theory is required. Send your comments to manianms@yahoo.com
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