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Musical Alchemy Concert Grand Piano v5.2
Fine Musical Instruments by Persephone Milk

QUICK TIPS - READ ME FIRST! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you read nothing else in this note card, please read the following quick tips:

+ After rezzing your piano, simply touch it (left click) to display the menu.
+ All features are available from the menu - feel free to explore - you cannot hurt anything.
+ Over an hour of beautiful piano music can be found in the "Music" menu.
+ Change the color and wood type of your piano from the "Appearance" menu.
+ Access 60 different lid poses/animations from the "Poses" menu including 30 couples poses.
+ If your piano behaves strangely, just use the "Reset" button, or rez another copy.


STOP! YOU DON'T HAVE TO READ THIS ENTIRE NOTE CARD ----------------------------------------------------------------------

The size of this note card can seem daunting at first. That is because there are a lot of features
in this piano. That said, because all of the features are now controlled by the menu system, you
may not need to read this note care in it's entirely. You may want to rez your piano and just
start to play with the menus. For those of you who want to know everything there is to know,
this note card is for you! :)

NEW IN VERSION 5.0 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Version 5.0 is the single biggest upgrade since I first released my piano. There are over a
dozen new features. Here are a few highlights:

+ New Integrated Menu - Your piano is now fully menu driven (no more voice/chat commands!).
+ New Copy Permissions - Your piano is now copyable (no more lost pianos due to a server glitches!).*
+ New Automatic Updates - Request the latest version of the piano with a single menu button.
+ New Appearance Controls - set the brightness, shine, transparency and trim color of your piano.
+ New Realistic Details - on wheels, pedals, and lid support (total prim count has not changed)
+ New Lid Position - closed lid with opened hinge - includes piano stand and sheet music
+ New Custom Color Controls - Fine tune the piano color by adjusting the red, green and blue values.
+ New Styles - Ten preset piano styles including wedding piano, concert piano and jazz piano.
+ New Rezzable Items - 3D black keys, candelabrum, bouquet, metronome, rose, ashtray, and piano mic.
+ New Radio Tuner - Ten selected radio stations featuring mostly piano music, from classical to jazz.
+ New Music - I have included a piece that I wrote and performed myself: Persephone's Theme :)
+ New History Note Cards - The history of the piano in a series of 11 menu driven note cards.
+ New Permissions System - A sophisticated new permissions system (3 levels for 5 feature groups).
+ New Web Blog - Check my blog and the Musical Alchemy web page for the latest information.
+ New Reset Feature - One button press resets every feature of the piano to default status.

* Note about copy permissions: Copy permissions are now included with my pianos. There are
several reasons. I have replaced hundreds of pianos that my customers have lost due to server
glitches. I want you to have peace of mind when rezzing your piano - knowing you always have
a backup in your inventory. I also wanted to add a server-driven automatic update feature that
really only works if a product is copyable. And finally, I have some really wonderful new features
planned for future versions that require a copy perms.

Copy permissions are not intended to give you the ability to rezz multiple copies of the piano
in your home or club. Please respect the time and effort I have put into creating this product by
purchasing a copy for each you intend to rez. If you are a landlord that would like to furnish
homes with pianos, I offer bulk discounts to any customer purchasing more than three pianos.


INTRODUCTION --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you so much for purchasing the Musical Alchemy Concert Grand Piano. I am deeply
honored that you chose my piano for your home, club or live performances. People that know
me well, know that the piano is my passion, in real life, and in Second Life. My goal here was
create the most realistic, most beautiful, and most functional piano in SL. I sincerely hope
that you find my work comes close to achieving these things, and that it gives you many
hours of enjoyment.

As always, if you have questions or comments, please feel free to IM me (Persephone Milk)
or send me an email at: persephonemilk@gmail.com.


SITTING AT YOUR PIANO (SOLO, DUET, and TRIO) ---------------------------------------------------------

There are three seating positions on your piano: center, left and right. As many as three
people can sit at the piano and play at the same time.When playing solo, sit in the center
position. When playing as a couple, sit on the left and right positions. And when playing as
a threesome, use all three positions. The seating position is selected by right clicking on
the piano bench, in the center, or on the left or right, and selecting "Sit" from the pie menu.

Note that sitting at your piano activates the piano playing animation. However, sitting does
not automatically cause the music to begin to play. This is so that you can sit at your piano
at times when you do not wish the music to play, such as when you are listening to music
from a stream, or when you are live performing. To start the music, you will use the menu
system below to select the music you wish to play.


THE MENU SYSTEM --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All of the features of the piano are now controlled by a single menu system. There are no
more voice/chat commands and lists of obscure colors to memorize. To access the menu,
simply touch (left-click) the piano. Here is a brief list of the selections on the main menu -
most of which open their own sub-menus:

   + Music - play or stop the piano music
   + Radio - selection a streaming radio station for your land
   + Lid - open or close the lid of your piano
   + Appearance - change the appearance of your piano
   + Rezzables - rez and remove various objects on and around your piano
   + Poses - access the 60 lid poses
   + History - open various note cards on the history of the piano
   + Web Page - launch my web page and blog in a browser
   + Permissions - control who can use the features of your piano
   + Reset - resets all of your piano settings back to their default values
   + Update - requests the latest version of the piano
   + Help/Info - opens this note card


MUSIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To play the music in the piano, use the Music function on the main menu. Here
you will find ten beautiful pieces of piano music, including nine of the most popular
piano pieces ever written**, plus a bonus piece written and performed by me. Your
piano includes over an hour of music. The menu includes the ability to stop the
music playback, or select one of the following pieces to be played:

    Beethoven - Fur Elise
    Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata
    Beethoven - Pathetique Sonata
    Bach - Well Tempered-Clavier - BWV 865 - Fugue in Am
    Mozart - Sonata Facile
    Mozart - Sonata No 11 in A Major
    Schubert - Impromptu D899 No 3
    Erik Satie - Gymnopedie No 1
    Scott Joplin - Maple Leaf Rag
    Persephone - Persephone's Theme

Note about choppy playback: You may notice that from time to time your piano
does not play smoothly. There may be pauses or gaps in the music, or you may
not hear any music at all. Like all musical instruments in Second Life, your piano
may suffer from occasional lag - in this case a poor connection between your own
computer, and the asset server (not the sim you are standing in). It is sometimes
hard to understand because somebody standing next to you may have a very
different experience and be hearing the music play perfectly.

Unfortunately, there isn't really a simple solution to this problem. One technique
that works very well is to let the song play for a few minutes, even with the gaps,
and then restart the piece. This will allow the music to play from your local cache
instead of requiring each piece be downloaded in real time.

If you continue to have trouble, consider using the new Radio tuner feature
documented in the next section. You will often find your connection to one of
the internet radio stations is much more reliable than your connection to the
asset server.

Note about music volume: The volume of musical instruments in Second Life is
controlled by your camera position. To increase the volume of your piano, simply
zoom in closer. To reduce the volume, zoom your camera farther away.

** Persephone's Theme (C) Copyright 2007 by Persephone Milk. All rights reserved.
For other music, every attempt has been made to include performances in the public
domain. If you feel any of these performances violates copyright, please contact me
with information so that I can correct the problem.


RADIO -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your piano includes an internet radio tuner with 11 preset stations that play primarily
piano music. The radio tuner works by changing the streaming media URL on your land.
The owner of the piano must have permissions for the land parcel on which the piano
sits for this feature to work. If you own your own land, this should work perfectly.

New Feature in 5.2: If your land is group-owned you will need to take a couple of
extra steps to get the radio working. You should have received a Musical Alchemy
External Radio object with your piano. If you did not, just use the update feature
on the main menu to request an updated piano package. The external radio is in
the box. Then, have a group member with permission to deed objects to the group
(usually an officer or your landlord) deed the External Radio to the group that
owns your land. Your radio should now function perfectly. If you wish, move the
External Radio and/or hide it so that it is not visible. Just be sure to keep it within
10 meters of the piano.

The radio stations range from solo piano, to jazz, to classical, with one additional
station featuring a more modern sound. The stations these buttons are programmed
to play will change from time to time as updates to the piano are released. In the
event that a radio station doesn't seem to play, try it again later.

   *None* - Shuts off the radio (clears the streaming music URL for your parcel).
   Groove (Swiss)
   Piano 1 (Solo Piano)
   Piano 2 (Improvisation)
   Piano 3 (New Age)
   Jazz 1 (Dinner Jazz)
   Jazz 2 (Jazz Fusion)
   Jazz 3 (Soft Jazz)
   Classical 1 (Classique)
   Classical 2 (RadioClassical)
   Classical 3 (BlueClassical)
 

LID ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This menu allows you to open and close your piano lid. Note that selecting the Pose
menu will automatically close your piano lid if it is open. Note that as of version 5.1
there is a third menu position called Open Hinge. In this position the lid is closed
but the hinged portion is open.

Sheet Music: When the piano is open, sheet music is displayed on the music stand. To
hide this music, simply touch it (left click). To make the sheet music appear again, touch
the same area a second time. Hiding the sheet music is helpful if you do not wish to see
it, or if you wish to place your own on the stand. The included sheet music is decorative
only. The music included with the piano is activated by touching the key board.
 

APPEARANCE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Musical Alchemy Concert Grand Piano can be customized to match any decor,
and can be restyled whenever the mood strikes you. No other piano in Second Life offers
so much control over everything from color and wood texture, to shine and trim color. I
thing you will find this aspect of your piano a lot of fun. In fact, I there is so much here
I am tempted to over-document, but I will opt for brevity :)


COLOR -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Select a color for the body of your piano, from a list of presets. After selecting a preset
color you can use the *Custom* feature (see the next section) to fine tune your selection
and create virtually any color in the rainbow. Note that colors can be applied after picking
a wood texture, allowing you to custom tint the wood for a unique look all your own.

Here is a list of the preset colors - think of these as a starter palette from which you can
mix any color you like:

    Black
    White
    Red
    Green
    Blue
    Yellow
    Brown
    Purple
    Pink
    Tan


CUSTOM COLOR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once you have selected a preset base color from the list above, if you would like to
make precise adjustments to that color to create something unique, use the *Custom*
selection on the Color menu.

To make effective use of the custom color feature, it helps to have a basic understanding
of the way that color is represented in Second Life. I am going to be very brief here. Just
experimenting with the Custom Color menu will make things clearest.

Color in SL is expressed by three intensity values, for red, green and blue. Every color
consists of three numeric values which stipulate how much red, how much green, and
how much blue it takes to make the color. These values are rational numbers between
0.000 and 1.000, where a red value of 0.000 would mean no red, 1.000 would mean
full red, and 0.500 would mean half intensity red.

The preset purple color has the following intensity values:

   Red = 0.250
   Green = 0.000
   Blue = 0.250

The custom color menu shows the current red, green, and blue intensity values and
provides controls for adjusting the red, green and blue values in unison, or individually,
up or down. You will also find controls for establishing how much the values are
incremented or decremented with each click.

   Brighter +  makes the piano brighter
   Darker -  makes the piano darker
   Red +   makes the piano redder
   Red -  makes the piano less red
   Green +   makes the piano more green
   Green -  makes the piano less green
   Blue +  makes the piano more blue
   Blue -  makes the piano less blue
   x0.001  changes the amount to increment to 0.001 (fine control)
   x0.010  changes the amount to increment to 0.010 (medium control)
   x0.100   changes the amount to increment to 0.100 (course control)

Note that one cannot make an intensity value greater than 1.000. So a piano that
starts as white (red = 1.000, green = 1.000, blue = 1.000 ) cannot be made slightly
green by increasing the green value because it is already maxed out. To make a
white piano slightly green, you should reduce the red and blue values lower.

WOOD -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In addition to adjusting the color of your piano, you can also pick a wood type
from a list of ten beautiful wood textures ranging from light pine and maple, to
darker mahogany and cherry. I have tried to make sure all of the major woods
used in fine furniture are included, though I have given them each generic
numbered names on the Wood menu:

   *None* (removes the wood texture, giving your piano the default painted look)

   Wood 01 (the darkest wood texture - mahogany)
   Wood 02
   Wood 03
   Wood 04
   Wood 05
   Wood 06
   Wood 07
   Wood 08
   Wood 09 (the lightest wood texture - pine)
   Wood 10 (a special weathered wood type)

Note that selecting a wood type resets the piano color to white, to allow the wood
texture selected to display without any color tinting. To apply a color tint to a wood
texture, select the wood type first, then use the Color menu to apply your tinting.


SHINE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New in version 5.0, you can now adjust the shininess of your piano. The default
value is "Low" which seems to work well in most situations. Note that the more
shine you apply, the darker the colors/textures appear. Shine also tends to look
different depending on the position of the sun. Feel free to experiment with the
following values:

   *No Shine*
   Low
   Medium
   High


BRIGHTNESS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As of version 5.0, there are two brightness settings for your piano:

   *No Bright*  the default setting, your piano will not feature any enhanced brightness
   *Full Bright*  sets the piano body to maximum brightness


TRANSPARENCY -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another setting that is new to version 5.0 is the transparency level. Have you ever
wanted to have a ghosted semi-transparent piano, or an entirely invisible piano? This
is the appearance option for you. These are the settings:

  *No Trans*  the default setting, a fully opaque piano
 
  10%  slightly transparent
  20%
  30%
  40%
  50%
  60%
  70%
  80%
  90%  almost entirely transparent
 
  *Invisible*  a completely invisible piano


TRIM COLOR --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The metallic hardware on your piano, and the Musical Alchemy logo, are considered trim
elements and can be either silver or gold. You can change the color of the trim elements
with the Trim menu, under Appearance.

   Gold  - shiny gold metallic trim
   Silver  - shiny silver metallic trim


INSIDE COLOR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You may also apply color to the inside of your piano. The default setting is a normal full-color
piano soundboard. However, if you wish to add some style, you can tint your soundboard to any
color imaginable. The Inside option under Appearances works exactly the same as the Color
option for coloring the outside of your piano, including the ability to adjust the color for a
custom look all your own.


STYLES ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Styles are preset combination of piano color, wood type, shine, brightness, transparency,
trim color and inside color. There are eleven piano styles ranging from concert and wedding
piano, to jazz and ghost. The idea here is to make it easy to set up the most common types
of piano so that you do not have to make the individual settings each time.

Here is a list of the included piano styles:

   Concert
   Wedding
   Cherry
   Oak
   Maple
   Rock
   Jazz
   Forest
   Princess
   Ice    
   Ghost


REZZABLES --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rezzable's are objects that you can have appear on or around your piano. I have taken some
of the more popular items from my store and included them inside the piano. You do not have to
take them out and position them yourself ... the menu system takes care of everything for you.
Just select an item from the menu, and it will magically appear on your piano. Select the item a
second time, and it will disappear just as fast as it appeared.

Note that each rezzable requires free prim on your parcel. In the list below, the number of prim
and item requires is given in parenthesis. If you do not have enough free prim available to rez the
item, it will simply not rez.

   Black Keys (38)
   Ash Tray (8)
   Bouquet (39)
   Candles (22)
   Metronome (13)
   Microphone (25)
   Rose (7)
   *Clear All*  removes all Rezzables

Note that you will want to remove all Rezzables before you move your piano, or collect it into
inventory. Since these items are not attached to them, moving or removing your piano will leave
them in place. Just use the *Clear All* menu select to toggle them off, and if you are moving
your piano, just use the menu to re-rez them in the new location.


POSES --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your piano features a total of 60 poses, roughly half are for a single person, and half are
for a couple. The poses are designed to be used when the lid is down, and the lid will close
automatically when you select the Pose menu. Selecting Poses from the main menu will
present you with a list of pose categories from which to choose.
    
The poses are broken into 6 categories as follows:
    
    Solo Sit (11 poses - including 3 that are animated)
    Solo Lay (11 poses)
    Solo Sexy (11 poses)
    Couples Sit (9 pose sets)
    Couples Lay (9 pose sets)
    Couples Stand (9 pose sets)
    
In addition to menu items for these categories of poses, you will find several
other menu choices:
    
    Hide (hides the poses ball(s) - ball(s) will reappear when the pose is changed)
    Show (shows poses balls that have been hidden with the hide feature)
    Swap (available only on couples poses, will swap the positions of the two people)
    Restart (reloads the poses and rebuilds the menu - useful if something goes wrong)
    
A couple of notes about the poses.
    
    - To use a pose, simply sit on a ball and answer "yes" when prompted.
    - You can remain seating while changing poses - you will be moved into place.
    - When sitting on a couples ball set, and switching to a singles ball set, it is a good
    idea if the male avatar stand first. If you do not, the male avatar will often sit on some
    funny place on the piano. If this happens, both people should stand and the pose
    should be changed again.
    - If you have trouble with your poses, simply stand up, and then use the Restart
    function to reset your poses.
    
*MLP - MULTI-LOVE-POSE V1.11 - Copyright (c) 2006, by Miffy Fluffy (BSD License)


HISTORY --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The History menu provides you with lessons on virtually every aspect of the piano, from
the creation of the first piano by Bartolomeo Cristofori, to piano performance and notable
composers, to the care and tuning of a modern piano. Select one of the following topics
to receive a note card:

   Piano
   Fortepiano
   Cristofori
   Keyboard
   Instruments
   Social
   Acoustics
   Performance
   Care
   Tuning
   Composers


WEB PAGE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This menu selection opens my blog where you can find out the latest on all of my products
from both Musical Alchemy and Persenickety (my ladies fashion store). Be sure to check my
blog from time to time to find out about new products, or upgrades to existing products. I
will occasionally announce live music events when they are scheduled for the performance
pavilion behind my store. Please feel free to leave questions or comments. Your feedback
is encouraged and appreciated :)


PERMISSIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Permissions is how you control who can do what with your piano. As the owner of the
piano, you always have complete control over every aspect. However, you may wish to
prevent others from changing the color, playing the music, or using the poses. The
permissions system is the way you do this.

With version 5.0 the permissions system has been greatly expanded. You now have three
levels of permission, and five feature sets which can each be set differently.

Here is a list of the permissions levels:

    O = Owner - only the owner of the piano can use this funtion
    G = Group - only persons having the same active group as the piano can use this function
    A = All - anybody at all can use this feature
    
Here is a list of the features which can each have a different permissions setting:

   Music - playing the music included with the piano (the Music menu)
   Radio - changing the parcel radio station (the Radio menu)
   Appearance - changing any aspect of the pianos appearance (the Appearance menu)
   Poses - using the lid poses (the Poses menu)
   Rezz - rezzing and de-rezzing items on your piano (the Rezzables menu)
   
To use the Permissions menu, note that the buttons for each feature set contain the
current permissions setting for that feature set in square brackets after its name. For
example, the Music feature set, with All permissions, would read Music [A]. To change
a setting, click the button to cycle though the three available settings O, G, and A.

There are also three buttons that will change all of the features sets to the same
setting in one easy step. For example, if you wish to change all feature sets to Owner
only permissions, click the *Owner* button.

By default, your piano has "All" permissions (when first rezzed, or when Reset) for
all feature sets except Radio. Radio defaults to Owner permissions.   
         
Note that the following three feature sets are always set to owner only: Permissions,
Reset and Update. Note as well that these three feature sets are always available to
everybody: History, Web Page and Help/Info.
   

RESET --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This feature resets the piano to its default settings and appearance. It removes and
rezzables that may be out, and resets the posing sub system as well. If your piano seems
to be acting strange, try the reset feature. Be sure to double check the permissions
after performing a reset, because the default permissions open up most features
to everybody. Only the owner of the piano can Reset it.


UPDATE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Updates to the Musical Alchemy Grand Piano are absolutely free. I have a lot planned
for future versions of the piano, so you will want to check to see if a new version is out.
This menu feature requests the latest version of the piano. It can take up to a minute
for the piano to arrive, but most of the time you will receive it instantly. Only the owner
of the piano can use this feature.


HELP/INFO ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This menu feature opens the note card you are reading.


***********************************************************************
Musical Alchemy and Persenickety are trademarks of Persephone Milk. The Musical Alchemy
Grand Piano, in it's entirely, including the contents, Rezzables, and documentation are all
(C) Copyright 2007 Persephone Milk. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized duplication is
prohibited and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

 

Customer Reviews:

Belle Lefavre

This is an absolutely amazing piece of work!

Holly Klaxon

Quality work by someone who is clearly a perfectionist. The creator could charge 5 times as much, and it would still be worth every, single cent. Very happy with the piano and highly recommend it.