Setting Up SmartMusic

SmartMusic® (I’ll simply call it “SM”, to save time and space) is a subscription computer accompaniment program by MakeMusic.

A subscription program requires you to pay a yearly (or monthly) fee to remain “active” (i.e., for the program to continue working). For information about system requirements, cost and how to subscribe to SM visit www.smartmusic.com

Because my computer is a Mac, all of my information and suggestions are based on my own personal (Mac) experience. PCs should be the same or similar but I apologize in advance for any possible discrepancies. I do not own a PC and can’t test what I know works on my Mac.

SmartMusic Basic Setup
When you first open SM, you are presented with the SM Setup Wizard, which deals with your Output (speakers, earphones, etc.), Input (microphone), MIDI Keyboard and Foot Pedal. If these are all displayed on one screen, you can choose “Setup” in the bottom left to deal with each one individually.

Once you have set up these items, you usually don’t have to change them, so you simply click “next”, on the bottom right. This takes you (eventually) to the SM play module. You are first interrupted by a “Learn How to Use SM by Watching Videos”, then a screen with 6 selections: “Assignment” (for schools); “Band, Orchestra, Choir, or Jazz Title” (for schools); “Solo Repertoire” (see below); “Exercises”; “Methods”; and, but again, “Learn How to Use SM by Watching Videos” - the Videos are actually very good but you must be hooked up to the internet in order to watch them and they have not been updated recently (they show SM 8 - the current version is SM 10). If you click “Finished” you will finally reach the SM play module.

To open a SM accompaniment choose “Open” from the file menu (or the third choice “Solo Repertoire” from the last screen mentioned above). You will now have 4 choices at the top: SM Subscription Files; Method Books; User Created Files; Audio Files.

If you do not have an active SM subscription only the samples in the “SM Subscription Files” will work. Choose “User Created Files” and navigate to the folder where you have placed your User Created Flute or Clarinet Accompaniment Files (if not in the SM Studio Folder).

TIP: Once you have set up SmartMusic correctly, a much faster way to open an accompaniment (on a Mac, and I hope a PC) is to simply click the smp file - this will open SM and the Flute or Clarinet accompaniment (avoiding all of the setup dialogue boxes).

SmartMusic Basic Controls
You can stop and start playing by: using the “Play” & “Stop” buttons on the SM module or using the computer keyboard space bar or the Foot Pedal (for both stop & start).

When you click the “Play” button it becomes “Pause”, so that if you choose it again the music pauses at that point and will resume when “Pause” is again chosen. “Stop” (or space bar or foot pedal) will totally stop the playback and return to where the music is set to start.

The audio for the solo Flute or Clarinet part, and the Orchestral accompaniment can be listened to separately or together by clicking the “SOLO LINE” (default - Off) or “ACCOMP” (default - On) buttons on the SM module.

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