How do I set my computer keyboard "not" to work like a piano keyboard?

[yeto]

If I want to enter a note like let's say C3 I just want to type C3 on my computer keyboard and enter the note. How do I set this up?

I am new at this and I am sure this is not the best way to enter notes but I play guitar and not keyboards so I think I am at a disadvantage.

Also, how do I increase the number of channels. I am seeing 32 but I thought openMPT was capable of 127?

Thank you in advance for any help,
yeto

[Saga Musix]

If I want to enter a note like let's say C3 I just want to type C3 on my computer keyboard and enter the note. How do I set this up?

You could open the keyboard configuration and assign "Base octave C" to C, and the octaves are already mapped to number keys.
You will still have to come up with a way to enter sharps/flats, though.

Also, how do I increase the number of channels. I am seeing 32 but I thought openMPT was capable of 127?

Open the Song Properties dialog.

[yeto]

If I want to enter a note like let's say C3 I just want to type C3 on my computer keyboard and enter the note. How do I set this up?

You could open the keyboard configuration and assign "Base octave C" to C, and the octaves are already mapped to number keys.
You will still have to come up with a way to enter sharps/flats, though.

Also, how do I increase the number of channels. I am seeing 32 but I thought openMPT was capable of 127?

Open the Song Properties dialog.

Thank you for taking time to reply. This is all new to me and I appreciate your help.

yeto

[LPChip]

I'd like to add that if you actually do use the piano style keyboard, it will be far easier to quickly enter notes once you get the hang of this. So by not doing this, you will severely slow down your workflow which will mean that you spend more time to enter notes rather than to come up with melodies.

When you start with the program, this is not really going to be a problem. But once you get a bit of skill, there will come a point where this will become a problem for you even though you won't actually recognize this.

I recently had a similar experience with another program where something didn't work as I wanted, tried my best to make it work the way I wanted, which kept consuming energy from me and severely slowed down my workflow. When I finally was like, Why is this not working, and I tried the way they designed it, my speed increased 20 times and suddenly everything made sense.

If you have trouble finding the notes, I would recommend either buying an inexpensive midi keyboard and use that to enter notes, or get a 2nd keyboard and add stickers to the keys so you know what the C, D, E, F, G A, B, C... are.

Also, do note that it is quick to jump octaves. With the piano style keyboard, you can have 2,3 octaves available at the same time, which is usually more than enough, and using the / and * (IT style keyboard mapping, don't know what it is by default) you can quickly change the octaves.

OpenMPT's default keyboard map even allows you to use 3 octaves at the same time if you really need that, but is less of a piano style layout, so that may be harder to use.

Add note spacing and the arrow keys and you can even quicker put in a melody. I can write a melody for a pattern in under 15 seconds consistently. If I had to type C and then a 3 for every note, I would most likely require up to 3 minutes to write that same melody, and be drained by the end, not being able to write more melodies without taking a break first.

[yeto]

I'd like to add that if you actually do use the piano style keyboard, it will be far easier to quickly enter notes once you get the hang of this.

I agree. Also, entering sharps and flats the way I was first thinking would be a pain. I am getting great advice on this forum and I am already starting to have some fun.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to reply. I really do appreciate it.

Kind regards,
yeto

[LPChip]

You're welcome. Have fun making music.