AUDIO ENGINEER II(tm) , AUDIO ENGINEER PLUS II(tm) AUDIO ENGINEER JUNIOR II(tm) With the exception of the music file "BackToBasics." (© 1990 Phil Crew) all files on this disk are copyright © 1990-91 RamScan Software Pty Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide. This readme file contains a brief description of Audio Engineer II, and an explanation of the demo samples in the "Examples" drawer. What Is Audio Engineer II? Audio Engineer II(tm) is a Full Stereo digital sound recording and editing software package for all the Amiga(tm) range of computers. In Australia and New Zealand, it is available in 3 forms, either as software only (Audio Engineer), for those individuals who already have a compatible sound digitizer (a list of samplers appears later), or as a combination package (Audio Engineer Plus), comprising RamScan's Audio Engineer(tm) and a top quality STEREO digitizer made by GSOFT Pty Ltd or "Audio Engineer Junior" which comprises the same software and a quality MONO sampler. In Europe, USA and Canada it is available as Audio Engineer Plus only. The GSOFT sampler is built with the greatest attention to detail with sound quality having the utmost priority. Every step in it's development was achieved with the determination to make a digitizer which sets new standards in Amiga sound. Standards by which all others will be judged. This superb digitizer boasts such features as full support for 56,000* sps sample rates in stereo, printer pass-through, individually switchable mic/line inputs for each channel, audio bandwidth of 10Hz to > 50KHz, full dynamic range and a wide tolerance to DC offset and signal levels. The Junior sampler is a "budget", MONO version of the GSOFT sampler in a small case, minus the switches and pass-thru. Budget price does not mean budget performance however. The sound quality is excellent with the unit boasting a frequency response of 20Hz - 40KHz full support for 56k sample rates and software controlled input volume. You can still use the software in STEREO mode, however both channels will have the same sound. You can then use some of Audio Engineer's powerful editing commands to "simulate" stereo. RamScan Pty Ltd and GSOFT Pty Ltd have worked together to strive for the highest quality sound reproduction on the Amiga(tm). By combining the advanced features of Audio Engineer(tm) with these superb digitizers, we believe we have elevated the Amiga to new levels of excellence in sound. Features of Audio Engineer(tm) include... * Large, Oscilloscope display with "Zoom" for easy "On Screen" editing. * "Real Time" Echo, Delay and "Flange" special effects! * "Design" a sound. (Just draw the waveform with the mouse). * Special effects including Echo, Delay, Mixing, Reverse, Positive and Negative Flange, Ramp Up or Down, Inversion, & Mono to Stereo conversion. * Play sounds on a stock standard Amiga(tm) at sample rates of up to 56,000* samples per second in Mono or Stereo * "Real Time" oscilloscope display to assist in adjusting input levels. * Utilizes all of fast memory for up to 8 Megabytes of sound. * Resampling. (Save memory by altering a sample's rate but not its pitch). * Create instruments in up to 5 octaves for music programs like "Aegis Sonix(tm)" and "Deluxe Music Construction Set(tm)". Added features of Audio Engineer II (tm) include.... * 4 times Oversampling. * Pitch vs Time stretch-compress. * Digital Filtering. * RealTime Pitch Bend * RealTime Zoom/Telephoto * RealTime Scroll * Auto hardware Filter control. * User callable DC offset compensation. * On screen calibration marks. (Time and Position) * Progress meter with beep(when processing) * Much faster screen update. * Optimised Echo, Mix, Ramp functions. * Keep Function (edit) * Improved PerfectSound3 support. * Improved file requester. Advanced features of Audio Engineer II(tm) include.... Multiple Loops. Multiple loop capability is a highly innovative feature of Audio Engineer(tm). This feature allows you to assign up to 999 loops or phrases on a single sample. These loops can then be played in sequence. This is especially useful in the creation of "Stutter" like effects as normally you would have to "paste" several repeated portions into the waveform making it larger. With multiple loops it is just a matter of assigning a few loops to repeat in a sequence to get the same effect. Another exciting ability provided by multiple loops is the ability to compress large samples into much smaller files by playing loops of passages "snipped" from the original. Suppose for instance, you wanted to experiment with a sample of some music. Most music is made up of passages repeated over and over again. Melody, chorus, melody, chorus etc. Rather than have the entire large sample stored on the Amiga(tm), it is possible to make one much smaller recording containing only the necessary phrases of the music. Then, by playing a sequence of loops or phrases in succession, the entire piece can be re-created from mere snippets of the original. By having the Amiga(tm) play this phrase twice, that phrase three times etc, it sounds to the ear like the entire piece is playing. The result of this, is a sample requiring far less memory and disk space than would otherwise be required. The amount of memory saved by this technique depends on the content of the sample, but coupled with Audio Engineer's ability to save in compressed format, it is quite possible to store several minutes of sampled sound on a single floppy disk. A fade point can also be assigned so that once a certain loop in a sequence is reached the sample will then fade to silence in much the same way as most commercial music does today. OverSampling. Audio Engineer employs a powerful sound enhancing technique which can significantly reduce aliasing distortion on low speed samples. Waveforms sampled at slow rates normally exhibit a distortion which sounds like a harsh ringing or metallic sound as they play. The Amiga is fitted with a hardware audio filter to try to suppress this sometimes irritating distortion. Sometimes this filter simply cuts the higher frequencies, making sounds dull and flat. Audio Engineer can significantly reduce aliasing distortion whilst avoiding an excessive drop in higher frequencies. This means that in many instances, a slower sample rate can be chosen, thereby offering longer recording times and smaller sample sizes. Because oversampling is only applied to the sound as it plays, it is therefore 100% compatible with all of your existing recordings. The original sound data is not effected in any way. Other music packages etc can still play sounds created by Audio Engineer in the usual way. Of course, they might play the sound better if they too supported oversampling! Pitch vs Time stretch-compress. Audio Engineer broke the sound barrier on the Amiga with 56k sample rates, now Audio Engineer has broken THE TIME BARRIER. Have you ever been faced with the task of fitting a certain amount of speech or music into a defined amount of time. Trying to record an answering machine message to finish in exactly 20 seconds before the beep is a perfect example. Audio Engineer now offers you the incredible freedom to move through the dimensions of time and frequency. Simply record your message or music, and tell Audio Engineer to stretch or shrink the duration of the sound so that it plays in a certain time WITHOUT ALTERING THE PITCH ! Likewise, you can alter the pitch of the sound WITHOUT ALTERING THE SPEED ! In fact, this function is so powerful, you can.. Alter the pitch, and duration AND the samplerate, ALL IN ONE OPERATION ! Digital Filtering. Incredible control has now been provided to alter frequencies within your sound samples. Simply select the range of frequency you wish to effect, and then choose to either boost, cut, or pass those frequencies through the software digital filter. You can even control the strength of the filtering which will take place over your defined range. With this function, you can do things like... Boost the bass by between 1 to 100%. Boost the treble by between 1 to 100%. Boost midrange by between 1 to 100%. Cut the bass by between 1 to 100%. Cut the treble by between 1 to 100%. Cut midrange by between 1 to 100%. Also you can allow only the specified frequency range to "pass" through the filter with the other frequencies attenuated by 1 to 100% RealTime Pitch Bend That's right! Any sound can have its pitch altered and sent out the Amiga's audio channels IN REAL TIME. A grown man can sound like a baby. A child can sound like a GIANT. RealTime Zoom/Telephoto and scroll Move around your sound like never before. "Take a flight" into your waveform as you Zoom closer to the displayed sound. It's like "flying", in a real-time flight simulator, gliding towards an ever expanding display of your sound. On screen calibration marks. (Time and Position) The Audio Engineer screen display now includes calibration marks to assist in cutting and pasting more accurately. These marks are displayed in grey deliberately so as not to intrude on the clear oscilloscope display for which Audio Engineer is renowned. Calibration can be set to display in increments of Time or absolute position within the waveform. Save Compressed Data. Single octave normal or multiple loop waveforms in Mono or Stereo, may be saved in IFF compressed format, thereby halving the amount of disk space normally required to store the sample. Pause Function. Audio Engineer(tm) supports a pause function whilst recording. By holding down the right mouse button whilst sampling, the program "pauses" and records no more data until being allowed to continue by the release of the button. This makes it possible to "edit out" unwanted sections on the fly. Sampler Support. Audio Engineer boasts selectable sampling routines which are compatible with several brands of samplers. The list includes, A.M.A.S(tm), FutureSound 500 (tm), PerfectSound(tm) version 1, 2 & 3, Mimetics(tm), StarSound(tm), Aegis SoundMaster(tm) and a special "Hi Speed" sampler setting. Improved PerfectSound3 support. The new version of Audio Engineer now allows you to adjust the volume of the PerfectSound3 sampler using the cursor keys rather than the right mouse button. This gives you more control when adjusting the input volume prior to making a recording. Also, automatic software level adjust can be called by pressing the "a" key whilst monitoring. Note: If you purchase "Audio Engineer Plus or Junior", you don't require the various sampler options because a sampler device is supplied with the package. In this case, the configuration is fixed to "IMAGER" or "JUNIOR" only which will suit that sampler. All samples created with Audio Engineer(tm) (including multiple loops) can be played using the freely distributable (so long as no fee) "PlaySound" cli command supplied with Audio Engineer(tm). This allows you to play sound in the background whilst running other tasks such as slideshows etc. Included on the release disk of Audio Engineer(tm) are several useful utility programs... MakeStereo This program merges two Mono files into one Stereo file. MakeRaw MakeRaw removes all the IFF header information from IFF 8SVX files for those programs requiring raw sound data. MergeIFF MergeIFF will join two sound files "end to end" and will append multiple loop definitions together. This allows users with memory restrictions to sample and edit in several small sessions, then merge the files into one large file with all multiple loop definitions in tact. MultiMaker This will allow up to five files to be inserted into different octaves of a single instrument file. This can create "Drum Kit" files for music programs. eg. Bottom "C" plays a kick drum, Middle "C" plays a cymbol etc. Oscilloscope This program provides a large "Real Time" oscilloscope display suitable for use with parallel port samplers. Some samplers have a bias adjustment. This program can be used to assist when adjusting this bias. Alternatively, you can have this program display the sound input "just for fun". The Audio Engineer CD Player Simulator(tm). Included with Audio Engineer(tm), this is the ultimate way to show off your favorite multiple loop creations. This is a highly graphical CD player simulation. A "Real Time" LED display moves as the sound plays. 3D controls. Repeat track, skip etc. Load up to 20 samples into memory (memory permitting) and play them sequentially, just like a real Compact Disk! This CD Player supports all file types created by Audio Engineer(tm) including multiple loops. Audio Disk Jockey. This unique program is ideal for those budding Amiga Disk Jockeys. Audio Disk Jockey allows you to load up to 180 sounds at once. A selection screen then allows you to play any one of those sounds with a simple click of the mouse. Ideal for sound effects at parties, Background "fills" for DJ's etc. Audio DJ is also ideal as a library "sound preview" tool, allowing you to group sounds into catagories and use DJ as an easy way to preview a sound before use in other applications. Audio DJ supports all sound types created by Audio Engineer including Loop Sequences, 56k sounds, Mono, Stereo and of course, Oversampling. Ask your dealer about Audio Engineer II or Audio Engineer Plus II now! For more information, please write to: RamScan Software Pty Ltd, Post Office Box 267, Avondale Heights 3034, Melbourne, Australia. Example Samples on this disk. Listed below are descriptions of the example sound files which give a brief indication of the potential of Audio Engineer. BackToBasics. This file demonstrates what can be achieved when Audio Engineer's "Multiple Loops" are applied to musical samples. This 98k file (60 seconds playing time) would have needed to be nearly 1 megabyte long if multiple loops had not been used. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A word from the songwriter (2/22/90) "The following piece has been loaned to RamScan Software Pty Ltd to help them demonstrate their Audio Engineer program and to distribute some of my music. * BackToBasics. © 1990 Phil Crew. I hope, in addition to enjoying the software, that some people will get enjoyment from my songwriting efforts. Please write to me care of RamScan Software Pty Ltd, particularly if you are looking for the services of a songwriter (jingles, movie soundtracks, recording deals etc... I do ANYTHING for money) or just write to say hello and share your MIDI/computer nightmares with me. Phil Crew c/- RamScan Software Pty Ltd. PO Box 267 Avondale Heights 3034. Melbourne. Australia." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greeetings. This is an example file demonstrating how Audio Engineer II can alter the pitch and time of a sound independently of each other. OverSampleExample(5k). This file demonstrates the unique OverSampling or anti-aliasing capability of Audio Engineer II. Simply start the waveform playing and toggle the "OverSample" menu option in the "Options" menu to hear the difference. This sample was recorded at a mere 5k sample rate. 56,000sps Stereo. As the name suggests, this is a sample recorded at approximately 56,000 samples per second. This example is a good illustration of using a "Sequence" of loop definitions to play selected areas of the sample under program control. Note: This waveform only contains data for 1/2 second of sound. By introducing a sequence of loops on this waveform, we have created several seconds of sound from only 1/2 second of data. * Audio Engineer(tm) can play samples in Mono or Stereo at up to 56,000 samples per second on a standard Amiga. However, to record samples at greater than 38,000sps Stereo, a faster processor is required. The speed at which you can record also depends greatly on the speed of your sampler device. Aegis Sonix and Aegis SoundMaster are trademarks of Aegis Development, Inc. Deluxe Music Construction Set is a trademark of Electronic Arts, Inc. Amiga is a trademark of Commodore-Amiga, Inc. A.M.A.S is a trademark of Microdeal Ltd. Perfect Sound is a trademark of SunRize Industries, FutureSound is a trademark of Applied Visions, Inc. StarSound is a trademark of Starvision International. Mimetics is a registered trademark of Mimetics Corporation. Audio Engineer is a trademark of RamScan Software Pty Ltd. ^^ All Specifications are Subject To Change Without Notice ^^