OCTAMED V5 ========== PART THREE -========- The menu contains the following items: -------------------------------------- Load List Opens a file requester to load a sample list. The new list is appended to the list already in memory. Stats Displays statistics about the sample list: * The currently selected directory number * The total number of directories in the list * The number of samples in the current directory * The total number of samples in the list The MIDI Message Editor [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-G ] This window offers the tools required to capture, send, and store MIDI data, and to edit MIDI messages in hexadecimal. (Opening this window is achieved using the Display menu. The message editor is especially suitable for, but not limited to, capturing System Exclusive (SysEx) messages. These are very versatile messages which can (for example) be used to set and alter the parameters of sounds on machines supporting this facility. You can edit sounds using your synthesizer, then transfer either the original sound or the edited sound into your Amiga® and save it. Later on, OctaMED can send the sound back to the synthesizer for playing. The gadgets to the right of "Msg" are: current message number, previous message, next message, and total number of messages in the buffer. Other gadgets include: New Msg Adds a new message to the end of the list. Use this gadget to create a new message after booting OctaMED. New Here Inserts a new message at the current point in the list. Usually "New Msg" is preferred to this gadget. Del Msg Deletes the current message. Clear Msg Clears the current message (sets all bytes to zero). Msg Size Newly created messages are eight bytes long, but to capture (for example) SysEx messages, a much larger buffer is required. So use this gadget to change the message size. The arrow gadgets decrease / increase the size by one. The maximum size is 1048560 bytes. Name Allows you to name the message: it's usually hard to recognize a message just by looking at it! :) Save Msg Opens a file requester to save the current message. Note that MIDI messages are automatically saved with modules (except Tracker modules, see Save Options, but you may wish to save them as separate files you can load into other songs. Load Msg Opens a file requester for loading a message. A requester appears wondering whether the new message should replace the current one or create a new message for itself. Capture Msg To capture data from your MIDI device, set up an empty message as large as or larger than the incoming data, click this gadget, then start sending data. Clicking it again stops capturing (although with SysEx messages there is an easier way to stop capturing, see "Auto-Terminate Capture" below). MIDI Active and Input Active in the MIDI menu are automatically selected when Capture Msg is pressed. Send Msg Sends out the current MIDI message. Player command 10 also does this (see MIDI Commands). Auto-Terminate Capture Causes OctaMED to stop capturing when an End SysEx byte ($F7) is received. OctaMED will also remove all unused bytes at the end of the buffer: you shouldn't leave any unused (zero) bytes after the actual MIDI data. These zeros are MIDI data too, which will be sent, and this is likely to cause problems. So this gadget is usually kept switched on. If this gadget is off, however, OctaMED will capture all incoming bytes until either the "Capture Msg" gadget is re-clicked or the end of the buffer is reached. The display box to the right of Auto-Terminate Capture shows "Recording..." when a MIDI message is being captured. Exit Closes the window. You may also edit the hex data. Make sure Edit is on (upper screen), then simply use the cursor keys to move around the data and the numeric keys (0-9, A-F) to modify the hex data. Use the Del key to delete a byte, and Shift-Del to insert a new one. (See also MIDI Commands, the MIDI Menu, and the Input Map Editor) The Input Map Editor [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-A ] With this window you may remap all the input keys on your keyboard. It is opened using the Display menu. Each key can be assigned to: -- enter any note/command you wish (similar to Programmable Keys) -- perform an action (such as moving the cursor up or down) This also works with a standard Amiga® keyboard: a MIDI keyboard is not required. The two columns of numbers in the list are the entry numbers in hex and decimal. The other gadgets included in this window are: Map Active When this is selected, the current input map will be used in preference to the default OctaMED keyboard map. Create New Map By default there is no input map, so this must be clicked to create a new one. Now, for each note an entry like this is displayed: "C-1xxxxxx", which means that the C-1 key will just enter C-1 with the current instrument number, and leave the command numbers untouched. You may edit an entry in the same way as in the Programmable Keys window. Select an entry by clicking on it, hold down the mouse button, point at the number you wish to change and press a key on the keyboard to change it. Delete This Map After a confirmation requester, removes the current map. Select Function Displays the Functions window, with which you may select an editing function for the currently selected key. Reset Selected Changes the selected key back to its original function. Load Map Displays a file requester, allowing you to load a new input map from disk. A requester will appear if the current input map has been changed since last saving. Save Map Opens a file requester, offering to save the current input map to disk. The Functions Window This window displays a list of editing functions for use with the input map editor. It is opened by clicking "Select Function" in the editor. Clicking one of the functions in the window changes the selected key in the input map editor to that function. All functions should be self-explanatory. The Song Selector Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-G ] This window allows you to add and delete songs in a multi-module, and to choose the current song. (A "multi-module" is a project that contains more than one song, with all songs sharing the same set of instruments). It may be brought up by choosing Song menu/Select, or by clicking "Sg" on the upper screen. The window displays a list of all songs in the module, and a song may be selected by clicking on it. The song's name appears in the display box immediately below the list. The gadgets in this window are as follows: Add New Adds a new song to the end of the list. Add Here Adds a new song at the currently selected position. Delete Deletes the selected song. Select Makes the selected song the current song, and closes the window. Exit Closes the window. (Song selection gadgets are also contained on the upper screen) The Playing Sequence Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-Q ] The playing sequence consists of a list of block numbers and names arranged in the order they should be played in the song. With the release of OctaMED V5.0, more than one playing sequence may be defined (called "sections"), and the section list contains the order in which to play these multiple playing sequences. When the last section has been played, the song will by default start again from the beginning (although it's also possible to stop the playing). This window contains the functions required to create playing sequences, and is activated by either clicking "Sq" on the upper screen or using the Song menu. A sequence may use the same block number more than once, and a maximum of 999 entries in each playing sequence is allowed. ("Playing sequence" will be referred to as "playseq" from now on). The maximum number of separate playseqs allowed is 65535 (should be enough!). The current playseq position ("playpos") is highlighted in white, and may be set by clicking on a block name. Selecting playpos while the song is playing immediately plays from the beginning of the entry selected. The following gadgets for editing playseqs are included in this window: Top Sets playpos to the top of the display. [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-NM7 ("NM" = numeric keypad, apologies (Home) to Amiga® 600 owners!) ] Bottom Sets playpos to the bottom of the display. [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-NM1 (End) ] Insert Duplicates the entry highlighted by playpos. [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-NM0 (Ins) ] Ins Curr Inserts a new entry, the current block, at playpos. [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-NM5 ] Note that to append a playseq entry to the end of the list, you must click just below the final playseq entry before using one of the insert gadgets. Delete Deletes the current entry. [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-NM. ] Clear After a confirmation requester, clears the current playseq. [ Other keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl-NM8 scrolls up, Ctrl-NM2 scrolls down. Note that with the Caps Lock on, the playing sequence can be edited without holding down the Ctrl key. ] Follow Using the scroll bar, it is possible to scroll around the list independent of playpos. When "Follow" is selected, the position of the list will be automatically updated during play. The integer gadget to the left of "Follow" contains the block number of playpos, which can be altered either by typing in a new number or by using the arrow gadgets. You can't increase the block number beyond the number of the last block in the song. [ Keyboard shortcuts for the arrow gadgets: Ctrl-NM4 decreases block number, Ctrl-NM6 increases ] The arrow gadgets act slightly differently when playpos is below the last playseq entry. Pressing the left arrow gadget deletes the last entry; pressing the right one appends block 000 to the end of the sequence. The display box to the right of the integer gadget contains the number of playpos and the total number of entries in the current section. Multiple playseqs (sections) can be created using the following buttons: Name Displays the name of the current section, which you can edit. New Sec Adds a new section after the last section. New Sec Here Inserts a new section at the current position. Delete Sec Deletes the current section. Below these buttons is an integer gadget showing the current section number. It may be changed by either typing in a new number or using the arrow gadgets. The display box to the right of the integer gadget contains the total number of sections. The Exit gadget closes the window. (Note that the song can be stopped at any time by using player command FFE: see Commands A - F). (See also the Section List and the Block List) The Section List Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-C ] This window, opened either by using the Song menu or by clicking "Sc" on the upper screen, contains the order in which to play song sections. These sections are created in the Playing Sequence window. The current section position ("secpos") is highlighted in white, and may be set by clicking on a section name. Shift-clicking on a section name selects the section clicked in the Playing Sequence window. A maximum of 65535 entries are allowed (note, however, that only the lower three digits are displayed). The integer gadget contains the section number of secpos, which can be altered either by typing in a new number or by using the arrow gadgets. You can't increase the section number beyond the number of the last section in the song. The display boxes to the right of the integer gadget contains the number of secpos and the total number of entries in the current section list, and the total number of sections in the song. Other gadgets are as follows: Insert Inserts a new entry 001 at secpos. Append Appends a new entry 001 to the end of the section list. Delete Deletes the current entry. Exit Closes the window. The Song Options Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-H ] This window contains various song parameters. In a multi-module, these parameters can be different for each song. (It is opened using the Song menu. The gadgets are listed below: Name This text gadget contains the name of the current song, displayed on the title bar. You may type in a new name. Channel Mode The Amiga® has four sound channels, but by mixing two notes together and playing them through one channel, up to eight notes can be played at once. This radio button is used to select the number of channels OctaMED should use. (See 5-8 Channel Mode for more info). Note: for MIDI use, "4 Channels/MIDI" should be selected (this is also the default). The cycle gadget chooses whether the data bytes of volume (C) commands (see Commands A - F) should be in hexadecimal or decimal. If you aren't a programmer (and even if you are), it may be easier to think in decimal. "Decimal Volumes" is the default, but we recommend using hexadecimal volumes wherever possible. They're slightly faster (not noticeably, but faster anyway ;^). The state of this gadget is saved as part of a song. You can easily convert all volume commands from decimal to hex and vice- versa with the "Convert" gadget. Clicking this gadget prompts you for the type of conversion desired. Audio Filter Active Turns the low-pass audio filter on/off. When on, the Amiga®'s power LED will be bright. However it is best to keep the filter off, since the sound quality is usually better. High Quality Mode When on, this significantly increases the audio quality in 5-8 channel modes. Unfortunately, it will also double the processor load, so a 68020 processor or higher is required to use this gadget in seven and eight-channel modes. Under OctaMED Pro V3 and V4, High Quality Mode slowed down the tempo a fraction. In V5 the tempo is now unaffected. So when loading songs created with V3 or V4 that use this mode, you'll need to slightly decrease the tempo for the song to play at the intended speed. No Slide On 1st Pulse Normally effects are done on every timing pulse, but with this on, the effects are not done on the first timing pulse. This is the way the Trackers perform effects, and this switch is for compatibility only: it is automatically switched on when a Tracker module is loaded. (For information on timing pulses, see Upper Screen. Play Transpose This slider transposes the whole song by the value selected. It doesn't change the notes, it just affects playing. The minimum and maximum is -12 and 12 respectively (i.e. ± 1 octave). Other transposition functions may be found in the Transpose window. Exit Closes the window. The Relative Track Volumes Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-R ] This window contains sliders to adjust the volume of each track relative to the master volume. It is opened using the Song menu. Each volume can be 1 - 64. The master volume sets the overall volume of the song. If both the master volume and the volume of a track were 64, that track is played at full volume. If, however, the master volume and a track volume were 32, the volume of that track would be a quarter of full volume. The two large arrow gadgets at the bottom left of the window are like the track arrow gadgets on the upper screen - clicking them show the previous/next sixteen tracks, and shift-clicking them show the first/last sixteen tracks in the song. (They only really apply to blocks containing over sixteen tracks). The Exit gadget closes the window. Note: the status of these sliders are saved with songs. The Block Properties Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-B ] This window allows you to edit the properties of the current block. It is activated either by using the Block menu or by holding down Shift and clicking the B gadget on the upper screen. The gadgets are: Name Contains the name of the block, which can be changed by typing in a new name. (The name is also displayed on the upper screen and in the Block List window). A maximum of 41 characters is allowed. Tracks Selects the number of tracks in the block. The minimum is 1 and the maximum 64. (The number of tracks that can be displayed on- screen at any one time is set by Settings Menu/Display Max Tracks). Note that track 8 onwards can only be used with MIDI devices (see the MIDI Menu), and tracks 4-7 only with the Channel Mode gadget in the Song Options window set appropriately (except for MIDI use). Also note that when you decrease the number of tracks, the higher tracks will be lost (with no "Are you sure?" requester). Length The number of lines in the block. Can be changed by either typing in a new number or using the arrow gadgets. < and > decrease and increase the length by 1, << and >> by 10. The preferred way is to type in a new number directly, since less "memory fragmentation" occurs. The maximum length of a block is 3200 lines. Exit Closes the window. The Block List Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-B ] New to V5.0, the block list is an "at-a-glance" list of the current song's blocks and their names. It is brought up by either using the Block menu or clicking the small "B" gadget on the upper screen. The current block, highlighted in white, may be changed by clicking on another block. Keyboard shortcuts for changing the current block are: Shift - / Previous / next block Left Alt - / First block / last block The text gadget displays the current block's name, which can also be changed by typing in a new name. Up to 41 characters are allowed in each name. The window contains the following gadgets: Insert New Inserts a new block at the current block position. Append New Inserts a new block after the last block. These gadgets are like the New/Insert and New/Append items in the Block menu. Ins to Seq Inserts the current block's number at the current playing sequence position (see Playing Sequence Window). App to Seq Appends the current block's number to the playing sequence (see Playing Sequence Window). Delete Deletes the current block. Equivalent to the Delete items in the Block menu. Exit Closes the window. The Highlight Options Window In this window you can highlight the current block's lines in a particular order. This can help you position notes in widely-spaced blocks or mark measures or beats. It is opened using the Block menu. The top row of small square gadgets highlight the block lines with the respective spacing. For example, the 4 gadget highlights every fourth line. You'll probably use this particular gadget (4) the most often, since in a normal default block of 64 lines, the gadget highlights every beat in the block (i.e. every four sixteenth notes). The other gadgets are as follows: Clear Clears all the highlighted lines in the block. Offset Sets the first line to be highlighted. For example, an offset of 2 begins highlighting on line 002. Spacing Allows a custom highlight spacing to be entered. For example, entering 12 highlights every twelfth line. Exit Closes the window. You'll notice that the 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 gadgets are all underlined, meaning (of course) that they have a Left Alt shortcut. These shortcuts, however, only work with the numeric keypad keys (not the keys on the main keyboard). Note that when editing, the Tab key highlights the current line. Also note that highlighting an already highlighted line removes the highlighting. Line highlighting is saved with songs. The Expand/Shrink Window This window, activated by choosing Block Menu/Expand/Shrink, is used for expanding or shrinking the current block. The "Expand" gadget creates empty lines between each note, and "Shrink" removes lines. The "Factor" gadget contains the amount of expansion or shrink. For example, if Factor was 3, pressing Expand would insert two empty lines between each note (thus trebling the block length), and pressing Shrink would remove every second and third line (thus thirding the block length). "Factor" may be 1 - 99, but the expanded block length must not exceed 3200 lines, and the shrink factor must be divisible by the number of lines in the block. If either of these rules are infringed, a message appears to communicate this and no change to the block occurs. Expansion is useful, for example, if you would like to include some quick rhythms in a block but realize that the block plays too slowly for the rhythms. (However, fast rhythms may also be created using commands FF1, FF2, FF3, and 1Fxx - see Player Commands, so try these before expanding). The only real use of shrinking is to reverse the effect of a previous expansion. The Instrument Parameters Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-I ] With this important window you may alter the characteristics of the current instrument. It is opened by either using the Instr menu or clicking the "Inst Params" gadget on the upper screen. The gadgets are as follows: Name Contains the name of the instrument, which may be renamed by typing in a new name. (However, it is advisable not to rename instruments when saving songs without instruments, since the renamed instruments will probably fail to load). The maximum name length is 40 characters. The display box to the right of Name contains the current sample number. (By the way, "instrument" and "sample" essentially mean the same thing). Flush Removes the current instrument from memory and clears all its parameters. (Equivalent to Instr Menu/Flush Current). The instrument selection gadgets -------------------------------- The slider and arrow gadgets are used to select the current instrument: 1st Selects the first instrument (01). Last Selects the last instrument (1V). L.U. Selects the last instrument in memory (stands for "Last Used"). Keyboard shortcuts for selecting the instrument include: Shift - / Previous / Next instrument Alt - / 16 samples forward/backwards Instruments may also be selected using the numeric keypad (see the Keyboard Options window). The loop gadgets ---------------- The "Repeat", "RepLen" and "Loop On" gadgets are the loop gadgets. A sample loop means that the notes you play with the sample will be sustained until they are stopped. This is due to a particular part of the sample being continually repeated (or "looped"). The Repeat value is the beginning of the loop in bytes from the start of the sample, and the RepLen value is the length of the loop. Selecting Loop On activates the loop, and loops the whole sample if Repeat and RepLen are both zero. Loops are set in steps of 2 bytes, i.e. only even numbers may be used (typing in odd numbers rounds them down). RepLen must be at least 4. The loop may also be set by using the loop pointers and gadgets in the sample editor. When you load IFF instruments, these values are automatically loaded. The tuning gadgets ------------------ Under the loop gadgets is a cycle gadget and a slider, used for setting the tuning of an instrument. The slider sets either the "Transpose" or the "Finetune" value, depending on the state of the cycle gadget (Transpose is default). "Transpose" raises or lowers the pitch of the current instrument in halfsteps (semitones). For example, if the transpose value was 3 and note C-2 was to be played with the current instrument, it would be transposed 3 halfsteps higher (D#-2). A negative value transposes lower. The maximum and minimum transpose values are 127 and -128 (although higher values only affect MIDI instruments). The finetune value allows you to tune instruments in small steps, which is useful for incorrectly sampled instruments. The value can be -8 to 7. The two numbers separated by a "/" are the transpose and finetune values. Hold and decay -------------- These gadgets allow you to set the exact duration and the speed of fading of a note. "Hold" is the duration in timing pulses (see Upper Screen for a description of timing pulses, you'll need it to understand this section!), and "Decay" is the speed of fade when the hold duration has completed. In these examples, the secondary tempo is assumed to be the default 6. One line in the examples is one timing pulse. 1. No Hold Set 2. Hold Set To 2 ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ 0 Play note (e.g. C-2 10000) 0 Play note (e.g. C-2 10000) 1 1 2 2 STOP note 3 3 (silence) 4 4 5 5 6 Play new note (e.g. D-3 10000) 6 Play new note (e.g. D-3 10000) In example 2, the note is stopped on the second timing pulse. BUT: if the note is followed by a "keep holding symbol" in the track, the note is not stopped on the second timing pulse but carries on playing. For example: 000 C-2 10000 / Line No. Pulse No. Action 001 -|- 10000 / 003 0 Continue note... 002 -|- 10000 / 003 1 Continue note... 003 -|- 10000 ==> ZOOMED => 003 2 STOP note 004 --- 00000 \ 003 3 (silence) 005 D-3 10000 \ 003 4 So on the last "keep holding symbol" encountered, the usual hold value is used. This symbol is inserted by either clearing the note and entering only the instrument number, or more easily by pressing Return or the A key. If the decay is zero, the note is turned off immediately after holding. If it is a non-zero value, however, the note will fade after holding. A value of 1 produces the slowest decay. Decay only works if Hold is non-zero. Both Hold and Decay can have a value of 0 to 127. Note that Decay doesn't work with MIDI instruments, and is handled very differently with synthsounds or hybrids (see Synthsound Program Language). Hold and Decay is quite a useful feature, and although it may sound complicated, it isn't really :-), so we recommend that you learn to use it! Default volume and pitch ------------------------- The "Volume" gadget sets the default volume of the current instrument. It ranges from 0 (silent) to 64 (full volume). "Default Pitch" allows you to set a default pitch for the current instrument. When you press the F key the instrument is played at that pitch. This can be very useful for untuned instruments like percussion. The pitch box contains the default pitch of the instrument (or --- if no pitch is set). To change this, hold down the left mouse button on the box and press a note on the keyboard. You may also clear the pitch by pressing Return or Del. MIDI gadgets (see the MIDI Menu and MIDI Commands) --------------------------------------------------- Before using a MIDI instrument, you need to set the functions in this part of the window to the required values. They are: MIDICh This slider sets the MIDI channel for the instrument (0 - 16). For example, setting it to 5 means this instrument's notes are sent through MIDI channel 5. Preset Sets the preset number of the instrument (max. 128 or 2800). With this set to zero, OctaMED uses your keyboard's default preset for the instrument's MIDI channel (see above). But by giving this gadget a non-zero value, you may use more than one preset on the same channel: OctaMED sends a program change message whenever a note is played. If you want to send a preset change command without playing a note, use the C00 command with any note played by the instrument with the new preset. Suppress NoteOff Suppresses Note Off messages for the current instrument. Some devices may have some instruments (e.g. one-shot drum sounds) which actually ignore the Note Off messages. When this is selected, Note Offs aren't sent for the current instrument, reducing unnecessary output (and therefore slightly faster). Extended Preset When off, the maximum value of the Preset gadget is 128, but when on the maximum is increased to 2800. However, this can only be used on some MIDI devices which support the exact method of sending the preset: * Presets 1 - 100 are sent in the normal manner. * Presets above 100 are sent by first sending the "hundreds" part and then the 0-99 part. For example, the number 1156 is sent as 11 followed by 56. Consult your manual to see if this is the way supported by your device. In order to hear a MIDI instrument, you must also set its default volume. Note: a MIDI instrument's name doesn't really have any use. It's good practice, however, to type the name of the presets into the Name gadget. This way you can easily see the presets, and if you give the song to someone else who may have different MIDI equipment, he / she can easily change the preset numbers to use the correct presets on his / her MIDI device. ** The loop, tuning, default volume, and MIDI values, and the default pitch can all be set in the path file using the sample list editor. The Instrument Type Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-T ] This window, brought up either by using the Instr menu or by clicking "Type" on the upper screen, chooses which type the current instrument is to be. The options are: Sample The "normal" instruments, played either through the Amiga® or using a MIDI device. OctaMED can load both "raw" (pure binary) samples and IFF 8SVX 1 - 7-octave samples. In addition to these, OctaMED Pro V4 introduced the loading of "delta-compressed" samples. These samples' lengths are exactly halved (in fact they are converted to a kind of 4-bit resolution of Fibonacci delta codes: much simpler than it sounds!). There is, however, a slight loss in sound quality. Currently OctaMED can't actually create delta-compressed samples, but some dedicated sample editor programs such as Audiomaster can. Note that raw and 1-octave IFF samples can only use octaves 1 - 3: octaves higher than 3 play using octave 3's range. Also note that the highest octave of a 7-octave sample can't be played. For MIDI use, the instrument is not strictly an instrument, but simply a few settings which result in the notes played with that instrument being sent through a MIDI interface; therefore, MIDI instruments aren't loaded into memory like other sounds. They can also use the full 10.5-octave range. (For more information on MIDI, see MIDI Menu and Instr Params) Hybrid As "Sample" above, but can be controled using the same "programming language" as synthsounds. (See the Synthetic Sound Programming Language. ExtSample ExtSamples are like normal Amiga® samples, except two lower octaves are added to the octave range (octaves 1 and 2). The octaves used with normal samples are moved up two places to make way for the new octaves (i.e. octave 1 becomes octave 3, octave 2 becomes octave 4 etc.). However, because of an undesirable feature in the Amiga®'s hardware, especially under faster processors, ExtSamples should be used with care. After playing a note with an ExtSample using one of the new octaves, the following note will often not be correctly triggered. The solution is to use the FFF command before the following note is played. For example: C-1 20000 <- ExtSample --- 00000 --- 00FFF <- use FFF before the next note C-2 10000 <- this instrument doesn't need to be an ExtSample for the bug to occur However, in "split" channels in 5-8-channel mode, this problem doesn't appear at all! Note: more experimentative users may discover that octaves 8 and 9 of a normal sample also appear to play two lower octaves. These octaves should, however, *NEVER* be used in songs (apart from with MIDI): believe it or not, it is in fact a complete coincidence that they work! ExtSamples are the only "legal" way of using the two lower octaves. In any case, octaves 8 and 9 are also one finetune step sharp :-) Synthetic These special instruments, known as "synthsounds", are made from simple waveforms which can be joined together and have their volume and pitch altered by using a simple "programming language". Synthsounds usually sound quite simple, but they can be very effective and don't take up nearly as much memory as normal samples. In addition, they can play from octaves 1 - 5, two octaves greater than normal samples. For more details, see the Synthetic Sound Editor. The Octaves slider shows the number of octaves that the current sample consists of (1 - 7). Changing the slider's value often messes up the sample, so it's best not to :^) The Exit gadget closes the window. The Transpose Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-T ] This window contains functions that "transpose" (change the pitch of) the notes in a particular area of the current project. It is activated using the Edit menu. The gadgets under "Affect" choose which area of the song the transposition should affect, and the notes played by which instruments. These gadgets should be selected before choosing a function, and are: Song Affects the whole song (default). Block Affects the current block. Track Affects the current track (the track that the cursor is on). Selected Tracks Affects selected tracks (tracks are selected by setting the track cycle gadget on the upper screen to "Select"). Range Affects the range, selected using the mouse. (The button used to mark a range is chosen in the Mouse Options window). All Affects all instruments (default). Current Affects the currently selected instrument. The "Transpose" functions are Octave Up / Down and Halfstep Up / Down, and should be self-explanatory. (Note to British users: "halfstep" means "semitone"). The "Change Notes" operations act on the Source and Destination notes, which are selected by clicking and holding the left mouse button on the note box and pressing a key (for example, the I key selects note C-3). Change Allows occurrences of a single note to be changed throughout the specified area. It changes all notes in the selected area from the source note to the destination note. Swap Swaps all source notes in the selected area with the destination note. The "Change Instrument" functions perform on notes played by the Source and Destination instruments, which are picked by selecting the required instrument (using Shift - / etc.) and clicking "Source" or "Destination". Change Changes the notes (in the selected area) played by the source instrument to the destination instrument. Swap Swaps the source and destination instrument numbers of notes having either. Delete Deletes the notes with the source instrument number. The Spread Notes Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-F ] This window allows you to spread the notes in the currently marked range across consecutive tracks to the right of the range. If notes already exist in the tracks, the operation replaces them. The window is opened using the Edit menu. The "Width" slider selects the number of tracks to spread the notes across (2 - 10). Clicking "Spread" spreads the notes, and shift-clicking "Spread" spreads the notes _and_ closes the window. "Exit" closes the window. The Note Echo Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-E ] With this window, opened using the Edit menu, you may produce echoes automatically with the "C" command (see Commands A - F. The volume halves with each echo. For example: C-1 10000 (the initial note) --- 00000 C-1 10C32 (half volume. Decimal volumes are used in this example) --- 00000 C-1 10C16 (quarter volume) --- 00000 C-1 10C08 (eighth volume) ... Echoed notes will only be placed in empty note positions throughout the marked range. The range may cover more than one track. The gadgets are as follows: Distance The distance in lines between echoes, e.g. 4 means echo every fourth line. Minimum Volume The minimum volume of an echo. Echoes with a smaller volume than this won't be generated. Do Echo Creates the echo. (Shift-clicking it also closes the window). Exit Closes the window. The Input Channel Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-\ ] This small window, activated using the MIDI menu, contains the MIDI input channel number through which notes will be received when MIDI Menu/Input Active is on. If it is zero, OctaMED will accept input from all MIDI channels. The Mouse Options Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-W ] This window contains three cycle gadgets, which are used to select the function of each mouse button when the button is clicked in the Tracker editor. It is opened using the Settings menu. The available functions are as follows: No Operation The button has no effect. Track On/Off The button switches the clicked track on or off. Select Track Switches the clicked selected track on or off. (The status of selected tracks are displayed by setting the cycle gadget on the upper screen to "Select"). Position Cursor Sets the cursor position under the mouse pointer. Select Range Marks a range. (See the Tracker Editor) Note: due to conflicts with the menu system, the right mouse button can't be used to select a range as it has done in previous versions of (Octa)MED. Also note that if the Right Mouse Button gadget is set to anything other than "No Operation", the menu shortcuts (Right Amiga + key) can't be used when the mouse pointer is over the tracker editor. (They instead act as if the right mouse button has been pressed: OctaMED has no control over this!) The default for Left Mouse Button is Select Range, and the default for the other gadgets is No Operation. Of course, the Middle Mouse Button setting is ignored if you own a two-button mouse! The Exit gadget closes the window. The Keyboard Options Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-K ] This window contains many settings used when editing in the Tracker editor, and also holds settings for the numeric keypad. It is brought up using the Settings menu. Cursor advance -------------- The three gadgets at the top of the window are the directions the cursor should advance after entering something in the editor. They are: Line Up / Down Advances up / down a line. [ Ctrl-A toggles Don't Advance / Down ] Track Prev / Next Advances to the previous / next track when the cursor is on the note. Cursor Left / Right Advances left / right when the cursor is on the command digits. Advance Line Down is the usual preferred setting, and the default. Numeric keypad mapping (Amiga 600 owners may ignore this section) ------------------------------------------------------------------ The two cycle gadgets select a total of four different ways to configure the function of the keypad. The first gadget cycles "Tracks On/Off" and "Select Instr". With the first option you may turn tracks 0-F or 0-9 on/off, and with the second option you can select instruments quickly. The second gadget selects the "Normal" or "Alternative" layout of the keypad, and are as follows: Normal layout (button = selects track no. / selects instrument no.) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ( = 0 / 01 ) = 1 / 02 / = 2 / 03 * = 3 / 04 7 = 4 / 05 8 = 5 / 06 9 = 6 / 07 - = 7 / 08 4 = 8 / 09 5 = 9 / 0A 6 = A / 0B + = B / 0C 1 = C / 0D 2 = D / 0E 3 = E / 0F . = F / 0G Alternative layout - Tracks On/Off ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Keys 0 - 9 Turn tracks 0 - 9 on/off. Keys ( ) / * Turn tracks A - D on/off. The . key Turns all tracks off. Enter key Turns all tracks on. Alternative layout - Select Instr ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Keys 1 - 9 Selects instruments 1 - 9 The . key Changes the first instrument digit (for example, from 05 to 15 or from 15 to 05) '0' Selects instrument 10 '+' Next instrument '-' Previous instrument '(' Decrease volume of the current instrument by one ')' Increase volume of the current instrument by one '/' Select last used instrument '*' Pick instrument number nearest the cursor Enter Activates "alpha-enter": after pressing Enter, press an alphabetical key (A - V) to select the corresponding instrument Default is Alternative Tracks On/Off. Spacing (see Upper Screen) --------------------------- The slider sets the space value. A space value of 3, for example, enters notes every third line. The maximum value is 16 (and minimum 2). Placing spaces between notes while entering music makes editing and tempo changes much easier. After you have entered the music you may want to turn this spacing function off so you may move into the lines between notes. Other spacing options are: Destructive Spacing When selected, any notes that lie between the lines used for entering spaced notes will be deleted when a note is entered. Auto-Round Spacing When on, restricts cursor movements to lines divisible by the spacing value. For example, with a spacing value of 2, you can only move the cursor to lines 000, 002, 004 etc. Note that this only applies to movement using the cursor keys. By default these two options are on, which has been the normal operation in previous versions of OctaMED. END OF PART THREE --=============--