· : ¦ . _________ ________ _____________ ._____¦ | · __ / : ___________/ _ \ \ __ _ / | \ |____: : \_/ -A : \______ \ | \_ _: \_/ \_/ | \ ¦ | ¦ \_ ··D_ / / _/ | / |___/ \_ | : : | |_______/ `N· _/ \ \_________/ | \________/ ¦ |_____¦ ¦ | : \__________/ \ ¦ \_ : : \__________| \___________/ . · . »»»» PRESENTS «««« OCTAMED V5 ========== TYPED BY SHARD Written by Ed Wiles. Based on earlier documentation by Teijo Kinnunen and Larry McIntire (thanks guys!!). Proof-reading and minor alterations by David Wiles, Teijo Kinnunen, Bryan Williamson and Ray Burt-Frost (the latter of RBF Software) - thank you! Contents (revised for OctaMED V5.01b) -------------------------------------- Welcome to the OctaMED help system. The following topics are available: Introduction Those upgrading from V4. The user interface Installation Menus Windows Main screen Player commands Keyboard shortcuts "Commodore-Amiga & ppguide Copyright notice" Amiga Workbench 2.1 is a registered trade mark of Commodore-Amiga inc. (c) Copyright 1985 - 1992 Commodore-Amiga, inc. All Rights Reserved. "Amiga/Workbench/Kickstart are registered trademarks. Commodore-Amiga,inc." The Files on the disk are from WB 2.1 "tm" and are distributed with this OctaMED program under licence from Commodore themselves. They may not be copied and sold without obtaining a licence from CBM The special decrunch prog that is being used on this disk to enable the AmigaGuide files to be read from the crunched format is called ppguide and is used with kind permission of it's author Bill Sorensen. Why on earth didn't C= release the AmigaGuide with PP compatability?? OctaMED Menus ------------- The OctaMED menu bar contains the following menus: Project Display Song Block Track Instr Edit MIDI Settings The Project Menu ---------------- New This item displays the New Project window, with which you may discard the current project and begin a new one. Open Displays a file requester to load a new song into memory. The The current song will be discarded. A confirmation requester, offering to save the current song first, will appear if the current project has been changed since last saving. When loading songs without instruments, a requester will appear if an instrument can't be located on disk, offering to continue loading the other instruments or to stop loading the song altogether. If you continue until the song is loaded, OctaMED will load the instruments it can find and put the names of the instruments it can't find in their proper numbered places. You must then locate and load appropriate instruments into these positions; otherwise, the notes played by those instruments will be silent. Note that although you can load normal Tracker modules, you can't load packed Tracker modules. Tracker player commands will be converted to the OctaMED equivalent. If a song isn't identified as any format listed in the Save Options window, a requester will appear wondering if you wish to try to load the file as an old Soundtracker song. If it IS an old Soundtracker song it should load correctly, but if not OctaMED may crash! You have been warned ;-D Upon successful loading, the song's annotation text (if any) is displayed on the title bar: see Song menu -> Set Annotation. Save Brings up the Save Options window, with which you can save the current project on to disk. Save Timer Opens the Save Timer window, which provides an option similar to the "automatic save" function in many wordprocessors. Delete Files Displays a file requester allowing you to delete one or more files from disk (after confirmation). TAKE CARE: THE FILES WILL BE PERMANENTLY ERASED FROM THE DISK! Print Brings up the Print Options window, where you may print the current song in various ways. Last Message Displays the last message (error or information) that appeared on the screen's title bar. About Displays information about OctaMED. Quit OctaMED Quits the program. Will display a confirmation requester if the project has been changed since last saving. The Display Menu ---------------- Tracker Editor Displays the Tracker editor. Notation Editor Displays the notation editor. Synth Editor Opens the Synthetic Sound Editor. [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-Y ] Sample Editor Opens the Sample Editor. [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-E ] Sample List Editor Opens the Sample List Editor. MIDI Message Editor Opens the MIDI Message Editor window. Input Map Editor Opens the Input Map Editor window. Notation Control Opens the Notation Control window. Useful if, while working in the notation editor, you have closed this window to relieve "cluttering". The Song Menu ------------- Select Opens the Song Selector window, with which you may select the current song (of a multi-module). [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-G ] Add New Creates a new song, and appends it as the last song. [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-NM) ] Delete Last Deletes the last song of a multi-module. Has no effect if there is only one song in memory. [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-NM( ] Playing Sequence Opens the Playing Sequence window. [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-Q ] Section List Opens the Section List window. [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-C ] Set Options Opens the Song Options window. This window contains several song-specific options. Set Volumes Opens the Track Volumes window, which is used to set the volumes of the tracks relative to the volumes of the notes in the song. Set Annotation Opens a window containing a single text box. In this box you may type in any text up to 70 characters long. This text will be saved with the song, then displayed on the title bar when the song is reloaded. Suitable annotation text is, for example, a copyright message, the composer's name, or special instructions. The Block Menu -------------- New/Insert Inserts a new block at the current block position. OctaMED will correct the entries in the playing sequence, so the song isn't changed. The length and width of the newly-created block will be taken from the current block. [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-I ] New/Append Adds a new block after the last block. The length and width will be taken from the current block. [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-N ] New/Insert Def As Insert, but uses the built-in default length/width (64 lines, 4 or 8 tracks - 8 tracks if the channel mode is 5 - 8-channel: see Song Options. [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-I ] New/Append Def As Append, but uses the built-in defaults described above. [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-N ] Delete Deletes the block selected by the sub-menu (Current or Last). WARNING: There is no confirmation requester! OctaMED corrects the appropriate playing sequence entries. Set Properties Opens the Block Properties window, which contains some block-specific settings. Block List Opens the Block List window. This window allows easy management of blocks. [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-B ] Highlight Opens the Highlight Options window, where you may highlight the lines in a block in a particular order. Cut Copies the current block to the copy buffer, and clears the block. [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Alt-X ] Copy Places a copy of the current block in the copy buffer. [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Alt-C ] Paste Overwrites the block with the copy buffer's contents. [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Alt-V ] Swap w/Buff Swaps the contents of the current block with the contents of the copy buffer. Insert Line Inserts a new line at the cursor position, increasing the block length by one line. Delete Line Deletes the line at the cursor position, reducing the block length by one line. Expand/Shrink Opens the Expand/Shrink Block window. Split At Cursor Splits the current block into two blocks; the current line becomes the first line of the next block. [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-J ] Join With Next Joins the current block with the following one. [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-J ] The Track Menu -------------- Cut Copies the current track to the copy buffer, and clears the track. (The "current track" is the track that the cursor is on). Copy Places a copy of the current track in the copy buffer. Paste Overwrites the track with the copy buffer's contents. Swap w/Buff Swaps the contents of the current track with the contents of the copy buffer. Insert Empty Inserts an empty track. Tracks on the right of the current track will be shifted right. The number of tracks doesn't increase, so the rightmost track will be discarded. The sub-menu allows you to apply the operation to either the current block only or the entire song. [ Keyboard shortcut: Curr. Block = Alt-Shift-Backspace ] Delete Deletes a track. Tracks on the right of the current track will be shifted left. The sub-menu allows you to apply the operation to either the current block only or the entire song. [ Keyboard shortcut: Curr. Block = Alt-Backspace ] The Instr Menu -------------- Set Parameters Opens the Instrument Parameters window, which allows you to edit various instrument parameters. [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-I ] Type Opens the Instrument Type window. [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-T ] Load Instrument(s) Opens a file requester to load instruments into memory. OctaMED can load any type of instrument listed in Instrument Type. The instrument is loaded into the sample slot displayed in the upper screen. If an instrument already exists in that slot, the new one will replace it. If the instrument is a sample or synthetic sound, the title bar displays its size in bytes. In the case of synthetic sounds, it will also display the number of waveforms the sound uses. If more than one instrument is selected, they are loaded into consecutive sample slots in alphabetical order. Save Instrument Opens a file requester to save the current instrument instrument on to disk. The sub-menu gives you the choice of saving as an IFF 8SVX file or as a pure binary file (Raw). The difference is that IFF files also contain loop information (making them slightly larger than Raw files): see Instrument Parameters. Also, some other music programs can only load IFF files. When saving synthetic or hybrid sounds, you may choose either IFF 8SVX or Raw (since they are saved as neither!). For ExtSamples, save as IFF 8SVX. [ Keyboard shortcuts: IFF = Ctrl-S, Raw = Shift-Ctrl-S ] Flush Current Removes the current instrument from memory, frees the memory used by it, and clears all its parameters. [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-G ] Flush All Unused Removes all instruments unused by the current project (after a confirmation requester). If there are no unused instruments, no requester appears. [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-G ] Automatic Flush When selected, a requester to flush unused instruments will appear on pressing the Clear Current button in the New Project window. The following two items affect instrument names when loading songs or instruments. Add Path Adds the full path of the instrument when loaded. (The "path" is the disk and directory name, for example: "Samples1:Bass/"). This is useful when saving songs without instruments which include instruments not in your sample list. When the song is reloaded, the instruments will be loaded from the given disks. Remove Path Usually songs made with Trackers have instrument names which include the full path. This option removes the paths of the instruments, so that they can be loaded using the sample list instead of directly from the appropriate disk. Both Add and Remove Path may be active at once. In this case, the original path is removed, the instrument is loaded using the sample list, and the path name from the sample list is added. Note that the maximum length of an instrument name is 40 characters, so characters at the end of the name may be lost if the path is very long. The Edit Menu ------------- Apart from Transpose, all items in this menu act on the current range, which is selected by dragging the mouse in the Tracker editor. (The button used to drag is defined in the Mouse Options window. Cut Range Copies the range to the copy buffer, and clears the track. [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-X ] Copy Range Places a copy of the range in the copy buffer. [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-C ] Paste Range Inserts the contents of the copy buffer at the cursor position. [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-V ] Paste To Selected Tracks As Paste Range, but inserts consecutive tracks in the copy buffer to consecutive selected tracks in the block. For example, imagine the copy buffer contains 3 tracks, the cursor is on track 2, and tracks 2, 5 and 8 are selected. Choosing Paste to Sel Tracks pastes the copy buffer to tracks 2, 5 and 8 (instead of 2, 3 and 4 as with normal Paste). Tracks in the block are selected by setting the cycle gadget on the upper screen to "Select". [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-V ] Erase Range Clears the notes in the range. [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-Z ] Discard Copy Buffer Flushes the copy buffer and frees the memory it occupied. Transpose Opens the Transpose window, which allows transposing and changing of notes, and changing of instrument numbers. Range Current Track Ranges the whole of the track the cursor is on. [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-B ] Range Current Block Ranges the whole of the current block. [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-B ] Spread Notes Opens the Spread Notes window, which allows spreading of the notes in the range across consecutive tracks to the right of the range. Pitch Slide Creates a pitch slide, starting from the cursor position and ending at the next note encountered in the current track. The sub-menus select which sliding command to use (see Commands 0 - 9, but the better result is usually achieved using Type 1. (The difference is that type 2 replays the note after sliding to it, whereas type 1 doesn't replay the note). [ Keyboard shortcuts: Type 1 = Ctrl-T, 2 = Shift-Ctrl-T ] Volume Slide Creates a volume slide, with the cursor position between the starting and ending volume commands (that is, the "0C" commands: see Commands A - F. [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-O ] Generic Slide Creates a slide using any type of player command. Position the cursor somewhere between the starting and ending commands before selecting this function. NOTE: If you want to create a volume slide, this command will do it just as well as the Volume Slide function above. However, in Decimal Volumes mode the slide will be created in hexadecimal, which is bound to cause problems. So for volume slides, use Volume Slide! :^) One use of Generic Slide is to repeat a single player command several times throughout a track. Just make the starting and ending commands identical. [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-O ] Note Echo Opens the Note Echo window, which can produce echoes automatically using the 0C command. The MIDI Menu ------------- OctaMED can output notes and some player commands (see MIDI Commands to external MIDI devices, by way of a MIDI interface which you should connect to your Amiga's serial port. This menu contains the required functions and settings for MIDI operation. You also need to set the MIDI channel and preset number of each MIDI instrument, using the Instrument Parameters window. (This window also contains the "Suppress NoteOff" gadget used with some MIDI instruments). You may use MIDI instruments on any track, and you may also mix Amiga samples and MIDI instruments on the first four tracks. Note: Please refer to your MIDI device's manual if you come across terms in this topic that you aren't sure of. MIDI Active Activates MIDI when selected. If the serial port is being used by another program, however, you must quit the other program before you can use MIDI. When this option is on, an "M" appears in the display box to the right of Cont Block in the upper screen. Input Active When selected, allows the entering of notes into the song using the MIDI device. Edit mode and MIDI Active must be on. An "I" appears in the display box mentioned above when this function is active. You can also use your MIDI device to both enter samples and perform many editing functions using the input map editor. Input Channel Opens up the Input Channel window, with which you may set the MIDI input channel. Ext Sync and Send Sync Synchronization (or "sync" for short) involves OctaMED sending information which allows MIDI devices to keep in time with OctaMED. When "Send Sync" is activated, this information is sent when you click either Play Song or STOP (not Cont Song, Play Block or Cont Block). When "Ext Sync" is activated, OctaMED can be synced "externally", meaning that an external MIDI device sends the sync information instead of OctaMED. As well as (of course) "MIDI Active", "Input Active" must be selected for Ext Sync to work. Send Active Sensing After "MIDI Active" has been selected, OctaMED periodically sends "active sensing" ($FE) messages when this is turned on. These messages tell OctaMED whether all required MIDI leads are properly connected. Send Out Input When activated, OctaMED replays input MIDI notes. Useful for owners of a separate sound module and keyboard. Read Key-Up's When switched on, OctaMED records key-up events (as 0FFF commands - see Commands A - F. Read Volume If you have a touch-sensitive keyboard, the volume will be entered as a set volume player command (0C) when notes are input (see Commands A - F. Reset Pitch/Presets Resets pitchbenders, modulation wheels and presets on all channels. (OctaMED sends "preset change" messages for all MIDI channels). [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-Space ] Send MIDI Reset Sends a "MIDI Reset" message ($FF). Send Local Control Sends a "Local Control On / Off" message. When using a keyboard synthesizer, the local control (when on) routes the keyboard directly to the internal synthesizer. In a multi-timbral setup, switch local control off; otherwise, it's usually best to keep on. Note Killing Selects the method for turning off all notes (by clicking "STOP" or pressing the space bar). "$Bx 7B 00" sends "All Notes Off" messages for each MIDI channel, whereas "Note Off Msgs" sends standard "Note Off" messages for each track. The former is recommended if your MIDI device supports it, because it cuts all notes, not just those OctaMED triggers. (Also see the MIDI Message Editor The Settings Menu ----------------- Mouse Options Displays the Mouse Options window, which allows you to change the function of each mouse button when editing. Keyboard Options Displays the Keyboard Options window, which contains several parameters concerning using the keyboard when editing. Programmable Keys Opens the Programmable Keys window, where you may edit the programmable keys (Shift-0-9). Display Max Tracks Selects the maximum number of tracks that can be displayed on-screen at once. The value that you select depends mostly on your eyesight! To find the appropriate value for you, set the "Tracks" slider in Block Properties to 17 or above, and pick 4, 8 and 16 from Display Max Tracks in turn. If you connect your Amiga to a television and you can still clearly read the block contents in 16 mode, your eyesight is truly remarkable! (You may notice that in 16 mode, 17 tracks are in fact displayed at once... don't ask me why ;-) Palette Opens the Palette Window, with which you can alter the screen's colors. Equalizers Selects which "equalizers" to display. (They aren't actually equalizers, but this is their popular name). They're useful as a quick check to see which track is playing, or to monitor rhythm. "Bar" toggles the colorful sprites, "Oscilloscope" toggles the signal displays at the bottom of the screen. The equalizers are disabled during disk activity and if any windows are open. Under a 68000 processor, the Oscilloscopes in particular take up a lot of processor time (multi-tasking becomes poorer, disk activity noisier etc.), so if you have a 68000 you may wish to disable them permanently. Under all processors, they are disabled during disk activity. Workbench Attempts to open / close the Workbench. Useful if you are low on memory, as closing the Workbench frees about 40K of chip memory. H -> B Selects how OctaMED will display the name of the note between A# and C. In some countries it's H, in others it's B. When set, B's are displayed. Default is on (B's are displayed). Play After Loading When set, OctaMED automatically starts playing a song after it is loaded. Useful, for example, when listening to other people's songs. Auto-Freeze Screen When on, this automatically "freezes" the screen when the OctaMED screen is not the frontmost. This frees more processor time for multitasking. The screen can also be frozen using the Freeze Display gadget in the lower screen. Load Settings Opens a file requester to load a new settings file. The default name is "S:OctaMEDPro.config". Save Settings Saves the current settings under the name "S:OctaMEDPro.config". OctaMED will attempt to load a file of this name on startup. Save Settings As Opens a file requester to save the settings under a non-default name. For a list of the settings saved with the config file, see the Settings File OctaMED Windows --------------- These are the windows included in OctaMED. Synthetic Sound Editor: Block menu : Synthetic Sound Volume Block Properties Synthetic Sound Stretch Block List Expand/Shrink Block Sample Editor Highlight Options Change Volume Instr menu : Change Pitch Mix Instrument Parameters Filter/Boost Instrument Type Echo Noise Edit menu : Chord Creation Pixel Density Transpose Spread Notes Input Map Editor Note Echo Functions MIDI menu : Project menu : Input Channel New Project Settings menu : Save Options Save Timer Mouse Options Print Options Keyboard Options Programmable Keys Display menu : Palette Sample List Editor Main screen : MIDI Message Editor Notation Control Instrument Load Song menu : Song Selector Playing Sequence Section List Song Options Track Volumes The New Project Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-N ] With this window you can discard the current project and begin a new one. It is activated via the Project menu. If the current project has been modified since last saving, the window's title bar will display "WARNING: Current project modified!". This is the only warning you are given: no confirmation requesters are displayed. It contains three gadgets: Clear All Discards all samples and songs. Clear Current Clears the current song only. If Instr Menu/Automatic Flush is selected, a requester to flush unused instruments will also appear. Cancel Closes the window, canceling the operation. The Save Options Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-S ] This window allows you to save the current project on to disk. It is opened using the Project menu. The text box at the top of the window is for typing in the filename of the project. If the box is empty on opening the window, a file requester appears to select an appropriate filename. The file requester can also be opened by clicking the small GetFile gadget to the left of the text box. The cycle gadget under the File Format gadget applies to multi-modules, and selects whether to save all the songs in the multi-module or only the currently selected song. By default, all songs are saved. File Format This radio button selects which file format to use when saving. Options are: MMD2 (OctaMED V5) This format is new to V5, and supports multiple playing sequences (sections) and 1 - 64 tracks. If the song requires either of these features, this gadget is selected when the Save Options window is opened. MMD1 (OctaMED V3-V5) This is the V3-V5 format, so is (of course) compatible with these versions. If MMD2 format is not required, this gadget is selected on opening the Save Options window. Modules requiring MMD2 format can be saved almost perfectly under MMD1. Song sections are the only thing not saved: instead, they are converted into one long playing sequence, by ordering the sections in the arrangement defined by the section list. MMD0 (MED & OctaMED) The pre-OctaMED V3 format, introduced in MED V2.10. Files saved with this format lack the following: * 2-digit commands (the first digit is always zero) * Notes above D-6 (replaced by a -|- symbol) * Block names * Line highlighting MMD0 modules are always saved with instruments, and song sections are converted as described above. Note that even options new to V5 (Loop On check box, ExtSamples, default pitch, extended MIDI preset, 1 - 64 tracks) are properly saved under MMD1 and MMD0. (Although 1 - 64 tracks are correctly saved under MMD1, however, pre-V5 versions of OctaMED will probably crash if such modules are loaded). Tracker Module Sound/Noise/Protracker format, used to export modules to other "tracker" programs. However, since OctaMED supports many functions that trackers do not, some information may be lost, and some of this information appears in a requester before saving. Full details of the lost information can be found in Tracker Modules. The further down the File Format button you go, the simpler the format becomes, and therefore the smaller the file produced. So for example, if you don't require notes above D-6, block names, line highlighting, song sections or two-digit commands to be saved, you should choose the MMD0 format, since it produces a smaller file than MMD1 or MMD2. Save Secondary Data Toggles whether to save "extra" information with the song: instrument names, line highlighting, block names, and the song name. Otherwise, only what is essential to play the song is saved (meaning that the saved file is slightly smaller). Create Icon When selected, a Workbench icon file is saved with the song: a cassette image (designed by Izrael Similä of Iz Productions, thanks!). The default tool is written as "OctaMEDPlayer". Save Notation Data When checked, saves some additional information used in the notation editor: * The Shown, Ghost and Select track gadgets' status * The time and key signature * Both the settings in the Instr. Notation window Save Instruments Chooses whether the song should be saved together with its instruments. If not, only the instrument names are saved; when the song is reloaded, the instruments are loaded from your sample disks. This is done either by using the full path name of each instrument (see (see Instr Menu/Add Path), or more commonly by way of the sample list. When this gadget is on, instruments unused in the song won't be saved. By default, all these check boxes except Save Notation Data are switched on. To those upgrading from V4: MMD1 and MMD0 are equivalent to MOD1 and MOD0. MOD1 (+instr) can be selected by choosing MMD1 and switching Save Instruments on, and MOD1 (no inst) by switching Save Instruments off. Compression This cycle gadget selects the compression (if any) to use before saving the module. No Compression Does not compress the module (default). PowerPacker Compression Uses the popular powerpacker.library by Nico François to compress. (Currently the parameters are always Good efficiency, Medium buffer). SFCD Compression The Stephan Fuhrmann Compact Density algorithm is used for compression (requires lh.library, not included with OctaMED). Calculate Size Calculates the size in bytes of the project if it was saved using the current status of File Format, Save Secondary Data, Save Notation Data, Save Instruments and the multi-module cycle gadget. Save Saves the song using the above parameters. ** OctaMED can emulate the "automatic save" function of many wordprocessors using the Save Timer window The Save Timer Window This window, activated using the Project menu, emulates the "automatic save" function of many wordprocessors. You can automatically open the Save Options window periodically. The window contains a single integer gadget, whose value is the time in minutes between subsequent openings of the Save Options window. A value of 0 turns this function off, and is the default. The Print Options Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-P ] This window, opened using the Project menu, allows printing of the song and various song information. You can print the song as text (the format of the Tracker editor or as graphics (as in the notation editor. The gadgets are as follows: Output File Consists of a text box and a GetFile gadget to the left of the text box. With these you may redirect output to a file instead of a printer. You can only redirect the header and text output, not graphics. Start Block These numerical boxes set the starting and ending block of the printout; you may type in any valid block numbers. All Blocks Sets the boxes to the first and last block of the song. Current Block Sets the boxes to the current block number. Print Header Selects whether to print the header before the song contents. The header consists of a list of instruments and their parameters, the default tempo, play transpose, track volumes and the playing sequence(s). It is printed as ordinary text. Form Feed Sends a form feed after printing each block. The remaining cycle gadget selects whether to print as graphics (default), text, or not to print the blocks at all (i.e. only the header, if Print Header is checked). Any Preferences-compatible printer should work in graphics mode, and the printout's appearance can be changed using the "Printer" preference program which can be found in the Prefs drawer. In text mode, highlighted lines are printed in bold text. "Print" prints using the specified options, and "Exit" closes the window. The Synthetic Sound Editor [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-Y ] Synthetic sounds (or "synthsounds") are made from simple waveforms, which can be joined together and have their volume and pitch altered by using a simple "programming language". This window contains the functions to construct these sounds, and is opened either by using the Display menu or by clicking the "Edit SynthS" gadget on the upper screen. The main advantage of synthsounds is that they take up far less memory than their sampled counterparts, so often it's worth trying to create a synthetic version of a sampled instrument before devoting yourself to one or the other. However, this doesn't mean synthsounds are a poor substitute, especially if you enjoy the sounds produced by analogue synthesizers and the good old Commodore 64! Synthsounds are also particularly useful when composing in certain styles of music, Acid House and Rave being notable examples. They also have a 5- octave range, compared to the 3-octave range of ordinary samples. To use this window's functions, the current instrument must be a synthsound (selected either by using the Instrument Type window, or by choosing "New Synthsound" from the synth editor's Project menu). When Edit is on (upper screen), the keyboard is used to program the synthsound (see the Synthetic Sound Programming Language, but when off you may play the current sound using the keyboard, like ordinary samples. Waveform editing ---------------- There are two waveform displays: the left one is the "master waveform display" (which is the actual current instrument) and the right one is for intermediate editing (it also serves as a copy buffer). Either of the waveforms can be activated by clicking on them, and the current waveform is recessed (it seems to "go into" the screen). Initially the right display is active. There are gadgets between the displays, most of which are used for transferring waveforms between displays: Copy Copies one waveform to the other (in the arrow direction). Exchange Exchanges both waveforms. Mix Mixes the left waveform to the right waveform. Add Like Mix, but it doesn't produce any average between the waveforms. UNDO "Undoes" (reverses the effects of) the last editing operation. Range All Selects the entire current waveform as the range for editing operations. Freehand drawing ---------------- One way to create waveforms is to draw them from scratch, by dragging the left mouse button along a waveform display. There are four drawing modes, selectable by toggling the "Draw Mode" cycle gadgets. Pixel Draws in pixels (default). Line Used for drawing straight lines. Mix Mixes the drawn lines / pixels with the existing data. Direct Draws without mixing (default). (The upper cycle gadget also selects Range, with which you can select a part of the waveform: see below). The Preset and Project menus ---------------------------- Instead of drawing freehand (which can be inaccurate), some often-needed basic waveforms are available from the Presets menu. Selecting a waveform inserts it into the active waveform display. Also in this menu is "Clear Wave", which clears the active display. The following items are included in the Project menu: New Synthsound Clears the whole synthsound (take care...). Also forces the current instrument to be a synthsound. Exit Synth Editor Closes the window. Waveform length --------------- Each synthetic waveform can be 2 - 128 bytes long (although the number must be even). The shorter the waveform, the higher the pitch (the pitch also depends on the waveform itself). Usually, to make the pitches harmonically compatible with other instruments, you should use length 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 or 128. The length can be changed by using the "Length" slider. Multiple waveforms ------------------ Up to 64 waveforms can be defined for one synthsound. The gadgets to the right of "Waveform:" are: the current waveform integer gadget (you can type in the number of the waveform), the current waveform number in hex and the last waveform number in decimal, and arrow gadgets that increase / decrease the current waveform number [ keyboard shortcuts: Alt - / ]. Shift-clicking these arrow gadgets selects the first / last waveform. Relevant gadgets are as follows: New Waveform Adds a new waveform after the last waveform. New Here Inserts a new waveform at the current waveform position. Delete Last Deletes the last waveform. Delete Current Deletes the current waveform. Range operations ---------------- Some basic operations exist that apply to the current range. A range is marked by cycling the upper Draw Mode cycle gadget to "Range", then dragging the left mouse button over a waveform display. The whole waveform can be selected by clicking "Range All". The "Range" / "End" gadgets at the lower-right of the window can be used to make small corrections to the range area. A range of one byte in length is displayed as a single vertical white line. This is the cursor; some editing operations need it. It may be set either by clicking the left mouse button on a waveform display (with "Range" cycled), or by using the "Cursor" gadgets: from left to right, they are "cursor to start", "cursor to middle of waveform", and "cursor to end". The range gadgets are as follows: Cut (works only on left waveform display) Moves the range contents to the right display, and clears the range. Copy (only left display) Copies the range to the right display. Paste Copies right display to the cursor position on the left display. Clear Clears the range. Double "Doubles" the range, making the pitch one octave higher. Reverse Reverses the range. << / >> Shifts the ranged data to the left or right. The Waveform menu ----------------- Change Volume Opens the Synthsound Volume window. Stretch Opens the Synthsound Stretch window. Start / Do Transformation Allows you to change one waveform to another smoothly, by generating the intervening waveforms. For example, allocate 9 new waveforms by clicking "New Waveform" 9 times. Move to waveform 0 and select a pulse waveform, and select "Start Transformation". Now move to waveform 9 and select a sine waveform. Select "Do Transformation" to carry out the operation, and if you view waveforms 1 - 8 you'll notice the smooth transition between the pulse and sine wave. (Programming language documented in Synthetic Sound Programming Language The Synthsound Volume Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-V ] This allows you to increase / decrease the volume of a selected range, in the synthetic sound editor. It is brought up by selecting "Change Volume" from the editor's Waveform menu. The integer gadget contains the percentage of volume change required. For example, 50 would halve the volume, and 200 would double the volume. Pressing RETURN while the gadget is active executes the function. The OK gadget carries out the operation, the Cancel gadget aborts it. The Synthsound Stretch Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-S ] This allows you to stretch a point on the waveform towards another point, in the synthetic sound editor. It is activated using the editor's Waveform menu. For example: select a sine wave. Then position the cursor at the middle of the waveform. Now open this window and type the amount of movement into the integer gadget (e.g. 32). Typing in a negative number stretches the point to the left. Pressing RETURN while the gadget is active executes the function. The OK gadget carries out the operation, the Cancel gadget aborts it. The Synthetic Sound Programming Language Note: Please read this section carefully before experimenting, because you can lock your machine up with improper use of the synthsound programming language (as with any other language). The programming language is used for controling the volume, pitch, and order of waveforms in a synthsound. It consists of simple keywords, of which most have an argument. For a description of these keywords, see Synthetic Sound Language Keywords. The programming is done using two lists of commands/numbers. These lists are displayed in a small window below the right waveform display in the synthetic sound editor. The two leftmost columns display the line numbers in decimal and hex. The middle column contains the volume control sequence, while the rightmost is the waveform/pitch control sequence. volume ctrl seq | line | waveform ctrl seq | | | 00 00 40 00 01 01 END END These sequences ("seqs" from now on) are both a maximum of 127 entries long. Each seq is always automatically terminated with the "END" instruction. You can scroll the seqs with the cursor up/down keys, and use the F6-F10 keys as in the Tracker editor. The cursor can be moved horizontally using the cursor left/right keys. There are six possible horizontal cursor locations (3 for each seq). When entering commands, the cursor should be on the leftmost position of the appropriate seq. Values are entered by positioning the cursor over the number to be changed and typing in a new value. Commands and numbers are entered via the keyboard, and Edit must be on before either seq can be changed. You may insert entries to the seqs with the Return key (or by clicking the "Insert" gadget), and delete using the Del key (or by clicking "Delete"). JMP commands are renumbered when entries are inserted or deleted. With the release of V5, editing has been tidied up somewhat. The cursor no longer moves down beyond END; and inserting any command except HLT and RES (which don't take parameters) also inserts a new 00 value. The "Transition" gadget creates transitions. For example, consider this waveform sequence: line 00 00 01 0F 02 END If you position the cursor at line 01, making sure that Edit is on, clicking "Transition" creates all the numbers between 00 and 0F (01, 02, 03, 04 ... 0E). This saves a lot of typing! * ALL NUMBERS IN THE SEQUENCE LISTS ARE HEXADECIMAL * First, let's examine some example sequences. This is a volume sequence: 00 40 <= set initial volume to 64 (hex $40) 01 CHD <= command, that means "Set volume change down speed" 02 03 <= argument (speed = 3) 03 END Here's another: 00 00 <= initial volume = 0 01 CHU <= Command: Set volume change up 02 07 <= speed = 7 03 WAI <= Command: Wait 04 10 <= wait 10 pulses 05 CHU <= Set volume change up 06 00 <= speed = 0 -> stop changing volume 07 WAI <= Wait 08 70 <= 70 pulses 09 CHD <= Cmd: Set volume change down 0A 01 <= speed = 1 (slow) 0B END A third: 00 40 <= vol = $40 01 30 <= vol = $30 (without a command, the values are volume 02 20 <= vol = $20 changes) 03 END And finally, a fourth: 00 40 <= vol = $40 01 CHD <+ <= change down speed.. 02 01 | <= ..= 1 03 WAI | <= Wait.. 04 20 | <= ..20 05 CHU | <= change up 06 01 | <= ..1 07 WAI | <= Wait.. 08 20 | <= ..20 again 09 JMP | <= Jump (= goto) 0A 01 -+ <= to line number 01 0B END Now for some waveform/pitch sequences. The waveform/pitch sequence is the "master sequence" while the volume sequence is a kind of "slave sequence". First: (the simplest case) 00 00 <= set waveform #00 01 END A bit more complex: 00 VBS <= set vibrato speed 01 40 <= speed = $40 02 VBD <= set vibrato depth 03 02 <= depth = 2 04 00 <= waveform #00 05 END And very complex: 00 ARP <= start arpeggio sequence 01 00 \ 02 03 arpeggio values 0, 3, 7 (minor chord) 03 07 / 04 ARE <= end arpeggio sequence 05 VBD <= vibrato depth 06 06 <= 6 07 VBS <= vibrato speed 08 40 <= $40 09 00 <= set waveform #0 0A 01 <= set waveforms 01 - 0A (one timing pulse/waveform) 0B 02 | | 0C 03 \ / 0D 04 \_/ 0E 05 0F 06 10 07 11 08 12 09 13 0A and back to #01... 14 08 15 07 16 06 17 05 18 04 19 03 1A 02 1B 01 1C JMP <= jump 1D 09 <= to position 09 (restart waveform changing) 1E END About timing ------------ After executing most commands, in both control seqs, OctaMED immediately executes the next command. However, with some commands OctaMED waits for the next timing pulse before executing the next command. Without these few commands, OctaMED would spend all its time executing the control seqs (and hang up). You should therefore ensure that all loops contain one, and they are WAI (Wait), vol chg (a plain number in the volume seq) and set waveform (a plain number in the pitch/waveform seq). For example, the following loops would hang up your computer: 00 JMP 00 CHU <-+ command CHU doesn't wait 01 00 01 02 | ... 02 JMP | 03 00 --+ While the following would not: 00 20 00 WAI 01 JMP 01 02 02 00 02 JMP 03 00 Execution speed --------------- The synthsound handling routine is by default called once every timing pulse, so for every note played handling is done the number of times specified by the secondary tempo. However, you can make OctaMED execute the synth control seq entries less frequently than that if you wish. The number of timing pulses between the execution of each entry is known as the "execution speed". The execution speed of each seq can be set independently, by using the arrow gadgets to the left of the control seq. Wave and Volume set the waveform/pitch and volume sequences respectively, and can have values of 1-15 (F hex). The execution speed can also be changed during execution, by using the SPD command. Synthsound-handling player commands ----------------------------------- With synthsounds, command E in songs triggers a jump in the waveform/pitch sequence. (See Commands A - F For example, if you wanted to decrease the pitch of the sound after a certain point, your waveform/pitch sequence could look like this: 00 VBS 01 40 02 VBD 03 06 04 00 ;play waveform 00 05 HLT 06 CHD ;pitch changing entry point 07 02 08 END Now you could compose a track like this: C-2 3000 ;this is the previous synthsound --- 0000 --- 0000 --- 0E06 ;cause a jump to position 06 (pitch starts to slide down) --- 0000 ... Using the JVS command, you can make command E affect the volume sequence as well. Hold and Decay (see Instrument Parameters Window work well with synthsounds too. The decay value with synthsounds, however, triggers a jump in the volume control sequence. At the point when decay normally starts, execution will jump to the entry in the vol ctrl seq specified by the decay value. This means that you can handle the decay in any way you like. You can also make it affect the waveform/pitch seq using the JWS command. Example volume control sequence: 00 40 ;volume 01 HLT ;end 02 CHD ;decay handling (entry point) -> cause decay 03 03 04 END The decay value for this synthsound should be 2. The decay values are saved and loaded with synthetic sounds. Hybrid Sounds ------------- Hybrid sounds are much like synthsounds, except that instead of waveform pieces a normal sample is used. All commands of the synthsound handling programming language can be used with hybrid sounds, except the "set waveform" command: since there's only a single waveform, it neither works nor is necessary. Also, volume-changing commands (A, C, D, 5, 6, 1A, and 1B) don't work with hybrid sounds. (See Player Commands You can, however, add more synthetic waveforms for use with the EN1, EN2 or VWF synth commands. And finally... ------------- Don't worry if you don't understand synthsounds at first glance! The language used in this topic has been necessarily technical, but read it through again... :) Anyway, you don't need to learn any this information to use synthsounds, only to design them. The Synthetic Sound Language Keywords VOLUME CONTROL SEQUENCE COMMANDS ================================ 1. Set volume Command: --- Keyboard: --- (key needed to enter the command) This is the default command (no command identifier). It sets the absolute volume of the synthsound. It should be 00 - 40. Note that the relative track volumes are not used in synthsounds (mostly for performance reasons). Example: 00 30 <= volume = $30 01 10 <= volume = $10 ... 2. End sequence Command: END Keyboard: --- This command terminates the volume control seq. It's always there and automatically inserted. You can't insert commands past this one. 3. Set volume change down speed Command: CHD Keyboard: D This command sets the speed at which the volume is decreased each timing pulse. The volume starts changing automatically after this command. To stop automatic volume sliding, issue this command with speed 00. Example: 00 CHD 01 05 <= speed = 5 ... 10 CHD 11 00 <= speed = 0 -> stop sliding 4. Set volume change up speed Command: CHU Keyboard: U This command is like CHD, except it sets the volume change up. 5. Wait Command: WAI Keyboard: W This command waits for a specified amount of timing pulses (pause). Example: 03 WAI 04 10 <= wait for 16 ($10) pulses to occur 6. Jump Command: JMP Keyboard: J Causes an immediate jump to another volume seq position. Example: 05 JMP 06 0A <= jump forward to line 0A 7. Jump waveform sequence Command: JWS Keyboard: Shift-J This command causes a jump in the waveform sequence. This can be used, for example, to trigger a pitch change at the end of the vol ctrl seq. Note that this DOESN'T cause a jump TO the waveform seq. Example: 04 JWS 05 0F <= jump to line 0F in the waveform control sequence 8. Halt Command: HLT Keyboard: H This has the same effect as command END (halt execution), but it can be inserted in the middle of the sequence. Example: 03 HLT 04 04 <= other code (can be accessed with JMP instruction, for ... example) 9. Set speed Command: SPD Keyboard: S Sets the execution speed. Example: 0A SPD 0B 01 <= speed = 1 (fastest) ... 10. One-shot envelope Command: EN1 Keyboard: E This command allows you to draw the shape of the envelope with the mouse. When the end of the envelope is reached, nothing occurs. 02 40 03 EN1 04 05 Hence waveform 05 is used as an envelope. Note that the envelope execution starts on the next interrupt, so the volume is initialized to $40. The envelope waveform must always be 128 bytes long!! 11. Looping envelope Command: EN2 Keyboard: Shift-E This works like command EN1, except that when the end is reached, execution will start again from the beginning. WAVEFORM/PITCH CONTROL SEQUENCE COMMANDS ---------------------------------------- 1. Set waveform Command: --- Keyboard: --- This command is used to indicate the waveform number (starting from 00). After this instruction, the execution stops until the next timing pulse occurs. Don't use waveform numbers that are higher than the actual number of the last waveform. Example: 00 00 <= waveform 00 01 01 <= waveform 01 ... 2. End sequence Command: END Keyboard: --- This command terminates the volume control seq. It's always there and automatically inserted. You can't insert commands past this one. 3. Set pitch change down speed Command: CHD Keyboard: D This command sets the sliding speed for sliding the pitch down. The sliding automatically starts after this command and stops, when the speed is set to zero. Example: 00 CHD 01 03 <= set speed to 3 ... 4. Set pitch change up speed Command: CHU Keyboard: U Like the previous command, but slides the pitch up. 5. Wait Command: WAI Keyboard: W This command waits for a specified amount of timing pulses (pause). Example: 03 WAI 04 02 <= wait for 2 pulses to occur 6. Jump Command: JMP Keyboard: J Causes an immediate jump to another waveform/pitch seq position. Example: 05 JMP 06 0A <= jump forward to line 0A 7. Jump volume sequence Command: JVS Keyboard: Shift-J This command causes a jump to happen in the volume sequence. Can be used e.g. for triggering volume changes after some waveform event. Example: 09 JVS 0A 00 <= start volume sequence from the beginning 8. Halt Command: HLT Keyboard: H This has the same effect as command END (halt execution), but it can be inserted in the middle of the control sequence. Example: 03 HLT 04 04 <= some other code (can be accessed with JMP instruction, ... for example) 9. Set speed Command: SPD Keyboard: S Sets the execution speed. Example: 0A SPD 0B 01 <= speed = 1 (fastest) ... 10. Begin arpeggio definition Command: ARP Keyboard: A This command starts the arpeggio sequence. The subsequent values are the arpeggio offsets from the base note. The arpeggio sequence is terminated with the ARE command. The arpeggio starts automatically after the sequence is defined. Example: 03 ARP <= start arpeggio 04 00 <= offset values 05 04 06 07 07 0A 08 ARE <= end arpeggio definition 11. End arpeggio definition Command: ARE Keyboard: E Ends an arpeggio definition. See above. 12. Set vibrato depth Command: VBD Keyboard: V This command is used to set the vibrato depth (00 - 7F). Example: 02 VBD 03 04 <= set depth to 4 13. Set vibrato speed Command: VBS Keyboard: Shift-V This command sets the vibrato speed (00 - 7F). Both speed and depth must be non-zero for vibrato to occur. Example: 02 VBD 03 04 <= depth = 4 04 VBS 05 30 <= speed = 30 14. Reset pitch Command: RES Keyboard: R This command resets the pitch of the note to its initial pitch. 15. Set vibrato waveform Command: VWF Keyboard: Shift-W Sets the vibrato waveform. The argument is the number of the waveform. The waveform should always be 32 bytes long!! Note that it's actually played reversed (use the Reverse gadget to reverse it). By default, a sine wave is used. Example: 00 VBD 01 06 02 VBS 03 40 04 VWF 05 04 <= use waveform number 04 as vibrato waveform The Sample Editor [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-E ] This window allows you to edit and digitize samples. It is activated either by using the Display menu or by clicking "Edit Sample" on the upper screen. Displayed in the window is either the current sample's waveform, or the words "No sample loaded" if the current instrument slot is empty. The scroll bar below the waveform shows the size and position of the displayed portion of the sample relative to the whole sample. It also allows you to scroll around the sample (after zooming in, see later) by dragging it. Scrolling can also be done using the cursor left / right keys. Many operations act on a specific range, which is set by dragging the left mouse button along the waveform. After selecting the range, you may re-adjust the start or end positions by holding down a Shift key while dragging the left mouse button. The gadgets above the waveform are as follows: Display This display box contains the number of bytes currently being displayed in the waveform. It changes when zooming in or out (see later). Buffsize The size of the current sample (waveform buffer). Typing in a new size brings up a requester, asking whether to clear the sample or retain the sample already in memory. One use of retaining the sample is adding extra "workspace" to the end of a sample, which is useful in some editing operations (e.g. echoing). By choosing "Clear" you may create a new sample, and this is often the first step when digitizing (see later). There need not be a sample in memory in order to enter a new size. The maximum buffer size is 131072. Range Start/End These gadgets show the actual byte positions of the start and end of the range, and can be changed by entering a new value into them. The following gadgets lie below the waveform: Play Display Plays the current display at the current pitch (see "Pitch" below). Zoom In / Out Magnifies / reduces the sample so you can see more / less detail. Repeated clicking takes you deeper into / further away from the sample. This is essential for accurate editing. Show All Restores the whole waveform to view after zooming. Range Display Ranges the whole display. SampleBuffer Copies the copy buffer to the sample, and the sample to the copy buffer. Can be used to implement a simple "undo". Before trying out a function, a snapshot of the sample can be made with "Sample<". If you're not satisfied with the outcome of the function, the sample can be restored with ">Buffer". Monitor Opens a window that displays the real-time input waveform from a sampler (connected to the parallel port). The purpose of Monitor is to make sure the sound is at a volume level that will not cause distortion in the digitizing process (see below). The rest of the program is disabled during monitoring, i.e. no other functions can be selected. Closing the window stops monitoring. Digitize Starts digitizing (also called "sampling"). The screen blanks, and multitasking is disabled. The sampling stops when the buffer is full, but it can be interrupted with the right mouse button. Clicking Digitize when Buffsize is zero sets Buffsize to 131072 bytes (or if not enough memory, to the largest size possible). Pitch The numerical box displays the current sampling / playing period, and the raised box shows the equivalent note to the period value. The default is 428 (note C-2), but this can be changed by either entering a value into the gadget, or holding the left mouse button on the note box and entering a new note using the keyboard. Freehand When on, you may edit the waveform with the mouse. The maximum display size is 628 bytes, but you may zoom closer if you wish. In Freehand mode, the Pixel display mode is automatically selected. Loop A sample having a loop means that a note you play with the sample is sustained until it is stopped. This is due to a particular section of the sample being continually repeated (or "looped"), and the boundaries of this section are defined by the two "loop pointers". These pointers appear as dotted lines over the waveform, and as small triangles in the rectangle immediately below the waveform. They mark the start and end of the looped section. The "Loop" check box is a duplicate of the "Loop On" gadget in the Instrument Parameters window. Selecting this gadget activates the loop. Loop Point The loop pointers can be moved in three different ways: * Typing in the Repeat and/or RepLen value in the Instrument Parameters window * Dragging the small triangles across the waveform * Using the Loop Point gadgets The < and > gadgets move a loop pointer two bytes to the left or right. <0 and 0> move a loop pointer to the left or right until a zero is found. For a decent-sounding loop, it ideally needs to start and end at the same value, which can often be zero (i.e. no amplitude). So these gadgets are useful in finding good loop points. The cycle gadget selects whether the < > <0 0> gadgets act on the loop start (default) or loop end pointer. Bear in mind that zooming in allows far more accurate loop positioning. The following gadgets act on the currently selected range (see above): Show Magnifies the range to fill the whole display. Play Plays the range at the current pitch. Cut Deletes the range and moves it to the copy buffer. Erase Deletes the range (but doesn't move it to the copy buffer). NOTE TO V4 UPGRADERS: this is like V4's DEL button. Clear Clears the range. Copy Copies the range to the copy buffer. Paste Inserts the copy buffer's contents at the start of the range. The sample size will increase by the number of bytes inserted. Reverse Reverses the range left to right. Useful for interpreting hidden messages in a few rock songs ;) The menus attached to this window are as follows: Project ------- Flush Sample Removes the current instrument from memory. Load Sample Opens a file requester to load a sample. Save Sample As Opens a file requester to save an IFF sample. Note that the loop values are also saved with IFF samples. Exit Sample Closes the sample editor window. Editor Edit ---- With this menu you may edit the sample. The Cut, Copy, Paste, Erase, Clear and Reverse items have equivalent functions to the respective Range gadgets. Invert Inverts the range (turns it upside-down). This can be useful when trying to find a smooth loop or a smooth join between two waveforms (freehand mode also helps this). Chop Deletes the non-ranged parts of the sample. Only the part defined by the range is left. Remove Unused Space Deletes empty space (i.e. of zero volume) on either side of the waveform. This both saves memory and keeps the timing in songs precise. Copy to Synth Editor Transfers the current range to the synthetic sound editor, thus allowing you to create a less memory-consuming instrument. The synth editor can only handle waveforms of 128 bytes maximum, so if the range is longer than that, only the first 128 bytes marked are copied. The range is copied to the right-hand waveform display. If you want the new synthetic instrument to replace the sample in memory, you need to make the current instrument synthetic. Play Buffer Contents Plays the contents of the copy buffer at the current pitch. Discard Copy Buffer Discards and frees the memory occupied by the copy buffer. Effects ------- This menu adds special effects to the sample. Change Volume Brings up the Change Volume window. Change Pitch Brings up the Change Pitch window. Mix Brings up the Mix window. Filter/Boost Brings up the Filter/Boost window. Echo Brings up the Echo window. Create Noise Brings up the Noise window. Create Chord Brings up the Chord Creation window. Note that all effects aside from Change Pitch, Mix and Create Chord affect the current RANGE. So if you wish these effects to apply to the whole sample, use the Range Display gadget. Also, shift-clicking any of the action buttons (i.e. those which perform a function) in these windows executes the function then closes the window. Settings -------- Display "Line" selects the normal line display mode, but when "Pixel" is turned on, the sample is displayed as pixels instead of lines. "Pixel Density" activates the Pixel Density window with which you can choose the density of the pixels in "Pixel" mode. Sampler Voice Monitor When selected, you can hear the sound you are sampling during digitizing. Turning this off may marginally enhance the digitizing quality on slower machines (those using a 68000 processor). @ENDNODE The Change Volume Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-O ] This window allows you to change the volume of the current range, and is opened using the sample editor's Effects menu. The sliders select the starting and ending volume change, and both are percentages of the original waveform. For example, setting the start volume to 150 % and the end volume to 75 % fades downwards from one-and-a-half times the original volume to three-quarters of the original volume. Each slider can select a value of 0 - 500 %. Clicking CHANGE VOLUME changes the volume using the current slider values. There are also some commonly-used presets below the CHANGE VOLUME gadget. "Fade In" changes from 0 % to 100 %, "Fade Out" from 100 % to 0 %, "Halve" 50 % - 50 %, and "Double" 200 % - 200 %. Clicking any of these gadgets sets the sliders to the values they represent, then changes the volume. Fade In / Out are useful partly in eliminating the "click" that you sometimes hear at the very start and end of a sample. To do this, range a small piece of waveform at the start or end of the sample, and click Fade In for the start or Fade Out for the end. Normally, if the volume is increased too much, the normal waveform limits are exceeded and distortion (or "clipping") will occur. If the "Don't Clip" gadget is switched on, however, the waveform limits will not be exceeded. The "Exit" gadget closes the window. The Change Pitch Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-P ] This window lets you change the pitch of (or "retune") the sample. The sample's size will also change: it will decrease if the pitch is made higher, and increase if the pitch is lowered. (The window is opened by using the sample editor's Effects menu). For example, if you'd like to retune the current sample to play the note G-2 when you press the C-2 key: 1. Set the source note to C-2 by holding the left mouse button on the "Source" note box and pressing the C-2 key; 2. Set the destination note to G-2 in the same way; 3. Click "Change Pitch". The sample is retuned, and its size in this case will decrease by roughly two-thirds. Other gadgets are: Octave Up/Down Retunes the sample one octave up / down, halving / doubling the sample's size. The "Period" gadgets are changed to the values the operation represents. Cancel Finetune Retunes the sample so that the Finetune value in the Instrument Parameters window no longer applies. So if the finetune value was -4, the sample would be retuned 4 steps down and the instrument's finetune would be set to zero. Anti-Alias When on, does some anti-aliasing when retuning. This means that noise is reduced, and is the default. Exit Closes the window. The Mix Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-M ] This window contains the gadgets required to combine two samples, and is activated using the Effects menu in the sample editor. The sample placed in the copy buffer (using the >Buffer gadget in the sample editor will be mixed with the current sample. The two sliders control the volumes of the two waveforms to be mixed. To understand them fully, you need to bear in mind that mixing is achieved by ADDING the two samples together. So if the samples were both mixed at 100 % volume, the resulting mixed sample would be 200 % (double) in volume. For this reason, the default for each sample is 50 %, giving a 100 % (normal volume) mixed sample. Each slider's value may be 0 - 100 %. (For those that are interested, this is why samples should be "halved" in 5-8-channel mode: the samples are added at half their normal volume to produce a full volume sample). The volume of the sample in the copy buffer is altered using the "Dest. Level" slider, and that of the current sample using the "Source Level" slider. The sample in the copy buffer is mixed at the point marked by a range in the current sample. If the range is more than one byte in length, only the area selected by the range is affected; otherwise, the whole of the sample starting at Range Start is affected. The "Mix" gadget mixes the sample, and "Exit" closes the window. The Filter/Boost Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-F ] This window includes a function to filter the current range, reducing noise, and to boost the current range, making it sound brighter and more audible. The window is brought up using the sample editor's Effects menu. Filtering is done by calculating the average of each individual value in the sample and the values on either side of it. Boosting employs an opposite process. There are two sliders, both of which can have a value of 1 - 128: Averaging The strength of the filter/boost (technical note: the proportions of each individual value compared to the values on either side of it). The higher the value, the greater the strength. The default is 16. Distance The distance between the averaged values. In practical terms, this slider affects the sound in an odd way! (It's best to experiment with different values). For a normal filter/boost, set this to 1 (the default). The Filter gadget filters, Boost gadget boosts, and Exit closes the window. The Echo Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-K ] With this window, interesting echo effects can be produced. It is revealed using the sample editor's Effects menu. The echo function affects the current range. Before echoing, you usually need to add some extra space to the end of the sample, by typing a new value into Buffsize (in the sample editor) then choosing "Retain" in the requester. You need to range both the waveform to be echoed and the blank space that the echo is to affect. There are three integer gadgets: Echo Rate The distance, in bytes, between two echoes. A very low rate can make a speech sample sound like a robot :-D Volume Decrease Specifies the rate of volume decrease in the echo. The lower the value, the lower the rate, but a value of zero spreads the volume evenly throughout the range. Number of Echoes The total number of echoes produced, usually quite low (1 - 10). The best way to learn this feature is through experimentation. The "Do Echo" gadget executes the function, and "Exit" closes the window. The Noise Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-N ] This window is opened using the sample editor's Effects menu. The fairly unique feature in the window allows you to add noise to the current range. It may seem useless at first glance, but with it you can easily create effects such as wind and sea sounds, and it can be a source of more complex instruments when used together with other effects. So it's possible to create good-sounding instruments even without using a sampler! The slider sets the noise strength (1 - 128), which is really the volume of the produced noise. The "Noise" gadget creates noise, and "Exit" closes the window. The Chord Creation Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-H ] With this window you can create chords of two to four notes from the current sample. The window is brought up using the sample editor's Effects menu. The window consists of four pitch gadgets, whose contents can be changed by holding down the left mouse button and pressing a note on the keyboard. You may also clear the note by pressing Return or Del. The basenote is the note to which the chord notes relate. In practical terms you can think of it as the "bass note". The other gadgets are the other notes in the chord, of which some may be blank if desired. Note that you are not restricted to the normal three-octave range of a sample: you may use pitches over the full 10.5-octave range. Also note that higher notes are shorter in length than lower notes, so the notes in the chord will not end simultaneously. "Create Chord" creates the chord and stores it in the current sample. "Exit" closes the window. The Pixel Density Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-D ] The slider in this window sets the density of the pixels (1 - 50) used when drawing the waveform in "Pixel" mode (see the Sample Editor}, Settings menu). The slider value is in reality the number of pixels displayed in every horizontal pixel position. The "Exit" gadget closes the window. The Sample List Editor [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-L ] As you work with computer music you will acquire large numbers of instruments, spread over many different disks and directories. For easy loading, the samples need to be organized. This window provides the necessary functions for organizing and storing a list of all your samples. (It is opened using the Display menu. The list could be created using any text editor (as it had to be in the early days of MED), but it's now much easier to make one with the Sample List Editor. Basically, a list is created by clicking "Add Dir..." and choosing a directory containing samples from the file requester. The directory and its filenames are then added to the list, and this can be repeated for all your sample directories / disks. You may view a directory's filenames by clicking the required directory name in the "Directories" list. The list is saved using "Save List...", and the filename is "MED_paths". On startup, OctaMED looks for the MED_paths file in the current directory and in the S: directory (and loads it if it's found). The default save path is S:. The gadgets in this window are as follows: Add Adds the current instrument to the filenames list (it will be inserted in alphabetical order). Note that the sample's loop, tuning, MIDI, and relative volume values will also be stored, as well as its default pitch. Remove Removes the instrument selected in the sample list (i.e. click on a filename and press "Remove"). Save Ins Saves the current instrument to the currently selected directory (stores it on disk as well as in the list). Del Ins Like "Remove", but also deletes the instrument from disk. These last two options remove the need to use a file requester to save or delete instruments in the sample list. Add Dir Opens a file requester to add a directory to the list. A requester will also appear, inquiring whether you wish to add the directory after the currently selected directory or to the end of the list. Remove Dir Removes the current directory from the list. Save List Opens a file requester to save the list to disk. Note that on startup OctaMED looks for the MED_paths file in the current directory and the S: directory, so be sure to either save it in the S: directory or in the same directory as the OctaMED program. It is usually best to choose the S: directory, as then it doesn't matter what the current directory is when starting OctaMED. Load Inst Loads the selected sample list instrument to the current sample slot. (An easier method of loading instruments in the sample list is found in the Load Instrument Window. Save All Insts Saves all instruments in the song to the current directory. This can be handy for extracting (or "ripping") all the samples from other people's songs, for use in your own songs. The Name text gadget displays the name of the selected instrument. You may rename the instrument by typing a new name into this gadget. The remaining integer gadgets are the current loop / tuning / MIDI / volume values of the selected instrument, and the Pitch gadget is the current default pitch of the selected instrument (if any). They can be changed by entering a new value, or by holding the left mouse button on the Pitch gadget and pressing a new note on the keyboard. Note that the MIDI and loop (Repeat / RepLen) gadgets can't both be used at the same time: changing a MIDI gadget value sets the loop gadgets to zero, and vice-versa. (For a description of loop / tuning / MIDI / relative volume values, and the default instrument pitch, see the Instrument Parameters Window. Since MIDI instruments are not actually instruments but a few settings, you may wish to create a "dummy" directory for MIDI instruments. The Exit gadget closes the window. 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. Other options ------------- Chord Reset When on, after entering a chord (see Upper Screen) the cursor returns to the initial track. Space = DEL Some users prefer using the space bar to enter blank notes, in preference to the Del key. This check box allows this. Protracker Shortcuts This switch changes the keyboard layout so that the most common Protracker keyboard options are recognized. This is helpful for those who have become used to the Protracker keyboard layout. The following PT shortcuts are recognized: Right Shift Turns editing on, plays the block (record) Right Alt Continue Song Right Amiga Play Block L-Alt+curs.L/R Previous / next block Shift+curs.L/R Increase / decrease playseq position Space bar Stops playing / toggles editing Tab Next track Shift-Tab Previous track Shift-F3 - F5 Cut / Copy / Paste track Alt-F3 - F5 Cut / Copy / Paste block Advance with Sound When activated, the notes in the block are played when the cursor is moved up or down. Useful for non-real time editing. The Programmable Keys Window [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-Y ] The programmable keys ("progkeys" from now on) allow music to be entered much more easily and quickly. You can assign notes or groups of notes, including commands, to 10 different keys. The assigned notes can then be inserted in the Tracker editor by holding down Shift and pressing key 0 - 9. This window contains the functions necessary to view and edit the progkeys, and is opened using the Settings menu. The cycle gadget is used to select whether you wish to edit the normal Shift- 0 - 9 definitions (default) or the Right Alt definition. The Right Alt definition consists of the command digits only, and if you enter notes with the Right Alt key held in the Tracker editor, the specified command will be inserted with the notes. The slider to the right of the cycle gadget selects which progkey you would like to edit (0 - 9). By default key 1 is selected. The slider is ghosted when "Right Alt" is picked. The box below this, containing a note and command digits, is the definition of this progkey. A note or digit may be edited by clicking and holding the left mouse button on the note / digit, then entering a new note / number using the keyboard. A note / digit being "x" indicates "transparency", which means that, when entered in the Tracker editor, the corresponding existing note / digit will remain unchanged. The Right Alt key's definition always has a transparent note part (the first three characters). For example, the definition "xxxxx0000" would clear the command digits, but leave the notes. Since the note is "xxx" and the instrument number "xx", they won't be changed, so only the command is set to zero. (This definition is the same as pressing Alt-Del). To make a note / digit transparent, hold down the left mouse button over the required note / digit as above, then press the Return key. The Clear gadget clears the current definition, i.e. sets it to "--- 00000" for a normal progkey and to "xxxxx0000" for Right Alt. The Pick gadgets copy either the note under the cursor, the current range, or the copy buffer to the current definition. If a range is picked, the definition box shows the word "=Range=". [ Shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-0-9 picks note under cursor ] The Save/Load Keys gadgets open a file requester allowing you to save and load a set of progkey definitions. The default name is S:OctaMEDPro.defkeys (OctaMED attempts to load a file of this name on startup), but definitions can be saved under any filename. The Exit gadget closes the window. (Note: when Caps Lock is on, the programmable keys may be entered simply by pressing the 0 - 9 keys: Shift doesn't have to be held). The Palette Window With this window, activated using the Settings menu, you may change the screen's colors. A color is selected by clicking on it, with the chosen color appearing in the recessed box at the top left of the window. The Red, Green and Blue sliders alter the intensity of red, green and blue light in the selected color. The sliders' range is set using the Palette Type cycle gadget. With 8-Bit selected (default), the range is 0 - 255, allowing compatibility with the new AGA chip set present in the A1200 and A4000 computers. With 4-Bit selected, the range is 0 - 15, more suitable for use with older Amigas. Note that either setting can be used with either chip set; but with an inappropriate setting, AGA computers could only select 1 in every 4096 available colors, and with other computers the color would only change once every 16 slider values (which is a little uncomfortable!). The OK and Cancel gadgets accept or reject the color changes and close the window. The Instrument Load Window This window, activated using the small gadget immediately to the right of the instrument number on the upper screen, is a convenient way of loading instruments contained in the sample list. (See the Sample List Editor. The right-hand list contains the directories, and the left-hand list contains the filenames in the current directory. The current directory is set by clicking on a directory name, and an instrument is loaded into the current slot by clicking on an instrument name. The other gadgets in this window are: Flush Removes the current instrument from memory. [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl - G ] Prev / Next Inst Selects the previous / next instrument. [ Keyboard shortcuts: Shift - / Prev / Next Free Selects the previous / next empty instrument slot. [ Keyboard shortcuts: Shift - Ctrl - "<" / ">" ] Exit Closes the window. The Main Screen The main screen is split into several parts: Tracker editor Notation editor Upper screen Lower screen Note that EITHER the Tracker editor OR the notation editor is displayed in the middle of the screen (not both at once). Which editor is to be displayed is chosen in the Display menu The Tracker Editor OctaMED Pro started off its life as MED, a public domain clone of a program named "Sound Tracker". Although as MED grew it incorporated numerous features that Sound Tracker lacked, separating it from the competition, one basic feature remains that Sound Tracker pioneered: the Tracker editor. The Tracker editor notation is easily interpreted by the computer and allows controls that would be impossible to describe using a traditional notation system. It is a grid-like system, where the rows are known as "lines" and the columns "tracks". Assuming a standard 4-track, non-MIDI setup is being used, each track corresponds to one of the Amiga®'s "sound channels", of which the Amiga® has four. These sound channels are used for playing instruments, and each channel can only play one note at a time. So using the above setup, four notes can be played simultaneously (not necessarily all by the same instrument). This is not as limiting as it sounds: in practice, many instruments can share a single track. The exact time at which these notes are played is set by entering the notes on the appropriate line. When playing, OctaMED plays each of these lines in turn, with a user-defined pause between the playing of each line. So the greater the number of lines between notes, the greater the time span between them. The line numbers are displayed on the extreme left of the screen, and the current line is highlighted in white. A typical note looks like this: octave command digits | / | D # 3 5 0 C 2 0 \ | | \ | note | \| | data byte (more information instrument about the command digits) The note can be C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, and H (or B), as in standard music. The octave number is which octave the note should be played on, and three octaves can be used with normal Amiga® samples. The instrument number is the number of the instrument that the note should be played with. The command digits are the number of the command or effect to play, in hexadecimal. If there are no effects or commands for this particular note, the digits are "0000". Commands and effects are documented in Player Commands. A blank note (silence) looks like this: --- 00000. Now for a few examples. To play a C major chord (notes C, E, G) with instrument number 1, a line could look like this: 000 C-2 10000 E-2 10000 G-2 10000 --- 00000 | | line number "blank" note simply indicates no note on this track To play a C major scale from C to G (i.e. notes C, D, E, F, G), the following could be used: 000 C-2 10000 001 D-2 10000 002 E-2 10000 003 F-2 10000 004 G-2 10000 To play a C major scale from C to G AT HALF THE SPEED of the above example, this could be used: 000 C-2 10000 001 --- 00000 <= In this way, these blank notes 002 D-2 10000 are used as "spacers" between the 003 --- 00000 <= other notes. A blank note doesn't 004 E-2 10000 stop the previous note, it allows 005 --- 00000 <= it to carry on. To stop the note, 006 F-2 10000 player command FFF is used (see 007 --- 00000 <= Commands A - F). 008 G-2 10000 So in that instruments are triggered using a vertical list, Tracker editing somewhat resembles programming a drum machine. Entering notes -------------- Notes are usually entered using the Amiga®'s keyboard (a MIDI keyboard can also be used, see MIDI Menu. Not all keys will enter notes. The keys are ordered in a piano-like style, as follows (note that the keys correspond to the standard U.S. keyboard; users of other keyboards should refer to their Amiga®'s manual for any changes needed): 2 3 5 6 7 9 0 = \ (Notes C# D# F# G# A# C# D# F# G#) Q W E R T Y U I O P [ ] (Notes C D E F G A B C D E F G) S D G H J L ; (Notes C# D# F# G# A# C# D#) Z X C V B N M , . / (Notes C D E F G A B C D E) The upper two rows of keys are the upper octave, the lower two rows of keys are the lower octave. Note that keys to the right of the "U" key enter in an even higher octave, and that there is a slight overlap in the lower and upper octaves: the keys to the right of the "M" key are duplicated in the first few keys of the upper octave. The upper and lower octave "keyboards" represent octave numbers 1 and 2 by default. Other consecutive octave numbers can be selected using the octaves cycle gadget on the upper screen. If you have an instrument loaded into the current slot, you can hear it by pressing one of these keys. In addition, if editing is on (selected with the Edit gadget on the upper screen, the note is entered at the cursor. A blank note is entered using the Del key. The cursor is the small grey patch on the current line. As well as being on a note, it may be on a digit (to the right of the note), and digits are changed by simply by typing the new number (with editing on). If you need to change the sixth digit (which lies between the note and the second instrument digit, and is usually a blank space), which means that sample 10 - 1V is used, position the cursor over the second instrument digit (that is always visible), hold a Shift key and enter the second instrument digit. For example, to change the instrument number to 1E, press Shift-E. Because Shift- 0 - 9 have another use, use Alt-Shift-0 - 9 to change the instrument number to 10 - 19. This isn't very convenient, but songs with over 31 instruments are rare, so it is seldom a serious problem. The cursor can be moved using the cursor keys, and also by using these keyboard shortcuts: Alt - / = Previous / next track Ctrl - / = Previous / next screenful of tracks Shift - Ctrl - = Track 0 / last track Shift - = Previous block (see the next section for a Shift - = Next block description of blocks) Left Alt - = First block Left Alt- = Last block Ctrl - NM( = Previous song Ctrl - NM) = Next song / Add song Shift - Ctrl - NM( = Delete last song Shift - Ctrl - NM) = Add song with no requester F6 = First line of block F7 = Second quarter of block F8 = Middle of block F9 = Last quarter of block F10 = Last line of block Blocks and the playing sequence ------------------------------- As mentioned in the introduction, a song is made up of "blocks", which are simply defined numbers of tracks and lines. A block can contain up to 3200 lines, and up to 8 tracks (using the Amiga®'s internal sound chip) or up to 64 tracks (using a MIDI instrument). You can set the number of lines and tracks in each block using the Block Properties window. There can be 1000 blocks in a song (numbered 000 - 999). The default number of lines in a block is 64, which allows 4 measures of 4/4 time, and means that each line represents a sixteenth note (British users: sixteenth note = semiquaver). Notes may be more easily positioned in a block by using line highlighting in the Highlight Options window (for example, with a default block a highlighting of 4 would mark every beat). Again as touched on in the introduction, the order in which these blocks should be played is defined in the "playing sequence", which is simply a list of block numbers. (See the Playing Sequence window for more information). Each block may have its own name, and block names may be edited both in the Block Properties window and in the Block List window. The current block and its name is shown on the upper screen. A list of blocks and their names, and gadgets for inserting and deleting blocks can be found in the Block List window. The Range --------- A "range" is a rectangular area of notes that is marked by dragging a mouse button. (Which mouse button is used is chosen in the Mouse Options window. It may be as small as one note or as large as an entire block. The range is highlighted as you define it. Many editing functions act on the notes in the current range, including some in the Edit menu, Transpose window, and Programmable Keys window. A range can be canceled by simply clicking the chosen mouse button when a range is marked. This is useful, for example, if you have pressed the mouse button by mistake. The Notation Editor The notation editor, activated using the Display menu, offers an alternative to the normal Tracker editor. It can display notes and rests in standard musical notation, which is both useful for those who read music and for printing songs to be played on an external instrument. Note, however, that although notes can be entered using the notation editor, player commands and effects may only be entered using the Tracker editor. One line of the Tracker editor is displayed in the notation editor as a sixteenth note, so a quarter note would be four lines long in the Tracker editor. The notation editor displays and prints one measure at a time. The notation editor consists of the notation itself on the main screen, and a Notation Control window which contains various editing options. This window may be closed using its close gadget, then reopened using the Display menu. Note that when the notation editor screen is active, the mouse pointer is displayed as the current note instead of the default pointer symbol. The pointer's "hotspot" (the pixel used to "point" the pointer) is in the note's circle, not at the top of the note's stick. So for example, to click on the Play Block gadget in the upper screen, position the note's circle (not the top of the note's stick) over the gadget and press the left mouse button. Selecting displayed tracks -------------------------- The editor quickly becomes cluttered if all tracks are displayed at once. For this reason, you can select exactly which tracks should be displayed. This is achieved with the three rows of small square track gadgets: Shown Simply select which tracks are to be shown. Ghost Show the tracks in a "ghosted" (semi-visible) form. Select Clicking a track gadget clears all Shown tracks except the track clicked, and ghosts the tracks that were previously shown. The two large arrow gadgets to the right of the track gadgets operate like the track arrow gadgets on the upper screen - clicking them show the previous/next fourteen tracks, and shift-clicking them show the first/last fourteen tracks in the song. (They only really apply to blocks containing over fourteen tracks). Presets ------- You can choose five different combinations of selected and ghosted tracks, and select them using the Preset cycle gadget immediately to the left of the track gadgets. The default is preset number 1. Usually it's convenient to put different components of the song on the same tracks throughout the song. For example, drums and percussion could be on tracks 0 and 1, the bass line on track 2, the chords on tracks 3-5 and so on. Using the preset function you can quickly display different parts of the song. For example: Preset 1 All tracks Preset 2 Only the chords (tracks 3 - 5) Preset 3 Only the bass line (track 2) Preset 4 The chords and the bass line (tracks 2 - 5) Preset 5 Only the melody line (e.g. track 6) Signatures ---------- You may set the key signature of the song using the Key Signature window, opened using the appropriate menu item. It contains a slider setting the number of accidentals - sharps or flats - required (0 - 6), and a radio button selecting whether the accidentals should be sharps (default) or flats. A reminder of the number of accidentals used in different keys: Number of | Sharps | Flats accidentals | Major key | Minor key | Major key | Minor key -------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+----------- 0 | C | A | C | A 1 | G | E | F | D 2 | D | B | Bb | G 3 | A | F# | Eb | C 4 | E | C# | Ab | F 5 | B | G# | Db | Bb 6 | F# | D# | Gb | Eb The time signature is set to 3/4 or 4/4 by using the Time Signature menu item. 3/4 is three quarter note beats per measure, 4/4 is four quarter note beats per measure. Instrument settings ------------------- Two options relating to the current instrument can be found in the Instr. Notation window, activated using the Current Instrument menu item. The Tranpose slider is the display transposition value (-24 to 24) for the current instrument. This can be used, for example, to shift the main melody one octave up to separate it from the bass line on the display (its actual pitch is not affected). Usually you'll want to use steps of one octave (i.e. -24, -12, 12, 24), but any value can be chosen. Note that the editor can display just over four octaves (C-1 to D#-4), whereas OctaMED supports 10.5 octaves. If the Hide Instrument check box is selected, the current instrument won't be displayed in the notation editor (although its notes are played). For example, if notes of a chord extend into the drum track, you can hide the drum instrument(s), showing only the chords. Also relating to instruments, if the Show Instrument Numbers menu item is selected, instrument numbers will be displayed above the notes on the selected track. Entering notes -------------- After making sure editing is on (in the upper screen), you can enter notes either using the keyboard or with the mouse. Before editing using either method, you need to select which track the note should be entered to, using the Select track gadgets. Make sure the track you select exists in the current block, or you'll get a warning message: for example, don't select track 6 in a 4-track block. Edit using the keyboard in the usual way, noting that the cursor is the large blue block. To edit with the mouse, you must first select its length. This is done by clicking on one of the diagrams of notes or rests at the very left of the Notation Control window. The length of the note in multiples of sixteenth notes is shown in the Length display box (this also corresponds to the number of lines in the Tracker editor). Next you position the mouse pointer (which now resembles the chosen note) over the point on the stave where you wish to place the note, and press the left mouse button. If you hold down the mouse button and move the mouse up and down, you can hear the note corresponding to its position on the stave, and this note is shown in the Note display box. The cycle gadget below the two display boxes sets which entering mode you require when using the mouse to edit. Replace (the default) replaces the notes - a bit like the Overwrite option found in wordprocessors. Insert inserts the notes, pushing the following notes to the right. Delete deletes the notes you click on, moving the following notes to the left. The Upper Screen This part of the main screen, above the Tracker editor or notation editor, contains some important general functions and displays. The upper screen is laid out in five rows, which contain the following functions and status displays: The first row ------------- Play Song This gadget plays the current song from the start of the first playing sequence. [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Alt-Space ] Cont Song Plays the current song from the current playing sequence position, starting at the current line (or the first line if the gadget is clicked with Shift held). [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Space ] The remaining gadgets on this line have to do with instruments. The display box to the right of "Cont Song" contains the current sample number, and is followed by a gadget which opens the Instrument Load Window. To the right of this gadget is a GetFile gadget which opens a file requester to load one or more instruments (see Instr Menu/Load Instrument(s) ). After this is a text gadget containing the name of the current instrument. A new instrument may also be loaded into the current slot by typing a new name into this gadget. If there's no instrument in this position, the text box will be blank. You may sometimes run across a song from which the composer has removed the instrument names from the text box, though still using the instruments in the song. To determine whether this is the case, make each instrument number current and see if it plays from the keyboard. There's no advantage in removing the instruments' names. The display box after this displays the size of the sample, or "-Synth-" if it is a synthsound or "-------" if the slot is empty. The size is prefixed by an "H" if the sample is a hybrid sound. The last gadget on this line opens the Type window, with which you may select the type that the current instrument is to be. The second row -------------- Play Block Plays the current block from the first line. It will be replayed when the last line is reached. [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-Space ] Cont Block Plays the current block from the current line. [ Keyboard shortcut: Alt-Space ] The display box contains the channel mode of the current song, an "M" if MIDI is active, and an "I" if MIDI Input is active (see MIDI Menu). The remaining gadgets open certain instrument windows: Instr Params Opens the Instrument Parameters window, which allows you to edit various instrument parameters. Edit Sample Opens the Sample Editor window. Edit SynthS Opens the Synthetic Sound Editor window. The third row ------------- D Continues the block from the current line when a note is entered. Editing must be on. The display box in the lower screen changes to "Waiting Input". STOP Stops playing the song / block. Sometimes notes will continue to sound after you stop the cong. Click STOP again, or press the space bar, to silence them. Shift-clicking STOP (clicking it with Shift held) stops playing and inserts command FFE at the cursor. (See Commands A - F). [ Keyboard shortcut: Space bar ] The next gadget, four digits with a ":" between them, is the timer gadget. This is the number of minutes and seconds since Play Song/Block has last been clicked. Clicking STOP, Cont Song or Cont Block doesn't affect the elapsed time. You may reset the timer (to 00:00) by clicking the "R" gadget. The timer gadget also remembers the current song position. When you click the R gadget, the current line / playseq position / section position is stored. Clicking the timer gadget itself moves back to the stored position. The remainder of this row contains the tempo gadgets, that are used to set the playing speed. The first cycle gadget cycles BPM, which allows you to set the tempo in Beats Per Minute, and SPD (default), with which you may set the tempo in the usual way. To understand this completely, technical aspects need to be known. Timing is handled using the CIAB timers, which give out "timing pulses" which trigger OctaMED's player interrupt. On each timing pulse effects are handled (see Player Commands), but a new note is usually not played every pulse. In SPD mode, the time between pulses can be changed using the left-hand slider. This is called the "primary tempo". Usually notes are played every 6th pulse, but this also can be changed using the right-hand slider (it is called the "secondary tempo"). For example, if a new note was played every 3rd pulse, the playing speed would be twice as fast. This doesn't affect the speed of effects. Graphically: pulse \ PLAY NOTE \ the time between pulses is the "primary tempo" pulse / DO EFFECTS \ \ pulse DO EFFECTS \ The number of pulses between notes / (4 in this example) is the "secondary pulse DO EFFECTS / tempo" / pulse PLAY NOTE / The primary tempo can be 1 - 240. The higher the number, the faster the speed, and the default is 33. For 4-channel or MIDI songs, values 11 - 240 should be used (1 - 10 can also be used, but they only exist for Sound/ Noise/Protracker compatibility). For 5 - 8-channel songs, values 1 - 10 should be used; 11 - 240 are equivalent to 10 (to techies: this works in 5 - 8-channel mode not by changing the time between pulses but by changing the size of the mix buffer). The secondary tempo can be $01 - $20 (in HEXADECIMAL, i.e. 33 values are possible), and the default is 6. The lower, the faster. This allows a fairly rough tempo setting (it's the way the other Trackers set their tempos). For MIDI use (especially for synchronization), you should leave this at 6 and adjust the primary tempo instead. Note that the secondary tempo doesn't affect the speed of effects, unlike the primary tempo. In BPM mode, the first slider controls the number of beats per minute (for example, 60 is one beat per second). The second slider controls the number of lines per beat (for example, 8 means eight lines are considered as one beat). Make sure that the secondary tempo in SPD mode is set to 6 before using BPM; otherwise, the timing won't be accurate. (This may, in fact, be useful to some users. For example, double the normal BPM accuracy can be obtained by setting the secondary tempo to 3). [ Keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl- - (minus) Decrease primary tempo Ctrl- + (plus) Increase primary tempo Shift-Ctrl- - Decrease secondary tempo Shift-Ctrl- + Increase secondary tempo ] The cycle gadget on the far right of the row plays at normal speed when NRM (default), two-thirds speed when at 2/3, and half-speed when at 1/2. This is useful for editing while the song is playing: you can slow the song down without changing the tempo values, to make entering notes easier. NOTE: It's possible to make a song which takes up all of the processor time. It will therefore be impossible to stop it. This shouldn't happen accidentally, but it can be done, for example, by filling a block with notes and setting the primary tempo to 240 and the secondary tempo to 1... To stop playing, hold both mouse buttons down for about five or six seconds. The fourth row -------------- This row contains many status displays and the octave cycle gadget. The "Sg" gadget opens the Song Selector window, and the status display immediately to its right displays the current song and the last song in a multi-module. (A multi-module is a project consisting of more than one song, but which all share the same set of instruments). The arrow gadgets are used to decrease / increase the current song number. If the current song is the last song, and the right arrow gadget is clicked, an "Add new song?" requester appears, and OctaMED will add a new song to the project if you click "Add". Shift-clicking the right arrow gadget adds a new song without the requester. Shift-clicking the left arrow deletes the last song in memory after displaying a requester. (Equivalent to the "Add New" and "Delete Last" items in the Song menu). The "Sc" gadget opens the Section List window, and the following display shows the current section list position and the total number of entries in the section list. The "Sq" gadget opens the Playing Sequence window, and the following display shows the current playing sequence position and the total number of entries in the playing sequence. Clicking the "B" gadget opens the Block List window, and shift- clicking it opens the Block Properties window. The following display shows the current block number (starting at 000), the number of the last block, and the current block name. The last block number + 1 is the total number of blocks in the song (since the numbering starts at 000). The octave gadget shows which octaves are currently in use when you play the Amiga's keyboard (see the Tracker Editor). The first digit is the octave number of the lower row of keys, the second is that of the upper row. If the current instrument has a MIDI channel of 0, keys F1 - F5 select octaves 1+2, 2+3, 3+4, 4+5, and 5+6. If its MIDI channel isn't zero, F2 - F4 select 4+5 to 6+7, F1 toggles 1+2 to 3+4, and F5 toggles 7+8 to 9+A. To clarify: Function key | Octave selected (non-MIDI) | Octave selected (MIDI) -------------+----------------------------+----------------------- F1 | 1+2 | 3+4 / 2+3 / 1+2 F2 | 2+3 | 4+5 F3 | 3+4 | 5+6 F4 | 4+5 | 6+7 F5 | 5+6 | 7+8 / 8+9 / 9+A The fifth row ------------- This row contains three important check boxes and the track selection gadgets. Edit Toggles editing on/off. With editing on, you may insert notes or numbers into the song (see the Tracker Editor). [ Keyboard shortcut: Esc ] Space With this switch on, a set number of lines are skipped when a note is entered into the song. (The number of lines skipped, and other spacing options, are set in the Keyboard Options window). Useful for entering slow pieces of music, since you don't have to press the Del key as often. When you enter notes during playing (in "real-time") with Space on, the notes will be quantized. For example, with a spacing value of 2, the notes will only be placed on even-numbered lines (if Auto- Round Spacing is on, see Keyboard Options). When shift-clicked, spacing is switched on and the Keyboard Options window is opened (with a view to editing the spacing options). [ Keyboard shortcut: ~ (the key just below Esc) ] Chord When on, the chord entering mode is active. You must still know which notes of a chord you want to use, but OctaMED will place them on the tracks for you. First you should select the tracks which the chord entering affects (using the Select track gadgets documented below). The chord always starts from the current track and continues to the following selected tracks on the right. Now, holding keys down will enter a chord. For example, to enter a C major chord: hold down the Q key, press the E key and keep both keys held down, then press the G key. On releasing the keys, the cursor moves back to the initial track (if Chord Reset in the Keyboard Options window is on). Chord entering also works well using a MIDI keyboard (see the MIDI Menu). (Chords may be deleted using Left Amiga-DEL: see Edit Shortcuts). [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Esc ] The remaining gadgets are the track selection gadgets. The row of small gadgets toggle the tracks on/off. The cycle gadget toggles On/Off (default) and Select. On/Off mode allows you to mute some tracks while listening to others by clicking the track selection gadgets. This is often useful while editing. (You can also use the numeric keypad for this, see Keyboard Opts). Select is used in many editing functions (including Chord, Edit Menu/Paste to Sel Tracks, and Transpose). Shift-clicking a track selection gadget "solos" the track, i.e. clears all tracks apart from the one selected. The arrow gadgets display the previous / next fourteen tracks in the small gadgets. Shift-clicking the arrow gadgets displays the first / last fourteen tracks in the current block. The "Set" and "Clr" gadgets set / clear all tracks. The Lower Screen This part of the main screen, below the Tracker editor or notation editor, contains a few display boxes and one gadget. On the left-hand side is a display box showing the free memory. "Chip" memory is the memory used to store graphics and samples, and "Fast" memory stores everything else. So if you have a song with many samples in it, it will probably be the Chip memory status you'll be watching. A more detailed account of the free memory can be obtained on the title bar by pressing Ctrl - F. The smaller display box in the middle of the screen shows the status of the song's playing ("Playing Song", "Playing Block", or "Stopped"), and the current disk activity ("Loading", "Saving"). It also shows "Waiting Input" if the D button (beside STOP) is clicked. When on, the "Freeze Display" check box turns off parts of the display. The Tracker editor is removed and replaced with "Frozen", and the two sets of equalizers are disabled. This releases more processor time, advantageous when multitasking. The screen is automatically frozen when it isn't at the front if Settings menu/Auto-Freeze Screen is on. The four larger boxes at the bottom of the display showing the waveform currently being output by each of the Amiga®'s sound channels. The displays take up quite a lot of processor time when using a standard 68000 processor, so they may be turned off in the Settings menu. When enabled, the line in the center of them is blue: when disabled, it is white. Player Commands Player commands provide a way of composing music that sounds more interesting. They consist of numbers that are attached to a note, and generally they perform effects on the notes they are attached to (for example, pitch / volume sliding etc.). Some commands control various functions not directly applicable to notes: for example, changing the song's tempo, jumping to a new playing sequence entry, or sending a MIDI message to a MIDI device. The data byte allows you to control the command's intensity, depth etc. Both the command number and data byte are in HEXADECIMAL !!! They are entered in the command digits using the Tracker editor, by simply positioning the cursor on the digit and typing a new number (with editing on). In addition, the left command digit can be set to 1 by positioning the cursor over the right command digit, holding down Right Alt and pressing the right command digit's value. For example, Alt-9 inserts command 19. C - 2 A 1 2 3 4 \ | \ | command \| data byte Advance Cursor Right is often a help in editing the command digits. (See the Keyboard Options Window). You'll notice that some commands are indicated as being ProTracker compatible. When loading and saving ProTracker modules, OctaMED makes any necessary command conversions automatically. The player commands can be split into four groups: Commands 0 - 9 (These topics contain descriptions of each Commands A - F player command) Commands 11 - 1F MIDI Commands Before you read the descriptions, make sure you understand timing pulses (see the Upper Screen) !! Commands 0 - 9 Command 0: ARPEGGIO (MIDI: controller value) ------------------------------------------------------------ This command changes the pitch of the note quickly (once every timing pulse). It can be used to create "chords" or special effects. If you've listened to music made with the Commodore 64, you MUST have heard arpeggios! The pitch is changed between three different pitches during one note: Pitch 1: The original note Pitch 2: Pitch 1 + the first data byte digit halfsteps up Pitch 3: Pitch 1 + the second data byte digit halfsteps up Note: Pitch 3 is played first, then pitch 2, pitch 1, pitch 3, pitch 2 etc. (the number of pitches for each note depends on the secondary tempo). For example, to create a C major arpeggio: Pitch 1: C-2 (for example) Pitch 2: E-2 = 4 halfsteps higher than C-2 Pitch 3: G-2 = 7 halfsteps higher than C-2 This produces: C-2 10047 --- 00047 --- 00047 and so on... Note that the data byte with a blank note continues the arpeggio. The data byte for a minor chord would be 37. Arpeggios sound better with some instruments than others (Note that this works differently with MIDI, see MIDI Commands) Command 1: SLIDE UP (MIDI: pitchbender up) ---------------------------------------------------------- This command slides up the pitch of the current track. It actually works by decreasing the period of the note the amount of the databyte every timing pulse. Sounds rather technical?? Yes.. but a detailed description is not really necessary, since slides can be made automatically: see Edit Menu / Pitch Slide / Type 2. If you use this function for special effects, experimentation is the key... For example: A-1 10000 --- 00000 --- 0010F <- slide up a bit Command 2: SLIDE DOWN (MIDI: pitchbender down) ------------------------------------------------------------ Same as command 1, except slides down. Command 3: PORTAMENTO (MIDI: set pitchbender) ----------------------------------------------------------- Another slide command, with which you can create perfect slides more easily than with commands 1 and 2. The difference is that commands 1 and 2 replay the note they slide to: command 3 doesn't replay the note. The data byte is the slide speed. An example is the easiest way to explain this: C-2 50000 <- Note C is played --- 00000 E-2 50305 <- This note isn't played! Instead, the slide target is set --- 00300 to E-2 with a slide speed of 5 --- 00300 <- When the speed is zero, the previous speed is used --- 00306 <- The speed may be changed during a slide This example would slide from C-2 to E-2, but the slide stops EXACTLY when a pitch of E-2 is attained (with commands 1 and 2 you can slide beyond the note). Again, slides can be created automatically in Edit / Pitch Slide / Type 1. Command 4: VIBRATO (MIDI: modulation wheel) ------------------------------------------------------------ Rapidly increases and decreases the note's pitch. The first digit of the data byte is the vibrato speed, the second is the vibrato depth. If either digit is zero, the previous speed and/or depth is used. The higher the digit's value, the greater the speed / depth. (Remember that the digits are in hexadecimal: values 0 - 9 and A - F can be used, giving a total of 16 possible values for each digit). Command 5: SLIDE AND FADE (MIDI: controller number) ------------------------------------------------------------- ProTracker-compatible. This command combines commands 300 and Dxx. The slide speed is the previous speed entered with command 3, and the fade speed is the data byte. C-1 10000 D-3 10303 <- slide at speed 3 --- 00300 <- continue sliding --- 00502 <- continue sliding and fade at speed 2 (see command D later) --- 00502 Command 6: VIBRATO AND FADE [ ProTracker-compatible ] -------------------------------------------------------- Combines commands 400 and Dxx. Again, the vibrato speed is the previous speed entered with command 4, and the fade speed is the data byte. Command 7: TREMOLO [ ProTracker-compatible ] ---------------------------------------------- This command is a kind of "volume vibrato". The first data byte digit is the tremolo speed, the second is the depth. The depth must be quite high before the effect is audible (try A - F). The higher the digit's value, the greater the speed / depth. Command 8: SET HOLD/DECAY (MIDI: set hold only) --------------------------------------------------------- This command must be located on the same line as a note. The command sets the hold and decay values for the note (see Instrument Parameters). The first digit is the decay value, the second is the hold value. C-3 30824 (decay = 2, hold = 4) -|- 30000 -|- 30000 --- 00000 Command 9: SECONDARY TEMPO (MIDI: no action) ----------------------------------------------------- Sets the secondary tempo (the number of timing pulses per note). The data byte must be $01 - $20. (See also Player Commands, A - F, 11 - 1F, and MIDI Commands) Commands A - F Command A: VOLUME SLIDE (MIDI: polyphonic aftertouch) ---------------------------------------------------------------- This is exactly the same as command D, for Sound/Noise/Protracker compatibility. However, please use D instead of this. Command B: PLAYING SEQUENCE POSITION JUMP ------------------------------------------ Allows you to make songs that have a beginning, which is played only once, and another part, which is repeated continuously. The command causes a jump to the playing sequence number given by the data byte. If the data byte is zero, the song is played from the first playseq entry. Note that when more than one playing sequence is defined, the specified entry in the CURRENT playing sequence is jumped to. At present, no command exists to jump to an entry in the section list. Example: --- 00B02 <- start playing from playseq number 003 Command C: SET VOLUME ---------------------- You can override the default volume of the instrument with this important command. For example, "A-3 40C20" is played with volume 20. There are 65 volume levels (0 - 64), 0 = silent, 64 = maximum. The data byte may be either 00 - 64 or $00 - $40 (decimal or hex: see Song Options. It is also possible to change the volume of an already played note: A-3 40000 --- 00000 --- 00C10 <- change volume to 10 In addition, you may actually set the default instrument volume. The value MUST be in HEX!, and is between 80 and C0. 80 = volume $0, C0 = volume $40 (hex). In other words, add 80 to the normal volume in hex. Note that setting default instrument volumes can cause trouble in multi- modules, since all the songs share the same set of instruments. So it is recommended that default instrument volumes are only changed in non-multi- modules. Command D: VOLUME SLIDE (MIDI: channel pressure) ------------------------------------------------------------ You can increase / decrease volume smoothly with this command. The first data byte digit is the amount of volume increase ("crescendo"), the second digit is the amount of decrease ("decrescendo"). If crescendo is zero, decrescendo is performed: otherwise, only crescendo is performed regardless of the decrescendo value. C-2 30C40 --- 00D01 <- a bit quieter --- 00D01 <- even quieter --- 00D20 <- and crescendo back to original volume In this command the volume is changed every timing pulse. So if the secondary tempo was 6, a decrescendo value of 1 would decrease the volume by 6. The example above would look like this using C commands (except it doesn't sound as smooth): C-2 40C40 (volumes are decimal in this example) --- 00C34 <- -6 --- 00C28 <- -6 --- 00C40 <- +12 Command E: SYNTH JUMP (MIDI: pan control) ------------------------------------------------------- This command only applies to synth/hybrid (and MIDI) instruments. It is used to trigger a jump in the waveform sequence. The data byte is the jump destination (line number). C-4 40000 <- should be a synth/hybrid instrument --- 00000 --- 00E05 <- causes a jump to line #5 (see Synthsound Programming) Command F: PRIMARY TEMPO / MISCELLANEOUS ----------------------------------------- Command F has many different actions depending on the data byte. If the data byte is 00, it causes an immediate jump to the next entry in the playing sequence (or the beginning of the block if you are only playing the current block). This function is better to implement by making the block shorter, as it takes less memory, so it mainly exists for Tracker compatibility. C-2 40F00 <- this is the last note that will play in the current block When the data byte is $01 - $F0, the command changes the primary tempo (the time between timing pulses). If the new tempo is 01 - 0A, it is compatible with Trackers, but you should use command 9 instead of this command as it's directly Tracker-compatible (but make sure the primary tempo is set to the default 33). E-3 60FF0 <- quickest tempo (240 decimal) --- 00000 --- 00F0B <- slowest (11 decimal) Data bytes FF1 - FFF are reserved for special actions, most of which are currently in use: FF1 causes the same note to be actually played twice. In this way it's possible to create fast rhythms. It's identical to command 1F03. With a secondary tempo of 6: C-3 20FF1 is the same as C-3 20000 C-3 20000 with double tempo (i.e. 3) FF2 plays the same note only once, but it is not started immediately. It's identical to command 1F30. Again with a secondary tempo of 6: C-3 20FF2 is the same as --- 00000 C-3 20000 with double tempo FF3 works like FF1 except the note is played three times (very quick). It's identical to command 1F02. Again with a secondary tempo of 6: C-3 20FF3 is the same as C-3 20000 C-3 20000 C-3 20000 with triple tempo (i.e. 2) FF4 delays the note one-third of a line. FF5 delays the note two-thirds of a line. FF4 and FF5 can be used, for example, to create triplets: C-2 10000 Here, the three notes will be evenly spaced throughout D-2 10FF4 the four lines (they'll have a length of one-and-a-third E-2 10FF5 lines each) --- 00000 They only work accurately when the secondary tempo is divisible by 3 (3, 6, 9 etc.). FF8 turns the low-pass filter off (see the Song Options Window) FF9 turns the low-pass filter on FFD (doesn't work with MIDI) causes the pitch of the channel to be set to the pitch of the new note, but the new note is not replayed. C-1 20000 <- play note --- 00000 C-2 20FFD <- don't replay the note, just set the pitch to C-2 This is especially useful in playing long samples or samples with a loop set (like strings, choirs etc.), as the undesirable "click" that you can sometimes hear when playing a new note is eliminated. FFE stops playing immediately. (When used in 5 - 8-channel mode, the song's notes are also stopped). If you want to make a song which only plays once, put this command at the end of the song. It can be easily inserted by clicking STOP with a Shift key held. FFF stops the note on the current track. Is almost like C00 with Amiga® samples, but while C00 sets the volume of the note to zero, FFF turns the note off completely (there is a subtle difference :). (See also Player Commands 0 - 9, 11 - 1F, and MIDI Commands) Commands 11 - 1F Command 11: SLIDE PITCH UP ONCE [ Equivalent to ProTracker command E1 ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whereas command 1 slides the pitch smoothly, this command only changes it once per note (for greater accuracy). C-2 31105 <- slightly above C-2 To techies: with this command, you may play a note at any period value you wish. For example, C-2 is 428. To play at period 431, simply enter "C-2 31103". Command 12: SLIDE PITCH DOWN ONCE [ Equivalent to PT command E2 ] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Equivalent to command 11, except slides down. Command 14: PT-COMPATIBLE VIBRATO [ Equivalent to ProTracker command 4 ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Protracker, the vibrato command was changed from NoiseTracker. The maximum depth was halved to give greater accuracy. This command is compatible with the new Protracker vibrato (loading Protracker songs automatically changes the PT vibrato command to this command 14). Command 15: SET FINETUNE ------------------------- Overrides the default finetune value of the instrument. Since these are hexadecimal numbers, negative numbers must be expressed as: -1 = FF -3 = FD -5 = FB -7 = F9 -2 = FE -4 = FC -6 = FA -8 = F8 C#3 21503 <- finetune = +3 D-2 315F8 <- finetune = -8 Command 16: LOOP [ Equivalent to ProTracker command E6 ] --------------------------------------------------------- This interesting command enables you to construct a loop within a block. For example: ... 004 C-3 11600 <- data byte = $00: mark loop beginning 005 D#2 10000 006 --- 11603 <- data byte = $03: loop three times ... This example would play lines 004 - 006 three times before continuing. You can't nest loops! Command 18: CUT NOTE (MIDI: no action) ----------------------------------------------------- Almost like hold (command 8), except it sets the volume to zero instead of actually switching the note off. This is Protracker-compatible (equivalent to command EC). Command 19: SAMPLE START OFFSET (MIDI: no action) [ PT command 9 ] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- When playing a sample, this command sets the starting byte in steps of 256 bytes ( = $100 hex). Useful for speech samples. C-2 11904 <- play the sample starting at byte $400 = 1024 Command 1A: SLIDE VOLUME UP ONCE (MIDI: no action) [ PT command EA ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allows you to make slow volume slides, since the volume is slid only once per line (on the first timing pulse of each line). D-2 11A01 <- a looped string, perhaps, default volume 0 --- 01A01 (and so on..) Command 1B: SLIDE VOLUME DOWN ONCE (MIDI: no action) [ PT command EB ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Equivalent to 1A except slides down. Command 1D: JUMP TO NEXT PLAYSEQ ENTRY [ Equivalent to PT command D ] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This command is like F00, except that you can specify the line number of the first line to be played. The line number is (as usual) given in HEX. --- 01D0A <- next playseq entry, start at line 10 (skip lines 000-009) Command 1E: REPLAY LINE [ Equivalent to ProTracker command EE ] ----------------------------------------------------------------- Replays the commands in the current line the specified number of times. Doesn't replay the notes. C-2 10000 --- 00000 --- 00101 --- 01E06 <- replay the commands in this line six times Command 1F: NOTE DELAY AND RETRIGGER [ PT commands EC and ED ] ---------------------------------------------------------------- Gives you accurate control over note playing. You can delay the note any number of timing pulses, and initiate fast retrigger. The first data byte digit is the note delay value, the second one is the retrig value. C-2 11F20 <- delay 2 timing pulses => pulse 0 --- 1 --- 2 C-2 3 --- ... C-2 11F02 <- retrig every second pulse => pulse 0 C-2 1 --- 2 C-2 3 --- 4 C-2 ... C-2 1FF22 <- delay 2 pulses THEN retrig every second pulse => pulse 0 --- 1 --- 2 C-2 3 --- 4 C-2 ... Command 0FF1 is equal to 1F03, 0FF2 to 1F30, and 0FF3 to 1F02. (See also Player Commands, 0 - 9, A - F, and MIDI Commands) MIDI Commands ------------- Please read the other command explanations (see Player Commands) before reading this. This topic is like an "erratum" for MIDI, in that it documents the changes to the other command documentation required for MIDI use. Commands B, F, 16, 1D, 1E, and 1F all work identically with MIDI to Amiga® instruments. Commands 15, 18, 19, 1A, and 1B have no effect when used with MIDI. If you are unfamiliar with any of the terms used in this topic, please consult your MIDI device's manual. Command 0: CONTROLLER VALUE ---------------------------- See command 5 for a description. Command 1: PITCHBENDER UP -------------------------- This command "turns" the pitchbender 8 × data byte steps up on each timing pulse. However, automatic slide making (unfortunately) can't be used here. Because the actual range of the pitchbender is different for different instruments, you must find the right value by experimenting. When a new note is played, the pitchbender is not reset automatically. To reset it, use this command with a data byte of 00. G-2 L01FF <- turn pitchbender up very quickly --- 00000 --- 00100 <- then reset the pitchbender Command 2: PITCHBENDER DOWN ---------------------------- As command 1, except turns the pitchbender down. Command 3: SET PITCHBENDER --------------------------- With this command you may set the pitchbender to an exact value, instead of sliding as in commands 1 and 2. The data byte is the pitchbender value, expressed as a signed hexadecimal digit (aargh!! ;-) $00 = center position $80 (-7F) = smallest value $7F = largest value C-2 30000 --- 0037F <- pitchbender to maximum value --- 00300 <- reset Command 4: MODULATION WHEEL ---------------------------- Affects the modulation wheel of the current channel. The data byte can be 00 - 7F: 00 = no modulation, 7F = maximum. Values 80 - FF are reserved for future expansion (i.e. won't work ;). (Modulation is usually vibrato). Command 5: CONTROLLER NUMBER ----------------------------- This command, in conjunction with command 0, allows you to change any MIDI controller (command $Bx cc vv, where cc = controller number, vv = value). First you set the number of the controller you wish to change with command 5. Then you can select the value with command 0. Subsequent uses of command 0 will affect the controller previously set with command 5. Remember that each MIDI channel has its own controller number. If you need to use a controller value of $00, you can't use "00" as a data byte because command "0000" means "do nothing". Instead, you need to use "80". Acceptable controller numbers and values are $00 - $7F. For example (assuming instrument 3 is set to MIDI channel 1): C-2 30000 --- 00507 <- controller $07 = volume, according to the MIDI standard D-2 3007F <- set max. volume (7F), command $B0 $07 $7F is sent --- 00000 F-3 30001 <- small volume ($01) --- 0055C <- select controller $5C (tremolo depth) G-4 30080 <- set to 0 (note: $80 = $00) Command 8: SET HOLD ONLY ------------------------- Just to underline that decay can't be used with MIDI instruments. (This is because with MIDI, the volume of an already played note can't be altered). Command A: POLYPHONIC AFTERTOUCH --------------------------------- Changes the polyphonic aftertouch of the most recent note. (Aftertouch is squeezing a key down harder than when it was initally struck). The value should be 00 - 7F. C-3 40000 --- 00A30 <- aftertouch $30 (remember, hex!) --- 00000 --- 00A00 <- aftertouch $00 Command C: SET VOLUME ---------------------- Again, just to underline that the volume of a note can't be changed after it has been played (as it can with Amiga® samples). Command D: CHANNEL PRESSURE ---------------------------- This command sends a channel pressure (channel aftertouch) message using the most recently used channel. The data byte should be $00 - $7F. Command E: PAN CONTROL ----------------------- Controls the stereo location of the note. The data byte can be $00 - $7F. left mid right | | | 00 3F 7F Command F: PRIMARY TEMPO / MISCELLANEOUS ----------------------------------------- ¯ Just two additions for MIDI use: FFA sends the "hold pedal on" command. FFB sends the "hold pedal off" command. Command 10: SEND MIDI MESSAGE ------------------------------ Sends a MIDI message, created using the MIDI message editor. The data byte is the message number. Note that with this command the first message is number 0, so you need to subtract one to convert the message number from the message editor for use with this command. C-2 11000 <- send the first message, then plays note C-2 (messages are always sent before notes) MIDI timing pulses are sent immediately even if a message dump is going on. Command 13: SET PITCHBENDER WITH NOTE -------------------------------------- Like command 3, but can also be used when there's a note next to the command. Command 1C: CHANGE MIDI PRESET ------------------------------- Changes the MIDI preset number of the current instrument. As with all commands which modify the song parameters, you should be very careful when using this command in multi-modules (or even don't use it at all in multi- modules). (See also Player Commands, 0 - 9, A - F, and 11 - 1F) KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS ------------------ "Keyboard shortcuts" are combinations of keys used to carry out the equivalent of a mouse operation. The mouse operation may be selecting a menu item, clicking a gadget etc. Hence you are "taking a shortcut" by using the keyboard instead of using the mouse. Perhaps the simplest form of keyboard shortcuts are menu item shortcuts. These are displayed in the menu itself, as a strange-looking "A" and a letter. All menu shortcuts are accessed by holding down the Right Amiga key and pressing the appropriate key. The "A" symbol represents the Right Amiga key, and the letter represents the appropriate key. Note that the menu shortcuts can only be used when the main screen is active (that is, when no windows are active). Shortcuts can also be attached to gadgets in windows and on the main screen. These shortcuts are accessed by holding down the Left Alt key and pressing the appropriate key. This time, the appropriate key is represented by an underlined letter in or beside the gadget that the shortcut acts on. This type of shortcut can only be accessed when the window or main screen containing the gadget is active. The effect of shortcuts on the various types of gadget in the user interface can be found in Gadget Shortcuts. Other shortcuts are not visually represented on the OctaMED screen, but have to be remembered by the user. A full list of shortcuts is provided in the following topics: Menu Item Shortcuts Editing Shortcuts Cursor Movement Shortcuts Other Shortcuts IMPORTANT NOTE FOR USERS OF NON-U.S. AND NON-BRITISH KEYBOARDS Menu Item Shortcuts All keys listed have to be pressed with the Right Amiga key held. Note that you may only use these shortcuts when the main screen is active. [ V4 upgraders: all shortcuts are aside from cut/copy/paste track ] A Open Input Map Editor window B Open Block Properties window C Copy track D Delete file E Note echo F Spread notes G Open MIDI Message Editor window H Open Song Options window I Load instrument(s) I (with Shift+Amiga held) Load non-halved instrument(s) in 5-8 channel K Open Keyboard Options window L Open Sample List Editor window M MIDI Active on/off N New project O Open project P Open Print Options window Q Quit OctaMED R Open Relative Track Volumes window S Open Save Options window T Open Transpose window U Input Active on/off V Paste track W Open Mouse Options window X Cut track Y Open Programmable Keys window Z Swap track with copy buffer 1 Ext Sync on/off 2 Send Sync on/off 3 Send Active Sensing on/off 4 Send Out Input on/off 5 Read Key Up's on/off 6 Read Volume on/off \ Open Input Channel window [ Local Control on ] Local Control off Note that the following Left Alt shortcuts also act as menu item shortcuts (with the main screen active): B Open Block List window C Open Section List window E Open Sample Editor window G Open Song Selector window I Open Instrument Parameters window Q Open Playing Sequence window T Open Instrument Type window Y Open Synthetic Sound Editor window Other menu item shortcuts (excluding settings) are documented in the other keyboard shortcut topics. Gadget Shortcuts This short topic describes the effects of "Left Alt" shortcuts on the two types of gadget that Left Alt shortcuts currently affect. (In the future, all types of gadget will likely be supported). Gadget Type | Effect on holding Left Alt ----------------+---------------------------- Action button | Action executed | Check box | Box checked / unchecked Editing Shortcuts These shortcuts are used in editing with the Tracker editor. Esc Editing on/off Shift-Esc Chord on/off ~ Space on/off Del Delete note or command digit under cursor Shift-Del Delete note and command digits Alt-Del Delete only command digits Left Amiga-Del Delete chord. When L-Amiga is held down, every time you press Del the note under the cursor is deleted and the cursor moves to the next selected track. When L-Amiga is released, the cursor advances (in the way defined in the Keyboard Options. Return or A Insert hold symbol (-|-) Shift-Return Insert hold symbols to all tracks of the previous chord. F Insert / play note at default pitch Backspace Delete note and move following notes up Shift-Backsp Insert empty note slot Alt-Backspace Delete current track Alt-Shift-Bksp Insert new track Shift- 0 - 9 Enter programmable key 0 - 9 (Note: with Caps Lock on, progkeys may be entered without holding the Shift key) Shift-Ctrl-0-9 Pick note under cursor as programmable key 0 - 9 Tab Highlight current line Ctrl-O Create volume slide (using command C) Shift-Ctrl-O Create generic slide (using any command) Ctrl-T Create type 1 slide (using command 3) Shift-Ctrl-T Create type 2 slide (using commands 1 and 2) Shift-Alt-X Cut block Shift-Alt-C Copy block Shift-Alt-V Paste block Ctrl-Z Erase range Ctrl-X Cut range Ctrl-C Copy range Ctrl-V Paste range Shift-Ctrl-V Paste to selected tracks Ctrl-B Range current track Shift-Ctrl-B Range current block Ctrl-J Join block with next Shift-Ctrl-J Split block at cursor Ctrl- < Swap note under cursor with following note, taking account of the current spacing value Ctrl- > Swap notes on adjacent tracks Ctrl-K Kill notes to end of track Shift-Ctrl-K Kill notes to end of block Alt-Ctrl-K Kill notes to end of block and actually remove the deleted part of the block. In other words, the current line becomes the last line of the block. Cursor Movement Shortcuts These shortcuts allow cursor movement in the Tracker editor. The cursor keys move the cursor one place up/down/left/right. Alt- Cursor to previous track Alt- Cursor to next track Ctrl- Previous screenful of tracks Ctrl- Next screenful of tracks Shift-Ctrl- Cursor to track 0 Shift-Ctrl- Cursor to last track Shift- Previous block Shift- Next block Left Alt- First block (Can't use R.Alt to avoid accidental Left Alt- Last block jump when using Alt-/) Ctrl-NM( Previous song (NM = numeric keypad) Ctrl-NM) Next song / Add song Shift-Ctrl-NM( Delete last song Shift-Ctrl-NM) Add song with no confirmation requester F6 Cursor to first line of block F7 Cursor to second quarter of block F8 Cursor to middle of block F9 Cursor to last quarter of block F10 Cursor to last line of block Alt-Ctrl- Go to where sample previously appeared in the song. The sample number is taken from either the number under the cursor, or (if that is "--- 00000") from the current instrument number Alt-Ctrl- Go to where sample next appears in the song Other Shortcuts Shift-Alt-Space Play song [ Remember you may also use the Shift-Space Continue song Left Alt shortcuts underlined Amiga-Space Play block in the playing gadgets ] Alt-Space Continue block Space bar Stop playing Ctrl-Space bar Reset MIDI presets / pitchbenders / mod. wheels Shift- Previous sample Shift- Next sample Alt-Shift- 16 samples backward Alt-Shift- 16 samples forward Shift-Ctrl- < Previous free sample slot Shift-Ctrl- > Next free sample slot F1 - F5 Select octaves 1+2 - 5+6 in normal mode, 3+4 - 7+8/8+9/9+A in MIDI mode Ctrl- - (minus) Decrease primary tempo Ctrl- + (plus) Increase primary tempo Shift-Ctrl- - Decrease secondary tempo Shift-Ctrl- + Increase secondary tempo Ctrl-I Insert new block Shift-Ctrl-I Insert new default block Ctrl-N Append new block Shift-Ctrl-N Append new default block Ctrl-D Delete current block Shift-Ctrl-D Delete last block Ctrl-S Save IFF instrument Shift-Ctrl-S Save raw instrument Ctrl-G Flush current instrument Shift-Ctrl-G Flush all unused instruments Ctrl-A Automatic Advance Down on/off Ctrl-F Display free memory Alt-~ Set spacing value to length of current range - 1. For example, marking a range from 000 - 002 sets spacing to 2. It's logical to subtract 1 since with a spacing of 2, the cursor skips from line 000 to 002 which is 3 lines long). The following shortcuts apply to the numeric keypad. Ctrl-8 Scroll playing sequence up Ctrl-2 Scroll playing sequence down Ctrl-4 Decrease the current playing sequence entry Ctrl-6 Increase the current playing sequence entry Ctrl-7 Top of playing sequence Ctrl-1 Bottom of playing sequence Ctrl-5 Insert current block to playing sequence Ctrl-0 Duplicate current playing sequence entry Ctrl-. Delete current playing sequence entry Note that with the Caps Lock on, the playing sequence can be edited without holding down the Ctrl key. The non-shifted functions of the keypad are listed in Keyboard Options. IMPORTANT NOTE FOR USERS OF NON-U.S. AND NON-BRITISH KEYBOARDS The keyboard shortcuts used in these instructions correspond to the standard U.S. keymap (and, by coincidence, to the British keymap). Users of other keyboards, therefore, have slight changes to make to the keys given. They are: A = Q on a French keyboard Z = W on a French keyboard, and Y on a Swiss or German keyboard < and > are the two keys immediately to the right of M (except French, where they are the two keys to the right of ",") - and + are the two keys immediately to the right of 0 (zero) * Note that these changes DON'T apply to the Right Amiga menu shortcuts or Left Alt gadget shortcuts. For example, to open the Input Map Editor window using a French keyboard, hold down the Right Amiga key and press the key immediately to the right of the Tab key (A). Other international keyboard differences currently don't apply to OctaMED's keyboard shortcuts. INTRODUCTION AND MISCELLANEOUS NODES Introduction Welcome to OctaMED Professional V5.0! The "MED" in "OctaMED" stands for "Music EDitor", and that's exactly what OctaMED is. With the program you may compose music for games, demos, animations and presentations, or simply use the program as a stand-alone editor. There is little previous Amiga® knowledge you need to use OctaMED, but a general familiarity with the Amiga® is helpful. You should know the basic mouse-using terms "click" and "drag", know about using windows and menus, know the operation of the ASL file requester, and be able to copy and format disks. If you are unfamiliar with any of these, please consult your Amiga®'s manual. Communication with the program is covered in the User Interface topic. You must also remember which processor your Amiga® uses. The A1200 contains a 68020 processor, and the A3000 and A4000 either a 68030 or 68040. Other Amigas® (without accelerator boards fitted) use 68000 processors. In addition to this, a few functions in OctaMED are selected with the mouse using a technique called "shift-clicking". This simply involves holding down one of the Amiga®'s Shift keys while pressing and releasing the left mouse button quickly. Before you begin using OctaMED, you must make a copy of the program disk and store the original disk in a safe place. This serves as a precaution in case your copy of OctaMED becomes corrupt. The original disk should only be used to make further copies. ( for your OWN use ) A brief overview of the program ------------------------------- OctaMED is used to create "songs" (which are also known as "modules"). Each song consists of small pieces of music called "blocks", which are linked together by creating a list of blocks arranged in the order in which they should be played. Blocks can be played in any order, and any number of times. In this way a song is broken down into more manageable pieces; and if a song contains parts that are repeated, you need only create the duplicated section once, and then tell the computer to play it as often as required. Blocks are usually edited using the Tracker editor, in which the music is represented by note names and numbers. In this form, the music is quite fast and convenient to edit (when you get used to it!), but it has limited use when printed since no-one could play it (although printing is still possible). For those who read music and wish to compose using the more traditional format of notes placed on a stave, a notation editor is provided for this purpose. However, the Tracker editor is still very important so learning to use it is essential. Usually songs are played using the Amiga®'s internal stereo sound chip, but you may also use a MIDI keyboard. For sound chip use, the instruments used in the song usually consist of digitized sounds known as "samples". A sample can consist of any sound at all: it could be a single note, a chord, speech, sound effects, anything! Using OctaMED and a "sound sampler" (which you must buy separately), you can create new samples by simply connecting the sound source to the sampler. Alternatively you can use the many thousands of samples already available, which are obtained through various distribution channels such as the public domain or commerical companies. OctaMED can be thought of as a player of samples in a predetermined sequence at predetermined pitches on predetermined sound channels. (Of course, you - the user - determine these factors). Since samples are played in a set sequence, programs like OctaMED are often referred to as "sample sequencers". OctaMED produces different pitches by simply playing the samples at a quicker or slower speed: the quicker the speed, the higher the pitch. These pitches of samples are called "notes" (no matter whether the sample really is a single note or instead a chord, speech etc.). OctaMED has a special function for use with samples that is virtually unique in programs of its type. Normally the Amiga®'s sound chip can play only four samples simultaneously, but in OctaMED you can play up to eight samples at once. Although this may sound rather attractive, there is a small price to pay in sound quality and in various restrictions (which are documented in 5-8 Channel Mode). (The "Octa" in OctaMED's name refers to the eight simultaneous samples). (Remember, click on any boxed text to see more details on that topic. In addition, pressing Return chooses the topic highlighted in blue). [ Please note that although this guide will be of great assistance in learning where and how!, it is no substitute for the OctaMED Companion. The Companion is a manual containing full "get-you-started" instructions and then goes through every aspect of OctaMED right up to the truly technical stuff and if followed properly, by the time you have finished you will know how to use/write/compose as good as anyone else. The Tutorial is not a printout of this text file, but is instead a complete teach-yourself manual and we have spent many months preparing it. To purchase the tutorial and its accompanying two disks please contact SeaSoft for availability or Ray Burt-Frost ( RBF Software ) How are songs made? ------------------- 1. Load instruments ------------------- There can be up to 63 instruments in a song, and they are numbered 01 - 1V. The numbering works as follows: 01, 02, 03 ... 09, 0A, 0B ... 0V, 10, 11, 12 ... 19, 1A, 1B ... 1V. Just below the title bar of the OctaMED screen is a small box containing the current sample's number, followed by a text box containing the current sample's name. The previous or next instrument can be selected by holding the Shift key down and pressing the left or right cursor (arrow) key respectively. A sample can be loaded into the current instrument slot by either typing its filename into the text box, or clicking the small gadget immediately to the left of the text box: you may now choose its filename using the file requester. The instruments on your sample disks may also be organized into a list known as the sample list for easy loading (see the Sample List Editor). 2. Set block size, number of tracks etc. ---------------------------------------- See the Tracker Editor for more information on this. 3. Set instrument parameters ---------------------------- Instrument characteristics such as tuning and volume are set in the Instrument Parameters window. 4. Edit blocks and add new blocks --------------------------------- As previously mentioned, blocks are edited predominantly using the Tracker editor. New blocks can be created using the Block List window, or by using Block Menu/New. (This means using the New item in the Block menu). 5. Link blocks together ----------------------- The list of block numbers used to order the playing of a song is created in the Playing Sequence window. 6. Play song ------------ The song playing gadgets are located on the upper screen. You may play the whole song or just the current block, or continue the song or block from the current position. 7. Save song ------------ There's no point in creating a masterpiece if it can't be saved! Saving is achieved using the Save Options window, where you may select what format to save the song in, whether the song is to be compressed etc. Multi-modules ------------- "Multi-modules" are projects containing more than one song. Each song shares the same set of instruments. This allows you, for example, to compose different songs for each level of a game, without having to load or keep the same instrument in memory more than once. Multi-modules are also very useful when editing just one song, as you can treat one song in the multi-module as "workspace", much like Deluxe Paint's "spare screen" option. You may design and compose in one song, then cut and paste to another. Songs are added by using either the relevant gadgets on the upper screen or the Song Selector window. OctaMED can automatically remap instruments while loading. This feature can save you a lot of work. If you have one or more songs already in memory, and you load an additional song, a "Remap instruments?" requester will appear. If you click "No" in the requester, all previous instruments in the entire multi-module will be lost and the instruments of the new song will be loaded. This could be used, for example, to use the new, different instruments with the other songs in the module. But if you reply "Yes": firstly, the instruments of the new song will be loaded to empty slots, i.e. instruments already in memory will be preserved; secondly, the instrument numbers of the loaded song will be remapped so that they point to the new instrument places. This means that the several sets of instruments used in the several songs can be contributed to one large overall set of instruments. Some other features of OctaMED ------------------------------ * Friendly and reasonably simple appearance (considering the program's complexity!): see the User Interface * Numerous editing operations, including Cut/Copy/Paste as found in wordprocessors, note transposition etc. (see Block Menu, Track Menu, and Edit Menu) * Sample waveforms can be edited and digitized in the sample editor, and simple synthetic instruments may be designed using the synthetic sound editor * The relative volume of each track and the overall song volume can be altered in the Track Volumes window * MIDI may be used, with up to 64 notes played simultaneously and many MIDI settings and operations (including a MIDI Message editor) * Complete PowerPacker and SFCD-compression load support: OctaMED can load and decrunch any PowerPacked or SFCD-compressed file. (The only file you can't compress, unfortunately, is this one: OctaMED.guide). OctaMED has built-in compression facilities for songs, but currently not for other files. To compress other files, you must use either the PowerPacker program (from UGA software, distributed by various companies) or the PowerPlayer Music Cruncher (for SFCD-compression, included on e.g. Fish 769). Requires powerpacker.library for PowerPacker, and lh.library for SFCD. Both libraries included on OctaMED's distribution disk under previous agreement with the copyright owners. The full PowerPlayer distribution archive can be found on Fish disk 769 (ask your favourite public domain library). * Numerous keyboard shortcuts exist. Note the conventions used: for example, "Ctrl-A" means "hold down the Ctrl key and press the A key"; also, the cursor (arrow) keys are represented by , , and . In order to learn how to use the program, we suggest that you study the Main Screen topics first, and then perhaps the User Interface topic. Then simply experiment! If you find something you don't understand, just press the Help key and select the appropriate topic. For example, if you don't quite understand the function of the Input Map Editor window, select "Windows" from the contents page then select "Input Map Editor" from the Windows topic. (Please ignore the occasional word "" that you might find: it simply indicates to upgraders from V4 which features are new to V5.0). We hope you will find this program useful and enjoy it! P.S. In this help file (and in many other computer documents and bulletin boards) you may come across odd-looking symbols, often consisting of a semicolon or colon, an optional hyphen and a closed bracket. To understand these, just tilt your head 90 degrees to the left :-) 5 - 8-Channel Mode (Parts of this topic are really intended as a reference for more experienced users of OctaMED, so don't worry if you don't understand everything at the moment!) The Amiga® has four stereo sound channels in its sound chip, and through each channel one note can be played at once. 5 - 8-channel mode works by mixing two samples in real time and then outputting them through one sound channel. This takes up a lot of the processor's power, and the mixing process reduces the sound quality (causes distortion). The distortion can be reduced using High Quality Mode or (as a last resort ;) by using the audio filter (both selected in Song Options, and channel mode changing is also contained in this window). The processor load that 5 - 8-channel playing causes, and some technical reasons set some limitations to playing in these modes: * Different playing speed selection. Use the secondary tempo as usual, but use primary tempo values 1-10. * Synthetic / hybrid sounds can't be used * All equalizers are disabled * All MIDI features are disabled * Instrument default volume and Decay values are ignored, as are the track and master volumes * Limited sample loop length, only in a minimum of 200-byte steps (when the primary tempo is 1). Every time the primary tempo is increased by one, the loop length byte-steps increases by 20. So with a primary tempo of the maximum 10, the length is set in 400-byte steps. In addition to this, samples should be "halved". This means that each sample's volume should be half of its normal volume, so that they can be mixed with the minimum of distortion. The halving is done automatically when changing channel mode (answer "Halve" in the requester). The sound channels that play these mixed samples are called "split channels". In eight-channel mode all channels are split, but in five- channel mode only one channel is split, allowing better quality samples on the other three channels. You may use non-halved samples on non-split channels, but attempting to use non-halved samples on split channels when two notes are played simultaneously usually creates awful noise. The channel configuration in each of the channel modes is as follows: ( S = split, N = non-split, (L) = left speaker, (R) = right, - = unused ) Channels 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | 4 | N (R) | N (L) | N (L) | N (R) | - | - | - | - | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | 5 | S (R) | N (L) | N (L) | N (R) | S (R) | - | - | - | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | 6 | S (R) | S (L) | N (L) | N (R) | S (R) | S (L) | - | - | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | 7 | S (R) | S (L) | S (L) | N (R) | S (R) | S (L) | S (L) | - | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | 8 | S (R) | S (L) | S (L) | S (R) | S (R) | S (L) | S (L) | S (R) | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ Note that 5 - 8 channel mode does NOT mean how many tracks there are. You must also select 5 - 8 tracks in the Block Properties window. For best results, you shouldn't use more channels than you need. If, for example, your song doesn't use more than six tracks at once, you should select 6-channel mode instead of 7 or 8-channel mode. This both increases the execution speed and gives you two non-split (i.e. high quality) tracks (2 and 3). If you load additional samples while in 5 - 8-channel mode, OctaMED usually halves them automatically. However, if you are using some channels that aren't split, you can override halving and load normal-volume samples for the non-split channels. To do so, hold down the Shift key when: a) clicking on a sample name in the Load Instrument Window b) clicking Load Inst in the Sample List Editor window c) selecting Load Instrument(s) from the Instr menu d) clicking the getfile gadget on the top row of the upper screen Volume limitations ------------------ Because there are only 4 sound channels and 4 volume registers, pairs of split channels must share each volume register. Channels 0 and 4, 1 and 5, 2 and 6, and 3 and 7 each share one register. This means that every volume command (C) affects two tracks. For example: Track: 0 1 2 3 4 000 C-1 30000 E-1 30000 G-1 30000 --- 00000 A#2 50C20 The 0C20 command on track 4 affects both tracks 4 and 0. The default volume of instruments is ignored for this reason. To those upgrading from version 4... Welcome to another version of OctaMED! Firstly: as I'm sure you'll know, this version and all subsequent versions will require Kickstart and Workbench 2.x "TM" or higher. This is because OctaMED now heavily depends on the new features in Release 2 of the operating system, and many parts of the program have been entirely rewritten to take advantage of them. As 2.04 upgrade packages have been available for more than 1½ years, it's a reasonable assumption that every truly serious Amiga® user has the package available to them. (Please note that THIS disk contains WB 2.1 "TM"). However, OctaMEDPlayer is still compatible with Kickstart 1.3 "TM" to allow your songs to be heard by as wide an audience as possible. So you've got your copy of V5.0, and you're probably wondering what has changed. Well, as soon as you loaded OctaMED, you'll have noticed a huge change: the user interface has been completely rewritten. This not only gives the program a much more "friendly" appearance, but it enables more features to be added to the program more easily. While in OctaMED V4, gadgets had to be shrunk to make way for new functions, in future versions a window simply needs to be enlarged. Where the V4 features can be found ---------------------------------- Here is a list of which windows the V4 panels' features have been moved to: Status bar: Upper screen Lower status: Free memory : Lower screen Block name : Block Properties window, Block List win Song name : Song Options window Files: Load song : Project menu/Open Save song : Save Options window Del file : Project menu Load/Save instr: Instr menu Load/Save msg : MIDI Message Editor Load/Save map : Input Map Editor Play: Playing seq : Playing Sequence window Chan mode, Vol, Filter, STS : Song Options window Equalizers (note: no E1): Settings menu All others Upper screen Instr: Type : Type window Name : Upper screen (use to reload instruments) All others : Instrument Parameters window Block: Trks, Lines : Block Properties window Highlighting : Highlight Options window Del Buff : Edit menu All others : Block menu, Track menu Edit: Prog keys : Programmable Keys window Track on/off : Upper screen All others (no Octaves) : Keyboard Options window Misc: Clear gadgets : New Project window Quit : Project menu Palette : Palette Window PTKey : Keyboard Options window Add / Rem Paths: Instr menu Mouse2 : Mouse Options window All others (no Dep2/LdGfx): Settings menu Vol: Track Volumes window MIDI: Chan/preset, supp. noteoff: Instrument Parameters window Message editor : MIDI Message Editor Input map ed : Input Map Editor All others : MIDI menu Trans: Play transpose : Song Options window Annotation text: Song menu All others : Transpose window Range: Chord RST : Keyboard Options window Select tracks : Upper screen All others (no Range) : Edit menu Synth: Synthetic Sound Editor (note: menu attached to window) SmpEd: Sample Editor (note: menu attached to window) Note: SAVE IFF has been "moved" to Instr menu/Save Instrument SList: Sample List Editor Notation Ed: Display menu/Notation Editor (menu attached to window) Features removed in V5.0 ------------------------ You'll notice that some features from V4 are missing in V5.0: a) The DEP2 gadget in the MISC panel has been removed. This is because the OctaMED screen now always has 2 bitplanes (4 colors). b) The LOADGFX gadget in the MISC panel is missing, as there are now no extra graphics files to load... c) There was, unfortunately, no space using the new interface for the E1 set of equalizers. d) The set of Octaves gadgets in the EDIT panel and the Range dimensions in the RANGE panel were thought to be no longer necessary, but they may return in a future version. e) The color palette is no longer loaded or saved with songs. Loading in particular would have certainly caused problems with songs created with earlier versions of OctaMED: imagine what the new interface would look like with the old black - white - dark gray - light gray palette! f) The old status bar action of clicking a digit with either mouse button to increase / decrease the digit no longer exists (it is a "non- standard" function, and clicking with the right mouse button would interfere with the new menu system). For those who have become used to this operation, here are some relevant keyboard shortcuts: Decrease / increase playseq position: Ctrl - 8 / 2 (numeric keypad) Decrease / increase block number: Shift - / Decrease / increase instrument number: Shift - / Decrease / increase song number: Ctrl - ( / ) (numeric keypad) g) The Left Alt programmable keys definition has unfortunately had to be removed, since Left Alt is now the gadget shortcut qualifier (see Keyboard Shortcuts). h) The instrument default volume's hex display has been (temporarily?) removed. New features in V5.0 -------------------- a) Maximum sizes increased: * 64 tracks in a block (you're also not limited to multiples of 4) * 1000 blocks in a song * 999 entries in a playing sequence * MIDI Preset range (1 - 2800), only works with some devices * 1048560 bytes in a MIDI message (should be enough for most use!) b) New list windows: * Song Selector displays all songs * Block List displays all blocks c) Sample editor options: * Change volume: fade in/out, halve, double, don't clip (prevents distortion) * Anti-alias when changing pitch can be turned off * Cancel finetune (removes finetune value from a sample) * Set volumes of source and destination when mixing * Set density of pixels in pixel display mode * Invert: turns the range upside-down * Chop: deletes the whole sample except the range * Remove Unused Space: deletes space (of zero volume) from either side of the sample * Create Chord: creates chords of 2 - 4 notes from a sample * Play Buffer Contents: plays the copy buffer at the current pitch * Sample Voice Monitor: optionally turns off hearing the input signal while digitizing (may enhance quality on slower machines) * Clicking Digitize when Buffsize = 0 automatically creates a buffer (of 131072 bytes or the largest available if no memory) d) Sample list editor options: * Instrument Load Window allows easy loading of samples in list * Stores tuning / MIDI / default volume values and default pitch as well as loop * Add directories anywhere in list (not just to end) e) Playing sequence: * Can create multiple playing sequences (sections), and choose the order in which these sections are played in the Section List * "Clear playing sequence" button * Now also displays block names * "Follow" gadget automatically updates the list so that the current position is as close to the middle as possible f) New save options: * A new file format (MMD2), saves song sections * Song compression, using PowerPacker or SFCD compression. SFCD is a packing format used in Stephan Fuhrmann's PowerPlayer module player program, and it usually crunches modules slightly more tightly than PowerPacker. It requires lh.library for use, which is distributed with OctaMED under agreement with the copyright owners. (PowerPlayer can be found on Fish disk 769) * Song size calculation * Save Timer emulates "auto-save" option of many wordprocessors g) New editing functions: * Generic Slide creates a slide with any kind of player command (use as Volume Slide except with a different player command) * Flush all unused instruments * Highlighting: starting offset and custom spacing options * Insert / delete tracks throughout the song * Automatically cancels range after an operation. Also, you now cancel a range by simply clicking the mouse button on the editor h) New instrument type: ExtSamples (an extra two lower octaves) i) More settings: * Display max tracks: maximum tracks on-screen at once (4, 8, 16) * Left, middle and right mouse button can be configured to turn normal/select tracks on/off, set cursor position, or mark range * Spacing options: destructive, auto-round (Keyboard Options) * Turn automatic flushing of unused instruments on/off when clearing the current song of a multi-module * Auto-Freeze Screen: automatically turns screen updating off when the OctaMED screen is not the frontmost * Play After Loading: automatically starts playing directly after loading a song, useful for listening to other people's songs * AGA-compatible palette j) Many new keyboard shortcuts, including some new editing functions k) Smaller functions: * Arrow gadgets select the previous / next set of tracks to allow all 64 tracks to be used, in the upper screen, Track Volumes window and Notation Control window. Shift-clicking the gadgets select the first / last set of tracks used in the current block * A Project menu option to display the last title bar message * Can also change an instrument into a synthetic sound by choosing Project menu/New Synthsound in the synth editor * Synthsound programming editing: the cursor no longer moves down beyond END; and inserting any command except HLT and RES (which don't take parameters) also inserts a new 00 value. * Shift-clicking (clicking with Shift held) the waveform arrow gadgets in the synth editor selects the first / last waveform * Shift-clicking one of the track gadgets in the upper screen "solos" the track (clears all tracks except the one selected) * Shift-clicking Cont Song continues song from top line of block * Shift-clicking Space turns spacing on and opens Keyboard Options (with a view to editing the spacing options) * A gadget to quickly select the current block for printing * Can close then reopen the notation editor's options window using Display menu/Notation Control Window l) Other new features: * Fully localizable under Workbench 2.1 "TM" (the required 2.1 files are on this disk, or later. (WB 2.04 "TM" users can now use the Locale program which is in Prefs on Disk2). * You can set a default pitch (note) for each instrument, which will be played and entered at that pitch when the "F" key is pressed. Very useful for untuned instruments such as percussion * Can load more than one instrument at a time: instruments are loaded into consecutive slots, starting at the current slot * Clicking the timer reset gadget ("R") stores the current song position, which can be recalled by clicking the timer itself * The High Quality switch now doesn't decrease the tempo * Supports multiple settings and programmable keys files (on startup, OctaMED attempts to load "S:OctaMEDPro.config" and "S:OctaMEDPro.defkeys") * On-line help provided by pressing the Help key (you'll probably have already found this out for yourself ;-) m) Of course, numerous bug and quirk fixes, including commands 19 and FF3, commands FFD and FFF in 5-8 channel mode, the effect of changing the block size on line highlighting and block names, intelligent sample halving (won't request to halve samples if they are already halved) and many other small fixes. Some of the small fixes are: if an instrument had a Hold value above zero, entering a note with that instrument and with spacing on cut the note a split second after it was played; entering a note with Space and Chord mode both on advanced only one line; playing a range two bytes long (sample editor) appeared to play the entire chip memory!; Spread Notes also spread blank notes (--- 00000); "advance with sound" (loudspeaker gadget on the EDIT panel) played notes on all tracks, regardless of the tracks' on/off status; you can no longer use a spacing value of 1 (admit it, it was a bit useless :^). One bug of note: the "intelligent" sample loader added way back in MED 2.10 (July 1990) is finally * REALLY * intelligent!! :^) (It can calculate the number of grains of sand on Planet Earth within 3.8 seconds, work out who will be Wimbledon champion in the year 2064, design the world's first pear-shaped Cadillac, and even eat a whole plum without spilling a single drop of juice :'D ). Seriously, it promises never to request a sample disk more than once while loading songs saved without their instruments. In addition, the old "octamed.config" file can't be loaded by V5.0. This is because the format of the config file has once again changed, but hopefully for the last time (since the file is now a plain text file). You need to recreate your old preferences using V5.0, then save the settings using the Settings menu. (A list of the settings saved with the "OctaMEDPro.config" file is given in The Settings File. Note that the programmable keys definitions are now saved in a separate file called "OctaMEDPro.defkeys", see the Programmable Keys window. This list should have covered all features new to V5.0, but throughout the help file the word "" emphasizes these new features. This doesn't include keyboard shortcuts listed in the main documentation (there are too many of them!). Keyboard shortcuts ------------------ Almost all shortcuts involving Right Amiga have been either removed or changed from version 4, since Right Amiga is now used as a menu shortcut qualifier only. (The only exceptions are Amiga-X/C/V, which remain as in V4: cut/copy/paste track). The changes are: Amiga-L (Load Song) Now Amiga-O Amiga-P (Play Song) Now Left Alt-P (with main screen active) Amiga-T (Slide type 1) Now Ctrl-T Shift-Amiga-T (Slide type 2) Now Shift-Ctrl-T Amiga-O (Volume slide) Now Ctrl-O Shift-Amiga-X/C/V has been changed to Shift-Alt-X/C/V for compatibility with the new interface (holding Shift and choosing Cut, Copy or Paste from the Track menu would have affected the _block_ instead!). Aside from X/C/V, all other Amiga shortcuts have been removed. Ctrl-F1-F10 and Alt-keypad shortcuts have also been removed. A final word ------------ So although there are many new features, you should become used to the new interface fairly quickly. You could first of all read the user interface topic, then scan through all the menus and windows in the program, noting the new positions of V4's functions and referring to the appropriate topic in this help file if you discover anything you don't recognize. Remember that any menu item with the suffix "..." opens a window, and also that there is a menu bar attached to the sample, synthsound and sample list editors, and the Notation Control window! Finally note that the right mouse button can no longer be used to select a range in the tracker, sample and synthsound editors: the left mouse button now usually does this. We hope you find the new version useful, and also Kickstart 2.04 or higher if you've just upgraded it really is well worth buying the complete 2.04 upgrade set, IF you can find a supplier, ( especialy in the UK ). The User Interface The "user interface" is the means by which the computer and user communicate. In OctaMED, this is done by using windows, menus and gadgets. The user interface has been completely rewritten in OctaMED Pro V5.0, which should make the program look a little less complicated and be easier and more "intuitive" to use. ("Intuitive" means that the various controls behave as you would expect them to). "Gadgets" are graphics symbols used for communication with the program, and this topic describes the various different sorts of gadget (which are handled using the computer's "GadTools" library). For information about using the windows and menus, please refer to your Amiga®'s user manual. There are two points of note, however, about OctaMED's window handling. Firstly, notes can't be entered or deleted while any window is active, even when editing is switched on: you must activate the main screen. Secondly, the right mouse button is equivalent to clicking the window's zoom gadget (except in the sample, synthetic sound and sample list editors and the Notation Control window, when it displays the window's menu bar). A quick word about the screen: OctaMED's screen uses AutoScroll, which means that if you have dragged its screen down, you may drag it back up again by moving the mouse pointer off the very bottom of the screen. (Note that the words "gadget" and "button" essentially mean the same; "click" means "press and release the left mouse button quickly"; and "drag" means "hold down the left mouse button while moving the mouse"). Action buttons -------------- These are the simplest form of gadget, as they just perform the activity labeled on the button. The button's appearance is a rectangular area that is raised, i.e. it seems to "come out" of the screen. Holding down the left mouse button over the gadget "inverts" it, i.e. turns it blue. Releasing the mouse button performs the activity. While the gadget is inverted, you may move the mouse pointer away from the gadget. This makes it non-inverted, and the function is said to be "canceled". There is a special type of action button called a "GetFile" gadget. It is a small gadget containing an diagram of a list appearing from a folder. Clicking on one of these gadgets opens a file requester for a particular operation. Examples of GetFile gadgets are in the upper screen and the Save and Print Options windows. Check boxes ----------- These small square gadgets allow you to choose whether an option is "on" or "off". When on, a "check" (or "tick") mark appears in the gadget, and when off, the box is empty. To turn the option on or off, simply click inside the gadget. Radio buttons ------------- These gadgets consist of a set of small circular buttons, collectively known as a "radio button", with which you select one option from a variety of options. Radio buttons are "mutually exclusive", meaning that one and only one option may be selected. When selected (by clicking on it), the small button is recessed (meaning it seems to "go into" the screen), and a blue circle appears inside it. Cycle gadgets ------------- These gadgets are equivalent in function to radio buttons, but only one option is visible at a time. They look like action buttons, but with a "cycle" sign on their left-hand side. The various options are cycled through by clicking inside the gadget. Shift-clicking them (clicking them with the Shift key held down) cycles through the options backwards. In this help file, the default setting of each radio button and cycle gadget is documented. Text and numerical boxes ------------------------ Also called "string and integer gadgets", these appear as rectangles with an embellished black and white border. With them you may type in text and numbers (in appearance there is no difference between text boxes and numerical boxes). The boxes are "activated" by clicking inside them, and a small blue cursor appears. You may edit the text or number inside the box simply by typing. When you have finished editing, make sure you press the Return key so that OctaMED accepts the new information. Keyboard shortcuts that you may use while editing are: Move cursor left / right Backspace Delete "character" (letter or number) to left of cursor Del Delete character at cursor Shift- Move to beginning of box Shift- Move to end of box Amiga-X Delete box's contents Amiga-Q Restore box's contents Ctrl-A Move to beginning of box Ctrl-Z Move to end of box Ctrl-X Delete box's contents (like Amiga-X) Ctrl-H Delete character to left of cursor (like Backspace) Ctrl-U or W Delete from cursor to beginning of box Ctrl-K Delete from cursor to end of box Ctrl-M Accept edited information (like Return) In addition, the Tab key accepts the edited information (like Return) and activates the next text or numerical box in the window. Shift-Tab accepts and activates the previous box. Sliders ------- Sliders are rectangular gadgets that contain another small black rectangle. This small rectangle is known as the slider's "knob", and the rest of the gadget is called the "slider box". Above, below, to the left or to the right of the gadget is a number (called the "slider value"), and the gadget is used to increase or decrease the slider value. The slider value is usually changed by dragging the knob. However, clicking in the slider box increases or decreases the value by one (depending on where in the box you click). There may be arrows beside the slider; in which case, clicking them increases or decreases the value by one. Scrolling lists --------------- These are used to display a list of different names of objects. Examples of lists are in the Playing Sequence window, the Instrument Load Window, and the Song Selector window. They consist of a box containing the list itself, a scroll gadget to the right of the list, and sometimes a display box (see later) or text box underneath the list that shows the currently selected item in the list. A scroll gadget is like a slider, but by dragging the black rectangle you move the list up or down. Clicking in the scroll box moves the list one page up or down. Items in the list are selected simply by clicking on them. Display boxes ------------- These are the only type of gadget listed in this topic that you can't click inside! They simply display information, and they appear as recessed boxes. One more thing you should know about: ghosting. This is when a gadget or a menu item becomes checkered, and it means that it can't be selected. This happens, for example, to the slider in the Programmable Keys window when the Right Alt definition is being shown. For the keyboard shortcuts used with gadgets, see Gadget Shortcuts. Installation This topic describes which files OctaMED uses when starting up, for those wishing to properly install the program on a hard disk or a different floppy disk. *** If you wish to install OctaMED on a hard disk you can, of course, simply double-click the Copy_To_Hard_Drive icon in the utilities drawer of this disk, ensuring that your hd is titled as WORK!! If you copy the files manually, then from from disk 2 you will need to copy OctaMED.Guide across to your chosen hard disk directory, and also the OctaMED.config to your S directory, If you don't do this, the OctaMED.guide won't be opened when pressing the Help key. This disk contains the NEW WB 2.1 "TM" files (in the C: and LIBS: drawers). If you are using WB 3.0 "TM" (supplied with the A1200/A4000 Amigas®), you may replace the 2.1 files with your 3.0 files if you wish. This is not necessary, though, as the WB 2.1 "TM" files will work perfectly under Kickstart 3.0. The only files that OctaMED actually requires to start up are version 37 or higher of asl.library and iffparse.library, in either the current or the LIBS: directory. If the following other files are also installed, however, OctaMED will take advantage of them: File | Directories OctaMED searches | Purpose --------------------+------------------------------+----------------------- locale.library | NOT this version | Use different language | | amigaguide.library | LIBS:, current | On-line help | | OctaMED.guide | S:, current | On-line help | | Help.guide | S:, current | AmigaGuide® help | | powerpacker.library | LIBS:, current | PowerPacker crunching | | lh.library | LIBS:, current | SFCD compression | | MED_paths | S:, current | The sample list | | OctaMEDPro.config | S: | Default settings | | OctaMEDPro.defkeys | S: | Default program. keys Remember that you can also store these files in directories other than S: and LIBS: using the "Assign" command. For example: Assign S: Add where is the path of the directory where you wish to store the sample list and the default settings / programmable keys files. SPECIAL PURPOSE NODES The File Requester The file requester is used to handle and select files. OctaMED supports the system-integrated ASL file requester (please refer to your Amiga®'s manual for information). You may also use, ON A COPY, file requesters that automatically replace the ASL file requester, for example ReqTools (when the RTPatch program is run) and the Magic File Requester. OctaMED has two special features in all operations involving saving. Firstly, an "Overwrite?" requester appears if the file OctaMED is trying to save has the same name as another file in the directory. Secondly, you can't double-click on a filename like you can when loading: you need to use the "Ok" gadget instead. These two features go some way to prevent accidental file deletion. The Settings File The settings file is saved by choosing Settings Menu/Save Settings. The following options are saved (values in brackets are default): * Save Options window: - Save Secondary Data (ON) - Create Icons (ON) - Save Notation Data (OFF) * The Save Timer value (0) * Sample Editor: - Line display (ON) - Pixel display (OFF) - Pixel Density (2) - Sampler Voice Monitor (OFF) - Pitch period (428) - Don't Clip (Change Volume window) (OFF) * The "Auto-Terminate Capture" gadget in the MIDI message editor (ON) * The "Follow" gadget in the Playing Sequence window (OFF) * Mouse Options window: - Left Button (SELECT RANGE) - Middle Button (NO OPERATION) - Right Button (NO OPERATION) * Keyboard Options window: - Advance Line (DOWN) - Advance Track (DON'T ADVANCE) - Advance Cursor (DON'T ADVANCE) - Keypad Mode (TRACKS ON/OFF) - Keypad Mapping (ALTERNATIVE) - Space Value (2) - Chord Reset (ON) - Space = DEL (OFF) - Protracker Shortcuts (OFF) - Advance with sound (OFF) - Destructive Spacing (ON) - Auto-Round Spacing (ON) * Palette window: - The color scheme (WORKBENCH COLORS) - Palette Type (8-Bit) * Instr menu: - Automatic Flush (OFF) - Add Path (OFF) - Remove Path (OFF) * Note killing options in the MIDI menu * Settings menu: - Display Max Tracks (16) - Equalizers (both ON) - H -> B (ON) - Auto-Freeze Screen (OFF) In addition, OctaMED will save the current window positions (both zoomed and unzoomed) if you have moved them from their usual positions. The default settings file name is "S:OctaMEDPro.config". Tracker Modules There is a substantial amount of information lost if you choose to save in Tracker Module format. This information is: ** Synthetic, hybrid and MIDI instruments ** Multi-octave samples (including ExtSamples) ** Some block contents (no lines above 64, no tracks above 4, no notes above B-3) ** Player commands 8, E and 10 ** Instruments above 0V * All instrument parameters apart from Repeat and RepLen (Loop On, Transpose, Finetune, ** Hold and Decay, default volume, MIDI parameters) * Multi-modules (only the current song will be saved) * 5-8 channels * Song sections (converted to one playing sequence as described in the Save Options Window) * MIDI Messages, the state of the MIDI Active switch * Relative track volumes * Block names * Line highlighting * Annotation text * Notation Editor data * Decimal / Hex Volumes (converted to hex volumes) (The information which is given in the requester brought up when trying to save a Tracker module is marked above with a **). Note that the resulting file is a 31-instrument module, incompatible with Tracker programs only supporting old 15-instrument modules. Protracker commands ------------------- Many player commands are converted when saving Tracker modules and loading Protracker modules. They are: OctaMED command | Protracker command ----------------+------------------- 0D | A 0FF8 | E11 0FF9 | E12 11 | E1 12 | E2 13 | 3 14 | 4 15 | E5 16 | E6 18 | EC 19 | 9 1A | EA 1B | EB 1C | C (saving only) 1D | D 1E | EE 1F | Digit 1 ED, digit 2 E9 (loading just converts ED) When loading, commands E3 and E4 are ignored. When saving, commands 8, E and 10 are ignored. Hexadecimal Values "Hexadecimal" (or "hex" for short) is basically just a different way of representing numbers. It is more convenient for the computer because of the way it works, and allows the user to specify a greater range of numbers using the same amount of digits. Hex values are used in the player commands, synth editor, the secondary tempo, and the MIDI message editor. So they're quite important in OctaMED (and also in general computing). In the usual decimal system, a digit can be ten different values: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. In the hex system, however, a digit may have sixteen values: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E and F. The decimal numbers 10 - 15 are represented by the letters A to F: Decimal 10 = A 11 = B 12 = C 13 = D 14 = E 15 = F With two digits in a number, the decimal system can represent 10 × 10 = 100 different values. The hex system, however, can represent 16 × 16 = 256 values: over twice the amount of the decimal system. (The lowest number is 00 = zero, and the highest number is FF = 255 decimal). Converting between the two systems ---------------------------------- So although it feels strange to work in at first, it has its advantages. In a two digit hex number (e.g. 8A), the first digit represents multiples of 16. So, to convert a two-digit hex number to decimal: Decimal number = (Hex digit 1) × 16 + (hex digit 2) And to convert decimal to hex, divide the decimal number by 16. The quotient is hex digit 1, the remainder is hex digit 2. For example: Hex 8A -> decimal: Hex digit 1 = 8, hex digit 2 = A (10). Decimal number = (8 × 16) + 10 = * 106 *. Decimal 200 -> hex: 200 ÷ 16 = 12 remainder 8. Hex digit 1 = C (12), hex digit 2 = 8. So hex number = * C8 *. Hex numbers are sometimes distinguished from decimal numbers by preceding hex with a "$" sign. For example: $C8, $FF. Signed hexadecimal ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ There is a further complication! Luckily in OctaMED you'll only need to use this in two player commands: MIDI command 3 (set pitchbender) and command 15 (set finetune). The "sign" of a number denotes whether the number is positive or negative: that is, the "+" and "-" signs. In hexadecimal, however, there are no "-" signs. So, negative numbers are represented by positive numbers (it will become clearer!). In signed hex, the numbers $00 - $7F are positive as usual: they represent the decimal numbers 0 - 127. However, the numbers $80 - $FF represent the decimal values -1 to -128: Decimal -1 = $FF -2 = $FE -3 = $FD -4 = $FC ... -16 = $F0 -17 = $EF -18 = $EE ... -126 = $82 -127 = $81 -128 = $80 So to convert negative decimal numbers to signed hex numbers, first add 256 to the number, then convert to hex as above. For example: Decimal -67 -> signed hex: -67 + 256 = 189. 189 ÷ 16 = 11 remainder 13. Hex digit 1 = 11 (B), hex digit 2 = 13 (C) So signed hex number = * $BC *. Hex numbers will crop up in many areas of computing, so if you've never worked with them before, it's advisable to get used to them!