SOUND_LAB.DOC version .98 © 1990,by ADCsystems Howard Dortch or Mike Coriell c/o ADCsystems 1628 Grandview Av. Portsmouth,OH. 45662 (614)354-1289 The following documentation is an explanation of the functions of the SOUND_LAB editor/sampler software. The software should run on any standard Amiga computer, including an A3000 with 2.0 software. The program should NOT be run in overscan mode available with the release of 2.0. Any screen width larger than 640 pixels wide may have problems operating properly. PLEASE WAIT When the Please Wait requester is active on the screen, it is recommended that no other operations are attemped or a program lock-up may occur. This is a minor bug that will soon be corrected. MENUS EDIT NEW - LEFT This selection will erase the contents of the left buffer and reset the buffer size to 10,000 bytes. It will redraw the graphic window to a zero line. If you have a file loaded in the left buffer a requester will appear asking if you want to save the file first. If you select NO the operation will continue. If you select YES the operation will quit, allowing you to save the file before continuing. NEW - RIGHT This selection will erase the contents of the right buffer and reset the buffer to 10,000 bytes. It will redraw the graphic in the right window to show a zero line. If you have a file loaded in the right buffer a requester will appear asking if you want to first save the contents of the buffer. NEW - BOTH This selection will erase the contents of both the left and right buffers,and reset the buffer sizes to 10,000 bytes each. If there is a file loaded a requester will appear first for the left side then for the right side. If you select YES for the left requester the operation will be aborted allowing you to save your work. QUIT This selection will exit the program. You can also select the right "A"miga key with "Q" and get the same result. TASK ICON This selection will close the editor window and install a title bar in the screens title bar. This will allow you to perform other operations that require the use of a CLI or workbench. To reopen the SOUND_LAB editor window select the title with the LEFT mouse button then press the RIGHT mouse button and the window will re-open. It is possible to run a second version of the SOUND_LAB program, allowing for a separate editing session. However keep in mind this will use more memory depending on the file sizes you are editing. You can also iconify the program using the right "A"miga and the "I" keys FILE IFF This selection is the default file type mode. This item should have the check mark selected when you first run the program. When attempting to load a file if it is an IFF type file it will load with no problem. If you do not change the selection you can save the file as an IFF type file. If the file does not load,the words "BAD FORMAT TRY RAW" will appear in the filename box in the upper left corner of the window. Use the right mouse button to activate the menus and select FILE - RAW. The check mark will then be to the left of the word RAW. Now you can attempt the load the file as raw data. If the file you loaded sounds like distortion try the AUX mode. This mode converts DC signals found on MAC and Atari computers to AC files for the Amiga. RAW This selection will load a file as RAW data. It will load any file regardless of type. You can then use the editor to cut out unwanted portions. Some programs want RAW data to play. You can load a file as an IFF and save it as RAW data when needed. The RAW data does not save rate and volume information. The default setting for a raw file is 8,000 samples per second,full volume. Raw files cannot be saved in stero mode. AUX This selection is used to load MAC and Atari 8 bit sound files. You can load MAC files and save them as Amiga IFF or RAW files. Likewise you can load RAW of IFF files and save them as RAW MAC or Atari 8 bit sound files. DIGITIZER SOUND_LAB This selection sets the record mode to use the SOUND_LAB digitizing hardware. PS_3.0 This selection is used for Perfect Sound 3.0 digitizing hardware. GENERIC This selection is used for most generic types of digitizers including PS_2.0. MAIN SCREEN FUNCTIONS (starting upper left) LEFT: This box is for the left side file name. It may also contain status reports about a file you are attempting to load. LOAD This is a gadget that brings up a file requester. The file selections can be double clicked using the left mouse button or select the LOAD gadget in the requester window to load a file. After a file has been selected, if it has left - right data stored in the file, it will load in the proper edit window. If there is no "CHAN" data stored with the file a requester will appear allowing you to select the side you wish to load the file. This requester will find the mouse so you don't have to chase around the screen to find it. RANG This is the range "in" gadget. Use the mouse to select a range in the edit window by moving the pointer to the start of an area you wish to zoom into. Then hold down the left button and drag the mouse to the right over the range you want to see. The area you have dragged the mouse over will change to grey to show you the area you are ranging into. Let up on the mouse button and select RANG. You will then see a ZOOMED portion of the file. Other edit functions will work on this RANGED section. The SIZ box will display the number of bytes per pixel when you first press the mouse button. The SIZ will increase as you move the mouse to let you know how much you are ranging into. See TIM,BEG,END also. CUT This gadget will cut a section from the file. You must first have a range selected in the edit window. The area colored grey will be cut from the file. The CUT section will be held in a CUT buffer ready for you to PASTE in either edit window. Warning if you cut another section the first one will be lost so be careful! COPY This gadget will copy a range from one window to the other. You must first select a range in the opposite window to use the COPY gadget. The COPY gadget does not use a buffer. MONO - STER This gadget toggles between mono and stereo MODE for record and playback. If you use the STER (stereo) mode remember that the file lengths must be the same size in order to work properly. Also keep in mind that when you save a file this MODE will be saved with the data. If you have STER selected both left and right buffers will be saved. PLAY This gadget will play the file on the side you selected. If you should have the STER mode selected both buffers will play VOL This is a slider gadget that allows you to change the volume of the sound being played. The number to the right of the slider is a number from 1 to 64 indicating the level of sound. MAIN SCREEN (second row) TIM This box displays the time duration of the file. If you have a range selected, it will show the time of the range. The format for the time is MM:SS.MICROS SIZ This box is the size of the file or range in bytes. SAVE This gadget will bring up a file requester for saving a file. If you have a range selected only the range will be saved. The file type will also be used. If you have loaded a file using IFF and select RAW in the menus the file will be converted to RAW. Check all your settings prior to a save. OUT This gadget selects RANGE out. If you have ranged into a section of a file use this gadget to see the entire file again. PAST Use this gadget to paste a section you have previously CUT. To paste a section move the mouse to the position of the file you wish to paste to then press the left mouse button to set the paste point. Then select the PAST gadget to perform the operation. EFF This gadget selects the effects window (see the section effects). The gadget is a toggle select. When selected the gadget will hilite grey to close the effects window select the gadget again. REC Use this gadget to select the recorder window.(see the section RECORD for more information) LOOP This gadget will set loop on for playback. Loop mode is active when the gadget is hilited grey. To turn looping off select the gadget again and it will return to blue. RATE This gadget sets the playback rate in samples per second. It also has a string gadget attached to set the playback rate to a specific value. MAIN SCREEN (bottom row) BEG This box indicates the BEGining time. If you select a range, the point where you set the start of the range will be indicated in the box as the beginning time for the range. If you do not have a range selected this value should be 00:00.000000. This time value is relative to the beginning of the file. For instance if you have a file that has a total time of 2 seconds, and you set the start of a range by clicking the mouse down half way through the file the beginning time should be about 1 second. <<<< This gadget allows you to scroll through a ranged section of the file. It will slowly move the graphic to allow you to find an area of interest. This only works when you have a range selected. MAIN SLIDER When you first run the program, there is a long black bar in the center of the screen. This is a slider gadget used when a range has been selected. The bar will shrink to show the percentage of file that has been ranged into and the relative position of the range. To move to a different position in the file grab the slider with the mouse and move it. The size of the range wont change, just the position. >>>> This gadget allows you to scroll towards the end of a ranged section of the file. END This box indicates the END of a range relative to the beginning of the file. If no range has been selected, the display will show the total size of the file (same as TIM). The format for the ending time display is MM:SS.MICROS. EFFECTS WINDOW GADGETS (upper left) RAMP BEG - RAMP END - SETL - SETR This set of gadgets selects the RAMP function. If you want to start a file at full volume and decrease the volume toward the end, you would move the BEG slider to the right (100%) and the END slider to the left (0%), then select SETL. The file will be redrawn with the amplitude (volume) tall at the start and short at the end. When played the sound volume will taper off to nothing toward the end of the file. Move the BEG slider to the left and the END slider to the right and the sound will get louder towards the end. If you have a RANGe selected the RAMP will work only on the range. REV This gadget will REVERSE the file, or display it in reverse. The end of the file will be the beginning. To change it back select REV again. CLONE L>R - R>L This set of gadgets allow you to copy or CLONE the entire file from right to left or left to right. Use this to keep a teporary copy of the file you are working with in case you make a mistake, CLONE it back and try again. MIX L>R - R>L This set of gadgets allows you to mix two files together, creating one file with the sounds of both. The file buffer you are mixing to will be lost so save your work! LEFT VOL -C- - +B+ This set of gadgets is used to BOOST or CUT the amplitude of a file. After a mix the overall volume is lower than either of the two files you mixed. Select the +B+ BOOST gadget and the file will increase in amplitude. If the file is not as loud as you want select the +B+ BOOST gadget as many times as necessary to get the desired result. CAUTION, the +B+ BOOST operation can cause the file to be too loud,and cause distortion, so be careful! LEFT DELAY - SETL This set of gadgets will introduce delay into the file. Move the slider and play the file. When you get the amount of delay you want select the SETL gadget and the file will have that amount of delay permanently installed. FILTER This gadget turns the audio filter on or off as desired. If you turn the filter off you will be able to hear higher frequency sounds. RATE CONVERTER This set of gadgets allows you to change the rate of the file. If you have a file sampled at 20,000 samples per second and you want it to change to 12,000 samples per second, move the slider or use the string gadget to select the new rate, then select the SETL gadget and the rate will be converted. Selecting a slower rate will take less memory for the file. CAUTION, sampling rates below 10,000 samples per second will sound noisy so be careful when performing this operation. RECORD WINDOW The record window opens over a section of the edit window. You can't edit a file with the RECORD window open, nor can you ICONify the program with the record window open. To return to the EDIT function select the EDIT gadget. MEM This gadget shows the amount of memory allocated for recording. You may select a larger amount of memory to be allocated by changing the string gadget or by using the slider below. CAUTION if you allocate all the available memory for the left side the right side wont be able to allocate much more than is showing. if you are after stereo, balance the memory between the two files. REC Select this gadget when you are ready to record. Remember to select the type of hardware in the menus (DIGITIZER) before you start. MONO - STER This is a toggle select gadget that sets the record MODE. If you have the STER option set the RATE on the LEFT file will set the rate for recording for both sides. PLAY This gadget allows you to PLAY the file before returning to the edit session. You may choose to resample if you dont get what you want in the first try. VOX Set the VOX level by moving the slider gadget. VOX is the level at which the recorder will turn on. If you have the vox set high the recorder function will wait till it gets a loud enough sound to start recording. Its like a sound activated switch After the recording has started the VOX has no effect. VOX is not supported on the PS_3.0 hardware. MON This is the MONITOR gadget. You can use it listen to the digitizer prior to recording. EDIT This gadget gets you back to the editor. SYNC This gadget allows simultaneous tracking of the opposite file. In other words if you record on the left side you can hear the right side file played along with the recording, so you can synchronize the two files for stereo. You must have MONO mode selected to use this feature. Then select STEReo mode to hear the result. SYNC is not supported for the PS_3.0 hardware. RAT This gadget sets the rate in samples per second for the recording. There is a string gadget attached so you can set an rate.