MASTER TRACKS PRO
User's Manual
CONTENTS
1. Introduction
.1 features
.2 how it works
.3 the interface
.4 switching between windows
.5 using alternate keys
2. Installation of Hardware and Software
.1 hardware hookup
.2 starting up Master Tracks
3. Quickstart Tutorial
.1 booting up
.2 recording a track
.3 playing your first track
.4 recording a second track
.5 playing both tracks
.6 naming your tracks
.7 saving the sequence on disk
.8 editing your sequence
4. Basic Sequencer Operation
.1 the transport and conductor windows
.2 play
.3 record
.4 rewind
.5 fast forward
.6 stop
.7 all notes off
.8 pause
.9 transport window counters
.10 seeing elapsed time
.11 other transport window settings
.12 wait for MIDI keypress
.13 auto
.14 count-in
.15 metronome
.16 MIDI Thru
.17 sequencer window
.18 selecting which tracks play
.19 selecting which tracks record
.20 soloing tracks
.21 naming tracks
.22 selecting MIDI playback channel
.23 setting the program number
.24 looping a track
.25 playing a sequence
.26 recording a track
.27 conductor display window
.28 changing the tempo
.29 the conductor track
5. Song Editor Window
.1 scrolling through the song editor window
.2 playback point
.3 the measure ruler
.4 using song markers
.5 placing markers
.6 moving to a marker
.7 naming a marker
.8 editing MIDI data
.9 selecting measures to edit
.10 selecting an entire track
.11 selecting measures across all tracks
.12 selecting a block of measures
.13 shift click
.14 editing the selected music
.15 playing a sequence from the song editor
.16 moving to the step editor
6. Step Editor Window
.1 show/hide the grid
.2 scrolling through the step editor window
.3 moving to a marker
.4 zooming in and out
.5 switching to another track
.6 playing a sequence from the step editor
.7 editing note data
.8 editing regions of notes
.9 pitch and time indicators
.10 choosing zoom level
.11 tied notes
.12 selecting a region for editing
.13 inserting new notes
.14 choosing note durations
.15 tuplets
.16 setting other note values
.17 inserting notes with the mouse
.18 inserting notes with a MIDI keyboard
.19 rests
.20 backspacing to erase mistakes
.21 moving and copying notes
.22 moving the note
.23 copying the note
.24 erasing notes
.25 editing individual notes
.26 editing note parameters numerically
7. Using MIDI Data Windows
.1 opening a data window
.2 scrolling
.3 moving to a marker
.4 zooming in and out
.5 edit resolution
.6 switching tracks
.7 editing MIDI data
.8 selecting a region
.9 inserting events
.10 changing existing MIDI events
.11 thinning out dense MIDI data
.12 erasing events
.13 the pitch bend window
.14 channel pressure window
.15 key pressure window
.16 modulation window
.17 controllers window
.18 program change window
.19 conductor track data window
8. Using the File Menu
.1 about sequence files
.2 starting a new file
.3 opening an existing file
.4 closing a sequence file
.5 saving a sequence file
.6 using the 'Save As' command
.7 using the 'Revert to Saved' command
.8 customizing your screen display
.9 importing and exporting MIDI files
.10 quitting the program
9. Using the Edit Menu
.1 working with tied notes
.2 about the clipboard
.3 the undo command
.4 cutting
.5 copying
.6 pasting
.7 clearing
.8 mixing data
.9 inserting measures
.10 select all
.11 show/hide clipboard
10. Using the Change Menu
.1 change channel
.2 change duration
.3 change velocity
.4 change continuous
.5 mapping data
.6 changing data values
.7 change conductor
.8 tempo range
.9 changing meter
.10 strip data
.11 transpose
.12 humanize
.13 quantize
.14 percentage ahead of the beat
.15 offset
.16 using quantize
.17 fit time
11. Using the Windows Menu
.1 sequencer
.2 song editor
.3 step editor
.4 pitch bend
.5 channel pressure (aftertouch)
.6 key pressure
.7 modulation
.8 controllers
.9 program change
.10 conductor track data window
12. Using the Layout Menu
.1 hide/show grid
.2 hide/show markers
.3 follow playback
.4 zoom in/out
13. Using the Goodies Menu
.1 display memory use
.2 markers window
.3 about markers
.4 naming a marker
.5 displaying the conductor window
.6 displaying the transport window
.7 managing system-exclusive data
.8 receiving sysex data
.9 storing sysex data on disk
.10 loading sysex data from disk
.11 sending a sysex file to a MIDI device
.12 quitting the sysex dialog
.13 MIDI keyboard setup
.14 MIDI transport control
.15 using the MIDI keyboard for step entry
.16 configuring your MIDI setup
.17 selecting the timing source
.18 using the record filter
.19 changing the record filter settings
.20 miscellaneous controllers
.21 selecting individual channels on the record filter
.22 quantizing while recording
.23 exiting the record filter
14. Advanced Topics
.1 conductor track settings
.2 re-barring to remove a beat
.3 inserting measures in a single track
.4 punch-in recording
.5 looping
.6 looping to the half-bar
.7 loading many MIDI devices with a single mouse click
.8 dumping from other sequencers
.9 editing across windows
.10 crescendos and decrescendos
.11 building songs
.12 song list mode
.13 sequence data structure and ties
.14 sliding tracks
.15 MIDI sync song pointer
.16 SMPTE
.17 transposing drum patterns
.18 notepad
.19 a typical scenario
.20 summary of keyboard commands
.21 list of MIDI controllers
----------> 1. INTRODUCTION >-----------------------------------------
1.1 FEATURES
Master Tracks Pro includes features which let you do the following:
-Control the sequencer using an on-screen control panel that looks
like a tape-recorder transport control. Just click on Play, Record,
Pause, Stop, Rewind or Fast-Forward to move instantaneously from
measure to measure.
-Set the meter, tempo and beat independently for each measure.
-Display the elapsed time of any section of your piece.
-Record all MIDI events on the 16 possible MIDI channels
simultaneously, including key velocity, after-touch, sustain,
modulation and pitch-wheel changes, and program changes.
-Apply automatic and musically accurate error correction to your
music, compensating for imperfect playing technique. A 'humanize'
feature can compensate for the computer's predeliction to error-
correct "too much" and thus create sterile, mechanical-sounding
performances. Humanizing adds random, miniscule irregularities in
note timing and velocities.
-Merge, delete, transpose, repeat and copy individual tracks, or
selected portions of a track.
-Change the note velocities, continuous MIDI data, note
durations, key, tempo, meter or MIDI channel information for
whole tracks or just selected regions of a track or tracks.
-Change playback tempo instantly or gradually over time. You can
have Master Tracks 'fit time' to proportionally adjust tempos in
a region to fit a given length of time - particularly useful for
film and video work.
-Visually edit your compositions on a variable-resolution grid
which displays all MIDI events. Change a note's pitch or duration
by dragging it to a new position. Step input using the mouse or
MIDI keyboard with selectable duration, velocity, articulation and
MIDI channel for each note.
-Graphically plot and alter pitch-bend, aftertouch, key pressure,
modulation, controllers, and program changes.
-Set markers anywhere in a piece and easily jump to those locations
for easy editing. An 'auto-rewind' feature can be set to quickly
rewind your composition to a given point for effortless recording
of multiple takes in a single track, or of subsequent tracks.
-You can set Master Tracks to scroll the graphic display of your
sequence as it plays it, so you can see the music on-screen while
you listen.
-You can incorporate your MIDI music into professional audio and
video productions utilizing MIDI Song-Pointer and external SMPTE
synchronizers.
-A Sysex Utility lets you control your entire MIDI setup from a
single program. You can save and load voices, banks of voices,
drum patterns, samples, or any other kind of MIDI sysex data to
and from your synthesizers, drum machines and other MIDI devices.
This information can be saved on diskette with your sequences.
-You can control Master Tracks right from your MIDI keyboard rather
than from the ST's. Control the transport functions and the step
input durations without taking your hands off your instrument.
1.2 HOW IT WORKS
Master Tracks Pro is similar to a fancy tape recorder, only much more
capable. Like a multi-track tape machine, Master Tracks Pro lets you record
one track of music at a time, playing them back later as an ensemble. You
can even edit each track individually to make changes or fix mistakes - a
feat which is impossible with audio tape recorders. And with a total of 64
tracks available at any given time, Master Tracks Pro offers much greater
flexibility than do most tape machines.
As you may know, there are many MIDI sequencers available today. So,
what makes Master Tracks Pro different? To begin with, Master Tracks uses
dynamically allocated tracks. This means that the varios tracks in a given
musical piece can be of any length, and that the length is alterable. Many
other sequencers require all tracks to be the same length. Master Tracks
Pro does not.
Secondly, Master Tracks Pro allows you to alter discrete portions of a
track or tracks after you've made a recording. This is similar to the
ability to mark and alter blocks of text when using a word processor. After
marking a block of music in Master Tracks Pro, you can then modify the
selected notes or MIDI events in a wide variety of ways.
You record your musical sequences, one track at a time, either in real
time (as you play on a MIDI-equipped keyboard), or note by note using the
mouse or MIDI keyboard (step entry). For step entry of notes, Master Tracks
Pro provides a graphic step editor that lets you see each note on the
computer's screen as you enter it. The step editor also lets you precisely
edit each note or other musical event after it has been recorded, whether
you've used real time or step entry to record your music.
In addition to editing individual notes, tracks as a whole can be
further edited, and they can be mixed together with other tracks in a
variety of ways to form compositions of various lengths, even very long
pieces. Using the Master Tracks Pro CLIPBOARD, you can cut and paste
sections of one piece into another piece to quickly create songs based on a
number of existing sequences.
1.3 THE INTERFACE
Master Tracks Pro's many program functions and commands are organized
logically into a number of different windows where you work with your
sequences. There are six main windows:
>TRANSPORT WINDOW: Where you control you MIDI 'tape deck' by clicking on
Play, Stop, Fast-forward, etc.
>SEQUENCER WINDOW: Where you record and play back your tracks.
>CONDUCTOR WINDOW: Where you control tempo, meter, and beat settings.
>SONG EDITOR WINDOW: Where you display, cut, copy, paste, and regionally
alter tracks. The structure of a sequence is displayed and edited in units
of measures.
>STEP EDITOR WINDOW: Where you display the individual notes in a track.
Graphic display of note data lets you see exactly what you are doing. The
notes are displayed on a piano roll, moving left to right.
>MIDI DATA WINDOWS: Where you display and edit a graphic plot of
pitch-bend, channel pressure, key pressure, modulation, controllers, or
program changes. There are six MIDI Data windows:
Pitch Bend
Channel Pressure
Key Pressure
Modulation
Controllers
Program Change
Conductor Track Data
All of the main windows described above include menu selections at the
top of the screen, and various ICONS located on the screen which are used
in editing or record/playback operations. These are explained in detail in
their respective chapters of this manual.
1.4 SWITCHING BETWEEN WINDOWS
All of the windows and their associated commands are accessed via the
menu bar at the top of the ST's screen, just as they are with any other
Atari ST program. You simply point to the name of the window or menu
selection you want, highlighting it, and pull the mouse toward you,
highlighting the selection you want from the menu. Press the button, and
the program does the rest.
Master Tracks Pro lets you have several windows 'open' and on the screen
at the same time. However, at any given time, there is only one ACTIVE
window. The active window is the one you are working on at the time. To
activate a different window you simply point to it and click the mouse.
Additionally, you can move windows around to convenient locations on the
screen and size them according to your preferences.
Once you have the windows set up the way you like, you can then easily
switch between them. It's a little like setting up your desktop or work
area to have everything in a convenient location. A setup we've found
useful lines up the Song Editor and Sequencer windows so that tracks line
up. The Transport control sits at the bottom of the screen, as does the
Conductor window.
The WINDOWS menu items all have ST keyboard equivalents, too. The three
main Master Tracks Pro windows can be accessed by pressing Function keys
F1, F2, or F3. The other MIDI Data editing windows are accessed by Function
keys F4 through F9.
1.5 USING ALTERNATE KEYS
Aside from the menu and window selection techniques described above,
there are some shortcuts you may want to use. Master Tracks Pro lets you
use the Alternate key to perform certain operations, such as Copy, Cut, and
Paste, rather than using the menu selections directly.
To use these commands, you press the Alternate key and the corresponding
key at the same time. Sometimes this is the first letter of the command.
Having two ways to select and execute commands allows flexibility for
individual preferences and situations. You may find that you prefer using
the menus while you are learning the program, but that you can get things
done faster using the Alternate and Function keys once you're more familiar
with the program. (See the summary of Master Tracks Pro keyboard commands
in Chapter 14)
----------> 2. INSTALLATION OF HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE >----------------
Before you begin using Master Tracks Pro, you will have to:
-Connect your MIDI cables between your synthesizer and computer.
-Make a COPY of Master Tracks Pro or install it on your hard disk (if you
are using one).
This chapter explains how to do these procedures. Please take the time
to read this chapter so that you can begin using Master Tracks Pro quickly
and without any unnecessary headaches.
2.1 HARDWARE HOOKUP
The exact configuration of your MIDI cables will vary depending on your
particular arsenal of equipment. You will need at least two cables - one
for MIDI-In and one for MIDI-Out. The first cable goes from MIDI-Out on
your synthesizer or keyboard controller to the MIDI-In connector on your
Atari ST. The second one goes from MIDI-Out on the Atari to MIDI-In on your
synthesizer.
You may want to hook up other MIDI cables too, if you have additional
synthesizers and sound modules. Some interfaces have additional sockets for
such connections. Alternatively, you may chain together a number of
synthesizers via any MIDI-Thru connectors which your synthesizers have. To
do this, you simply run a cable from your main synthesizer's MIDI-Thru
socket to the second synthesizer's MIDI-In socket, and so on.
2.2 STARTING UP MASTER TRACKS
****FIRST MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF MASTER TRACKS PRO ****
1) Turn on your MIDI equipment, THEN your computer, in the normal
manner.
2) Double-click on MT_PRO.PRG to run the program.
The Sequencer, Transport and Conductor windows and the menu bar will
appear on the screen, and you're ready to go.
----------> 3. Quickstart Tutorial >----------------------------------
This chapter walks you through the basics of recording, editing and
playing back a tune using Master Tracks Pro. Only the basics are described
here, but it's enough to get you going. We certainly recommend your reading
the rest of this manual to take advantage of the full capabilities of the
program.
3.1 BOOTING UP
1) Begin by making sure your MIDI cables are installed properly (see
the section on installation), then turn on your MIDI instrument.
2) Put the backup of Master tracks (THAT YOU MADE, didn't you?) in
your disk drive, and turn on your computer.
3) Double-click on the Master Tracks Pro program (probably named
MT_PRO.PRG). The Master Tracks Pro main screen will appear, with
the Transport, Sequencer, and Conductor windows on the screen.
4) The Transport window at the bottom of the screen contains the
controls used for starting, stopping, fast-forwarding and
rewinding. It also has a pair of counters to show you where you
are in the sequence, and a number of other controls on the right
side of the window. The name of your sequence will appear at the
top of this window.
5) Notice that the Auto control is highlighted in inverse video,
indicating that it is on. When Auto is on, the sequence
automatically rewinds to its start point as soon as you stop
playing or recording.
6) Notice the Sequencer window at the upper portion of your screen.
Click on the Record box (the one labeled REC) in the first track
of the sequence. Be sure that a solid black circle appears in the
field, indicating the track is activated and is ready to record.
3.2 RECORDING A TRACK
7) Get your MIDI instrument ready to record your first track, and set
it to send and receive on MIDI channel 1. Start the recorder by
clicking on Record in the Transport window, or by pressing Enter
on the ST keyboard.
8) Play your music. When you're finished playing, click on Stop in
the Transport window, or simply hit the Spacebar.
Notice that the counter immediately returns to measure 1, beat 1 as soon
as you stop the sequence, because Auto (auto-return) is on.
Notice also that in the Sequencer window, the Play box for the track
you've just recorded now contains a solid black triangle, meaning that it
has been activated for playback.
3.3 PLAYING YOUR FIRST TRACK
1) To play back your first track, click on the Record box again to
deactivate the track for recording, setting it to Play mode.
2) Click on Play in the Transport window, or press the Spacebar on
the ST keyboard.
3) To stop playback, click on Stop in the Transport window or press
the Spacebar again.
3.4 RECORDING A SECOND TRACK
4) To record another track, go back to the Sequencer window and
activate the second track for recording by clicking on its Record
field. You'll see the solid black circle appear in the field,
while it disappears from the first track.
5) The rest of the process is identical to the steps you used to
record your first track: Just click on Record or press the Enter
key to start the recorder. You'll hear your first track play while
you record. When you're through, click on Stop or press Space to
stop the recorder.
3.5 PLAYING BOTH TRACKS
By now, it's probably obvious what you have to do to play both tracks of
your two-track recording. Simply click on track 2's Record box to
deactivate it, and start the playback by clicking on Play or hitting the
Spacebar.
3.6 NAMING YOUR TRACKS
Master Tracks Pro lets you give each track a name for easy reference.
Typical names might be "Bass", "Horns", etc.
1) To name your first track, click over its track name field. A small
window pops up, and you can now type in the name you've chosen.
When you're through, click on OK or press Return.
3.7 SAVING THE SEQUENCE ON DISK
When you're ready to save:
1) Choose "Save As..." from the File menu.
2) As soon as you choose the Save As... command, Master Tracks Pro
will pop up a dialog box that lets you name your sequence. Since
there is very little space available on your Master Tracks program
disk, remove it from the drive and insert a data disk. Click in
the Title bar of the disk directory window. Now type in the name
you've chosen, and click on OK or press Return. The file will be
saved. (after you save a file once, you will not need to enter the
name again. It will be saved automatically every time you choose
the Save command.)
3.8 EDITING YOUR SEQUENCE
Now that you have saved your first sequence, Open the file on your
Master Tracks Pro original disk entitled INVENT1.MTS (J. S. Bach Invention
#1). You can make changes on groups of measures from the Song Editor
window.
1) Choose Song Editor from the Windows menu to call up the window. A
graphic representation of your sequence will appear in the window,
with each track visible as a row of rectangular boxes. Each box
represents a measure. If the measure contains any MIDI data, it
will appear as a solid black box. If it is entirely empty, the box
will appear "hollow" in outline.
Let's say your sequence has a standard A-B-A pattern, and you want to
use the edit commands to repeat the B section.
2) First, copy the B section to the Master Tracks Clipboard, a
temporary holding area for MIDI data during the editing process.
Click on the first measure in the B section in track 1 and drag
the mouse diagonally (with button still down) across both tracks
until the entire B section is highlighted. This SELECTS the range
of measures.
3) When all the measures in the B section are selected, choose Copy
from the Edit menu. During the brief pause, Master Tracks Pro
copies the selected measures to the clipboard.
4) Next we need to insert some new measures in the sequence to make
room for the repeat of the B section. Click on the space in track
1 between the last measure of the B section and the first measure
of the second A section. You'll see a blinking vertical cursor
appear at this INSERT POINT.
5) Now choose Insert Measures from the Edit menu. When the dialog box
pops up, type in the number of measures the B section contains.
Click on OK or press Return when you've made your entry, and
notice that new empty measures will appear in your sequence as
hollow boxes.
6) Now you're ready to add the B section data into the new measures.
Without changing the Insert point, choose Paste from the Edit
menu. The entire contents of the clipboard will be emptied into
the new empty measures in both tracks of your sequence, and you've
just created a repeat of the B section.
7) You can now click on the Play button or press the Spacebar to hear
your revised sequence.
----------> 4. BASIC SEQUENCER OPERATION >----------------------------<br>
Master Tracks Pro is designed to
work much like a conventional
multitrack tape deck. Although a sequence is stored in the ST's memory
instead of on tape, you still need controls that let you play, record,
fast-forward, rewind, and stop the sequence. You also need a counter to
tell you where you are in a sequence. The Transport window is where Master
Tracks Pro provides these features.
4.1 THE TRANSPORT AND CONDUCTOR WINDOWS
The center portion of the Transport window has six screen "buttons":
play, record, fast-forward, rewind, pause and stop. They function just as
their counterparts on an actual tape deck. To "press" one of these buttons,
just click on it with the mouse.
Alternatively, you can control any or all of these functions from your
MIDI keyboard. See the section on the Keyboard commands in Chapter 13 for
instructions on how to define the keys you want to use for transport
control. You can also execute the play, record, and stop functions from the
ST keyboard.
4.2 PLAY
Plays the sequence beginning at the point currently indicated in the
counter. Pressing the Spacebar also starts playback. Before starting
playback, remember to be sure that the MIDI channels set for each track
agree with the instrument(s) that you are using to play the track. Also,
the track or tracks you wish to hear must be selected. (see 'selecting
which tracks to play', sect. 4.18).
4.3 RECORD
Click on the Record button to start recording on the track selected on
the Sequencer window, beginning at the location in the sequence indicated
in the Measure Counter. Pressing the Enter key on the ST keyboard also
starts the recording.
A track must be selected before you start recording, or thecommand will
not function. (see 'selecting which tracks record', sect. 4.19 for
details).
Each time you record on a track, the new data is recorded over any data
previously recorded. You can have Master Tracks Pro start recording at any
point in the sequence, and existing data in the track before that point is
left intact. Likewise, any data in the remainder of the track past the
point at which you stop recording remains untouched.
4.4REWIND
Click on Rewind to rewind the sequence a measure at a time. You can also
move instantly to the beginning of the sequence by double-clicking on this
control.
4.5 FAST FORWARD
Click on the Fast-forward control to advance through the sequence a
measure at a time. Double-click to move instantly to the end of the
sequence. You can click on Fast-forward while a sequence is playing and
hear the speeded up playback.
4.6 STOP
As you'd expect, clicking on the Stop button stops playback and
recording. If the Auto function is on, the sequence automatically rewinds
to wherever you last started playback. You can also use the Spacebar on the
ST keyboard to stop the sequence during playback or recording.
4.7 ALL NOTES OFF
Pressing the Spacebar, or clicking Stop, sends an "All Notes Off"
command to all MIDI channels.
4.8 PAUSE
Clicking on the Pause button pauses both play and record. When you click
again, the sequence resumes playing or recording.
4.9 TRANSPORT WINDOW COUNTERS
On the left side of the Transport window are two counters that let you
locate your current position in the sequence. The Measure Counter at the
top left displays the position in the sequence in measures, beats, and
individual clock ticks (Master Tracks Pro's internal clock divides a
quarter note into 240 parts [ticks]. See the section on the Conductor
window for more information about sequence timing.)
You can move to any location in the sequence directly by clicking on the
measure, beat or clock field in the Measure Counter, and typing in a number
from the ST keyboard.
4.10 SEEING ELAPSED TIME
The Elapsed Time Counter shows the actual time (in minutes, seconds, and
tenths of seconds) that has elapsed since you began playback. As you'd
expect, playing the same sequence at different tempos will result in
different elapsed time readings. The Elapsed Time Counter comes in handy
for syncing music to video segments or commercials of predetermined length.
(See also Fit Time, Chapter 10)
4.11 OTHER TRANSPORT WINDOW SETTINGS
At the right of the Transport window are a variety of miscellaneous
controls:
4.12 WAIT FOR MIDI KEYPRESS
Clicking on the Key control highlights the control. Now when you select
play or record Master Tracks Pro will wait until it detects that a MIDI key
has been pressed and released before it begins recording or playing. This
is one way to control the transport from the MIDI keyboard. (see MIDI
transport control, Chapter 13)
4.13 AUTO
Turn on Auto by clicking on it. When Auto is on, whenever you stop the
sequence it will automatically rewind to the point where playback last
started.
4.14 COUNT-IN
When this control is on, Master Tracks Pro's metronome counts off one
measure according to the meter set in the Conductor window before starting
to play or record.
4.15 METRONOME
Clicking on Metronome highlights the control, and turns the Metronome
on. Now, when you play or record a sequence, you'll hear a click tone on
each beat in each measure over the ST's monitor speaker for the entire
length of the piece.
4.16 MIDI THRU
This control is used when you're recording from a master MIDI controller
that doesn't produce sound itself, or when you want to use one synthesizer
to control another while recording. Click on Thru to highlight it. With
MIDI Thru on, the MIDI data you send to the ST will be passed out the MIDI
Out port. All the data will be sent out on the MIDI channel indicated in
the Thru box. If no channel is assigned (0), all data will pass thru on its
incoming channel(s). The Thru channel follows the channel set for any track
set to Record in the Sequencer window.
4.17 SEQUENCER WINDOW
The Sequencer window is the display window for some of the most basic
information about your sequence. It lists the 64 tracks available in Master
Tracks Pro, and allows you to select the tracks that will record or play.
You can also select a MIDI channel for all data in each track, choose a
name and an initial MIDI program number for the track, solo single tracks,
and loop tracks independently.
If the Sequencer window is not already on your screen, or if it is
hidden by other windows, you can activate it by choosing it from the
Windows menu, or by pressing F1 on the ST keyboard.
Sequencer window basics are simple. To change any item in the window,
just click in the box of the item you want to change. For settings that are
either on or off, an icon in the box indicates the setting is on, while an
empty field means that the setting is off. For parameters that require you
to enter text or numeric values, a Change Value window will pop up,
allowing you to enter the information.
A "0" in the channel or program columns indicates that the function is
OFF for that track.
You can select any combination of tracks in your sequence to play back.
Other tracks that are not selected will not play, even if they contain MIDI
data.
4.18 SELECTING WHICH TRACKS PLAY
Click on the Play box of each of the tracks that you want to select for
playback. The triangular Play icon appears in each track's Play box to show
that the track is selected, and will be played when you start the sequence.
In addition, immediately after you complete a recording on a track, that
track is automatically set to playback.
To turn play off for that track, click on the box again. The Play icon
will become hollow, and the track will not be played when you start the
sequence. Tracks can be muted and turned back on during playback and
recording.
4.19 SELECTING WHICH TRACKS RECORD
Only one track can be activated for recording at a time. To select a
track for recording, click on the Record box for that track. A solid black
circle appears in the Record box to indicate that the track is selected.
When you start the recording, all incoming MIDI data will be recorded on
that track.
To deactivate a track for recording without selecting another track,
just click on the Record column for that track again. The Record icon
disappears.
4.20 SOLOING TRACKS
The Solo command gives you an easy way to play back a single track or a
few tracks without having to individually deactivate the Play box on all
the other tracks. Then, when you want to hear more tracks again, you only
have to turn off Solo on the selected tracks.
To select a track for soloing, just click on the track's Solo box.
You'll see a solid black diamond pop up in the box. To turn Solo off, just
click on the box again. Any number of tracks can be soloes at a time.
4.21 NAMING TRACKS
Each track can have a name, which serves as a memo you can use to
describe the music in the track or to remind yourself of which instrument
and/or sound you've chosen to play the track. These track names are saved
permanently with the sequence file when you store it on a disk.
Click on the Name box in the track you wish to name (you can name any
track, even if it does not contain MIDI data). A dialog box pops up and
asks you to type in the name of the track. You can use any combination of
characters you wish. When you're finished, click on OK or press Return to
complete your entry. Or click on Cancel if you want to return to the
Sequencer window without making any changes.
4.22 SELECTING MIDI PLAYBACK CHANNEL
The Channel box contains the current MIDI channel setting for playback
of the track. To use this feature, you need a little back-ground on the way
the program handles MIDI channel information.
Master Tracks Pro supports multiple-channel tracks. You can record on
any combination of channels within a track, and you can freely mix data
from one track to another, retaining all of the original data.
If you enter a channel number of 1-16 in the Channel box, all data in
the track will be played on that channel. On the other hand, a channel
value of 0 plays back the track exactly as it is stored in memory, on the
same channel(s) it was received on.
To change the channel, click in the Channel box. A small data entry
window will pop up. Type in the number of the channel you want for the
track, or use the arrow controls to change the setting. When the channel
number is correct, click on OK or press Return to enter it and return to
the Sequencer window. Of course, you can click on Cancel to leave the
setting as it was. Thru follows the channel for any track set to record.
4.23 SETTING THE PROGRAM NUMBER
A PROGRAM is the MIDI term for a MIDI device's programmed setup, stored
in the memory of the device. On a synthesizer, a program is equivalent to a
"patch" or sound. On a drum machine, a program may select a particular
song, and on a MIDI effects device it may select a configuration setting
with pre-programmed values for all the parameters on the device. Each
program has a number, and when a MIDI program change message is sent to the
device, the device responds by switching to that program number.
Master Tracks Pro allows you to record program changes at any point in a
track, and to enter as many program changes as you like via the Program
Change window accessible on the Windows menu. On the Sequencer window,
however, the number in the Program field refers only to the program number
that Master Tracks Pro will send when the sequence begins playing from the
beginning. (Bar 1 : Beat 1 : Clock 1)
If the Program setting is 0 (the default), no program change is sent
when the sequence begins - your instrument will remain set to whatever
program it's already on, until it receives a program change from the
sequence data. Likewise, if you start the sequence from some other point
than the very beginning, the program indicated in the Program field is not
sent, and only program changes stored in the sequence data will be sent.
To change the program setting, click on the Program field for the track
you want. When the small data entry window pops up, type in the number of
the program you wish, or click on the arrow keys to raise or lower the
value. When the number is correct, click on OK or press Return to enter it
and return to the Sequencer window, or click on Cancel to return without
entering the change. The program change will be sent out whenever you click
OK or press Return even when a sequence is playing.
4.24 LOOPING A TRACK
Each track in a Master Tracks Pro sequence can be independently looped.
When the sequence gets to the end of a track, it plays the track over again
from the beginning, no matter what other tracks are doing.
Since the Record function always rounds recorded tracks to the nearest
complete measure, the track always plays to the end of a measure before
looping back, even if no notes are playing in the measure.
Another important detail is that looping only works if you start
playback before any of the tracks in the sequence have ended. If you have a
short track and start playback in the middle of the song, after that track
has ended, the looped track won't play.
To set a track to loop, simply click in the Loop box for the track, at
the far right of the Sequencer window. The Loop icon will appear in the
box. To shut the loop function off, click on the Loop box again, and the
icon disappears.
4.25 PLAYING A SEQUENCE
To play a sequence, first be sure to select the tracks you want to play,
and check that the MIDI channels agree on your MIDI devices with the data
in the sequence. If you wish, use the Transport controls to move the
Measure Counter to the point in the sequence where you want to begin
playback.
You can start playback in one of three ways:
> Click on the Play button in the Transport window.
> Press the Spacebar on the ST keyboard.
> Assign a key on your MIDI keyboard to start playback. To select
the key you wish to use for this purpose, use the Keyboard
command on the Goodies menu. See Chapter 13 for details.
Once you start the play function with one of these controls, the
sequence will immediately begin to play if the Key and Count-in settings on
the Transport window are off, and if Sync is set to internal with the MIDI
setup command on the Goodies menu. If Key is on, however, Master Tracks Pro
will pause before beginning to play until it detects that a MIDI key has
been played and released. If the Count-in is on, you'll get a one measure
count-in, and then play will begin. Finally, if Sync is set to MIDI, Master
Tracks Pro will wait to begin playback until it receives a start command
from the external MIDI sync source.
During playback, you can change sequence tempo with the scroll bar on
the Conductor window. You can even switch between windows while the
sequence is playing, and examine data in any part of any track without
interrupting playback.
4.26 RECORDING A TRACK
To record a track, first select it for recording by clicking in the
Sequencer window Record box as described earlier.
The program can record on all 16 MIDI channels simultaneously. After
you've recorded a track containing data on multiple channels, you can use
the Strip Data command on the Change menu to move the data for each channel
onto its own track. If you wish, however, you can use the Record Filter on
the Goodies menu to select a particular channel before you start recording.
(See Chapter 13 for details on the Record Filter.)
If you do select a channel on the Record Filter, Master Tracks Pro will
only record the data from that channel, and will ignore any data it
receives on other channels. In this case, you'll need to be sure that your
synthesizer is set to send on the same channel before you start to record.
Master Tracks Pro can record all types of MIDI data, but you can also
use the Record Filter to filter out any types of data you don't want to
record. Again, check Chapter 13 for more details. If you want to separate
various types of data after the recording is already complete, use the
Strip Data command on the Change menu.
Start recording with one of these three options:
> Click on the Record button in the Transport window.
> Press the enter key on the ST keyboard.
> Play the key on your MIDI keyboard that you've assigned to the
Record function. See Chapter 13 for details on how to make the
key assignment with the Keyboard command.
At this point, if the Key and Count-in controls on the Transport window
are off, and if Sync is set to Internal with the MIDI Setup command, Master
Tracks Pro will immediately begin to record.
On the other hand, if Key is on, the program will wait until it detects
a MIDI key has been pressed and released before it begins recording. If
Count-in is on, you'll get a one measure count-in (you can hear it if the
metronome is on), and then the recorder starts. If Sync is set to MIDI,
Master Tracks Pro will pause until it receives the signal to start from an
external MIDI device.
When you've finished recording, click on the Stop button in the
Transport window, hit the Spacebar on the ST keyboard, or play the key on
your MIDI keyboard that you've assigned to the Stop function.
As soon as you've finished recording a track, the program automatically
activates the track for playback, and the Play icon appears in the track's
Play box.
It's a good idea to get in the habit of deactivating a track's record
mode right after you've recorded it so
you don't record over it
accidentally next time. Click on the track's Record box in the Sequencer
window, so that the circle disappears from the box, protecting the track.
4.27 CONDUCTOR DISPLAY WINDOW
The Conductor window is a small but very important Master Tracks Pro
window, since it displays the sequence timing information. On the Conductor
window, you'll see the current values for the tempo, the beat, and the
meter, as set on the special Master Tracks Pro track called the Conductor
track. If the Conductor window is not on the screen, or if it is hidden
behind other windows, you can make it visible by choosing Conductor on the
Goodies menu.
4.28 CHANGING THE TEMPO
You can use the tempo scroll bar in the Conductor window to change the
tempo even while a sequence is playing or recording. There are three ways
to do this:
> You can click and hold on the scroll box in the scroll bar, and
move it directly to a new value.
> Clicking anywhere in the grey part of the scroll bar moves the
scroll box rapidly toward that location, and causes a
corresponding rapid change in the tempo setting.
> Finally, you can click and hold on one of the arrow controls at
either end of the scroll bar. This changes the tempo one value at
a time.
4.29 THE CONDUCTOR TRACK
The Conductor track is a separate track in a Master Tracks Pro sequence
that determines timing for the entire sequence. The Conductor track allows
each measure to have its own meter, tempo, and beat note, and the tempo can
change gradually, even within a single measure.
You can think of tempo changes you make in the Conductor display window
as offsets to the actual tempo value stored in the Conductor track. The
play tempo in the Conductor display window automatically follows the
changes in the Conductor track tempo. When you change the plat tempo using
the Conductor display window scroll bar, all the original tempo changes in
the Conductor track are preserved, but they are scaled proportionally to
the changes you make.
To enter new Conductor track settings for the entire sequence or a given
range of measures, you must select the Change Conductor dialog box, either
by clicking over the meter display in the Conductor display window, or by
choosing Conductor... on the Change menu. See the section on changing
Conductor values in Chapter 10 for details.
The Conductor track can be graphically viewed and edited in the
Conductor Track Data window. See Chapter 7 on using MIDI data windows.
----------> 5. Song Editor Window >-----------------------------------<br>
The Song Editor allows you to edit large blocks of music at one time.
Working on groups of measures, you can move sections of music within a
sequence or build new sequences from segments of other sequences. You can
also modify the data in a variety of ways using the commands in the Edit
and Change menus.
Select the Song Editor window by choosing it from the Windows menu, or
by typing F2 on the ST keyboard.
Like the Sequencer window, the Song Editor is a table of tracks in
which each track is listed on a separate row. But instead of alphanumeric
information, the Song Editor window provides a graphic representation of
the musical data that the track contains, in one-measure blocks.
The left border of the window is marked with the track numbers, and
the top border is a MEASURE RULER which marks off the measure numbers.
Tracks containing MIDI data appear on the screen as a row of rectangular
boxes, each box representing a measure. Solid black boxes contain MIDI
data, while hollow boxes are measures of rests, without any MIDI data.
The grey vertical bar at the end of the data area represents the end
of the Conductor track for the sequence. Even if the tracks you're looking
at are completely empty of MIDI data, and no measure boxes are on the
screen, the grey bar will still appear at the measure where the Conductor
track ends.
5.1 -scrolling through the song editor window
You can scroll through the track data on the Song Editor window using
the scroll bars as you would with other ST programs. You can also scroll
using the method described for selecting blocks of measures in the section
on "selecting measures to edit", below.
5.2 -playback point
Clicking anywhere in the Song window with Auto OFF will set the
transport to start playing or recording from that point.
5.3 -the measure ruler
The row of numbers at the top of the Song Editor window is the measure
ruler. It marks off measures in the sequence so that you can keep track of
which part of the sequence you're looking at. You can change the numbering
scheme displayed on the measure ruler by pressing one of the number keys
3-0 across the top of the ST keyboard. If you press 3, every third measure
on the ruler (1,3,6,9, and so on) is numbered, while the rest of the
measures are indicated by hash marks. If you press 4, every fourth measure
is numbered, and so on. Pressing 0 numbers every tenth measure. The "+"
key will increment your selection by one and the "-" key will bring it back
down again.
5.4 -using song markers
Master Tracks Pro provides MARKERS that let you identify a particular
location in you sequence so that you can return to it any time you wish.
Markers always mark the beginning of a measure.
In Master Tracks Pro, markers are displayed at the top of the Song
Editor window, just below the window's title bar, on another horizontal bar
called the MARKER RULER. Markers are also displayed in the Step Editor and
MIDI Data windows, but you can only place or move them using the Song
Editor window.
The marker ruler appears in these windows only if the Show Markers
command on the Layout menu is in effect. If you choose Hide Markers, the
ruler will disappear from all the windows.
5.5 -placing markers
When the marker ruler is visible, you'll see a small box at its left
edge containing a hollow upside-down triangle. This box is called the WELL.
To place a marker into the marker ruler, click and hold over the well.
Another upside down triangle, the marker you'll be placing, will appear
just below the well.
Now, while still holding down the mouse button, drag the new marker to
the measure where you want to place it. Once you've positioned the marker,
release the mouse button. The marker will remain where you've placed it,
and will become solid black. In addition, a vertical dotted line will
appear below the marker, extending through the track list to help you see
exactly where the marked measure is in your track.
You can move the marker any time you're in the Song window, by clicking
and holding on it, and dragging to its new location.
5.6 -moving to a marker
To move the Song Editor, Step Editor, or MIDI data window display to the
next marker in the ruler, press the Tab key on the ST keyboard. The data in
the window will move so that the next marker is at the extreme left of the
window. Press the Tab key repeatedly until you reach the marker you wish.
Only the active window is affected. To move to a previous marker, press
Shift-Tab. Again, the data lines up so that the marker is at the left edge
of the window.
In a large composition, you may want to make a note to yourself to help
you remember the music each marker is pointing to. Master Tracks Pro helps
out by letting you name the markers on the screen. Once you've named a
marker, the name appears to its immediate right on the marker ruler.
5.7 -naming a marker
There are two ways to name a marker or change its name. From the Song
Editor window, you can double-click on the marker to bring up a dialog box
for the marker name. Type in the name from the ST keyboard, then click on
OK or press Return to enter it and return to the Song Editor.
The other way to name markers involves the Markers window, which is
available on the Goodies menu. See Chapter 13 for details.
5.8 -editing MIDI data
The Song Editor lets you easily change MIDI data in large regions using
all the commands on both the Edit and Change menus. Again, the smallest
unit available for editing changes in the Song Editor window is an entire
measure, and all edits are done on multiples of whole measures. Also, the
edits you make in the song editor window affect all types of MIDI data at
once. Commands like Cut on the Edit menu, or Channel on the Change menu
affect MIDI data such as controller data and program changes, as well as
note information.
To make changes to one or more measures of your sequence using menu
commands, the region of measures must first be SELECTED. Selected measures
appear on the screen highlighted in inverse video.
5.9 -selecting measures to edit
To select one or more adjacent measures in a track, click over the first
measure in the track, and drag over the entire group.
5.10 -selecting an entire track
To select an entire track, click on the track number in the left-hand
column. To select several adjacent entire tracks, click and hold over the
first track number in the group, and drag the mouse up or down in the track
number field.
5.11 -selecting measures across all tracks
To select one measure in all tracks, click on the column for that
measure in the measure ruler at the top of the window. To select adjacent
measures in all tracks, click and hold on the column for the first measure
and drag to the column for the last measure.
To deselect a selected area. simply click anywhere on the Song Editor
window.
5.12 -selecting a block of measures
There are two ways to select a block of measures across multiple tracks.
First, you can position the mouse pointer at one corner of the block,
click, and drag towards the diagonally opposite corner until the inverse
highlight covers the measures you want to select.
5.13 -shift click
Second, a block can be defined by clicking at one corner of the block,
holding down the Shift key on the ST keyboard, and then clicking on the
diagonally opposite corner. To define a block that is larger than one
screen, you can scroll with the scroll bars after clicking on the first
corner, but you must hold down the Shift key before you click on the data
area again.
Note: If you plan to Cut, Copy or Clear a region that includes notes
that are tied from or to other measures, you should be sure you understand
the way Master Tracks Pro handles this situation. Read the section on tied
notes in Chapter 9 for details.
5.14 -editing the selected music
Once you've selected a measure or measures, you can edit the region
using the commands on the Edit or Change menus. See Chapters 9 and 10 for
instructions.
5.15 -playing a sequence from the song editor
Master Tracks Pro lets you play your sequence no matter what window
you're using, and the Song Editor window is no exception. Just click on the
Transport's Play button or hit the Spacebar to start playback.
If you wish, you can set the Song Editor screen to scroll through the
sequence data during playback, using the Follow Playback command on the
Layout menu. If the Follow Playback command is on, and the Song window
selected as the active window, a vertical highlight bar moves along the
track data to mark the measure that is currently playing.
You can also use the Song Editor to determine at what point the song
begins playing. This capability is useful when you want to hear just the
part of the song you're working with, and you can also use it as an
alternative to the fast-forward and rewind buttons on the Transport
window.
To use the Song Editor to determine the point at which play begins, you
must first turn the Transport window's Auto control off. With Auto off, and
the Song Editor window active, click in the window at the place you wish
playback to begin. Once play begins, scrolling the Song Editor window has
no effect on what you hear.
You can control the playback point in the same way when you are using
the Step Editor window or any of the MIDI data windows.
5.16 -moving to the step editor
From the Song Editor, you can move directly to the Step Editor to work
on any specific measure in the track you wish. Simply double-click on that
track and measure in the Song Editor window.
----------> 6. Step Editor Window >-----------------------------------
The Step edit window is used exclusively for note data. It provides a
variety of precision tools that let you input and edit notes in small
groups or individually.
Select the Step Editor window by choosing it from the Windows menu, or
by typing F3 on the ST keyboard. You can also open the Step Edit window at
a specific measure in a particular track by double-clicking on that measure
in the Song Editor window.
The Step Editor window is devoted primarily to a graphic display of one
track's worth of note events. This data area is divided by a grid of fine
dotted lines that makes it easier to accurately determine the position of
notes in the window. You can decide whather to display the grid with small
divisions or divisions at every octave (see the show/hide grid command in
the Layout menu).
The note data itself is displayed in the data area as a sideways player
piano roll. Each note is represented as a small rectangle, or NOTE BAR,
oriented horizontally in the data area.
Along the top border of the data area is a measure ruler, which marks
off the measures and beats in the track. At the left border there's a
keyboard graphic to indicate the pitches of the notes in the track.
Just above the top border of the data area is another horizontal bar,
the marker ruler. If any markers are set, they'll be displayed here just as
in the Song Editor window. The marker ruler can be toggled off by selecting
Hide Markers from the Layout menu. This expands the data area. To toggle
the marker ruler back on, select Show Markers from the Layout menu.
At the top of the window there are two rows of icons and parameter
settings, collectively called the menu bar. On the top row of the menu bar,
you'll see several note icons, representing the rhythmic values of the
notes you insert; a tuplet box; and controls for note articulation and
velocity.
On the second menu bar row are several note editing icons, pitch and
time indicators, and track and MIDI channel controls.
All of the options on the first menu bar row, along with the channel
control, are used only during input of new notes. The remaining options are
used in a variety of editing functions.
Like the lines on a piece of graph paper, the grid in the Step Editor
helps you locate your position more precisely. The vertical lines in the
grid represent measures, while the horizontal lines indicate pitch.
6.1 -show/hide the grid
You can choose whether the grid has horizontal divisions only at
octaves, or has a division for every "white key" using the Show/Hide Grid
command. The version of the grid you use is a matter of personal taste. The
Show/Hide Grid command functions as a toggle. To display the full grid,
choose the Show Grid command. To show the grid with only the octave
divisions, choose the Hide Grid command.
6.2 -scrolling through the step editor window
As in the Song Editor window, you can scroll through the data in the
Step Editor window with scroll bars.
6.3 -moving to a marker
Just as in the Song Editor window, markers are displayed on a marker
ruler near the top of the Step Editor window, and you can move the display
to a marker position using the Tab and Shift-Tab keys. However, you can
only set the markers in the Song Editor. Again, to see the marker ruler and
use the markers, you must have chosen the Show Markers command from the
Layout menu first.
6.4 -zooming in and out
Master Tracks Pro's two Zoom commands let you decide how much of the
track data you can see at one time on the Step Editor window. Like a zoom
lens, the Zoom commands let you zoom in or out for different levels of
"magnification". You can zoom in to work on small portions of the track
more precisely, or zoom out to see more notes all at once.
The Zoom level you choose not only affects how much of the sequence you
can see, it also determines how precise your editing changes and additions
can be. This is because the Zoom level sets the minimum number of clock
ticks that you can move the mouse. When you're zoomed all the way out,
moving the mouse by a single pixel on the screen moves you 24 clock ticks
in the sequence. When you're zoomed in all the way, you can move the mouse
by individual clock ticks.
Master Tracks Pro gives you six different Zoom views. To zoom in one
level, choose the Zoom In command from the View menu.
6.5 -switching to another track
The Step Editor window displays note data from only a single track at a
time, and you must switch the display to another track to edit its data.
Change tracks by clicking on the Current Track box. When the Change Value
window pops up, type in the new track number, or click on the arrow
controls to change it incrementally.
Click on OK once you've entered the correct number, or press Return on
the ST keyboard. The Change Value window will disappear, and the new track
will be displayed.
6.6 -playing a sequence from the step editor
As in the Song Editor window, you can play your sequence while you are
using the Step Editor window.
At your option, you can have the Step Editor window scroll through the
track data while the sequence plays. Choose the Follow Playback option on
the Layout menu to enable this feature. As each measure plays, its
indicator at the top border of the data area gets highlighted in inverse
video. The Step Editor window must be selected as the active window for
scrolling to take place during playback. With Follow Playback turned off,
the Step window can be scrolled and examined independently of transport
counter position during playback.
The playback / record start point can be set by clicking with the arrow
cursor in the Step Editor window at the desired location, provided Auto is
off, just as in the Song Editor or MIDI Data windows.
6.7 -editing note data
Master Tracks Pro gives you powerful control over the step-editing
process with a variety of editing options. You can select editing regions,
just as in the Song Editor window, and you can also add, delete, edit,
move, or copy individual notes.
6.8 -editing regions of notes
With regional editing, you can quickly edit a group of notes all at
once. Using the commands on the Edit and Change menus, you can move, copy
or delete the note data, transpose the pitches of all the notes in the
region, change MIDI data such as MIDI channel and note velocity, and alter
timing in several ways. See the chapters on the Edit and Change menus for
more details on these features.
To edit a region of notes, the region must first be selected using the
arrow cursor. On the Step Editor window, a region consists of all notes in
the track along a horizontal section of the window. In other words, between
two points in time in the sequence. You cannot define regions vertically
(by pitch) - all pitches are automatically included in a selected
horizontal region.
For many operations, you'll need a way to locate notes precisely in the
data area both in terms of time and pitch. That guidance is provided by the
time and pitch indicators in the menu bar. The time indicator always
displays the time value at the current position of the cursor, in measures,
beats and clock ticks.
6.9 -pitch and time indicators
The pitch at the current cursor position appears in the pitch indicator,
displayed as a pitch letter name and an octave number. Master Tracks Pro
can handle all MIDI pitches, a range from C-2 to G8 (middle C is C3).
Accidentals are always displayed as sharps.
6.10 -choosing zoom level
Since all editing operations occur on clock tick boundaries, how
precisely you can define the beginning and end of a region depends on the
Zoom level. At the highest magnification, zoomed all the way in, you can
define the region by individual clock ticks (there are 240 clock ticks per
quarter note). When you're zoomed all the way out, on the other hand, the
resolution is much coarser, and the smallest movement of the mouse
represents 24 clock ticks, or one tenth of a quarter note.
No matter which zoom level you're using, you'll need a way to keep track
of where you are in the sequence while you're defining regions. For many
editing commands, the measure and beat demarcations in the measure ruler at
the top of the Step Editor window will give you all the information you
need to locate the endpoints of your region. For more precise work,
however, you can use the time indicator in the menu bar to begin and end
the region at exactly the right point.
Notice that as you move the arrow pointer around in the data area, the
time indicator changes to show the exact beat location of the current
pointer position.
IMPORTANT: Edit and Chenge menu commands will only affect notes in the
selected region if those notes BEGIN in the region. That's the reason to
pay attention to the zoom level while you're selecting a region - a note
can appear to be within the selected region when it actually starts
slightly before the beginning of the region. You may be zoomed out too far
to see this. If the beginning of the note falls within the selected region,
the entire note will be altered by the command you use, even if the end of
the note isn't included in the selected region.
6.11 -tied notes
There is an exception to the rules just mentioned, however. Notes in the
selected region that are tied over from an earlier measure are recognized
by commands such as Cut, Copy, and Clear if the region begins precisely on
the measure boundary. See the section on tied notes in Chapter 8 for more
detail.
6.12 -selecting a region for editing
To select a region for editing, choose the arrow pointer on the Step
Editor menu bar by clicking on it. Now, move the pointer into the data area
to the left edge of the region you wish to select.
Click and hold the mouse button, drag the pointer to the right edge of
the region. You can scroll the screen while selecting a region by dragging
the pointer to the right screen boundary. As you select a region, the
region becomes highlighted in inverse video.
Release the mouse button when you've defined the region as you want it.
You can now use the Edit and Change menu commands on the selected region.
Clicking in the measure ruler will select an entire measure at a time. You
can select an area and then use the scroll bar to scroll to the end of the
area you wish to select and hold down the Shift key while you click the
mouse. This selects the entire area.
6.13 -inserting new notes
Master Tracks Pro gives you two ways to insert new notes in your
sequence: you can use the mouse exclusively, or you can enter the desired
pitch by playing the corresponding key on your MIDI keyboard.
6.14 -choosing note durations
With either method, you start the process by selecting values for the
note's duration, velocity, MIDI channel, and articulation. Choose the
duration, or rhythmic value you want by clicking over the appropriate note
icon at the left side of the menu bar. Selecting the dot icon multiplies
the duration of the note value by 1-1/2.
If you wish, you can select a combination of note values, and all the
selected values add together for the total duration of the note you are
inserting. To select more than one value, click on the first note type you
want to select, and then hold the Shift key down as you click on the
remaining note type(s).
6.15 -tuplets
To enter notes with tuplet values, click over the word "tuplet" in the
tuplet box in the menu bar. When the box is highlighted, any notes you
insert will have the tuplet value shown in the box.
For example, say the value in the tuplet box is 3:2, and you've selected
the eighth note duration icon. In this case with the tuplet command on, the
timing of the notes you insert will be adjusted so that three of these
notes would fit in the same time normally occupied by two regular eighth
notes. This is equivalent to eighth note triplets. For a quintuplet, you
would select 5:2.
You can choose a wide range of
tuplet values to create complex
polyrhythms or to experiment with other unorthodox note timings. To set a
new tuplet value, click over the current value in the tuplet box. A small
Change Value window will pop up, allowing you to change both numbers in the
tuplet value.
The number you wish to change in this window must be highlighted first.
If it's not, click on it. Then click over the arrow controls to raise or
lower the number as you wish, or type in a number from the ST keyboard.
When both numbers are correct, click on OK or press Return to enter them
and return to the Step Editor window.
6.16 -setting other note values
Notes you insert in the track in the Step Editor window take on the
values displayed in the menu bar for articulation, on and off velocity, and
input MIDI channel. Articulation refers to the percentage of the note's
duration value that it actually plays. By varying the articulation setting,
you can add changes in note length to define phrases and legato or staccato
passages. Shorter articulations produce a more staccato effect. The input
channel and velocity settings refer to the standard MIDI input parameters.
Before inserting a note, you can change the current settings for these
parameters by clicking on the appropriate fields. When you do, the
corresponding Change Value window will appear. You can either type in a new
value from the ST keyboard, or click over the arrow controls to raise or
lower the value incrementally. Then click on OK or press Return.
6.17 -inserting notes with the mouse
To insert notes using the mouse, first select the pencil icon in the
menu bar by clicking on it. When you move the pointer to the data area, it
becomes a crosshair that lets you position the new note exactly where you
want it on the screen.
Using the keyboard graphic at the left of the data area and the measure
and beat markings along the top, align the crosshair so that it corresponds
to the pitch and time where you want to insert the note. You can also use
the pitch and time indicators in the menu bar to locate the position
precisely.
When you have the correct position, single click on the mouse. A new
note bar will be inserted into the data area in that position, its length
corresponding to the duration and articulation you selected.
6.18 -inserting notes with a MIDI keyboard
Follow the above steps for selecting the note's duration, velocity,
input channel, and articulation. Then, select the keyboard icon next to the
arrow in the menu bar by clicking on it. Since you're using your MIDI
keyboard to enter the pitch data, you don't need a crosshair, and the mouse
pointer remains an I-beam cursor when you move it into the data area.
Position the I-beam at the horizontal position where you want to enter
the first note. Use the time indicator in the menu bar for precision. Once
you've positioned the cursor properly, click on the mouse to activate the
insertion point for MIDI keyboard note entry.
Now you can enter notes by pressing the corresponding keys on your MIDI
keyboard. Each time you play a key, a new note bar will appear at the pitch
and time you specified, and the I-beam cursor advances to the next
insertion point. As you continue to insert notes, the Step Editor window
scrolls appropriately.
6.19 -rests
Pressing Return on the ST keyboard inserts a rest corresponding to the
note duration that is currently selected.
6.20 -backspacing to erase mistakes
If you play the wrong key during the pitch entry process, press the
Backspace key on the ST keyboard to delete it.
During the note entry process, you can switch to new note durations with
either the note icons in the menu bar, or via the MIDI keyboard using keys
that you've assigned to duration values with the Keyboard command on the
Goodies menu (see Chapter 13 for details).
6.21 -moving and copying notes
With the move and copy commands, you can transfer all of a note's data,
including its duration, channel and velocity to a new location. Of course,
the pitch and/or the start time of the note at the new location may be
different, depending on where you move the note.
To move a note somewhere else in the track, or to make a copy of a note
at another location, you'll need the crosshair mouse pointer. To get it,
click over the pencil icon in the menu bar, and then move the pointer over
the note you want to move or copy. The center of the crosshair must be
directly on the note. Although the center of the crosshair can be anywhere
along the note's length, it's best to place it precisely at the beginning
of the note, so that you can use the time indicator in the menu bar to
locate the point where you insert the note with precision.
6.22 -moving the note
Now, if you want to MOVE the note from its current position to a new
one, simply click and hold the mouse button. A dotted border will appear
around the note bar, and while you continue to hold the mouse button you
can drag this "note ghost" to a new pitch and/or time in the sequence. When
the note is correctly positioned, release the mouse button. The ghost will
be returned to life as a solid note bar at the new location, while the note
bar at the previous location will vanish.
There will be times when you want to shift a note's position in time but
not change its pitch, or vice versa. To make these operations easier,
Master Tracks Pro provides a way to lock in the note's pitch or start time
during a move operation.
To lock in the pitch or start time, hold down the Shift key and then
click and hold on the note. Now, as you continue to hold down the mouse
button, whichever way you first move the mouse locks in the note's position
on the other axis.
So, for example, if you first move the mouse horizontally, you've locked
in the pitch, and you can't move the note vertically. You can now only move
the note horizontally, in time. Except for this detail, the move operation
proceeds normally.
6.23 -copying the note
Copying a note involves essentially the same steps, except that instead
of just clicking over the note you want to copy, you must hold down the Alt
key an the ST keyboard before you click on the note. Once the "note ghost"
border appears, you can release the Alt key, and continue by dragging the
cursor to the location where you want to insert the copy. When you're in
position, release the mouse button, and a new note bar will appear. The
original you copied from remains where it was.
6.24 -erasing notes
You can erase an individual note with the eraser mouse pointer. Click
over the eraser icon in the menu bar. When you move the pointer down into
the data area, it becomes a crosshair inside a circle.
To erase a note, simply position this eraser cursor anywhere along the
note and single click. The note will disappear from the window. You'll
probably find it easier to erase the note you're actually intending to
remove when you're not zoomed out to the higher magnifications, where note
durations appear very short on the screen.
6.25 -editing individual notes
Editing commands for single note events allow you to place new notes in
your sequence, and to move, copy, or delete existing notes using the mouse.
If you need more precision, Master Tracks Pro also gives you a numeric
method for altering each note's data.
6.26 -editing note parameters numerically
To alter an individual note's pitch, start time, duration, on and off
velocities, or channel, select the arrow mouse pointer by clicking over the
arrow in the menu bar. Move the arrow directly over the note you want to
edit, and double click.
After a moment, the Edit Note window pops up, and a grey highlight
appears over the note being edited so you won't forget which one you're
working on.
To change one of the values in the window, select it by clicking on it
to highlight it. Use the arrow controls at the right of the window to
change the value incrementally, or type in a new value directly from the ST
keyboard. Master Tracks Pro won't let you enter invalid settings for these
parameters, and will only beep if you try.
The START TIME parameter refers to the point in the sequence that the
note begins, in measures, beats, and clock ticks. Rather than setting an
end time, however, you use the DURATION parameter to determine how long the
note lasts, again in measures, beats, and clock ticks.
You can change the MIDI key number (pitch) with the arrow controls, or
by typing a key letter name followed by an octave number, or by pressing
the appropriate key on your MIDI keyboard. The On velocity and Off
(release) velocity are changed in the same manner as is the output MIDI
channel. In order to change the output MIDI channel on a note or range of
notes, the channel setting in the Sequencer window must be set to "0".
Once all the parameters in the Edit Note window are to your liking,
click on OK or press Return to finalize them and close the window. You can
click on Cancel instead to return to the Step Editor window without making
any changes.
----------> 7. Using MIDI Data Windows >------------------------------
Master Tracks Pro provides six special MIDI Data windows for graphically
editing types of MIDI data other than notes on an event-by-event basis.
Instead of having to work with a long list of numbers, you can see your
data at a glance on a graph, yet you can still edit it with full precision.
You'll find separate MIDI data windows for pitch bend, channel pressure,
key pressure, modulation , controllers, and program change data.
7.1 -opening a data window
There are two ways to open a MIDI Data window. First, you can choose it
from the Windows menu with the mouse. Second, you can open it from the ST
keyboard by typing the Function key that corresponds to the window, as
follows:
> Pitch Bend F4
> Channel Pressure F5
> Key Pressure F6
> Modulation F7
> Controllers F8
> Program Change F9
> Conductor Track F10
If the window is open but hidden behind other windows on the screen, you
can bring it up to the foreground by choosing it on the Windows menu or
with its ST keyboard command.
All six of the MIDI Data windows look and work alike, and are very
similar to the Step Editor window as well. Most of each window is devoted
to the data area, where individual MIDI events appear as vertical lines or
points. The height of each line or point corresponds to the numeric value
of the event, while the horizontal location of the line or point specifies
when in the track the event occurs. You can see event data for one track at
a time in the data area.
You can toggle the display from lines to points by pressing any key on
the ST keyboard when the MIDI Data window is active.
At the top of each window, just below the window title bar, you'll see a
single row of icons and data, the menu bar. The three icons in the left
portion of the menu bar are used to select different editing operations
(see the section below on editing event data).
To the right of the icons, there's a time indicator that displays the
horizontal position of the cursor in the track, in measures, beats, and
clock ticks. Next, there's a value indicator, that gives the data value
corresponding to the cursor's vertical location in the data area. Finally
come boxes showing which track's data is currently on the display, and what
channel will be assigned for new event insertions.
Just below the menu bar is a row of mostly empty space, the marker
ruler. This is where the markers you've placed in the Song Editor window,
if any, will be visible. You can hide the marker ruler with the Hide
Markers command on the Layout menu if you like. This expands the data
window. See Chapter 12 for details on how to use markers.
Below the marker bar is another horizontal bar, the measure ruler, which
marks the position of measures and beats in the track.
7.2 -scrolling
Use the scroll bar controls to move the MIDI Data window displays just
as you would with the Song Editor or Step Editor. Use the measure ruler to
keep track of where you are in the sequence as you scroll.
7.3 -moving to a marker
You can also move to markers that you placed in the sequence on the Song
Editor window. Press Tab to move to each successive marker. Press Shift-Tab
to move to a previous marker. Playback position can be determined by
clicking at the desired location in any MIDI Data window, with Auto turned
off in the Transport, the same way as in the Song and Step Editor windows.
7.4 -zooming in and out
You can use the Zoom In and Zoom Out commands on the Layout menu to see
more of the MIDI data on the screen at a time, or to get a close up view of
a small amount of data for precise work. To move in one zoom level, choose
the Zoom In command on the Layout menu. To zoom out one level, choose Zoom
Out.
The zoom level you use determines how many clocks per screen pixel are
displayed. The smallest distance on the screen you can move the mouse
pointer is a pixel. When you are zoomed all the way out, each pixel
corresponds to 24 clock ticks. Zoomed all the way in, a single clock tick
per pixel is displayed.
7.5 -edit resolution
The number of clock ticks per pixel affects the resolution with which
you can edit data in the MIDI Data windows. When you are zoomed all the way
out, for example, you can only edit events at 24-clock-tick intervals. When
you are zoomed all the way in, you can edit an event at any clock location.
If you wish to change or erase an event that doesn't fall at one of the
clock tick intervals at your current zoom level, you must zoom in for
higher resolution editing.
Note that the more you zoom in, the more individual events you can place
in the sequence. Zooming in gives you more precise control over the
placement of each event, but you can easily use up large amounts of memory,
and the sequence is forced to send data much more rapidly. Use the zoom
level that matches your needs for precision, memory, and data density.
Consult Chapter 12 for more details on how to use Zoom commands.
7.6 -switching tracks
To view or edit MIDI event data on another track, click over the Track
box in the menu bar. A Change Value window pops up, and you can either type
in the desired track number from the ST keyboard, or change it by clicking
on the arrow controls in the window. When you've entered the correct track
number, click on OK. The Change Value window will disappear, and the MIDI
Data window will now display data for the new track.
7.7 -editing MIDI data
As in the Step Editor window, you use various mouse pointers to make
different kinds of changes on events in the various MIDI data windows.
7.8 -selecting a region
To use the commands on the Edit or Change menus on MIDI Data window
data, you must first select a region within the track. To select a region
for global changes, use the arrow pointer by clicking on its icon in the
menu bar. Move the pointer to the left edge of the region you want to
select, using the time indicator in the menu bar to help you locate the
desired point in the sequence precisely. Then click on the mouse, and drag
across the selected region to the right. As you move the mouse, the region
will be highlighted in inverse video.
When you reach the right edge of the region, release the mouse button.
You can now perform Edit and Change menu operations on the selected region.
For the most part, these changes will only apply to the type of data
displayed in the window. (see the discussion in Chapter 9 on how different
types of data are affected by the Edit menu commands on the MIDI Data
windows.)
7.9 -inserting events
The ability to enter MIDI events graphically is one of Master Tracks
Pro's most powerful features. To insert individual MIDI events or modify
existing ones, you select the crosshair pointer by clicking on the pencil
icon in the menu bar.
Before inserting a new MIDI event, however, you can use the Channel box
in the menu bar at the top of the window to select the MIDI channel for the
new event. Click on the Channel box to bring up a Change Value window, and
enter the desired channel number by typing it in or adjusting it with the
arrow controls. Click on OK or press Return to finalize the change.
To insert a single event, move the crosshair to the position in the data
area where you want the event to go. Use the time indicator in the menu bar
to locate the exact time in the track where you want to insert the event
along the horizontal axis of the graph. Use the value indicator to position
the cursor vertically for the correct value.
Now simply click the mouse. A vertical line will appear,extending from
the graph baseline to the height representing the data value.
You can insert multiple consecutive events simply by holding down the
mouse button and dragging the cursor to draw a curve on the data area. This
makes it easy to add smooth pitch bend or mod wheel changes.
When you insert consecutive events, the graph will appear to be filled
in with solid black under the curve you draw. Nevertheless, each event
along the curve can still be edited individually.
The zoom level you're currently using affects how many events are
inserted when you draw a curve by dragging the mouse across the data area.
Depending on the zoom level, each horizontal mouse position can represent
as many as 24 clock ticks or as few as 1.
If you're zoomed all the way out when you draw consecutive events,
you'll get a new event every 24 clock ticks. When you're zoomed all the way
in, you get a new event with every clock tick. Be cautious about entering
consecutive events when you are zoomed in, because you can use up memory
quickly and you may force the program to send data too rapidly. The MIDI
data stream can only support 3120 bytes per second.
A good way to enter a series of consecutive events is to draw them in
when you are zoomed out to save memory, and then zoom in to edit them
precisely. When you zoom in, you'll see a solid black graph resolve into
individual event lines, making it easy to position the cursor.
7.10 -changing existing MIDI events
To change events that are already stored in the track data, just insert
a new event at the same time. When you do, the old event will be erased.
7.11 -thinning out dense MIDI data
If you have a section of MIDI data that is denser than necessary, you
can thin the MIDI data by tracing over their curves with the mouse at lower
resolutions (zoomed out).
7.12 -erasing events
To erase individual events, click on the eraser icon in the menu bar to
select the eraser cursor, a crosshair within a circle. Move the cursor
directly over the event you wish to erase and click. The event line or
point will disappear.
7.13 -the pitch bend window
Pitch bend data can take either positive or negative values. When a note
is not being bent it has a pitch bend value of 0. So in the Pitch Bend
window you'll see a horizontal dotted line running through the middle of
the data area to mark the zero point. The area above the line, which
represents positive pitch bend values, is marked with a "+" in the left
border. The area for negative values below the line is marked with a "-".
Positive values range to +127 and negative values go down to -128.
You can switch between two options for displaying pitch bend and other
MIDI data. Normally, the data appears as vertical lines. However, if you
press any key on the ST keyboard while you're working in any MIDI Data
window, each event is displayed as a single dot in the graph. Pressing
another key will toggle back to the normal display.
7.14 -channel pressure window
Channel pressure, also known as aftertouch, affects all notes on a given
MIDI channel. It has a range of 0 to 127.
7.15 -key pressure window
Key pressure, also known as "polyphonic" aftertouch, affects individual
MIDI notes. To use this parameter, you must first specify the note you want
to assign the key pressure event to by
entering its pitch in the
appropriate box &nbs