mcc Synthesizer user's guide ---------------------------- mcc Synthesizer v1.00 transforms PC's keyboard in a simple synthesizer. It uses additive synthesis to generate sounds and drums. Modulated delay can be added to the sound for effects such as chorus, phasing, vibrato... Six sounds and two drums can be produced contemporaneously. A simple sequencer without editing possibility (a digital recorder in practice) is offered and a rhythms generator. WAV sounds can be used as output samples with some limitations (4096 fixed sample length). The sounds and drums can be graphi- cally edited. The program has 3D look. Special requirements: VGA, mouse, Sound Blaster or a DAC on LPT recommended for quality audio output (PC speaker is used else). To run mcc Synthesizer just type synth at the command prompt. Look at the readme file for options and problems. When the program is started you can play by typing on the keyboard. The default instrument is piano. You can press more than one key at a time and you will hear the notes simultaneously. mcc Synthesizer is polyphonic and can reproduce six notes and two drums at a time. Nevertheless a problem may occurr: PC keyboard isn't designed to press many keys contemporaneously, so certain combinations of keys will not produce all the sounds. Which are these combinations, depends upon the keyboard you have. You can select a sound by pressing a function key when you are in the sound selection mode (the sounds are listed in the upper right window). Pressing ESC you change the mode to rhythm selection (rhythms are listed instead of the sounds). INS button selects drums (which are listed in the lower left window). You can change the sampling rate with the PGUP and PGDOWN keys. The arrow keys and keypad-5 transpose the keyboard. You enter the sound programming mode pressing the Sound button. You can define the waveform of the sound (drawing the spectrum in the lower left window), its envelope with the ADSR parameters (the envelope appears in the upper left window) and its volume. Clicking on the upper right window you can enter the sound name. Pressing the Drum button, you enter the drum programming mode. Its spectrum is located in the upper left window. ADSR, volume and name is applicable to the drum, too, but the envelope isn't drawed. The drums aren't resampled when you change the sampling frequency, so they must be redrawn when changing sampling frequency. The drums in this package are designed for a 45000 kHz sampling frequency. Clicking on the upper right window when you aren't in a programming mode permits you to enter the effect name. It's just a delay line with return and delay length modulation. The possible effects are: reverb, echo, chorus, phasing, flanging... The effect is applied only to the sounds (not the drums). Only one effect can be active at a time. You can save more modules in a file. They are listed pressing the Save button. Bank is applicable to sounds, drums and rhythms. Multi splits a bank in more files, giving them a truncated sound/drum/rhythm name, if it possible and no name is typed in. If it is not possible (more files with the same name would be generated), it will give them the specified name or the bank name if no name is specified, followed by a serial number. The split button splits the keyboard in two parts, pressing the 2X button, it is splitted in three parts. The Rhythm button activates the rhythm, the Accord button generates a major accord when a key is pressed, a minor accord when two appropriate keys are pressed; the Octave button includes the octave in the accord. The Hold button holds a key combination, which is released with another key combination or with the space bar. Arrange plays an ascending arpeggio, while the Advance button (when both it and Arrange are pressed) plays a programmed arrangement. You can program a rhythm and its arrangement with the Program button. First you enter the drums (it automatically makes pass advances, but you can do them with the mouse or with the space bar). You can press two drums (or sounds) at a time. Pressing the Program button again you hear the rhythm; you can add drums between passes, if you want. Pressing Program once again, you can enter the arrangement that mcc Synthesizer will play when you will press one, two, three and four keys. mcc Synthesizer will suppose that C note (the Q key) is pressed for single key programming; in this first pass the only allowable keys are Q, I (one octave up) and space bar (no sound). Next you will program the double key pressing (C - E notes / Q - E keys), then triple key (C - E - G notes / Q - E - T keys) and the quadruple key (C - E - G - B notes / Q - E - T - U keys). You can record a song with the recorder. The tracks in red record (when the keyboard is splitted, each keyboard part is recorded to a different track), the tracks in black play. The rhythm, the arrangement and the holded keys are not recorded. And now some instructions about the keys: ESC change mode between sounds and rhythm select F1-F12 select a sound/rhythm INS select drums UP transpose the keyboard one octave up DOWN transpose the keyboard one octave down RIGHT transpose the keyboard one semitone up LEFT transpose the keyboard one semitone down 5 on the keypad center the keyboard PGUP sampling frequency 500 Hz up PGDOWN sampling frequency 500 Hz down the notes are on the main keyboard, find them by yourself.