XT HELP FILE *) (* X-TRACKER - THE ULTIMATE X-PERIENCE About system Patternwindow Sequencerwindow . Consult the manual for detailed information. X-TRACKER - THE ULTIMATE X-PERIENCE About system The Patternwindow The keys used for note entry are somehow arranged like a standard piano keyboard: w C# D# F# G# A# C D E F G A H C#' D#' F#' G#' A#' C' D' E' F' G' A' H' < oder > Noteoff (stops the sample) . Increment octave , Decrement octave X-TRACKER provides 9 full octaves, reaching from C-0 to B-8 d The keyboard layout is also active in the sample load windows, in the sampler and library manager. Shift-Y to M Buffernotes for special fx. In contrast to normal notes, buffer notes are displayed in lower case, because they are not directely played E.G. c#-3 instead of C#-3. The editorwindow consists of Rows (Tracks) and Lines (Notelines). Q The following commands are available to position the cursor in the editorfield: Cursor-left Previous track Cursor-right Next Track CTRL-C. left # Previous track (for Trackmode 6) CTRL-C. right Next track (for trackmode 6) Cursor-up One noteline step up Cursor-unten One noteline step down PAGE UP Jump one page up. PAGE DOWN Jump one page down. HOME Jump to first noteline Jump to last noteline Jump to next pattern Jump to previous pattern CTRL-PAGE UP Jump to first pattern DEL " Delete note entry (effects too!) SHIFT-BACKSPACE Only delete effects ENTER Activate sampledialog SPACE 3 Turns the patternscrolling on/off while playing. Call the context-sensitive help Cursor right Next sequencerposition Cursor left Previous sequencerposition Home/End & Jump to first/last sequencer- entry Enter Edit current position Insert . Insert new sequencerentry at cursorposition Delete current entry +/- @ Increment/Decrement patternnumber at curren sequencerposition CTRL-PRTSC Jump to desired sequencerentry The context-sensitive help system The help systems offers you information on any feature of this program. Y Press F1 at any moment to get the help according to the current dialog/window/menu etc. ; Colored words in the help text symbolize crossreferences. Help system keys F1 activate help ESC exit help Cursor scroll help text F5 zoom/unzoom help window TAB select crossreference ENTER jump to crossreference Or use the mouse to click around... Yo man !.. Diz iz a crossreference ;-) About help About X-TRACKER Information about this great product. THE GREETS Some special greets and remarks. About D-LUSION Information about D-LUSION. File Blows the current DMF out of your DRAM and initializes the DMF structures according to Options DMF. File Load (F3) Loads a musicfile directely into X-TRACKER. Alien formats will be converted into the almighty DMF structure. & The following formats are supported Q *.DMF D-LUSION DIGITAL MUSIC FILES *.S3M Scream Tracker ]I[ Module *.MTM Multitracker Module *.669 Composer 669 Module *.MOD Startrekker,Noisetracker, Fasttracker,Taketracker More formats will be supported in near future. Options DMF defaults Defaults that are used when initializing the DMF structure. File Save (F2) Beam the DMF directely on hard disk. 3 Before saving, you can decide on several options: D - Samples packed on/off - Infoblock saved on/off - Library Samples If this feature is activated, the samples will not be stored in your DMF, but the DSL where the sample is located. This allows you to save time and disk space. Nevertheless, people who don't have your libraries can't load these DMFs. File Save as Saves the current file under a different file name. File Clear Clear pattern Clears all pattern entry and the whole sequencer. File Clear Clear sequencer Clears the sequencer. File Clear Clear samples Clears all samples from the DMF. File Clear Clear Infoblock Clears the Infoblock. File Clear Clears specific parts of your DMF. Possible modes: Clear pattern ^ Clear sequencer Clear Samples Clear Infoblock File Delete Terminates a file physically. File Edit title Edit the DMF title. File Edit authorname Edit the authorname. File Edit Infotext (ALT-L) The infotext provides the possibility to supply additional information with your composition. C To simplify the editing, we have implemented a simple texteditor. Editor key list Cursor - Move your Cursor Ins - Insert-/Overwrite Enter - Next line Backspace - Delete line/char Entf - Delete char Esc - Exit editor File Fileinfo (ALT-I) Shows various information about the current DMF. File Systeminfo Information about your system and the memory status. File Dos Shell Leaves X-TRACKER and returns comman control to your OS. % Type "EXIT" to return to X-TRACKER. File Exit (ALT-X) Back to life - back to reality Pattern Copy pattern Copies a pattern of your choise into the current pattern. P The pattern variables (tracks, notelines, ticks per beat) will also be copied. Pattern Clear pattern Clears all entries in the current pattern (notes, effects etc.) Pattern Reinit pattern Reinitializes the current Pattern. Y - Tracks : Tracks (1-32) - Noten : Notelines (1-512) - Ticks/beat: TPB (1-15) If the patternsize is decreased, some information will be lost. Pattern Goto pattern (CTRL-PRTSCR) Jumps directely to the desired pattern. R Very useful, when you're editing on 235 and want make a quick jump to pattern 5. Pattern Insert line (SHIFT-INSERT) Inserts an empty noteline at the current cursorposition. The length of the pattern will be increased by one noteline. Pattern Delete line (SHIFT-DEL) Deletes the noteline at the current cursorposition. The length of the pattern will be decreased by one noteline. Track Delete track Deletes the current track from the actual pattern. ? The amount of tracks in the pattern will be decreased by one. Track Add track Adds a new track in the pattern. ? The amount of tracks in the pattern will be increased by one. Track Clear track Deletes all entries (notes, effects etc.) on the actual track. Track Melody play (ALT-F7) Mutes all tracks except the one your cursor is located on. 3 Use Track Enable all to turn all tracks on again. 7 Very useful when editing a melody on a single track. Track Enable all (SHIFT-F7) Enables the output of all tracks. Track Toggle muting (ALT-SPACE) Toggles the muting of the actual track. 9 The status is displayed at the lower part of the track. Track Displaymode (ALT-F10) Changes the displaymode of the actual track. M The following displaymodes are available to ensure maximum editing comfort: 1.Extended 001 C#3 VOL123 2.Large 001 C#3 VOL 3.Medium 001 C#3 4.Small C#3 5.Tiny X 6.Super All entries Every displaymode has its advantages and disadvantages. Check them out man ! Track Trackdisplay all (CTRL-F10) Changes the displaymode of all tracks simultaneously. Track Auto tracksize Chooses the displaymode that ensures that the maximum number of tracks is visible on the screen. Track Standard trackmode Sets all tracks to the standard displaymode. Use Options Editor to set the standard displaymode. Track Trackinfo (SHIFT-F10) Toggles between the three possible trackinformations that will be displayed at the end of each track. -Active sample M Shows the actual sample for every single track that is used for entry. -Actual sample < Shows the active sample that is currently being played. -Volume = Shows the current playing volume for the specific track. Track Insert row (CTRL-INSERT) Inserts a line in the current track at cursorposition. Track Delete row (CTRL-DEL) Deletes the line in the current track at cursorposition. Edit Undo (CTRL-BACKSPACE) Recovers the pattern situation since the last pattern change or play command. Edit Track effects (TAB) Activates the track effect window, or the global effect window if your cursor is located on the general track. > Choose the effects and parameters for the current noteentry. In the lower part of the dialog window, a short description of the effect and its usage is shown. The best however is to experiment with the effects on your own. Edit Global effects (TAB) Activates the global effect window, if your cursor is located on the global track. < Choose the effect and parameters for the current noteline. In the lower part of the dialog window, a short description of the effect and its usage is given. The best however is to experiment with the effects on your own. Edit Define makro Defines one of ten possible effectmacros. _ First enter the desired macronumber (0-9) and then the desired effects with their parameters. $ Use ALT 0-9 to activate the macro. B The macros are automatically saved after each X-TRACKER session. f This function is very useful if you have certain effects that you have to enter over and over again. Edit (ALT-V) Sets the volume effect for the actual sample that overrides the standardvolume at cursorposition. Edit Drop last volume (ALT-W) Sets the last volume effect again. Edit Drop last effect (SHIFT-TAB) Sets the last effect combination chosen in effect window again. Edit Delete effect (BACKSPACE) Kills all effects on actual cursor position. Sample number and note entry are not affected. Edit Change FXdata (ALT-U) You can change the FX data on actual cursor position directly, without using the FX window. Edit Restart position Edits the seqencer loop. The sequencer is played once to the end of the sequencer loop. Then it is repeated from loop begin to loop end. This is only active, if Restart Position is activated in the Edit part of Option Editor menu. Otherwise, the sequencer is played without loop and stopped at the end. T This function is designed to leave out intros on repetition during looped playing. Edit Toggle record Switches record mode on and off. It is a good idea to turn off record mode, if you want play in addition to an already existing track without changing the note data of the pattern. Edit Toggle editmodes Toggles between the different edit modes: - Standard - Pitch - Drum The edit mode active at present is shown at the lower right bottom of the pattern window. Edit Default modes Sets the default edit mode. q On hitting a key of the "piano keyboard", the note and the actual instrument number are entered in the pattern. Edit Pitch Mode Sets the pitch edit mode. In pitch edit mode, only the note, not the sample number are entered on pressing a key. This means that the actual sample is not replayed again, but only, if still playing, continued on the entered pitch. Edit Drum Mode Sets the drum edit mode. 1 This mode is best for editing rythm tracks etc. z After activating the drum edit mode, the keys are no longer connected to notes of one sample, but to different samples. 'A' is the actual sample. All keys above are the samples standing in the sample menu before the actual one, all keys in the same row/below are the samples standing behind. d The samples are played on the last pitch they have been played before (e.g. in the sample window). Edit Change quantize (F4) Sets a new quantize step size. z Quantize causes the cursor to jump on note entry as many notes as entered in quantize, so you can not reach every line. t If you enter e.g. a quantize of '4', you can enter a note on every 4th line, starting from actual cursor position. Default quantize is 1. P Quantize 0 turns line feed on entry off. Negative quantizes are possible, too. Edit Colormark offset (Alt-F4) Shifts the color marks to the actual cursor position. ) Very useful while editin off beats etc. Block X-TRACKER provides a lot of very useful block operations which simplify editing DMFs quickly. Block Blockstart (F7) Sets the beginning of a marked block. 1 If ther is already a block mark, it is deleted. Block Blockend (F8) Sets the end of maked block. U If there is already a block marked, its end will be adapted to the actual position. Block Mark track (CTRL-F8) Marks the whole actual track as ablock. Block Mark unit (ALT-F8) Marks a block at the actual cursorposition. The block length corresponds to the color marks. ` If this function is used several times, block length is increased by the corresponding length. Block Unmark (ALT-F8) Raises the actual block mark. Just a useless function. Block Block save Save the actually marked block as .DBF file (D-LUSION BLOCK FILE) on hard disk or floppy. F Very useful, if you want to transfer parts of one DMF into another. Block Block load Loads a .DBF file (D-LUSION BLOCK FILE) from floppy or hard disk and inserts it at the actual cursor position. f Existing entries in the pattern are overwritten. The block is cut, if it is too big for the pattern. E Very useful, if you want to transfer parts of one DMF into another. Block Block copy (ALT-C) Copies the marked block at the actual cursor position (also in other patterns) and overwrites existing entries. Block Block erase (ALT-K) Deletes all entries (notes, sample numbers, effects etc.) in the actually marked block. Block Block move (ALT-M) Moves the marked block at the actual cursor position (also in other patterns) and overwrites existing entries. Block Block effect copy (ALT-Y) Copies only FXs from marked block to actual cursor position. Notes and sample numbers are not affected. Block Block n-effects kopieren Copy only FXs from marked block to cursor position. FXs are only olaced in lines that contain a note, too. Existent FXs are only overwritten in lines that contain a note. Block Block "sprite-copy" (ALT-S) Copies the marked block to the actual cursor position, but notes are only entered on empty lines. Existent information is not affected. ; Very useful when assembling two ao several tracks to one. Block Block replace sample (ALT-Z) Replaces a chosen sample by any other in the marked block. Block Block transpose The marked block is transposed by chosen number of half tone steps. % Nice to generate sequences quickly. Block Block vol-scale (ALT-J) Scales all volume entries by an chosen percentage in the marked block. Useful for creating echos. Block Block effekt fill The whole marked block is filled with chosen FXs. All existing FXs are killed. Block Block Effekt slide The whole marked block is filled with the chosen FXs, the parameters of which are slid from the entered start value to a chosen end value. A The values in between are calculated depending on block length. Parameters of the actual sample Name Name ) (For easier identification) Length Length ! (Cannot be changed) Volume Default volume O (Will be replaced by volume commands in the pattern) Loopstart Start value of the sample loop , Loopend Ende der Wiederholungschleife (The sample is played from begining to loopend, then the part between loopstart and loopend is repeated until a new note etc. follows.) C3-Frequ. Playing frequency for the note C-3. N (The sample can be tuned by modifying this frequency) Loop ? Shows, wether the loop is executed or not. Library Shows the name of the library for [ this song. (Samples can be saved externally in a library instead of inside the DMF. This gives you the possibility to use one library for several DMFs. The shown library must already be existing, or have been edited with the library manager.) Lib Sam. Shows, wether the sample is stored in K the external library or directly inside the DMF. Sample Sample entries The actual sample can be chosen here by using cursor up/down or enter. Sample Load Loads a sample from a library into the active sample slot. l Only .DSL (D-LUSION SAMPLE LIBRARY) files, which have been created with the library manager are supported. L The Sample can be played in the library window using the "piano keyboard". Sample Disk load Sample is loaded directly from floppy/hard disk into actual sample slot. X-TRACKER supports: .DSF (D-LUSION SAMPLE FILE) .SAM (8bit signed raw) .SMP (8bit unsigned raw) .PAT (Gravis Ultrasound Patch) .WAV (Windows voice file) .VOC (Creative Voice file) The highlghted sample in the directory can be played using the "piano keyboard". Sample Save The actual sample is saved as .DSF. Sample Delete Deletes the actual sample slot iclusive sample from the sample menu. Sample Sampler The X-TRACKER sampler is started with the actual sample. Options Output device The actual output device is to be selected. N Port Port adress of the card IRQ IRQ number DMA DMA channel Mixer frequency: n Mixing frequeny of the voices. (The higher, the better. Should be adapted to the speed of your computer). Max.voices: ( Maximal number of voices to be played. Overdrive: 6 Defines the overdrive grade on Sounblaster cards. Buffersize: DMA Buffersize on SB cards. (The higher the buffersize, the better the sound, but the scrolling is better with low buffer size) Options Output options Line in Turns on the line in input of your soundcard. Mic in Turns on the mic in input = of your soundcard. (KARAOKE, YEAH !) Filter Activates the internal filter of your soundcard. Volume Software setting of the soundcard ) volume (not available on SB) Options DMF Defaults Default values for initializing DMFs Options Editor Tracks Settings for track view Zoom active track ) Show active track normal or zoomed up? Show global track Switches active track on/off. Trackinfo Selected sample 7 The actualy active sample, which is in use for edit. Actual sample ( The actualy played or existing sample. Volume 8 The actual volume of the sample played in this track. Track Init How the tracks are shown when loading a DMF Autoscale # Automatic Adaption of track width Use Default Default track width is used. Default track mode Choose default track width. Options Directories Default Directories for libraries, DMFs... Options Desktop Save options Actual file Q Saves the actual file when leaving X-TRACKER and loads it when restarting. Configuration I Saves automatically the actual configuration when leaving X-TRACKER. Fonts Choose one of the five possible fonts. WARNING: Not every font may suit everybody! Desktop Background Choose one of the five possible backgrounds designed by the famous ASCII wizard Gerhar Brandt. Options Colors You can choose one of 6 predefined palettes or create your own user palette. Options Save Actual configuration is saved in xtracker.cfg and xtracker.dsk. Options Screensaver A very useful tool. Play Whole DMF (CTRL-F9) The whole DMF is played from the beginning to the end (eventually with sequencer loop). : You can restart the DMF while playing with CTRL-Page Up. Play Continue (SHIFT-F9) Playing is continued at the last sequencer position after break (ESC). Play Current Pattern (ALT-F9) The current pattern is played in a loop. Play Current Block (ALT-F6) The actually marked block is played in a loop. If no block is marked, the current pattern is played from the current cursor position on. Play Stop Playing (ESC) Stops playing. What else???