Part 1 : Getting Started
Introduction
Installation
Overview
The Fastest Way To Make Some Noiz
Part 2 : Sounds
About Players
About Patches
About Programs
Add-A-Sound
The Patch Editor
The Program Editor
The Wave Labo
Recording Audio
The Synth Rack
The Audio Mixing Desk
The MIDI Mixing Desk
Part 3 : Structures
The Loop Composer
The Song Composer
The Play Room
About Sequence Editing
The Key Editor
The Grafix Editor
The List Editor
The Compose menu
The Sequence menu
The Edit menu
Part 4 : Control Panel & Menus
The System menu
The Tools menu
The Help menu
Part 5 : Special Topics
Controlling Knobs & Faders
FastKeys
XProgram Lists
Some Info on the User Interface
Positions/Lengths
File- & Folder-Chooser
Messages
Wanna Make A Skin ?
Hard Video Acceleration
Virtual Memory
Troubleshooting
| Part 1 : Getting Started |
A warm welcome to Computer Muzys, The Intuitive Music System.
Computer Muzys is an unique musical composition and performance tool.
It's the world's first sequencer that seamlessly combines pattern- and song-arranging, while smoothly integrating digital audio and MIDI.
With Computer Muzys you can play with sounds & sequences, effects & compositions, create rhythms & melodies, and so create your very own musics.
Computer Muzys features several easy to operate sequencing tools like Loop Composer, Song Composer, Play Room, Key Editor, Grafix Editor, List Editor, ... and a lot of exclusive, practical editing functions !
Furthermore, Computer Muzys features a unique integration of digital audio and MIDI, so that any Sequence can play any soundsource, such as a Wave Patch, MIDI Player, Drum Program, ... or even a VST plugin parameter !
Computer Muzys uses a unique user interface and exclusive subsystems to reach that one goal : To offer the user a playspace for musical creativity.
Add to that the integrated Wave Labo (where you can trim, crossfade loop, timestretch, eq, ...), the Keyboard Mapper (to trigger your sequences live from a MIDI instrument), the Wave Manager (to professionally manage the usage of your Audio Files), ... and you will discover that you have an exceptional musical tool here !
We wish you an inspired new phase in your music making life !
The Muzys Team
Make sure your system reaches these minimal system requirements :
To install Computer Muzys on your system, just expand the latest Zip/Sit package to the folder of your choice.
Eventually also install the latest Computer Muzys patch : A patch is a newer, improved version of the application file,
and can be put into an existing Computer Muzys folder, thereby overwriting the older application file.
This is handy to update the program without having to re-install the whole package.
To uninstall Computer Muzys :
Now is a good time to have a quick overview of how Muzys is organized :
Basically, you have 3 windows : one for your Structure activities, one for your Sound activities, and The Control Panel.
The Control Panel features many basic functions like Play, Record,
Rewind, Forward, Tempo display, Position display, ...
It also contains the 3 global Muzys menus : "System", "Tools" and "Help".
But more about The Control Panel lateron ...
First lets have a closer look at 'sounds'.
Sounds
A sound is something we hear. It's as simple as that :-)
Muzys can generate sounds by means of AIFF, MP3 & WAVE Files, and via any MIDI instruments.
The easiest way to add a sound to your musical Project is the
Add-A-Sound function, but we'll talk about that later.
Now lets have a closer look at 'structures'.
Structures
When you have a sound, lets say a snaredrum, you may want to use that sound to create a musical pattern.
For example : you may want to play that snare, then wait, and then play it twice after each other.
This is what Muzys calls a Sequence, and is the most basic form of structure.
A Sequence is build up by individual Events, so in the example above, we had 3 Events.
Every Sequence has its own name and loop length.
Normally, the length will be set to a beat (0.1.000), a bar (1.0.000), four bars (4.0.000) etc ...
Experimental composers will be happy to know that this length can go anywhere from a tiny tick (ex. 0.0.001)
to hundreds of bars (ex. 256.2.192).
If you do not want a Sequence to be looped, but just want to
play it straight forward (linear), then set the Sequence length to 'No Loop'.
Muzys keeps all the Sequences within a Project in a Sequence pool.
At different places in the system, you can use this Sequence pool to select any Sequence.
Most of the time, Sequences are made for individual sounds, or Players as Muzys calls them.
So, if, for example, you want to make a song with some percussion, a bass, a piano etc ...
you may want to put different Sequences together in some structured form.
That's what Muzys calls a Composition.
Every Composition is built up by individual Parts, which you can see like little
building blocks which play Sequence X from position A to position B.
Muzys has 2 types of compositions : Loop Compositions and Song Compositions.
A Loop Composition is a collection of musical phrases that keep on looping.
So a Loop Composition can be seen as an easy way to play with loops, and as fast and intuitive building block.
Just like those good old "patterns" on a drumbox !
A Song Composition on the other hand can be much more structured.
Within a Song Composition you can make an intro, build-up, climax, break, or whatever you want.
RoundUp ...
So, we have had an overview of the Sound window, the Structure window and the Control Panel.
Note already that clicking the titlebar of the Sound- or Structure-window can enlarge that window (if applicable),
and minimizes the other, so that you can focus on one or another.
You can also drag the windows so to re-arrange these windows as you like.
Also note that, by default, Muzys let the Sound window follow the focussed Player in the Structure window.
Most of the times, this is very handy, but if you wish, you can disable that feature via System menu:Technical Preferences
Well, now that you have some basic knowledge of Muzys ... lets make some noiz !
If you have a MIDI keyboard connected :
If you don't have a MIDI keyboard connected :
button near the Sequence name to go to The Key Editor.
tool from the MouseToolBox and draw some Note Events.Voila, it's that simple !
Note : If you don't hear any sound, maybe things are not properly configured.
Check Audio Hardware and Midi Hardware for more info.
| Part 2 : Sounds |
Players are a very important thing in Muzys, since without a Player you have no sound !
You may imagine yourself as an orchestra leader with sheets of musical notes (=Sequences, Events).
As the orchestra leader, you send those 'commands' to your musicians (=Players).
The musicians who receive your commands, do all the sound-making, and therefore define the sound.
For example, when you send the events from you score to a guitar player, you will hear a guitar sound,
but when you send them to a piano player, you will hear the piano !
So, when a Sequence is playing, the Events of that Sequence are played by a certain Player, which can be :
This is how they appear in the Player pool
This is how they appear in the Player pool
This is how they appear in the Player pool
This is how they appear in the Player pool
This is how they appear in the Player pool
Some extra info on MIDI Players
MIDI works with 'channels' on which you can transmit/receive musical commands.
For each MIDI port in your system, you have 16 channels.
For every channel, you can choose a sound and set up a mix (volume, panning, effects, ...).
Via System menu:MIDI Players, you can create your
MIDI Players, which is basically a name for a combination of a port and a channel.
Since it's nicer to work with a name like "NordLead" than with numbers like 'port 2, channel 8'.
But in addition to this, every MIDI Player can have its own :
A Patch is a sound-object that plays a Wave, with some extra parameters :
For example, we can use Wave 'Crazy Groove' a first Patch with a start-point at 0,
but also in a second Patch, but then, with a start-point at, for example, 580 ms.
For this we have used just 1 Wave (and thus only 1 time the wave-memory for it) in 2 Patches ('Crazy Groove(1)' and
'Crazy Groove(2)').
Without doing anything more you can use these 2 Patches as Players for your Sequences !
Tip: You can use different Patches to splitup a drumloop.
Read on : The Patch Editor.
This editor is used to create & edit Patches.
At the left, you have the Patch pool from which you can immediately select a Patch. To quickly monitor a Patches, use the little speaker icon at the right of its name.
You can also right-click/command-click in the Patch pool for a quick contextual menu. See the explanation on "Options" below for detailed info.
The Start, Loop and End parameters are Wave Locators, which can be created in The Wave Labo
You can play the faders in realtime, and just by clicking the Record button, or pressing the appropriate FastKey, everything is recorded as a new Sequence !
When the Patch Editor has the keyboard focus (eventually click it), you can press [Arrow Left/Right] to scroll thru the patches.
By right-clicking/command-clicking on any fader, you can easily assign a MIDI Controller to that fader, or write the faders' value into a part in the current Composition.
Read more on this in Controlling Knobs & Faders.
The 'Options' button features many specific Patch functions :
Be aware that duplicating a Patch doesn't duplicate its Wave.
On the contrarary, a duplicated Patch uses the same Wave as its original !
So be aware that when editing a Wave in The Wave Labo, every Patch of that Wave will be affected.
If you really want to duplicate a Wave, use "Wave Labo:Dsp Funx:Copy To ...".
Note that when you Add-A-Sound, the newly added Patches are automatically selected !
Note also that the Program Editor's 'power function' "Select these Patches" can select all the Patches of a Program
So, that's handy in combination with this function !
A Program is an object that combines different MIDI- & Patch-Players.
The two basic combination-structures are :
When you layer Players, they will be played simultaneously.
When you split Players, every key of the keyboard can have its own name and Player.
This is especially useful for drumsets etc...
Lets have an example of a layered Program :
Imagine we have a MIDI Player called 'QuadraSynth', and Patches
'FuzzString' and 'FX Hit'.
Now lets create a layer-Program, for example "MyLayer", by selecting the 'Quad Layer'
mode, and assign the 'QuadraSynth' Player to layer 1, the
'FuzzString' Patch Player to layer 2 and the 'FX Hit' Patch Player to layer 3 (the 4th layer remains empty).
By means of the 'Key'-fields, we can transpose the different layers.
Now, this Program can be used as a Player for any Track/Part/Event.
All Events in the respective Sequence will now play all 3 layers !
Read on : The Program Editor.
This editor is used to create & edit programs.
This is how it works :
If there are no programs in this Project, Muzys will automatically ask you for a new Program.
At the left, you have the Program pool from which you can immediately select a Program.
You can also right-click/command-click this Program pool for a quick contextual menu.
See the explanation on "Options" below for detailed info.
To make, for example, a drumset, choose "Split 128 Notes" as the modus.
From then, you can assign any MIDI or Patch Player to any of the 128 notes.
You can step from one note to the other by clicking the keyboard, or pressing [Arrow Left/Right].
Every split-key can have its own name, Player, key and default length !
And by clicking the icon at the right of the key field
you can jump straight to the Patch Editor.
Every split-key also has a mute and solo button, so that you can easily mute or solo certain keys !
Now, select your new Program as the Player for a Sequence and go to the different Sequence editors.
You'll see that they fully support the split character of this Program, and editing is Big Fun !
Of course you can also change programs in realtime, while playing !
Tip : You can also use the [Arrow Left/Right] keys to scroll through the keys of a split-Program.
The Program Editor also features a 'Options' button with some specific Program functions :
This is the way to load & patch AIFF, MP3 & WAVE Files.
These Waves are then available as a Player for any Sequence !
"Add-A-Sound" gives you the following choices :
The upcoming File Chooser has a lot of handy features, including instant monitoring, so you can easily choose the Audio Files to import.
Adding-A-Sound while updating a Player
When you are changing a Player, you have a 
at the right.
This lets you Add-A-Sound specifically for this Player.
Previewing in this situation is dependent on whether the sequencer is playing or not. When the sequencer is not playing, previewing works as a standard Add-A-Sound, thus the sound is monitored. (Quick note : You can select the Monitor Channel in the Musical Preferences)
But when the sequencer is playing, the sound is previewed in it's target player, so, for example, when you're editing a track's Player, you will hear the current sequence on that track now playing with the previewed sound ! And by clicking again on the preview speaker icon, Muzys switches back to the original sound, so that you can easily compare.
You can control this behaviour via a Shift+click on the speaker icon !
Overview
The Wave Labo is the editor for your Waves.
You can play & record Waves, create Locators, and perform a lot of useful DSP functions.
General Usage
|
An important note about the DSP Funx
It's important to know that though you are editing a Wave,
if you click the Play button, the current Patch is monitored. This because you may have pitched the Wave, or routed it through some special FX. If you would hear this Wave now in a totally different context (ie. raw, without parameters). That's why Muzys continues to play the current Patch in the Wave Labo. But sometimes, when using the "Dsp Funx", this may cause some unexpected results. For example, if you process the Wave through an Audio Mixing Desk plugin, and you listen to the result, that result might be different than when you were playing the Wave through the plugin in realtime. This is because the results of the plugin are now within the Wave, and thus are played with all parameters of the current Patch of that Wave ! Including ,for example, a higher pitch etc ... Anyway, don't bother; It's just that you know about it, and how Muzys processes Waves in the Wave Labo |
About Locators
Every Wave can have up to 128 Locators, which can be used as the start-, loop- and/or end-point of a Patch.
You can create Locators by clicking in the Time Bar above the Wave display.
Locators can be moved around by dragging their flags, and by right-clicking/command-clicking their
flag, you get a contextual menu from which you can choose to delete a Locator etc ...
Note that there is a "Dsp Funx" function "Analyze Peaks" which will automatically create Locators on the peaks in this Wave.
That is especially useful when you want to slice up drumloops !
This will make the Wave(-selection) as loud as possible.
This will mute=silence the Wave(-selection).
This will reverse the Wave(-selection).
With this function you can perform a volume curve on the Wave(-selection).
Just enter the start gain and end gain in db, and click OK.
If you want a simple gain adjust without a ramp, just enter the same amount of gain for start and end.
If "Use FX clipping" is on, Muzys will do some magic math to overflowing samples !
Try it out !
This will make the last n samples of the loop to be crossfaded with the last n samples prior to the loop.
So that a loop sounds smoother.
Copies the Wave(-selection) to a new Wave.
Eventually, you can pitch the copy.
Mixes the Wave(-selection) with another Wave.
The Balance parameter defines the volume-balance of the two Waves.
The Gain parameter allows for a overall gain correction.
Deletes the portions at the beginning and the end that are not played by the Patch(es) of this Wave.
That is the portion before the start-point(s) and the portion after the end-point(s).
Deletes everything outside the selection.
Deletes the selection itself.
This will repeat the selection for Repeat count times, thus making the Wave longer.
This function allows changing a Wave's length without affecting the pitch.
The result of a timestretch is very content-dependent.
This means that some timestretch on speech may be good, while the same stretch parameters give no good results on a drumloop.
That's why it may be useful to have some knowledge about the following parameters.
But do play around with the parameters and after some time, you'll get some experience on how to get the best results.
Factor
This parameter defines how much the (selected portion of a) Wave must be stretched or shrinked
For example : 200% means that the Wave will double in length.
Via the 'Options' button in this window, you can let Muzys calculate this factor !
Work Frequency
When stretching, portions of the Wave are repeated (stretching) or skipped (shrinking).
This parameter defines the size of the sections (the grains) Muzys must repeat/omit.
The higher the Work Frequency is, the smaller the grain-size, and the higher the frequency of some (unavoidable) distortion in the result.
But by choosing a good value for this parameter, that distortion may become unhearable, or even musical :-))
Ramping
When repeating/skipping those grains, it may be good to crossfade a certain amount of adjacent grains.
This parameter defines how much of a grain must be crossfaded.
The 'Options' button contains some practical presets !
This DSP function streams the current Wave(-selection) through the FX plugin in Slot x of Audio Channel y.
The Result Mode can be one of the following :
Generates the waveform of your choice.
Tip : You can use "Select All" and "Repeat Selection" to repeat this single waveform cycle as many times as you want.
In fact this powerful function is a macro for :
1) Analyze peaks 2) Create Program using Locators 3) Create Sequence using Locators
So it will slice up the current (drumloop) Wave into a bunch of Patches, create a Split-Program for it, and create a Part & Sequence for it.
And there you can start re-arranging th drumloop, or tweak the individual slices via the Patch Editor, etc ..!
This function will analyze the dynamics of the current Wave(-selection), and put Locators at the peak positions.
The Sensitivity parameter defines how quick Muzys will recognize a peak. Thus the more sensitive, the more peaks.
The Overwrite parameter defines whether the current Locators of this Wave should be replaced.
This powerfunction will create a Split-Program, where for each Locator of the
current Wave, a new Patch is created and assigned to a seperate split-key.
Especially useful to splitup an 'analyzed' drumloop into seperate playable sections !
This powerfunction will create a new Sequence, based on the Locators in this Wave.
The Loop length parameter defines the length of the resulting Sequence.
The Current Grid fill key parameter defines whether and which Note key should be used to fill any gaps between the Locators of this Wave and the Current Grid. This is a super handy to create Grid Sequences based on the groove in a Wave !!
So lets say we have a groovy 1-bar drumloop, now lets "Analyze Peaks" it, and eventually tweak the resulting locators manually so to get the most accurate timing. Then we use "Create Sequence using Locators", set "Loop length" to 1.0.000, and set the "fill key" to for ex. C3. This will result in a Sequence that has notes on the Locator positions, and also C3 notes on any 'other' position of the Current Grid.
Finally, we select this new Sequence as the Current Grid for editing, so that all new Quantizing and Sequence editing functions will use the groove in the Wave :-)
Of course, we can also set the "fill key" parameter to Off, so to just create a new Sequence based on the current Locators, for example to play a Program based on these Locators.
This 'power' function will create new Waves and Patches for every 'Locator-section' in the current Wave.
It's meant for the situation where you have sampled multiple sounds from, for example, a sample-cd,
and now you want to splitup the different individual sounds into seperate Waves.
The only thing you have to do is to put a Locator somewhere between the individual sounds
(this doesn't has to be very finetuned), so that Muzys knows where each sound starts and ends.
The New Names parameter is the basic name for the new Waves and Patches. An index (ex. "NewName-4") is automatically appended.
The Threshold parameter is used to trim the silence at the beginning / end of each sound.
The "Record Audio" window can be called via
The first time in each session, the Record Audio Setup window is automatically opened.
This setup window depends on what type of audio output driver you use (cfr Audio Hardware).
For ASIO, you can only choose which 2 of your enabled ASIO device inputs should be used. The audio input format (samplerate, bitdepth) is defined by the ASIO output format.
For DirectSound, MME, you can choose some input device in your system, for example, the microphone input, and a sound format.
The higher the sample rate and bit depth, the better the quality, but also the more memory you'll need.
Click OK to complete the setup.
Some parameters are available :
Now make a good level mix for optimal results.
The level meters should come quite high but should not reach the top.
Note that the clip indicators don't work here.
Pressing the 'Record' button actually starts audio recording for as long as your RAM can take, or until you click Record again.
The resulting Wave is immediately selected in The Wave Labo, where you can eventually cut out any superfluous parts by selecting the actual content, and calling "Crop to selection" in the "Dsp Funx" menu.
This new Wave is not yet saved, so take care about saving it, for example via "Save as ..." in the Wave Labo's "File" menu.
Notes :
That results in a noisy recording. Please check your soundcard's documentation.
You can use the Synth Rack to plug in your VST Instruments.
Up to 5 mono-timbral synth slots are available. However, Muon's DS 404 can be used as multi-timbral !
General Usage
icon at the right brings you to that channel.
Introduction
The Audio Mixing Desk has 3 main sections : "Channels", "Aux-Groups" and "Outputs".
Every section has 8 channels, and every channel can plug up to 8 effects.
The "Channels" section gets all the audio that is generated by the Patches and Virtual Synths.
Whenever you use a "Send to Aux-Group" plug in the Channels section, audio is sent to an Aux-Group.
Aux-Groups are very handy for using effects that are common for different channels, like a Reverb that must be used on Channel 2 and Channel 5, but with a different amount. Aux-Groups may also be useful for making monitor mixes.
Finally, the "Ouputs" section collects all audio from the Channels and Aux-Groups and routes that to your audio cards' outputs.
A channel in detail
As said, each section has 8 channels.
You can name every channel as you whish just by clicking on its name.
And by clicking on the "From" word, Muzys will list the audio sources for this channel.
Every channel in the Audio Mixing Desk has 8 plugin slots.
Every slot can get a Muzys plugin, Vst plugin or can be a Send to Aux-Group.
You can manage your Vst plugins with the Plugin Manager.
By clicking the icon at the right of an FX plugin slot, you call the editor for that plugin.
Read more on editing effects below.
And when you've chosen a "Send to Aux-Group", there is a little (automatable) knob at the right that controls the send-level, and
a icon that jumps you to that Aux-Group channel.
At the left of these plug slots, you have the Pre / Post locator. Just click at the left of the plug slot that you want to be the first Post plug.
All plugins before this one will be Pre fader.
The actual signal routing in the Audio Mixing Desk is :
A right-click/command-click on a plug slot pops up a little menu, with which you can 'Insert', 'Delete' or 'Move' a slot, so that you can manage the order of the slots.
The Volume/Panning box controls the Volume and Panning of the stereo signal.
By default, the Volume knob only works vertically, but when you hold [Shift], you can move it in any direction.
The level meters indicate the output level after the last plugin, including the fact whether the signal has been clipped.
Only the "Outputs" section memorizes its clipping since the other sections don't perform any actual clipping since Muzys' Audio Mixing Desk works with 32 bit floating point values, which practically cannot overload !
By a simple mouse-click on one of the meters, the clip indicator is reset.
Every channel also features a mute and solo knob for an easy control of what you hear. Also mutes can be automated (see below).
By right-clicking/command-clicking in the Volume/Panning box, you get a contextual menu that has a lot of handy functions, including assignment of MIDI controllers to the Volume/Panning knobs. You can read more on this in Controlling Knobs & Faders.
Editing Effects
When you've plugged in a Muzys or Vst effect, you can call its editor by clicking its icon.
All types of effects always have 4 basic controls : Wet/Dry, Gain, Balance and Bypass. All 4 are automatable.
The Bypass button has an extra function : it also indicates whether the effect is processing or not, since Muzys uses a smart automatic bypassing algorithm so to spare your CPU. The Bypass button indicates whether this 'auto-bypass' is active or not. And a right-click/command-click on the Bypass button allows editing of the settings for this auto-bypass system, or eventually turning it off.
If a Muzys effect editor comes up (for Muzys effects and Vst effects without an own editor), you can right-click/command-click every knob/fader so to assign a MIDI Controller to it, or write its value into the current Composition.
Read more on this in Controlling Knobs & Faders.
And by the way : You can always do fine adjustements on knobs/faders by holding [Control], as you can read in The User Interface : Faders.
For VST FX with their own editor, there is a button "VST FX Options" which drops down a menu with extra options. If you want to assign a MIDI Controller to such VST parameter, first tweak that parameter a bit in the VST editor, so that Muzys can feel what parameter you have in mind.
Automation
Just click Record, or press the appropriate FastKey ! This will record everything as a new, fully editable Sequence !
It's as simple as that !
Also every FX plugin parameter can be recorded in realtime, just by clicking the Record button.
This will create Controller Events on Audio Mix Players.
Master Effects
Master effects can be plugged in in the "Outputs" section.
That's where all audio comes to just before sending it to your audio card. So if you put a plug there, it will affect all audio !
Also master plugins are automatable.
The MIDI Mixing Desk is the place where you can easily manage your MIDI Mix, especially control MIDI volumes, panning,
what sound must be used on channel x etc...
It also features 4 pages of 8 freely configurable faders that can be used for special Controllers, for example, to control
the filter of a MIDI synth sound.
All changes are made for the MIDI Player indicated in the Player field at the top-left.
There are 2 ways of storing MIDI Mix changes into a Composition :
Use the 'Page' button to go to the different pages.
The User A, B, C and D pages allow you to assign any Controller to a fader by right-clicking/command-clicking on a fader.
Also here you can use the above methods to store a MIDI Mix !
The MIDI Mixing Desk is called up by clicking the icon at the right of a MIDI Player,
or by [Shift]+clicking the 'Mixing Desk' button in the Sound window.
| Part 3 : Structures |
Overview
The Loop Composer allows creating simple musical loops,
by combining a set of Sequences
The fun about Loop Compositions is that they very easily to create core blocks of music.
Each line (=track) of a Loop Composition can play a Sequence
and can have its own Player, transpose and velocity factor.
General Usage
The mute LED 
indicates the mute status for a track, and you can lasso them to switch their state.
By holding [Control]+[Alternate] while clicking on a Track mute, the current 'mute-set' is stored in that button.
This mute-set can be recalled by holding [Alternate] while clicking a mute button.
This means that you can store/recall 128 mute-sets.
If recording is active AND "Record Track Mutes" is enabled,
all this (un)muting will be recorded as Mute Events.
The solo LED 
indicates the solo status for a track, and you can lasso them to switch their state.
The button opens the relevant Player editor in the Sound window.
By holding [Shift] while clicking a track header, you can move a track up/down, so that you can rearrange the order of the tracks ...
Tip : By clicking on the player icon, you can just select a track.
Mouse Tools
 Arrow |
|
The Arrow is used to select the current track, and to edit its different values. |
 Gum |
|
The Gum is used to erase Sequences out of the current Loop Composition.
Note that if you really want to delete a Sequence, and free its memory, hold [Shift] before gumming, or [Shift]+[Delete]. |
Overview
The Song Composer is used to make an arrangement, to make a song.
You can create simple or complex song-structures like intro, verse, chorus, break, bridge, build, climax,...
The basic building block for a Composition is a Part, which is nothing more than an object that plays a
Sequence from point A to point B.
Different Parts can play the same Sequence, but at different positions, and with different parameters.
If a Part's length is longer than the Sequence length, the Sequence will automatically repeat.
Of course, a Sequence's length can be changed at anytime via Sequence menu:Length.
General Usage
The Track header defines the Player for a Track.
By clicking on the Player name (or the speaker button), you can choose the Player for this Track.
By choosing "Part's Player", every Part on this track can have its own Player !
The mute LED indicates the mute status for a track, and you can lasso them to switch their state.
By holding [Control]+[Alternate] while clicking on a Track mute, the current 'mute-set' is stored in that button.
This mute-set can be recalled by holding [Alternate] while clicking a mute button.
This means that you can store/recall up to 128 mute-sets.
If recording is active AND "Record Track Mutes" is enabled,
all this (un)muting will be recorded as Mute Events.
The solo LED indicates the solo status for a track, and you can lasso them to switch their state.
By holding [Shift] while clicking a track header, you can move a track up/down, so that you can rearrange the order of the tracks ...
A right-click/command-click on a track's header pops up a quick contextual menu.
Mouse Tools
A full range of composition tools are available :
| Arrow |
|
The Arrow is used for selecting and moving Parts.
When holding [Control] : Copy the Part
When holding [Alternate] : Copy the Part & Duplicate the Sequence
And a doubleclick jumps you to the sequence's default editor. |
| Pencil |
The Pencil is used to draw and lengthen Parts :
Tip : When you just touch a Part with the pencil, this Part becomes the current Part, without changing. |
| Gum |
|
The Gum is used for deleting. You can lasso multiple Parts at once ! You may also use the [Delete] or [Backspace] keys to delete the selected Parts.
Note that if you really want to delete a Sequence, you also have to hold [Shift]. |
 Sissor |
|
Cuts a Part in two seperate Parts. Eventually a new Sequence is created.
When holding [Alternate], it cuts out a loop of the Sequence. Very handy to create a variation in a loop ! |
 Glue |
|
Exactly the same as Compose menu:Merge Selecteds : It merges all Events of the selected Parts into a new Part and Sequence.
When holding [Control] : When the next Part on the same track is starting where the Part you clicked on ends, and those two Parts play the same Sequence, it becomes 1 Part. |
 Magnifying Glass |
|
The Magnifying Glass is used for zooming in a section of the editor.
The Magnifying Glass works horizontal/vertical depending on the rectangle you specify. |
 Mute |
|
The Mute inverts the mute-state of the lassoed Parts. |
 Global Cutter |
|
The Global Cutter can be used to delete a section out of the Composition.
Note that when no Parts are selected, this tool works on all Parts. |
 Global Inserter |
|
The Global Inserter can be used to insert a section into the Composition.
Note that when no Parts are selected, this tool works on all Parts. |
Options
Current Part Parameter Box
At the bottom of the Composition area, there is a box that contains the parameters for the current Part.
You can click the values to change them.
By clicking the little icon at the right of the Sequence name, you'll
immediately jump to the appropriate Sequence editor.
If a track is set to "Part's Player", every Part on that track can have it's own Player !
By choosing "Event's Player" for such Part, every Event in that Part's Sequence can have its own Player !
And by clicking the little icon at the right of the Player name, you'll
immediately jump to the appropriate Player editor.
Need a Tempo Track ?
If you want to work with a so called "Tempo Track", just create a (long) Sequence, and place it on the first track !
Since Muzys only chases Tempo Events on the first track.
Tempo Events on other tracks are also played, but won't be taken into calculation when changing the play position.
You can record your tempo changes via The Tempo Controller and put them in that 'Tempo Track'.
The Part can thus also be edited just like any Part. (since it is a normal Part :-))
Overview
The Play Room is a fun and handy tool to play with your compositions.
The Play Room gives you a matrix of Compositions, on which you can click with the mouse.
Each time you click on a Composition in the matrix, that Composition is triggered at the next snap-position.
This snap position is the current sequencer position rounded to, by default, the next bar.
Note that if you've put events in a Compisition's header (cfr Compose menu:Edit Header)
that Compisition's header data is played a little before that Composition really starts.
General Usage
So, every Composition can be seen as a building block, and recording in the Play Room as a realtime song programming tool !
But a Composition can also be seen as a song section or even a entire song !
It's up to you to play with this freedom ...
Have fun with it !
Here is some common info on Sequence editing.
Positioning & Sizing
Use the scrollbars at the right and bottom of the editors to position and size the edit window.
You can also use the Arrow Keys and the Mouse Wheel to scroll and zoom the edit window :
Arrows up/down/left/right scroll in the appropriate direction, and while holding [Shift], scrolling goes faster.
While holding [Control], the Arrow Keys zoom in/out, and while holding [Shift] meanwhile, zooming is more extreme.
The Mouse Wheel has the same behaviour as the Arrow Keys, just use [Alternate] for horizontal actions. So the combination of the Mouse Wheel and [Shift], [Control] and [Alternate] let you scroll/zoom in any direction !
You can also zoom in on sections of an edit window by using the Magnifying Glass tool :
The Magnifying Glass works horizontal/vertical depending on the rectangle you specify.
If this rectangle is more horizontal, the Magnifying Glass is zooming horizontally;
If this rectangle is more vertical, the Magnifying Glass is zooming vertically !
Wanna zoom out ? It is very easy to return to an overview situation by pressing the [Home] key, or by clicking
the zoom button at the crosspoint of the scrollbars :
Or you can zoom in on a selection of Events by [Shift]+clicking that zoom button.
Note that there are also zoom functions in The Edit menu, to which you can assign a FastKey, if you want.
The Time Bar
The Time Bar is the small area above an editor where you can see the measures.
This is what can be done :
The MouseToolBox is always shown, and you can select tools by just clicking on them.
You can drag the MouseToolBox to anywhere on the screen by clicking on it outside the tools section,
thus by clicking, for example, at the side.
If you maximize or minimize an editor (by clicking its title bar), the MouseToolBox will keep its relative position !
Another interesting feature is that if you right-click/command-click in the editor, the MouseToolBox is quickly
moved under your mousepointer for fast selection of another tool, after that it jumps back to it's original location !
Note also that Muzys gives you two Tool Hands, each of which can select and hold a tool.
Here is the concept :
Imagine that you have two hands in each of which you can hold a tool.
After you started Muzys, the left hand is your working hand and you can use it to select for example the tool.
So now you can work with the .
Now you can call the Edit menu:Switch Tool Hand function (which is meant to be called via a FastKey - by default [S]).
From now on you're working with your right hand, and you can select for example the . So now you can work with the .
Now, when you call "Switch Tool Hands" again, you'll see the again, since the is still in your left tool hand ! And so you can continue working with the .
So, with your two Tool Hands, you can quickly work with two tools 'at the same time' :-))
Monitoring an Event
Everywhere in the Sequence editors, you can use the [Tab] key to monitor the current selected Event.
Also when you're updating a value,for example a velocity, you can use [Tab] to monitor the current value !
Very handy !
Editing when multiple Events are selected
In many cases, when editing an existing Event while more than one Event is selected, Muzys will ask you whether the edit must be applied to all selected Events :
Deleting
Use [Delete], [Backspace] or the Gum to delete objects.
Keep / Undo Edit Session
When you enter one of the Sequence editors, you start an 'Edit Session' on a Sequence. The Edit Session continues until you go outside one of these editors.
When you press [Return] or doubleclick with the arrow on the editors' background, you will return to the Composer, keeping all changes you've made to the edited Sequence.
But when you press [Esc], you will return to the Composer, undoing all changes you've made to the edited Sequence, within this Edit Session.
Thus undoing all changes made since the moment you entered one of the Sequence editors.
This is very handy when you want to try out an edit, but decide to keep the previous version of the Sequence. So then you just have to press [Esc]. Or go to Edit menu:Undo Edit Session, which has the same effect.
A Sequence's default editor
Muzys automatically remembers what editor you explicitly chose last for a sequence. Then a doubleclick will bring you to that editor.
So if you want sequence X to open in the Grafix Editor, just select that part/sequence, and use the "Grafix Editor" button to go to that editor.
And from now on, you can just doubleclick that sequence to go to the Grafix Editor.
If you ever want to change the "default editor" for a sequence, just explicitly choose another editor. Muzys automatically remembers your last choice.
Edited/Viewed/Selected Events
Read also the next section : "Edited/Viewed/Selected Events"
Muzys has a very simple but effective way to indicate which Events you want to edit.
When being in the editors, there are 3 levels of filtering on which Events are edited :
Edited Events are all the Events that can be edited by that editor.
For example, The Key Editor only edits Note Events, so if you have a Sequence with Note Events and Controllers together, and you are in the Key Editor, not all Events are edited !
Viewed Events are the Events you SEE in the editor.
In some cases, you may want not to see all Events of a Sequence, because for example there are too many overlapping Events and you just want to edit some of them.
In fact, you zoom in on a certain group of Events, without being disturbed by Events you don't want to see.
All non-viewed Events are still there, and are still heard, but they are not displayed.
The Eye button controls that View Selection :
The Eye button also indicates whether you are working in a View Selection.
Selected Events are the Events on which you want to perform a certain action/function.
Only viewed Events can be selected !
So, suppose you have a Sequence with 20 Note- and 80 Controller Events.
When arriving in the Key Editor :
Total : 100 Events
Edited : 20 Events
Viewed : 20 Events
Selected : 0 Events
Suppose you select 8 Notes :
Total : 100 Events
Edited : 20 Events
Viewed : 20 Events
Selected : 8 Events
Suppose you make a View Selection (via the Eye button) :
Total : 100 Events
Edited : 20 Events
Viewed : 8 Events
Selected : 0 Events
Any operation or Sequence-function will work, in this last case, on all 8 viewed Events,
and if you would select 3 of those 8 Events, the operation would work on those 3 Events.
Maybe, this all sounds a bit difficult but it's not !
It's just a little subsystem that is available if you want it !
By default, there is no View Selection (all edited Events are viewed), so you can forget about this, if you want !
In all Composition and Sequence editors you can use the Logical Selector in the Edit menu to make a very specific selection of Events.
In fact, every Event has the following parameters : Position, Type, Player, Value 1, Value 2, and Length.
Value 1 and Value 2 are abstract terms since their content depends on the Type.
For example, for Note Events, Value 1 is the key and Value 2 is the velocity.
The Logical Selector allows you to setup some mathematical criteria, so you can easily make specific selections.
The possible operators are : All, Equal, Unequal, Lower, Higher, Inside, Outside.
Example 1 : I want to select all Note Events higher than C4
| Position | All | ||
| Type | Equal | Note | |
| Player | All | ||
| Value 1 | Higher | C4 | |
| Value 2 | All | ||
| Length | All |
Example 2 : I want to select all Pitch Bend of Player "K2000" between positions 17.0.000 and 17.3.144.
| Position | Inside | 17.0.000 | 17.3.144 |
| Type | Equal | Pitch Bend | |
| Player | Equal | K2000 | |
| Value 1 | All | ||
| Value 2 | All | ||
| Length | All |
Note that ...
Overview
The Key Editor only edits Note Events.
It displays those Events as a "piano roll".
General Usage
By clicking the little icon at the right of the Player name, you'll jump
immediately to the appropriate Player editor.
Mouse Tools
| Arrow |
|
With the Arrow you can select notes.
By holding [Shift] you can expand your selection : unselected Note Events are selected and vice versa.
When you click in the free space, all Events are unselected.
When you click on a Note Event, you can move the Note Event(s) to where you want.
When holding [Alternate], you are not moving but copying. |
| Pencil |
|
With the (Pencil) you can draw new Note Events when clicking in the free space.
When clicking on a existing Note Event, you can lengthen Note Events.
When you click on the beginning of a Note Event, you can change its start-point !
By holding [Shift], you can lasso-select Note Events. |
 Finger Hand |
|
The Finger Hand allows editing of the velocity of Note Events.
By holding [Shift], you can even edit the Note-Off velocity. |
| Gum |
|
The Gum is used to delete Note Events. You can also lasso more than 1 Event at a time of course ! |
| Magnifying Glass |
|
The Magnifying Glass is used for zooming in a certain portion of the editor window.
Remember that it is very easy to return to an overview situation
by clicking the zoom button at the crosspoint of the scrollbars.
When holding [Alternate], the Magnifying Glass is monitoring an Event ! |
| Global Cutter |
|
The Global Cutter is used to delete a section out of the Sequence. |
| Global Inserter |
|
The Global Inserter is used to insert a section into the Sequence. |
Options
Step Replacer :
This allows you to replace the Note Events by the Notes you play on your MIDI instrument.
It's a bit like the Sequence menu:Key Replacer, but this works with single Notes,
while the 'Key Replacer' works with groups of Notes.
Overview
The Grafix Editor displays Events as beams/curves.
This editor is meant to edit the "Value 2" of Events.
Here is a brief summary of what the Value 2 means for the different types of Events :
| Event Type | Value 2 is ... |
| Note | Velocity |
| PolyPressure | Pressure intensity |
| Controllers | Controller value |
| Pitch Bend | Pitch Bend (value 64 is center value) |
Every horizontal lane uses a specific mask for the Events to be edited.
This is a combination of three parameters which define which Events are to be edited :
The Type of Event
The Player
The Value 1
For example, if you want to edit that snaredrum (which may be a Note D1 on Player "TR909"), you have to set the mask as :
Type = Note
Player = TR909
Value 1 = D1
Another example : if you want to edit the volume graph on 'JV-1082', you have to set mask as
Type = Controller
Player = JV-1082
Value 1 = Main-Volume
General Usage
A frame then appears where you can set the mask; Or use one of the 3 buttons at the bottom :
For each lane you can choose whether Events are to be displayed as beams or curves :
Important remark : When a Part is set to a certain Player,
this Player will override any Player mask set here, since the Part's Player has priority anyway.
By clicking the little icon at the right of the Player name, you'll jump
immediately to the appropriate Player editor.
| Arrow |
|
With the Arrow you can select Events.
By holding [Shift] you can expand your selection : unselected Events are selected and vice versa.
Note that the selecting-lassoo not only looks at the horizontal selection-area, but also at the vertical. |
| Pencil |
|
With the Pencil you can (re)draw the beams/curves. Beams
Curves
Note : |
| Gum |
|
With the Gum, you can delete Events. |
| Magnifying Glass |
|
The Magnifying Glass is used for zooming in on a certain portion of the editor window.
Remember that it is very easy to return to an overview situation
by clicking the zoom button at the crosspoint of the scrollbars.
When holding [Alternate], the Magnifying Glass is monitoring an Event ! |
| Global Cutter |
|
The Global Cutter is used to delete a section out of the Sequence. |
| Global Inserter |
|
The GlobalInserter is used to insert a section into the Sequence. |
Options
ReAnalyze Sequence :
Analyzes the current Part/Sequence on its contents, and sets up the masks so they match this contents.
In other words, it automatically sets up the masks.
Overview
The List Editor is the most 'technical' of the editors.
It displays the Events in a very numerical format.
The List Editor has two main advantages :
General Usage
Mouse Tools
| Arrow | |
|
The Arrow is the standard tool for selecting/updating. By holding [Shift] you can (un)select Events.
| |
| Pencil | |
|
The Pencil inserts a new Event. You can also use the [Insert] key. | |
| Gum | |
|
The Gum is used to delete an Event. | |
| Magnifying Glass | |
|
The Magnifying Glass is used to monitor an Event. Remember that also the [Tab] key always monitors the current Event. (cfr About Sequence Editing) |
Edit
The Composer is used to edit a Composition.
In fact, there are two Composition editors :
The Loop Composer
The Song Composer
New
With this function, you can create a new, empty Composition.
You can create as many Compositions as you wish, or better : as your computer can memorize.
Name
This allows you to rename a Composition.
Copy ...
This function lets you copy the current Composition.
You are asked for a new Composition name and whether it should be selected immediately.
The 'Copy WYHIWYG' switch determines whether to copy only the unmuted Parts (What You Hear Is What You Get).
The 'Select Immediately' switch determines whether the new Composition should be selected immediately ...
Insert Cycle
Inserts a slice into the current Song Composition.
All relevant Parts will be split at the left cycle border and all relevant Parts will be
shifted to the right by the Cycle length.
Note that when no Parts are selected, this function works on all Parts but when at least one Part is selected,
it works only on the selected Parts.
Delete Cycle
Deletes a slice out of the current Song Composition.
All Parts will be split at the cycle borders, all Parts within the cycle are deleted,
and all relevant Parts at the right of the cycle are shifted to the left by the Cycle length.
Note that when no Parts are selected, this function works on all Parts but when at least one Part is selected,
it works only on the selected Parts.
Split At ...
Splits all relevant Parts in the current Song Composition.
You can specify the split-position.
Note that when no Parts are selected, this function works on all Parts but when at least one Part is selected,
it works only on the selected Parts.
Cycle Selecteds
This function will set the Composition cycle around the selected Parts, and will turn on the cycle-switch.
Solo Selecteds
This mutes all Parts, except the current Part.
Unsolo Selecteds
This returns to the previous mute-situation prior to the last 'Solo Selecteds'.
All Mutes Off
This unmutes all Parts
Mute Selecteds
This mutes all selected Parts.
Unmute Selecteds
This unmutes all selected Parts.
Inverse-Mute Selecteds
This inverse-mutes all selected Parts.
This means that a muted Part becomes unmuted and vice versa.
Merge Selecteds
This function allows you to merge all selected Parts into 1 new Part.
Note that only Events are merged, not any audio that they may generate.
If you need a real audio mixdown, use Tools menu:Mixdown Intern
or Tools menu:Mixdown To File
Select Relateds
Selects the Parts in the current Composition which play the same Sequence as the current Part.
Edit Header
This function lets you edit a Composition's 'initialisation Events'.
These initialisation Events (short : init Events) are Events that must be sent to, for example, MIDI instruments to select
the right sound, or set the right volume and panning etc ...
You could place these Events also in a little Sequence at the start of a Composition, but that has the risk that some
MIDI instruments will receive them to late since they are transmitted together with the firts Note Events in your Composition.
And since some MIDI instruments need some processing time for Program Changes etc ...
That's why Muzys offers you the possibility to put such events in a 'header', which is a special Sequence which comes before
position 1.1.000 of a Composition.
So when you're switching from 1 Composition to another,
ex via The Play Room, some tix before the next Composition starts,
those Events are sent to the appropriate Player.
Also, whenever you change the current sequencer position, Muzys will evaluate these events while tracing all events up to the new sequencer position.
If you choose the "Edit Header" menu entry while holding [Shift], you can edit the amount of tix before the Composition starts
that this header must be sent. The default is 12 tix, which is +- 6 milliseconds (@ 120 Bpm, 960 tix per beat)
Important : A Composition's header should not contain Note Events !
Recall/Store Mute Group
This function allows you to store and recall up to 12 mute groups.
A mute group memorizes the current mute states of all tracks.
By choosing this function from the menu, or pressing its FastKey, the relevant mute group will be recalled.
Storing is done by holding [Shift] while choosing from the menu, or pressing the FastKey.
When "Record Track Mutes" is enabled and recording is on, recalling a mute group will also cause the new (un)mutes to be recorded.
The following Sequence functions lets you change, edit, mutate,
vary any Sequence in many ways.
All functions work on the current Sequence, which is the Sequence of the currently selected Part, in the current Composition.
If you activate a function from outside the Sequence editors, it works always on the whole Sequence.
When activating a function from within a Sequence editor, it works on the currently
viewed Events, and if at least 1 Event is selected, only on the selected Events.
Read all details on Edited/Viewed/Selected Events
Name
Allows renaming of the current Sequence.
Length
With this function you can alter the length of a Sequence.
When it increases, you will be asked how to increase :
When it decreases and there are Events which fall outside the new length, you will be asked how to decrease :
Duplicate
Duplicates the current Sequence and puts the new copy into the current Part.
So that you can easily continue working with the new copy.
Quantize Notes
Quantizes the Note Events to the Current Grid.
Every event always memorizes its original position, so it is always possible to recall the original timing by calling the Sequence menu:Undo Quantize function, even in a next Muzys session.
When you want to fix the current quantization as being the Events' original position, use Sequence menu:Fix Quantize.
Quantize ...
Quantize ... lets you specify the type of Event you want to quantize, and a percentage of quantizing :
100% is full quantizing, 50% half quantizing etc...
Read also about "Quantize Notes" above.
Undo Quantize
Restores the Event position to the originally recorded position.
Fix Quantize
Marks the current (quantized) position as the originally recorded position.
Position ...
Within this window you can Add, Subtract, Fix, Multiply, Limit and Randomize positions.
You can choose the function you want by pressing the first character of its name (ie [A] selects Add, etc...), or clicking the appropriate button.
Tip for users who like keyboard shortcuts : Assume that this window is called up by the FastKey [P], you can type [P] [A] [1] [0] to Add 10 tix to the selected Events' position !
At the left, you can enter the factor(s).
At the right, two buttons are present :
Some specific info :
Rotate
Rotating means : all Events move in a certain direction.
Events which go beyond a Sequence border (start/end), appear at the other side.
Insert Time
Inserts a slice of time at the entered position, for the entered length.
All Note Events beyond the start of the insert are shifted.
Delete Time
Delete a slice of time at the entered position, for the entered length.
All Note Events beyond the start of the delete, within the range of the delete, are deleted.
Undo Quantize
Restores the original quantizing.
Fix Quantize
Fixes the actual quantizing.
Change type
Allows changing the Event type, for example, Notes become Controllers.
Change Player
Sets all Events to a certain Player.
Tip : you can of course make a Player with name "Muted" and direct it's output port/channel
to an unused combination, so when an Event plays on this Player, you won't hear it.
Within this window you can Add, Subtract, Fix, Multiply, Limit and Randomize Note keys.
You can choose the function you want by pressing the first character of its name (ie [A] selects Add, etc...), or clicking the appropriate button.
Tip for users who like keyboard shortcuts : Assume that this window is called up by the FastKey [T], you can type [T] [A] [1] [0] to Add 10 to the selected Events' key !
At the left, you can enter the factor(s).
At the bottom there are some useful buttons :
Value 1
Works exactly the same as Sequence menu:Transpose,
but not only for Notes, but for any 'Value 1'.
Velocity
Works exactly the same as Sequence menu:Transpose,
but not on the key, but instead on the velocity.
Value 2
Works exactly the same as Sequence menu:Transpose,
but not only for Notes, but for any 'Value 2'.
Off-Velocity
Works exactly the same as Sequence menu:Transpose,
but not on the key, but instead on the Note-Off velocity.
Key Shaker
This function shakes the key values in a Sequence, which means that ...
| Rotate Left |
The key of the 1st Note goes to the last The key of the 2nd Note goes to the 1st The key of the 3rd Note goes to the 2nd ... |
| Rotate Right |
The key of the 1st Note goes to the 2nd The key of the 2nd Note goes to the 3rd ... The key of the last Note goes to the 1st |
| Reverse |
The key of the 1st Note goes to the last The key of the 2nd Note goes to the 2nd last ... The key of the last Note goes to the 1st Thus this simply reverses the key order. |
| Random |
This randomizes the used key values. |
Key Replacer
This function allows you to replace all (selected) Note Events by the chord you play on your MIDI keyboard.
For the explanation below, assume that there is a Sequence containing 5 Notes, and that you play a 3 Note chord.
| Linear |
The 1st Sequence Note is replaced by the the 1st chord Note, the 2nd by the 2nd, the 3rd by the 3rd, the 4th by the 1st, the 5th by the 2nd.
As you see, if there are more Notes to be replaced than input Notes, the chord you have played is cycled. |
| Corresponding |
This is a bit more complex since the Sequence is first evaluated on different keys. The same keys get the same input value.
Lets say that the 5 Notes in the Sequence are C3,D3,C3,E3 and F3.
The 1st Note (C3) is replaced by the the 1st chord Note,
So, in fact the Notes in the Sequence get a number which indicates the how many different Note it is, and this
number is used to index the Notes you play.
Remark : As you play new Note combinations (chords), the Sequence is altered each time, so this function can be seen like a little arpegiator ! |
Length ...
Within this window you can Add, Subtract, Fix, Multiply, Limit and Randomize Note lengths.
You can choose the function you want by pressing the first character of its name (ie [A] selects Add, etc...), or clicking the appropriate button.
Tip for users who like keyboard shortcuts : Assume that this window is called up by the FastKey [L], you can type [L] [A] [1] [0] to Add 10 tix to the selected Events' length !
At the left, you can enter the factor(s).
At the bottom there are some useful buttons :
Legato Length
Makes Note Events playing 'full-time', although this can vary with the overlap parameter.
Quantize Length
Quantizes the Note-Off position.
Note-Off At ...
Let you specify a certain position at which the Note Events have to end.
Delete Doubles
Deletes any doubled Events.
Doubled Events have the same position, the same type, the same Player and the same value 1.
They may occur when you, for example, do a cycled recording, or merge Sequences containing similar Events ...
Repeat/Echo/Fill
This powerful function will repeat Events with the indicated interval.
With every repeat, the key and velocity of Note Events can be altered with the factor you set.
Remember that Events cannot surpass a Sequence's length.
Thinner
Allows you to thin out continous Controller Events, since these can take a lot of the MIDI power.
You are asked for which type of Event, and if this is a Controller, which Controller.
The time factor indicates what distance must be between 2 adjacent Events.
Global Logical
Performs a logical selection on all Sequences of the Project.
Mainly used as an information tool.
Make Cycle !
Will make a Sequence of all Events between the Cycle Locators.
"Make Cycle !" will directly use the current Sequence as its target.
Make Cycle Into ...
Will make a Sequence of all Events between the Cycle Locators.
"Make Cycle Into ..." will ask for a destination Sequence.
Substitute
Replaces the (selected) Note Events in the current Sequence with the contents of the clipboard.
The relative transpositions will be kept !
Extractor
This functions allows you to split up a Sequence into new Sequences.
This can be done per Player, or per Note key.
This is especially useful, for example, when you've loaded a MIDI File type 0 (all data on 1 track)
since this function can help you to split up that one track into different tracks, one for each Player.
Check Sysex Events
Performs a basic check on Sysex (System Exclusive) Events.
Collect Unused Sequences
While making music, the Sequence pool can grow rapidly.
With this function you can collect all Sequences which are not used out of the entire Project.
You will be asked for a destination Composition where the unused Sequences will be collected.
Undo Edit Session
Undoes the entire Edit Session on a Sequence, returning to the point when you entered one of the Sequence editors.
Read more about it in "About Sequence Editing".
Undo Last Edit
Undoes the last edit.
Undo Info
Shows information about the current undo buffer.
Cut objects
Cuts the selected objects to the clipboard.
The clipboard is an invisible area in memory where you can temporarily store objects.
Cutting means : the clipboard is cleared, the selected objects are deleted in the
Composition/Sequence, and transferred to the empty clipboard.
Copy objects
Copies the selected objects to the clipboard :
The clipboard is cleared and the selected objects are copied to the empty clipboard.
Paste objects
Copies the objects on the clipboard into the current Composition/Sequence at a specific position :
The clipboard is not cleared, so paste can be repeated on different locations !
Select All
Selects all objects in the current Composition/Sequence.
Select Logically
Calls up the Logical Selector for the current Composition/Sequence.
Zoom Out
Zooms out on the current Composition/Sequence to an overview situation.
Zoom Cycle
Zooms in on the current Composition/Sequence according to the cycle.
Zoom Selection
Zooms in on the currently selected Parts/Events.
Follow Position
Makes the editor follow the current playing position.
Jump to Position
Puts the editor at the current playing position.
Jump to Player Editor
Opens the relevant Player editor in the Sound window.
Switch Tool Hand
This function will select the 'other' mouse tool hand.
Muzys offers you two tool hands, in each of which you can hold a mouse tool.
By using two tool hands, you can work faster.
This menu option is especially useful if you assign a FastKey to it.
| Part 4 : The Control Panel & Menus |
On the Control Panel you find the basic sequencer controls
such as Play, Record, Rewind, Forward etc ...
The details of the fields, from top to bottom and from left to right are as follows :
(The menus are documented more below)
Current Project
This shows the current Project's name.
By clicking on this field, you get a little open/save menu, for quickly opening and saving of Projects.
MIDI Input Player
Indicates the Player which handles incoming MIDI.
So what you are playing on your keyboard will be sent to this Player.
Clicking on the box makes the Player pool appear, so you can select another Player.
CPU Usage Indicator
Indicates how heavy your computers' CPU is loaded.
RAM Usage Indicator
Indicates how much RAM is already used.
By clicking on this indicator, you can reorganize Muzys' internal memory, which will free fragmented memory blocks.
Metronome Switch
Indicates whether the metronome is playing. Click on it to switch its state.
A right-click/command-click on the Metronome button pops up the Metronome Setup window.
Cycle Switch
Indicates whether Muzys will cycle in the cycle zone, the gray zone in the Time Bar of the editors.
Click on it to switch its state. Of course, you can also set a Fastkey for this !
Auto Quantize Switch
Indicates whether a recording will be automatically quantized. Click on it to switch its state.
Play
Toggles between Play and Stop.
When stopping, Muzys automatically rewinds to the Left Locator, or to 1.0.000.
A right-click/command-click or [Shift]+click on the Play button pops up the panic menu !
Rewind
Rewinds the current position.
By holding [Shift] or the right mouse button, rewinding goes faster.
Record
Starts/Stops recording.
|
Here's an example of a standard recording :
When activating recording when the sequencer is stopped, a countdown is played.
Note : When you do not hear a countdown, assign a Player to
your metronome via System menu:Metronome.
Play something wild on your MIDI instrument, or tweak some integrated Patches/fx and stop recording clicking on the Record button again,
or just stop the sequencer.
When no Part is selected in the current Composition, Muzys will ask you for a name for this new Sequence.
When a Part was selected, you can choose to overwrite/merge the recording in that Part, or select a new one.
Muzys will try to set a relevant Sequence length for the new recording, by looking at the last received Event.
If the Auto Quantize Switch in the Control Panel is on,the recorded Note Events will be automatically quantized. |
A right-click/command-click or [Shift]+click on the Record button pops up the record menu !
Fast Forward
Fast forwards the current position.
By holding [Shift] or the right mouse button, fast forwarding goes faster.
Tempo
Indicates the current tempo; Clicking allows altering.
By [Shift]+click, you get The Tempo Controller
The Current Grid is the timing-grid template which is used for :
There is one special entry that deserves extra attention : "Your Sequence" :
This means that you can select a Sequence as the Current Grid !
This is for your own grooves, or special editing-situations.
Tip : By holding [Shift] while clicking on the Grid display, Muzys displays the Current Grid's name in a message box, which may be handy for sequence grids with a long name.
Tip : If you want to edit a Sequence with a special timing, and you don't want any Event position to change,
just select the Sequence itself as Current Grid while editing that Sequence !
MIDI Indicators
Shows the MIDI input and output indicators.
Real Time
Shows the real playing time (SMPTE Format).
Absolute Position
Shows the absolute song position. Click on it to set a new position.
Composition Position
Shows the relative Composition position.
It will be different from the absolute position when you change the current Composition while playing.
This is particularly useful while jamming in The Play Room.
New Project
Clears the current Project and creates a new one : A new Project is born !
If you save a blank project with your preferred defaults as "Template.Ims" into your Muzys folder, every time you do 'New Project', you'll be able to select this Template as the start for your new Project ;-)
Open Project
Opens a Project from disk.
Revert Project
Reloads the current project from disk, thus undoing all changes since the last save.
Save Project
Saves the whole Project to the last opened/saved file.
Save Project as ...
Saves the whole Project to a file.
Import
Muzys will automatically check which kind of file you selected.
This can be :
Export as MIDI File
Saves the current Composition as a MIDI File.
If you are saving a Composition containing 'Forever'-Parts, you will be asked till which position
the Composition must be saved.
Here you can setup audio output.
Just select a driver type and device, and click the 'Device Setup' button for editing device specific settings. If you ever notice discontinuities in your audio, try increasing the number of audio buffers, and the buffersize (if applicable for the driver type).
Some extra tips for Windows users :
Tip 1 : When you have audio problems, read about Hard Video Acceleration
Tip 2 : When you have audio problems, read about Virtual Memory
Tip 3 : When audio and MIDI are not in perfect sync, finetune the "MIDI <> Audio Shift" parameter, via Technical Preferences
Some extra tips for the MacOS version :
Tip 1 : You must disable the Mac's virtual memory !
Tip 2 : When Audio and MIDI are not in perfect sync, finetune the "MIDI <> Audio Shift" parameter, via Technical Preferences
Here you can tell Muzys which MIDI in & out ports it must connect to.
Read on below to learn more about how to setup Muzys for MIDI.
When you want to use MIDI with Muzys, there are 2 setup steps to be taken :
1) Enable your MIDI ports via the System menu:Midi Hardware function above
Here you can tell Muzys which in & out ports it must connect to ...
2) Create MIDI Players via this System menu:MIDI Players function
Here you can insert, delete, rename your MIDI Players.
Every MIDI Player has these parameters :
By choosing "New" in the MIDI Players window, you can create new MIDI Player(s).
You can create several MIDI Players at once for a port;
For example if you want to create 16 MIDI Players for port "MidiOutPort 1", you
Now you have created Out-1, Out-2, ... and now you can assign these MIDI Players to any Track/Part/Event !
Tip 1 : If you only need to make 1 new MIDI Player, set the "From" and "To" channels to that same value.
Tip 2 : If you give very atomic names to your MIDI Players, like "O1", "O2", "O3", ... in the above example, it's very easy to select them in the Player pool, since the Player pool works like any other Menu/List, and thus reacts enthousiastly on your keyboard input, ie. by pressing [O] and [3], you can immediately select that MIDI Player !
Every MIDI Player also has its own MIDI Controller-map, which can be freely edited via the 'Controllers' button :
At the left you have the incoming Controllers, at the right the resulting outgoing Controller.
Some extra functions are available :
Note : This MIDI Player setup is automatically saved as (MuzysFolder)/Data/Midiplayers.Set, and is global for your setup, ie it's not per Project.
Midi-In Channel Routing
This function allows you to tell Muzys how to handle incoming MIDI events on different channels.
For each of all 16 channels, you can set the target Player.
By default, all channels play the default MIDI Input Player indicated in the Control Panel,
but in more complexe situations, you can route specific channels to specific Players;
For example, incoming channel 5 must play Player "Roland JV1080", while all other incoming events play the default MIDI Input Player "Akai S2000".
Metronome
This lets you define which Player, Key and
velocity should be played as the metronome click.
Calls up the syncronization parameter window. The following parameters are available :
| Parameter | Description |
| Transmit MIDI Sync | Defines whether MIDI Clock pulses have to be sent. |
| TX Start = $FA | When MIDI Clock is transmitted, there are two possibilities for starting connected machines : $FA and $FB. Very technical, but when you have problems with your machines, try this out. |
| TX Start - Delay | Some machines react slow, and need more time. If you encounter problems, try this out. |
| TX Extra $F8 | When you edit the sync-pulses of the MIDI Clock, it may be possible that you need an extra pulse in front. |
Muzys also allows you to freely define the MIDI Clock, by clicking the 'Options' button.
You get a window with all 24 MIDI Clock sync positions
(in ticks), so you are able to edit them freely.
Extra features :
| Parameter | Description |
| Auto Play | When Muzys opens a Project, should it start playing automatically ? |
| Auto Cycled Record | If cycling and you ask Muzys to record, this will automatically call up cycled recording. |
| Auto Follow Player | Should Muzys automatically let the default MIDI Input Player follow any focussed Player ? |
| Audio Monitor Channel | Defines the channel in The Audio Mixing Desk through which any preview during an Add-A-Sound is monitored. |
| Record Sysex | Should Muzys record the incoming MIDI System Exclusive messages ? |
| Record Track Mutes | Should track muting be recorded ? |
| Reset on Player Change | When changing the current Player, should a MIDI reset be transmitted ? (=Cuts Notes,resets Controllers) |
| Transmit XProgram while editing | When you are editing an XProgram Event, should the change be immediately transmitted ? |
| Parameter | Description |
| Window Setup | The global layout of the three main windows. |
| Main Windows Expand Fully | When clicking one of the two main titlebars, that window gets bigger. Should the other window disappear so that this one can grow as much as possible ? |
| Editors' Pool Width | Defines the width of the pool in the Composers, Patch- and Program-Editor |
| Scrollbar Buttons | Should they be on both ends of a scrollbar, or grouped together at the right/bottom ? |
| Position Line Width | The width of the vertical line which indicates the current play position |
| Give Undo Message | If this switch is on, Muzys gives a quick info message of what is undone. |
| Shadowing | Should Muzys draw shadows behind its windows ? That's nice for the eye, but costs more CPU power ! |
| Grayout Disableds | When some window comes in the foreground and blocks the other windows, should Muzys grayout the disabled ones ? That may be nice and indicative, but slows down the grafics. |
| OS Window Size | Here you can set how big Muzys' application window must be. The new setting will be used the next time Muzys is launched. |
| Vst Editor Knob Mode | Defines how Vst plugins should react when tweaking their knobs. Though not all plugins seem to support this standard properly. |
| Parameter | Description |
| RealTime Priority | Windows only ! If you notice (MIDI) timing jitter, set this to 'High'. It makes Muzys take priority in the operating system. At the cost of not being able to 'Alt-Tab'. Especially recommended on Windows 95 ! |
| Priority Scheme | MacOS only ! Defines the internal realtime priorities. |
| Timer Resolution | Muzys uses this timer for MIDI output. Thus the lower this number (in milliseconds) the better for MIDI, but the more it will weight on your system. |
| MIDI <> Audio Shift | Defines a time-distance between the audio and MIDI. Normally, this is calculated automatically, but you can control this manually if necessary ! |
| Transmit Real Note-Off's | Defines whether Muzys must transmit the Note-Offs as $80. This is the MIDI code for real Note-Offs. It has the advantage that you can work with Note-Off velocity. |
| Disable Audio | Just in case you want to disable Muzys' audio engine, and use it as a quick MIDI sequencer. |
| Disable MIDI | Just in case you want to disable Muzys' MIDI engine. |
| 'System Too Slow' Threshold | If Muzys notices that you cannot do any interactions during this number of seconds, it mutes all audio processing. It's meant as a safety fuse to prevent the computer to hang in situations of heavy CPU usage (lots of polyphones and/or effects). Set this parameter to Off to disable this feature. |
| CPU Usage Limit | This is the limit of CPU usage for Muzys' Audio Engine. If Muzys goes beyond that, it mutes all audio processing. It's meant as a safety fuse to prevent the computer to hang in situations of heavy CPU usage (lots of polyphones and/or effects). Set this parameter to Off to disable this feature. |
| Save Request Time | Defines the time interval in minutes for a Save Request. Zero (0) turns this feature off. |
| Error Messages | Sets the error message threshold. Lesser errors is more pleasant, More errors messages can be used to locate a problem. |
| Parameter | Description |
| Auto Create Names | Whenever Muzys asks for a new name, it can create some new name by itself. |
| MouseOver Help | Switches MouseOver Help. If enabled, when you hold the mouse over an object, you will get a little pop-up field with basic information |
| Show Tip Of The Day | Switches the 'Tip Of The Day'. If enabled, every time you launch Muzys, Muzys will give a little tip about itselfs. |
Advanced Preferences
This opens the full list of parameters which are stored in the (muzysfolder)/Data/Muzys.Set file.
Use this function only when you are 100% sure of what you are doing.
Here you can choose a skin.
A skin is just the outfit, the looks of Muzys.
So it's just a question of taste and that's why we include some different skins.
It is even possible to edit these skins.
Read all about it in Skins.html.
FastKeys
Allows you to setup your FastKeys.
Sleep
Puts Muzys in sleeping mode, which means that all audio-hardware-resources are freed so they are available for other applications.
And minimizes the Muzys window.
Quit
No, don't quit <=> Use me !!!
Registration
Here you can input your Muzys Key to unlock your Muzys to full power !
For more info on a Muzys Key, visit the Muzys shop.
Info Desk
Shows information and performs intense data checking.
Use this function to record Waves.
Read more about it in Recording Audio
Mixdown To File
This tool allows you to mixdown all audio from one position to another position into an AIFF or WAVE File.
This is handy to export a mix, ready to go to CD !
The Plugin Manager lets you manage your VST plugins.
The advantages of the Plugin Manager against a fixed "Vstplugins" folder are :
A standard "Muzys/VstPlugins" folder is also supported.
If you put any plugins in there, Muzys will find them when it restarts, and will propose to add them to the plugin database.
General Usage
Here you can organize the Waves you are using in your current Project.
Muzys can save a Wave inside the Project (internal) or outside the Project (external).
Saving a Project with all Waves included allows for easy exchange of Projects and sounds and protects you from
inadvertaly deleting sounds used in Projects.
You can always save Waves outside your Project again using "Make Selecteds External".
This tool allows you to assign Sequences to the keys of your keyboard,
so you can assign a chord or some arpeggio's to a certain key.
There are 3 different ways on how a key plays a Sequence :
Note that the sequencer must be running for 'Gated' and 'Triggered' sequences to play.
For every mapped key, you can set a Mode, Sequence, Player, Transpose and Quantize value.
So, for example, you can assign the same Sequence to different keys with a different transposition.
You can use the [Arrow Keys], [Page Up/Down] and the scrollbar to navigate the keyboard.
A click on the keyboard selects and monitors that key.
The 'Options' button gives some extra functions :
Allows you to vary the tempo by means of a fader.
Of course, when recording is active, everything is recorded !
You can call the Tempo Controller via the Tools menu, or by [Shift]+clicking the Tempo field in
The Control Panel.
The 'Setup' button allows you to setup the fader.
Note that a proper Tempo Track has to be on the first track of a Composition,
as you can read in The Song Composer.
Help!
Opens the documentation on a context sensitive page.
| Part 5 : Special Topics |
On many places in Muzys, you can right-click/command-click a knob or fader so to popup a little menu :
Assign MIDI Controller
Choosing this option allows you to assign a MIDI controller to this knob/fader. By default the "Listen" button in the window is enabled so that you can immediately give a twist at that MIDI Controller, so that Muzys knows which one you want to assign. But you can also assign a Controller manually if you want.
The "Global" switch defines whether this assignment should be always active, or only when the current MIDI Input Player is selected. The "Global" mode is very easy, but if you don't have many MIDI Controllers, you might want to share these Controllers between different Players.
Write value into Composition
Choosing this option allows you to write the current value of this knob/fader into the current Composition. This is handy to store the current setting at some point in your Composition, so to make static mixes.
You can write the value in the Composition Header, which is a special place for all kinds of 'initialization' events. Read more about the Composition Header in Compose menu:Edit Header.
Or you can write the knob/fader value as an Event into the current Part, at the current position.
So eventually make sure you have selected the Part you want to write into beforehand.
Of course, when a similar Event already exist at that position, the Event is not created, but updated !
All main functions of Muzys are accessible via the menus
at the top of the windows, and via the mainmenus in The Control Panel.
This is very useful when learning and exploring Muzys.
But should you want to work fast, it would be very frustrating
to have to call up frequent functions all
the time by clicking on a mainmenu, and selecting an option.
This is where the FastKeys come alive !
You can define almost any key in any combination
with [Control], [Shift] or [Alternate] (on Mac : also [Command])
to force immediate access, thereby bypassing the mainmenus.
For example, we can assign The Key Editor to the [E] key by going to System->FastKeys, then go with
the cursor to 'Key Edit', and assigning, by the 'Assign' button, the [E] key to this menu-option.
To call up the Key Editor now, you only have to press [E] !
Note : Muzys automatically saves your edited FastKey settings as (muzysfolder)/Data/Startup.Fky
About the "Control" FastKeys ...
Most functions to which a FastKey can be assigned are explained
somewhere else in this manual, except for the Control group.
Here is the meaning of the Control entries :
| Function | Description |
| Play | Starts the sequencer. |
| Stop | Stops the sequencer. |
| Stop/Rewind | (1) Stops the sequencer (2) Rewind to Left Locator (3) Rewind to beginning of the current Composition. |
| Toggle Play/Stop | Toggles between Play and Stop. |
| Toggle Play/Stop/Rewind | Toggles between Play, Stop and rewinding to the Left Locator/1.1.000. |
| Record | Starts/stops recording. |
| Record Cycled | Starts/stops cycled recording. |
| Record Stepped | Step recording is, as you may expect, recording in steps. A window appears indicating the current step position. Play your instrument and watch how the step position follows your play. Try to play some chords and watch how the step recorder smoothly follows the chords. The positions are the Current Grid positions. You can easily change the step position by keyboard (<+>,<->,numeric keypad), or by mouse. |
| Record Event Output | Starts/stops recording of everything Muzys sends out. |
| Rewind | Rewind. |
| Forward | Forward. |
| Play 2 x Tempo | Starts playing at double tempo. |
| Play 1/2 x Tempo | Starts playing at half tempo. |
| Position @ ... | Sets the current play position. |
| Position @ Composition Start | Puts the current position at the beginning of the current Composition. |
| Position @ Left Locator | Puts the current position at the Left Locator. |
| Position @ Right Locator | Puts the current position at the Right Locator. |
| Position @ Window Start | Puts the current position at the beginning of the edit window. |
| Position @ Current Part | Puts the current position at the beginning of the current Part. |
| Position @ Last Set | Puts the current position at the position last set by "Control->Position @ ...", or mouse-clicking in the Time Bar. |
| Position @ Last Stop | Puts the current position at the position on which Muzys was stopped the last time. |
| Position @ Cue 1/2/3 | Puts the current position at cue-position 1/2/3. |
| Set Left/Right Locator | Sets the Left/Right Locator to the current position. |
| Set Cue 1/2/3 | Sets cue position 1/2/3 to the current position. |
| Toggle Metronome | Toggles the metronome on/off. |
| Toggle Cycle | Toggles the cycle on/off. |
| Set Tempo | Sets the tempo. |
| Set Current Grid | Sets the Current Grid. |
| Set MIDI Input Player | Selects the Player to which the incoming MIDI must be sent. |
| Adapt MIDI Input Player | Sets the MIDI Input Player to the Player of the first Event in the current Sequence, which is the Sequence of the first selected Part in the Current Composition. |
| Search Free MIDI Player | Searches for the first unused MIDI Player. Very easy ! |
| Soft Panic ! | Is a group of MIDI commands which cut off all pending Notes and reset all Controllers : Mainvolumes are set at maximum, Pitch Bend is centered etc... Very handy when for whatever reason Notes get stuck ... |
| Hard Panic ! | This makes all audio- and MIDI-hardware to be re-initialised. |
| Toggle Sound window | This toggles the Sound window to / from maximized state. |
| Toggle Structure window | This toggles the Structure window to / from maximized state. |
XProgram stands for 'Extended Program Change' and is Muzys' solution for the standard but complicated MIDI
Bank Select and Program Change commands.
You will need them if you use MIDI instruments, and want to select different 'programs' on it from within Muzys.
Note that 'Program' is a general term and can be a sound on a synthesizer, a pattern on a drumbox, a multisample on a sampler or an effect-algorithm of an effectprocessor etc ...
A little bit of history
The standard MIDI Program Change command can select 1 out of 128 programs on a MIDI instrument.
Since the very first synthesizers had only a few sound memories, that was sufficient these times.
In the eighties, most synthesizers 'grew up', and let the user store hundreds of sounds.
That's why man had to invent a new system to select one of those many sounds via MIDI.
And so the "Bank Select" commando was born.
But things were made a bit difficult since they chose 2 Bank Select commandos : Controller 0 (Bank Select MSB)
and Controller 32 (Bank Select LSB). And most synthesizers/samplers/drumboxes/effects react on their own manner.
So there are 2 disadvantages of the standard MIDI Bank Select and Program Change commands :
Muzys' solution : The XProgram List
Muzys uses the XProgram Lists to solve all this.
An XProgram List is a text file inside your (muzysfolder)/XProgramLists folder, which lists
all the available program-names, together with their necessary Bank Select and Program Change commandos.
For example the "GM" XProgram List contains all 128 sound-names for the General MIDI standard.
Now suppose we have assigned this XProgram List to MIDI Player x.
Whenever you work with an XProgram Event on this MIDI Player x, you will be able to choose a sound name
('Grand Piano','Bright Piano','Electric Piano','Honky-Tonk',...)
instead of working with those boring Program Change numbers (0,1,2,3,...).
The standard Muzys package contains already more than hundred of these XProgram Lists for various popular
MIDI instruments such as the Roland JV-1080, Kurzweil K2x00, Yamaha TG500, Korg Wavestation etc ...
So how does it work ?
For every MIDI Player you can choose which XProgram List should be used.
This can be done via System menu:MIDI Players.
That's all !
Then you will see the sound-names where ever an XProgram Event is used, for example in the MIDI Mixing Desk, or when you insert an XProgram Event in a Sequence via the List Editor.
When your device is not listed, you can create the necessary XProgram List text file by following the format below, or you may always request The Muzys Team to create it for you, if the necessary MIDI information for that device is publicly available.
The XProgram List File Format
Technically, such an XProgram List is simply a text file with a special format, so that you can easily edit it as
well as that Muzys can easily read it.
Here are the format specs :
Line 1 : Format= followed by the XProgram List format which can be :
From then on you can set the current value for Controller 0/32 and Program Change by simply putting in a line like :
C0=0
C3=4
PC=5
...
If you put, for example, "PC=*", then the next lines will be an enumeration of Program Change values.
This is an example of how such an XProgram List File may look like :
(It's the beginning of the GS XProgram List)
Format=0P
C0=0
PC=*
0=Piano 1
1=Piano 2
2=Piano 3
3=Honky-tonk
4=E.Piano 1
5=E.Piano 2
6=Harpsichord
7=Clav.
8=Celesta
9=Glockenspiel
10=Music Box
...
Muzys uses a platform-independent Grafical User Interface.
This means that it has it's own routines for drawing to the screen, and handling
user-input like keyboard and mouse.
This has the advantage that Muzys works 99.9% the same on all platforms,
and that porting Muzys to new platforms is easier.
But, this also means that some things may work a little bit different than
the standard os behaviour you are used to.
Now here is some detailed info on Muzys' GUI objects :
Important note for MacOS users : Everywhere in Muzys a "right-click" is done by a "command-click".
When you have to choose out of several options/objects, a menu is used.
You can use the keyboard & mouse to control a menu :
For big lists, a scrollbar appears.
* In some local menus, there may appear a character combination at the right of the menu options,
which can be used to quickly type to that option, for example : "CrossFade Loop CL".
Thus typing a [C] and a [L] will immediately choose "CrossFade Loop".
Muzys' scrollbars behave as standard scrollbars.
In addition to that, when clicking the arrow buttons, you can use [Shift] or the right mouse button to scroll faster.
When draging the slider, you may hold [Control] for finer scrolling.
Sometimes Muzys must tell you something, or ask you a question.
That's when a Message or Question box appears.
Messages can be easily acknowledged by pressing any key or clicking the mouse.
A question can be answered by clicking the button of your choice,
or pressing the first character of the option of your choice.
If a "Cancel" option is available, you can also use [Escape] to cancel.
Faders can be tweaked by clicking and dragging on them.
They change relative to your mouse.
With a [Shift]+click, you can force an immediate jump to that position.
And you can do fine adjustements by holding [Control].
If the fader has the input focus, you can also use the Arrow Keys and the Mouse Wheel.
When holding [Shift], changes will be more extreme.
You can also click the value display of a fader for an immediate edit there.
All Muzys updates are designed to be as intuitive and as flexible as possible.
They all work following the same principles :
Here are some specific possibilities for specific types of updates :
Text Updates
Just type in the text you want.
[Home] : Clears the text.
Choice Updates
When clicking on the drop-down button, you can choose from a drop-down menu, with all facilities of Menus/Lists.
Player Updates
A Player update is just like a Choice Update, except that it offers some extra icons :
: The speaker icon lets you monitor the Player
Note Key Updates
When clicking on the
icon at the right of the value, you can enter the key by playing your MIDI instrument !
It's like you're saying : "I want THIS key", and you press the key on your MIDI keyboard.
This
Controller Updates
When clicking on the arrow-down button, you can choose from a drop-down menu, with all facilities of Menus/Lists.
When clicking on the
It's like you're saying : "I want THIS Controller", and you slide or bend the MIDI Controller.
This
MidiValue 1/2 Updates
When clicking on the
This
Position/Length Updates
With the numeric keys, you can directly enter a position !
Use the [.] key to seperate bars from beats and beats from tix.
For example, if you want to enter 2.3.192, just type this key Sequence : [2][.][3][.][1][9][2][Enter]
The [Page Up/Down] keys as well as the 2 arrow icons at the right let you scroll thru the Current Grid positions !
By clicking on the
icon at the right, you set the position to the 'Infinite' value.
By clicking on the
icon at the right, you set the length to the 'Trigger' value, which means that only the Note-On message will be transmitted.
This is interesting for percussion or special-fx sounds.
More info on lengths -> Positions/Lengths
Tempo Updates
With the numeric keys, you can directly enter a tempo !
Use the [.] key to seperate integers from decimals.
All positions and lengths are expressed as bars.beats.ticks.
The value "2.3.192" means 2nd bar, 3rd beat, the 192nd tick.
Currently, there are 960 ticks in a beat.
You can define a time signature (beats per bar) via
the 'Options' button of The Song Composer,
or by right-clicking/command-clicking the Time Bar in The Song Composer.
For example, a length of "0.2.000" means 2 beats.
It is sometimes useful that Note Events can have their length set to 'Trigger' ().
This means that only the Note-On command will be transmitted, and thus the whole sound will play until its end.
This is interesting for percussion sounds or special-fx.
Here you can navigate through your system to select some files or folders ...
Basically the File- & Folder-Chooser behaves as two Lists, one for the folders, and one for the files within the current folder.
When you're navigating for Audio Files, you can easily monitor them by clicking the speaker icon at the right
of each Audio File, or by pressing the [Tab] key.
The buttons at the right give some extra support, in order :
New Folder,Duplicate,Rename,Info,Delete,Filter,Desktop,Favorites.
The 'Filter' button allows you to set a name filter by using a mask with the well-known wildcards '*' and '?'.
Eventually, you can also switch off any file type filtering, so that you see all files of any type.
The 'Favorites' button allows you to quick jump to one of your previously selected folders.
Or to add or remove the current folder from your favorites list.
On MacOS, [Command]+[D] brings you to the Desktop Folder.
On Windows, this can be done by [Control]+[D].
'Out of memory'
There is no more memory available.
Tip 1 : Maybe you can immediately gain some memory by reorganizing Muzys' internal memory.
This is done everytime after a save !
Tip 2 : Maybe you can gain some memory by increasing the RamUsage parameter in the Muzys.Set file.
This effects only on next startup.
'No current Composition'
There is no current Composition, because there is no
Composition at all or you didn't select a Composition.
So, create or select a Composition.
'No current Part'
There is no Part selected, so select a Part.
'No current Sequence'
There is no Sequence selected, so select a Sequence.
'No current Event'
There is currently no Event selected.
'No current Player'
There is no Player selected, so select a Player.
'No current Patch'
There is no current Patch.
'No current Program'
There is no current Program.
'No current Wave'
There is no current Wave.
'No current Project'
There is no current Project.
'Nothing selected'
There is nothing selected, so select something.
'System Too Slow'
When you get this message, Muzys has detected that you cannot do anything anymore ...
So the audio engine is paused.
Normally this is due to heavy CPU usage.
Try to find what causes the overload.
Starting or stopping the sequencer will restart Muzys' audio engine.
You can change the threshold for this message via
System menu:Technical Preferences.
'No good DirectSound device'
This Windows-specific message means that the DirectSound device is not
a real DirectSound device, but just running in emulation mode.
Or it's not supporting the 44100 Hz, 16 bit modus.
Use the MME driver instead !
'Function only available in full version'
By default, Muzys starts in demo modus.
This means that following features are disabled :
But, even with Muzys demo you can use the "Audio Mixdown" function to capture your music
into a single WAVE File, so you can make zillions of funky megabytes :-))
If you want to have all of Muzys' features enabled, you need a Muzys Key,
which is included in a "Muzys User License".
By buying yourself a Muzys User License ...
To buy a "Muzys User License", visit our online shop.
Thanks.
Because Windows, and especially Windows 95, suffers from some timing instabilities, Muzys can put itself in a so called "High Priority" mode, so that all realtime activities like MIDI handling and audio creation are done in time.
But the drawback of that is that you cannot work together with other applications.
On Win95, high priority is enabled by default.
If you want Muzys to be cooperative, goto System menu:Technical Preferences and put "Realtime Priority" to normal. This way, you are able to Alt-Tab between applications !
But because of the lower priority, you may also need to increase your audio buffering (System menu:Audio Hardware); that depends on your system.
To improve certain video tasks such as filling areas on the screen, or drawing images, certain video-cards use dirty
techniques to handle their task as fast as possible by blocking the entire system, so that they are the one and only dominator.
This is good for fast video, but bad for audio, since during the time that the videocard blocks the system, no audio can be processed !
This gives audio distortions like clicks, gaps, ...
How to disable 'Hard Video Acceleration' (Windows)
Virtual memory means that your OS will try to expand the real RAM memory (which is the memory the CPU works with)
with disk-space, thereby similating more RAM than really available.
This is a nice trick, but it is NOT GOOD for realtime applications such as Muzys. Since a disk is a lot slower
than RAM, the virtual memory system may cause severe timing instability.
So, for timing reasons, it is better to disable virtual memory, but then it may seem that you have less memory which will mean
that you cannot use that many applications.
It's up to you, the user, to choose which is best for you and how you want to work !
How to disable 'Virtual Memory' (Windows)
Yes, you might run into problems, everthough we target the highest quality level.
Still, humans make faults.
What to do if you get an error :
1. Stop any activity
2. Email following info to feedback@muzys.com :
3. Try to confirm the message, and try to save. After that, restart the system.
It is in the advantage of every Muzys user that in case of problems, you feedback this information.
In this way, possible bugs will be resolved faster and the updates will be stronger !
Of course, any suggestions or other feedback is welcome too !
Thanks !
Have fun with this remarkable sequencer !
The Muzys Team
http://www.muzys.com
info@muzys.com
Copyright Notice :
ASIO is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- und Hardware GmbH
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Soft- und Hardware GmbH