This information pertains to DrumKitz Versions 1.0c or greater.
DrumKitz was written in GFA Basic 3.6TT.
Introduction
Thank you for purchasing DrumKitz: THE Alesis D4 Editor/Librarian. DrumKitz was developed to make life with the Alesis D4
Drum Module easier -- no more bending over to flip knobs and stare
at a small LCD screen when you want to create that 'Ultimate
Drumkit'. DrumKitz will save you time when creating custom drum
kits and trigger assignments. I know that I hate spending more time
flipping knobs and tweaking drum samples than making music.
Individual drum kits and banks may be saved and loaded at will.
Also, checksum error correction is employed to prevent data loss.
Hopefully, you will find that DrumKitz saves you as much time as
it has saved me. Direct any questions or comments to the address
below.
Mobile Ohm Development
Attn: Kevin Houser (DrumKitz)
4363 Coopers Creek Drive
Atlanta, GA 30080
(404) 333-9124
System Requirements:
DrumKitz requires an Atari ST,STE,TT,Stacy, or STBook with a
color or monochrome monitor and at least 512 Kbytes of ram. The
program has been tested and found compatible with Overscan and
Auto- Overscan screens too. Basically, if your computer is of the
Atari ST series and operational, DrumKitz should work. You may
need about 200 Kbytes of free memory to execute DrumKitz.
Installation:
Plug two midi cables into your ST and Alesis D4 as shown below:
Floppy Based Systems:
Immediately make a backup of the master disk. You may then use
DrumKitz by double clicking on the program icon at the GEM/Alternate Desktop. Note that the file DRUMKITZ.RSC must reside
in the same directory as DRUMKITZ.PRG.
Hard Disk Based Systems:
Copy all files to the hard drive and let 'er RIP.
Operation:
Double Click, Single Click, and Click-Drag-Drop anything in
sight! At the moment I am working on a full fledged manual. You
can copy and exchange drum sets, edit drum set names/root note/trigger notes, as well as edit the individual sounds on each key of
the keyboard. The following pages of documentation will have to do
for now. The files are compatible with David Light's program and
STMIDIEX so you can load D4 sysex data stored by these programs.
The beauty of this program is that you never have to worry about a
proprietary file format. The file format is a straight MIDI SYSEX
dump of the D4 data.
If you have any questions, drop me GEmail at K.HOUSER. Enjoy!!!
License Agreement:
DrumKitz is supplied on an unprotected disk because we at Mobile
Ohm Development believe that you should be able to make backup
copies for your use only. In return for this privilege, we expect you
to honor our copyright. You are granted permission to use this
software on one machine at a time. You may not give, sell, or lend
copies of this program to anyone else. Any unauthorized
reproduction of the DrumKitz disk, the files contained therein, or
this manual is strictly prohibited by law. No part of this product
may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means
without the prior written consent of Mobile Ohm Development.
We are not responsible for any problem or damages
resulting from the use, misuse, and abuse of this software product.
Program and manual written (in progress) by Kevin Houser. Mobile
Ohm Development's position regarding Midi and Music software is:
"Music Software For Musicians, By Musicians." To help us continue
providing high quality software at reasonable prices, please treat
software as you would treat copyrighted music. Do not pirate
software.
Preliminary Edition #2
Midi Data Transfer:
While DrumKitz is receiving data from the D4 a status dialog will
be displayed. The dialog shown below will give you an indication of
the transfer's progress:
Note: If a problem
develops during the
transfer, you will be
notified of the
problem and
allowed to
determine whether
to continue or abort the transfer in progress.
Printer Compatibility:
DrumKitz only requires that your printer be able to print 80
columns and 66 lines of text per page. No special printer
formatting is required. Therefore just about any dot matrix or laser
printer should work fine.
Note: If you use the Atari Laser Printer, then you will need to use the
Diablo or Epson emulator accessory to print from DrumKitz.
Menu Operations
Desk:
About DrumKitz:
Programming credits, the program's version number, and our phone number will appear in the About dialog. Also in non-demo registered versions of DrumKitz, the registered user's name and phone number, or a serial number will appear.
Files:
New:
The "New" entry will clear any open bank data. It will ask for confirmation first with a Save, NoSave, Cancel alert. Clicking on Save with write the bank to the path and file listed in the Edit Window's title bar. If no window is open it will open a window with the current path and a filename of UNTITLDn.D4B where "n" is a number from 0 to 9. The NEW bank will be completely empty.
Open:
Open allows you to recall entire D4 sysex banks from files in the midi sysex dump (MEX) format. The path and filename of the bank may be selected via the systems FileSelector. The FileSelector will automatically display only the files with an extension of *.D4B (D4 DrumBank).
Close:
The Close entry in the Files menu will close an open edit window without quitting the program.
Load Partial:
Load Partial allows you to recall individual drumsets into the currently selected drumset from midi sysex dump (MEX) formatted files. They should be given an extension of *.D4K (D4 DrumKit). If no valid drumkit is found in the file an alert box will inform you of this and cancel the operation.
Save:
Save allows you to store entire D4 sysex banks as files in the midi sysex dump (MEX) format. The path and filename of the bank to be used is shown in the Title Bar of the edit window. If there is not enough disk space to save the bank, an alert box will inform you of the problem and cancel the operation.
Save As:
Save As allows you to store entire D4 sysex banks as files in the midi sysex dump (MEX) format. The path and filename of the bank may be selected via the systems FileSelector. Bank data should be given an extension of *.D4B (D4 DrumBank). If there is not enough disk space to save the bank, an alert box will inform you of the problem and cancel the operation.
Save Partial:
Save Partial allows you to store individual drumsets as files in the midi sysex dump (MEX) format. They should be given an extension of *.D4K (D4 DrumKit). If there is insufficient disk space to save the kit, an alert box will inform you of the problem and cancel the operation.
Print:
Selection of the Print menu entry will cause an alert to pop up. If a printer is on-line, the alert will ask if you wish to print the currently selected drumset, the entire bank's data, or cancel. If no printer is on-line, an alert will inform you that the printer is not responding. The alert will allow you to retry or cancel the print operation.
Note: Printing may be interrupted at any time by pressing the <ESC> key. This will prevent on a long wait for the printer to finish (if you decide you don't want to continue) or to time out (if the printer dies).
Delete Files:
Files can be quickly deleted via use of the system's File Selector. An alert will confirm your choice before deleting any files.
Format Floppy:
Quit:
Edit:
Undo:
The Undo function will allow you to undo the last change made to the bank. Selecting Undo a second time will reverse the undone changes. Pressing the [UNDO] key has the same effect as selecting the menu entry.
Normalize:
Selecting the Normalize menu entry allows you to quickly optimize a drumset's volumes for the best signal to noise ratio. Upon selection, you will see an alert which will ask for confirmation or cancellation of the normalize operation. Pressing <ALT>-N will also invoke the Normalize function.
Transfer:
ST->D4
This menu entry enables transferring sysex information from the Atari ST to the Alesis D4. Selecting this entry will bring up the Transfer dialog. The transfer dialog will allow you to choose whether to send an entire bank, individual drumkits, trigger parameters, or the program change table to the D4. If you do not wish to send any data to the D4 then click on the Cancel Transfer button.
D4->ST
This menu entry enables transferring sysex information from the Alesis D4 to the Atari ST. Selecting this entry will bring up the Transfer dialog. The transfer dialog will allow you to choose whether to receive an entire bank, individual drumkits, trigger parameters, or the program change table into the ST. If you do not wish to receive any data from the D4 then click on the Cancel Transfer button.
Options:
Configuration:
The Configuration entry in the Options menu will store some default startup parameters for DrumKitz. Tracking, trigger positioning, and default midi channel are some of the parameters stored. To reload the last configuration saved, DRAG a trigger and press the RIGHT [SHIFT] key while holding down the RIGHT mouse button; then release the LEFT mouse button before releasing the [SHIFT] key or RIGHT button.
Tracking:
The Tracking feature allows you to choose whether any onscreen editing is immediately reflected in the D4's edit buffer. When Tracking is on, a check mark will appear beside its menu entry. When Tracking is off, the D4's edit buffer only reflects onscreen changes when a note or sound is previewed.
Main Edit Window Operations
Miscellaneous:
Notes on Operation and the Program's Midi Channel Setting:
If the program's midi channel is set to "ALL", previewing drumsounds/notes may result in spurious notes from any other sound modules or keyboards connected to the same midi out cable. This is because note on/off messages will be sent on all 16 midi channels. If this annoys you, set DrumKitz to the channel of the D4 which you wish to edit and preview. On start-up of the program, DrumKitz will poll for any active D4s and assign the program's midi channel to that of the first D4 to respond. If no D4 responds, the program will default to "ALL". Often in a midi setup things don't respond the first time it is connected (due to incorrect midi channel assignments) and people wonder what happened to their setup. With this arrangement, at least something responds if your midi in/out cables are properly connected.
Setting, Copying, and Exchanging Data:
DrumSets:
Drumsets may be copied or exchanged by Clicking on a drumset, Dragging it to a destination drumset and Dropping it. An alert box asking whether you want to Copy, Exchange, or Cancel will appear. Now choose the desired operation.
Note/Sound Assignments:
Note assignments may be copied or exchanged by Clicking on a key of the miniature keyboard, Dragging it to a destination key and Dropping it. An alert box asking whether you want to Copy, Exchange, or Cancel will appear. Now choose the desired operation.
Triggers:
Trigger Parameters (not trigger note assignments) may be copied or exchanged by Clicking on a Trigger Box (numbered 1 to 12), Dragging it to a destination Trigger Box and Dropping it. An alert box asking whether you want to Copy, Exchange, or Cancel will appear. Now choose the desired operation. Pressing the [CONTROL] key or RIGHT mouse button before releasing the LEFT mouse button will allow Copying or Exchanging the trigger's note and sound assignment in addition to the trigger parameters. The LEFT mouse button must be released before releasing the [CONTROL] key or RIGHT mouse button.
Moving the Trigger Box:
Click-Drag a trigger box to a new location while holding down the [RIGHT-SHIFT] key. Release the left mouse button when you have positioned the trigger where you want. Save the locations by selecting the "Save Configuration" menu entry in the Options menu. The previosly saved configuration may be reloaded by repeating the above operation, but holding down the RIGHT mouse button while releasing the LEFT mouse button.
Previewing a DrumSet which has been edited:
There are three methods of previewing the edited drumset. The first method is to "Single Click and Release" on a note of the 6 octave mini keyboard (located on the main edit window). This operation will send the currently selected drumset to the D4's edit buffer and then play the particular note that you clicked on. The second method is to double click on a note of the mini keyboard to bring up the "DrumSound Selector" dialog. From the "DrumSound Selector" you may click on the Preview button or double click on the desired sound name. Clicking on the Preview button, or double clicking on the sound name will send the currently selected drumset to the D4's edit buffer and then play the sound selected in the dialog.
Neither of these methods will send the Trigger Parameters (gain, velocity curve, etc.) to the D4. Trigger parameters are global to the D4 and NOT a part of an individual drum kit. If you wish to update the D4's trigger parameters, you must Transfer them to the D4 via the Transfer menu or use the Tracking function.
Install APPlication from the DeskTop or NeoDesk:
DrumKitz may be installed as a GEM application which accepts *.D4? files. Installing DrumKitz will enable you to double click on a drumbank from the desktop of your choice and autostart DrumKitz. With NeoDesk, you may optionally GRAB a group of files and drop them onto the DRUMKITZ.PRG icon to automatically load those files. Only the LAST bank file will be editable since DRUMKITZ does not allow multiple edit windows at this time. The multiple file feature was implemented as a quick way to load individual *.D4K drumsets. Please see your computer's operation manual for details on the Install Application menu entry.
