M.u.C.S. Disc 2000

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ M.u.C.S. Disc 2000 / MUCS2000.iso / falcon / quincy3 / doc / english / manual.txt next >

Wrap

Text File | 1999-03-20 | 17KB | 442 lines

*--------------------------------------------@(#)QUiNCY eng short manual 3.01 * Q U i N C Y * * _-_-_-_-_-_ * * 8 tracks digital audio recorder for Falcon030 * * * * VERSION 3 * * * * Gilles BARGES, 1996-1999 * *---------------------------------------------------------------------------* SHORT MANUAL ~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONFIGURATION ============= QUiNCY works with all Falcon030 screen resolutions, from monochrome to True Color. However : - 640*400 pixels are needed to see the whole windows. - your are STRONGLY ADVISED to avoid using more than 16 colors. - 3 MO of RAM are needed. Avoid installing too much accessories or utilities. CONNECTIONS =========== Plug a source (microphone, guitar, synth...) into the Falcon030 AUDIO input. WARNING, be sure that the source level matches the input sensitivity. Connect the Falcon030 AUDIO output to a stereo amp (AUX or CD). If you have a MIDI synth, connect the Falcon030 MIDI OUT to the synth MIDI IN. THE MIXING TABLE ================ You can use the mixing table alone (ie without using the recorder). To do that, select the 'TABLE' button. Now, the incoming sound is passed through the table, mixed in two tracks and then directed to the output. You can choose ('Use' box) between : - Two globals effects, with control of effect send for each track (EFF1 & EFF2), and control of effect return ('Mix' box). - Two +- 12 dB filters (Bass and Treble) for each track. To select an effect (1 or 2), use the pop-up menu in the 'Effects' box. When selecting an effect, a window with effect controls opens automatically. This is the general scheme (see also the ROUTAGE.IMG picture): LEFT RIGHT ^ ^ | | | | -------- -------- | add | | add | -------- -------- | | | | | | | | *-----|--|-*-----------------* | | | | | | *-------|--*-------* | | | | | |L |R | | -------------------- ------- ------- | MAIN | | EFF 1 | | EFF 2 | Mix -------------------- ------- ------- | | | | | | | | | | ------- ------- | | | eff 1 | | eff 2 | Effects | | | module| | module| | | ------- ------- | | | | | | | | -------- -------- -------- -------- | add | | add | | add | | add | -------- -------- -------- -------- |||||||| |||||||| |||||||| |||||||| |....... |....... |....... |....... |....... |....... |....... |....... | | | | | *-------* | | | | | | |L |R | | ------- ------- ------- | PAN | | EFF1 | | EFF2 | Track ------- ------- ------- | / | | *-------*---* O------*-----------* | | *-------*-----------------* | | ------- ------- | | |<--| TREBL | | | | ------- | |FILTERS| | | | ------- | | |<--| BASS | | ------- ------- | | | *-----O | O---------------* | ------- | LEVEL | ------- | | ^ The two switches (at LEVEL output and EFF1&2 input) are controled together by 'Effects/Equalizer' selection in the 'Use' frame. Track settings and 'Input'/'Ouput' settings can be controlled by pairs by using the right mouse button. Settings display : if you click on a setting label (LEVEL, PAN, EFF1, EFF2, BASS, TREBLE), the value of this setting is displayed. Another click recalls the label. If you want to retrieve all your settings at the next launching of QUiNCY, save the settings in a file named QUINCY.SET, in the same folder then QUINCY.PRG . CREATE A TAPE ============= Now let's see the recording part. The first thing to do is to create a tape (Menu 'File', 'Create Tape'). In the 'Create Tape' window, select the file location and name, the sampling frequency, the number of tracks, the tape duration. If you have a SCSI disk, you'd better work with it. QUiNCY can work with an IDE disk too, but works better with a SCSI one. RECORD ====== To record track 1, connect your source into the LEFT AUDIO input. Odd tracks (1, 3, 5 & 7) receive LEFT input, even tracks receive RIGHT input. Select track 1 little REC button. Click on PAUSE, then on RECORD. If you switch on Monitoring ('Monitor' box), VUmeters show input signal level. Release PAUSE, recording starts. When terminated, QUiNCY goes into 'REPLAY' mode : - the just recorded tape part is shown in the COMMAND BAR (the black rectangle above the command deck), - the 'Monitor' box is replaced by a 'REPLAY' box. While you are in REPLAY mode, the sound you have recorded is not yet 'written' onto tape, but kept in a temporary file. To hear your take, rewind (press 0 on the numeric pad), then click on PLAY. To keep your take, click on the 'ACCEPT' icon in the 'REPLAY' box. TRACKS 'REC' BUTTONS ================== The state of the little 'REC' button at the bottom of each track specifies the sound origin for that track. *-----------------------------*------------------------* | REC released | REC selected | *-------------|-----------------------------|------------------------| | NORMAL mode | what is on tape | sound source | |-------------|-----------------------------|------------------------| | REPLAY mode | what was on tape before | what has just been | | | recording | recorded | *-------------*-----------------------------*----------------------- * So, in REPLAY mode, you can compare your last recording (to be listened with the REC button selected) with what was on the track before recording (REC released). This allows to make a take without running the risk of loosing the previous take, compare the two takes, then decide to keep the last take ('ACCEPT') or forgive it ('REJECT'). TAPE POSITIONING ================ To move the (read/write) head, you can : - use the forward or rewind keys. With right mouse button, speed is twice the normal speed; with left mouse button, speed increases progressively. - click directly on the command bar. - press + or - key on numeric pad (moves forwards/backwards 1 second). This works the same when tape is running. You can create up to 9 marks on the tape (for ex. start of verse, start of chorus...). To place a mark, press a SHIFT key, then type a digit from 1 to 9 on the numeric pad : the mark is created at the head position. Now, when you'll type this digit alone, the head will move to the marked position. To delete a mark, type CONTROL+digit. LOCATORS ======== Locators are special marks indicated by two yellow triangles in the command bar. To place the LEFT locator » (resp. RIGHT «), press the LEFT SHIFT key (resp. RIGHT SHIFT) and click on the command bar. You can also forward/rewind the locators by pressing the corresponding SHIFT key, then clicking on the forward/rewind keys. Locators are only in effect when the LIMITED key (two opposite triangles) is selected. When recording, locators locate Punch In/Punch Out points : recording begins at locator » and ends at locator «. When playing, locators effect depend on the CYCLE key (two cycling arrows) state : - CYCLE released : playing stops at « - CYCLE selected : playing loops between the two locators. REMIX ===== When the 'Remix' button is selected, the sound coming into the Falcon030 inputs (2 tracks) is replaced by the sound coming from the mixing table (2 tracks too). This allows to 'reduce' several tracks, with mixing, into one or two tracks. Note that destination track(s) (REC button selected) do(es) not need to be different from mixed tracks. So, for example, you can: - remix tracks 1 to 4 onto tracks 1 and 2, - remix track 1 onto itself, adding equalization or effects. Of course, if you keep ('REPLAY' box) the remix, one or two original tracks are lost. However, with REPLAY mode you can listen to the result before any irreversible action. RECORDING MORE THAN TWO TRACKS ============================== QUiNCY manages a MULTIRECORD mode. To enter it, select the MULTIRECORD button. Now, if you press RECORD, ALL tape tracks are recorded. WARNING, in this case, recording goes directly onto the tape. There is no REPLAY mode, so recording can't be cancelled. When recording in MULTIRECORD mode, all inputs are: 1 - recorded 2 - processed through the mixing table (as in TABLE mode). So you can hear all inputs mixed. SHORTCUTS ========= Globaly, numeric pad keys may be used for tape positionning. Here are the functions associated to numeric pad : ENTER PLAY . PAUSE 0 or SPACE STOP if playing, total rewind elsewhere ( go to » locator ) go to « locator / CYCLE on/off Shift / locators on/off * RECORD + time display : forward 1 second metric display : go to next bar. - time display : backward 1 second metric display : go to previous bar. Shift 1-9 Create mark 1-9 1-9 go to mark 1-9 Ctrl 1-9 clear mark 1-9 Other shortcuts for QUiNCY window: F1-F8 SOLO track 1-8 Shift F1-F8 MUTE track 1-8 Ctrl F1-F8 REC track 1-8 Insert switch counters SHOW mode (time/metric). F10 TABLE mode on/off All these shortcuts work even if QUiNCY window is not on top, or even closed. 'DISK' WINDOW ============= * 'Record into Folder' When recording, QUiNCY does not write at once the recorded sound onto tape, but first into Falcon memory, then into a temporary file that has the same name as the tape, with .TMP extension. Temporary file is created when loading the tape, with a sufficient size to record during the whole tape lenght. If 'Current' button is selected, this file is created in the same folder as the tape. If 'Fixed' is selected, the file will be created in the path given in the button just below. The temporary file is deleted when unloading the tape. If there is not enough free space on disk to create the TMP file, QUiNCY warns you. In this case, TMP file is not created, and you cannot record. You should then indicate to QUiNCY where (on what disk unit) it may find sufficient disk space. To change this path, click on the button below 'Fixed', file selector is called and you can choose the new path - doing this automatically select the 'Fixed' option. * 'Clipboard' Do you know the Clipboard ? It's a folder named C:\CLIPBRD that softwares use to exchange informations, with well-known Copy and Paste functions. QUiNCY manages these editing functions ('Editor' window), and by the way uses the Clipboard. Unfortunately, the Clipboard is in principle located on unit C:\ which is often a small size unit. It may be possible that free disk space on C:\ is insufficient to contain these big files that D2D produces. QUiNCY allows to change Clipboard location. After changing it, all softwares will take into account this new location, even after you've leaved QUiNCY. And this will last until you change the location again (with QUiNCY or with a CPX), or reboot the computer. So, be careful with that. EDITOR WINDOW ============= This window shows graphically the tape contents : sound is displayed with curves. If you've loaded a 2 tracks tape, you can see these two tracks. If your tape has more than 2 tracks, you can select the displayed tracks by clicking on the 1 to 8 small buttons at leftside (note that you can display the same track twice). While QUiNCY is plotting the curves, you can interrupt it by pressing the 'Esc' key. To select a block, press the mouse bouton and move the mouse. With the left button, you select a one-track block; with the right button, block covers the two displayed tracks. All operations given in the 'Editor' window affect only the selected block : - Copy, Clear, Export, Analyze, Fade, Level act on the block, - Paste, Import : import begins at the start of block. At the top of the window, there are two rows of small buttons (labels on the first, couters on the second). Besides giving information, these button have positionning functions, using drag & drop. For example, click on the head position counter and keep the mouse button pressed. A ghost box appears, it stands for the head position value. Move the mouse rightward to the left locator position counter, and drop : the left locator (which has 'received' a new value) moves to the head position. There are many possibilities, just try them. You can also make a drag&drop with the first line buttons : select a block, then drag 'BLOCK' onto 'DISPLAYED', the displayed range of tape now covers exactly the block selection. COUNTERS EDITING ================ All counters (QUiNCY and Editor windows) can be changed by keyboard action. Double-click on a counter : a white cursor appears. Type the desired value, then Return to validate. To cancel a counter edition, just click on it. MIDI WINDOW =========== From this window, you can load a MIDIFile. Once the file is loaded, the 'MIDIFile' box shows the MIDI tracks. To let the MIDIFile play, you need to select the 'MIDIFile' button in the 'Output' box. In the track list, little LEDs allow to mute tracks. If the 'MIDI Clock' button is selected, QUiNCY sends on MIDI OUT clock messages to synchronize an external sequencer (note that CYCLE playing does not work on the external sequencer). The 'Metronome' button allows to send to synth notes messages on every beat of the tune. Last, the 'Silence!' button sends 'All Notes Off' message on all MIDI channels. TROUBLESHOOTING =============== Globaly, QUiNCY needs availability of all Falcon030 resources (memory, CPU, bus). You should never use more than 16 colors with QUiNCY. Best results are obtained in black & white, 640x480 pixels. If you get the message 'Disk not tracking' : - Verify the disk fragmentation, and clean it if necessary. QUiNCY gives informations about file fragmentation. A fragmented disk really reduces performance. - Try to increase avalaible free memory, and select 'large' buffers. You should have a value of 100 % as 'obtained' memory ('Disk' window). - Avoid 'moving things' on screen : close the 'Editor' window, switch off VUmeters. - Do not move the mouse (use keyboard), or do it slowly. Here are some known problems : - Track 8 is furtively heard in track 1. This occurs sometimes, with a 49 kHz 8 tracks tape, when using large screen display. It is a Falcon bus overflow problem. Work in 640x480 mode, with 16 colors maximum. - When recording from external digital input (DSP port), incoming sound cannot be heard. QUiNCY cannot play at the same time the sound coming out of the tape and the sound coming in the external digital inputs. You should amplify your source by another mean. - When using external digital input (resp. output), global level settings (those from 'Input' (resp. 'Output') box) do not work. These settings only work with on-board analogic input/output. - The mouse 'jumps'. It is a Falcon bus overflow problem. Work in 640x480 mode, with 16 colors maximum. What's new in version 2 ? ========================= Complete Automation of mix. Groups of settings. Save recording in an external file (AVR, AIFF). Compatibility with HDDDRIVER.