BackToBasics, developed at O.R.I. Labs, is the premier digital sample triggering software for the Macintosh computer. With BackToBasics you can turn your computer keyboard into a full fledged real-time digital audio research, experimentation, and performance laboratory. Using BackToBasics, you can separately configure 47 keys on your computer keyboard to play up to 20 sounds at one time using an unlimited amount of sampled sounds. With BackToBasics there’s no limit to your scientific progress.
BackToBasics allows you to import sounds and assign them to the 47 alpha numeric keys on the standard Macintosh keyboard so that they can be played in much the same way as a MIDI keyboard and sampler. Each of the 47 keys has its own settings for pitch, volume, stereo pan, and trigger type.
• The pitch setting allows you to transpose the pitch over 10.5 octaves.
• The volume setting not only allows you to set the volume from 0-100%, but also allows you to overdrive the sound up to 400% of its normal level.
• The stereo pan setting allows each key to play its sound through the left or right channels (if your computer supports stereo sound) and anywhere in between.
• There are also 4 different trigger settings to allow for instantaneous play/stop, ASR (attack, sustain, release), continuous looping, or ASR continuous looping.
With BackToBasics you can save all of your settings in a BackToBasics setup file which stores a link to the sound suitcase you were using.
System Requirements:
BackToBasics requires System 7+, Sound Manager 3+ and preferably a 68040 or faster processor.
Unregistered copies of BackToBasics are only semi-functional. The "Save" and "Import" functions are disabled and become active upon entering your valid BackToBasics serial number.
To begin using BackToBasics you first need to load in the sounds you are going to play. If you have not already created a suitcase of sounds to use, see "Managing Your Sounds" later in this manual. From the File menu select “Import Sounds” and open the file (or suitcase) containing your sounds. The names of the sound resources will appear in the BackToBasics sound name display list up in the top right corner of the BackToBasics display window.
Playing Sounds:
Once you have imported your sounds into the program, you should be able to hear them by pressing any of the alpha numeric keys on your keyboard. The keys are set up to correspond to the standard U.S. keyboard layout. Make sure your keyboard control panel is set to the U.S. keyboard layout. Also note that the keyboard display in the BackToBasics display window represents the U.S. extended keyboard (or 105 key) layout.
Master Volume:
To control the master volume of all keyed sounds, use the master volume control located in the lower left corner of the BackToBasics display window. This control allows you to set the sound out of your Macintosh from 0 to 7 as you would from the sound control panel.
Emergency Kill Switch:
A Kill Switch is provided in the lower right corner of the BackToBasics display window for use in the unlikely event that a sound stop command is missed, such as when switching to another application while holding a key down.
BackToBasics allows you to customize the way the keys are setup to trigger sounds. Each alphanumeric key on the keyboard has a set of attributes associated with it that defines what kind of sound is made when that key is pressed.
BackToBasics key attributes are:
• Sound name
• Pitch
• Volume
• Stereo pan
• Trigger type
Default setup:
If no BackToBasics setup is currently open, the key settings will be set to the default BackToBasics setup. By default all keys are set to the Instant Play/Stop trigger setting. The pitch is set to a scale from -12 half steps to 0 (normal) spread out over the top row of keys on the keyboard, a scale from 0 to +12 over the next row of keys, and each key thereafter is set to 0. The top row of keys is set to the first sound in the BackToBasics sound name display list, the next row is set to the second sound, and each key after that is assigned a sound from the list successively. The volume for every key is set to 100%, and stereo pan is set to center.
Selecting a key:
To change the settings for a particular key, you must highlight that key by selecting it with the mouse; notice that this key will be the only one outlined in yellow in the BackToBasics display window. Once a key is highlighted, any changes to the BackToBasics settings will affect this key only.
The current settings for the highlighted key will be displayed by each of the settings controls in the settings controls section of the BackToBasics display window.
Changing the Sound:
To change the sound associated with the highlighted key, select a new sound from the BackToBasics sound name display list using the mouse. Be aware that this only changes the sound sample that the key triggers, it does not change any of the other settings for the current key.
Transposing the Pitch:
To transpose the pitch of the current key, use the frequency control buttons located in the BackToBasics frequency control section of the BackToBasics display window. These buttons affect the rate (frequency) at which the sample is played, thus altering the pitch of the sound. Decreasing the rate lowers the pitch, increasing the rate raises the pitch. Each increment changes the frequency by one half step. Holding the command key () down while clicking on the frequency control buttons increases or decreases the pitch by 12 half steps, or one octave. An increase of one octave has the effect of exactly doubling the frequency of the sound and sounds will loop exactly twice as often. A decrease of one octave has the opposite effect and sounds will loop exactly half as often.
Volume Control:
To change the volume of the selected key, use the volume control buttons located in the BackToBasics volume control section of the BackToBasics display window. Do not confuse this function with the master volume control located in the lower left corner of the BackToBasics display window (see “Playing Sounds” above). The volume control allows you to set the volume of the sound from 0-400%, setting the volume above 100% is likely to over modulate the sound. Holding the command key () down while clicking on the volume control buttons increases or decreases the volume by increments of 10%.
Stereo Panning:
Use the stereo pan slide control located in the BackToBasics stereo pan slide control section of the BackToBasics display window to send a key’s sound output to the left and/or right channels. Setting this control anywhere in between left and right sends a percentage of the sound to both channels.
Selecting a Trigger Type:
To change the Trigger Type of the highlighted key, select one of the four Trigger Type Control Buttons located in the BackToBasics Trigger Type Control section of the BackToBasics display window.
The four trigger types are:
Instantaneous Play/Stop
This setting plays the sample from the from the beginning, loops the sound between the preset loop points (see "Managing Your Sounds") while the key is held down, and stops the sound immediately when the key is released.
ASR (Attack Sustain Release)
This setting plays the sample from the beginning, loops the sound between the preset loop points while the key is held down, and plays the rest of the sound when the key is released.
Play/Stop Continuous Looping Switch
This setting is the switch version of the instantaneous Play/Stop setting above. It functions the same except that the sound continues to loop when the key is released. Pressing the key a second time stops the sound immediately. For the Switch trigger types, the sound list number associated with the highlighted key turns red when the switch is “on” (the first time the key is pressed) and goes back to yellow when the switch is “off” (the second time the key is pressed).
ASR Continuous Looping Switch
This setting is the switch version of the ASR trigger type above. It functions the same as the ASR setting except that the sound continues to loop when the key is released. Pressing the key a second time plays the rest of the sound before stopping. Just like the Play/Stop Continuous Looping Switch, the sound list number associated with the highlighted key turns red when the switch is “on” and goes back to yellow when the switch is “off”.
Using the Pitch Bender:
The pitch bender allows you to transpose the pitch of the sound triggered by the selected key in real-time. To use the pitch bender, first highlight the key you would like to effect, then while that key is playing, click anywhere on the pitch bender and drag the mouse right or left. Dragging to the right increases the pitch of the sound, dragging to the left decreases the pitch.
The sound will "snap" back to its original pitch when the mouse button is released unless the command key () is held down. Holding the command key down while releasing the mouse button will temporarily lock the pitch at the "bent" rate for the duration of playback. Changes made using the pitch bender are not saved in the sound setup and last at most until the sound is triggered again.
Once you have your sounds loaded and the keys setup the way you want them, you should save your setup. BackToBasics saves all of your settings for all of the keys, and saves a link to the imported sound suitcase. BackToBasics does not save a copy the sounds themselves so it is a good idea (although not necessary) to save your BackToBasics setup file in the same location as the sound suitcase it uses. From the File menu select “Save As...” and save your file in a convenient place. You will notice that BackToBasics has its own document type and icon to make BackToBasics setup files easily recognizable in the finder.
You can open a BackToBasics setup file either by double clicking on the document in the finder, dragging the document to the BackToBasics icon in the finder, or by selecting “Open Setup” from the File menu in BackToBasics. BackToBasics changes all of the settings to those saved in the setup file and automatically loads the associated sounds for you.
BackToBasics supports sound resources or System 7 sound files at rates anywhere up to 64 khz and any sample size from 1 to 32 bits. BackToBasics does not allow you to make or edit the sounds themselves, this has to be done with an application such as SoundEdit 16 or SoundEffects. BackToBasics does not automatically loop samples. Loop points must be set in your sound editing program and saved in the sound itself. Most Macintosh sound editing/recording programs allow you to save sounds as sound resources or System 7 sounds, but it may also be a good idea to purchase a program like SndConverter Pro 2.0 which lets you convert batches of files to many different formats.
The best way to manage your sounds (system 7 or sound resources) is to save them in a sound suitcase. BackToBasics loads in multiple sound files only if they are stored in a suitcase file. The BackToBasics package comes with an empty suitcase which you can duplicate and store your sounds in, or you can use the BackToBasics Sound Suitcase Tool. BackToBasics can also open the sound resources from any Macintosh file (such as most games).
Check to make sure the sounds you are trying to move are System 7 sounds. Other sound file formats (like ".wav" or ".au") must be converted to System 7 before they can be used with suitcases or BackToBasics (see "Managing Your Sounds" above).
The problem may also be that some sound editors do not save System 7 sounds correctly. System 7 sounds must be saved with a creator type of "movr" to function correctly in the Finder. Many sound editors do not comply with this requirement, and set the creator type to their application type. A work around for this is to save your sounds directly into a sound suitcase. It is a good idea to let the makers of your sound editing software know about this problem.
Keyboard limitations
Unfortunately computer keyboards are not designed for the kind of use that BackToBasics puts them through, so even though BackToBasics can play up to 20 sounds at one time, your keyboard may not be able to trigger that many at once. Some keyboards can only accept 2 keys down at one time, most can handle 4, and many keyboards can read more than that, but sometimes in an unpredictable way. A good way to test your keyboard is to open the Key Caps desk accessory from the Apple menu and try pressing as many keys as you can.
Some keyboards also have different key response sensitivity. This response time is the product of many factors, from the Apple Desktop Bus drivers that handle communications between the keyboard and the computer, to the mechanics of the key switches themselves. The best thing to do is try out different keyboards and test their responsiveness.
AV pitch problem (660 AV and 840 AV machines)
Transposing the pitch above 50 (or so) can cause BackToBasics to stop processing sound or even freeze up. We have no idea why this happens.
Not enough memory to load some sounds
BackToBasics loads all imported sounds into RAM. Because of this, you need to allocate as much memory to BackToBasics as the size of your sound suitcase, plus 200K for BackToBasics to use.
To do this, in the Finder, select the BackToBasics icon and choose “Get Info” from the File menu. Set the “Preferred size” field to the amount of RAM needed. This setting takes effect the next time you start BackToBasics.
BackToBasics sells for US $20.00 or four easy installments of US $5.00, but feel free to try it out first to see if you also agree that BackToBasics is the leader in real time digital sample triggering technology.
With the BackToBasics contribution fee you get:
• Your BackToBasics Registration Serial Number!
• The latest full working version of BackToBasics!
• The BackToBasics Operations Manual!
• The BackToBasics Sound Suitcase Tool!
• The O.R.I. “Make your own Reinformation Song” Kit!
• Your name on the O.R.I. mailing list!
Please send your check or money order to:
Operation Re-Information
P.O. Box 8224
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
USA
For more information please write to the address above or call:
(412) 422-2629
or email:
ori@reinformation.com
or check out O.R.I.Web! at:
www.reinformation.com
The BackToBasics Package Set may be freely distributed as long as it is distributed in full. The full package includes:
• The latest unregistered version of BackToBasics
• The BackToBasics Operations Manual
• The BackToBasics Sound Suitcase Tool
• The O.R.I. “Make your own Reinformation Song” Kit!
This package may not be used for commercial use with out full consent from O.R.I. Industries.
