Sound Sensations!/sound_sensations.iso/demos/gfmanual/part10.mnl

Text File | 2002-07-28 | 17KB | 463 lines

        Hints                                        Section 10-1


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        COPYRIGHT 1988  GERALD H. FELDERMAN    TAMPA, FL





        Hints                                        Section 10-2


                                         HINTS
                                       ---------

        This section of the manual contains a collection of helpful
        hints, and miscellaneous information.


        The screen looks kind of funny..... GFMUSIC wants a black
        background.... before starting GFMUSIC issue a DOS CLS command,
        or change your prompt string to specify a black background.




        When you create a song, one of the most important things you will
        need to know is how to controll your synthesizer(s) from the
        sequences that you create with GFMUSIC.   In general, controlling
        your synthesizer boils down to use of Controll Changes and
        Program Changes (Event TYPEs of CTRL and PROG as seen from the
        EDIT point of view).  In addition, some synthesizers require you
        to manually set up some configurations.  For example, some
        synthesizers require you to manually put the synth into multi-
        timbral mode and to manually select the starting channel.  Other
        synthesizers allow you to do this completely via Midi commands
        (events in your GFMUSIC sequences).

        Unfortunately, there are so many types of equipment and they are
        each so different that it is not practical to document them here.
        In addition, new equipment comes on the market so often that the
        task becomes even more impractical.  However, some general
        guidelines are useful.

        First, you will need to read all of the documentation that comes
        with your synthesizer.  In some cases, the manufacturer does not
        include the documentation you need with the equipment but they
        have it available if you write or call them.  Or, the store where
        you bought the equipment may have detailed documentation on how
        the equipment works with respect to operating it via Midi
        commands (i.e. via a sequencer).

        Another source of information is friends and/or acquaintances
        that use the same or similar equipment with sequencers.  E.g. the
        general techniques used with the Casio CZ line of synths is the
        same with respect to the effects of sending Controll Changes and
        for sending program changes to the synth.  So, if you know
        someone that is using a Casio CZ-101 with a sequencer, the
        techniques they use will often apply directly to the Casio CZ-
        3000 or CZ-5000.   The same is true for various machines from
        other manufacturers.  Don't be afraid to play detective and to
        experiment.  Again, calling the manufacturer is helpful.  They
        often have additional documentation that is very useful and which
        they will either give to you free or for a nominal charge.  Once
        again, your local music stores often have such documentation that
        they may let you copy, or at least read it in the store so that
        you can jot down notes.


        COPYRIGHT 1988  GERALD H. FELDERMAN    TAMPA, FL





        Hints                                        Section 10-3



        Once again, if you know someone that uses a sequencer, talk to
        them.  They have probably developed some insight and useful
        techniques.  Also, see if you can review the
        documentation/manuals for their sequencer.  It may have some
        valuable information that you can apply directly to your GFMUSIC
        songs.




        Usually, most users of GFMUSIC will create one or more controll
        sequences for their songs.  The controll sequence will normally
        perform some initial setup using both Controll Changes (TYPE of
        CTRL) and Program Changes (TYPE of PROG) to initialize the
        synthesizer(s).  As an example, see sequence MAIN CONTROLL for
        song GFDEMO2 (i.e. load song GFDEMO2 and go into EDIT on sequence
        MAIN CONTROLL).  GFDEMO2 is essentially the same as GFDEMO1
        except that it uses the multi-timbral features of a Casio CZ-3000
        or CZ-5000.  The first thing that MAIN CONTROLL does is to setup
        multi-timbral mode for 6 channels.  The assumption here is that
        the CZ-3000 was manually set to Mono/Multi-timbral mode starting
        at Channel 1.  Then, MAIN CONTROLL sets the 'patches' to use on
        each of the multi-timbral channels via PROG events.  The 2nd
        event is a PROG on CHannel 1 that tells the CZ-3000 that the
        voice associated with CHannel 1 is to be set to a Bass sound.  If
        you to look at sequences BASS 1-10 and BASS 11-12 you will see
        that all of those notes go out on CHannel 1.  Next you will see
        that events 3-6 (in MAIN CONTROLL) are PROG events that set the
        patches for channels 2-5 to be one of the CZ-3000 string sounds.
        CHannels 2-5 are the ones that will be used for sequence CHORDS
        1-12.  They all have the same patch (PROG) and if you look at
        sequence CHORDS 1-12 you will see that the events there had their
        CHannels assigned in round-robbin fashion with the CHR command of
        EDIT.  I.e. CHORDS 1-12 plays chords,  and each Note-On event
        uses one of the channels 2-5.  Again, the way the CHannels were
        assigned was via the CHR command of EDIT.  Finally, event 7 of
        MAIN CONTROLL is yet another PROG event that sets the voice on
        the Casio for channel 6 to an Organ.  Now, if you look at
        sequence MELODY you will see that all Note-On events there use
        channel 6.  Again, it was possible to assign all notes to channel
        6 by using the CHR command of EDIT.  I.e. when MELODY sequence
        was recorded, the notes may have come in on channel 1.  But,
        since we want to use multi-timbral features, we needed to
        reassign the channels, in this case to CHannel 6 via the CHR
        command.

        The rest of sequence MAIN CONTROLL simply starts other sequences
        as it does in song GFDEMO1.  The main point here is that you will
        generally use CTRL events and PROG events to setup your synth(s)
        in preparation for playing the notes.  In the
        manuals/documentation for your synthesizers, they will probably
        talk in terms of what "Controll Changes" and "Program Changes"
        are supported, whether the synth will send and/or receive it, and
        what the effect is on the synth when it is received.  These


        COPYRIGHT 1988  GERALD H. FELDERMAN    TAMPA, FL





        Hints                                        Section 10-4


        translate to CTRL and PROG events respectively in GFMUSIC.

        Note that to make effective use of multi-timbral features, you
        will most likely use the CHR command of EDIT.  I urge you to
        record something and use the CHR command against the recorded
        sequence to see the effect of this command.

        Other helpful hints :


        Some synths start numbering their patches at 1 instead of 0.
        E.g. for the DX7, specify a PROG value of 1 less than the DX7
        program number to get what you want.  I.e. a PROG of zero will
        give you program 1 according to DX7 documentation.




        Use Midi cables.  Not just any 5 pin DIN connector will do.  You
        will save yourself alot of grief by making sure that you get the
        correct cables.



        If you have a drum machine, you may find it more useful to dump
        the drum patterns into GFMUSIC sequences (i.e. record the drum
        patterns as GFMUSIC sequences).  Then use the drum machine as a
        'dumb' sound module.  In this way you can keep the entire song on
        disk and often have better controll over your song.  Also, you
        will have less problems this way because you simply don't have to
        bother with External/Internal Midi clocking.  I.e. with the drum
        patterns in GFMUSIC sequences, you can run with Midi Clock Off.

        With Midi Clock Off (see SET TIME screen), GFMUSIC sends events
        based upon an internal clock and neither responds to, nor sends
        Midi Clock commands.  When possible, run with Midi Clocking Off.
        It simplifies matters.


        When you play a sequence does it 'go crazy' and spew out notes ??
        You probably have a sequence that starts another sequence.  The
        'starter' is probably not waiting for the started sequence to
        finish.

        Do your sequences and Drum Machines get 'out of synch'??  Your
        sequences are probably not the proper length.  When you record a
        sequence, you should normally EDIT it to ensure that it is the
        correct length.  Most (although not all) sequences you create
        should be an exact number of measures long.

        If your Drum Machine plays the pattern too quickly/slowly then
        you probably are using either External/Internal Midi Clocking and
        do not have the correct number of steps per Midi Clock.  Again,
        if you dump your drum patterns into sequences and controll
        everything from GFMUSIC (i.e. run Midi Clocking OFF) then this


        COPYRIGHT 1988  GERALD H. FELDERMAN    TAMPA, FL





        Hints                                        Section 10-5


        problem should never occur.


        When you record drum patterns from a drum machine or music from
        another sequencer, you should put GFMUSIC into play/record mode
        (not load mode) BEFORE YOU START THE DRUM MACHINE, OTHER
        SEQUENCER, OR EVEN PLAYING MANUALLY. The reason is that if you
        don't, you will end  up recording only 'parts of notes'.  E.g.
        only the Note-off portion of a Note-On/Note-off combination.
        While things will still work, if you go to edit such a recorded
        sequence, the editor will complain about things such as a
        duration of less than zero for a note, or that a Note-On event
        has a velocity of zero when in fact these are merely
        misinterpretations of 'partial events'.  To avoid this, always
        start recording before you ever start playing your keyboard, or
        before starting the drum machine or sequencer you want to record
        from.


        Another thing that you may run into with respect to recording is
        that when you process the play buffer into a sequence, you may
        get a message to the effect that 'NOTE ON FOUND WITH NO
        CORRESPONDING NOTE-OFF, DURATION SET TO 1'.  All this means is
        that you stopped the recording process after a Note-On was
        received but before the Note-Off portion of 'note' was received.
        This is most common when recording drum patterns from a drum
        machine or a piece from another sequencer although it can even
        occur if you press the right arrow key (process recorded data)
        before you let up on the key of the synth.



        Your synthesizer does not respond to program changes ??  A number
        of possibilities exist :
          - If multi-timbral mode, are you sending the program change out
            on the proper channel ?

          - Does your synth have program changes disabled (i.e. will not
            react to Program changes via Midi) ??  Some synthesizers
            'come up' this way when powered on.

        When recording, Midi Controll Changes are not recorded.
           - Look in your manual. Will it send all Controll Parameters ?
           - Is the Controll Change filter true or false on the PLAY screen ?
             To record Controll Changes, the filter for CTRL must be FALSE.

        When playing, Midi Controll changes are ignored by synthesizer.
             - Look In your manual.  Does your synth respond to them ??
               Some synths will send them but do not respond to them.

        You can record sequences but get nothing out of the synthesizer
        when you play it back.
           - Is the synthesizer setup to receive on the same channel that
             it sent on ??



        COPYRIGHT 1988  GERALD H. FELDERMAN    TAMPA, FL





        Hints                                        Section 10-6


           - Are you using Midi cables or some other type of cable ?

        When I go to play, nothing happens.
          - Are you using External clocking ?  Have you started the device
            that is providing the clocking ?

          - Does the Play Screen indicate that sequences are starting,
            looping, etc.  If so, then is your equipment connected
            correctly ??  Is your equipment set to receive on the proper
            channel(s) ?

        When a sequence plays back, it sounds 'flaky'.
          - If the synth is in Mono mode, and notes overlap, then the synth
            may not start the 2nd note at the 'attack' phase.  See
            command SDT.

             - On some synths, it takes time for a PROGram change to take
               effect.

        When I start a controll sequence, the play screen fills up and I
        get an error message about not enough slots.
          - You need a WAIT in the 'starter'.  I.e. a controll sequence
            is looping, has zero in the TIME fields, and is not doing
            a WAIT when it starts a sequence.


        How do I MOVE events in a sequence ??
               - COPY them to the target location and then DELete them.
                 This is easy since the COPY command remains on the
                 command line with a "?" in the 1st position.  Just
                 change "?OPY"  to  "DEL ".


        When you first go into Play/Record do you get a message that your
        Midi Interface is not installed ?  Is it installed ?  See the
        section on installation.


        The computer keyboard keys don't work as advertised..... Are you
        sure your num-lock key is off ?


        To simulate Step Time entry, just play at the speed you are
        comfortable with, and then use the editor to clean up the timing.
        You will soon get comfortable with the numbers that mean quarter
        note, half note, etc.  and with the numbers that correspond to
        the different boundaries (quarter note, half note, etc.).  Use a
        Null Event for Rests.


        Don't forget to use SKIP and/or Fast Forward as an overdubbing
        aid.  Sometimes you may even want to create special controll
        sequences that play just the combination of sequences you want to
        overdub to.



        COPYRIGHT 1988  GERALD H. FELDERMAN    TAMPA, FL





        Hints                                        Section 10-7


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        COPYRIGHT 1988  GERALD H. FELDERMAN    TAMPA, FL