Experimental BBS Explossion 3/Experimental BBS Explossion III.iso/sound/palwb.zip/MANUAL.TXT

Text File | 1994-01-08 | 14KB | 349 lines

**** Documentation for Paladin / Wave Blaster ****

Software and documentation Copyright (c) 1993-1994 John Dunn.
All Rights Reserved.

Paladin for Wave Blaster is a full featured editor for developing new
sounds on your Wave Blaster, and it is a librarian for managing those
sounds.  Extensive automatic online help and a mouse interface makes
Paladin easy to learn and fast and intuitive to use.

Hardware required:

8086/286/386/486 IBM-compatible PC,
Microsoft compatible mouse version 6.1 or later,
EGA or VGA color display,
Creative Lab's Wave Blaster sound module.

Command line option:  PAL /reset

This resets Paladin and updates interrupt and data port information
according to your BLASTER= setting.  Whenever you change the hardware
settings, you need to run PAL with the /reset option.  The existing
DEFAULT files are renamed to "PREVIOUS," and new DEFAULT files are
built from a fresh dump of the Wave Blaster.

Overview:

Paladin is organized as six pages, each immediately accessible from a
top line menu.  The opening page is "SYSTEM" which roughly
corresponds to the Global menu of the Proteus Synthesizer engine that
the Wave Blaster is based upon.  In addition to Proteus Global
settings, the SYSTEM page also has functions to change Wave Blaster
preset files, to launch other programs, including MIDI sequencers,
etc. and to exit.

"TEXTURE," "CONTROLS," and "PATCHES," are groups of Wave Blaster Edit
menu functions.  "TEXTURE" contains the most often used functions
that control sound texture: sample sources, envelope settings, LFO
control and volume.  "CONTROLS" contains the less often used settings
such as controller amounts, keyboard ranges, etc.  "PATCHES" contains
the various routings available.

"LIBRARY" is the setup manager for both the Wave Blaster user setup
area and for disk based libraries.  The full set of presets are
automatically setup as the default library; you may add to that and
modify it however you wish.

"PROGMAP" gives you an easy way to do MIDI Program Change to Wave
Blaster preset mapping.  It allows you to quickly arrange and
rearrange the preset mappings; it also makes it easy to test each
Preset as you go.

Using the Mouse:

Virtually all Paladin functions are done by placing the mouse
cursor over the area of interest and depressing the left mouse
button.  Functions that have several possible values (more than
three), are set by holding the button down and moving the mouse
left or right.  For three or fewer choices, a single click will
increment the selection.  If you click on a function and it
changes immediately, it is a click-action function; if it does
not change it is a slide-action function.

Action areas that you can select or change with the mouse are color
coded: commands are green and number values are white. Other colors
are inactive information labels, etc.  Exceptions to this are the
sliders, which are sensitive throughout their range.

Automatic online help is available for all active functions.  If
"Help" in the center top of the SYSTEM page is on (the default), the
bottom of the screen will display a box with up to four lines of help
text as you move the cursor over active areas. Non active areas are
commented simply as "Not an active area."

All input is with the left mouse button.  The right mouse button is
used only to play notes.  The Note Play mini-sequencer gives you
several optional methods of playing single notes or groups of notes
or note patterns.

Note: If you are having trouble with your mouse cursor, such as
an inability to go more than halfway down the screen, you are using
an obsolete version of the mouse driver.  For the Microsoft mouse
you should have version 6.1 or later, for others you will need to
contact the manufacturer for a current driver.

Getting Started:

Before attempting to run Paladin, you should be sure your Wave
Blaster is properly installed and functioning.  The BLASTER
environment variable MUST be properly set with interrupt and MIDI
port information.  If your Wave Blaster is running with a Sound
Blaster card, this will be automatically set for you when you install
your Sound Blaster.  If you are using another manufacturer's card,
you must set the BLASTER environment yourself. In your Autoexec.bat
file, put a line something like this:

SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H1 P330 T6

Paladin looks at the I= Interrupt and P= MIDI Port setting.  If your
card is on an interrupt other than 5, or a MIDI port other than 330,
change the line accordingly.  Other software may require you to
properly set the other values.

When Paladin first runs it downloads all the current settings of the
Wave Blaster.  From this information, it builds a setup and a library
file, both with the name of "DEFAULT."

You can make additional Setups and Libraries with the "Create"
command, also in the Files Box.  You can download from any bank of
your Wave Blaster, or you can clone an existing Library or Setup.

Mini Sequencer:

Press on the dots to the left of the sliders to disable the slider
and give the function to the mouse position.  Left-right arrows give
horizontal mouse position control, up down give vertical.

The Edit Buffer:

The Wave Blaster Synth module has a temporary "edit buffer" that is
essentially a nameless preset.  Any changes to the edit buffer are
lost whenever a MIDI Program Change command changes the current
preset.  Paladin makes use of this temporary buffer to allow you to
audition the changes you make to your Setup without actually changing
the presets in the Wave Blaster until you really want to.

None of the editing changes you make with Paladin are actually sent
to the Wave Blaster until you see the message box asking you if you
want to "Save, Discard, or Cancel."  Then, only when you select
"Save," will a permanent change be made to the Wave Blaster.  At that
point, the presets you have changed (and those only) are uploaded to
the synth.

The main exception to this is "Keep" on the top right of the TEXTURE,
CONTROLS and PATCHES pages.  This is a single-preset Save.  Like
Save, it also asks for confirmation.  If you choose "OK," the current
preset (only) is sent out to the Wave Blaster and the Setup file is
updated, turning off the highlighting that marks a changed preset.

Other exceptions are the Global settings, the User Tune Map, and the
Preset to MIDI Program Change map.  In the case of Global settings,
there are only a few and you generally want them to happen when
selected.  These are items such as channel enable, found on the
SYSTEM page.  The User Tuning and Program Change maps are sent as
changed, but there is a Redo and a Reset function, so you can't go
far wrong.

Uploading Presets to Wave Blaster:

Because the Wave Blaster resets its presets every time the computer
is powered up, Paladin automatically tracks whether the WB is loaded
with the current Paladin preset Setup or something else (usually the
default General MIDI presets).  If a "foreign" preset is in the Wave
Blaster, Paladin will automatically load the last Paladin Setup you
were working with.  Running Paladin with the /reset option defeats
this, and causes Paladin to download the current Wave Blaster presets
into a new DEFAULT Setup and Library, first renaming the old DEFAULT
to PREVIOUS.

After you have run Paladin, as long as the computer is not turned off
again, it will not have to reload the Setup.  This lets you move
between Paladin and your other MIDI software without having to wait
for a fresh upload each time.

SYSTEM Page:

Library files (but not Setup files)    are stored in standard MIDI dump
format.  Commercial preset files, preset files available on the
various BBS's and the MIDI forum on CompuServe, normally will be
directly readable by Paladin.  Although the Wave Blaster is
functionally similar to the Emu Proteus, the instrument samples are
different, therefore only Wave Blaster preset files should be used in
the Library.  Other Proteus files will load, but will not work.

The Wave Blaster Library files must be given the extension ".CBK" so
they are directly compatible with the bank files that come with the
Wave Blaster.  If you have installed your Wave Blaster Software and
Paladin on the same hard disk, Paladin will use the \WAVEBLST\WBPANEL
directory for its Library directory, otherwise it will use its own
SETUPS directory.

Launch Box:

Allows you to register a program for launching from Paladin.  Useful
for rapidly switching between your favorite sequencer program and
Paladin, to fine tune your sounds as you work out the music.

Setup Box:

Click on the setup you wish to become current.  Paladin will save the
current setup and then load the new.  It takes a little while for the
MIDI upload, but it is all automatic.

Library Box:

Click on the Library file you wish to become current.

Remarks Box:

Click on the green "Remarks" on the lower right corner to activate.
Click again to protect the text.

Type to enter text.
Del and Back arrow to erase.
Home to go to upper left.
Ctl-Home to erase entire area.
Ctl-PgDn to insert a line.
Ctl-PgUp to delete a line.
Ins key to switch between insert & overwrite.

Note Play Sequencer:

Change the 8 notes below the Remarks box by click & slide. Right
mouse button plays according to the setting list:

Actions:

on/off  Click to start playing (hold for continuous note),
        click again to stop.
while   Plays as long as right button is depressed.
cycle   Cycles through the note pattern one time and stops.
single  Plays one note and stops.

Patterns:

random    Selects one of the 8 notes at random.
next    Select the next sequential note to play.
first   Only plays the first note.
        When this option is selected while in the User Tuning
        Map (in "CONTROLS"), the note is automatically changed to
        whichever note you are tuning.
chords  Plays a major chord (3rd, & 5th) with the note.

Other:

extrn   Switches to external midi, so you can use your keys.
        Anything that generates MIDI key data can be used, keyboard,
        sequencer, whatever.  Just connect it to the MIDI input of
        your MIDI interface.

All-Notes-Off Notes off on all channels, for those moments of panic.

TEXTURE Page:

Instrument name:  Type to change name.  Edit with Ins & Del, Left &
right arrow.  Ctrl-home clears all text.

Mouse:  Click & slide to change inst number.  Click on top and bottom
of box to increment, decrement.  Click on right edge to insert next
sequential number to the rightmost part of name, left edge to remove
the number.

Pri & Sec Instrument:  Click on left edge to turn off the instrument,
again to return to it.

CONTROLS Page:

Click on left edge of Preset Links to switch between current link and
no link.

PATCHES Page:

The top part of the PATCHES page is a diagram of the Wave Blaster
Synth functions.  The bottom part of the page contains the three
groups of patch connections.  As you make patch changes the diagram
labels will highlight to show you their position in the Wave Blaster.
This is especially useful for helping to understand how a preset has
been patched and what the patches can be expected to do.

LIBRARY Page:

To change Preset banks, click on the bank number.  RAM presets are
colored green, ROM presets are white.

To move the window into the Library file, slide on the smiley at the
bottom of the screen or click on the arrows on the bottom left and
right of the smiley line.  Arrows will adjust the window to steps of
16 presets to make visual scanning easier.

When Action is "Safe:"

Click on any name to make it the current sound source.

When Action is "Edit:"

Click on the number, or the left edge of the box to make a preset the
current sound source.

Click on a name, or click and drag for multiple names, to make them
the source of an edit operation.  Click on the place you want them to
go to and they will.

You can freely select source and destination from anywhere to
anywhere.  If source and destination are the same area, the
Insert/Overwrite Mode is ignored, and a lossless rotate/move is done.

If you select an area in the Library box, you have the option to
Insert or Delete the space in the file.  This actually makes the
Library file shrink or grow.

PROGMAP Page:

This page manages the Wave Blaster preset to MIDI Program Change
mapping. To remap a function you can either dial it in or you can
click (or click and drag for multiple selections) on the name you
want to remap, then click on where you want it to go.

The highlighted number is the current preset that will be played when
you click on the right mouse button.

Reset From:

Will sequentially reset all presets starting from the one in the box,
which is always the last one you selected.  This function is handy
for doing a top-to-bottom remap.

Save Fetch 1234:

Any changes you make to the Preset Map will automatically be saved as
part of your current setup.  Although the Wave Blaster only allows
one  map, Paladin maintains four.  To make a map current, simply
click on one of the four numbers.

Save and Fetch use an unnamed file to allow the maps to be
transferred from one location to another, or to another Setup. Save
sends the map to the file, Fetch reads from the file.  The current
map is overwritten but may be restored with "Redo." Since all Setups
use the same unnamed file, you should not use it for permanent
storage.


DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY:

THIS SOFTWARE IS SOLD "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO
PERFORMANCE OF MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER
EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED.  BECAUSE OF THE VARIOUS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
ENVIRONMENTS INTO WHICH THIS PROGRAM MAY BE PUT, NO WARRANTY OF
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED.  THE USER MUST ASSUME
THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING THE PROGRAM.  ANY LIABILITY OF THE SELLER
WILL BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO PRODUCT REPLACEMENT OR REFUND OF
PURCHASE PRICE.

Copyright Notice:

Paladin is Copyright (c) 1993-1994 by John Dunn.  All Rights Reserved.
Forth nucleus Copyright 1989 LMI.

[end of document]