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SndLab11.MAN
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Version 1.1 Manual Update February 1, 1993
by Damien M. Jones
dmj software
PSC 8 Box 657
APO AE 09109
Sound Lab 1.1 Update Page 2
--- Introduction
This update only covers the features that were added with
Sound Lab 1.1. You should have read the complete manual
before reading this.
Sound Lab 1.1 is here because there were several features
that were requested by a number of registered users. Since I
will not be able to do Sound Lab 2 until the spring or summer
of 1993, I thought a small upgrade would be appropriate to
provide the seemingly most urgent additions that were
required.
The version you now have is an unregistered version. Since
this takes some effort to do on my part, do your part and
show support for Shareware.
--- If You've Been Using the Old Version
If you have previously used Sound Lab 1.0x, then you will
need to be sure to use the correct files. Replace the old
SOUNDLAB.TOS, SOUNDLAB.COL, SOUNDLAB.MON, and SOUNDLAB.HLP
with the new files. Your old .PRF is still good, but you
will probably want to set the new options and re-save your
preferences.
--- Sound Lab as an Installed Application
You can now install Sound Lab as an application from the
Desktop, sort of. What this does is tell TOS that whenever
you click on an .AVR file (if that's the extension you
installed it with), Sound Lab will load, and then Sound Lab
will load the sample.
The problem is, with early versions of TOS (1.62 or before),
TOS doesn't set the path for the program. This means Sound
Lab won't be able to find its data files (.PRF, .COL, .MON)
unless your .AVR files are all in the same folder as
SOUNDLAB.TOS. This seriously limits the usefulness of this
feature.
If you have TOS 2.06, though, things get better. You can
install SOUNDLAB.TOS as an application; I'd suggest using
.AVR and .WAV as your extensions, if you don't have those
installed on another program. Make sure you set the option
for the path to "Application", not to "Top Window", so Sound
Lab can find its data files. Then set the "Parameters"
option to "Full Path", so Sound Lab can find the sample file.
And remember to save your Desktop. (You don't know how many
times I've forgotten to do that!) Once installed, not only
can you just double-click on an .AVR or .WAV file and have
Sound Lab load and then load the file, but you can also drag
Sound Lab 1.1 Update Page 3
any sample file icon onto the icon for SOUNDLAB.TOS (even if
it the file isn't an .AVR or .WAV file) and Sound Lab will
still load it. This same feature is available in
NeoDesk--install the application the same way as for TOS
2.06. While you're at it, if you only have a meg you'll most
likely want to set NeoDesk to unload for the execute.
If you leave a SOUNDLAB.TOS icon on the desktop you'll
probably find the drag-and-drop method very handy. Although
I don't have the new TOS, I do have NeoDesk, and I can tell
you it makes a big difference.
If, for some bizarre reason, you run Sound Lab from a CLI,
this also means you can pass a sample file to it as a
parameter. Amazing how many things one little change can
cover, huh?
When you auto-load a sample in this way, Sound Lab's title
screen will only appear for two seconds. You can still
bypass it completely (and thus free up 20K of sample RAM) by
holding down the ALT key.
--- New Interface Features
It has been pointed out that finding the start or end of the
block can be a slightly annoying task at higher
magnifications. To help with this, if you click the right
mouse button on the left slider arrow at the bottom of the
sample window, Sound Lab will find the start of your block
for you. Similarly, if you right-click on the right slider
arrow, Sound Lab will display the end of the block.
You can also right click anywhere in the slider, and it will
"snap" instantly to that location. It's a lot faster than
dragging the slider to the same place with the left mouse
button. Although I added this feature earlier (I think in
v1.03), I apparently didn't document it. This will work with
ANY slider in the program, not just the one on the sample
window.
Two more features were also undocumented. Clicking on the
zoom indicator at the top of the sample window will switch
between Max zoom and 1x zoom. And clicking on the speed
indicator will bring up the "Speed" dialog. As with the
slider right-click, these were added earlier but not
documented.
--- MIDI
Current versions of Sound Lab do not have any MIDI
capability. If the program detects any MIDI activity, it
will ask you to shut off or disconnect it shortly after the
Sound Lab 1.1 Update Page 4
title screen disappears. This is the ONLY time it will check
the MIDI; should you later turn the equipment back on or
reconnect it, you will find that any MIDI input from the
equipment (i.e. note events or MIDI clock) will stop the
playback of sound, just as a keypress would. This is because
of how the MIDI and keyboard interrupts are set up on the ST.
Later versions of Sound Lab will have some MIDI capability.
I mention this because, even though I had programmed this in,
I'd forgotten about it. I loaded Sound Lab and then switched
on my keyboard, getting ready to see if I could sample some
sounds. Naturally it was also connected via MIDI cables, and
my keyboard pumps out a rapid MIDI clock signal; it took me
several minutes to figure out why Sound Lab wasn't able to
play or record anything!
--- New Sample Formats
When you load a file, Sound Lab will check to see if it's an
.AVR, .WAV, .SMP, or .SND file, regardless of its extension.
If it is one of these files, the speed (and various other
items) will be set for you. If the file isn't recognized as
being in one of these formats, Sound Lab will check the
extension, to see if it's .SPL or .SAM, and act accordingly.
Extensions with numbers (