This is a short documentation for Gloops 1.0. Make sure this is the latest version at www.nicolasfournel.com\gloops.htm Please note that this is a program that has been initially conceived for my personnal use. Therefore, there is no warranty of any kind. Use it at your own risk ! Nicolas Fournel Contents ======== 1> What is Gloops ? 2> Main Window description - Commands - Parameters - Modulations 3> Other Windows - Audio Settings - MIDI Controls - Color Settings 4> How to use Gloops ? 5> Known issues 6> Program History 1> What is Gloops ? =================== Gloops stands for Graphical LOOPing System. It's a software that allows you to combine 4 loops in real-time For each voice, you can choose the portion you want to loop, it's duration, it's pan and it's level. You can also apply a resonant filter to it. All the parameters are visible on the main window, and they can be controlled by MIDI. 2> Main Window ============== Commands -------- - Reset: the reset button sets the knobs back to their initial values. If no patch was loaded, this is the value when Gloops was launched. If a patch loaded, this is value as saved in the patch. The waveform is not changed by this function. - Open: loads a new Gloops patch in memory. - Save: saves the current Gloops patch on disk. - Record / Stop Record: this button switches the audio recording function on and off. Gloops' output is saved in the "Output" folder, under the name "outputXXX.wav". The name will be automatically incremented if you record several times. The output is saved as a 44100 Hz, 16-bit, stereo wave file. - Audio Settings: opens the Audio settings dialog box (see the "Other Windows" section). - MIDI controls: opens the MIDI controls dialog box (see the "Other Windows" section). - Color Settings: opens the color settings dialog box (see the "Other Windows" section) - Web site: links to the web page of Gloops. It's a good way to make sure you have the latest version. - About: displays information about the program (such as the version number). Parameters ---------- Loop section: - waveform: sample in which we want to loop. - position: starting point of the loop in the waveform. - duration: size of the loop. - quantization: adjust the grid used to determine the position and duration parameters. To select a new waveform, double-click on the graphic. Gloops also conveniently includes its own wave file browser, from which you can drag and drop samples. In the current version, only 44100 Hz - 16 bit mono wave files are supported. To mute / unmute one of the four voices, click on the small colored rectangle in the top-left corner of the voice. It is green when a voice is active, and red when it is muted. Filter section: - cutoff: cutoff frequency of the filter - resonance: resonance of the filter This is a low pass filter with a 24dB/octave slope. Amplifier section: - amplitude: amplitude of the loop - pan: position of the loop in the stereo field. 3> Other Windows ================ Audio Settings -------------- If the audio output of Gloops is not good, this dialog box allows you to adjust different audio settings. For the moment, you can modify: - the number of buffers (0 or 1 will use the default minimum) - the size of buffers (in samples) Gloops will remember the audio settings you chose the next time you use it. (Actually in version 1.0, you need to exit the application and launch it again for the new audio settings to be taken into account). MIDI controls ------------- This dialog box lets you define which MIDI control a knob will respond to. It is possible to assign the same control number to several knobs, to change multiple parameters at the same time. Gloops will remember the MIDI controls you chose the next time you use it. At the top of the window, a combo box allows you to select the MIDI In port you want to use for MIDI control. If you change the MIDI IN port, you will have to exit Gloops and launch it again for the change to take effect. Color Settings -------------- You can change the colors by clicking on their designation at the left of the tree. All the changes are reflected immediately by the program. You can keep them by pressing OK, or abort by pressing cancel. The Default button sets the initial colors back. 4> How to use Gloops ? ========================== Live usage: you can use Gloops in real-time, with the mouse or from a MIDI controller. A MIDI control change number can be assigned to every knob. Studio usage: you can record Gloops' audio output into a .WAV file with the Record button. Then, you can process the .WAV file in any sound editor such as Sound Forge / Wavelab etc..., or import it as an audio track in a sequencer. Note that some sound cards such as the SoundBlaster Live also allow you to record the output of the card while its playing. You can also use utilies such as AudioMagic. 5> Known issues =============== Gloops does not work with Large Fonts display. There is no plan to change that in the near future. 6> History ========== 06/27/2002 version 1.0, another week-end project !