A.C.E. 1/ACE CD 1.iso/files/docs/octamedd.lha/OctaMedV5.0.doc

Text File | 1995-02-10 | 235.7 KB | 6,390 lines

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     .                       »»»» PRESENTS ««««
                                 OCTAMED V5
                                 ==========

                                                TYPED BY SHARD



Written  by  Ed Wiles.  Based on earlier documentation by Teijo Kinnunen and
Larry McIntire (thanks guys!!).

Proof-reading  and  minor  alterations by David Wiles, Teijo Kinnunen, Bryan
Williamson and Ray Burt-Frost (the latter of RBF Software) - thank you!


Contents  (revised for OctaMED V5.01b)
--------------------------------------

Welcome to the OctaMED help system. The following topics are available:

Introduction
Those upgrading from V4.
The user interface
Installation
Menus
Windows
Main screen
Player commands
Keyboard shortcuts


"Commodore-Amiga & ppguide Copyright notice"
Amiga Workbench 2.1 is a registered trade mark of Commodore-Amiga inc.

(c) Copyright 1985 - 1992 Commodore-Amiga, inc. All Rights Reserved.

"Amiga/Workbench/Kickstart are registered trademarks.  Commodore-Amiga,inc."
The  Files  on  the  disk are from WB 2.1 "tm" and are distributed with this
OctaMED  program  under  licence from Commodore themselves.  They may not be
copied and sold without obtaining a licence from CBM

The  special  decrunch  prog  that  is being used on this disk to enable the
AmigaGuide  files  to be read from the crunched format is called ppguide and
is used with kind permission of it's author Bill Sorensen.

Why on earth didn't C= release the AmigaGuide with PP compatability??


OctaMED Menus
-------------

The OctaMED menu bar contains the following menus:

Project
Display
Song
Block
Track
Instr
Edit
MIDI
Settings

The Project Menu
----------------

New
This  item  displays  the New Project window, with which you may discard the
current project and begin a new one.

Open
Displays  a  file requester to load a new song into memory.  The The current
song  will  be  discarded.    A confirmation requester, offering to save the
current  song  first,  will  appear  if the current project has been changed
since last saving.

When  loading  songs  without  instruments,  a  requester  will appear if an
instrument  can't be located on disk, offering to continue loading the other
instruments  or  to stop loading the song altogether.  If you continue until
the  song  is  loaded, OctaMED will load the instruments it can find and put
the  names of the instruments it can't find in their proper numbered places.
You  must then locate and load appropriate instruments into these positions;
otherwise, the notes played by those instruments will be silent.

Note  that  although  you  can  load  normal Tracker modules, you can't load
packed  Tracker  modules.   Tracker player commands will be converted to the
OctaMED equivalent.

If  a song isn't identified as any format listed in the Save Options window,
a  requester will appear wondering if you wish to try to load the file as an
old  Soundtracker  song.    If it IS an old Soundtracker song it should load
correctly, but if not OctaMED may crash!  You have been warned ;-D

Upon successful loading, the song's annotation text (if any) is displayed on
the title bar: see Song menu -> Set Annotation.

Save
Brings  up  the  Save  Options  window,  with which you can save the current
project on to disk.

Save Timer
Opens  the  Save  Timer  window,  which  provides  an  option similar to the
"automatic save" function in many wordprocessors.

Delete Files
Displays a file requester allowing you to delete one or more files from disk
(after  confirmation).  TAKE CARE: THE FILES WILL BE PERMANENTLY ERASED FROM
THE DISK!

Print
Brings  up the Print Options window, where you may print the current song in
various ways.

Last Message
Displays  the  last  message  (error  or  information)  that appeared on the
screen's title bar.

About
Displays information about OctaMED.

Quit OctaMED
Quits the program.  Will display a confirmation requester if the project has
been changed since last saving.


The Display Menu
----------------

Tracker Editor
Displays the Tracker editor.

Notation Editor
Displays the notation editor.

Synth Editor
Opens the Synthetic Sound Editor.  [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-Y ]

Sample Editor
Opens the Sample Editor.   [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-E ]

Sample List Editor
Opens the Sample List Editor.

MIDI Message Editor
Opens the MIDI Message Editor window.

Input Map Editor
Opens the Input Map Editor window.

Notation Control
Opens the Notation Control window.  Useful if, while working in the notation
editor, you have closed this window to relieve "cluttering".


The Song Menu
-------------

Select
Opens  the  Song Selector window, with which you may select the current song
(of a multi-module).

          [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-G ]

Add New
Creates a new song, and appends it as the last song.

          [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-NM) ]

Delete Last
Deletes the last song of a multi-module.  Has no effect if there is only one
song in memory.

          [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-NM( ]

Playing Sequence
Opens the Playing Sequence window.

          [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-Q ]

Section List
Opens the Section List window.

          [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-C ]

Set Options
Opens  the  Song Options window.  This window contains several song-specific
options.

Set Volumes
Opens  the  Track  Volumes  window,  which is used to set the volumes of the
tracks relative to the volumes of the notes in the song.

Set Annotation
Opens  a  window  containing a single text box.  In this box you may type in
any  text  up to 70 characters long.  This text will be saved with the song,
then  displayed  on  the  title  bar  when  the  song is reloaded.  Suitable
annotation  text  is, for example, a copyright message, the composer's name,
or special instructions.


The Block Menu
--------------

New/Insert
Inserts a new block at the current block position.  OctaMED will correct the
entries  in the playing sequence, so the song isn't changed.  The length and
width of the newly-created block will be taken from the current block.

     [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-I ]

New/Append
Adds  a  new block after the last block.  The length and width will be taken
from the current block.

     [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-N ]

New/Insert Def
As  Insert,  but  uses  the  built-in default length/width (64 lines, 4 or 8
tracks - 8 tracks if the channel mode is 5 - 8-channel: see Song Options.

     [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-I ]

New/Append Def
As Append, but uses the built-in defaults described above.

     [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-N ]

Delete
Deletes  the  block  selected  by  the sub-menu (Current or Last).  WARNING:
There  is  no  confirmation  requester!    OctaMED  corrects the appropriate
playing sequence entries.

Set Properties
Opens  the  Block  Properties  window,  which  contains  some block-specific
settings.

Block List
Opens  the Block List window.  This window allows easy management of blocks.

      [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-B ]

Highlight
Opens  the  Highlight Options window, where you may highlight the lines in a
block in a particular order.

Cut
Copies the current block to the copy buffer, and clears the block.

      [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Alt-X ]

Copy
Places a copy of the current block in the copy buffer.

      [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Alt-C ]

Paste
Overwrites the block with the copy buffer's contents.

      [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Alt-V ]

Swap w/Buff
Swaps  the  contents  of  the  current  block  with the contents of the copy
buffer.

Insert Line
Inserts  a  new  line at the cursor position, increasing the block length by
one line.

Delete Line
Deletes  the  line  at the cursor position, reducing the block length by one
line.

Expand/Shrink
Opens the Expand/Shrink Block window.

Split At Cursor
Splits the current block into two blocks; the current line becomes the first
line of the next block.

    [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-J ]

Join With Next
Joins the current block with the following one.

    [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-J ]

The Track Menu
--------------

Cut
Copies  the  current  track  to the copy buffer, and clears the track.  (The
"current track" is the track that the cursor is on).

Copy
Places a copy of the current track in the copy buffer.

Paste
Overwrites the track with the copy buffer's contents.

Swap w/Buff
Swaps  the  contents  of  the  current  track  with the contents of the copy
buffer.

Insert Empty
Inserts  an  empty  track.  Tracks on the right of the current track will be
shifted  right.    The  number  of tracks doesn't increase, so the rightmost
track will be discarded.

The  sub-menu  allows you to apply the operation to either the current block
only or the entire song.

   [ Keyboard shortcut: Curr. Block = Alt-Shift-Backspace ]

Delete
Deletes  a  track.  Tracks on the right of the current track will be shifted
left.   The sub-menu allows you to apply the operation to either the current
block only or the entire song.

    [ Keyboard shortcut: Curr. Block = Alt-Backspace ]


The Instr Menu
--------------

Set Parameters
Opens  the  Instrument  Parameters  window, which allows you to edit various
instrument parameters.

     [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-I ]

Type
Opens the Instrument Type window.

     [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-T ]

Load Instrument(s)
Opens  a  file  requester to load instruments into memory.  OctaMED can load
any  type of instrument listed in Instrument Type.  The instrument is loaded
into  the  sample  slot  displayed  in  the  upper screen.  If an instrument
already exists in that slot, the new one will replace it.

If the instrument is a sample or synthetic sound, the title bar displays its
size  in  bytes.   In the case of synthetic sounds, it will also display the
number of waveforms the sound uses.

If  more  than  one instrument is selected, they are loaded into consecutive
sample slots in alphabetical order.

Save Instrument
Opens a file requester to save the current instrument instrument on to disk.
The sub-menu gives you the choice of saving as an IFF 8SVX file or as a pure
binary  file  (Raw).    The  difference  is that IFF files also contain loop
information  (making  them  slightly  larger than Raw files): see Instrument
Parameters.  Also, some other music programs can only load IFF files.

When  saving  synthetic  or hybrid sounds, you may choose either IFF 8SVX or
Raw (since they are saved as neither!).  For ExtSamples, save as IFF 8SVX.

    [ Keyboard shortcuts: IFF = Ctrl-S, Raw = Shift-Ctrl-S ]

Flush Current
Removes the current instrument from memory, frees the memory used by it, and
clears all its parameters.

    [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-G ]

Flush All Unused
Removes  all instruments unused by the current project (after a confirmation
requester).  If there are no unused instruments, no requester appears.

    [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-G ]

Automatic Flush
When  selected,  a  requester  to  flush  unused  instruments will appear on
pressing the Clear Current button in the New Project window.

The  following  two  items  affect  instrument  names  when loading songs or
instruments.

Add Path
Adds  the  full path of the instrument when loaded.  (The "path" is the disk
and  directory  name,  for  example: "Samples1:Bass/").  This is useful when
saving  songs  without  instruments  which  include  instruments not in your
sample list.  When the song is reloaded, the instruments will be loaded from
the given disks.

Remove Path
Usually  songs  made  with  Trackers have instrument names which include the
full  path.   This option removes the paths of the instruments, so that they
can be loaded using the sample list instead of directly from the appropriate
disk.

Both  Add and Remove Path may be active at once.  In this case, the original
path  is  removed,  the  instrument is loaded using the sample list, and the
path name from the sample list is added.

Note  that  the  maximum  length  of an instrument name is 40 characters, so
characters at the end of the name may be lost if the path is very long.


The Edit Menu
-------------

Apart from Transpose, all items in this menu act on the current range, which
is selected by dragging the mouse in the Tracker editor.

(The button used to drag is defined in the Mouse Options window.

Cut Range
Copies the range to the copy buffer, and clears the track.

    [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-X ]

Copy Range
Places a copy of the range in the copy buffer.

    [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-C ]

Paste Range
Inserts the contents of the copy buffer at the cursor position.

    [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-V ]

Paste To Selected Tracks
As  Paste  Range,  but  inserts  consecutive  tracks  in  the copy buffer to
consecutive selected tracks in the block.

For  example,  imagine  the  copy buffer contains 3 tracks, the cursor is on
track  2,  and tracks 2, 5 and 8 are selected.  Choosing Paste to Sel Tracks
pastes  the  copy buffer to tracks 2, 5 and 8 (instead of 2, 3 and 4 as with
normal Paste).

Tracks  in  the  block are selected by setting the cycle gadget on the upper
screen to "Select".

   [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-V ]

Erase Range
Clears the notes in the range.

   [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-Z ]

Discard Copy Buffer
Flushes the copy buffer and frees the memory it occupied.

Transpose
Opens  the Transpose window, which allows transposing and changing of notes,
and changing of instrument numbers.

Range Current Track
Ranges the whole of the track the cursor is on.

    [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-B ]

Range Current Block
Ranges the whole of the current block.

    [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-B ]

Spread Notes
Opens  the  Spread  Notes window, which allows spreading of the notes in the
range across consecutive tracks to the right of the range.

Pitch Slide
Creates  a  pitch slide, starting from the cursor position and ending at the
next note encountered in the current track.

The  sub-menus  select which sliding command to use (see Commands 0 - 9, but
the better result is usually achieved using Type 1.  (The difference is that
type  2  replays the note after sliding to it, whereas type 1 doesn't replay
the note).

    [ Keyboard shortcuts: Type 1 = Ctrl-T, 2 = Shift-Ctrl-T ]

Volume Slide
Creates  a  volume  slide, with the cursor position between the starting and
ending volume commands (that is, the "0C" commands: see Commands A - F.

    [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-O ]

Generic Slide
Creates  a  slide  using  any  type  of player command.  Position the cursor
somewhere  between  the  starting  and ending commands before selecting this
function.

NOTE:  If you want to create a volume slide, this command will do it just as
well  as  the Volume Slide function above.  However, in Decimal Volumes mode
the  slide will be created in hexadecimal, which is bound to cause problems.
So for volume slides, use Volume Slide!   :^)

One  use of Generic Slide is to repeat a single player command several times
throughout a track.  Just make the starting and ending commands identical.

     [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-O ]

Note Echo
Opens the Note Echo window, which can produce echoes automatically using the
0C command.


The MIDI Menu
-------------

OctaMED  can  output  notes  and  some player commands (see MIDI Commands to
external  MIDI  devices, by way of a MIDI interface which you should connect
to  your Amiga's serial port.  This menu contains the required functions and
settings for MIDI operation.

You  also  need  to  set  the  MIDI  channel  and preset number of each MIDI
instrument,  using  the  Instrument  Parameters  window.   (This window also
contains the "Suppress NoteOff" gadget used with some MIDI instruments).

You  may  use  MIDI  instruments  on  any  track, and you may also mix Amiga
samples and MIDI instruments on the first four tracks.

Note:
Please  refer  to your MIDI device's manual if you come across terms in this
topic that you aren't sure of.

MIDI Active
Activates  MIDI  when selected.  If the serial port is being used by another
program,  however, you must quit the other program before you can use MIDI.
When  this  option  is on, an "M" appears in the display box to the right of
Cont Block in the upper screen.

Input Active
When  selected,  allows  the  entering of notes into the song using the MIDI
device.    Edit  mode  and  MIDI  Active  must be on.  An "I" appears in the
display box mentioned above when this function is active.

You  can  also  use  your MIDI device to both enter samples and perform many
editing functions using the input map editor.

Input Channel
Opens  up  the  Input  Channel window, with which you may set the MIDI input
channel.

Ext Sync and Send Sync
Synchronization  (or  "sync" for short) involves OctaMED sending information
which allows MIDI devices to keep in time with OctaMED.

When  "Send  Sync"  is  activated,  this  information is sent when you click
either Play Song or STOP (not Cont Song, Play Block or Cont Block).

When  "Ext  Sync"  is activated, OctaMED can be synced "externally", meaning
that  an external MIDI device sends the sync information instead of OctaMED.
As  well  as  (of course) "MIDI Active", "Input Active" must be selected for
Ext Sync to work.

Send Active Sensing
After  "MIDI  Active"  has been selected, OctaMED periodically sends "active
sensing" ($FE) messages when this is turned on.  These messages tell OctaMED
whether all required MIDI leads are properly connected.

Send Out Input
When  activated,  OctaMED  replays input MIDI notes.  Useful for owners of a
separate sound module and keyboard.

Read Key-Up's
When  switched  on,  OctaMED  records  key-up events (as 0FFF commands - see
Commands A - F.

Read Volume
If  you have a touch-sensitive keyboard, the volume will be entered as a set
volume  player  command  (0C) when notes are input (see Commands A - F.

Reset Pitch/Presets
Resets  pitchbenders,  modulation  wheels  and  presets   on   all channels.
(OctaMED sends "preset change" messages for all MIDI channels).

     [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-Space ]

Send MIDI Reset
Sends a "MIDI Reset" message ($FF).

Send Local Control
Sends  a  "Local  Control  On  /  Off"  message.    When  using   a keyboard
synthesizer, the local control (when on) routes the keyboard directly to the
internal  synthesizer.   In a multi-timbral setup, switch local control off;
otherwise, it's usually best to keep on.

Note Killing
Selects the method for turning off all notes (by clicking "STOP" or pressing
the space bar).

"$Bx  7B  00"  sends "All Notes Off" messages for each MIDI channel, whereas
"Note Off Msgs" sends standard "Note Off" messages for each track.

The  former  is recommended if your MIDI device supports it, because it cuts
all notes, not just those OctaMED triggers.

(Also see the MIDI Message Editor


The Settings Menu
-----------------

Mouse Options
Displays  the  Mouse Options window, which allows you to change the function
of each mouse button when editing.

Keyboard Options
Displays  the  Keyboard  Options  window,  which contains several parameters
concerning using the keyboard when editing.

Programmable Keys
Opens the Programmable Keys window, where you may edit the programmable keys
(Shift-0-9).

Display Max Tracks
Selects  the  maximum  number  of  tracks that can be displayed on-screen at
once.    The value that you select depends mostly on your eyesight!  To find
the  appropriate  value for you, set the "Tracks" slider in Block Properties
to  17  or  above, and pick 4, 8 and 16 from Display Max Tracks in turn.  If
you  connect  your  Amiga to a television and you can still clearly read the
block contents in 16 mode, your eyesight is truly remarkable!

(You  may notice that in 16 mode, 17 tracks are in fact displayed at once...
don't ask me why ;-)

Palette
Opens the Palette Window, with which you can alter the screen's colors.

Equalizers
 Selects  which  "equalizers" to display.  (They aren't actually equalizers,
but  this  is  their  popular name).  They're useful as a quick check to see
which  track  is  playing, or to monitor rhythm.  "Bar" toggles the colorful
sprites,  "Oscilloscope"  toggles  the  signal displays at the bottom of the
screen.

The  equalizers  are  disabled  during  disk activity and if any windows are
open.

Under  a  68000  processor, the Oscilloscopes in particular take up a lot of
processor  time  (multi-tasking becomes poorer, disk activity noisier etc.),
so  if you have a 68000 you may wish to disable them permanently.  Under all
processors, they are disabled during disk activity.

Workbench
Attempts to open / close the Workbench.  Useful if you are low on memory, as
closing the Workbench frees about 40K of chip memory.

H -> B
Selects  how OctaMED will display the name of the note between A# and C.  In
some  countries  it's  H,  in  others  it's B.  When set, B's are displayed.
Default is on (B's are displayed).

Play After Loading
When  set,  OctaMED  automatically starts playing a song after it is loaded.
Useful, for example, when listening to other people's songs.

Auto-Freeze Screen
When  on, this automatically "freezes" the screen when the OctaMED screen is
not  the  frontmost.   This frees more processor time for multitasking.  The
screen  can  also  be  frozen  using  the Freeze Display gadget in the lower
screen.

Load Settings
Opens  a  file  requester  to load a new settings file.  The default name is
"S:OctaMEDPro.config".

Save Settings
Saves  the  current  settings under the name "S:OctaMEDPro.config".  OctaMED
will attempt to load a file of this name on startup.

Save Settings As
Opens a file requester to save the settings under a non-default name.

For a list of the settings saved with the config file, see the Settings File


OctaMED Windows
---------------

These are the windows included in OctaMED.

Synthetic Sound Editor:           Block menu  :
Synthetic Sound Volume            Block Properties
Synthetic Sound Stretch           Block List
                                  Expand/Shrink Block
Sample Editor                     Highlight Options

Change Volume                     Instr menu  :
Change Pitch
Mix                               Instrument Parameters
Filter/Boost                      Instrument Type
Echo
Noise                             Edit menu  :
Chord Creation
Pixel Density                     Transpose
                                  Spread Notes
Input Map Editor                  Note Echo

Functions                         MIDI menu  :

Project menu  :                              Input Channel

New Project                       Settings menu  :
Save Options
Save Timer                        Mouse Options
Print Options                     Keyboard Options

Programmable Keys

Display menu  :                   Palette

Sample List Editor                Main screen  :
MIDI Message Editor
Notation Control                  Instrument Load

Song menu  :

Song Selector
Playing Sequence
Section List
Song Options
Track Volumes

The New Project Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-N ]

With  this  window you can discard the current project and begin a new one.
It is activated via the Project menu.

If  the  current  project  has been modified since last saving, the window's
title  bar  will  display "WARNING: Current project modified!".  This is the
only warning you are given: no confirmation requesters are displayed.

It contains three gadgets:

Clear All
Discards all samples and songs.

Clear Current
Clears  the current song only.  If Instr Menu/Automatic Flush is selected, a
requester to flush unused instruments will also appear.

Cancel
Closes the window, canceling the operation.


The Save Options Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-S ]

This window allows you to save the current project on to disk.  It is opened
using the Project menu.

The  text  box at the top of the window is for typing in the filename of the
project.    If  the  box  is  empty  on opening the window, a file requester
appears  to  select an appropriate filename.  The file requester can also be
opened by clicking the small GetFile gadget to the left of the text box.

The  cycle gadget under the File Format gadget applies to multi-modules, and
selects  whether  to  save  all  the  songs  in the multi-module or only the
currently selected song.  By default, all songs are saved.

File Format
This  radio  button  selects  which file format to use when saving.  Options
are:

MMD2 (OctaMED V5)
This format is new to V5, and supports multiple playing sequences (sections)
and  1  -  64  tracks.   If the song requires either of these features, this
gadget is selected when the Save Options window is opened.

MMD1 (OctaMED V3-V5)
This  is the V3-V5 format, so is (of course) compatible with these versions.
If  MMD2 format is not required, this gadget is selected on opening the Save
Options window.

Modules  requiring  MMD2  format  can  be saved almost perfectly under MMD1.
Song sections are the only thing not saved: instead, they are converted into
one  long  playing  sequence,  by  ordering  the sections in the arrangement
defined by the section list.

MMD0 (MED & OctaMED)
The  pre-OctaMED  V3 format, introduced in MED V2.10.  Files saved with this
format lack the following:

* 2-digit commands (the first digit is always zero)
* Notes above D-6 (replaced by a -|- symbol)
* Block names
* Line highlighting

MMD0  modules  are  always  saved  with  instruments,  and song sections are
converted as described above.

Note  that  even  options  new to V5 (Loop On check box, ExtSamples, default
pitch,  extended  MIDI  preset, 1 - 64 tracks) are properly saved under MMD1
and  MMD0.  (Although 1 - 64 tracks are correctly saved under MMD1, however,
pre-V5  versions of OctaMED will probably crash if such modules are loaded).


Tracker Module
Sound/Noise/Protracker  format,  used  to  export modules to other "tracker"
programs.    However, since OctaMED supports many functions that trackers do
not, some information may be lost, and some of this information appears in a
requester before saving.

Full  details  of the lost information can be found in Tracker Modules.

The  further  down  the  File  Format  button you go, the simpler the format
becomes,  and  therefore  the smaller the file produced.  So for example, if
you  don't  require  notes  above  D-6, block names, line highlighting, song
sections  or  two-digit  commands  to  be  saved, you should choose the MMD0
format, since it produces a smaller file than MMD1 or MMD2.

Save Secondary Data
Toggles whether to save "extra" information with the song: instrument names,
line  highlighting, block names, and the song name.  Otherwise, only what is
essential to play the song is saved (meaning that the saved file is slightly
smaller).

Create Icon
When  selected,  a  Workbench  icon  file is saved with the song: a cassette
image  (designed  by Izrael Similä of Iz Productions, thanks!).  The default
tool is written as "OctaMEDPlayer".

Save Notation Data
When checked, saves some additional information used in the notation editor:

* The Shown, Ghost and Select track gadgets' status
* The time and key signature
* Both the settings in the Instr. Notation window

Save Instruments
Chooses  whether the song should be saved together with its instruments.  If
not,  only  the  instrument  names are saved; when the song is reloaded, the
instruments are loaded from your sample disks.  This is done either by using
the  full  path  name  of each instrument (see (see Instr Menu/Add Path), or
more commonly by way of the sample list.

When this gadget is on, instruments unused in the song won't be saved.

By default, all these check boxes except Save Notation Data are switched on.


To  those upgrading from V4: MMD1 and MMD0 are equivalent to MOD1 and MOD0.
MOD1  (+instr)  can  be  selected  by  choosing  MMD1   and   switching Save
Instruments on, and MOD1 (no inst) by switching Save Instruments off.

Compression
This  cycle gadget selects the compression (if any) to use before saving the
module.

No Compression
Does not compress the module (default).

PowerPacker Compression
Uses  the  popular  powerpacker.library  by   Nico   François   to compress.
(Currently the parameters are always Good efficiency, Medium buffer).

SFCD Compression
The  Stephan  Fuhrmann  Compact  Density  algorithm  is used for compression
(requires lh.library, not included with OctaMED).

Calculate Size
Calculates  the  size  in  bytes  of  the  project if it was saved using the
current status of File Format, Save Secondary Data, Save Notation Data, Save
Instruments and the multi-module cycle gadget.

Save
Saves the song using the above parameters.


**  OctaMED can emulate the "automatic save" function of many wordprocessors
using the Save Timer window


The Save Timer Window

This window, activated using the Project menu, emulates the "automatic save"
function  of  many  wordprocessors.    You  can  automatically open the Save
Options window periodically.

The  window  contains  a  single  integer gadget, whose value is the time in
minutes  between subsequent openings of the Save Options window.  A value of
0 turns this function off, and is the default.


The Print Options Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-P ]

This  window, opened using the Project menu, allows printing of the song and
various song information.  You can print the song as text (the format of the
Tracker editor or as graphics (as in the notation editor.

The gadgets are as follows:

Output File
Consists  of  a  text  box and a GetFile gadget to the left of the text box.
With  these you may redirect output to a file instead of a printer.  You can
only redirect the header and text output, not graphics.

Start Block
These numerical boxes set the starting and ending block of the printout; you
may type in any valid block numbers.

All Blocks
Sets the boxes to the first and last block of the song.

Current Block
Sets the boxes to the current block number.

Print Header
Selects  whether  to  print the header before the song contents.  The header
consists  of  a list of instruments and their parameters, the default tempo,
play transpose, track volumes and the playing sequence(s).  It is printed as
ordinary text.

Form Feed
Sends a form feed after printing each block.

The  remaining  cycle gadget selects whether to print as graphics (default),
text,  or  not  to  print the blocks at all (i.e.  only the header, if Print
Header is checked).

Any  Preferences-compatible  printer  should  work in graphics mode, and the
printout's  appearance can be changed using the "Printer" preference program
which can be found in the Prefs drawer.  In text mode, highlighted lines are
printed in bold text.

"Print" prints using the specified options, and "Exit" closes the window.


The Synthetic Sound Editor   [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-Y ]

Synthetic  sounds  (or  "synthsounds") are made from simple waveforms, which
can  be  joined  together and have their volume and pitch altered by using a
simple  "programming  language".    This  window  contains  the functions to
construct these sounds, and is opened either by using the Display menu or by
clicking the "Edit SynthS" gadget on the upper screen.

The  main advantage of synthsounds is that they take up far less memory than
their sampled counterparts, so often it's worth trying to create a synthetic
version  of  a  sampled  instrument  before  devoting yourself to one or the
other.    However,  this  doesn't  mean  synthsounds  are a poor substitute,
especially if you enjoy the sounds produced by analogue synthesizers and the
good old Commodore 64!

Synthsounds are also particularly useful when composing in certain styles of
music,  Acid  House  and  Rave  being notable examples.  They also have a 5-
octave range, compared to the 3-octave range of ordinary samples.

To  use this window's functions, the current instrument must be a synthsound
(selected  either  by  using the Instrument Type window, or by choosing "New
Synthsound" from the synth editor's Project menu).

When  Edit  is  on  (upper  screen),  the  keyboard  is  used to program the
synthsound  (see  the Synthetic Sound Programming Language, but when off you
may play the current sound using the keyboard, like ordinary samples.

Waveform editing
----------------

There  are  two  waveform  displays:  the  left  one is the "master waveform
display"  (which  is the actual current instrument) and the right one is for
intermediate  editing  (it  also  serves  as  a copy buffer).  Either of the
waveforms  can be activated by clicking on them, and the current waveform is
recessed (it seems to "go into" the screen).  Initially the right display is
active.

There  are  gadgets  between  the  displays,  most  of  which  are  used for
transferring waveforms between displays:

Copy
Copies one waveform to the other (in the arrow direction).

Exchange
Exchanges both waveforms.

Mix
Mixes the left waveform to the right waveform.

Add
Like Mix, but it doesn't produce any average between the waveforms.

UNDO
"Undoes" (reverses the effects of) the last editing operation.

Range All
Selects the entire current waveform as the range for editing operations.


Freehand drawing
----------------

One  way  to  create waveforms is to draw them from scratch, by dragging the
left mouse button along a waveform display.

There  are  four drawing modes, selectable by toggling the "Draw Mode" cycle
gadgets.

Pixel
Draws in pixels (default).

Line
Used for drawing straight lines.

Mix
Mixes the drawn lines / pixels with the existing data.

Direct
Draws without mixing (default).

(The upper cycle gadget also selects Range, with which you can select a part
of the waveform: see below).

The Preset and Project menus
----------------------------

Instead  of  drawing  freehand  (which can be inaccurate), some often-needed
basic  waveforms  are available from the Presets menu.  Selecting a waveform
inserts it into the active waveform display.

Also in this menu is "Clear Wave", which clears the active display.

The following items are included in the Project menu:

New Synthsound
Clears  the  whole  synthsound  (take  care...).    Also  forces the current
instrument to be a synthsound.

Exit Synth Editor
Closes the window.

Waveform length
---------------

Each  synthetic waveform can be 2 - 128 bytes long (although the number must
be  even).    The shorter the waveform, the higher the pitch (the pitch also
depends  on the waveform itself).  Usually, to make the pitches harmonically
compatible with other instruments, you should use length 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64
or 128.  The length can be changed by using the "Length" slider.

Multiple waveforms
------------------

Up  to  64  waveforms can be defined for one synthsound.  The gadgets to the
right  of "Waveform:" are: the current waveform integer gadget (you can type
in  the  number of the waveform), the current waveform number in hex and the
last  waveform number in decimal, and arrow gadgets that increase / decrease
the  current waveform number [ keyboard shortcuts: Alt - <left> / <right> ].
Shift-clicking these arrow gadgets selects the first / last waveform.

Relevant gadgets are as follows:

New Waveform
Adds a new waveform after the last waveform.

New Here
Inserts a new waveform at the current waveform position.

Delete Last
Deletes the last waveform.

Delete Current
Deletes the current waveform.

Range operations
----------------

Some  basic  operations  exist  that apply to the current range.  A range is
marked by cycling the upper Draw Mode cycle gadget to "Range", then dragging
the  left  mouse  button over a waveform display.  The whole waveform can be
selected  by  clicking  "Range  All".    The  "Range" / "End" gadgets at the
lower-right of the window can be used to make small corrections to the range
area.

A  range of one byte in length is displayed as a single vertical white line.
This  is  the cursor; some editing operations need it.  It may be set either
by  clicking  the  left  mouse  button  on  a waveform display (with "Range"
cycled),  or  by  using  the  "Cursor" gadgets: from left to right, they are
"cursor to start", "cursor to middle of waveform", and "cursor to end".

The range gadgets are as follows:

Cut
(works  only on left waveform display) Moves the range contents to the right
display, and clears the range.

Copy
(only left display) Copies the range to the right display.

Paste
Copies right display to the cursor position on the left display.

Clear
Clears the range.

Double
"Doubles" the range, making the pitch one octave higher.

Reverse
Reverses the range.

<< / >>
Shifts the ranged data to the left or right.

The Waveform menu
-----------------

Change Volume
Opens the Synthsound Volume window.

Stretch
Opens the Synthsound Stretch window.

Start / Do

Transformation
Allows  you  to  change  one waveform to another smoothly, by generating the
intervening waveforms.

For  example,  allocate  9 new waveforms by clicking "New Waveform" 9 times.
Move  to  waveform  0  and  select  a  pulse  waveform,  and  select  "Start
Transformation".  Now move to waveform 9 and select a sine waveform.  Select
"Do  Transformation" to carry out the operation, and if you view waveforms 1
- 8 you'll notice the smooth transition between the pulse and sine wave.

(Programming language documented in Synthetic Sound Programming Language


The Synthsound Volume Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-V ]

This  allows  you  to increase / decrease the volume of a selected range, in
the  synthetic  sound editor.  It is brought up by selecting "Change Volume"
from the editor's Waveform menu.

The  integer  gadget contains the percentage of volume change required.  For
example,  50  would  halve  the  volume,  and  200 would double the volume.
Pressing RETURN while the gadget is active executes the function.

The OK gadget carries out the operation, the Cancel gadget aborts it.


The Synthsound Stretch Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-S ]

This allows you to stretch a point on the waveform towards another point, in
the  synthetic  sound  editor.   It is activated using the editor's Waveform
menu.

For  example: select a sine wave.  Then position the cursor at the middle of
the waveform.  Now open this window and type the amount of movement into the
integer gadget (e.g.  32).

Typing  in  a  negative  number  stretches  the point to the left.  Pressing
RETURN while the gadget is active executes the function.

The OK gadget carries out the operation, the Cancel gadget aborts it.


The Synthetic Sound Programming Language

Note:  Please  read this section carefully before experimenting, because you
can  lock  your  machine  up with improper use of the synthsound programming
language (as with any other language).

The programming language is used for controling the volume, pitch, and order
of waveforms in a synthsound.  It consists of simple keywords, of which most
have  an argument.  For a description of these keywords, see Synthetic Sound
Language Keywords.

The  programming  is  done using two lists of commands/numbers.  These lists
are  displayed  in  a  small  window below the right waveform display in the
synthetic  sound  editor.  The two leftmost columns display the line numbers
in decimal and hex.  The middle column contains the volume control sequence,
while the rightmost is the waveform/pitch control sequence.

       volume ctrl seq
          |
line      |    waveform ctrl seq
  |       |    |
  00 00   40   00
  01 01  END  END

These sequences ("seqs" from now on) are both a maximum of 127 entries long.
Each seq is always automatically terminated with the "END" instruction.  You
can scroll the seqs with the cursor up/down keys, and use the F6-F10 keys as
in the Tracker editor.

The  cursor  can  be  moved  horizontally using the cursor left/right keys.
There  are  six possible horizontal cursor locations (3 for each seq).  When
entering  commands,  the  cursor  should  be on the leftmost position of the
appropriate  seq.    Values  are  entered by positioning the cursor over the
number  to  be  changed and typing in a new value.  Commands and numbers are
entered  via  the  keyboard,  and  Edit  must be on before either seq can be
changed.

You  may  insert entries to the seqs with the Return key (or by clicking the
"Insert"  gadget),  and delete using the Del key (or by clicking "Delete").
JMP commands are renumbered when entries are inserted or deleted.

 With the release of V5, editing has been tidied up somewhat.  The cursor no
longer  moves  down beyond END; and inserting any command except HLT and RES
(which don't take parameters) also inserts a new 00 value.

The  "Transition"  gadget  creates  transitions.  For example, consider this
waveform sequence: line 00 00 01 0F 02 END

If you position the cursor at line 01, making sure that Edit is on, clicking
"Transition"  creates all the numbers between 00 and 0F (01, 02, 03, 04 ...
0E).  This saves a lot of typing!

       * ALL NUMBERS IN THE SEQUENCE LISTS ARE HEXADECIMAL *

First, let's examine some example sequences.

This is a volume sequence:

        00  40 <= set initial volume to 64 (hex $40)
        01 CHD <= command, that means "Set volume change down speed"
        02  03 <= argument (speed = 3)
        03 END

Here's another:

        00  00 <= initial volume = 0
        01 CHU <= Command: Set volume change up
        02  07 <= speed = 7
        03 WAI <= Command: Wait
        04  10 <= wait 10 pulses
        05 CHU <= Set volume change up
        06  00 <= speed = 0 -> stop changing volume
        07 WAI <= Wait
        08  70 <= 70 pulses
        09 CHD <= Cmd: Set volume change down
        0A  01 <= speed = 1 (slow)
        0B END

A third:

        00  40 <= vol = $40
        01  30 <= vol = $30 (without a command, the values are volume
        02  20 <= vol = $20  changes)
        03 END

And finally, a fourth:

        00  40    <= vol = $40
        01 CHD <+ <= change down speed..
        02  01  | <= ..= 1
        03 WAI  | <= Wait..
        04  20  | <= ..20
        05 CHU  | <= change up
        06  01  | <= ..1
        07 WAI  | <= Wait..
        08  20  | <= ..20 again
        09 JMP  | <= Jump (= goto)
        0A  01 -+ <= to line number 01
        0B END

Now  for  some waveform/pitch sequences.  The waveform/pitch sequence is the
"master sequence" while the volume sequence is a kind of "slave sequence".

First: (the simplest case)
        00  00 <= set waveform #00
        01 END

A bit more complex:
        00 VBS <= set vibrato speed
        01  40 <= speed = $40
        02 VBD <= set vibrato depth
        03  02 <= depth = 2
        04  00 <= waveform #00
        05 END

And very complex:
        00 ARP <= start arpeggio sequence
        01  00 \
        02  03  arpeggio values 0, 3, 7 (minor chord)
        03  07 /
        04 ARE <= end arpeggio sequence
        05 VBD <= vibrato depth
        06  06 <= 6
        07 VBS <= vibrato speed
        08  40 <= $40
        09  00 <= set waveform #0
        0A  01 <= set waveforms 01 - 0A (one timing pulse/waveform)
        0B  02    | |
        0C  03   \   /
        0D  04    \_/
        0E  05
        0F  06
        10  07
        11  08
        12  09
        13  0A and back to #01...
        14  08
        15  07
        16  06
        17  05
        18  04
        19  03
        1A  02
        1B  01
        1C JMP <= jump
        1D  09 <= to position 09 (restart waveform changing)
        1E END


About timing
------------

After  executing  most  commands,  in both control seqs, OctaMED immediately
executes  the  next  command.  However, with some commands OctaMED waits for
the  next timing pulse before executing the next command.  Without these few
commands,  OctaMED  would spend all its time executing the control seqs (and
hang  up).  You should therefore ensure that all loops contain one, and they
are  WAI (Wait), vol chg (a plain number in the volume seq) and set waveform
(a plain number in the pitch/waveform seq).

For example, the following loops would hang up your computer:

        00 JMP          00  CHU <-+ command CHU doesn't wait
        01  00          01   02   |
        ...             02  JMP   |
                        03   00 --+

While the following would not:

        00  20          00  WAI
        01 JMP          01   02
        02  00          02  JMP
                        03   00

Execution speed
---------------

The  synthsound  handling  routine  is  by  default called once every timing
pulse,  so  for  every  note  played  handling  is  done the number of times
specified by the secondary tempo.  However, you can make OctaMED execute the
synth control seq entries less frequently than that if you wish.  The number
of  timing  pulses  between  the  execution  of  each  entry is known as the
"execution speed".

The execution speed of each seq can be set independently, by using the arrow
gadgets  to  the  left  of  the  control  seq.    Wave  and   Volume set the
waveform/pitch  and  volume  sequences  respectively, and can have values of
1-15  (F hex).  The execution speed can also be changed during execution, by
using the SPD command.

Synthsound-handling player commands
-----------------------------------

With  synthsounds,  command E in songs triggers a jump in the waveform/pitch
sequence.  (See Commands A - F

For  example,  if  you  wanted  to  decrease  the pitch of the sound after a
certain point, your waveform/pitch sequence could look like this:

        00  VBS
        01   40
        02  VBD
        03   06
        04   00 ;play waveform 00
        05  HLT
        06  CHD ;pitch changing entry point
        07   02
        08  END

Now you could compose a track like this:

        C-2 3000  ;this is the previous synthsound
        --- 0000
        --- 0000
        --- 0E06  ;cause a jump to position 06 (pitch starts to slide down)
        --- 0000
        ...

Using  the JVS command, you can make command E affect the volume sequence as
well.

Hold  and Decay (see Instrument Parameters Window work well with synthsounds
too.    The  decay  value  with synthsounds, however, triggers a jump in the
volume control sequence.  At the point when decay normally starts, execution
will  jump  to  the  entry in the vol ctrl seq specified by the decay value.
This  means that you can handle the decay in any way you like.  You can also
make it affect the waveform/pitch seq using the JWS command.

Example volume control sequence:

        00  40  ;volume
        01 HLT  ;end
        02 CHD  ;decay handling (entry point) -> cause decay
        03  03
        04 END

The decay value for this synthsound should be 2.  The decay values are saved
and loaded with synthetic sounds.

Hybrid Sounds
-------------

Hybrid  sounds  are  much  like synthsounds, except that instead of waveform
pieces  a  normal  sample  is used.  All commands of the synthsound handling
programming  language  can  be  used  with  hybrid  sounds,  except the "set
waveform"  command:  since  there's only a single waveform, it neither works
nor is necessary.

Also,  volume-changing  commands (A, C, D, 5, 6, 1A, and 1B) don't work with
hybrid  sounds.    (See Player Commands You can, however, add more synthetic
waveforms for use with the EN1, EN2 or VWF synth commands.

And finally...
-------------

Don't  worry  if  you  don't  understand  synthsounds  at first glance!  The
language  used  in  this  topic  has been necessarily technical, but read it
through again...  :)

Anyway,  you  don't  need  to learn any this information to use synthsounds,
only to design them.


The Synthetic Sound Language Keywords

VOLUME CONTROL SEQUENCE COMMANDS
================================

1.      Set volume
        Command: ---
        Keyboard: --- (key needed to enter the command)

This  is  the default command (no command identifier).  It sets the absolute
volume  of  the  synthsound.   It should be 00 - 40.  Note that the relative
track  volumes are not used in synthsounds (mostly for performance reasons).


        Example:
        00  30  <= volume = $30
        01  10  <= volume = $10
        ...

2.      End sequence
        Command: END
        Keyboard: ---

This  command  terminates  the  volume  control  seq.  It's always there and
automatically inserted.  You can't insert commands past this one.

3.      Set volume change down speed
        Command: CHD
        Keyboard: D

This  command  sets  the  speed at which the volume is decreased each timing
pulse.    The  volume  starts changing automatically after this command.  To
stop automatic volume sliding, issue this command with speed 00.

        Example:
        00  CHD
        01   05  <= speed = 5
        ...
        10  CHD
        11   00  <= speed = 0 -> stop sliding

4.      Set volume change up speed
        Command: CHU
        Keyboard: U

This command is like CHD, except it sets the volume change up.

5.      Wait
        Command: WAI
        Keyboard: W

This command waits for a specified amount of timing pulses (pause).

        Example:
        03  WAI
        04   10  <= wait for 16 ($10) pulses to occur

6.      Jump
        Command: JMP
        Keyboard: J

Causes an immediate jump to another volume seq position.

        Example:
        05  JMP
        06   0A  <= jump forward to line 0A

7.      Jump waveform sequence
        Command: JWS
        Keyboard: Shift-J

This  command causes a jump in the waveform sequence.  This can be used, for
example,  to  trigger  a  pitch change at the end of the vol ctrl seq.  Note
that this DOESN'T cause a jump TO the waveform seq.

        Example:
        04  JWS
        05   0F  <= jump to line 0F in the waveform control sequence


8.      Halt
        Command: HLT
        Keyboard: H

This  has  the  same  effect  as command END (halt execution), but it can be
inserted in the middle of the sequence.

        Example:
        03  HLT
        04   04  <= other code (can be accessed with JMP instruction, for
        ...         example)

9.      Set speed
        Command: SPD
        Keyboard: S

Sets the execution speed.

        Example:
        0A  SPD
        0B   01  <= speed = 1 (fastest)
        ...

10.     One-shot envelope
        Command: EN1
        Keyboard: E

This  command  allows  you to draw the shape of the envelope with the mouse.
When the end of the envelope is reached, nothing occurs.

        02   40
        03  EN1
        04   05

Hence  waveform 05 is used as an envelope.  Note that the envelope execution
starts  on  the  next  interrupt,  so the volume is initialized to $40.  The
envelope waveform must always be 128 bytes long!!

11.     Looping envelope
        Command: EN2
        Keyboard: Shift-E

This  works like command EN1, except that when the end is reached, execution
will start again from the beginning.


WAVEFORM/PITCH CONTROL SEQUENCE COMMANDS
----------------------------------------

1.      Set waveform
        Command: ---
        Keyboard: ---

This  command  is  used  to indicate the waveform number (starting from 00).
After  this  instruction,  the  execution  stops until the next timing pulse
occurs.    Don't use waveform numbers that are higher than the actual number
of the last waveform.

        Example:
        00  00  <= waveform 00
        01  01  <= waveform 01
        ...

2.      End sequence
        Command: END
        Keyboard: ---

This  command  terminates  the  volume  control  seq.  It's always there and
automatically inserted.  You can't insert commands past this one.

3.      Set pitch change down speed
        Command: CHD
        Keyboard: D

This command sets the sliding speed for sliding the pitch down.  The sliding
automatically  starts after this command and stops, when the speed is set to
zero.

        Example:
        00 CHD
        01  03  <= set speed to 3
        ...

4.      Set pitch change up speed
        Command: CHU
        Keyboard: U

Like the previous command, but slides the pitch up.

5.      Wait
        Command: WAI
        Keyboard: W

This command waits for a specified amount of timing pulses (pause).

        Example:
        03  WAI
        04   02  <= wait for 2 pulses to occur

6.      Jump
        Command: JMP
        Keyboard: J

Causes an immediate jump to another waveform/pitch seq position.

        Example:
        05  JMP
        06   0A  <= jump forward to line 0A

7.      Jump volume sequence
        Command: JVS
        Keyboard: Shift-J

This  command  causes  a jump to happen in the volume sequence.  Can be used
e.g.  for triggering volume changes after some waveform event.

        Example:
        09  JVS
        0A   00  <= start volume sequence from the beginning

8.      Halt
        Command: HLT
        Keyboard: H

This  has  the  same  effect  as command END (halt execution), but it can be
inserted in the middle of the control sequence.

        Example:
        03  HLT
        04   04  <= some other code (can be accessed with JMP instruction,
        ...         for example)

9.      Set speed
        Command: SPD
        Keyboard: S

Sets the execution speed.

        Example:
        0A  SPD
        0B   01  <= speed = 1 (fastest)
        ...

10.     Begin arpeggio definition
        Command: ARP
        Keyboard: A

This  command  starts  the arpeggio sequence.  The subsequent values are the
arpeggio  offsets  from  the base note.  The arpeggio sequence is terminated
with  the ARE command.  The arpeggio starts automatically after the sequence
is defined.

        Example:
        03  ARP  <= start arpeggio
        04   00  <= offset values
        05   04
        06   07
        07   0A
        08  ARE  <= end arpeggio definition

11.     End arpeggio definition
        Command: ARE
        Keyboard: E

Ends an arpeggio definition. See above.

12.     Set vibrato depth
        Command: VBD
        Keyboard: V

This command is used to set the vibrato depth (00 - 7F).

        Example:
        02  VBD
        03   04  <= set depth to 4

13.     Set vibrato speed
        Command: VBS
        Keyboard: Shift-V

This command sets the vibrato speed (00 - 7F).  Both speed and depth must be
non-zero for vibrato to occur.

        Example:
        02  VBD
        03   04  <= depth = 4
        04  VBS
        05   30  <= speed = 30

14.     Reset pitch
        Command: RES
        Keyboard: R

This command resets the pitch of the note to its initial pitch.

15.     Set vibrato waveform
        Command: VWF
        Keyboard: Shift-W

Sets the vibrato waveform.  The argument is the number of the waveform.  The
waveform  should  always  be 32 bytes long!!  Note that it's actually played
reversed (use the Reverse gadget to reverse it).  By default, a sine wave is
used.

        Example:
        00  VBD
        01   06
        02  VBS
        03   40
        04  VWF
        05   04  <= use waveform number 04 as vibrato waveform



The Sample Editor   [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-E ]

This window allows you to edit and digitize samples.  It is activated either
by  using the Display menu or by clicking "Edit Sample" on the upper screen.

Displayed  in  the  window  is  either the current sample's waveform, or the
words "No sample loaded" if the current instrument slot is empty.

The  scroll  bar  below  the  waveform  shows  the  size and position of the
displayed  portion  of  the  sample  relative  to the whole sample.  It also
allows  you  to  scroll  around  the sample (after zooming in, see later) by
dragging it.  Scrolling can also be done using the cursor left / right keys.

Many  operations  act on a specific range, which is set by dragging the left
mouse  button  along  the  waveform.    After  selecting  the range, you may
re-adjust  the  start  or  end  positions  by holding down a Shift key while
dragging the left mouse button.

The gadgets above the waveform are as follows:

Display
This  display  box contains the number of bytes currently being displayed in
the waveform.  It changes when zooming in or out (see later).

Buffsize
The  size  of  the  current  sample (waveform buffer).  Typing in a new size
brings  up  a  requester,  asking  whether to clear the sample or retain the
sample already in memory.

One  use of retaining the sample is adding extra "workspace" to the end of a
sample,  which  is  useful  in  some editing operations (e.g.  echoing).  By
choosing  "Clear"  you  may create a new sample, and this is often the first
step when digitizing (see later).

There  need  not  be  a  sample in memory in order to enter a new size.  The
maximum buffer size is 131072.

Range Start/End
These  gadgets  show  the  actual byte positions of the start and end of the
range, and can be changed by entering a new value into them.

The following gadgets lie below the waveform:

Play Display
Plays the current display at the current pitch (see "Pitch" below).

Zoom In / Out
Magnifies  / reduces the sample so you can see more / less detail.  Repeated
clicking  takes  you  deeper  into  / further away from the sample.  This is
essential for accurate editing.

Show All
Restores the whole waveform to view after zooming.

Range Display
Ranges the whole display.

Sample</>Buffer
Copies  the  copy  buffer  to the sample, and the sample to the copy buffer.
Can  be  used to implement a simple "undo".  Before trying out a function, a
snapshot  of the sample can be made with "Sample<".  If you're not satisfied
with the outcome of the function, the sample can be restored with ">Buffer".

Monitor
Opens  a  window  that  displays the real-time input waveform from a sampler
(connected  to  the  parallel port).  The purpose of Monitor is to make sure
the  sound  is  at  a  volume  level  that  will not cause distortion in the
digitizing process (see below).

The  rest  of  the  program  is  disabled  during monitoring, i.e.  no other
functions can be selected.  Closing the window stops monitoring.

Digitize
Starts  digitizing  (also  called  "sampling").    The  screen   blanks, and
multitasking  is  disabled.  The sampling stops when the buffer is full, but
it can be interrupted with the right mouse button.

Clicking Digitize when Buffsize is zero sets Buffsize to 131072 bytes (or if
not enough memory, to the largest size possible).

Pitch
The  numerical  box  displays the current sampling / playing period, and the
raised  box  shows  the equivalent note to the period value.  The default is
428  (note C-2), but this can be changed by either entering a value into the
gadget,  or holding the left mouse button on the note box and entering a new
note using the keyboard.

Freehand
When on, you may edit the waveform with the mouse.  The maximum display size
is  628  bytes,  but you may zoom closer if you wish.  In Freehand mode, the
Pixel display mode is automatically selected.

Loop
A  sample  having  a  loop  means  that  a  note you play with the sample is
sustained  until  it is stopped.  This is due to a particular section of the
sample  being continually repeated (or "looped"), and the boundaries of this
section are defined by the two "loop pointers".

These  pointers  appear  as  dotted  lines  over  the waveform, and as small
triangles  in  the  rectangle immediately below the waveform.  They mark the
start and end of the looped section.

The  "Loop"  check  box  is  a  duplicate  of  the  "Loop  On" gadget in the
Instrument Parameters window.  Selecting this gadget activates the loop.

Loop Point
The loop pointers can be moved in three different ways:

* Typing  in  the  Repeat  and/or RepLen value in the Instrument Parameters
  window

* Dragging the small triangles across the waveform

* Using the Loop Point gadgets

The < and > gadgets move a loop pointer two bytes to the left or right.

<0  and  0>  move a loop pointer to the left or right until a zero is found.
For  a  decent-sounding  loop, it ideally needs to start and end at the same
value,  which  can often be zero (i.e.  no amplitude).  So these gadgets are
useful in finding good loop points.

The cycle gadget selects whether the < > <0 0> gadgets act on the loop start
(default) or loop end pointer.

Bear in mind that zooming in allows far more accurate loop positioning.

The following gadgets act on the currently selected range (see above):

Show
Magnifies the range to fill the whole display.

Play
Plays the range at the current pitch.

Cut
Deletes the range and moves it to the copy buffer.

Erase
Deletes  the  range  (but  doesn't  move it to the copy buffer).  NOTE TO V4
UPGRADERS: this is like V4's DEL button.

Clear
Clears the range.

Copy
Copies the range to the copy buffer.

Paste
Inserts  the  copy  buffer's contents at the start of the range.  The sample
size will increase by the number of bytes inserted.

Reverse
Reverses  the  range left to right.  Useful for interpreting hidden messages
in a few rock songs ;)

The menus attached to this window are as follows:

Project
-------

Flush Sample
Removes the current instrument from memory.

Load Sample
Opens a file requester to load a sample.

Save Sample As
Opens a file requester to save an IFF sample.  Note that the loop values are
also saved with IFF samples.

Exit Sample
Closes the sample editor window.  Editor

Edit
----

With this menu you may edit the sample.

The  Cut,  Copy,  Paste,  Erase,  Clear  and  Reverse  items have equivalent
functions to the respective Range gadgets.

Invert
Inverts the range (turns it upside-down).  This can be useful when trying to
find  a  smooth  loop  or a smooth join between two waveforms (freehand mode
also helps this).

Chop
Deletes  the  non-ranged  parts of the sample.  Only the part defined by the
range is left.

Remove Unused Space
Deletes  empty space (i.e.  of zero volume) on either side of the waveform.
This both saves memory and keeps the timing in songs precise.

Copy to Synth Editor
Transfers the current range to the synthetic sound editor, thus allowing you
to  create  a  less  memory-consuming instrument.  The synth editor can only
handle  waveforms of 128 bytes maximum, so if the range is longer than that,
only  the  first  128  bytes  marked are copied.  The range is copied to the
right-hand  waveform  display.   If you want the new synthetic instrument to
replace  the  sample  in  memory,  you  need  to make the current instrument
synthetic.

Play Buffer Contents
Plays the contents of the copy buffer at the current pitch.

Discard Copy Buffer
Discards and frees the memory occupied by the copy buffer.

Effects
-------

This menu adds special effects to the sample.

Change Volume
Brings up the Change Volume window.

Change Pitch
Brings up the Change Pitch window.

Mix
Brings up the Mix window.

Filter/Boost
Brings up the Filter/Boost window.

Echo
Brings up the Echo window.

Create Noise
Brings up the Noise window.

Create Chord
Brings up the Chord Creation window.

Note  that  all effects aside from Change Pitch, Mix and Create Chord affect
the  current  RANGE.    So  if  you wish these effects to apply to the whole
sample, use the Range Display gadget.

Also,  shift-clicking any of the action buttons (i.e.  those which perform a
function) in these windows executes the function then closes the window.

Settings
--------
Display
"Line"  selects the normal line display mode, but when "Pixel" is turned on,
the  sample  is  displayed  as  pixels  instead  of  lines.  "Pixel Density"
activates  the Pixel Density window with which you can choose the density of
the pixels in "Pixel" mode.

Sampler Voice Monitor
When  selected,  you  can hear the sound you are sampling during digitizing.
Turning  this  off  may  marginally enhance the digitizing quality on slower
machines (those using a 68000 processor).  @ENDNODE


The Change Volume Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-O ]

This  window  allows  you  to change the volume of the current range, and is
opened using the sample editor's Effects menu.

The  sliders  select  the  starting  and  ending volume change, and both are
percentages of the original waveform.  For example, setting the start volume
to  150  %  and  the  end volume to 75 % fades downwards from one-and-a-half
times  the  original  volume to three-quarters of the original volume.  Each
slider can select a value of 0 - 500 %.

Clicking CHANGE VOLUME changes the volume using the current slider values.

There  are  also  some commonly-used presets below the CHANGE VOLUME gadget.
"Fade  In"  changes from 0 % to 100 %, "Fade Out" from 100 % to 0 %, "Halve"
50 % - 50 %, and "Double" 200 % - 200 %.  Clicking any of these gadgets sets
the sliders to the values they represent, then changes the volume.

Fade  In  /  Out  are  useful  partly  in  eliminating  the "click" that you
sometimes  hear  at the very start and end of a sample.  To do this, range a
small piece of waveform at the start or end of the sample, and click Fade In
for the start or Fade Out for the end.

Normally,  if  the  volume is increased too much, the normal waveform limits
are exceeded and distortion (or "clipping") will occur.  If the "Don't Clip"
gadget is switched on, however, the waveform limits will not be exceeded.

The "Exit" gadget closes the window.


The Change Pitch Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-P ]

This  window  lets  you  change  the pitch of (or "retune") the sample.  The
sample's  size  will  also  change:  it  will  decrease if the pitch is made
higher,  and  increase  if  the  pitch is lowered.  (The window is opened by
using the sample editor's Effects menu).

For example, if you'd like to retune the current sample to play the note G-2
when you press the C-2 key:

1.    Set  the  source  note  to C-2 by holding the left mouse button on the
"Source" note box and pressing the C-2 key;

2. Set the destination note to G-2 in the same way;

3.   Click "Change Pitch".  The sample is retuned, and its size in this case
will decrease by roughly two-thirds.

Other gadgets are:

Octave Up/Down
Retunes  the  sample  one  octave up / down, halving / doubling the sample's
size.    The  "Period"  gadgets  are  changed  to  the  values the operation
represents.

Cancel Finetune
Retunes  the  sample so that the Finetune value in the Instrument Parameters
window no longer applies.  So if the finetune value was -4, the sample would
be  retuned 4 steps down and the instrument's finetune would be set to zero.

Anti-Alias
When  on,  does  some anti-aliasing when retuning.  This means that noise is
reduced, and is the default.

Exit
Closes the window.


The Mix Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-M ]

This  window  contains  the  gadgets required to combine two samples, and is
activated using the Effects menu in the sample editor.  The sample placed in
the copy buffer (using the >Buffer gadget in the sample editor will be mixed
with the current sample.

The  two  sliders  control the volumes of the two waveforms to be mixed.  To
understand  them  fully, you need to bear in mind that mixing is achieved by
ADDING the two samples together.  So if the samples were both mixed at 100 %
volume, the resulting mixed sample would be 200 % (double) in volume.

For this reason, the default for each sample is 50 %, giving a 100 % (normal
volume) mixed sample.  Each slider's value may be 0 - 100 %.

(For  those  that  are interested, this is why samples should be "halved" in
5-8-channel  mode:  the  samples  are  added  at half their normal volume to
produce a full volume sample).

The  volume  of  the  sample in the copy buffer is altered using the "Dest.
Level"  slider,  and  that  of  the  current sample using the "Source Level"
slider.

The sample in the copy buffer is mixed at the point marked by a range in the
current sample.  If the range is more than one byte in length, only the area
selected  by  the  range  is  affected;  otherwise,  the whole of the sample
starting at Range Start is affected.

The "Mix" gadget mixes the sample, and "Exit" closes the window.


The Filter/Boost Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-F ]

This window includes a function to filter the current range, reducing noise,
and  to boost the current range, making it sound brighter and more audible.
The window is brought up using the sample editor's Effects menu.

Filtering is done by calculating the average of each individual value in the
sample  and  the  values on either side of it.  Boosting employs an opposite
process.

There are two sliders, both of which can have a value of 1 - 128:

Averaging
The  strength  of  the filter/boost (technical note: the proportions of each
individual  value  compared to the values on either side of it).  The higher
the value, the greater the strength.  The default is 16.

Distance
The  distance  between the averaged values.  In practical terms, this slider
affects  the  sound  in an odd way!  (It's best to experiment with different
values).  For a normal filter/boost, set this to 1 (the default).

The Filter gadget filters, Boost gadget boosts, and Exit closes the window.


The Echo Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-K ]

With  this window, interesting echo effects can be produced.  It is revealed
using  the  sample  editor's  Effects  menu.   The echo function affects the
current range.

Before  echoing,  you usually need to add some extra space to the end of the
sample,  by  typing  a  new  value into Buffsize (in the sample editor) then
choosing  "Retain" in the requester.  You need to range both the waveform to
be echoed and the blank space that the echo is to affect.

There are three integer gadgets:

Echo Rate
The  distance,  in  bytes,  between  two echoes.  A very low rate can make a
speech sample sound like a robot :-D

Volume Decrease
Specifies the rate of volume decrease in the echo.  The lower the value, the
lower the rate, but a value of zero spreads the volume evenly throughout the
range.

Number of Echoes
The total number of echoes produced, usually quite low (1 - 10).

The best way to learn this feature is through experimentation.

The "Do Echo" gadget executes the function, and "Exit" closes the window.


The Noise Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-N ]

This window is opened using the sample editor's Effects menu.

The  fairly  unique  feature  in  the  window allows you to add noise to the
current  range.    It  may seem useless at first glance, but with it you can
easily create effects such as wind and sea sounds, and it can be a source of
more  complex  instruments  when  used together with other effects.  So it's
possible to create good-sounding instruments even without using a sampler!

The  slider sets the noise strength (1 - 128), which is really the volume of
the produced noise.  The "Noise" gadget creates noise, and "Exit" closes the
window.


The Chord Creation Window     [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-H ]

With this window you can create chords of two to four notes from the current
sample.  The window is brought up using the sample editor's Effects menu.

The  window consists of four pitch gadgets, whose contents can be changed by
holding down the left mouse button and pressing a note on the keyboard.  You
may also clear the note by pressing Return or Del.

The  basenote  is  the  note  to which the chord notes relate.  In practical
terms  you  can  think  of it as the "bass note".  The other gadgets are the
other notes in the chord, of which some may be blank if desired.

Note  that  you  are  not  restricted  to the normal three-octave range of a
sample: you may use pitches over the full 10.5-octave range.  Also note that
higher  notes  are  shorter  in length than lower notes, so the notes in the
chord will not end simultaneously.

"Create Chord" creates the chord and stores it in the current sample.

"Exit" closes the window.


The Pixel Density Window     [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-D ]

The  slider in this window sets the density of the pixels (1 - 50) used when
drawing  the  waveform  in  "Pixel"  mode  (see the Sample Editor}, Settings
menu).

The  slider  value  is  in  reality  the number of pixels displayed in every
horizontal pixel position.

The "Exit" gadget closes the window.


The Sample List Editor   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-L ]

As  you  work  with  computer  music  you  will  acquire  large   numbers of
instruments,  spread  over  many  different disks and directories.  For easy
loading,  the  samples  need  to  be  organized.    This window provides the
necessary  functions for organizing and storing a list of all your samples.
(It is opened using the Display menu.

The  list  could  be  created  using any text editor (as it had to be in the
early  days  of  MED),  but it's now much easier to make one with the Sample
List Editor.

Basically,  a  list  is  created  by  clicking  "Add  Dir..." and choosing a
directory containing samples from the file requester.  The directory and its
filenames  are then added to the list, and this can be repeated for all your
sample  directories  /  disks.    You  may  view  a directory's filenames by
clicking the required directory name in the "Directories" list.

The list is saved using "Save List...", and the filename is "MED_paths".  On
startup,  OctaMED  looks for the MED_paths file in the current directory and
in  the S: directory (and loads it if it's found).  The default save path is
S:.


The gadgets in this window are as follows:

Add
Adds  the  current  instrument to the filenames list (it will be inserted in
alphabetical  order).    Note  that  the  sample's  loop,  tuning, MIDI, and
relative volume values will also be stored, as well as its default pitch.

Remove
Removes  the  instrument  selected  in  the  sample  list  (i.e.  click on a
filename and press "Remove").

Save Ins
Saves  the current instrument to the currently selected directory (stores it
on disk as well as in the list).

Del Ins
Like  "Remove",  but  also deletes the instrument from disk.  These last two
options  remove  the  need  to  use  a  file  requester  to  save  or delete
instruments in the sample list.

Add Dir
Opens  a  file  requester  to add a directory to the list.  A requester will
also  appear,  inquiring  whether  you  wish  to add the directory after the
currently selected directory or to the end of the list.

Remove Dir
Removes the current directory from the list.

Save List
Opens  a  file  requester  to  save  the list to disk.  Note that on startup
OctaMED  looks  for  the  MED_paths file in the current directory and the S:
directory,  so  be sure to either save it in the S: directory or in the same
directory  as  the  OctaMED  program.    It is usually best to choose the S:
directory,  as  then  it  doesn't  matter what the current directory is when
starting OctaMED.

Load Inst
Loads  the  selected sample list instrument to the current sample slot.  (An
easier method of loading instruments in the sample list is found in the Load
Instrument Window.

Save All Insts
Saves  all  instruments  in  the song to the current directory.  This can be
handy  for  extracting  (or  "ripping")  all the samples from other people's
songs, for use in your own songs.

The  Name text gadget displays the name of the selected instrument.  You may
rename the instrument by typing a new name into this gadget.

The  remaining integer gadgets are the current loop / tuning / MIDI / volume
values  of  the  selected  instrument,  and  the Pitch gadget is the current
default  pitch  of the selected instrument (if any).  They can be changed by
entering  a  new  value,  or  by  holding the left mouse button on the Pitch
gadget and pressing a new note on the keyboard.  Note that the MIDI and loop
(Repeat  /  RepLen)  gadgets can't both be used at the same time: changing a
MIDI gadget value sets the loop gadgets to zero, and vice-versa.

(For a description of loop / tuning / MIDI / relative volume values, and the
default instrument pitch, see the Instrument Parameters Window.

Since  MIDI instruments are not actually instruments but a few settings, you
may wish to create a "dummy" directory for MIDI instruments.

The Exit gadget closes the window.


The menu contains the following items:
--------------------------------------

Load List
Opens  a  file requester to load a sample list.  The new list is appended to
the list already in memory.

Stats
Displays statistics about the sample list:

* The currently selected directory number
* The total number of directories in the list
* The number of samples in the current directory
* The total number of samples in the list


The MIDI Message Editor   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-G ]

This window offers the tools required to capture, send, and store MIDI data,
and  to edit MIDI messages in hexadecimal.  (Opening this window is achieved
using the Display menu.

The message editor is especially suitable for, but not limited to, capturing
System  Exclusive (SysEx) messages.  These are very versatile messages which
can  (for  example)  be  used  to  set and alter the parameters of sounds on
machines  supporting  this  facility.    You  can   edit   sounds using your
synthesizer,  then  transfer  either  the original sound or the edited sound
into  your Amiga® and save it.  Later on, OctaMED can send the sound back to
the synthesizer for playing.

The  gadgets  to  the  right  of "Msg" are: current message number, previous
message, next message, and total number of messages in the buffer.

Other gadgets include:

New Msg
Adds  a new message to the end of the list.  Use this gadget to create a new
message after booting OctaMED.

New Here
Inserts  a  new message at the current point in the list.  Usually "New Msg"
is preferred to this gadget.

Del Msg
Deletes the current message.

Clear Msg
Clears the current message (sets all bytes to zero).

Msg Size
Newly  created  messages  are eight bytes long, but to capture (for example)
SysEx  messages,  a  much  larger buffer is required.  So use this gadget to
change  the message size.  The arrow gadgets decrease / increase the size by
one.  The maximum size is 1048560 bytes.

Name
Allows  you  to  name  the message: it's usually hard to recognize a message
just by looking at it!  :)

Save Msg
Opens a file requester to save the current message.  Note that MIDI messages
are  automatically  saved  with  modules  (except  Tracker modules, see Save
Options,  but  you may wish to save them as separate files you can load into
other songs.

Load Msg
Opens a file requester for loading a message.  A requester appears wondering
whether  the  new  message  should  replace  the current one or create a new
message for itself.

Capture Msg
To  capture  data from your MIDI device, set up an empty message as large as
or  larger  than  the  incoming  data, click this gadget, then start sending
data.  Clicking it again stops capturing (although with SysEx messages there
is an easier way to stop capturing, see "Auto-Terminate Capture" below).

MIDI  Active  and  Input  Active in the MIDI menu are automatically selected
when Capture Msg is pressed.

Send Msg
Sends  out  the current MIDI message.  Player command 10 also does this (see
MIDI Commands).

Auto-Terminate Capture
Causes  OctaMED to stop capturing when an End SysEx byte ($F7) is received.
OctaMED  will  also  remove  all  unused bytes at the end of the buffer: you
shouldn't  leave  any unused (zero) bytes after the actual MIDI data.  These
zeros  are  MIDI  data  too, which will be sent, and this is likely to cause
problems.  So this gadget is usually kept switched on.

If  this  gadget  is  off,  however, OctaMED will capture all incoming bytes
until either the "Capture Msg" gadget is re-clicked or the end of the buffer
is reached.

The  display box to the right of Auto-Terminate Capture shows "Recording..."
when a MIDI message is being captured.

Exit
Closes the window.

You  may  also edit the hex data.  Make sure Edit is on (upper screen), then
simply  use  the  cursor  keys  to move around the data and the numeric keys
(0-9,  A-F)  to  modify the hex data.  Use the Del key to delete a byte, and
Shift-Del to insert a new one.


(See also MIDI Commands, the MIDI Menu, and the Input Map Editor)


The Input Map Editor   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-A ]

With  this  window you may remap all the input keys on your keyboard.  It is
opened using the Display menu.

Each key can be assigned to:

--  enter any note/command you wish (similar to Programmable Keys)

--  perform an action (such as moving the cursor up or down)

This  also  works  with  a  standard Amiga® keyboard: a MIDI keyboard is not
required.

The  two  columns  of  numbers  in the list are the entry numbers in hex and
decimal.

The other gadgets included in this window are:

Map Active
When  this  is selected, the current input map will be used in preference to
the default OctaMED keyboard map.

Create New Map
By  default  there  is no input map, so this must be clicked to create a new
one.

Now, for each note an entry like this is displayed: "C-1xxxxxx", which means
that the C-1 key will just enter C-1 with the current instrument number, and
leave the command numbers untouched.

You  may  edit  an entry in the same way as in the Programmable Keys window.
Select  an entry by clicking on it, hold down the mouse button, point at the
number you wish to change and press a key on the keyboard to change it.

Delete This Map
After a confirmation requester, removes the current map.

Select Function
Displays the Functions window, with which you may select an editing function
for the currently selected key.

Reset Selected
Changes the selected key back to its original function.

Load Map
Displays  a file requester, allowing you to load a new input map from disk.
A requester will appear if the current input map has been changed since last
saving.

Save Map
Opens  a  file  requester,  offering to save the current input map to disk.


The Functions Window

This  window displays a list of editing functions for use with the input map
editor.  It is opened by clicking "Select Function" in the editor.

Clicking  one of the functions in the window changes the selected key in the
input map editor to that function.

All functions should be self-explanatory.


The Song Selector Window     [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-G ]

This  window  allows  you  to add and delete songs in a multi-module, and to
choose  the current song.  (A "multi-module" is a project that contains more
than  one song, with all songs sharing the same set of instruments).  It may
be brought up by choosing Song menu/Select, or by clicking "Sg" on the upper
screen.

The  window  displays  a  list of all songs in the module, and a song may be
selected  by  clicking  on  it.   The song's name appears in the display box
immediately below the list.

The gadgets in this window are as follows:

Add New
Adds a new song to the end of the list.

Add Here
Adds a new song at the currently selected position.

Delete
Deletes the selected song.

Select
Makes the selected song the current song, and closes the window.

Exit
Closes the window.

(Song selection gadgets are also contained on the upper screen)


The Playing Sequence Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-Q ]

The  playing sequence consists of a list of block numbers and names arranged
in the order they should be played in the song.  With the release of OctaMED
V5.0, more than one playing sequence may be defined (called "sections"), and
the  section list contains the order in which to play these multiple playing
sequences.   When the last section has been played, the song will by default
start  again  from  the  beginning  (although it's also possible to stop the
playing).

This window contains the functions required to create playing sequences, and
is  activated  by either clicking "Sq" on the upper screen or using the Song
menu.    A  sequence  may  use  the  same block number more than once, and a
maximum  of  999  entries  in  each  playing sequence is allowed.  ("Playing
sequence" will be referred to as "playseq" from now on).  The maximum number
of separate playseqs allowed is 65535 (should be enough!).

The current playseq position ("playpos") is highlighted in white, and may be
set  by  clicking  on  a  block  name.   Selecting playpos while the song is
playing immediately plays from the beginning of the entry selected.


The following gadgets for editing playseqs are included in this window:

Top
Sets playpos to the top of the display.

     [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-NM7  ("NM" = numeric keypad, apologies
                                 (Home)    to Amiga® 600 owners!) ]

Bottom
Sets playpos to the bottom of the display.

     [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-NM1 (End) ]

Insert
Duplicates the entry highlighted by playpos.

     [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-NM0 (Ins) ]

Ins Curr
Inserts a new entry, the current block, at playpos.

     [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-NM5 ]

Note  that  to append a playseq entry to the end of the list, you must click
just below the final playseq entry before using one of the insert gadgets.

Delete
Deletes the current entry.

     [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-NM. ]

Clear
After a confirmation requester, clears the current playseq.

[  Other  keyboard  shortcuts:  Ctrl-NM8 scrolls up, Ctrl-NM2 scrolls down.
Note  that with the Caps Lock on, the playing sequence can be edited without
holding down the Ctrl key.  ]

Follow
Using  the  scroll bar, it is possible to scroll around the list independent
of  playpos.    When  "Follow" is selected, the position of the list will be
automatically updated during play.

The  integer  gadget  to  the  left of "Follow" contains the block number of
playpos,  which  can be altered either by typing in a new number or by using
the arrow gadgets.  You can't increase the block number beyond the number of
the  last  block  in  the song.  [ Keyboard shortcuts for the arrow gadgets:
Ctrl-NM4 decreases block number, Ctrl-NM6 increases ]

The  arrow  gadgets  act slightly differently when playpos is below the last
playseq  entry.    Pressing  the  left  arrow gadget deletes the last entry;
pressing the right one appends block 000 to the end of the sequence.

The  display  box  to the right of the integer gadget contains the number of
playpos and the total number of entries in the current section.

Multiple playseqs (sections) can be created using the following buttons:

Name
Displays the name of the current section, which you can edit.

New Sec
Adds a new section after the last section.

New Sec Here
Inserts a new section at the current position.

Delete Sec
Deletes the current section.

Below these buttons is an integer gadget showing the current section number.
It  may  be  changed  by  either  typing  in a new number or using the arrow
gadgets.    The  display box to the right of the integer gadget contains the
total number of sections.

The Exit gadget closes the window.

(Note  that the song can be stopped at any time by using player command FFE:
see Commands A - F).

(See also the Section List and the Block List)


The Section List Window     [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-C ]

This window, opened either by using the Song menu or by clicking "Sc" on the
upper  screen,  contains  the  order  in which to play song sections.  These
sections are created in the Playing Sequence window.

The  current section position ("secpos") is highlighted in white, and may be
set by clicking on a section name.  Shift-clicking on a section name selects
the  section  clicked  in  the  Playing Sequence window.  A maximum of 65535
entries  are  allowed  (note,  however, that only the lower three digits are
displayed).

The  integer  gadget  contains  the  section  number of secpos, which can be
altered either by typing in a new number or by using the arrow gadgets.  You
can't  increase  the section number beyond the number of the last section in
the song.

The  display boxes to the right of the integer gadget contains the number of
secpos  and the total number of entries in the current section list, and the
total number of sections in the song.

Other gadgets are as follows:

Insert
Inserts a new entry 001 at secpos.

Append
Appends a new entry 001 to the end of the section list.

Delete
Deletes the current entry.

Exit
Closes the window.


The Song Options Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-H ]

This  window  contains  various  song  parameters.  In a multi-module, these
parameters  can  be  different  for each song.  (It is opened using the Song
menu.

The gadgets are listed below:

Name
This  text  gadget  contains  the name of the current song, displayed on the
title bar.  You may type in a new name.

Channel Mode
The  Amiga®  has  four  sound channels, but by mixing two notes together and
playing  them through one channel, up to eight notes can be played at once.
This  radio  button  is used to select the number of channels OctaMED should
use.  (See 5-8 Channel Mode for more info).

Note:  for  MIDI use, "4 Channels/MIDI" should be selected (this is also the
default).

The  cycle gadget chooses whether the data bytes of volume (C) commands (see
Commands  A  -  F)  should  be  in  hexadecimal or decimal.  If you aren't a
programmer  (and  even  if  you are), it may be easier to think in decimal.
"Decimal Volumes" is the default, but we recommend using hexadecimal volumes
wherever  possible.    They're  slightly  faster (not noticeably, but faster
anyway ;^).  The state of this gadget is saved as part of a song.

You  can  easily  convert  all volume commands from decimal to hex and vice-
versa  with  the "Convert" gadget.  Clicking this gadget prompts you for the
type of conversion desired.

Audio Filter Active
Turns  the  low-pass  audio  filter on/off.  When on, the Amiga®'s power LED
will  be bright.  However it is best to keep the filter off, since the sound
quality is usually better.

High Quality Mode
When  on,  this  significantly  increases  the  audio quality in 5-8 channel
modes.    Unfortunately,  it will also double the processor load, so a 68020
processor  or  higher  is  required  to  use  this  gadget  in   seven   and
eight-channel modes.

Under  OctaMED  Pro  V3  and  V4,  High Quality Mode slowed down the tempo a
fraction.  In V5 the tempo is now unaffected.  So when loading songs created
with V3 or V4 that use this mode, you'll need to slightly decrease the tempo
for the song to play at the intended speed.

No Slide On 1st Pulse
Normally  effects  are  done  on  every  timing pulse, but with this on, the
effects  are  not  done  on  the  first  timing  pulse.  This is the way the
Trackers  perform  effects, and this switch is for compatibility only: it is
automatically switched on when a Tracker module is loaded.  (For information
on timing pulses, see Upper Screen.

Play Transpose
This  slider  transposes  the  whole song by the value selected.  It doesn't
change  the  notes, it just affects playing.  The minimum and maximum is -12
and  12  respectively (i.e.  ± 1 octave).  Other transposition functions may
be found in the Transpose window.

Exit
Closes the window.


The Relative Track Volumes Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-R ]

This  window contains sliders to adjust the volume of each track relative to
the master volume.  It is opened using the Song menu.

Each volume can be 1 - 64.  The master volume sets the overall volume of the
song.    If  both  the master volume and the volume of a track were 64, that
track  is played at full volume.  If, however, the master volume and a track
volume  were 32, the volume of that track would be a quarter of full volume.

 The  two  large arrow gadgets at the bottom left of the window are like the
track  arrow  gadgets  on  the  upper  screen  -  clicking   them   show the
previous/next  sixteen  tracks,  and shift-clicking them show the first/last
sixteen  tracks  in  the song.  (They only really apply to blocks containing
over sixteen tracks).

The Exit gadget closes the window.

Note: the status of these sliders are saved with songs.


The Block Properties Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-B ]

This  window  allows you to edit the properties of the current block.  It is
activated  either  by  using  the  Block  menu  or by holding down Shift and
clicking the B gadget on the upper screen.

The gadgets are:

Name
Contains  the  name  of  the  block, which can be changed by typing in a new
name.  (The name is also displayed on the upper screen and in the Block List
window).  A maximum of 41 characters is allowed.

Tracks
Selects the number of tracks in the block.  The minimum is 1 and the maximum
64.   (The number of tracks that can be displayed on- screen at any one time
is set by Settings Menu/Display Max Tracks).

Note  that  track 8 onwards can only be used with MIDI devices (see the MIDI
Menu),  and tracks 4-7 only with the Channel Mode gadget in the Song Options
window set appropriately (except for MIDI use).

Also  note  that  when  you decrease the number of tracks, the higher tracks
will be lost (with no "Are you sure?" requester).

Length
The  number of lines in the block.  Can be changed by either typing in a new
number or using the arrow gadgets.  < and > decrease and increase the length
by  1,  <<  and  >>  by  10.    The preferred way is to type in a new number
directly, since less "memory fragmentation" occurs.

The maximum length of a block is 3200 lines.

Exit
Closes the window.


The Block List Window     [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-B ]

New  to  V5.0, the block list is an "at-a-glance" list of the current song's
blocks  and their names.  It is brought up by either using the Block menu or
clicking the small "B" gadget on the upper screen.

The  current  block,  highlighted  in  white,  may be changed by clicking on
another block.  Keyboard shortcuts for changing the current block are:

        Shift - <up> / <down>      Previous / next block
        Left Alt - <up> / <down>   First block / last block

The text gadget displays the current block's name, which can also be changed
by typing in a new name.  Up to 41 characters are allowed in each name.

The window contains the following gadgets:

Insert New
Inserts a new block at the current block position.

Append New
Inserts  a  new  block  after  the  last  block.  These gadgets are like the
New/Insert and New/Append items in the Block menu.

Ins to Seq
Inserts  the current block's number at the current playing sequence position
(see Playing Sequence Window).

App to Seq
Appends  the  current  block's  number  to the playing sequence (see Playing
Sequence Window).

Delete
Deletes  the  current  block.    Equivalent to the Delete items in the Block
menu.

Exit
Closes the window.


The Highlight Options Window

In  this  window you can highlight the current block's lines in a particular
order.    This  can  help you position notes in widely-spaced blocks or mark
measures or beats.  It is opened using the Block menu.

The  top  row  of  small  square  gadgets highlight the block lines with the
respective spacing.  For example, the 4 gadget highlights every fourth line.
You'll  probably  use  this particular gadget (4) the most often, since in a
normal  default  block  of 64 lines, the gadget highlights every beat in the
block (i.e.  every four sixteenth notes).

The other gadgets are as follows:

Clear
Clears all the highlighted lines in the block.

Offset
Sets  the  first line to be highlighted.  For example, an offset of 2 begins
highlighting on line 002.

Spacing
Allows  a  custom highlight spacing to be entered.  For example, entering 12
highlights every twelfth line.

Exit
Closes the window.

You'll  notice  that  the  1,  2,  3, 4, 6 and 8 gadgets are all underlined,
meaning  (of  course)  that they have a Left Alt shortcut.  These shortcuts,
however,  only  work  with the numeric keypad keys (not the keys on the main
keyboard).

Note  that when editing, the Tab key highlights the current line.  Also note
that highlighting an already highlighted line removes the highlighting.

Line highlighting is saved with songs.


The Expand/Shrink Window

This  window,  activated  by  choosing Block Menu/Expand/Shrink, is used for
expanding or shrinking the current block.

The  "Expand"  gadget  creates  empty  lines between each note, and "Shrink"
removes  lines.    The  "Factor"  gadget contains the amount of expansion or
shrink.

For  example,  if Factor was 3, pressing Expand would insert two empty lines
between  each  note  (thus  trebling  the block length), and pressing Shrink
would remove every second and third line (thus thirding the block length).

"Factor"  may  be 1 - 99, but the expanded block length must not exceed 3200
lines, and the shrink factor must be divisible by the number of lines in the
block.    If  either  of  these  rules  are  infringed, a message appears to
communicate this and no change to the block occurs.

Expansion  is  useful,  for example, if you would like to include some quick
rhythms  in  a  block  but  realize  that the block plays too slowly for the
rhythms.    (However,  fast  rhythms may also be created using commands FF1,
FF2, FF3, and 1Fxx - see Player Commands, so try these before expanding).

The  only  real  use  of  shrinking  is  to reverse the effect of a previous
expansion.


The Instrument Parameters Window  [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-I ]

With  this important window you may alter the characteristics of the current
instrument.    It  is  opened by either using the Instr menu or clicking the
"Inst Params" gadget on the upper screen.

The gadgets are as follows:

Name
Contains the name of the instrument, which may be renamed by typing in a new
name.  (However, it is advisable not to rename instruments when saving songs
without  instruments,  since  the  renamed instruments will probably fail to
load).  The maximum name length is 40 characters.

The  display  box  to the right of Name contains the current sample number.
(By the way, "instrument" and "sample" essentially mean the same thing).

Flush
Removes  the  current  instrument from memory and clears all its parameters.
(Equivalent to Instr Menu/Flush Current).


The instrument selection gadgets
--------------------------------

The slider and arrow gadgets are used to select the current instrument:

1st
Selects the first instrument (01).

Last
Selects the last instrument (1V).

L.U.
Selects the last instrument in memory (stands for "Last Used").

Keyboard shortcuts for selecting the instrument include:

       Shift - <left> / <right>     Previous / Next instrument
       Alt   - <left> / <right>     16 samples forward/backwards

Instruments  may also be selected using the numeric keypad (see the Keyboard
Options window).

The loop gadgets
----------------

The "Repeat", "RepLen" and "Loop On" gadgets are the loop gadgets.  A sample
loop  means  that the notes you play with the sample will be sustained until
they  are  stopped.    This  is due to a particular part of the sample being
continually repeated (or "looped").

The Repeat value is the beginning of the loop in bytes from the start of the
sample,  and  the RepLen value is the length of the loop.  Selecting Loop On
activates the loop, and loops the whole sample if Repeat and RepLen are both
zero.    Loops  are  set in steps of 2 bytes, i.e.  only even numbers may be
used (typing in odd numbers rounds them down).  RepLen must be at least 4.

The  loop  may  also  be  set  by using the loop pointers and gadgets in the
sample  editor.    When   you   load   IFF   instruments,   these values are
automatically loaded.

The tuning gadgets
------------------

Under  the loop gadgets is a cycle gadget and a slider, used for setting the
tuning  of  an  instrument.    The slider sets either the "Transpose" or the
"Finetune"  value,  depending on the state of the cycle gadget (Transpose is
default).

"Transpose"  raises  or  lowers  the  pitch  of  the  current  instrument in
halfsteps  (semitones).   For example, if the transpose value was 3 and note
C-2  was  to be played with the current instrument, it would be transposed 3
halfsteps  higher  (D#-2).   A negative value transposes lower.  The maximum
and  minimum  transpose values are 127 and -128 (although higher values only
affect MIDI instruments).

The  finetune  value allows you to tune instruments in small steps, which is
useful for incorrectly sampled instruments.  The value can be -8 to 7.

The two numbers separated by a "/" are the transpose and finetune values.

Hold and decay
--------------

These gadgets allow you to set the exact duration and the speed of fading of
a  note.    "Hold"  is the duration in timing pulses (see Upper Screen for a
description  of  timing pulses, you'll need it to understand this section!),
and "Decay" is the speed of fade when the hold duration has completed.

In  these examples, the secondary tempo is assumed to be the default 6.  One
line in the examples is one timing pulse.

    1. No Hold Set                        2. Hold Set To 2
    ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯                        ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
    0  Play note (e.g. C-2 10000)         0  Play note (e.g. C-2 10000)
    1                                     1
    2                                     2  STOP note
    3                                     3  (silence)
    4                                     4
    5                                     5
    6  Play new note (e.g. D-3 10000)     6  Play new note (e.g. D-3 10000)

In example 2, the note is stopped on the second timing pulse.

BUT:  if  the  note is followed by a "keep holding symbol" in the track, the
note  is not stopped on the second timing pulse but carries on playing.  For
example:

000 C-2 10000                /  Line No.  Pulse No.  Action
001 -|- 10000               /     003         0      Continue note...
002 -|- 10000              /      003         1      Continue note...
003 -|- 10000 ==> ZOOMED =>       003         2      STOP note
004 --- 00000              \      003         3      (silence)
005 D-3 10000               \     003         4

So  on  the  last "keep holding symbol" encountered, the usual hold value is
used.  This symbol is inserted by either clearing the note and entering only
the instrument number, or more easily by pressing Return or the A key.

If  the decay is zero, the note is turned off immediately after holding.  If
it  is a non-zero value, however, the note will fade after holding.  A value
of  1  produces  the  slowest  decay.  Decay only works if Hold is non-zero.
Both Hold and Decay can have a value of 0 to 127.

Note  that  Decay  doesn't  work  with MIDI instruments, and is handled very
differently with synthsounds or hybrids (see Synthsound Program Language).

Hold  and  Decay  is  quite  a  useful  feature,  and  although it may sound
complicated,  it isn't really :-), so we recommend that you learn to use it!


Default volume and  pitch
-------------------------

The  "Volume"  gadget sets the default volume of the current instrument.  It
ranges from 0 (silent) to 64 (full volume).

"Default  Pitch"  allows  you  to  set  a  default  pitch  for   the current
instrument.    When  you  press  the  F key the instrument is played at that
pitch.  This can be very useful for untuned instruments like percussion.

The  pitch  box  contains  the default pitch of the instrument (or --- if no
pitch  is  set).  To change this, hold down the left mouse button on the box
and  press a note on the keyboard.  You may also clear the pitch by pressing
Return or Del.

MIDI gadgets  (see the MIDI Menu and MIDI Commands)
---------------------------------------------------

Before  using  a MIDI instrument, you need to set the functions in this part
of the window to the required values.  They are:

MIDICh
This slider sets the MIDI channel for the instrument (0 - 16).  For example,
setting  it to 5 means this instrument's notes are sent through MIDI channel
5.

Preset
Sets the preset number of the instrument (max. 128 or 2800).

With  this  set to zero, OctaMED uses your keyboard's default preset for the
instrument's MIDI channel (see above).  But by giving this gadget a non-zero
value, you may use more than one preset on the same channel: OctaMED sends a
program change message whenever a note is played.

If  you want to send a preset change command without playing a note, use the
C00 command with any note played by the instrument with the new preset.

Suppress NoteOff
Suppresses  Note  Off messages for the current instrument.  Some devices may
have some instruments (e.g.  one-shot drum sounds) which actually ignore the
Note  Off  messages.    When this is selected, Note Offs aren't sent for the
current  instrument,  reducing  unnecessary  output  (and therefore slightly
faster).

Extended Preset
When  off,  the  maximum  value of the Preset gadget is 128, but when on the
maximum  is  increased to 2800.  However, this can only be used on some MIDI
devices which support the exact method of sending the preset:

* Presets 1 - 100 are sent in the normal manner.

* Presets  above 100 are sent by first sending the "hundreds" part and then
  the 0-99 part.  For example, the number 1156 is sent as 11 followed by 56.

Consult your manual to see if this is the way supported by your device.

In order to hear a MIDI instrument, you must also set its default volume.

Note:  a  MIDI  instrument's  name  doesn't  really have any use.  It's good
practice,  however,  to  type the name of the presets into the Name gadget.
This way you can easily see the presets, and if you give the song to someone
else  who  may have different MIDI equipment, he / she can easily change the
preset numbers to use the correct presets on his / her MIDI device.

**  The loop, tuning, default volume, and MIDI values, and the default pitch
    can  all  be  set  in  the  path file using the sample list editor.


The Instrument Type Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Left Alt-T ]

This window, brought up either by using the Instr menu or by clicking "Type"
on  the  upper  screen,  chooses which type the current instrument is to be.
The options are:

Sample
The  "normal"  instruments, played either through the Amiga® or using a MIDI
device.

OctaMED  can load both "raw" (pure binary) samples and IFF 8SVX 1 - 7-octave
samples.    In  addition  to these, OctaMED Pro V4 introduced the loading of
"delta-compressed"  samples.   These samples' lengths are exactly halved (in
fact  they  are  converted  to a kind of 4-bit resolution of Fibonacci delta
codes:  much  simpler than it sounds!).  There is, however, a slight loss in
sound  quality.    Currently  OctaMED can't actually create delta-compressed
samples,  but some dedicated sample editor programs such as Audiomaster can.

Note  that  raw and 1-octave IFF samples can only use octaves 1 - 3: octaves
higher  than  3  play  using  octave  3's range.  Also note that the highest
octave of a 7-octave sample can't be played.

For MIDI use, the instrument is not strictly an instrument, but simply a few
settings  which  result  in the notes played with that instrument being sent
through  a  MIDI  interface;  therefore, MIDI instruments aren't loaded into
memory  like  other sounds.  They can also use the full 10.5-octave range.
(For more information on MIDI, see MIDI Menu and Instr Params)

Hybrid
As  "Sample"  above,  but  can  be  controled  using  the  same "programming
language"  as  synthsounds.   (See the Synthetic Sound Programming Language.

ExtSample
ExtSamples  are  like  normal  Amiga®  samples, except two lower octaves are
added  to  the octave range (octaves 1 and 2).  The octaves used with normal
samples  are  moved  up  two  places  to  make way for the new octaves (i.e.
octave 1 becomes octave 3, octave 2 becomes octave 4 etc.).

However,  because  of  an  undesirable  feature  in  the  Amiga®'s hardware,
especially  under  faster  processors,  ExtSamples should be used with care.
After  playing  a  note  with an ExtSample using one of the new octaves, the
following  note  will  often not be correctly triggered.  The solution is to
use the FFF command before the following note is played.  For example:

             C-1 20000 <- ExtSample
             --- 00000
             --- 00FFF <- use FFF before the next note
             C-2 10000 <- this instrument doesn't need to be an ExtSample
                          for the bug to occur

However,  in  "split"  channels  in  5-8-channel  mode, this problem doesn't
appear at all!

Note:  more  experimentative  users  may  discover that octaves 8 and 9 of a
normal  sample also appear to play two lower octaves.  These octaves should,
however, *NEVER* be used in songs (apart from with MIDI): believe it or not,
it  is  in  fact  a complete coincidence that they work!  ExtSamples are the
only "legal" way of using the two lower octaves.  In any case, octaves 8 and
9 are also one finetune step sharp :-)

Synthetic
These  special  instruments,  known  as  "synthsounds", are made from simple
waveforms  which  can  be  joined  together  and have their volume and pitch
altered by using a simple "programming language".  Synthsounds usually sound
quite  simple,  but  they  can be very effective and don't take up nearly as
much  memory as normal samples.  In addition, they can play from octaves 1 -
5,  two  octaves  greater  than  normal  samples.  For more details, see the
Synthetic Sound Editor.

The  Octaves  slider  shows  the  number  of octaves that the current sample
consists  of  (1  -  7).    Changing  the slider's value often messes up the
sample, so it's best not to :^)

The Exit gadget closes the window.


The Transpose Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-T ]

This  window  contains  functions that "transpose" (change the pitch of) the
notes  in  a  particular area of the current project.  It is activated using
the Edit menu.

The  gadgets  under "Affect" choose which area of the song the transposition
should  affect,  and  the  notes played by which instruments.  These gadgets
should be selected before choosing a function, and are:

Song
Affects the whole song (default).

Block
Affects the current block.

Track
Affects the current track (the track that the cursor is on).

Selected Tracks
Affects  selected  tracks  (tracks  are  selected by setting the track cycle
gadget on the upper screen to "Select").

Range
Affects  the  range,  selected  using the mouse.  (The button used to mark a
range is chosen in the Mouse Options window).

All
Affects all instruments (default).

Current
Affects the currently selected instrument.

The  "Transpose"  functions are Octave Up / Down and Halfstep Up / Down, and
should  be  self-explanatory.    (Note  to  British  users: "halfstep" means
"semitone").

The "Change Notes" operations act on the Source and Destination notes, which
are  selected  by clicking and holding the left mouse button on the note box
and pressing a key (for example, the I key selects note C-3).

Change
Allows  occurrences  of a single note to be changed throughout the specified
area.  It changes all notes in the selected area from the source note to the
destination note.

Swap
Swaps all source notes in the selected area with the destination note.

The  "Change Instrument" functions perform on notes played by the Source and
Destination  instruments,  which  are  picked  by   selecting   the required
instrument  (using  Shift  - <left> / <right> etc.) and clicking "Source" or
"Destination".

Change
Changes  the notes (in the selected area) played by the source instrument to
the destination instrument.

Swap
Swaps  the source and destination instrument numbers of notes having either.


Delete
Deletes the notes with the source instrument number.


The Spread Notes Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-F ]

This  window  allows  you  to spread the notes in the currently marked range
across consecutive tracks to the right of the range.  If notes already exist
in  the tracks, the operation replaces them.  The window is opened using the
Edit menu.

The  "Width"  slider selects the number of tracks to spread the notes across
(2 - 10).

Clicking "Spread" spreads the notes, and shift-clicking "Spread" spreads the
notes _and_ closes the window.

"Exit" closes the window.


The Note Echo Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-E ]

With  this  window,  opened  using  the  Edit  menu,  you may produce echoes
automatically  with  the "C" command (see Commands A - F.  The volume halves
with each echo.  For example:

        C-1 10000   (the initial note)
        --- 00000
        C-1 10C32   (half volume. Decimal volumes are used in this example)
        --- 00000
        C-1 10C16   (quarter volume)
        --- 00000
        C-1 10C08   (eighth volume)
        ...

Echoed  notes  will  only  be  placed in empty note positions throughout the
marked range.  The range may cover more than one track.

The gadgets are as follows:

Distance
The  distance in lines between echoes, e.g.  4 means echo every fourth line.

Minimum Volume
The minimum volume of an echo.  Echoes with a smaller volume than this won't
be generated.

Do Echo
Creates the echo. (Shift-clicking it also closes the window).

Exit
Closes the window.


The Input Channel Window   [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-\ ]

This  small  window,  activated using the MIDI menu, contains the MIDI input
channel  number  through  which  notes will be received when MIDI Menu/Input
Active is on.

If it is zero, OctaMED will accept input from all MIDI channels.


The Mouse Options Window     [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-W ]

This  window  contains  three  cycle  gadgets,  which are used to select the
function  of  each  mouse  button  when the button is clicked in the Tracker
editor.  It is opened using the Settings menu.

The available functions are as follows:

No Operation
The button has no effect.

Track On/Off
The button switches the clicked track on or off.

Select Track
Switches  the  clicked  selected  track  on or off.  (The status of selected
tracks  are  displayed  by  setting  the cycle gadget on the upper screen to
"Select").

Position Cursor
Sets the cursor position under the mouse pointer.

Select Range
Marks a range. (See the Tracker Editor)

Note: due to conflicts with the menu system, the right mouse button can't be
used to select a range as it has done in previous versions of (Octa)MED.

Also  note  that  if  the Right Mouse Button gadget is set to anything other
than  "No  Operation",  the menu shortcuts (Right Amiga + key) can't be used
when  the mouse pointer is over the tracker editor.  (They instead act as if
the right mouse button has been pressed: OctaMED has no control over this!)

The  default  for Left Mouse Button is Select Range, and the default for the
other  gadgets  is No Operation.  Of course, the Middle Mouse Button setting
is ignored if you own a two-button mouse!

The Exit gadget closes the window.


The Keyboard Options Window  [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-K ]

This  window contains many settings used when editing in the Tracker editor,
and  also holds settings for the numeric keypad.  It is brought up using the
Settings menu.

Cursor advance
--------------

The  three  gadgets  at  the top of the window are the directions the cursor
should advance after entering something in the editor.  They are:

Line Up / Down
Advances up / down a line.

            [ Ctrl-A toggles Don't Advance / Down ]

Track Prev / Next
Advances to the previous / next track when the cursor is on the note.

Cursor Left / Right
Advances left / right when the cursor is on the command digits.

Advance Line Down is the usual preferred setting, and the default.


Numeric keypad mapping  (Amiga 600 owners may ignore this section)
------------------------------------------------------------------

The two cycle gadgets select a total of four different ways to configure the
function of the keypad.

The  first gadget cycles "Tracks On/Off" and "Select Instr".  With the first
option you may turn tracks 0-F or 0-9 on/off, and with the second option you
can select instruments quickly.

The  second  gadget  selects  the  "Normal"  or  "Alternative" layout of the
keypad, and are as follows:

     Normal layout (button = selects track no. / selects instrument no.)
     ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
        ( = 0 / 01      ) = 1 / 02      / = 2 / 03      * = 3 / 04
        7 = 4 / 05      8 = 5 / 06      9 = 6 / 07      - = 7 / 08
        4 = 8 / 09      5 = 9 / 0A      6 = A / 0B      + = B / 0C
        1 = C / 0D      2 = D / 0E      3 = E / 0F      . = F / 0G

     Alternative layout - Tracks On/Off
     ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
        Keys 0 - 9      Turn tracks 0 - 9 on/off.
        Keys ( ) / *    Turn tracks A - D on/off.
        The . key       Turns all tracks off.
        Enter key       Turns all tracks on.

     Alternative layout - Select Instr
     ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
        Keys 1 - 9      Selects instruments 1 - 9
        The . key       Changes the first instrument digit (for example,
                          from 05 to 15 or from 15 to 05)
           '0'          Selects instrument 10
           '+'          Next instrument
           '-'          Previous instrument
           '('          Decrease volume of the current instrument by one
           ')'          Increase volume of the current instrument by one
           '/'          Select last used instrument
           '*'          Pick instrument number nearest the cursor
          Enter         Activates "alpha-enter": after pressing Enter,
                          press an alphabetical key (A - V) to select the
                          corresponding instrument

Default is Alternative Tracks On/Off.

Spacing  (see Upper Screen)
---------------------------

The  slider  sets  the space value.  A space value of 3, for example, enters
notes every third line.  The maximum value is 16 (and minimum 2).

Placing  spaces  between  notes while entering music makes editing and tempo
changes  much easier.  After you have entered the music you may want to turn
this spacing function off so you may move into the lines between notes.

Other spacing options are:

Destructive Spacing
When selected, any notes that lie between the lines used for entering spaced
notes will be deleted when a note is entered.

Auto-Round Spacing
When on, restricts cursor movements to lines divisible by the spacing value.
For  example,  with  a  spacing  value of 2, you can only move the cursor to
lines  000, 002, 004 etc.  Note that this only applies to movement using the
cursor keys.

By  default these two options are on, which has been the normal operation in
previous versions of OctaMED.

Other options
-------------

Chord Reset
When on, after entering a chord (see Upper Screen) the cursor returns to the
initial track.

Space = DEL
Some users prefer using the space bar to enter blank notes, in preference to
the Del key.  This check box allows this.

Protracker Shortcuts
This  switch  changes the keyboard layout so that the most common Protracker
keyboard  options are recognized.  This is helpful for those who have become
used  to  the  Protracker  keyboard  layout.  The following PT shortcuts are
recognized:

           Right Shift      Turns editing on, plays the block (record)
           Right Alt        Continue Song
           Right Amiga      Play Block
           L-Alt+curs.L/R   Previous / next block
           Shift+curs.L/R   Increase / decrease playseq position
           Space bar        Stops playing / toggles editing
           Tab              Next track
           Shift-Tab        Previous track
           Shift-F3 - F5    Cut / Copy / Paste track
           Alt-F3 - F5      Cut / Copy / Paste block

Advance with Sound
When  activated,  the notes in the block are played when the cursor is moved
up or down.  Useful for non-real time editing.


The Programmable Keys Window  [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-Y ]

The  programmable  keys  ("progkeys"  from now on) allow music to be entered
much  more  easily  and  quickly.   You can assign notes or groups of notes,
including  commands,  to  10 different keys.  The assigned notes can then be
inserted in the Tracker editor by holding down Shift and pressing key 0 - 9.

This  window contains the functions necessary to view and edit the progkeys,
and is opened using the Settings menu.

The  cycle  gadget  is  used  to  select whether you wish to edit the normal
Shift-  0  - 9 definitions (default) or the Right Alt definition.  The Right
Alt  definition  consists of the command digits only, and if you enter notes
with  the  Right  Alt  key held in the Tracker editor, the specified command
will be inserted with the notes.

The  slider to the right of the cycle gadget selects which progkey you would
like  to edit (0 - 9).  By default key 1 is selected.  The slider is ghosted
when "Right Alt" is picked.

The  box below this, containing a note and command digits, is the definition
of  this progkey.  A note or digit may be edited by clicking and holding the
left  mouse  button  on  the note / digit, then entering a new note / number
using the keyboard.

A  note  /  digit being "x" indicates "transparency", which means that, when
entered  in the Tracker editor, the corresponding existing note / digit will
remain  unchanged.   The Right Alt key's definition always has a transparent
note part (the first three characters).

For  example, the definition "xxxxx0000" would clear the command digits, but
leave  the  notes.   Since the note is "xxx" and the instrument number "xx",
they won't be changed, so only the command is set to zero.  (This definition
is the same as pressing Alt-Del).

To make a note / digit transparent, hold down the left mouse button over the
required note / digit as above, then press the Return key.

The Clear gadget clears the current definition, i.e.  sets it to "--- 00000"
for a normal progkey and to "xxxxx0000" for Right Alt.

The  Pick  gadgets copy either the note under the cursor, the current range,
or  the  copy  buffer  to the current definition.  If a range is picked, the
definition  box  shows the word "=Range=".  [ Shortcut: Shift-Ctrl-0-9 picks
note under cursor ]

The  Save/Load  Keys  gadgets open a file requester allowing you to save and
load a set of progkey definitions.  The default name is S:OctaMEDPro.defkeys
(OctaMED  attempts  to load a file of this name on startup), but definitions
can be saved under any filename.

The Exit gadget closes the window.

(Note:  when Caps Lock is on, the programmable keys may be entered simply by
pressing the 0 - 9 keys: Shift doesn't have to be held).


The Palette Window

With  this  window,  activated  using  the Settings menu, you may change the
screen's colors.

A  color  is  selected by clicking on it, with the chosen color appearing in
the recessed box at the top left of the window.

The  Red,  Green and Blue sliders alter the intensity of red, green and blue
light in the selected color.

The  sliders'  range is set using the Palette Type cycle gadget.  With 8-Bit
selected  (default),  the  range is 0 - 255, allowing compatibility with the
new  AGA  chip  set  present  in  the A1200 and A4000 computers.  With 4-Bit
selected, the range is 0 - 15, more suitable for use with older Amigas.

Note  that  either  setting  can  be  used with either chip set; but with an
inappropriate  setting,  AGA  computers  could  only  select 1 in every 4096
available  colors, and with other computers the color would only change once
every 16 slider values (which is a little uncomfortable!).

The  OK  and Cancel gadgets accept or reject the color changes and close the
window.


The Instrument Load Window

This  window,  activated  using the small gadget immediately to the right of
the  instrument  number  on the upper screen, is a convenient way of loading
instruments contained in the sample list.  (See the Sample List Editor.

The  right-hand  list  contains  the  directories,  and  the  left-hand list
contains  the  filenames in the current directory.  The current directory is
set  by  clicking  on a directory name, and an instrument is loaded into the
current slot by clicking on an instrument name.

The other gadgets in this window are:

Flush
Removes the current instrument from memory.

           [ Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl - G ]

Prev / Next Inst
Selects the previous / next instrument.

           [ Keyboard shortcuts: Shift - <left> / <right>

Prev / Next Free
Selects the previous / next empty instrument slot.

          [ Keyboard shortcuts: Shift - Ctrl - "<" / ">" ]

Exit         Closes the window.


The Main Screen

The main screen is split into several parts:

Tracker editor
Notation editor
Upper screen
Lower screen

Note  that  EITHER the Tracker editor OR the notation editor is displayed in
the  middle  of  the  screen  (not  both  at  once).   Which editor is to be
displayed is chosen in the Display menu


The Tracker Editor

OctaMED  Pro started off its life as MED, a public domain clone of a program
named  "Sound  Tracker".    Although  as  MED  grew it incorporated numerous
features  that Sound Tracker lacked, separating it from the competition, one
basic feature remains that Sound Tracker pioneered: the Tracker editor.

The Tracker editor notation is easily interpreted by the computer and allows
controls  that  would be impossible to describe using a traditional notation
system.    It is a grid-like system, where the rows are known as "lines" and
the columns "tracks".

Assuming  a  standard  4-track,  non-MIDI  setup  is  being used, each track
corresponds to one of the Amiga®'s "sound channels", of which the Amiga® has
four.    These  sound  channels  are  used for playing instruments, and each
channel  can  only  play one note at a time.  So using the above setup, four
notes  can  be  played  simultaneously  (not  necessarily  all  by  the same
instrument).    This  is  not  as  limiting  as it sounds: in practice, many
instruments can share a single track.

The  exact time at which these notes are played is set by entering the notes
on the appropriate line.  When playing, OctaMED plays each of these lines in
turn,  with  a  user-defined pause between the playing of each line.  So the
greater the number of lines between notes, the greater the time span between
them.  The line numbers are displayed on the extreme left of the screen, and
the current line is highlighted in white.

A typical note looks like this:

                           octave  command digits
                            |     / |
                        D # 3   5 0 C 2 0
                        \ |     |     \ |
                         note   |      \|
                                |       data byte (more information
                          instrument    about the command digits)

The  note  can  be C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, and H (or B), as in
standard music.  The octave number is which octave the note should be played
on, and three octaves can be used with normal Amiga® samples.

The  instrument  number is the number of the instrument that the note should
be played with.

The  command  digits  are  the  number  of the command or effect to play, in
hexadecimal.   If there are no effects or commands for this particular note,
the  digits  are  "0000".    Commands  and  effects are documented in Player
Commands.

A blank note (silence) looks like this: --- 00000.

Now  for  a  few  examples.    To  play a C major chord (notes C, E, G) with
instrument number 1, a line could look like this:

                000 C-2 10000  E-2 10000  G-2 10000  --- 00000
                |                                          |
      line number      "blank" note simply indicates no note on this track

To  play  a  C  major  scale  from  C  to G (i.e.  notes C, D, E, F, G), the
following could be used:

                        000 C-2 10000
                        001 D-2 10000
                        002 E-2 10000
                        003 F-2 10000
                        004 G-2 10000

To  play a C major scale from C to G AT HALF THE SPEED of the above example,
this could be used:

                        000 C-2 10000
                        001 --- 00000 <= In this way, these blank notes
                        002 D-2 10000    are used as "spacers" between the
                        003 --- 00000 <= other notes. A blank note doesn't
                        004 E-2 10000    stop the previous note, it allows
                        005 --- 00000 <= it to carry on. To stop the note,
                        006 F-2 10000    player command FFF is used (see
                        007 --- 00000 <= Commands A - F).
                        008 G-2 10000

So  in that instruments are triggered using a vertical list, Tracker editing
somewhat resembles programming a drum machine.


Entering notes
--------------

Notes  are  usually entered using the Amiga®'s keyboard (a MIDI keyboard can
also  be  used, see MIDI Menu.  Not all keys will enter notes.  The keys are
ordered  in a piano-like style, as follows (note that the keys correspond to
the  standard U.S.  keyboard; users of other keyboards should refer to their
Amiga®'s manual for any changes needed):

         2 3   5 6 7   9 0   = \    (Notes C# D# F# G# A# C# D# F# G#)
        Q W E R T Y U I O P [ ]     (Notes C D E F G A B C D E F G)

          S D   G H J   L ;         (Notes C# D# F# G# A# C# D#)
         Z X C V B N M , . /        (Notes C D E F G A B C D E)

The  upper two rows of keys are the upper octave, the lower two rows of keys
are  the  lower octave.  Note that keys to the right of the "U" key enter in
an  even  higher octave, and that there is a slight overlap in the lower and
upper  octaves:  the  keys to the right of the "M" key are duplicated in the
first few keys of the upper octave.

The  upper  and lower octave "keyboards" represent octave numbers 1 and 2 by
default.  Other consecutive octave numbers can be selected using the octaves
cycle gadget on the upper screen.

If  you  have an instrument loaded into the current slot, you can hear it by
pressing  one  of  these keys.  In addition, if editing is on (selected with
the  Edit  gadget on the upper screen, the note is entered at the cursor.  A
blank note is entered using the Del key.

The cursor is the small grey patch on the current line.  As well as being on
a  note,  it  may  be  on a digit (to the right of the note), and digits are
changed by simply by typing the new number (with editing on).

If  you  need to change the sixth digit (which lies between the note and the
second  instrument  digit,  and  is usually a blank space), which means that
sample 10 - 1V is used, position the cursor over the second instrument digit
(that  is  always visible), hold a Shift key and enter the second instrument
digit.   For example, to change the instrument number to 1E, press Shift-E.
Because  Shift-  0  -  9 have another use, use Alt-Shift-0 - 9 to change the
instrument  number  to  10 - 19.  This isn't very convenient, but songs with
over 31 instruments are rare, so it is seldom a serious problem.

The  cursor  can  be  moved  using  the cursor keys, and also by using these
keyboard shortcuts:

        Alt - <left> / <right>        = Previous / next track
        Ctrl - <left> / <right>       = Previous / next screenful of tracks
        Shift - Ctrl - <left / right> = Track 0 / last track

        Shift - <up>        = Previous block (see the next section for a
        Shift - <down>      = Next block      description of blocks)
        Left Alt - <up>     = First block
        Left Alt- <down>    = Last block

        Ctrl - NM(          = Previous song
        Ctrl - NM)          = Next song / Add song
        Shift - Ctrl - NM(  = Delete last song
        Shift - Ctrl - NM)  = Add song with no requester

        F6   =  First line of block
        F7   =  Second quarter of block
        F8   =  Middle of block
        F9   =  Last quarter of block
        F10  =  Last line of block


Blocks and the playing sequence
-------------------------------

As  mentioned  in the introduction, a song is made up of "blocks", which are
simply  defined numbers of tracks and lines.  A block can contain up to 3200
lines,  and up to 8 tracks (using the Amiga®'s internal sound chip) or up to
64  tracks  (using  a MIDI instrument).  You can set the number of lines and
tracks  in  each block using the Block Properties window.  There can be 1000
blocks in a song (numbered 000 - 999).

The default number of lines in a block is 64, which allows 4 measures of 4/4
time,  and  means that each line represents a sixteenth note (British users:
sixteenth  note  =  semiquaver).    Notes may be more easily positioned in a
block  by  using  line  highlighting  in  the  Highlight Options window (for
example, with a default block a highlighting of 4 would mark every beat).

Again  as  touched  on  in the introduction, the order in which these blocks
should  be  played  is  defined in the "playing sequence", which is simply a
list  of  block  numbers.    (See  the  Playing   Sequence   window for more
information).

Each  block may have its own name, and block names may be edited both in the
Block Properties window and in the Block List window.  The current block and
its name is shown on the upper screen.

A  list  of  blocks  and their names, and gadgets for inserting and deleting
blocks can be found in the Block List window.


The Range
---------

A  "range" is a rectangular area of notes that is marked by dragging a mouse
button.   (Which mouse button is used is chosen in the Mouse Options window.
It may be as small as one note or as large as an entire block.  The range is
highlighted as you define it.

Many editing functions act on the notes in the current range, including some
in the Edit menu, Transpose window, and Programmable Keys window.

A  range  can  be canceled by simply clicking the chosen mouse button when a
range is marked.  This is useful, for example, if you have pressed the mouse
button by mistake.


The Notation Editor

The notation editor, activated using the Display menu, offers an alternative
to  the  normal  Tracker editor.  It can display notes and rests in standard
musical  notation,  which  is  both  useful for those who read music and for
printing songs to be played on an external instrument.

Note, however, that although notes can be entered using the notation editor,
player commands and effects may only be entered using the Tracker editor.

One  line  of  the  Tracker  editor is displayed in the notation editor as a
sixteenth  note,  so  a quarter note would be four lines long in the Tracker
editor.  The notation editor displays and prints one measure at a time.

The  notation editor consists of the notation itself on the main screen, and
a  Notation  Control  window  which  contains various editing options.  This
window may be closed using its close gadget, then reopened using the Display
menu.

Note  that  when  the notation editor screen is active, the mouse pointer is
displayed  as  the  current note instead of the default pointer symbol.  The
pointer's "hotspot" (the pixel used to "point" the pointer) is in the note's
circle, not at the top of the note's stick.  So for example, to click on the
Play  Block  gadget in the upper screen, position the note's circle (not the
top of the note's stick) over the gadget and press the left mouse button.

Selecting displayed tracks
--------------------------

The  editor  quickly becomes cluttered if all tracks are displayed at once.
For  this  reason, you can select exactly which tracks should be displayed.
This is achieved with the three rows of small square track gadgets:

Shown
Simply select which tracks are to be shown.

Ghost
Show the tracks in a "ghosted" (semi-visible) form.

Select
Clicking  a  track  gadget clears all Shown tracks except the track clicked,
and ghosts the tracks that were previously shown.

The  two  large arrow gadgets to the right of the track gadgets operate like
the  track  arrow  gadgets  on  the  upper  screen  - clicking them show the
previous/next  fourteen  tracks, and shift-clicking them show the first/last
fourteen  tracks  in the song.  (They only really apply to blocks containing
over fourteen tracks).

Presets
-------

You  can  choose five different combinations of selected and ghosted tracks,
and select them using the Preset cycle gadget immediately to the left of the
track gadgets.  The default is preset number 1.

Usually  it's convenient to put different components of the song on the same
tracks  throughout  the song.  For example, drums and percussion could be on
tracks  0  and  1, the bass line on track 2, the chords on tracks 3-5 and so
on.    Using  the preset function you can quickly display different parts of
the song.  For example:

Preset 1     All tracks
Preset 2     Only the chords (tracks 3 - 5)
Preset 3     Only the bass line (track 2)
Preset 4     The chords and the bass line (tracks 2 - 5)
Preset 5     Only the melody line (e.g. track 6)


Signatures
----------

You  may  set  the key signature of the song using the Key Signature window,
opened  using  the  appropriate menu item.  It contains a slider setting the
number  of  accidentals  -  sharps  or flats - required (0 - 6), and a radio
button  selecting  whether  the  accidentals  should  be sharps (default) or
flats.

A reminder of the number of accidentals used in different keys:

 Number of   |        Sharps         |         Flats
 accidentals | Major key | Minor key | Major key | Minor key
-------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------
      0      |     C     |     A     |     C     |     A
      1      |     G     |     E     |     F     |     D
      2      |     D     |     B     |     Bb    |     G
      3      |     A     |     F#    |     Eb    |     C
      4      |     E     |     C#    |     Ab    |     F
      5      |     B     |     G#    |     Db    |     Bb
      6      |     F#    |     D#    |     Gb    |     Eb

The  time  signature  is  set to 3/4 or 4/4 by using the Time Signature menu
item.  3/4 is three quarter note beats per measure, 4/4 is four quarter note
beats per measure.

Instrument settings
-------------------

Two  options  relating to the current instrument can be found in the Instr.
Notation window, activated using the Current Instrument menu item.

The  Tranpose  slider is the display transposition value (-24 to 24) for the
current instrument.  This can be used, for example, to shift the main melody
one  octave  up to separate it from the bass line on the display (its actual
pitch  is  not  affected).    Usually you'll want to use steps of one octave
(i.e.  -24, -12, 12, 24), but any value can be chosen.  Note that the editor
can  display  just over four octaves (C-1 to D#-4), whereas OctaMED supports
10.5 octaves.

If  the  Hide Instrument check box is selected, the current instrument won't
be  displayed  in  the notation editor (although its notes are played).  For
example,  if  notes  of a chord extend into the drum track, you can hide the
drum instrument(s), showing only the chords.

Also  relating  to  instruments, if the Show Instrument Numbers menu item is
selected,  instrument  numbers  will  be  displayed  above  the notes on the
selected track.

Entering notes
--------------

After  making  sure editing is on (in the upper screen), you can enter notes
either  using  the  keyboard or with the mouse.  Before editing using either
method,  you need to select which track the note should be entered to, using
the  Select  track  gadgets.    Make sure the track you select exists in the
current  block,  or  you'll get a warning message: for example, don't select
track 6 in a 4-track block.

Edit  using  the  keyboard  in  the usual way, noting that the cursor is the
large blue block.

To  edit  with the mouse, you must first select its length.  This is done by
clicking  on  one  of the diagrams of notes or rests at the very left of the
Notation  Control  window.  The length of the note in multiples of sixteenth
notes  is  shown  in  the  Length  display box (this also corresponds to the
number of lines in the Tracker editor).

Next  you  position  the mouse pointer (which now resembles the chosen note)
over  the point on the stave where you wish to place the note, and press the
left  mouse button.  If you hold down the mouse button and move the mouse up
and  down, you can hear the note corresponding to its position on the stave,
and this note is shown in the Note display box.

The  cycle  gadget  below the two display boxes sets which entering mode you
require  when  using  the mouse to edit.  Replace (the default) replaces the
notes  -  a  bit  like the Overwrite option found in wordprocessors.  Insert
inserts the notes, pushing the following notes to the right.  Delete deletes
the notes you click on, moving the following notes to the left.


The Upper Screen

This  part  of the main screen, above the Tracker editor or notation editor,
contains some important general functions and displays.

The  upper  screen  is  laid  out  in five rows, which contain the following
functions and status displays:

The first row
-------------

Play Song
This  gadget  plays  the  current  song  from the start of the first playing
sequence.

        [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Alt-Space ]

Cont Song
Plays  the current song from the current playing sequence position, starting
at  the  current line (or the first line if the gadget is clicked with Shift
held).

        [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Space ]

The remaining gadgets on this line have to do with instruments.

The  display  box  to  the  right of "Cont Song" contains the current sample
number,  and is followed by a gadget which opens the Instrument Load Window.

To the right of this gadget is a GetFile gadget which opens a file requester
to load one or more instruments (see Instr Menu/Load Instrument(s) ).  After
this  is a text gadget containing the name of the current instrument.  A new
instrument  may  also  be  loaded into the current slot by typing a new name
into this gadget.

If  there's no instrument in this position, the text box will be blank.  You
may  sometimes  run  across  a  song from which the composer has removed the
instrument  names  from  the text box, though still using the instruments in
the  song.    To  determine  whether  this is the case, make each instrument
number  current and see if it plays from the keyboard.  There's no advantage
in removing the instruments' names.

The  display box after this displays the size of the sample, or "-Synth-" if it is
a synthsound or "-------" if the slot is empty.  The size is prefixed by an "H" if
the sample is a hybrid sound.  The last gadget on this line opens the Type window,
with which you may select the type that the current instrument is to be.

The second row
--------------

Play Block
Plays  the  current block from the first line.  It will be replayed when the
last line is reached.

           [ Keyboard shortcut: Amiga-Space ]

Cont Block
Plays the current block from the current line.

           [ Keyboard shortcut: Alt-Space ]

The  display  box  contains  the channel mode of the current song, an "M" if
MIDI is active, and an "I" if MIDI Input is active (see MIDI Menu).

The remaining gadgets open certain instrument windows:

Instr Params
Opens  the  Instrument  Parameters  window, which allows you to edit various
instrument parameters.

Edit Sample
Opens the Sample Editor window.

Edit SynthS
Opens the Synthetic Sound Editor window.

The third row
-------------

D
Continues  the  block from the current line when a note is entered.  Editing
must be on.  The display box in the lower screen changes to "Waiting Input".

STOP
Stops  playing  the  song  /  block.  Sometimes notes will continue to sound
after  you  stop  the  cong.    Click STOP again, or press the space bar, to
silence them.

Shift-clicking  STOP (clicking it with Shift held) stops playing and inserts
command FFE at the cursor.  (See Commands A - F).

        [ Keyboard shortcut: Space bar ]

The  next gadget, four digits with a ":" between them, is the timer gadget.
This  is  the  number  of minutes and seconds since Play Song/Block has last
been  clicked.    Clicking  STOP, Cont Song or Cont Block doesn't affect the
elapsed  time.    You  may  reset  the  timer (to 00:00) by clicking the "R"
gadget.

 The  timer gadget also remembers the current song position.  When you click
the  R  gadget,  the  current  line / playseq position / section position is
stored.  Clicking the timer gadget itself moves back to the stored position.

The  remainder  of this row contains the tempo gadgets, that are used to set
the  playing  speed.  The first cycle gadget cycles BPM, which allows you to
set the tempo in Beats Per Minute, and SPD (default), with which you may set
the tempo in the usual way.

To  understand  this completely, technical aspects need to be known.  Timing
is  handled  using  the  CIAB  timers,  which give out "timing pulses" which
trigger  OctaMED's  player  interrupt.    On  each  timing pulse effects are
handled  (see  Player  Commands), but a new note is usually not played every
pulse.

In  SPD  mode,  the  time  between pulses can be changed using the left-hand
slider.  This is called the "primary tempo".  Usually notes are played every
6th  pulse,  but this also can be changed using the right-hand slider (it is
called  the "secondary tempo").  For example, if a new note was played every
3rd  pulse,  the  playing speed would be twice as fast.  This doesn't affect
the speed of effects.

Graphically:

pulse   \         PLAY NOTE  \
         the time between pulses is the "primary tempo"
pulse   /         DO EFFECTS   \
                                \
pulse             DO EFFECTS     \ The number of pulses between notes
                                 / (4 in this example) is the "secondary
pulse             DO EFFECTS    /  tempo"
                               /
pulse             PLAY NOTE   /

The  primary  tempo  can  be 1 - 240.  The higher the number, the faster the
speed,  and the default is 33.  For 4-channel or MIDI songs, values 11 - 240
should  be  used  (1  -  10 can also be used, but they only exist for Sound/
Noise/Protracker  compatibility).    For  5 - 8-channel songs, values 1 - 10
should be used; 11 - 240 are equivalent to 10 (to techies: this works in 5 -
8-channel  mode  not by changing the time between pulses but by changing the
size of the mix buffer).

The  secondary  tempo  can be $01 - $20 (in HEXADECIMAL, i.e.  33 values are
possible),  and  the  default  is  6.  The lower, the faster.  This allows a
fairly  rough  tempo  setting  (it's  the  way  the other Trackers set their
tempos).    For  MIDI use (especially for synchronization), you should leave
this  at  6  and  adjust the primary tempo instead.  Note that the secondary
tempo doesn't affect the speed of effects, unlike the primary tempo.

In  BPM  mode, the first slider controls the number of beats per minute (for
example,  60 is one beat per second).  The second slider controls the number
of  lines  per  beat (for example, 8 means eight lines are considered as one
beat).    Make  sure that the secondary tempo in SPD mode is set to 6 before
using  BPM; otherwise, the timing won't be accurate.  (This may, in fact, be
useful  to  some  users.  For example, double the normal BPM accuracy can be
obtained by setting the secondary tempo to 3).

   [ Keyboard shortcuts:  Ctrl- - (minus)     Decrease primary tempo
                          Ctrl- + (plus)      Increase primary tempo
                          Shift-Ctrl- -       Decrease secondary tempo
                          Shift-Ctrl- +       Increase secondary tempo ]

The  cycle gadget on the far right of the row plays at normal speed when NRM
(default),  two-thirds  speed when at 2/3, and half-speed when at 1/2.  This
is  useful for editing while the song is playing: you can slow the song down
without changing the tempo values, to make entering notes easier.

NOTE: It's possible to make a song which takes up all of the processor time.
It  will  therefore  be  impossible  to  stop  it.     This shouldn't happen
accidentally, but it can be done, for example, by filling a block with notes
and  setting  the  primary  tempo to 240 and the secondary tempo to 1...  To
stop playing, hold both mouse buttons down for about five or six seconds.

The fourth row
--------------

This row contains many status displays and the octave cycle gadget.

The  "Sg"  gadget  opens  the  Song  Selector window, and the status display
immediately  to  its  right displays the current song and the last song in a
multi-module.    (A  multi-module  is  a project consisting of more than one
song, but which all share the same set of instruments).

The  arrow gadgets are used to decrease / increase the current song number.
If the current song is the last song, and the right arrow gadget is clicked,
an "Add new song?" requester appears, and OctaMED will add a new song to the
project  if  you  click "Add".  Shift-clicking the right arrow gadget adds a
new  song  without the requester.  Shift-clicking the left arrow deletes the
last  song  in memory after displaying a requester.  (Equivalent to the "Add
New" and "Delete Last" items in the Song menu).

The  "Sc"  gadget  opens  the Section List window, and the following display
shows  the  current section list position and the total number of entries in
the section list.

The "Sq" gadget opens the Playing Sequence window, and the following display
shows  the current playing sequence position and the total number of entries
in the playing sequence.

 Clicking the "B" gadget opens the Block List window, and shift- clicking it
opens  the Block Properties window.  The following display shows the current
block  number  (starting  at  000),  the  number  of the last block, and the
current block name.  The last block number + 1 is the total number of blocks
in the song (since the numbering starts at 000).

The octave gadget shows which octaves are currently in use when you play the
Amiga's  keyboard  (see  the Tracker Editor).  The first digit is the octave
number  of  the  lower row of keys, the second is that of the upper row.  If
the  current instrument has a MIDI channel of 0, keys F1 - F5 select octaves
1+2, 2+3, 3+4, 4+5, and 5+6.  If its MIDI channel isn't zero, F2 - F4 select
4+5 to 6+7, F1 toggles 1+2 to 3+4, and F5 toggles 7+8 to 9+A.  To clarify:

   Function key | Octave selected (non-MIDI) | Octave selected (MIDI)
   -------------+----------------------------+-----------------------
        F1      |            1+2             |    3+4 / 2+3 / 1+2
        F2      |            2+3             |          4+5
        F3      |            3+4             |          5+6
        F4      |            4+5             |          6+7
        F5      |            5+6             |    7+8 / 8+9 / 9+A


The fifth row
-------------

This  row  contains  three  important  check  boxes  and the track selection
gadgets.

Edit
Toggles  editing  on/off.   With editing on, you may insert notes or numbers
into the song (see the Tracker Editor).

     [ Keyboard shortcut: Esc ]

Space
With  this  switch  on,  a  set  number  of lines are skipped when a note is
entered  into  the  song.    (The number of lines skipped, and other spacing
options, are set in the Keyboard Options window).   Useful for entering slow
pieces of music, since you don't have to press the Del key as often.

When  you  enter  notes  during  playing (in "real-time") with Space on, the
notes  will be quantized.  For example, with a spacing value of 2, the notes
will  only  be  placed on even-numbered lines (if Auto- Round Spacing is on,
see Keyboard Options).

When  shift-clicked,  spacing is switched on and the Keyboard Options window
is opened (with a view to editing the spacing options).

     [ Keyboard shortcut: ~ (the key just below Esc) ]

Chord
When on, the chord entering mode is active.  You must still know which notes
of  a  chord  you want to use, but OctaMED will place them on the tracks for
you.

First  you  should select the tracks which the chord entering affects (using
the  Select  track  gadgets documented below).  The chord always starts from
the  current  track  and  continues  to the following selected tracks on the
right.

Now,  holding keys down will enter a chord.  For example, to enter a C major
chord:  hold  down  the Q key, press the E key and keep both keys held down,
then  press  the G key.  On releasing the keys, the cursor moves back to the
initial  track (if Chord Reset in the Keyboard Options window is on).  Chord
entering also works well using a MIDI keyboard (see the MIDI Menu).

(Chords may be deleted using Left Amiga-DEL: see Edit Shortcuts).

     [ Keyboard shortcut: Shift-Esc ]

The  remaining  gadgets  are  the track selection gadgets.  The row of small
gadgets toggle the tracks on/off.  The cycle gadget toggles On/Off (default)
and  Select.   On/Off mode allows you to mute some tracks while listening to
others  by clicking the track selection gadgets.  This is often useful while
editing.  (You can also use the numeric keypad for this, see Keyboard Opts).
Select  is  used in many editing functions (including Chord, Edit Menu/Paste
to Sel Tracks, and Transpose).

Shift-clicking  a track selection gadget "solos" the track, i.e.  clears all
tracks apart from the one selected.

The  arrow  gadgets display the previous / next fourteen tracks in the small
gadgets.    Shift-clicking  the  arrow  gadgets  displays  the  first / last
fourteen  tracks  in  the  current block.  The "Set" and "Clr" gadgets set /
clear all tracks.


The Lower Screen

This  part  of the main screen, below the Tracker editor or notation editor,
contains a few display boxes and one gadget.

On  the  left-hand  side  is  a display box showing the free memory.  "Chip"
memory  is  the memory used to store graphics and samples, and "Fast" memory
stores  everything  else.  So if you have a song with many samples in it, it
will probably be the Chip memory status you'll be watching.  A more detailed
account of the free memory can be obtained on the title bar by pressing Ctrl
- F.

The  smaller display box in the middle of the screen shows the status of the
song's  playing  ("Playing  Song",  "Playing  Block", or "Stopped"), and the
current  disk activity ("Loading", "Saving").  It also shows "Waiting Input"
if the D button (beside STOP) is clicked.

When on, the "Freeze Display" check box turns off parts of the display.  The
Tracker  editor  is  removed and replaced with "Frozen", and the two sets of
equalizers  are  disabled.   This releases more processor time, advantageous
when  multitasking.  The screen is automatically frozen when it isn't at the
front if Settings menu/Auto-Freeze Screen is on.

The  four  larger  boxes  at  the bottom of the display showing the waveform
currently being output by each of the Amiga®'s sound channels.  The displays
take up quite a lot of processor time when using a standard 68000 processor,
so  they  may be turned off in the Settings menu.  When enabled, the line in
the center of them is blue: when disabled, it is white.


Player Commands

Player  commands  provide  a  way  of  composing  music   that   sounds more
interesting.    They  consist  of  numbers  that are attached to a note, and
generally  they  perform  effects  on  the  notes  they are attached to (for
example,  pitch  /  volume  sliding  etc.).    Some commands control various
functions not directly applicable to notes: for example, changing the song's
tempo, jumping to a new playing sequence entry, or sending a MIDI message to
a MIDI device.

The  data  byte  allows  you to control the command's intensity, depth etc.
Both the command number and data byte are in HEXADECIMAL !!!

They  are  entered in the command digits using the Tracker editor, by simply
positioning  the  cursor  on the digit and typing a new number (with editing
on).  In addition, the left command digit can be set to 1 by positioning the
cursor over the right command digit, holding down Right Alt and pressing the
right command digit's value.  For example, Alt-9 inserts command 19.

                C - 2  A 1 2 3 4
                         \ | \ |
                     command  \|
                               data byte

Advance  Cursor  Right  is often a help in editing the command digits.  (See
the Keyboard Options Window).

You'll  notice  that  some  commands  are  indicated   as   being ProTracker
compatible.    When loading and saving ProTracker modules, OctaMED makes any
necessary command conversions automatically.

The player commands can be split into four groups:

         Commands  0  - 9  (These topics contain descriptions of each
         Commands  A  - F   player command)
         Commands 11 - 1F
          MIDI Commands

Before  you read the descriptions, make sure you understand timing pulses (see the
Upper Screen) !!

Commands 0 - 9

Command 0:  ARPEGGIO                (MIDI: controller value)
------------------------------------------------------------

This  command changes the pitch of the note quickly (once every timing pulse).  It
can  be  used  to create "chords" or special effects.  If you've listened to music
made with the Commodore 64, you MUST have heard arpeggios!

The pitch is changed between three different pitches during one note:

        Pitch 1:  The original note
        Pitch 2:  Pitch 1 + the first data byte digit halfsteps up
        Pitch 3:  Pitch 1 + the second data byte digit halfsteps up

Note:  Pitch 3 is played first, then pitch 2, pitch 1, pitch 3, pitch 2 etc.  (the
number of pitches for each note depends on the secondary tempo).

For example, to create a C major arpeggio:

        Pitch 1:  C-2   (for example)
        Pitch 2:  E-2 = 4 halfsteps higher than C-2
        Pitch 3:  G-2 = 7 halfsteps higher than C-2

This produces:  C-2 10047
                --- 00047
                --- 00047 and so on... Note that the data byte with a
                          blank note continues the arpeggio.

The data byte for a minor chord would be 37.

Arpeggios sound better with some instruments than others

(Note that this works differently with MIDI, see MIDI Commands)


Command 1:  SLIDE UP                (MIDI: pitchbender up)
----------------------------------------------------------

This command slides up the pitch of the current track.

It  actually works by decreasing the period of the note the amount of the databyte
every  timing pulse.  Sounds rather technical??  Yes..  but a detailed description
is  not  really necessary, since slides can be made automatically: see Edit Menu /
Pitch Slide / Type 2.

If  you  use this function for special effects, experimentation is the key...  For
example:

     A-1 10000 --- 00000 --- 0010F <- slide up a bit


Command 2:  SLIDE DOWN              (MIDI: pitchbender down)
------------------------------------------------------------

Same as command 1, except slides down.


Command 3:  PORTAMENTO              (MIDI: set pitchbender)
-----------------------------------------------------------

Another  slide  command, with which you can create perfect slides more easily than
with  commands  1  and 2.  The difference is that commands 1 and 2 replay the note
they slide to: command 3 doesn't replay the note.

The data byte is the slide speed.  An example is the easiest way to explain this:

    C-2 50000 <- Note C is played
    --- 00000
    E-2 50305 <- This note isn't played! Instead, the slide target is set
    --- 00300    to E-2 with a slide speed of 5
    --- 00300 <- When the speed is zero, the previous speed is used
    --- 00306 <- The speed may be changed during a slide

This example would slide from C-2 to E-2, but the slide stops EXACTLY when a pitch
of E-2 is attained (with commands 1 and 2 you can slide beyond the note).

Again, slides can be created automatically in Edit / Pitch Slide / Type 1.

Command 4:  VIBRATO                 (MIDI: modulation wheel)
------------------------------------------------------------

Rapidly  increases  and  decreases  the note's pitch.  The first digit of the data
byte  is  the  vibrato speed, the second is the vibrato depth.  If either digit is
zero, the previous speed and/or depth is used.

The  higher  the digit's value, the greater the speed / depth.  (Remember that the
digits  are  in hexadecimal: values 0 - 9 and A - F can be used, giving a total of
16 possible values for each digit).


Command 5:  SLIDE AND FADE          (MIDI: controller number)
-------------------------------------------------------------

ProTracker-compatible.

This command combines commands 300 and Dxx.  The slide speed is the previous speed
entered with command 3, and the fade speed is the data byte.

    C-1 10000
    D-3 10303 <- slide at speed 3
    --- 00300 <- continue sliding
    --- 00502 <- continue sliding and fade at speed 2 (see command D later)
    --- 00502


Command 6:  VIBRATO AND FADE   [ ProTracker-compatible ]
--------------------------------------------------------

Combines  commands  400  and  Dxx.  Again, the vibrato speed is the previous speed
entered with command 4, and the fade speed is the data byte.

Command 7:  TREMOLO   [ ProTracker-compatible ]
----------------------------------------------

This  command  is  a  kind  of "volume vibrato".  The first data byte digit is the
tremolo  speed,  the second is the depth.  The depth must be quite high before the
effect is audible (try A - F).

The higher the digit's value, the greater the speed / depth.


Command 8:  SET HOLD/DECAY          (MIDI: set hold only)
---------------------------------------------------------

This  command  must  be  located on the same line as a note.  The command sets the
hold and decay values for the note (see Instrument Parameters).

The first digit is the decay value, the second is the hold value.

    C-3 30824  (decay = 2, hold = 4)
    -|- 30000
    -|- 30000
    --- 00000


Command 9:  SECONDARY TEMPO         (MIDI: no action)
-----------------------------------------------------

Sets  the  secondary  tempo (the number of timing pulses per note).  The data byte
must be $01 - $20.

(See also Player Commands, A - F, 11 - 1F, and MIDI Commands)


Commands A - F

Command A:  VOLUME SLIDE            (MIDI: polyphonic aftertouch)
----------------------------------------------------------------

This  is exactly the same as command D, for Sound/Noise/Protracker compatibility.
However, please use D instead of this.

Command B:  PLAYING SEQUENCE POSITION JUMP
------------------------------------------

Allows  you  to  make  songs that have a beginning, which is played only once, and
another  part,  which  is repeated continuously.  The command causes a jump to the
playing  sequence  number  given  by the data byte.  If the data byte is zero, the
song is played from the first playseq entry.

Note  that  when more than one playing sequence is defined, the specified entry in
the  CURRENT playing sequence is jumped to.  At present, no command exists to jump
to an entry in the section list.

Example:    --- 00B02 <- start playing from playseq number 003


Command C:  SET VOLUME
----------------------

You can override the default volume of the instrument with this important command.

For example, "A-3 40C20" is played with volume 20.

There  are 65 volume levels (0 - 64), 0 = silent, 64 = maximum.  The data byte may
be either 00 - 64 or $00 - $40 (decimal or hex: see Song Options.

It is also possible to change the volume of an already played note:

    A-3 40000
    --- 00000
    --- 00C10 <- change volume to 10

In  addition,  you may actually set the default instrument volume.  The value MUST
be  in HEX!, and is between 80 and C0.  80 = volume $0, C0 = volume $40 (hex).  In
other words, add 80 to the normal volume in hex.

Note  that setting default instrument volumes can cause trouble in multi- modules,
since  all the songs share the same set of instruments.  So it is recommended that
default instrument volumes are only changed in non-multi- modules.

Command D:  VOLUME SLIDE            (MIDI: channel pressure)
------------------------------------------------------------

You  can  increase  /  decrease volume smoothly with this command.  The first data
byte digit is the amount of volume increase ("crescendo"), the second digit is the
amount  of  decrease  ("decrescendo").    If  crescendo  is  zero,  decrescendo is
performed:  otherwise,  only  crescendo is performed regardless of the decrescendo
value.

    C-2 30C40
    --- 00D01 <- a bit quieter
    --- 00D01 <- even quieter
    --- 00D20 <- and crescendo back to original volume

In  this  command  the  volume is changed every timing pulse.  So if the secondary
tempo was 6, a decrescendo value of 1 would decrease the volume by 6.  The example
above would look like this using C commands (except it doesn't sound as smooth):

    C-2 40C40 (volumes are decimal in this example)
    --- 00C34 <- -6
    --- 00C28 <- -6
    --- 00C40 <- +12


Command E:  SYNTH JUMP              (MIDI: pan control)
-------------------------------------------------------

This  command  only applies to synth/hybrid (and MIDI) instruments.  It is used to
trigger  a  jump  in the waveform sequence.  The data byte is the jump destination
(line number).

    C-4 40000 <- should be a synth/hybrid instrument
    --- 00000
    --- 00E05 <- causes a jump to line #5  (see Synthsound Programming)


Command F:  PRIMARY TEMPO / MISCELLANEOUS
-----------------------------------------

Command F has many different actions depending on the data byte.

If  the  data  byte  is  00,  it causes an immediate jump to the next entry in the
playing  sequence  (or  the  beginning  of  the  block if you are only playing the
current block).  This function is better to implement by making the block shorter,
as it takes less memory, so it mainly exists for Tracker compatibility.

    C-2 40F00 <- this is the last note that will play in the current block

When  the  data byte is $01 - $F0, the command changes the primary tempo (the time
between timing pulses).

If  the  new  tempo is 01 - 0A, it is compatible with Trackers, but you should use
command  9  instead  of this command as it's directly Tracker-compatible (but make
sure the primary tempo is set to the default 33).

    E-3 60FF0 <- quickest tempo (240 decimal)
    --- 00000
    --- 00F0B <- slowest (11 decimal)

Data bytes FF1 - FFF are reserved for special actions, most of which are currently
in use:

FF1  causes  the same note to be actually played twice.  In this way it's possible
to  create  fast rhythms.  It's identical to command 1F03.  With a secondary tempo
of 6:

        C-3 20FF1 is the same as C-3 20000
                                 C-3 20000 with double tempo (i.e. 3)

FF2  plays  the  same  note  only  once,  but it is not started immediately.  It's
identical to command 1F30.  Again with a secondary tempo of 6:

        C-3 20FF2 is the same as --- 00000
                                 C-3 20000 with double tempo

FF3  works  like  FF1  except  the  note is played three times (very quick).  It's
identical to command 1F02.  Again with a secondary tempo of 6:

        C-3 20FF3 is the same as C-3 20000
                                 C-3 20000
                                 C-3 20000 with triple tempo (i.e. 2)

FF4 delays the note one-third of a line.

FF5  delays  the note two-thirds of a line.  FF4 and FF5 can be used, for example,
to create triplets:

        C-2 10000  Here, the three notes will be evenly spaced throughout
        D-2 10FF4  the four lines (they'll have a length of one-and-a-third
        E-2 10FF5  lines each)
        --- 00000

    They only work accurately when the secondary tempo is divisible by 3
    (3, 6, 9 etc.).

FF8 turns the low-pass filter off (see the Song Options Window)

FF9 turns the low-pass filter on

FFD  (doesn't  work  with  MIDI)  causes the pitch of the channel to be set to the
pitch of the new note, but the new note is not replayed.

        C-1 20000 <- play note
        --- 00000
        C-2 20FFD <- don't replay the note, just set the pitch to C-2

This is especially useful in playing long samples or samples with a loop set (like
strings, choirs etc.), as the undesirable "click" that you can sometimes hear when
playing a new note is eliminated.

FFE stops playing immediately.  (When used in 5 - 8-channel mode, the song's notes
are  also  stopped).    If you want to make a song which only plays once, put this
command at the end of the song.  It can be easily inserted by clicking STOP with a
Shift key held.

FFF  stops the note on the current track.  Is almost like C00 with Amiga® samples,
but  while  C00  sets  the  volume  of  the  note  to zero, FFF turns the note off
completely (there is a subtle difference :).

(See also Player Commands  0 - 9, 11 - 1F, and MIDI Commands)

Commands 11 - 1F

Command 11:  SLIDE PITCH UP ONCE   [ Equivalent to ProTracker command E1 ]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whereas command 1 slides the pitch smoothly, this command only changes it once per
note (for greater accuracy).

    C-2 31105 <- slightly above C-2

To  techies: with this command, you may play a note at any period value you wish.
For example, C-2 is 428.  To play at period 431, simply enter "C-2 31103".

Command 12:  SLIDE PITCH DOWN ONCE   [ Equivalent to PT command E2 ]
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Equivalent to command 11, except slides down.

Command 14:  PT-COMPATIBLE VIBRATO   [ Equivalent to ProTracker command 4 ]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

In  Protracker,  the  vibrato  command was changed from NoiseTracker.  The maximum
depth  was  halved  to give greater accuracy.  This command is compatible with the
new  Protracker  vibrato  (loading  Protracker  songs automatically changes the PT
vibrato command to this command 14).

Command 15:  SET FINETUNE
-------------------------

Overrides the default finetune value of the instrument.

Since these are hexadecimal numbers, negative numbers must be expressed as:

    -1 = FF        -3 = FD         -5 = FB          -7 = F9
    -2 = FE        -4 = FC         -6 = FA          -8 = F8

    C#3 21503 <- finetune = +3
    D-2 315F8 <- finetune = -8


Command 16: LOOP   [ Equivalent to ProTracker command E6 ]
---------------------------------------------------------

This  interesting  command  enables  you  to construct a loop within a block.  For
example:

    ...
    004 C-3 11600 <- data byte = $00: mark loop beginning
    005 D#2 10000
    006 --- 11603 <- data byte = $03: loop three times
    ...

This  example would play lines 004 - 006 three times before continuing.  You can't
nest loops!

Command 18:  CUT NOTE               (MIDI: no action)
-----------------------------------------------------

Almost  like  hold  (command  8),  except  it  sets  the volume to zero instead of
actually  switching  the  note  off.  This is Protracker-compatible (equivalent to
command EC).

Command 19:  SAMPLE START OFFSET    (MIDI: no action)   [ PT command 9 ]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

When playing a sample, this command sets the starting byte in steps of 256 bytes (
= $100 hex).  Useful for speech samples.

    C-2 11904 <- play the sample starting at byte $400 = 1024


Command 1A:  SLIDE VOLUME UP ONCE   (MIDI: no action)   [ PT command EA ]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Allows you to make slow volume slides, since the volume is slid only once per line
(on the first timing pulse of each line).

    D-2 11A01 <- a looped string, perhaps, default volume 0
    --- 01A01
    (and so on..)


Command 1B: SLIDE VOLUME DOWN ONCE  (MIDI: no action)   [ PT command EB ]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Equivalent to 1A except slides down.


Command 1D: JUMP TO NEXT PLAYSEQ ENTRY   [ Equivalent to PT command D ]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

This command is like F00, except that you can specify the line number of the first
line to be played.  The line number is (as usual) given in HEX.

    --- 01D0A <- next playseq entry, start at line 10 (skip lines 000-009)


Command 1E: REPLAY LINE   [ Equivalent to ProTracker command EE ]
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Replays  the  commands in the current line the specified number of times.  Doesn't
replay the notes.

    C-2 10000 --- 00000
    --- 00101 --- 01E06 <- replay the commands in this line six times


Command 1F: NOTE DELAY AND RETRIGGER   [ PT commands EC and ED ]
----------------------------------------------------------------

Gives  you  accurate control over note playing.  You can delay the note any number
of  timing  pulses, and initiate fast retrigger.  The first data byte digit is the
note delay value, the second one is the retrig value.

    C-2 11F20 <- delay 2 timing pulses

     => pulse  0  ---
               1  ---
               2  C-2
               3  ---
               ...

    C-2 11F02 <- retrig every second pulse

     => pulse  0  C-2
               1  ---
               2  C-2
               3  ---
               4  C-2
               ...

    C-2 1FF22 <- delay 2 pulses THEN retrig every second pulse

     => pulse  0  ---
               1  ---
               2  C-2
               3  ---
               4  C-2
               ...

    Command 0FF1 is equal to 1F03, 0FF2 to 1F30, and 0FF3 to 1F02.

(See also Player Commands, 0 - 9, A - F, and MIDI Commands)


MIDI Commands
-------------

Please  read  the  other command explanations (see Player Commands) before reading
this.   This topic is like an "erratum" for MIDI, in that it documents the changes
to the other command documentation required for MIDI use.

Commands  B,  F,  16,  1D,  1E,  and  1F  all work identically with MIDI to Amiga®
instruments.   Commands 15, 18, 19, 1A, and 1B have no effect when used with MIDI.

If  you  are  unfamiliar  with any of the terms used in this topic, please consult
your MIDI device's manual.

Command 0:  CONTROLLER VALUE
----------------------------

See command 5 for a description.

Command 1:  PITCHBENDER UP
--------------------------

This  command "turns" the pitchbender 8 × data byte steps up on each timing pulse.
However,  automatic  slide making (unfortunately) can't be used here.  Because the
actual  range  of the pitchbender is different for different instruments, you must
find the right value by experimenting.

When  a  new note is played, the pitchbender is not reset automatically.  To reset
it, use this command with a data byte of 00.

    G-2 L01FF <- turn pitchbender up very quickly
    --- 00000
    --- 00100 <- then reset the pitchbender


Command 2:  PITCHBENDER DOWN
----------------------------

As command 1, except turns the pitchbender down.

Command 3:  SET PITCHBENDER
---------------------------

With  this  command  you  may  set  the  pitchbender to an exact value, instead of
sliding as in commands 1 and 2.  The data byte is the pitchbender value, expressed
as a signed hexadecimal digit (aargh!!  ;-)

        $00       = center position
        $80 (-7F) = smallest value
        $7F       = largest value

    C-2 30000
    --- 0037F <- pitchbender to maximum value
    --- 00300 <- reset


Command 4:  MODULATION WHEEL
----------------------------

Affects  the  modulation  wheel of the current channel.  The data byte can be 00 -
7F:  00  =  no  modulation,  7F = maximum.  Values 80 - FF are reserved for future
expansion (i.e.  won't work ;).  (Modulation is usually vibrato).

Command 5:  CONTROLLER NUMBER
-----------------------------

This  command,  in  conjunction  with  command  0,  allows  you to change any MIDI
controller (command $Bx cc vv, where cc = controller number, vv = value).

First  you  set  the  number  of the controller you wish to change with command 5.
Then  you  can select the value with command 0.  Subsequent uses of command 0 will
affect  the  controller  previously  set  with command 5.  Remember that each MIDI
channel has its own controller number.

If  you  need  to use a controller value of $00, you can't use "00" as a data byte
because  command  "0000"  means  "do  nothing".    Instead,  you need to use "80".
Acceptable controller numbers and values are $00 - $7F.

For example (assuming instrument 3 is set to MIDI channel 1):

    C-2 30000
    --- 00507 <- controller $07 = volume, according to the MIDI standard
    D-2 3007F <- set max. volume (7F), command $B0 $07 $7F is sent
    --- 00000
    F-3 30001 <- small volume ($01)
    --- 0055C <- select controller $5C (tremolo depth)
    G-4 30080 <- set to 0 (note: $80 = $00)


Command 8:  SET HOLD ONLY
-------------------------

Just  to  underline  that  decay  can't  be  used with MIDI instruments.  (This is
because with MIDI, the volume of an already played note can't be altered).

Command A:  POLYPHONIC AFTERTOUCH
---------------------------------

Changes  the  polyphonic  aftertouch  of  the  most  recent  note.  (Aftertouch is
squeezing  a  key down harder than when it was initally struck).  The value should
be 00 - 7F.

    C-3 40000
    --- 00A30 <- aftertouch $30 (remember, hex!)
    --- 00000
    --- 00A00 <- aftertouch $00


Command C:  SET VOLUME
----------------------

Again,  just  to underline that the volume of a note can't be changed after it has
been played (as it can with Amiga® samples).

Command D:  CHANNEL PRESSURE
----------------------------

This  command sends a channel pressure (channel aftertouch) message using the most
recently used channel.  The data byte should be $00 - $7F.

Command E:  PAN CONTROL
-----------------------

Controls the stereo location of the note. The data byte can be $00 - $7F.

    left        mid         right
     |           |            |
    00          3F           7F


Command F:  PRIMARY TEMPO / MISCELLANEOUS
-----------------------------------------
¯
Just two additions for MIDI use:

FFA sends the "hold pedal on" command.

FFB sends the "hold pedal off" command.


Command 10:  SEND MIDI MESSAGE
------------------------------

Sends a MIDI message, created using the MIDI message editor.  The data byte is the
message number.  Note that with this command the first message is number 0, so you
need to subtract one to convert the message number from the message editor for use
with this command.

    C-2 11000 <- send the first message, then plays note C-2 (messages are
                 always sent before notes)

MIDI timing pulses are sent immediately even if a message dump is going on.


Command 13:  SET PITCHBENDER WITH NOTE
--------------------------------------

Like command 3, but can also be used when there's a note next to the command.

Command 1C:  CHANGE MIDI PRESET
-------------------------------

Changes  the  MIDI  preset number of the current instrument.  As with all commands
which  modify  the  song  parameters,  you  should be very careful when using this
command in multi-modules (or even don't use it at all in multi- modules).

(See also Player Commands, 0 - 9, A - F, and 11 - 1F)


KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
------------------

"Keyboard  shortcuts" are combinations of keys used to carry out the equivalent of
a  mouse  operation.  The mouse operation may be selecting a menu item, clicking a
gadget  etc.    Hence you are "taking a shortcut" by using the keyboard instead of
using the mouse.

Perhaps  the  simplest  form of keyboard shortcuts are menu item shortcuts.  These
are displayed in the menu itself, as a strange-looking "A" and a letter.  All menu
shortcuts  are  accessed  by  holding  down  the  Right Amiga key and pressing the
appropriate  key.    The "A" symbol represents the Right Amiga key, and the letter
represents  the  appropriate  key.   Note that the menu shortcuts can only be used
when the main screen is active (that is, when no windows are active).

Shortcuts  can  also  be  attached  to  gadgets in windows and on the main screen.
These  shortcuts  are  accessed  by holding down the Left Alt key and pressing the
appropriate  key.   This time, the appropriate key is represented by an underlined
letter  in  or beside the gadget that the shortcut acts on.  This type of shortcut
can  only  be  accessed  when  the  window or main screen containing the gadget is
active.    The  effect  of  shortcuts  on  the various types of gadget in the user
interface can be found in Gadget Shortcuts.

Other shortcuts are not visually represented on the OctaMED screen, but have to be
remembered  by  the  user.   A full list of shortcuts is provided in the following
topics:

Menu Item Shortcuts
Editing Shortcuts
Cursor Movement Shortcuts
Other Shortcuts

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR USERS OF NON-U.S. AND NON-BRITISH KEYBOARDS

Menu Item Shortcuts

All  keys  listed have to be pressed with the Right Amiga key held.  Note that you
may only use these shortcuts when the main screen is active.

[ V4 upgraders: all shortcuts are  aside from cut/copy/paste track ]


A       Open Input Map Editor window
B       Open Block Properties window
C       Copy track
D       Delete file
E       Note echo
F       Spread notes
G       Open MIDI Message Editor window
H       Open Song Options window
I       Load instrument(s)
I       (with Shift+Amiga held) Load non-halved instrument(s) in 5-8 channel
K       Open Keyboard Options window
L       Open Sample List Editor window
M       MIDI Active on/off
N       New project
O       Open project
P       Open Print Options window
Q       Quit OctaMED
R       Open Relative Track Volumes window
S       Open Save Options window
T       Open Transpose window
U       Input Active on/off
V       Paste track
W       Open Mouse Options window
X       Cut track
Y       Open Programmable Keys window
Z       Swap track with copy buffer

1       Ext Sync on/off
2       Send Sync on/off
3       Send Active Sensing on/off
4       Send Out Input on/off
5       Read Key Up's on/off
6       Read Volume on/off

\       Open Input Channel window
[       Local Control on
]       Local Control off

Note  that  the following Left Alt shortcuts also act as menu item shortcuts (with
the main screen active):

B       Open Block List window
C       Open Section List window
E       Open Sample Editor window
G       Open Song Selector window
I       Open Instrument Parameters window
Q       Open Playing Sequence window
T       Open Instrument Type window
Y       Open Synthetic Sound Editor window

Other  menu  item  shortcuts  (excluding  settings)  are  documented  in the other
keyboard shortcut topics.


Gadget Shortcuts

This short topic describes the effects of "Left Alt" shortcuts on the two types of
gadget  that  Left  Alt  shortcuts currently affect.  (In the future, all types of
gadget will likely be supported).


         Gadget Type   | Effect on holding Left Alt
       ----------------+----------------------------
        Action button  |       Action executed
                       |
        Check box      |  Box checked / unchecked



Editing Shortcuts

These shortcuts are used in editing with the Tracker editor.

Esc             Editing on/off
Shift-Esc       Chord on/off
~               Space on/off

Del             Delete note or command digit under cursor
Shift-Del       Delete note and command digits
Alt-Del         Delete only command digits

Left Amiga-Del
Delete  chord.  When L-Amiga is held down, every time you press Del the note under
the  cursor  is  deleted  and  the  cursor moves to the next selected track.  When
L-Amiga  is  released,  the  cursor  advances  (in the way defined in the Keyboard
Options.

Return or A
Insert hold symbol (-|-)

Shift-Return
Insert hold symbols to all tracks of the previous chord.

F
Insert / play note at default pitch

Backspace
Delete note and move following notes up

Shift-Backsp
Insert empty note slot

Alt-Backspace
Delete current track

Alt-Shift-Bksp
Insert new track

Shift- 0 - 9
Enter  programmable  key  0  - 9 (Note: with Caps Lock on, progkeys may be entered
without holding the Shift key)

Shift-Ctrl-0-9
Pick note under cursor as programmable key 0 - 9

Tab
Highlight current line

Ctrl-O
Create volume slide (using command C)

Shift-Ctrl-O
Create generic slide (using any command)

Ctrl-T
Create type 1 slide (using command 3)

Shift-Ctrl-T
Create type 2 slide (using commands 1 and 2)

Shift-Alt-X
Cut block

Shift-Alt-C
Copy block

Shift-Alt-V
Paste block

Ctrl-Z
Erase range

Ctrl-X
Cut range

Ctrl-C
Copy range

Ctrl-V
Paste range

Shift-Ctrl-V
Paste to selected tracks

Ctrl-B
Range current track

Shift-Ctrl-B
Range current block

Ctrl-J
Join block with next

Shift-Ctrl-J
Split block at cursor

Ctrl- <
Swap  note under cursor with following note, taking account of the current spacing
value

Ctrl- >
Swap notes on adjacent tracks

Ctrl-K
Kill notes to end of track

Shift-Ctrl-K
Kill notes to end of block

Alt-Ctrl-K
Kill  notes to end of block and actually remove the deleted part of the block.  In
other words, the current line becomes the last line of the block.


Cursor Movement Shortcuts

These shortcuts allow cursor movement in the Tracker editor.  The cursor keys move
the cursor one place up/down/left/right.

Alt-<left>          Cursor to previous track
Alt-<right>         Cursor to next track
Ctrl-<left>         Previous screenful of tracks
Ctrl-<right>        Next screenful of tracks
Shift-Ctrl-<left>   Cursor to track 0
Shift-Ctrl-<right>  Cursor to last track
Shift-<up>          Previous block
Shift-<down>        Next block
Left Alt-<up>       First block  (Can't use R.Alt to avoid accidental
Left Alt-<down>     Last block    jump when using Alt-<left>/<right>)
Ctrl-NM(            Previous song         (NM = numeric keypad)
Ctrl-NM)            Next song / Add song
Shift-Ctrl-NM(      Delete last song
Shift-Ctrl-NM)      Add song with no confirmation requester

F6                  Cursor to first line of block
F7                  Cursor to second quarter of block
F8                  Cursor to middle of block
F9                  Cursor to last quarter of block
F10                 Cursor to last line of block

Alt-Ctrl-<left>     Go to where sample previously appeared in the
                    song. The sample number is taken from either the
                    number under the cursor, or (if that is
                    "--- 00000") from the current instrument number
Alt-Ctrl-<right>    Go to where sample next appears in the song


Other Shortcuts

Shift-Alt-Space     Play song        [ Remember you may also use the
Shift-Space         Continue song      Left Alt shortcuts underlined
Amiga-Space         Play block         in the playing gadgets ]
Alt-Space           Continue block
Space bar           Stop playing

Ctrl-Space bar      Reset MIDI presets / pitchbenders / mod. wheels

Shift-<left>        Previous sample
Shift-<right>       Next sample
Alt-Shift-<left>    16 samples backward
Alt-Shift-<right>   16 samples forward
Shift-Ctrl- <       Previous free sample slot
Shift-Ctrl- >       Next free sample slot

F1 - F5             Select octaves 1+2 - 5+6 in normal mode,
                    3+4 - 7+8/8+9/9+A in MIDI mode

Ctrl- - (minus)     Decrease primary tempo
Ctrl- + (plus)      Increase primary tempo
Shift-Ctrl- -       Decrease secondary tempo
Shift-Ctrl- +       Increase secondary tempo

Ctrl-I              Insert new block
Shift-Ctrl-I        Insert new default block
Ctrl-N              Append new block
Shift-Ctrl-N        Append new default block
Ctrl-D              Delete current block
Shift-Ctrl-D        Delete last block

Ctrl-S              Save IFF instrument
Shift-Ctrl-S        Save raw instrument
Ctrl-G              Flush current instrument
Shift-Ctrl-G        Flush all unused instruments

Ctrl-A              Automatic Advance Down on/off
Ctrl-F              Display free memory

Alt-~               Set spacing value to length of current range - 1.
                    For example,  marking a range from 000 - 002 sets
                    spacing to 2. It's logical to subtract 1 since
                    with a spacing of 2, the cursor skips from line
                    000 to 002 which is 3 lines long).

The following shortcuts apply to the numeric keypad.

Ctrl-8              Scroll playing sequence up
Ctrl-2              Scroll playing sequence down
Ctrl-4              Decrease the current playing sequence entry
Ctrl-6              Increase the current playing sequence entry
Ctrl-7              Top of playing sequence
Ctrl-1              Bottom of playing sequence
Ctrl-5              Insert current block to playing sequence
Ctrl-0              Duplicate current playing sequence entry
Ctrl-.              Delete current playing sequence entry

Note  that  with  the  Caps  Lock  on,  the playing sequence can be edited without
holding down the Ctrl key.

The non-shifted functions of the keypad are listed in Keyboard Options.


IMPORTANT NOTE FOR USERS OF NON-U.S. AND NON-BRITISH KEYBOARDS

The  keyboard shortcuts used in these instructions correspond to the standard U.S.
keymap  (and,  by  coincidence, to the British keymap).  Users of other keyboards,
therefore, have slight changes to make to the keys given.  They are:

A = Q on a French keyboard
Z = W on a French keyboard, and Y on a Swiss or German keyboard

<  and > are the two keys immediately to the right of M (except French, where they
are the two keys to the right of ",")

- and + are the two keys immediately to the right of 0 (zero)

*  Note  that  these changes DON'T apply to the Right Amiga menu shortcuts or Left
Alt  gadget  shortcuts.   For example, to open the Input Map Editor window using a
French  keyboard,  hold  down the Right Amiga key and press the key immediately to
the right of the Tab key (A).

Other  international  keyboard  differences  currently  don't  apply  to OctaMED's
keyboard shortcuts.


INTRODUCTION AND MISCELLANEOUS NODES

Introduction

Welcome  to  OctaMED  Professional V5.0!  The "MED" in "OctaMED" stands for "Music
EDitor",  and  that's  exactly  what OctaMED is.  With the program you may compose
music for games, demos, animations and presentations, or simply use the program as
a stand-alone editor.

There  is  little previous Amiga® knowledge you need to use OctaMED, but a general
familiarity  with  the  Amiga®  is helpful.  You should know the basic mouse-using
terms  "click"  and "drag", know about using windows and menus, know the operation
of  the  ASL  file  requester,  and  be able to copy and format disks.  If you are
unfamiliar  with any of these, please consult your Amiga®'s manual.  Communication
with the program is covered in the User Interface topic.

You  must  also  remember  which processor your Amiga® uses.  The A1200 contains a
68020  processor,  and the A3000 and A4000 either a 68030 or 68040.  Other Amigas®
(without  accelerator boards fitted) use 68000 processors.  In addition to this, a
few  functions  in  OctaMED  are  selected with the mouse using a technique called
"shift-clicking".    This  simply  involves holding down one of the Amiga®'s Shift
keys while pressing and releasing the left mouse button quickly.

Before you begin using OctaMED, you must make a copy of the program disk and store
the  original disk in a safe place.  This serves as a precaution in case your copy
of OctaMED becomes corrupt.  The original disk should only be used to make further
copies.  ( for your OWN use )


A brief overview of the program
-------------------------------

OctaMED  is used to create "songs" (which are also known as "modules").  Each song
consists  of  small  pieces of music called "blocks", which are linked together by
creating  a  list  of blocks arranged in the order in which they should be played.
Blocks can be played in any order, and any number of times.  In this way a song is
broken  down  into  more  manageable pieces; and if a song contains parts that are
repeated,  you  need  only  create  the duplicated section once, and then tell the
computer to play it as often as required.

Blocks  are  usually  edited  using  the  Tracker  editor,  in  which the music is
represented  by note names and numbers.  In this form, the music is quite fast and
convenient to edit (when you get used to it!), but it has limited use when printed
since no-one could play it (although printing is still possible).

For  those who read music and wish to compose using the more traditional format of
notes placed on a stave, a notation editor is provided for this purpose.  However,
the Tracker editor is still very important so learning to use it is essential.

Usually  songs  are  played using the Amiga®'s internal stereo sound chip, but you
may  also  use  a  MIDI keyboard.  For sound chip use, the instruments used in the
song usually consist of digitized sounds known as "samples".  A sample can consist
of  any  sound  at all: it could be a single note, a chord, speech, sound effects,
anything!    Using  OctaMED and a "sound sampler" (which you must buy separately),
you  can create new samples by simply connecting the sound source to the sampler.
Alternatively  you  can use the many thousands of samples already available, which
are  obtained  through  various distribution channels such as the public domain or
commerical companies.

OctaMED  can  be  thought of as a player of samples in a predetermined sequence at
predetermined pitches on predetermined sound channels.  (Of course, you - the user
-  determine these factors).  Since samples are played in a set sequence, programs
like  OctaMED  are  often  referred  to  as "sample sequencers".  OctaMED produces
different  pitches by simply playing the samples at a quicker or slower speed: the
quicker  the  speed,  the  higher  the pitch.  These pitches of samples are called
"notes"  (no matter whether the sample really is a single note or instead a chord,
speech etc.).

OctaMED  has  a  special function for use with samples that is virtually unique in
programs of its type.  Normally the Amiga®'s sound chip can play only four samples
simultaneously, but in OctaMED you can play up to eight samples at once.  Although
this  may  sound rather attractive, there is a small price to pay in sound quality
and  in  various  restrictions  (which  are documented in 5-8 Channel Mode).  (The
"Octa" in OctaMED's name refers to the eight simultaneous samples).

(Remember,  click  on  any  boxed  text  to  see  more  details on that topic.  In
addition, pressing Return chooses the topic highlighted in blue).


[  Please  note  that  although this guide will be of great assistance in learning
where and how!, it is no substitute for the OctaMED Companion.  The Companion is a
manual  containing full "get-you-started" instructions and then goes through every
aspect  of OctaMED right up to the truly technical stuff and if followed properly,
by  the  time  you have finished you will know how to use/write/compose as good as
anyone else.

The  Tutorial  is  not  a  printout  of  this text file, but is instead a complete
teach-yourself manual and we have spent many months preparing it.

To purchase the tutorial and its accompanying two disks please contact SeaSoft for
availability or Ray Burt-Frost ( RBF Software )

How are songs made?
-------------------

1. Load instruments
-------------------

There  can  be up to 63 instruments in a song, and they are numbered 01 - 1V.  The
numbering  works  as  follows:  01, 02, 03 ...  09, 0A, 0B ...  0V, 10, 11, 12 ...
19, 1A, 1B ...  1V.

Just  below  the  title  bar  of  the OctaMED screen is a small box containing the
current  sample's  number,  followed by a text box containing the current sample's
name.    The  previous or next instrument can be selected by holding the Shift key
down and pressing the left or right cursor (arrow) key respectively.

A  sample  can  be  loaded  into  the current instrument slot by either typing its
filename  into  the text box, or clicking the small gadget immediately to the left
of  the  text  box: you may now choose its filename using the file requester.  The
instruments  on  your  sample disks may also be organized into a list known as the
sample list for easy loading (see the Sample List Editor).


2. Set block size, number of tracks etc.
----------------------------------------

See the Tracker Editor for more information on this.

3. Set instrument parameters
----------------------------

Instrument  characteristics  such  as  tuning and volume are set in the Instrument
Parameters window.

4. Edit blocks and add new blocks
---------------------------------

As previously mentioned, blocks are edited predominantly using the Tracker editor.
New blocks can be created using the Block List window, or by using Block Menu/New.
(This means using the New item in the Block menu).

5. Link blocks together
-----------------------

The  list  of  block numbers used to order the playing of a song is created in the
Playing Sequence window.

6. Play song
------------

The  song playing gadgets are located on the upper screen.  You may play the whole
song  or  just  the  current block, or continue the song or block from the current
position.

7. Save song
------------

There's  no  point  in  creating  a  masterpiece  if it can't be saved!  Saving is
achieved  using  the Save Options window, where you may select what format to save
the song in, whether the song is to be compressed etc.

Multi-modules
-------------

"Multi-modules"  are projects containing more than one song.  Each song shares the
same set of instruments.  This allows you, for example, to compose different songs
for  each  level  of a game, without having to load or keep the same instrument in
memory more than once.

Multi-modules  are  also  very useful when editing just one song, as you can treat
one  song  in  the  multi-module  as  "workspace", much like Deluxe Paint's "spare
screen"  option.    You  may design and compose in one song, then cut and paste to
another.

Songs  are  added  by using either the relevant gadgets on the upper screen or the
Song Selector window.

OctaMED  can automatically remap instruments while loading.  This feature can save
you  a lot of work.  If you have one or more songs already in memory, and you load
an additional song, a "Remap instruments?" requester will appear.

If  you  click  "No"  in  the  requester,  all  previous instruments in the entire
multi-module  will  be  lost  and  the instruments of the new song will be loaded.
This  could  be  used, for example, to use the new, different instruments with the
other songs in the module.

But if you reply "Yes": firstly, the instruments of the new song will be loaded to
empty  slots, i.e.  instruments already in memory will be preserved; secondly, the
instrument  numbers  of the loaded song will be remapped so that they point to the
new  instrument  places.   This means that the several sets of instruments used in
the several songs can be contributed to one large overall set of instruments.

Some other features of OctaMED
------------------------------

*  Friendly  and   reasonably   simple   appearance   (considering   the program's
complexity!): see the User Interface

*   Numerous   editing   operations,   including   Cut/Copy/Paste   as    found in
wordprocessors,  note  transposition  etc.   (see Block Menu, Track Menu, and Edit
Menu)

*  Sample  waveforms  can be edited and digitized in the sample editor, and simple
synthetic instruments may be designed using the synthetic sound editor

*  The relative volume of each track and the overall song volume can be altered in
the Track Volumes window

*  MIDI  may  be  used,  with  up  to 64 notes played simultaneously and many MIDI
settings and operations (including a MIDI Message editor)

*  Complete  PowerPacker  and  SFCD-compression load support: OctaMED can load and
decrunch  any  PowerPacked  or  SFCD-compressed  file.    (The only file you can't
compress, unfortunately, is this one: OctaMED.guide).

OctaMED has built-in compression facilities for songs, but currently not for other
files.  To compress other files, you must use either the PowerPacker program (from
UGA  software, distributed by various companies) or the PowerPlayer Music Cruncher
(for SFCD-compression, included on e.g.  Fish 769).

Requires  powerpacker.library  for  PowerPacker,  and  lh.library  for SFCD.  Both
libraries  included  on  OctaMED's distribution disk under previous agreement with
the  copyright  owners.  The full PowerPlayer distribution archive can be found on
Fish disk 769 (ask your favourite public domain library).

*  Numerous  keyboard  shortcuts  exist.   Note the conventions used: for example,
"Ctrl-A"  means  "hold  down  the  Ctrl key and press the A key"; also, the cursor
(arrow) keys are represented by <left>, <right>, <up> and <down>.

In  order  to  learn  how  to  use the program, we suggest that you study the Main
Screen  topics  first,  and  then  perhaps  the User Interface topic.  Then simply
experiment!    If you find something you don't understand, just press the Help key
and  select the appropriate topic.  For example, if you don't quite understand the
function  of  the Input Map Editor window, select "Windows" from the contents page
then select "Input Map Editor" from the Windows topic.

(Please  ignore the occasional word "" that you might find: it simply indicates to
upgraders from V4 which features are new to V5.0).

We hope you will find this program useful and enjoy it!

P.S.  In this help file (and in many other computer documents and bulletin boards)
you may come across odd-looking symbols, often consisting of a semicolon or colon,
an optional hyphen and a closed bracket.  To understand these, just tilt your head
90 degrees to the left :-)


5 - 8-Channel Mode

(Parts of this topic are really intended as a reference for more experienced users
of OctaMED, so don't worry if you don't understand everything at the moment!)

The  Amiga®  has  four  stereo  sound channels in its sound chip, and through each
channel one note can be played at once.

5  -  8-channel  mode works by mixing two samples in real time and then outputting
them through one sound channel.  This takes up a lot of the processor's power, and
the  mixing process reduces the sound quality (causes distortion).  The distortion
can  be reduced using High Quality Mode or (as a last resort ;) by using the audio
filter (both selected in Song Options, and channel mode changing is also contained
in this window).

The  processor  load that 5 - 8-channel playing causes, and some technical reasons
set some limitations to playing in these modes:

*  Different  playing  speed selection.  Use the secondary tempo as usual, but use
primary tempo values 1-10.

* Synthetic / hybrid sounds can't be used

* All equalizers are disabled

* All MIDI features are disabled

* Instrument  default  volume  and Decay values are ignored, as are the track and
  master volumes

*  Limited  sample  loop  length,  only  in  a minimum of 200-byte steps (when the
primary  tempo  is 1).  Every time the primary tempo is increased by one, the loop
length byte-steps increases by 20.  So with a primary tempo of the maximum 10, the
length is set in 400-byte steps.

In  addition  to  this, samples should be "halved".  This means that each sample's
volume  should  be  half  of its normal volume, so that they can be mixed with the
minimum  of  distortion.   The halving is done automatically when changing channel
mode (answer "Halve" in the requester).

The  sound channels that play these mixed samples are called "split channels".  In
eight-channel  mode  all  channels  are  split, but in five- channel mode only one
channel  is  split,  allowing  better quality samples on the other three channels.
You  may  use  non-halved  samples  on  non-split  channels, but attempting to use
non-halved  samples  on  split  channels  when two notes are played simultaneously
usually creates awful noise.

The channel configuration in each of the channel modes is as follows:

  ( S = split, N = non-split, (L) = left speaker, (R) = right, - = unused )

Channels    0       1       2       3       4       5       6       7
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
|   4   | N (R) | N (L) | N (L) | N (R) |   -   |   -   |   -   |   -   |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
|   5   | S (R) | N (L) | N (L) | N (R) | S (R) |   -   |   -   |   -   |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
|   6   | S (R) | S (L) | N (L) | N (R) | S (R) | S (L) |   -   |   -   |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
|   7   | S (R) | S (L) | S (L) | N (R) | S (R) | S (L) | S (L) |   -   |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
|   8   | S (R) | S (L) | S (L) | S (R) | S (R) | S (L) | S (L) | S (R) |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

Note  that  5  - 8 channel mode does NOT mean how many tracks there are.  You must
also select 5 - 8 tracks in the Block Properties window.

For best results, you shouldn't use more channels than you need.  If, for example,
your  song  doesn't  use more than six tracks at once, you should select 6-channel
mode  instead of 7 or 8-channel mode.  This both increases the execution speed and
gives you two non-split (i.e.  high quality) tracks (2 and 3).

If you load additional samples while in 5 - 8-channel mode, OctaMED usually halves
them  automatically.    However, if you are using some channels that aren't split,
you  can  override  halving  and  load  normal-volume  samples  for  the non-split
channels.  To do so, hold down the Shift key when:

a) clicking on a sample name in the Load Instrument Window
b) clicking Load Inst in the Sample List Editor window
c) selecting Load Instrument(s) from the Instr menu
d) clicking the getfile gadget on the top row of the upper screen

Volume limitations
------------------

Because  there  are  only  4 sound channels and 4 volume registers, pairs of split
channels must share each volume register.  Channels 0 and 4, 1 and 5, 2 and 6, and
3 and 7 each share one register.  This means that every volume command (C) affects
two tracks.  For example:

Track:     0         1         2         3         4
    000 C-1 30000 E-1 30000 G-1 30000 --- 00000 A#2 50C20

The  0C20  command  on track 4 affects both tracks 4 and 0.  The default volume of
instruments is ignored for this reason.


To those upgrading from version 4...

Welcome  to  another  version  of OctaMED!  Firstly: as I'm sure you'll know, this
version  and all subsequent versions will require Kickstart and Workbench 2.x "TM"
or  higher.    This  is because OctaMED now heavily depends on the new features in
Release  2  of  the  operating  system,  and  many  parts of the program have been
entirely  rewritten to take advantage of them.  As 2.04 upgrade packages have been
available  for  more  than 1½ years, it's a reasonable assumption that every truly
serious  Amiga®  user  has  the package available to them.  (Please note that THIS
disk  contains  WB  2.1  "TM").    However, OctaMEDPlayer is still compatible with
Kickstart  1.3  "TM"  to  allow  your  songs to be heard by as wide an audience as
possible.

So you've got your copy of V5.0, and you're probably wondering what has changed.

Well,  as  soon as you loaded OctaMED, you'll have noticed a huge change: the user
interface  has  been completely rewritten.  This not only gives the program a much
more  "friendly"  appearance,  but  it  enables  more  features to be added to the
program  more  easily.   While in OctaMED V4, gadgets had to be shrunk to make way
for new functions, in future versions a window simply needs to be enlarged.

Where the V4 features can be found
----------------------------------

Here is a list of which windows the V4 panels' features have been moved to:

Status bar:
Upper screen

Lower status:
Free memory    :   Lower screen
Block name     :   Block Properties window, Block List win
Song name      :   Song Options window

Files:
Load song      :   Project menu/Open
Save song      :   Save Options window
Del file       :   Project menu
Load/Save instr:   Instr menu
Load/Save msg  :   MIDI Message Editor
Load/Save map  :   Input Map Editor

Play:
Playing seq    :   Playing Sequence window
Chan mode, Vol,
  Filter, STS  :   Song Options window
Equalizers
  (note: no E1):   Settings menu
All others         Upper screen

Instr:
Type           :   Type window
Name           :   Upper screen (use to reload instruments)
All others     :   Instrument Parameters window

Block:
Trks, Lines    :   Block Properties window
Highlighting   :   Highlight Options window
Del Buff       :   Edit menu
All others     :   Block menu, Track menu

Edit:
Prog keys      :   Programmable Keys window
Track on/off   :   Upper screen
All others
 (no Octaves)  :   Keyboard Options window

Misc:
Clear gadgets  :   New Project window
Quit           :   Project menu
Palette        :   Palette Window
PTKey          :   Keyboard Options window
Add / Rem Paths:   Instr menu
Mouse2         :   Mouse Options window
All others
(no Dep2/LdGfx):   Settings menu

Vol:
Track Volumes window

MIDI:
Chan/preset,
  supp. noteoff:   Instrument Parameters window
Message editor :   MIDI Message Editor
Input map ed   :   Input Map Editor
All others     :   MIDI menu

Trans:
Play transpose :   Song Options window
Annotation text:   Song menu
All others     :   Transpose window

Range:
Chord RST      :   Keyboard Options window
Select tracks  :   Upper screen
All others
  (no Range)   :   Edit menu

Synth:
Synthetic Sound Editor (note: menu attached to window)

SmpEd:
Sample Editor (note: menu attached to window)

Note: SAVE IFF has been "moved" to Instr menu/Save Instrument

SList:
Sample List Editor

Notation Ed:
Display menu/Notation Editor (menu attached to window)

Features removed in V5.0
------------------------

You'll notice that some features from V4 are missing in V5.0:

a)  The  DEP2  gadget  in  the  MISC  panel has been removed.  This is because the
OctaMED screen now always has 2 bitplanes (4 colors).

b)  The  LOADGFX  gadget  in  the MISC panel is missing, as there are now no extra
graphics files to load...

c)  There  was,  unfortunately, no space using the new interface for the E1 set of
equalizers.

d)  The  set  of Octaves gadgets in the EDIT panel and the Range dimensions in the
RANGE  panel  were  thought  to  be  no longer necessary, but they may return in a
future version.

e)  The  color  palette  is  no  longer  loaded  or  saved with songs.  Loading in
particular  would  have  certainly caused problems with songs created with earlier
versions  of  OctaMED: imagine what the new interface would look like with the old
black - white - dark gray - light gray palette!

f)  The  old  status  bar  action  of clicking a digit with either mouse button to
increase  / decrease the digit no longer exists (it is a "non- standard" function,
and  clicking  with  the  right  mouse  button  would  interfere with the new menu
system).

For  those who have become used to this operation, here are some relevant keyboard
shortcuts:

Decrease / increase playseq position:  Ctrl - 8 / 2 (numeric keypad)
Decrease / increase block number:      Shift - <up> / <down>
Decrease / increase instrument number: Shift - <left> / <right>
Decrease / increase song number:       Ctrl - ( / ) (numeric keypad)

g)  The Left Alt programmable keys definition has unfortunately had to be removed,
since Left Alt is now the gadget shortcut qualifier (see Keyboard Shortcuts).

h) The instrument default volume's hex display has been (temporarily?) removed.

New features in V5.0
--------------------

a) Maximum sizes increased:

*  64 tracks in a block (you're also not limited to multiples of 4)
*  1000 blocks in a song
*  999 entries in a playing sequence
*  MIDI Preset range (1 - 2800), only works with some devices
*  1048560 bytes in a MIDI message (should be enough for most use!)

b) New list windows:

*  Song Selector displays all songs
*  Block List displays all blocks

c) Sample editor options:

*  Change volume: fade in/out, halve, double, don't clip (prevents distortion)
*  Anti-alias when changing pitch can be turned off
*  Cancel finetune (removes finetune value from a sample)
*  Set volumes of source and destination when mixing
*  Set density of pixels in pixel display mode
*  Invert: turns the range upside-down
*  Chop: deletes the whole sample except the range
*  Remove Unused Space: deletes space (of zero volume) from either side of
   the sample
*  Create Chord: creates chords of 2 - 4 notes from a sample
*  Play Buffer Contents: plays the copy buffer at the current pitch
*  Sample Voice Monitor: optionally turns off hearing the input signal while
   digitizing (may enhance quality on slower machines)
*  Clicking Digitize when Buffsize = 0 automatically creates a buffer (of
   131072 bytes or the largest available if no memory)

d) Sample list editor options:

*  Instrument Load Window allows easy loading of samples in list
*  Stores tuning / MIDI / default volume values and default pitch as well
   as loop
*  Add directories anywhere in list (not just to end)

e) Playing sequence:

*  Can create multiple playing sequences (sections), and choose the order in
   which these sections are played in the Section List
* "Clear playing sequence" button
*  Now also displays block names
* "Follow" gadget automatically updates the list so that the current position
   is as close to the middle as possible

f) New save options:

*  A new file format (MMD2), saves song sections
*  Song  compression,  using  PowerPacker  or SFCD compression.  SFCD is a packing
   format  used  in  Stephan  Fuhrmann's PowerPlayer module player program, and it
   usually  crunches  modules slightly more tightly than PowerPacker.  It requires
   lh.library  for use, which is distributed with OctaMED under agreement with the
   copyright owners.  (PowerPlayer can be found on Fish disk 769)
*  Song size calculation
*  Save Timer emulates "auto-save" option of many wordprocessors

g) New editing functions:

*  Generic Slide creates a slide with any kind of player command (use as Volume
   Slide except with a different player command)
*  Flush all unused instruments
*  Highlighting: starting offset and custom spacing options
*  Insert / delete tracks throughout the song
*  Automatically cancels range after an operation. Also, you now cancel a range by
   simply clicking the mouse button on the editor

h) New instrument type: ExtSamples (an extra two lower octaves)

i) More settings:

*  Display max tracks: maximum tracks on-screen at once (4, 8, 16)
*  Left,  middle  and  right  mouse button can be configured to turn normal/select
   tracks on/off, set cursor position, or mark range
*  Spacing options: destructive, auto-round (Keyboard Options)
*  Turn  automatic flushing of unused instruments on/off when clearing the current
   song of a multi-module
*  Auto-Freeze  Screen:  automatically  turns screen updating off when the OctaMED
   screen is not the frontmost
*  Play After Loading: automatically starts playing directly after loading a song,
   useful for listening to other people's songs
*  AGA-compatible palette

j) Many new keyboard shortcuts, including some new editing functions

k) Smaller functions:

* Arrow gadgets select the previous / next set of tracks to allow all 64 tracks to
  be  used, in the upper screen, Track Volumes window and Notation Control window.
  Shift-clicking  the  gadgets  select  the first / last set of tracks used in the
  current block
*  A Project menu option to display the last title bar message
*  Can  also  change  an  instrument  into  a  synthetic sound by choosing Project
   menu/New Synthsound in the synth editor
*  Synthsound programming editing: the cursor no longer moves down beyond END; and
   inserting  any  command  except  HLT and RES (which don't take parameters) also
   inserts a new 00 value.
*  Shift-clicking  (clicking  with  Shift  held) the waveform arrow gadgets in the
   synth editor selects the first / last waveform
*  Shift-clicking  one  of the track gadgets in the upper screen "solos" the track
   (clears all tracks except the one selected)
*  Shift-clicking Cont Song continues song from top line of block
*  Shift-clicking Space turns spacing on and opens Keyboard Options (with a view to
   editing the spacing options)
*  A gadget to quickly select the current block for printing
*  Can  close  then  reopen  the  notation  editor's  options window using Display
   menu/Notation Control Window

l) Other new features:

*  Fully  localizable under Workbench 2.1 "TM" (the required 2.1 files are on this
   disk, or later.  (WB 2.04 "TM" users can now use the Locale program which is in
   Prefs on Disk2).
*  You can set a default pitch (note) for each instrument, which will be played and
   entered  at  that  pitch  when the "F" key is pressed.  Very useful for untuned
   instruments such as percussion
*  Can  load  more  than  one  instrument  at  a time: instruments are loaded into
   consecutive slots, starting at the current slot
*  Clicking  the  timer reset gadget ("R") stores the current song position, which
   can be recalled by clicking the timer itself
*  The High Quality switch now doesn't decrease the tempo
*  Supports  multiple  settings  and  programmable keys files (on startup, OctaMED
   attempts to load "S:OctaMEDPro.config" and "S:OctaMEDPro.defkeys")
*  On-line  help  provided  by pressing the Help key (you'll probably have already
   found  this  out  for  yourself ;-)

m)  Of  course,  numerous  bug  and  quirk  fixes,  including commands 19 and FF3,
    commands  FFD  and  FFF  in 5-8 channel mode, the effect of changing the block
    size  on  line highlighting and block names, intelligent sample halving (won't
    request  to  halve  samples  if  they are already halved) and many other small
    fixes.

Some  of  the  small  fixes  are:  if  an  instrument had a Hold value above zero,
entering  a  note  with  that  instrument and with spacing on cut the note a split
second  after  it  was  played;  entering a note with Space and Chord mode both on
advanced only one line; playing a range two bytes long (sample editor) appeared to
play  the  entire  chip memory!; Spread Notes also spread blank notes (--- 00000);
"advance  with  sound"  (loudspeaker gadget on the EDIT panel) played notes on all
tracks,  regardless  of the tracks' on/off status; you can no longer use a spacing
value of 1 (admit it, it was a bit useless :^).

One  bug of note: the "intelligent" sample loader added way back in MED 2.10 (July
1990)  is  finally  *  REALLY * intelligent!!  :^) (It can calculate the number of
grains  of sand on Planet Earth within 3.8 seconds, work out who will be Wimbledon
champion in the year 2064, design the world's first pear-shaped Cadillac, and even
eat  a  whole  plum  without spilling a single drop of juice :'D ).  Seriously, it
promises  never  to request a sample disk more than once while loading songs saved
without their instruments.

In  addition,  the  old  "octamed.config"  file  can't be loaded by V5.0.  This is
because  the  format  of the config file has once again changed, but hopefully for
the  last  time  (since  the file is now a plain text file).  You need to recreate
your  old preferences using V5.0, then save the settings using the Settings menu.
(A  list  of  the settings saved with the "OctaMEDPro.config" file is given in The
Settings  File.    Note  that the programmable keys definitions are now saved in a
separate file called "OctaMEDPro.defkeys", see the Programmable Keys window.

This  list  should  have covered all features new to V5.0, but throughout the help
file  the  word  ""  emphasizes these new features.  This doesn't include keyboard
shortcuts listed in the main documentation (there are too many of them!).


Keyboard shortcuts
------------------

Almost  all  shortcuts  involving  Right Amiga have been either removed or changed
from  version 4, since Right Amiga is now used as a menu shortcut qualifier only.
(The  only  exceptions  are  Amiga-X/C/V,  which  remain  as in V4: cut/copy/paste
track).  The changes are:

Amiga-L        (Load Song)     Now Amiga-O
Amiga-P        (Play Song)     Now Left Alt-P (with main screen active)
Amiga-T        (Slide type 1)  Now Ctrl-T
Shift-Amiga-T  (Slide type 2)  Now Shift-Ctrl-T
Amiga-O        (Volume slide)  Now Ctrl-O

Shift-Amiga-X/C/V  has  been changed to Shift-Alt-X/C/V for compatibility with the
new  interface  (holding Shift and choosing Cut, Copy or Paste from the Track menu
would  have  affected  the  _block_  instead!).  Aside from X/C/V, all other Amiga
shortcuts have been removed.

Ctrl-F1-F10 and Alt-keypad shortcuts have also been removed.


A final word
------------

So  although  there  are  many  new  features,  you  should become used to the new
interface  fairly  quickly.  You could first of all read the user interface topic,
then  scan  through  all  the  menus  and  windows  in the program, noting the new
positions  of  V4's  functions and referring to the appropriate topic in this help
file if you discover anything you don't recognize.

Remember  that  any  menu item with the suffix "..." opens a window, and also that
there  is  a  menu bar attached to the sample, synthsound and sample list editors,
and  the Notation Control window!  Finally note that the right mouse button can no
longer  be  used  to select a range in the tracker, sample and synthsound editors:
the left mouse button now usually does this.

We  hope  you  find  the  new version useful, and also Kickstart 2.04 or higher if
you've just upgraded it really is well worth buying the complete 2.04 upgrade set,
IF you can find a supplier, ( especialy in the UK ).


The User Interface

The  "user interface" is the means by which the computer and user communicate.  In
OctaMED, this is done by using windows, menus and gadgets.

The user interface has been completely rewritten in OctaMED Pro V5.0, which should
make the program look a little less complicated and be easier and more "intuitive"
to  use.   ("Intuitive" means that the various controls behave as you would expect
them to).

"Gadgets"  are  graphics symbols used for communication with the program, and this
topic describes the various different sorts of gadget (which are handled using the
computer's "GadTools" library).

For  information  about using the windows and menus, please refer to your Amiga®'s
user  manual.    There  are  two  points  of note, however, about OctaMED's window
handling.   Firstly, notes can't be entered or deleted while any window is active,
even  when  editing  is switched on: you must activate the main screen.  Secondly,
the  right mouse button is equivalent to clicking the window's zoom gadget (except
in  the  sample,  synthetic sound and sample list editors and the Notation Control
window, when it displays the window's menu bar).

A  quick word about the screen: OctaMED's screen uses AutoScroll, which means that
if  you  have dragged its screen down, you may drag it back up again by moving the
mouse pointer off the very bottom of the screen.

(Note  that  the  words  "gadget"  and "button" essentially mean the same; "click"
means  "press  and  release the left mouse button quickly"; and "drag" means "hold
down the left mouse button while moving the mouse").


Action buttons
--------------

These  are  the simplest form of gadget, as they just perform the activity labeled
on the button.  The button's appearance is a rectangular area that is raised, i.e.
it seems to "come out" of the screen.

Holding  down  the  left mouse button over the gadget "inverts" it, i.e.  turns it
blue.    Releasing  the  mouse  button performs the activity.  While the gadget is
inverted,  you  may  move  the  mouse pointer away from the gadget.  This makes it
non-inverted, and the function is said to be "canceled".

There is a special type of action button called a "GetFile" gadget.  It is a small
gadget  containing  an diagram of a list appearing from a folder.  Clicking on one
of these gadgets opens a file requester for a particular operation.

Examples of GetFile gadgets are in the upper screen and the Save and Print Options
windows.


Check boxes
-----------

These small square gadgets allow you to choose whether an option is "on" or "off".
When  on,  a "check" (or "tick") mark appears in the gadget, and when off, the box
is empty.  To turn the option on or off, simply click inside the gadget.


Radio buttons
-------------

These  gadgets consist of a set of small circular buttons, collectively known as a
"radio button", with which you select one option from a variety of options.  Radio
buttons  are  "mutually  exclusive",  meaning  that one and only one option may be
selected.    When  selected  (by  clicking  on  it),  the small button is recessed
(meaning it seems to "go into" the screen), and a blue circle appears inside it.


Cycle gadgets
-------------

These  gadgets are equivalent in function to radio buttons, but only one option is
visible  at  a  time.    They look like action buttons, but with a "cycle" sign on
their  left-hand  side.  The various options are cycled through by clicking inside
the  gadget.    Shift-clicking  them  (clicking them with the Shift key held down)
cycles through the options backwards.

In  this  help  file, the default setting of each radio button and cycle gadget is
documented.


Text and numerical boxes
------------------------

Also  called  "string  and  integer  gadgets",  these appear as rectangles with an
embellished  black  and  white border.  With them you may type in text and numbers
(in appearance there is no difference between text boxes and numerical boxes).

The  boxes  are  "activated"  by  clicking  inside  them,  and a small blue cursor
appears.    You may edit the text or number inside the box simply by typing.  When
you  have  finished  editing,  make  sure you press the Return key so that OctaMED
accepts  the  new  information.  Keyboard shortcuts that you may use while editing
are:

<left / right>  Move cursor left / right
Backspace       Delete "character" (letter or number) to left of cursor
Del             Delete character at cursor

Shift-<left>    Move to beginning of box
Shift-<right>   Move to end of box

Amiga-X         Delete box's contents
Amiga-Q         Restore box's contents

Ctrl-A          Move to beginning of box
Ctrl-Z          Move to end of box
Ctrl-X          Delete box's contents (like Amiga-X)
Ctrl-H          Delete character to left of cursor (like Backspace)
Ctrl-U or W     Delete from cursor to beginning of box
Ctrl-K          Delete from cursor to end of box
Ctrl-M          Accept edited information (like Return)

In  addition,  the  Tab  key  accepts  the  edited  information  (like Return) and
activates  the  next  text  or numerical box in the window.  Shift-Tab accepts and
activates the previous box.


Sliders
-------

Sliders  are rectangular gadgets that contain another small black rectangle.  This
small  rectangle  is  known  as the slider's "knob", and the rest of the gadget is
called  the "slider box".  Above, below, to the left or to the right of the gadget
is  a  number  (called  the "slider value"), and the gadget is used to increase or
decrease the slider value.

The  slider  value  is usually changed by dragging the knob.  However, clicking in
the  slider box increases or decreases the value by one (depending on where in the
box  you  click).   There may be arrows beside the slider; in which case, clicking
them increases or decreases the value by one.


Scrolling lists
---------------

These are used to display a list of different names of objects.  Examples of lists
are  in  the  Playing  Sequence  window,  the Instrument Load Window, and the Song
Selector window.

They  consist of a box containing the list itself, a scroll gadget to the right of
the  list, and sometimes a display box (see later) or text box underneath the list
that shows the currently selected item in the list.

A scroll gadget is like a slider, but by dragging the black rectangle you move the
list  up or down.  Clicking in the scroll box moves the list one page up or down.
Items in the list are selected simply by clicking on them.


Display boxes
-------------

These  are  the  only  type  of  gadget  listed in this topic that you can't click
inside!  They simply display information, and they appear as recessed boxes.

One  more  thing you should know about: ghosting.  This is when a gadget or a menu
item becomes checkered, and it means that it can't be selected.  This happens, for
example,  to  the  slider  in  the  Programmable  Keys  window  when the Right Alt
definition is being shown.

For the keyboard shortcuts used with gadgets, see Gadget Shortcuts.


Installation


This  topic describes which files OctaMED uses when starting up, for those wishing
to properly install the program on a hard disk or a different floppy disk.

***  If  you  wish  to  install  OctaMED on a hard disk you can, of course, simply
double-click  the  Copy_To_Hard_Drive  icon  in the utilities drawer of this disk,
ensuring  that  your  hd is titled as WORK!!  If you copy the files manually, then
from  from  disk  2 you will need to copy OctaMED.Guide across to your chosen hard
disk  directory,  and also the OctaMED.config to your S directory, If you don't do
this, the OctaMED.guide won't be opened when pressing the Help key.

This  disk  contains  the NEW WB 2.1 "TM" files (in the C: and LIBS: drawers).  If
you are using WB 3.0 "TM" (supplied with the A1200/A4000 Amigas®), you may replace
the  2.1 files with your 3.0 files if you wish.  This is not necessary, though, as
the WB 2.1 "TM" files will work perfectly under Kickstart 3.0.

The only files that OctaMED actually requires to start up are version 37 or higher
of asl.library and iffparse.library, in either the current or the LIBS: directory.
If  the  following  other  files  are  also  installed, however, OctaMED will take
advantage of them:

       File         | Directories OctaMED searches |        Purpose
--------------------+------------------------------+-----------------------
   locale.library   |      NOT this version        | Use different language
                    |                              |
 amigaguide.library |        LIBS:, current        |      On-line help
                    |                              |
   OctaMED.guide    |         S:, current          |      On-line help
                    |                              |
     Help.guide     |         S:, current          |   AmigaGuide® help
                    |                              |
powerpacker.library |        LIBS:, current        | PowerPacker crunching
                    |                              |
     lh.library     |        LIBS:, current        |   SFCD compression
                    |                              |
     MED_paths      |         S:, current          |    The sample list
                    |                              |
 OctaMEDPro.config  |              S:              |   Default settings
                    |                              |
 OctaMEDPro.defkeys |              S:              | Default program. keys

Remember  that  you  can  also  store these files in directories other than S: and
LIBS: using the "Assign" command.  For example:

        Assign S: <path name> Add

where  <path name> is the path of the directory where you wish to store the sample
list and the default settings / programmable keys files.


SPECIAL PURPOSE NODES


The File Requester

The  file  requester  is  used  to  handle and select files.  OctaMED supports the
system-integrated  ASL  file  requester  (please refer to your Amiga®'s manual for
information).    You  may  also use, ON A COPY, file requesters that automatically
replace  the ASL file requester, for example ReqTools (when the RTPatch program is
run) and the Magic File Requester.

OctaMED  has two special features in all operations involving saving.  Firstly, an
"Overwrite?"  requester appears if the file OctaMED is trying to save has the same
name  as  another  file  in  the directory.  Secondly, you can't double-click on a
filename  like  you  can  when  loading:  you need to use the "Ok" gadget instead.
These two features go some way to prevent accidental file deletion.


The Settings File

The settings file is saved by choosing Settings Menu/Save Settings.  The following
options are saved (values in brackets are default):

* Save Options window:

- Save Secondary Data (ON)
- Create Icons (ON)
- Save Notation Data (OFF)

* The Save Timer value (0)

* Sample Editor:

   - Line display (ON)
   - Pixel display (OFF)
   - Pixel Density (2)
   - Sampler Voice Monitor (OFF)
   - Pitch period (428)
   - Don't Clip (Change Volume window) (OFF)

* The "Auto-Terminate Capture" gadget in the MIDI message editor (ON)

* The "Follow" gadget in the Playing Sequence window (OFF)

* Mouse Options window:

   - Left Button (SELECT RANGE)
   - Middle Button (NO OPERATION)
   - Right Button (NO OPERATION)

* Keyboard Options window:

   - Advance Line (DOWN)
   - Advance Track (DON'T ADVANCE)
   - Advance Cursor (DON'T ADVANCE)
   - Keypad Mode (TRACKS ON/OFF)
   - Keypad Mapping (ALTERNATIVE)
   - Space Value (2)
   - Chord Reset (ON)
   - Space = DEL (OFF)
   - Protracker Shortcuts (OFF)
   - Advance with sound (OFF)
   - Destructive Spacing (ON)
   - Auto-Round Spacing (ON)

* Palette window:

   - The color scheme (WORKBENCH COLORS)
   - Palette Type (8-Bit)

* Instr menu:

   - Automatic Flush (OFF)
   - Add Path (OFF)
   - Remove Path (OFF)

* Note killing options in the MIDI menu

* Settings menu:

   - Display Max Tracks (16)
   - Equalizers (both ON)
   - H -> B (ON)
   - Auto-Freeze Screen (OFF)

In  addition,  OctaMED  will  save  the  current window positions (both zoomed and
unzoomed) if you have moved them from their usual positions.

The default settings file name is "S:OctaMEDPro.config".


Tracker Modules

There is a substantial amount of information lost if you choose to save in Tracker
Module format.  This information is:

** Synthetic, hybrid and MIDI instruments
** Multi-octave samples (including ExtSamples)
** Some block contents (no lines above 64, no tracks above 4, no notes above B-3)
** Player commands 8, E and 10
** Instruments above 0V
 * All instrument parameters apart from Repeat and RepLen (Loop On, Transpose,
   Finetune, ** Hold and Decay, default volume, MIDI parameters)
 * Multi-modules (only the current song will be saved)
 * 5-8 channels
 * Song sections (converted to one playing sequence as described in the Save
   Options Window)
 * MIDI Messages, the state of the MIDI Active switch
 * Relative track volumes
 * Block names
 * Line highlighting
 * Annotation text
 * Notation Editor data
 * Decimal / Hex Volumes (converted to hex volumes)

(The  information which is given in the requester brought up when trying to save a
Tracker module is marked above with a **).

Note  that the resulting file is a 31-instrument module, incompatible with Tracker
programs only supporting old 15-instrument modules.


Protracker commands
-------------------

Many  player  commands  are  converted  when  saving  Tracker  modules and loading
Protracker modules.  They are:

   OctaMED command | Protracker command
   ----------------+-------------------
         0D        |         A
         0FF8      |         E11
         0FF9      |         E12
         11        |         E1
         12        |         E2
         13        |         3
         14        |         4
         15        |         E5
         16        |         E6
         18        |         EC
         19        |         9
         1A        |         EA
         1B        |         EB
         1C        |         C    (saving only)
         1D        |         D
         1E        |         EE
         1F        | Digit 1 ED, digit 2 E9  (loading just converts ED)

When  loading,  commands E3 and E4 are ignored.  When saving, commands 8, E and 10
are ignored.


Hexadecimal Values

"Hexadecimal"  (or  "hex"  for  short)  is  basically  just  a  different   way of
representing  numbers.   It is more convenient for the computer because of the way
it works, and allows the user to specify a greater range of numbers using the same
amount of digits.

Hex values are used in the player commands, synth editor, the secondary tempo, and
the  MIDI  message  editor.    So  they're quite important in OctaMED (and also in
general computing).

In  the  usual decimal system, a digit can be ten different values: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.

In  the hex system, however, a digit may have sixteen values: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7,  8, 9, A, B, C, D, E and F.  The decimal numbers 10 - 15 are represented by the
letters A to F:

    Decimal 10  =  A
            11  =  B
            12  =  C
            13  =  D
            14  =  E
            15  =  F

With  two  digits  in  a  number,  the  decimal system can represent 10 × 10 = 100
different  values.    The hex system, however, can represent 16 × 16 = 256 values:
over twice the amount of the decimal system.  (The lowest number is 00 = zero, and
the highest number is FF = 255 decimal).


Converting between the two systems
----------------------------------

So although it feels strange to work in at first, it has its advantages.  In a two
digit  hex  number (e.g.  8A), the first digit represents multiples of 16.  So, to
convert a two-digit hex number to decimal:

        Decimal number = (Hex digit 1) × 16 + (hex digit 2)

And  to  convert decimal to hex, divide the decimal number by 16.  The quotient is
hex digit 1, the remainder is hex digit 2.

For example:

    Hex 8A -> decimal:

             Hex digit 1 = 8, hex digit 2 = A (10).

             Decimal number = (8 × 16) + 10 = * 106 *.

    Decimal 200 -> hex:

             200 ÷ 16 = 12 remainder 8.

             Hex digit 1 = C (12), hex digit 2 = 8.

             So hex number = * C8 *.

Hex numbers are sometimes distinguished from decimal numbers by preceding hex with
a "$" sign.  For example: $C8, $FF.


Signed hexadecimal
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
There  is a further complication!  Luckily in OctaMED you'll only need to use this
in  two  player  commands:  MIDI  command  3 (set pitchbender) and command 15 (set
finetune).

The  "sign"  of  a number denotes whether the number is positive or negative: that
is, the "+" and "-" signs.

In  hexadecimal,  however,  there  are  no  "-"  signs.   So, negative numbers are
represented by positive numbers (it will become clearer!).

In  signed  hex,  the  numbers $00 - $7F are positive as usual: they represent the
decimal  numbers  0  -  127.  However, the numbers $80 - $FF represent the decimal
values -1 to -128:

    Decimal   -1  =  $FF
              -2  =  $FE
              -3  =  $FD
              -4  =  $FC
             ...
             -16  =  $F0
             -17  =  $EF
             -18  =  $EE
             ...
            -126  =  $82
            -127  =  $81
            -128  =  $80

So to convert negative decimal numbers to signed hex numbers, first add 256 to the
number, then convert to hex as above.  For example:

    Decimal -67 -> signed hex:

             -67 + 256 = 189.

             189 ÷ 16 = 11 remainder 13.

             Hex digit 1 = 11 (B), hex digit 2 = 13 (C)

             So signed hex number = * $BC *.


Hex  numbers  will  crop  up in many areas of computing, so if you've never worked
with them before, it's advisable to get used to them!



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