InterCD 2000 January/january_2000.iso/Multimedia/Audio/Anvil Studio/mstudioZ.exe/README.TXT

Text File | 1999-11-03 | 24.6 KB | 486 lines

This release contains the 1999.11.02 version of Anvil Studio by Willow Software.
It replaces the old versions named ast98xx.zip/exe, mstudioZ.exe.

mstudioZ.exe and AST9901.EXE are self-extracting setup files.
AST9901.ZIP is the equivalent ZIP file (run the program SETUP.EXE).

Anvil Studio is a "Freeware" program that runs under Windows 95 and Windows NT.
It supports multi-track recording, composing, and editing of music
using AUDIO, MIDI, and sampled percussions.
Audio effects include delay, pitch change, filtering, and reverse.
Anvil Studio is designed to work with optional accessories from
Willow Software such as sheet music printing, piano exercises,
ear training exercises, and voice-pitch analysis.

Requires 16 meg RAM (32 meg for Audio recording), and a Sound card.
To run under Windows NT 4.0, it requires Microsoft's NT Service Pack 3,
available for download from Microsoft's WEB sites at:
  ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-public/fixes/usa/nt40/ussp3/i386/
     or
  ftp://198.105.232.37/fixes/usa/nt40/ussp3/i386/

While Anvil Studio is free of charge, it is copyrighted material,
and can only be redistributed without modification.

If you have questions or setup problems, please see if a newer
version is available at our website:
    www.AnvilStudio.com

or download and run our Setup Diagnostic tool from:
    www.AnvilStudio.com/DrSetup.exe
    (It is very small and just take a few seconds to download.)

or contact us by email at:
    [e-mail]

or by mail at

    Willow Software
    P.O. Box 60122
    Shoreline, WA
    98160-0122

New features in the 1999.11.02 version include:
 o  Supports time signature changes in the middle of a rhythm track
    and Piano Roll track, the same as it already does for an Instrument track.
 o  Added Prima Volta and Seconda Volta symbols
 o  Added more answers to frequently asked questions.
 o  Fixed problems:
    o  It was displaying some enharmonics incorrectly.
    o  Fixed some Copy/Paste bugs

New features in the 1999.10.05 version include:
 o  Added symbols for: Trill, D.C., D.S., Segno, Coda, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff
 o  Added Edit / Paste Special menu item, that allows you control exactly\
    what gets pasted.
 o  Added ability to insert dotted notes in rhythm track and piano roll.
 o  Added button to rhythm track and piano roll that inserts a rest.

New features in the 1999.10.04 version include:
 o  Recognizes SoundFont-compatible sound cards such as SoundBlaster-Live
    and provides access to the card's current instrument settings.
 o  Once again, improved Slur printing for versions with the Print-Sheet
    accessory, and added Fermata symbol.

New features in the 1999.10.03 version include:
 o  Added Riff menu items to the Edit menu, giving the ability to define and
    insert Riffs while composing.  It is similar to having several clipboards.
    Some pre-defined rhythm track riffs are included.
 o  Slurs print better
 o  Fixed bug preventing Bank-Select-0 patch libraries from accessing upper banks.

Fixed problems in the 1999.09.02 version include:
 o  Fixed some problems related to the Print-Sheet accessory,
    including allowing slurs to get printed properly.

Fixed problems in the 1999.08.08 version include:
 o  Inserting a Staccato note was inserting an additional rest.
 o  Audio playback was getting cut short when DirectX was enabled
    and no DirectX Filters where being used.
 o  Some Music Drills menu items were disabled.

Fixed problems in the 1999.08.07 version include:
 o  Fixed "Reference to released object" error that sometimes occurred
    when inserting a note.

New features in the 1999.08.05 version include:
 o  Added Edit / Undo menu item when composing Instrument or Rhythm tracks.
 o  Added Select All to Edit Menu for staff view of Compose page
 o  Added Keyboard Shortcuts to the View/Options page, so you can
    keep your hands on the keyboard more, and on the mouse less
    while composing.
 o  If you select a range of notes on the Compose page and adjust
    the compose page's volume, the volume for all selected notes
    will be set.
 o  To insert a large number of rests in a staff, set the note duration to Whole note
    and double-click on the Insert-rest button.
 o  Added button to hide Controllers on Compose page
 o  Displays proper grid on Rhythm page for 7/8 or 9/8 time.
 o  Dotted notes can now be beamed.
 o  When creating a new track, the new track's Key signature and
    Time signature are the same as the previously active track.
 o  Fixed problems:
    o Fixed several problems related to printing sheet music with lyrics
    o In version 1999.07.14, deleting the last note of a track
      sometimes caused "Runtime error 91".
    o Metronome used to only play accent notes for 4/4 time.  Now, it follows
      the time signature of the active track.
    o Beamed 16th note followed by 8th was displayed as 2 beamed 8th notes.
    o In some key signatures, some notes not-in-key were drawn with sharps and flats
      instead of as natural.
    o When MIDI Setup accessory was installed, it was not automatically
      loading patch libraries since version 1999.06.03.
    o When deleting selection in treble clef or bass clef, but not both,
      if selection included rests, additional rests were getting inserted
      and note durations were getting changed.
    o For versions with Print-Sheet accessories before 1999.08.01:
      o The Lexmark 3200 Series ColorFine, and other printers that do support
        600 dots per inch but not 300 dots per inch only allowed 9 staffs per page
        and not 4 or 6 staffs per page.
      o Runtime error occurred when staffs-per-page field was blank

New features in the 1999.07.10 version include:
 o  Added the following to the Note Properties dialog:
    o  Force note to other clef
    o  Display Enharmonic Note
 o  Beamed notes can now include chords.
 o  Fixed problems:
    o  It was sometimes ignoring the first REC button press when
       recording Audio tracks.
    o  A cut/copy/paste timing bugs was fixed.
    o  When a single Audio track was recorded, the File / Export Audio
       menu item would sometimes create an empty file.
    o  Was drawing accidentals incorrectly in a few instances.

New features in the 1999.07.08 version include:
 o  Replaced tabs at the bottom of the screen with menu items.
 o  The Record and Mixer pages were combined into a single page.
 o  On screens 800 x 600 pixels and larger, the compose page now
    displays the track list from the Record page.
 o  It is now possible to select notes on only the Treble or Bass clefs,
    as well as notes on both clefs.
 o  On the Compose page for Instrument tracks, you position the
    cursor by pressing the left or right cursor keys.
    You can extend a selection by holding the Shift key while pressing these.
    You can scroll to the start or end of track by holding the Ctrl key
    while pressing these.
 o  Added Beam to Next option to Note properties
    Added "Enable Beam Lines on Compose Page" to Options page
 o  Fixed problems:
    o In versions since 1999.07.01, it failed to work when Internet
      Explorer was not installed.
    o In versions since 1999.07.05, there were some staff-editing bugs.
    o It sometimes said machine was not fast enough for audio recording
    o It was drawing flats at wrong spot for some keys
    o Since version 1999.06.01, Out of memory (error 7) occurred
      after Piano Roll or Rhythm Composer was refreshed many times.

New features in the 1999.06.06 version include:
 o  Added Time Shift property to Audio Tracks, so that an Audio track
    can be set to start later than the rest of the song.
    This saves disk space for songs where the first several minutes of an
    audio track is to be silent.
 o  Fixed problems:
    o  MIDI recording is synced with the metronome more accurately.
    o On Piano Roll and Rhythm tracks, last note in measure sometimes got lost
    o Change Pitch for Audio Tracks would sometimes crash.
    o All columns on the Record page can be resized.
    o Pitch Change on Compose Page for Audio tracks was reducing volume.
    o Importing a stereo .WAV file to an audio track setting the
      track as stereo, but was failing to set the output audio port
      to stereo, causing it to be played as mono.
    o The following bugs occurred in version 1999.05.07, and are now fixed:
      o time Signatures of 6/8 and 12/8 were improperly displayed as 6/4 and 12/4.
      o the compose page for Piano Roll and Rhythm tracks did not allow you
        to change the time signature from 4/4.

New features in the 1999.06.05 version include:
 o  With the MIDI Setup accessory, patches from multiple banks of
    of a synthesizer can be accessed at the same time.
 o  Fixed problem with PitchBend control in Performance ToolPack accessory.
 o  Simplified settings for Sound Module tool on Perform page.
 o  Fixed problems:
    o Lyrics sometimes over-wrote each other because they were spaced too closely.
    o No longer sets audio playback volume to maximum every time the program starts.

New features in the 1999.06.01 version include:
 o  Added Sync button so Recording and Playing can be triggered by
    external MIDI devices.
 o  Added ability to:
    o  insert Slurs, Crescendos, Decrescendos, and Repeat symbols.
    o  insert chord labels at the top of the staff
    o  insert Time Signatures and Key Signatures in the middle of a track.
 o  On the Compose page, notes can now be dragged up and down
    the staff to change their pitch.
    Notes can be dragged to the bottom of the screen to delete them.
 o  Added Lock Score checkbox to the Compose page so that you
    can experiment with notes on the keyboard without inserting them
    into the score.
 o  The new default is for DirectX to be disabled, since it
    results in "Device in use" errors on some systems.
    It is automatically enabled when you press the FX or DirectX buttons.
 o  With Multi-View accessory, you can now copy and paste between
    two instrument tracks on the compose page.
 o  Added options to disable Full-Duplex test, and to disable DirectX
 o  Colors are now adjustable on the Options page.
 o  Does a better job of sharing Audio out devices with WaveTable synthesizers
    like Yamaha SXG50.
 o  Fixed problems:
    o  fixed several DirectX related problems that resulted in Device-in-use errors
       and quite audio tracks.  These problems first appeared in version 1999.05.05.
    o  when deleting measures on Rhythm tracks, or from a Piano Roll,
       extra rests were sometimes inserted.
    o  dragging staff notations over lyrics sometimes appeared jerky
    o  changing duration with Note Properties sometimes had no effect
    o  It failed with error 80041015 on systems with no MIDI In devices
    o  Since version 1999.05.01, key signatures had been drawn with sharps
       even when they should have been flats
    o  There was a problem with audio Pitch modification
    o  Pro-Mix control editing wasn't working properly when
       Compose page was set to Piano Roll format.
    o  Duplets through Septuplets on and Compose-Piano Roll and Rhythm pages
       weren't aligned properly.
    o  Enhanced the Repair Song menu item.
    o  Numerous other small problems were fixed.

New features in the 1999.05.07 version include:
 o  Made initialization faster.
 o  When displaying lyrics, key signatures and triplet lines
    in the bass clef were off.
 o  Added item to Options page to disable Full-Duplex sound card testing.

New features in the 1999.05.06 version include:
 o  You can now view and edit a track's lyrics.
    The 1999.05.04 version of the Print Sheet accessory now includes
    option to print lyrics.
 o  Added ability to quantitize a selection of notes rather just the entire track.
 o  Fixed problems:
    o  Works better with Helf-Duplex sound cards
    o  Added Port Latency properties to get around synchronization
       problems that occurred when using WaveTable MIDI synthesizers.
    o  Fixed some minor score display problems
    o  Enabling/Disabling an Audio track wasn't causing all audio tracks to get re-mixed,
       causing it to seem to have no effect.
    o  It was initializing Audio Volume to be very low.

New features in the 1999.05.02 version include:
 o  Added support for DirectX Audio pluggins.  See the Mixer page for details.
 o  Pressing Ctrl key while entering a note is a shorthand for making
    the new note a dotted note.
 o  When changing an Instrument track to a Rhythm track, you can
    retain notes as drum notes rather than erasing them.
 o  Fixed problems:
    o  Tempo editing with Pro-Mix accessory was not working with
       Midi-1 files.
    o  clicking on notes on the record page could sometimes result in
       an Invalid Parameter error.

New features in the 1999.04.06 version include:
 o  Added option to record each MIDI channel to its own track, rather
    than recording all recorded MIDI channels to the currently active track.
    This lets you record up to 16 MIDI tracks simultaneously.
    See the Options page for details.
 o  Fixed problems:
    o  On systems with very large disks, recording an Audio track
       could result in an Overflow error.
    o  The menu item: File/Truncate Song.../From start to current position
       was not working properly for Instrument and Rhythm tracks.
       It was deleting the correct notes, but not shifting the remaining ones,
       leaving a silent gap.
    o  Pasting notes from one track to another was not updating the notes
       MIDI channel, which caused the pasted notes to continue to play
       the previous track's instrument.
    o  On some machines, Multi-Audio 1/8 was only able to record and mix
       4 tracks instead of 8.

New features in the 1999.03.15 version include:
 o  Added more help information
 o  Fixed problems:
    o Edit/Quantitize was moving track to end of the song, and left
      progress bar on screen.
    o On Compose page, wasn't allowing hand to be positioned
      over a rest.
    o Runtime errors would sometimes occur when run on 800 x 600
      screen with Multi-View or Combo-Pack accessories.

New features in the 1999.03.09 version include:
 o  Made Play and Record buttons faster when song has audio tracks.
 o  When stopping & restarting a song in the middle, Audio and Midi
    tracks were sometimes being played out of sync
 o  Fixed problems:
    o  Mixer's Save Mix button caused overflow error for long songs
    o  staff display problem related to deleting rests
    o  File / Repair Song now works with a wider-range of
       badly-formatted MIDI files

New features in the 1999.03.06 version include:
 o  Added "solo" field to track list on Record page
 o  Fixed problem where:
    o It would inappropriately warn about recording audio to a ZIP drive.
    o It would reverse "Drum row" fields for sampled rhythms
    o When loading song with Sampled Rhythms, it would needlessly say
      "If saved, file will be saved in a new format."
    o It sometimes generated "Reference beyond wave data" when playing
      back sampled rhythm tracks.
    o Mixer page's Copy to new audio track sometimes failed.

New features in the 1999.03.05 version include:
 o  Warns before any attempts to record audio to floppy or ZIP drive
 o  Fixed problem where:
    o  it sometimes crashed on systems with no CD-Rom drive.
    o  it sometimes added noise or crashed or had sync problems
       when Mixer's page had Stereo Output checked while playing
       recording and then playing a Rhythm track that had Sampled audio.

New features in the 1999.03.03 version include:
 o  Fixed bug that caused MIDI and Audio tracks to be out of sync
    when playing MIDI through a software-based WaveTable synthesizer.
 o  Added keyboard-shortcut for controlling note duration on the
    Compose page.
 o  Fixed some bugs with the Edit/Quantitize Track menu item

New features in the 1999.02.04 version include:
 o  Internet Explorer is no longer required.
 o  Better memory management for Audio recording, resulting in longer tracks
    when Multi-Audio accessory is installed.
 o  Compose page has new button that lets you sing the note to be inserted.
 o  For screens larger than 800 x 600, Record page now shows:
    o  Mixer controls (Pan, Volume, Delay), or
    o  Zoomed-out view of notes and wave data for all tracks at the same time
    o  up to 25 tracks of information displayed at the same time instead of 10
 o  Option to play notes as mouse moves over them on the staff
 o  Much faster loading and scrolling of large MIDI files
 o  Compose page for Rhythm tracks and Piano Roll now support
    Duplet, Pentuplet, and Septuplet notes
 o  Added Diatonic option to Transpose menu
 o  Added ability to save Cue points for all tracks, including Audio tracks
 o  Added ability to delete Cue points
 o  All new cue points will get updated as notes before them are
    inserted and deleted
 o  The following problems were fixed:
    o  Mistakenly reported the error:
       "Unable to perform this operation because it would result in
        two notes of the same pitch being played at the same time on the same track."
    o  Transpose Selection wasn't transposing the last NoteOff event.
    o  When real-time mixing 8-bit audio samples mixer played a noisy mix.

New features in the 1999.01.06 version include:
 o  Enabled scrolling selection on Compose page
 o  Enabled Piano-Roll view of Instrument tracks with repeating measures
 o  Enabled Cut/Copy/Paste on Rhythm tracks
 o  Added lead-in and accent sounds to metronome
 o  Added option to save MIDI files as MIDI type 1, so they can be loaded by
    other composing programs.
 o  Made importing a long .WAV file faster.
 o  Added PC-Keyboard -> MIDI-Keyboard user interface for Instrument tracks
 o  Added PC-Keyboard -> Drum user interface for Rhythm tracks
 o  Added Pitch Bend and Channel Pressure to Pro-Mix set of controllers
 o  The following problems were fixed:
    o  some overflow errors in Compose page for long audio tracks.
    o  When audio recording was started while song was not positioned
       at the start of the track, it sometimes introduced noise at the
       start of the track.
    o  bug  was preventing recording and mixing Audio tracks longer
       than 8 minutes.
    o  "Edit/Quantitize Track" was converting a Rhythm track to an Instrument track.
    o  "Edit/Split into single channel tracks" menu item sometimes failed.
    o  out of memory errors when loading some songs with empty tracks.


New features in the 1998.12.04 version include:
 o  Fixed several Audio-related bugs
 o  Improved accuracy of Tempo Map
 o  Added ability to paste Stereo to Mono and Mono to Stereo
 o  Added nested page tabs
 o  File/Import Audio From... menu was sometimes not working correctly
 o  Added ability to transpose selected notes on the staff

New features in the 1998.12.02 version include:
 o  With Pro-Mix accessory, you can now edit a song's Tempo map as
    well as any MIDI control value over time.
    For Audio tracks, with Pro-Mix, you can edit Pan and Volume over time.
 o  Now supports real-time mixing of Audio tracks, when Multi-Audio
    accessory is installed.
 o  Added Audio VU meters to the Record page.
 o  Added ability to "punch-in" to re-record over mistakes in audio tracks.
 o  With the Multi-Audio 4/8 accessory, you can simultaneously record
    up to 4 Audio tracks at the same time.
 o  Added Options page for setting various options, and allow you
    to control Anvil Studio's Record/Play/Stop functions remotely using
    MIDI controllers.
 o  Added ability to record Audio's Left or Right channel by itself.
 o  You can now click on the Time field to display time in SMPTE or
    Measure:Beat:Ticks format.
 o  The following problems were fixed:
    o  Edit/Split track into single-channel tracks was not working.
    o  Deleting a section of notes on the Compose page sometimes hung the machine.
    o  On Windows NT, minimizing Anvil Studio's window resulted terminated the program.
    o  On Compose page for Rhythm track, Tempo setting was not accuratly calibrated in Beats-Per-Minute.
    o  With some Audio cards, starting the song from anywhere other
       than the start of the song caused all MIDI tracks to play Piano instruments.

New features in the 1998.10.08 version include:
 o  Added staff style control to display 1 or 2 treble or bass clefs
 o  Displays notes outside staff limits
 o  The Echo MIDI Events checkbox now has an effect even when not Recording.
 o  Added File/Truncate menu to easily shorten the duration of .MID files.
 o  Added File/Merge Song menu to allow copying tracks between .MID files.
 o  Fixed several bugs, including:
    o  program crashed when changing Mixer's Synth Volume while song played
    o  When Record page is visible, notes get echoed only to the active track's synth
    o  a key signature problem that affected the Music Drills accessory,
    o  program didn't work properly with Sound Cards that only support
       MIDI and not Audio,
    o  the Compose page for a Rhythm track didn't work with screen
       resolution > 1024 x 768.

New features in the 1998.09.05 version include:
 o  Added VU meter to the Audio Compose page.
 o  Fixed problems that caused the program to crash when:
    o  overlapping notes were inserted into a Rhythm track.
    o  System had no Audio Input device installed.
    o  Editing the Rhythm Tool's properties on the Perform page.
    o  Changing key signature to a minor key.

New features in the 1998.09.02 version include:
 o  Added per-track Pan (balance) controls to mixer page.
 o  Enabled the following features when optional Multi-Audio accessory is installed:
    o  Ability to record several MONO audio tracks and mix them to stereo.
    o  Ability to mix several audio tracks to one new audio track.
 o  When dragging a note to staff in key of D, it is now always added as a note
    in the current key, rather than being displayed with an accidental.
 o  When composing a rhythm track, various note durations are now supported.
 o  Some bugs were fixed on the Compose page related to right-mouse note properties.
 o  Added control over the number of notes per line when the Print Screen
    accessory is installed.
 o  Fixed bug that misnamed some key signatures,
    e.g. D major was called D sharp major.

New features in the 1998.08.07 version include:
 o  Now Echo's to SoundCard while recording MIDI.
 o  New tools have been added to Anvil Studio's Compose page,
    including popup menu control of individual note properties including:
      pitch, duration, volume, stem direction,
      staccato, and tie-to-next-note.
 o  Several errors were fixed including some related to how
    accidentals get displayed.

New features in the 1998.07.07 version include:
 o  Better tools on the Compose page.
     o   select, cut, copy, paste notes on the staff
     o   drag notes from the Note palette to the staff
     o   remove individual notes and change note attributes
     by clicking on the notes with the right-mouse button.
     Attributes include "Tie to next note" and "Staccato"
 o  Fixed problem that prevented editing properties of Rhythm tool on perform page.
 o  Fixed problem that caused error message when recording pitch bend events
 o  Added check box to Synths page that controls synthesizer's
    LocalControl setting.
 o  Several other errors fixed

Bugs fixed in the 1998.06.24 version include:
 o  Better memory management for Audio recording.
 o  Rhythm tool on Perform page is more precise.
 o  Fixed Perform Page demo programs Rhythm.prg and Sample1.prg
 o  Fixed bug with Edit/Quantitize menu.
 o  old .WAV files were being left on the disk every time a new
    Audio track got recorded.
 o  the Audio Lab page was broken.
 o  Several minor problems were fixed.

New features and bugs fixed in the 1998.05.20 version include:
 o  Enables optional accessory for printing high-resolution Sheet music.
 o  Supports Stereo Audio (the previous versions were limited to Mono).
 o  Create a single .WAV file by mixing all Audio and Sampled Rhythm
    tracks with the Delay effect applied.
 o  Fixed several bugs, including some Setup bugs.
 o  Now runs on Windows NT 4.0.

Features that were added and bugs fixed in the 1998.04.22 version include:
 o  Added more context-sensitive help.
 o  Fixed bug where Help information sometimes got blanked out
    on machines with Internet Explorer version 4.0.
 o  The Back Page arrow failed to work in some situations.
 o  MIDI recording had some problems with synths that generated
    Clock and Active Sensing MIDI events.