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------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protracker V2.3 Release A - (C) 1992 Mushroom Studios / Noxious 1/1-1993 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protracker is a Public Domain program, and may may be copied freely and included in any PD library. You may not charge anything for the program other than the cost of the disk and the PD-service. *** This is an printable version of the PT.help file *** Written by: Peter "CRAYON" Hanning Layout & Help: Anders "Dolphin" Ramsay Thanks must go to the following for contributing with suggestions and bug-reports: Gahn, Reverend D, Dolphin, all members of Noxious. Devistator/EOC1999 Spirou/Visual Design Sun/Dreamdealers The Green Lark/Aliens Matrix/LSD (Thanks for the source!) Deltabar Dilonardo Toni Maenpaa Markus Jentsch Alex Kunz Tritoon/AlphaFlight Hi there! Here comes PT2.3A, a new version of Protracker, the best tracker around! There has been several new changes this time to enhance Protracker even more! Read more about it in the Readme!.txt file. Some technical info: Sourcecode: 440k / 25000 lines Main Program: 200k GFX data: 80k (packed) Worktime: 954541497 hours ASM time: about 30 seconds MAINSCREEN ---------- ## PLAY ## Will play the song from the current position in the song. The pointer turns yellow, just to show you what's going on. ## PATTERN ## Will play the current pattern which is shown at the bottom of the screen. The pointer turns yellow here as well. Holding down the right button while pressing play,pattern or record will play from the current patternposition. ## EDIT ## Will put you in edit mode. The pointer turns blue, and you can enter notes and numbers from the keyboard. Use the arrowkeys to move up/down and left/right in the pattern. Entering a note or a number will cause the pattern to jump one or more slots down. ## RECORD ## Will put you in edit mode, but also play the current pattern or song. You can select this in the Edit Options menu. While the pattern or song is playing, you can type in notes and numbers from the keyboard, and they will appear in the pattern as it scrolls. The notes and numbers will also be quantized to the nearest slot, so that keeping a steady rhythm is no problem. The pointer will turn blue here as well as in the the normal edit mode. ## STOP ## Will stop playing of songs and patterns, recording, and will turn edit mode off. ## CLEAR ## Will first ask you what you want to clear. You can clear either all, song or samples. ## EDIT OP. ## Will exchange the Spectrum Analyzer with the Edit Menu(s). Pressing more than one time will browse through the edit op. screens. ## DISK OP. ## Will go to the File Requester. ## PLST ## Will go to the PLST screen. ## PSET-ED ## Will go to the preset editor. ## SETUP ## Will go to the Setup Screen. ## SAMPLER ## Will go to the Sampler screen. ## 1, 2, 3 and 4 ## Represent the audiochannels of your amiga. When lit, that channel is on. When not lit, the channel is muted and and the notes in that track will not be played.Holding the right mousebutton will solo the desired channel. ## TEMPO ## The tempo gadget on the status bar is for setting the CIA speed, if CIA timing is used. The gadget will be updated every time you set the speed using the F command (if CIA that is). ## I(NSERT) ## Insert a position into your song. ## D(ELETE) ## Delete a position from your song. ## POS ## Defines your position in the song-table.Pressing this will put you in the Position-Editor. ## PATTERN ## Defines which pattern will be played at a specific position. ## LENGTH ## (SONG) Defines the length of the song. ## FINETUNE ## Tune your untuned samples to match the others. 0 436.4 hz -1 432.1 hz 1 439.0 hz -2 429.6 hz 2 441.6 hz -3 426.3 hz 3 445.1 hz -4 423.1 hz 4 447.8 hz -5 419.9 hz 5 451.5 hz -6 416.7 hz 6 455.2 hz -7 414.4 hz 7 457.0 hz -8 412.0 hz ## SAMPLE ## Choose sample. You can use up to 31, or hex $1F samples in a song. Pressing both mousebuttons at the same time will set the samplenumber to zero. You can then record the pattern with sample 0 to prevent Protracker from setting the volume each time you play a new note. ## LENGTH ## (SAMPLE) The Length gadgets are simply used for setting the length of the sample. A sample can be up to 64k, or $fffe long. You can add workspace behind the sample by increasing the length and letting go of the button. PT will ask if you are sure, and if you are, allocate more memory for the sample. ## VOLUME ## Use this to set the volume the current sample will be played with. ## REPEAT ## Here you set the start of the sampleloop. ## REPLEN ## Here you set the length of the sampleloop. ## PATTERNNUMBER GADGET ## To the middle left of the screen is a box with a number in it. The number is the current pattern number. Click on it to type in a new number. When in type-in mode, use return, ESC or right mousebutton to exit. This should also work on most other such gadgets. ## A(BOUT) ## This one you'll have to experience for yourself. ## LOAD ## (sample) Will simply try to load the current samplename. Use this when you've fucked up in the sample editor, and have destroyed a sample. Pressing both the left and right button on the arrow-gadgets will speed them up a bit. All numbergadgets except Finetune&Sample allows you to click in the gadget and type in the desired value.Holding the right mousebutton while pressing them will zero the value. The main screen has some indicators on the left side of the song- and samplename textgadgets.The indicators are as follows: M S M 0-9 (Metronome ON, Split keyboard ON, Multi keyboard ON, Editskip) I 0-9 (AutoInsert ON, AutoInsert Macro) DISK OP.1 --------- ## PATH ## The paths for songs, modules, samples, tracks and patterns can now be changed, and they can be up to 31 characters long. To change path, click on load song/module/sample/track/pattern or use the arrow indicating what path you're at. ## FREE (DISKSPACE) ## Free diskspace can be shown in hex or decimal. Select this on the setup screen. Click on "free" to get free diskspace without re-reading the dir. ## FORMAT DISK ## Will format a disk in df0: (Hopefully bug-free) ## RENAME FILE ## Will dir the current directory. Select a filename, and you will be able to edit the name. ## DELETE FILE ## Will dir the current directory. Select a file, and it will be deleted from the disk. ## PACK ## When on, Protracker will pack songs before saving. Modules will be PowerPacked and .pp will be added to the filename. ## LOAD SONG ## Will dir the songs path. Select a song, and it will be loaded and decrunched if crunched. ## SAVE SONG ## Will pack the song if pack is on, then save it to the current songs path. Remember to enter a name for your song, otherwise PT will not save! ## LOAD MODULE ## Will dir the modules path. Select a module, and it will be loaded. Powerpacked modules will be decrunched. ## SAVE MODULE ## Will crunch(Powerpacker) the module if pack is on,then save it to the current modules path. Modules can be saved without a name, since they always begin with "Mod.".Holding the right button will save as an executable file in the current directory. ## LOAD SAMPLE ## Will dir the sample path. Select a sample, and it will be loaded to the current sample. IFF headers will be chopped off and loops loaded, if any. Powerpacked samples will be loaded and decrunched. ## SAVE SAMPLE ## Will save the current sample as RAW, IFF or PAK(Powerpacked). Select this in the "Save" gadget to the right of "Load Sample". IFF loops will be saved too(Not with PAK in this version). ## DIR-BROWSE BUTTON ## By pressing this button you can browse through various preset paths, so that you won't have to enter them over and over again.Holding right mousebutton will show all paths in the file-list window. ## PATH INDICATOR ## Click to change paths without reading dir. ## 2 ## Goto Disk Op.2 ## T(OP) ## Will put you at the top of the file-list.Holding the right mousebutton will put you at the previous character in the file-list.Try it out! ## B(OTTOM) ## Will put you at the bottom of the file-list.Holding the right mousebutton will put you at the next character in the file-list. Holding shift while pressing a key will put you in the list at the corresponding position. DISK OP.2 --------- Disk op.2 has alot in common with disk op.1 but with a few additional features. ## LOAD TRACK ## Will dir the track path. Select a track, and it will be loaded to the cursor position or to the trackbuffer, depending on the MODE choice. ## SAVE TRACK ## Will save the track from the cursor position or from the trackbuffer. ## LOAD PATTERN ## Will dir the pattern path. Select a pattern, and it will be loaded to the cursor position or to the patternbuffer. ## SAVE PATTERN ## Will save the pattern from the cursor position or from the patternbuffer. ## MODE ## Determines if the track/pattern will load/save to/from the buffer or the cursor position. ## 1 ## Goto Disk Op.1 AutoDir - If you set the autodir toggle on the setup screen to on, Protracker will automatically dir the current path when you enter the disk op. screen and after you've saved/renamed/deleted something. AutoExit - When this toggle is on Protracker will exit from disk op. when loading a song/module/track or pattern. PLST ---- The PLST is fairly simple to use. Listed here are all the samples in your Presetlist and their lengths. Just click on a name, and Protracker will ask for a disk called ST-01 through to ST-FF. Insert it, and the chosen sample will be loaded to the current sample displayed at the left of the screen. Use the up/down arrow keys to move up and down in the PresetList. If you press shift or the right mousebutton, the PLST will move 10 presets at a time. At the top the PLST shows the total number of samples from the selected sounddisks. There are a few PLST gadgets: ## CLEAR ## Will clear all the sounddisk names you have entered, and display the whole PresetList. ## MOUNTL(IST) ## Will search your drives for disks called ST-**, and put the names into the ST-__ gadgets. ST-00 will not be mounted. ## ST-__ ## There are three ST-__ gadgets where you can enter the numbers of the sounddisks you want to display in the PLST. Only the presets from the selected sounddisks will be shown. If you clear all gadgets (by pressing return or right mousebutton), or press "Clear", the PLST will revert to show all presets. ## T(OP) ## Will put you at the top of the preset-list.Holding the right mousebutton will put you at the previous character in the preset-list. ## B(OTTOM) ## Will put you at the bottom of the preset-list.Holding the right mousebutton will put you at the next character in the preset-list. ## EXIT ## There are 2 exitgadgets in this version. I didn't know what to change the other exitgadget to. Holding shift while pressing a key will put you in the list at the corresponding position. PRESET ED --------- The preset editor is used for sorting and catalogueing your samples. All samples for use with Protracker should be on disks called "ST-01" to "ST-FF". When adding a disk to the presetlist, only these disks are recognized. Harddisk owners may want to add a directory. e.g. You've got a directory called "Supersamples", and you want to use the samples on PT... Simple. Assign "Supersamples" to ST-13 or whatever. In the box with "Disk:" and ST-__ in it, enter ST-13. Now enter "DHX:supersamples" in the path box and press "add path". The path will be added as ST-13 in your presetlist, so everytime you need a sample from ST-13, it will be loaded from "Supersamples" instead. Simple? Editing -------- To edit a preset, simply click on it. Use the arrowkeys to move left/right. When moving up and down in the presetlist, use shift or the right mouse- button to speed it up a bit. ## ADD PATH ## Will add the current path to the presetlist. infofiles will not be added. Samplenames can only be 15 chars long. ## INSERT PRESET ## Will create a new preset. Enter the data for the sample, and it will be added to the presetlist. ## DELETE PRESET ## Will delete the wanted preset from the presetlist. ## DELETE DISK ## Will delete the disknumber set in the "Disk:" box. ## PATH ## This is where you enter the path to be added from. It can be up to 31 characters long. ## DISK ## This is the disk (or HD-dir) that's being added from (or deleted). ## PRESETS ## This is the current number of presets in the presetlist. ## CLEAR PLST ## Will clear all the presets. ## LOAD PLST ## Will load the presetlist from a file called "PLST". This file should be placed in the PTdir (See setup2). ## SAVE PLST ### Will save the presetlist as a file called "PLST" to the current PTdir. ## PRINT PLST ## Will print the presetlist to the current print path, shown on the setup-screen. ## PLST ## Will go to the PLST-screen! ## T(OP) ## Will put you at the top of the preset-list.Holding the right mousebutton will put you at the previous character in the preset-list. ## B(OTTOM) ## Will put you at the bottom of the preset-list.Holding the right mousebutton will put you at the next character in the preset-list. Holding shift while pressing a key will put you in the list at the corresponding position. SAMPLER ------- Editing ------- When editing a sample, use the mouse to set the cursorline and to mark ranges. ## WAVEFORM ## Will play the full sample with loops. ## DISPLAY ## Will play the part of the sample being shown on screen. ## RANGE ## Will play the marked range. ## STOP ## Will stop all playing of samples. ## SHOW RANGE ## Will magnify the current range and display it. ## SHOW ALL ## Will display the whole sample. ## BEG ## Will put the cursorline at the beginning of the sample. ## END ## Will put the cursorline at the end of the sample. ## SWAP BUFF(ER) ## The swap the current sample with the copy-buffer. ## ZOOM OUT ## Will show double the range you are displaying. ## RANGE ALL ## Will range the part of the sample being displayed on screen. ## CUT ## Will cut away the part of the sample that's marked. ## COPY ## Will copy the marked range to the copy-buffer. ## PASTE ## Will paste the copy-buffer into the current sample. The volume box -------------- Set the "FROM" and "TO" volume percentages by using the sliders, or just type in any number you please (from 0 to 200) in the percentage boxes to the right. ## NORMALIZE ## Will find the highest volume settings possible (without clipping). ## CANCEL ## Will exit the volume box. ## \ ## Will set the percentages 100%-0% ## / ## Will set the percentages 0%-100% ## - ## Will set the percentages 100%-100% ## RAMP ## Will ramp (calculate) the volume! ## TUNETONE ## Will create a sinus sound, which you can tune your samples after. See setup 2 help for details. ## SAMPLE ## Will first enter the monitor screen. Now click right button to sample, left to exit. The pointer will be green when there is diskactivity. ## NOTE ## This is the note to sample on. Range is C-1 to B-3. ## RESAMPLE ## Here's a step-by-step explanation: 1. Turn on the tuning tone. 2. Use the keyboard to find what note it is. Use finetune if needed. 3. Enter the note in the "Note:" box to the right. 4. Press resample! ## NOTE ## This is what note to resample to. ## DISP(LAY) ## This is the length of the part of the sample being shown on screen. ## LOOP ON/OFF ## This is for turning loops on/off without having to fiddle with the repeat and replen gadgets. ## EXIT ## Exits the sampler screen. SETUP 1 ------- The setup screens were provided so that PT users could set up their own personal environment. We hope we have satisfied most of you. You've got 8 on/off toggles, a split keyboard editor, a color palette and lots more. Choose what you want, and use "Save Config" to save your environ- ment. On the next screen is a list of what will be saved in the config file. This will be saved in the config file: -------------------------------------- Songs/Modules/Samples/Tracks/Patterns and Print paths, Colors, Keyrepeat Song/Module/Sample/Track/Pattern Savemode, The 24 On/Off toggles, Split Keyboard data, Keyrepeat, Accidental, The eight external dos commands, Max PLST entries, Multikey channeltable, Effectmacros, CIA/VB timing Tempo&Speed, DMA wait and Tunetone+Volume. You can have up to 256 different config files. They will be saved as "PT.config-00", "PT.config-01" and so on. Set the confignumber in the "cnfig" box. ## LOAD CONFIG ## Will load the selected config file. ## SAVE CONFIG ## Will save the selected config file. ## RESET ALL ## Will set the original PT defaults and colors. ## MULTI ## This table is used with the multi keyboard option. The four numbers repre- sent what channel each channel will jump to next. 1-2, 2-3, 3-4 and so on. ## THE DOT ## The gadget with a dot and a textline can be used to execute dos commands. Each of the 8 commands can be up to 31 letters long. Pressing the dot will browse through the commands. Holding the right button and pressing it will execute the command. Note that PT needs the command "run" to execute the other commands. This is because of commodore's stupid programming of the dos library function "execute". Type "endcli" to go back to Protracker. ## THE COLOR PALETTE ## The color palette is simple to use. Just select a color, and use the R, G and B sliders to set the color. ## UNDO ## Will put back the latest change. ## CANCEL ## Will set the config colors. ## DEF(AULT) ## Will set the original ST colors. ## SPLIT ## You can set 4 splits on the keyboard, each with it's own sample, splitpoint and transpose. Just type in a sample number and select the key to split at by pressing the appropriate one. The transpose note for each split is the first note in that split-range. Notes below the first split will be played with the current sample. Split is great for recording drums, or for playing untuned samples in tune (use together with finetune). ## CLEAR ## Will clear the splits. ## KEYREP(EAT) ## The first number is the keyrepeat delay, and the second is the speed. ## ACCIDENTAL ## Simple enough, accidental allows you to select sharp (#) or flat (¡) notes. This will not be saved with the song! ## PRINT SONG ## Will print the song to the path shown below the "Print Song" gadget. The print path can be 31 chars long. ## SPLIT ON/OFF ## Toggles between normal and split keyboard. ## FILTER ON/OFF ## Toggles the audiofilter / PowerLED. (Not available on all Amigas) ## TRANS(POSE)DEL(ETE) ON/OFF ## When on, notes transposed out of range will be deleted. ## SHOWDEC(IMAL) ## When on, Freemem, Tunemem, and filelengths will be shown in decimal. ## AUTODIR ON/OFF ## When on, Protracker dirs the current directory path automatically. ## AUTOEXIT ON/OFF ## When on, Protracker will automatically exit from the file requester when loading a song,module,track or pattern. ## MOD. ONLY ON/OFF ## When on, Protracker will only show modules beginning with "mod.". ## MIDI ON/OFF ## Enables midi input (see midi help). ## 2 ## Will enter SETUP 2. SETUP 2 ------- ## TIMING ## We included this so that American users also could enjoy Protracker, and wouldn't have to use sonix or any other terrible music program... You can choose between CIA or Vblank timing. Vblank is the timing-method soundtrackers have been using since the dawn of time, while CIA is a much better and accurate timing with the tempo measured in beats per minute. Using Vblank on NTSC amigas will cause the song to play 20% faster. With CIA, there's no difference. ## TEMPO ## This is where you set your default CIA timing tempo. Range: 32-255. ## SPEED ## This is where you set your default Vblank timing speed. Range: 01-FF. ## COPPER EDITOR ## The copper editor is for altering the colors of the VU-meters and the spectrum analyzer to your own liking. Select a color by clicking somewhere within the coppered stripe. Now use the R, G and B sliders to alter the color. ## SPREAD ## Will create an even gradient between the current color and the one you click on next. ## ARROWS ## Will rotate the whole copper stripe in the Y-axis (up/down). ## UNDO, CANCEL and DEF(AULT) ## Will work just like in the palette in SETUP 1. ## MODS ## This is where you set your default modules path. ## SONGS ## This is where you set your default songs path. ## SAMPL(ES) ## This is where you set your default sample path. ## PTDIR ## This is the path for the helpfile, the PLST and the PT configfile(s). ## MAX PLST ## This is the maximum number of presets in your presetlist. ## DMA WAIT ## Use this on fast amigas to slow down the DMA enough to not miss any notes. If you set a too low value, you will miss some of the low notes! If you set a too high value, everything will be slowed down. 300 or a little less is ok on a normal A500 7.09 MHz (PAL). 900 (approx.) is ok on an A3000 running at 25Mhz. ## TUNING TONE ## The tuning tone is for use with the sample editor. The note is what note to play the tuning tone at, and the number is the volume. ## COUNT IN ## doesn't work yet...Sorry! ## <- DEFAULT ## Will put back the default for everything in the middle column. ## OVERRIDE ## When on, PT will ignore any paths or disknames when loading a song or module. All the samples will be loaded from the current sample path. ## NOSAMPLES ## When on, PT won't load the samples when loading a song or module. ## BLANKZERO ## When on, PT won't show the first zero in the samplenumber. ## SHOW DIRS ## When on, directories will be shown in Disk Op. ## SHOW PUBL(IC) ## When on, PT will show all free memory, not just chip-mem. ## CUT TO BUFF(ER) ## When on, all samples cut in the sample editor will to put in the copy-buffer. ## LOAD LOOP ## When on, PT will load loops from IFF-samples. ## SYS(TEM) REQ(UESTS) ## allows you to turn the requests on/off. ## SALVAGE ## Doesn't work yet. ## 100 PATTERNS ## with this on, you will be able to have 100 patterns. ## SAVE ICONS ## When on, PT will save an icon together with the module. ## LOAD (PATTERN)NAMES ## When on, PT will try to load the patternnames with the module. ## SAVE (PATTERN)NAMES ## When on, PT will save patternnames with the module. ## LOAD PLST ## When on, PT will load the PLST when it starts. ## SCREEN ADJUST ## When on, PT will scroll the screen 16 pixels to the left. ## SAMPLEPAK ## allows you to pack samples as IFF or RAW. ## 1 ## Will enter SETUP 1. You can now have modules with 100 patterns. If you save a module with more than 64 patterns then M.K. in the moduleheader will be changed to M!K! MIDI ---- Midi routines in Protracker 2.3 are still very limited. Midi in should work ok, though. To activate midi, you'll have to turn it on on the setup1 screen. Use the three upper octaves on your synthesizer to play notes. Some keys in the lowest octave can be used to play/stop/record etc. We might fix better midi support in later versions of Protracker, but so far, this is uncertain... Read the PT.ReadMe! file for more info. EDIT OP. -------- The edit op. screens were just a handy way for us to implement all the new functions we had thought of. There are three screens, and you can browse through them by pressing the edit op. gadget more than once, or select one by clicking on the numbers 1-3. To exit edit op., click on the gadget labeled "E" or press ESC. Edit op. Screen 1: ## TRANSPOSING ## What is transposing ? Transposing lets you shift the pitch of the notes up or down. E.g. Change a C-3 to a C#3. In comparison to other trackers, Protracker lets you transpose in just about every way you can imagine. You can transpose either the current sample or all the samples in a track or pattern. To the right of the title bar is a small box with the letter "S" or "A". S - Only the current sample will be transposed. A - All the samples from $00-$1F will be transposed. V1.1: Now bugfree! To toggle between the two, click on the edit op. title bar. If the setup toggle "TransDel" is on, all the notes transposed out of range (C-1 to B-3) will be deleted. If not, they will not be transposed. Edit op. screen 2: (Record) ## RECORD ## PATT - Record current pattern only. SONG - When recording, PT will move through the patterns in the song, just like normal play. ## QUANTIZE ## Will move the notes you record to every n'th slot. Entering 00 will turn off the quantizing, and the notes you play will always be inserted at the patternposition you are at. Entering 01 will quantize the notes the the nearest slot according to the speed. i.e. if you play a note after the first half has been played, it will be quantized to the slot below. Entering a value like 8 will quantize to every 8th note, and so on. Got that? ## METRO(NOME) ## The first number is the speed of the metronome, and the second is the channel to play it on. The Sample used for metronomes is always sample $1F. Load your own favourite metronome sample. The metronome will always be played at C-3, but you can still change the volume and loop values. To turn off the metronome, just set the speed or channel to 00. V2.3: The metronome has a master toggle, ALT+M. ## KEYS ## When MULTI, PT will jump to another channel after you play a note on the keyboard. This makes it possible to play two or more notes at the same time (very useful with midi). On the setup screen you can choose what channel to jump to after playing a note. Edit Op. screen 2: (Samples) To the right of the title bar is a small box with the letter "T", "P" or "S". T - Copy & Exchange apply to current track only. P - Copy & Exchange will affect the the whole pattern. S - Copy & Exchange will apply to the real samples in memory. To toggle between the two, click on the edit op. title bar. ## DELETE ## Will delete all notes with the current sample in current track or whole pattern. ## KILL ## Will kill the current sample. That is, remove it from memory and reset all sample settings. It will not be deleted from the track or pattern. You can also use the period (.) key on the numeric keyboard to invoke this function. ## EXCHGE (EXCHANGE) ## Will exchange the samplenumber shown in the "FROM" gadget with the sample- number in the "TO" gadget and vice versa. "T" or "P" selects track or pattern. "S" exchanges the samples. ## MOVE ## Will move the samplenumber shown in the "FROM" gadget to the sample- number in the "TO" gadget. Edit Op. screen 3: (Sample Editor) To the right of the title bar is a small box with the letter "H" or "C". H - Will halve the volume when mixing and echoing to avoid clipping. C - Will not halve the volume. The sample may be clipped. To toggle between the two, click on the edit op. title bar. ## MIX ## Will mix one sample with another. PT asks you which two samples to be mixed, and where to put the result. Holding the right button and pressing mix will mix the current sample with itself. You can offset the sample by setting a position in the "pos" gadg. If you set "mod" to a non-zero value, the sample will also be modulated. ## ECHO ## Will create a echo effect on the current sample. Use "pos" to set the delay time of the echo. If you want more room to echo in, just turn up the length of the sample. ## BOOST ## Will turn up the treble of the sample. Use this on hi-hats and snares! ## FILTER ## Will Delta-filter the sample. Use this on noisy basses. ## X-FADE ## Will crossfade the sample (mix with itself, backwards). Handy for looping samples that are hard to loop. ## BACKWD (Backwards) ## Will turn the sample backwards! ## UPSAMPLE ## Will remove every second byte of the sample, halving the length and shifting the pitch one octave up. ## DOWNSAMPLE ## Will double every byte of the sample, doubling the length, and shifting the pitch one octave down. If you downsample samples longer than $7FFE, you will lose the end of them. ## POS ## This is just an offset in the sample, used for a lot of things.This one has a numbergadget as well.Holding the right mousebutton while pressing the numbergadget will zero the value. ## MOD ## This is used for modulation. Press "MOD" to modulate the current sample. Holding the right button while pressing the numbergadget will zero the value. ## CUTBEG(INNING) ## Will chop the number of bytes set in the "POS" gadget off the beginning of the sample. ## FU (Fade Up) ## Will fade the volume from 0 to 100%. Use "POS" to select where in the sample to fade up to. ## FD (Fade Down) ## Will fade the volume from 100 to 0%. Use "POS" to select where in the sample to fade down from. ## VOL ## With this you can change the "real" volume of the sample. Just set a percentage and press "VOL".VOL has a numbergadget.Holding the right button while pressing it will set the value to 100%. ## CHORD ## Will put you in the Chord-maker. Edit Op.3 is now intended to be used with the new sample-editor. If a range is marked, some of the functions apply to the range only. If there's no range marked, the functions will affect the whole sample. You may also set "POS" by clicking on the sample and setting the cursor-line. Chord-maker ----------- ## Chord ## Will make the chord, using the current sample and the notes chosen, and the chord will be put in the current sample or a free sample,depending on your choice (see below) ## Reset ## will reset the notes and the length ## Undo ## will undo the last change. (apart from multiple arrow up/down) ## Length ## will set the length to the maximum value, depending on the length of the original sample and the notes you choose.This will ofcourse set the ':' after the 4 lengthdigits (see below) Holding the right mousebutton will set the length to the minimum depending on the notes chosen. '.' will be shown after the 4 digits. Mixing with the minimum length will make the sample as long as the shortest sample of the 4 resampled notes. ## Major ## will set a major chord, depending on the basenote. ## Minor ## will set a minor chord, depending on the basenote. ## Sus-4 ## will set a sus-4 chord, depending on the basenote ## Length string gadget ## will wait for you to enter a new length (not greater than the maxlength. If you want a longer sample then add more space after the mix has been done.) The ':' after the 4 digits shows that the samplelength is set to its maximum! ## Major7 ## will set a major7 chord, depending on the basenote. ## Minor7 ## will set a minor7 chord, depending on the basenote. ## Major6 ## will set a major6 chord, depending on the basenote. ## Minor6 ## will set a minor6 chord, depending on the basenote. ## 4 notegadgets ## The upper one is the basenote.If you press a gadget, PT will wait for you to press a note.Holding the right mousebutton will reset the note ## 4 Up/Down gadgets ## will add/sub 1 halfnote from the current note.Holding right button will add/sub 1 octave.You can reset the note by adding past B-3. ## The 4 rightmost gadgets ## works just like the edit op gadgets. 1,2,3 takes you to the corresponding edit option, and E exits ## The statusline ## pressing the upper line will toggle between New or Old sample: If N, then PT will search for an free sample to put the result. If O, then PT will put the result on the current sample, overwriting the original sample Note1! ------ This version of PT resets repeat and replen. PT also puts a '!' last in the samplename to show you that this is a chord sample.The '!' is for you to see where the destination-sample has gone,it has nothing to do with the program. You can take the '!' away and rename the sample to ...-major , ...-minor etc for instance. Note2! ------ The chosen option on the statusline in edit op. 3 ,H(alve) or C(lip) will affect the chord resampling and mixing! Position-Editor --------------- Press 'POS' on the mainscreen to get to the Position-Editor. All the gadgets should be well known, pressing the big gadget at the top will stop the song. Keyboard input works too,Left Alt,Left Amiga,space and the cursor up/down arrows.You can use the Position,pattern and length gadgets on the main screen, or click in the list to alter the current pattern or to enter a name to each pattern if you'd like to. The Patternnames will be loaded/saved if you have the corresponding toggles ON (load names,save names). The files will have the mod. exchanged to mod! just to distuingish them from the real modules. The patternnames will be cleared if you choose clear song or clear all.Another way is to click on each name you'd like to clear and then press the right mouse button. Patternplay works a little different from in the mainscreen.The pattern shown on the edit-row(the current position) will be played instead of the pattern currently shown in the notedatawindow. HEY! The patternnames has no effect on the module, they are just to remind the musician of the contents of the patterns, eg. you can name the first three patterns to INTRO just to remind yourself that those three patterns are the intro to your tune! EFFECT COMMANDS --------------- Effect commands on Protracker should be compatible with all other trackers. 0 - None/Arpeggio 8 - * NOT USED * 1 - Portamento Up 9 - SampleOffset 2 - Portamento Down A - VolumeSlide 3 - TonePortamento B - PositionJump 4 - Vibrato C - Set Volume 5 - ToneP + VolSlide D - PatternBreak 6 - Vibra + VolSlide E - Misc. Cmds 7 - Tremolo F - Set Speed E - COMMANDS ------------ The E command has been altered to contain more commands than one. E0- Filter On/Off E8- * NOT USED * E1- Fineslide Up E9- Retrig Note E2- Fineslide Down EA- FineVol Up E3- Glissando Control EB- FineVol Down E4- Vibrato Control EC- NoteCut E5- Set Finetune ED- NoteDelay E6- Patternloop EE- PatternDelay E7- Tremolo Control EF- Invert Loop Cmd 0. Arpeggio [Range:$0-$F/$0-$F] ----------------------------------- Usage: $0 + 1st halfnote add + 2nd halfnote add Arpeggio is used to simulate chords. This is done by rapidly changing the pitch between 3(or 2) different notes. It sounds very noisy and grainy on most samples, but ok on monotone ones. Example: C-300047 C-major chord: (C+E+G or C+4+7 halfnotes) C-300037 C-minor chord: (C+D#+G or C+3+7 halfnotes) Cmd 1. Portamento up [Speed:$00-$FF] ------------------------------------ Usage: $1 + portamento speed Portamento up will simply slide the sample pitch up. You can NOT slide higher than B-3! (Period 113) Example: C-300103 1 is the command, 3 is the portamentospeed. NOTE: The portamento will be called as many times as the speed of the song. This means that you'll sometimes have trouble sliding accuratly. If you change the speed without changing the sliderates, it will sound bad... Cmd 2. Portamento down [Speed:$00-FF] ------------------------------------- Usage: $2 + portamento speed Just like command 1, except that this one slides the pitch down instead. (Adds to the period). You can NOT slide lower than C-1! (Period 856) Example: C-300203 2 is the command, 3 is the portamentospeed. Cmd 3. Tone-portamento [Speed:$00-$FF] -------------------------------------- Usage: Dest-note + $3 + slidespeed This command will automatically slide from the old note to the new. You don't have to worry about which direction to slide, you need only set the slide speed. To keep on sliding, just select the command $3 + 00. Example: A-200000 First play a note. C-300305 C-3 is the note to slide to, 3 the command, and 5 the speed. Cmd 4. Vibrato [Rate:$0-$F,Dpth:$0-$F] -------------------------------------- Usage: $4 + vibratorate + vibratodepth Example: C-300481 4 is the command, 8 is the speed of the vibrato, and 1 is the depth of the vibrato. To keep on vibrating, just select the command $4 + 00. To change the vibrato, you can alter the rate, depth or both. Use command E4- to change the vibrato-waveform. Cmd 5. ToneP + Volsl [Spd:$0-$F/$0-$F] -------------------------------------- Usage: $5 + upspeed + downspeed This command will continue the current toneportamento and slide the volume at the same time. Compatible with Noisetracker 2.0. Example: C-300503 3 is the speed to turn the volume down. C-300540 4 is the speed to slide it up. Cmd 6. Vibra + Volsl [Spd:$0-$F/$0-$F] -------------------------------------- Usage: $6 + upspeed + downspeed This command will continue the current vibrato and slide the volume at the same time. Compatible with Noisetracker 2.0. Example: C-300605 5 is the speed to turn the volume down. C-300640 4 is the speed to slide it up. Cmd 7. Tremolo [Rate:$0-$F,Dpth:$0-$F] -------------------------------------- Usage: $7 + tremolorate + tremolodepth Tremolo vibrates the volume. Example: C-300794 7 is the command, 9 is the speed of the tremolo, and 4 is the depth of the tremolo. To keep on tremoling, just select the command $7 + 00. To change the tremolo, you can alter the rate, depth or both. Use command E7- to change the tremolo-waveform. Cmd 9. Set SampleOffset [Offs:$00-$FF] -------------------------------------- Usage: $9 + Sampleoffset This command will play from a chosen position in the sample, and not from the beginning. The two numbers equal the two first numbers in the length of the sample. Handy for speech samples. Example: C-300923 Play sample from offset $2300. Cmd A. Volumeslide [Speed:$0-$F/$0-$F] -------------------------------------- Usage: $A + upspeed + downspeed Example: C-300A05 5 is the speed to turn the volume down. C-300A40 4 is the speed to slide it up. NOTE: The slide will be called as many times as the speed of the song. The slower the song, the more the volume will be changed on each note. Cmd B. Position-jump [Pos:$00-$7F] ---------------------------------- Usage: $B + position to continue at Example: C-300B01 B is the command, 1 is the position to restart the song at. This command will also perform a pattern-break (see 2 pages below). You can use this command instead of restart as on Noisetracker, but you must enter the position in hex! Cmd C. Set volume [Volume:$00-$40] ---------------------------------- Usage: $C + new volume Well, this old familiar command will set the current volume to your own selected. The highest volume is $40. All volumes are represented in hex. (Programmers do it in hex, you know!) Example: C-300C10 C is the command, 10 is the volume (16 decimal). Cmd D. Pattern-break [Pattern-pos:00-63, decimal] ------------------------------------------------- Usage: $D + pattern-position This command just jumps to the next song-position, and continues play from the patternposition you specify. Example: C-300D00 Jump to the next song-position and continue play from patternposition 00. Or: C-300D32 Jump to the next song-position and continue play from patternposition 32 instead. Cmd E0. Set filter [Range:$0-$1] -------------------------------- Usage: $E0 + filter-status This command jerks around with the sound-filter on some A500 + A2000. All other Amiga-users should keep out of playing around with it. Example: C-300E01 disconnects filter (turns power LED off) C-300E00 connects filter (turns power LED on) Cmd E1. Fineslide up [Range:$0-$F] ---------------------------------- Usage: $E1 + value This command works just like the normal portamento up, except that it only slides up once. It does not continue sliding during the length of the note. Example: C-300E11 Slide up 1 at the beginning of the note. (Great for creating chorus effects) Cmd E2. Fineslide down [Range:$0-$F] ------------------------------------ Usage: $E2 + value This command works just like the normal portamento down, except that it only slides down once. It does not continue sliding during the length of the note. Example: C-300E26 Slide up 6 at the beginning of the note. Cmd E3. Glissando Ctrl [Range:$0-$1] ------------------------------------ Usage: $E3 + Glissando-Status Glissando must be used with the tone-portamento command. When glissando is activated, toneportamento will slide a halfnote at a time, instead of a straight slide. Example: C-300E31 Turn Glissando on. C-300E30 Turn Glissando off. Cmd E4. Set vibrato waveform [Range:$0-$3] ------------------------------------------ Usage: $E4 + vibrato-waveform Example: C-300E40 Set sine(default) E44 Don't retrig WF C-300E41 Set Ramp Down E45 Don't retrig WF C-300E42 Set Squarewave E46 Don't retrig WF C-300E43 Set Random E47 Don't retrig WF Cmd E5. Set finetune [Range:$0-$F] ---------------------------------- Usage: $E5 + finetune-value Example: C-300E51 Set finetune to 1. Use these tables to figure out the finetune-value. Finetune: +7 +6 +5 +4 +3 +2 +1 0 Value: 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Finetune: -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 Value: F E D C B A 9 8 Cmd E6. PatternLoop [Loops:$0-$F] ---------------------------------- Usage: $E6 + number of loops This command will loop a part of a pattern. Example: C-300E60 Set loopstart. C-300E63 Jump to loop 3 times before playing on. Cmd E7. Set tremolo waveform [Range:$0-$3] ------------------------------------------ Usage: $E7 + tremolo-waveform Example: C-300E70 Set sine(default) E74 Don't retrig WF C-300E71 Set Ramp Down E75 Don't retrig WF C-300E72 Set Squarewave E76 Don't retrig WF C-300E73 Set Random E77 Don't retrig WF Cmd E9. Retrig note [Value:$0-$F] --------------------------------- Usage: $E9 + Tick to Retrig note at. This command will retrig the same note before playing the next. Where to retrig depends on the speed of the song. If you retrig with 1 in speed 6 that note will be trigged 6 times in one note slot. Retrig on hi-hats! Example: C-300F06 Set speed to 6. C-300E93 Retrig at tick 3 out of 6. Cmd EA. FineVolsl up [Range:$0-$F] ---------------------------------- Usage: $EA + value This command works just like the normal volumeslide up, except that it only slides up once. It does not continue sliding during the length of the note. Example: C-300EA3 Slide volume up 1 at the beginning of the note. Cmd EB. FineVolsl down [Range:$0-$F] ------------------------------------ Usage: $EB + value This command works just like the normal volumeslide down, except that it only slides down once. It does not continue sliding during the length of the note. Example: C-300EB6 Slide volume down 6 at the beginning of the note. Cmd EC. Cut note [Value:$0-$F] ------------------------------ Usage: $EC + Tick to cut note at. This command will cut the note at the selected tick, creating extremely short notes. Example: C-300F06 Set speed to 6. C-300EC3 Cut at tick 3 out of 6. Note that the note is not really cut, the volume is just turned down. Cmd ED. NoteDelay [Value:$0-$F] ------------------------------- Usage: $ED + ticks to delay note. This command will delay the note to the selected tick. Example: C-300F06 Set speed to 6. C-300ED3 Play note at tick 3 out of 6. If you use ED0, the note will be delayed a little anyway. You can play the same note on two channels, delay one, and get a nice flanging effect. Cmd EE. PatternDelay [Notes:$0-$F] ---------------------------------- Usage: $EE + notes to delay pattern. This command will delay the pattern the selected numbers of notes. Example: C-300EE8 Delay pattern 8 notes before playing on. All other effects are still active when the pattern is being delayed. Cmd EF. Invert Loop [Speed:$0-$F] --------------------------------- Usage: $EF + Invertspeed This command will need a short loop ($10,20,40,80 etc. bytes) to work. It will invert the loop byte by byte. Sounds better than funkrepeat... Example: C-300EF8 Set invspeed to 8. To turn off the inverting, set invspeed to 0, or press ctrl + Z. This effect will trash the sample, and will probably be removed in the next version. Cmd F. Set speed [Speed:$00-$FF] -------------------------------- Usage: $F + speed This command will set the speed of the song. Vblank: Range 01-FF - Normal timing CIA: Range 01-1F - Set vblank speeds with CIA timing. CIA: Range 20-FF - Set BPM speeds, range 32-255. Both: Range 00 - STOP song. KEYBOARD -------- The keymap on Protracker is a standard US keymap. The font has been enhanced and redrawn a little, so you now have a lot more special characters than before. Remember to always use the left shift and alt, as the right ones are used for other things. High notekeys: 2 3 5 6 7 9 0 = Q W E R T Y U I O P [ ] Low notekeys: S D G H J L ; Z X C V B N M , . / F1 - Choose lo octave(From C-1 to G-3) F2 - Choose hi octave(From C-2 to B-3) F3 - Cut (sample) F4 - Copy (sample) F5 - Paste (sample) shft+F3 - Cut track to buffer shft+F4 - Copy track to buffer shft+F5 - Paste track-buffer to track alt+F3 - Cut whole pattern to buffer alt+F4 - Copy whole pattern to buffer alt+F5 - Paste patt-buffer to pattern ctrl+F3 - Cut commands to buffer ctrl+F4 - Copy commands to buffer ctrl+F5 - Paste cmd-buffer to track F6 - Go to patternposition 0 F7 - Go to patternposition 16 F8 - Go to patternposition 32 F9 - Go to patternposition 48 F10- Go to patternposition 63 shft+F6-F10 - Store current patternposition on selected F-key alt+F6-F10 - Play pattern from the stored patternposition ctrl+F6-F10 - Record from the stored patternposition Esc - Exit DiskOp/EditOp/PLST/PsetEd/Setup/Help etc... shft+Return - Insert blank note at cursorposition and move the others down. Notes beyond patternposition 63 will be lost! shft+Bckspce - Delete note above cursorposition and move the others up. You can NOT do this if you're at patternposition 0! alt+Return - As above, but with all 4 tracks alt+Backspace - As above, but with all 4 tracks ctrl+Return - Push cmds one down ctrl+Backspace - Drag cmds one up ctrl+0-9 - Select how many slots PT will jump down each time you insert a note (this is only in Edit-mode) alt+cursor right - patternnumber up alt+cursor left - patternnumber down shft+cursor right - song-position up shft+cursor left - song-position down ctrl+cursor left - samplenumber up ctrl+cursor right - samplenumber down BackwardsSingleQuote (The key over TAB, you know?) - Go to CLI Help - Go to help or plst screen shft+Help - Toggle between Help or PLST on Help key Space - Toggle between Stop/Edit-mode < (beside Z) - Kill DMA & Volumes to 0 right Amiga - Play Pattern right Alt - Play Song right Shift - Record Caps Lock - Toggle Keyrepeat on/off Del - Delete note under cursor alt+Del - Delete command only shft+Del - Delete note and command On Numeric pad: 0 - Select Sample $0 1st row - Select Sample $1-$4 2nd row - Select Sample $5-$8 3rd row - Select Sample $9-$c 4th row - Select Sample $d-$f Just Enter - Select Sample $10 Holding Enter + the other keys, will select sample $11-$1F Period (.) - Kill current sample Left Amiga (Plus keys below) - Transposing like in Edit Op. Screen 1 Sample/Track Sample/Pattern ---------------------------------- 1 - Note Up 2 - Note Up Q - Note Down W - Note Down A - Octave Up S - Octave Up Z - Octave Down X - Octave Down All/Track All/Pattern ------------------------------- 3 - Note Up 4 - Note Up E - Note Down R - Note Down D - Octave Up F - Octave Up C - Octave Down V - Octave Down Tab - Move cursor to next track Shft+Tab - Move cursor to prev track ctrl+A - Toggle channel on/off ctrl+B - Mark block ctrl+C - Copy block to buffer ctrl+D - Delete block, drag notes up ctrl+E - expand track ctrl+F - toggle filter on/off ctrl+G - Boost all samples ctrl+H - Transpose block up ctrl+I - Insert block, push notes down ctrl+J - Join-paste block ctrl+K - Kill to end of track ctrl+L - Transpose block down ctrl+M - Toggle multikeyboard on/off ctrl+N - Re-mark last block ctrl+O - Contract track ctrl+P - Paste block ctrl+Q - Unmute all channels ctrl+R - Restore F6-F10 positions ctrl+S - Toggle split keyboard on/off ctrl+T - swap tracks ctrl+U - undo last change ctrl+V - Filter all samples ctrl+W - Polyphonize block ctrl+X - Cut block to buffer ctrl+Y - Backwards block ctrl+Z - Restore Effects shft+0-9 - Store current command on selected key alt+0-9 - Insert command in current track alt+"\" - Copy command above cursor to current patternposition. alt+"=" - Copy command above cursor to current patternposition and add one to the value. alt+"-" - Copy command above cursor to current patternposition and subract one from the value. alt+A - Monitor/Start sampling alt+B - Boost sample alt+C - Toggle channel 3 alt+D - Go to Disk Op. alt+E - Go to Edit Op. alt+F - Filter sample alt+I - Toggle AutoinsertEffect on/off alt+K - Delete current sample/track alt+M - Toggle metronome on/off alt+Q - Quit Protracker alt+R - Resample alt+S - Go to Sampler screen alt+T - Tuning Tone alt+V - Toggle channel 4 alt+X - Toggle channel 2 alt+Y - Save all samples alt+Z - Toggle channel 1 alt+shift+M - Set metrochannel to current channel ' - Autoinsertmacro down # - Autoinsertmacro up (The key beside return) \ - Toggle keypad mode (dots!) Return - Step one note forward Backspc - Step one note backward Alt+any key on keypad - tune drumpad LeftAmiga+N - ScreenToBack LeftAmiga+M - ScreenToFront GENERAL INFO. ------------- Making Music ------------ Any piece of music written with Protracker is built up from patterns. Each pattern is built up from four tracks, one for each of the amiga's audiochannels. A pattern is 64 lines long. The magnified line is always the one you edit. If you need shorter patterns, use the patternbreak effect command. A track is built up like this: 32 C-3 01 C20 / \_/ |/ \_/ / / | \ Pos Note Sample Effect cmd. The C-3 is the note being played at patternposition 32. 01 is the sample- number, and the three last digits are the effect command, in this case, set volume to $20 (C-Command, 20-Value). Protracker holds a table with info about the sequence in which the patt- erns will be played. With the "Pos" gadget you determine your position in the table. With "Pattern" you define what pattern to play at that position. "Length" defines the total size of the table. The full sequence of Patterns is the Song. A song is built up from up to 64 different patterns, each being played at up to 128 different positions. The small gadgets labeled "I" and "D" are Insert and Delete. With them you can Insert or Delete a position from your song. The length of your song will be adjusted automatically. Remember that the length of your song always must be one more than the last position, since the first position is 0. The "Are you sure ?" requester ------------------------------ In addition to the gadgets, you can use "Y" or Return for Yes, and "N" or ESC for No. The Clear requester ------------------- In addition to the gadgets you can use "A" for All, "O" for Song, "S" for samples and "C" or ESC for Cancel. The text-input routine ---------------------- Now this is really simple. Clicking on a textline will enable you to edit it. Some text lines are longer than they seem, so use the arrowkeys to scroll back and forth in the text. The text input mode is just like an ordinary text editor. You can use backspace, delete, space and such. In text-input mode you can also use the numeric pad for entering numbers. Pressing the right mousebutton will clear the textline and exit the editing. Use ESC or return to just exit. The numbergadgets ----------------- Click on them and type in the value(Hex or Dec).ESC or return aborts. Passing arguments from Workbench/CLI ------------------------------------ When starting from CLI, you can type a modulename with a pathname(optional) as an argument. The modulename will be added to the modulepath stored in the current config-file. E.g. If the modulepath is ST-00:modules, and you pass crap/mod.fake as an argument, then the module ST-00:modules/crap/mod.fake will be loaded. When starting from Workbench, you can click on a project icon twice and the selected module will be loaded(presuming that the icon's default tool is PT2.3A.The module will be loaded from the modulepath in the current config-file regardless of in which directory the moduleicon is located. That is, you can have all modules in a directory and the icons in another directory to prevent PT from loading all .info files into the file-list when you select LOAD MODULE. Pressing the moduleicon once, and holding shift while double-clicking on the PT2.3A icon also works as above. Tips 'n tricks -------------- When inserting, pasting or join-pasting, hold down shift to keep the cursor from jumping to the end of the block. e.g. shft+ctrl+P Holding shift while pressing ctrl+K (kill to end of track) will kill to start of track instead. Holding shift while pressing ctrl+shift-a will solo the current channel. Use Esc or right mousebutton to exit from a lot of things. Effect tips ----------- You can set the volume without playing a note. e.g. ---01000 This will set the volume for sample 1 without trigging the note. Or try trigging the sample and sliding the volume down. e.g. C-301A08 ---01A08 ---01A08 This will create a strange arpeggiato effect, like on "Cream of the earth" by Romeo Knight / RSI. Pointer Colors -------------- Gray - Nothin's happening. Yellow - Playing song / pattern. Green - Disk action. Blue - Edit / record. Magenta - Waiting for something (text, number or something else). Cyan - Select entry or delete. Red - Something went wrong. Drumpad ------- Use backspace '\' to toggle modes. One or more dots will appear to the right of the freemem display. No dots: Normal keypad. 1 dot: Drumpad. 2 dots: Drumpad - Edit/Rec possible. Use Alt + keypad key to set note.