1. Load Evolution MIDI. Move your mouse to where it says "File" at the top left hand side of the screen. Choose "Open", and open the cauldron.sng file which is in the Evolution MIDI directory.
2. The song will appear in the track window. Click on the play button on the transport bar at the bottom of the screen. We will now create a similar song by using some of the easy music tools of Evolution MIDI. If you cannot hear any sound, please go to section 3. Failing that, read the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) file and then carry on with this quickstart guide.
3. Using the mouse, move the pointer to where it says "Settings" at the top of the screen and click with the left mouse button. Select the "Devices" option. In the Outputs column, click on one of the driver names and then click on OK. Play the song again. If you now hear the music, go on to section 4, if not, repeat the process until you select a MIDI driver that plays music.
4. Move your mouse to the file menu again, and choose the "New" option. This will give us a clean page to start working in. First of all we will insert an empty MIDI track.
5. Move your mouse pointer so that it is on the strip of buttons down the right hand side of the screen. Click on the piano roll button (2nd button down). This will insert 4 empty bars in the main track arrange window.
6. How about recording your new solo? Click on the record button on the transport bar. After 4 beats, the recording will commence. As soon as it starts, jam along. When you've finished your recording - press stop , the recording will end. Rewind the song to the start and press play. You should now see all your notes displayed on the screen. This is your solo! If you would rather see your music displayed as traditional musical symbols such as quavers and crotchets you would need to upgrade your software to our Evolution Audio or Audio Pro programs. (£30 and £60 respectively). Naturally, not all the notes will be on the beat. Evolution MIDI takes care of this for you with a feature called "Quantize". By pressing the "Q" key on your QWERTY keyboard, it will move all the "late" notes to the nearest beat. Try it. Rewind to the start and press play. You should find that your solo line has become a lot more rhythmic. If you prefer to move the notes yourself, click on the notes with your left mouse button and hold the button down as you drag the note to its new position.
7. Close the piano roll screen you are working in. You should now be back in the main track window. Click on the rec button next to track 2. Click twice on where it says "Acou grand piano" on track 2. This will open up the patch list screen. This shows you which sounds on your soundcard you can play. Choose a new sound such as "Acoustic Bass". Click on OK. Now hot the record button on the transport bar. Again you should hear the metronome click (assuming you have turned it on on the transport bar). Jam along to your piano piece.
You may continue to do this as many times as you wish - or start recording from different positions by moving the left and right locators.
8. Press play. You have now created your own song. Choose the "Save" option from the "File" menu and give your song a name. You can go back to this song at any time to change it, add to it. In fact, do anything you like with it!
