AM/FM: Amiga Musicians' Freeware Magazine 5

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Text File | 1991-11-16 | 31.3 KB | 650 lines

Yamaha FB-01 Editor/Librarian Features: - Full featured Editor/Librarian for the Yamaha FB-01 - The Librarian makes it easy to organize and store a bank of voices or configurations on disk. Send your customized banks to a Yamaha FB-01 or receive banks from this instrument. Easy audition of voices, simply click the mouse on a voice name and "play" the Amiga keyboard. - The Editor has the power to edit all parameters for FB-01 voices and configurations. The Voice Editor provides graphical display of voice envelopes, an Undo button to correct mistakes, and convenient saving of changes made during the editing process. The voice audition feature makes it easy to compare the "original" and "modified" voice. For interesting effects use the Randomize feature to create random voice envelopes. - Print hardcopy of voice and configuration banks. Print out all FB-01 voice and configuration parameters. - AmigaDOS 2.0 compatible This is a ShareWare program. If you like it and find it useful, please send me $30. If you can't afford this, I'll gladly accept any contributions you would like to make. A hi-res version of this program that uses a 640 by 400 pixel screen is available upon request with the $30 contribution. This version looks great on an Amiga 3000. James M. Smith P.O. Box 6836 Los Osos, CA 93402 Instructions Getting Started With the power off on the Amiga and the FB-01, connect the FB-01 to a standard MIDI conversion box that uses the Amiga serial port. The MIDI-out on the conversion box connects to the MIDI-in on the back of the FB-01. The MIDI-in on the conversion box connects to the MIDI-out on the FB-01. Connect the audio outputs on the FB-01 to a stereo system. After turning on the power to the FB-01, the Amiga and the sound system, set the FB-01 system channel to one using the front panel buttons. The Editor/Librarian will communicate with the FB-01 over this system channel. Configuration #17 in the FB-01 will be made active when this program is started. When the Editor/Librarian is first started a listing of the files on the volume where this program resides will be given. Change ":" to "df1:"to list the files on drive df1: if required. The following instructions will lead you by your hand through the operation of this program. If you don't like following instructions, go ahead and play with this program on your own. You will probably be able to figure out how to use this program by yourself. Opening a Voice Bank Six voice banks for the FB-01 are found in the Voice drawer that comes with this program. A listing of the Voice directory is obtained by clicking on this drawer. The five Factory banks contain the voices that reside in ROM in the FB-01 (banks 3-7). Open the Factory3 bank by clicking on it to obtain a listing of its voices. Try playing with the slider gadget on the right of the listing in order to move the display through all 48 voices. Voice listings can be moved to the right side of the Librarian Window by clicking on the "Move > Bank" button. Try this now. Deleting Voices Click on the "Parent Dir" button to get back to the listing of the six voice banks. This button is used to move up the directory tree, to obtain a parent directory listing. This time click on the Demo bank to display its voices. The Voice Librarian Window will now show the Demo bank on the left and Factory3 on the right. Click on a couple of the voices in the Demo bank, and note that their names change to red. Click on the "Delete Voice" button to delete these voices. All voices shown in red will be deleted after this button is activated. Be very CAREFUL using the "Delete Voice" button. Once a voice has been deleted, it cannot be recovered. Do not delete any voices in the Factory banks. These banks are the backbone of a FB-01 voice library. The "Delete Voice" button can also be used to totally erase a voice bank. If this button is selected for a bank in which all voices have been previously deleted, then the voice bank file itself will be erased and will no longer show up in a directory listing. Copying Voices Now try copying a voice from Factory3 over to the Demo bank. First select a voice in Factory3 by clicking on a voice name. Then click on the "Copy Voice" button and select with the mouse an empty voice location in the Demo bank. The voice will be copied to the empty location selected in the Demo bank. Try clicking on several voices in Factory3 before activating the "Copy Voice" button. Then click on an empty voice location in the Demo bank and note that all the voices selected will be copied to the Demo bank. The lowest numbered voice selected will be copied to the empty location chosen, and all other selected voices will be copied to empty locations below this point. So far copying voices from one voice bank to another has been discussed. To copy voices within a particular voice bank, place the bank of interest on both the left and right side of the Librarian Window and copy exactly as previously described. As an example, select the "Move > Bank" button so that the Demo bank is displayed on both sides of the Librarian Window. Select a voice on the left display. Activate the "Copy Voice" button and select an empty voice location on the right display. The voice selected will be copied to the empty location within the Demo bank. The "Copy Voice" button will work even if the voice banks displayed on the left and right side of the Librarian window have not come from the same directory or even the same disk. As an example of how this might work, let's assume that the FB-01 Program Disk resides on drive df1: and that some voice banks have been copied to a ram disk. After opening a voice bank from the FB-01 Program Disk and having moved this bank to the right side of the Librarian window using the "Move > Bank" button, a directory of the ram disk is obtained by entering ram: into the Disk box. After opening a voice bank on the ram disk, it is then possible to copy voices back and forth between the two banks even though the voice banks come from two different disks. Auditioning Voices The selection of "Auto Send Active" or "Auto Send Off" from the "Play Voice" Menu section will have an important effect on the way voices are auditioned. "Auto Send Active" is the default mode and probably will be used by most people nearly all the time. In this mode, individual voice data is sent to instrument #1 in the FB-01 immediately after the mouse clicks on a particular voice. With "Auto Send Off" selected, voice data is not sent to the FB-01 until the ENTER key is pressed or "Send Voice" is selected from the "Play Voice" Menu section. The "Auto Send Active" mode is more convenient to use for auditioning voices. But when copying and deleting voices is the main focus of activity, sending voice data to the FB-01 whenever a voice is selected can be a nuisance. On these occasions use the "Auto Send Off" mode. After selecting a FB-01 voice with the mouse, use the Amiga keyboard to audition its sound. The keyboard will produce "white key" notes over a five octave range, with middle C produced by hitting the keyboard key, Q. The notes from the "black keys" on a piano keyboard are not produced. Eight notes may be played simultaneously. Using an External Keyboard To use an external MIDI keyboard with the Editor/Librarian, disconnect the end of the MIDI cable at the MIDI-out on the FB-01 and reconnect to the MIDI-out on the external keyboard. The other MIDI cable remains unchanged. Turn off the power on the Amiga, the FB-01, and the external keyboard before making this change. With this new hookup it will not be possible to receive voice or configuration banks from the FB-01. After following the above instructions for auditioning voices, select "Status Connected" from the "Ext Keyboard" Menu section to inform the Editor/Librarian of this change. Activate the external keyboard by selecting Activate from the "Ext Keyboard" Menu section or by pressing the arrow up key on the Amiga keyboard. The external MIDI keyboard will now send MIDI data to the FB-01. Turn off the external keyboard by hitting any key on the Amiga keyboard. Sending and Receiving Voice Banks Sending a Voice Bank to the FB-01 is accomplished by selecting either "Send Voices to Bank 1" or "Send Voices to Bank 2" from the Transfers Menu section. The active voice bank, which is the opened bank with its title displayed in red, is sent to either the first or second bank in the FB-01. All data previously stored in the FB-01 in the bank selected will be lost. Therefore be CAREFUL when sending voice banks to the FB-01. Receiving a Voice Bank is accomplished by selecting either "Receive Voices from Bank 1" or "Receive Voices from Bank 2" from the Transfers Menu section. At least one voice bank must be opened to establish which voice bank directory is being used so that the received data will be filed in the proper directory. The user is free to create as many directories as needed for storing voice banks. If the right side of the Voice Librarian is displaying a voice bank, the Librarian will use the directory from this bank. Otherwise the directory that holds the left bank of voices will be used. The received voice bank is displayed on the right side of the Voice Librarian Window with the bank name given by the string entered in the Bank box. If no string was entered into the Bank box, the name of the received bank file becomes NoName. Be very CAREFUL about naming the received bank so that another bank with the same name in the same directory will not be lost. If a number of other programs are running concurrently with the FB-01 Editor/Librarian, the Amiga may not be able to keep up with the high speed data sent out from the FB-01 during a Voice Receive Transfer. An error message will indicate if a problem has occurred. Remember also that receiving voice banks is not possible when an external MIDI keyboard is connected. Select All and Create Bank buttons The "Select All" button selects all voices in a bank, and displays the names of these voices in red. To delete all voices in a bank, select the "Select All" button before activating the "Delete Voice" button. The "Create Bank" button creates an empty bank file with the name given by the string entered in the Bank box. At least one voice bank must be opened so that the created bank will be filed in the proper directory. If no name has been entered into the Bank box, a bank called NoName is created. The empty bank will be displayed on the right side of the Librarian Window. Be very CAREFUL about choosing a name for a created bank, because any other existing bank with the same name in the same directory will be lost. Editing Voices Before editing a voice make sure that the "MIDI Port Active" menu has been selected so that voice changes can be auditioned. The Voice Editor Window is opened by first clicking on a voice and then selecting the "Edit Voice" button. All the parameters that define the characteristics of the selected voice are shown in the Voice Editor Window. These parameters are changed by clicking on the displayed values. Some values will change immediately. Others will require the user to enter the new numeric value into a string gadget. Since all the string gadgets are empty except for the Name gadget, simply enter the new value using the number pad on the keyboard and hit the ENTER or RETURN key. Use the DEL and "BACK SPACE" keys as needed to correct a mistake before the ENTER key has been pressed. A description of some of the general features of the FB-01 voice parameters will now be given: The Voice Editor Window is divided into six main sections and the three color coded blocks on the far left define the parameters used by the four operators in the FB-01. The values for all these parameters are changed by clicking on the numbers in the four operator columns next to these blocks. If the CTRL key is held down while the mouse clicks on an operator value, any changes made to a particular operator will apply to all four operators. This is a fast way to change all operators to the same value. For the string gadgets, release the CTRL key before entering a new number. The red block lists the following operator parameters: on/off, output level, frequency, inharmonic frequency and the amount of detuning. The numbers in the red block represent the maximum values that particular parameters are allowed to take. Operators are either carriers or modulators depending upon their position in an algorithm diagram. The output level setting of a carrier will affect the loudness of the voice, while the output level of a modulator will affect the tone. The frequency ratio of an operator is determined by the frequency and inharmonic frequency values. See the appendix for the conversion chart. A frequency ratio of 1.00 for an operator means that it will produce the standard 440hz tone for an A3 note. A ratio of 2.00 is an octave higher. Very fine changes in frequency can be made by adjusting the amount of detuning. By detuning two carriers in opposite directions, a chorus effect can be created. The green block lists the five segments of the operator envelope which are the attack rate, the first decay rate, the decay level, the second decay rate, and the release rate. The attack rate determines how quickly an operator will build up to the maximum value. The first decay rate determines how quickly an operator will decay from the maximum value down to the decay level. The decay level is the point where the second decay starts at the second decay rate. The second decay rate determines how quickly an operator will decay from the decay level down to zero. If the second decay rate is set to zero, the sound will continue for as long as the note is held. The release rate determines how quickly an operator will decay to zero from the level at the time the note is released. The blue block lists the scaling and sensitivity parameters which are: Amplitude Modulation Sensitivity (AMS) on/off, level scaling, scaling type, rate scaling, velocity level sensitivity, and velocity rate sensitivity. AMS on/off controls whether an operator will be affected by the Low Frequency Oscillator for amplitude modulation. See the section on the LFO for more information. The level scaling parameter is used to decrease the output level of an operator as you play up the keyboard. For acoustic instruments the tone structure of the higher notes is less complex than the lower notes. This can be simulated with level scaling by reducing the output level of the modulators. The scaling type for an operator is either a negative or positive linear curve (value 0 and 1), or a negative or positive exponential curve (value 2 and 3). These curves are applied to the level scaling. The rate scaling parameter changes the attack rate and decay rates as you play up the keyboard. On an acoustic instrument, high notes usually have a faster attack and decay than low notes. This can be simulated with the proper setting of the rate scaling. When using a MIDI keyboard with touch sensitivity, each MIDI Note On message has a velocity byte that tells how hard the keyboard was struck. The velocity level sensitivity parameter adjusts the output level of an operator according to the velocity of a note. The velocity rate sensitivity parameter adjusts the attack rate of an operator according to the note velocity. On the upper right side of the Voice Editor Window is an orange block that contains the name of the voice, the algorithm used by the four operators, and the feedback employed in the first operator. There are eight different algorithms or arrangements of operators for the FB-01. In the algorithm diagram the operators in the first row (from the bottom) are carriers that generate pure tones. The operators above the first row are modulators that change the sound of the carriers to create higher harmonics. Operator #1 can be set to modulate itself using the feedback parameter. The LFO settings are given in the blue block. They are the LFO load enable on/off, the LFO sync on/off, the waveform select, the LFO speed, the amplitude modulation depth and sensitivity, and the pitch modulation depth and sensitivity. The LFO is a Low Frequency Oscillator that produces a continuously changing control signal. This control signal, which is either a sawtooth, square, triangle, or random sample and hold wave, is used to change the pitch or amplitude of a voice. The MIDI modulation controllers (aftertouch, modulation wheel, foot or breath controller) regulate how much of the LFO signal is used to change the pitch of a voice, and the Pitch Modulation Sensitivity (PMS) determines how the operators will react to the LFO signal. If the Pitch Modulation Depth (PMD) is greater than zero, and the PMS is not zero, the LFO will always produce some pitch modulation regardless of the position of the modulation controllers. The modulation controllers do not work with the amplitude modulation. But if the Amplitude Modulation Depth (AMD) is greater than zero and the Amplitude Modulation Sensitivity (AMS) is not zero, and at least one of the operators has the AMS on/off switch set to on, then the LFO will send amplitude modulation to the voice. The frequency of the LFO is set by the speed parameter. The delay parameter is used to delay the start of the LFO after a note has been struck. The sync switch determines whether the LFO is free running (sync off) or is reset to its initial starting value each time a note is struck (sync on). Changes made in the LFO data (except for PMS and AMS) will not be used by the LFO until the LFO on/off switch is set to on. The yellow block lists a number of functional parameters. They are the playing mode (poly or mono), the pitch modulation depth controlling device (aftertouch, modulation wheel, breath controller, foot controller, or none if no LFO is used), the amount of transpose, the pitch bender range, and the portamento time. When the mono mode is selected only one note may be played at a time. If an external modulation controller is being used, set the PMD controller setting to the appropriate device name. Transposing a voice is accomplished by setting Middle C to the appropriate value. C3 is the normal value for Middle C. Set the amount of pitch bend desired if a pitch bend wheel is being used. The amount of portamento or "glide" between the notes is controlled by setting the portamento time parameter. Displaying Voice Envelopes To graphically display the five parameter envelope for each operator for a note at middle C, select Display from the Envelopes Menu section. The envelopes are displayed such that the Off Point, when the key is released, represents approximately three seconds after the key was initially activated to play the note. To close the envelope display window, click on any part of this window. Auditioning Edited Voices In the orange block click on the number after the word "Algor" to change algorithms. If "Auto Send Active" was selected before entering the Voice Editor Window, the modified voice data is automatically sent to instrument #1 in the FB-01. Simply "play" the Amiga keyboard to audition the new voice. If "Auto Send Off" had been chosen, send the modified voice data to the FB-01 by selecting "Send Voice" from the "Play Voice" Menu section or by pressing the ENTER key on the keyboard. To audition the original unmodified voice again, select "Select Original" from the "Play Voice" Menu section or press the left pointing arrow key on the keyboard. The keyboard will now play the unmodified voice. To audition the modified voice select the "Select Modified" Menu or press the right pointing arrow key. Toggling back and forth between the modified and original voice is especially easy using the arrow keys as described. Undo Mistakes Select Undo from the Project Menu section to cancel the last change made to the voice parameters. Pressing the HELP key will accomplish the same result. Randomize Envelopes Select Randomize from the Envelopes Menu section to randomize the five parameter envelope for the four operators. This is sometimes an interesting way to create new voices. Random values for the rate scaling parameters are also produced. The new voice parameters are automatically sent to the FB-01 if "Auto Send Active" had been selected before entering the Voice Editor. Just "play" the keyboard to audition the randomized voice. If "Auto Send Off" had been activated, the menu "Send Voice" must be selected or the ENTER key pressed before the randomized voice data is sent to the FB-01. Another way to select the Randomize feature is to press the ALT key on the right side of the keyboard. Saving Voice Data Select Save from the Project Menu to save the changes made to the selected voice that is currently being edited. The new parameters will replace all the old values for this voice. The new voice will now become the "original" voice that will be sent to instrument #1 in the FB-01 when the "Select Original" Menu is selected. The "Save Fwd" Menu selection, which stands for Save Forward, works quite differently than Save. This selection will copy the new voice parameters to the first empty place in the voice bank immediately following the selected voice. The original selected voice will not be modified in any way. If there are no empty locations after the selected voice, the "Save Fwd" feature will not work and the user will be notified of this. The "Save Fwd" selection provides a convenient means of saving various changes made to the original voice without changing the selected voice itself. Printing Voice Data Selecting Print from the Project Menu will print all of the voice parameters that have been saved with the Save menu selection. The printer will follow the settings in Preferences which must be present on the user's Workbench Disk. Special Keyboard Key, the CTRL key Use the CTRL key to change all four operator parameters simultaneously. See the section "Editing Voices" for more information. Alternate Keyboard Keys There are six keys that can be used in place of menu selections. These keys have already been discussed but will be summarized here. Keyboard Key Menu Selection ALT (on right side) Randomize Left Pointing Arrow Select Original Right Pointing Arrow Select Modified Up Pointing Arrow Activate Ext Keyboard ENTER Send Voice HELP Undo Exiting the Voice Editor Window Select Exit from the Project Menu. The Voice Librarian Window will again open. Printing from the Voice Librarian Selecting Print from the Project Menu will print all of the names of the voices in the active voice bank, which is the opened bank with its title displayed in red. Quitting the Voice Librarian Select Quit from the Project Menu section to quit the FB-01 Editor/Librarian. Using The Configuration Librarian To get into the Configuration Librarian select "Librarian Config" from the Project Menu section. In order to obtain a directory of the FB-01 Program Disk first enter the drive designation (df0: or df1:) into the Disk box. Use the DEL and "BACK SPACE" keys as needed, and hit the ENTER or RETURN key when the string is correct. See the section "Getting Started" for more information. Click on the Config directory shown in red to get a listing of the configuration banks stored in this drawer. Two banks are displayed: Demo and AllConfig. Click on the Demo bank to list its configurations. The "Move > Bank" and "Parent Dir" buttons operate in exactly the same fashion as previously described. Copying and Deleting Configurations Copying and deleting configurations is accomplished in exactly the same fashion as previously described for voices. Sending and Receiving Configuration Banks Sending a Configuration Bank to the FB-01 is accomplished by selecting "Send Config" from the Transfers Menu section. The active configuration bank, which is the opened bank with its title displayed in red, is sent to the FB-01. The Protect Mode for the FB-01 must be off before this transfer will work. All configuration data previously stored in the FB-01 will be lost. Receiving a Configuration Bank is accomplished by selecting "Receive Config". At least one configuration bank must be opened so that the Librarian knows where to put the received data. The configuration data is displayed on the right side of the Configuration Librarian Window with the title given by the string entered in the Bank box. If no string was entered into the Bank box, the name of the received bank becomes NoName. Select All and Create Bank buttons These buttons work in exactly the same fashion as previously described for the Voice Librarian. Editing Configuration Data The Configuration Editor Window is opened by first clicking on a configuration, followed by selecting the "Edit Config" button. All of the configuration parameters for the FB-01 are displayed in this window. Consult the FB-01 Owner's Manual for a thorough description of these parameters. The parameters displayed in the Configuration Editor Window are changed by clicking on their values. Some values will change immediately. Others will require the user to enter the new numeric value by hand using the keyboard. Use the DEL and "BACK SPACE" keys as needed in the usual fashion for string gadgets. Press the ENTER or RETURN key when the new numeric value is displayed correctly. Saving and Printing Configuration Data Select Save from the Project Menu to save all the changes made to the configuration parameters. The new parameters are written to the active configuration bank, and all old values will be lost. Selecting Print from the Project Menu will print all of the configuration parameters that have been saved. Exiting the Configuration Window Select Exit from the Project Menu. The Configuration Librarian Window will again open. Printing from the Configuration Librarian Selecting Print from the Project Menu will print all of the names of the configurations in the active configuration bank, which is the opened bank with its title displayed in red. Quitting the Configuration Librarian Select Quit from the Project Menu section to quit the FB-01 Editor/Librarian. JAMES M. SMITH MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THIS MANUAL OR WITH RESPECT TO THE SOFTWARE DESCRIBED IN THIS MANUAL, ITS QUALITY, PERFORMANCE, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Frequency Ratios for FB-01 Inharmonic Frequency 0 1 2 3 0 0.50 0.71 0.79 0.87 1 1.00 1.41 1.57 1.73 2 2.00 2.82 3.14 3.46 3 3.00 4.23 4.71 5.19 4 4.00 5.64 6.28 6.92 5 5.00 7.05 7.85 8.65 F r 6 6.00 8.46 9.42 10.38 e q 7 7.00 9.87 10.99 12.11 u e 8 8.00 11.28 12.56 13.84 n c 9 9.00 12.69 14.13 15.57 y 10 10.00 14.10 15.70 17.30 11 11.00 15.51 17.27 19.03 12 12.00 16.92 18.84 20.76 13 13.00 18.33 20.41 22.49 14 14.00 19.74 21.98 24.22 15 15.00 21.15 23.55 25.95