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Using D-SoundPRO

5.3. FUNCTIONS / DIALOGS

In this section the most important functions and relevant dialogs are described. Functions appear in alphabetical order.

5.3.1. AUTOEXTRACT

The Auto Extraction Dialog Box

This function allows an automatic extraction of portions of the Sound Document wave. First you must set the following parameters:

- Threshold: it is minimum value of the sound volume to set the start point of the selection to extract

- PreTime: if T1 is the start point where the wave is first over the threshold, the algorithm takes the samples starting PreTime milliseconds before T1. It is very useful to don't loose the slow attack portion of certain sounds

- Release: If this value is set to zero, the selection to extract ends as soon as the value of the sound volume goes below the threshold value. If the release time is not equal to zero, the algorithm sets the selection end point Release milliseconds after the sound goes down the threshold level.

The concept is that the pre-time and release time are useful to avoid abrupt cuts of a sound that is fading in and out slowly. If you set a threshold quite high to correctly isolate sounds from the background music and noise, a problem arises to capture also the real start and the real end of the sound, that generally are below the threshold. Pre-time is to capture the sound just a little bit before the sound goes up the threshold, the Release time is to capture the sound just a little bit after the sound goes down.

- Pitch Auto-Detection: If you enable this option, after the autoextraction D-SoundPRO tries to detect the pitch of each portion of sound document. This function is very useful if you are sampling a series of notes of a tonal musical instrument, using the autoextraction function to separate each note and then you want to rename them using a very fast and automatic procedure.

Click on Preview to see on the upper pane the effect of the autoextraction algorithm. Then click on OK button to extract the selected portions of the Sound Document into new Sound Documents. If you don't intend to make an autoextraction, click on Cancel.

NOTE: Depending on the length of the sound you are using, this algorithm can require a lot of time to compute if you are not using a PowerMac.

5.3.2. AUTO LOOP

Use this dialog to apply a simple Auto Looping algorithm to the sound. To find a good loop points, first D-SoundPRO attempts to recognize the pitch of the active sound, then it sets the start and end loop points at a distance one each other at a multiple of the fundamental cycle, depending on the 'Number of Cycles' parameter (example: if Number of Cycles = 7 and D-SoundPRO detects a fundamental cycles 1256 samples long, it set a loop length of 7x1256 samples).

Use 'Set Loop Points at:' options to point out where D-SoundPRO must set the End Loop Point ('End of the Sound' or 'Before marker' option ON) or the Start Loop Point ('After marker' option ON).

Click on OK Button to accept, on Cancel to forget.

5.3.3. DETECT BPM

Use this function to know which is the BPM Tempo of the current audio file. You must tell to D-SoundPRO if it must compute the BPM Tempo using the Loop portion (if any), the Selection (if any) or all the sound wave. After this, it must know how many measures you are considering. The corresponding BPM value is shown in the relevant box.

Click on OK Button to exit.

5.3.4. DETECT PITCH

Before to show this dialog, D-SoundPRO attempts to recognize the pitch of the active sound. It is displayed in the upper section of this dialog box.

Check the "Assign to MIDI Note Value" if you need to make an automatic assign of the detected value to the MIDI sound parameters.

Check the "Concat Note to Tone Name" if you need to append the name of the note detected to the name of the Sound Document.

Click on OK Button to accept, on Cancel to forget.

5.3.5. DIGITAL EFFECTS

D-SoundPRO offers a preliminary implementation of a series of digital effects for sound transformations, 3D sound positioning, ambient simulation, etc. More Digital effects will follow in next versions of D-SoundPRO.

Actually the following effects are available:

• CHORUS
• STEREOIZER
• MONO, STEREO and MULTITAP DELAY
• EARLY REFLECTIONS REVERBER 1/2

• CHORUS - given a mono or a stereo sound, it introduces an ensemble of variable and oscillating delays, enhancing the stereo image. It is a very common effect built in many synthesizers, very useful to 'fat' and to enhance the stereo image of a sound, especially if it is not natural.

The Chorus Dialog Box

Use the Preview function to listen the modification on the sound without having to wait the time to apply the effect on the entire Sound Document.

Use the following set of parameter to modify the way in which the effect will alter the Sound Document:

Volume Dry/Effect - to balance the effect and dry levels

Depth - to set the depth of the oscillations

Rate - to set how many fasts will be the oscillations.

Standard/Rich/Super - to set the number of variable delay lines, i.e. how much the effect will influence the sound. Standard is the faster routine.

 

• STEREOIZER - given a mono sound, it simulates a stereo effect. If the sound is already stereo, it enhances the stereo image. To use it, simply set the effect amount. Choose value up to 30-40 for realistic stereo image, more for more synthetic effects.

• MONO DELAY - this function implements a delay line - single for mono sounds, dual for stereo ones (Left and Right channels are not mixed). Choose the delay time (in milliseconds, up to 2 secs), the Effect and Dry levels, and go.

The Stereo Delay Dialog Box

• STEREO DELAY - this function offers two different delay line - single for mono sounds, dual for stereo ones (Left and Right channels are not mixed). Choose the delay time for the Right and the Left channels (in milliseconds, up to 2 secs), the Effect Left, Right and Dry levels, and go.

• MULTITAP DELAY - this function offers up to six different delay line - single for mono sounds, dual for stereo ones (Left and Right channels are not mixed). Choose the delay time for the each channel (in milliseconds, up to 2 secs), the Level of the each Delay Line outputs and the Dry level, and go.

The MultiTap Delay Dialog Box

• EARLY REFLECTIONS/REVERBERS 1/2 - these functions give two different types of Early Reflection simulation algorithms to simulate synthetic/natural reverb effects.

The Reverber 1/2 Dialog Boxes

Use the Preview function to listen the modification on the sound without having to wait the time to apply the effect on the entire Sound Document.

Use the following set of parameters to modify the way in which the effect will alter the sound:

Volume Dry/Effect - to balance the effect and dry levels

Time - to set the approximate time of reverberation

Density - use low values for very synthetic effects, the Max value for natural reverb simulations

5.3.6. DIGITAL FILTERS/EQ

Actually the following effects are available:

• RESONANT LOW PASS
• RESONANT BANDPASS
• RESONANT HIGHPASS
• BANDPASS / BANDREJECT
• SEVEN BANDS GRAPHIC EQUALIZER
• THREE WAYS FULL PARAMETRIC EQUALIZER

The Filters Dialog Box

• RESONANT LOW PASS - it simulates a LowPass analog filter with selectable resonance parameter. It is a very common filter built in many synthesizers, it is one of the basic modules of the 'subtractive' way of making sounds. As its name says, it rejects all the frequency components that are higher than the cutoff frequency. A higher number of poles correspond to a steeper curve. The Resonance parameter allows a great emphasis of the cutoff frequency, up to the self-oscillation. It is very useful to create, for example, electric organ sounds.

The LowPass Filter Frequency Response

Use the Preview function to listen the modification on the sound without having to wait the time to apply the effect on the entire Sound Document.

Use the following set of parameters to modify the way in which the effect will alter the sound:

Cutoff Frequency - to set the frequency of the filter

Resonance - to set the resonance amount, up to self oscillation

Gain - use the gain to lower the filter output if the audio signal is too high (especially using an high Resonance value)

Use Log Freq. Scale - check this box for a more 'natural' frequency scale, leave this box unchecked if you need of more accurate cutoff frequency selection.

-12/-24/-36/-48 dB/Oct curves - to set how many deeps will be the curve of the filter. Use higher values for more dramatic effects.

• RESONANT HIGH PASS - it simulates an HighPass analog filter with selectable resonance parameter. It is exactly the opposite of the LowPass filter: it leaves, as they are only the frequencies over the cutoff Frequency. Please refer to the LowPass filter descriptions to know about its set of parameters.

• RESONANT BAND PASS - it simulates a BandPass analog filter with selectable resonance parameter. It leaves, as they are, only the frequencies around the cutoff Frequency. Please refer to the LowPass filter descriptions to know about its set of parameters.

• BAND PASS - it simulates a BandPass analog filter with selectable Q parameter. It leaves, as they are, only the frequencies around the cutoff Frequency. The Q parameter sets how much wide will be the filter frequency response. Higher Q values corresponds to narrower filters

• BAND REJECT - it simulates a Band Reject analog filter with selectable Q parameter. It rejects all frequencies around the cutoff Frequency (it is exactly the opposite of the BAND PASS). The Q parameter sets how much wide will be the filter frequency response. Higher Q values correspond to narrower frequency reject filters.

The 7 Bands Graphic Equalizer Dialog Box

• 7 BANDS GRAPHIC EQUALIZER - it implements a digital filter bank with constant Q. Each filter contributes to the output with a Band Pass signal with amplitude up to +18 dB. Use the relevant slider to add/subtract the contribution of each filter to the original signal. Values of 0 dB mean no modifications, positive dBs mean a positive contribution in that frequency range, negative dBs mean progressively to cut off signal in that frequency range. The central frequency of each filter is equally distributed using a log scale, from 0 Hz to the half of the signal sampling frequency. So their values depend on the sampling frequency.

• THREE WAYS FULL PARAMETRIC EQUALIZER - it implements three digital filters with selectable Gain, Q and Filter Central Frequency. Each filter contributes to the output with a Band Pass signal with amplitude up to +18 dB. Use the relevant Gain slider to add/subtract the contribution of each filter to the original signal. Values of 0 dB mean no modifications, positive dBs mean a positive contribution in that frequency range, negative dBs mean progressively to cut off signal in that frequency range. Use the relevant Freq. slider to assign the central frequency of each filter (different filters can also have the same Freq. values). Use the Q slider to set how much wide will be the filter frequency response. A higher Q corresponds to a narrower frequency response.

5.3.7. EDIT INFORMATIONS

Use this dialog box to edit some of the Sound Document parameters. MIDI parameters are on the left side. The Gain is expressed in dB. The loop mode can be changed also from menus.

Click on OK button to accept the modifications you have done, otherwise on Cancel to forget.

5.3.8. EXPORT RAW

The Export RAW Dialog Box

Use this function to export the sound wave into a file for external processing or analysis. D-SoundPRO can write data into a Binary or ASCII text (but this is very larger!) files, using a precision of 16 or 8 bits. Each value is a signed word represented in two complements format, ranging from -128 to 127 if 8 Bits option is ON or from -32768 to 32767 if 16 Bits option is ON.

5.3.9. EXPORT S-DISK

Use this function to export the sound wave saving it on a 3" 1/5 Diskette in Roland S-50, S-330 or S-550 format. The diskette must be already formatted by the sampler and must already contain a longer Tone than the sound wave you are going to save.

D-SoundPRO will ask for inserting a Roland Disk, then an S330-S550-S50 Tone Directory Dialog Box will appear. Refer to 'Transmit' function below for its look.

On the top of the dialog you can see the Tone directory, on the bottom you can choose which Tone to replace by a popup menu selection.

Click on OK Button to transmit the sound, on Cancel to forget.

NOTE: If the option 'Check for Roland Tone Length' in the Preferences Dialog is turned Off, D-SoundPRO will not check if the Tone on disk you are going to overwrite is enough long before to save the sound wave. Turn this option Off for more freedom, On otherwise.

5.3.10. FREQUENCY SHIFTING

The Frequency Shifting Dialog Box

Use this function to alter the pitch of a sound without modify its length in time (use the 'Pitch Shifting' function if this is not an important condition).

First you must set the amount of the shift in terms of Hundredths of Semitone, and then you must enter the parameters for the algorithm of Spectral Frequency Shift into the bottom box. This algorithm (and its control parameters) is the same of the algorithm for Time Stretching. Please refer to it for an explanation of relevant control parameters.

Click on OK Button to apply the sound modification, on Cancel to forget.

NOTE: Depending on the length of the sound you are using and on parameters' values you set, this algorithm can require a lot of time to compute if you are not using a PowerMac.

5.3.11. IMPORT RAW

The Import RAW Data Dialog Box

Use this function to import the sound wave from a file from external processing or analysis. D-SoundPRO can read data from a Binary file or ASCII text file, where data are coded with a precision of 16 or 8 bits. Each value is a signed word represented in two complements format, ranging from -128 to 127 if 8 Bits option is ON or from -32768 to 32767 is 16 Bits option is ON. The number zero is the silence. If the file is an ASCII file, D-SoundPRO search for a tab or return key code between two following data. The data file can represent a mono or stereo sound (in this case, left and right channels data words follow one each other).

The Sampling Frequency of the sound to load must be specified. Use the scroll bar to set its value.

NOTE: To load a very long (i.e. 1 Mbytes) ASCII file can require a very long time. To avoid this problem, please use only Binary files.

NOTE: Reading an ASCII text file D-SoundPRO doesn't try to recover a wrong situation: if you try to import a text file which doesn't contain only numbers, D-SoundPRO risk to cause a system crash! Don't do it. You must check what a text file contains before to use this function.

5.3.12. TRANSMIT

Use this function to transmit the sound to your Synth/sampler connected to the network by midi or SCSI. You can choose the protocol from the popup menu or pushing the Transmit button on the Tool floating window. In this last case, a menu appears to allow the choice of the transmission protocol:

The Protocol Dialog Box

Select the device protocol and click on OK Button.

NOTE: To transmit a sound to your Synth/sampler, the midi exclusive message I/O must be turned ON, and the memory protection must be turned OFF. Please check in your Synth/sampler User Manual how to do this.

Actually D-SoundPRO allows one of the following protocol/device:

• SAMPLE DUMP STANDARD:

Use this dialog to transmit to a Synth/sampler using the MIDI Sample Dump Standard (SDS) format. From this dialog you can select which MIDI channel, Device Number and Sample Number D-SoundPRO will use transmitting the sound wave over MIDI.

If OMS is available and it is set as MIDI manager, you can select the OMS input/output port D-SoundPRO will use clicking on the relevant arrow and using the pop-up menu.

The MIDI Sample Dump Standard Transmit Dialog Box

Besides this, you can select if D-SoundPRO will transmit the samples using 8, 12, 14 or 16 bits data format. It is preferable to use 16 bits for maximum fidelity, but your sampler must be able to accept this format. Consult its User Guide to verify it. The transmission using 16 Bits sample format is the longest.

If the MIDI Handshaking option is ON, D-SoundPRO waits for acknowledges from the Synth/sampler. Otherwise, the sound is transmitted over MIDI without to listen what the sampler is transmitting back.

• SY/TG:

A dialog appears that is exactly the same of the Sample Dump Standard, but a SY99 Sample Header midi message follows the transmission of the sample wave, to set the wave name and other parameters.

• S-50/S-330/S-550:

NOTE: D-SoundPRO is not able to create a new Tone into the sampler memory. You can only replace an existing sound, and its length must be longer than the one of the sound to transmit. If the option 'Check for Roland Tone Length' in the Preferences Dialog is turned Off, D-SoundPRO will not check if there is enough memory space in the sampler memory before to transmit the sound wave. Turn this option Off for more freedom, On otherwise.

Use one of these options to transmit to a Roland S-50, S-330 or S-550 sampler. If the sampling frequency of the sound to transmit is not 15 or 30 kHz, D-SoundPRO will ask you if you want to resample the sound before its transmission. After this, it will ask you the device ID, and will search the sampler over the midi network. If you are transmitting to an S-550, D-SoundPRO will ask you if you want to transmit to the Bank A/B (Tones ranging from 1 to 32) or C/D (Tones ranging from 33 to 64).

After that D-SoundPRO finds the Sampler, a Sample Directory Dialog appears:

The S330-S550-S50 Tone Directory Dialog Box

On the top of the dialog you can see the Tone directory, on the bottom you can choose which Tone to replace by a popup menu selection.

Click on OK Button to transmit the sound, on Cancel to forget.

If you have chosen a sub-tone, D-SoundPRO reminds to you that this operation could modify also other sounds in your sampler.

TROUBLESHOOTING:

- If D-SoundPRO will not find your sampler, check if the exclusive message I/O is turned ON on your sampler (midi page) and the device ID matching. You can check the midi cables connection using the virtual keyboard to check if your sampler sounds correctly playing a note.

- The Midi transmission to/from S-50, S-330 and S-550 works fine only for 30kHz tones. If you are transmitting/receiving sounds sampled at 15kHz, some troubles positioning Start and End Loop points can happen.

• AKAI SCSI:

Use this option to transmit to an Akai Sampler connected by SCSI to your Mac. This way of transmitting is incredibly faster than midi.

D-SoundPRO will ask you the SCSI ID of your sampler, then will search for it over the SCSI chain. The following Sample Directory Dialog will appear:

The Akai SCSI Sample Directory Dialog Box

Select the bank you want to list using the top check button. D-SoundPRO will show you all samples in the sampler memory ranging from 1 to 256 using groups of 64 samples. On the bottom you can choose which Tone to replace or if you want to transmit the sound as a new sample.

Click on Transmit Button to transmit the sound, on Cancel to forget.

If you have chosen to transmit the sample as a new one, you must consider that into the sampler memory cannot exit two samples with the same name. You have to check if the name of the sample you are going to transmit doesn't already exist in the sample directory (sorry, D-SoundPRO doesn't do this...)

• ROLAND SCSI:

The Roland Sample Transmit Dialog Box

NOTE: Actually only S-760 using an OS 2.24 or better and DJ70 MkII are supported by SCSI. In case, also a bi-directional MIDI IN/OUT connection is required.

Using this function, you can transmit the sound document to a specific location in the sampler memory. If that location already contains a sound, the new one will replace this.

NOTE: Be sure the Sys-ex midi messages reception is enabled on your sampler!

NOTE: to delete an existing sound, the sampler spends a variable time. This could cause problems sampler freezing. It is always better first to delete the sample to replace manually using the commands on the sampler, then to send the new one from D-SoundPRO.

• E-MU - Kurzweil - Yamaha SMDI SCSI:

The protocols for the SCSI dump I/O between E-MU, Kurzweil, Yamaha SMDI samplers/synthesizers are very similar, but not identical. Use the relevant option to transmit the sound document to a specific location in your sampler/synthesizer memory.

The SCSI Sample Transmit Dialog Box

5.3.13. RECEIVE

Use this function to receive a sound from your Synth/sampler connected to the network by midi or SCSI. As for the Transmit function, you can choose the protocol from the popup menu or pushing the Transmit button on the Tool floating window.

Select the device protocol and click on OK Button.

NOTE: To receive a sound to your Synth/sampler, the midi exclusive message I/O must be turned ON. Please check in your Synth/sampler User Manual how to do this.

At moment D-SoundPRO allows one of the following protocol/device:

• SAMPLE DUMP STANDARD:

Use this option to receive a new sound wave from a Synth/sampler using the MIDI Sample Dump Standard (SDS) format. From this dialog you can select which MIDI channel, Device Number and Sample Number D-SoundPRO will wait receiving the sound wave over MIDI.

If OMS is available and it is set as MIDI manager, you can select the OMS input/output port D-SoundPRO will use clicking on the relevant arrow and using the pop-up menu.

If the MIDI Handshaking option is ON, D-SoundPRO transmits acknowledges back to the Synth/sampler. Otherwise, the sound is received from MIDI without confirm the correct reception of sample data.

NOTE: D-SoundPRO will receive samples transmitted in 8, 12, 14 and 16 bit data format. Because the internal data format used by D-SoundPRO is always 16 bits, in case of discrepancy, D-SoundPRO will automatically convert the format in real time.

• SY/TG:

The function is exactly the same of the Sample Dump Standard, but D-SoundPRO waits for a SY99 Sample Header midi message after the transmission of the sample wave, to set the wave name and other parameters.

• S-50/S-330/S-550:

Use one of these options to receive a sound from a Roland S-50, S-330 or S-550 sampler. D-SoundPRO will ask you the device ID, and will search the sampler over the midi network. If you are receiving from an S-550, D-SoundPRO will ask you if you want to receive from the Bank A/B (Tones ranging from 1 to 32) or C/D (Tones ranging from 33 to 64).

After D-SoundPRO finds the Sampler, a Sample Directory Dialog will appear.

On the top of the dialog you can see the Tone directory, on the bottom you can choose which Tone to receive by a popup menu selection.

Click on OK Button to receive the sound, on Cancel to forget.

TROUBLESHOOTING:

- If D-SoundPRO will not find your sampler, check if the exclusive message I/O is turned ON on your sampler (midi page) and the device ID matching. You can check the midi cables connection using the virtual keyboard to check if your sampler sounds correctly playing a note.

- The Midi transmission to/from S-50, S-330 and S-550 works fine only for 30kHz tones. If you are transmitting/receiving sounds sampled at 15kHz, some troubles positioning Start and End Loop points can happen.

• AKAI SCSI:

Use this option to receive a sound from an Akai Sampler connected by SCSI to your Mac. This way of transmitting is incredibly faster than midi.

D-SoundPRO will ask you the SCSI ID of your sampler, then will search for it over the SCSI chain.

A Sample Directory Dialog will appear. Select the bank you want to list using the top check button. D-SoundPRO will show you all samples in the sampler memory ranging from 1 to 256 using groups of 64 samples. On the bottom you can choose which Tone to receive.

Click on OK Button to receive the sound, on Cancel to forget.

• ROLAND SCSI:

NOTE: Actually only S-760 using an OS 2.24 or better and DJ70 MkII are supported by SCSI. In case, also a bi-directional MIDI IN/OUT connection is required.

Using this function, you can receive the sound document from a specific location in the sampler memory.

• E-MU - Kurzweil - SMDI SCSI:

The protocols for the SCSI dump I/O between E-MU, Kurzweil, Yamaha SMDI samplers/synthesizers are very similar, but not identical. Use the relevant option to receive the sound document from a specific location in your sampler/synthesizer memory.

Set the RANGE field to set the number of samples you want to receive starting from the first. Using this function, you can download from your sampler a series of following samples thanks to a very fast and automatic procedure. If you want to receive samples from location number 20 up to 43, set the sample number = 20, range = 23, and go.

5.3.14. ONE OSCILLATOR

The Oscillator Dialog Box

Use this dialog to create a new synthesized sound wave.

• You can choose its shape:
• Sine - single harmonic
• Saw Down - rich bright sound
• Triangular - mellow sound
• Square - clear sound
• Pulse - it plays like a square wave when you sing closing your nose.

If you set a pulse shape, use the scroll bar to set its width as percentage of a period (caution: a 0% or 100% width means no sound!).

You must set also:

The frequency of the fundamental, in terms of note on a midi keyboard and fine tune

The Sampling Frequency to compute the new sound (higher value means better sound quality but longer sounds file and more computer processing to edit them)

Cycles - the number of periods to build.

Volume - set the overall amplitude of the synthesized sound.

Use the Preview function to listen the synthesized sound without closing the dialog.

Click on OK Button to synthesize the sound, on Cancel to forget.

5.3.15. TWO OSCILLATORS

The Two Oscillators Dialog Box

Use this dialog to create a new synthesized sound wave.

You can choose the wave shape for each oscillator:

• Sine - single harmonic
• Saw Down - rich bright sound
• Triangular - mellow sound
• Square - clear sound
• Pulse - it plays like a square wave when you sing closing your nose.

If you set a pulse shape, use the scroll bar to set its width as percentage of a period (caution: a 0% or 100% width means no sound!).

You must set also:

The frequency of the fundamental, in terms of note on a midi keyboard and fine tune for each oscillator.

The Sampling Frequency to compute the new sound (higher value means better sound quality but longer sounds file and more computer processing to edit them)

Length - sets the length (in seconds) of the sound to build.

Volume - sets the amplitude of each oscillator.

Phase - the initial phase for each oscillator.

Pan - the stereo image for each oscillator.

Use the Preview function to listen the synthesized sound without closing the dialog.

Click on OK Button to synthesize the sound, on Cancel to forget.

5.3.16. OSCILLATOR BANK

The Oscillators Bank Dialog Box

Use this dialog to create a new synthesized sound wave.

You can choose the wave shape for each oscillator:

• Sine - single harmonic
• Saw Down - rich bright sound

You must set also:

The frequency of the fundamental, in terms of note on a midi keyboard and its fine tune.

The Sampling Frequency to compute the new sound (higher value means better sound quality but longer sounds file and more computer processing to edit them)

Length - sets the length (in seconds) of the sound to build.

Phase - the initial phase parameter common to all oscillators.

Volume - sets the amplitude of each oscillator.

Fine Tune - sets the fine-tune (from one octave down to one octave up) for each oscillator.

Ratio - the frequency ratio of each oscillator respect the Midi Note frequency parameter.

Use the Preview function to listen the synthesized sound without closing the dialog.

Click on OK Button to synthesize the sound, on Cancel to forget.

5.3.17. PITCH SHIFT

Use this dialog to change the pitch of the sound (altering its length in time). Before to show this dialog, D-SoundPRO attempts to recognize the pitch of the active sound. It is displayed in the upper section of this dialog box.

Check the Auto Tune UP option to apply a fine tune to the next note of the equal temperated scale (the note is the one showed at the upper right).

Check the "Use Pitch Variation Code" to make a manual transposition of the sound. The value to transpose must be entered in the box below. For examples, a value of +1200 corresponds to one octave up; a value of -600 corresponds to 6 semitones down.

Click on OK Button to accept, on Cancel to forget.

5.3.18. PREFERENCES

The purpose of the preference dialog is to memorize into the preference file the parameters that the program must remind the next time it will run.

From this dialog you can select:

• If you want to use MIDI
• If OMS is available and it is set as MIDI Manger (from the menu outside this dialog), which are the default input/output ports.
• Internal Midi Driver settings: you must select the port where your midi interface is attached and its speed (1 MHz is the most common). If you are using a MTP interface, you should set it for slow midi communications (In such case it is very preferable to use FreeMidi 1.34 and its OMS emulator).

The Preferences Dialog Box

• The default settings for:

• Moving Marker ON/OFF
• Fast Wave Display ON/OFF
• If, at full zoom in, the sound wave should be drawn as dots or lines
• Marker auto-positioning to the next zero sound level ON/OFF
• MIDI Handshaking ON/OFF
• A flag setting to set ON/OFF the Auto normalization process when D-SoundPRO imports the sound waves from a Roland 3 1/2 diskette
• A flag setting to set ON/OFF the Auto correction of loop points positioning for Transmission / Reception
• A flag setting to set On/OFF for the auto resampling function when porting the 15 kHz sound waves from a Roland 3 1/2 diskette and the value of new sampling frequency.
• A flag setting to set if the samples numbering starts at 0 or at 1 for Transmission
• A flag setting if D-SoundPRO must add a string before the Tone name porting sounds from a Roland 3 1/2 diskette for auto-numbering. This flag, if On, is very useful porting two different tones from the diskette having the same name to avoid consequent ambiguity.
• A flag to check if the Tone D-SoundPRO is replacing (when it is transmitting a sound to a Roland S-50, S-330 or S-550 Sampler) is enough long to receive the new samples. Turn this option Off for more freedom, On otherwise.
• X-Fade Coefficient: it is used for X-Fading looping. Higher values correspond to apply sharper curves.
• The default sampler SCSI ID
• The Floating Windows coordinates at startup.
• If the x-axis units in the Sound Document window are samples or milliseconds.

Click on the OK button to memorize the preference settings, otherwise click on the Cancel button to forget.

5.3.19. RECORD NEW

The Record Dialog Box

Use this dialog box to record a new Sound Document using your Macintosh capabilities.

On the upper left of this dialog box you find the commands to set the sampling frequency (a higher value means better quality but requires more memory), samples format (as above), if the new Sound Document will be stereo or mono. Depending on which type of Macintosh you are using, some of menu items or commands could be dimmed.

Check on Audio Monitor to listen the sound through Mac's speakers.

Click on Options to open the Mac OS dialog box to set input device parameters.

On the right side, there is a slider to adjust the input gain (if your Macintosh supports this feature) and a couple of v-meter showing input signal level. If your Macintosh doesn't support stereo input, the left and the right v-meters show the same value.

In the last box delimiter there are four buttons like a tape recorder. Their purposes are:

BUTTON	ACTION
	To record a new sound
	To pause the recording of the new sound
	To stop the recording of the new sound
	To listen the recorded sound

Using these buttons you can start the recording of a new sound, pause it to restart the recording from a certain point, stop it and play it from the beginning to the end.

During the recording phase, the max recording time shows to you the remaining time at your disposal.

NOTE: D-SoundPRO works in RAM memory. If you need for longer sounds, you must quit the program, assign it more memory from the finder, and run D-SoundPRO again.

After you have recorded your sound, click on OK Button to accept what you have done, or on Cancel to forget.

5.3.20. RHYTHM LOOP

Use this dialog to apply an Auto Looping algorithm to the sound based on input in terms of musical metrics. This is very useful if you have to set the loop points for, i.e., a drum playing a pattern. In this case the loop is not based on the fundamental frequency of the instrumental sound, but on the metrics and tempo that the drummer follows.

To find perfect loop points, D-SoundPRO has to receive in input the metrics (i.e. 3/4 or 12/8) and the tempo (i.e. 80 or 120 bpm).

Use the Measures control to set how many measures D-SoundPRO must consider to loop the sound.

Use 'Set Loop Points at:' options to point out where D-SoundPRO must set the End Loop Point ('End of the Sound' option ON) or the Start Loop Point ('Start of the sound' or 'After marker' option ON).

The Rhythm Loop Dialog Box

Click on OK Button to search for new loop points, on Cancel to forget.

5.3.21. TIME STRETCHING

The Time Stretching Dialog Box

Use this function to alter the time duration of a sound without modify its pitch in frequency.

D-SoundPRO offers two types of different parametric algorithms to apply the Time Stretching. These algorithms works by spectral analysis / resynthesis of the sound, and they offer very different performances in terms of sound quality and time for processing. Parameters setting is a crucial factor to find the best way to make a Time Stretching without introduce spectral modifications to the sound. Please read carefully this hit&tips, and be ready to make several attempts to reach a good result.

The parameters to control the algorithm are the following:

Gain - because the time-stretched sound is deeply modified, this can be characterized by a higher or lower overall level. Use the Gain slider to adjust this level.

New Duration - use this control to set the time stretching amount. You can choose three ways to set the current New Duration:

• New duration in Time,
• As percentage of the previous value. 100% means no Time Stretching; a lower value means shorter sounds. Setting value greater than 100%, the output sounds will be longer (up to five times).
• As new BPM Tempo value. In this case, you must first assign the old BPM value clicking on the SET BPM button and setting the number of measures.

For complex sounds, characterized by quick changes, the time stretching works fine up to 200% (two times the original duration), but higher value could be very interesting to create very strange (but unrealistic) sound effects. The Old Length and the New Length box in the left bottom part of the dialog shows in time the ratio of the time-stretching process.

Grain Size - Use this popup menu to set the analysis / resynthesis window length. This means how many samples are used to compute the frame in frequency, i.e. how many filters D-SoundPRO will use to reconstruct the sound. Higher value is better to resolve more frequencies, but slower changes in time (otherwise a reverb or echo effect is added to the sound). Generally, for 44.1 kHz sounds try using 1024 or 2048, but this is not imperative. If you don't like the result, try again: this is a very critical parameter. The sound must be enough long to contain more than two grains.

Overlap Factor - Use this parameter to set the step used by the analysis / resynthesis window moving over the sound wave. A higher value means more accurate increments, but slower algorithm. Generally a value of 4 is enough, but if the sound is slowly changing over time, try using a factor of 2. Try to use higher values if the time for processing is not a heavy constrain.

Algorithm - This is the main parameter. D-SoundPRO is able to apply two different algorithms based on different approaches. There is not a gold rule to know which algorithm is the best. It depends on the sounds itself, but generally the Type2 is the best, but also always the slower. Remind that also the other parameters are crucial for a good result.

Apply X-Fade In/Out - Use this option to apply a Fade In between the original and the Time-Stretched sounds at the start point, and a Fade Out at its end point. This option is very useful to avoid audio clicks at boundaries, generating a gradually mixed sound. It works very well if you are applying the Time Stretching function to a complex time-varying sound (i.e. a speaker). But if you are applying the Time Stretching algorithm to a simple looped sound, generally it is better to disable this option.

Use the Preview function to listen the time-stretched sound without closing the dialog. Set the preview time using the control on the left of the dialog (if the sound is shorter than one sec, this control is dimmed).

Click on OK Button to apply the sound modification, on Cancel to forget.

NOTE: Depending on the length of the sound you are using and on parameters' values you set, this algorithm can require a lot of time to compute if you are not using a PowerMac. In this case, use the Preview function to listen the result before to apply the function to the whole sound.

5.3.22. X-FADE LOOP

Use the slider to set the length of the window for X-Fade looping. A higher value brings to less audible loop click but more vibrato effect. The X-Fade Coefficient is used to set the curve's sharpness. Higher values correspond to apply sharper curves

NOTE: If you don't like the vibrato effect the algorithm is introducing on the looped sound wave, undo it and try to work also using different X-Fade coefficients and different loop lengths.

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