Magix Music Maker 17.0 Owners Manual 17 EN

User Manual: magix Music Maker - 17.0 - Owners Manual Free User Guide for Magix Music Maker Software, Manual

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2 Copyright
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Copyright
This documentation is protected by law. All rights, especially the right of
duplication, circulation, and translation, are reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in the form of copies, microfilms
or other processes, or transmitted into a language used for machines,
especially data processing machines, without the express written consent of
the publisher.
All copyrights reserved.
All other product names are trademarks of the corresponding manufacturers.
Errors in and changes to the contents as well as program modifications
reserved.
Copyright © MAGIX AG, 1994 - 2009. All rights reserved.
MAGIX and Music Maker are registered trademarks of MAGIX AG.
VST and ASIO are registered trademarks of Steinberg Media Technologies
GmbH.
This product uses MAGIX patented technology (USP 6,518,492; USP
6,888,999) and MAGIX patent pending technology.
Other named product names may be registered trademarks of their respective
owners.
Preface 3
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Preface
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium offers an easy start and the option to dive
deeper into the world of music production. A giant, high-quality sound archive,
an especially intuitive approach to creating original music, plus many useful
functions result in an unbeatable complete package for making your own
songs.
The handling is especially easy and consistent. The included sound files can be
combined with the software synthesizers easily. MP3 songs can be used with
audio CD tracks, your own music recordings and even videos, photos or
graphics. Even VST and DirectX plug-ins or MIDI files can be added easily.
This turns your computer into a universal production studio for music and all
other kinds of multimedia files. The music building blocks supplied in CD
quality can be combined very easily as they are all categorized according to
tempo and harmony. And for those of you who want to start making songs
effortlessly and straight away, the integrated "Song Maker" will take care of
almost everything for you.
The print manual explains all of the basic functions of the program. In addition,
you get a PDF manual which describes each function in detail. If you prefer to
discover the many possibilities of the program by yourself, you can also use
the PDF manual simply as a reference. An alphabetical index is included at the
very end.
Have fun with MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium.
Your MAGIX team.
4 Table of Contents
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Table of Contents
Copyright 2
Preface 3
Support 9
Before you start 12
Package contents 12
System requirements 12
Installation 13
Serial number 13
More about MAGIX 15
MAGIX Online World 15
magix.info 15
Soundpool DVD collection 16
Introduction 17
What is MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium? 17
What’s new in MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium? 17
The features 19
Additional features of the Premium version 22
Overview of the program screen 25
Quick start 26
Play demo project 26
Audiodateien vorhören und laden 27
Position audio objects 28
Add synthesizers 29
Edit Objects 29
Add videos or images 30
Effects 31
Export arrangement 31
Burn audio CD 32
Arranger 33
Normal mode/Easy mode 33
Tracks 33
Trackboxes and Instrument icons 34
Zooming 35
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Grid 36
Playback area: Start and end markers 37
Moving the playback marker 38
Transport bar (playback functions) 38
Arranger, Video Monitor, and Media Pool 40
Arranger buttons 41
Media Pool 42
Preview function 42
Positioning the Media Pool 43
Soundpool settings 43
Keyboard settings 46
Object Inspector settings 47
File manager settings 48
Synthesizer 51
Template settings 52
Setting Catooh 52
Videoscreen 53
Peak meter 53
Overview 54
Infobox 54
Mouse modes 55
Move selection 55
Move to track 55
Move all 56
Automation 56
Draw 57
Split 57
Stretch 57
Preview audio 57
Scrubbing 58
Replace 58
Context help 58
Arranging Objects 59
Save and load arrangements 59
Multimedia files and objects 59
Select objects 60
Mute objects 60
Build or split object groups 60
Split objects 60
Exact object positioning 61
Duplicate objects 61
Object handles 62
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"Draw in" loops 63
Takes 63
Object properties 64
Mixdown tracks 64
Mouse gestures 65
Audio Objects 67
Audio formats 67
Load and process audio files 67
Smart Preview for the incorporated samples 67
Audio recording 68
Import audio CD 71
Change the playback tempo or pitch 76
Remix agent: Tempo and beat assignment 78
Remix Maker 83
Harmony Agent 85
Text to Speech 87
MAGIX Music Editor 87
MIDI Objects 88
Arrange MIDI objects 88
Load MIDI files 88
Connect external equipment 89
Playing and recording MIDI synthesizer 91
- MIDI Editor 92
Synthesizer objects 115
Opening the synthesizers 115
Note for users of older Music Maker versions: 116
Synth objects 116
BeatBox 2 plus 117
Drum & Bass machine 2.0 130
LiViD - Little Virtual Drummer 132
Robota 134
Atmos 142
Synthesizer plug-ins 143
Revolta 2 145
MAGIX Vita 147
Live Performer 150
Define ranges 150
Play with Live Performer 151
Sequencer 152
Live Pads 154
MIDI assignment Live Performer 157
Arranging with Live Performer 158
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Record audio output 158
Audio effects 159
Effects 159
Using audio effects 160
Using plug-in effects 162
Object and master effects rack 163
Equalizer 165
Sketchable filter 165
Compressor 167
Invert phase 167
Reverb 168
Sound Warper 172
Elastic Audio Easy 172
Vocoder 183
Gater 185
Backwards 186
Timestretch and pitchshift 186
MAGIX Mastering Suite 188
Essential FX 193
Vintage Effects Suite 197
Vandal SE 210
Video and Bitmap Objects 217
Video and bitmap formats 217
Adjusting the video screen 217
Loading and editing videos and bitmaps 217
Simplify object presentation 218
Visualizer objects 218
Video scrubbing 218
Extract sound from videos 219
Video effects 219
Title Editor 219
Video capturings 221
Video recording dialog 222
Video Compression 224
Choppy or uneven playback 224
General notes on AVI videos 225
Create a video project for the Internet 225
Video export via TV-out 226
Automation curves 227
Effects that may be automated 227
Track automation 228
Object automation 229
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Mixer 232
Fader 232
Control groups 233
Track effects 233
VST and DirectX audio plugins 234
FX tracks 234
Live monitoring 235
Master track 236
5.1 Surround 237
Requirements 237
Import and export of surround audio files 238
The Mixer in surround mode 239
5.1 Surround Editor 240
Automation 241
Integrating other programs - Synchronizing and ReWire 242
Synchronization 242
ReWire 244
Reprocess arrangement 245
Export assistant 245
Export as email attachment 246
Export as ringtone 247
Community upload 249
Create Audio CD 254
File Menu 256
New arrangement 256
Load arrangement 256
Save arrangement 256
Save arrangement as... 256
Export 257
Import 265
Backup 265
Settings 266
Exit 274
Edit Menu 275
Undo 275
Redo 275
Object 275
Range 278
Track 279
Navigation 280
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Effects Menu (FX) 282
Song Maker 282
Audio 283
Video 288
Title 289
Automation 289
Media Pool views / template folders 290
View menu 291
Easy mode 291
Arranger 291
Media Pool 292
Video monitor 292
Mix 293
Standard layout 294
Online menu 294
Catooh – the Online Content Library 294
MAGIX Online Album 295
magix.info 297
MAGIX News Center 298
More online services 298
Manage login details 302
Tasks menu 302
Help Menu 302
Show welcome dialog 302
Documentation 302
Help from other users 303
Update program / Upgrade functions 304
MAGIX Creation Logo 307
About MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium 307
Buttons overview and keyboard shortcuts 308
Toolbar 308
Keyboard shortcuts 308
Index 317
Support
If you experience any problems with your software, please contact our support
10 Support
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team:
Support website: http://support.magix.net
This website takes you to the MAGIX user service page; the following free
offers are also featured there:
• FAQs (frequently asked questions) and general tricks and tips. In most cases,
you’ll find the solution to your problem here. If not, use the email support form.
• Email support form: Use the special form to inform our support staff about
your system. This information is used to solve your problems quickly and
competently. Simply fill it out and send it with a mouse click!
• Support forum: You are not alone. Perhaps other users had a similar problem
and can help you solve yours. Our support staff are also regular contributors.
• Download section: Updates, improvements, and patches are likewise offered
free of charge via download. Many problems you may experience are already
familiar to us, and they can often be solved by downloading the latest patch.
Besides patches, there are also wizards for checking and optimizing your
system.
• Links: The links list contains the contact addresses for all of the most
important hardware manufacturers.
Please note: To be able to use the support, you have to register your product
using the serial number provided. This number can be found on the CD case of
your installation CD or on the inside of the DVD box.
Europe
Sales Department: Monday - Friday, 09:00-16:00 GMT
U.K.: 0203 3189218
Denmark: 699 18149
Sweden: 0852500858
Finland: 09 31581630
Norway: 0210 30665
Support request via email: http://support.magix.net/contact/uk
Here you can find a summary of our technical support telephone numbers:
http://support.magix.net/phone/uk
Mail: MAGIX Development Support, P.O. Box 20 09 14, 01194 Dresden,
Germany
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North America
Sales Department: 9 am to 4 pm EST Mon-Fri
Phone: 1-305-722-5810
Support request via email: http://support.magix.net/contact/us
Here you can find a summary of our technical support telephone numbers:
http://support.magix.net/phone/us
Mail: MAGIX Customer Service, 1105 Terminal Way #302, Reno, NV 89502,
USA
Please have the following information at hand:
• Program version
• Configuration details (operating system, processor, memory, hard drive, etc.),
sound card configuration (type, driver)
• Information regarding other audio software installed
12 Before you start
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Before you start
Package contents
DVD
On this DVD you will find the installation manager for MAGIX Music Maker 17
Premium, as well as the multimedia library with sound and video files in various
genres.
The Terms and Conditions for usage of MAGIX sound and video files when
releasing your works to the public can be found in the "MAGIX Creation
Logo.pdf" file in the installation folder.
Manual
The printed manual only contains the basic functions of both program versions
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium and MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium.
Additional features of the Premium version are marked accordingly.
In addition to the printed manual, there is also more detailed documentation
which is copied to your hard drive during installation. This electronic PDF
manual describes all program functions of the program packet in detail.
System requirements
For Microsoft® Windows® 7™ | XP ™ | Vista™
Minimum configuration:
• PC with Intel® Pentium® or AMD® Athlon® 1 GHz and higher
• 512 MB RAM or more (1 MB recommended)
• Free hard disk space: 3 GB
• Graphics card: Min. resolution 1024 x 768
• 16-bit sound card
• DVD-ROM drive
Optional:
• Burn CDs/DVDs with CD/DVD±R(W) recorder
• MP3 export with Windows Media Player 10, or higher
• Access to and publication on www.magix.com and in MAGIX Online World
only with Internet connection and an up-to-date browser
• Sending emails with Microsoft® Outlook™ or Microsoft® Outlook Express™
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existing standard email software
Installation
Step 1: Insert the program disc into the drive. The installation program starts
up automatically. If the disc doesn't run automatically,
• open Windows Explorer and click the letter of the CD-ROM drive
• or double-click on "Start.exe" to start the installer.
Step 2: To begin the installation of MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium, click on
"Install". The MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium installation program will appear.
Hint: During installation, you will be asked (in case there are multiple users on
your computer) if you would like to set up for the administrator. The option
"Administrator only" restricts use of the program to the specified administrator.
The "All users" option allows all users of the computer to use the program.
Simply follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation process,
and then click "Continue". All files are now copied onto the hard drive.
Step 3: Once the installation is complete, confirm the message by pressing
"Finish". Now you can start the program at any time from the Windows "Start"
menu.
Serial number
A serial number is included with each product, and although it is not required
for the installation of the software, it does enable access to additional bonus
services. Please store this number in a safe place.
What can a serial number do?
A serial number ensures that your copy of MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium is
clearly assigned to you and only you, and it makes improved and more
targeted customer service possible. Abuse of the software can be prevented
with a serial number, since it ensures that the optimum price/performance ratio
continues to be offered by MAGIX.
Where can the serial number be found?
The serial number can be found on the reverse side of your CD/DVD case. If
14 Serial number
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your product, for example, is packed in a DVD box, then you'll find the serial
number on the inside.
For versions that have been especially optimized for the Internet (download
versions), you'll receive your serial number for activating the software directly
after purchasing the product via email.
When will you need the serial number?
The serial number is required when you start or register MAGIX Music Maker
17 Premium for the first time.
Note: We explicitly recommend registering your product, since only then are
you entitled to get program updates and contact MAGIX Support. Entering the
serial number is also required for activating codecs.
More about MAGIX 15
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More about MAGIX
MAGIX Online World
MAGIX Online World from MAGIX offers you a range of new services for your
photos, videos, and music that are accessible directly from the "Online" menu
in MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium:
MAGIX Online Album
MAGIX Online Album (view page 295) is your personal multimedia album on the
Internet. If you want to present slideshows or videos online, then MAGIX Online
Album is the perfect service.
MAGIX Website Maker
MAGIX Website Maker helps you create a personal Internet showcase with a
professional design in just a few mouse clicks – without prior knowledge,
including your own chosen domain and email address. Publish slideshows and
videos and accessorize your site with music and various effects – anything
from a simple business card to a fireworks display of effects, professional or
private – show your best side!
More about this topic can be found under MAGIX Website Maker. (view page
300)
MAGIX Online Print Service
MAGIX Online Print Service is perfect for getting your pictures processed
online or printed as photo gifts on mugs, t-shirts, or calendars.
Catooh – the Online Content Library
If your project is missing pictures, videos, DVD menus, sounds, or samples,
then you should have a look at the huge selection available at Catooh. There
you'll be able to buy media in excellent quality for low prices: DVD menus,
Slideshow Maker styles, decorative elements, 3D power effects, 3D transition
series, MAGIX Soundpools, songs, ringtones... Perfectly suited to all MAGIX
photo, video, and music projects.
magix.info
Help and get help - Directly from within the program, you'll be able to access
magix.info, the new MAGIX Multimedia Knowledge Community (view page
16 More about MAGIX
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297). In the Multimedia Knowledge Community, you'll find answers to all of the
most frequently asked questions about MAGIX products and multimedia in
general. Couldn't find an answer to your particular question? No problem, just
ask the question yourself.
You can go to magix.info in the "Online" menu, or via this
button.
Soundpool DVD collection
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium includes thousands of sound and video
building blocks. Other media can be ordered later. In the MAGIX Sound
Essentials you receive professionally produced loops and samples in
impressive quality – the ideal enhancement for the most varying of music
styles, including:
• Ambient
• Big Beat
• Easy listening
• Dance / Electro
• Disco / House
• Soundtrack
• Hip hop
• Rock/Pop
• Techno / trance
• Special effects
In the upper menu bar under "Tasks" > "Discover more", you can order the
MAGIX Sound Essentials directly.
Tip: At www.magix.com you'll always find the latest soundpool offers.
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Introduction
What is MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium?
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium is the new generation of multimedia software.
From your private collection of love songs to entirely homemade video clips –
everything's possible! For some songs and even for a suitable video clip that
can then be uploaded easily to onlince services such as YouTube® oder
MySpace™.
Lots of professionally produced sound and video samples come supplied. In
the Arranger, samples and videos can simply be dragged onto the track,
looped, enhanced with effects, and modified for export.
Additionally there are various synthesizer plug-ins for creating your own
sounds. Audio CDs and MP3s can be integrated, remixed, or used as sound
material. Even DirectX or VST plug-ins as well as MIDI files for remote control
of the sound card or external synthesizers can be integrated into the
arrangement perfectly. All multimedia formats can be combined with one
another in any way on all tracks.
In case the sounds & samples requirements are still not met: The Internet is
just a click away. It can be used as a worldwide media pool with an unlimited
supply of sounds and pictures. MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium has a direct
connection to the Internet for publishing straight to your personal MAGIX
Online Album. Your own works can also be published directly from within the
program to the MAGIX Community.
What’s new in MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium?
New loops
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium is the original for loop-based music
production on the PC; no other software can boast as much experience. In the
new version, the sound library that comes included has been completely
revised with plenty of new audio and MIDI loops.
User interface
The user interface has been laid out as clearly as possible. Thanks to its new
look, working in MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium is now significantly more
convenient.
18 Introduction
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SoundCloud upload
Soundcloud® is an exciting Internet community for musicians, record
companies and anyone else who wants to distribute music and communicate
via songs. After registering with Soundcloud®, you can upload songs directly
from MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium to your personal profile. This takes
place via the menu "File > Export > Community Upload > Upload audio to
Soundcloud®..." Then, you can embed the uploaded songs in a Soundcloud®
player on other platforms such as Twitter or Facebook.
YouTube templates
YouTube® is a video platform on the web, where most people go to find new
music. Even mufin.com analyses YouTube videos according to their sound and
suggests them to other users. Sometimes, there is no fitting video material for
a self-made song. Here is where the YouTube templates in the Media Pool
come in handy: Simply drag a fitting template into the Arrangement, enter the
artist name and song name in the Title Editor, and you can upload the video
directly (File > Export > Community Upload > Upload video to YouTube) to
present to the whole world.
Embedded MIDI editor
MIDI is a protocol for electronic instruments, which determines which
instrument should play in which pitch and for how long. A MIDI object is
independent of the actual instrument sound and tempo, and can be made as
fast or slow as desired, and connected with any intrument. The embedded
MIDI Editor of MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium opens as soon as a MIDI
object is selected by clicking on the Inspector in the Media Pool. There, you
can draw in individual sounds with a pen tool or play them using a keyboard to
the left.
Vita Solo instruments
Under Synthesizers in the Media Pool, you will find Vita Solo Instruments. Vita
Century Keys is a top-class grand piano. Vita Saxophonia is a saxophone
sound, which is hardly distinguishable from a professional instrument.
Mouse gestures
In MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium it is possible to dynamically control video
and audio effects using mouse gestures. To view a summary of all mouse
gestures, read Help.
Additional features in the Premium version:
• Larger sound archive: Over 3,500 new sounds and MIDI loops from all
genres can be accessed via the "Soundpools" button in the Media Pool.
• Essential FX: Even more effects modules
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• AdditionalVita Solo instruments: WithVita Jazz Drums you get a real Jazz
drum sound. Vita Space Pad ensures authentic pad sounds.
• Improvedautomation to control effects
• MAGIX Xtreme Print Center for quickly creating CD covers, inlays and labels
The features
64/96-track arranger
Music Maker provides 64 tracks (96 in the Premium version) for multimedia
arrangements – enough space to create multiple polyphonic pieces, but most
importantly, so that you don't lose track of your project at any point.
Multimedia Library
The multimedia library provides audio and video building blocks ("samples") for
combining on the arranger tracks. Loads of melodies, effect templates, and
graphical animations also come supplied for you to use in new songs & video
clips.
BeatBox 2
BeatBox 2, the new groove synthesizer, lets you make great beats with ease. It
can be accessed in the Media Pool via the "Synthesizers" button. Easy mode
must be switched off to access it.
Audio effects
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium provides lots of different audio effects. A few
examples:
• You can correct tempo and pitch in real time using "Resampling",
"Timestretching" or "Pitchshifting".
• The "Audio Effect Rack" supplies "Reverb", "Echo", "Equalizer",
"Compressor", "Time Processor", "Distortion", "Filter", and many classic
effects with which almost every sound can be made. MAGIX Music Maker 17
Premium provides these sounds in amazingly high quality. The reverb effect,
for example, provides lots of realistic reverb algorithms to add depth and
spaciousness to your material. Design your "Favorite reverb" using the many
presets as a base with their various reverb rooms which were designed for
specific instruments and applications.
• The "Gater" enables rhythmic splitting of surface sounds
• The "Vintage Effects Suite" covers "good old" guitar effects that were activated
using a foot pedal in Jimi Hendrix's era: more warmth and fullness with
"Chorus", jet-like special effects with the "Flanger" or ping-pong effects like
"Delay". The filter enables beat-matched frequency filtering, the "BitMachine"
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is a distorting Lo-Fi effect for those who like it a bit rougher.
Media database
Find your recordings, sounds, pictures, and videos quicker and faster with the
MAGIX media database. An existing MAGIX database from the MAGIX Photo
Manager or MAGIX Media Manager is integrated in the Media Pool and can be
updated directly from MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium. Use the simple search
function to find suitable pictures or MP3 files for your arrangement.
Audio CD support
Audio CDs can be imported directly into MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium.
Just insert them into the drive and press "CD/DVD". All tracks can then be
dragged into the arranger and edited with different features or effects. Whether
for remixes or as sound material for your own compositions – a new touch will
be added to your personal CD collection.
Software synthesizers
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium includes the following synthesizers:
• The Drum & Bass machine creates crunching beats and pulsing basslines
• Robota is a complete drum computer with four independent instruments
which can be played live. Several faders enable all kinds of sound
experimentation.
• MAGIX Vita Enhance your arrangement with amazingly realistic natural
instruments from Yellow Tools, the sample specialists.
• LiViD, our "little virtual drummer", provides realistic acoustic drum tracks. Just
a few instructions are enough for "LiviD" to play a complete drum track with
introduction, chorus, bridge, fill-ins, etc.
• BeatBox 2, the new groove synthesizer, lets you make great beats with ease.
It can be accessed in the Media Pool via the "Synthesizers" button. Easy
mode must be switched off to access it.
• Vita Solo Instruments for realistic instrument sounds.
• Atmos for nature sounds or atmospheres like rain, thunder, or wind.
High-end 32-bit floating point
All sound changes are executed using 32-bit floating point calculation for
especially differentiated and high-quality sounds. This technology is also used
in professional studios. This way, an audio picture with especially high
dynamics can be created. Digital overmodulation and clipping become virtually
impossible.
Own recordings
Use this recording function from MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium to record
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vocals, noises, or instruments and integrate them into the arrangement.
MIDI integration
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium helps you arrange, load, record, edit, and
play MIDI data just as easily as audio data. You can combine wave sound files
with MIDI files for controlling the sound chip on your sound card or VST
instrument plug-ins or external synthesizers, and then arrange everything
together.
For MIDI recordings and editing you can use the extensive MIDI editor with
piano roll, drum editor, velocity/controller editor, and event list.
MIDI object recording can be started directly from the arranger by setting the
recording mode in the track box to MIDI.
Mixer
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium includes a professional real-time mixer with
effects rack and two insert effects for each channel, two additional effect
tracks, two insert effects for the master as well as additional mastering effects.
The mixer's size can be adjusted so that more than eight tracks fit on the
screen at a time. You can also group a number of faders of a specific type (for
example, volume or panorama) and use them all together.
Harmony Agent
The Harmony Agent provides harmony recognition automatically and
determines the key and chord of any music title. See the guitar tablature of
your favorite song in real time for the arrangement!
Formats and interfaces
Import: WAV, MP3, OGG Vorbis, WMA, QuickTime™, MIDI, CD-A, BMP, JPG,
AVI, MXV, WMV, FLAC
Export: WAV, MP3, OGG Vorbis, WMA, AVI, MAGIX Video, QuickTime™, WMV,
Real™ Media Helix, BMP, JPG (all via menu "File > Export arrangement"), MIDI,
FLAC
Interfaces: DirectX, VSTi, and ReWire (host) support (Premium version only,
one instrument per track), ASIO.
Song Maker
The Song Maker lets you create new arrangements quickly and easily and
complement existing arrangements by automating the complicated steps such
as sample selection and combination. The Song Maker takes over arranging
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whole sections such as intro and refrain. Therefore, you do not have to do
everything yourself – you can omit the arranging and process your selection
from the suggestions.
Easy mode
The new Easy mode makes creating radio-ready hits possible even for
beginners – no time is required for breaking in, and no previous knowledge is
necessary! Extended functions for advanced users, which are confusing to
beginners, are hidden. Easy mode can be switched on and off via the buttons
to the top left.
InfoBox
Thanks to the new info box, all important functions can be easily understood
as they are applied. Just hold the mouse over a button that you would like to
learn about and read the info text in the preview monitor.
Live Sessions
While the virtual instruments and sounds are played on the available tracks, a
new track can be recorded simultaneously in realtime. What's more, you can
also add realtime effects.
SoundVision
SoundVision is a new way of visualizing music which shows audio material at a
glance in the form of a musical galaxy. Similar sounds are clustered close
together; different sounds are organized further apart. SoundVision can be
activated in the Media Pool via the corresponding button. Easy mode must be
switched off to access it.
Internet upload to many platforms
When the song is finished, it should be heard not just by your friends, but
preferably the whole world. This is achieved, naturally, with the help of the
web. Under "File > Export > Community upload" you will find the most
impotant communities, where you can upload your songs. This way, your
music can soon be heard on YouTube ™, MySpace™, Soundcloud® or DJTunes.
Additional features of the Premium version
Additional audio effects
• "Elastic Audio" for total control over vocals. Voice samples or melodies you
sing yourself can be "tuned" to match automatically. With the "Harmonizer" in
the Elastic Audio Editor, you can add a suitable second vocal or a whole choir
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to a specified melody.
• The "Vocoder" produces vocal and robot sounds that have been altered
mechanically.
• The "MAGIX Mastering Suite" with important mastering effects (see below).
Additional styles
The Premium version includes additional styles in genres like MovieScore,
Minimal Electro, Hardstyle, Ambient and 60s Soul.
Additional Vital Instruments
Grand Piano, Soundtrack Percussions 2, Electric Guitar
Additional tracks
The Premium edition has 96 tracks (instead of 64) – even more space for your
most complex arrangements.
Object and track curve automation
Effect and volume progressions can be controlled using freely drawable curves
– for individual objects as well as for complete tracks. In addition, you can fade
in or out an echo at a specific position in the song by drawing in a curve peak
at the corresponding position.
Video recording
In addition to audio recording, MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium provides a
recording function for video from analog video sources for your own video
clips.
DirectX and VST plug-ins
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium enables the direct use of DirectX and VST
plug-ins, a large variety of which is available in retail stores or directly online.
Such plug-ins (audio effects or synthesizers from third party manufacturers)
can significantly increase the functionality of MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium.
MAGIX Mastering Suite 2.0
Impressive studio sound just like you hear on store-bought CDs! MAGIX
Mastering Suite is a special effects rack for use with the mixer master channel.
The included effects help you with so-called "mastering"; put the final touch on
your completed and mixed music piece using parametric equalizers, MultiMax,
limiter, and stereo enhancers.
5.1 Surround-Sound
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium provides real 5.1 Surround Sound. 5.1
24 Introduction
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Surround is the preferred home cinema sound format which is also supported
when importing, editing, and exporting your work. The 5.1 Surround Editor
enables you to move your music around the room. The finished 5.1
arrangement can even be exported in the new MP3 surround format
(developed by the Fraunhofer Institute, the inventors of MP3).
MAGIX Music Editor
Detailed audio editing in realtime and specialist for CD burning, sound
restoration, sampling and audio editing.
Revolta 2
Revolta 2 is a powerful-sounding, varied 12-voice analog synthesizer with
highly advanced functions, sound matrix, noise generator, and a complete
effects section featuring nine effect types.
This synthesizer can create any electronic music you can imagine. The sound
presets were created by sound designers for Access Virus and Rob Papens
Albino, which makes Revolta 2 the number 1 choice for beginners and
professionals alike.
Also in the Premium version
• BeatBox 2 plus: The ultimate groove tool with even more drum kits,
automations, and an integrated powerful effects section can be accessed via
the "Synthesizers" button in the Media Pool.
• Revolta 2 is an analog, varied and powerful-sounding, 12-voice synthesizer
with highly advanced functions, sound matrix, noise generator, and a
complete effect section with nine effect types.
• Am-Track SE: This analog vintage compressor produces an especially warm,
pumping sound. Launch it via the effects menu for selected audio objects.
• Timecode sync: This feature makes it possible to write songs with a friend –
simply connect two PCs via MIDI and jam together!
• MIDI step recording: Provided for composers unsure of their keyboard
playing skills who want to play perfect melodies. The MIDI editor can be
opened by double clicking on a MIDI object.
• ReWire: This function allows you to embed MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium
in other music programs.
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Overview of the program screen
Menu Bar This list provides the most important editing
commands.
Toolbar This contains the buttons for quick editing as well as
the different mouse modes.
Easy mode This turns the clearly laid-out beginner mode on or
off.
Track boxes Complete tracks can be turned on or off (muted) or
played separately (solo). Use the FX buttons to apply
track effects.
Arranger You can freely position any multimedia material on all
of the arranger's tracks.
Zoom functions Here you can enlarge or reduce the view. The
horizontal scrollbar can be stretched and
compressed for zooming.
Media Pool All files listed here can be added to the Arranger via
drag & drop.
Monitor Previews for graphics or video files can be selected
in the Media Pool are displayed here. All visual
material for the arrangement is also shown here on
playback. Alternatively, a peak meter, the
arrangement overview, or the InfoBox can be shown.
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Quick start
This chapter explains the basic functions of MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium
with a step-by-step introduction. A systematic description of the program
functions can be found in the PDF manual.
Tip: Open the tutorial video and the "Quick start" tutorial by clicking on the
"Help" menu. A good introduction to the program is also available via the
interactive tutorial that may be opened via the welcome dialog.
Play demo project
The large area with the horizontal tracks is the Arranger. Here you can make all
changes to the positions and editing of multimedia objects.
In the lower section of the program interface you can find the Media Pool. You
can switch between the different areas. In Soundpools you will find the
included loops that you can load into the arrangement by drag & drop while
holding the mouse key or by double-clicking. The File Manager works similarly
to Windows® Explorer with a some additional features. Here, professionally
produced sounds can be downloaded from theCatooh and integrated directly.
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In the File Manager you can find some demo songs in the "My projects" folder.
Double-click on a demo and find the individual tracks of the song in the
Arranger: In MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium you can create a complete song
by compiling objects. Click on the vertical scroll bar on the right-hand side of
the screen and drag them down (hold down the left mouse button) in order to
be able to see each track.
To play the demo, click on the Play button with the mouse or press the space
bar on your keyboard. A vertical red line (the playback marker) runs across the
screen and music will play from the speakers.
Note: If you do not hear anything, check if the correct sound card is active for
playback in the Setup window (P key). Of course, the output of the sound card
has to be connected to the speakers.
Audiodateien vorhören und laden
In the next step, load sound files into the Arranger for positioning and editing.
Create another new, empty arrangement. To do so click on "File" and select
the "New arrangement" option.
• Now click on "Soundpools" (1) in the Media Pool.
• Various "Styles" (2) are shown on the left hand side of the Media Pool. Click
on one of the styles to open a sub-folder.
• Now, select which instrument you would like to use under instruments (3).
• Some instruments are categorized according to pitch. Right-click (4) on any
entry here to have the sound play automatically.
Other files in the Media Pool can also be previewed this way. Use the arrow
keys of your keyboard to select the various pitches. Other instruments, like
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drums, are not categorized according to pitch.
• To load a file into the Arranger, simply press the Enter key.
• You can also drag the file from a table onto a track in the Arranger. Once you
let go of the mouse button, the file will appear as an audio object at that
position.
If you own an older version of MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium, a Soundpool
Collection or have purchased soundpools from other sources, you can add
these to your Media Pool via Add styles... (5).
Position audio objects
Each object can be moved in any way in the arranger with the mouse,
horizontally on a track as well as vertically between tracks.
Add new instruments to your first song in the arranger. For example, take a
drum sample and drag it underneath the object in a lower track which was
added beforehand.
This way, any number of files can be dragged from any folder into the arranger
and placed on top of one another, on multiple tracks, or behind one another.
Play the arrangement in the meantime. Take note of the two markers at the top
of the bar ruler – they represent the start and end points of the range to be
played. If you wish to change the playback range, the start and end markers
can be dragged (while holding down the mouse button) to any position on the
bar ruler.
Tip: You can also move the playback marker independently of the left start
marker by clicking on the lower section of the bar ruler.
You do not need to interrupt playback to load new samples into the arranger.
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium has a "Smart Preview" function: You can
simultaneously preview new samples in the Media Pool – they always run
synchronous to the song in the arranger. This function considerably simplifies
the search for suitable samples for a song you wish to create.
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Add synthesizers
Synthesizers are small additional programs, which can synthesize certain
sounds automatically. MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium distinguishes between
Object synthesizers and Track synthesizers. Object synthesizers create own
objects in a track and can be moved and arranges just like any object. Track
synthsizers may also be trimmed or combined with loops or object synthsizers
. But it is impossible to okace MIDI objects or other track synthsizers into the
same track. For this reason, there is a maximum of one track synthesizer per
track.
• To open the folder with the software synthesizers from MAGIX Music Maker 17
Premium, you have to switch to the "File manager" from the Media Pool and
then to the "Synthesizers" folder.
• Drag the desired synthesizer into an arrangement track witha held-down
mouse key.
• The control console opens to program the synthesizer. Make changes to your
settings.
• Every synthesizer has a playback function, in which you can here what effect
on the synthesizer your changes have.
Experiment with the various synthesizers in MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium
and take advantage of each of their individual strengths.
Edit Objects
To get an impression of the object-based work method of MAGIX Music Maker
17 Premium, you should become more familiar with the "Objects" on the tracks
of the Arranger.
All objects can be shortened or looped by moving the mouse to one of the
lower corners of the object until it turns into a stretch symbol. You can now
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stretch or compress the object length as much as you like. This way you can
create rhythm tracks from short drum samples simply by stretching them.
At the top corners of every object there are two fade handles that can be
adjusted to fade an object in or out.
The handle at the top center can be used to adjust the volume of audio objects
and the brightness of video objects.
All objects can be split into multiple objects. To do so, select "Split objects"
from the "Edit" menu. The selected object will be split at the position where the
playback marker is.
This can be done even faster using the special splitting mouse
mode, found in the mouse mode button in the tool bar, or by
pressing Alt + 6.
Right-clicking on an object opens the context menu with the options available
for that specific object in the Timeline mode.
Add videos or images
In the next step you can add video and image material. To do so, open a folder
with video or photo files in the Media Pool under Data Manager and select the
ones you want. On the video monitor to the right, a preview of the selected
video file can be shown.
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Once you have found a matching video, use the mouse button to drag it onto
any track (like previously with the audio files). You can place as many video
and photo files as you like under your music. You can adjust the length of the
individual objects with the help of the Object handles (view page 29).
Note: A good alternative are the You Tube templates, which you can find under
Templates in the Media Pool. There, an image fitting to teh musical genre will
be attached and a title object will be created, where you can enter the song
title.
Effects
You should take time to experiment around with the effects. In the context
menu you can select the effects for the objects. Here, effect modules are
opened with which each effect can be set up to meet your exact requirements.
Effects can also be dragged onto objects by holding the left mouse button or
double-clicking. Simply open the "Templates" folder in the Media Pool and try
each of the effects listed one after the other with a mouse click. Like with all
other entries in the Media Pool, effects in this folder always have a preview as
well. If you like an effect and wish to apply it to an object in the Arranger,
simply click on it, drag it onto the object, and release the mouse button.
Tip: Use the Object Inspector in the Media Pool in order to display all important
Object effects.
Export arrangement
The purpose of arranging and editing is usually to have a good quality audio or
video file at the end. MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium supplies various export
formats for this purpose.
• To export your arrangement, click on "File" and select the "Export
arrangement" option.
• Now select the export format. You can choose between pure audio export
(e. g. MP3, WAV,…) and audio and video export (e. g. AVI, Windows Media
Video,…).
• The Community upload option enables uploads to important Internet
communities such as MySpace™, YouTube® and Soundcloud®.
• Select the fitting settings in the dialogs and click on OK or log in to the desired
Internet community.
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• The arrangement will then be exported in the chosen format.
Note: The export calculations are independent of the playback performance.
Even if your playback on your computer begins to stutter because too much
RAM is being used for videos and effects, the export file will still be calculated
correctly. We recommend placing already finished passages of complex
arrangements via the export or mixdown function into a single file to free up
some processing power (and tracks). This kind of file can be reloaded into the
arrangement and edited further with the other parts.
Burn audio CD
To burn an audio CD, first export your arrangement as a WAV file:
• Click "File" and select the "Export arrangement -> Audio as wave..." option.
The WAV file created can be burned as an audio CD with the included burn
program <goyaburn>.
Tip: You can use an integrated CD mastering tool in the Premium version and
a burn program to do this. Click on "File" and select the option "Export
arrangement -> Burn audio CD-R(W)" option to export your arrangement. The
arrangement will be loaded into the CD mastering program MAGIX Music
Editor and can be burned straight to disc from there.
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Arranger
Normal mode/Easy mode
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium can be operated in two different views, and
these can be activated by clicking on the button in the top right. If the MAGIX
Music Maker 17 Premium interface confuses you at first, then switch the
program to "Easy" mode!
Easy mode active
Normal mode active
In the beginner mode, the program presents a clearly laid-out version which
only displays the most important buttons and switches. Functional elements for
advanced users are hidden.
This documentation describes MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium in normal
mode. If you can't find one of the functions while reading, make sure that you
don't have "Easy" mode turned on.
Tracks
The arranger offers tracks for positioning and editing multimedia material.
Additional tracks can be added by selecting the "Add track" option in "Edit"
menu. In total, 96 tracks can be used for an arrangement.
Fundamentally, all object types can be placed on all tracks. You can also
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combine videos with MIDI and audio objects one track.
If the tracks in the arranger are not long enough, you can increase the length
by pressing the minus button (-) to the right. The size of the arrangement
adapts itself automatically when objects exceed the space for them on the
right-hand side or when new objects are loaded.
Mute a single audio track by clicking on the “Mute” button or play individual
tracks separately (“Solo”) to emphasize a particular scene.
Trackboxes and Instrument icons
Each track box contains an instrument
icon box. If you drag a MAGIX Soundpool
sample onto an empty track, a suitable
icon is automatically displayed. You can
also exchange the icon by clicking on it
an select another one.
At the start of each track there is a track box where you can switch each track
to "mute" or "solo". In the lower half of the arranger below the track boxes are
two buttons, "Reset" and "Solo/Mute", which you can use to reset all track
solo/mute settings.
The peak meter can be seen beside the icons. This allows you to control the
volume of the track and to see if the track produces any audio sound at all.
Beside the track number to the top, you'll find the track name field. You can
rename the track by double clicking this field.
The small arrow beside the name of the track opens a menu with
which you can load a software instrument (VSTi plug-in) into the
track. This will then be used by all MIDI objects of the track. Here
you also have access to the individual sounds of the VST
instruments VITA and REVOLTA which come supplied.
With REC you can activate the track for an audio or MIDI recording.
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A simple click puts the track into "Audio recording" mode.
Furthermore, monitoring is now activated, i.e you can hear the input
signal of your sound card on playback (learn more in the "Mixer"
chapter, "Recording/Live Monitoring" (view page 235))
If you start recording now ("R"), the audio recording dialog will
open. The recorded audio material is added to this track. If there is
already an object on the same position of the track, the next empty
track will be used.
Clicking this button again puts the track into "MIDI recording"
mode. If a software instrument is loaded, you can play it with a
hooked-up MIDI keyboard (monitoring). If you start recording now,
a new MIDI object will be created in the track and the MIDI editor
will open. From there you will be able to start the MIDI recording
(view page 95).
Here you can open the "Track effects" menu where you will find
presets for track effects (view page 161) sorted according to the
instrument type.
With the "Move track up/down" commands you can sort your
tracks.
Zooming
The vertical zoom function sets the number of visible tracks in the window. For
a lot of tracks, enlarging the view (zooming) is sensible for editing a single track
or object.
Use the horizontal zoom function to increase the visible section of the
arrangement on the timeline.
Move/Zoom with the scroll bar
If you move the mouse to the edge of the scroll bar, the cursor will turn into a
double-arrow symbol which can be used to select and compress/stretch the
scroll bar. This way, you can zoom in and out quickly. Dragging the middle of
the scroll bar moves the visible section.
You can tell which part of the entire arrangement is being played by the size
and position of the scroll bar. If the whole arrangement is displayed, then the
scroll bar will fill out the bar. Complete view may be set by doublke clicking the
scroll bar.
A track may not be diminished without any limit, and the number of maximum
displayable tracks is also limited, meaning not all tracks may be able to be
viewed at once.
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Zoom buttons
Zoom menu: Certain zoom levels may be selected by right clicking
the horizontal scroll bar or by clicking the zoom menu. You can also
jump to certain positions in the arrangement here.
Enlarge objects: Vertical and horizontal zoom stages are enlarged
so that all of the selected objects are displayed at maximum size. If
the function is switched off, the regular zoom stage will be restored.
Optimize view (view page 291)
Zoom buttons Buttons for zooming in and out
Move/Zoom with the mouse wheel
The visible section can be moved, reduced, and increased in size by using the
scroll bars. These functions can also be executed without having to click
anywhere by using the mouse to move the scroll bars or zoom buttons or by
using the mouse wheel.
Grid
Timestretching in the arrangement is displayed by the vertical progress of the
tracks. To structure this progression, a timeline displaying time units has been
positioned at the top of the first track.
Two consecutive objects will seamlessly snap together even if they are on
different tracks. This avoids undesired gaps or overlaps.
The bar grid makes sure that the objects and the start, end & play markers
only snap into place at specific positions so that they can be positioned
precisely according to the beat.
,
The grid width can be set using the button to the top left.
If, for example, "1/2 beat" has been set, then the objects and markers snap
into position at all half beat positions when moved. This way there won't be
any gaps between the objects and precisely beat-matched cuts are possible.
The selection ranges from full beats to 1/16 grid sizes. Triplet values are also
possible.
The "Frame" setting allows fine positioning using the time code. The time
display in the timeline and transport control automatically changes from
bars:beats:ticks to hours:minutes:seconds:frames.
"Objects" deactivates the beat grid and the grid will now only affect the object
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edges. You can also deactivate the grind entirely by selecting "No grid" or by
pressing "F4".
"Select beat type" switches the timeline to irregular bars like ¾ beat.
Playback area: Start and end markers
In the upper area of the timeline, there are two markers between which
playback area is displayed, and this area can be played back as a loop
(endless).
The length of the playback area is shown in blue. The number before the point
indicates the number of bars, the number following it indicates the number of
fragments corresponding to the selected grid, e.g. 3.3 on a 1/16 grid = 3 bars
and 3/16. A tilde (~) in the display means that the playback area doesn’t have
the exact raster length and the loop is therefore "non-circular". Double clicking
on the playback area sets it to cover the whole arrangement; double clicking
again sets it between the start of the arrangement and the last object.
This area also determines which positions are copied or inserted into the
clipboard’s memory by the the edit menu commands "Edit range" or the
keyboard shortcuts "Ctrl + Alt + C" for "copy", "Ctrl + Alt + V" for "paste" or
"Ctrl + Alt + X" for "cut".
The right end marker is always moved together with the start marker so that
the length of the looped playback area remains constant as the start marker is
moved. So always move the start marker first and then the end marker.
The start and end markers can be moved in different ways with the mouse.
You can move them to any position via drag & drop or directly with a mouse
click: a left mouse click in the timeline moves the start marker; right clicking
moves the end marker.
It’s even easier with the keyboard: The cursor keys move the playback area
forward or backward by a whole playback area’s length. Press "Ctrl" as well to
move the playback area by a quarter of its length. "Shift" + cursor keys halves
or doubles the playback area’s length.
"Ctrl + Shift" +cursor keys enables you to lengthen or shorten the playback
area by a bar. Use this function as well to quickly move the playback area onto
a smooth bar length.
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When you move the playback area while a playback is running, the old area is
always played to the end and smoothly changed into the new one after. In this
way you can remix your tracks in real-time with the keyboard!
Note: If the starting marker does not move to the right with a left click or via
the keyboard, it is because the end marker would then have to be shifted
beyond the end of the arrangement. In this case, move the start marker via
drag & drop or position the end marker!
Moving the playback marker
The playback marker can be moved independent of the start marker. To do
this, click on the lower part of the timeline. If you hold "Ctrl", the playback
marker and start marker are moved simultaneously.
Once the playback marker reaches the end marker, playback is continued at
the position of the start marker. If the playback marker was positioned outside
of the playback range, the arrangement is played to the end. The selected play
area is then played as a loop.
Transport bar (playback functions)
The transport bar's functions enable you to control the playback behavior of
the arrangement using the mouse.
Tip: The space bar on your computer's keyboard may be used to start and
stop playback much more easily. You will find an overview of all keyboard
shortcuts at the end of this manual.
Back to start: This button quickly moves the start marker to the
beginning of the arrangement. Clicking "Back to start" displays both the
start marker and play range at the beginning of the arrangement.
Rewind: This function rewinds the arrangement back to the start. This
means that the play marker in the timeline is reset.
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Stop: Stop ends playback. The playback marker is reset to its initial
position.
Play/pause: This button starts continuous playback of the arrangement;
if the playback marker reaches the end marker, the range between the
start and end marker will be played back as a loop. Clicking 'Play' again
stops it at the current position of the playback marker ('Pause').
Fast-forward: Use this function to move along the arrangement much
faster. The start marker moves forward along the timeline.
Record: Depending on whether a track in the track box is activated for
MIDI or audio recording, this will start either audio (view page 70) or MIDI
recording (view page 95).
This deactivates loop playback. The playback stops when the end
marker is reached.
Time display
The time display is beside the
transport controller.
The current playback position is displayed here. The unit can be switched
between beats, hours:minutes:seconds, or frames by right clicking on the time
format. Switching to remaining time display (distance to project end) is
possible.
Display harmonies
If this symbol is activated, harmony symbols will be displayed during playback.
Harmonies can be detected with the Harmony Agent (view page 85).
Metronome
If this icon is active, then a metronome (click) will play during playback and
recording. This provides helps you orient yourself with the arrangement tempo
while you make your own recordings.
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Volume regulation
The volume control is to the left of the transport controller. Use it to quickly
control the overall volume of your arrangement. To regulate the volume of
individual tracks, use the mixer (view page 231).
Tempo
The song's tempo is displayed here in BPM (Beats Per Minute). The
arrangement tempo is set automatically by the first sample used in the
arrangement. One click on the small arrow shows the tempo fader. You can
use this to smoothly change the master tempo during playback. The objects in
the arrangement are adapted using timestretching.
By clicking "Tap", you can open the tap tempo dialog to "tap" in the tempo.
Simply click the "Tap" button at the desired tempo or press the "T" key; the
tempo is measured and displayed in the dialog. Pressing "OK" accepts the
tempo.
Track position slider
The position slider quickly moves the play cursor within the visible range.
Arranger, Video Monitor, and Media Pool
If the video screen is re-opened and the Media Pool is closed, the video screen
can be freely repositioned.
The "View" menu allows a standard setting to be switched on. If the option
"Standard layout" is deactivated, the entire screen can be filled by the arranger
in order to simplify positioning and editing objects.
In case of very large arrangements, the video monitor can be used as an
overview display ("Menu -> Video monitor -> Arrangement overview (view page
292)").
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Arranger buttons
The arranger buttons for quickly opening and closing all the most important
windows can be found underneath the last track in the arranger.
Mixer
This button opens the real-time mixer.
You can modify the tracks relating to volume and the position in the stereo
panorama here, and this is also where both master effects and plug-ins can be
integrated.
Video
Opens/Closes the video monitor in "Peak meter" mode.
Live Mode
This option opens the Live Performer (view page 149).
Please refer to the "Arranging objects" chapter, section "Live Performer" (view
page 149)!
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Media Pool
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium's Media Pool lets you access, preview, and
load all supported media types, online and offline, e.g. with included sound
and video loops, audio CDs, MP3 songs, synthesizers, or effects.
All media types are loaded into an arrangement from local drives or directly
from the Internet via double-click or drag & drop.
The upper edge of the Media Pool contains seven buttons which operate the
Media pool in different ways:
• The setting Soundpools offers a database view of all Soundpools.
• The File manager is very similar to Windows Explorer. It controls and loads
media files of all types located on the hard drive.
• The Keyboard enables software synthesizers to be played and recorded
directly via the on-screen keyboard.
• The object Inspector offers quick access to properties of objects, e.g. audio
effects for audio objects. For MIDI objects (view page 88), a smaller version of
the MIDI Editor is shown, which allows you to edit the selected object.
• The Synthesizer setting displays a list of the available synthesizers (view page
114).
• Templates provides effects presets for all kinds of audio, video, and titling
effects.
• Catooh connects you directly to Catooh (view page 294).
Preview function
There is a preview function for all files: By simply clicking an audio object, the
pre-listening function starts via the sound card. Video, graphics and text
objects are shown on the video screen.
As the arrangement plays on, you can experiment with sounds from the Media
Pool (see Smart Preview (view page 67)).
Note: Even while previewing, audio files are adapted to the current tempo
using timestretching (you can deactivate this in the "Audio/Video options"
menu).
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Positioning the Media Pool
The Media Pool appears after the program is launched for the first time in the
left lower third of the screen. It can, however, be positioned freely as a window
anywhere on the screen or even switched off. The view menu offers different
options. e.g. arranger full view displays as many tracks simultaneously as
possible.
Soundpool settings
This setting can be used to access Soundpool media. Access to the supplied
Soundpools is via a new, more clearly laid out database overview that enables
the display of loops, multiple styles and instrument categories, e.g. all bass
loops of every installed style or every loop of a style.
If you did not install the Soundpools on your hard drive during installation, then
insert the MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium installation DVD into the DVD drive.
The contents of the Soundpools will now be imported into the database. Other
Soundpool media are automatically recognized and added to the database.
Note: Under program settings -> General (view page 268), you will find
different options for maintaining and displaying the Soundpool database.
Soundpools already present on the hard disk can
be imported via "Add styles" into the database.
A Soundpool consists of one or more Styles. Styles are sound libraries that
belong together and cover a certain musical style. The sounds (sample or MIDI
loops) of one style all have a certain tempo. You can mix loops from different
styles, and the tempos will be adjusted accordingly. Within a style, loops are
ordered according to instruments, and one instrument folder contains different
sounds. Each sound can have a different pitch (except for drums and effects
sounds).
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The Soundpool display consists of several columns: First, all styles available in
the database are shown. The second column lists the instruments. The third
column, "Name", contains the list of the sounds found. These are displayed
according to the length of the beats (1,2, or 4 beats).
Sample loop
MIDI loop
The different pitches are displayed above that (if available). An entry field for full
text search is located under the match list.
The list of samples found is created based on the entry selection in the first
two columns. With "Ctrl + click" you can reduce or expand selection. No
selection ("Ctrl + click" on a single selected element) shows all entries from this
category.
If you select an instrument, e.g. "Drums" and "Percussion" and no style, then
all drums and percussion samples in the whole database will be displayed.
In the search field, you can search the list of the sounds
found for a certain sound file name.
Sound Vision view: This button displays all Soundpools
as galaxies.
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SoundVision
This alternative display of the Soundpool library shows all available sounds
graphically. No matter how large the Soundpool collection is, you can view the
entire library using this 2-dimensional display. This "galaxy" can now be
accessed via the mouse to collect all of the sounds you want.
The large clusters of "stars" are the styles, and these are arranged from inside
to outside with increasing tempo. Eventually they form a center - the styles
furthest out have the highest tempo.
Within a style are the individual instruments (e.g. keys, pads, sequence)
formed in a circle, and the drums are in the middle. Every instrument group has
a certain color assigned to it which is the same in every style. The individual
sounds are points encircled by the individual pitches, if available.
You navigate throughout the Sound Vision view by moving the selection
displayed with the mouse; the mouse wheel enlarges or diminishes the view.
The points (which symbolize the sound loops) can be manipulated exactly as in
the Media Pool list view, i.e. select by double clicking and load by double
clicking or via drag & drop.
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Keyboard settings
The keyboard enables software synthesizers (view page 143) to be played and
recorded directly via the on-screen keyboard.
If a track synthesizer is not present, then a new track will be added and a new
synthesizer plug-in will be added when the view is switched to "Keyboard" (Vita
with Sound Acoustic Bar Piano).
The keyboard always controls the synthesizer in the track for which MIDI
recording has been activated.
You can click the keyboard with the mouse to play the instrument. The closer
to the bottom edge you click on the "virtual keys", the louder the sound will
play. Of course, you can't seriously play music by clicking with the mouse (this
function is more suitable for testing out sounds quickly). That's why you can
also play the keyboard with the keys on your computer's own keyboard.
Note: This only functions if you have already clicked once with the mouse on
the keyboard. Otherwise, pressing the computer keys will function as key
shortcuts (view page 308) for the different features in Music Maker. If the
computer keys control the program's keyboard, then the piano keys feature
the corresponding characters on your keyboard.
A sound program for the synthesizer may be selected
from this list.
This button opens the editor window for the
synthesizer for fine tuning the sound.
This button opens the MIDI editor for the selected
MIDI object.
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Object Inspector settings
The Object Inspector offers quick access to properties of objects, e.g. audio
effects for audio objects. For MIDI objects (view page 88), a smaller version of
the MIDI Editor is shown, which allows you to edit the selected object.
Audio objects
If an audio object is selected the object inspector will open featuring the audio
object view
This displays the available object effects (view page 160) in a clearly laid out
list.
This button switches effects on
and off.
The settings dialog for an effect is opened
via this button.
MIDI objects
If a MIDI object is selected, then the Object Inspector shows a smaller version
of the MIDI Editor. The MIDI Editor in the Object Inspector operates in the
same way as the "bigger" version in its own window, but the menu and several
playback and recording settings are not available.
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For more information, please read the section MIDI Editor in the chapter "MIDI
objects"!
File manager settings
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium's file manager works very similarly to
Windows Explorer. It can be used to access and load media files of all kinds,
e.g. videos, bitmaps, MP3 audio files, audio CD tracks, RTF text files for titles.
The Media Pool consists of a file list to the right (the actual “Media Pool”), in
which all loadable media types (and, if required, further subfolders) are listed,
and the navigation area on the left-hand side.
In the file list, all supported multimedia files and subdirectories of the currently
chosen directory are displayed. All entries can be loaded into the arranger
tracks by double clicking or via drag & drop.
In the navigation area, you can find different buttons for directly accessing
preset subfolders.
You can right click in the file list to define further buttons ("links"). Switch to the
folder which you would like to create a link to and select the option "Link to
folder" from the context menu.
Navigation buttons
Forwards/Back The "Back" button always returns you to the
folder where you were previously.
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Up The "Up" button takes you up to the next
highest folder level.
Drive menu You can access all available drives via the
"Drive" menu button.
Path
information
The current folder's path is displayed
in the top center.
Browse history
list Use the arrow button to open the menu to
find the folders you previously visited.
View These buttons switch the file view list
between icons, lists, or details.
Various file list view modes
The file list displays all supported multimedia files and subfolders of the
currently selected folder. Three different views (list, detail, large symbols) can
be set by right clicking on the options or Media Pool's context menu.
List: Only file names are
listed. This view mode
displays the most files
simultaneously.
Details: The details section
displays the type, size, and
date of modification for every
media file beside the name.
The list can be sorted by
clicking on any of these
details.
Large symbols: These can
be quite useful, since they
show a preview frame for
each movie and picture file.
This allows you to sort
through the material quicker.
The disadvantage is that it
takes longer for the file list to
be displayed.
Deleting, copying, and moving files
All files listed in the media window can be selected, deleted, or moved into
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other folders via drag & drop, just like via Windows Explorer. This way, all
objects desired for placement in an arrangement can be collected in a
separate folder beforehand.
Additional functions can be accessed via the context menu, i.e. by right
clicking an entry.
CD/DVD
Clicking this button once reads the CD that is currently in the CD-ROM drive.
In the case of data CDs, all directory and file formats supported by MAGIX
Music Maker 17 Premium are displayed in the file manager. In the case of
audio CDs, all tracks appear in the file list.
My Projects
This button opens the "My Projects" folder. This is a subfolder of "My Projects"
that is named after the program (i.e. MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium, only
featuring "_" instead of empty spaces). This is created automatically when the
program is installed. All new recordings and arrangements are saved here
automatically as a preset, and finished arrangements are exported here. You
may change the save location as you see fit via Program settings > Folders
(view page 268, view page 266).
My Files: This displays the contents of the "My Files" folder. This is normally
the save location of videos, pictures, music, etc. (in the corresponding
subfolders).
My MP3s
This provides quick access to your own MP3 collection. When this button is
pressed for the first time, you can select the folder where your MP3 files are
saved. You may also change this path later via "Program settings", the "Folder"
tab (Y key or "File" menu > "Settings" > "Program settings").
Database
This button displays the media files on your computer in a
well-structured database view.
This means the files are no longer displayed according to where they are
stored in the different folders but are grouped according to general
characteristics. The top "folder level" is the difference in audio, video or image
files; subfolders would be, for instance, the date for photos or the artist for
MP3 files.
In order to present media data on your PC in a database view, you first have to
add them to the MAGIX database. To do this, click on the database button to
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the right and select the option Start media manager for photos and music.
This opens the corresponding MAGIX program and the database scan function
of the program.
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium comes with the free photo and music
management programs MAGIX Photo Manager and MAGIX Music Manager. If
you have the corresponding free versions, MAGIX MP3 Maker or MAGIX Digital
Photo Maker, they will be used instead.
By right clicking on "Database" and clicking on "Database search", you can
open a special search dialog in which you can carry out a targeted search for
media.
Search the database
Quick search: Simply enter a keyword and highlight the data type (photo,
audio, video). All available Database columns are searched for the keyword.
Expert search: Here you can restrict your search by stating search criteria in
the following way:
Database column Condition Comparison item
e.g. dimensions greater than 800
You can search up to three database columns that are connected via "and" or
"or" simultaneously.
"AND" means only those files will be listed that match all criteria.
"OR" means only those files will be listed that match at least one of the criteria.
Synthesizer
This button opens the folder containing your synthesizers. Read more on this
in the Software synthesizers (view page 114) chapter.
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Template settings
This opens the folders for installed effects presets. Saved audio and video
effects presets as well as title templates also land in these folders, so that over
time a complete library of your own presets will develop.
The buttons to the left open the folders for audio effects ("Audio FX"), presets
for the Vintage Effects Suite ("Vintage FX"), presets for the Live Performer
(view page 149) ("Live Pads"), the LiViD drums synthesizer, title templates
("Titles"), video effects ("Video FX", "Video Mix FX"), and automatic
animations ("Visuals").
You can also add effects via drag & drop. Simply drag these onto the
corresponding object using the mouse.
The context menu for audio objects enables you to to set audio effects in the
effects rack (view page 159) precisely!
Setting Catooh
You can preview multimedia files from the Online Content Library Catooh, load
them into the arrangement, and edit them further .
Please read the chapter entitled Catooh (view page 294)!
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Videoscreen
The video monitor can be positioned
anywhere on the screen. The size is
variable. To set the size, right click on
the video monitor and select the
desired size from the context menu or
adjust it yourself ("user-defined").
Please note that larger video screens
require more CPU power.
To detach the video monitor from the arranger and Media Pool, deactivate the
default layout in the "Window" menu. You can then position the screen
anywhere you like.
The video monitor can be increased to full size by double clicking on it or
pressing "Alt + Enter". Press "Esc" to leave maximized screen mode.
You can also include a large time display in the video monitor. "Display play
time" shows the current play marker position in the video monitor. You can
choose the screen & background colors and transparency.
The video monitor is transformed into an analyzer which displays the sound as
a graphic.
"Overview" mode enables you to view the whole arrangement and access the
object you are looking for in a split second - you can zoom in directly to the
video monitor or move around the clip displayed in the arranger.
Peak meter
The video monitor is transformed into an analyzer which
displays the sound as a graphic.
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Overview
In "Overview" mode, you can view the whole arrangement and
you are also able to access any object you want in a split
second; zoom in directly to the video monitor or move around
the clip displayed in the arranger.
Infobox
"Infobox" mode shows help text in the preview monitor if you
hold the mouse pointer over a button on the screen.
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Mouse modes
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium offers special mouse modes for arranging
and editing objects.
A small arrow next to the mouse pointer symbol allows different
modes to be set.
Move selection
This is the preset mouse mode in which most changes are
made.
Select objects by left clicking them. When the "Shift" or "Control" keys are
pressed, multiple objects can be selected.
Hold down the mouse button to move selected objects.
In this mode the objects can be faded in or out or their lengths can be
changed using any of the five handles. Please refer to the "Arranging objects"
(view page 58) section. Right clicking on an object opens the context menu
with the most important effects and settings available for that specific object.
If an effect curve is active, the curve handles can be selected and moved.
Double clicking on the curve creates new handles.
Keyboard shortcut: Alt + 1
Move to track
This mouse mode behaves basically like the mouse mode for
individual objects, but moving objects
results in all other objects behind the object moving in sync on the track. This
is practical if space is needed at the start of a track, since all objects can be
moved together without moving them underneath each other.
Keyboard shortcut: Alt + 2
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Move all
This mouse mode behaves in principal just like the "Single
object mouse mode",
but during moving, all objects on all tracks will be moved together from the
mouse position.
Keyboard shortcut: Alt + 3
Automation
Use this mouse mode to draw in the volume and effect curves (view
page 226).
When active, a new curve may be drawn on an object or track using the left
mouse button.
Activate the corresponding effects curve in the "Effects" menu
in the track box to enable track automation.
For the object, use the "Object automation" command in the "Effects >
Automation" menu (shortcut: Ctrl + H) and select the corresponding curve in
the dialog. Clicking on an object without an effect curve activated will activate
the object's volume object curve.
Note: In this mouse mode, the object curve will always be edited for objects,
even in case a track curve is also displayed. If you would like to edit the track
curve at this position, then you will need to temporarily move the object
somewhere else.
Individual automation points on a curve may also be created in the normal
"Move" mouse mode (see above) by double clicking the corresponding curve.
For more information about automation curves, please read the chapter
Automation curves (view page 226)!
Keyboard shortcut: Alt + 4
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Draw
In this mode you can insert further similar objects behind an
already loaded object.
Starting from the first object, the following objects are always inserted
synchronously so that you can also think of this mode as the insertion of a
"Mute" automation from a continuous loop. You can read more about this in
the section "Drawing in loops (view page 63)" in the chapter "Arranging
objects".
Keyboard shortcut: Alt + 5
Split
You can split objects quickly with this mouse mode in order to
remove unwanted parts or attach various effects to parts
of objects.
Keyboard shortcut: Alt + 6
Stretch
This special mode is for customizing the length of objects.
Objects can be stretched and warped using the lower object handles. The
duration of the audio material is therefore lengthened via timestretching without
changing the pitch. The middle object handles allow the object's pitch to be
changed using pitchshifting in the range of -7... +7.
Keyboard shortcut: Alt + 6
Preview audio
This mode allows you to preview audio objects (as long as the
mouse button is held down)
for the entire duration and independent of the start and end markers in the
timeline. Other object types are protected against unwanted moving.
Keyboard shortcut: Alt + 8
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Scrubbing
By holding down the mouse button, the arrangement can be
previewed at the point where the cursor is positioned.
The playback marker follows the mouse movements. This mode is especially
suited to searching for specific parts of an arrangement.
Keyboard shortcut: Alt + 9
Replace
This mouse mode simplifies searching for suitable samples: Left
mouse click on a MAGIX
Soundpool object to switch the object automatically with another from the
same instrument category. "Shift" + left mouse click keeps the object but
changes the pitch. Ideal for quick experimentation!
Keyboard shortcut: Alt + 0
Context help
This mouse mode allows you to open the corresponding "Help"
section by clicking on any area of the MAGIX Music Maker 17
Premium screen.
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Arranging Objects
In MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium you can jointly and uniformly load, arrange,
edit, and export different multimedia file formats. This chapter describes the
basic way of working with multimedia objects. This includes audio objects,
video objects, graphics, midi objects, and synth objects. Later chapters will
describe the particulars of the respective formats.
All object editing is virtual, non-destructive, and is calculated in real time during
play. The multimedia material is thus not destroyed (non-destructive editing)
and any change can be cancelled with the multi-stage undo function ("Ctrl +
Z"). You can experiment to your heart’s content without having to fear that you
will change or damage the original material.
Save and load arrangements
An "arrangement" is what we describe as any object (audio, video, MIDI,
graphics, synthesizers) together with their positions, fades, length, volume, and
brightness settings, and effects that can be found in the arranger.
Arrangements can be saved and reloaded as MMM files via the "File" menu.
When loading arrangements, you should make sure that all objects being used
are available in their respective folders. It’s often recommended to use the
function "Backup arrangement…" ("File -> Backup copy").
Then the whole arrangement, with all its objects and effects, will be saved to a
definable folder on the hard disk and can easily be loaded from there.
Multimedia files and objects
All multimedia files supported by MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium can be
previewed or listened to in the File Manager by clicking and dragging into the
arranger via drag & drop. The files are displayed as objects in the tracks after
the mouse is released.
Using the "Tab" button, you can switch between two object display views.
In alternative display modes, the objects are not represented frame by frame,
but simplified. This is useful for quicker representations of video objects: RAM
is saved and the overall performance improved. Audio objects will be shown
using one or two (for stereo) waveform representations.
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Right clicking on an object opens the context menu with the most important
editing options available for that specific object.
Select objects
To edit or delete objects using the menus, you must first select them. To do
so, simply click on the object you wish to select. When the "Shift" key is
pressed, multiple objects are selected. Object modifications like cutting,
moving, effects assignment and so on, apply to all selected objects together.
The handles of selected objects light up to show that the accompanying object
has been selected and can be edited using the menu functions.
Several objects can be selected quickly by clicking on the first object in the
first track with the mouse and dragging out a square for selection. All objects
entirely or partially within the square will be selected (rubberband selection).
Mute objects
Each object can be muted individually. To do so, select the objects you wish to
mute and press "F6" (or use the corresponding command from the context
menu).
Build or split object groups
Several objects can be combined to make up a group, to avoid the objects
being unintentionally moved out of relation to each other.
Once they are combined, clicking on one object of a group will select the entire
group.
To group or separate groups, use the buttons in the toolbar or the
corresponding commands in the "edit" menu.
Split objects
Any object can be split up. Every one of these object parts becomes an
independent object in itself. To cut an object, select the object, move the start
marker to the edit point, and select the "Split object" command from the "Edit"
menu or press the "T" key. It’s even easier with the "Split objects (view page
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57)" mouse mode.
To rejoin the separate objects afterwards, select each of the objects and
choose "Group". This command joins all of the selected objects into a single
object group.
Exact object positioning
It is often necessary to position objects very exactly in order to maintain the
beat or avoid creating clicking during transitions or small pauses between
objects.
In MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium every object is snapped to the edges of
other objects, resulting in cleaner transitions. In addition, objects are placed on
defined positions on the grid of the arranger track. You can read more about
the grid in the arranger chapter "Grid (view page 36)".
Duplicate objects
Objects can be duplicated very easily in order to create larger arrangements.
First, the objects that need to be duplicated must be selected.
Then select the command "Edit menu -> Duplicate objects"
A copy of the object appears right beside the original which can be moved to
any position with the mouse.
It’s even faster if you click on the object that has to be copied and hold down
"Ctrl" at the same time. An object is then created which can be dragged to the
desired position. Furthermore, object copies require virtually no additional
memory!
Another way to duplicate is by using the copy/edit commands from the "Edit"
menu.
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Object handles
With the help of the object handles, fine positioning, volume and brightness
settings, fading in and fading out as well as loops can be carried out directly in
the arranger.
All editing is carried out in real time and is already calculated during playing.
The multimedia material is not destroyed in the process (non-destructive
editing); any change can be cancelled with the multi-stage undo function ("Ctrl
+ Z").
Object fades
Use the handles on the top left and right to fade an object in or out. By fading
objects in and out onto different tracks, it is possible to produce crossfades
between different objects. The length of the crossfading can be directly
regulated with the handles.
Shortening or looping objects
Objects are "cut" virtually by "compressing" them with the mouse. "Pulling"
them to the right will stretch them, which results in the object being played as
a loop until the play cursor reaches the end of the object representation. In this
way it is possible to very quickly create an entire drum track from one single
drum loop or to create a long video from a short video sequence.
Guide the mouse to one of the bottom corners of the object until the mouse
pointer turns into a stretch symbol. Now you can stretch or compress the
object until it has reached the desired length.
Normally an object is always looped over the full length of the underlying data
material (audio or video file). To set a clip from a file as a loop, shorten the
object at the front and the back with the handles and choose the command
"Edit menu -> Insert user-defined loop". This function is very useful for setting
your own recording as a loop, as the silence at the beginning of a recording
can be cut away.
Adjusting volume/brightness
With the volume/brightness handle in the top center of the object, you can
change the volume of audio and MIDI objects or adjust the brightness of video
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and bitmap objects.
If several objects are played in parallel, it is possible to individually adjust the
volume or brightness ratios between objects in this manner.
The volume and brightness ratios between tracks are adjusted in the mixer.
"Draw in" loops
Audio loops can be drawn into the arranger tracks with the mouse.
For this you have to set the mouse mode to "Draw objects" by clicking
on the corresponding icon in the mouse modes menu. Now an audio
sample has to be loaded which will serve as a template and which will
then be drawn into the following area of the track as a loop in the track.
This works as follows:
1. Load any loop from the Media Pool into the arranger.
2. Click on an area further back on the same track and hold down the mouse
button to draw in the loop.
Starting from the first object, the drawn-in loop area is always synchronous
with the beat. This means that the drawn-in loop is not played from the
beginning, but rather starts from the position where the original loop would be
if you had continued to this position. Or, to put it differently, a running loop can
be found on the track and you can draw in at which position you can hear it
("Mute automation").
The synchronous start of the object in this mode has another consequence: If
an object is moved, then only object borders are moved, but the underlying
loop, however, always remains intact.
Takes
Every object can be saves as a "take". Takes save all editing done on an object
like object length, fade settings, and all object effects. MIDI takes save the
instrument controlled by them (MIDI output or VST instrument).
Takes are saved as "TAK" (*.tak) files and take up virtually no space on the
hard disk. So you can cut a sample, add various effects to it, and save it as
various takes in order to use these together with all their editing in other MAGIX
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Music Maker 17 Premium arrangements.
The original sample will not be changed, only object and effect settings will be
saved.
You can also save Synth objects (view page 143) as takes to create your own
preset libraries for the synthesizer.
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium supplies many takes on content CDs.
Takes can be identified by their symbol in the Media Pool.
Warning! On loading the takes, the audio or video file, for which the take was
added, must be in the original folder.
Object properties
This function displays all the information about the currently selected objects,
such as file name, position on the hard disk, tempo, etc. The object editor also
defines the foreground and background color of every object in the
arrangement.
In the "Tempo/Pitch" tab, information on the patched/determined tempo and
pitch of the audio object is shown. Furthermore, there is an overview of how
the various timestretching/pitchshifting operations affect the entire audio
object. The tempo/pitch adjustment when loading the sample, the effect of the
master tempo fader, and the time processor as object effect tracks are offset
against one another, but they may not mesh properly. For this reason, there
are two buttons which can be used to double/halve the object speed. Try
using these buttons if the tempo of some loops is incorrectly interpreted as
twice or half the speed.
Mixdown tracks
If the arranger becomes too full to manage, the system is out of RAM, or you
just want to ”summarize” your production, use the mix down function to
convert the entire audio arrangement into a single audio and/or video file.
To do so, choose the "Mixdown" function from the "Edit" menu. You can
choose a name and a destination for storing the mix down object. The default
directory is ”My Projects”. If only audio objects are in the tracks, a wave file will
be created. If audio and video objects are combined, you can choose whether
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an audio or a video file will be created.
The objects of the arranger or the area will be replaced by the new object.
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium automatically normalizes the audio file, i.e.
the loudest part of the wave audio object is identical with the highest figure of
the 16-bit resolution ceiling. This guarantees the same sound quality, even if
you repeat the mix down procedure or you combine the mix down file with
other wave audio objects again and again.
Tip: The mix down function is very helpful if you want to go on using the mix
down object. To create the finished end version of the song or video it is
recommended to select the "Export arrangement" function in the "File" menu
instead of the "Mixdown" function.
Mouse gestures
Sometimes, specific menu commands that are located deep in the MAGIX
Music Maker 17 Premium's menu structure may be needed multiple times in
sequence, e.g. if you want to edit effects for multiple objects.
Mouse gestures help you access these menu commands quickly without
having to dig them out of the menu structure every time.
Every object in Music Maker features a context menu that may be opened by
right clicking.
The upper section of this context menu always features the most recently used
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commands for this object type. These four commands may also be opened
having to open the main menu.
To do this, right click on the object and drag the object quickly to the right, to
the left, or upwards in order to access one of the four commands (the object
will not be moved as long as you use the right mouse button!)
The commands display in the menu here are only examples. All commands
that are available in a context menu's submenus may be accessed via Mouse
gestures.
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Audio Objects
Audio formats
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium loads and edits audio files in the formats
Wave (.wav), OGG Vorbis (.ogg), Windows Media Audio (.wma), MPEG (.mpg),
MP3 (.mp3) and CDA (audio CD tracks). The stereo or mono data of a file are
displayed as an object in the arranger of the MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium.
The material will be displayed as a waveform, optically representing the sound
to make editing easier.
Along with wave files, MP3 files, OGG Vorbis (.ogg), and ringtones can also be
exported.
In addition, the Premium version can load and export the Surround formats
(after activating the encoder (view page 305)) MP3 Surround, Surround WMA
and wave (6-channel interleaved).
Load and process audio files
All importable audio files can be accessed via the File Manager and previewed
(audio) by clicking the file name. Tracks from audio CDs can also be integrated
by dragging & dropping them into the arrangement.
Editing, fine positioning, volume adjustment, fading in and out, is all processed
using the "Object" tab directly in the arranger.
Please see the chapter "Arranging objects"
Smart Preview for the incorporated samples
The incorporated samples can be listened to while the arrangement is playing.
They always run synchronized to the current song that is playing.
You can load samples while putting together a song in real time and search for
appropriate new "building blocks" simultaneously.
You can add the loop to the arrangement by simply clicking with the mouse or
pressing "Enter" or remove it by pressing "Del". The subsequent loop can also
be selected quickly by pressing a key (arrow down) or you can switch to the
next instrument ("1"..."0") or the next bar ("Num +"), or by clicking on the
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button.
Audio recording
Your own sounds like vocals, speech, noises, or instruments can be easily
recorded in MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium using the audio recording
function.
Click the REC button in the track box to specify the track for the
recording.
The display in the track box will change
Assuming you have everything connected properly (see below), the input signal
will be played back featuring all track effects (if there are any) (live monitoring
(view page 235)).
Live monitoring requires the use of ASIO drivers (view page 270).
Click the red button on the transport bar to start the actual recording.
Connecting the source for recording
First of all, the source of the audio material must be connected to the sound
card input. Again, there are several possibilities which primarily depend on the
type of equipment you have.
If you are recording from a microphone, then please connect the microphone
to the microphone jack on your sound card (usually red).
If you want to record material from a stereo system, then you can use the
line-out or AUX out jacks on the back of your amplifier or tape deck. This
involves connecting them to the sound card input (usually red).
If your amplifier has no separate output (other than for the speakers), then you
can use the connection intended for headphones for your recordings. In most
cases, you will need a cable with two mini-stereo jacks. This type of
connection has the advantage of being able to set the headphone input signal
level with a separate volume. As headphone connections generally are not the
best, it is advised that you use the line outputs if possible.
When recording cassettes from a tape deck, you can connect the tape deck's
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line out directly to the sound card input.
When recording from vinyl records, you should not connect the record player's
output directly with the sound card because the phono signal needs to be
pre-amplified. A more suitable method would be to use the headphone
connection or an external pre-amp.
Adjusting the Signal Level
Adjusting the signal level to the sound card is also recommended to get the
best sound quality during digital recording.
Once a recording source is connected to the sound card, the "Record" button
opens the recording dialog and starts the recording source.
You can now adjust the recording level with the help of the LED display in the
recording dialog. For this, you must first check off "Show Levels".
If the adjustment is set too high, distortion occurs and the incoming signal
must be reduced. If you have connected the source through either an amplifier
or tape deck output to the sound card, you can only reduce the signal level in
your sound card’s software mixer interface. You can access the mixer directly
from within the recording dialog via the “Recording Level” button.
If you reduce input sensitivity by using the input fader, the resolution at which
the analog signal is digitized is also reduced. Try to set these automatic
controllers to the loudest sound level possible.
The maximum setting for an optimal level is the loudest part of the material.
The loudest part should be adjusted to be the maximum. The actual recording
begins when you press the "Record" button. At the end of the the recording
you will be asked if you want to use the recording. Upon confirmation, the
newly-recorded material will be placed at the next free position of the start
maker in the arrangement.
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Audio recording dialog
Normalize after recording: This option raises your material to the correct
volume level after recording is completed. In order to achieve good audio
results, you should try to record the source as loud as possible without
overmodulating it. The Peak Meter display helps in the recording dialog.
Audio driver: This selects the sound card for recording.
Save audio file as/save in the following folder: This select the title of the audio
file you wish to record. You can also select the folder where you wish to store
the file.
Recording quality: Sets the sound quality of the recording. The preset menu
allows you to choose between AM tuner, FM Radio, DAT (Digital Audio Tape),
and CD quality.
Display volume control (monitor): The peak meter allows you to monitor the
level of the incoming signal. Please read more on this in the section 'Adjusting
levels (view page 69)'.
Record: This button begins recording. The next free track will be used for
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recording the audio material.
Stop: Click this button to stop recording
Play during recording: If this option is active, then the arrangement will play
back during recording. This allows you to add recordings to the existing
arrangement.
Advanced: Use this button to open a window containing a selection of three
special functions.
Advanced options
• "Mono" creates a mono recording and requires half of the hard drive space
required for stereo.
• "Real-time sample rate adjustment" automatically matches the sample rate of
a new file to be recorded with the sample rate of the selected movie sound
track.
• "Ducking" (reducing the sound volume): To add narration or other sound
material to a video that already has sound volume levels set, activate the
option "Automatic reduction of sound volume of remaining audio tracks". This
automatically reduces the volume of audio objects in the arranger during the
recording session ("ducking"). A volume curve controls the whole process,
produces the fading in and out of effects automatically and guarantees
consistent overall volume.
Import audio CD
The steps are similar to transferring wave files into an arrangement:
• Insert an audio CD into the CD/DVD drive of the PC.
• Go to your CD/DVD drive in the Media Pool. The individual CD titles appear in
the file list.
• A single mouse click starts the playback of the CD title for prelistening.
• Drag & drop the CD title into a track in the current arrangement and the song
will be grabbed and copied to the hard drive. The files will be saved in the
"Import" directory ("Program settings -> Folders")
• The audio object appears in the track and can be played back or edited
immediately.
A special program is used for digitally importing the audio data from the
CD/DVD drive. Some drives do not support this mode (an error message will
be displayed) or support will only be of low quality (the audio objects will
contain crackling).
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If this method does not yield a satisfactory result, you can open the CD
manager via the menu command "File -> Read tracks from audio CD". This
option opens the CD manager where you can select tracks from audio CDs
and import them into the arrangement. You can also select the drive if you
have more than one and adjust the import settings.
If this is also unsuccessful, you can also play the CDs using the drive and
record them with the sound card. More can be found in the "Recording audio
CDs" (view page 75) section.
CD Manager
This option opens the CD manager to select tracks from audio CDs and
partially or fully import them into the arrangement. You can also select and
configure the used drive if you have more than one drive.
The CD manager lets you import audio data using most CD and DVD drives.
You may have to contact your technical support to find out which drive is
suitable. The data is imported digitally, thus eliminating loss in sound quality.
Audio tracks are imported into the arrangement as Wave files. The files are
saved in the import folder ("File -> Properties > Program settings -> System ->
Path settings").
To import audio tracks via the CD manager you should proceed as follows:
1. Insert an audio CD into the drive and select "Import audio CD track(s)" from
the "File" menu. A dialog with a list of the CD tracks will open. If you have
more than one drive, you may have to first select the drive containing the
CD. You can do this in CD drive options.
2. Select the desired tracks (multiple selection by "Ctrl" + mouse-click).
3. Click on "Copy selected track(s)...".
4. The "Import project" dialog will now appear. Here you can enter the file
name and select the target directory.
5. The audio material is then copied from the drive onto the hard disk. A
progress bar is displayed.
6. Once copying is complete, the dialog will be closed and the tracks are
inserted into the arrangement as individual objects.
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The track list dialog
On the left-hand side in the list you can choose which track(s)/title(s) you wish
to import from the CD. Several subsequent tracks can also be selected by
holding "Shift" and left-clicking; "Ctrl" + clicking selects several tracks; "Copy
selected track(s)" starts the audio copying process. A new object is created
for every track in the arrangement and the corresponding track marker is
created.
Transport control: This lets you start
and stop playback just like on a real
CD player and skip forward and
backward in the playlist.
Use the small faders to control the preview volume. With the faders at the
bottom you can go to a specific position in a track. To import just one section
of a CD track, choose "Start selection" at the beginning of the section and
"End selection" at the end.
Below the transport control details on the total length and the memory
capacity of the selected track/section are displayed.
Select all tracks: All tracks are selected, for instance, to copy the entire CD.
In the right selection box you can select the read speed, and in the left one you
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can select the export mode (see Configuring the CD-ROM).
CD drive options: Here you can change the settings and select the drive for
grabbing the CD if you have installed several CD drives (see also CD-ROM
drive dialog).
"Import project" dialog: The "Import project" dialog appears after you have
selected the option "Copy selected tracks". Here you can specify name and
target address of the audio files. The audio files are subsequently numbered
(name -> name_1.wav, name_1.wav).
Copy-protected audio CDs
According to the copyright act, it is forbidden to copy a CD with copy
protection. However, an owner of a CD may create a backup copy for himself.
The problem is, however, that you cannot create a copy from copy-protected
CDs because they cannot be read using a conventional PC drive. In order to
create a backup of such a copy-protected CD, you have to play it on an audio
CD player and record it as a regular analog recording via the sound card.
Drive list dialog
Tracklist: This button opens the track list dialog for copying one or multiple
tracks.
Configuration: This button opens the configuration dialog where you can make
various special settings, SCSI IDs, etc.
Reset: Restores the default settings of the drive.
Add drive: Creates a new drive entry in the list, which you may wish to adjust.
Delete drive: Deletes a selected drive from the list.
Save setup: Saves the current drive list and all configuration data in a *.cfg file.
Load setup: Loads the current drive list and all configuration data from a *.cfg
file.
The CD-ROM configuration dialog
Drive name: Lets you edit the name of the drive in the list. This is useful if you
create more than one entry accessing the same physical drive.
Host adapter number: Lets you specify the number of your SCSI adapter -
normally "0".
SCSI-ID: Lets you set the ID of your CD-ROM drive. Be sure to set the correct
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ID; there is no error checking!
SCSI-LUN: Select the SCSI-LUN parameter, normally "0".
Alias: Lets you select the manufacturer type of your CD-ROM drive.
Normal copy mode: Copies the audio data without any software correction.
Sector synchronization copy mode: Copies the audio data using a correction
algorithm. This is especially useful, since many CD drives have problems
finding an exact position again and gaps can occur.
Burst copy mode: Optimizes the speed of the copy process; no software
corrections made.
Sectors per cycle: Defines the number of audio sectors that should be read
from the audio CD in a read cycle. The higher the number of sectors, the faster
the copying process. Many SCSI systems have problems with more than 27
sectors.
Sync sectors: Sets the number of audio sectors that will be used for software
correction. A higher number results in a better synchronization but also in a
slower copying process.
Recording Audio CDs
In some cases the CD can be copied during recording. The CD track is simply
played on the CD/DVD-ROM drive and recorded by the sound card. You
should note that the digital track data from the digital analog converters of the
CD-ROM drive have to be converted into analog signals and then into digital
data by the analog/digital converters. Depending on the quality of the
converter used, this can lead to losses in quality.
Before beginning this, the "Load tracks via record dialog" option under "File ->
Properties -> Program settings -> Audio" has to be activated. The audio
output of the CD-R drive must also be connected with the input of the sound
card. This is already the case with most multimedia PCs (if not, then it can be
accomplished with a small cable inside the computer).
When "Load CD tracks via record dialog" is active, song parts can also be
added to the arrangement without having to load the entire track.
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Change the playback tempo or pitch
If you want to combine audio material you have recorded yourself from
different sources, samples from Soundpools, or songs from CD with each
other, then you will often need to adjust the tempo or pitch of audio objects to
match each other. There's an automatic function which automatically adjusts
the tempo of audio objects when they are loaded to the arrangement's tempo,
plus advanced tools like the Remix Agent and the Loop Finder (view page
285).
Automatic tempo adjustment when loading
In general, MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium automatically adjusts audio files to
the arrangement tempo. In normal cases, you won't need to worry about the
different tempo of audio files and Soundpool samples, since these are
automatically matched. But since automatic processes can fail too, the
following process explains when you may need to "manually" adjust things.
In the new arrangement (empty), the tempo will be determined by the first
samples loaded into it. All additional audio files will then be automatically
adjusted to this tempo. If you are planning a remix which is composed of
different samples with different tempo, then try to add the most important
sample first. This minimizes sound distortions compared to the other samples
via timestretching.
In order to be able to correctly adjust an audio object to the tempo, its output
tempo must first be detected. If the sound is a Soundpool sample, then the
tempo saved therein ("patched") will be used, and the tempo adjustment will
always work.
For all other (short) samples, an attempt will be made to automatically provide
the tempo. If the sample is not cut exactly, i.e. it does not contain an exact
number of beats or is incorrectly interpreted by the automatic detection
process, then this may not work. The sample will then be incorrectly stretched
or an incorrect arrangement tempo will be set.
In this case, use the Loop Finder to specify the tempo semi-automatically
(more about this under the chapter "Menu effects -> Audio -> Loop Finder
(view page 285)"). This allows the sample to be cut to an even loop and the
arrangement will adjust to the detected tempo or vice versa.
The Remix Agent launches optionally for longer samples ( >15 seconds), e.g.
entire songs from CD or MP3s. This also gives you the option of either
adjusting the sample to match the arrangement or the arrangement to the
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sample.
MIDI objects for controlling synth objects always have the correct tempo
because they are always aligned with the arrangement tempo.
In the dialog "Program settings (view page 269) -> Import" ("Y" key), you can
deactivate the automatic tempo adjustment or limit it to patched samples.
Change tempo or pitch of individual objects manually
"Resampling", "timestretching", and "pitchshifting" provide high-quality effects
for you to change the pitch and tempo of selected audio objects dependent on
or independent from each other. You can access these tools via the "Effects"
menu or the object FX effects tracks.
These functions can be used for all audio files, i.e. for the included samples as
well as your own recordings, CD tracks, CD tracks, or sounds from the
Internet.
The playback tempo can be quickly changed via "Timestrech" mouse mode,
i.e. by compressing/stretching the audio object's lower handles, in which case
the tempo will change but the pitch will not be influenced (compare with
chapter "Mouse mode"). The middle handles can also be used to change the
pitch.
Detailed access can be accessed via the time processor effect (see chapter
"Audio effects -> Timestretch/Resample"). This allows you to specify different
timestretch algorithms for the corresponding object, since the best results
often depend on the respective audio material and the different algorithms.
The tempo setting on the transport controller allow the arrangement's tempo
to be changed retroactively. This affects all objects contained in the
arrangement, and in some circumstances this can lead to an increased
demand on the system and dropping out during playback. If this occurs, use
Apply function in the effects rack (view page 164) or the Combine audio (view
page 279) function.
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Remix agent: Tempo and beat assignment
The Auto Remix Assistant is a powerful tool that determines the tempo
(measured in beats per minute, or BPM) as well as the timing of the beats for a
song’s quarter notes. This is important if an audio CD title is imported into
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium, and you want to mix in sounds like drum
loops, effects, or synthesizer voices.
When to use the Auto Remix Assistant:
• When the tempo of the arrangement must be adapted to the tempo of the
song.
• When the tempo of the song must be adapted to the tempo of an existing
arrangement.
• When the song is to be cut up precisely to create a remix object which can
then be rearranged as desired.
Requirements for using the Remix Agent
• Songs must be longer than 15 seconds
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• Songs must be "rhythmic" (i.e. they can be danced to)
Songs must be in stereo format Note: For analysis, it is presumed that the
song is recorded in 4/4 time. If one of the above requirements is not fulfilled,
the Loop Finder can be used.
If songs longer than 15 seconds are dragged into the arrangement, the Remix
Agent is started automatically. When loading short samples (< 15 sec) the
tempo is specified automatically and some loops are similarly automatically
customized to the tempo of the arrangement. This also applies to previewing in
the Media Pool (Smart Preview).
This method can be deactivated individually in the audio/video options ("A"
key). You can find out more in the "File -> Properties -> Program settings"
section.
Preparation - Setting the start marker and object end
Before opening the Auto Remix Assistant, you should set the start marker at
the position in the song object in the arranger where you want detection to
start. If the song contains a long intro without beats, set the start marker after
the intro. As a rule of thumb, the Auto Remix Assistant should always be "fed"
dance music.
• The start marker should be set before a quarter note beat or, better still, briefly
before a beat at the start of a bar.
• If the start marker lies before the song object, the object is examined from the
beginning.
• If detection is not performed by the end of the song, the object can be
shortened accordingly with the object handle at the end of the object.
Automatic Tempo Recognition
When the Auto Remix Assistant is launched, the selected song object is
analyzed and played back. A metronome begins to click according to the result
and lines visualize the positions of the quarter notes found in the wave-shaped
display.
The following cases are differentiated:
• Position of the start of a measure (the one): red line.
• Position of the other quarter notes (the two, three, and four): green lines.
• Reliably recognized positions: thick lines.
• Unreliably recognized positions: thin lines.
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• When tapped, blue lines appear.
If the tact and tempo information is already present, points are indicated above
the display at the appropriate positions. The metronome volume can be
regulated below and to the left of the wave-shaped display. To the right, the
BPM value is indicated. If a valid BPM value was found, it is displayed in green.
If the metronome clicks in time with the music, the measure start is correct. If
not, you can correct the tempo manually.
Setting the manual and and Onbeat/Offbeat
If the result is incorrect, you can help the Auto Remix Assistant with a few
mouse clicks on the correction buttons.
There are two possibilities:
On the one hand, the "Tempo correction" list offers alternative BPM numbers
which could also fit with the music. The adjustable BPM values are detected
automatically – the total BPM can therefore deviate from song to song.
For more difficult audio material, we recommend using the "Tapping input"
mode. Either the "T" key must be pressed or the "Tap tempo" button must be
clicked with the mouse in time with the music. With repeated tapping of the
tempo correction button, one should keep an eye on the color in the BPM
display. In the "unlocked" condition (red), the tapping is not in time with the
music. One should tap until the "locked" condition is displayed. After a short
time, you will hear if the result is correct via the metronome.
Subsequently, offbeat correction takes place as required. If the detected
quarter note beats lie around the length of an eighth note (transferred behind
the real positions of the quarter note beats), one or more alternatives can be
selected from the onbeat/offbeat correction list.
Determining the start of a measure
Next, the starting point of the measure is corrected. The beat at the start of the
measure must always agree with the high tone of the metronome and/or the
red line in the wave-shaped display.
Corrections can be made by tapping; If the start of the measure can be be
heard, tap with the mouse or press the "T" key. Alternatively, you can also
select how many quarter notes the "one" is to be pushed to back.
If the starting marker was set briefly before the first beat of a measure, this
correction is not necessary.
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Note: With all corrections, the metronome and visualization react to the lines in
the wave-shaped display only after a short delay.
Using BPM and beat detection
Now you may select one of the actions to be adapted to the arrangement song
(or vice versa) or cut up the songs at the ends of a measure.
Save only Tempo & Beat information
Only wave file data is stored. This makes sense if some manual post-correction
is required for determining beat/tempo.
When the data is stored, tempo & beat regulation can be released for future
tempo adjustments or to create object remixes.
Tempo adjustment
Setting the object tempo to the arrangement tempo
This fits the object length to the existing arrangement. Three different
procedures are possible: timestretching, resampling, or audio quantization.
• Timestretching keeps the pitch of the song constant, but sometimes the
sound quality can suffer.
• Resampling changes the pitch (similar to changing the speed of a record
player), and retains the sound quality of the song as much as is possible.
• During audio quantization, the audio file takes the tempo adjustments into
consideration as if the first remix object (see below) were created and
combined immediately into a new audio file. If the recognition is uncertain,
extreme tempo fluctuation may result. It is particularly important to set the
starting marker so that the tempo is recognized definitely. The advantage of
audio quantization is that small tempo fluctuations in the music balance out.
The start of the measure always agrees with the start of the arrangement
measure and never plays out of time.
Setting the arrangement tempo to the object tempo
The arrangement adopts the detected BPM value. If you would like to use the
cut-up song as the basis for a new composition (e.g. for remixes), then this
option should be active.
Creating remix objects
The song is cut by beat into individual objects. Some applications may include:
• To produce loops from complete songs which can then be used with other
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material. Most importantly, not all remix objects are suitable as loops. Ideally,
less complex material should be used, e.g. drums from an intro.
• To remix songs, thus changing the sequence of the objects, cutting or
doubling beats or to enrich the song with other loops or synth objects.
• To mix two songs: If percussion and tempo fit perfectly, can you blend the
songs without "side effects"?
This option can be activated later from the "Object" menu, provided that the
tempo data is stored.
The "Audio quantization" option: Audio quantization fits new objects exactly in
time with the arrangement.
With homemade music, tempo fluctuations are common, and therefore
different measure lengths may result. Nevertheless, so that the objects fit into
the rigid timing pattern of the VIPs, the time processor is activated
automatically and object timestretching is used to correct the different lengths.
Setting resampling for small corrections: If the necessary corrections are very
small, better quality resampling can be used instead of timestretching.
Afterwards, you should not change the master tempo any longer, since definite
pitch changes may arise.
Remix objects in "Loop" mode: New objects are set in "Loop" mode. When
extending the object with the right object mouse handle, the original length of
the object is played again and again.
Setting the arrangement tempo to the object tempo: (see above)
Note: Time correction assigned to objects can be subsequently cancelled if the
time processor is called up and edited ("Timestretch/Resample object", or
double click on the object to open the FX racks associated with the time
processor).
Cancel: The dialog is closed.
Problems and Remedies regarding the Auto Remix Assistant
Problem: The playback stutters, the metronome is suspended, the computer is
overloaded... (on older computers.)
Remedy: We recommend changing to wave drivers ("P" key, "Playback
parameter" dialog) instead of DirectSound.
Problem: The metronome does not work and there are no lines on the the
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wave-shaped display.
Probable cause: The material does not contain beats or the song contains a
passage without beats.
Remedy: The song should be limited in such a way that only rhythmic
passages are contained.
Possible 2nd reason: Inaccurate tapping or a false BPM value has been
entered.
Remedy: Try the tempo correction buttons or tap until the "locked" condition is
attained.
Problem: The metronome sounds inaccurately or is jerky, the lines in the
wave-shaped display are irregular and thinly drawn.
Remix Maker
The Remix Maker is connected directly to the Remix Agent.
Use it to automatically generate remixes. The loop objects sliced by the Remix
Agent are regrouped according to defined criteria. Simply choose one of the
four "virtual DJs", each of which represents a different remix style, and set the
remix length and structure.
Opening the Remix Maker
1. New song
• Load the new song you want to remix. This should contain clearly defined
rhythms.
• When the song is loaded, the Remix Agent pops up to give you the option of
dividing the song into its structural segments (see "Remix Agent" above).
• Select the option "Open Remix Maker" from the Remix Agent dialog box.
• Once the Remix Agent has sliced your song, the Remix Maker is started
automatically.
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2. Existing, edited song (in the arranger)
• Load a song arrangement that is made up of loop objects.
• Select one of the loop objects.
• Select "Remix Maker" from the shortcut menu (right mouse click).
3. Long, unedited audio object (in the arranger)
• Load an arrangement containing a long, unedited audio object.
• Select "Remix Maker" from the shortcut menu (right mouse click).
• You are then given the option of generating remix objects.
Presets
Choose one of four virtual DJs with different remix characteristics. We
recommend you try them all out and see which results you like best!
Remix length
Very short: around 20 seconds
Short: half the length of the original song
Normal: regular length of the original song
Double: twice the length of the original song
Shuffle mode
This determines the selection and order of the objects.
Do not change: The order of the objects are not changed.
Change slightly: A "pattern" (sequence of objects) is either repeated or the
next pattern inserted.
Distant: Objects that are far apart in the original song are placed close to each
other.
Random: The objects are ordered randomly.
Fill mode
A "fill" or "fill-in" is created when the loop object sliced by the Remix Agent
again to produce very short objects that are looped or played in rapid
succession. Fills are used to liven up the regular beat.
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None: No fills are included.
Use slightly: A few simple fills are included.
Strong accentuation: Many complex fills are included.
Use randomly: Different kinds of fills are used in a random order.
Loop Finder
The Loop Finder has been developed to find the BPM in short rhythmic
passages, to integrate short loops in an existing arrangement, or to yield drum
loops from short rhythmic passages. Otherwise, the BPM Finder helps in this
regard.
More information under “Effects” menu.
Harmony Agent
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The Harmony Agent is designed to analyze harmonies.
The music track is analyzed first when you open the Harmony Agent. The
Harmony Agent tries to automatically identify the harmonies for each beat of
the music. Thus the right beat information is an important prerequisite for a
properly-functioning Harmony Agent.
During subsequent playback, the detected harmony is played by an internal
generator for verification purposes. You can adjust the volume with "Volume
Generator". "Mute" deactivates the generator.
The transport control controls playback of the music track. The position slider
below lets you quickly move to a certain passage.
Check and correct the automatic harmony recognition
After the analysis, you can manually correct harmonies which were not
correctly identified. Note that major chords are written with capital letters and
minor chords with lower-case letters.
Left click on the respective harmony symbol in the wave display. Hold the key
if you want to mark several subsequent harmonies. If you right-click on
selected harmony symbols, a menu containing alternatives will be displayed.
The initially recognized harmony is marked with an *.
If there are no alternatives, you can select the correct "Keytone" or "Chord"
from the "Correction" section of the menus. Use the option "Replace selected
harmony in the entire song" if you are sure that the incorrectly recognized
harmony is not included in the entire song. A mix-up between major and minor
is typical in this case.
Once you are sure that all harmonies are set correctly, click on "Continue".
Use harmony recognition
Here you can use the information from the Harmony Agent. There are different
possibilities to output harmonies.
• You can create picture objects in the arrangement that display harmonies
graphically in the video monitor and in sync with the music.
• You can save the information in the audio file. This also ensures that the
harmonies are available later. For instance, if you want to display the harmony
information in the timeline ("Edit -> Display Object Marker -> Harmony
Marker").
• You can choose between different displays of the harmony symbols. You can
use German, English or Roman symbols to name the tones. Furthermore, you
can set the "preceding symbol" to force single harmony interpretation. With #,
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all notes are shown as "sharps" (C#, D#, F#), with B they are displayed as
flats.
Text to Speech
This allows you to type in a certain text and have the computer “speak” the
words. Different types of voices are available and the volume and speed of the
speech can be altered. When you are pleased with the result, you can create a
WAV file that can be utilized like any other audio object in the arranger.
Load text: Here, texts in *.txt or *.rtf formats can be loaded.
Save text: A text can be saved.
Test: You can hear the result of the text that has been entered.
Voice: Choose from a variety of voice types.
Tempo: This regulates the speed at which the voice “speaks”.
Volume: This regulator controls the output volume.
Format: The quality of the WAV file generated is controlled with this function.
File: Choose the file path for the generated WAV file.
MAGIX Music Editor
During installation of MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium Producer Edition, the
audio recording and audio editing program "MAGIX Music Editor" will also be
installed.
MAGIX Music Editor features a professional recording function, plenty of
additional effects, various forms of noise suppression, and editing functions for
all kinds of audio material.
To edit an object in MAGIX Music Editor, right click on the object and select
the option "Edit wave externally" in the context menu (or select the object with
a left mouse click and select the same option in the "Effects" menu).
See the "Help" file for more details concerning MAGIX Music Editor!
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MIDI Objects
Arrange MIDI objects
MIDI objects may be moved, the volume may be modified (middle handle), or
fades (in/out) may be added (top right and left handles) in the same way as
audio, video, or synthesizer objects. Use the lower handles to "stretch out"
individual MIDI loops so that they easily fit onto a whole track.
Pay attention to the following:
• Volume changes in MIDI objects (central handle or fades in/out) are controlled
by adjusting the velocity level (MIDI velocity). Many synthesizers do not change
the volume, but rather the sound in relation to the velocity level. In this case,
use the effects curve automation (view page 226) function.
• MIDI objects always control a single synthesizer per track. If you move a MIDI
object onto another track, then a different synthesizer will be controlled and
the sound of the arrangement changes accordingly.
Transpose MIDI
This function in the the context-menu is used to change the pitch of a MIDI
object. Simply enter the number of half tone steps by which the playback is to
be transposed up or down! The transposition is shown in the MIDI Object in
the arranger with "+n" and "-n" (n is the number of halftones).
Load MIDI files
Proceed as follows to integrate MIDI files into an arrangement:
1. Open a directory containing MIDI files using the Media Pool.
2. Click a MIDI file and it will be played back immediately; this makes it easy to
load audio files without guessing.
3. Now drag the desired file into the arrangement and that's it!
4. An MIDI object will appear in which the MIDI notes are shown by dots; the
high notes are dots in the upper section, and the lower notes are the dots
further down in the lower section. You can even see the velocity of the
notes: the louder the note is played, the darker it appears on the screen.
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium uses the external MIDI device (view page 91)
to preview a MIDI file in the Media Pool without using software instruments. If
you can't hear the MIDI file, then there may be different reasons for this:
• Check the MIDI output device in the "Program settings" window via the
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"Audio/MIDI" tab (P key or "File > Settings > Program settings"). "Microsoft CD
Wavetable SW synth", a standard software synthesizer included in Windows®
as an OS component, should be set as the default. If sound cards with their
own synthesizer are used or in case MIDI hardware synthesizers are
connected, set the sound card's MIDI driver or a MIDI interface!
• The sound car synthesizer's volume is set via the the sound card mixer.
Double click the small loudspeaker icon in the tray and find the controller for
the SW synthesizer.
• Several sound cards cannot use the SW synth simultaneously with ASIO
drivers.
The "Microsoft GS Wavetable SW-Synth" is treated as an external MIDI device,
which means that even while it produces sounds in the computer, it is still not
a component of MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium. If you want to export a
sound from the arrangement, then you will have to record it beforehand (see
Converting MIDI objects to audio files (view page 91)). The sound quality of the
device is rather modest compared to "proper" software synthesizers like
MAGIX Vita or Revolta.
It's easier if you assign different software synthesizers to the MIDI object after
you load it. MIDI files of complete songs, for example like you might find on the
Internet, often contain multiple tracks that control different instruments. MAGIX
Music Maker 17 Premium is able to use one software synthesizer per track. For
this reason, duplicate your MIDI one beneath the other as often as there are
different instruments involved and set the corresponding Channel filters (view
page 97) in the MIDI objects ("Options" menu in the MIDI Editor) so that each
object only plays the notes for a single channel. Next, assign software
instruments for the individual channels via the Track menu.
Connect external equipment
USB-MIDI keyboards
Over the last few years, controls for software synthesizers have produced a
new class of devices: USB-MIDI keyboards. These devices usually do not
contain separate sound generators, but rather consist of just a keyboard,
different controls, and a MIDI interface that is connected via USB cable to the
computer.
These keyboards usually do not need special drivers - they only need to be
connected. Make sure that the device is switched on and is able to be
detected prior to starting MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium, since the available
MIDI ports are only able to be discovered during program launch!
Under some circumstances, you may have to select the MIDI input device via
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the Program settings ("Audio" tab) (view page 270). This is usually called "USB
audio device"
Note: Some older devices do not function in some cases in Windows XP.
Even though the device has been detected, the corresponding MIDI drivers do
not appear in the list. In this case, please contact MAGIX customer support!
MIDI cabling
MIDI inputs/outputs: If your computer has an internal or external MIDI port, or
has a MIDI-capable sound card installed, connect your MIDI keyboard’s “MIDI
out” to the computer’s “MIDI in” (on the interface, sound card, and so on).
If your MIDI keyboard can generate its own sounds, connect the computer’s
“MIDI out” to the keyboard’s “MIDI in”. If your computer (or the MIDI device)
offers more than one MIDI output, connect any other sound synthesizers to
these. If the computer only has one MIDI output, you need to connect the
second sound synthesizer’s "MIDI in" to the keyboard’s "MIDI thru" port. A
third device can be connected to the second’s "MIDI thru", and so on. The
"MIDI thru" port always delivers a copy of the signals coming into the device’s
"MIDI in". It is preferable, however, to use a direct connection from a
computer’s "MIDI out" to a device, rather than chaining too many devices one
after the other. Timing problems may occur in the chain if a lot of MIDI
commands are sent in a short space of time. This is due to the slight delays
introduced by each "MIDI in" to "MIDI thru" transaction. If your computer also
features several MIDI inputs, they can be used for the connection of MIDI
expanders.
MIDI local off: If your keyboard features an internal sound source, it is
important that you stop the keyboard from generating sounds directly from its
own keyboard. If you buy a new keyboard that is to be used without a
sequencer and connect it straight to an amplifier, you would expect the device
to make a sound when you press its keys. In other words, the keyboard is
internally connected to the sound synthesizer. This behavior, however, is not
what you want to happen when using your keyboard with MAGIX Music Maker
17 Premium. In this scenario, the keyboard is used as the computer’s input
device, and MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium is sending (i.e. playing) MIDI
information to any connected sound synthesizer, be they the keyboard’s own
sound generator, a sound card, or any other connected sound module.
If you wanted to control and record another sound module using your
keyboard as the input device, its own sounds would play alongside those of
the other sound synthesizer, which is why the keyboard must be separated
from its own internal synthesizer. This function is known as “Local OFF”, and is
set directly on your keyboard. Refer to your keyboard’s manual for information
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on how to do this. Don’t worry about “breaking” the link between the keyboard
and its internal sound generator – MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium will act as
the “missing link” in this scenario.
External synthesizers
Naturally, MIDI objects can also be played back over a MIDI interface onto
external synthesizers, sound modules, etc. "Pure" MIDI output takes place (i.e.
without using software synthesizer plug-ins) assuming that the MIDI output
device has been properly set (see previous sections); in this way, any MIDI
object may be sent to an external synthesizer.
Note: If a MIDI object is on a track which features a software synthesizer, then
this will be controlled first. To play the object on an external sound synthesizer
via MIDI output, select "no VSTi" from the list of software synthesizer.
Convert MIDI objects into audio files
If you use VST instruments, you won't have to convert these MIDI objects into
audio data before exporting your entire arrangement, since the sound is
created on your computer and can be processed there. If you wish to do this
nevertheless (e.g. to provide some relief to your PC), then use the function
'Combine audio (view page 64)'
All MIDI objects that control external synthesizers via a MIDI interface (view
page 91) will have to be converted into audio objects if you want them to be
exported as well. They only contain control information for sound generation.
In order to do this, the output of the MIDI synthesizer (e.g., the sound card)
must be connected to the input of the sound card. The MIDI data can then be
played and recorded simultaneously via the record function. This produces an
audio file that can be edited and exported together with the multimedia files as
usual.
Playing and recording MIDI synthesizer
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium allows you to play and record software
synthesizers or external MIDI devices from the arranger. The MIDI Editor does
not need to be opened for this, which was previously the case in the former
version.
Presuming that the MIDI input and output devices are set correctly (see above),
then you should be able to play any synthesizer that is loaded via the MIDI
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keyboard.
MIDI recording mode must be activated in the
corresponding track by clicking "Rec" twice in the track
box. Now, all of the notes that you play via the keyboard
will be played back through the synthesizer.
If a software instrument is loaded via the track box or opened via the MIDI
Editor, then MIDI recording mode is activated automatically.
Tip: You can also play a synthesizer live without an external MIDI keyboard.
The Media Pool features an On-screen keyboard that may also be operated via
the computer keyboard.
In order to record a new MIDI object, simply click the red
"Record" button in the transport bar
- MIDI Editor
The MIDI Editor makes it possible for you to edit MIDI objects. The MIDI Editor
provides different sub-editors, views, areas, and aids to do this.
Double clicking a MIDI object opens the MIDI Piano Roll Editor for advanced
recording/editing of MIDI objects.
Tip: The Media Pool features a smaller version of the MIDI Editor. Select the
MIDI object you would like to edit and then click the Settings Object Inspector
button. This MIDI Editor may be operated identically to the "bigger" version
that features its own window; of course, the menu and different play and
recording settings will not be available.
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In the center you'll find the Piano Roll Editor in which the notes are displayed
as bars and from which they can be edited using the mouse. There are various
buttons located just above the Piano Roll.
Clicking on this button opens the Event list (view page 103). In this
list you can view all MIDI data of a MIDI object, including those that
cannot be edited in the piano roll or controller editor. You can use
the Event List to remove unwanted commands included with
imported MIDI files.
Use this button to switch to Drum Editor (view page 109) mode.
You can use this to leave the Drum Editor and return to the Piano
Roll section.
Clicking on this button opens the Controller Editor (view page 101)
in the bottom area. This allows you to edit features such as the
note velocity, pitchwheel, and controller data.
Deletes all MIDI data from the object. Now you can begin from the
start again...
Of course, "Undo/Redo" is also available for all changes you make
in the MIDI Editor.
Along the top edge, you will also find the buttons for selecting the editing tools
(view page 98), for quantization (More Informationen can be found in the
section "Quantization settings" on page 104), and for the output (view page 94)
used by the MIDI object (MIDI out or VST instrument).
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Select sounds
The sound is produced by the sound card's synthesizer chip, external MIDI
synthesizers, or virtual instruments (VST plug-ins). Each MIDI object can
produce as many sounds as the corresponding synthesizer offers. The sounds
themselves can be specified via the instrument – regardless of whether it's a
virtual VST instrument or a hardware device.
If there is no VST instrument loaded, the MIDI object uses the MIDI output for
the external synthesizer or for the Microsoft™ Windows® supplied synthesizer.
The MIDI output can be set up in the playback parameters ("File ->
Settings/Information -> Playback parameters").
Select the desired VST instrument from the menu. You can test the same MIDI
object with various VST synthesizers. You can set the sound of VST
instruments in the VST instrument editor (view page 145). You can open the
instrument editor at any time by right clicking on the name of the VSTi.
You can set up the MIDI output channel under MIDI channel. This is important
for VST instruments which can receive MIDI notes on multiple channels and
play several different sounds simultaneously (multi-timbral).
Play/ PlaySolo
Play solo only plays the MIDI object for which the MIDI editor is opened
(corresponding with the filter settings of the options menu).
Play all plays the entire arrangement.
Playing instruments with the keyboard
Open the MIDI editor to be able to play software instruments directly via the
computer keyboard. The assignment of the notes to the computer keyboard is
displayed in the following graphic.
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"Page up" and "Page down" move the octave up or down.
MIDI Record options
You may also begin MIDI recording directly in the MIDI Editor. To do so, simply
click the red "REC" button. Compared to the simple "Record" featured directly
in the "Arranger", this version features several additional options for you to
select
Overdub: Normally, existing notes are deleted with each new recording.
"Overdub" simply adds new MIDI notes to the existing MIDI recording.
"Overdub" allows you to create a completely new MIDI song step-by-step (or
take-for-take).
Cycle: This plays the MIDI object in a loop during recording. This enables you
to let the object play through a few times before you get started recording your
own melody.
Metronome: In order to play back the proper tempo, you can activate the MIDI
metronome to provide the beats. This is only for orientation while you play and
is not recorded.
Play arrangement during recording: If this option is active, then the
arrangement will play during recording.
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Step recording via keyboard or controller keyboard
In the MIDI editor, you can also carry out so-called "Step recording" using the
computer keyboard or MIDI fingerboard. First, activate the respective button.
The play cursor shows the scope of the current octave in which the following
entries take place. Now you can enter MIDI notes step-by-step via your
keyboard. Note length and step length can be specified using the length
quantization value. The most important keyboard shortcut for entering MIDI
notes using step recording:
Tab One step forwards (set pause)
Shift + Tab One step backwards
Ctrl + Arrow up / Arrow down Entry octave upwards/downwards
<YXCVBNM... (the precise keys
depend on the type of keyboard
you have)
Enter notes in current octave (see Playing
instruments with the keyboard (view page
94) )
<Shift>+ Enter chords
As long as you hold down the "Shift" key, you can enter different notes without
the cursor jumping. This way you can play chords.
Of course, you can also enter notes in "Step recording" mode using your MIDI
keyboard.
Notation display, movement, zoom
MIDI data can be edited in three main areas in the MIDI editor.
• Piano roll (view page 99)
• Velocity editor (view page 101)
• Lists editor (view page 103)
Here various tools are available, e.g. pencil or eraser.
Fundamentally, changes, e.g. moving or deleting notes, always refer to all
selected MIDI events (red) with just a few exceptions. Changes to the selection
in a range always apply to every other range as well. For example, you can
select a group of notes in the piano roll and then change the velocity of these
note groups which modifies all selected notes simultaneously.
Note display in the piano roll and the controller editor (with velocity curves)
All of the unselected notes are highlighted in blue. The intensity of the color
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indicates the velocity of the note; the darker/stronger the color, the higher the
velocity.
Selected notes are highlighted in red. Again, higher velocity notes are brighter
than lower velocity ones.
Note: You can also customize the velocity color range for selected notes. To
do this, open the graphics file "vel_sel_map.bmp" from the bitmap directory
and modify the color spectrum accordingly.
Current event: This is displayed in bright red and with a red outline. The
properties of the currently selected event are displayed in the edit fields above
the piano roll. An event is "current" when it is selected with the mouse.
Event display filters
To get a better overview of a MIDI object's events, you can filter specific
events for the display.
A MIDI object can contain events in up to 16 channels and up to 16 MIDI
tracks (original track from the imported standard MIDI file). For example, it's
possible to control a multi-output VST instrument using a single object on
several MIDI channels. Notes in the corresponding MIDI editor can be edited
simultaneously or only in one selected channel within this object.
There are comfortable viewing options available for this:
• A channel filter ("Options" menu) enables all or only selected channels to be
displayed. Notes in the remaining channels are grayed out and cannot be
manipulated by the selection tool.
Example: The MIDI object includes notes in the MIDI channels 1, 2, and 5. You
can now make all notes in channels 2 and 5 accessible for the selection and
editing tools via the selection of the MIDI channels in the channel filter by
selecting the two channels from the menu. All unselected, filtered notes in
channel 1 are displayed in gray in the piano editor and the list editor.
Events in the filtered channels can be completely hidden using the "Hide
filtered MIDI data" in the "Options" menu.
• A track filter (also "Options" menu) enables data to be filtered according to an
imported MIDI file in the same way.
• The list editor (view page 103) provides additional display filters that only
function within the list. The display filters are activated by the playback filter
settings (mute settings), but the filters can be set independently of one
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another.
Muted events display
Events that lie ahead of the object start point or behind the object end point
(the start and end points are displayed as blue lines in the editor) are also paler
than the un-muted events within the object’s boundaries. If display
transparency is activated, the outside events are grayed out.
Events above or below the currently visible selection
There are two small red indicators above and below the vertical scroll bar on
the right border of the MIDI editor window. These light up correspondingly if
there are other notes outside of the currently displayed screen selection.
Piano Roll: Edit events
There are various editing options for notes within the Piano Roll, as well as
mouse modes. In all modes (except Delete) the same functions also apply to
notes when editing them, so that these modes only differ in behavior when you
click on empty areas.
Editing tools
Selection
(Ctrl + 1)
Lasso: Press and hold down the mouse button to
draw out a rectangular selection frame.
Clicking on a free range highlights an existing
selection.
Draw
(Ctrl + 2)
A note can be drawn with a left-click. The beginning
and length are set according to the current
quantization settings (above).
Drum (draw)
(Ctrl + 3)
Draws a series of notes. The note length and
distances are calculated from the current quantization
settings.
When holding Alt: The pitch of the first note is also
maintained for all notes drawn subsequently.
Moving the mouse backwards (to the left) while
depressing the mouse button removes drawn notes.
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Pattern (draw)
(Ctrl + 4)
This mode allows you to draw entire Drum Patterns (or
melody patterns). If you want to create a new pattern,
you have to select it first in "Selection Mode" and
press the keys Ctrl+N simultaneously (or go to menu
"Edit" in the "MIDI/Drum Editor > Create pattern from
selection"). If you have created a pattern, you can start
drawing at any position. Draw the pattern at the
position of the deepest note of the pattern. This
makes an original pitch sound, but you can, of course,
draw in a different pitch.
If <Alt> is pressed when drawing, the pitch of the first
note will be applied to all notes drawn that follow it.
Moving the mouse back (to the left) while holding
down the mouse button removes the notes which
were just drawn.
Velocity Mode
(Ctrl5)
This mode allows you to mark events and change the
velocity values of all selected events in relation to each
other. Absolute values are entered when you hold the
Shift key, i.e. all changed events receive the same
velocity value.
De&lete
(Ctrl + 6)
Clicking on the selected note deletes all selected
notes. Dragging the mouse deletes all notes
underneath the eraser.
The Delete mode can be activated anytime by clicking
with the right mouse button. For instance, you can use
the pen to insert new notes when left-clicking and
remove already inserted notes with a right-click,
without having to change tools.
Magnifying
glass
(Ctrl + 7)
Left mouse button: Zoom in
Right Mouse Button: Zoom out
Left mouse button + drag: Zooms in on the range.
Selecting MIDI events
(Piano roll, velocity editor, list editor, )
Select event Left click event
Add/delete event from selection Ctrl + left click event
Select current event and unselect
all other events
Double click event
Change or set current event within
multiple selection
Left click selected event
Select events from the same line
or area
Click while pressing the "Shift" key
Selects all notes of the same pitch Double click the desired key on the
keyboard ruler to the left
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Selects all notes Ctrl + A (if a pitch is selected on the
keyboard ruler, only notes with this pitch
are selected)
Selects the next or previous note
Arrow keys
As you can see from this list, a simple click is all it takes to choose a specific
event for editing – even from selections containing several events such as a
pattern.
Edit notes with the mouse
If you move the mouse over a note, the mouse cursor will change and,
depending on the part of the note, the following options will be available:
Change note start time (Grab note bar at the beginning, note
end remains the same)
Change note length (Grab note length at end)
+ Shift Set fixed note length for multi-selection: Hold "Shift" and
drag the current reference note longer/shorter – all notes will
have the same length
+ Ctrl Scale note length for multi-selection: Hold "Ctrl" and drag
current reference note longer – all notes will be lengthened by
the same factor
Move note freely, pitch and start time change
If in "Move" mode "Alt" is also pressed, the note will only be
moved horizontally, retain pitch (in free move mode, hold
"Alt")
If "Shift" is pressed while in "Free draw" mode, only the pitch
can be changed, the position will remain the same.
/ "Ranges for limited moving": If you activate this setting in the
"Options" menu, clicking and dragging in the start portion of
the note only results in a change to the position, while
clicking on the end portion changes the pitch.
Moving and zooming
The vertical and horizontal view or zoom are adjusted with the scroll bars just
like in the project window.
Mouse wheel: Scroll horizontally
Shift + mouse wheel: Zoom vertically
Shift + Ctrl + mouse wheel: Scroll vertically
Ctrl + mouse wheel: Zoom horizontally
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Controller editor: Selecting and editing events
The controller editor is located below the piano roll and can be hidden.
It is opened either with a click on the button below the
keyboard or via "Alt + V".
The velocity values of existing events are displayed as colored bars in the
controller editor, whereby darker and higher bars symbolize larger values. The
bars are located directly below the notes.
The values of all other controllers will appear in controller editor as ramps.
Here, too the height of the ramps and their color intensity represent the last
defined value of each event. The length of the represented ramps reached to
the next varying event. Selected event ramps are also represented in red.
Controller Editor Hints
• In polyphonic events, the bars are layered on top of each other, which can
make it difficult to single out specific notes. To edit only notes with a certain
pitch (such as all C1 notes in the controller editor), click the corresponding key
in the keyboard ruler. The key and the background color of the selected pitch
are highlighted, and only the notes with this pitch are displayed in the
controller editor.
• Notes with different pitches (such as all C1, D1 and A1 notes) can be
displayed simultaneously by pressing "Ctrl" while clicking them (or "Shift" for
areas between notes). This is basically a velocity editor view option. Multiple
notes can be selected with a double-click.
• Another aspect of working with the controller editor’s layered controller bars is
that the bar of the currently selected note (mouse selection/editing) is always
on top. To change this, click on the note you want to edit in the piano roll, or
click directly on the layered bars and switch between the notes with the arrow
keys. You can then change the controller value by clicking on the top third of
the red (current) part of the top bar.
• After drawing controller values with the pen tool, click on an unselected area
and drag the mouse to change several velocity values in sequence. Move the
mouse in a curve to create velocity curves. Existing (multiple) selections are
ignored. This is a great method for creating crescendos or decrescendos.
Werkzeuge
Der Controller-Editor bietet eigene Werkzeuge zum Bearbeiten von Kurven und
Werten.
Controller-Auswahl: Ein Mausklick auf den Menübereich der
Schaltfläche öffnet ein Auswahlmenü, in dem der
MIDI-Controller für die Bearbeitung ausgewählt werden kann.
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Auswahl: Dies ist ein Kombi-Tool, für Werteänderung sowie
Freihand- und Linienzeichnen.
Mit Klick in den oberen Bereich eines Controller-Balkens kann der
Controller-Wert sofort durch Ziehen verändert werden. Mit einem Klick in die
unteren zwei Drittel des Balkens wird die zugehörige Note ausgewählt, die
daraufhin in den Editoren rot hervorgehoben wird.
Die Auswahl von mehreren Controller-Balken erfolgt durch Klicken und Ziehen
über einen Bereich im Controller-Editor, einzelner Werte durch Einfachklick
innerhalb eines Balkens. Ausgewählte Controller-Events werden rot
hervorgehoben.
Bearbeitungsmöglichkeiten mit dem Kombi Tool:
• Klick auf Balkenende + Ziehen: Der Controller-Wert kann nun durch
vertikales Ziehen geändert werden. Drücken Sie jetzt zusätzlich Umschalt,
werden alle ausgewählten Events auf den gleichen Wert gesetzt. Drücken Sie
zusätzlich Strg, erfolgt die Werteänderung von mehreren ausgewählten
Controller-Werten relativ zueinander.
• Alt + Ziehen: Hierbei wird das Freihand Zeichnen aktiviert, der Mauszeiger
wird zum Stift. Durch Ziehen im entsprechenden Controller-Bereich können
Sie beliebige Controller-Kurvenverläufe einzeichnen.
• Umschalttaste + Ziehen: Hierbei wird das Linien-Zeichnen aktiviert, der
Mauszeiger wird zum Fadenkreuz. Durch Ziehen in horizontaler Richtung
können Sie lineare Werteverläufe (Rampen) einzeichnen.
Freihand-Zeichnen: Zeichnen neuer Controller-Werte in Form
einer Kurve bzw. einzelner Werte durch Einfachklick ohne
Ziehen.
Durch Rückwärtsziehen können Sie die eingezeichnete Kurve schon während
des Zeichnens löschen. Durch Umschalttaste + Ziehen mit dem Fadenkreuz
zeichnen Sie eine Linie.
Linien zeichnen: Mit der Linienfunktion können Sie schnell
einen Übergang von zwei verschiedenen Controller-Werten
einzeichnen
Hinweis: Wenn Sie die Velocity mit den Zeichnen-Werkzeugen bearbeiten,
werden keine neuen Noten generiert, sondern nur bereits vorhandene
Velocity-Werte modifiziert.
Quantize controller events
MIDI controller events can be quantized and thinned out; select the "MIDI
functions" menu and the "Quantize/Thin out controller" command to do this.
Quantization occurs according to the quantization settings (view page 104).
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List Editor
The MIDI editor contains an integrated list display of all events with additional
view and edit options. This list editor is opened either by clicking on the button
above the keyboard or using the shortcut "Alt + L".
When the list editor is open and ready to receive input, it will have a narrow red
border. This makes it clear that certain functions, for example, select
next/previous event (cursor keys) or the "Select all" (Ctrl + A) command, only
refer to the list.
In the list editor, not only note events but also the MIDI controller and Sysex
messages are displayed. These controllers and messages can be displayed or
even filtered out during playback ("Mute").
"Note on" and "Note Off" events belong to each note, which are then selected
as pairs and edited ("Note off" events can be displayed and hidden with a tick
in the check box below the editor).
To edit specific events only, the list editor provides a view filter for each
column. These are small check boxes below the columns of the list editor.
Select a representative event. For example, this could be a note with a certain
pitch. Then click on a display filter for a specific column to only display events
of this type with the selected pitch. All other events will now be faded out.
Display filters can be combined with one another. This way, when working with
the "Select all" command (Ctrl + A), you can select and edit all control change
events of type 10 (volume) on MIDI channel 6.
Quantize
Small irregularities during recorded playing can be smoothed with the
quantization function. In contrast to this mechanical sounding sequences can
be a little more groovy by applying the "Swing" function.
Clicking on "Quantize" button shifts all selected notes to a
customizable quantization grid.
All notes are quantized without previous selection.
1/4, 1/8, 1/16, and 1/32 notes and
corresponding triplets can be selected as
starting points (grid) and lengths.
The Quantize button always quantizes the note start time and the length (the
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note's start point and length are preset). "MIDI functions (view page 106) ->
Advanced quantization" provides other quantization modes (e.g. length only or
Soft Q).
The quantization options enable all types of quantization to be set more
precisely.
Quantization grid ("Snap")
If snap is activated, the notes "snap" to the quantization
values when they are created or edited.
The quantization values are also considered. For instance, the notes snap to
the corresponding positions within the quantization window.
The snap positions are displayed within the piano roll as a matrix. A swing
quantization is displayed by the different intervals of the vertical partitions in the
piano roll. The grid can be hidden with the "Show quantization grid" command
in the options menu ("Alt + G").
You can deactivate the snap function while creating or editing notes by holding
down "Alt" as you draw them.
Move relatively on grid ("Options" menu): If this option is active, then notes
keep their original intervals relative to the grid and not to the note start when
they are moved; the distance moved snaps to the quantization value. Use this
option if you want to move unquantized notes a certain distance without
disturbing the timing.
Keyboard shortcut: Shift + G
Quantization settings
The quantization settings can be found in the menu "MIDI functions ->
Extended quantization" in the MIDI editor. The dialog with the settings is not
"modal", i.e. you can open it as required and test certain passages with
different settings.
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The selected quantization settings may be visualized in the top of the dialog.
The blue lines indicate the target positions for the quantized notes, i.e. the
snap points. The gray area around this show the quantization window i.e. the
target positions that are affected by the quantization.
Q-grid/length: The quantization grid and length at which target points within
the beat on which the note start points or lengths move (see above).
Q threshold/ Q window: This parameter may be used to slightly vary
quantization by excluding notes from quantization that are very close to the
next quantization value. "Q window" refers to the interval to the left and right of
a grid point; events will be quantized within this range. Quantization does not
take place outside of this window. This means that events with distance less
than the "threshold" or more then the "window" from the grid point will not be
quantized. The affected target range will be indicated in gray in the dialog
graphic.
Swing: Starts swinging, groovy playback (for example, triplet). Specifies the
division for uneven grid points.
• 50 ... “50-50” division: The odd eighths are exactly half way between the even
eighth notes (“even” playing method)
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• 67... triplet playing method, 3-2 division
Offset: The value range in this parameter stretches from -100 to +100. By
changing the offset values, you move the whole quantization grid. Negative
values move the quantization to the left, i.e. forward in time; positive values
move to the right i.e. further in time. The maximum of 100 corresponds with an
offset of half the grid width.
Presentation of blue grid points in the dialog and the grid in the MIDI editor
directly reflects changes to these values.
Humanize: The "Humanize" parameter creates another variation option, i.e.
notes are able to be assigned according to the randomization principle up to a
specific interval to positions around the exact quantization value. The setting
occurs in % of a 16th note. The value specified therefore determines the
possible interval between the quantized notes and the exact quantization
value.
Soft Q: This value sets the strength or "Soft Q" value of the quantization.
• "100" moves the event precisely to the quantize grid point,
• "50" shifts the event to the middle between the current position and the
quantization grid point,
• "0" means no movement -> Quantization off
The command "Soft Q" command considers the current level value in the
quantization options. The simple quantization command always occurs at
100%. In this manner, you can always select between approximation (soft) and
a harder quantization without having to adjust the quantization options every
time.
Standard quantization settings: Select from a list of quantization actions (see
MIDI functions) that are listed by clicking the "Quantization" button.
Reset quantization: All notes are rest to there original positions.
Standard settings: Restores the default values.
MIDI functions
The "MIDI functions" menu contains advanced quantization (More
Informationen can be found in the section "Quantization settings" on page 104)
and editing functions for MIDI notes.
The commands in the "MIDI functions" menu always affect the selected notes.
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If no notes have been selected, all functions are applied to all notes.
Legato: Notes may be sustained until the next note, i.e. legato.
Quantize notes (default): A default quantization is applied to all of the
selected notes. If no notes are selected, then all notes will be quantized. The
default action may be specified in the Quantization settings (view page 104)
dialog. "Quantize notes (start and length)" is the default. This function can be
accessed via the "Quantization" button in the MIDI editor.
Advanced quantization
This submenu contains additional quantization commands.
Start Q: Selected notes will be quantized corresponding to the set grid
quantization value. Note lengths remain unaffected.
Start and length Q: Selected notes will be quantized corresponding to the set
grid and length quantization values. Hard quantization always occurs at 100%.
Soft Q: This command considers the current level values in the quantization
options. The simple quantization command always occurs at 100%. In this
manner, you can always select between approximation (soft) and a harder
quantization without having to adjust the quantization options every time.
Length Q: Selected notes will be quantized according to the set length
quantization value. The start time remains unaffected.
Quantize notes to grid: The end of selected notes will be quantized according
to the set grid quantization value. The start time remains unaffected, but the
note lengths will change.
Reverse quantization: With this command, you can reverse all completed
quantization steps. This functions even after the arrangement has been saved.
Quantization settings: Opens the selection dialog for the Quantization settings
(view page 104).
Quantize controller events: Allows you to quantize controller events (view
page 102) to reduce their number.
Mute notes (Mute): Mutes and unmutes notes or selected note groups with a
click.
Remove overlaps (polyphonic): Notes may be shortened so that there no
longer are any overlaps. Chords (simultaneously played notes) are recognized
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and not corrected, i. e. chords are not split up.
Remove overlaps (monophonic): Notes may be shortened so that there no
longer are any overlaps. Forces monophonic voice leading.
Convert sustain pedal to note lengths: This function converts sustain pedal
controller events (controller 64) into note lengths. All notes which were started
after a "Pedal pressed" event (CC64 > 64) will be extended to the "Release
pedal" event (CC64 < 64), and the pedal events removed.
MIDI editor techniques
You can cut-and-paste MIDI notes within the editor and between MIDI objects.
The notes are always inserted at the play cursor’s position.
Duplicate: The selected notes are copied and inserted after the next grid point
if the quantization grid is active (menu "Options -> Quantization grid on"), or
immediately after the selection if the grid is inactive.
Create pattern from selection ("Ctrl + P"): The length of the pattern is
quantized if the grid is active. The pattern can be "painted" into the MIDI object
using the mouse mode "Pattern painting".
To directly select notes with a specific pitch, double click on an empty area in
the piano roll editor or in the keyboard ruler.
MIDI Editor shortcuts
Space bar Play/Stop
0 (numeric keypad) Stop on position
Tools
Ctrl + 1 Selection mode
Ctrl + 2 Drawing mode
Ctrl + 3 Drum painting mode
Ctrl + 4 Pattern painting mode
Ctrl + 6 Delete mode
Ctrl + 7 Magnifying glass
Edit
Ctrl + A Select all non-view-filtered notes (piano roll) or events
(list)
Ctrl + Z Undo
Ctrl + Y Redo
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Ctrl + I Import standard MIDI File
Ctrl + E Export standard MIDI File
Ctrl + Q Quantize
Alt + Q Quantization options
Arrow top/left Select previous note/event
Arrow right/bottom Select next note/event
Delete, Backspace Delete all selected events
View / Scroll / Zoom
Alt + L Show/hide list editor
Alt + V Show/hide velocity editor
Alt + G Show quantization grid
Ctrl+ G Grid on/off
Ctrl + F Automatic scrolling during playback
Ctrl + Up arrow Zoom in (vertical)
Ctrl + Down arrow Zoom out (vertical)
Ctrl + Left arrow Zoom in (horizontal)
Ctrl + Right arrow Zoom out (horizontal)
Mouse wheel Horizontal scrolling
Shift + mouse wheel Vertical scrolling
Ctrl + mouse wheel Zoom
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Drum Editor
After opening the MIDI Editor (double-click on the MIDI object), switch to the
corresponding field
in the Drum Editor by clicking. Instead of the piano keys to the left, you now
see a list of drum instruments.
Note: If a drum map is active in the Arranger track (recognizable by the word
"map" in t he MIDI area of the Track Editor), the Drum Editor is loaded
automatically when the MIDI Editor is loaded.
Drum Editor track box: In the individual track boxes of the Drum Editor you
can individually adjust MIDI channel, grid, quantization length, display width in
cell mode and velocity scaling for each drum instrument in %.
Velocity scaling: The velocity value of each note is multiplied by the V
value/100 and adjusted to the MIDI velocity between 1 and 127. Scaling is
audible, however, it is not visualized further. Scaling is audible, but is not
visualized further.
Cell Editing Mode: When the Drum Editor opens, Cell Mode activates by
default. In addition, you can individually set the display width for each track
box in the Drum Editor.
Switch to Drum Editor Mode and back.
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After opening the MIDI editor (double click the MIDI object),
switch to "Drum editor" mode by pressing the drum editor
button.
Instead of the piano keys to the left, you now see a list of drum instruments.
When you switch from "Drum editor" mode back to the normal piano roll, you
will be asked if you wish to apply mapping or not. If you add mapping, all
mapping settings (which makes a note sound different to how it is displayed)
will be applied to the MIDI object. If notes, for example, are routed through
channel 10 (GM drum channel) via mapping, the notes will be replaced by
corresponding "real" note events on channel 10.
Cell mode
"Cell" mode serves to improve the overview as it limits the display to only the
most important information, note starting points, and velocity.
Each time position of a bar is displayed as a row of cells in on/off states. The
note length is not displayed, but rather a unified display width is used. This
way, it all looks similar to the step sequencer of a drum computer (see Robota
(view page 139)).
The set quantization grid can be read from the width of cells. "Swing" and
"Offset" settings of the quantization options are also made clearer thanks to
cells of various widths and by repositioning.
The height of cells displays the velocity of the note. When drawing new drum
notes the velocity can be specified via the vertical drawing position within the
cells. In connection with the "Drum draw" mode, increasingly loud drum rolls
can be drawn in easily.
By clicking on the upper edge of a cell and dragging it vertically with the
mouse, the velocity can be adjusted directly without having to use the
controller editor. In "Velocity" mouse mode ("Ctrl + 5") it's even easier; all you
need to do is click anywhere on the cell.
Drum Editor trackbox
In the drum editor, each individual note has its own trackbox, and individual
settings can be specified for each instrument. When zoomed out, each
trackbox can be increased in size with a simple mouse click.
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S/M: Each individual instrument can be played solo (S) or muted (M).
Note number: The output note from the instrument can be set here. This can
be different to the note currently displayed in the MIDI object so that individual
drum instruments can be substituted. To put the display of notes back into the
usual order (deep notes at the bottom, highs at the top), click on "Map" at the
top and use the "Sort drum map" command.
Instrument name: Double clicking on this field lets you rename your drum
instrument.
Quantization options/colors: Use this menu to assign any one
of the eight different colors to the cells of a drum instrument.
The dialog for the instrument's quantization options is also
opened here.
The dialog is the same as for global quantization options (view page 104), but
the settings only apply to the individual quantization options if an individual grid
value is set for the note as well.
K Output channel
# Quantization grid, "Glo" refers to the global value (More
Informationen can be found in the section "Quantization
settings" on page 104)
L Note length, # corresponds to the grid value, "Glo" to the global
value
Length of the notation, # corresponds to the grid value (i. e. the
entire cell width), "Glo" refers to the global value of the note
length
V Velocity scaling: The velocity value of each note is multiplied by
the value set here in %.
Scaling is audible, but is not visualized further. The purpose of this setting is
the customization of the volume ratio between the individual drum instruments.
Software instruments usually provide their own mixers.
Drum Maps
Drum maps specify individual instruments, e.g. bass, drum, hi hat, snare, etc.
An individual output note, MIDI channel, and velocity scaling can be set for
each of these instruments.
The drum map can be set in the drum
editor by clicking the "Map" field.
To split the drum names a "General MIDI" map is used by default. It may be
the case that your synthesizer (regardless if real or virtual) uses a different
mapping setup.
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This means that when you play the drum event, the sound you wish to hear
may not be heard (for example, instead of a bass drum, you get a high tom). In
this case you will have to re-sort your mapping setup. The settings for
individual instruments can be specified in the trackbox. For more extensive
changes we recommend using the drum map editor. There you can save your
drum map as a file.
A project may contain various different drum maps. All drum maps saved in the
project can be selected via the menu. If you require a drum map from a *.map
file, you will have to load it into the drum map editor first so that if can be
shown in the menu. You can edit the individual drum maps in the drum map
editor.
Drum Map Editor
The drum map editor can be used to create and edit drum maps.
The "Drum maps" list on the left-hand side displays all drum maps which are
available to the project. The drum map GM General MIDI is always available to
start off with.
New: Creates a new, empty drum map.
Copy: Creates a copy of the existing map. This way you can quickly create
variations of a drum map with various note allocations which can then be
toggled via the drum editor.
Load/Save: Use this to save a drum map (*.map file). This way you can use a
drum map you created for a synthesizer in other projects as well. All loaded
maps will be displayed in the "Map" menu of the drum editor.
Delete: Removes the selected drum map from the project.
Use the name field to rename the selected drum map. The settings (mapping)
of the individual notes for each drum map will be displayed below this in
tabular format.
Pitch: This is the incoming MIDI note.
Instrument: Displays the name of the drum instrument, e.g. "Bassdrum 1".
Grid: If desired, you can set up a grid for the starting point of the drum events.
Length: In this field you can set the grid for the note length.
Output note: This is the note value to which the drum instrument (the incoming
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MIDI note in the "Pitch" field) should be routed or mapped.
Channel: You can set up an individual channel for each instrument here.
Quantization options: This opens the dialog for the each instrument's
quantization options (view page 104).
Instrument, grid, length... apply to all: This applies the corresponding setting
of the selected instrument to all other instruments.
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Synthesizer objects
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium delivers many software synthesizers and
synthesizer plug-ins (VST instruments) for creating your own sound material.
The synthesizers are represented either by internal synth objects that can be
arranged together with other objects on the tracks, or as in the case of VST
plug-in instruments, by MIDI objects.
Here is an overview:
Synthesizer Type Use scenario
Atmos Synth object Background noise
Beatbox Synth object Nature and electronic beats
Drum&Base
Machine
Synth object Breakbeats, bass lines
Livid Synth object acoustic drums (complete song parts)
Robota Synth object electronic drums
Revolta 2 VSTplug-in Synthesizer leads, pads, sequence
figures
Vita VSTplug-in Nature instruments, guitar, bass,
acoustic drums, piano, strings, horns
VST plug-ins VSTplug-in depends on plug-ins installed
Opening the synthesizers
The software synthesizers can be loaded just like any other objects in MAGIX
Music Maker 17 Premium via the Media Pool. To do this, open the Media
Pool's synthesizer setting.
You will find icons for all available software synthesizers in the Media Pool. The
upper section contains all synth objects; the lower section displays the
synthesizer plug-ins.
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Note for users of older Music Maker versions:
This version of MAGIX Music Maker has replaced older technically outmoded
synthesizers with newer, significantly improved solutions. Other synths were
replaced by newer, non downward-compatible versions.
Arrangements created using older versions of MAGIX Music Maker may not
function properly MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium for this reason. MAGIX
provides the removed synthesizers as an extra download.
To download... http://rdir.magix.net/?page=DEPBU7N8R5E2
Synth objects
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium contains many internal synthesizers for
creating your own drum patterns, break beats, bass lines, or ambient noise.
The synthesizers are represented either by internal synth objects that can be
arranged together with other objects on the tracks.
Every software synthesizer can be loaded into the arrangement via drag &
drop. A synth object appears in the appropriate track and the synthesizer
interface opens, and synth objects can be programmed via this interface. You
should also read the sections about the individual synthesizers.
You can start or stop the playback with the space bar. If the synth object has a
play button of its own (e.g. BeatBox), the plug-in can start it solo without
playing the other arrangement tracks.
If the synth objects melodies or rhythms are programmed, you can close the
the control console and arrange the synth object in the track. Synth objects
are handled like normal objects and can be edited with all available effects
(view page 159), drawn longer or made shorter using handles, or have their
volume adjusted.
The interface of any synth object can be opened for further editing by double
clicking it. In addition, any number of synth-objects from the same software
synthesizer be dragged onto the track and programmed separately. You can
also split up synth objects.
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BeatBox 2 plus
Note: BeatBox 2 replaces the older BeatBox from previous versions and is not
compatible with them. Please read the notes for users of older MAGIX Music
Maker 17 Premium versions (view page 116).
BeatBox 2 is a 16-voice drum computer with hybrid sound synthesis and a
step sequencer. The proven handling concepts of the "old" BeatBox like matrix
programming with auto copy have been expanded with comfortable editing of
velocities and significantly improved sound synthesis, including a multi-effects
section (one effect per drum instrument).
A drum sound is created in BeatBox 2 using a sample (analogously to the old
BeatBox) which is combined with a synthetic sound that can be created using
up to three different synthesis models (hybrid sound synthesis). BeatBox 2 plus
enables detailed editing and automation of all sound parameters.
There are two styles of interface in BeatBox 2. While closed, you can listen to
included sounds or those you've made in BeatBox 2 without using too much
window space.
Only the most important control elements are displayed when the program
window is minimized.
Volume controller: Controls the volume.
Peakmeter and preset name: The peakmeter lets you visually control
BeatBox 2. Click on the triangle beside the preset name to open the
preset list.
Next/Previous preset
Save preset: The preset includes the drum kit in use, the pattern, and
any possible automations (view page 122).
Play/Stop: The playback controller in BeatBox 2 starts BeatBox
without playing the arrangement, too.
Edit button: The edit button opens BeatBox 2 for you to program your
own beats and sounds.
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Maximized BeatBox 2 plus window
Drum kit: This section loads drum kits (collections of different
drum instruments) and the individual drum instruments.
Selected drum instrument: The settings in the synthesis
section (6) and velocity/automation (5) always affect the
selected drum instrument.
Pattern editor: Programs the beat sequence. In the top part,
different patterns (sequences) can be loaded and saved as well
as different settings for the view and function of the pattern
editor. The matrix is where the beat is programmed: One line
corresponds to a drum instrument, and a column matches a
specific time position within 1-4 beats. If a cell is clicked on,
then the respective drum instrument will be triggered at this
position.
Velocity/Control: This section has two modes: Velocity and
Automation. The setting Velocity displays the velocity levels for
the selected instrument's beats as a column. The Automation
set up allows automation to be set for sound parameters in the
synthesis section (6).
Synthesis: The selected sound parameters and effects settings
for the selected drum instrument can be edited here.
In the following, the sections of BeatBox 2 will be discussed individually:
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Drum kit
This section loads drum kits (collections of
different drum instruments) and the
individual drum instruments. You can also
try out an already programmed pattern with
different kits or exchange individual drum
instruments.
Select drum kit: Use the <> buttons to switch through the
different drum kits. A drum kit is a collection of percussion
instruments with matching sounds, e.g. rock kit or electronic
drums à la TR 808. By changing the drum kit, you can add an
entirely different sound to the rhythm you have already created.
Save drum kit: Use this button to save the current collection of
drum instruments as a kit.
Drum kit list: Click on the arrow right of the name to open a
complete list of available drum kits.
Select drum kit: The arrow buttons function analogously to those
of the drum kit. The sequence of drum instruments in the kit can
be resorted via drag & drop.
Mute/Solo: The "solo" button switches a drum instrument solo,
i.e. all other instruments which are not "solo" will be muted. The
"mute" button mutes a drum instrument.
New drum or effect sounds can by added to the current drum kit by drag &
drop from Windows Explorer. Drag a wave file to a drum instrument to create a
new drum sound based on this sample. BeatBox 2 copies the sample into the
sample folder to make sure that the instrument or kit created can be used
again later. You can drag a complete folder with wave files to the drum kit to
create a kit based on those samples.
Context menu
Right clicking a drum instrument always opens a context menu:
• Copy/Paste: Copy an instrument from a track and paste it to another one.
• Empty instrument: An empty instrument is added. No sound is played, it has
no name, and is used to clean up an unused track.
• Default instrument: The standard instrument is added. It has the standard
parameter for all synthesis shapes and serves as the starting point for your
own sounds.
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• Reset automation: BeatBox 2's own presets contain automations. These are
dynamic sound parameters like filter curves or pitch changes. This command
allows you to completely remove these for the selected instruments.
Pattern editor buttons
Pattern: Use the <> buttons to switch through the different patterns.
The arrow to the right opens a list of all available patterns, and the save
button stores the current pattern.
Clear track/all: All events for the selected instrument (track) or all events
for the pattern (all) are removed by clicking this button.
Bar selection: The bar you wish to edit can be selected via the
corresponding number button. Use the “Follow” button to select follow
mode, i.e. the step display follows the steps of the currently played beat.
All shows all bars of the pattern.
"1>2-4" Auto copy: If more than one bar is set as the pattern length,
"Auto copy" mode makes sure that the drum notes set in the first bar
are automatically placed into the next bars. This also makes it easy to
create a continuous beat, even with a loop length of four bars. Notes set
in the bars further back are not affected by the "Auto draw" function,
which, for example, makes faint variations detectable only in the fourth
bar.
Bars: The maximum length of a drum pattern is four beats. The length
can be selected via the small scroll bar.
Shuffle: This controller changes BeatBox 2's timing. If the fader is
turned to the right, the eighth of a rhythm is played more and more like a
triplet. If that sounds a bit too abstract – simply try it out, ideally with a
pure 1/16 hi hat figure; you'll soon see what the shuffle fader is capable
of.
Grid: Here you can set the time resolution of the BeatBox. You can
choose from 1/8 notes (only for very simple rhythms), 1/16 (default),
1/32 (for more refined constructions).
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Pattern editor - matrix
This is the heart of BeatBox. A click on any position in the drum matrix creates
or deletes drum notes (events). Clicking and dragging draws in a series of
notes. Together with the velocity editing options (view page 123) (velocity), you
can easily create drum rolls.
If "Shift" is held when you click on notes in the range, a rectangle can be
drawn out which selects the notes contained within this rectangle (lasso
selection). Selected notes can be copied by dragging them to a new position.
If "Ctrl" is also held down, then existing notes will remain at the target position.
Delete all selected notes by right clicking.
Two special commands are available for selection:
Shift + double click Select everything in the bar clicked on.
Shift + Ctrl + double click Select all
A simple mouse click cancels the selection. The selection is automatically
canceled after copying. If you want to keep your selection, hold down "Ctrl"
while copying.
Keyboard shortcuts
Many functions in BeatBox 2 can be controlled with the keyboard, for example
a beat can be triggered with the "Enter" key live in a running pattern. Here's a
complete list of the keyboard commands:
General Key command
Open/Close editor e
Pattern editor - options
"1>2-4" Auto copy a
Follow f
Display bar 1... 4 1... 4
Show all bars 0
Grid finer/rougher +/-
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Selected drum instrument
Previous/Next Cursor up/down
Preview p
Live input Enter
Mute on/off m
Solo on/off sec
Velocity
The velocity mode serves for editing the velocity/automation of the individual
drum notes for the selected drum instrument.
Reset: Sets all velocity levels to 100%
Mode switcher: Switches the section between velocity control and
Automation (view page 122).
Random: The random parameter adds random variations to the set
velocities. This helps make your beats sound more natural.
Amount: No function in velocity mode.
Velocity level: Every set note for the selected instrument is displayed as
a column and can be edited. Multiple columns can be edited at once;
see Editing velocity values and automations (view page 123).
Automation
Every parameter for a drum sound, including effects, can be automated, i.e.
can change during a pattern. For example, you can make your snare drums
more lively by adding higher voices to loud hits or by setting accents on
individual hits with reverb effects.
The synthesizer section below enables the selection of a
parameter for automation via the small blue LEDs above a
parameter controller.
More about the parameter controllers in the Synthesizer (view
page 124) section.
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Reset: Sets all automation values for the selected parameter. 0.
Mode switcher: Switches the section between velocity control (view
page 122) and automation switched. This happens automatically
during selection of parameters.
Random: The random parameter adds random variations to the set
automation. This helps make your beats sound more natural because
each programmed hit will sound slightly different. The level of the
random parameter is also influenced by the amount controller (see
below), i.e. if the amount is at "0", then the randomness will have no
effect.
Amount: The amount parameter regulates the complete influence of
the automation values and of the random factor on the selected
parameter. An amount of "0" does not have any effect at all on the
automation; maximum level has the greatest effect. The effects of the
amount controller on the automation values is made visible by a
slightly lighter line in the value columns.
Automation values: The selected parameters can be drawn in as a
column with the mouse. Automation values can also be drawn
between the set notes; the sound of the drum instrument changes
during playback.
Automation values are added to the original value of the parameters.
Editing velocities and automation values
Hold down "Shift" and select any number of columns for velocity or automation
with the mouse. Two special commands are available for selection:
Shift + double click Select everything in the bar clicked on.
Shift + Ctrl + double click Select all
The "Copy" button copies the selection to the clipboard. If you select this or
that track in another editor, then you can paste the notes there now from the
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clipboard. If the target selection is larger than the contents of the clipboard,
then it will be inserted again. This lets you quickly add a short section
throughout the complete length of the pattern.
The three handles allow the velocity or automation values to be edited
together.
The middle handle increases or lowers the values together.
An object can be faded in or out with the handles to the left and right upper
corners of the object.
If you move the handles horizontally you can change the curve shape of the
transition.
A single click in the automation section cancels the selection again.
Note: A selection of velocity values matches the selection of corresponding
notes in the matrix editor.
Synthesizer
In the lower section of BeatBox, you can set the sound for the selected drum
instrument.
The synthesis in BeatBox 2 consists of a combination of a simple drum
sampler and a synthesizer. There are three different synthesis models possible
for the synthesizer: "Phase Distortion Synth" (FM synthesis), "Filtered Noise",
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and "Physical Modeling". The mixed signal of both components is then
processed by a multi-mode filter. An envelope curve ("envelope generator")
time-dependently controls modulations of in all components.The details of the
synthesis models can be read in the section Synthesis models (view page 128).
Preview drum istrument
Save drum instrument
Select sample: A click on the arrow selects samples from the
categories like kick, snare, etc.
Select synthesis mode: Switches between the three synthesis
models.
Mix: Mix relationship between drum sampler and synthesizer.
Parameter controllers: All six sound parameters for a drum sound can
be directly set and automated via the parameter controller. The
parameters in question depend on the drum sound currently loaded.
By clicking the name of a sound parameter, a menu opens for you to
add parameter controllers to each drum sound's synthesis
parameters.
Automation: This selects the controller's parameter for the automation
(view page 122).
Effects section
Each of BeatBox 2's drum instruments includes an effects unit which is fed in
after the actual sound synthesis and editing. Each of these effects units
includes a series of high-quality algorithms to add "audio polish" or to place
the sound in a production-typical context.
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FX on/off
Parameter controller: An effects module includes four adjustable
parameters. The fourth, "Mix", is always available and the remainder
possess a function dependent upon the selected algorithm.
Automation: This selects the controller's parameter for the automation
(view page 122).
Effects algorithm: Click the arrow to select an effects algorithm.
The available effects algorithms per unit are described in the following.
Mono delay (tempo sync / millisec.)
Simple, monophonic delay effect
Parameters
• Time: Delay time controlled by musical measure (sync) or free running
• Feedback: Repetition
• Damping: High damping of the repetition
Stereo delay (tempo sync / millisec.)
Stereophonic repetition, adjustable separately per side
Parameters
• Left / Right: Delay times, synced or free running
• Feedback: In contrast to mono delay, no repetition takes place in the middle
position of the feedback controller. When turned to the left the type of delay is
that of the so-called "ping-pong" variety, i.e. the signal is alternately sent so
that is jumps from one channel to the other. When turned to the right the delay
effect is "dual mono", in which case left and right sides act as two
independent time-delay units.
Chorus
Produces a typical "floating/shimmering sound" by modulated detuning of a
signal to "thicken up" its sound or spread it across the stereo field. Detuning
is achieved by a short delay, the length of which can be varied by the
modulation. This produces the so-called "Doppler" effect.
Parameters
• Time: Delay time in milliseconds. This can be understood as the "base"
modulation which is stretched or compressed by the modulator.
• Rate: Modulation speed
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• Depth: Modulation amplitude. Low values modulate only a little, higher values
lead to a clear vibrato.
Flanger
Algorithmically similar to chorus, but different in that the delay time is
significantly lower and delay works with repetitions (feedback). A flanger
sounds more "cutting" and up-front than a chorus.
Parameters
• Rate: Modulation speed
• Feedback: Delay feedback
• Depth: Modulation amplitude
Phaser
A modulation effect just like chorus & flanger, but in this case no detuning
takes placed. Filter components periodically alter the signal's "phase
response" (principle of the "phase shifter"). Characteristic notches are
produced in the frequency spectrum response to create so-called "comb filter
effects". The phaser effect is suitable for pads and "psychedelic" sounds.
Parameters
• Rate: Modulation speed
• Feedback: Feedback of filter steps
• Depth: Modulation amplitude
Room reverb / Hall reverb
In the case of reverb there are two realistic simulations of natural reverberation.
Sounds receive "atmosphere" and thereby appear lively and "authentic". Room
reverb simulates a small space with high echo density. Hall reverb mimics the
typical reverb of large concert halls.
Since natural spaces never sound "static" because air molecules are
constantly moving and due to the complexity of reflection processes, both
algorithms include a modulation parameter which varies the delay time of
individual echoes and thereby affects the liveliness of the reverb impression
depending on strength.
Parameters
• Decay: Reverberation length
• Damp: Damping of highs, simulates absorbtion via air, wall materials, and
objects
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• Mod: Modulation strength.
Lo-fi
This algorithm gives the sound a little bit of "grit", or a certain measure of
signal destruction depending on its setting. An ideal partner for creative sound
design. The simulation of early digital synthesizes or samplers is equally
possible since their AD/DA converters were anything but "true" in the character
of their sound. The sample rate from the output of the lo-fi effect can be
continuously reduced and a generous measure of "aliasing" distortion can be
produced alongside the unavoidable loss of highs which results from "down
sampling". Bit resolution is clearly changeable, too.
Parameters
• Rate: Sample rate
• Crush: Number of bits
• Low-pass: Low-pass filter at the output to smooth out induced noise
Distortion
This overdrive effect works similarly to common guitarist effect pedals.
Everything is possible, from light, bluesy signal saturation to hard "metal shred
boards". Here a dual-band EQ works on the in and output signals and
therefore provides a rich palette of sounds.
Parameters
• Drive: Controls the internal level and thereby the overdrive
• Low: Bass portion.
• High:High portion.
Analog filter 12/24db
Vintage compressor
Synthesis models
The sound synthesis in BeatBox 2 consists of a simple sampler and a
synthesizer which includes three different synthesis modules.
Sampler
The sampler plays short sound recordings ("samples") in different pitches. The
sampler is intended for creating all kinds of drum sounds; the sounds are static
and unnatural if the pitch is not altered. This is why the sampler is combined
with on of the three synthesis models.
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Filtered noise
White noise is filtered by two band-pass filters with separately setup
frequencies and resonance. This algorithm is suitable for creating synthetic
snares and high hat sounds.
Phase distortion synth
Two oscillators with regulated phase distortion and thoroughly variable
frequency modulate each other (FM/cross-modulation/ring-modulation).
Depending on the setting, this algorithm can be used to create kick, tom, or
metallic percussion sounds; higher values for frequency and modulation level
produce noisier sounds for high hats or shaker sounds. Since the oscillator
frequency can be set exactly according to the musical pitch, this model can be
used to produce mass lines or melodies.
Physical modeling
This is a simple physical model of an "abstract" percussion instrument. A
fed-back network of delays is caused to oscillate by an impulse of filtered
white noise (exciter). Depending on the setting of the exciter, the size of the
model (surface), and the damping, a wide spectrum of natural sounding
percussion instruments like cymbals, claves, gongs, or triangles can be
created.
Multimode filter/Envelope generator
Following the samplers and synthesizers, an inverse filter (multi-mode filter) is
added to add the last bit of polish to the drum sound. The envelope generator
controls all time-dependent processes in the synthesizer and sampler.
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Drum & Bass machine 2.0
The Drum & Bass machine is a dual synthesizer, uniting both distinct styles of
drum’n’bass in one piece of equipment to produce fast beat crashes and
rumbling bass lines. With the Drum & Bass machine you need no special skills
to create authentic sounds for your drum’n’bass songs.
A tip: The typical speed for Drum’n’Bass is usually around 160-180 BPM. The
Drum & Bass machine also fits in perfectly with other music styles, e.g. bigbeat
(120 BPM) or trip hop (80-90 BPM).
Setup
The top half of the synthesizer controls the rhythm section, the bottom half
controls the bass section. Between the two, on the left side you will see a
symbol where both sections can be turned on and off individually. You can turn
off the bass section, for example, so that you take only the drum section break
beat into the arrangement. The MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium arrangement
mix will then only include the drum section in the mix file.
The volume control is on the right border, controlling the volume for both
sections. The play and stop buttons allow you to listen to your drum’n’bass
creations up front in MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium.
The "Drum‘n’Bass" label covers a menu containing functions to load and save
drum’n’bass patterns (Load machine state/Save machine state), and functions
to delete or generate patterns (Clear all/Random all). The submenu "Velocity
presets" contains some help functions for programming of the velocity row.
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The rhythm section (top half)
You can easily create complex and authentic jungle break beat sounds. In a
professional recording studio, jungle break beats are created by dividing any
given drum loop into several small "bits" and putting them back together in a
different order. This lengthy process is significantly simplified by the Drum &
Bass machine. You just have to design your own new play sequence.
You set up the new sequence in the top ("steps") row. The blue cells indicate
the individual sections ("notes") for the subdivision of the loop.
A left mouse click on one of the blue cells allows you to select one of six
possible symbols. Each symbol represents a different note or other way of
playing the note. Every time you click on one of the blue cells, the next symbol
is chosen.
Rely on your own intuition and creativity when programming your beats. It is
not absolutely necessary to know the exact meaning of each individual symbol
in order to create cool and authentic beats.
Summary symbol description:
1: Play drum loop from beginning
2: Play drum loop from the second note
3: Play drum loop from the third note
4: Play drum loop from the fourth note
Backward symbol: Play backwards from this point
Stop symbol: Stops play
The right mouse button allows you to delete the step cells individually. The
"Clear" button on the right deletes all step cells; the drum loop is played in its
original sequence. The "Random rhythm" button generates a random
sequence. You can then alter the rhythm as you wish.
By clicking on the blue field in the bottom part of the rhythm section you open
a pop-up menu where you can select the drum loop sound. If you select a
different drum loop, it will be loaded and played as programmed by you.
In the "Flame" row you can set the note to be played twice quickly in
succession instead of only once, allowing you to program rolls and fill-ins.
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The "Velocity" row allows you to set intensity values between 0 and 16 with the
mouse (left mouse click increases value, right mouse click decreases value).
Use the three buttons under the "Velocity" row to determine how these values
will affect the sound of your loop. If you select "Volume", the velocity value
alters the volume for this cell (16 = loud, 0 = quiet). If you select "Filter", the
velocity value alters the filter strength for this cell (16 = sharp, 0 = muffled). The
"None" button blocks use of the velocity values.
The bass section (bottom half)
The bass section allows you to create the right bass lines for your rhythm
quickly. As in the rhythm row, there are two-step rows.
• With the first "Notes" row, you determine the sequence of the notes, i.e. the
sound sequence.
• By clicking on a cell with the left mouse button, you open a pop-up window,
where you can select the notes.
• By clicking with the right mouse button, you delete a cell.
• If you click on an empty cell with the right mouse button, you will see a "Stop"
symbol. This function is similar to that in the rhythm section, i.e. it stops the
bass sound at this point.
• In the "Octave" row you can determine the bass octave sound. Octave 1
creates a deep tone, Octave 3 a high tone. You can only set the octave values
if there is a note in the row above.
• As in the rhythm section, there are also buttons for "Clear", "Random notes",
and a red selection field at the top border of the bass section. The red
selection field allows you to set the bass sound.
• Underneath the step rows, you will also find two sliding controls for sound
adjustment. You can use the "Vibrato" control to make the bass tone "swing"
at its pitch. If the control is pushed all the way to the right, the swing will be
stronger; all the way to the left will have no effect on the pitch.
• With the "Delay" controller you can set a time for the sound to completely fade
out. All the way to the right makes the sound fade out quickly (after approx. ¼
second); all the way to the left means ongoing sound.
LiViD - Little Virtual Drummer
MAGIX LiViD helps you to turn your ideas into songs. Enter a few basic details
and LiViD will play a full drum track, complete with intro, verses, choruses, fills,
bridges etc.; the entire song structure is laid out for your convenience. Brilliant
stereo drum samples recorded by professional studio musicians and a freely
adjustable “Humanize“ function will create an authentic drum feel with perfect
sound quality.
LiViD features four styles (pop, rock, funk, latin), each of which is subdivided
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into four further substyles, as well as six song sections for each substyle (intro,
verse, bridge, chorus, outro, fill-in).
Scramble: A random sequence of four one-bar patterns is generated internally
for each style/substyle/song section. “Scramble” generates a new pattern
order.
Shuffle: Shifts the second and fourth 16th note of a beat back by a freely
definable amount (100% = triplet rhythm).
Humanize: Randomly shifts all events backwards or forwards, or leaves them
unaffected. Note: these shifts are very subtle and not always immediately
perceptible!
Snare: Sets the snare stick style to “normal”, “side stick” (stick hits the rim
while resting on the skin) or “rim shot” (sticks hits the rim and skin
simultaneously). Exception: the snare’s quietest velocity level ( the "ghost
notes") is always “normal”.
Hi-hat: Sets the hi-hat sound to “soft” (fully closed) or to “hard” (half-open).
Exception: completely opened hi-hat (pop, type1, verse).
Ride: Sets the ride cymbal sound to “ride” (cymbal is hit on the rim) or “ride
bell” (cymbal is hit on the bell at the center).
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Robota
The Robota is a four-part drum computer with virtual analog and
sample-based sound production. Virtual analog sound production means that
the sounds are synthesized in real-time, i.e. produced with a synthesizer to
recreate the typical analog sounds of classical drum computers, such as the
Roland Tr-808 and Tr-909, or more recent devices such as the Korg Electribe
or the Jomox x-cousin. Sample sound production uses drum sound recordings
(or even other recordings) as the basis for sound production.
After selecting the elementary sound production technique, the sounds of each
of the 4 parts (or instruments) can be edited using modulators.
The step sequencer programmed with incident lighting helps Robota to play. 4
beats in sixteenths (or 2 beats in thirty-seconds) are processed as a loop. At
each beat position, the playing positions can be set by clicking a button. In
"Event" mode, the instruments are distributed within the beat pattern. In
"Snapshot" mode you can adjust additional instrument sound settings.
Sound synthesis
The four instruments of the Robota are built identically. Each instrument can
create all kinds of drum sounds – from hissing hi-hats to phat bass drums.
During elementary sound production, you can choose between an oscillator
with selectable wave shapes (sine, triangle or saw tooth) or a sample. In
addition, you can add a noise generator can be added. The oscillator has a
pitch envelope (pitch env.) and a volume envelope (attack/decay). It can also
be frequency and ring-modulated. The depth of the modulation can be
controlled via an envelope parameter (Fm/rng dcy). There’s also a “Lo-fi”
section consisting of distortion (Rectify), bit rate reduction (Crush) and
sampling rate reduction (down sample).
Temporal control via an envelope (lofi dcy) will get the best out of the lo-fi
effects. A multi-mode filter (low-pass/band-pass filter/high-pass) with 12/24 dB
steep-side. A comb filter can be inserted. The filter frequency can be likewise
modulated via an envelope. For extra pressure, an adjustable compressor
(compressor, comp resp) is included, as well as tube amplifier simulation
(tube).
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Parameter (1) To simplify matters, not all
parameters can be changed on a sound - only
those that are meaningful for the selected drum
sound may be changed (snare, kick, high etc.).
There are four selected variable parameters
coordinated exactly with the selected preset sound.
Oscillator waveform (2): The fundamental
waveform of the Oscillators is selected here. You
can choose from sinus/triangle/sawtooth/sample.
If you have selected "Smpl" you can use the rotary
knob to select a sample, i.e. a previously recorded
drum sound. These samples are saved in the folder
/synth/robota/samples/. If select custom samples,
they will appear in the selection list.
(3):For each part you can regulate: Filter Cutoff,
Resonance, Tube, Volume and Panorama (view
page 136).
With select choose the instrument for editing in the step
sequencer.
“M” mutes the instrument, “S” makes it solo
The loudspeaker button allows you to hear a preview.
Master Section
Volume regulates the total volume of the Robota. Distortion adds an
adjustable tube distortion to make the sound “dirtier” and more powerful. The
peak meter helps control the output level – when it enters the red area, reduce
the total volume.
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Schematic illustration of the Robota synthesis
Here is a detailed circuit diagram of a Robota voice with a description of all
control parameters.
Pitch envelope (pitch env)
Controls the pitch envelope level.
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Tune
Tunes the instrument.
Oscillator shape (osc shape)
The shaper adds additional frequency shares to the basic sound of the
oscillator by artificially reshaping the wave shape. A sine wave (shape = 0) can
be reshaped up to a square curve (shape = max).
Oscillator waveform
The fundamental waveform of the oscillators is selected here. You can choose
from sine/triangle/sawtooth/sample. If "Sample" is selected, you can use the
controller to select a sample, i.e. a previously recorded drum sound. These
samples are saved in the folder /Synth/robota/samples/. If you select custom
samples, they will appear in the selection list. If you are playing your own
samples, they will appear in the selection list.
Noise
Adjust the ratio between the oscillator sound and the noise generator.
Attack
Adjusts the attack time. The greater the set value, the softer the attack of the
sound. The attack rate is also applied to the lo-fi and filter envelope curves.
Decay
Adjusts the decay curve. The greater the value, the slower the instrument will
decay.
FM/Ring modulation frequency (Fm/rng frq)
The fundamental frequency of the frequency or ring modulation.
FM level (fm lvl)
At a low frequency FM first adds vibration to the sound, at high frequencies
and low levels it creates bell-like sounds, as the level increases metal sounds,
and finally noise.
Ring modulation level (rng lvl)
Ring modulation creates typical auxiliary frequencies.
FM/Ring modulation decay (Fm/rng dcy)
Time constant of FM/ring modulation by-product. Only the beginning of the
drum sound is affected by the modulation.
Rectify
Distorts the audio signal.
Crush
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Bit rate reduction. Digital artifacts become audible with higher settings.
Down sample (dwnsmple)
Sample rate reduction. Ideal for creating the "old school sound" of older digital
drum machines. As it is increased, the result becomes darker.
Lo-fi decay (lofi dcy)
Time constant of the by-product of the three lo-fi effects which makes the
sound "dirty". Only the beginning of the drum sound of the lo-fi effects is
affected if the decay is low. For instance, this makes the kick of a kick drum
sound more interesting.
Filter modes (flt mode)
Filter mode: High cut – sound portions above the cut-off frequency are filtered
out. Band pass (BP) – Sound portions above and below the cut-off frequency
are filtered out. Low cut - All sound portions below the cut-off frequency are
filtered out. This mode is set as a preset and can not be changed.
Filter frequency (flt freq)
The cut-off frequency of the filter.
Filter resonance (flt reso)
Filter resonance which increases the sound portions at the cut-off frequency of
the filter. If the resonance is high, the filter itself can also be used as an
oscillator.
Filter modulation -/+ (flt mod -+)
Regulates how much and in which direction the filter envelope curve moves the
filter frequency in which direction.
Filter-Modulation decay (flt mod dcy)
Decay time of the filter curve. Smaller values with high resonance create a
"zapping" sound of the filter, greater values create the typical sweep sound.
Filter modulation velocity (flt mod vel)
Specifies how much the filter modulation depth depends on the velocity. If this
value is increased, louder beats will generate higher filter curves than quieter
ones.
24 dB
The filter can operate with a slope of 12 dB or 24 dB. This mode is set as a
preset and cannot be changed.
Comb filter (comb filt on)
You can activate a comb filter, a feedback delay that creates resonance-like
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sounds comparable to a plucked string. The delay time and feedback levels
are permanently linked fo the filter parameters (frequency and resonance). This
comb filter is set as a preset and can not be changed.
Compressor
Controls the compressor strength. This lets you increase the "power" of the
drum sound.
Compressor response (comp resp)
Controls the compressor time. The lower the value, the faster the compressor
follows the volume.
Tube
Controls the level of the tube amp simulation. It "saturates" the output signal of
the voice and adds warmth to the sound if the settings are moderate.
Increasing the settings makes the sound "dirtier".
Volume/Pan
Controls the volume and panorama position of the drum instruments.
Sequencer
Incident lighting is used to control the drum patterns just like in all classical
drum computers and groove boxes. The step sequencer consists of 16
individual step buttons with LEDs corresponding to the appropriate partitioning
of a beat:
16ths or 32nds (a half beat is in each case displayed). A button lights up to
indicate the releasing of the instrument at this point in the beat (= step).
A left click turns on the step, a further left click deletes the step again.
A pattern can be a maximum of 4 beats long. The length can
be modified using the fader on the button bar.
The beat to be edited can be selected with the applicable “edit” button. The
“Follow” button specifies whether the step of a beat is in time.
"1 > 2-4" auto draw: If more than 1 beat is activated as the loop length, the
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"Auto draw" mode ensures that the drum note set in the first beat is set
automatically for the following beats. This makes it very simple to produce a
continuous beat from a loop length of 4 beats. Notes set in the rear beats are
not affected by auto draw.
How to program a drum pattern:
• Select the pattern length with the fader.
• Select “Event” mode.
• If you edit during playback, turn off “Follow”. Select the beat with the “Edit”
buttons.
• Use “Select” to choose an instrument to edit.
• Use the “Clear bar” button to delete all steps in the
selected instrument.
• Turn on the appropriate step buttons, and use the
“Velocity” controller to adjust the beat velocity.
• Repeat the procedure with the other instruments
Snapshots
In addition, you can automate programming of the editable sound parameter of
a drum sound via so-called "snapshots". You can thereby save the sound
parameters of a drum instrument on the step buttons of the sequencers.
Automating the drum instrument with snapshots.:
• Set the edit mode to “Snap”.
• If you edit during playback, turn off “Follow”. Select the beat with the “Edit”
buttons.
• Select an instrument and edit the sound. You can control the sound of an
instrument even when playback has stopped by using the loudspeaker button.
• Save the sound as a snapshot to one of the step buttons.
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• Change the sound of an instrument and save the settings to other step button
Warning: The parameters are not changed abruptly but are faded internally
instead, in order to avoid crackling. If two snapshots with extreme parameter
differences are too close together, the drum sounds will sound differently when
the pattern is played.
• Using the arrow keys, you can jump between the individual
snapshots during stopped playback.
• Press “on” to activate snapshot automation.
Groove Control
The secret behind “groove” beats lies in delay. That is, individual beats are
either anticipated or delayed according to patterns. For example house beats
use the “shuffle” whereby straight 1/16s are delayed at certain times.
In the Robota there are groove velocity and groove swing presets. Groove
velocity presets contain for each step of a beat a certain offset to increase or
reduce the original beat velocity. Groove swing presets contain for each step a
time alignment that is either anticipated or delayed. The result is a
livelier-sounding sequence. The strength of the effect can be adjusted with the
% regulator.
Setups, drum kits, presets, and patterns
A single instrument sound is saved
as a preset.
Presets containing all four
instruments are saved as drum kits.
All note information plus the
snapshots are saved as a pattern.
Together (drum kit + pattern) they are
know as a setup.
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Load/Save
Presets, drum kits, patterns and setups can be selected with the continuous
rotary regulators next to the display area. For storing, click on the “Save”
button. Then specify a new name in the input field. To store, press “Enter”.
Note: A drum kit stores only the names of the presets, not the actual
parameters. If you want to store your own drum sounds that were created by
changing existing presets, you must first store them as new presets and then
as a new drum kit! The same applies to the setups, which contain only the
pattern and drum kit names.
If necessary, always store in this order: preset -> drum kit -> pattern ->
setup. This applies only when creating your own “templates”. If you store your
arrangement normally, the complete current status (synthesizer + sequencer)
of the Robota is always stored and correctly loaded later with the arrangement.
Atmos
Atmos is a synthesizer which can be used to easily create realistic nature
sounds in no time. From thunder and lightning to animal sounds and traffic
noise, Atmos helps you design natural-sounding atmospheric noises for your
projects.
• In the upper border window, select the top category "Scenario". You can
select a desired nature sounds category (for example, "Thunder and
Lightning").
• In the middle of the window, a collection of control elements appears for
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designing the desired "Ambience". Each element has its own description (e.g.
"Thunder") and two faders, i.e. "Volume" and "Intensity". The "volume" control
adjusts the loudness portion of the element. The "Intensity" fader controls the
behavior of the sound, depending on controller element. For example, with
"Thunder", you can set how often thunder and lightning should sound; with
"Rain", the strength of the rain can be regulated (if moved to the far left, light
rain can be heard, while if moved to the far right, a downpour with loud
splashing noises is audible).
• At the bottom right border you will find a master volume fader with which the
master volume of the synthesizer can be set. Furthermore, the "Randomize"
setting is also located here. This way you can change the settings of the
control elements by yourself.
Synthesizer plug-ins
MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium includes Vita and the Revolta, two VST
plug-in-based software synthesizers (see below). Compared with other
synthesizers that are addressed via synth objects, these feature several
differences:
• Generally, VST instrument plug-ins (VSTi) do not feature sequencers of their
own and are controlled via MIDI objects.
• VST instruments are always loaded onto a certain track, and all MIDI objects
on this track control this VST instrument. The MIDI objects cannot be moved
between tracks freely like synth objects.
• Effects may be only applied on the track level.
Nevertheless, these are much more easier to manipulate in MAGIX Music
Maker 17 Premium due to MIDI control, and sequences may also be recorded
(view page 95) using MIDI keyboard.
What are VST and DirectX plug-ins?
A plug-in is an independent program section which can be added to another
program, to broaden its range of functions. Various standards were developed
for including plug-ins. "VST" and "DirectX" have become the most widely used.
"VST" stands for "Virtual Studio Technology". VST plug-ins offer an elegant
way of copying and making virtual devices that are normally used in recording
studios.
"DirectX" is a Microsoft standard for plug-ins similar to VST plug-ins.
The advantages:
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• Purchasing expensive synthesizers or effect devices is no longer necessary.
• An expensive sound card is no longer necessary for high-quality recordings
from external devices.
• VST instruments and VST/DirectX effects provided by lots of third party
providers are better value or are even made available as freeware.
The disadvantages: Each of these plug-ins uses up processor power. The
more a plug-in is used, the faster your computer should be. The required
processing power is, of course, also dependent on the size, state, and
complexity of the plug-in.
Using VST instruments
VST instruments are loaded via the Media Pool. These appear in the area
below the "Synthesizer" setting (synthesizer track).
If you have just freshly installed MAGIX Music Maker 17 Premium, then you will
not see any additional synthesizers here at first (other than those that were
included). You will have to enter the folder first in which Music Maker should
look for VST instruments. VST plug-ins may be installed in any folder on your
hard drive.
Click "Add" (on the right edge of the Media Pool) and find the VST folder. If you
use other programs with VST plug-ins or if you have already created a folder
for your VST plug-ins, you can enter the folder here. You can add another
extra folder at any time in case you you have installed additional plug-ins in
another folder; plug-ins that have already been "identified" will always be
located regardless of the path set. Pressing OK causes Music Maker to scan
the folder for usable plug-ins that are available in the Media Pool.
Vita and Revolta 2 (Premium version only) feature their own icon in
the Media Pool; all other VST instruments use a standard icon. To
use VST instruments, drag the VSTi Synth into a free track in the
arranger.
A preset MIDI object will appear in the track and the MIDI Editor will open.
You can open Vita and Revolta 2 (Premium version only) directly by
selecting one of their preset sounds in the instrument menu of the track
box. At the very bottom in the menu, a sub-menu is provided for
software instruments that lists the other VST instruments.
To use the MIDI objects and the MIDI Editor, please read the chapter MIDI
Objects (view page 88).
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VST Plug-in Editor
The VST Plug-in Editor can be opened by right-clicking on the instrument's
name in the MIDI Editor, via the corresponding plug-in slot in the Mixer, or via
the "VST Instruments Editor" entry in the instrument list.
The Instrument Editor has two views, the so-called "GUI" of the plug-in
(Graphical User Interface) and the parameter view. This is either automatically
activated when the VST plug-in does not have its own GUI or can be used if
the GUI of the plug-in is too unclear or takes up too much space on the
screen. The parameter view displays the eight parameters of the plug-in as
sliders. In the File menu you can change between these views (plug-in
dialog/plug-in parameter).
Load/save patch/bank: The instrument settings can be saved and loaded in
the patch formats typical for VST plug-ins (*.fxp) and bank formats (*.fxb).
Random parameters: This function can be an important source of inspiration.
However, before using it please save the current preset you've just created as
this feature does not ask before it is applied.
Menu program: Here you can select the presets integrated into the plug-in or
loaded via the File menu.
Revolta 2
Revolta 2 is a further development of Revolta. It is polyphonic and playable
with up to 12 tones, including an additional noise generator, a step sequencer,
and an extra-flexible modulations matrix. An effects section with 9 different
effects and presets (created by a professional designer) make it a full-fledged
synthesizer for all kinds of lead, sequence, and pad sounds.
REVOLTA 2 has a whole array of presets. The sounds have been created by
professional sound engineers and demonstrate the huge potential of this
instrument from the word start. First off, however, we would like to encourage
you to try out the various control functions and to experiment as much as you
like. The sky's the limit to your creativity.
Revolta 2 interface
Note: The following is only a short description of the Revolta 2 interface.
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For a comprehensive documentation of this complex synthesizer please
click the help button on the Revolta 2 interface!
The Revolta 2 interface can be displayed in two sizes. In "Rack" mode only the
elements necessary for preset loading are visible:
By clicking the edit button you can open the complete
interface.
1. Main parameter: Sets the volume, panorama position, pitch characteristics
("Transpose"), and play modes ("Poly", "Mono", "Legato"). "Glide" regulates the
portamento time.
2. Oscillator section: Two oscillators are available with smoothly adjustable
curve forms and a noise generator. Both oscillators can be tuned to each other
and used to modulate frequencies.
3. Amp: This is the volume envelope. Here you can influence the temporal
progression of a track's volume. A(ttack) stands for the volume increase at the
start, D(ecay) for the length of time the decrease in volume takes on a section
set with S(ustain) at the maximum volume. R(elease) is the length of time it
takes for the sound to ring out. "Vel" specifies how much the envelope curve
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depends on the velocity.
4. Filter: Here you can switch on different filters to influence the sound. "Filter
type" selects a filter type. "Cut-off" regulates the filter frequency, "Resonance"
controls the strength of the amplification of the filter frequency. VEL" indicates
how much the velocity influences filter frequency, and "Key" changes the filter
frequency depending on the note pitch ("Key tracking"). The filter envelope
(ADSR slider) influences the filter frequency depending on the time. "Env mod"
controls the strength of the filter envelope curve, and with "drive" the filter can
be overmodulated.
5. FX1/FX2: Here you can mix in 2 different effects out of a total of 9 available
effects.
6. LFO1/LFO2/Step sequencer: Two LFOS and the step sequencer can be
used to modulate single parameters of Revolta 2.
7. Options and modulations matrix: The two buttons open the Revolta options
page for general and preset-specific settings and modulation matrix. In the
modulation matrix modulation sources are connected with modulation targets.
Simple modulations like the oscillator (the pitch will be modulated via an LFO)
can be set quicker directly on the interface. Much more complex modulations
are possible in the matrix because the matrix offers more modulation sources
(e.g. MIDI controller, oscillators) and the modulation source can influence more
targets.
8. Value display: The value display shows the exact value of the parameter
which was just modified. In addition, you can find out the load of the twelve
voices.
9. Preset section: Here you can select Revolta presets. Every sound can be
listened to, and an A-B comparison between two sounds is also possible (for
example, an edited and an unedited sound).
MAGIX Vita
MAGIX Vita Synthesizer specializes on realistic playback of "real" instruments
for which it uses sampling technology. This means that short samples of real
instruments in different pitches, playing techniques and volumes are used,
combined, and played again at the correct pitch.
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The Vita interface
1. Layer selection/Peak meter: The Vita sounds, also known as layers, can be
selected here using the arrows. Right clicking on the display opens the layer
menu.
2. Main parameter: Sets the volume, panorama position, pitch characteristics
("transpose") and the fundamental frequency ("master tune").
3. Amp: This is the volume envelope. Here you can influence the temporal
progression of a track's volume. A(ttack) stands for the volume increase at the
start, D(ecay) for the length of time the decrease in volume takes on a section
set with S(ustain) at the maximum volume. R(elease) is the length of time it
takes for the sound to ring out.
4. Filter: Switches on a filter which influences the sound. "Filter type" allows
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you to select a filter type. "Cut-off" regulates the filter frequency, "Resonance"
controls the strength of the amplification of the filter frequency. "Velocity"
specifies how strongly beat should influence the filter frequency, and the
volume can be balanced using the "Gain" controller. The filter envelope (ADSR
slider) influences the filter frequency depending on the time.
5. Delay: Switches on an echo effect, "Time" controls the delay time, "Level"
controls the strength of the echo sound.
6. Reverb: Switches on a reverb effect, "Time" controls the delay time, "Level"
controls the strength of the echo sound.
7. Value display: The value display shows the exact value of the parameter
which was just modified.
8. Dynamic range: Usually, the relationship between the created volume and
MIDI velocity is proportional. Since some MIDI keyboards produce a velocity
which is too hard for loud sounds or the other way around, this behavior can
be balanced out with the "MIDI input curve". The dynamics of the sound can
be influenced with "dynamic" and "dynamic curve", i.e. the relationship
between the quietest and loudest sounds.
9. Voices: Here you can control the amount of voices played simultaneously. If
notes are no longer played during fast passages, you can increase the amount
of voices here (performance will not be as good).
10. Keyboard: Here you can preview the Vita sounds. This only works during
playback or recording.
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Live Performer
The Live Performer (open via the "Window" menu) helps you create and remix
your arrangement. Many sections in the arrangement can be defined precisely
according to the beat and played by pressing a key on the computer keyboard
or MIDI keyboard. With the Live Pads (view page 154), sound loops or MIDI
takes are positioned on the arranger tracks during playback. This way, MAGIX
Music Maker 17 Premium can be transformed into a musical instrument that
can be played directly and intuitively.
Define ranges
To play your arrangement with Live Performer, you must frame individual area
in the arrangement and define them as a range in Live Performer.
Open Live Performer, define a playback range (view page 37) and then press
the corresponding key on the keyboard (a-k or y) or click on the corresponding
button.
Repeat the process with all desired playback ranges.
The playback ranges will be displayed directly below the timeline.
The ranges can be renamed for better orientation. To do so, please right click
on a range button or the range marker along the timeline and select "Rename".
To delete an assignment, right click and select "Delete".
To reassign buttons already assigned to other ranges, right click on a button
and select "Assign to current range".
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Play with Live Performer
If this symbol is active, the Live Performer is in playback mode.
If you click the appropriate key on the keyboard or click a button, the assigned
range will be played back.
If you activate a different range, playback will switch to the other range. The
time point of the switch can be determined using the quantization buttons.
Immediate switch. Warning, this can throw the arrangement out of
rhythm!
Switch after one beat (1/4 bar). Interesting rhythmic displacements
can result.
Switch after one bar.
Switch after two bars.
Switch after four bars.
Switch at the end of the range. The range will be played out to its
end, irrespective of its length.
If the range just played back is shorter as the quantization length, for example
if "switch after 4 bars" is selected for a 2-bar range, the switch will always be
made at the end of the range.
Stop button: The "Stop" button discontinues playback. As opposed
to the normal stop using the transport control of the space bar, the
playback will not be stopped immediately, but the quantization
settings will be taken into account. If "Switch after one bar" is
selected, the current bar of the range will be played to the end and
then the playback will be stopped.
Stop is then also a "range" and can be also programmed in
Sequencer (view page 152), for example for temporary undefined
breaks.
You can also switch between ranges using MIDI command. For this, see MIDI
assignments Live Performer (view page 157).
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Sequencer
By clicking on this symbol you switch the Live Performer into the
Sequencer mode.
Sequencer programming
Above the range buttons the text line will appear for function control
(Sequencer). Enter ranges in the order in which they should be played back.
Corresponding letters will be inserted in the Sequencer. This text line can be
handled as any other text line: Letters will be added at the position of the
cursor (small, blinking vertical stroke), the arrows move the cursor, and with
Del or Back keys entries can be deleted.
Warning: In playback mode a range will be played as a loop until a different
range is selected, and one letter corresponds exactly to a one-time playback
of the range. If, for example, range D with a length of 2 bars should be played
for 8 bars, DDDD should be entered.
Playback sequence
This starts the sequence. The range play back always begins at the
cursor position (the Sequencer cursor).
A progress bar in the Sequencer shows the position in the progression where
the sequence control is found at the moment. Currently playing or played
ranges are displayed in gray, and the cursor always moves in front of the next
playing range. When the end of the programmed sequence is reached, this will
be repeated from the start.
You can also enter the sequence during playback. The ranges are then entered
at the end of the sequence.
You can also program the stop button (.). When playback reaches stop it will
be stopped. A repeated sequencer playback start occurs from the cursor
position, or behind the stop. You can thus program a progression, which stops
after each played range (cue list for theater or a radio play).
Transform sequence in arrangement
Using this button the programmed or recorded Live Performer
sequence transformed into an arrangement.
A new project is created, which corresponds exactly to the sequence. This
means that the defined ranges of the output project will be copied one after
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the other according to the succession and length defined in the sequencer.
Your current arrangement will be erased, but the Live Performer ranges will be
applied to the new arrangement. This means that you can continue using the
Live Performer unchanged, or you can close it and further edit the finished
arrangement.
Load and save Live Performer ranges
With the load and save buttons next to the Sequencer you can
save and later load recorded or programmed Live Performer
sequences.
A user scenario: Assumed, that you have various performer ranges in one
arrangement and created a sequence. Before putting the piece together by
creating a new arrangement with the "Transform sequence into arrangement"
button, first save the raw material – the arrangement and the sequence.
If you would like to change a certain sample or transition later in your "put
together" song, you don't have to do it on each spot the sample is used.
Simply load your arrangement, change the respective places, load the
sequence and create your song anew. In this fashion you can quickly create
variations on a piece.
Live Performer recording
Use this button to start the Live Performer recording.
This will record all range switches in your time line made through the Live
Performer. As opposed to programmed sequences, ranges can be played
back only partially, the recording corresponding fully to your performance.
The precise length of such "partial" ranges can not be changed later in the
sequencer. You can remove them from the sequencer, but