Magix Xara 3D Maker 7 Music Rock Edition 4.0 User Guide 4 EN
User Manual: magix Music Maker Rock Edition - 4.0 - User Guide Free User Guide for Magix Music Maker Software, Manual
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2 Copyright Copyright MAGIX Music Maker and Goya are registered trademarks of MAGIX AG. VST and ASIO are registered trademarks of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. Other named product names may be registered trademarks of their respective owners. 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. This product uses MAGIX patented technology (USP 6,518,492; USP 6,888,999) and MAGIX patent pending technology. Copyright © MAGIX AG, 1994 – 2011. All rights reserved. www.magix.com Preface Preface Congratulations on purchasing MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4! You have just bought an indispensable and versatile next-generation application for all your multimedia needs. Today, newcomers – be it producers, DJs or MCs – must do more than just make good music to make themselves noticeable. Music, video clips, media, promotion & communication all belong to the job. MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 was developed expressly to avoid the stress of this situation: a complete, contemporary production studio for music and video clips in Rock style, which is straightforward and simply to use for anyone. Equipped with fitting sound and video loops, MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 includes direct Internet connections for publishing or direct emailing of material to the right people. Production software + content + composition, performance, production & publishing network or songs & videos! Everything can be done with just a few mouse clicks. This manual explains the how, where & why to click. It's so easy! Read through and, for best results, try it out as you go along! Have fun with MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4. The MAGIX Team www.magix.com 3 4 Table of Contents Table of Contents Copyright 2 Preface 3 Support 9 Before you start Package contents System requirements Serial number Installation 11 11 11 12 13 More about MAGIX MAGIX Online World magix.info - Multimedia Community Soundpool DVD collection 14 14 14 15 Introduction What’s new in MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4? The features 16 16 17 Overview of the program interface 20 Quick start Play demo project Song Maker Preview and load audio files Position audio objects Add videos or images Manipulating objects Effects Export arrangement Create Audio CD 21 21 22 24 25 26 26 27 27 28 Arranger Normal mode/Easy mode Trackboxes and Instrument icons Zooming Microscope Move/Zoom with the mouse wheel Grid Playback area, Start and end markers 29 29 29 30 30 30 31 31 www.magix.com Table of Contents Moving the playback marker Transport Bar (playback functions) Arranger, Video Monitor, and Media Pool Arranger buttons 33 33 35 35 Video Monitor Arrangement overview InfoBox Audio peakmeter 36 37 37 37 Media Pool Preview function Soundpool settings File manager settings Synthesizer Settings templates Setting Catooh 38 38 38 40 43 43 43 Arranging Objects Loading and saving arrangements Multimedia files and objects Select objects Mute objects Build or split object groups Splitting objects Exact object positioning Duplicate objects Object handles Takes Mixdown tracks Mouse gestures 44 44 44 45 45 45 45 46 46 47 48 48 49 Audio Objects Audio formats Load and process audio files Smart Preview for the incorporated samples Change pitch/octave using the keyboard Audio recording Import audio CD Change the playback tempo or pitch Remix agent - Tempo and beat assignment Harmony Agent Text to Speech 51 51 51 51 52 52 55 59 61 67 68 Video and Bitmap Objects Video and bitmap formats www.magix.com 70 70 5 6 Table of Contents Adjusting the video screen Import and edit videos Simplify object presentation Visualizer objects Extract sound from videos Video effects Title Editor Video Compression Choppy or uneven playback General notes on AVI videos Video export via TV-out 70 70 71 71 71 72 72 74 75 75 76 Synth Objects Working with synth objects BeatBox 2 SilverSynth Pro LiViD - Little Virtual Drummer 77 77 78 86 89 Audio effects Effects Using audio effects Object and master effects rack Equalizer Compressor Reverb MAGIX Mastering Suite (demo version) Sound Warper Timestretch and pitchshift Vintage Effects Suite 91 91 92 94 96 96 97 101 107 108 110 Mixer Track effects Fader Control groups Track effects FX tracks Live monitoring Master track 124 124 125 125 126 126 127 128 Reprocess arrangement Export as email attachment Export as ringtone Create Audio CD Upload song to Soundcloud Common export options 129 129 129 130 130 131 www.magix.com Table of Contents File Menu New arrangement Load arrangement Save arrangement Save arrangement as... Import Export Backup Settings Exit 133 133 133 133 133 134 134 141 142 148 Edit Menu Undo Redo Object Track Range Navigation Select all objects 149 149 149 149 152 152 154 155 Menu effects Song Maker Audio Video Title 156 156 157 160 160 View menu Easy mode Arranger Media Pool Video monitor Mix Standard layout 162 162 162 163 163 164 165 Online menu Catooh – the Online Content Library MAGIX Online Album magix.info - Multimedia Community More online services Online login details 166 166 167 169 170 171 Tasks menu 172 Help Menu Show welcome dialog www.magix.com 173 173 7 8 Table of Contents Documentation Help from other users Update program / Upgrade functions About MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 173 174 174 175 Buttons overview and keyboard shortcuts Toolbar Key shortcut 176 176 176 Index 184 www.magix.com Support Support Dear MAGIX customer, Our aim is to provide convenient, fast and solution-focused support at all times. To this end, we offer a wide range of services: Unlimited web support: As a registered MAGIX customer, you have unlimited access to web support offered via the convenient MAGIX service portal on http://support.magix.net, including an intelligent help assistant, high-quality FAQs, patches and user reports that are constantly updated. The only requirement for use is product registration on www.magix.com The online community - on-the-spot support and a platform for exchange: MAGIX customers have free and unlimited access to the online community at www.magix.info, which includes approx. 100,000 members and offers the opportunity to ask members questions concerning MAGIX products as well as use the search function to search for specific topics or answers. In addition to questions & answers, the knowledge pool includes a glossary, video tutorials and a discussion forum. The multiple experts, found round-the-clock on www.magix.info guarantee quick answers, which sometimes come within minutes of a question being posted. Email support for MAGIX products: 8 (eight) weeks of free email customer service (starting from the purchase date) is automatically included with the purchase of any new MAGIX product. MAGIX guarantees fast processing of your request and an immediate reply. Premium email support: If you experience problems after the 8 weeks of free email support have expired, you can purchase a Premium email support ticket in the MAGIX Shop for USD 12.99 | CAD 13.99 | GBP 9.99 | AUD 18.99 | ZAR 120.00 | EUR 12.99 | SEK 119.00 | NOK 99.00 | DKK 99.00. This ticket applies to a specific problem and is valid until it is solved; it is therefore not restricted to one email. Reporting evident program errors is exempt from this regulation. Please note: To be able to use the Premium email support and free product email support via the Internet, you have to register your MAGIX product using the serial number provided. This can be found on the CD case of your installation CD or on the inside of the DVD box. Additional telephone service: Besides the large number of free customer service offers, we also offer a feebased telephone customer service. www.magix.com 9 10 Support Here you can find a summary of our technical support telephone numbers: http://support.magix.net/ Mail (Europe): MAGIX Development Support, P.O. Box 20 09 14, 01194 Dresden, Germany Mail (North America): MAGIX Customer Service, 1105 Terminal Way #302, Reno, NV 89502, USA Please make sure you 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 MAGIX Sales Department You can reach the MAGIX Sales Department workdays for help with the following questions and problems: Orders Product consulting (pre-purchase) Upgrade requests Returns Europe Monday - Friday, 09:00-16:00 GMT U.K.: 0203 3189218 Denmark: 699 18149 Sweden: 0852500858 Finland: 09 31581630 Norway: 0210 30665 North America 9 am to 4 pm EST Mon-Fri Phone: 1-305-722-5810 www.magix.com Before you start Before you start Package contents DVD On this DVD you will find the installation manager for MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4, 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. System requirements Computer: Intel® Pentium® or AMD® Athlon® 1 GHz or higher, 512 MB RAM or higher (1 GB recommended) Free hard disk space: 2 GB Graphics card with min 4 MB RAM, min. resolution 1024 x 768 16-bit sound card. Dolby® ProLogicTM Surround Sound CD/DVD drive for program installation Publication on MAGIX Online Album and download from Catooh only with online connection and Microsoft® Internet ExplorerTM, version 6.0 or higher. Sending video emails with available standard email software Microsoft® OutlookTM or Microsoft® Outlook ExpressTM. www.magix.com 11 12 Before you start 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 Rock Edition 4 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 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 Rock Edition 4 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. www.magix.com Before you start Installation Step 1: Insert the program disc into the drive. The installation program starts up automatically in Windows. If the disc doesn't run automatically, open the Windows Explorer and click the letter of the CD-ROM drive. Now double-click on "Start.exe" to start the installer. Step 2: To begin the installation of MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4, click on "MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4". The MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 installation program will appear. Simply follow the instructions on screen to complete the installation process and then click on "Continue". All files are 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. If you would like to uninstall MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4, you can do so via the control panel under "Software". Or go to "Programs > MAGIX > MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 > Service and Support > Uninstall MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4". www.magix.com 13 14 More about MAGIX 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 Rock Edition 4: MAGIX Online Album MAGIX Online Album (view page 167) 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 170) 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 - Multimedia Community Help and get help - Directly from within the program, you'll be able to access magix.info - Multimedia Community, the new MAGIX Knowledge Database (view page 169). You'll find answers to all 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! www.magix.com More about MAGIX You can access magix.info - Multimedia Community online at http://www.magix.info Soundpool DVD collection MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 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. www.magix.com 15 16 Introduction Introduction What’s new in MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4? 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 Rock Edition 4 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. Mouse gestures In MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 it is possible to dynamically control video and audio effects using mouse gestures. To view a summary of all mouse gestures, read Help. Microscope mode Activate this mode and click on an object to zoom in for detailed editing. This allows individual drum hits in a loop to be edited in a very detailed way, cut with the separation function, and then processed with individual effects. In the lower right section of the arranger, you will see a button with four arrows pointing outwards on it. Click this button again to reset the view to the original settings. User interface The user interface has been laid out as clearly as possible. Thanks to its new look, working in MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 is now significantly more convenient. www.magix.com Introduction The features Arranger with 32 tracks In MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 there are 32 tracks for multimedia arrangements – enough space to create multiple polyphonic pieces, but most importantly, you don't lose track of your project at any point. Formats and interfaces Import: WAV, MP3, OGG Vorbis, WMA, QuickTime™, CD-A, BMP, JPG, AVI, MXV, WMV Export: WAV, MP3 (optional), OGG Vorbis, WMA, AVI, MXV, WMV 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. Catooh In the massive Catooh you'll always find the right sounds & pictures for your projects. The clearly archived library makes it child's play to find what you're looking for. Simply preview it and download it if you like it! Software synthesizers MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 includes the following synthesizers: With the "Silver Synth" you can create your own new sounds in analog synthie sound including filter movement and pitch recognition. BeatBox 2 is a 16-voice drum computer with hybrid sound synthesis and a step sequencer. The established concept of the "old" Beatbox, as matrix programming did with Auto-Copy, introduced convenient velocity processing and significantly improved sound production, including multi-effects section (an effect for each drum instrument). 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. Audio effects MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 provides lots of different audio effects. A few examples: www.magix.com 17 18 Introduction 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 Rock Edition 4 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 "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". This filter enables beat-matched frequency filtering, the "BitMachine" is a distorting Lo-Fi effect for friends of those who like it a bit rougher. The "Text-to-speech" function creates a voice from lines of text. 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 Rock Edition 4. Use the simple search function to find suitable pictures or MP3 files for your arrangement. 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. Audio CD support Audio CDs can be imported directly into MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4. 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. Own recordings Use this recording function from MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 to record vocals, noises, or instruments and integrate them into the arrangement. www.magix.com Introduction 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. 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! 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 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. Mixer MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 contains a professional Realtime Mixer with effect 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 any one time. You can also group a number of faders of a specific type (for example, volume or panorama) and use them all together. Professional Mastering Suite 2.0 is included in a 30-day trial version. Ringtone export Convert your songs or sound effects into ringtones at the touch of a button. Works for the standard Real Ringtone formats: MP3 and WAV. www.magix.com 19 20 Overview of the program interface Overview of the program interface 1 Menu bar 2 3 Toolbar Track boxes 4 Arranger 5 Scrollbars 6 Media Pool 7 Video monitor This list provides the most important editing commands. This contains the buttons for quick editing. Here you can mute whole tracks or have one play by itself (solo). Use the FX buttons to apply track effects. You can freely position any multimedia material on all tracks. The lower scrollbar can be stretched and compressed for zooming. All files listed here can be dragged into the Arranger via drag&drop. Here, the previews for graphics or video files which can be selected in the Media Pool are shown. All picture material of the arrangement is also shown here on playback. Furthermore, the arrangement overview or an Analyzer/Peak Meter can be displayed in the Video Monitor. www.magix.com Quick start Quick start This chapter explains the basic functions of MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 with a step-by-step introduction. A systematic description of the program functions can be found in the chapters and in the extensive PDF manual. Tip: Open the tutorial video and the "Quick start" tutorial by clicking the "Help" menu. 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. Here you can load multimedia files with various formats into the arrangement by pressing the left mouse button and keeping it held or by double-clicking on the object. The Media Pool works similarly to Windows® Explorer - with some additional features. Here, professionally produced sounds can be downloaded from theCatooh and integrated. In "Welcome Dialog", which appears after MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 is started for the first time, you may start a demo song. Look at the individual www.magix.com 21 22 Quick start tracks of the song in the Arranger: In MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 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 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. Song Maker To quickly create a first arrangement, you should let the Song Maker run by itself and sit back and listen. Open a new, empty arrangement by clicking on "File" and selecting "New arrangement". This opens a new arrangement with 32 empty tracks. The Song Maker automatically creates musical arrangements from the included music files. Activate the Song Maker with the button in the upper section of the program interface. Select a music style. www.magix.com Quick start Select the instruments that you want to hear. If, for example, you only want a rhythm section with drums and bass, deactivate the other instruments. Select the song part or parts that you want to create. www.magix.com 23 24 Quick start Now click on "Create Song". Song Maker automatically compiles an arrangement. The following is merely a suggestion. Listen to the suggestion by pressing the "Play" button. If you're not happy with the result, you can have another arrangement created by clicking "Cancel" and once more on the "Create new arrangement" button. Once you're happy with Song Maker's suggestion, click on "Create Song". The building blocks are only now added to the Arranger. To play the arrangement click on the space bar or on the "Play" button. The arrangement is then played back in a loop as long as the space bar is held or the Play button is pressed. Your first musical arrangement is complete! Song Maker can also be used to add more individual samples or whole song parts or to lay down a bass or drum sound. This can then be expanded into a more complex multimedia arrangement or refined using your own video and audio files. Preview and load audio files In the next step, load sound files into the arranger for positioning and editing. Create another new, empty arrangement. To do so click "File" and select the "New arrangement" option. Now click on "Sounds & Videos" in the Media Pool. Various categories are shown on the left page of the Media Pool. Click on the one of the categories to open a sub-category. Here you can select and preview sounds. Some instruments are categorized according to pitch. Click on any entry here. The sound will then start playing. Each file can be previewed this way. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to select the various pitches. Other instruments – like drums – are not categorized according to pitch. These entries are denoted by a loudspeaker symbol which displays them as a normal wave file. To load a file into the arranger, simply press "Enter". 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. www.magix.com Quick start 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 Rock Edition 4 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. www.magix.com 25 26 Quick start 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. 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. Manipulating objects To get an impression of the object-based work method of MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4, 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 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. www.magix.com Quick start 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. Right-clicking on an object opens the context menu with the options available for that specific object in the Timeline mode. The context menu can also be opened by clicking on the button with the small triangle in the lower section of an object. 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. 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 Rock Edition 4 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 SoundCloud®. Select the fitting settings in the dialogs and click on OK or log in to the desired Internet community. The arrangement will then be exported in the chosen format. www.magix.com 27 28 Quick start 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. Create Audio CD To burn an audio CD, export your arrangement as a WAV file first: Click on "File" and select the "Export arrangement -> Audio as wave..." option. The WAV file created can be burned as an audio CD with the included burning program MAGIX Speed burnR. www.magix.com Arranger Arranger Normal mode/Easy mode MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 can be operated in two different views, and these can be activated by clicking on the button in the top left. If the MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 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 Rock Edition 4 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. Trackboxes and Instrument icons Every track box contains a field for instrument icons. When you drag a MAGIX Soundpool sample At the beginning of each track is a track box where you can mute a single audio track with the Mute button or play them Solo. The Peak Meter can be found beside the icons. This way, you can control the volume of the track and 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 on the field. www.magix.com 29 30 Arranger With REC you can activate the track for an Audio or MIDI recording. Furthermore, monitoring is now activated, that is, you can hear the input signal of your sound card on playback. (Find out more in the "Mixer" chapter, "Recording/Live Monitoring" (view page 127)) If you start recording now (R key), 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. Here you can open the Track Effects menu. In it you will find presets for track effects (view page 93) sorted according to the instrument type. Zooming The vertical zoom function sets the number of visible tracks. For a lot of tracks, enlarging the view (zooming) is sensible for editing a single track or object. Use the horizontal zoom functions to set up the visible section of the arrangement on the timeline. Microscope Enlarge objects: Vertical and horizontal zoom stages are enlarged so that all of the selected objects are displayed at maximum size. When the the function is shut off, the old zoom level will reactivate. 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. www.magix.com Arranger 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 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 www.magix.com 31 32 Arranger 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. 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! www.magix.com Arranger 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) With the playback functions of the transport bar you can control the playback behavior of the arrangement using the mouse. Tip: Using the space bar on your computer's keyboard you can start and stop playback much more easily. An overview of all keyboard shortcuts is available at the back of the manual. Back to start: With this button the start marker is quickly moved to the beginning of the arrangement. Another click on "Back to start" moves the start marker and the playback range to the beginning of the arrangement. Rewind: This function can be used to rewind to the start of the arrangement. This means that the playback marker in the timeline is reset. Stop: The stop button stops playback. The playback marker returns to the position from which it started. 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. Another click on Play stops it at the current position of the playback marker (Pause). Fast forward: This button quickly moves you forward in the arrangement. This means that the start marker in the timeline is moved forward. www.magix.com 33 34 Arranger Record: You can create a recording with this button. Depending on whether a track in the Trackbox has been activated, the audio recording dialog (view page 54) will open. Playing an endless loop (looped object) can be deactivated here. Playback will always stop 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 also possible. Switching to the time remaining view (length of time until the arrangement 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 67). 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. Volume regulation The volume control is to the left of the transport controller. With it, you can quickly control the overall volume of your arrangement. To regulate the volume of individual tracks, use the Mixer (view page 124). www.magix.com Arranger Tempo Here, the song's beat is displayed 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 on Tap you can open the Tap Tempo Dialog where you can "tap" in the tempo. Simply click the tap button at your desired tempo or press the T key, the tempo is measured and displayed in the dialog. Pressing OK accepts the tempo. Track position slider With the position slider you can quickly move the play cursor within 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"). 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. www.magix.com 35 36 Video Monitor Mixer Opens the mixer, where tracks may be mixed in regard to volume and position in stereo panorama and effects may be added. Effects plug-ins can also be used. Video Opens/Closes the Video Monitor in peakmeter mode. Video Monitor Both video monitors can even be positioned freely on the screen and adjusted for size. Click the screen with the right mouse button and selecting the desired size from the context menu – either from the presets submenu or individually (“user defined”). Please note that larger video monitors require more computing power. To detach the video monitor from the Arranger and the Media Pool, deactivate the standard layout in the menu window. It can then be positioned on the screen as you wish. The video monitor's size can be increased to the full size of the screen by double-clicking on the video monitor or by pressing Alt-Enter. You can leave the maximized mode by pressing Escape (Esc). Apart from the video monitor size, you can also add a large time display on the video monitor. Select “display play time” in the context menu and the current play cursor position is displayed on the video monitor. Foreground color, background color and transparency are selectable www.magix.com Video Monitor Arrangement overview In the 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. Shortcut: Alt + Shift + U InfoBox The InfoBox mode shows help text in the preview monitor if you hold the mouse pointer over a button on the screen. Audio peakmeter The video monitor is transformed into an analyzer which displays the sound as a graphic. www.magix.com 37 38 Media Pool Media Pool MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4'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 onto the hard drive. The Synthesizer setting displays a list of the available synthesizers. Under Templates you can find the effect settings for all types of audio, video and title effects. 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 51)). Note: Even while previewing, audio files are adapted to the current tempo using timestretching (you can deactivate this in the "Audio/Video options" menu). 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 Rock Edition 4 installation DVD into the DVD drive. The contents of the Soundpools will now be imported into the database. www.magix.com Media Pool Other Soundpool media are automatically recognized and added to the database. Note: Under program settings -> General (view page 143), 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 samples 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). 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). 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. www.magix.com 39 40 Media Pool File manager settings MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4'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 Change Play Direction Parent Drive menu Browse history list and path details View The "Back" button always returns you to the folder where you were previously. The "Up" button brings you to the next highest folder level. You can access all available drives via the drive menu button. The path information for the current folder is displayed in the center above. Use the arrow button to open the menu to find the folders you previously visited. 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. www.magix.com Media Pool 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 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 Rock Edition 4 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 Rock Edition 4, only featuring "_" instead of empty spaces). This is created automatically when the www.magix.com 41 42 Media Pool 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 143, view page 142). 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 wellstructured 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 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 Rock Edition 4 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. www.magix.com Media Pool Expert search: Here you can restrict your search by stating search criteria in the following way: e.g. Database column Condition Comparison item 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 chapter. Settings templates The folders for installed effects presets will be opened. Even saved audio and video effects presets as well as title templates land in these folders, so that over time, a complete library of your own presets will accumulate. Folder for audio effects ("Audio FX"), presets for the Vintage Effect Suite ("Vintage FX"), video effects ("Video FX", "Video Mix FX"), automatic animations ("Visuals"), and title templates ("Title") can be opened using the buttons to the left. You can also add effects by drag & drop. They can simply be dragged onto the corresponding object using the mouse. You can also precisely set up audio effects in the effect rack (view page 90) using the context menu. 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 166)! www.magix.com 43 44 Arranging Objects Arranging Objects In MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 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. Loading and saving arrangements "Arrangement" refers to the objects found in the arranger (Audio, Video, MIDI, songs, graphics, synthesizers) along with all its positions, fades, length, volume, brightness settings and effects. Arrangements can be saved via the menu "File"as an MMM file and loaded again. When loading arrangements you must ensure that all the used objects are available in their respective folders. Often is it advisable to "Save Arrangement and Used Media" from the menu "File" > "Backup". Then the entire arrangement with all objects and effects are saved to a configurable folder on the hard disk and can be easily downloaded from there. Multimedia files and objects All multimedia files supported by MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 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. www.magix.com Arranging Objects 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. Splitting objects All objects can be split. Each object section that is created is then split into individual objects. To do so, you can select the object you wish to cut, move the playback marker to the position where you wish to cut and select the option "Split objects" from the "Edit" menu, or press the "T" key. www.magix.com 45 46 Arranging Objects In order to rejoin these split objects at a later stage, simply highlight the individual parts and select the command "group" to join the selected objects together into one 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 Rock Edition 4 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 31)". 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. www.magix.com Arranging Objects 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. www.magix.com 47 48 Arranging Objects 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 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. 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. Takes are saved as "TAK" (*.tak) files and take up virtually no space on the hard disk. Thus, 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 Music Maker Rock Edition 4 arrangements. The original sample will not be changed, only object and effect settings will be saved. You can also save Synth Objects as takes, thereby creating own preset libraries for the synthesizer. Warning! On loading the takes, the audio or video file, for which the take was added, must be in the original folder. 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 an audio or a video file will be created. www.magix.com Arranging Objects The objects of the arranger or the area will be replaced by the new object. MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 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 Rock Edition 4'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 features a context menu that may be opened by right clicking. The upper section of this context menu always features the most recently used commands for this object type. These four commands may also be opened having to open the main menu. www.magix.com 49 50 Arranging Objects 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 www.magix.com Audio Objects Audio Objects Audio formats MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 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 Rock Edition 4. 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. 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 button. www.magix.com 51 52 Audio Objects Change pitch/octave using the keyboard You can quickly alter the octave of an included sample without having to access the corresponding Soundpool folder in the Media Pool. The "*" and "÷" keys on the numeric keypad (right on the keyboard) place the sample one level higher or lower. The "+" and "-" keys on the numeric keypad change the pitch via pitchshifting; the respective effect in the audio effects rack is utilized for this. Audio recording Your own sounds like vocals, speech, noises, or instruments can be easily recorded in MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 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 127)). Live monitoring requires the use of ASIO drivers. 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). www.magix.com Audio Objects If you want to record material from a stereo system, then you can use the lineout 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 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 preamplified. 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. www.magix.com 53 54 Audio Objects 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 53)'. Record: This button begins recording. The next free track will be used for recording the audio material. www.magix.com Audio Objects 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 simple mouse-click starts the playback of the CD title for sampling purposes Drag & Drop the CD title into a track of the current arrangement, and it will be digitally scanned and copied to the hard-drive. The files will be saved in the import folder (may be specified under File > Settings > Program > Folder). The audio object appears in the track and can be played back or edited immediately. 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. www.magix.com 55 56 Audio Objects 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. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 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. Select the desired tracks (multiple selection by "Ctrl" + mouse-click). Click on "Copy selected track(s)...". The "Import project" dialog will now appear. Here you can enter the file name and select the target directory. The audio material is then copied from the drive onto the hard disk. A progress bar is displayed. Once copying is complete, the dialog will be closed and the tracks are inserted into the arrangement as individual objects. 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 www.magix.com Audio Objects 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 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. www.magix.com 57 58 Audio Objects 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 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. www.magix.com Audio Objects 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. 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. Automatic tempo adjustment when loading In general, MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 automatically adjusts audio files to the arrangement tempo. In normal cases, you won't need to worry about the different tempos of audio files and Soundpool samples, since these are automatically matched. 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 tempos, 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. www.magix.com 59 60 Audio Objects The tempo will be attempted to be calculated automatically for shorter samples. The Remix Agent is launched optionally for longer samples ( > 15 seconds), e.g. entire songs from CD or MP3s. There, you additionally have the option of adjusting the sample to the arrangement or the arrangement to the sample. In the dialog Program settings (view page 144) ("Y" key) -> Import, 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 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 Time Processor Effect (see timestretch/resample chapter) 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 95) or the function Combine audio (view page 152). www.magix.com Audio Objects Remix agent - Tempo and beat assignment The Remix Agent 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 Rock Edition 4, and you want to mix in sounds like drum loops, effects, or synthesizer voices. www.magix.com 61 62 Audio Objects 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 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. www.magix.com Audio Objects 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. 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 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. www.magix.com 63 64 Audio Objects 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. 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. www.magix.com Audio Objects 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 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. www.magix.com 65 66 Audio Objects 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 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 waveshaped display are irregular and thinly drawn. www.magix.com Audio Objects Harmony Agent 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. www.magix.com 67 68 Audio Objects 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 #, 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. www.magix.com Audio Objects 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. www.magix.com 69 70 Video and Bitmap Objects Video and Bitmap Objects Video and bitmap formats MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 can load videos in the following formats: AVI, Windows Media (*.wmv, *.asf), MAGIX Video (*.mxv) and Quicktime Movie (*.mov) and export them as AVI files, Windows Media and MAGIX Video. Also RTF text files can be loaded and used as subtitles. Adjusting the video screen The video screen can be positioned freely on the screen as well as adjusted in size. To position it, you must first switch off the standard layout view in the windows menu before you can move the video screen. To adjust its size, click on the video screen with the right mouse key and select the desired size from the object menu or define it yourself (‘user defined’). Please note that larger screens require a greater computing performance! Import and edit videos Video objects may be imported and edited exactly like any other object. So that you don;t have to decide blindly which object to import, there is a preview function on the video monitor. Simply click on a video file in the Media Pool: the corresponding video will be played back on the video monitor. Via the context menu in the Media Pool (right-click on the selection list), you can choose between three different view modes: Large icons (1), List (2) and Detailed list (3). In the "Large Icons" view, videos will be displayed with a preview frame in Media Pool - useful to create an overview of the available video material. If you want to use the video for your arrangement, drag it to the Arranger while holding down the mouse key. During playback in the Arranger, the complete video material will be played back on all tracks on the video monitor, including all effects and in realtime. Video objects may be edited just like any other objects: they may be selected and moved with the mouse, hidden and un-hidden with the handles on the top corners, and brightness may be altered using the middle handles at the top edge. Please read the "Arranging Objects" (view page 44) to find out more! www.magix.com Video and Bitmap Objects Simplify object presentation With the TAB key you can switch between two object presentations. The objects in the alternative presentation are not displayed frame by frame in the arranger, but in simplified form. This saves working memory and improves overall play performance. Scrolling and zooming in the arranger as wee as various object manipulations are far quicker in TAB mode. The video display in the video monitor is not influenced by the simplified object display. Visualizer objects You can load so-called visualizer objects into MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 (*.vis files). The principle: The sound creates graphic changes to the visualizer objects. The graphics and structures move according to the beat of the music. You can load visualizer objects in the same manner as other objects. The "Audio & Video Effects" selection button is located on top of the Media Pool. The submenu "Visuals" now contains many algorithms for different automatic animations. Just try them out by dragging an audio object into the arranger and playing it. If you click on the different visualizers with the mouse, you will see in the video monitor how the computer animations mover according to the beat of the music… Visualizer objects can be used just like video and image objects: You can drag them from the Media Pool into the arranger and arrange them as you like. Extract sound from videos Video with sound material appears in the arranger on two tracks as two objects (an audio object and a video object). The two objects automatically form a group. To edit the video and audio material separately from one another, the objects can be separated with the Ungroup (view page 151) function in the "Edit" menu or button in the arranger. Now you can replace the audio or the video track, or process each file separately. Rejoin/regroup the tracks with the ”Export arrangement” function. www.magix.com 71 72 Video and Bitmap Objects Video effects All video effects work in real time. In principle, almost any combination of effects may be assigned to any video object: for example, mix mode stanzas with a false color effect and a double playback velocity. By overlaying of multiple videos or bitmaps, MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 proceeds from the bottom up. The background video object must be placed in the upper track. It will be overlaid by and mixed with objects lying below. Example, if you want to put a dancer on a landscape, place the landscape on track 1, the dancer on track 2 and activate the Blue Screen effect for the dancer. Video effects are stored in the ”Video FX” directory. Open the directory by clicking the corresponding Media Pool button. All video effects have a preview function and can be dragged & dropped on a video object into the Arranger. Title Editor Text objects and title presets MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 has an option which makes it very easy to insert and edit titles. The basis of these titles is the titles templates settings in the "Templates", and these may be reached via the "Titles" button. To integrate a title template into your project, proceed as follows: Select a file. As usual, a simple click generates a preview in the video window. This way, you can see how certain title settings will look and the effect they will have in advance. Once you’ve found the right track, drag & drop it onto a track in the arranger. It is represented there as a title object. Several title templates contain additional image objects, these titles require two tracks. The title editor (see above) opens automatically. You can later open it again by double-clicking (or by right-clicking in the context menu below "Title Editor"). www.magix.com Video and Bitmap Objects Title editor. Enter text, e.g. for subtitles, lead or end credits. They can be displayed in all kinds of fonts and colors. Menu presets: This menu contains the title templates from the Media Pool title directory. This way you can try out different movements, effects and designs. The presets are arranged in various subfolders; the icon and the description will help you find the template you want. Save as template: You can save the entire settings as a title template. You can then easily drag & drop them from the Media Pool. Text/position: Type the text for your video subtitles in the title editor. Use the scrollbar to the left and above the text window to organize your text in the video monitor. You can freely position the writing vertically and horizontally. If you have selected moving text, this position determines the starting position. Please note that setting movement to text places the starting position of the title outside of the video window. You can, however, always change the starting position. Font type: Here you can enter the font type, size, color or type. www.magix.com 73 74 Video and Bitmap Objects Color: With this button you can choose your own color. If you want to format individual words or letters, select them with the mouse and choose a different format. If no selection is made, the entire text will be formatted. Alignment: Specifies whether the title should be aligned left, right or at the center. Center position: Clicking "Center position" puts the title back in the middle. Preview: This button starts the title preview in the video monitor, together with the movie or scene. If you have selected a movement for the title, it will also be animated in the video preview window. You can interrupt the preview anytime by pressing "Stop". Text effects: This function allows you to add motion, 3D shadows, and 3D effects, or a border. These settings can be adjusted in detail using "Advanced". Length: Sets the duration of how long you would like to display the title. If everything is as it should be, close the title editor by pressing "OK". Video Compression Compressed video data is typically saved in AVI files. AVI stands for ‘Audio and Video Interleaved’, i.e. mixed picture and sound. Depending on the compression rate, high data rates will be required – a good video starts at about 2 MB per second, equivalent to compression of about 1:10 as opposed to uncompressed video with 20 MB per second data flow rate. High quality video systems only work with a compression of 3 or 2 – i.e. creating up to 10 MB per second data for video flow. Even uncompressed video can be used. MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 can also process such high-resolution video data completely. Within MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4, video data is processed in uncompressed format – all effects, mixes etc are carried out in the highest quality. It is possible that replay of a project with several videos or realtime effects may ‘jump’ more than is the case with smaller videos. This does not harm the end result though – video export is calculated frame by frame. www.magix.com Video and Bitmap Objects Choppy or uneven playback Don't panic if the picture on your screen is choppy or uneven. The finished product will look perfect and play smoothly. Don't forget that MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 calculates all effects in real time. This lets you see for yourself what sort of influence each of the effects will have on your video footage. Some effects make even today's high-performance PCs work quite hard, and often, a steady, continuous video stream is simply not possible on your PC. The final product, free from previous choppiness, is only available after rendering it to DVD or exporting it. For that reason, you should first edit the movie in its raw version without effects. The preview generally delivers a steady picture, allowing you to work quickly and quietly. Towards the end, you can add effects to your movies to give them a special touch of Hollywood! General notes on AVI videos The AVI format (Audio Video Interleaved) isn't actually a proper video format! Rather, it is a so-called "container", where the conventions for transferring audio and video files to the program are only loosely defined. The codec (coder/decoder) actually defines what storage format is used. A codec compresses audio/video data into its own unique format which can only be read by the codec itself and is decoded when the film is played. In concrete terms, a computer-generated AVI file can only be loaded by and played on a different computer if the same codec is installed on it. Many codecs (e.g. Intel Indeo® video) have now become standard components of the Windows™ installation. Others like the popular DivX codec are not standard. If you are generating an AVI file for future play on another computer using one of these codecs, you should first install this codec on the other PC. The best method available is to copy the codec installer to your export directory and burn it every time you create a video disc (slideshow disc) for play on computers. You may encounter some problems when using older video editing cards with codecs which only function with the card’s hardware. Such AVIs can only be used on the computer which was used to create them. Try to avoid using this kind of codec. www.magix.com 75 76 Video and Bitmap Objects Video export via TV-out Video and graphics cards with a TV out socket can also export videos directly to external video recorders. The arrangement must be played in full screen mode when saved with external equipment. Note: With many graphic cards, the tv output can only be activated when a television or video recorder is connected before turning on the computer! Switch the video monitor to full screen mode with Alt+Enter and start the playback by pressing the space bar. You can play the video directly from the arrangement. However, it can sometimes lead to errors if the processor becomes overloaded as a result of processing the audio and video effects in real-time. If direct playback doesn’t work without causing errors, export the arrangement to the AVI video and load it into a new arrangement which will then play without any problems. Occasionally, it is enough to just mix the soundtracks of the arrangement into one. To do this, use the menu command “Edit” > “Audio mixdown”. www.magix.com Synth Objects Synth Objects MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 supplies several synthesizer plug-ins to create your own drum pattern, bass or melody lines. The synthesizers produce ‘synth objects’ which are arranged on the tracks together with the other objects. Working with synth objects Calling up the Synthesizer The software synthesizer is to be found in a special file that is configured onto the hard disk during installation. To open it, press the Synth-Button (in the MediaPool File manager The symbols for all the available synthesizer plug-Ins are now displayed in the file list. Creating synth objects Any plug-in can be pulled into the arrangement by means of drag & drop. A synth object appears on the relevant track and the operating console of the plug-in is opened. Synth objects are programmed with the help of the operating console. Programming the synth object Depending on the plug-in, various functions to create and control sound can be applied via the operating console. Please read the following chapters pertaining to the individual synthesizers in this regard. To monitor programming, playback can be started and stopped at any time with the space bar while the operating console is open. If the synth plug-in has its own play button (e.g. the beat box), it will start the plug-in solo, without playing the other tracks of the arrangement as well. Arranging the synth object Once you have finished programming the melodies or rhythms of the synth object, you can close the operating console and arrange the synth objects on the tracks. They can be stretched or compressed, faded in and out, turned down or up etc. with the help of handles: These steps are the same for all objects. www.magix.com 77 78 Synth Objects The operating console of every synth object can be reopened at a later stage by double clicking or via the synth button if you would like to reprogram the object. In addition, you can drag as many other synth objects of the same software synthesizer as you like onto the tracks and program them separately. Feeding the synthesizer plug-ins with new sounds The synthesizer plug-ins supplied are already equipped with sounds, but it is possible to exchange them. To do so, use drag & drop to drag any wave files (as short as possible) from the file manager onto the operating console of the respective plug-in. More details on the individual synthesizers will be provided in the following chapters. BeatBox 2 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 Rock Edition 4 versions. 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. www.magix.com Synth Objects 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. 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. www.magix.com 79 80 Synth Objects Maximized BeatBox 2 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: In the velocity section, the velocity levels for the selected instrument's beats are displayed as a bar for detailed editing. Synthesis: Selected sound parameters and the level of the effect for the selected drum instrument can be edited here. www.magix.com Synth Objects In the following, the sections of BeatBox 2 will be discussed individually: 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. www.magix.com 81 82 Synth Objects 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. 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). www.magix.com Synth Objects 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 84) (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 Shift + Ctrl + double click Select everything in the bar clicked on. 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 Open/Close editor Key command e Pattern editor - options "1>2-4" Auto copy Follow Display bar 1... 4 Show all bars Grid finer/rougher a f 1... 4 0 +/- www.magix.com 83 84 Synth Objects Selected drum instrument Previous/Next Preview Live input Mute on/off Solo on/off Cursor up/down p Enter m sec Velocity The velocity section serves for editing the velocity of the individual drum notes for the selected drum instrument. Reset: Sets all velocity levels to 100% Random: The random parameter adds random variations to the set velocities. This helps make your beats sound more natural. 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 (view page 84). Editing velocity values Hold down "Shift" and select any number of columns with the mouse.Two special commands are available for selection: Shift + double click Shift + Ctrl + double click Select everything in the bar clicked on. 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 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. www.magix.com Synth Objects The three handles allow the velocity 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 velocity 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. www.magix.com 85 86 Synth Objects 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", 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. Preview drum istrument Mix: Mix relationship between drum sampler and synthesizer. Parameter controller: All six sound parameters for a drum sound can be directly set and automated via the parameter controllers. The parameters in question depend on the drum sound currently loaded. Effects level: Each of BeatBox 2's drum instruments includes an effects unit which is fed in after the actual sound synthesis and editing. The type of effect depends on the selected drum sound. SilverSynth Pro "SilverSynth pro" is a virtual, analog synthesizer that was based on the legendary Roland-TB303. This machine appeared in the early 1980s. It was initially intended as an electronic bass accompanier, but it was at first hardly taken seriously due to its "unrealistic" characteristics. The device suddenly became useful later, when techno music was just becoming popular. The brute force and screeching sounds that this unit produced suddenly belonged to the major elements of an entire musical style. Today’s techno productions still use the minimalist, synthetic but warm and unmistakable sound of this synthesizer. "SilverSynth pro" is the follow-up to the SilverSynth. The user now has more influence on the sound. It features an "EnvMod" controller that makes the typical 303 sound even squeakier. It also features a distortion controller for adjusting the sound distortion, as well as an integrated echo. Furthermore, SilverPro has a "Shuffle" controller for adding "groove" to your synthesizer sequences. Finally, you can use the "MasterVolume" controller to adjust the synthesizer volume. www.magix.com Synth Objects On the “SilverSynth” symbol is a menu that loads, saves, generates or deletes (Clear all / Random). Programming On the left of SilverSynth there are four knobs and a switch to control the sound of the synthesizer. On the right there is a step sequenced which you can use to program the melodies. Filter automation The SilverSynth pro offers automation for the rotary button controllers to set the filter and sound modulation. Each movement of the automatic controllers can be recorded. Play/Stop: The sequence of the step sequencers is played and/or stopped, including recorded rotary button movements. Record: Records the rotary button movements. The sequence of the step sequencer is played while you record the results of real-time movements. Clear record: Deletes the recording of the rotary button movements. Please remember that the notes of the sequence in the step sequencer are re-set, changed or deleted. Turning knobs waveform: You can choose from basic waveforms that represent the main proportion of the sound. It is possible to switch between a rectangular waveform and a saw-tooth waveform. Cutoff: The Cutoff control steers the synthesizer’s low-pass filter. This control is used to determine the brightness of the sound. At the upper limit the synthesizer sounds brightest, at the lower limit of the rotary button, the synthesizer sounds very hollow. Resonance: Technically speaking, the resonance control sets how much the low-pass filter resonates at its cutoff frequency. This is the frequency that is controlled by the cutoff control. This control largely determines the warmth of the sound. www.magix.com 87 88 Synth Objects Decay: This control is used to control whether the cutoff filter remains at the same frequency or whether the filter frequency changes when a note is played back. If decay is set to the upper limit, then every new note initially sounds a little bright and then changes its sound as it progresses so that it loses more and more of its brightness. Tune: This control raises or lowers all sounds. EnvMode: This control determines the flow of the envelope curve. The further right the control is turned, the more high sounds will be added. Distortion: Here you can override the sounds. Delay: Delay can be used for reverb and echo effects. There are two controls: "Feedback" (number of sounds repetitions) sets the intensity of the echo, and "Length" sets the length of the echo. The length of the echo is set in relation to the bars, and it adjusts to the current BPM value. Master: The overall volume can be set in this section. Shuffle: This control lends more "groove" to the synth sequences. Step sequencer A note cell can be occupied by the left mouse key; the right mouse can be used to delete note cells. You can only set one note per column. To assist you, a scale of notes appears at the lower edge. If you click repeatedly on one and the same note cell, then you change the octave for this note. The color of the cell changes according to the octave. Blue corresponds to octave 1, red corresponds to octave 2 and green corresponds to octave 3. The lower rows (accent and slide) determine the further behavior of individual notes. Accent increases the volume of the note a little. If a cell is placed in the “Slide” row, then this note will not be struck again, only the pitch will be modified. www.magix.com Synth Objects 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 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”. www.magix.com 89 90 Synth Objects 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). www.magix.com Audio effects Audio effects MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 offers you a multitude of infinitely variable and intuitively adjustable audio effects. Effects The effects in MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 allow the sound spectrum of all of the audio objects and synthesizers to be thoroughly manipulated. Since most effects operate in real time, the effects offer ideal room for experimenting with creative sound design. Real-time effects Real-time effects are calculated the first time the object is played back. The audio file (original material) itself remains unaffected. The effect is recalculated in real time each time it is played back. The object always retains its original status when real-time effects are applied. To change a real-time effect, open the effects rack or the effect's settings dialog and drag the respective control elements; the changes will be audible immediately. The lower edge of an audio object in the arranger lists all currently active object effects with abbreviations. Effect devices controls Effects are controlled in the conventional way by the use of slider controls, turning knobs, or buttons or alternatively using the graphic sensor fields. Sensor fields: Sensor fields may be influenced intuitively with mouse movements; the graphics and the respective effect setting change in relation to each other. www.magix.com 91 92 Audio effects Power switch: Every effect device in the rack may be switched on or off separately. This button allows you to directly compare the neutral, unedited sound of the audio object with the effect setting you have chosen. Reset: Every effect has a reset button that restores the effect device’s initial default. In this state, the effect is not calculated into the sound, and the effect is not rendered. Preset selection list: Each effect device features a selection of presets that are selected via the drop-down menu. A/B: The A/B button compares two settings with each other. If you have selected a preset for the effect and make manual changes to it later, you can compare the original preset sound with the new settings by using the A/B button. Note: The graphics displayed are only samples and these differ according to the effects devices. Non real-time effects A few audio effects are not calculated in real time; instead, after the settings dialog is closed, copies of the audio material are added for calculating the effect. This way, no additional calculations will be required during playback. To change these effects, use the undo function. The following effects don't work in real time: Freely-drawn filters, gater, reverse, invert phase. Using audio effects Audio effects can be added at different positions in the arrangement, at object level, in a complete track, or in the master (i.e. everything you can hear). Audio object effects Object effects do not affect the entire arranger track, but rather individual objects. The advantage to this is that effects which are only required at a specific point in the arrangement only use up processing power at that particular point. www.magix.com Audio effects There are several ways to apply audio effects to individual audio objects: 1. 2. 3. Drag & drop: In the Media Pool setting "templates", the following folders are visible "Audio FX", "Vintage FX". These contain presets for the most important effects. These presets have a preview function and can be dragged & dropped on an audio object in the arranger. Right clicking on an audio object or via the "Effects -> Audio" menu opens individual audio effects via a menu command. Double clicking on an audio object opens the audio effects rack (view page 93). The most important effects are compiled into one dialog and some special functions are still available, as is the option of saving all of the effects settings. Track effects Besides the object audio effects, a separate track effects rack with equalizer, reverb/echo, distortion/filter and compressor as well as the Vintage Effect Suite plug-ins can be used. The Vintage Effect Suite plug-ins are being loaded via the plug-in slot. You can open the track audio effects rack with the FX button. A lit FX track button signifies that effects are active in the track. The track effects can also be applied without having to open the mixer. The arranger's trackbox also features the track FX menu. In it, you will find presets for track effects (view page 93) sorted according to the instrument type. Track effects always apply to all audio objects of a track. In comparison to applying an effect to each object individually, this saves storage space. The effect itself works the same way as object effects. Master effects Master effects influence the mixed sum of all audio tracks. To this end a Master Audio Effects Rack and additional plug-ins are installed in the Mixer window. Additionally, there is a 30-day trial version of MAGIX Mastering Suite (view page 101) for the perfect sound www.magix.com 93 94 Audio effects Object and master effects rack The audio effects rack for objects can be opened by double clicking the audio object. The audio effects rack for the individual tracks or for the entire sound ("master effect") can be opened via the FX buttons in the mixer window ("M" key). Besides the most important effects devices like the 10-band equalizer, compressor, timestretch/resample (objects only), reverb/echo, sound warper, and amp simulation, the following functions are available: Object Volume Here you can set the master level for the selected object. With some effect combinations undesired distortion may appear as many effects increase frequency ranges. In this case, you can reduce the master volume. The faders for each stereo channel are usually moved together. If you deactivate the left button, the object can be made into stereo panorama by separate volume controlling for left and right. Load/Save The current settings for each applied effects device in the rack can be saved as an effect preset, e.g. so that it can be used for other objects. Only the rack effects that were used will be saved and loaded during this process. This means that effects presets can also be combined. This function is not yet available for the track effects rack. Karaoke This button at the very bottom of the effect rack causes a special karaoke effect, which more or less eliminates any singing. During this process, typical medium frequencies, where the human voice normally feels most at home, are deleted during playing so that somebody else can take over the singing part. Typical karaoke songs display the song text in subtitle form so that the singer can follow along with the words. MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 offers a www.magix.com Audio effects similar function: the title editor can be used to create the karaoke subtitles. Please refer to the section ‘Title editor (view page 72)’ in the chapter on ‘Image and video objects’ for this feature. FX plug-ins These buttons also open the effects from the Vintage Effect Suite (view page 109). Apply (destructive editing) With "Apply" the current setting of an effect or of an entire effect rack can be "calculated into" the audio object. This has the advantage that no more processing power will be required for the effect. The object will be replaced by a new audio file which contains the sound of the object with the effect. This will then only be played – processor-heavy "realtime" effect calculation is no longer required. The disadvantage: Changing the effect settings is not a simple any more. You can undo these "destructive" changes straight after using the Undo function in the Edit menu (like every editing operation in MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4). After saving the project this is no longer possible. In the master effects rack there are no Apply buttons. Instead, the function can be found in the Edit menu (Audio Mixdown (view page 152)) Play object/Play arrangement To the bottom right of the Audio FX Rack you will find two playback buttons which either play the selected object or the entire range. This lets you preview all effect settings in realtime. www.magix.com 95 96 Audio effects Equalizer The 10-band equalizer subdivides the frequency spectrum into ten areas ('bands') and equips them with separate volume controls. This way it is possible to create many impressive effects, from a simple boosting of the bass to complete elimination of a certain range of frequencies. Note: If low frequencies are boosted too much, the overall sound level is heavily increased which may lead to distortion. In this event, adjust the overall volume downward by using the 'master volume' control situated at the bottom center of the effect rack. Slider control: Each of the ten frequency ranges can be separately boosted or turned down with the ten volume controls. Link bands: Using this button randomly combines the frequency ranges with each other in to avoid artificial-sounding overemphasis of an individual frequency range. Touch screen (right EQ section): This is the 'sensor field' of the EQ. Here you can draw any type of curve with the mouse. This will be immediately translated into a corresponding control setting on the left side of the EQ. Compressor The compressor is an automated dynamic volume control. It limits overall dynamics, maintains the volume of loud passages so they stay loud, and increases the volume of low passages. A compressor can be put to good use for e. g bass recordings and vocals, but also as a master effect in the mixer for subsequent editing of the overall sound. www.magix.com Audio effects Processing is carried out using a "look-ahead" method, similar to high-quality studio appliances. There are no peak overmodulations or other artifacts as the algorithm can never be 'surprised' by sudden level peaks. Ratio: This parameter controls the compression level. Threshold: This sets the volume threshold below and above which compression is applied. Attack: Sets the algorithm's reaction time to increasing sound levels. Short attack times can create an undesirable "pumping" sound, as the volume is quickly reduced or increased correspondingly. Release: Sets the algorithm's reaction time to falling sound levels. Gain: The gain controller amplifies the compressed signal. Reverb The reverb effect device offers newly developed and very realistic reverb algorithms to add more room depth to your recording. Reverb is probably the most important but also the most difficult effect to generate. Fundamentals Our everyday experience shows that not every room matches every instrument. Thus we have designed “virtual” rooms. However, it still remains important to find the correct parameters. Here are some examples of parameters that are decisive for the sound impression in real and virtual rooms: Size of room: The larger a room, the longer the sound travels between walls or objects. Our brain “calculates” the size from the time difference. The size impression is mainly determined from so-called first reflections and the discreet echo. We don’t notice a (diffused) reverb. www.magix.com 97 98 Audio effects The reverberation time is mainly influenced by the composition of the walls, ceilings and floors. This reverb time is highly frequency-dependent. For instance, the highs and mids are dampened more in rooms with curtains, carpets, furniture and some corners than in an empty and tiled room. The density of the reflection: The sequence of the first reflection is particularly important. A room with many individually recognizable echoes feels alive, especially if they are quite far apart. The Diffusion: Simple reverb machines do not take into account that reflections become more and more complex as they develop. They blur the first echoes at the beginning, which sounds artificial and “two-dimensional” for many signals. Our reverb effect works like a real room instead where individual echoes can still be heard at the beginning of the reverb but then reflect amongst each other more and more until they disappear in the signal sustain as a so-called “diffused hiss”. The 24 presets include many rooms that were designed for certain instruments and applications and whose internal parameters have been optimized for these applications. However, you can influence most of the characteristics of the room using the provided sliders. In addition to the rooms we have modeled two device types in the reverb effect that allow you to create an artificial reverb for a longer time: Plate Reverb and Spring Reverb. Plate Reverb: A plate reverb consists of a large metal plate (often 0.5 to 1m² thick or more), that is put into motion by a magnet and coil system (similar to a loudspeaker). On the reverb plate so-called “taps” are positioned at different locations. These are pick-ups comparable to those on a guitar. Reverb plates have a very dense sound (high diffusion); no direct echo can be heard. They are therefore ideal for percussive metal. With vocals a plate reverb generates a smooth “wellness effect”. Spring Reverb: You probably remember Spring Reverb from guitar and keyboard amps, particularly older ones. At the bottom of these amps a unit consisting of two to four spirals is mounted on a vibration-free carriage. As with the reverb plate it uses systems for transforming the electric signal into a mechanical one. There are different designs and sizes of spring reverb; however, they all have the same quite peculiar sound: the typical “bloing” sound when the springs are moved, similar to splashing. When the reverb dies away the basic pitch of the spring(s) can usually be heard quite clearly. Furthermore, the frequency range is considerably limited due to the losses in the spirals and in the used pick-up/transmitter. Despite this, the sound is special and some of the latest music styles (e.g. dub & reggae) would hardly be possible without spring reverb. www.magix.com Audio effects Parameters The reverb effect has the following parameters: Size: defines the size of the room (or the system for the plate and spring). With some low “size” settings you can also reduce the distance between the individual reflections. This allows resonance to develop (accentuated frequency ranges), which can sound oppressive if the reverb sustain is too long. The proper size for each instrument can be gauged by taking into account the interplay between the room and the resonance. Time: reverberation time. With this controller you can define how far the echo will be absorbed, i.e. the time for the reverb to die away. Turning this knob to the left minimizes the time. You will then only hear the first reflection. Turning the knob to the right minimizes the absorption and thus results in a long sustained reverberation. Color: within certain limits you can influence the sound characteristic of the effect. The effect of this controller depends on the used preset. In rooms “Color” controls the dampening of the highs in the reverb (from dark to bright) as well as pre-filtering of the signal. The controllers for plate and spring presets also determine the dampening of the basses. Mix: this controller sets the mix ratio between the original and the edited signal. For rooms you can therefore quite easily move a signal further into the room by increasing the effect share. The last four presets are intended for use in an AUX channel of the mixer and are set to 100%. Presets The presets are primarily sorted by instruments; however, you can (and should) choose which preset you want to use for which instrument. The rooms in particular have completely different characteristics which are noticeable for some and more subtle for others. Generally we recommend reverb with many individually audible reflections and slight diffusions for dense arrangements. On the other hand you can use Plate Reverb for minimally arranged songs in order to create a dense atmosphere. However, you should avoid adding reverb to too many instruments. Sometimes some extra mixing is sufficient to move an instrument slightly away from the total sound. It is often recommendable to adjust the sustain to the song tempo, i.e. the faster the track, the shorter the reverb. Otherwise the sound easily sounds washed-out and indifferent. Here is a list of the presets and their characteristics: www.magix.com 99 100 Audio effects Drums and percussion Drums: Studio A: small room, high diffusion, e.g. for percussion instruments Drums: Studio B: slightly larger & more lively than A, medium diffusion, distinct first reflections, signals seem closer than A Drums: Medium-sized room: medium-sized room, moderate reverb, medium diffusion, relatively few first reflections Drums: empty hall: medium-sized empty hall, medium diffusion Drums: Snare reverb plate A: plate reverb, high diffusion, relatively bright sound character, typical hissing of a reverb plate. Drums: Snare reverb plate B: reverb plate, high diffusion, slight dampening of highs & basses, sound moves more to mids with time, stereo panorama narrower than for A Vocals Voice: main hall A: standard hall, e.g. for monitoring/recording, medium-sized room, medium diffusion, minimum sustain time Voice: main hall B: like A, but as a small hall (longer delay times than A), distinct reflection pattern, longer reverb time Voice: early reflections: medium-sized room, low reverberation share, very distinct early reflection pattern, e.g. for spreading vocals Voice: warmer room: small, intimate room, dark character Voice: studio reverb plate A: reverb plate with medium diffusion, slight dark adjustment, comprehensive sound characteristics Voice: studio reverb plate B: Like A, but more diffusion and bright to medium sound adjustment, slight vintage character Voice: large hall: large hall, medium diffusion, relatively long reverb time Voice: cathedral: delayed attack, slight diffusion, complex echo pattern, some hard reflections, dark voice adjustment, long reverb sustain Guitar Guitar: Spring reverb mono A: spring reverb simulation, typical oscillating sound of the springs, limited frequency range Guitar: Spring reverb mono B: Like A, slightly broader frequency range, greater diffusion Guitar: Spring hall stereo A: similar to spring hall mono A, but one spring/transmission system per channel (L/R)As a result of the mechanical interlinking of the systems, the reverberations meet at the middle of the stereo field Guitar: Spring reverb stereo B: Like stereo A, slightly broader frequency range, greater diffusion Keys (Piano, Synthesizer) Keys: Stage reverb: Larger room with stage, high amount of complex first reflections, slightly delayed attack, medium reverberation www.magix.com Audio effects Keys: piano reverb: concert hall, long reverberation, medium diffusion, minimum dark adjustment Aux (to be used as a send effect in a mixer FX track) Aux: Room: Standard room for the aux path, mix 100%, medium-sized, medium diffusion, some distinct first reflections, low reverberation Aux: Hall: Medium-sized hall (100% wet), medium diffusion, short reverberation Aux: Reverb plate: Reverb plate (100% wet), high diffusion, light bright adjustment Aux: Spring reverb: Reverb spring (100% wet), stereo, high diffusion, slightly medium sound characteristics Delay (echo) The echo effect is defined more closely with ‘delay’ and ‘feedback’ and calculated into the original sound by means of ‘mix’. Delay: Here the period of time between the individual echo’s can be determined; the more you turn the control to the left, the faster the echo’s will follow each other. Feedback: Here the number of echo’s can be adjusted. Turned completely to the left, there is no echo at all; turned completely to the right there are virtually endless repetitions. MAGIX Mastering Suite (demo version) MAGIX Mastering Suite is included in MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 as a demo version and may be used without any limits for 30 days after installation. A full version of MAGIX Mastering Suite is available in MAGIX Music Maker 2008 Producer Edition (and its successors). MAGIX Mastering Suite is a special effect rack for use with the mixer master channel. Its effects serve the so-called "Mastering" with which the finished mixed music file is given its last one-over. The On/Off switches can switch the effects on and off individually. Each effect has a range of presets that can all be picked from a list along the lower border of the effect. www.magix.com 101 102 Audio effects The settings of all effects can also be saved together as one preset so that you can use your ideal mastering setting again for other arrangements. Each effect can be reset by pressing the "Reset" button. You can press the "Bypass" button to temporarily deactivate the effects. The MAGIX Mastering Suite consists of the following components: Parametric EQ Stereo Processor MultiMax Limiter Digital Audio Meter Parametric Equalizer The parametric equalizer consists of four filter bands for adjusting the overall sound of the music track. Each band is a filter with a typical "bell shape". Within a certain frequency range and around an adjustable middle frequency, you can increase or reduce the signal level gain. The width of this frequency range is called bandwidth. The bandwidth is defined by the Q value. The higher the Q value, the narrower and steeper the filter curve. You can influence the basic sound of the mix by increasing and decreasing the broadband to give it more "depth" (lower center = 200-600 Hz) or more "air" (highs = 10Khz). You can also decrease the narrow bandwidth (high Q value) in the frequency response, e.g. to remove disruptive frequencies. Graphic: The resulting frequency path of the equalizer is displayed in the graphic. The frequency is spread out horizontally, the increase or decrease of the respective frequency, vertically. www.magix.com Audio effects The blue bullets 1-4 symbolize the four wave bands. You can move them around with the mouse until you find your desired frequency response. Peak meter: The peak meter gives you control over the output level of the equalizer. The adjacent master gain controller can be used to balance the level with the EQ. Edit: The "Edit" button opens the fine tuning for the four bands: Parameter selection: With the buttons on the right you can select the parameter that can be adjusted with four faders of each band. Furthermore, there are number keys to enter every parameter of the bands. Gain dB: These controllers allow you to raise or lower the filter. Setting the controller to 0 deactivates the filter and doesn’t use CPU power. Freq. Hz: The center frequency of the individual filters can be set between 10 Hz and 24 kHz with the frequency controllers. Freely choosing the frequency enables multiple filters to be set to the same frequency in order to have a greater effect. Q (bandwidth): Set the bandwidth of the individual filters between 10 Hz and 10 kHz. There is still a peculiarity among bands 1 and 4; The filter curve for these bands can be changed from a normal "peaking" EQ filter ( ) to "shelving" ) (this is the basic setting) and high (band 1) or high-cut (band 4) . ( When using the "shelving" filter, a soft increase or decrease in all frequencies happens above or below the filter frequency, and the Q parameter does not have a function here. With a low-cut or high-cut filter, all frequencies below (low-cut) or above (high-cut) the set frequency are filtered out. www.magix.com 103 104 Audio effects Multimax MultiMax is a compressor with three independent frequency bands. The dynamics are edited separately for each band. The advantage of a multi-band compressor versus a "normal" compressor is that the "pumping" tendency and other unwanted side effects are dramatically reduced while editing the dynamics. For instance, this prevents a bass peak from "reducing" the entire signal. Multi-band technology also lets you specifically edit individual frequency ranges. Link: When this function is activated and one fader is adjusted, all faders are changed at the same ratio. However, the way the dynamics are edited is not affected. HiQ: If the "HiQ" ("high quality") setting is activated, an even more precise algorithm is used, however this requires more processing power. We recommend switching this setting on before exporting the project. Setting the frequency bands: The settings of the frequency bands are changed directly via the graphic. Simply click on the separating lines to move them. Bass/mid/high: These controllers define the level of compression for each frequency band. Presets: Multimax provides access to presets for special applications, for example: Cassette NR-B decoder: MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 simulates decoding of Dolby B + C noise suppression if a Dolby player is not available. Cassettes recorded with Dolby B or C sound more muffled if played back without corresponding Dolby. Leveler: This setting automatically sets the entire material to an identical volume level. The volume control knob is no longer required. Use this function to equalize greater volume differences within a song. To equalize volume variations between different songs, the function "Normalize loudness" is also provided in the "Effects" menu. www.magix.com Audio effects De-Esser: These special presets help to remove overstressed hissing sounds from speech recordings. Stereo FX The Stereo FX enhancer allows you to determine the positioning of the audio material in the stereo picture. If the stereo recordings sound out of focus and undifferentiated, an extension of the stereo base width can often provide better transparency. Bandwidth control: Adjusts the bandwidth between mono (on the extreme left), unchanged bandwidth (center), and maximum bandwidth (”wide”, on the extreme right). Reducing the bandwidth can produce a rise in the level. In extreme cases, e.g. when the left and the right channels include identical material and the bandwidth control is pushed to the extreme left on “mono”, the result can increase the level by 3 dB. Raising the bandwidth (values of 100) diminishes the mono compatibility. This means that recordings edited this way sound hollow when listened to in mono. Volume control: Adjusts the volume of every single channel, thereby adjusting the entire balance. The reduction of left and right levels is displayed under the control buttons. A centered recording can later be moved to the left or right of the stereo balance. Stereo meter: This provides a graphic display of the phase relation of the audio signal. You can use it to review the orientation of the signal in the stereo balance and the effect of the stereo enhancer. In order to achieve greatest compatibility with mono, the display should come closest to a diagonal line. Otherwise some frequency ranges may erase themselves if the stereo signal is played on a mono device. Karaoke presets: These presets open a special karaoke effect that more or less eliminates vocals. It deletes middle frequencies typical for human vocals during playback so that someone else can do the singing. www.magix.com 105 106 Audio effects In typical karaoke songs, the lyrics are usually displayed as subtitles in the video clip so that the singer can follow along. MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 also comes with a suitable feature: the title editor, which can be used to create karaoke subtitles. Please read the "Title editor" section in the chapter "Images and video objects". Limiter The Limiter prevents clipping by automatically lowering any volume levels that are too high. Quiet parts remain unaffected. Unlike the Compressor, this feature attempts to preserve the basic sound as much as possible. Digital Audio Meter On the lower border of the MAGIX Mastering Suite there is a digital audio meter which provides separate control method displays for 10 wave bands on each channel. This device is used for orientation purposes, e.g. selective equalizer editing. www.magix.com Audio effects Sound Warper Distortion This is a distorter, which over-modulates the audio object. Gain: With these controls you adjust the degree of distortion. ‘Gain’ designates the prestage to an amplifier. Cut off: Here you adjust the frequency ranges that are to be distorted. Volume: Here you can adjust the volume of the distorter. The higher you set the ‘gain’ control, the louder the distortion when compared to the overall volume. Filter Similar to an equalizer, the filter controls the volume of certain frequency ranges. It is however also possible to completely suppress frequencies so that very impressive distortions are possible. Frequency: Here you set the frequency that is to be filtered. Level: Here the filtering intensity is adjusted. Resonance: Here you set the range (band width) around the frequency which is to be boosted together with the frequency. Volume: Here the filter volume can be adjusted separately. www.magix.com 107 108 Audio effects Timestretch and pitchshift This effect device changes the object’s speed and/or pitch. Pitch: This control changes the pitch independent of the object’s speed (‘pitch-shifting’). Tempo: This control changes the tempo independent of the pitch ("timestretching"). The object acts as if it were compressed or stretched on the track. Tones/BPM: These fields are used to numerically enter the pitch or speed change. Only MAGIX Soundpool files are suitable for numerical entries as the contain information on pitch and speed. Setup: This button opens a setup dialog where you can select various pitchshifting and timestretching procedures. Standard: Timestretching and pitchshifting in standard quality. This method is suitable for audio material without a pronounced beat. Beat markers are evaluated to improve audio quality. Smoothed: Timestretching and pitchshifting for audio material without pulsing elements. The method is suitable for polyphonic orchestral instruments, pauses, speech, and singing. Beat markers are not evaluated. Here a considerably more complex algorithm is used which requires more processing time. The material can now also be used on very large factors (0.2...50) without bringing about strong artifacts. The material is "smoothed", which makes the sound softer and emits it at an adjusted phase level. This smoothing is hardly audible, for example, with speech, singing or solo instrumentation. Problems in the shape of distortions may arise with more complex spectra (sound mixes from various instruments or finished mixes). Beat marker slicing: Beat-synchronous timestretching and pitchshifting via splitting and temporal repositioning. Exactly set beat markers are required at the beats or transients. The markers can be generated in real time (automatically) or read from the WAV file if available (patched). In the Premium version's included MAGIX Music Editor, a patching tool is provided for users to set the markers themselves. The algorithm is suitable for rhythmic material that can be divided into individual beats or notes. This requires a low audio level before each beat or note. www.magix.com Audio effects Beat marker stretching: Beat-synchronous timestretching and pitchshifting in standard quality. The material is stretched between beat markers positions so that the beats or attacks at the beat marker positions are not impaired by stretching. The markers can be generated in real time (automatically) or read from the source file if available (patched). This method is suitable for rhythmic material that can not be divided into individual beats or notes because the beats or notes overlap each other. Beat marker stretching (smoothed): Beat-synchronized timestretching and pitchshifting in high audio quality even with extreme time extension. Beat markers are used at the beats or transients. The markers can be generated in real time (automatically) or read from the WAV file if available (patched). This method is suitable for rhythmic material that can not be divided into individual beats or notes because the beats or notes overlap each other. This method requires a lot of processing time which is why it should be used sparingly on less powerful systems. Universal HQ: Universal methods for timestretching and pitchshifting in very high audio quality. Suitable for all types of audio material. Beat markers are evaluated to improve audio quality. This method requires so much processing time, that a realtime application is recommended only in exceptional situations. Using the apply function is recommended instead. Monophonic voice: Timestretching and pitchshifting for vocal solos, speech, or solo instruments. The material must not contain background noise, and excessive reverb may also be detrimental to the use of this method. With suitable material the audio quality is very high. In addition, the formants remain when pitchshifting. Resampling: Pitch shift and tempo cannot be changed individually. This method requires considerably little CPU time. www.magix.com 109 110 Audio effects Vintage Effects Suite If you're a guitar, bass or keyboard player, you'll probably recognize the look of our new "vintage effects" suite. They are accurate digital models of analog "standard effects" used by live musicians. Although we have adopted the appearance of stomp boxes and have given these effect a typical analog sound they are ideal for studio use. All effects of the Vintage Effects Suite are subject to a soft rule behavior – internally, parameters are softly faded from the old to the new value. This is particularly noticeable when presets change and is of a particular benefit when playing in live mode. In the following we will present the effects of this suite and explain how and where to use them. Analog Delay This delay offers creative playing along with common delay effects. "Analog" in this case means, for instance, that you can change the delay times while playing without the risk of typical, scratching artefacts developing. Instead, the times are softly faded out, similar to the old tape echo machines that used the www.magix.com Audio effects tape speed to change the delay and where the system also had a certain sluggishness. "analog" in terms of this delay also means that typical tape echo sounds can be mimicked, e.g. tape speed fluctuations and reduced highs during playback ("feedback"). The feedback has a two-band filter that can be used to create dark, high, or mid repetitions depending on the settings. These properties can be useful, for example to create "wild" dub/reggae-style delays that move towards the center of the sound with each repetition and even grind slightly. In this case, "analog" means that you cannot digitally overdrive the delay. Even in a 'looped' repetition, the signal cannot be distorted indefinitely, but it is compressed by an increasingly slight degree and distorted similar to a tape. Analog delay parameter Analog delay has the following parameters: Delay type Delay type (l + r): Left and right delay times can be controlled separately (see below). You can choose a note value for the control pots to snap to. Even and syncopated note values from 1/2 to 1/32 are available. Note that the delay times are always in relation to the project’s current tempo. Link button (lock symbol): Press this button to control the “delay type” pots for both channels simultaneously. Mix: Adjusts the ration between the original signal and the echo. Modulation Speed: The tape warble speed. Low values result in very light fluctuations, high values result in drastic warbling. Depth: The warble intensity. When this control is turned all the way to the left, there is no pitch modulation. For a subtle "analog" feel, we recommend a setting between the 9 and 11 o’clock position. www.magix.com 111 112 Audio effects Filter "Low" "High" This control progressively reduces the bass frequency as it is turned to the right, making the signal sound "thinner". Once turned all the way to the right, the control only attenuates the treble very lightly; turned completely to the left, the delay repetitions become progressively less treble. Feedback Width: This controls the stereo width of the delay repetitions. When you turn “Width” to the right, an additional effect is produced: the panning of the delays increases. This is commonly referred to as a "ping-pong" delay. Drive: When this control is turned all the way to the left, the delayed signal is repeated only once. Turned all the way to the right, the feedback is seemingly endless and the repetitions continue for a long time. The actual strength of the effect is dependent on the material, since the feedback loop (as explained earlier) is addressed via compression and uses a "tape saturation" effect. If you send a "loud" signal to the delay, then the feedback will sound longer than at a lower level as compression "brings it up" to a certain level. If you are used to "purely digital" delays, then this might take some getting used to, but it will probably sound "livelier". www.magix.com Audio effects Flanger The "Flange" effect is similar to that of the chorus, but does have a different technical and historical background. It came about by chance: Someone (various sources say John Lennon) slowed down one of two running interconnected tape machines in a studio with his hand. The result: The rather brief delay of the second signal compared to the first resulted in cancellations within the frequency spectrum, leading to a so-called comb filter effect (the sum of both signals creates "peaks" and "lows" in the spectrum that look familiar to the teeth of a comb). Flanging is basically a chorus effect, but it has a lower delay time (less than 10 ms). "Release" or signal doubling is not highlighted here; the result is a much more creative frequency response deformation. A "complete" flange effect will definitely require feedback: The flange portion is returned to the input to increase the effect. People often talk about the "jet effect", since it resembles a jet on take-off. www.magix.com 113 114 Audio effects Flanger parameters Speed: Modulation speed. Depth: The overall amount of modulation. Feedback: The volume of the internal feedback loop. Mode: Normal: Flanging. Dual: Two parts, panned left and right. Quad: Four parts, alternately panned left and right. Quad pan: Like “Quad”, but the “Depth” control also sets the intensity of the signal’s pan movements between left and right. www.magix.com Audio effects Filter "Filter" is a "modulation" effect like chorus and flanger. However, it controls the frequency response of a modulation source as well as the pitch. There are various filter types and modulation sizes available for this. Possible areas of application are synthesizer sounds (filter sweeps on pads) or creative distortions of drumloops (e.g. for variations, fills, etc). With guitars you can create typical 'wah' effects: either by tempo modulation or in a special mode, modulation via the envelope curve. The decisive factor is the current signal strength above the frequency set for the filter. Filter parameters Speed: The modulation speed is set by note values ranging from 1/1 to 1/16 (even or dotted). Similar to analog delay, the tempo information is automatically provided by the arrangement. A peculiarity of the final position of the controller: Tempo synchronization stops and modulation is controlled via the signal level. Freq: This is the base frequency for modulating the filter, and generally takes place above this frequency, i.e. the modulation increases the filter frequency. www.magix.com 115 116 Audio effects Depth: This control determines the modulation depth, i.e. the amount by which the speed control (or envelope mode, as described above) increases the base frequency. For extreme effects, turn “Freq” all the way to the left and “Depth” all the way to the right. Filter modes Low-pass Band-pass A filter with a slope of 24 dB/octave and a small amount of resonance. The treble frequencies above the base frequency (cut-off frequency) are filtered steeply. This is great for filter sweeps on synth pads and drum loops. Only the frequencies around the base frequency are passed through the filter (24 dB slope with resonance). Use this mode to create wah-wah effects for guitars. Band elimination („Notch-Filter") Two parallel filters (–36 dB) with linked base frequencies create two ‘notches’ in the frequency spectrum. This allows you to create interesting sounds (e.g. guitar chords), and it sounds similar to a phaser. High-pass This mode achieves the opposite effect to the lowpass filter. Frequencies below the base frequency are filtered steeply. If you ‘thin out’ sections of your track (for example, a drum track) with a tempo-based modulation, this can sound very effective when contrasted with the full-range frequency spectrum (for example, if the filter is turned off for the next object). www.magix.com Audio effects Chorus The chorus pedal creates characteristic "floating" sounds which one typically recognizes from guitar or synth pads. You can add acoustic "depth" to an instrument to add more power to the sound or to create the illusion that it exists multiple times. The chorus sound is created by using the so-called Doppler effect. You probably have noticed this phenomenon daily life: The sound of an approaching ambulance sounds higher than when it is moving away. This effect is a result of the speed of the sound which first increases and then decreases, thus also changing the sound pitch. If there were a second siren at your location, an oscillation would develop between both sounds (just like when two instruments are out of tune). Chorus also splits the signal in at least two: direct sound and effects part. The double effect is created by a short signal delay of the effect. This delay is within the range of 10-30 ms (as in this one), this means that it is short enough to be perceived as an "echo". The times would also be similarly short if you were to double a guitar track for instance. A short delay in the mix already sounds "doubled" but is not authentic. This is where the abovementioned "out-of-tune" effect comes in: The pitch of the effect signal is www.magix.com 117 118 Audio effects slightly modulated by gently "drifting" forward and backward in the delay curve. The result is a floating effect where the speed is influenced by drifting Chorus parameters You can enter the following parameters to control the floating effect: Speed: Modulation speed. Low speeds create an even, continuous development. High speeds produce vibrato-like qualities, but can also result in an "underwater" effect. Depth: Modulation depth. This determines how strongly the speed affects the pitch modulation. Mix: This sets the balance between the direct signal and the effects signal. Mode: You can choose between four operating modes of the chorus effect: “Normal” is a combination of the direct signal and the detuned delay signal. “Normal, low-pass” is designed for bass-heavy signals like bass guitar. The bottom end of the signal stays clear and well-defined, the effect is only audible for the mid and treble frequencies. “Dual” makes the source sound more lively than a single "part". The sound is spread over the stereo panorama, which makes this mode seem "wider". The character of the sound becomes livelier than with a single voice only, and it is also distributed over the stereo panorama, making the mode sound "broader". “Quad, low-pass” is ideal for creating sounds such as deep synth pads with tight bass frequencies. Tip: Similar to the stomp boxes our vintage effects are modeled on, there is a "footswitch" below the pedal’s logo that can be clicked to turn the effect on or off for A/B comparisons. All the effects of the Vintage Effects Suite have been designed like this. www.magix.com Audio effects Distortion The distortion pedal is a "high gain" distorter for crunch and lead guitar sounds. If you like typically "British" amp sounds and want to quickly record a guitar track with little effort, this pedal is for you. An entire valve pre-amp circuit has been modeled, including the typical EQ curve. The amplification is "valve-typical", i.e. it doesn't start quickly but is harmonic and soft. Even at full power the pedal still reacts softly to a guitar and its settings (e.g. pick-up choice and tone controller). For instance, you can influence the distortion even more by using the volume knob on the guitar. There are only three parameters on this effect; however, these interact with each other and can thus generate quite a variable sound: Low: The "bass" controller. This allows you to set the share of basses, even after the distortion. The type of prefiltering is important for guitar amps in particular, and is characteristic for the basic sound. You should set the bass controller depending on the basic sound of the guitar and the sound you are aiming for ("powerful" or "cut"). High: Mainly controls the share of highs before and after the distortion. If you are not using an external guitar speaker as a monitor, we recommend setting the controller to the middle position or even moving it slightly to the right. This www.magix.com 119 120 Audio effects way the "sharp" highs disappear, which all guitar amps generate without the suitable loudspeaker. At the same time the mids stand out more, which gives the sound more "kick". On the other hand you can further emphasize the highs if you want the sound to be more neutral. Drive: The level of distortion. This controls the amplification used to operate the "virtual valve circuit" (max. 60 dB). As the level increases, the valve goes into overdrive and generates typical distortions. For a slightly distorted sound ("crunch"), it's sufficient to set the controller to 10-11 hours at maximum; the modeled circuit also provides the usual "weight" for power rock chords, and more. The further you turn this controller to the right, the more the mids of the signal move to the fore so that the "high-gain" lead sound is better heard. You can also use the distortion effect in combination with the amp simulation! BitMachine Audio material can always be edited into high quality with MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4. Nevertheless, there are some situations, for example, a more imperfect lo-fi sound would perfectly suit a drum loop or a synthesizer sound. Remember, for example, the first hardware samplers from the 80s that usually only ran at 8 or 12-bit rates and at low sample rates. With the BitMachine, changing the sound with such an "antique" device is no problem. You can use the BitMachine to bring back to life the times when minimalist and scratchy soundchips in home computers were commonplace. The BitMachine opens up a gateway to "acoustic time travel" where you can encounter bit and sample rate reduction and downstream filters based on analog models. Furthermore, the effect has a modulation section with which you can control individual parameters using an oscillator (LFO) or the input signal. We have designed a range of "typical" presets to demonstrate the time travel abilities of the BitMachine. These can be opened at the top right of the interface www.magix.com Audio effects The following section describes the details of BitMachine: "Reduction" section Bits This dial controls the resolution of the audio material. Turning the dial to the left results in 16-bit quantization (CD quality). The further it is turned to the right, the lesser the signal dynamic becomes. In extreme cases (1-bit), there are only "on“ or "off“ states. At the intermediate levels, you’ll notice an increase in the background noise and a decrease in the dynamics. For example, 8-bit quantization will exhibit dynamics of only 48 dB. Quieter points in the material sound noisy and very quiet points sound "capped“. This effect is amplified the more you turn the dial to the left until it starts crackling or "groaning". Sample rate The audio material is "down-calculated" with this dial, i.e. the internal sample rate is reduced. A new separation ratio between old and new rates is created. In relation to this ratio, a sample from the data stream will be "dropped“ at the various points. Note: The two smaller dials from this section are explained under Modulation. "Filter" section The filter in the BitMachine is a digital model of one of the most well-known filters in music electronics, i.e. the "Chamberlin 2-pole" filter used in old Oberheim synthesizers. These types of filters sound exceptionally musical. They can also be used quite creatively in the BitMachine, but should not be used exclusively to smooth out existing artifacts. The filter works in the so-called "high-pass" mode, i.e. it lets through deep frequency (or medium) material according to setting, and dampens highs and medium areas. Freq: You can specify the cut-off frequency of the filter using "Freq". Filtering starts above this frequency. www.magix.com 121 122 Audio effects Reso: The signal in the area around the cut-off frequency can be strongly elevated to just below self-oscillation. Sharp, cutting sounds are possible at this level, and the effect becomes even clearer when you vary the cut-off frequency. Drive: Both of the individual filters of the connections mentioned above have the ability to overmodulate themselves internally. With the "Drive“ dial, you can regulate the amount of overmodulation. The more you turn this dial up, the more the signal is overmodulated. In this case, the parameters of the internal workings of the filter interact with one another. Increasing drive weakens the resonance, but, at the same time, the signal gets more volume, more bass and becomes acoustically fuller. Note: The two smaller dials from this section are explained under "Modulation". "Modulation" section You can automate your effects via the settings in the modulation section. Here, you’ll find the so-called low frequency oscillator (LFO), which resonates with adjustable speed. You can influence the speed and type of resonance. To influence the resonance, use the two small dials in both the reduction and filter areas. These four dials display modulation targets. Example: You’ve left the dial for the sample rate at its default setting. Change the small dial beneath from its middle position to either side. The modulation for the dial value is added to the sample rate: The LFO now controls these parameters proportionately and the sample rate reduction resonates at this modulation. You can use this technique on other dials as well. You just have to make sure that the main dial isn’t turned up to full, because then the modulation wouldn’t have any effect. The modulation is always added to the set value. Example: Turn the small dial beneath the "bits" dial fully to the left (Value: -50) and the one beside it (beneath "sample rate") to the right (+50). You’ve now assigned a modulation to both parameters with the LFO. They are not changed uniformly, but rather opposite to one another: A negative setting is nothing more than an inversion of the modulation, so you’re effectively turning down the control signal. www.magix.com Audio effects waveforms of the modulation section We’ve already explained this example with the help of sine oscillation. The LFO can be in: Sine form Square wave (0 or 1, no intermediate level) Random value (an internal randomizer will be queried at the set speed) Oscillator speed The LFO speed is specified with the "speed“ dial. If the "sync“ button is active, then the LFO adapts to the song speed, and the dial locks musical values into place (e.g. ¼ note). Rhythmic paths of the sound distortion are therefore enabled. You can also switch off this synchronization and set the speed manually (in Hz). Modulation with the "Envelope follower“ In the modulation section you’ll find a fourth button, the audio input signal. If this mode is active, then the signal itself can be called upon to extract “modulation tension”; a so-called "envelope follower" continuously scans the volume of the input signal. Note: The BitMachine doesn’t recognize the type of audio signal automatically. For this reason, you should set the input sensitivity roughly with the "gain“ dial. To do this, use the control LED: With accurate detection of the signal dynamics, assigning the four small dials to modulation lows is easier and you can use the full control range. In envelope mode, the "speed“ dial is used to control the response speed of the envelope (the display now switches to milliseconds). Lower times result in a faster response, higher times make the envelope rise (and fall) slower. You should experiment with the signal according to its complexity. The presets provided can only point you in a rough direction. www.magix.com 123 124 Mixer Mixer MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 includes a real-time mixer with a master effects section that professionally mixes all the tracks within an arrangement. The Mixer can be opened by pressing the "M" key or via the toolbar in the main window (also: "View" menu > "Mixer". The Mixer displays eight tracks simultaneously by default. With the «/» buttons beside the scroll bars at the bottom, the Mixer can be increased or reduced in size. You can view further tracks using the scroll bar. Track effects Alongside the audio effects in the object (Reverb/Echo, Timestretch/Resample, Compressor, etc.), a separate track effects rack with equalizer and reverb/echo can be used in each mixer track. You can open the track audio effects rack with the FX button. A lit FX track button signifies that effects are active in the track. Track effects always apply to all audio objects of a track. In comparison to applying an effect to each object individually, this saves storage space. The track effects work the same way as those of the Object Effect Rack (view page 93). www.magix.com Mixer For more information on using and controlling the individual effects please read the Audio Effects (view page 90)chapter. Fader Every channel has its own volume or brightness fader. As a result, the volume can be lowered quickly and accurately, to add more bass or to fade out a video that is just playing. This fader also acts on any linked MIDI files. The stereo position for each track can be defined with the Pan controls. The "Solo" button switches a track to solo mode, i.e. all other tracks are muted. Mute: The mute button mutes the active track. Double clicking on each of the controls resets it to the passive basic setting, in which no processor output is needed. Control groups The volume, panorama, and FX send faders of the various tracks can be compiled into control groups. To do this, first click on a fader and then, while holding down "Ctrl", click on all other faders that you wish to include in your group. If you select "Shift", all faders in between the first one selected and the next one will be grouped. Now you can set the volume of multiple tracks together without having to change the volume ratios of the tracks. For example, you can set the volume of an individual instrument of a drumset (kick, snare, HighHat) in such a way that they can harmonize with one another. Now, if you group together the volume faders of the tracks, you can set the master volume of the drumset. To ungroup a fader from a control group, click the instrument and press "Ctrl" again. There may only be one control group active at a time, creating a new group automatically deactivates an existing group. www.magix.com 125 126 Mixer Track effects Besides the object audio effects, a separate track effects rack with equalizer, reverb/echo, distortion/filter and compressor as well as the Vintage Effect Suite plug-ins can be used. The Vintage Effect Suite plug-ins are being loaded via the plug-in slot. You can open the track audio effects rack with the FX button. A lit FX track button signifies that effects are active in the track. The track effects can also be applied without having to open the mixer. The arranger's trackbox also features the track FX menu. In it, you will find presets for track effects (view page 93) sorted according to the instrument type. Track effects always apply to all audio objects of a track. In comparison to applying an effect to each object individually, this saves storage space. The effect itself works the same way as object effects. For more information on using and controlling the individual effects, please read the chapter Audio effects (view page 90). FX tracks Two FX send controllers (FX1 and FX2) are located below the plugin slots. You can determine the volume at which you want the signal to be routed to the two available FX tracks. An FX track is a complete, additional mixer track which provides a complete track FX rack and two plugin slots for use as a send effect. A send effect differs from a normal effect found in the track (Insert) insofar as it can edit the signals from multiple tracks or objects simultaneously. The FX are usually hidden in the Mixer. They will be displayed as soon as one of the FX send controllers is used. www.magix.com Mixer In the first FX track the hall function is activated as standard as it is the most important application of the send effects. The volume controllers serve to regulate the volume of the FX track and corresponds to the old AUX return controller. The mute button is used to switch the FX function on and off. The solo button enables you to single out FX individual tracks. The peak meter of the tracks, which send to the FX track, are displayed in grey. Live monitoring Click the speaker button in a mixer channel to activate "low latency" monitoring. Instead of the objects, the channel now plays the audio signal arriving at the sound card’s input – through all the channel’s effects and without latency! This also applies to the AUX and master effects. You can now add effects to your vocal or instrumental performance while recording them, and you can ‘ jam’ along to a complete arrangement in real-time. (Please note that this only works during recording and playback, not while the arrangement is stopped.) This monitoring method requires an ASIO driver to be installed. ASIO drivers are usually supplied with professional sound cards. For all cards without a proprietary driver, MAGIX has included a MAGIX Low Latency driver. This provides an ASIO driver for any sound card (or on-board sound chip) that can use WDM drivers. For further information, please refer to the chapter "Menu File – Settings/Information – Playback parameters…" The MultiMax effect has a high-latency design, which is why it is deactivated during live monitoring. www.magix.com 127 128 Mixer Master track The FX button functions exactly like in the tracks. The complete mixer settings can be reset with the "Reset" button. MAGIX Mastering Suite: MAGIX Mastering Suite (view page 101) can be opened here. MAGIX Mastering Suite is included in MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 as a demo version and may be used without any limits for 30 days after installation. A full version of MAGIX Mastering Suite is available in MAGIX Music Maker 2008 Producer Edition (and its successors). Both faders control the total volume. Link buttons: If the link button is deactivated, the volume of the right and left channels may be set individually. www.magix.com Reprocess arrangement Reprocess arrangement Export as email attachment The option "Send arrangement as email" in the "File" menu > "Internet" creates a file in the Windows Media format. Your mail program is activated simultaneously and the created file of an opened message is added as an attachment. Thus, any arrangement can be compressed without intermediate steps and sent as an email immediately. Export as ringtone With MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 you can produce your own individual ringtone melodies. Once completed, export the arrangement using the "Audio as ringtone" option in the File menu. In the export dialog you can select various formats for which useful tips and tricks are also available. Some advice on creating ring tones Audio material: When designing your ring tone please take into account that the loudspeakers of your mobile phone can only poorly reproduce bass tones. High tones are also heard more easily in a loud environment. If your ring tone includes MIDI Objects, you should activate VST Instruments on the respective tracks in the arrangement, so that MIDI information included in your ring tone becomes audible. Some manufacturers offer VST effects which simulate the loudspeaker of your mobile phone on the PC. Length: Typical ring tones have a length of about five to sixty seconds. MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 lets you create longer ring tones; however, you should note that large ring tone files require sufficient memory in your mobile phone. File format: First, select a format suitable for your mobile phone from the Export dialog. If several formats are possible, please note that the resulting audio quality will vary. In general, the quality increases in tandem with the size of the file. If your mobile does not support stereo audio playback, you can activate the "mono" export option which reduces the required memory space by about half. The size of the file that will be generated using your current settings is displayed in the Export dialog. www.magix.com 129 130 Reprocess arrangement Transferring the ringtone to your mobile phone: Depending on the type of mobile phone and the items included in delivery there are several possibilities to transfer your ringtone from the PC to the phone: 1. 2. 3. Wireless via infrared (IrDA) or BlueTooth link Using a data cable and, if applicable, the transfer software supplied by the manufacturer By WAP or MMS Create Audio CD To burn an audio CD, export your arrangement as a WAV file first: Click on "File" and select the "Export arrangement -> Audio as wave..." option. The WAV file created can be burned as an audio CD with the included burning program MAGIX Speed burnR. Upload song to Soundcloud Soundcloud® is a community that is especially designed for musicians. The free version provides 120 minutes of storag e space for your songs. Every song may be embedded as a player widget into external websites; the widget even allows comments along the timeline of the song and an optional download of the original song. If you have an Internet connection, then you will see the Soundcloud® player here For more information about the possibilities provided by the Soundcloud® community and the different premium accounts see www.soundcloud.com http://www.soundcloud.com. www.magix.com Reprocess arrangement Common export options The export icon on the toolbar opens the export wizard. This bundles different options for exporting your arrangement in different formats, for burning onto CD, or publishing on the Internet with different platforms. Export as MP3: This selection exports the arrangement in the popular MP3 format for use on the Internet or on mobile playback devices (Mp3 players, mobile phones, etc.). For details about the export dialog, please see the chapter concerning the file menu, particularly the "Export (view page 134)" section. www.magix.com 131 132 Reprocess arrangement Burn to CD/DVD: This selection exports the arrangement in the best-possible quality and opens an additional program for burning an audio CD. The option is also available to backup the entire arrangement with all involved files onto CD or DVD. See Burn audio CD. Upload to MAGIX Online Album laden: Uploads the arrangement to MAGIX Online Album. This platform enables friends and acquaintances to experience your work. The MAGIX Online Album online player may also be embedded into any other websites. More information about MAGIX Online Album is available in "Online (view page 167)" Send via email: Converts the arrangement into Windows Media and adds it as an attachment to an email. An email program (e.g. Outlook Express) must be installed and setup. Note: If you only use browser-based email, then this function will not be available. However, you could invite others to listen to your uploaded music via email to your MAGIX Online Album or Youtube™. To do so, you will have to use the functions of the respective website (for MAGIX, this is MAGIX Online Media Manager). Publish on SoundCloud: The arrangement will be uploaded to SoundCloud. This requires a SoundCloud user account. Details on SoundCloud can be found in the chapter Upload song to Soundcloud (view page 130). www.magix.com File Menu File Menu New arrangement A new MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 arrangement is created with this menu item, with 16 tracks. More tracks can be added via the menu “Edit”. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + N Load arrangement A previously saved MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 arrangement is loaded with this menu item. Please note that the object files for the arrangement must also be available! MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 will look for the sounds and videos that were used first in the path where they were located when the arrangement was saved. If they are not found there, then the MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 Arrangement will look for the objects in the same directory as the arrangement itself. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + O Save arrangement The current arrangement is saved under the existing name. If no name has been selected, then a File requester opens, where the path and name can be defined. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + S Save arrangement as... This opens a file requester where you can define the path and the name of the arrangement that is to be saved. Keyboard shortcut: www.magix.com Shift + S 133 134 File Menu Import Import audio CD tracks You can simply import one or more CD tracks like a regular file from the Media Pool via drag & drop. If this convenient method fails for some reason, then this menu command may be accessed via the CD manager to insert tracks from audio CDs directly into the arrangement. More on this can be found in the section "Importing Audio CDs (view page 55)" in the "Audio objects" chapter. Shortcut: C Audio recording See Audio recording (view page 52). Keyboard shortcut: R Export Common export options You will find a quick selection of the most common export options here. Please read more on this in the section Export wizard (view page 130). www.magix.com File Menu Audio export dialog File In File you can enter the file name for you exported file. Use the folder symbol to select the folder into which you want to export it. The dialog will remember the export path for future exports. Use the "home" symbol to restore the original preset path. With "Overwrite file automatically" you can perform multiple exports from the same file. www.magix.com 135 136 File Menu Options Only export the area between the start and end markers: Set the option if you wish to export only one of the clippings from the arrangement. Bit rate: The "Bit rate" selection specifies the level of compression: The higher the bit rate, the higher the quality of the exported audio file. On the other hand, the bit rate determines the final file size: The smaller the bit rate, the smaller the files. Mono/Stereo/5.1 Surround: Most mobile devices have only one loudspeaker. To save on memory, you can export in mono as well. In 5.1 Surround Mode (see Mixer in Surround Mode) you can also export in MP3surround. Advanced: Here you can open the advanced settings dialog for the corresponding audio format (see below). Normalize: This function should always be activated. It guarantees that the music is not too loud/overmodulated or too quiet. Transfer format: Here you can state whether you want to send he exported arrangement to mobile devices via Bluetooth, infrared or email. Read more in the Reprocess arrangement (view page 128)chapter. Audio as Wave The audio material is exported as a standard wave file. This is the standard format for further use on Windows PCs. These files are not compressed and retain their full sound quality. Keyboard shortcut: Alt+W Audio as MP3 MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 supplies an optional MP3 encoder for especially fast and good-quality conversions into the popular MP3 audio format. Hint: The MP3 encoder cannot be used as a codec for the audio track of AVI audio files. www.magix.com File Menu Transmission format Here you can specify how you wish to send the audio file to the mobile device. Read more on this under Transferring files (view page 129). Options In the "Options" section you can set the format and the compression of the audio file. Bit rate: The "Bit rate" selection specifies the level of compression: The higher the bit rate, the higher the quality of the exported audio file. On the other hand, the bit rate determines the final file size: The smaller the bit rate, the smaller the file. Mono/Stereo: Most mobile devices have only one loudspeaker. To save on memory, you can export in mono for these devices. Normalize: This function should always be activated. It guarantees that the music is not too loud/overmodulated or too quiet. Keyboard shortcut: Alt + M Audio as Ogg Vorbis "Ogg Vorbis" is a royalty-free Open Source audio codec with a high sound quality but relatively small data volumes (comparable to MP3). Keyboard shortcut: Alt + Z Audio as Windows Media Exports the arrangement in Windows Media Audio format. Please read more on the advanced settings in the Windows Media Video Export (view page 140) section. Keyboard shortcut: www.magix.com Alt+E 137 138 File Menu Video export dialog You can export your arranagement into various video formats. The options on offer can vary according to the selected format. Presets: Under "Presets", you'll find the typical settings for the selected format for the most important applications. You can save your personal settings by pressing the "Save" button and remove them by pressing the "Delete" button. Export settings: You can set up the general export parameters like resolution, page proportions and frame rate in the dialogs. Select the most-used values from the list field, to set your own values click on the "..." button. The "Advanced" button opens the specific settings dialog for selected video format (see below). In File you can enter the file name for you exported file. Use the folder symbol to select the folder into which you want to export it. The dialog will remember the export path for future exports. www.magix.com File Menu Use the "home" symbol to restore the original preset path. With "Overwrite file automatically" you can perform multiple exports from the same file. Options Shut down PC automatically after successful export: Use this option to have the computer switch off automatically after lengthy export processes. Only export the area between the start and end markers: Set the option if you wish to export only one of the clippings from the arrangement. Play after export:Here you can state whether you want to send he exported arrangement to mobile devices via Bluetooth, infrared or email. Read more in the Reprocess arrangement (view page 128)chapter. Video as AVI When exporting to AVI video, you can set and configure the size and frame rate of the AVI video and the compression codec for audio (audio compression) and video (codec). Please also note the general info on AVI videos (view page 75, view page 139)! Keyboard shortcut: Alt + A General info on AVI videos The AVI format (Audio Video Interleaved) isn't actually a proper video format! It's rather a so-called container where very general conventions can be specified like audio and video data and sent to a program. The exact memory format of the files is specified via the codec (coder/decoder). A codec compresses audio/video files into its own private format with which only the codec can work and decodes the files on playback again. This means that an AVI file created on your computer can only be loaded/played on computer B if this computer has the same codec installed. Many codecs (for example, Intel Indeo video) have now become standard components of the Windows installation, others, such as the popular DivX codec are not. If you create an AVI file with such a codec and you wish to use it other computers, install the corresponding codec on them as well. www.magix.com 139 140 File Menu On older video editing cards certain codecs that function only with the hardware of the corresponding cards can be problematic. This type of AVI can only be used on the computer on which they were created. Avoid using this type of codec when possible. MAGIX video export Exports the movie in MAGIX video format. This format is used for video recording by MAGIX video software and is optimized for digitally edited highquality video material. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Alt + M Video as Windows Media Exports the arrangement in Windows Media format. This is a universal audio/video format from Microsoft. Accordingly complex are the settings options in the"Advanced..." dialog. Manual configuration Audio/Video codec: Various codecs corresponding to the various Windows Media versions (7, 8, 9) are possible. Should compatibility problems arise on playback, try an older codec with a lower version number. Bit rate mode: Constant and variable bit rates are possible, most devices and streaming applications use constant bit rates. For VBR two pass modes the movie is compressed in two passes in order to optimally use the bandwidth for highly-compressed movies for the Internet. Bit rate/Quality/Audio format: The bit rate is decisive in defining the display/audio quality. The higher this is, the better your videos will look and the larger the files and the required encoding time will be. For variable bit rates, the bit rate is adapted dynamically to the requirements of the corresponding picture or sound material. Here, either the quality value of between 1-100 can be set or, for two-pass encoding, an average or maximum bit rate. For audio, the bit rate is set additionally by the audio format. Import from the system profile (export type): For the most used methods (other than playback on mobile devices, with which you should use the supplied presets), like, for example, Internet streaming, Microsoft provides diverse system profiles to choose from. If you have the Windows Media Encoder 9 installed, which is available from Microsoft as a free download, you can edit the profiles or create your own. These can be loaded by pressing the "Import from profile file" button. www.magix.com File Menu In Clip info you can add the title, author name, copyright information and a description. Keyboard shortcut: Alt + W Internet > Send arrangement as email This option generates a compressed file in the Windows media format. At the same time, the respective mail program is activated and the previously generated file is added as an attachment to an open message. Any type of arrangement can thus be compressed and sent without any intermediate steps. Keyboard shortcut: Shift + U Upload to Community Use this menu item to send your finished file to the music community SoundCloud. For more information, please read the section SoundCloud (view page 130). Backup Load backup arrangement Using this command you can load a backup arrangement. Backup arrangements are created automatically by MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 and can be used when, for instance, a program crashes in order to recover the last status of files. This type of automatic backup gets the file extension MM_ (underscore). This command is also useful if you unintentionally saved your change and wish to return to the previous version. Keyboard shortcut: Alt + O Backup > Create backup With this menu point, you can put a complete MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 arrangement, including all used multimedia files into one folder. This is especially useful when you wish to reuse or archive such an arrangement later on, or when the files are located on multiple CDs so that on loading you continually have to change CDs. Furthermore, the effect files used are saved in a folder with the other files. www.magix.com 141 142 File Menu A dialog opens where you can specify the path and name of the arrangement. Keyboard shortcut: Shift + R Backup > Create backup in OGG format You can create a backup copy as an OGG file, whereby all audio files used will be compressed into OGG format. This way you can compactly archive your song or put it on the web as a remix kit. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Alt + R Backup copy > Burn backup copy to disc Use this option to burn the arrangement as well as all the relevant files to CD or DVD. Even larger arrangements can be burned straight to disc. The arrangement, if necessary, will then be split up and burned automatically to multiple discs. A restore program which is burned to the first disc of this type of backup, guarantees easy re-recording of the backup. Ctrl+Shift+R Keyboard shortcut: Backup copy > Burn manually selected files to CD/DVD Opens MAGIX Speed burnR to burn videos or other files onto CD/DVD. File selection is done via drag & drop from MAGIX Speed burnR's Explorer. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + B Settings Arrangement settings In this dialog, the general properties of the arrangement can be set. Statistical information about the arrangement is also displayed. Shortcut: E Properties Name: Here you can enter the name of the current arrangement. Universal arrangement settings Path: This is where you determine the folder on your hard drive in which your arrangement is saved. www.magix.com File Menu Number of tracks: Here you can set the number of tracks you wish to use. Audio sample rate: The sample rate determines the pitch and the speed at which audio objects are played back. The sample rate you can use depends on your sound card (some sound cards even permit changing the sample rate during playback). The sample rate you can use depends on your sound card (some sound cards even permit changing the sample rate during playback). If you halve the sample rate, wave audio objects are played one octave lower. Type of beat: Several types of bars are available to choose from, for example ¾ beat. With various grid settings you can also set additional beat types. For example, with a set 3/4 beat and a 1/8 note grid a 6/8 beat would be the result. Use as presets for new projects: The settings specified in the dialog are used as the standard settings for newly created projects. Information Name/Path: See above Created on: Displays the time the arrangement was created. Last changes: Displays the time when last saved. Number of used objects: Displays the number of all objects in the arrangement. Used files: Here the names and paths to all multimedia files used in the arrangement are shown. Program settings Here you can set MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 according to your needs and wishes. Shortcut: Y General options Autoscroll: If autoscroll is activated, the screen view automatically shifts when the playback marker reaches the right edge of the screen, which is particularly useful for longer arrangements. Scrolling requires constant recalculation of the screen view, which may lead to interrupted playback if the amount of system RAM is too low. If this happens, simply deactivate the autoscroll feature. Simplified Object Display: This lets you switch between various object views. Here video objects are displayed in the tracks either with detailed preview frames or in simplified form. Audio objects are displayed either with one or two separate wave form displays for stereo. Shortcut: www.magix.com Tab 143 144 File Menu Automatic saving of backup arrangements: Here you can the time intervals at which automatic backup arrangements will be saved. Soundpool Hide unavailable loops: All Soundpools are saved into a database automatically. The Media Pool lists all loops saved in the database, i.e. also those which originate from external media (Soundpool discs) that may not be in the drive at the moment. These results can be hidden, but this slows down the search results in the Media Pool. Hide instruments which are left empty in the style selection: Instrument groups for which there are no loops present in a certain style are completely hidden in the Media Pool (instead of being grayed out). Clean up Soundpool: Every detected Soundpool (on CD/DVD or on the hard drive) is added to the database and displayed there, even if the corresponding medium is currently not in the drive or if the Soundpool has been deleted or moved. This option helps to remove these entries in the database. Reset Soundpool: Deletes the Soundpool database. You have the option of maintaining the included and installed factory-provided Soundpool in the database. Hide advanced tooltips: The additional information for the detected loops in the Media Pool will be hidden. Instruction dialogs:In its newly installed state, MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 displays a number of security queries at various parts of the program. Every one of them can be switched off by clicking the small box at the bottom that says "Don't show this message again". To display these warning messages, select the "Reactivate dialogs" option. Program interface Darken screen when dialogs are opened: Darkening signals modal dialogs which need to be closed before the rest of the program can be operated. This can be deactivated if it disturbs you. Hide news:This option deactivates the MAGIX News Center in the main interface of MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4. www.magix.com File Menu Import Preview samples (Wav,OGG): Preview Wave files while playing the arrangement: Here you can switch off the preview when a playback is running (Smart Preview). Adapt waves automatically to the BPM: When loading to the arrangement or previewing, MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 tries to adapt the samples to the speed of the arrangement. This always works properly with newer MAGIX soundpool samples as the tempo information is saved in the audio file. It usually works with all other loops as well, provided the loops are clean, that is, they are cut to entire bar lengths. (see the Arranger chapter) With "For patched samples only", automatic timestretching can be deactivated for all other samples. With "Apply to longer samples as well", longer samples will also be adapted if they contain tempo and bar information provided by the Remix Agent. Remix Agent for the tempo and beat recognition of longer samples (>15 s): Here you can deactivate the automatic opening of the Remix Agent for longer samples (for example, CD tracks or MP3s). Automatically adjust waves to pitch: A wave's pitch can be adjusted automatically using pitchshifting. For this to work however, the used samples (much like the samples on the MAGIX soundpool CDs) must have the corresponding key and pitch information. The pitch of the arrangement will then correspond to the pitch information of the first sample in the arrangement. Use destructive adjustment for shorter samples: Usually, loaded samples are adapted to the arrangement in realtime with timestretching. For computers with lower processing power, this method can be deactivated – the timestretching effect will then be calculated into a new file which is copied to the hard disk. Import CD tracks analog instead of digitally: If this option is activated, you can record audio CDs via the record button in the transport console. Read more on this in the "Recording audio CDs" section in the "Audio objects" chapter. (view page 59) Audio Wave output device: This option specifies which sound card or output the wave audio objects play and which drivers should be used. www.magix.com 145 146 File Menu Advanced: Use these buttons to access the playback options window which provides information on the current sound card. ASIO provides the settings dialog for the ASIO driver, e.g. the MAGIX Low Latency ASIO (view page 147) driver. Wave/Direct Sound/ASIO: Specifies which of the conventional Windows™ wave drivers should be used for the sound card, i.e. the DirectSound system or ASIO. Windows wave drivers have the advantage of being relatively stable against strained peaks caused by large buffers. If playback becomes jerky as a result of processor-heavy effects like time-stretching, switching to wave drivers may solve the problem. Otherwise the system may react more slowly with wave drivers because of the large buffers, that is, all changes are heard with a delay. 16/24-bit wave/driver communication: If your sound card is able to play 24-bit audio, your arrangement will be played at this higher resolution (internal 32-bit float calculation). This is applicable only to wave drivers. When using live monitoring and when playing and recording VST instruments in real time, i.e. with as low a reaction time (latency) as possible, it's recommended that you use ASIO drivers. If your sound cards do not have ASIO drivers, you can use the MAGIX Low Latency driver. If you select ASIO as the driver model, you can set the output in the upper list field (for cards with multiple outputs) and the ASIO driver in the lower list field. Advanced opens the settings dialog of the ASIO driver. Please refer to the sound card manual for more information. Audio buffer:Here you can specify the buffer size that should be used for playback of the entire arrangement or for previewing audio files in the Media Pool. As a rule of thumb: If response and loading times are too slow, reduce the buffer size; otherwise increase the buffer size if the audio playback is choppy or if real-time effect computation errors occur. As error-free playback is usually more important than fast reaction times, the buffer size should be raised to 16384 or 32768 if dropouts occur. Options Save WAV's in RAM up to: Sets the maximum size of wave files that can be stored in the memory of your computer. Create "Undo" before destructive editing of audio data: To undo destructive effects, the original files must be saved to the hard disk. If you use this type of www.magix.com File Menu effect quite often, you can switch off the undo function and save on time used to create an undo file as well as save space in memory. Write real-time audio to wave file: If this option is activated, the entire arrangement can be mixed live and recorded simultaneously. During playback you can, for example, control mixer fades and effects or, with the help of keyboard shortcuts, you can play the beats in the arrangement – all activities will be recorded and written to a separate wave file. Every time playback stops you will be asked if the portion you just played should be saved as a wave file, loaded into the arrangement, or deleted. MAGIX Low Latency ASIO driver settings These settings usually do not need to be changed; they are already optimized for maximum compatibility. However, if you wish to increase performance and reduce latency, then you can change individual settings. Audio device: If you have more than one audio device (e.g. on-board sound and additional sound cards), you have to specify the device that you wish to use for the MAGIX Low Latency driver here. Buffer size: Sets sample buffer size. The smaller the buffer, the lower the latency and the larger the CPU load. Modern computers can manage latencies of up to 256 samples. Always convert 44.1 KHz: Some on-board sound chips (AC97) and sound cards (e.g. manufactured by Creative) support 48 KHz as the only hardwareside sampling frequency. If these are accessed via normal audio with a sample rate of 44.1 KHz, they either function not at all or the sound card's driver changes the sample rate, usually into quite poor quality. You will be able to recognize this by the sound during playback of soundpool files being much more thuddy than when playing DVDs whose audio is set to 48 KHz. The MAGIX Low Latency driver provides a significantly better resampling function and is for this reason activated by default, that is, the output signal is boosted to 48 KHz. If you are certain that your sound card can play 44.1KHz sample rates properly, you can deactivate this option, and thereby reduce the processing load. www.magix.com 147 148 File Menu Folders Here you can set the path where arrangements will be saved (Arrangements) files are exported (Export) or imported (Import), and recordings (Recordings) are saved, files from the Soundpool are loacted (Soundpool) your MP3 collection is available (My MP3s) Reset Program Settings to Default... Use this function to reset all program settings (view page 143, view page 142) you made in MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 to their original settings. Exit Exits MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4. Keyboard shortcut: Alt+F4 www.magix.com Edit Menu Edit Menu Undo 10 commands can be undone, including object and cursor manipulations. If you don’t like the result of a change in your arrangement, the Undo function will take you back to the previous arrangement. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Z Redo Redo lets you reverse the last Undo command. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Y Object Create a new object Record a new object A new audio object is recorded; see Audio recording. Shortcut: R Create speech from text Please refer to the Audio objects (view page 68) chapter. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + X Create a new title object Creates a new title object and opens the title editor (view page 72). www.magix.com 149 150 Edit Menu Cut The marked objects are cut out of the current arrangement and placed onto the clipboard. They can then be inserted at different positions. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + X Copy Objects This menu option lets you copy all selected objects. The copy appears next to the original and can be moved easily by holding the left mouse button (drag & drop). Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + C Duplicate objects This menu option lets you copy all selected objects. The copy appears next to the original and can be moved easily by holding the left mouse button (drag & drop). Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + D Paste The contents of the Clipboard is added at the position of the start marker in the current arrangement. The playback marker is positioned at the end of the most recently inserted object so that the quick and easy multiple use of the command is also possible. Existing objects now become overwritten. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + V Multiple insertions Like Insert, but you can stipulate how often the content of the clipboard is to be inserted. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Num "+" Delete objects This menu option lets you delete all selected objects from the arrangement. To highlight or select more than one object, use the “Shift” key while you click with the mouse. Keyboard shortcut: Del www.magix.com Edit Menu Split objects You can cut up a selected object at the S marker position. If you have not selected an object, all objects will be cut into pieces at the S marker position. Later on, if you want to re-join the pieces of an object, select “Build group” to join all selected objects to a group. Keyboard shortcut: T Save objects as takes The selected objects are saved in the takes directory. To use takes, please read the chapter "Saving objects separately (view page 48)" in the PDF manual. Shift + K Keyboard shortcut: Grouping Group objects Orders all selected objects into groups. As soon as an object is selected in the group, all objects in the group become highlighted so that you can work on them collectively. Shortcut: Ctrl + L Ungroup objects Turns all selected objects into free-standing objects again. Shortcut: Ctrl + M Loop range Setting user-defined loops 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. Keyboard shortcut: www.magix.com Z 151 152 Edit Menu Remove user-defined loops The user-defined loop length is reset. Keyboard shortcut: Shift + Z Track Add track A new empty track will be added to the arranger. In the "File > Arrangement properties" the count of tracks can be set in large increments. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl +K Audio mixdown This option joins all audio objects in one audio file ("mixdown"). Afterwards, the audio material will only occupy one track and take up hardly any RAM (does however take up space on the hard drive [ca. 10 MB/min in stereo]). This way you get a clear overview of further objects as well as space for them. MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 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 peak. 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. The mix down function is very helpful if you want to go on using the mix down object. Tip: To create the final AVI or WAV (or any other multimedia) file, we recommend using the various option of the submenu "Export movie" option in "File", instead of the mixdown function. Keyboard shortcut: Shift+M Range MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 provides object-based functions as well as "band-oriented" editing functions. These always refer to the whole arrangement from the first to the last track as well as to the area between the start and end marker. www.magix.com Edit Menu Cut The section between the in and out points is cut from the current arrangement and placed on the clipboard. This section can be reinserted elsewhere. Shortcut: Ctrl + Alt + X Copy The section between the in and out points is copied from the current arrangement to the clipboard. This section can be reinserted elsewhere. Shortcut: Ctrl + Alt + C Delete The section between the in and out points is deleted from the current arrangement and not copied to the clipboard. Keyboard shortcut: Alt + Del Insert The contents of the clipboard are inserted at the current arrangement's position of the in point. Shortcut: Ctrl + Alt + V Multiple insert Similar in function to "Insert", but you can stipulate how often the content of the clipboard is to be inserted. Shortcut: Ctrl + Alt + number block + Extract The section between the in and out points is preserved, and all of the material in front and behind it are deleted. Use this option to isolate a specific part of an arrangement for further individual editing. Shortcut: www.magix.com Ctrl + Alt + P 153 154 Edit Menu Navigation Move screen view Using these commands, a viewable portion together with the start marker will be moved in the timeline. You can quickly skip between different jump markers and object edges. Keyboard shortcuts: See keyboard shortcut overview in the Arranger View (view page 182) section. Move playback position This sets the playback marker to the position of a jump marker. This function can best be used via the keyboard. When stopped, you can immediately move the playback markers to the position of the saved jump markers. During playback, the playback marker along with the playback range will be moved. Here, the old range is always played until the end so that you can remix your arrangement live once the jump markers have been placed where you want them without losing the beat. Keyboard shortcuts: 1..0 Set jump marker This sets a jump marker at the position of the current playback marker. Here you can note specific parts of the arrangement. With the "Move playback position" function you can quickly jump to these positions. Keyboard shortcut: Shift + 1...0 Create jump marker sequence This option duplicates the currently selected playback area between the start and end markers by setting start markers equivalent to one another in the bar ruler. Now you can jump to every jump marker using keyboard shortcuts. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+M Delete all jump markers Deletes all jump markers Keyboard shortcut: Alt+Shift+M www.magix.com Edit Menu Select all objects All objects in the arrangement will be selected. Keyboard shortcut: www.magix.com Ctrl + A 155 156 Menu effects Menu effects Song Maker With the help of Song Maker, you can automatically arrange multiple audio objects (loops) using included samples for songs or song parts without having to drag them individually from the Media Pool into the corresponding tracks. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Activate the Song Maker by pressing the “Song Maker” button or from the Effects menu. Select a music style. Select the instruments that you want to use. If, for example, you only want a rhythm section with drums and bass, deactivate the other instruments with a mouse-click. Select the song part or parts that you want to create. The parts differentiate through their harmonic structure and instrument density, for example verses have fewer instruments than refrains, while there are accompaniment variations between the 1st and 2nd verses as well as in the refrains. The pitch sequence from verse to verse remains the same. If you activate all parts, Song Maker creates a complete song in the known structure of a classical pop song. The intro-verse-refrain-verse-refrain-bridge-(transition or solo)-refrain-outro. Use the sliders to the right to set the speed and the length of your song. "Chaos" draws a different loop of the corresponding instrument for each new object. Normally, the same loop is continuously used in various pitches for each element of the song such as verse, chorus etc.b If you use "Automatic", a new song in a randomly generated style will be created automatically, as soon as a song has been played. Use the play button to preview the song maker's suggestion. If you do not like the result, create other arrangements, song parts or enhancements. You can return to a previous status anytime by clicking on "Undo" or "Redo". Once you're happy with Song Maker's suggestion, click on "Apply". The building blocks are only now added to the Arranger. Alternatively, you can recalculate the Song Maker suggestion into a WAV file. A click on “Cancel” closes Song Maker and returns to the original arrangement status. Shortcut: W www.magix.com Menu effects Audio Please read the chapter "Audio effects (view page 90)" for more details on audio effects. Master audio effect rack Opens or closes the master effects rack; you can also use the "Master FX" button in the mixer window for this. Keyboard shortcut: B Mastering Suite You can open the MAGIX Mastering Suite (view page 101) with this option. Keyboard shortcut: U Create speech from text Please refer to the Audio objects (view page 68) chapter. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + X Object effect rack See Object and master effects rack (view page 93). Shortcut: Shift + A Audio effects This submenu includes all audio object effects plus the vintage effects and the effects from the MAGIX Mastering Suite (Premium version only); the latter can be used individually. Individual effects can be found in the chapter "Audio effects (view page 90)". Volume An assortment of different menu commands which influence the volume of your audio objects. www.magix.com 157 158 Menu effects Mute/Unmute objects Use this command you can mute one or more selected objects. Selecting this command again makes it audible once again. Shortcut: F2 Set volume This function, located in both the effects menu and the context menu, controls the sound volume for individual objects, just like the object handles in the arranger. Automatic volume damping This command automatically dampens the volume of other audio objects. This can be used to insert voiceovers into your arrangement or add commentary to a film (with the original sound). You can also specify whether you want to dampen the original sound of existing videos or all soundtracks equally. In the dialog you can activate and deactivate the value of the dampening. You can use this command while recording audio (view page 54) (Audio recording, advanced options). Shortcut: Alt + L Normalize The function "Normalize" raises the level of an audio object to the maximum possible level without clipping the material. This searches for the largest signal peak in the audio material and raises the level of the object so that this position matches exactly 0 dB (maximum overdrive). Keyboard shortcut: Alt + N Tempo and pitch An assortment of different menu commands which influence the pitch and tempo of your audio objects. Timestretch and pitchshift See Timestretch/pitchshift. Shortcut: Shift + V www.magix.com Menu effects Harmony Agent The Harmony Agent is designed to analyze harmonies. Read more on this in the corresponding section of the "Audio Objects (view page 67)" chapter. Keyboard shortcut: Alt+Shift+F One pitch higher/lower You can quickly alter the octave of an included sample without having to access the corresponding Soundpool folder in the Media Pool. The "*" and "÷" keys on the numeric keypad (right on the keyboard) place the sample one level higher or lower. The "+" and "-" keys on the numeric keypad change the pitch via pitchshifting; the respective effect in the audio effects rack is utilized for this. Remix These are the commands for MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4's remix functions. Audio > Remix Agent – Tempo and beat assignment MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 provides a Remix Agent for the automatic determination of the speed in BPM (beats per minute) and for the creation of loop objects. Please read more on this in the "Audio objects" chapter. Audio > Create remix objects If, while running the Remix Agent, the tempo and beat information were saved to the audio file, this command can be used to create remix objects. If the Remix Agent has not yet been implemented, this command starts it and opens the presets dialog for creating remix objects. Load/Save/Reset audio effects You can save the current effect combination of an audio object separately and apply it to other objects later. Or you can deactivate all currently used effects entirely (Reset) if you want to undo the changes. www.magix.com 159 160 Menu effects Shortcuts: Load audio effects Ctrl + Alt + O Save audio effects Reset audio effects Ctrl + Alt + S Ctrl + Alt + H Convert stereo into two mono objects With this option stereo recordings can be split into two mono objects which are then connected to a group. You can use the "Ungroup" button to edit the channels as independent objects. Shortcut: Alt + K Video Edit image in external editor Graphics files (BMPs or JPEGs) may be edited retroactively with an external graphics program from the arranger. The selected image file is loaded automatically and, once editing has been completed, is used in the MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 instead of the original material. Shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + B Title Title Editor Opens the title editor (More information can be found in the section "Title Editor" on page 72) for the selected photo or video object. Shortcut: Ctrl + T Load title template Use this command to load previously saved title effects for the current object. Shortcut: Alt + Shift + T www.magix.com Menu effects Save title template You can save the current effect combination for each title object separately and apply it to other title objects later. Shortcut: Alt + T Load video effects This command enables a saved effects combination to be loaded for the currently loaded object. If multiple objects are selected, then the effects combination will be applied to each selected object. Shortcut: Alt + Shift + O Save video effects This command saves the current effects combination for each object separately. Shortcut: Alt + Shift + S Reset video effects This option allows you to deactivate all currently used effects. The material will be reset to the state it was in before you applied the effect. Shortcut: www.magix.com Alt + Shift + H 161 162 View menu View menu Easy mode Switches the screen in MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 to "Easy" mode's simplified interface. More about this in the chapter "Arranger -> Normal mode/Easy mode". This documentation describes MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 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. Arranger Optimize arrangement view The start marker is set at the beginning of the arrangement and the end marker is set at the end of the last object in the arrangement such that the arrangement may be played back in full. Zooms out of the arrangement so that the complete duration of the arrangement is visible. The vertical zoom steps (track height) remain preserved. Keyboard shortcut: Shift + O Change object presentation This lets you switch between various object views. Here video objects are displayed in the tracks either with detailed preview frames or in simplified form. Audio objects are displayed either with one or two separate wave form displays for stereo. Shortcut: Tab Highlight loop area With this option, you can fade the loop area in and out, that is, the strip above the first track which displays the area that will be played as an endless loop. Keyboard shortcut: Shift + X www.magix.com View menu Show object marker > Show bar marker/harmony marker After using the Remix agent or the Harmony Agent, the analysed material receives beat and harmony information which is then shown in the arranger via these commands. Shortcut: Bar Marker Harmony Markers Beat Markers Ctrl + Shift + F9 Ctrl + Shift + F10 Ctrl + Shift + F11 Media Pool Media Pool With this option you can hide the Media Pool or make it visible again. Shortcut: F Media Pool views / template folders Opens the corresponding folder in the Media Pool. It's even easier to access the corresponding Media Pool views and folders via the corresponding keyboard shortcut. Video monitor Show video monitor Opens and closes the video window. Shortcut: V Full-screen Video Monitor This option shows the video preview monitor in full-screen mode. The right mouse button opens the context menu, the Esc-key returns you to normal viewing mode. Shortcut: www.magix.com Alt + Enter 163 164 View menu Video output This option switches the preview monitor on or off to display the existing video objects in the Arranger. Audio peakmeter The video monitor is transformed into an analyzer which displays the sound as a graphic. Arrangement overview In the 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. Shortcut: Alt + Shift + U InfoBox The InfoBox mode shows help text in the preview monitor if you hold the mouse pointer over a button on the screen. Mix Mixer With this option you can open and close the real-time mixer. Further information can be found in the Mixer (view page 124) chapter. Shortcut: M Master audio effect rack Opens or closes the master effects rack; you can also use the "Master FX" button in the mixer window for this. Keyboard shortcut: B Mastering Suite You can open the MAGIX Mastering Suite (view page 101) with this option. Keyboard shortcut: U www.magix.com View menu Standard layout Determines whether the video monitor and Mediapool should be integrated into the main window or shown on a separate window. Keyboard shortcut: www.magix.com L 165 166 Online menu Online menu The Online menu provides access to MAGIX Online World and other online functions in MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4. The submenus provide commands for uploading individual objects in the arranger or files from the Media Pool as well as the entire arrangement, audio or video. Vice versa, you can use the menu commands to download media from MAGIX Online Album or Catooh or to open the website with the corresponding service directly. Catooh – the Online Content Library Catooh provides you with high-quality photos, videos, and music for every theme, expanded by intelligent iContent with professional Soundpools, DVD menu templates, and brilliant MAGIX ShowMaker styles to help you make your photo, video, and music projects reality. All of this is available directly from your MAGIX software. Just choose "Online" from the menu "Catooh" to set up an Internet connection. Browse through the thematically sorted categories or view the results directly by entering a keyword. After downloading, you can drag the objects from the Media Pool directly into your arrangement. Tip: Read the introduction online http://rdir.magix.net/?page=JRF6LASAR2Z3! Find media Opens Catooh and loads your files directly into the arrangement. Shortcut: O Import media backup iContent (for example, 3D transitions) which you buy and download from Catooh is stored directly in your central My files\MAGIX Downloads\Backup directory. If you have downloaded these files from other MAGIX programs, then you can use the command "Import media backup" to make them accessible for use in MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4. www.magix.com Online menu MAGIX Online Album In the MAGIX Online Album, you can post your favorite photos online and then send the link to your friends. All photos are immediately available from anywhere in the world on a professionally-designed photo website, in wellorganized photo galleries, as full-screen slideshows, or in the form of a personal photo e-card. Personalized photo website in many designs. Unique Internet address (URL). Upload your pictures directly from a camera phone, send the link, and share the picture with other camera phone users. Full-screen online slideshows with fade effects and music. Send custom designed e-cards with your own photos. Share your photos with friends, including Internet management and password access to private albums. Your photos online MAGIX Online Album is available in three versions, of which the smallest (the FREE album with 500MB webspace for your photos) is entirely free. The larger versions (CLASSIC or PREMIUM) are available for a monthly charge, but also come with many handy features, such as a faster website, 2,000 MB or 5,000 MB storage space, more website designs or access by mobile phone/PDA. More information about prices and included services is available at www.magix-photos.com. Just three easy steps: Within minutes your first pictures will appear on the Internet: 1. Select photos Choose your favorite photos directly from the program and optimize them in just a few clicks. Put completed photo albums together and integrate music of your choice. Do it all offline on your PC - saves you money! Then select "Services" from the program's menu bar "MAGIX Online Print Service -> Send selected". www.magix.com 167 168 Online menu 2. Upload photos In order to upload photos to your MAGIX Online Album simply log in using your email address. Naturally, access is protected via your personal password. If you still don't have access, click on Register now! to activate your own album in just a few minutes. Then off you go! 3. Done! Your own personal photo website is finished and your best photo memories are on the net. As a photo gallery or fully automatic slideshow (fullscreen). Now, invite all your friends with just one click or show your photos on the road using your WAP-compatible camera phone. Using your MAGIX Online Media Manager, you can quickly manage your photo website, upload photos and music, create new albums, add designs and text, and much more. All online without even having to download any extra software! Worldwide, easy, and quick in just a few clicks. At http://www.magixphotos.com The following options are also available: Send e-cards and photo emails Send your photos as unique e-cards with great designs, or as a photo email to your friends and acquaintances. Order photo prints and gifts Order paper prints or great photo gifts from your MAGIX Online Album and have them delivered directly to your home, or pick them up from a photo lab in your area. Delivery time is usually just 2 - 3 days. www.magix.com Online menu magix.info - Multimedia Community Share your knowledge & get answers This MAGIX service offers you and the MAGIX Community at large a central platform for exchanging knowledge, photos, videos, and music, for discussing and evaluating, for communicating with one another, for presenting yourself, and networking with other members. You will find the sections "Questions & Answers", "Show & Discuss", "Online Training", and "Chat" where you can play an active or passive role in the MAGIX Community. For this there's not only the www.magix.info http://www.magix.info/uk portal, but magix.info directly in your product. Ask questions online If you have questions or problems with your MAGIX program or you're looking for tips & tricks concerning multimedia, then you're at the right place. Display all questions & answers... Use the questions which other community members have asked and the collective knowledge of the answers to improve your own working methods, to solve problems, and to get to know the details of MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4. Launch the online training center Learn not only theoretically, but also practically what the program is capable of: "learning by doing", quickly and uncomplicated. Let your friends view the contents of your MAGIX.info screen over the Internet on their PCs. Ideal for viewing photos and videos together or for receiving support for questions arising during your creative workflow while using the program (a licensed client will be installed for this purpose). www.magix.com 169 170 Online menu More online services MAGIX Website Maker Not only is Internet surfing easy! Thanks to MAGIX Website Maker creating websites also becomes child's play! This service offers: Your desired domain (www.desiredname.com) and a subdomain (http://yourname.magix.net/website). 250 MB memory space with 5 email accounts, 1 GB each. Website Maker with website templates, intros. Also animations, text effects, form and design objects, picture and graphic templates, and buttons. And everything without any ad banners! Photo (*.jpeg), video (*.wmv) & music (*.mp3) options. Additional software: MAGIX web mail for managing your email inbox. MAGIX Website Maker offers 3 months of free, non-binding service. This way, you have enough time to find out everything about MAGIX Website Maker and all existing possibilities for editing and managing your homepage. MAGIX Website Maker offers everything for the perfect Flash® website: Design templates: Numerous high-quality website templates in the latest professional Flash® design with pre-finished, customizable subpages, start pages, profile pages, photo pages, video pages, and much more. Text & text effects: Freely positionable text fields with fantastic fonts and animated text effects can be added and individually formatted with ease. Multimedia content: Select your favorite photos, spectacular slideshows, videos and an online video player with your own background music, or integrate it all as an online music player with playlists. Decorative elements: Attractive design objects, plenty of vector shapes, background images, buttons, and much more offer more possibilities for designing unique websites than ever. Animation objects: Large selection of dynamic, impressive animation objects for breathtaking, moving websites. Links: Easily add links to your own or external websites. Top extras: Enhance your website with a visitor counter, guest book, contact form, and many other useful extras. Export function: Conveniently add individual components of your website (e.g. video player, slideshow, online music player) or even the entire website to external sites as an embedded website. www.magix.com Online menu Proceed as follows: After registering your desired domain, you can start creating your website right away. 1. 2. 3. 4. First, select a design for your website in MAGIX Website Maker If you would like to place an intro (start animation) at the start of your domain, select your intro as a next step. Now you can replace the mock text with your own text as you see fit. All free-standing elements on all webpages can also be moved as you please. To do so, click to select the element and move it using your mouse. Once everything is just how you want it, you can put your page online, so that your domain can be accessed. Online login details In this dialog, you can save your login information (login and password) for MAGIX Online Album and all other MAGIX Online World as well as for Catooh, making it unnecessary to login each time you access MAGIX Online World. The saved data are valid for all other MAGIX programs for the corresponding computer user. www.magix.com 171 172 Tasks menu Tasks menu In this menu you will find direct solution and short video explanations on how to perform tasks in different topics. Not only will you find step-by-step instructions for sound and pictures here, but you also find quick access to many of functions. If you click on an entry with a camera symbol, then you will open a short tutorial video which displays a solution. Entries without camera symbols offer a solution to the problem immediately. www.magix.com Help Menu Help Menu Show welcome dialog With this command you can display the "Welcome" dialog again. There, you have a quick access to important functions during program start. Keyboard shortcut: Shift + F1 Documentation Content Use the command "Content" in the "Help" menu to open the start page of the help file. You can read through the help file step-by-step and jump to specific sections via the tree structure on the right hand side. Context help The mouse cursor will turn into an arrow with a question mark. Click on any button of the main screen, to open program help which will describe the control element in question. Shortcut: Alt + F1 Display Tool Tips Tooltips are small information windows that open up automatically if the mouse pointer stops briefly on a button or some other area. They provide information about the function of the button. These information boxes can be switched on or off with this option. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + F1 Start introductory video The introductory video shows you how all the most important features work. Specific topics are explained in detail in additional tutorial videos. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + F1 To play the introductory video you may have to insert the program CD. www.magix.com 173 174 Help Menu Find knowledge & workshops Opens the magix.info - Multimedia Community with online tutorial videos. Help from other users Ask the Knowledge Community a question online Ask magix.info - Multimedia Community a question. Update program / Upgrade functions Register online This option opens the MAGIX homepage for online registration where you can register yourself as a MAGIX user. Registration grants you access to the MAGIX support website http://support.magix.net (see support) where various program updates and help programs can be downloaded. With the registration form supplied (start menu under "MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 -> Service and support -> Register") you can register via post or fax. Simply print it out, fill it in, and send it off! Shortcut: F12 Online Update Connects directly to the online update page where you can get the latest version of your program. Activation problems Problem: The entered code is incorrect (telephone activation) Make sure your entry is correct; in most cases a typo is to blame. If the code is entered correctly, dial the number of our Call Center. Our support staff will help you personally. The MAGIX website won't open Check your Internet connection; yo u may have to use manual dial-up. www.magix.com Help Menu The form for ordering via post/fax won't open Check that an adequate text editing program is installed and activated (for example, MS Word). I still haven't received an email with the activation code Check that your inbox isn't full. Have a look in your spam folder. You can always send questions via email to our support whenever you like. Please have the following information at hand so that we can assist you as quickly and as specifically as possible. Complete product name Exact version number (to be found in the about box in the "About" menu item of the "Help" menu) Encoder/Decoder name Your user code (accessible via the "Activate via post/fax" dialog) Problem: I have installed MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 on a new computer, installed a new hard drive in my old computer (sound card, memory...), or installed it multiple times on the same computer. My activation code is no longer accepted! If the program cannot be activated again after it has been activated multiple times, please contact the MAGIX customer service (view page 8). About MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 Displays copyright info and version number of MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4. www.magix.com 175 176 Buttons overview and keyboard shortcuts Buttons overview and keyboard shortcuts Toolbar Save arrangement Copy selected objects Export Insert Undo last action (Undo) Song Maker Redo action magix.info Cut Key shortcut In MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 there are many functions for which key commands can be used to open your desired program at the touch of a button. In detail: Menu entries Functions of the Media Pool (Options menu) The Video monitor menu Move and zoom of the arranger view Playback Control (Move the playback marker and the playback area) Smart preview function (Previewing Media Pool files in the arrangement context) File menu Load/Save arrangement New arrangement Load arrangement Save arrangement Save arrangement as Ctrl+N Ctrl+O Ctrl+S Shift + S www.magix.com Buttons overview and keyboard shortcuts Import Import audio CD tracks audio recording Export Common export options Audio as WAV/ADPCM Audio as MP3 Audio as OGG Vorbis Audio as Windows Media Video as AVI Video as MAGIX video Video as Windows Media video Backup copy Load backup arrangement Save Arrangement and Used Media Create backup copy as an OGG Burn Arrangement and Used Media onto CD/DVD Burn manually selected files to CD/DVD C R X Alt + W Alt + M Alt + O Alt + E Alt + A Alt + X Alt + V Alt + Y Shift + R Ctrl + Alt + R Ctrl + Shift + R Shift + Alt + R Settings Program settings Arrangement settings Y E Exit Alt + F4 Edit menu Undo Restore Select all Object Record a new object Text to speech Create a new title object Cut Copy Duplicate Insert Multiple insert Delete Select all www.magix.com Ctrl + Z Ctrl + Y Ctrl + A R Ctrl + Shift + X Ctrl + T Ctrl + X Ctrl + C Ctrl + D Ctrl + V Ctrl + "Num+" Delete Ctrl + A 177 178 Buttons overview and keyboard shortcuts Split Save objects as takes T Ctrl + F Group objects Ungroup objects Set user-defined loop Remove user-defined loop Ctrl + L Ctrl + M Z Shift + Z Range Cut Copy Insert Multiple insert Delete Extract Ctrl + Alt + X Ctrl + Alt + C Ctrl + Alt + V Ctrl + Alt + "Num+" Ctrl + Delete Ctrl + Alt + P Track Add new track Mix audio Ctrl + K Shift + M Navigation: Set jump marker, move playback position (see Playback control), move view (see Move arranger view (view page 182)). Menu effects Edit image in external editor Ctrl + Shift + B Harmony Agent Alt + Shift + F Tempo and beat recognition Shift + K Song Maker W Audio Master audio effects rack Mastering Suite Text to speech B U Ctrl + Shift + X Object effects rack Shift + A 10-band equalizer parametric EQ Compressor Stereo processor Shift Shift Shift Shift + + + + Q U D P www.magix.com Buttons overview and keyboard shortcuts Echo/Reverb Shift + H Distortion/Filter Mute/Unmute Volume reduction Normalize Shift + F F2 Alt + L Shift + N Timestretch and pitchshift Harmony Agent Shift + V Alt + Shift + F One pitch higher One pitch lower Num * Num / Remix Agent – Tempo and beat recognition Shift + K Load audio effects Save audio effects Reset audio effects Ctrl + Alt + O Ctrl + Alt + S Ctrl + Alt + H Convert stereo into two mono objects Video Edit image in external editor Title Title Editor Load title template Save title template Alt + K Ctrl + T Alt + Shift + T Alt + T Load video effects Alt + Shift + O Save video effects Alt + Shift + S Reset video effects Alt + Shift + H Ctrl + Shift + B View menu Arranger Optimize view Change object presentation Show loop range Shift + O Tab Shift + X Show object marker Bar marker Harmony marker Ctrl + Shift + F9 Ctrl + Shift + F10 www.magix.com 179 180 Buttons overview and keyboard shortcuts Beat marker Ctrl + Shift + F11 Media Pool Media Pool F Soundpool File Browser Synthesizers Templates Catooh Audio effects Vintage audio effects Video effects Video mix effects Visuals Title effects F5 F6 F7 F8 O Ctrl Ctrl Ctrl Ctrl Ctrl Ctrl Video monitor Show video monitor Arrangement overview V Alt + Shift + U Mix Mixer Master audio effects rack Mastering Suite Standard layout Help menu + + + + + + Alt Alt Alt Alt Alt Alt + + + + + + A N G F U T M B U L Show welcome dialog Shift + F1 Table of contents Context help mouse mode Display tooltips Start introductory video F1 Alt + F1 Ctrl + Shift + F1 Ctrl + F1 Register online Online update F12 Ctrl + Shift + F12 About MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 Alt + Shift + F1 www.magix.com Buttons overview and keyboard shortcuts Media Pool Settings Soundpool File Browser Synthesizers Templates Template folders Audio FX Vintage audio effects Title effects Video effects Video mix effects Visuals Ctrl + Alt + Ctrl + Alt + Ctrl + Alt + Ctrl + Alt + Ctrl + Alt + Ctrl + Alt + View options List Details Big symbols Ctrl + Alt + L Ctrl + Alt + D Ctrl + Alt + I File operations Copy Insert Delete Rename Properties New folder Ctrl + Shift + C Ctrl + Shift + V Delete Ctrl + Shift + N Alt + Shift + E Ctrl + R Folder as link Burn file to CD/DVD Alt + Shift + L Alt + Shift + B F5 F6 F7 F8 A N T G F U Video Monitor Fullscreen video monitor Standard layout Video Monitor Video monitor resolutions 160x120 320x240 360x288 680x480 720x480 720x576 768x576 User-defined resolution www.magix.com Alt+Enter L V Ctrl+Shift+1 Ctrl+Shift+2 Ctrl+Shift+3 Ctrl+Shift+4 Ctrl+Shift+5 Ctrl+Shift+6 Ctrl+Shift+7 Ctrl+Shift+8 181 182 Buttons overview and keyboard shortcuts Adjust video monitor to selected video Reset to default size Show time Time foreground color Time background color Time background transparent Ctrl+Shift+O Ctrl+Shift+2 Ctrl+Shift+I Ctrl+Shift+J Ctrl+Shift+K Ctrl+Shift+L Move Arranger view Note: These commands similarly move the playback marker when it's stopped, the marker always remains visible in the arrangement clip. To next object edge Ctrl + 0 Ctrl + 9 To the previous object edge Go to beginning of arrangement Home Go to end of arrangement end cap Go to start marker Ctrl + Home Go to end marker Ctrl+End. Page right/left Page Up/Down Grid unit right/left Ctrl+PgUp/PgDn Go to the next jump marker Ctrl + Shift + PgDn Go to the previous jump marker Ctrl + Shift + PgUp Arranger view - Increase/Reduce clip size (zoom) Increase clip size (zoom in) Reduce clip size (zoom out) Zoom 1 frame Zoom 5 frames Zoom 1 sec Zoom 10 sec Zoom 1 min Zoom 10 min Zoom view between start and end marker Zoom over whole arrangement Increase track pitch Reduce track pitch Ctrl+Arrow up Ctrl+Arrow down Ctrl+1 Ctrl+2 Ctrl+3 Ctrl+4 Ctrl+5 Ctrl+6 Ctrl+7 Ctrl+8 Alt+Arrow up Alt+Arrow down Move playback control / playback marker / playback area Start/Stop playback Stop at position (stop playback, move playback marker to current position) Set jump marker Space bar Escape Shift+1...0 www.magix.com Buttons overview and keyboard shortcuts Playback marker to jump marker 1..0 Note: When stopped, the playback marker is moved to the jump marker (after the end of the current loop). Create jump marker sequence (10 markers with intervals equal to the current playback area) Delete all jump markers Move playback range Move playback one quarter of its length Double/Halve playback area length Double/Halve playback area length by a bar Ctrl+Shift+M Alt+Shift+M Arrow left/right Ctrl+Arrow left/right Shift+Arrow right/left Ctrl+Shift+Arrow left/right Preview/Smart preview Preview of pitches Change preview object Insert into arrangement Delete smart preview object www.magix.com Numbers 0..9 Arrow keys Enter Del 183 184 Index Index A About MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4 175 Activation problems 174 Add track 152 26 Add videos or images 53, 54 Adjusting the Signal Level 70 Adjusting the video screen 48 Adjusting volume/brightness 55 Advanced options 110 Analog Delay 111 Analog delay parameter 60, 95 Apply (destructive editing) Arrangement overview 37, 164 142 Arrangement settings Arranger 29, 162 35 Arranger buttons 182 Arranger view - Increase/Reduce clip size (zoom) 17 Arranger with 32 tracks 35 Arranger, Video Monitor, and Media Pool Arranging Objects 44, 70 Arranging the synth object 77 Ask the Knowledge Community a question online 174 Audio 145, 157 Audio > Create remix objects 159 Audio > Remix Agent – Tempo and beat assignment 159 Audio as MP3 136 Audio as Ogg Vorbis 137 Audio as Wave 136 Audio as Windows Media 137 Audio CD support 18 Audio effects 17, 43, 91, 125, 126, 157 Audio export dialog 135 Audio formats 51 Audio mixdown 60, 95, 152 Audio object effects 92 Audio Objects 51 Audio peakmeter 37, 164 Audio recording 52, 134 Audio recording dialog 34, 54, 158 Automatic tempo adjustment when loading 59 Automatic Tempo Recognition 63 www.magix.com Index Automatic volume damping 158 B Backup Backup > Create backup Backup > Create backup in OGG format Backup copy > Burn backup copy to disc Backup copy > Burn manually selected files to CD/DVD BeatBox 2 Before you start BitMachine Build or split object groups Buttons overview and keyboard shortcuts 141 141 142 142 142 78 11 120 45 176 C Calling up the Synthesizer Catooh Catooh – the Online Content Library CD Manager CD/DVD Change object presentation Change pitch/octave using the keyboard Change tempo or pitch of individual objects manually Change the playback tempo or pitch Check and correct the automatic harmony recognition Choppy or uneven playback Chorus Chorus parameters Common export options Compressor Connecting the source for recording Content Context help Context menu Control groups Convert stereo into two mono objects Copy Copy Objects Copyright Create a new object Create a new title object Create Audio CD Create jump marker sequence Create speech from text www.magix.com 77 17 14, 43, 166 55 41 162 52 60 59 67 75 117 118 131, 134 96 52 173 173 81 125 160 153 150 2 149 149 28, 130 154 149, 157 185 186 Index Creating synth objects Cut 77 150, 153 D Database Delay (echo) Delete Delete all jump markers Delete objects Deleting, copying, and moving files Determining the start of a measure Digital Audio Meter Display harmonies Display Tool Tips Distortion Documentation Drive list dialog Drum kit Duplicate objects DVD 42 101 153 154 150 41 64 106 34 173 107, 119 173 57 81 46, 150 11 E Easy mode Edit image in external editor Edit menu Edit Menu Editing velocity values Effect devices controls Effects Equalizer Exact object positioning Exit Export Export arrangement Export as email attachment Export as ringtone Extract Extract sound from videos 162 160 177 149 83, 84 91 27, 91 96 46 148 131, 134 27 129 129, 137 153 71 F Fader Feeding the synthesizer plug-ins with new sounds 125 78 www.magix.com Index File manager settings File menu File Menu Filter Filter parameters Find knowledge & workshops Find media Flanger Flanger parameters Folders Formats and interfaces Full-screen Video Monitor Fundamentals FX plug-ins FX tracks 40 176 133 107, 115 115 174 166 113 114 148 17 163 97 95 126 G General info on AVI videos General notes on AVI videos General options Grid Group objects Grouping 139 75, 139 39, 143 31, 46 151 151 H Harmony Agent Help from other users Help menu Help Menu High-end 32-bit floating point Highlight loop area 19, 34, 67, 159 174 180 173 18 162 I Import Import and edit videos Import audio CD Import audio CD tracks Import media backup InfoBox Information Insert Installation www.magix.com 60, 134, 145 70 55, 134 134 166 37, 164 143 153 13 187 188 Index Internet > Send arrangement as email Introduction 141 16 K Karaoke Key shortcut Keyboard shortcuts 94 176 83 L Limiter Live monitoring Live Sessions LiViD - Little Virtual Drummer Load and process audio files Load arrangement Load backup arrangement Load title template Load video effects Load/Save Load/Save/Reset audio effects Loading and saving arrangements Loop range 106 30, 52, 127 19 89 51 133 141 160 161 94 159 44 151 M MAGIX Low Latency ASIO driver settings MAGIX Mastering Suite (demo version) MAGIX Online Album MAGIX Online World MAGIX video export MAGIX Website Maker magix.info - Multimedia Community Manipulating objects Master audio effect rack Master effects Master track Mastering Suite Media database Media Pool Media Pool views / template folders Menu effects Metronome Microscope 146, 147 93, 101, 128, 157, 164 14, 132, 167 14 140 14, 170 14, 169 26 157, 164 93 128 157, 164 18 38, 163, 181 163 156, 178 34 30 www.magix.com Index Microscope mode 16 Mix 164 Mixdown tracks 48 19, 34, 36, 124, 164 Mixer More about MAGIX 14 More online services 170 16, 49 Mouse gestures 154, 178, 182 Move Arranger view Move playback control / playback marker / playback area 182 154 Move playback position Move screen view 154 Move/Zoom with the mouse wheel 30 Moving the playback marker 33 Multimax 104 Multimedia files and objects 44 Multimedia Library 17 Multiple insert 153 Multiple insertions 150 Mute objects 45 Mute/Unmute objects 158 My MP3s 42 My Projects 41 N Navigation Navigation buttons New arrangement Non real-time effects Normal mode/Easy mode Normalize 154 40 133 92 29 158 O Object Object and master effects rack Object effect rack Object fades Object handles Object Volume One pitch higher/lower Online login details Online menu Online Update Optimize arrangement view Overview of the program interface www.magix.com 149 93, 94, 124, 157 157 47 47 94 159 171 166 174 162 20 189 190 Index Own recordings 18 P Package contents 11 Parameters 99 Parametric Equalizer 102 Paste 150 Pattern editor - matrix 83 Pattern editor buttons 82 Play demo project 21 Play object/Play arrangement 95 Playback area, Start and end markers 31 Position audio objects 25 Preface 3 Preparation - Setting the start marker and object end 62 Presets 99 Preview and load audio files 24 Preview function 38 Preview/Smart preview 183 Problems and Remedies regarding the Auto Remix Assistant 66 42, 143, 148 Program settings Programming 87 77 Programming the synth object Properties 142 Q Quick start 21 R Range Real-time effects Record a new object Recording Audio CDs Redo Register online Remix Remix agent - Tempo and beat assignment Remove user-defined loops Reprocess arrangement Requirements for using the Remix Agent Reset Program Settings to Default... Reset video effects 152 91 149 59, 145 149 174 159 61 152 129, 136, 139 62 148 161 www.magix.com Index Reverb Ringtone export 97 19 S Save arrangement 133 Save arrangement as... 133 Save objects as takes 151 Save only Tempo & Beat information 64 161 Save title template 161 Save video effects Search the database 42 155 Select all objects Select objects 45 Serial number 12 154 Set jump marker Set volume 158 Setting Catooh 43 Setting the manual and Onbeat/Offbeat 63 Setting user-defined loops 151 Settings 42, 142, 148 Settings templates 43 Shortening or looping objects 47 163 Show object marker > Show bar marker/harmony marker Show video monitor 163 Show welcome dialog 173 86 SilverSynth Pro Simplify object presentation 71 38, 51 Smart Preview for the incorporated samples Software synthesizers 17 129 Some advice on creating ring tones Song Maker 19, 22, 156 Sound Warper 107 SoundCloud upload 16 Soundpool DVD collection 15 Soundpool settings 38 Split objects 151 Splitting objects 45 Standard layout 165 173 Start introductory video Step sequencer 88 Stereo FX 105 9, 175 Support Synth Objects 77 43, 85 Synthesizer System requirements 11 www.magix.com 191 192 Index T Takes Tasks menu Tempo Tempo adjustment Tempo and pitch Text to Speech The CD-ROM configuration dialog The features The track list dialog Time display Timestretch and pitchshift Title Title Editor Toolbar Track Track effects Track position slider Trackboxes and Instrument icons Transport Bar (playback functions) Turning knobs 48, 151 172 35 64 158 68, 149, 157 58 17 56 34 108, 158 160 72, 95, 149, 160 176 152 30, 93, 124, 126 35 29 33 87 U Undo Ungroup objects Update program / Upgrade functions Upload song to Soundcloud Upload to Community Use harmony recognition User interface Using audio effects Using BPM and beat detection 149 71, 151 174 130, 132, 141 141 68 16 92 64 V Various file list view modes Velocity Video Video and bitmap formats Video and Bitmap Objects Video as AVI Video as Windows Media 40 84 36, 160 70 70 139 137, 140 www.magix.com Index Video Compression Video effects Video export dialog Video export via TV-out Video monitor Video Monitor Video output View menu Vintage Effects Suite Visualizer objects Volume Volume regulation 74 72 138 76 163 36, 181 164 162, 179 95, 110 71 157 34 W What’s new in MAGIX Music Maker Rock Edition 4? Working with synth objects 16 77 Z Zooming www.magix.com 30 193
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