Index

The following Help Topics are available:

Screen Areas & Controls

Commands

Procedures

Glossary

For Help on Help, press F1.


Screen Areas & Controls

Transport    Song Position    Tempo   MIDI Density Meters    Channel Info

Solo    Mute           Record Enable           Patch Selector    Volume Slider    Status Area


Transport

         Rewind     Stop     Play     Record    Pause     Fast Forward


Commands

Files Menu

New

Open

Save

Save As...

Exit

Files List

Options Menu

Metronome

Auto Rewind

Save Settings on Exit

MIDI Input Device

Help Menu

Help Index

About MIDI Orchestrator


Procedures

Playing a MIDI Song File

Recording the First Track

Re-recording a Part

Overdubbing More Parts and Multi-track Recording

Changing the Sound of a Part

Transposing Pitch

Naming Tracks


Glossary

MIDI

Channel

Patch

MIDI Interface

Record Standby Mode

Track

Re-mapping (MIDI files)

Transpose

Drums and MIDI


Song Position

The Song Position slider provides a visual indication of the current song position. You can also grab the pointer with the mouse to move to any position within the song.


Tempo

There are two tempo controls:

The contol labeled Tempo displays and allows you to set the current tempo.

The control labeled +/-  is the Tempo Offset. The Tempo Offset provides a way to increase or decrease the tempos of songs that were composed with a tempo map by adding or subtracting a specified value to/from each value in the tempo map.


Channel Info Buttons 1-16
Channel Info

Clicking on a Channel Info button brings up the Channel Info dialog box for that channel.

The Channel Info dialog box shows the MIDI tracks that are assigned to that channel and allows you to name them. There also is a Transpose function which lets you transpose the pitch of the selected track by octaves and/or semi-tones. Lastly, the Patch combo box provides an alternate way of selecting a patch for that channel.


MIDI Density Meters

The MIDI Density Meters display the relative number of notes that are being played in each channel.


Solo

Clicking on a Solo button mutes all other channels, allowing you to listen to only the soloed track.

Pressing the [Ctrl] key while clicking on various Solo buttons allows you to solo multiple tracks at one time.


Mute

Clicking on the Mute button on any channel disables playback of that channel.


Record Enable

Activating a channel's Record Enable button allows MIDI data to be recorded onto that channel when you initiate recording.


Patch Selector

The Patch Selector allows you to select or change the sound that is being played by that channel.

To select or change the patch:

Click on the top half of the Patch Selector control to increase the value, click on the bottom half of the numerical to decrease the value.

Or, click on the Patch Selector control and drag up or down to increase or decrease the values.

You can also select patches from the Channel Info dialog box.


Volume Slider

The Volume Sliders let you increase or decrease the playback volume of each channel.


Status Area

The Status Area displays information about the current song file and the status of the MIDI Orchestrator itself (Playing, Paused, Recording, etc). The Bar values are displayed in the format Bars:Beats. The Time values are displayed in the format Minutes:Seconds.


Rewind

Clicking on the Rewind button scrolls backwards through the song in 1-bar increments. If the Auto Rewind  option is enabled, the song will automatically rewind to the beginning whenever the transport is stopped.


Stop

Clicking on the Stop button halts playback or recording.


Play

Click on the Play button to initiate playback from the current song position.

In addition, you click on the Play button to initiate recording when the MIDI Orchestrator is in Record Standby mode.


Record

Clicking on the Record button toggles the MIDI Orchestrator in and out of Record Standby mode.

Once the MIDI Orchestrator is in Record Standby mode, click on the Play button to initiate recording.


Fast Forward

Clicking on the Fast Forward button scrolls forward through the song in 1-bar increments.


Pause

Clicking on the Pause button stops playback at the current song position. To resume playing from that position, click on the Pause button again.


New

Opens a new, empty file.


Open

Presents a dialog box to select the file that you wish to load. The MIDI Orchestrator can load MIDI files in the standard .MID format only.


Save

Saves the currently-loaded file to disk. If the file already has a name, it will be saved with that name. Otherwise, the Save As... dialog box will appear.


Save As...

Presents a dialog box for naming and saving the current file to disk.


Metronome

When the Metronome option is enabled, the MIDI Orchestrator will produce a tone from the PC speaker to use as a timing reference whenever you're playing back or recording.


Auto Rewind

When the Auto Rewind option is enabled, the MIDI Orchestrator will automatically rewind to the beginning of the song whenever playback or recording is stopped.


Exit

Quits the MIDI Orchestrator.


Files List

The bottom portion of the MIDI Orchestrator's File menu lists the last four MIDI files that you have opened or saved, with the most recently-opened file listed at position 1. This makes it easy to re-open any of the last four files you've worked on.

To open a MIDI file in this list, simply click on the desired file name.


Save Settings on Exit

When the Save Settings on Exit option is enabled, the Metronome and Auto Rewind settings are saved whenever you quit the program.


Help Index

Accesses the MIDI Orchestrator's on-line Help system.


Playing a MIDI Song File

To play a MIDI song file:

1. Choose Open  from the Files menu.

2. Highlight the name of the desired MIDI (*.MID) file and click on OK. The song file will be loaded into the MIDI Orchestrator.

3. Click on the Play  button or press the [Spacebar] to play the song.


Recording the First Track

Here's how you record the first track in a song. Once you've recorded the first track, you can overdub additional parts.

To record any MIDI data, you must have the MIDI Out of your keyboard connected to the MIDI In of your sound card's MIDI interface. Refer to the documentation for details.

To record with the MIDI Orchestrator:

1. Select New  from the Files menu.

2. From the Options menu, enable the Metronome, and set the desired tempo from the Tempo control.

3. Select the channel you wish to record into by clicking on its Record Enable button.

You should select a channel that you know is assigned to your sound card by the Windows MIDI Mapper.

4. On that same channel, select the Patch that you want to use for monitoring while you record.

5. If you turn down the volume on your keyboard and play, it should trigger the selected patch on your sound card.

6. Click on the transport's Record button in the transport.

The Record button's red LED will blink, indicating that the MIDI Orchestrator is in Record Standby mode.

7. To begin recording, press the transport's Play button.

You should now hear the metronome, and the status area will display the elapsed in bars:beats and minutes:seconds.

8. As you listen to the metronome, play the part on your MIDI keyboard.

9. Once you've recorded your part, click on the Stop button to stop recording.

10. If you want, you can click on the Play button to hear what you've just recorded.

If necessary, you can re-record the part until your satisfied with it.


Re-recording a Part

The procedure for re-recording a part is identical to recording the first track. However, keep in mind that when you re-record into a channel, you will record over any existing material on that channel.


Overdubbing More Parts and Multi-track Recording

The MIDI Orchestrator has the ability to record up to 16 parts. Once you've recorded your first track, you can record additional parts onto other channels by playing along with the parts that you've already recorded. This process is called "overdubbing", and is done much the same way as it's done in a professional recording studio.

To overdub a new part:

1. Select a new channel to record onto by clicking on its Record Enable  button.

2. Use that channel's Patch Selector to select the sound for your new part.

3. Follow the same procedure as you did for recording the first track.


Changing the Sound of a Part

The sound that is being played back by each channel can be changed at any time.This gives you the ability to audition different sounds for each channel as you listen to the song.

To change the sound for a specific channel, use that channel's Patch Selector , or select a sound from the Patch combo box in the Channel Info dialog box.


Transposing Pitch

The MIDI Orchestrator has the ability to transpose the pitch of any track in a song. This is done from the Channel Info box. If a channel has more than one track assigned to it, you can transpose each track independently.

To transpose a track:

1. Click on the Channel Info button for the channel you want to transpose. This will open its Channel Info dialog box.

2. Most MIDI songs only have one track per channel.  However, if there is more than one track listed, select the track you wish to transpose by clicking on it from the track list.

That track will now be listed in the Selected Track list box.

3. To transpose the pitch of the track up by octaves, click on the top half of the Octave numerical as needed. Or, click on the lower half to transpose it down track by octaves.

To transpose by semi-tones, the procedure is identical.


Naming Tracks

In most cases, a MIDI song will contain a single track assigned to each channel. However, in some cases (especially drums) there may be more than one track assigned to a channel.

When you click on a Channel Info button, the Channel Info dialog box will list all the tracks assigned to that channel. You can edit any of these track names as needed.

To name or re-name a track:

1. Click on the desired Channel Info button.

2. From the Tracks on Channel list box, click on the track you wish to re-name. If it's a newly-recorded track, it will be listed as New.

The track will now appear in the Selected Track edit box.

3. From the Selected Track edit box, type in the new name.

Each channel in the MIDI Orchestrator's main screen also displays a track name, located in the Tk Name area underneath its Volume Slider. A channel's Tk Name is always the first name listed in it's Channel Info dialog box. Thus, you can determine each channel's Tk Name simply by editing the first track name from the Channel Info dialog box.

To edit a channel's Tk Name:

1. From the Channel Info dialog box, select and edit the first track listed, as described above.

2. When you close the Channel Info dialog box and return to the MIDI Orchestrator's main screen, that name will now be displayed in the Tk Name area.


About MIDI Orchestrator
About MIDI Orchestrator...

Presents the MIDI Orchestrator's About... box,  containing version information and the address and phone number of Voyetra Technologies.


MIDI

The Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) is a serial computer interface that allows electronic musical instruments and computers to communicate with each other.


Channel

The MIDI standard allows MIDI data to be separated into 16 MIDI channels. These separate channels allow sequencers like the MIDI Orchestrator, MIDI instruments, and sound cards to work with 16 separate musical parts at one time.

Each MIDI channel can be assigned a MIDI patch or sound.  When used with a multi-timbral synthesizer or sound card, the MIDI Orchestrator's 16 MIDI channels can be assigned to play 16 separate sounds at one time.

Although each channel can contain multiple tracks, each track assigned to the same MIDI channel will play back the same sound.


Patch

A patch refers to the sound that the synthesizer or sound card is using to play the MIDI data on a particular channel. A synthesizer patch or sound is sometimes referred to as a "Program".

When you send a synthesizer or sound card a Patch Change message, you are sending it a message that tells it to switch to a different sound. This is similar to pushing the sound selection buttons on the front panel of a synthesizer.

Whenever you start playback or recording with the MIDI Orcestrator, each channel sends a Patch Change message corresponding to the number displayed in its Patch Selector numerical.


MIDI Interface

A serial interface, usually an optional accessory for your sound card, that allows you to connect one or more MIDI devices (keyboards, tone modules, etc.) to your computer.


Record Standby Mode

The first time you click on the Record  button, the MIDI Orchestrator will go into Record Standby mode, meaning it's ready to start recording. When in this mode, the Record button's red LED will blink.

Once the MIDI Orchestrator is in Record Standby mode, click on the Play  button to begin recording.


Track

In MIDI, the word "track" usually refers to a single musical part, such as a bass line or a main melody. With the MIDI Orchestrator, each channel may contain multiple tracks which can be independently named and transposed. However, all tracks assigned to a given channel will use the same sound or patch.


Re-mapping (MIDI files)

When a MIDI file is recorded, it's MIDI information is "mapped" so that the MIDI data will play using the correct sounds, volume relationships, and in some cases the correct octave registration.

A MIDI song that was composed on one synthesizer will often not play correctly on a different synthesizer. The MIDI Orchestrator lets you remap MIDI songs to play correctly on a given synthesizer or sound card.

Re-mapping may include: adjusting the relative volumes of the different tracks, re-assigning the patches so that each track plays the correct sound, and adjusting octaves as needed.

For example, if you got a MIDI file from a friend and its Bass track was mapped to your synthesizer's Kazoo sound, it probably won't sound very good.

You can use the MIDI Orcestrator to fix this by changing the patch assignment of that channel to correspond to your synth's Bass sound.  If the pitch sounded too high,  you could transpose the track's octave registration to a lower setting. Once you properly re-map all the tracks, you can adjust each channel's Volume Slider to get just the right mix. When you get the file to a point where it plays correctly on your system, use the MIDI Orcestrator to re-save the file.


Transpose

Transpose refers to raising or lowering the pitch of a track by octaves or semi-tones.


Drums and MIDI

Unlike the melodic typical sounds that a synthesizer produces (piano, organ, bass, etc.), a synthesizer's drum sounds are usually all mapped to one channel. Each of the different drum sounds (bass drum, snare drum, cymbal etc.) are produced by playing different notes on that channel.

Most sound cards map their drum sounds to either channel 10 or channel 16. Typically, most popular sound cards that use FM synthesis map their drums to channel 16, while "high-end" wavetable sound cards and external General MIDI tone modules (such as the Roland Sound Canvas) map their drums to channel 10.

Refer to your sound card or tone module's documentation for a chart listing the available drum sounds and their corresponding note values.


MIDI Input Device

Presents a dialog box from which you can select the input device to record incoming MIDI data from an external keyboard.