User manual FXPANSION GEIST

[. . . ] 1 O P E R AT I O N M A N U A L Contents 6 6 6 6 7 8 8 10 10 10 11 11 11 12 12 12 14 14 14 14 15 15 15 16 16 16 17 17 17 18 19 20 20 20 20 20 21 22 22 22 23 23 23 24 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 26 26 26 27 27 27 27 28 28 1IntroductiontoGeist 1:1IntroductiontoGeist'sarchitectureandinterface Geist'sarchitectureexplained Geist'sinterface Geistinterfaceconcepts WorkinginAutoloadmode Real-timepadtriggering SequencingpadtriggersintoaPattern ApplyingSwingtotheengine'spatterns Padmodes Patternsandsequencinginmoredetail IntroductiontoClassificationinGeist SlicingabreakbeatwithGeist D isablingAutoplayandloading-in-contextinAutoloadmode LoadingGURU1. 5formatfilesandotherfiles WorkingwithAutoloadmodedisabled UsefulBrowserfunctions Sampler Savingyourwork Pad/Layerselector Layereditorcontrols Padeditorcontrols Padandlayermanagement Selectingandeditingmultiplelayersandpads AutomatingFX Retrorecord Transportcontrols Programmingandeditingpatterns Advancedpatternfunctions EditingeventswiththeMultitool Graphtypemenu Graphinsertmenu Viewmode Drawinggraphvalues Recordinggraphvaluesinrealtime MappinggraphstoMIDICCs Geistasasampleplaybackmoduleor`drumsampler' AdvantagesofpatternsequencinginGeist: Ahybridapproach:exportingpatternsfromGeist Triggeringpatternsandscenesfromyourhost ArrangingpatternchangeswithinGeist'sSongpage AdvantagesofarrangingpatternsintheSongpage Playmode Turningoffpatternsequencingonanengine Creatingscenes Playingscenes ScenesandPatternPower Realtimerecordingandcaptureofsongevents 1:2Loadingsoundsforthefirsttime 1:3Playingthepadsandrecordingapattern 1:4PadClassificationandSlicing 1:5Moreaboutbrowsingandsavingyourwork 1:6Editingsounds 1:7MixerpagesandFX 1:8Patternsinmoredetail 1:9Graphs 1:10ApproachingsequencingandarrangementwithGeist 1:11Performingwithpatterns 1:12Performingwithscenes 1:13ArrangingpatternswithinGeist'sSongpage 2 29 29 29 29 30 30 30 31 31 1:14 singMIDIandhostautomationtoremotecontrolGeistparameters U MappingGeistcontrolstoMIDICCs MappingGeistcontrolstohostautomationparameters Mappingpanel ExportingpatternsasMIDI Audioexport M IDIoutput(standaloneandVSTplugininsuitablehostsonly) 1:15MIDI/audioexportandMIDIoutput 1:16Geistsignalflowdiagram 32 32 32 33 33 34 36 37 37 2Browser 2:1Browseroverview 2:2BrowserModes 2:3Browsersidebar 2:4Navigation 2:5Files 2:6Searchfunctions 2:7Shortlist 2:8AdditionalBrowsercontrols 38 38 39 40 41 41 41 3Slicer 3:1Sliceroverview 3:2Transientslicemode 3:3Classificationandextractioncontrols 3:4Divideslicemode 3:5Confirmingordiscardingaslicingsession 3:6Usefultipsforslicing 42 42 42 44 45 4Sampler 4:1IntroductiontousingGeist'sSampler 4:2Mainsamplingcontrols 4:3Additionalcontrolsvisiblewithatakedisplayed 4:3TheSpitterplugin 46 46 47 49 50 50 51 52 52 53 53 5Padsandlayers 5:1Pad/Layersselector 5:2PadEditscreen 5:3Padcontextmenu 5:4LayerEditoverview 5:5Layeredit:Non-destructivesampleediting 5:6Layeredit:Mainparameters 5:7Layeredit:PlaymodeandChokemode 5:8Layeredit:Envelopes 5:9Layeredit:Timestretchcontrols 5:10SummaryofPadlockfunctions 54 54 54 56 6LayermixerandPadmixer 6:1Mixeroverview 6:2Layermixer 6:3PadMixer 57 57 58 60 60 7Engines, AuxbussesandtheMasterchannel 7:1Engines 7:2EngineMixer 7:3Globalelements 7:4Globalmixer 61 61 61 62 62 63 64 8FXdevices 8:1Distortion 8:2Dynamics 8:3EQ 8:4Filters 8:5FX 8:6Reverb 3 65 65 66 67 68 71 74 74 9Patternsandgraphs 9:1IntroductiontoPatterns 9:2Patternpage 9:3Patternpagecontrolreference 9:4Editingtools 9:5Graphs 9:6Trackcontextmenu 9:7Summaryofpatternlockfunctions 75 75 10Scenespage 10:1Scenespagecontrolreference 77 77 77 78 79 80 11Songpage 11:1WorkingwiththeSongpage 11:2Relevanttransportcontrols 11:3Tracksandparts 11:4Songpagecontextmenu 11:5Editingtools 84 84 85 85 86 87 87 88 88 12Otherpanels, menus, controlsandindicators 12:1Transportarea 12:2Mastersectiondisplay 12:3Learnmode&Mappingpanel 12:4Loadmenu 12:5Savemenu 12. 6Exportasaudio. . . (Savemenu) 12:7Geistmenu 12:8Preferences(Geistmenu) 4 Credits Programming PaulChana, SteveBaker, HenryLindsay-Smith, AngusHewlett, SKoTMcDonald InterfaceDesign AngusHewlett VideoProduction, ContentManagement RoryDow PackagingDesign RusBrockman WebProgramming AndreasSchnetzler Manual MayurMaha QA AndrewVernon, PeterSlotwinski, RobertBantin TechnicalSupport RyanSellers, AlexVolmer Artistrelations&publicity ClareO'Brien Distribution&ProjectAdministration RhiannonBankston-Thomas FXpansionUSA TerryHardin, LeslieCrook DiracTimeStretch/PitchShifttechnology(c)2005-2010TheDSPDimension/StephanM. Bernsee Samplecontent Contentfilenameacronymsshowninsquarebrackets­usetheseinthesearchfunctionintheBrowser. Goldbabyhttp://www. goldbaby. co. nz[GB] GrooveCriminalshttp://www. groovecriminals. co. uk[GC] KevinSawkahttp://kjsdrumline. com[KS] DerikWhitehttp://www. dustedwilliamsounds. com[DW] HarisCustovichttp://hariscustovic. com[HC] DomKanehttp://www. domkane. co. uk[DK] LesProductionsZvonhttp://www. lesproductionszvon. com[ZV] BHKSampleshttp://www. industrialstrengthrecords. com[BHK] Presets Goldbabyhttp://www. goldbaby. co. nz Kickfliphttp://www. bogus-noise. co. uk DJSubjectSkiRizeStudioshttp://myspace. com/skirizestudios Sven`borg64'Engdahlhttp://www. borg64. com DJGroovyhttp://www. djgroovy. com Artistpresets 7Skieshttp://www. 7skies-music. com ArminVanBuurenhttp://www. arminvanbuuren. com DRamirezhttp://www. dramirez. com DeanColemanhttp://www. djdeancoleman. com JasonPhatshttp://www. jasonphats. com portioncontrolhttp://www. portion-control. net Sharoozhttp://www. sharooz. com Shirobonhttp://www. myspace. com/shirobonmusic www. fxpansion. com ©2010FXpansionAudioUKLtd. AlltrademarksAcknowledged. MacisatrademarkofAppleComputerInc. The"BuiltforMacOSX"graphicisa trademarkofAppleComputerInc. usedunderlicense. RTASisatrademarkofDigidesign. VSTisatrademarkofSteinbergMediaTechnologyAG. WindowsXPisatrademarkofMicrosoftCorporation. Othertrademarksmentionedareheldbytheirrespectiveowners. 5 1 Introduction to Geist 1:1 Introduction to Geist's architecture and interface Geistisanadvancedstep-sequencerandsample-baseddrummachinerealisedinsoftware. It'sintendedtobeanergonomicwaytoeffortlessly buildgroovesandbeats. Whileitincludesanextensivesetofadvancedintegratedfeatures, itslayoutisfasterandmoreintuitivethantheprocessof accomplishingsimilartaskswithinacomplexDAWwithtoomanyusuallyunnecessaryfeaturesandoptionsthatintrudeuponthecreativeprocess. Geist'sarchitectureexplained ThebasicelementsinGeistareasfollows: Layers: Pads: Patterns: Engines: Scenes: Song: Thebasic`slots'forloadingsamplesinGeist. Thereare8layersoneachpad. [. . . ] Delete/RestoreSlice Whenaslicepointisdeleted, itiseffectively`disabled'­itcanneverbeaddedbackbyfurther adjustmentoftheSensitivitycontrol. Restoretheslicepointtoremovethisbehaviour. Kick/Snare/Hihat/Percussion ThesefunctionsallowyoutooverrideGeist'sautomaticClassifyfunction. IfGeisthasmis-classifiedanyslice, youcansetitmanuallytothecorrectpad typeusingthesefunctions. ManualclassificationofslicesissavedalongwithanyautomaticclassificationinGeist'ssliceinformationfiles(seesection3:5). Clickinthewaveform rulertoaddaslice point ALT-clicktodeletea slicepoint, orusethe slicecontextmenu 39 3:3 Classification and extraction controls Classifyon/off Enablingthisbuttonresultsineachslicebeinganalysedtodetermineifitmostlyresemblesakick, snare, hihatorother. Whenslicesareassignedtopads, theyfollowthepadcategorizations. IftheClassifybuttonisturnedoff, slicesaresimplyaddedsequentiallyfrompads1-16. TheclassifyfunctionisonlyavailableinTransientmode(whentheSlicemodeissetto`Transient') Thisfunctionisfullyexplainedinsection1:4. Uselayers Thisfunctionisonlyrelevantwhenworkingwithsamplesresultinginover16slices. IftheUselayersbuttonisenabled, slicesareassignedtoadditional layersinthecurrentengine'spads. Ifitisnotenabled, themostaccuratematches(Transientmode)orthefirst16slices(Dividemode)areused. Classify/extractiondisplay Thewaveformdisplayprovidesusefulinformationduringtheslicingsessionthatsummarizestheclassificationforeachslice, andwhetherornoteachslice hasbeenextractedtoapadlayer. Extractedslicesarehighlightedmorebrightlythanunusedslices. Thecolouredstripsbelowthewaveformindicatetheslice'sclassifystatus. Hoverthemouseoverausedslicetoshowinformationaboutthepad/layertowhichtheslicehasbeenextracted. Extractionindicators Ifanyslicehasbeenextractedtoapadlayer, itisshadedmorebrightlythanunusedslices. Hoveringthemouseoverasliceforafewmomentsdisplays specificinformationaboutthepadassignment­thenumberofthesliceinthecurrentsetofslices, theenginenumber, padnumber, layernumberand classificationtype(Kick/Snare/Hihat/Percussion). Classifyindicators Thesmallcolourstripsatthebottomofthewaveformdisplayprovideinformationabouttheclassificationstatusofeachslice. Thecoloursusedarerelated tothecolourofeachpadrow­blueforkicks, redforsnares, yellowforhihatsandgreenforpercussion. ExtractAudio ExtractPattern ExtractAudio+Pattern These3buttonsareonlyvisiblewhentheAutoloadbuttonis disabledintheBrowser. IftheAutoloadbuttonisenabled, theaudioandpatternarealways extractedfromtheloopandloadedtothepadsandcurrentpattern (unlesstheyarelocked). IftheAutoloadbuttonisdisabled, nothingisextracted/loaded automaticallyandthesebuttonsallowyoutoloadthedesired elementsfromtheslicedloopbyclickingthemtoperformthe relevantaction. ExtractAudio Sendstheaudioslicestocurrentengine'spads. ExtractPattern Sendstheextractedpatterntothecurrentpatternslot. ExtractAudio+Pattern Performsbothoftheaboveactions. Extractingslicesmanuallytopadsorlayers Singleslicescanbeextractedmanuallytoapadorthenextlayer onthepad, whetherAutoloadmodeisenabledordisabled. Inthisscreenshot, AutoloadandClassifyaredisabled, meaningthatnoauto-extractionor classificationtakesplace. Slicescanbeauditionedbyclicking. TheExtractbuttonsextractthepatternormultiplepads. Youcanalsoclick/dragindividualslices topads. Clickanddragfromthelowerpartofthewaveformdisplaytoapad ­allprevioussamplecontentsareremovedandthesliceisaddedasthefirstlayer. IfyouperformthisoperationwhileholdingdowntheALTkey, thesliceisaddedasthenextfreelayeronthepad. 40 3:4 Divide slice mode ThisscreenshotshowsDivideslicemodewithAutoloadenabled. Theloophasbeenchoppedinto16equalslices, withtheslicesandpattern automaticallyextracted. InDividemode, theSensitivitysliderisreplacedbyaDivisionscontrol­anumericaltextboxallowingyoutoinputthenumberofequal-lengthdivisions producedbythechoppingprocess. Inthismode, itisnotpossibletoadd/removeslicepointsmanually, andtheslicecontextmenuisnotavailable. ItisalsonotpossibletousetheClassify function. 3:5 Confirming or discarding a slicing session Done Whenyouhavefinishedextractingaudio/patterndatafromtheslicedsample, clicktheDonebuttontoexittheSlicerpanel. Thisconfirmsanyoperations performedsincetheSlicerpanelwasinitiated. IfAutoloadisdisabledandnoExtractordrag&dropoperationsareperformed, clickingtheDonebutton resultsinnochangestothepadsorcurrentpattern. Cancel Ifyouwanttoentirelydiscardalloperationsperformedduringtheslicingsession, regardlessofthestateoftheAutoloadbutton, clicktheCancelbutton. Theengine'spadsandcurrentpatternreturntothepreviousstatebeforetheSlicerwasinitiated. Alternatively, ifyouwanttocarryonslicing(forexampleifyouhaveextractedtheaudioslicesfromonesample, andwanttoextractthepatternfrom another), thensimplyclickonanothersampleintheBrowser. Sliceinformationfiles WhenclickingtheDonebuttontoconfirmaslicingsession, Geistsavesa`sliceinformationfile', usingtheoriginalfilenamewitha. gsafileextension, alongsideanysamplethatisprocessedintheSlicer. Therefore, ifyouclickCancelandabortaslicingoperation, nochangesaremadetothe. gsafile alongsidethesample(ifa. gsafiledoesnotyetexist, noneiscreated). The. gsafilecontainsinformationabouttheslicingsettings, slicepointsandanyclassificationwhichmayhavebeenperformedautomaticallybyGeist, or manuallyusingtheslicecontextmenu. Savinga. gsafilemeansyouwillonlyneedtosliceandclassifyanyparticularaudiofileonce. Wheneveryoutrytoloadthesampleintotheslicerinfuture, thesavedslicinginformationisrecalled. Toremovethe. gsafileforanysample, simplyright-clickonthesampleintheGeistBrowserandusetheRemovesliceinformationfunction. Thisallows youtostartfrom`acleanslate'andre-sliceandre-classifythesample. 3:6 Useful tips for slicing Usingpadlocksduringtheslicingprocess DuringtheslicingprocessinAutoloadmode, lockanypadsthatyouwanttokeepasyougoalong­right-clickonapadandusetheLockpadfunction. Thisway, youcanadjustslicepointswithoutlockedpadsbeingaffectedwhenslicesareautomaticallyreassignedtopads. Auditioningandextractingspecificslices Rememberthatyoucanauditionallslices, eventhosewhicharenotalreadyassignedtopads, byclickinginthetoppartofthewaveformdisplay. Alsorememberthatyoucandraganyslicetoapadusingdraganddrop, evenwheninAutoloadmode. Creativechoices When`crate-digging'andrecyclingfoundsounds, weencouragethecreativephilosophyofputtingyourown`slant'onthesamplesyouuse, making somethingnew, originalandinterestingoutofexistingsamples. SometimesitcanbegoodtobepresentedwithsurprisingresultsbytheSlicer­it'smorecreativetoavoidrecreatingloopsexactlyintheiroriginalform, althoughGeistcanbesettodothisifyouwish. Itcanbemorerewardingtoexperimentandtryoutsettingsthatyouwouldn'tnormallyuse, astheloop's soundsandpatterncanbeextractedandexposedinslightlydifferentwaysthathavetheirownfeelandvibe. Theslicingsystemisdesignedtoworkwiththeminimalamountofclicking, soyoucanexperimentwithnewsoundsinstantlybyclickingonloopsinthe browser. Theautomatednatureandlackof`control'canberefreshing, andit'seasytodiveinandtweakslicepointsasmuchasyouwantafterwards. 41 4 Sampler 4:1 Introduction to using Geist's Sampler Geist'sSamplerpageoffersareal-timesamplerecordingenvironment, withwhichyoucansampleaudioliveduringasession. Samplingdirectlyintothe instrumentcanreplicatesomeoftheimmediacyofclassichardwaresamplinginstruments. Source Geistcanrecordsamplesfromanumberofsources­fromitsownoutputsorfromanexternalinput. Thesourceforthe samplingsessionisspecifiedusingtheSourceselector, locatedneartheArmandRec/StopbuttonsintheSampler page. External TheexternalinputcanbeusedintheGeiststandaloneversionandinhoststhatsupporttheroutingofaudioto instrumentplugininputs. ResampleMaster Withthissetting, thecontentoftheMasteroutputisusedforthesamplerinputsource. NoaudiostreamsroutedtoSuboutputsarerecorded. ResamplingisusedforquicklycreatingnewsamplesusingGeist'ssounddesignfunctions, andisareal-timealternative tousingtheaudioexportfunctions. Resamplesub-output1-15 Withthesesettings, thecontentoftherelevantsub-outputisusedasthesamplerinputsource. Spitterinstanceswithinthecurrenthostsession SpitterisGeist'scompanionaudio-routingplugin, whichroutesaudiodirectlytoGeist'ssamplerinputfromotherchannels inyourhost. Thisisusefulforhostswhichdonotsupporttheroutingofaudiotoinstrumentplugininputs. MultipleinstancesofSpittercanbeusedinyoursession, and canbeselectedasdiscretesourceswithintheGeistsamplerpage. Seesection4:4formoredetailsonusingtheSpitterplugin. 4:2 Main sampling controls OncetheSourcehasbeensetasrequired, themainprocessofsamplingisdependentmainlyontheTriggermodeandRecordmodesettings. [. . . ] WhenusingGeistasaplugin, thetempoisalwayslockedtothe hosttempo. Mainmenus Mastermeter MIDIindicator Memoryusage Memoryusage DisplaystheamountofRAMcurrentlyusedbyGeistandthe currentlyloadedsamples. MIDI/Audiostreamindicator FlasheswhenanyMIDInoteeventisreceived. Voicestealindicator Tempo Iftheindicatorishighlightedinred, Geistcannotestablishanaudiostreamconnectionwiththeaudiointerface(standaloneversion)orthehostaudio engine(pluginversion), meaningthatitwillnotfunctionuntilthisisresolved. Voicestealindicator Thisindicatorlightsupifthevoicelimitisreachedandvoicestealing(basedontheoldestplayingvoices)hastooccur. Load ThisbuttondisplaystheLoadmenu­seesection12:4. Save ThisbuttondisplaystheSavemenu­seesection12:5. Geist ThisbuttondisplaystheGeistmenu­seesection12:7. 12:3 Learn mode & Mapping panel Geist'sMappingpanelallowsyoutoassigninterfacecontrolstoMIDIcontinuouscontrollers(MIDICCs)andhostautomationparameters, sothatyoucan usephysicalknobsandfadersonhardwarecontrollerstoadjustGeist'sinterfacecontrols. Theprocessofcreatingmappingsisdescribedinsection1:14. ThisscreenshotshowstheMappingpanelaftersomeMIDICCassignmentshavebeenmade. Mappingpanel AllcurrentMIDICCandhostautomationmappingsarelistedintheMapping panel, whichisdisplayedbyclickingtheMappingtababovetheBrowser­the MappingpanelreplacestheBrowser, andLearnmodeisactivatedautomatically. Mappingsareshowninatablewiththefollowingcolumnheadings: Clear Clickthisbuttontoremovetheassignment. Locale ThiscolumnshowstheMIDIchannelandMIDICCnumberthatisassignedto theparameter. Path ThisdisplayshowstheMappingpanellistingwithallcolumnsexpanded. ThiscolumndisplaysthepartofGeistcontainingthemappedcontrol­whetherit isaglobalcontrol(suchastheMastergaincontrol)orwithinaspecificengine, padorlayer. 85 Name Thenameoftheassignedparameter. Min, Max Thesevaluesallowyoutodefinetheminimumandmaximumvalueoftheparameteracross therangeoftheMIDICCrangeof0-127. Type Bydefault, allassignmentsareContinuous­theparameter'svalue followstheincomingMIDICCvaluescontinuously. Thereare3 otherpossiblesettingsforthiscolumn, andareonlyavailablefor mappingbuttoncontrolsinGeisttoMIDICCs. AdjustingtheMaxsettingforaSwingcontrolmappingbyclick/ draggingleft/right. Momentary TheparameterissettoitsmaximumvaluewhiletheincomingMIDICCisatavalueof127. Latching EverytimetheMIDICCreachesavalueof127, theassignedcontroltogglesbetweenmaximumandminimumvalues. Trigger WhentheincomingMIDICCreachesthemaximumvalue(127), theassignedparameterissettoitsmaximumvalue. The assignedparameterdoesnotrespondtoanyMIDICCvalueotherthan127. Foc. (Focus) Thissettingisonlyavailableforengine/pad/layer-specificcontrols. Itimplementsthemappingonthecurrently`focused'element's control. Forexample, enablingtheFocussettingforalayer'sTunecontrolresultsinthemappingbeingactiveonthecurrently focusedlayer. Ifitisdisabled(thisisthedefaultstate), themappingisabsolute, tothespecificengine/pad/layerofthemapped parameter. TheFocussettingisunavailablefor`global'controlssuchastheMastergainandMasterpitchcontrols. Mappingpanelcontextmenu Right-clickinanycolumnofamappingtodisplaythemappingpanelcontextmenu. Thismenuprovidesanumberoffunctionswithwhichtomanage mappings. Removemapping Thisfunctionclearstheselectedmapping. Collapse/Expandcolumn Thisfunctioncollapsesorexpandsthecolumnunderneaththemousewhenthecontextmenuisinvoked, dependingonitscurrentstatus. The`Foc. '(Focus)andClearcolumnscannotbecollapsedorexpanded. [. . . ]