Arboretum Systems Hyperprism 2 User Manual

Hyperprism 2 Manual

Table of Contents

Copyright ©1999 by Arboretum Systems, Inc. This documentation may not, in whole or in part, be copied, reproduced or translated without prior written consent of

Arboretum Systems.

Hyperprism 2

Real Time Dynamic Audio Effects Processing Software

Version 2.1

Hyperprism copyright ©1991-1999 by Arboretum Systems, Inc. This Documentation may not, in whole or in part, be
copied, reproduced or translated without prior written consent of Arboretum Systems.

New in Hyperprism 2:

New Vocoder, Frequency Shifter, HyperVerb, Doppler, Z-Morph and Vari-Speed effects.●
Now HyperEngine provides the stand-alone framework for Hyperprism, offering "on-the-fly" live audio

processing, sound file editing and more.

●

Improved Compressor includes new soft knee setting plus clearer, smoother compression●

Filters now sound even better, work easier...plus new Lo/Hi Shelf and Parametric EQ.●

Combine multiple effects for complex multi-processing chains, all in real-time.●
New Blue Window automation editing, along with easy geometric path creation.●

Select sound file range for processing/automation directly from the Blue Window.●

User-definable Blue Window axis assignments.●
New real-time Play-Thru processing, plus processing during recording.●
Plus a cool new look, direct sound card support and complete documentation detailing every feature and function in

HyperEngine and Hyperprism 2.

●

Contents

Software License Agreement
Introduction to Hyperprism 2
Installation and Configuration
Quick Start Tutorial
Hyperprism 2 and HyperEngine

Getting Started●
File Formats●
Recording Sounds●

HyperEngine Documents and Sound Files●
HyperEngine Process List●
Exporting Effects: Process to New File●

Hyperprism Controls

The Blue Window●
Opening a Blue Window●
Title bar●
Switches●
Parameter Sliders●
Waveform Display●
Automation Ticks●
Blue Window Play Zone●
Presets Pop-up●
Post-Roll●

HyperEngine 2.3 Keyboard Shortcut Summary
Hyperprism 2 Key Commands
Creating and Editing Blue Window Automation

Getting Started●
Mapping Parameters to the Blue Window●
Altering the Parameter Range●
Selecting a Region●
Auditioning Settings●
Drawing Tracer Paths●
About The Tracer●
Playing Back/Bypassing Automation●
Drawing Automation in Loop mode●
Editing Automation●
Deleting Automation●
Inserting Automation●
Creating Geometric Paths●
Automation Shape Parameters●
Inserting Geometric Paths●
Copying, Pasting and Cutting Paths●
Deleting Paths●
Parameter Resolution Trade-Offs●
Working With Multiple Paths●

Removing Effects●
Saving Effects and Automations●
Naming Your Effect Variations●

Effects Processes
Link to HyperEngine Manual
Appendix A: Troubleshooting
Appendix B: About Digital Audio Files

About This Manual

The documentation may be viewed or printed from any browser, such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet
Explorer. If the text is too small or you wish to change the background color, go into your browser's Preferences and set
them as you wish. Internet Explorer users, just hit the Larger button on your browser toolbar.

Important: For better scrolling comfort use the scroll bar, or the page up/page down keys, rather than the up and down
arrows.

It may also be viewed using the excellent HTML Viewer By Sassafras Software, a shareware program supplied on this
CD-ROM. If the text is too small, replace the HTML Viewer Prefs file in your Systems' Preference folder by the one on
this CD. You can find it by doing a "Get Info" of your HTML Viewer alias followed by a "Find Original" command.

Manual Conventions

Throughout this manual, you will see several different symbols in sections describing step-by-step operations.

Text following a right pointing arrow

invites you to execute a command with the mouse or keyboard.

Text following a down pointing arrow

describes the result produced by executing a command.

A pointing hand

indicates an important note!

Underlined Text indicates a Hyper link; mouse-click on the link to access more information on the designated topic.

Documentation current for Hyperprism version 2.0, last revised 4/5/98. Manual written and edited by Todd Souvignier and
Aram Lindahl with contributions from Chris Townsend, plus legacy material by Georges Jaroslaw, Chris Weare, Curtis
Roads and David (Rudy) Trubitt. New graphics by Aram Lindahl. Hyperprism 2 and HyperEngine programming by Aram
Lindahl and Chris Weare, Ph.D.

Copyright ©1991-1999 by Arboretum Systems, Inc. This Documentation may not, in whole or in part, be copied,
reproduced or translated without prior written consent of Arboretum Systems.

for Arboretum Systems, Inc.:
Georges Jaroslaw, president
Zhi Liu, CFO
Christopher Weare, Ph.D., CTO

Aram Lindahl, senior software engineer
Richard Lee, sales director
Todd Souvignier, marketing director

75 Aura Vista, Pacifica CA 94044
[e-mail]
www.arboretum.com

If your Browser is connected to the Internet, you can visit us by clicking the button below to find more information as well
as the latest available software and documentation updates.

[go to First Chapter]

License Agreement

ARBORETUM SYSTEMS SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT

Arboretum Systems ("Arboretum") is willing to license the enclosed Hyperprism, Ray Gun, HyperEngine and/or Ionizer
software ("Software") only upon the condition that you accept all the terms of this Agreement. If you do not agree to these
terms, then Arboretum is unwilling to license the Software to you, in which event you must return immediately, and in no
case later than ten (10) days from the date of purchase, the unopened diskette package (and accompanying items including
manual, other documentation and container) together with your proof of purchase, to the place from which it was acquired
for a refund.

LICENSE: You may use the enclosed Software on a single computer. The Software is in use when it is installed into
permanent memory (such as a hard disk or other storage device) or loaded into temporary memory (RAM) of that
computer. The Software may be copy protected. In such case you may install the Software a total of 2 (two) times into
permanent memory of a single computer.

RESTRICTIONS: You may not transfer, modify, rent, lease, loan, resell, distribute, network, electronically transmit or
merge the Software. You may also not reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble the Software, or otherwise attempt to
discover the Software source code. You are not permitted to copy the Software (except to make an archival copy for
back-up purposes) or any of the accompanying documentation. Any attempt to transfer any of the rights, duties or
obligations hereunder except as expressly provided for in this Agreement is void.

COPYRIGHT: The Software (including audio, music, text, images and animations incorporated into the Software) and
accompanying documentation are owned by Arboretum or its suppliers and are protected by United States copyright laws
and international treaties. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of the software or documentation is subject to civil
and criminal penalties.

LIMITED WARRANTY: Arboretum warrants for the period of thirty (30) days from the date of delivery of the Software
to you, as evidenced by a copy of your receipt, that: (1) The Software will perform substantially in accordance with the
user documentation provided by Arboretum. Your sole remedy under this warranty is that Arboretum will, at its option,
either repair or replace the Software which does not meet this Limited Warranty, or refund to you the money paid for the
Software. Arboretum does not warrant that the Software will meet your requirements, that operation of the Software will
be uninterrupted or error-free, or that all software errors will be corrected. (2) The medium on which the Software is
furnished will be free from defects in materials and workmanship under normal use. Arboretum will, at its option, either
repair or replace the faulty medium at no charge to you, provided you return the faulty medium with proof of purchase to
Arboretum.

This Limited Warranty is void if any failure of the Software or any damage to the medium is due to accident, disaster,
abuse, misapplication, modification of the Software and/or violation of any of the terms of the License Agreement.

The above warranties are exclusive and in lieu of all other warranties, express or implied, and Arboretum expressly
disclaims all other warranties, including the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and
non-infringement. No oral or written information or advice given by Arboretum, its employees, dealers, resellers,
distributors or agents shall increase the scope of the above warranties or create any new warranties. Some states do not
allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so the above exclusion may not apply to you. In that event, any implied
warranties are limited in duration to thirty (30) days from the date of delivery of the software. This warranty gives you
specific legal rights. You may have other rights, which vary from state to state.

LIMITATION OF REMEDIES: Arboretum's entire liability to you and your exclusive remedy shall be the repair or
replacement of the Software, the repair or replacement of the Software medium, or the refund of your purchase price, as
set forth above. In no event shall Arboretum's liability to you or any third party exceed the purchase price paid for the
Software.

Regardless of whether any remedy set forth herein fails of its essential purpose, in no event will Arboretum or its
authorized dealers, resellers or distributors be liable to you (1) for any damages, including any lost profits, lost data, other
incidental or consequential damages, arising out of the use or inability to use the Software or any data supplied therewith,
even if Arboretum has been advised of the possibility of such damages, or (2) for any claim by any other party. Some
states do not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages so the above limitation
or exclusion may not apply to you.

GENERAL: This Agreement will be governed by the laws of the State of California, except for that body of law dealing
with conflicts of law. If any provision of this Agreement is held to be unenforceable, that provision will be removed and
the remaining provisions will remain in full force. This Agreement is the complete and exclusive statement of the
agreement between us which supersedes any proposal or prior agreement, oral or written, and any other communications
between us in relation to the subject matter of this Agreement. If you have any questions concerning this Agreement, you
may contact Arboretum by writing to Arboretum Systems, 75 Aura Vista, Pacifica California 94044. Hyperprism, Ray
Gun, HyperEngine and Ionizer are trademarks of Arboretum Systems.

You acknowledge that you have read this Agreement, understand it, and agree to be bound by its terms.

Hyperprism 2

Introduction to Hyperprism 2

"Les formes musicales possibles sont aussi
inombrables que les formes extérieures des cristaux."

The universe of possible musical forms
is as unlimited as the countless shapes of crystals.

--Edgard Varèse, speaking about his composition Hyperprism (1923)

Welcome to Hyperprism 2 - the real-time effects processors that you play like a musical instrument. Built for exploring
and controlling sound transformation, Hyperprism 2 combines the ease of the Macintosh interface with the signal
processing power of the PowerPC microprocessor. Its primary features are the following:

36 different high-quality effect algorithms, including filtering, delay, modulation, pitch and time control and stereo
manipulation effects.

●

Interactive gestural control of effect parameters in real time, using the mouse.●
Mouse control movements are recorded and can be played back by Hyperprism 2 in synchronization with the

original sound file.

●

Effect parameter automation can be edited on screen.●
32-bit, floating-point calculations are used internally during all effects processing for maximum fidelity.●
Apply any number of effects to a single sound file, all in real-time.●
Non-destructive document-based processing means that your original sound files are always safe and that disk

storage requirements are minimized.

●

Live play-through processing allows you to use Hyperprism like a performance instrument, on stage or in the
studio.

●

HyperEngine (included with Hyperprism 2) provides sound input/output services to Hyperprism effects and offers
simple file editing capabilities.

●

For instructions on installing and configuring Hyperprism 2, please click here.

Be sure to peruse the Read Me files on your CD for any important additional information that we were not able to include
in this manual.

Hyperprism Processes

Hyperprism 2 implements 36 musical effects:

Hyperprism Filter Processes

Low Pass●
High Pass●
Band Pass●
Band Reject●

NEW! Low Shelf●
NEW! Hi Shelf●
NEW! Parametric EQ●

Hyperprism Modulation Processes

NEW! Vocoder●
NEW! Frequency Shifter●
NEW! Z-Morph●

Phaser●
Flanger●
Chorus●
Ring Modulator●
Tremolo●
Vibrato●

Hyperprism Delay and Reverb Processes

Single Delay●
Multi Delay●
Echo●
EchoTranz●

NEW! HyperVerb (TM)●

Room Reverb●
Hall Reverb●

Hyperprism Stereo Processes

Auto Pan●
Quasi Stereo●
Doppler●
Stereo Dynamics●
More Stereo●
M-S Matrix●

Hyperprism Miscellaneous Processes

Pitch Time Changer●
Pitch Changer●

NEW! Vari-Speed●

Noise Gate●
Compressor●

NEW! Limiter●

Sonic Decimator●

Each effect can operate over a wide range of settings, all under your interactive real-time control. Each effect can be
combined with other effects to create complex multi-processing chains. And all processing is non-destructive. Hyperprism
2 effects are plug-ins, which work ONLY inside Arboretum's HyperEngine program, included free with Hyperprism 2. If
you want to use Hyperprism effects in other Mac/PC sound editing programs, check out Arboretum's Hyperprism Plug-in
Pack (available separately) which is the complete assortment of Hyperprism plug-in editions for use with popular 3rd party
audio software.

Getting Sound Into Hyperprism

How do you get your sounds into Hyperprism? Hyperprism works with live audio files being played into your Mac sound
input or your professional sound card (such as Digidesign Audiomedia II and III or Korg 1212 I/O). Hyperprism also
works with sounds files stored on disk. These sound files can be created by other audio applications, or you can use
Hyperprism to record sounds connected to your Mac by recording in a HyperEngine Play-Thru document.

Hyperprism 2 will create, open and process sound files in the two popular Mac audio formats: Sound Designer II (SDII)
and Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF). Hyperprism 2 works with mono and interleaved stereo files at any supported
sample rate, and supports both 8 and 16 bit files.

Processing Sounds: The Blue Window

One of Hyperprism's most distinctive features is its "Blue Window," which is allows you to control signal processing
changes simply by moving the mouse.

Hyperprism-PPC's Blue Window is used to dynamically control effect parameter variations.

Most modern effects hardware and signal processing software require you to pick the settings of an effect before you use
it. Hyperprism is different. Instead of a fixed set of effects parameters, Hyperprism lets you change the parameters of an
effect while the sound is playing. The result is a very interactive method of effects control, one that had nearly disappeared
in the industry's transition from analog to digital signal processing.

Hyperprism tracks the horizontal and vertical movements of your mouse and uses this information to instantly update an
effect's parameters. For example, moving the mouse left or right could change the delay time between the repeats of an
echo effect, while up and down movements adjusted the number of individual repeats.

Parameter changes are controlled in Hyperprism's Blue Window. Simply click and drag the mouse within the Blue
Window. As you do so, you'll hear and see the results...as your sound is being processed, your gestures will trace a path in
the Blue Window.

The paths you draw can be recorded, so you may hear the results of your gestures after you make them. If you don't like
the results, just draw another path. Or edit the path breakpoints until you've created the parameter change you want. You
can also use the effect control sliders in the Blue Window for additional discrete control over each effect algorithm.

If you're worried about disk space, relax. When you're creating your effect combinations and parameter automations,
you're building a HyperEngine Reference Document, which stores all the information about the processes your designing,
plus any file edits you may do. HyperEngine Reference Documents are comparatively small, a few Kbytes each, so you
can make as many new documents and store as many variations as you wish.

Designing effects in the Blue Window doesn't change your original sound file. Hyperprism 2 processing is
"non-destructive," because the original samples in your sound file are never altered. The HyperEngine document is linked
to the sound file you are processing, so that when you open a previously-saved HyperEngine document, the correct sound
is loaded automatically.

Getting Sound Out of Hyperprism

Whether you are working on a music CD, sound-for-picture, multimedia or other project, you'll soon want to create new,
processed sound files from Hyperprism to incorporate in your finished work. HyperEngine only creates a new disk file
when you tell it to, which is a nice space-saving consideration.

Since HyperEngine is capable of storing many different effect variations for the same sound, you must first choose the
variation(s) you want to "export."

Then, you'll use HyperEngine Process to New File command. This command runs your original audio file through the
settings and edits in the current File document to create a brand new processed sound file. Once this file is created, you can
import it into virtually any other audio or multimedia software application, or use a program such as Toast or MasterList
CD to burn it to an audio CD.

Another way to get your processed sounds out of the program would simply be to record HyperEngine's playback directly
from the audio output of your Macintosh into an external DAT recorder, sampler or other recording device. This option
would also be attractive if you were working with limited hard disk space, and didn't have the room to create a processed
file on your hard disk.

And don't forget HyperEngine's new Play-Thru processing features, which allow you to run live signal into Hyperprism ­from a tape deck, instrument or microphone - process it on-the-fly, and output it to a mixer, PA or recording device. Use
Hyperprism like a musical instrument; it will remember your every move and respond instantly to each touch and gesture.
All with a single mouse drag.

HyperEngine has new direct driver support for Digidesign Audiomedia II and III and Korg 1212 I/O cards, allowing you to
use these professional sound cards without installing 3rd party drivers.

[Table of Contents] [Next Chapter]

Hyperprism 2

Installation and Configuration

This Chapter describes the procedure for installing and configuring Hyperprism 2 on your Apple Macintosh computer

Hardware and Software Requirements

Before using Hyperprism, please make sure that you have the following:

You should possess a basic knowledge of the Macintosh operating system. This includes knowing how to use the

mouse, windows, menus, etc. If these terms are strange to you, please consult your Macintosh documentation.
You'll need a Power Macintosh with a clock speed of 120 MHz or faster in order to user Hyperprism 2. For

processor-intensive effects such as the HyperVerb or Vocoder, or for real-time play-thru processing we recommend a
clock speed of 200 MHz or faster. Your Power Mac's operating system must be System 7.6 or later, System 8 suggested.
You must have at least 16 Mbytes of random-access memory (RAM) available for the Hyperprism 2 application. If you
want to create long delay effects you will need to allocate more memory to Hyperprism. This is because Hyperprism 2
uses available Macintosh memory for its delay lines. You can check the amount of memory allocated by selecting the
Hyperprism 2 icon in the Finder and typing Command-I (for "Get Info"). Hyperprism 2 runs only on Macintoshes with
PowerPC microprocessors. Your Macintosh must be correctly connected to the rest of your audio equipment, and the
Mac's Sound control panel and Sound Manager system extension must be installed and configured correctly. Finally, if
you are using a third party audio card, you must have the card correctly installed and the appropriate drivers either placed
in your Extensions folder or accessible through the HyperEngine IO Drivers folder. Click here for more information about

Sound Manager & 3rd party sound card installation.

Before Beginning

When first opening your Hyperprism 2 package you will find the following ingredients:

One registration card

●

One CD-ROM●
One Master Key Disk●
One Serial Number Card●

Please fill out your registration card and mail or fax it to Arboretum Systems as soon as possible in order to:

receive FREE technical support●
keep up-to-date on new developments and upgrades●
help shape new Hyperprism features●

Note that in order to receive ANY telephone support or technical assistance from Arboretum Systems, you MUST be a
registered user.

The Master Key Disk is very precious. It contains the program to authorize Hyperprism 2 on a hard disk and also the

copy protection codes. Therefore,

You Should Never Lose, Erase or Reformat Your Master Key Disk!

If you do, you will void Arboretum's commitment to the terms of the License agreement.
This Master Key Disk allows you to authorize (two installations) or deauthorize Hyperprism 2 on a hard disk and/or

launch Hyperprism 2 from your hard disk without authorizing it by inserting the Master Key Disk when requested.

Installing Hyperprism

Please read this section once through entirely and then follow these steps exactly!
To install Hyperprism 2.0 and HyperEngine:

You will need 17 megs of free hard disk space to install Hyperprism 2 and HyperEngine.

Place the Arboretum CD in your CD-ROM drive, and double-click on the Hyperprism 2.1 for HyperEngine

Installer.

Follow all on-screen directions. You'll be asked to Accept the License Agreement, then you'll see the Read Me. Be

sure to peruse the Read Me for important last-minute instructions which may not have made it into this manual.

After the Read Me, the following installer dialog appears:

Click on Switch Disk if you need to specify another drive for installation.

Click on the Install button.

Next you'll be asked for your name (mandatory), company (optional) and Hyperprism 2 serial number. We've gone

ahead and entered the first four numerals for you.

Make sure you enter your serial number accurately. Double check your entry. When all fields are complete the OK

button will highlight. Click on OK to proceed.

The installer will commence with copying the Hyperprism 2 plug-ins and HyperEngine application to your hard
drive. The software will be installed into a new folder called "Arboretum f." Assuming all the previous steps were
completed successfully, you should next see the following prompt:

Since you're doing an Easy Install, there's probably little need to perform additional installation. Click on the Quit

button to proceed to the final stage of the installation.

Now the Arboretum Serializers spring into action. The Serializers automatically apply your earlier serial number
input to each Hyperprism plug-in, so as to unlock the plug-ins prior to first usage. You'll see the following prompt:

Click on the OK button to proceed and conclude.

Your Hyperprism installation is now finished! The software will be installed into a new folder called "Arboretum f."

Hyperprism 2 and the Macintosh Sound Manager

At this point, your Hyperprism 2 software is ready to run. However, you may need to properly configure your Macintosh
Sound Control Panel, or your sound card drivers in order to hear what's going on. There's a special document about that
topic right over here...

Otherwise, you can proceed to the next chapter, a quick tutorial that will get you up and running with Hyperprism 2 and
show you the basics of HyperEngine, or you can link over to the HyperEngine manual and get the full skinny on the
framework which surrounds Hyperprism 2.

Problems? If any unexpected error messages come up during the course of installation, or if the Installer fails to place the
HyperEngine application, its IO Drivers and the Hyperprism 2 plug-ins into your target drive's "Arboretum f" folder,
immediately quit the Installer and Restart your computer while holding the shift key down, so as to temporarily disable all
Extensions and eliminate any possible system conflicts. (If your CD ROM drive is not an Apple built-in model, you may
have to eschew turning off Extensions.)

Once restarted, go into the System folder, open the Preferences folder and drag the Hyperprism Preferences file into the
Trash. Deleting the Preferences files will clear out the results of a faulty serialization procedure. Then run the Installer
again and follow the preceding installation steps as directed. Also make sure you're using the correct Arboretum product
serial number. Hyperprism 2 (for HyperEngine), Ionizer, Ray Gun, Hyperprism-TDM and Hyperprism-Plug-in Pack are
each sold separately, and each require their own unique serial numbers.

If Trouble Persists: Link over to the Troubleshooting chapter of this manual. Also take a look at the Support frame up on
the Arboretum web site <http://www.arboretum.com> for the latest technical notes and troubleshooting tips. If all else fails

either email [e-mail] or phone our service line during our regular weekday business hours, 10 am to 6 pm
Pacific: [phone]

[Last Chapter] [Table of Contents] [Next Chapter]

Hyperprism 2
Quick Start Tutorial

Once you have installed and configured the program you are ready to trek through the world of Hyperprism. You needn't
follow every step of this tour; if you like, you can skip around.

If you have an optional sound card, you need to configure your Mac's Sound Manager before using it.

If you experience any problems in the course of this tour, refer to the Troubleshooting section in Appendix A.

Caution-Watch Your Levels!

When using Hyperprism and the HyperEngine, please use caution when setting your listening levels. Some of
Hyperprism's effects can add large amounts of gain to your original sound. Therefore, it is very important that you are
aware of your overall monitor levels to protect your speakers, and most importantly, your hearing, from unexpected loud
sounds.

Using high-Q filters, echo effects with large amounts of feedback or adjusting the Pan effect to provide gain are all ways
that louder-than-the-original sounds can be created.

You may use HyperEngine's level fader to adjust the overall output volume of the program. However, different effect
variations may produce sound at very different levels, so if you are using effects that result in high-gain output, be careful.

Starting Hyperprism

After having installed HyperEngine and Hyperprism 2 and copied the example files onto your hard disk as explained in

Chapter 2, start Hyperprism 2 as follows:

Double-click on the HyperEngine icon.

HyperEngine Application icon

HyperEngine launches and displays its playback window.

HyperEngine playback window

These faders and transport controls may be moved to any screen location you find convenient. They may also be

hidden and shown by using the Windows menu.

Opening a File reference document

Choose Open Document in the File menu or type its keyboard equivalent command-n.

The File menu's Open and Save commands refer to HyperEngine documents, not digital audio sound files. Use the
New File (command-n) function to open a sound file. In this example, however, we're opening a File reference document,
so choose Open (command-o) instead.

A document selection window appears, showing the contents of your current disk.

Navigate to the folder which contains the Hyperprism examples. (You can't open reference documents from the
Arboretum CD, make sure you've copied the Sound Examples folder to your hard drive prior to use.)

Double-click on the File Reference Document named Beethoven-FX (or click it once and select Open).

The screen displays the document reference window for the file Beethoven-FX. Notice that there are three lines

near the bottom of the window. Each of these represents a different effect that can been applied to the Beethoven sound.

This is the File Document Window. It contains information about the master sound file and the effects applied to it.

Choosing an Existing Effect Variation

Note the Effect Bypass switch at the left hand side of each process entry. That's the little button with the green light
next preceding the process name. This allows you to turn on/off each process discretely. When the green light is lit, the
process is engaged. If the Effect Bypass is toggled off, the process will not be heard (but all settings are still remembered).

Click on the the Bypass switches so only the first effect, "Band Pass Sweep" is active, and the others are bypassed.

Double click on the first line, "Band Pass Sweep."

The Blue Window for the previously created example effect "Band Pass Sweep" opens.
Double clicking an effect in the Document Reference Window opens its corresponding Blue Window.

Hearing an Effect

Click Play or hit the space bar.

Clicking the Play button (or hitting the space bar) will play the effect described by the currently selected Blue Window

You should hear the sound play as the Tracer follows the previously defined path. You will hear an orchestral
recording excerpt, processed through a sweeping resonant band-pass filter.

Notice that the sound changes in sync with the movement of the tracer.

The meters indicate the sound level, and you may adjust the sound level by clicking and dragging on the Faders.

If you don't hear anything, check the trouble-shooting section in Appendix A.

The Document Reference Window contains two additional effect variations, titled "Growing/Shrinking Room" and

"Left/Right/Center." Repeat the steps you just followed to hear these examples.

Creating New Effect Variations

This example will show you how to create a new HyperEngine document, load a sound file into it and create a new effect
variation for that sound.

Select New File Document (command-n) from the File menu.

A file open dialog box will appear.

This dialog is used to select the sound file you want to add effects to

Navigate to the folder where the Hyperprism example file were stored and select the file "Rhythmic."

A new File Document window appears, displaying the sound's waveform.

Choosing an Effect

Select Pitch Time Changer from the Plug-ins menu.

A Blue Window for the Pitch Time Changer effect appears.

Choosing a new effect from the Plug-ins menu opens the effect's Blue Window.

Looping Your Sound

Since this is a drum loop, click the Loop button so the sound will repeat automatically while you experiment.

Click here to make your sounds repeat automatically

Clicking the Loop button on the Playback palette causes the sound file to continuously repeat during playback

A/B the Effect

In the Hyperprism Blue window click on the Bypass button (labeled In or Out).

Effect Bypass button, In and Out states

Note that this button duplicates the function of the Bypass switches in the document Process List, but is conveniently
located in the effect display. Use this button to compare between original and processed sound.

Creating an Effect Gesture

Notice the tri-state switches to the left of each parameter slider. Click once on any switch to assign a parameter to
the horizontal axis of the Blue Window, click twice to attach the parameter to the vertical axis. Click a third time to
disconnect the parameter from the Blue Window.

Click on the Draw button, to engage Hyperprism's Blue Window automation recording.

Hyperprism Draw button engages parameter automation

Hit the spacebar, mouse click on the Play button, or just mouse-click in the Blue Window to start playback and

automation recording.

Click and drag around the Blue Window to create parameter changes. Listen to the effects parameters change as the

mouse moves

As you draw with the tracer, you'll hear the result of varying the parameters of the effect in real time.

When you're finished, hit the Return key on your keypad or click on the Stop button to end playback and disengage

tracer recording...Or wait until you've reached the end of file, if you're not in Loop mode.

Click here to end recording/playback. The Return key is a shortcut for this function.

Now, click on the Play button to play back the effect you created.

Hyperprism 2 remembers your movements and retraces them automatically.

Editing A Tracer Path

If you liked your last tracer automation, but you want to make a few minor changes to it, click on the Automation

Edit button.

Click here to edit path automation breakpoints

Now mouse drag through the Blue Window so as to select a portion of the automation path you've just created. The

selected breakpoints will be highlighted.

Note automation breakpoints selected for editing, screen right.

Now you can see each of the selected breakpoints, which represent every automation event recorded along the path
of the tracer movement you just made.

To alter any breakpoint location, simply mouse click on the point (the mouse cursor will turn into a hand when it is

positioned for grabbing) then drag the point to a new location in the Blue Window.

Play back your sound to hear the result of your new edit.

If you want to change the time coordinate for any given breakpoint, just double-click on that point and a time edit

dialog will appear:

Enter the time coordinate and physical location for specific automation breakpoints with this dialog

Enter the new time coordinate for the specified automation event. The setting is in milliseconds, and is measured

from the beginning of the audio file or current selection.
If you like, try other effects by selecting them from the Plug-ins menu. There's more information on these functions, and

additional step-by-step instructions in the documents that follow....Read on!

[Last Chapter] [Table of Contents] [Next Chapter]

Hyperprism 2

Hyperprism 2 and HyperEngine

Getting Started●
File Formats●
Recording Sounds●
HyperEngine Documents and Sound Files●
HyperEngine Process List●
Exporting Effects: Process to New File●

Hyperprism 2 and HyperEngine

This Chapter will describe in brief how to prepare to process your own sounds. We'll cover the basic information you'll
need to get your sounds into Hyperprism, and explain how HyperEngine keeps track of your sound files and information
about the effects you apply to it.

A lot of the work you'll do with Hyperprism 2 will actually take place in the accompanying HyperEngine, which provides
input/output, editing and management services to the Hyperprism plug-ins (as well as to other Arboretum products such as
Ray Gun and Ionizer). HyperEngine's core functions and all plug-in effects for HyperEngine can be accessed through
HyperEngine's menus. Click here to see the chapter detailing every function and command. In addition to the menu

commands, there are a number of time-saving keyboard shortcuts for all the main features.

The material in this section is merely a brief summary; for complete details on any function or process, click on the

appropriate hyper link and you'll be taken to the appropriate document.

Getting Started

The Arboretum CD-ROM you received with your Hyperprism purchase contains several example audio files for
demonstration purposes. These files are used in the tutorial sections of this manual; you should probably copy them over to
your hard drive if you plan to go through the step-by-step sections of this manual. However, you'll quickly want to be
processing your own sounds.

Hyperprism 2 works with digital audio, which can be either a live play-through stream or stored as disk files (in Sound
Designer II or AIFF format). In order to add effects to your own material, you must first get those sounds into your
computer.

There are several ways you could do this. If you are working with other digital audio applications, such as waveform
editors or multi track recording systems, you can open the sounds you've recorded using those programs, as long as they

are in a compatible file format.
HyperEngine's Record command provides another way to get external audio into hard disk sound files, directly from live

sources through your sound card or Macintosh audio inputs. You can even record and process audio at the same time,
allowing you to do things like add reverb to a singer or filter hum from a guitar track, while it's being recorded.

If you have a suitable CD-ROM drive, you may even be able to extract audio from regular compact discs, either via direct
SCSI data-transfer, or by recording it's analog output. If your computer has a built-in Apple CD-ROM drive you can use
the AppleCD Audio Player desk accessory to play audio CDs right into Sound Manager for recording or live processing.

Before we begin creating sound files, we must first consider the file formats Hyperprism 2 is able to work with.

File Formats: SDII or AIFF?

Hyperprism 2 supports mono and stereo files in the Sound Designer II (SD II) and Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF).
These files can be either 8- or 16-bit resolution, with sampling rates of 11.025, 22.050, 44.1 and 48 kHz. (If these terms are
unfamiliar to you, click here.)

There is no sound quality difference between using the Sound Designer II format instead of the AIFF format, or
vice-versa, and Hyperprism 2 is equally comfortable with both. You may wish to choose one over the other if you will be
opening your Hyperprism 2-created sound files in other applications for further processing, editing or mixing. If this is the
case, determine which format is more convenient for the other applications you're using.

If you're recording audio for eventual use on a CD, we recommend that you always create 16-bit stereo SDII files,
sampled at 44,100 Hz. This is the file specification you'll need to create "Red Book" audio CDs, and is what programs
such as Toast and MasterList CD accept for burning audio CD-Rs.

Recording Sounds

Before you record, you'll need to connect the external signal to your Mac's "sound input device." Hook up the hardware,
then configure the Sound Control Panel. Note that your sound source could be the mic jack, a sound card or even an audio
CD played from your Apple CD-ROM drive. See our chapter on the Sound Manager and choosing sound in and sound out

devices.
By using the Record function, you'll be able to record external sounds into your own hard disk files. Once captured, they

can be processed through Hyperprism 2 effects. You can even processing while recording! Recording is accomplished by
opening a HyperEngine Play-Thru document, from the File menu. For the section on HyperEngine Record function, with
step-by-step instructions, click here.

HyperEngine Documents and Sound Files

HyperEngine uses documents to keep track of your original sound file and the different effect variations you apply to it.
("Document" is a generic Macintosh term referring to any file created by an application.)

Many audio editing programs simply modify your original sound file. Because HyperEngine always processes files
non-destructively, new users may not be completely clear on how HyperEngine manages sound files and effects
documents.

When you process a sound with Hyperprism 2, you are working with two files. One is the sound file itself, the other is a
separate reference document HyperEngine creates to store your paths, edits and other effect settings. Hyperprism File

reference documents, by default, are denoted by the "-FX" file name suffix, as seen in the example below.

Sound Designer II sound file (left) and Hyperprism File reference document (-FX) icons.

There's a second type of of reference document used by HyperEngine: The Play-Thru document, which is utilized for
real-time processing and recording live signals. These documents have no default file name extension, and can be saved

and opened for later use with any live play through signal.
This document architecture makes it possible to try out many different effect variations immediately, rather than

destructively processing a file and altering your original media. Once you have found effect settings you like, you can use
the Process to New File command to create a new sound file processed with your effect settings.

Both the File Reference and Play-Thru documents store references to any effects you have chosen, as well as any
parameter automation associated with the effect. File Reference documents additionally contain a reference to the sound
file's location on disk and a list of any edits which have been applied to the file.

Whenever you want to open a new sound file from disk for processing, you need to create a New File Reference
Document; try the command-n keyboard shortcut. The Open command (command-o) opens an existing File or
Play-Through Document, NOT a sound file. This is a little different from how many other audio programs work;
remember to use command-n any time you want to start editing a new sound file.

HyperEngine Process List

Each HyperEngine Reference Document maintains a list of effects which have been added to the document, this list is
called the Process List.

HyperEngine Process List

Each time you call an effect from the HyperEngine Plug-ins menu, that effect is added to the Process List. Effect
processing happens in the sequence shown by the Process List; in the above example the Quasi Stereo effect is applied to
the signal first, followed by the Pitch-Time Changer, Noise Gate and HyperVerb. Click on any Process List entry to
highlight the selection (in white), once highlighted an effect can be mouse-dragged to a new position in the signal chain.
Double-click on any Process List entry to view the effect's Blue Window display. To Bypass any effect, so its processing
is temporarily disengaged, mouse click on the Bypass switch at the far left side of the Process List entry. Effects can be
removed from the Process List by highlighting the list entry, then pressing the Delete key.

Any effects in the Process List (which are not Bypassed) will be applied to your live or file-based sound.

Remember, even if an effect's Blue Window has been closed so it is no longer visible on screen, that effect and its
associated parameter automation will still be processing your audio so long as the effect is in the Reference Document's
Process List and is not Bypassed.

Exporting Effects: Process to New File

Once you've designed an effect you like, you'll probably want to make a new "treated" copy of your sound file for export

into other programs. This rendering process is accessed through the Process to New File command in the HyperEngine
File menu.

When generating a new sound file you'll specify its file format (SDII or AIFF), sample rate and bit-resolution.To create a
new file processed with an effect:

You must open the File Reference Document with the sound file and effect variation(s) you wish to use for the new
processed file. Simply click on the Reference Document's header to make sure it is the front-most of any open Blue
Windows.

Choose the Process to New File command from the File menu.

The Output File Parameters dialog will be displayed:

When using the Process to New File command, you can change sample rate and bit-resolution of the processed file.

Choose the desired sample rate, bit-resolution and dither option and click OK. (More information on these topics is
found in Appendix B.)

A Save dialog will appear:

Choose the desired name and location for the new processed file and click OK. You may select the sound file
format for the new file (Sound Designer II or AIFF).

HyperEngine will proceed to calculate a new processed version of your audio file, which can then be exported to any

other sound editing program, or re-opened in HyperEngine for further editing and processing.

When generating a lengthy new file, you may put Hyperprism 2 "in the background" simply by clicking the
Desktop or another application in the Finder. Hyperprism 2 will continue to render the new file as you work on something
else.

[Last Chapter] [Table of Contents] [Next Chapter]

Hyperprism 2

Hyperprism Controls

The Blue Window●
Opening a Blue Window●
Title bar●
Switches●
Parameter Sliders●
Waveform Display●
Automation Ticks●
Blue Window Play Zone●
Presets Pop-up●

Post-Roll●
HyperEngine 2.3 Keyboard Shortcut Summary
Hyperprism 2 Key Commands

Hyperprism Controls

To use Hyperprism 2 you'll use three different groups of controls: monitoring/playback controls and Document Reference

windows in HyperEngine, and the Hyperprism Blue Windows. It's important to understand all these features, because they

are used by all of Hyperprism's effects.
The Playback Window appear on the left of your screen when HyperEngine starts up. It controls playback, monitoring and

metering when using Hyperprism.

HyperEngine Playback Window

The Reference Document's purpose is to keep track of all the edits and effect you apply to your original sound. There's two
types of Reference Documents: The Play-Thru document for recording audio or doing live, on-the-fly signal processing,
and the File Reference Document for working with sound files on already on disk. Here's examples of how they appear:

HyperEngine Play-Thru document, for working with live audio signals.