Audio Design MULTITRACKSTUDIO User Manual

MultitrackStudio

Bremmers Audio Design

Manual, Version 6.1, March 2010

http://www.multitrackstudio.com

Version History

1.0November 2001

1.2February 2002

2.0June 2002

3.0October 2003

3.1May 2004

4.0October 2005

4.1May 2006

4.2November 2006

4.3May 2007

5.0September 2008

5.02September 2008

5.1October 2008

5.2May 2009

6.0October 2009

6.1March 2010

Initial release

New MultitrackStudio 1.2 features added. General improvements.

New MultitrackStudio 2.0 features added.

New MultitrackStudio 3.0 features added. General improvements.

New MultitrackStudio 3.1 features added. New MultitrackStudio 4.0 features added.

New MultitrackStudio 4.1 features added. General improvements.

MultitrackStudio 4.2 features added. MultitrackStudio 4.3 features added.

MultitrackStudio 5.0 features added. General improvements.

Some minor corrections. MultitrackStudio 5.1 features added. MultitrackStudio 5.2 features added. MultitrackStudio 6.0 features added.

MultitrackStudio 6.1 features added. Reworked "Editing" chapter

Copyright (C) 2001-2010 Bremmers Audio Design.

The content of this manual is subject to change without notice. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this manual, the author assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information herein.

DIRAC Time Stretch/Pitch Shift technology licensed from The DSP Dimension, http://www.dspdimension.com. Developed and (c) 2005-2009 Stephan M. Bernsee. VST and ASIO are trademarks of Steinberg Softund Hardware GmbH.

Windows and Windows 7/Vista/XP/2000 are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Contents

1.	Introduction		7.	Effects		9.	Automation
	•	Overview		•	Automated Fader		•	Mixer Automation
	•	Quick Start: Recording		•	Band Effect		•	Effect Automation
		a Song		•	Chorus	10.	Editing
2.	Songs			•	Compressor		•	Editing Tracks
	•	Songs		•	Convolutor		•	Editing Audio Tracks
	•	Song Properties		•	Deesser		•	Vocal Pitch Correction
	•	Song Versions		•	Doubler		•	Editing MIDI Tracks
	•	Songlists		•	Dynamics		•	Editing Notes
3.	Transport Control			•	Echo		•	Pianoroll Editor
	•	Transport Control		•	EQ		•	Notation Editor
	•	Position Indicator		•	Exciter		•	Drum Editor
	•	Overview Bar and		•	Flanger		•	Editing Controllers
		Markers		•	Guitar Amp		•	MIDI Pattern Editing
	•	VariSpeed		•	Master Limiter		•	Tempo/Time Signature
4.	Recording			•	Multi Effect			Editing
	•	Recording		•	Noisegate		•	Song Editor
	•	Audio Recording		•	Parallel Effect		•	Multi MIDI Editor
	•	MIDI Recording		•	Phase Inverter		•	Multitrack Editing
	•	Multiple Takes		•	Phaser		•	Chords and Lyrics
	•	Alternate Takes		•	Pseudo Stereo	11.	Audio and MIDI Devices
	•	Partial Takes		•	Reverb		•	Devices
	•	Punch In/Out		•	Rotor		•	WinSound Driverset
	•	Sound on Sound		•	Saturation		•	AsioSnd Driverset
		recording		•	Stereo Effect		•	VistaSound Driverset
	•	Cycle Recording		•	Tremolo		•	MIDI Output Control
	•	Delay Before		•	Tuner		•	Compensating for bad
		Recording		•	Vibrato			drivers
	•	Click Track		•	VST Plugin	12.	Control Surfaces
	•	Monitoring		•	DX Plugin		•	Control Surface Settings
	•	Practice Mode		•	External Sidechain		•	Control Surface Bar
5.	Playback and Mixing				Routing	13.	Audio and MIDI Files
	•	Playback and Mixing	8.	MIDI Instruments			•	Audio Files
	•	Tracks		•	External MIDI		•	MIDI Files
	•	Groups			Instrument	14.	Keyboard Shortcuts
	•	Effect Returns		•	Sampler	15.	Touchscreens
	•	Master		•	Electric Piano	16.	Preferences
	•	Labels		•	Wheel Organ	17.	Tools
	•	Collapsing Mixer		•	VSTi Plugin	18.	Miscellaneous
		Sections		•	DXi Plugin		•	Patch Editor
	•	Mixer Section					•	Meters
		Templates					•	Dither
	•	Disabling the Mixer				19.	Requirements
6.	Mastering and Mixdown					20.	Troubleshooting

•Mastering

•Preparing MIDI Tracks

•Offline Mixdown

•Realtime Mixdown

1 Introduction

1.1 Overview

MultitrackStudio is a virtual multitrack studio. You can record and play audio and MIDI tracks, edit them, and mixdown to stereo.

The straightforward and uncluttered user-interface has been designed with tape-based recording in mind. Mixer sections are oriented horizontally (as opposed to the more familiar vertical layout), allowing them to include an editor as well. The editing tools are aimed at correcting mistakes. MIDI tracks have been made to look like audio tracks as much as possible.

The large number of high quality effects (plus VST and DX plugin support) and the built-in Sampler make it possible to do software-only mixing and mastering. All track, mixer and effect settings can be stored in a song file and recalled any time.

Using a songlist you can play a sequence of songs. This way you can preview your CD project without having to mix the individual songs down to stereo files first.

MultitrackStudio features a context-sensitive help system: pressing the F1 key will show help on the item the mouse points to.

The main window

MultitrackStudio main window
1.	Menu buttons	8.	Midi Instrument slot
2.	Recording options	9.	Audio track with its editor opened
3.	Editing options	10.	Effect slots
4.	Stop button	11.	Effect Return section
5.	Start button	12.	Master section
6.	Overview bar	13.	Garbage Bin
7.	MIDI track

Tracks (7,9) contain audio or MIDI files. Tracks can be switched to playback or record mode using their Play and Rec buttons. Clicking the transport's Start button (5) will start recording / playing back all tracks simultaneously. Effects can be loaded in effect slots (10) by clicking the slot's down arrow. MIDI Instruments can be loaded in MIDI Instrument slots (8) in the same way. Tracks and effects etc. can be removed by dragging and dropping them onto the Garbage Bin (13).

The complete setup can be saved as a song using the Song menu (1). The Mix Down menu's 'Mix down to audio file' option can be used to mix the song down to a single audio file.

1.2 Quick Start: Recording a Song

Note: after installing the program you can go to the Studio menu's Devices option to select the audio and MIDI devices you want to use.

Follow these steps to record a song and make a CD:

Step 1: Make new Song

Make a new (empty) Song using the Song->New menu option. A new (empty) folder is created automatically.

Step 2: Add Click Track (optional)

If you're recording a song from scratch you'll probably want to add a Click track (metronome). Use the Clk button at the top of the window to do this. Note that you can tap the tempo on the space bar using the Tap button.

Step 3: Add audio or MIDI track

Add a Track with an empty audio or MIDI file using the Add Track menu. Use a mono audio file if you're recording a mono source like a microphone.

Step 4: Record the track

Click the track's Rec button. If you're recording audio you can click the Input button at the top of the window. The Audio Input Control appears, and you can set the recording level and/or select the input you want to use. Now you can start recording by starting the Transport. You will hear the Click Track, which was created in step 2, while recording. Stop the transport when you're done.

Note: if you're using the AsioSnd driverset you'll have refer to the soundcard's manual for information on how to set the recording level.

Step 5: Record more tracks

Add more tracks (using the Add Track menu) and record them (repeat step 3 and 4). You will hear the previously recorded tracks while recording a new one. At this stage it is quite common to add Reverb to vocal tracks using an Effect Return section.

Step 6: Mix down to master file

Now you can fine-tune the individual track's volume levels and add any effects. If your song sounds fine you can mix it down to a single .wav file using the Mix Down menu's Mix down to audio file option. This new file can be used for burning a CDR.

Note (Pro Plus edition only): make sure it's a 16 bit stereo file if you want to burn it to CDR. CD burning software typically can't read 24 bit (or higher) files.

Step 7: Play back master file (optional)

Use the Mix Down menu's Playback mixed down file option to play back and verify the master file.

Step 8: Burn CDR

Now you can burn the file recorded in step 6 to a CDR using the software that came with your CD-writer.

New Song window (Pro Plus edition)

2 Songs

2.1 Songs

MultitrackStudio project files are called "songs". A song file (.hdr file extension) contains all information that is required to reproduce the mix you made. This includes:

•The number of tracks and other mixer sections.

•The position of all their knobs, effects, names of audio/MIDI files etc.

•Sample Rate used

•Mixer enabled/disabled

•Song Comments

•Chords and Lyrics

•Markers

A song file does not include any audio or MIDI data, it contains only references to the audio/MIDI files used by the tracks (ie. these audio/MIDI files are needed in order to play back the song). All filenames that are stored in the song file have a relative path whenever possible. This way projects can easily be moved to other drives or folders.

Note: The devices used for playing audio and MIDI are NOT part of the song file. This way songs can be used on any computer.

The currently opened song is shown in the main window's title bar. '(R)' indicates the file is opened as read only.

The Song menu

The Song menu contains the following options (note that some options are described in other chapters):

•New: In the New Song window you can type the name of the new song. It will be placed in a folder having the same name automatically unless you browse for a folder yourself.

The Template box (Pro Plus edition only) lets you apply a template. New templates can be created using the Template box as well: the Create new template... option creates a template based on the current song. Templates include almost

everything related to the song, except for the audio and MIDI data in the tracks. New songs will have empty audio/MIDI files.

There's a special "Identical to current" template which creates a new song identical to the current one. This can be convenient for live multitrack recording.

•Open: Open a song file.

•Save: Save the song file and all MIDI files and edited audio files (.aem files) opened in tracks.

•Rename: Rename the song.

•Close: Close the song.

•Comments: Read or write text which is stored in the song file. You can use this to document the project.

•Export MIDI Tracks: Merge any combination of the currently loaded MIDI tracks in a single MIDI file. This tool is intended for moving your MIDI tracks to third party notation software. The current versions of the tracks are used (ie. the MIDI files are not read from disk), so you can temporarily edit MIDI channels, or quantize tracks if necessary.

2.2Song Versions

Versions of the song can be created, and reverted to, later. These versions include the song file and the MIDI and .aem files opened in the tracks.

Typical applications of versions include:

•Create a version before making major changes to the song, so you can revert to the old version if it's not such a good idea after all.

•Try different mixes and store as versions. Note that you can not only change mixer settings, but edit audio and MIDI tracks as well.

•Create a version of any mixes you send to someone, just in case they later feel the old one was better.

Create Version

The Song menu's Create Version option pops up the Create Version dialog which lets you type a name for the version to be created. If there are modifications in the song which haven't been saved yet you can choose whether you want to include the modifications in the version or not. This can come in handy if you open a song and start tweaking the mix: if you think you're onto something good you can still create a version of the song as it was when you opened it, just in case the new mix appears to be not so good after all.

Revert to Version

The Song menu's Revert to Version item lists all available versions. Tooltips show information about the versions, like the date it was created. You can revert to a version by clicking it. If there's no version that equals the song in its current state a version equaling the current state will be created. These automatically created versions are named "Autosave Version 1" etc.

Autosave

Some versions are created automatically:

•Autosave (safety backup) : This version is created every 15 minutes. If the computer crashes you can open the song again and revert to this version in order to minimize the amount of work lost. The version is created when the transport is stopped.

•Autosave (discarded version) : This version is created if you choose to discard the changes when the song is closed. If you regret this you can open the song again and revert to this version.

Note 1: Autosave versions aren't created until the song has been saved for the first time.

Note 2: Audio files themselves are not stored in the version files, so if you edit an audio file using a third party editor all versions using that file will be affected. You can make a copy of a file and edit the copy to avoid this.

Note 3: The versions mechanism assumes there's only one song in a folder (ie. it assumes every versions it finds in the song's folder is a version of the current song). This is likely the case with MultitrackStudio 5 or newer, but you might want to make sure this is the case with songs you created with older versions before reverting to a version.

Note 4: Some third-party demo version VST/DX plugins pop up a 'demo limitation' message window when the plugin settings are written to file. These messages will appear whenever a version is created.

Under the hood

A version file (.hdrversion file extension) is a song file which also contains the .mid and .aem track data.

2.3 Song Properties

In the Song Properties window, reached via the Song menu's Properties option, you can change mixer and samplerate settings. It also shows file related information.

The Sample Rate box specifies the sample rate to be used for audio recording/playback. Usually the default value (44.1 kHz) will be used, as this is the value used on CDs. The bottom entry of the drop down list lets you make the current value the one to be used for new songs.

The Enable Mixer button enables/disables the mixer. Disabling the mixer can be useful if you want to play

a single audio file without any processing.

Outputs (Pro Plus edition only) determines the number of audio outputs. This is always an even number, the minimum value is two (stereo), the maximum value is 64. If the value is greater than two all Group and Effect Return sections will have an Output Selector. Note that the Outputs value can exceed the number of outputs the audio device actually has. Any mixer sections using these nonexisting outputs will not be heard.

The window also shows some non-editable properties. These include:

•	The file name, playing length and occupied
	disk space of each track's file	Song Properties window
•	The total playing time of the song
•	The total occupied disk space

If a track's Play button is not activated, the associated file's playing length is reported as zero. This way the song's total playing time is always reported correct.

Clean up Song Folder

The Clean up Song Folder tool analyzes the folder that contains the current song, and lists all MultitrackStudio related files which are not required to play back a song file. You can delete these files in order to preserve disk space.

Any alternate or partial takes appearing in a track's file options menu are considered "used". If you want to delete them you can remove them from the file options menu via rightclicking them. Then save the song to make the Clean up Song Folder tool consider the files unused.

Note: song version files (.hdrversion) and any tracks used by the versions appear in the list as well. If you delete audio files used by a version this version will no longer play back correctly.

2.4 Songlists

Note that using songlists is not required.

A songlist file (.lml file extension) contains references to song files. When a playing song is finished, the next song can automatically be opened and played. When the last song is finished the transport will be stopped.

Creating or opening a songlist

The Songlist menu is not visible if no songlist is opened. The Song menu's Songlist item contains New and Open options. After using one of these the Songlist bar will appear.

Songlist Bar (3 songs)

The Songlist Bar will be placed at the top of the window. A button with the song's file name is shown for each song in the songlist, the yellow one being the song currently opened. Clicking a button will open the corresponding song. The songs can be reordered by dragging and dropping the buttons. Opening or reordering songs is not possible while the transport is running.

Songs can be added and removed using the Song menu: New or Open will add a song to the Songlist, Close will remove the current song from the songlist and Rename will update the name of the current song.

The Play All button determines whether all songs will be played back consecutively. It's on by default. You can turn it off if you're going to do some work on a song, in order to avoid going the next song inadvertently.

The Songlist menu

The Songlist bar contains the Songlist menu, which offers the following options:

•New, Open, Save, Save As, Rename, Close

•Comments: Read or write text which is stored in the songlist file. You can use this to document the project.

•Songlist Properties: Show the songlist's properties. This includes:

¡The song file name, playing length and occupied disk space of each song

¡The total playing time of the songlist

¡The total occupied disk space

Collecting the songlist properties might take a few seconds as all songs have to be analyzed.

3 Transport

3.1 Transport

The transport controls are similar to a tape recorder's transport controls.

The transport controls

The transport is controlled by five buttons (from left to right):

•Home: Go to start of song.

•Rewind

•Fast Forward

•Stop: Stop the transport.

•Start: Start the transport (use the Shift key to start at the last start position).

When the transport is started (by either clicking the Start button or pressing the space bar) all tracks that are in playback mode will play back, and all tracks that are in record mode will record. If there are no tracks that are in either playback or record mode the transport will not start.

Cycle Transport

After clicking the Start button's down arrow you can select "Start cycling", which will make the transport cycle through a region until you stop the transport. The cycle region starts at the current transport position. The end of the region can be picked from a list that appears right after you click "Start cycling". This list contains the Markers and the end of the song (ie. the length of the longest track). If you're doing a punch-in recording the point two seconds after the end of the punch region appears in the list as well. The "Cycle selected part of focused track" option cycles the part that's selected in the focused track's editor.

The cycle region is indicated on the Overview Bar while cycling.

Note: in cycle mode the transport is actually stopped and started again when a new cycle starts, so there's a gap in the sound.

3.2 Position Indicator

The position indicator shows the current transport position. It can show either hours:minutes:seconds or measure:beat (use the down arrow on the right). The measure:beat option is available only if at least one track contains a MIDI file (because tempo information is stored in MIDI files).

The position indicator's maximum value is 10 hours at 44.1 kHz samplerate (4 hours and 30 minutes at 96 kHz).

After left-clicking the position indicator a new position can be typed. Hours:minutes:seconds values (separated by colons) are interpreted right to left, so you don't have to enter hours or minutes if the time you enter is less than 60 seconds. But if you want to enter minutes you should enter seconds as well. Zero values can be omitted (you can enter 12: instead of 12:00).

Measure:beat values are interpreted left to right, so you can enter plain measure numbers easily (12 instead of 12:1).

The seconds and beat values can be real numbers (like 1.462). Press Enter to accept the new value, or Esc to cancel the operation.

3.3 Overview Bar and Markers

The Overview Bar is closely related to the transport. It is a large slider indicating the current transport position. This slider can be moved using the mouse. The overview bar also shows the markers.

Overview Bar with markers

Markers are used to name certain parts of a song (for instance Intro, Verse 1, Verse 2, Solo, Verse 3).

VariSpeed control

Navigating through a song becomes significantly easier using markers. The Transport Options menu, accessible via the down arrow on the right hand side of the position indicator, features an Add Marker option which adds a marker at the current transport position. If there's a marker at the current position a Delete Marker option is presented instead.

Alternatively markers can be added by rightclicking the overview bar. Most editors can be used to add markers by right-clicking the grid-area (where the needle lives) as well. An easy way to add markers "on- the-fly" is to press Ctrl+M at the appropriate times while the song is playing. Use the Marker Editor to edit the marker names. Ctrl+M takes the Gridsnap setting into account, so adding markers on-the fly is easy when using a gridspacing of one bar while using Gridsnap.

The markers appearing on the overview bar can be left-clicked to jump to the corresponding transport position. They can be right-clicked to delete, rename, quantize to the grid, or edit the marker. Renaming can also be done by double-clicking the marker. Markers can be dragged to change their position.

3.4 VariSpeed

Note: this feature is available in the Pro Plus edition only.

This control works just like a tape recorder's speed control: if speed increases pitch will go up, if speed decreases pitch will go down. If you want to record an instrument and its pitch is different from your song's pitch you can use the VariSpeed control to change the

song's pitch. After recording the track you can set the VariSpeed control to zero and the recorded track's pitch will be equal to the song's pitch. The pitch shift is shown in cents. It can be 200 cents (2 semitones) up or down.

MIDI tracks are affected as well. Tracks using an External MIDI Instrument are detuned using Pitch Bend messages (the pitch bend range is assumed to be 2 semitones).

The VariSpeed control is hidden by default, is can be made visible using the down arrow on the right-hand side of position indicator. VariSpeed can't be changed while the transport is running.

Note that VariSpeed consumes CPU power, so it should be set to zero when it's not needed.

Half-speed recording

VariSpeed can not only be set to -200...+200 cents, but to -1400...-1000 cents as well. At -1200 cents the transport runs at half speed. Audio tracks and software instruments sound one octave lower at half speed, External MIDI Instruments don't.

4 Recording

4.1 Recording

The first thing to do when starting to record a track is to add a track with an audio or MIDI file that will contain the recording. You can do this using the Add Track menu, which also lets you define templates for tracks.

Add Audio Track window (Pro Plus edition)

Add MIDI Track window

If the track contains an audio file (like the default .wav format), the track will record audio (using a microphone or a line input), if it contains a MIDI file (.mid) the track will record MIDI (usually a keyboard). See the Audio files and MIDI files paragraphs for more information on supported file types.

To record a track you should click its Rec button (it turns red) and start the transport .

If you want to wait a certain amount of time until recording starts (to give you time to walk to the mic for instance) you can use the Delay Before Recording option.

Recording options

Five buttons at the top of the main window provide access to the most frequently used recording options:

•Input: Show Audio Input Control. This depends on the driverset which is being used.

•Mon: Soft Monitoring

•Punch: Punch In/Out

•SoS: Sound on Sound recording

•Clk: Add or modify click track (metronome).

The Rec button pops up the Recording Options menu which offers more options. The buttons move to the menu automatically if the main window is too small to show them all. The menu's options are described in the following paragraphs.

Recording options

4.2 Audio Recording

If you want to record using a microphone you should connect it to your sound device's Mic input. Keyboards, mic preamps or mixer outputs should be connected to the Line input.

Input assignment (AsioSnd and VistaSound driverset)

By default channels are assigned to tracks automatically. This is convenient for home recording. Manual assignment may be preferred for live recording.

Automatic assignment

The Input button pops up a list of audio input channels. The input channels of the audio device being used are assigned to recording audio tracks in order of appearance. I.e., with a stereo device and two mono tracks the first (upper) track will record the left channel, and the second (lower) track will record the right channel. The list can be re-ordered using the mouse.

Manual assignment

Click the Input button and turn off Automatically assign channels to tracks. Now all audio tracks will show a down arrow on the right hand side of the Rec button. Clicking this down arrow pops up the input channel selector. The input channel is displayed on the Rec button itself.

Note: an audio input channel can be recorded by one track at a time	Input channel selector
only.

Input assignment (WinSound driverset)

On Windows XP/2000 the Input button pops up the Windows Recording Mixer. Make sure the input you want to record is selected. Windows 7/Vista don't have such a mixer, the Control Panel's Sound page appears instead.

When recording two mono tracks the first (upper) track will record the left channel, and the second (lower) track will record the right channel. When recording just one mono track the left channel will be recorded.

Recording Levels

The Level Meter starts working upon clicking the track's Rec button (it turns red). You can now set the recording level. How this should be done this depends on your sound device. If you're using the AsioSnd driverset you should use the control panel that came with the sound device. If you're using the VistaSound or WinSound driverset the Input button takes you to the recording level controls. If you have a mic preamp or a hardware mixer it's more convenient to use this to set the recording level (set the sound device's level at its maximum value).

The recording level is OK if the meter reaches the yellow section during signal peaks.

Note: driving the recording level meters into the red section is definitely a bad thing in digital audio.

Under the hood

The level meters read 0.1% above the actual recording level while recording in order to make it possible for the first red segment to light when reaching the clipping level. Otherwise no red segment would ever light as the Audio In Device cannot output data above its clipping level.

Live Multitrack Recording

Note: these features are available in the Pro Plus edition only.

The Pro Plus edition offers two features that make live multitrack recording easier:

1.The Add Audio Track window has a '#' box which holds the number of tracks to create, so you can add multiple tracks in one go. The box appears automatically if the audio device has at least 4 input channels. You can press Ctrl+N to make it appear anyway (this also works in the Add MIDI Track window).

2.The Song menu's New window has a Template box. The "Identical to current" template creates an empty copy of the current song. A new folder will be created, with new audio/MIDI files and a new song file. This feature can be used to record another take of a performance.

Record Master

Note: you can use the Mix Down menu's 'Mix down to audio file' option instead.

If this options is activated recording audio tracks will record the output of the Master section (or simply the output if the Master section has been removed) instead of the Audio In Device. This option can be used to mix down the song to stereo (see mastering).

This option can also be used to 'bounce' tracks in order to reduce the number of tracks used by the song. For example: a five track backing vocal group can be bounced to a single track by recording the five tracks to a new track (temporarily turn of all other tracks, and bypass any effects in the Master section). Having done this, the five original tracks can be turned off (using their Play buttons) and the new track can be used

instead.

In a similar way this option can be used to 'freeze' a track that uses effects that require a lot of processing power. The new (audio) track will include the effects, thereby freeing up the processing power used by them.

4.3 MIDI Recording

MIDI tracks always record the MIDI In Device(s) and/or the Onscreen MIDI Keyboard, regardless of the type of MIDI instrument being used. If the Autodetect Keyboard option is enabled (default) your keyboard's MIDI channel will be detected automatically. If necessary you can set the channel used in the instrument's user interface.

The Pro Plus edition features a built-in MIDI merger that merges all data that's being received on any of the MIDI In Devices (up to four of them can be used, see devices). Make sure your keyboards are using different channels in order to avoid problems.

You can undo MIDI-recording using the track editor's Undo button.

Note: If the MIDI file contains multiple streams ('tracks' in MIDI terms) all streams will be recording. Using multiple streams is not recommended.

Onscreen MIDI Keyboard

The onscreen keyboard can be used to play MIDI instruments, it works just like a MIDI In Device. Not only does it offer a keyboard layout, but a drum layout and various string layouts as well. It can be made visible using the button in the bottom-right corner of the window.

Keyboard

Bass

Drum

The onscreen keyboard can be used with a touchscreen. A multi-touch screen lets you play multiple notes simultaneously, and also makes monophonic parts easier to play. The number of fingers which can be used simultaneously solely depends on the touchscreen and its driver. Multi-touch support requires Windows 7.

Using the computer keyboard is possible as well. The onscreen keyboard provides suitable shortcut keys for various international keyboard layouts automatically. The shortcuts are not visible in touchscreen mode. The number of keys which can be played simultaneously solely depends on the keyboard hardware, three keys typically isn't a problem.

The mouse works as well, but it isn't really suited to playing music.

The fader on the left controls volume (MIDI controller 7). It can be moved while playing the keyboard if you're using a multi-touch screen.

The keyboard and string layout support finger vibrato when using a touchscreen. The Options button lets you to turn it on. The string instruments support string bends, this requires a multi-touch screen. Only monophonic parts can be played while finger vibrato or string bends are enabled. Both finger vibrato and string bends generate MIDI pitch events.

The drum layout uses GM instrument mapping. You can perform hihat pedal movements on a touchscreen: put a finger on the HH Open pad to hit it with a stick. Then move the finger to the FF Close pad to close it with the pedal.

Note: the onscreen keyboard's timing may not be as accurate as you'd expect from a real MIDI keyboard.

Keyboard Splitter

If you want to play two instruments using only one keyboard you can use the Keyboard Splitter, which is available from the Recording options menu. The Keyboard Splitter splits a MIDI keyboard in a left and right

hand part. MIDI messages on one channel are intercepted and separated. All notes below the split note are routed to the left hand channel. All other notes and all controller events are routed to the right hand channel. Each output channel can be transposed up to three octaves up or down.

Keyboard Splitter window

Autodetect Keyboard

If the Recording options menu's Autodetect Keyboard option is active (this is the default setting) recording MIDI tracks will respond to messages on all channels. This means that you won't have to worry about the actual MIDI channel being used, it just works.

The Autodetect Keyboard feature will disable itself automatically if there are multiple recording MIDI tracks and they're not all recording the same channel. This means that you won't have to turn it of in order to be able to record two tracks using two keyboards.

You can turn Autodetect Keyboard off if data is coming in on multiple MIDI channels and you don't want to record all of them.

4.4 Multiple Takes

It typically requires more than one take to get a track right. MultitrackStudio offers two ways to record multiple takes:

•Alternate Takes: a new file is created, the existing file is closed and the new one opened.

•Partial Takes: the recording is recorded to a new file. When the transport is stopped the part is pasted in the existing track. It appears as a tweakable edit, so you can move or resize the new part.

There are basically two approaches to multiple take recordings:

•Use alternate takes and decide which parts to use afterwards ("track comping"):

Record some takes until you think all parts are played OK at least once. Then use the track's file options menu to load the takes one by one to determine which is the best. Other takes can be loaded in new tracks via rightclicking them in the file options menu. Then the part you want to copy can be dragged from the track's editor to the track containing the best take. Note that track comping using partial takes is possible as well. Clicking one in the file options menu opens it in a new track.

•Use partial or punch in takes and make all decisions immediately:

Record a full take, and then record partial takes over the weak parts. You can select the part first and then record it (punch in recording), or you can record the part and then tweak the selected part in the editor to only contain the part you want (partial take). If the new take is not successful you can use the track editor's Undo button and try again.

4.5Alternate Take

Using the Alternate Take option from the Recording Options menu, you can quickly create a new file and set up the track for recording a new take of the last recorded track. This is what happens:

1.The last record Track's File Options Menu's Alternate Take option is executed.

2.The transport's position rewinds to the position the last recording started.

If you keep down the Ctrl key while clicking the Alternate Take menu item a new track will be created. This

is what happens:

1.The last recorded track's Play and Rec buttons are deactivated.

2.A new track is added and switched to Record mode.

3.A file is created having the same name as the last recorded file, but with a number added. If the name ended with a number, that number is incremented.

4.The transport's position rewinds to the position the last recording started.

You can keep down the Shift key while clicking to keep the transport from rewinding.

Invoking Alternate Take automatically clears the Punch button.

4.6 Partial Takes

If you record to a track which already contains data the new part becomes a partial take.

The recorded part appears as a tweakable edit in the track's editor, so you can move and resize it to make it fit if necessary. The track editor can also be used to undo the recording. After undoing the file containing the partial take is still available from the track's File Options menu.

If it's an audio track an .aem file will be created if the track isn't using one already.

Partial takes appear on the track's file options menu if the take they're recorded in is expanded (see picture). Clicking one will open it in a new track.

A track's File Options Menu

The menu shows which part of the song is covered by a partial take in gray.

The vertical blue line represents the current transport position.

Under the hood

Partial audio take files are BWF (Broadcast Wave File) files. This is a .wav file with additional information on where the starting point is. MultitrackStudio discards the bext chunk unless the words "MultitrackStudio Partial Take" are in the Description field.

Partial MIDI take files are just plain MIDI files.

4.7 Punch In/Out

Punch in/out recordings are a special kind of partial takes. You can select the part to record beforehand, and you'll hear the existing track before and after this selected part. The track's editor is used to define the part being recorded (see selecting a part). This should be done before recording starts. The new recording becomes a tweakable edit, so you can modify the punch in/out points afterwards.

Punch in/out recording can be activated using the Punch button at the top of the main window.

The existing track, before and after the punch-in region, is audible during punch in/out recording, except for MIDI tracks which have a External MIDI Instrument in their instrument slot. This is accomplished using invisible copies of the track's software instrument and/or effects, hence it won't work with demo versions of VST/DX plugins which are limited to a single instance or can't save their settings.

The software instrument, or the recorded audio signal if Soft Monitoring is active, is audible in the punch-in region only by default. Turning on the Recording Options menu's Full Punch In/Out Monitoring option makes your performance audible all the time. It will also pan the existing track to the other side, so if you pan the track to one side before starting punch-in recording you'll hear the existing track on one side, and the performance you're recording on the other side. This can be a convenient way of working if you're using headphones.

If a MIDI track has multiple streams (not recommended) all streams will use the punch in/out points defined by the track's main editor.

Punch-In Recording step-by-step

•Open the editor of the track you want to record.

•Select the part you want to record in the editor.

•Move the transport position to the point where you want to start playback. This will typically be at least a couple of seconds before the point where you want the punch in recording to start.

•Make sure the Punch button at the top of the screen is red.

•Make sure the track's Rec button is red.

•Start the transport.

•Record the part and stop the transport when done.

•Now you can resize the selected part in the editor if necessary. You can also use the EDIT button and change the punched-in part's volume etc.

4.8Sound on Sound recording

Sound on Sound recording lets you record without erasing the existing part (ie. the recording is added to the existing part). This can be used to add some notes to an existing MIDI part. It also works with audio. The existing part is audible, except when using an External MIDI Instrument.

Sound on Sound recording can be turned on/off using the SoS button at the top of the window.

After stopping the transport the recording appears in the track's editor as a tweakable edit, so you can resize the selected part, undo the recording or use the editor's Edit button to change the recording's volume etc. Note that only the newly recorded part is affected by these actions, the original part remains untouched.

4.9 Cycle Recording

Using cycle recording you can record multiple takes automatically. It also works with punch-in recording. To start cycling right click the Transport's start button and select "Start cycling". Alternatively you can keep the "c" key down while clicking the start button.

Cycle Recording step-by-step

•Add a Marker at the point where you want the cycle region to end. This isn't necessary if you want this point to be at the end of the song.

•Move the Transport position to the point where you want to start recording.

•Make sure the track's Rec button is red.

•Right click the Transport's start button and select "Start cycling".

•Choose a cycle region end point from the list that appears and click the OK button. The Transport will now run until the cycle region end point, and then start again.

•When you think you've recorded a good performance stop the Transport.

•Now the takes are available from the track's File Options Menu (the small button below the file name box). You can open a take in a new track by pressing the Shift key while clicking the mouse. You'll typically want to copy the best parts to one track. It's best to start with the track you think is best. Then copy better parts from other tracks to this track. This can be done easily if you keep the Shift key down while dragging the part from one track's editor to another. The Shift key keeps the part from moving left or right.

Cycle Punch-In Recording step-by-step

•Open the editor of the track you want to record.

•Select the part you want to record in the editor. Note that the cycled punch-in recordings won't be available as tweakable edits, so you should make sure the start and end points are in silent or otherwise suitable parts.

•Move the Transport position to the point where you want to start playback. This will typically be at least a couple of seconds before the point where you want the punch in recording to start.

•Make sure the Punch button at the top of the screen is red.

•Make sure the track's Rec button is red.

•Right click the Transport's start button and select "Start cycling".

•Select the "End of Punch Region" item from the list that appears and click the OK button. The Transport will now run until two seconds after the end of the selected part, and then start again.

•When you think you've recorded a good performance stop the Transport.

• Now you can use the editor's Undo and Redo buttons to select the best version.

4.10 Delay Before Recording

Delay Before Recording window

The Delay Before Recording window has several options that can be useful when you are recording on your own. Delay Before Recording allows you to walk to your guitar/microphone etc. before recording starts. There are two ways of doing this:

1.Wait : The transport simply waits for a specified number of seconds to elapse.

2.Wait for MIDI In event : The transport waits for a MIDI Note or Controller event on the MIDI In port. This works for audio recording as well. If you have a MIDI sustain pedal you can use this to start the transport. Any channel on the MIDI In port can be used to start the transport.

Note: the settings are used only if there is at least one track in record mode.

4.11 Add Click Track

The Clk button at the top of the window can be used to add a click track (metronome) to the song.

Add Click Track window

Length is the length of the click track in minutes.

Bar Accents increases the volume level of the first beat in every bar. Other subtle accents may be added as well, depending on the time signature.

Instrument is the Drum Instrument to be used.

The MIDI Instrument slot can contain any MIDI Instrument. If you plan on adding a drum track later using an editor, then it's a good idea to use the instrument you'll be using for the drums in order to avoid any timing differences.

The Tempo section specifies the tempo to use. Current uses the current tempo, this option can only be selected if the song contains at least one MIDI track. Using the BPM option you can specify a new tempo. The Tap button pops up a 'BPM Tapper' window, which lets you play the tempo on the space bar.

Click the Store as default button if you want MultitrackStudio to remember the current settings.

4.12 Monitoring

Monitoring means: hearing the track you're recording. The best way to achieve this is in hardware ("direct monitoring"), as this doesn't introduce a delay. Soft Monitoring can be used if you need to hear effects like the Guitar Amp while recording. It can also be used if your hardware doesn't support direct monitoring.

Direct Monitoring

If you're using the WinSound driverset you can access the sound device's internal mixer using the Studio menu's Audio Output Control option. Turn up the Mic or Line input (the one you're using) so you can hear it. Note that more faders can be made visible using the Options menu's Properties window. Cheap or onboard sound devices typically support this.

If you're using the AsioSnd driverset then you can use the sound device's control panel (if available) to set up monitoring. Some sound device have a hardware knob to control direct monitoring. Not all sound devices have monitoring features, in this case an analog mixer can be used if available.

Soft Monitoring

Note: this option works with the AsioSnd or VistaSound driversets only.

If this option is used recording audio tracks will send the signal they're recording to the Audio Out Device after having applied any effects. This way effects (like Guitar Amp or Reverb) can be played "live".

It is not recommended to use this feature as a means of monitoring the dry signal you're recording, as there is an inherent latency between the input and the output signal. Using a low latency will increase the risk of glitches in the recordings. All these problems can be avoided using direct monitoring.

4.13 Practice Mode

These days many instruments are software based. This isn't only true for software MIDI instruments like the Sampler or VSTi plugins, but for guitar amp simulators like the Guitar Amp effect as well. Practice Mode lets you use these instruments without actually recording them, so you can practice or just try things.

MIDI instruments

If a MIDI instrument's window is visible at the time the transport is started the instrument will work if neither the track's Play button nor the Rec button are "on".

Audio effects

Similarly, an audio track's effects can be used if one of the effect windows is visible at the time the transport is started and neither the track's Play button nor the Rec button are "on". Obviously, Soft Monitoring should be used in order for this to work.

An audio tracks can not be in practice mode if there are any recording audio tracks.

Practicing while the transport is stopped

Practice Mode also works while the transport is stopped, regardless of the track's Play/Rec buttons.

Alternatively you can switch on a track's Rec button, in this case there's no need for any effect or instrument window to be visible. This method also allows for running multiple tracks. In case of audio tracks the usual channel assignment rules apply.

5 Playback and Mixing

5.1 Playback and Mixing

In order to be able to play audio or MIDI files they should be opened in a track. To play a track you should activate its Play button (it turns green) and start the transport.

Tracks have mixing and effect processing capabilities.

You can expand the mixer by adding any number of Group or Effect Return sections. All Tracks, Groups and Effect Returns are routed through the Master section.

Playing MIDI

If a track's Play button is checked and the transport is running, all streams in that track will be played.

If the Instrument slot contains an External MIDI Instrument the track's output will be sent to the corresponding MIDI Out Device. In this case the track is not affected by any Group, Effect Return or Master sections.

If a software instrument (Sampler or a VST Instrument) is being used the track's output will be routed through any mixer sections, and eventually be sent to the Audio Out Device, as if it where an audio track.

5.2 Tracks

A MultitrackStudio track is a combination of a mixer's channel strip, a tape recorder's record/playback switch and a piece of tape, the latter being replaced by an audio or MIDI file on the hard disk. Tracks can be added using the Add Track menu's Add Audio Track, Add Midi Track or Import Audio/MIDI File options. The latter can import multiple files in one go using the Shift or Ctrl keys. Tracks can be removed by dragging them to the Garbage Bin in the bottom left corner of the screen. The order in which the tracks appear can be changed using drag-and-drop.

All tracks have the following basic features:

Track (No file opened)

•File Display: The File Display shows the name of the opened file. The lower text line indicates the type of the file:

¡"mono audio (.wav)": Mono audio file of the .wav type.

¡"stereo audio (.wav)": Stereo audio file of the .wav type

¡"midi": MIDI file with one stream.

¡"multi midi": MIDI file with multiple streams.

¡"not opened": The file isn't opened, probably because the file does not exists or it's an unsupported file type. In this case the Play, Rec and Edit Buttons are disabled.

¡the "(r)" appendix means the file is opened as read-only.

•File Options Menu (appears on clicking the File Display) The file options menu contains the following items:

¡Color: Here you can choose a different color than the default color, which is blue in the standard theme. The color is used for the File Display and the track's editor.

¡Open: Open an existing Audio/MIDI file, or create a new one. A standard Windows file dialog will appear that lets you specify a file to load. If the file doesn't exists it will be created. The type of the file is determined by the file's extension ('piano.mid' loads or creates a MIDI file, 'piano.gjm' loads or creates a .GJM Audio file). If no extension is entered a .WAV Audio file is opened or created. Files can be opened as Read Only. If a track's file is opened this way recording isn't possible.

¡Save: Save MIDI or .aem file to disk. Use this if you want to save performed edits. This item is available for MIDI tracks and edited audio tracks only. It is disabled if the file is unmodified.

Note: The tracks are saved automatically whenever the Song menu's Save option is invoked, so saving tracks explicitly usually isn't necessary.

¡Save As: Copies the file to a new file and opens the new file.

¡Rename: Rename the file. Note: the file will be closed and reopened, so the editor's undo history will be lost.

¡Close: Unload the file.

¡Properties : Shows the file's properties. If it's an .mp3 file you can edit its tags from it as well.

¡New Stream: (MIDI track only). Adds a stream to the MIDI file.

¡Split Streams: (multiple stream MIDI track only). Splits the MIDI file in separate single-stream files, these new files will be opened in new tracks.

¡Alternate Take: Creates and opens a new file and puts the track in record mode, so you can quickly record an alternate take. The files will appear on the menu so they can be opened easily. The new file will appear in a new track if you keep the Ctrl key down while clicking the mouse.

¡Copy live performance to clipboard: (MIDI software instrument track only) After a software instrument has been played 'live' without actually recording it, the performance can be copied to the clipboard, and subsequently pasted in a track.

¡File History: Every time a file is opened it is added to the menu. Using this item you can reload the file. This can be very useful for auditioning Alternate Takes. If you press the Shift key while clicking the file will be opened in a new track. If you press the DEL key the file will be removed from the list, which allows the Find Unused Files tool to mark the file unused. Adding the Ctrl

key opens/removes all files.

•Play and Rec buttons: Put track in playback or record mode. Starting the transport will actually start playback/recording.

•Volume fader: This fader sets the playback volume for the track.

•Mute button: Pressing this button will mute the track.

•Solo button: Pressing this button will solo the track. The signal will still be routed through any Group and/or Effect Return sections. Use the Effect Return's Mute button if needed.

Multiple tracks can be soloed by keeping the Ctrl key down while clicking additional Solo buttons.

•Pan: This knob (with a blue dot) sets the Pan position for the track (0% = left, 50% = center, 100% = right).

•Level Meter: The Level Meter shows the sound level.

•Edit button: Shows/hides the track's editor.

The Play, Rec, Mute and Edit buttons operate on all tracks if the Ctrl key is down when the button is clicked.

Audio Tracks

Audio tracks (tracks with an audio file) have the following additional features:

Audio track

•Effect Send: An Effect Send knob determines the level of the (mono) signal sent to the corresponding Effect Return section. Effect Sends are of the 'post fader' (and 'post effects') type: the Effect Send signal is affected by the Volume fader, the Mute button and the effects.

•Effect Slots: The Effect slots can contain effects such as an EQ or a Compressor. Effects processing takes place before volume and pan processing, so compressor settings don't need any adjustments when moving the Volume fader.

•Output Selector: The Output Selector determines the routing of the Track's output. You can choose between the Master section or one of the Group sections. If there are no Group sections the selector does not appear.

MIDI Tracks

MIDI track (Instrument: External MIDI Instrument)

MIDI tracks (tracks with a MIDI file) have an Instrument slot that determines where the track's output will be routed to. If it contains an External MIDI Instrument (default) the output will be send to an external hardware synthesizer. If it contains a software instrument (Sampler or VSTi/DXi plugin) the MIDI data will be converted to audio and the output routed through the mixer. See the MIDI Instruments section for more information on this subject.

MIDI tracks using a software instrument have all the extra controls audio tracks have (except for the first Effect Slot, which is replaced by the Instrument Slot).

MIDI track (Instrument: Sampler)

5.3 Group

Audio tracks can send their output straight to the Master section, or to a Group section. The Group section's output is routed to the Master section (they can be routed to sound device output channels as well using the Pro Plus edition). Group sections can be added using the Add Track menu and removed by dragging them to the Garbage Bin.

Group sections have the following features:

Group section

•Volume fader: This fader sets the volume for the group.

•Mute button: Pressing this button will mute the group.

•Solo button: Pressing this button will solo the group.

•Pan: This knob (with a blue dot) sets the Pan position for the group.

•Effect Send: An Effect Send knob determines the level of the (mono) signal sent to the corresponding Effect Return section. Effect Sends are of the 'post fader' (and 'post effects') type (the Effect Send signal is affected by the Volume fader, the Mute button and the effects).

•Effect Slots: The Effect Slots can contain effects such as an EQ or a Compressor. Effects processing takes place before volume and pan processing, so compressor settings don't need any adjustments when moving the Volume Fader.

•Output Selector (Pro Plus edition only) : The Output Selector determines the routing of the group's output. The output can be sent to the Master section or to a pair of channels (3/4, 5/6...) of the Audio Out Device (the Pan knob can be used to send the signal to one channel only). The selector does not appear if the song uses only one stereo output (see Song Properties).

•Level Meter: The Level Meter shows the actual output level (that is the level after applying effects and volume/pan).

Care should be taken in situations where tracks routed through the group use the same Effect Sends: Effects in the group sections can cause phase shifts that could lead to unexpected coloration.

A Label can be stuck to a group section to show its purpose (ie. 'Backing Vocals').

The order in which the groups appear can be changed using drag-and-drop.

5.4 Effect Return

Each audio track (and MIDI tracks using a software instruments) and each Group will have a corresponding number of Effect Send knobs. All Effect Send signals are routed to the corresponding Effect Return. Here they can be processed and mixed with the tracks. Effect Returns are typically used for adding reverb. The Effect Return sections do not affect MIDI tracks using an External MIDI Instrument. Effect Return sections can be added using the Add Track menu and removed by dragging them to the Garbage Bin.

Effect Return sections have the following features:

Effect Return section with Reverb effect

•Volume fader: This fader sets the volume for the Effect Return.

•Mute button: Pressing this button will mute the Effect Return.

•Solo button: Pressing this button will solo the Effect Return.

•Pan: This knob sets the Pan position for the Effect Return.

•Effect Slots: The Effect Slots can contain effects such as Reverb or Echo.

•Output Selector (Pro Plus edition only) : The Output Selector determines the routing of the Effect Return's output. The output can be sent to the Master section or to a pair of channels (3/4, 5/6...) of the Audio Out Device (the Pan knob can be used to send the signal to one channel only). This feature can be used to send the effects bus to an external hardware effect unit (eg. a reverb unit). The selector does not appear if the song uses only one stereo output (see Song Properties).

•Level Meter: The Level Meter shows the actual output level (that is the level after applying effects and volume/pan).

A Label can be stuck to an Effect Return to show its purpose (ie. 'Reverb').

The order in which the Effect Returns appear can be changed using drag-and-drop.

5.5 Master

The Master section affects all Tracks, Groups and Effect Returns (except MIDI tracks using a External MIDI Instrument).

The Master section has the following features:

Master section with Master Limiter effect in last slot

•Volume fader: This fader sets the master volume.

•Mute button: Pressing this button will mute everything.

•Pan: This knob sets the master Pan position.

•Mono button: Pressing this button forces mono output (both stereo channels carry the same signal). This can be used for checking mono compatibility.

•Effect Slots: The Effect Slots can contain effects such as an EQ or a Compressor. Effects processing takes place after volume/pan processing, thus allowing the Master Limiter effect to clip at the correct level.

•Level Meter: The Level Meter shows the actual output level (that is the level after applying effects and volume/pan). This means that the distortion takes place when the meter hits the red section.

•View button: Shows/hides an oscilloscope view of the output signal.

5.6Labels

The Add Track menu's Label item can be dragged and dropped onto mixer sections (eg. you can stick a 'Reverb' label to an Effect Return section).

A name can be typed immediately after dropping a label. Press Enter when done.

Labels can be removed by dragging them to the Garbage Bin in the bottom left corner of the window.

Effect Return with "Reverb" label

5.7 Collapsing Mixer Sections

Mixer sections can be collapsed in order to save space on the screen. This can be useful if the song contains a large number of tracks. Sections can be collapsed, and expanded again, by leftclicking the small button in the top-right corner of the section. While collapsed only the section's name is visible, all controls are hidden. In case of a track the name appears in green or red if the track is in playback or record mode respectively.

More powerful options are available if you rightclick the button:

•Expand/collapse all sections

•Expand related sections only (appears on tracks and groups): expand all sections contributing to the sound of the current one and collapse all other sections.

•Expand/collapse same color tracks only (appears on tracks): expand all tracks having the same color as the current one and collapse all other tracks.

5.8 Mixer Section Templates

Templates of mixer sections can be created by dragging a mixer section to the Add Track menu button and dropping it there. A small window will pop up where you can specify the name of the template.

The Add Track menu will show an 'expander' icon on the left if templates are available for a certain mixer section type. After clicking it the menu shows the templates. If you click a template a mixer section will be added based on the template (ie. it will have the same effects, the same volume fader level etc.). Tracks will also have a new audio or MIDI file, you'll be prompted for a name before the track is actually created.

Add Track menu (MIDI track templates expanded)

Examples of templates include MIDI track templates for your favorite instruments, and audio track templates for your favorite vocal effects.

Templates can be renamed or deleted by right clicking them. They can also be deleted by dragging them to the garbage bin.

5.9 Disabling the Mixer

If you want to play a single audio file with the highest possible sound quality you can disable the mixer (to avoid redithering the signal). The mixer can be enabled/disabled using the Song menu's Properties window.

Take the following considerations into account when not using the mixer:

•Tracks don't have any mixer related controls (including Effect Slots).

•The number of audio tracks you can play is limited by the Audio Out Device being used. The device's output channels are assigned to playback tracks in order of appearance. E.g., with a stereo device and two mono tracks the first (upper) track will use the left channel, and the second (lower) track will use the right channel.

•You can't use software instruments. You can load them, but they will refuse to play.

•The Soft Monitoring function does not work.

6 Mastering and Mixdown

6.1 Mastering

Traditionally the multitrack recording is mixed-down to a stereo tape recorder. This stereo recording is then 'mastered', which usually means that EQ and (multi-band) compression is applied. When mastering for vinyl, EQ and compression had to be applied to keep the needle from jumping out of the groove.

Using MultitrackStudio, mastering after mixdown-to-stereo does not make sense, as all the settings involved in the mix are stored in the song file and can be recalled at any time. You can add effects to the mixer's Master section and use them for mastering purposes. Typically an EQ, a Compressor and a Master Limiter effect will be used. The Master Limiter should be the last effect. If multiband compression is required a Band Effect with compressors can be used.

When mastering a couple of songs that belong together (a CD for instance) it is very important that the songs sound 'the same'. They should be equally loud, have the same tonal balance etc. MultitrackStudio's songlist feature can be very convenient for this job. Using a songlist you can audition your CD before actually mixing the individual songs down to stereo.

The song can be mixed down using the Mix Down menu's "Mix down to audio file" option.

6.2 Preparing MIDI Tracks for mixdown

Before you can mixdown the song, any MIDI tracks using an External MIDI Instrument should be recorded to one or more audio tracks. To do this you should:

•Connect you synthesizer's output to your Audio In Device. If the synth is on your soundcard you can probably set up the soundcard to record the synth using the Audio Input Control (the input to use is often called "What U Hear" or "Record Master").

•Switch the MIDI track(s) to playback mode. Mute all other tracks.

•Add a new audio track and switch it to record mode.

•Start the transport and stop it when the whole MIDI track has been played.

You can now use the audio tracks instead of the MIDI tracks. To make the audio tracks sound just as loud as the original tracks did adjust the Volume fader while switching between the tracks using the Solo or Mute buttons.

	6.3 Offline Mixdown
	This Mix Down menu's Mix down to audio file option
	can be used to mix down the current song to a single
	audio file. The Start and End boxes determine the part
	of the song that is going to be mixed down. The down
	arrows next to the boxes can be used to load marker
	positions. The Sample Rate box can be used to make
	the audio file's samplerate different from the song's
	samplerate (eg. to mix down a 96 kHz Song to a 44.1
	kHz file). The Noise Shaping button can be used to
	apply noiseshaping to the dither signal.
	Any MIDI tracks using an External MIDI Instrument	Mix Down to file window
	should be recorded to audio tracks before mixing down.

An additional Include Varispeed button is visible if the Pro Plus edition's VariSpeed setting does not equal zero. This button can be used to apply the VariSpeed's effect to the file. Speeding up a song slightly to make it a bit catchier is a widely used trick.

The Mix Down menu's Playback mixed down file option closes the current song, and loads the audio file created using the "Mix down to audio file" option in a new song. You can browse for an audio file if there's no mixed down file available (i.e. in case the "Mix down to audio file" hasn't been used since opening the current song).

6.4 Realtime Mixdown

Certain sample based VSTi plugins can suffer from audio drop-outs using offline mixdown. This typically happens if the samples don't fit the computer memory. In this case realtime mixdown can be used to record a master file.

Follow these steps to record a master file in real time:

•Add a new track with an audio file (for instance: mix.wav). Use a stereo 16 bit .wav if the file is to be burned to CDR.

•Activate the Record Master option in the Recording Options menu. Now a recording audio track will record the output of the master section instead of your soundcard's inputs.

•Switch the new track to record mode. Make sure all tracks that should be on the master are in playback mode.

•Start the transport, and stop it when the song has reached the end.

This way you can record a stereo .WAV file that can be used for CD burning etc. Note that this file will always start at position 0, if you want to "top" or "tail" the file (remove unwanted parts at the beginning or end) you can open the file in a track and use the track editor's Export option to export the part you want to a new file.

Audio CD's always use a samplerate of 44.1 kHz. If you did not use a samplerate of 44.1 kHz use the Samplerate Converter. Pro Plus edition users can mix down to a 24 or 32 bit file in order to avoid rounding errors. Note that the final file that will be burned to CDR must be a 16 bit file in any case.

Note that stopping the transport automatically resets the Record Master option.

Effect Slot

7 Effects

MultitrackStudio features a large number of built-in high-quality effects. In addition VST and DX plugins can be used.

Effects are reached via Effect Slots. Effects can be selected by clicking the slot's down arrow (or by right-clicking the slot). The Effect Selector contains all native MultitrackStudio effects, VST and DX plugins, Convolutor impulse responses and effect

presets. A search text can be typed to filter the list. VST and DX list items have invisible tags so you can use 'vst' or 'dx' search terms to hide the other type of plugin. When an effect's user interface is visible you can press the F3 key to pop up the selector list. It remembers the search text, so you can try the next effect which matches the search text easily.

Leftclicking the slot's button will show the effect's user interface. All effects have a Bypass button. If the effect is not actually active (it's either bypassed or its controls are in neutral position) the text in the effect slot's display appears dimmed. Inactive effects do not use any processing power.

Effects can be moved using drag-and-drop, keeping the Ctrl key down while doing this will copy the effect instead of move it. Adding or removing effects can be done while the transport is running.

The following effects are available:

•	Automated Fader	•	Noisegate
•	Band Effect	•	Parallel Effect
•	Chorus	•	Phase Inverter
•	Compressor	•	Phaser
•	Convolutor	•	Pseudo Stereo
•	Deesser	•	Reverb
•	Doubler	•	Rotor
•	Dynamics	•	Saturation
•	Echo	•	Stereo Effect	Effect Selector (Pro Plus edition)
•	EQ	•	Tremolo
•	Exciter	•	Tuner
•	Flanger	•	Vibrato
•	Guitar Amp (*)
•	Master Limiter	•	VST Plugins
•	Multi Effect	•	DX Plugins

(*): Pro Plus edition only

Presets

Presets can be loaded or created using the Presets button which appears on the effect's user interface.

Controlling the Transport

You can use either the keyboard or the mouse to control the transport while an effect's user interface is on screen. In particular the Alt+Left Arrow key combination will be useful when setting up effects. Some VST or DX plugins can gain "keyboard focus", which makes it impossible to control the transport using the keyboard. You can click the righthand part (the "MultitrackStudio part") of the plugin window to restore keyboard focus.

7.1 Automated Fader

The Automated Fader is a volume control that can be programmed to change over time. It can be used to attenuate, amplify or mute part of a Track. It can also be used to turn off Reverb or Echo effects if used in an Effect Return section or in a Parallel Effect.

Automated Fader window (two dots selected)

The fader will move in a linear fashion from one dot to another. Dots can be added, removed or moved using the editor.

The editor can work in one of three modes:

•Select: clicking a dot selects it, pressing the mouse in "empty space" and moving it selects dots. Selected dots can be moved.

•Add: clicking in "empty space" adds a dot, clicking a dot selects it. Moving the selected dot(s) is possible as well. You can add 4 dots in one go by moving the mouse horizontally while clicking to add a dot. After moving a certain distance (approx. a centimeter) 4 dots will appear.

•Draw: draw free-hand.

The buttons in the bottom left corner can be used to switch mode. The Alt key can be used to temporarily switch between Select and Add mode: in Select mode you can add a dot using the Alt key, in Add mode you can select dots using the Alt key. Selected dots appear in red.

Delete removes the selected dot(s). Sel. All selects all dots.

Undo and Redo let you undo and redo edits.

Copy and Paste let you exchange data between Automated Faders, MIDI Controller editors and Automation editors

Edit: if a single dot is selected the Edit button pops up a window where you can type a new value for the selected dot (eg. "-20" to move the dot to -20 dB). If multiple dots are selected the Edit button pops up a window where you can 'amplify' the selected dots, so the vertical distance between them changes.

Editing the fader is not possible while the Transport is running.

Note: Editing tracks in Insert mode does not update Automated Faders, the Song Editor does.

7.2 Band Effect

The Band Effect splits the audio signal in two or three frequency bands. Each band can have its own effects. After effects processing the three bands are mixed, where the Volume knobs control the band levels.

Using the Band Effect you can build a three band compressor for mastering purposes.

The bands are split using first order filters.

Band Effect window

7.3 Chorus

The Chorus effect adds thickness and warmth to the signal. The output signal is a mix of the input signal and a delayed copy of it. The delay time is modulated.

Chorus window

The Delay knob sets the average delay time. The Speed and Depth knob control the modulation.

The Mix knob sets the dry/wet ratio (0% being dry only, 100% being wet only). If you use an Effect Return for adding Chorus set Mix to 100%. If used as an insert effect Mix will usually be set below 50%.

The No Color button removes the coloration traditionally associated with Chorus effects. This works best with Mix values of approximately 50%.

When the Stereo button is active a stereo chorus effect will be applied to mono signals (this is usually the effect you're looking for). The Reverse St. button is identical, except that the signal will 'spin' in opposite direction.

7.4 Compressor

The Compressor attenuates loud parts, while leaving soft parts untouched. Apart from this, it can make sounds 'fatter' or just make them fit better in the mix without any significant compression taking place.

Compressor window

Threshold controls the level above which compression takes place

Attack controls how fast the Compressor will attenuate loud signals, while Release controls the time it takes to stop attenuating after a loud signal ended. Low Release times can cause distortion at low frequencies.

Gain sets the amount of gain applied after the compressing action is done. As the Compressor attenuates loud parts the overall level drops. The Gain control compensates for this level drop. By activating the Auto Gain button the Compressor will automatically adjust the Gain control.

Program selects the program used:

•Clean is as transparent as possible. This is a 'feedforward' compressor, which is the way typical modern compressors work.

•Vintage is less transparent, but has more character. This is a 'feedback' compressor, which is the way older (tube or opto) compressors work.

•Warm Vintage is like Vintage, but modified so it produces more even harmonics.

The Side Chain section is available with the Clean program only.

Typical applications of Side Chain section's effect slot are:

•Use an EQ effect to attenuate the bass frequenties in order to avoid the compressor overreacting to it, which can lead to "pumping".

•Use an EQ effect to boost certain unwanted frequencies, so the compressor attenuates them

The Transfer Curve (bottom left) shows the effect of the Treshold, Ratio and Knee settings. It ignores the effect of the Gain knob. The horizontal axis represents the input, the vertical axis represents the output. The Level History (top left) shows the relative amount of time the input signal is at a certain level (the higher the bar, the more time). The Level History will be reset when either the Transport is started or the Compressor window pops up. You can be reset it manually using the F5 key.

7.5 Convolutor

The Convolutor effect processes the audio signal using an impulse response file. Its main purpose is generating Reverb. In this case the effect will typically be used in an Effect Return section.

Convolutor window

In simple terms the Convolutor works like this: If you clap your hands in a hall you hear a few seconds of reverb. It's not hard to imagine that knowing this reverb it is possible to calculate the hall's response to a guitar (or any sound). This indeed is the case. We use ideal handclaps (impulses) and generalized reverbs (impulse responses). When viewed in an editor an impulse looks like one small dot (and the rest is just silence). Now you can understand what the convolutor does: a recording of a guitar contains lots of dots in the editor, and the convolutor treats every single dot as a handclap. Adding all the handclaps makes the hall's response to the guitar!

Note that if you whistle in a hall the hall's response only contains tones you whistled. This is a necessary condition for creating the exact response: the thing you want to model may not generate frequencies you didn't put in. This means you cannot use the Convolutor to generate distortion or to shift pitch.

Using the Load button you can load an impulse response file. You can organize your impulse responses just like you can sampler patches (see Organizing your patches).

Length Limit controls the part of file that's actually being used. The lower this value, the lower the Convolutor's CPU usage.