Chicken Systems Constructor User Manual
Constructor™
Version 1.1, Build 1
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Constructor™ Table Of Contents
Constructor™
Table Of Contents
Introduction.......................................
Basic Operation
Design Concepts..................................
Constructor Basics................................
Instrument Basics.................................
Instrument Organization........................
Instrument Document Window..............
Banks................................................
Instrument Document
KeyMap View......................................
Reference List......................................
Group View........................................
Editor.................................................
Waveplayer.........................................
Sound Database...................................
Multisamples......................................
Bank Document................................
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Special Features
Proprietary Dialog...............................
Proprietary Drives...............................
Virtual Drives.....................................
Audio Playback.....................................
Preferences
General..............................................
Format..............................................
Format Strategies..............................
Support
Tutorials............................................
Troubleshooting..................................
FAQ...................................................
Bug Reports........................................
Contacting Technical Support...................
Updating...........................................
Contact Us.........................................
Credits..............................................
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Constructor™ Introduction
Constructor™
Introduction
Constructor™ is a powerful multi-
instrument, cross platform generic
Instrument editor.
Many, if not all, samplers have their own
editors presented as interfaces to their
playback engines. Sometimes these editors
are capable, sometimes not. Since the
manufacters have to focus so strongly on their
playback engines, sometimes the creation
and editing area isn’t as powerful as it can be.
Additionally, it is always hardwired in to the
sample format and layout it is editing.
Constructor™ looks at Instruments generically, You can design an Instrument from scratch,
or edit an existing one. The concept is very similar to a graphics program that has to open and
save many different graphics formats - such as TIFF, JPEG, GIF, or PNG. When you are editing
a graphic, you mostly don’t care what format it is. A picture is a picture. To Constructor™, an
Instrument is an Instrument.
And just like a graphic editor, Constructor™ uses a superclass format, called a Project, to store
all the information that the export format may or may not need. Constructor™ implements
some very creative ways to link your output le with your Projects.
Constructor™ supports most professional samplers - hardware and software - made in the
past 20 years. Popular and obscure, supported and non-supported. It uses our own time-tested
Translator™ technology to read and write a complete set of formats. Constructor™ can resurrect
your older-but-loved piece of gear with its ability to create and edit Instruments without having
to use the kludgy and archiac interface of the sampler.
Constructor™ is available in both Mac and Windows Note: In this document, the Mac version is
usually pictured, and the term “right-click” can refer to”contol-click” on a Mac.
Registered owners are qualied for free updates for the life of the program. Please refer to
Update section of this document for information on how to update.
Constructor™ is consistently supported by Chicken Systems, with updates appearing
frequently.
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Constructor™ Basic Concepts
Basic Operation
Design Concepts
The absolute, singular, overriding concern
of Constructor™ is that it is EASY, SIMPLE,
and CLEAR. We hope that if anything else,
Constructor™ makes Instrument Creation
intuitive, quick and easy.
At every point, we have tried to make
operations accessible with a single click or
the minimum amount of clicks. Keyboard
shortcuts are often used to simplify
operations.
Since Constructor™ is a editor that supports a
plethora of different import and export formats,
complexity threatens to twart simplicity at many turns. Yet we don’t want to offer a impotent
program, so special care has been taken to hide complexity, yet provide accessibilty.
One way we achieved it through the Constructor™ Multi-Window Docking-Enabled Fully-Sizeable
Document Interface. (The CMWDEFSDI for short!)
Despite it’s long and complex name, the Instrument Document allows several views to work
from. You can close any of them if you need more workow room, or if you don’t care about
them at the moment. For the growing number of large monitor/multi-monitor users, the
Instrument Document can detach these views into separate dialogs that spread out across your
screen(s). You can drag and drop across these views, additionally they are tied into each other
so they update each other.
This Document interface strongly improves how “screen real estate” is used. Constructor™
only gives you the information you want to see on your screen, determined BY YOU, not the
program. Any additional information is only a click or keypress away. Plus, Constructor™ allows
you to save “View Proles” - a set of views you’d like to work with most on a Instrument-by-
Instrument basis, instead of having to live with the interface your sampler gives you.
Constructor™ emphasizes ease of use and multiple format support in a complete manner. It
is less deep on sample editing then some competing programs, but Constructor™ does not
elect to reinvent the wheel. Instead, it allows you to edit samples with external programs
by launching them within the Constructor™ framework, and then receiving the results upon
closing. This leverages the abilities of the programs that already do a better job, and includes
those abilities in Constructor™.
Constructor™ is designed for the “everyman” user. It’s industral strength Instrument composing
abilities, user interface exibility, and support for any format you can imagine make it an
essential part of anyone’s editing toolbox.
Constructor™ Basics
Constructor™ includes two types of Document interfaces. Most of your work in Constructor™
revolves around a document called an Instrument. This is also called a Preset or a Program in
some samplers. You can think of an Instrument as a single Document, like you would a Text le
in your computer. There is a another document called a Bank, the purpose of which is to gather
Instruments into a Collection and represent them in that manner.
For specic information on Instruments, go to the Instrument section of this document. For
specic information on Banks, go to the Bank section of this document.
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Constructor™ Basic Concepts
Instrument Basics
All Constructor™ Instruments are made up of basic building blocks called Sample References.
A Sample Reference is simply a mono or stereo sample that the Instrument plays under certain
circumstances.
The primary purpose of the Instrument document is to arrange these Sample References in
simple or complex ways. When you are done, you can export your work to a le that your
sampler can read. For example, with Kontakt, you can save your instrument as an .nki le,
which Kontakt can read. If you use an Emu E4 sampler, you can save your Instrument to a
Virtual Drive or a Emu formatted hard drive, into an existing Emu Bank or by creating a new
one.
You can create new Instruments from scratch, or you can import an existing sampler le to
start with, or to merge with existing work.
Again, the whole concept of Constructor™ is to make instrument creation a GENERIC exercise.
Just like to a graphics editor, a picture is a picture, to Constructor™ an Instrument is an
Instrument, no matter what sampler it comes from.
You might object, saying “an EXS24 Instrument is totally different then an Akai program!” They
may be structurally different, sure, but the end result is the same. Both are Instruments, and
both are played on keyboard or via MIDI. And when you dig into it, every Akai Program has
direct equivilants in a EXS24 structure. (Chicken Systems is the world leader in sampler fromat
structure information and their interchange, largely eshed out on our popular Translator™
program.)
Constructor™ does is represent these Instruments in the same way, so you see the common
way they are structured.
Some formats, especially modern software samplers, are “unlimited”, meaning that they have
no structural limitations. For example, a single note in Kontakt can have 32 velocity splits,
within 8 keyswitches plus release triggers for every sample - that’s 32x8x2, that 512 samples
for just single note - and that’s just an example, you can put an unlimited amount of samples
on that note. The only limit is the practical limit, not an arbitrary limit based on the format
architecture.
Other formats have some type of structural limitation. For example, IKMUltimedia’s SampleTank
only supports up to 8 velocity splits per note, and only 2 samples can play together
simultaneously on a single note. The Yamaha Motif can only layer 4 samples (8 on the XS) at
a time, plus a keymap cannot contain more then 128 channels of sound. Akai and Roland have
the typical limit of 4 samples per note (although there are creative ways of extending these).
Constructor™ addresses this problem by allowing you to select a Format Limiter for the
Instrument you are working with. Once you exceed a certain limit, the program will disallow
you from doing that operation. Additionally it often will allow certain interface modifcations
so the way you organize you instrument is the same way it will be organized on your ultimate
desination format.
Instrument Organization
At simplest, Instruments are made up of individual, completely independent, Sample
References, which have their own separate set of parameters. However, for various optional or
mandatory reasons, you probably will want to organize these in Groups.
There are two types of Groups in Constructor™ - View Groups and Parameter Groups.
A View Group is simply a set of Sample References that you want to view at one time, for the
purpose of clarity or to edit as one entity. You can have an unlimited amount of View Groups
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Constructor™Main Interface
within an Instrument, and they are saved within the Project File when you save it. View Groups
are mostly for your organizational and editing purposes, they are “cheap and disposible”.
However, a View Group sometimes has a relationship with how Instruments appear when
imported, and how they are organized when exported. When you import a Kontakt Instrument
(.nki le), Constructor™ will create a View Group for every Kontakt Group, plus additional
View Groups for every velocity split and keyswitches, and so on. When you import a Motif
Voice, there will be a View Group for every Element. View Groups created on import are for
convenience, but also important when exporting.
For a Motif Voice, those View Groups will dictate which Elements get which Sample References.
This is important because that’s the basis on how the Sample References create the Waveforms
data that the Elements use.
We could go on and on how each format is organized within Constructor, and we won’t instead we refer you to the Format Strategies area of this document. This lists how each
format is organized within Constructor™. Once you are familiar with your destination format
idyosncrycies, you will feel more comfortable with making more complex Instruments that will
be setup and organized more effeciently in your sampler.
Summary: Although Constructor™ is a generic Instrument editor, you still have to pay some
attention to any limitations your sampler imposes. Constructor™ seeks, however, to make this
as simple and automatic as possible.
The other type of Group is a Parameter Group. Every Sample Reference ultimately has it’s
own parameter set; that is, it’s own envelopes, modulators, pitch, volume, pan, etc. settings.
However, you have the option of making a Parameter Group and pointing the Sample Reference
to use those parameters. Parameter Groups are “cheap and disposible” - you can make any
amount of them and use them or not use them. You can make many versions of parameter sets
as Parameter Groups and switch them out whenever you wish.
Like View Groups, Parameter Groups may dictate how destination formats are written out. For
example, when a Kontakt le is created, the Parameter Groups become the actual Groups in
Kontakt. See Format Strategies for a complete list.
Instrument Document Windows
A Instrument Document window contains a Keymap window, a Sample Reference List, a Group
list, a Wavesample viewer and auditioning tool, a Parameter Set Editor, and a Sample Database
list.
For complete information on Constructor™ Instruments, Groups, and all other Instrument
document information, see the Instrument section in this document.
Banks
Banks are a simple yet powerful way of collecting Instrument and dening them as one unit “of
many” or even a single unit.
A Bank in most samplers is a collection Instruments/Programs/Presets and Sample. A
GigaStudio .gig le is a Bank - it denes one or more Instruments, and a pool of Samples. The
Instruments share those samples among each other. Other Bank structures include SoundFonts,
EmulatorX .exb les, Kontakt Multi’s and Banks, and SampleCell Banks, and many others. Most
samplers have a Bank concept, some don’t. (One wishes that EXS24 had a Bank format - it
would expontentially improve it’s ability.)
In Constructor™, a Bank is not any different - EXCEPT... what you can do with a Constructor™
Bank is very powerful!
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Constructor™ Main Screen
At the simplest, a Bank contains one or more Instruments you have made or loaded in
Constructor. It does not have to be loaded, it can simply exist as a Project le. You then can
export it as a Bank le in a samplers format - a EmulatorX .exb le, a Kontakt Multi .nkm le, a
SoundFont or a GigaStudio .gig le.
But that’s only the beginning. Let’s say you have 4 Instruments that you want to write out as
a single Instrument that is split across the keyboard (Bass with the left hand, some hits in the
lower middle, and electric piano and brass velocity layerd on the top). You can set up a Bank
that denes all these Instruments and override ranges, and write it out as a single Instrument!
So a Bank really doesn’t have to be “a Bank”, you can use them to collect Instruments to
provide a “Master Instrument” of sorts.
The key to this sort of operation is that Constructor Banks can dictate which Instruments get
merged and which stay as their own entities, plus each entry (we’d like to call it a “Part” like
Roland does but we don’t want too many terms mixing metaphors) can have it’s own Parameter
set. Banks can dene any number of Parmeter Groups, like Instruments, and you can assign
them to any Instrument as overrides to their own Parameter sets.
Using this concept, Banks can also duplicate the operations of a single Instrument document
and make them a bit simpler.
For example, a SampleTank Instrument denes a “Region” as a keyrange, which has 2
Oscillators (that is, sample sets) that can have up to 8 velocity splits (not overlapping). You can
make 2 Instruments that represent each Oscillator, and use a Bank to link those together. (You
could do the same with View Groups in a single Instrument, but you may nd this approach
better for you.)
Another example is using separate Instruments to dene each Keyswitch in a single Instrument.
This way, you can focus on a single Instrument at a time and not have it cluttered as one
Instrument containing multiple keyswitches. Then, upon export you can merge them all into
one another as one Instrument.
Those are Multiple instrument->Single Instrument applications. You can also use Banks as
“collections” of Instruments and output them accordinly for different purposes. For example,
lets say you want to start a library of Fantom Patches that rely on external samples. You can
have any number of Instruments, which represent Fantom Patches, worked on and store as
Constructor project les. You can make any number of Bank Projects to represent a bank of
Fantom Patches, and then output that to make one .svd collection, ready to load into your
Fantom. (This applies to any Bank format, such as EmulatorX, GigaStudio, SoundFonts, etc.)
For more information on Constructor™ Banks, see the Bank section in this document.
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Constructor™Pads
Instruments - Main
Screen
Most of your work in Constructor™ revolves
around a document called an Instrument.
This is a called a Preset or a Program in
some samplers.
You can think of an Instrument as a single
Document, like you would a Text le when
you open it in Word, Notepad (Windows), or
TextEdit (Mac).
You can have as any Instruments open in Constructor™ as you want. You can close them or
minimize them to get them out of the way.
Our long name for the Document interface is the Constructor™ Multi-Window Docking-Enabled
Fully-Sizeable Document Interface. (The CMWDEFSDI for short!)
This is a long-winded way of saying that a Document (an Instrument) can be customized to
view exactly what you want to see and how much information you want to see.
An Instrument Document contains several areas, called Views, where you view information. All
of them can be made invisible, detached into a separate resizable dialog, and resized or moved
within the window. This allows full customization of what you see and how you see it.
Keymap
This shows you the present contents of your Instrument in a graphical and editable form, as
determined by the View Group(s) you have chosen.
For more information on the Keymap window, please see the Keymap window section in this
document.
Sample Reference List
This shows you the present contents of your Instrument in List form, as determined by the View
Group(s) you have chosen. You can directly edit this list, and it automatically is updated by
other changes in the Instrument.
For more information on the Sample Reference window, please see the Reference List window
section in this document.
Groups List
This is a list of your View Groups and Parameter Groups for the Instrument. You can select
them and the appropriate Sample References show in the Sample Reference List.
For more information on View Groups, Parameter Groups, and the Group window, please see
the Group window section in this document.
Editor
This is an Editor for your Sample References or your Parameter Groups. The parameters that
are shown match up to what is selected in the Sample Reference List or the Parameter Group
list.
For more information on the Editor window, please see the Editor window section in this
document.
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Constructor™ Pad Contents
Waveplayer
This shows the current Sample Reference that is selected and allows you to play it back. (This is
different then the general Instrument playback that is available via MIDI.)
For more information on the Waveplayer, please see the Waveplayer section in this document.
Sample Database
This is the list of Samples that you have in your Database. It is lterable in a variety of ways,
and editable from this window.
For more information on the Sample Database window, please see the Sample Database section
in this document.
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Instruments - KeyMap Screen
The Constructor™ Instrument
Document KeyMap view shows
all the Sample References that
are currently selected within the
Instrument. You can edit these with
your mouse. You can also multiselect them and move them around
as you desire.
You can add and delete Sample
References by dragging in, dragging
out, or selecting and hitting the DEL
key on your keyboard.
The KeyMap view is tied into the
Reference List and the Group List
views.
Constructor™Partial/Patch Editor
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Constructor™ Partial/Patch Editor
Instruments - Reference List Screen
In Constructor™, all Instruments are
made up of basic building blocks that
Constructor calls Sample References.
A Sample Reference is simply a mono
or stereo sample that the Instrument
plays under certain circumstances.
For example, if you hit middle C on
a keyboard (MIDI note 60) and the
Instrument has assigned the sample
“dog bark.wav” to that key, that
Sample Reference will audibly play.
The conditions in which that Sample
Reference will play are called Rules.
Rules can be KeyRanges, Velocity
Ranges, KeySwitch numbers, Control Switch numbers, Round Robin numbers, and a host of all
sorts of things.
Keep in mind that since Constructor™ supports many different instrument formats,
they use often their own terminology. For example, the Kontakt and EXS24 term for
Sample Reference is “Zone”. The GigaStudio term for Rules is “Dimensions”, while
Kontakt calls it “Group Start”, while EXS24 actually has no term for the concept.
The Constructor™ set of terms is unique, but often represents the most common
usage. Most importantly, we believe our terminology helps clarity and gets to the
point quicker.
The Reference List shows the currently selected Sample References in your Instrument. The
Reference List can be ltered by your own criteria, so you can view AND edit any group of
References. These lterings are done by View Groups and Parameter Groups.
The Reference List is tied into the KeyMap view and the Group view. When you change things in
the KeyMap view, the Reference List will be changed accordingly. When you select one or more
View/Parameter Groups, the Reference List will also change accordingly.
You can also edit Sample References from within the Reference List, as well as add and delete
them, using the menus or via drag-drop.
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Playback/Auditioning
Instruments - Groups
A Constructor™ Instrument Document
supports the concept of View Groups. A
View Group is simply a collection of Sample
References that you want to see at a single
time; that is, to lter out what you are seeing
in the KeyMap window and the Sample
Reference List.
This is a very powerful feature, as you may
want to view a single keyrange or velocity
range, or a single KeySwitch or Controller
switch.
This greatly assists viewing layered
references, which hide behind each other in
the KeyMap window. It also allows you to edit
certain parts of an Instrument while keeping
other parts intact and out of sight, out of
mind.
Constructor™
View Groups are “cheap and free”, you can
create any number of them for later recall and
use. A Sample Reference can belong to any number of View Groups.
Although View Groups have no direct bearing when you export a Constructor Instrument, you
can set them to inuence how the exported Instrument will be organized. Some examples
of this are a EmulatorX/E4 Voice and the arrangement of Multisamples, or Oscillators in a
SampleTank Instrument. Most of the time this is the function of a Parameter Group, but View
Groups can be used this way as well.
The “Smart” Setting
Typically you populate a View Group by manually including the Sample References by drag-drop
or using the menus in the Reference List or KeyMap Window. The Smart setting allow you to
set certain criteria so the Sample References “come to the View Group” instead of having you
manually add them.
For example, if you set Smart to include Velocity Range 96-127, any Sample Reference that you
include or modify within that setting will automatically include itself in that View Group. This is
all done behind the scenes.
See Format Strategies to see if your destination format uses View Groups to organize itself.
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Constructor™ Sound Database
Instruments - Editor
The Constructor™ Instrument Document’s
Editor gives you the ability to edit the
parameters of whatever edit context you have
selected.
Often you edit a Sample Reference’s
parameters. However, you may edit a
Parameter Group, or the global Instrument
parameter set.
There are 8 areas: Ranges, Sample, Pitch,
Filter, Amplitude, Modulators, EQ, and Effects.
Ranges
Sample
Pitch
Filter
Amplitude
Modulators
EQ
Effects
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