Chicken Systems Translator 6 User Manual

Translator™ 6

Version 6.0, Build 16

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Translator™ Table Of Contents

Translator™ 6

Table Of Contents

Introduction...............................................

How To Make A Hard Thing Easy....................

Basic Operation...........................................

Windows

Main Screen...............................................

Container Pane...........................................

Object List.................................................

Instrument View.........................................

Sample View..............................................

Batch Convertor..........................................

Docking Dialogs..........................................

Master Translation Dialog.............................

Common Operations

Translating.................................................

Bulk Export................................................

SimpleTranslation™.....................................

Building Instruments...................................

Playing Instruments....................................

Auditioning Samples....................................

Special Features

Virtual Drives..............................................

Favorites....................................................

Lookups.....................................................

Creating Slice Formats - Beat Detection.........

Proprietary Floppy Support...........................

Miscellaneous Functionality...........................

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AutoSampler

Introduction................................................

Audio/MIDI................................................

Files/Folders...............................................

Placement..................................................

Recording...................................................

Processing..................................................

Parameters.................................................

Reference Manager

Overview ..................................................

Replace References.....................................

Preferences

General.....................................................

Destination Locations..................................

Single Sample Mapping................................

Stereo Management....................................

Bias / Filtering............................................

Data Processing..........................................

View Filter.................................................

Waveplayer................................................

Comment Tags...........................................

Fix References............................................

Effects.......................................................

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Translator™Table of Contents

Special.......................................................

SimpleTranslation™.....................................

Audio/MIDI................................................

Format Preferences

Akai..........................................................

Akai MPC...................................................

Emu..........................................................

Emulator X.................................................

Ensoniq......................................................

EXS24 (Apple)............................................

Fantom......................................................

Fusion.......................................................

GigaStudio................................................

HALion......................................................

Independence............................................

Native Instruments Kontakt..........................

Native Instruments Kontakt Inst Options.......

Native Instruments Reaktor/Battery...............

Korg..........................................................

Kurzweil ...................................................

MOTU MachFive..........................................

Motif.........................................................

Reason......................................................

Recycle......................................................

Roland......................................................

SampleTank................................................

SFZ...........................................................

SoundFont.................................................

Structure/SampleCell..................................

Synclavier...................................................

WusikStation..............................................

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Other

Supported Formats......................................

Formats Conversion Exceptions.....................

Menus

File...........................................................

Operations.................................................

View.........................................................

Help................................,,,.......................

Support

Technical Support........................................

FAQ..........................................................

Bug Reports - Sending Files..........................

Contacting Support.....................................

Updating....................................................

Credits.......................................................

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Translator™ Introduction

Translator™

Introduction

Translator™ is the original and

revolutionary Instrument format convertor.

Translator™ takes most major professional Instrument, Bank, and

Sample le and disk formats, such as

Kontakt, GigaStudio, EXS24, SFZ, Akai, Roland, Emu, Kurzweil, Ensoniq, etc. and translates between them. That means you can read, interpret, or write between different

systems; whether reading a computer le like a .WAV le,

or converting a complex Kontakt Instrument to a proprietary disk format on a ZipDrive, for example.

Because of its powerful interface and display features, Translator™ also contains excellent

management facilities; such as xing of sample references in les, auditioning of samples direct

from disk, and many other things within it’s menus and dialogs. Read through this document

- you will nd many useful things you might have not thought of. Some of these ancillary

capabilities are referenced in the Miscellaneous section of this document.

Translator™ is a true cross-platform Mac OSX and Windows program. Both versions look similar, though there are differences. In this document the Mac version is usually pictured. Translator™ also comes in Special Edition variations; their only difference is that they only convert to one or a couple formats. All the information in this document applies to them equally.

Translator™ 6 is the latest version of Translator™ at the time of this writing. Any reference to Translator™ also means Translator™ 6 in this document. All information applies to any Special Edition of Translator (e.g. Translator EXS24 Edition).

This document is synced to the Translator version noted on the cover of this document. It is a dynamic document and often is revised with every major, minor, or even build of Translator.

In this document, the term “right-click” also refers to “control-click” on a Mac. Only “rightclick” will be used. Similarly, “Preferences” is term for different optional parameters that can be set in the program; on the Mac you will see the word “Preferences”, but on Windows you will see “Options”. In this document, Preferences will be used. Graphics are all Mac, but look very similar to the Windows version.

Translator™ works with many bank, instrument, le, and disk formats. Most US keyboards and

software regards middle C key on a keyboard (MIDI note 60) as C4, while most non-US styles denote this as C3. By default Translator™ displays middle C as C4, but you can change this in Preferences-General to align with your personal preference.

If you are a registered owner, you are qualied for free updates for the life of the program. You

can download these from the Chicken Systems web site.

Translator™ is consistently supported by Chicken Systems, with updates appearing on usually a monthly basis.

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Translator™ How To Make A Hard Thing Easy

Translator™ - How To Make A Hard Thing Easy

Translator™ is a powerful program. However, this power can make a simple operation, such

as translating a sound, a difcult process.

Shoot, you just want to take this Roland CD-ROM and translate it into EXS24 format! But now you have to read about DeEmphasis Filters, and Naming Conventions, and all these things that you don’t want to worry about. Yuuch.

Translation is a complicated process by nature. Many times an internal parameter decision can go a number of ways. How do we enable total control for the user, while hiding as much of the process as well?

Here’s a couple things that we feel you should remember, in order to make Translating an

Easy Thing:

Read the Manual - Refer to the Help le

We spent an inordinate time making a full length manual (when we could have been adding features to the program) for the reason that it helps make a Hard Thing Easy. Use it! It’ll help.

We love hearing from our customers, and please do ONCE YOU HAVE tried the resources you already have. This manual is the BEST WAY we know how to communicate the concepts of this

program. If you call us, please ask a question based on something you don’t understand within the manual. Otherwise, we’ll just read the manual to you.

The Defaults Are Good for most cases

Check out the Preferences dialog. There are TONS of optional features in Translator™. If you are confused by them, do the simple thing - ignore them. There generally isn’t any options in there that are completely mandatory necessary to switch or set to enable things to go well. In 99% of the cases you should be able to stick in a CD, drag it over, go and eat a sandwich, and come back with a bunch of translations. But if you need them, the options are there.

Call, E-mail, or Chat if you have questions or problems

When something goes wrong - and with a Hard Thing that is inevitable - that can make that

Hard Thing Hard. So, we make ourselves completely available. You can call us with toll-free

1-800 technical support. Or e-mail us - we’ll respond within 24 hours guaranteed. Even Chat is available from our web site. We think we have the best support in the business - in order to make a hard thing easy.

Send Files if there is a problem

Nothing is better for diagnostics than the actual source le the user is operating on. In Translator, you can send us any source le you are looking at. Use our Bug Reports web page

at www.chickensys.com/translator/bugreports, or see the Sending Files section for more information. We commonly address all issues within 24 hours.

See - it’s an Easy Thing!

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Translator™Basic Concepts

Basic Concepts

Translator™ uses a derivative of the familiar Finder window on the Mac and Explorer (sometimes called My Computer) screen on Windows, for familiar and easy operation.

There are two panes, the Container Pane and the Object List. The Container Pane is on the left, and the Object List is on the right.

The Container Pane shows the “containers” - e.g. folders, anything that holds objects. When you select anything in the Container Pane, the contained objects show in the Object List.

Translations

You translate Instruments by

several methods.

Double Clicking an object in

the Object List.

Dragging (drag-and-drop) from the Object List to the Container Pane. Right-Clicking on an object in either the Container Pane or the Object List. This invokes a

popup menu in which you can select to Convert As... into another format.

Clicking on the Translate button above the Object List. This will translate the objects

selected in the Object List.

Dragging le(s) or folder(s) from the Finder into the Object List. This starts Translator™ in

the background and offers you a choice of what to convert to.

Dragging a le or folder from the Finder onto the Translator icon. This starts Translator™ in

the background and offers you a choice of what to convert to.

Using the Batch Converter. It allows you to pre-select objects and then translate them in

groups into separate objects or combine them in any sort of ways into single objects.

Generally, anytime a translation operation is invoked, the Master Translation Dialog (MTD) appears. This gives you the choice of determining what format you want to convert to, and

where the new les will go.

It does not appear when you drag an object from the right to a proprietary disk on the left.

Since by your operation you’ve already made a decision where your le is going and what

format it will be converted to, the MTD does not appear.

Translator™ will then start the conversion, give you status, and informs upon completion.

Favorites

Favorites are a special Container Pane section; they represent your heavily-used folders.

Virtual Drives

Virtual Drives are essentially image les of proprietary CD’s, such as Akai, Roland, etc.. They

show up as a “drive” under the Virtual Drives section in the Container Pane.

Docking Dialogs

You can detach any of the right-side screens (the Object List, Instrument View, Sample View,

or Batch Convertor) into it’s own dialog, enabling use in a large screen or multi-monitor environment. See the Docking Dialogs section in this document for more information.

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Translator™ Main Screen

Main Screen

When you start Translator™, the Main Screen appears. This is the center hub of Translator. Everything is based around this

screen. You can detach dialogs and

work from “window-to-window”, but all comes back to this dialog.

There are two main areas, the

Container Pane and the Right Pane.

The Container Pane is on the left, and the Right Pane is on the upper right. The Container Pane displays all the folders and “containers” on your system and around it. The Right Pane holds several Screens which you mainly operate on.

Above the Container Pane are two buttons:

Refresh: Clears the Container

Pane and re-lists everything.

Show: clicking on this shows the menu areas that the Container Pane shows.

Above the Right Pane are several buttons:

Translate: starts the translation process on whatever is selected in the Object List Detach: detaches the currently selected screen - either the Object List, Instrument View,

Sample View, or the Batch Convertor - in the Right Pane. Click here to learn more about Docking Dialogs.

Preferences: Opens the Preferences dialog. Format Preferences: Opens the Format Preferences dialog. About: Opens About Translator splash screen.

Below the Right Pane is the Sample View area. This may be visible or blank, depending if you have the Sample View detached or selected or not.

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Translator™Container Pane

Container Pane

The Container Pane shows the “containers” that les or objects reside. Containers are anything that contains an object. Obvious elements are hard drives, CD’s, and folders on these containers. Less obvious ones are Virtual Drives, Favorites and Network.

There are six areas within the Container Pane, or can show or not show these by clicking the Show button and selecting what you want to see.

Desktop: Your desktop folder Network: Your volumes as seen by your network Local/External Drives: Your peripherals hooked up

physically to the computer you are working on.

Proprietary Drives: Your proprietary drives or CD’s that

Translator has identied.

Virtual Drives: Your Virtual Drives that Translator has

detected in your Images folder.

Favorites: Your Favorite folders, les, aliases, or shortcuts

that Translator has detected in your Favorites folder.

Only one object can be selected in the Container Pane at a time. When you select an object, it’s child objects show in the Object List.

Right-clicking on an object shows a contextual menu, which

expose most of the powerful features of Translator. You can convert les by selecting Convert As.. and then the appropriate format. You can access the

Tools (Program Tools, Sample Tools, and File Tools) areas, and the various Utilities as well.

Last but not least, you have the basic Finder/Explorer functions, such as Open, Reveal In Finder,

Create Alias, Get Info/Properties, etc.

Advanced Navigation Functions Under the Show button are two advanced functions, Show

Root Folder and Go to.... Show Root Folder allows you to

view only the items within a single folder. This allows you to clear out the irrelevant items in the pane and decrease the

extreme amount of vertical latitude is showing. You can go

back to the regular view by clicking Show again and selecting Hide Root Folder.

Go to... allows you to look at a folder without having to manually drill down to it. Of course you have to select the folder using the basic Finder Open dialog, but it allows leveraging the power of the Open dialog.

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Translator™ Object List

Object List

The most heavily used screen in the right Pane is the Object List, which resides in the rst Tab Panel. This shows the objects contained in whatever is selected in the Container Pane.

This screen can be detached from the main window by clicking the Detach button above the right-pane. See Docking Dialogs for more information.

You can drag into and drag

out of the Object List. Doubleclicking on on object either starts the translation process or opens it in the Container Pane (this can be chosen in

Preferences). You can convert

several objects by multiselecting them and clicking on the Translate button above the right-pane.

Right-clicking on an object shows a contextual menu, which expose most of the powerful

features of Translator. You can convert les by selecting Convert As.. and then the appropriate format. You can access the Tools (Program Tools, Sample

Tools, and File Tools) areas, and the various Utilities as well.

Last but not least, you have the basic Finder/Explorer functions, such as Open, Reveal In Finder, Create Alias, Get Info/Properties, etc.

The Object List shows a variety of dynamic information on the les it shows, depending on what they are. If they are samples that are referenced by control les (.exs, .nki, etc.) they show

where they are and if the reference is bad or not. It may show the size or properties of the object.

The headers at the top of the Object List can be clicked to show ascending or descending sorts of the list, on any column.

The Object List also has ltering parameters at the top. The rst box is a Text lter. Anything you type in there, if contained in the le name, will make that object appear in the list.

The second box is a File Type parameter. If you choose SoundFont, for example, all SoundFonts will appear in the list and nothing else. There is also an option for Folders only, or Files only.

You can hide the Filter area by clicking of the X next to the lter items. You can show it again

by selecting Show Filter under File-View.

Page 11

Translator™Instrument View

Instrument View

The Instrument View gives you a visual on how the Instrument that you have selected in the Container Pane is mapped out across the keyboard.

By default, when you select a Instrument-type of object in the Container Pane, this tab gets set and the screen is populated.

By clicking on an area in the graphical screen, it selects the samples assigned to that area and shows the waveform in the Waveplayer. It also shows you some information about that sample in the List to the right.

Note: In cases of layered samples, you can only choose the topmost sample. This is just a limitation of the interface.

To unclutter this screen in cases of Keyswitches, Round Robins, Controller-switching, etc. the views are separated by Rule Areas and can be selected by the popup menu on the upper left. A Rule Area is when samples are turned off or on depending on come circumstance other than MIDI note number or Velocity value.

You can zoom in or out of the Screen using the (+-) buttons on the upper right. The Zoom label

shows the extent of the Zoom.

The triple-sticky-button allows you select certain options:

Auto-Display

When checked, this tab gets selected when selecting a Instrument-type object in the Container Pane. Unchecking it defeats this auto-selection.

Show List

When checked, the information list on the right appears.

Compose

Calculating the mapping of an Instrument can take a little more time than just getting the referenced samples of that Instrument. By unchecking this, the conversion engine will skip

calculating the mapping and your response may be a bit faster. Of course, you sacrice viewing

mapping on this screen.

The Instrument View also allows you to load the currently selected Instrument - NO MATTER WHAT THE FORMAT - and play it by clicking on the keyboard or through your MIDI keyboard. See the Playing Instruments section in this document for more information.

This screen can be detached from the main window by clicking the Detach button above the right-pane. See Docking Dialogs for more information.

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Translator™ SampleView

SampleView

The Sample View displays a waveform and allows playback, including the proper looping that may be programmed into the sound. The waveform appears by selecting a sample in the Object List.

There is an information box that lists all the pertinent information concerning the sample (regardless where it comes from) on the right.

Loop areas (dened by

the numLoops, Loop Start, and Loop End parameters) and Playback areas

(dened by the Start and

End parameters) are are displayed using box outlines on the screen.

The regular set of transport controls is shown below the waveform screen. A checkbox called AutoPlay allows the player to play back a

sample when it is selected. You can also

unconditionally turn off loop playback by selecting No Loop checkbox.

The e button shows you the properties of the Sample View. You can choose the color of each facet of the view, plus the gradient of the background.

This screen can be detached from the main window by clicking the Detach button above the right-pane. See Docking Dialogs for more information.

A special note concerning SampleView docking: Since it is usually located at the bottom of the Main Screen, you need to select it in the right-pane, which moves it up to the right-pane. Then you detach it; thus it is invisible in TWO places on the Main Screen. Reattaching it puts it back to the right-pane, where when you click off of it, it puts it back to the bottom of the Main Screen.

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Batch Convertor

Translator™

Batch Convertor

The Batch Convertor gives you the special ability to grab a bunch of objects and convert them in one swoop.

Of course you can do this in the Object List by multi-selecting a bunch of objects, but the Batch Convertor allows you to get objects from various locations and add them to the dialog.

You can add objects to the list by clicking the Add button (that is, the + button), or by dragging objects in from the Object List, Container Pane, or even from the Finder. (Detaching this dialog is helpful in this regard.)

Clear (that is, the - button) clears the selected entires in the list.

Each entry has a checkbox so you can select or deselect the objects you want to convert even after you have put them in the list.

The Batch Convert button starts the batch conversion process.

The Action button drops down a menu which allows various methods adding, selecting, deselecting items; plus allows group modifying of Destination File Type.

This screen can be detached from the main window by clicking the Detach button above the right-pane. See Docking Dialogs for more information.

Page 14

Translator™ Docking Dialogs

Docking Dialogs

All the right-pane screens - the Object List, Instrument View, Sample View, or the Batch Convertor, can be detached into it’s own dialog, making it easy to use Translator in a large

screen or multi-monitor environment.

To detach a screen, simply click the Detach button above the right-pane when the desired

screen is in view. This jettisons the dialog and creates a blank spot on the Main Screen. You

can detach all the right-pane screens if you so desire. All the functionality is retained; all the separated dialogs communicate with each other just as if they were located on the same dialog.

To reattach a dialog, simply close it, and the containing controls will go back to the Main Screen.

Note: The Sample View carries with it a special exception. Since it is usually located at the bottom of the Main Screen, you need to select it in the right-pane, which moves it up to the right-pane. Then you detach it; thus it is invisible in TWO places on the Main Screen. Reattaching it puts it back to the right-pane, where when you click off of it, it puts it back to the bottom of the Main Screen.

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Translator™Master Translation Dialog

Master Translation Dialog

The Master Translation Dialog appears whenever you have started a translation process. This

dialog allows you to select what format you are converting to, where the sample les will be

written to, along with some other helper functions.

The formats are divided into several categories for easy tracking.

The OK button does not enable itself until accurate information is selected in all THREE areas; the Destination Program

Folder, the Destination Sample Folder, and the Format Type list.

Note: Some destination formats do not

write separate sample les (such as Motif

or SampleTank), and sometimes you

are converting a separated leset (that is, one that references external les) to another separated leset (such as EXS to

Kontakt). In these cases, the Destination Sample Folder will be unused; however, you still need to enter something into this area.

You can set destination folder locations by using the Set buttons, by selecting a parent folder in

the pulldowns, or by using the special checkboxes below these lists.

Use Global Preset Locations

Often times, for a particular format, there is a place you always want les to go. In Preferences,

there is a list where you can preset these. Checking this invokes the current path listed.

Sample Location Same As Program

This simply forces the samples setting to be the same as the program setting.

Location Same As Source

Instead of remembering the last settings, this forces both destinations to be the same as where the source comes from. (This is ignored if the source is on a non-writable volume or a

proprietary volume that doesn’t support that le type.)

Copy Existing Samples To Sample Folder

When converting Instruments that rely on external WAVE or AIFF les, and you are converting TO a format that also relies on external les, Translator by default does not copy the samples but instead makes the new Instrument reference the same WAVE/AIFF les the source did.

However, sometimes you may want to duplicate the samples for organizational or portability reasons. Checking this option creates new samples in the selected Sample Folder.

Advanced

This button reveals the Format Preferences for the currently selected format. This is extremely handy for updating a certain option without the hassle of closing this dialog and going to Format Preferences, and then coming back.

Page 16

Translator™ Translating

Translating

There’s a lot to Translator™, but it cannot be overemphasized that the main purpose of Translator™ is to TRANSLATE! You start with one Instrument le format, and end up with another one, hopefully one that can load into your sampler of choice.

Translator generally keeps it simple - just select the object that you want to convert, and either do three things:

Double-Click on the object to select it for translation.

Click the Translate button to convert any selected objects in the Object List.

Right-click on the object and choose Convert As..->[whatever your format]

Remember, an object to convert can be a whole Bank (like a SoundFont), a single

object within that Bank le (e.g. a Giga instrument), or a single le that represents an Instrument (e.g. an .exs le).

Those instructions apply to converting into

a le you write on your hard drive, but a

different set of circumstances apply when converting onto a Proprietary Drive. To do that, you need to drag the object you want to convert from the Object List and drop it in the appropriate location in the Proprietary Drive (disk or Virtual Drive) in the Container Pane.

Dragging also applies when you are converting into a Bank format, such as a SoundFont,

GigaStudio le, a EmulatorX bank, and others. Just drag the object you want to convert from the Object List and drop on the Bank le you want to add it to in the Container Pane.

See Supported Formats for a complete list of support formats.

The Master Translation Dialog will appear. Put in your destination locations and format type you want to convert to, then click OK.

A Status dialog will appear, showing you the progress of the conversion. The Cancel button on this dialog is available to you so you can stop the process cleanly.

Once that’s complete (Translator is pretty fast), a Finished dialog will appear, telling you it’s

done and where the les ended up.

Note: Translation quality can vary, although it should be noted that Translator offers the highest quality conversion routines of any operational software. Many things are taken

into account, and remember that certain parameters may not work or “t” properly in the

destination format you are converting to. It’s important to learn what you can about your destination format AND the source format for you to know what converts and what doesn’t.

Page 17

Translator™Bulk Export

Bulk Export

In our terminology, Bulk Export is different than Batch Conversion. It is enabled when you want to convert all (or some) objects in a folder without selecting all of them or using the Batch Convertor.

The Bulk Export dialog at the right comes up when you select a Folder to be translated, either by double-clicking on the Folder in the Object List, making a selection in the Object List and clicking the Translate button, or by dragging the Folder from the Object List and onto a Folder, drive, or object on a Proprietary Drive in the Container Pane.

Note: for dragging into a Proprietary Drive, this dialog does not come up, because the mere fact of dropping on a Proprietary Drive answers all the choices the Bulk Export dialog offers you.

You choose the type of objects that you want converted (Source File Types), what types you

want them converted to, and where the results are written.

You can choose Any if it doesn’t matter what type you want to convert. Any also renders other

choices as ignored.

You can add or remove entries using the + and - buttons. You can add objects by dragging

them in from the Object List, Container Pane, or even from the Finder. (Detaching this dialog is helpful in this regard.)

Each entry has a checkbox so you can select or deselect the entries you want to apply. The entries are persistent from operation to operation.

And, of course, the Translate button starts the translation process.

The Action button drops down a menu which allows various methods of selecting items; plus allows group modifying of Destination File Type.

The Destination Type pulldown allows some master Options about where the translated les will

go.

Preset Destinations (as shown in Options): Uses the “per-format” selections as

noted in Preferences.

Destination Same As Source: Means that the transalted le will be written alongside

the source Instrument that was converted.

As Selected (see below): Pays attention to the Instrument and Sample custom

Destinations that were selected.

Copy Existing Samples is a global preference that refers to Instruments that use external

samples (.wav; .aif) such as Kontakt or EXS24. By default this is unchecked for efciency, if

you are converting Kontakt to EXS to just use the existing samples. (Why not?) However, there

are some instances where the user would want the existing les to be copied into a different

location, for reasons of portability or sample management. If you want this behavior, check this option.

Page 18

Translator™ Bulk Export

Instruments and Samples

By default Translator™ prefers Instruments. In other words, in you Bulk Export a folder that has Instruments (like .nki, .exs, etc.) and Samples (.wav, .aif, etc.), Translator™ converts the

Instruments and ignores the Samples. However, there is a way to “convert” sample les too.

(Please note that Translator’s focus is to convert Already-Formed Instruments into AlreadyFormed Instruments of another format. For powerful functionality of Instrument Building,

please look at our Constructor™ product.)

Building Instruments from Samples

There are two ways to “build” Instruments from raw samples. One is by doing a Bulk Export on

a Folder that ONLY as sample les; such as .wav, .aif, or similar. If there are no instruments in

those folders, then Translator will assume you intend to build Instruments from Samples.

The other way is to explicitly create an entry or entries specifying WAVE or AIFF (see the gure

to the right). Then, even if there are Instruments in those folders, Instruments will be built from the Samples.

Single Sample Mapping

Translator can build samples but only in a simple random sort of way. Given a set of samples, Translator will map them out across the keyboard from left to right, according to some parameters that you can set in Preferences-Single Sample Mapping 1 and 2 tabs. See the Single Sample Mapping option in Preferences for more information.

See the gure on the right - this setup will take all the WAVE or AIFF les in the

selected folder and create instruments from them.

Page 19

Translator™SimpleTranslation™

SimpleTranslation™

OK, let’s admit it. We’re just converting les. Do you REALLY need this large overbearing

Translation Program to simply convert le to le?

You may not. So try this: just drag any le and drop it on

Translator’s icon - an alias or on the dock. This dialog will appear:

Simply select your destinations and Format Type, and off you go! No big unwieldy interface or confusion.

And, if you want things even easier, go into Preferences and select the SimpleTranslation™ tab. There you can set up automatically your destinations and Format Type. Then this dialog won’t even show - and the conversion will commence

and nish and shut down

automatically!

Can’t get any easier then this...

Page 20

Translator™ Building Instruments

Building Instruments

Translator™ is primarily a Instrument->Instrument convertor. That means if you have a

Instrument le, and you want to load it into another sampler

that doesn’t load that format, you can convert it within Translator and it’ll be pretty much exactly the same as the original format, but you can now use it in your destination sampler.

“Converting” single samples, such as WAVE or AIFF les, into

an Instrument is a little different of an animal. Sure, it’s a conversion, but you are actually BUILDING an instrument from

scratch rather than doing an instrument conversion. You are

adding information, not merely converting it.

Translator™ can build instruments; you can “convert” a folder of single samples into an Instrument, but you have

no ne control about placement or similar things. Still, the

samples can be mapped from left to right across the keyboard and given different spans, etc.

Here’s how:

Go into Preferences and select Single Sample Mapping

(see the gure to the right). The defaults should be ne. You

can select what the keyspan is and what your keyrange is, plus there are couple of other parameters that can help in getting the sample where you may want it. (Again, remember Constructor™ greatly expands on this.)

Chicken Systems has another program, Constructor™, that specializes in this.

You can take single

samples, plus parts or whole instruments, and generically make a new Instrument, while having full control of how the samples are mapped, what their real-time parameters

are (envelopes, lters,

LFO’s), and how they are

organized. You have full

keymapping windows and special graphical User Interfaces for this purpose.

Once you nish that task, close out, and select a folder in the Object List and click the Translate button on top. (Or just double-click on the folder, while the Expand Folder is not checked.) You

get the Bulk Export dialog. For Source Format, select WAVE (or whatever single sample you are

converting). For Destination Format, choose your destination Format. Then click OK. Your new Instrument le should be in the same folder the single sample folder is (unless you changed it

in the Bulk Export dialog).

If your destination le format is monolith (internally containing the samples), you’ll just have

that one object. If your destination format references samples, by default the original WAVE

or AIFF les will be used - there actually will be NO conversion, unless the destination requires specically formatted WAVE les, such as the Akai S-5000 or MPC.

Translator™ is handy for light Instrument building. Once you load the Instrument into your sampler, you may edit them further.

Notes for Proprietary Destination Formats

To build Instruments or Banks on a proprietary format disk (Akai, Roland, etc.), drag the folder from the Object List to the Proprietary disk or Virtual Drive in the Container Pane.

Writing a folder - or folder tree - to a proprietary drive presents some unique challenges that

Translator sorts out for you. You can make this easier by having some discipline about what you

are throwing at the Proprietary Drive - don’t include 300mb pianos, lay off of folders that have

100 Kontakt les, etc. (All the obvious things.)

Here’s how they work:

Rule for source folder contents: If the folder you are trying to convert has at least one

Page 21

Translator™Building Instruments

Instrument or Bank le, Translator will convert all Instruments and Banks in that folder but will ignore single samples (WAVE/AIFF/etc.). If the folder contains sample le but no Instrument or Bank les, Translator will convert those samples in a All->One Single Sample

Map basis and create one Instrument or Bank based on those samples.

Akai Drive/Partition: For every source folder, a Volume will be written into the destination Partition (on a Drive, this is Partition A) and the contents written into that Volume. The exception is Bank formats, which will create their own Volumes. If the Volume is too full to take in the needed objects, another Volume will be created and objects will attempt to be created there. If there is no more dataspace left in the Partition, Translator will move to the next Partition and attempt the conversion there; if it can’t, the the next Partition and so on until all Partitions have been attempted. Translator will wrap around if the dropped Partition is after Partition A.

Akai Volume: All created les will be dumped into that Volume unconditionally. See the above rules regarding full Volumes or Partitions; if a new Volume is created, remaining les

will be created in there unconditionally, and so on.

Emu Drive (EOS): E3, ESi, and EOS share the same disk format. If it is deteted that EOS Banks already exist on the disk and “Write E4” is set in Format Preferences-Emu, for every Folder considered, a new Emu Folder will be written and Banks created in that folder.

Emu Drive (E3/ESi): E3/ESi does not have the concept of folders, so for every item considered, a new Emu Bank will be created and written.

Roland Drive: Roland’s do not have any nesting conept, it’s all a at structure. So all

objects are simply written as Patches or Performances on the disk.

Ensoniq Drive/Sub-Directory: Ensoniq and Akai MPC are unique in that they have a full nesting disk structure. When you drop a folder on a Ensoniq Drive or Sub-Directory, the folder tree will be fairly exactly replicated. Ensoniq’s however only allow 38 objects per Sub-Directory, so if there is a incoming Folder which eventually needs to write more than

38 les, a new Sub-Directory will be written alongside the one current one and the rest dumped in there. Also of note is that Translator, in lling up a newly createdSub-Directory, rst writes new Sub-Directories in that Sub-Directory to handle the nesting, then it will transfer any .efe/.efa iles that appear, then it considers the rest of the les if they exist.

Akai MPC Drive/Folder: Akai MPC and Ensoniq are unique in that they have a full nesting disk structure. When you drop a folder on a MPC Drive or Folder, the folder tree will be

fairly exactly replicated. Also of note is that Translator, in lling up a newly created Folder, rst writes new folders within that folder to handle the nesting, then it will transfer any MPC Programs that appear, then it considers the rest of the les if they exist.

Page 22

Playing instrumentsTranslator™

Playing Instruments

You can play most if not all Instruments within the internal Instrument Player in Translator™.

This is format-independant.

It is done within the Instrument Screen. By default, when you select an Instrument in the Container Pane, the Instrument Screen appears and the mapping shows up. The Load button shows LOAD, click on it to load the Instrument. When it is

nished, the

button will show

LOADED. You

can then play it using the keyboard graphic below the mapping display, or you can play it using a MIDI keyboard. Please be sure that your MIDI settings are correct in Preferences-Audio/MIDI.

The Instrument Player DOES NOT adhere to Audio part of the Preferences-Audio/MIDI tab, that is for the Waveplayer. See below for notes on each platform.

Mac Audio Notes: The Instrument Player is xed on using the default Core Audio driver

and outputs out the Built-In Output. Currently that cannot be changed. Audio latency is usually very good (below 5-10ms).

Windows Audio Notes: The Instrument Player is xed on using ASIO and the ASIO4ALL

driver (www.asio4all.com). Currently this cannot be changed. Audio latency is usually very good (below 10ms), but there may be some MIDI latency. Both issues will be addressed in future versions.

The Instrument Player works off memory, not disk streaming, so please be careful on what you decide to load. There needs to be time to form the content, then time to load it into memory. Loaded content is cached, even between sessions, so if you LOAD an Instrument that has been

cached, it will be faster to load. The cache folders are xed and are below.

Cache Folders Mac

/Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/Chicken Systems/Translator 6/Playback

%SYSTEMDRIVE%\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Chicken Systems\Translator 6\Playback

Vista/Win 7

%SYSTEMDRIVE%\Users\[username]\AppData\Chicken Systems\Translator 6\Playback

(note AppData may be hidden)

“Rule” Issues

While KeyRange and Velocity Ranges are supported, Keyswitching, Control Switching, and Round Robin is not supported in the Instrument Player. What is played in the Instrument Player is set in the Combo box on the upper left of the mapping area. When you switch that, you need to load the new articulation. Support will be implemented in a future version of Translator.

Sample loops, tuning, volume, panning, and many realtime parameters (although only lowpass

ltering) are supported. Playback will usually be very close to the original, although perfect

replication cannot be guaranteed.

Page 23

Auditioning Samples Translator™

Auditioning Samples

Translator™ uses the Sample View to play back samples, either single sample les (such as WAVE, AIFF, SND, and more), samples that exist within monolith Bank les (.gig, SoundFont,

others), or samples that exist on proprietary media (Akai, Emu, Ensoniq, etc.).

The Sample View can be used within the main window or undocked (detached) as

it’s own oating window.

Loops are supported, and any size le

can be played back, since it uses a disk streaming mechanism. The Sample View shows the waveform and the loop area if one exists. Sample properties are shown on the list to the right. The regular set of transport controls are shown; the Play button is what you think it is, the Back button pushes playback back 2 seconds, while the Forward button pushes it

forward 2 seconds. You can click on the

Waveform at any time while the sample is playing to reset where it plays from. Lastly, you can use the Space bar to start and stop the playback.

Regarding the colors used for the Sample View, you can use the e button below the Sample View, or go to Preferences-

Waveplayer. You can choose the color of each

facet of the view, plus the gradient of the background.

For more information, see the Sample View area of this document.

Page 24

Virtual DrivesTranslator™

Virtual Drives

You can create, read, and write Virtual Drives with Translator™. Virtual Drives are large les

you create, but within Translator™ they appear as SCSI-ATAPI Drives formatted with whatever proprietary format you want (Akai, Roland, Ensoniq, Emu, other).

Virtual Drives are the term we use for what most people call “Disk Images”. A disk image is NO MORE than a bit-for-bit copy of a physical disk or CD-ROM. Translator uses Virtual Drives in the context of dealing with proprietary disk formats. They are commonly used in two ways: reading a CD/disk or creating your own CD’s.

Reading a CD or Disk

Although it is easy to access and convert off proprietary CD’s or disks directly in Translator, it is

often easier to make a Virtual Drive of that CD/disk rst, then convert off that. Not only does

the translation go much quicker, you get a backup “for free” of that CD/disk.

You can create Virtual Drives from

existing CD/disk’s using Translator.

Just right-click on the CD/disk under

Proprietary Drives in the Container Pane, and select Create Virtual Drive. The special Write Virtual Drive dialog comes up, and you can read the disk in any numbers of ways.

Copy Entire Physical Drive: Often

the le system on the CD/disk isn’t

built to take advantage of all the space on the CD/disk. This option means that the entire disk will be read and the image will be that size no matter what.

Copy Formatted Part of Drive:

Translator reads how much space the

le system is taking and this option

means it’ll read that much space, which is often LESS than the capacity of the CD/disk. (In rare cases it’s more, if the person who

created the CD/disk didn’t do their job right. In that case, choose the rst option.

Copy Minimum Size Based on Maximum Extent of Written Data: This goes one more than

just reading the le system size. Translator reads what is the maximum extent of the data on

that disk. This means you’ll get the smallest Virtual Drive possible. This may come in handy, but we don’t recommend it because what if you want to write to the disk further, you won’t have room.

Custom: You can choose where you start reading the CD/disk and how many sectors you want

to read. This is very handy for disk repair, if the reading gives you lots of problems at the end or at the beginning of the disk.

Write Split Files: Some disks are HUGE! Emu proprietary drives get up to 18GB. You can

choose to split the images in 2GB parts.

You can also create Virtual Drives using your favorite CD-burning software. They usually have

a CD Copy feature where you can create an image on your hard drive. OSX’s Disk Utility can make images from drives too.

Page 25

Translator™Virtual Drives

Through the years we have optimized Translator’s Create Virtual Drive function rather extensively. It’s isn’t uncommon to have trouble reading CD’s, in real life they get scratched and beaten up some. Or perhaps the CD-ROM Drive you are using isn’t the greatest.

Most disk reading programs tend to encounter read errors and react by aborting the read and erasing any record of what they have already read; or if they do, they don’t continue the read and you don’t get your whole image.

Translator has special features internally to try as hard as heck to get your data; if it can’t, it’ll go on and read the whole disk, so at least you’ll wind up with a whole image. Although a purist might recoil at the thought of a imperfect image, we can deal with it. Since we are dealing with audio data, most of a CD is just audio, and most often all the critical hears are at the START of the CD.

It may be confusing how you can create an image of a disk if your computer doesn’t recognize the drive; or as some people word it “mount” the drive, or in Windows if it doesn’t have a drive letter. The truth is that your computer always recognizes the drive or disk in some manner, it

just doesn’t recognize the FILE SYSTEM on that disk. So the Mac complains, or Windows tells

you “this disk is not formatted”. What Translator and other programs do is simply create an

non-intelligent image of the disk as a le on your hard drive. It reads byte 1 off the CD/disk

and writes byte 1 on the image, byte 2 off the CD/disk and writes byte 2 on image, and so on.

This would be fairly futile, except that Translator CAN read the le systems on these images.

Creating your own CD’s

Translator can create blank Virtual Drives and format them to any proprietary format (Akai,

Emu, etc.), You then can write to them freely. Once you are done, you can burn the Virtual

Drive to a CD. This is extremely powerful to make your own compilations.

Mac only: Translator can burn your CD, right-click on the Virtual and select Burn CD... the OSX Burn CD dialog comes up and you can burn the Virtual Drive to disk.

If you are using Windows or would rather use another burning program, most CD-burning programs support writing raw data images, which is what Virtual Drives actually are. To put it into a visual picture, what you want to do is to burn the

Virtual Drive ONTO the entire CD, instead of as a le INSIDE the CD.

IMPORTANT! Check your burning software documentation, or their technical support

resources, for information on how to burn these type of les. Since we are not equipped

to support other company’s products, we are not qualied to answer any questions on how your specic burning software burns raw data images. So please don’t ask us.

Toast for Mac and Nero for Windows are good CD-burning programs. Disk Utility on Mac also can burn CD’s (it’s the same underlying calls Translator Mac uses). A common free one on Windows is CDBurnerXP (it works on XP, Vista, and 7). But again, we are just trying to help. It is not our place to assist you concerning other companies programs.

Virtual Drives are listed under the Virtual Drives category in the Container Pane. Each disk format has it’s own category (e.g. Akai, Emu, etc.) with a folder icon.

Page 26

Virutal DrivesTranslator™

You can add Virtual Drives (that is, disk images) to your Virtual Drives menu by moving those les, or creating aliases or shortcuts of those les or the folders it resides in, and putting them

into your Images folder. This is located at:

Mac /Users/[you]/Library/Application Support/Chicken Systems/Translator 6/Images

Windows XP C:\Documents and Settings\[you]\Application Data\Chicken Systems\Translator 6\Images

Windows 7 / 8 / Vista C:\Users\[you]\AppData\Roaming\Chicken Systems\Translator 6\Images

Then refresh your screen by clicking the Refresh button above the Container Pane, and your Virtual Drives menu in the Container Pane will show your Virtual Drives.

You can drag in and drag out of your Virtual Drive just like you would any other drive.

Page 27

Favorites Translator™

Favorites

Favorites are contained in a special section in

the Container Pane. It is a section you populate yourself with commonly-used folders, or folders you want quick access to.

Add a Favorite by selecting the folder or le in

the Container Pane or the Object List, rightclicking on it, and selecting Add To Favorites. Or you can add one by selecting Add To Favorites under the Operations top-level menu and choosing it from the Open dialog. Or drag a

folder/le from an external source and drop it

on the Favorites icon in the Container Pane. In all cases, it will automatically be added to the Favorites List in the Container Pane.

You can remove a Favorite by selecting the Favorite in the Container Pane and right-clicking on

it, and selecting Remove From Favorites.

You can also add les or folders to your Favorites menu by creating aliases/shortcuts of those

folders and putting them into your Favorites folder, which is located here:

Mac /Users/[you]/Library/Application Support/Chicken Systems/Translator 6/Favorites

Windows XP C:\Documents and Settings\[you]\Application Data\Chicken Systems\Translator 6\Favorites

Windows 7/Vista C:\Users\[you]\AppData\Roaming\Chicken Systems\Translator 6\Favorites

This is how the Add To Favorites works behind the scenes.

Page 28

LookupsTranslator™

Lookups

You can perform a custom search on anywhere you choose, in Translator™ they are called Lookups.

To perform a Lookup, go to View-Lookup or click Ctl/Cmd-F. This brings up the Lookup dialog.

You can choose the following:

-Where you want to search (what disks, folders, or Virtual Drives)

-What criteria you want to search for

Criteria can include the following:

Format Type Text

Sample Properties (Channels, SampleRate,

BitRate, Data Size, Amount of Samples,

etc.)

You can name your Lookups, and they are stored under the Lookups area in the Container Pane

for possible later use. Any unnamed Lookups are not saved.

Don’t confuse Lookups to the Filter text box for the Object List.

Page 29

Creating Slice Formats Translator™

Creating Slice Formats - Beat Detection

One of the very unique features of Translator is the ability to convert a single piece of audio into

a “Slice File”. Slice Files are explained below, but basically they are sample les that can played

back at slower or faster tempos without changing their pitch. The most popular examples are

Recycle, ACID les, AppleLoops, and Stylus RMX les. There are a couple other examples also.

Important Note: Translator can convert OUT of any Slice File format - Recycle, AppleLoops, etc. However, Translator CANNOT convert INTO Recycle 2 format. This is because Propellerheads, the format author, has made it encrypted so no one can write one. Absolutely all programs that read them cannot do so on their own; they use what is

called the REX Shared Library, provided by Propellerheads. This READS any Recycle le, but does not WRITE. Translator CAN convert to Recycle 1 format, but that is mono-only.

It is for this reason we recommend as little use of Recycle les on your part as possible. ACID les and AppleLoops perform the same function without encrypting their les. Recycle is popular only because of the name and “rst there” history. If you buy loop

libraries, buy or use the ACID or AppleLoop variants. As long as Propellerheads encrypts

their les, their format should be avoided if possible because they just make everyone’s

job harder. Hopefully they will change their position or including Recycle creation in the Shared Library. Until then, please sponsor the more versatile and open formats.

What Is A Slice File

A WAVE or AIFF le is simply a piece of audio data. And any “slice le”, such as a Recycle le, ACID le, AppleLoop, or Stylus RMX le, are just pieces of audio data as well.

The only difference between a regular sample le and a slice le is that a slice le has markers written in a information chunk in the le. These markers are placed strategically where transients (sharp sounds) in the le start, so a player that reads slice les knows where the

slices are. This is how a Slice File can be played back at various tempos: the player plays back a slice at the position the tempo dictates. At faster tempos, the slices fade out to make way for the next slice; at slower tempos, there is a gap between the slices. (However, some players

articially add sample data to “plug the holes”. Also, good Slice Files are originally recorded at

the slowest tempo reasonably allowed, so they never have to be played back at a slower tempo than their “unity tempo”.)

To create a Slice File, one has to “slice” the audio into slices of energy (“beats”) so the playback engine plays it back in a way that makes rhythmic sense. This requires a beat detector.

Slice editors, most notably Recycle, but also ACID itself and the AppleLoop Utility that Apple

provides, have beat detection. They do 2 things: They beat-detect a sound le, plus they can play the slice les back at different tempos. They do this with the assistance of the detected markers. Once you have what you want, then you save into a slice le, where the audio stays

constant but the markers are written

in the le. So when a slice player reads the le, the slices are the secret to it’s

capability to play them back at any tempo.

Translator 6’s Beat Detection

Translator 6 now has a Beat Detector, giving the ability to create Slice Files, for playback on slice engines like Stylus RMX or other. This can also be done in bulk,

so you can take (say) 1000 WAVE les and convert them into 1000 slice les

Page 30

+ 68 hidden pages

Chicken Systems Translator 6 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual