Pinnacle Systems Torq MixLab LE, Torq MixLab User Guide

User Guide

Torq MixLab User Guide

Chapter 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

WELCOME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

TORQ LE OV ERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Decks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Main Waveform Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Mixer

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

PFL/Headphone Cue

Browser/Database

Effect Racks

Master Module

Chapter

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

SYSTEM REQUIRE MEN TS

Windows

Mac

INSTALL ATION

Chapter

DECK S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter

WAVEFORM DISPLAY

Information Shown on Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Playback Manipulations

Chapter

SYNCHRONIZATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Automatic Tempo and Phase Detection

Phase Grid Manipulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sync Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Song Name

Artist Name

Time Elapsed

Time Remain

Overview Waveform

Play/Pause

Seek

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Cue

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

QuickCue

Deck Mode

Looping

Speed Slider

Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sync Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Nudge Buttons

Offset But tons

4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Waveform

Loop Points

Cue Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Phase Grid

Vinyl Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Hybrid Mode

CDJ Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Adjusting with the Mouse

Adjusting with Nudge Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Adjusting with Offset Buttons

Locked Sync

Momentary Sync

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6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Chapter

EXTERNAL CONT ROL

MIDI Prefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MIDI Learn

Creating a MI DI Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Clearing a MIDI Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Changing MIDI Assignment

Keyboard Learn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Assigning Buttons to Knobs or Sliders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Assigning Knobs or Sliders to Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter

7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

BROWS ER /DATABASE

Browser Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Database

File List

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Editing Fields

Artist/Song Filename Swap

Loading Songs into the Decks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sorting the List

Searching the List

Playlists

Session Playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

iPods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Drives

Audio CDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter

8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

MIXE R

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Mixer Architecture

Channels

Gain /Mute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

EQ/ Kills

PFL/Headphone Cue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Channel Volume Faders

Crossfader

Chapter

9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

PFL/HE ADPHONE C UE

Volume Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Split Button and Source Knob

Chapter 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MAST ER OUT PUT

Volume Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Level Meter and Limiter

Master Recorder

Filename . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Setting the Record Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Recording

Chapter 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

EFFE CTS

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Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Enable Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tweak Knob

Tweak Button

Built-In Effects

Phaser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Dual-Filter

Strobe

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Table of Contents

Chapter 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

PREF ERE NCE S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Audio Tab

MIDI Tab

Miscellaneous Tab

Chapter 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

About X-Session Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Controls and Connectors

Chapter 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Preset Key Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Warranty

Warranty Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Warranty Registration

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Audio Interface

Sample Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Buffer Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Auto-Detect M-Audio Devices ([On]/Of f)

Scratch Sensitivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Crossfader Curve Control

MIDI SHIFT Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MIDI Devices

Torq Engine

Cue Exclusivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Schaf fel Mode

QuickLoop Size

Search iPod with Database

Search iTunes Library with Database

Transport Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tooltips

Sync Mode

Skin

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Top Panel

Rear Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Global Key Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Windows Key Commands

Mac Key Commands

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Torq MixLab User Guide

WELCOME

ongratulations on your purchase of M-Audio’s MixLab DJ system! M-Audio is an industry-leader in professional music products for computer-based musicians

and DJs. What you hold in your hands is a piece of that heritage—a piece of the very products used daily by professionals around the world. With the MixLab DJ package, you will DJ using your collection of audio ﬁles on your computer. You can even record the results and burn them onto CD, or copy them onto a media player.

MixLab DJ is composed of two parts: the Torq LE DJ software and the M-Audio X-Session Pro DJ controller. Torq LE is a full-featured DJ application that has all the functions you’d ﬁnd on expensive DJ CD players and turntables. It plays back music at varying speeds and pitches and automatically matches tempos of songs, creating smooth transitions between tracks. You can also perform remix tricks such as looping and instant jumps to other locations in the song. Lastly, Torq LE allows you to apply effects to the music and fully control the mix of the songs.

The M-Audio X-Session Pro provides you with hands-on control over Torq LE. After plugging the X-Session Pro into one of your computer’s USB ports, Torq LE instantly recognizes it. Moving the controls on the X-Session Pro results in the corresponding on-screen controls moving in kind. This is the best way to DJ since you can perform multiple tasks at once on the controller, as opposed to controlling only one thing at a time with the mouse. If you are not familiar with the basic operation of a DJ mixer, please refer to chapter 13 for more detailed information about the individual knobs, buttons, and sliders found on X-Session Pro.

Chapter

WELCOME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

TORQ LE OV ERVIEW

Decks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Main Waveform Display

Mixer

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

PFL/Headphone Cue

Browser/Database

Effect Racks

Master Module

. . . . . . . . . 4

. . . . . . . 5

. . . . . . . . 6

. . . . . . . . . 6

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

. . . . . . . . . . . . 6

DJing is an art. As with any art, it takes practice to become proﬁcient. However, there are many features in the MixLab DJ package that will jump-start your learning process. This manual describes the features and use of the MixLab DJ system and offers insight into the art of DJing. Once you are proﬁcient with MixLab DJ, the sky’s the limit—you’ll be ready to take the step up to the tools used by the pros!

English

Torq MixLab User Guide » Chapter 1

TORQ LE OVERVIEW

orq LE is a software extrapolation and extension of tried-and-true DJ tools and techniques for your Mac OS X or Windows XP computer. Torq is not bound by the limits of hardware—it embraces the technology of today’s most

advanced audio production applications and integrates with them in a fashion that makes you part of the music. Exercising this level of control upon your collection of songs is a task that has many facets, and Torq addresses each of these with a specialized array of controls and features that are cleverly arranged and accessed throughout the user interface. This section will give you an overview of these features and how they contribute to your arsenal of digital mixing tools and techniques.

Torq MixLab User Guide » Chapter 1

Decks

DJing begins with music, so you will get to know Torq’s Decks very well. A Deck is what Torq LE uses to play back a single digital music ﬁle and is analogous to the turntable or CD player used by DJs. The Deck allows you to play a track, change its speed and its key, as well as rearrange it by looping and jumping to new locations within the song. Torq is equipped with two of these Decks—one on each side of the screen.

Main Waveform Display

One of the wonderful beneﬁts of computer technology is the ability to visualize audio. While being interesting to the eyes in their own right, waveform displays can be an invaluable tool when DJing. Torq’s user interface is dominated by two such waveforms at the top-center of the screen, one corresponding to each of the Decks. Use these scrolling waveforms to check the synchronization of tracks, locate sounds, predict breakdowns, and much more.

Mixer

It’s all in the mix, or so they say, and Torq’s Mixer delivers the goods. The Mixer takes the audio from the two Decks and gives you control over what can be heard by means of volume controls, audio equalizers, and a crossfader. Two Decks and a Mixer: the essential tools for a DJ.

Torq MixLab User Guide » Chapter 1

PFL/Headphone Cue

DJs commonly listen to a track on their headphones without letting their audience hear it. This allows them to match the tempo of the new song to the current one, along with ﬁnding the correct starting position for the song. Torq LE will allow you to monitor either Deck on headphones, and also features a stereo headphone split normally reserved for high-quality DJ mixers.

Browser/Database

There is a third ingredient to DJing, and that’s music—lots of music. To help you stay on top of your massive music collection, Torq LE features a Database for cataloging and searching tracks. It will monitor your favorite folders and allow you to create playlists for future performances.

Effect Racks

Effects are a great way for you to manipulate (or mangle) your music in unique ways to enhance your mix. Torq LE has three built-in effects that are speciﬁcally designed for DJ use: dual ﬁlter, phaser, and strobe. You can use these three effects on each Deck.

Master Module

When all is tweaked and mixed to perfection, the resultant audio is sent to the Master Output. Torq LE features an automatic output limiter that will keep your music from distorting as well as a module for recording the ﬁnal mix to a ﬁle as you play. You can then burn the results onto a CD or convert them to MP3 for podcasts.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Windows:

Minimum System Requirements

OS: Windows XP (SP2)

CPU: Pentium III 933 MHz

RAM: 256 MB

USB: One available port (for use with X-Session Pro)

Mac*:

Minimum System Requirements

Mac OS X 10.4.6

CPU: G4 1.25 GHz

RAM: 512 MB

USB: One available port (for use with X-Session Pro)

Recommended System Speciﬁcations

Laptop: Desktop

OS: Mac OS X 10.4.7 OS: Mac OS X 10.4.7

CPU: Mac/Intel Core Duo 1.83 GHz (or greater)

RAM: 1 GB RAM: 1 GB

USB: One available port (for use with X-Session Pro)

Hard drive: 7200RPM or faster Hard drive: 7200RPM or faster

Recommended System Speciﬁcations

OS: Windows XP (SP2)

CPU: Pentium IV 2 GHz (or greater)

RAM: 1 GB

USB: One available port (for use with X-Session Pro)

Hard drive: 7200RPM or faster

CPU: Dual G5 2 GHz

USB: One available port (for use with X-Session Pro)

Chapter

SYSTEM REQUIREME NTS . . . . . . 7

Windows

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Mac

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

INSTALLATION

Windows XP

Macintosh OS X

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

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* Mac G4 users are strongly advised to pre-analyze all audio ﬁles prior to use in Torq

English

Torq MixLab User Guide » Chapter 1

Torq MixLab User Guide » Chapter 2

INSTALLATION

Connect X-Session Pro ﬁrst! X-Session Pro must be connected to your computer for Torq LE to launch.

To install Torq LE on Windows XP:

1. Insert the Torq MixLab CD-ROM into your computer. The computer should automatically display an interactive install screen when the CD-ROM is inserted. If your computer fails to launch this application, you can manually start it by clicking on Start > My Computer > Torq MixLab (CDROM).

2. Select “Torq LE” from the drop-down menu and click “Install.”

To install Torq LE on Mac OS X:

1. Insert the Torq MixLab CD-ROM into your computer.

2. A CD-ROM icon will appear on your desktop once the disc is inserted into your computer. Double-click this icon to view the contents of the disc.

3. Double-click the “Open Me” icon.

4. Select “Torq LE” from the drop-down menu and click

“Install.”

3. Follow the installer’s on-screen instructions.

4. Once the Wizard has completed, click “Finish.”

5. Launch Torq by double-clicking the new link that was added to your desktop.

5. A new window will appear asking where you would like to copy the application’s ﬁles. Select a location and press “Install here.”

6. Click “Close” once the installer has completed the installation.

7. Double-click the Torq icon to launch the software.

DECKS

hen DJing, everything begins with the Decks. The Decks will play the music

will be turntables or CD players. Therefore, the Decks in Torq have been designed to emulate both turntables and CD players, as well as offering a special hybrid mode only possible with software.

Displays

Each Deck has various informational displays throughout the interface. These are mostly for relaying information to you, such as which song is playing, how long it’s been playing, and how much time is remaining.

that you’ll mix and effect using all the tools in Torq LE. Traditionally, a DJ’s decks

Chapter

DECKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Song Name . . . . . . . . . . . .

Artist Name . . . . . . . . . . . .

Time Elapsed . . . . . . . . . .

Time Remain

Overview Waveform

Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Play/Pause

Seek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Cue

QuickCue . . . . . . . . . . . .

Deck Mode . . . . . . . . . . .

Looping . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Speed Slider

Key

Sync Button

Nudge Buttons . . . . . . . . .

Offset But tons

. . . . . . . . . . 10

. . . . . . 10

. . . . . . . . . . . 10

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

. . . . . . . . . . 14

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

. . . . . . . . . . 18

. . . . . . . . . 19

Song Name

At the top of the Deck is the name of the current song. The name is taken from the song category (seen in the File List). If there is no song name listed in the File List, the name of the actual ﬁle will be shown instead.

Artist Name

Below the Song Name is the Artist Name. Like the Song Name, above, this ﬁeld will be empty if there is no entry in the Artist category of the ﬁle.

English

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Time Elapsed

This is the current location of the song, marked by the yellow Current Position Marker in the Overview Waveform Display. The Time Elapsed is expressed in hours/minutes/seconds/frames (30 fps). When the Current Position Marker is at the beginning of the song, the Time Elapsed will be 0:0:0.0.

Time Remain

This ﬁeld indicates how much time is left before the song ends. At the beginning of the song, the Time Remaining will be the same as the entire length of the song. When the Deck is playing, the Time Remaining will count down.

Note: The Overview and Scrolling Waveform displays will begin to ﬂash red when there is less than 30 seconds remaining in the song. This is to notify you that you’d better get ready with another song to play!

Overview Waveform

Each Deck includes an Overview Waveform display which shows a miniaturized version of the song’s waveform in its entirety. This display serves several purposes:

1. It allows you to see where the breaks and builds are in a song before they happen.

2. The yellow Now Line indicates your current location within the song.

3. QuickCue points (described later) will be superimposed over this waveform.

4. You can click anywhere in this waveform and playback will jump to that location.

Controls

As mentioned before, the purpose of the Deck is to play a music ﬁle, similar to how iTunes or WinAmp plays ﬁles on your computer. However, in the scope of DJing, things don’t stop there. A DJ needs to be able to control the playback of the music with greater detail, such as changing the speed and/or key of the song, looping sections of audio, and jumping to other locations within the song. This allows the DJ to match tempos of various songs during a mix, or to re-arrange the song (in essence, creating a live remix of the song). The Torq Decks accomplish these tasks using the controls described below.

Play/Pause

Songs are played and stopped by clicking the Play/Pause button. Simply load a song into the Deck and press Play/Pause to start it. Press Play/Pause again to pause the music.

Note: When you pause the music, the song will not return to the beginning—it will stay in the same location as when you stopped it. If you want to return to the beginning, use the Seek controls described below.

Seek

The Seek buttons are used to skip forward or backward through the song, allowing you to ﬁnd certain points (or beats) within the song from which you can start playing.

1. If you click brieﬂy on the Forward or Backward buttons, the music will jump only slightly in that direction.

2. If you click and hold one of these buttons, Torq will scroll through the song, going faster and faster as long as you hold the button. Scrolling will stop when you release the button.

3. To jump to either the beginning or end of the song, hold the Shift key while clicking Seek buttons.

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Cue

The Cue button will establish a primary Cue Point within a song. A Cue Point is a reference position within the track that you can jump to instantly, rather than having to seek through the track to ﬁnd it. Typically, a DJ will set the Cue Point where the beat begins in a song. It is visible (in red) within the Waveform Display. The Cue button abides by the following rules:

1. If a song is playing, pressing the Cue button will make the song jump to the Cue Point and will pause there.

2. If Cue is pressed and held again, the music will begin playing from the Cue Point. The music will stop playing when the Cue button is released and the song will jump back to the Cue Point.

3. If a song is paused in a location different from the Cue Point, pressing the Cue button will set the Cue Point to the current location.

Note: The X-Session Pro hardware controller gives you hands-on control over Torq’s Play/Pause, Seek, and Cue

buttons. This means you can access these buttons without ever having to touch your computer or use a mouse. Please see Chapter 13 for more information about X-Session Pro.

QuickCue

In addition to the primary Cue Point described above, Torq LE allows you to set up to ﬁve QuickCue Points in a song that are assigned to the QuickCue buttons below the Overview Waveform display. These buttons can then be used to quickly jump between the various QuickCue points.

< Setting QuickCues

There are a few different ways to set QuickCue Points, but all

methods deliver the same results.

1. Click the QuickCue Set button, then click one of the QuickCue

buttons. A QuickCue Point will be set at the current location (this can be done while the Deck is playing or paused). When added, the QuickCue will be visible in the Overview Waveform display.

2. Hold the Shift key while clicking one of the QuickCue buttons.

Again, the QuickCue Point will be set to the current song location, whether the Deck is playing or not. When added, the QuickCue will be visible in the Overview Waveform display.

Note: If you try to assign a QuickCue to a button that is already

set to a particular location, the old QuickCue location will be overwritten in favor of the new one.

< Playing QuickCues

Once you’ve set a couple QuickCue Points, all you have to do is click on the desired QuickCue button and

the Deck will immediately jump to this new location and begin playing. If you set your QuickCue Points at key positions within the song, you can immediately jump to different sections on-the-ﬂy, such as jumping ahead to a chorus or back to the intro.

Note: There are 10 QuickCue Points—ﬁve for each Deck. These points are mapped to the number keys

on your computer keyboard. Numbers 1-5 correspond to QuickCues 1-5 on Deck A while numbers 6-0 correspond to QuickCues 1-5 on Deck B. Pressing one of these number buttons has the same effect as clicking one of the QuickCue buttons on screen. Additionally, you can set QuickCue Points without using the mouse by holding the Shift key and pressing one of these number buttons.

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Deck Mode

In order for Torq LE to feel familiar to all types of DJs, the Decks can be operated in one of three different modes.

< Vinyl Mode

Vinyl Mode will make the Deck behave as if it was a turntable. This means:

1. Pressing Play/Pause to pause playback will cause audio to stop, just like pressing stop on a turntable.

2. Clicking and dragging on the Scrolling Waveform will have audible results, like scratching a record.

< CDJ Mode

CDJ mode will make the Deck behave as if it was a CDJ player. In use:

1. Pressing Play/Pause to pause playback will cause the Deck to stop and begin repeating a small section

of audio. The repeating section corresponds to the position where playback will resume when you press Play/Pause again.

2. While the audio is repeating, you can click and drag on the Scrolling Waveform to move the start location—

you’ll hear the repeating audio slice change as you do this.

3. Clicking and dragging on the Scrolling Waveform while the Deck is playing will not stop audio. Instead,

you’ll be able to drag left or right to offset the playback speed of the track. This will allow you to align the track against the other Deck when beat-matching.

< Hybrid Mode

Hybrid mode provides a blend of the CDJ and Vinyl control modes:

1. Pressing Play/Pause to pause playback will cause audio to stop, just like in Vinyl mode.

2. While paused, clicking and dragging on the Scrolling Waveform will have audible results, like scratching

in Vinyl mode.

3. When playback is active, clicking and dragging on the Scrolling Waveform will not stop audio. Instead,

you’ll be able to drag left or right to offset the playback speed of the track like in CDJ mode. This will allow you to align the track against the other Deck when beat-matching.

Looping

Technology is always evolving, thus DJing is always evolving. With the introduction of DJ CD players, DJs gained many new exciting capabilities that were unavailable to them when working within the conﬁnes of vinyl records. One of those features is looping, which is merely the act of repeating a section of a song.

The creative aspect of DJing suggests that a simple trick such as looping can be exploited in a variety of ways. Indeed, you can use looping to “remix” a song by changing the arrangement—extending your favorite parts of the song. You can also use looping as a “safety net” allowing the end of a song to play inﬁnitely, giving you more time to mix into the next song. Looping can also be used to isolate a section of the song, such as the breakbeat, for layering on top of other songs.

Torq LE offers you two different ways to loop audio. You can specify the start and end points of the loop manually, or you can capture loops of a speciﬁc length using the QuickLoop buttons. Furthermore, Torq will help you make the perfect loop every time by automatically matching your loop points to the tempo of the song.

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< Loop In/Out

Looping an entire song doesn’t have much beneﬁt for a DJ, so Torq allows you to move the Loop Markers by

using the Loop In and Loop Out buttons:

1. Load a song into a Deck and press Play. The song will begin to play.

2. When playback reaches the beginning of the section you want to loop, click the Loop In button. This will

place a Loop In Marker at the Current Song Location (shown as an orange marker line in the scrolling and overview waveforms) and the song will continue to play. The Loop In marker will snap to the beginning of the nearest 16th-note in the song waveform.

3. When playback reaches the end of the section you want to loop, click the Loop Out button. This will place

a Loop Out Marker at the Current Song Location, which will also snap to the nearest 16th-note. At the same time, the Loop On/Off button will automatically be activated causing playback to jump back to the Loop In Marker. The music will now loop between these two points indeﬁnitely.

4. When you’re ﬁnished looping this section of the song, you can click the Loop On/Off button to turn it off.

Now, when playback reaches the Loop Out Marker, it will simply pass it and proceed playing the rest of the song.

Note: If you reposition playback using one of the QuickCue buttons while Looping is activated, playback

will jump to the new location. Torq will then automatically place the Loop In Marker at that point and will place the Loop Out Marker in a position to maintain the same loop length in use prior to pressing the QuickCue button.

< Loop On/Off

The Loop button will indicate whether Torq is looping audio or not. Whenever this button is illuminated, Torq

will be looping something, whether triggered with one of the QuickLoop buttons or set manually with the Loop In and Loop Out buttons. Click this button to toggle looping on and off.

< QuickLoop

More often than not, a DJ will loop audio that is an even number of beats or bars. That is, they will loop a single

bar (four beats) or two bars (eight beats), or may do micro-loops of only one or two beats. Instead of having to quickly press the Loop In and Loop Out buttons to create loops of these lengths, Torq LE provides one-button access to these loops via the QuickLoop buttons.

» Using QuickLoops

The QuickLoop buttons allow you to instantly loop a section of a song by a preset length. By default, each

of the four buttons represents a different bar length; one bar, two bars, four bars, and eight bars. Simply press one of these buttons at the beginning of the section you want to loop and Torq will automatically place the Loop In and Loop Out Markers in the appropriate locations:

1. Load a song into a Deck and press play.

2. Press the QuickLoop button labeled “1.” The Loop button will be switched on and the Loop In

Marker will immediately be placed at the Current Song Location. Furthermore, the Loop Out Marker will be placed exactly one bar later and the song will begin looping a perfect bar.

3. To turn the loop OFF, click the Loop button. Playback will now proceed beyond the Loop Out

Marker.

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» QuickLoop Size Preference

As mentioned above, the default loop lengths for the four QuickLoop buttons are one bar, two bars, four

bars, and eight bars. The QuickLoop Size preference allows you to change the QuickLoop buttons to beat values instead of bar values:

1. Open the Torq LE Preferences menu and click on the Behaviors tab.

2. Click the arrow next to QuickLoop Size option and choose “Beat” from the drop-down list.

3. Click the “X” to close the Preferences window.

Now, when you use the QuickLoop buttons as described above, you’ll ﬁnd that they capture loops of

one beat, two beats, four beats, and eight beats in size.

» QuickLoop Behaviors

Along with the obvious functions stated above, the QuickLoop buttons are capable of a few other

behaviors:

You can change various loop lengths while the song is looping. For instance, if you have set a one-beat

loop, pressing the “4” button will automatically extend the Loop Out marker to make the song loop perfectly four beats.

Also, repeatedly pressing a QuickLoop button will cut the current loop length in half. For example, if you

press QuickLoop 2 to loop two bars of audio, pressing the button again will change the loop to one bar in length. Pressing it again will reduce the loop length again, this time to two beats (half a bar).

By holding the Shift key while pressing these buttons, the opposite behavior will occur: The loop will

double its length each time you press the QuickLoop button.

Speed Slider

Torq’s Decks are each equipped with a Speed Adjust slider for the purpose of beat-matching songs. This slider behaves just like the pitch adjusters found on DJ turntables and CD players. As you move this slider, the neighboring ADJ display will show how much the song’s speed is being altered (expressed as a percent where 0% is the original speed of the song).

For those not familiar with these controls, your ﬁrst impression may be that the slider is working backward since the speed of the song will increase as you move the slider down on screen. However, this is the proper behavior for pitch controls found on DJ turntables and CD players. It makes sense if you consider the following:

The pitch adjust slider on a turntable is mounted ﬂat on the surface of the turntable’s housing. Therefore, when you use the slider, you either push it away from you or pull it towards you. When a song is going too fast, you push the slider away from yourself, just as if you put out your hand in a “slow down” motion. If you need the song to go faster, you pull the slider toward you, similar to how you would gesture towards yourself if you wanted someone to move quickly. After a few hours of practice, this “backward” response will feel natural.

Note: You can adjust the Speed Slider in Torq by moving the Pitch slider found on the X-Session Pro hardware controller. Please see chapter 13 to learn more about X-Session Pro.

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< Slider Range

By default, the range of the Speed Adjuster is +/- 8%. That means that if you move the slider to either of its

extremes, you’ll only get an 8% change in the speed of the song. To the left of the Speed Adjuster is a display showing the current range setting for the slider:

You can change the range of the Speed Adjuster by clicking on this range display. Each time you click, the

range will advance to the next highest setting. The order is: 8%, 10% , 20%, then 50% . When you click the display again, the range will “wrap around” back to 8% . You’ll only need to increase the range when you’re trying to match two songs with very different tempos, or when you want to perform an extreme speed change as a special effect.

Most experienced DJs will simply match the tempos of two songs by hand using the Speed Adjust slider, which

is a perfectly acceptable method of matching songs (indeed, this is the way it’s been done for decades). Since it requires a lot of practice to hear when one song is playing faster or slower than another, those new to DJing will beneﬁt from some of the extra features built into Torq LE. Such features include automatic beat detection, BPM displays, scrolling waveform displays, and automatic synchronization.

< BPM Display

Tempo is a measurement of the speed of a

song and is normally expressed as Beats Per Minute (BPM). As the BPM increases, the speed of the song increases. In order for two songs to be mixed together with their beats aligned, the two songs will need to be playing at the same tempo. This is why Torq’s Decks are equipped with Speed Sliders. In the event the DJ is trying to mix two songs with different tempos (which happens more often than not), he will need to use the Speed Sliders to match the tempo of the new song to the tempo of the current song.

» Automatic BPM Detection

Any time you load a new track into a

Deck, Torq will analyze it and attempt to determine the tempo of the song. For most dance music, Torq LE will be able to determine the tempo accurately. Once scanned, the tempo of the song will be shown in the BPM display for the Deck, which is located just to the left of the Speed Adjust slider.

The BPM shown here is a “living value”—it will change when you alter the speed of the song with the

Speed Adjuster. This is extremely helpful when trying to synchronize two songs since you’ll be able to nearly match the tempos of the two songs just by matching the BPM values shown in the displays.

» Double/Halve Button

When Torq LE incorrectly identiﬁes the tempo of a song, it will often return a result that is half the original

tempo or double the original tempo. This occurs frequently when using Drum & Bass tracks with tempos in the neighborhood of 170 BPM. Torq may think that the tempo of the song is 85 BPM, which is half the actual tempo. When this happens, you can quickly double the tempo using the Double/Halve button.

The ﬁrst time you press this button, the up arrow will light and the tempo of the current song will be

doubled. The second time you press the button, the down arrow will light and the tempo of the song will be cut in half from the original tempo. The third time you press this button, the arrows will turn off and the

tempo will revert to the originally detected tempo.

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» Manual Tempo

As mentioned above, Torq LE can determine the tempo of most dance music. Some music, however, is

too complex or not repetitive enough for Torq to detect the tempo with precision. Fortunately, you can help Torq to determine the proper tempo through a number of different methods. The appropriate method will be based on the type of tempo correction you’re trying to achieve.

» Tap Tempo

On rare occasions, Torq LE will determine an incorrect tempo that has no direct relation to the actual

tempo (not a fraction or multiple). At times like this, you’ll want to use the Tap Tempo feature to determine the tempo of the song while it plays.

1. While the song is playing, click on the BPM display with each beat that you hear.

2. The BPM display will update the BPM to reﬂect the timing of the taps you performed.

3. The more taps you provide, the more precise the calculation will become.

Note: If at any time you wish to revert back to the automatically determined tempo, hold the Shift key

while clicking on the BPM display.

» BPM Entry

If you happen to know the BPM of a song, you can manually enter it into the BPM display, thus overriding

the tempo detected by Torq.

1. Hold the Shift key and double-click on the BPM display.

2. Type in a new BPM value from your computer keyboard and press Enter.

3. The new BPM will then be set for the song.

Note: If at any time you wish to revert back to the automatically determined tempo, hold the Shift key

while clicking on the BPM display.

Key

The Key Adjust is used to raise or lower the Key of a song without changing the tempo. This is useful when attempting to match the melodies of songs in both Decks during a mix, known as key-matching. You can adjust the key of a song with the Key Adjust buttons or by dragging the up or down on the Key Display.

< Fine Tuning

1. Click and hold the mouse cursor over the Key Display number.

2. Drag the mouse up or down. The number will adjust in increments of one cent.

Note: To reset the key transposition to 0, hold down the Shift key on your computer keyboard and click on

either of the Key Adjust buttons’ Key Displays. If you have adjusted the key in ﬁner increments, the key will be reset to 0, however the fraction will remain. For example, if the key is 4.23, resetting will make it 0.23.

< Key/Speed Lock

The Decks in Torq LE have the special ability to change the playback speed of the song without changing the

pitch of the song (this is known as time-compression and time-expansion). This means you don’t have to worry about music changing pitch as you beat-match. However, if you would like to disable this feature and essentially lock the Key and Speed of the music together, turn on the Key/Tempo Lock button. With this on, the music will behave like a regular vinyl record (slowing down the music will make the music drop in pitch).

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< MIDI Slider/Knob Control

MIDI control of the Key Adjust is different from other controls in Torq. You can assign a knob or slider to the

Key Adjust, or you can assign keys on your MIDI keyboard—the behavior of the Key Adjust is dependent on your control method.

1. Make sure that your X-Session Pro has been properly installed and is conﬁgured to work with Torq LE.

Please see chapter 6 for more information about conﬁguring your X-Session Pro to control Torq.

2. Right-click (CTRL-click, Mac) on the Key Display; it will turn red indicating that it’s waiting for an

assignment.

3. Move a MIDI knob or slider on your X-Session Pro. This will automatically assign the knob or slider to the

Key Adjust.

4. The Key will be adjustable in one-semitone steps.

5. MIDI CC value 64 equals + 0 semitones. This generally means when the knob or slider of your MIDI

controller is at center position, the Key will be at 0.

< MIDI Button Control

1. Make sure that your X-Session Pro has been properly installed and is conﬁgured to work with Torq LE.

Please see chapter 6 for more information about conﬁguring your X-Session Pro to control Torq.

2. Right-click (CTRL-click, Mac) on the [+] Key Adjust button. It will turn red indicating that it’s waiting for

an assignment.

3. Press a button on your X-Session Pro to assign it to the [+] Key Adjust button.

4. Right-click (CTRL-click, Mac) on the [-] Key Adjust button. It will turn red indicating that it’s waiting for an

assignment.

5. Press a button on your X-Session Pro to assign it to the [-] Key Adjust button.

6. Now that your buttons are assigned, press the button assigned to [+]. The Key will move up one

semitone.

7. Now press both buttons simultaneously.

8. The Key Adjust will return to 0.

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< MIDI Keyboard Control

1. If you have an additional MIDI controller keyboard attached, make sure that it has been properly installed

and is conﬁgured to work with Torq LE. Please see chapter 6 for more information about conﬁguring your X-Session Pro or additional MIDI keyboards to control Torq.

2. Right-click (CTRL-click, Mac) on the Key Display. It will turn red indicating that it’s waiting for an

assignment.

3. Press a key on your MIDI keyboard. This key will automatically be assigned as the “root key” of the Torq

Key Adjust.

4. If you press a MIDI key that is 1 semitone ABOVE the root key, the Deck’s Key will be changed to +1

(semitones).

5. If you press a MIDI key that is 2 semitones BELOW the root key, the Deck’s Key will be changed to -2

(semitones).

6. The range of Key transposition is plus or minus (+/-) 12 semitones. This makes it possible to control the

Key Adjust of both Decks using a single MIDI controller keyboard, as long as the keyboard has enough keys to make up four (4) octaves.

Note: Torq LE will allow notes from the same controller and same MIDI channel to be used as long as the

root keys are at least two octaves apart.

Sync Button

The Sync button provides an automatic method of synchronizing the beat and BPM of one Deck to the other. When you engage Sync on a Deck (the Sync icon is on), it will change that Deck’s tempo to match the other Deck. Furthermore, when you press Play, Torq will align the song to the phase of the other. Essentially, the Synced Deck will be “slaved” to the other Deck (which would be the “master”).

Sync will remain active until you turn it off by clicking the Sync button again. While Sync is active, the Deck will be affected by tempo changes made to the opposite Deck. If you slow down the “master” Deck, the “slaved” Deck will also slow down in kind. If you attempt to scratch or re-align the “slaved” Deck, Torq will automatically snap it back into alignment to match the phase of the “master” Deck.

When you turn Sync off on a Deck, it will keep the tempo setting allowing the song to keep playing in time with the other Deck. However, Torq LE will no longer attempt to keep the two Decks in sync if you make changes to them. Torq will no longer snap the songs back into alignment if you move one of them, nor will Torq continue to match tempos if you change them.

Nudge Buttons

If you’re not taking advantage of Torq’s ability to keep tracks aligned using Sync, you can do it manually using the Nudge buttons. If you hear a song become ahead or behind the other, the Nudge buttons will allow you to push the song back into alignment by creating a small change to the playback speed of the song. If the song is ahead of the beat, press the right Nudge button to slow it down. You’ll see the waveforms of the two songs move in relation to each other. Release the Nudge button once the songs are aligned properly and the original playback speed will be restored.

Note: The behavior of the Nudge buttons can be reversed in the Preferences if you prefer the song to speed up when pressing the right Nudge button.

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