Teac GigaStudio 3 User Manual

TASCAM GigaStudio 3.0 User’s Manual

Copyright 2004 TEAC America, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means for any purpose other than the licensee’s personal use without the express written permission of TEAC America, Inc.

All information in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of TEAC America, Inc. The software described in this manual is provided under the terms of a Software License Agreement. The Software License Agreement species the terms and conditions of use.

TASCAM, NemeSys, GigaStudio™, GigaStudio Instrument Editor™, GigaSampler™, and GigaSampler Instrument Editor™ are trademarks of TEAC America, Inc.

All other trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of their trademark holders.

Table of Contents

System Requirements 9

GigaStudio Orchestra 3.0 9 GigaStudio Ensemble 3.0 10

GigaStudio Solo 3.0 11

Preparing Your Windows System to Install GigaStudio 3.0 13

GigaStudio 3.0 Software with Windows XP 13 Settings & Requirement 13

Additional Notes 13 Dual Boot Systems 14 DMA Mode Enabled Instructions — Windows XP 14 Removing a Previous GigaStudio Installation – Windows Method 15 Installing GigaStudio 3.0 17 Recommendations 18 Registering GigaStudio 3.0 20 Step-by-Step Review 25 Getting Help 25

Automated Systems 26 Contact TASCAM Registration Support 26 Contact TASCAM Technical Support 26 TASCAM Direct Contact Information 26

User Interface Essentials 27

Selecting Components 27 Resizing Components 28 Floating Components 29 Fader, Knob, & Slider Adjustments 30

GigaStudio 3.0 Conguration Manager 33

First Time Startup Procedure 33 Bounce To Disk 36 Synthesizer Engine Settings 37 Mixer/Disk Engine 38 Hardware 38 ReWire/Plugins 39 Convolution/Modeling 40 Trouble Shoot 40

GigaStudio 3.0 Settings 41

Starting GigaStudio 41 The GigaStudio Settings Manager 41

General Settings 41 Performance/Instrument Loading 43 QuickSound 44

Search Mode 44 Search Properties 44 Results Properties 44 Result Window’s Reset Conguration 44 QuickSound Database Properties 45

Akai Convertor 45

Tutorial 1 - Introducing QuickSound 49

Finding, Loading, & Playing Instruments 49

Finding Instruments 51 Auditioning Instrument 55 Loading Instruments 55

Playing Instruments 58

Tutorial 2 - Working With Performances 61

Custom Default Performance 61 Performance Load/Reset Options 63 Stacking Instruments 65 Linking Ports 67 Step-by-Step Review 67

Tutorial 3 - Routing Audio in the DSP Station 69

Inputs & Groups 69 Aux Busses 74 Groups 78 Step-by-Step Review 78

Tutorial 4 - ReWiring GigaStudio 81

Conguring GigaStudio for ReWire 81 Conguring Multiple Rewire Output Channels 83 Rendering ReWire Tracks to Audio Files 84 How to ReWire GigaStudio 3.0 with Live 2 or Live 3 85 How to ReWire GigaStudio 3.0 with Acid 4.0 85 How To ReWire GigaStudio with Cubase SX 86 How To ReWire GigaStudio 3.0 with Nuendo 87 How To ReWire GigaStudio 3.0 with Pro Tools 88 How To ReWire GigaStudio 3.0 with Sonar 90

Tutorial 5 - QuickEdit 93

Making QuickEdits 98 Step-by-Step Review 100

Tutorial 6 - MIDI Control 101

About MIDI Control 101 MIDI Mixer: Both Control & Controller 101 DSP Station 102 Step-by-Step Review 107

Tutorial 7 - Intelligent MIDI 109

Adding, Initializing and Editing iMIDI Rules 110 iMIDI Rule Usage 111 Transpose Keyboard 111 Filter MIDI 111 Legato Mode Rule 114

Examples 114 Legato Mode Control Panel 116

Saving the Settings 117 Mapping & Creating a Legato Mode Instrument 118

Pattern Alternator 121

Playing & Editing the Patterns 121 Opening the Pattern Alternator window 121

Controller Trigger 128 Release Trigger with Tracking 131 The Rule Builder 132

Design a Custom Filter 133

Add New Filter 134 Modify Existing Filter 134 Filter List 135 MIDI Activity Window 135

Tutorial 8 - Audio Capture Tool 137

Simple Capture Example 139 Step-By-Step Review 140

Tutorial 9 - Distributed Wave 141

Creating a Distributed Wave Instrument 143 Multi-Track Capture and Distributed Wave 145 Step-by-Step Review 146

Menus 147

File Menu 147 View Menu 149 Capture Menu 150 Help Menu 151

Tool Bars 153

Quick Launch 153

Capture 154 Audio Engine 154

Status Bar 157 MIDI Mixer 161

MIDI Port Navigation 161 Loader Channel Menu 162 Stacked Instruments 163 Control Sliders 164

QuickEdit 167

Articulation 168 Envelope Parameters 168 Envelopes 1 (amplitude) & 2 (lter) 169 Envelope 3 170 Attack (sec) 170 EG1 & 2 Modulators 171 Filter 171 LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) 176 Dimensions 177

Dimensions Overview 177 Stereo Split 177 Velocity Splits 177 Sustain Pedal 177 MIDI Controllers 177 Layers 178 Key-Switch 178 Round Robin & Random 178 Smart MIDI 178

Wave Audio View 178 Keyboard View 179

QuickSound 183

Search Field 183 Tool Bar 184 Drive and Folder Tree View 185 Instrument List View 186 Loaded Instrument View 186

Virtual Keyboard 187

Display Options 187 Application Options 187

Distributed Wave 189

Distributed Wave Instrument 189

Audition Panel 189 Keyboard Display 191 Recent Wave Captures 191 Activation Buttons 193

DSP Station Input Channels 193

Narrow/Wide Views 193 Source Input Selection 193 Mute/Solo Function 194 Pan Mode Select 194 Fader Mode (Link Status) 194 Insert Assign Slots 195 Pre Fader Mode 196 Aux Sends 196 Link Status 196 Dynamics 197 Equalizer 198

DSP Station Group Channels 203

Narrow/Wide Views 203 Activation Buttons 203 Source Input Selection 203 Mute/Solo Function 204 Pan Mode Select 204 Fader Mode (Link Status) 204 Insert Assign Slots 205 Pre Fader Mode 206 Aux Sends 206 Link Status 206 On (bypass) 206 Dynamics 207 Equalizer 208

DSP Station Aux Busses 213

Narrow/Wide Views 213 Source Input Selection 213 Insert Activation Button 213 Fader Mode (Link Status) 214 Insert Assign Slots 214

DSP Station Output Masters 217

Narrow/Wide Views 217 Source Input Selection 217

Record Arm Button 217 Fader Mode (Link Status) 218 Channel Output Selection 218 Channel Output Menu (ReWire mode) 218

NFX-1 Reverb 219 NFX-2 Chorus 229 NFX-3 Delay 239 NFX-4 EQ Contour 249 GigaPulse Pro 257 Appendix A - GigaPiano II 277

GPII Design Notes 279

Appendix B - QuickSound 283

Tips and Examples 283

Keyword searching and Tips. 283 Search Criteria 283 Word context 285 Numbers and single characters 285 Playing 286 File Types 286 AutoComplete Mode 287 How Keywords Work 287 Parentheses 288 Case Insensitive 288 Keyword Tips 288 Excluded Terms 289 Ignored Common Words 289 Control Words Ignored as Keywords 289 Rules 291

Appendix C - ReWire 293

Launching and setting up 293 MIDI via ReWire with GigaStudio 293 Recording the Audio via ReWire Channels in the Mixer Application 294 Capture to Wave not Possible in GigaStudio 3.0 ReWire Mode 294 ReWire and VST Instruments (VSTi) 294

Appendix D - Keystrokes 295

Index 297

System Requirements

GigaStudio Orchestra 3.0

Minimum required for GigaStudio to run:

Windows XP SP1 Pentium IV 1.7 GHz Processor or AMD 2100 XP 512 MB RAM Monitor Resolution 1024 x 768 Application Hard Drive Space 100MB MIDI Interface Either: GSIF compatible sound card or ReWire compatible host application

*SSE compatible processors required for GigaPulse

Recommended

Windows XP SP1 Pentium IV 2.8GHz Processor or AMD 3200 XP Processor 1GB RAM Monitor Resolution 1024 x 768 Application Hard Drive Space: 1GB Dedicated Sample Drive with many free GIGS of sample storage space: 7200RPM,

8MB Cache, 8.9 ms Seek time

MIDI Interface Either: GSIF compatible sound card or ReWire compatible host application

*SSE compatible processors required for GigaPulse

System Requirements

GigaStudio Ensemble 3.0

Minimum required for GigaStudio to run:

Windows XP SP1

Pentium III 1 GB Processor or

AMD 1500 XP

512 MB RAM

Monitor Resolution 1024 x 768

Application Hard Drive Space 100MB

MIDI Interface

Either:

GSIF compatible sound card or

ReWire compatible host application

*SSE compatible processors required for GigaPulse

Recommended

Windows XP SP1

Pentium IV 2.8GHz Processor or

AMD 3200 XP Processor

1GB RAM

Monitor Resolution 1024 x 768

Application Hard Drive Space: 1GB

Dedicated Sample Drive with many free GIGS of sample storage space: 7200RPM, 8MB Cache, 8.9 ms Seek time

MIDI Interface

Either:

GSIF compatible sound card or

ReWire compatible host application

*SSE compatible processors required for GigaPulse

System Requirements

GigaStudio Solo 3.0

Minimum required for GigaStudio to run:

Windows XP SP1 Pentium III 1 GB Processor or AMD 1500 XP 512 MB RAM Monitor Resolution 1024 x 768 Application Hard Drive Space 100MB MIDI Interface Either: GSIF compatible sound card or ReWire compatible host application

*SSE compatible processors required for GigaPulse

Recommended

Windows XP SP1 Pentium IV 1.7 GB Processor or AMD 2100 XP 1GB RAM Monitor Resolution 1024 x 768 Application Hard Drive Space: 1GB Dedicated Sample Drive with many free GIGS of sample storage space: 7200RPM,

8MB Cache, 8.9 ms Seek time

MIDI Interface Either: GSIF compatible sound card or ReWire compatible host application

*SSE compatible processors required for GigaPulse

Preparing Your Windows System to Install GigaStudio 3.0

GigaStudio 3.0 Software with Windows XP

GigaStudio 3.0 Orchestra with Windows XP Professional or Home Edition GigaStudio 3.0 Ensemble with Windows XP Professional or Home Edition GigaStudio 3.0 Solo with Windows XP Professional or Home Edition

Note: See the ReadMe.txt le for the most up to date information about system com-

patibility.

Settings & Requirements

• Each IDE drive must have DMA enabled in the “System > Control Panel”. This can be changed in the Device Manager. There are detailed instructions later in this section.

• Pentium 4 systems with HyperThreading technology must have “Intel HyperThreading” in the system BIOS disabled.

• Although not a requirement, removing or disabling startup applications, system utilities (i.e. Norton Utilities) internal and external hardware deices (i.e. tape drives, scanners, TV tuners, non-essential sound or MIDI drivers) may increase the performance of GigaStudio. Remember to keep in mind that the more you demand of GigaStudio, the more GigaStudio will demand of the system.

Additional Notes

• Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) is required. To nd out if you have Windows XP Service Pack 1, right-click on the “My Computer” icon in the Start Menu and select “Properties”. In the General section, it will read “Service Pack 1” below the listed operating system if you indeed have SP1 installed.

• To ensure compatibility, check with the manufacturer of the various system devices you plan to use, to ensure that you are using the latest software or drivers for Windows XP.

• GigaStudio 3.0 Orchestra, Ensemble, or Solo is NOT recommend for installation on systems running Windows 2000, Server 2000, 98, ME, NT, 95, or 3.1.

• Windows XP Media Center Edition has NOT been tested with GigaStudio 3.0.

• While GigaStudio 3.0 may run on Windows 2000, only Windows XP with SP1 has been fully tested and approved by Tascam.

Dual Boot Systems

If you have a PC with an operating system other than Windows XP on it, you may choose to install a compatible operating system on a separate partition or hard drive in order to use GigaStudio 3.0. If you want to use more than one operating system on the same computer hardware, you can use a program such as PartitionMagic to help create a “dual-boot” system.

DMA Mode Enabled Instructions — Windows XP

DMA mode must be enabled for all IDE drives in your system. To do this in Windows XP:

1. Right-click My Computer, located on the Desktop or in the start menu, and choose Properties

2. Select the Hardware tab

3. Click the Device Manager button

4. Locate and double-click the device for your IDE/ATA controller

5. In the IDE/ATA Controller Properties dialog, click the Advanced Settings tab

6. Under Transfer mode, select DMA Transfer mode, if available, and click OK

7. Repeat for any additional IDE/ATA drives

8. Click OK to close the Device Manager dialog

9. Close the System Control Panel

Once you have restarted follow steps 1-5 above once again to make sure “DMA” is in fact still set to enabled. If your computer is unable to keep this setting or your computer doesn’t allow the option for enabling DMA, and you are having problems running GigaStudio, you (or one of your technically-minded friends) may need to change a setting in your system BIOS (Basic Input Output System).

To access your computer’s BIOS you must restart your computer. During the initial startup your computer will tell you which key to press in order to enter the setup program. Typically repeatedly pressing either the [Delete] or [F2] key during the initial stages of the boot process will access the BIOS on “most” motherboards. Refer to your MB manual for manufacturer specic BIOS commands.Press the corresponding key during startup. You should see an “Entering Setup” message. If present, make this change to your computer’s BIOS:

Allow PCI Bus Masters = Enabled

In addition to checking the BIOS if DMA is not available, you can also check in device manager under “Hard disk controllers” and make sure that you have the IDE controller and NOT the ATA controller. If you have the ATA controller you will need to Update the hard disk controller driver to the “standard dual IDE controller”.

Removing a Previous GigaStudio Installation – Windows Method

Before installing your new GigaStudio 3.0 you will need to remove any previous version of GigaStudio from your computer. Be sure that you back up any performance les (.Gsp), articulation les (.Art), and instruments (.Gig) before proceeding. You will still be able to use any of these with GigaStudio 3.0.

Begin by placing the GigaStudio 3.0 Installation CD in your drive and allowing it to spin up and be recognized. If the GS3 autorun does not come up on its own, browse the contents of the CD and click on the Setup.exe le.

If you have not removed your previously installed version of GigaStudio, you will be prompted to do so. It is not possible to proceed any further until you have successfully removed your existing version of GigaStudio.

Consider that you may have performance (.GSP), articulation (.ART), and instrument (.GIG) les saved in the same directory as you GigaStudio installation. Although storing your les in one place is just as good as any, bear in mind that when you uninstall your existing version of GigaStudio, you will lose ALL of the data that is in that folder.

For example, you may have made some special edits to your favorite instruments and saved those as articulation les. If you have ever done this, then you know that you were prompted each time to specify a name and location for those les.

So be sure to check for any les of the types .GSP, .ART, and .GIG by checking visually with the Windows le explorer or using the Windows search tool.

Any .gsp, .art, or .gig les that show up under either of the directories C:\Program Files\Nemesys or C:\Program Files\Tascam will be removed during the un-install process.

Save the folder to a backup location, or select the les within that folder and save them to a backup location. You can then access the les at any time after you installed your new copy of GigaStudio 3.0. Do the same with each of your performances and instruments as well.

1. To uninstall your previous GigaStudio installation, begin by clicking the Windows Start button.

2. Go to the Control Panel item on your Start Menu. Double-click the Add or Remove Programs option in the list.

3. In the installed programs list, select the Tascam GigaStudio item so that it is expanded to show its details.

4. Click the Change/Remove button to remove the previous version of GigaStudio.

Windows will ask you to verify that you want to continue with the removal of the previous version of GigaStudio. When the removal process is complete, you will be prompted to restart the computer. At this point you may want to save any open les and close other any open programs. If you just want to keep working and install GigaStudio 3.0 later you can choose not to restart at this time.

Once the computer has restarted, you have successfully un-installed your previous version of GigaStudio as well as backed up your Giga-related project les. If after this process, Giga still detects a previous version installed, browse your installation disc to the “/Utilities/GigaClean.exe” le. Run this utility, restart your computer, and then install GigaStudio 3.0.

Installing GigaStudio 3.0

Begin by placing the GigaStudio 3.0 Installation CD in your drive and allowing it to spin up and be recognized. Browse the contents of the CD and click on the Setup.exe le. You may be prompted to remove a previous version of GigaStudio. Please see the preceding section on Removing a Previous Version of GigaStudio. GigaStudio 3.0 Installation welcome screen. After reading the welcome, click “next” to continue.

Select the options for GigaStudio content you would like to install at this time. Use the default drive and folder for installation, or optionally browse and select a different location. Click “next” to continue.

The content provided with Gigastudio 3.0 can be installed at this time, or you can wait to install it at another time. To install all or part of the content now, select these options and then assign the drive and folder location for the content to be installed.

Folder destination option for factory instruments:

Folder destination option for factory impulses:

Recommendations

Probably the single most important thing you can do for your system to increase performance and polyphony is to dedicate a separate physical hard drive to your sample content. It is simply not enough to create a separate audio partition on the same drive as your OS and programs. In fact, this is actually a bad idea- this makes the drive’s stylus or head work even harder, since it is simultaneously seeking application data in one partition and streaming audio data from another. A dedicated drive for your content frees up both drives to separately access the program data and the audio data.

If your motherboard has only two IDE or SATA connectors, you would normally connect the system drive to the primary connector (IDE 1 or SATA 1) and the audio drive to the secondary connector (IDE2 or SATA 2). Set each hard drive’s jumper to master. Congure your CD or DVD drive as the slave device on IDE1 or SATA1, and make sure that it is sharing the system drive connection ribbon cable and not the audio drive connection ribbon cable that your dedicated audio drive is connected to. This will insure uninterupted data ow to and from the more critical audio drive. If your motherboard has a separate IDE or SATA controller(s), your setup will be more exible as well as allowing for more physical drives.

The impulse content should ideally be placed on yet another separate drive from the .gig content, or on the system drive with the OS and programs.

Start Installation Screen

Your selections will be displayed here for you to verify that they are correct. If you happen to have made a mistake or just want to change your mind about one or both of the locations you specied, click the “Back” button. Otherwise, click the “Next” button to begin the automated installation process.

When the installer nishes, you will be prompted to restart the computer. At this point you may want to save any open les and close other any open programs.

If you just want to keep working and run GigaStudio 3.0 later you can choose not to restart at this time. You must restart the computer in order for GigaStudio 3.0 to run properly.

Once the computer has restarted you will have successfully installed GigaStudio 3.0 along with any optional content. When you run GigaStudio for the rst time, you will need to make some settings and specify some user information, as well as register the product. See Registering GigaStudio 3.0 instructions on getting through the process as painlessly as possible. See the GigaStudio Conguration Manager section for details on setting up your GigaStudio information with your sound and MIDI hardware installed on your system.

Registering GigaStudio 3.0

Before running GigaStudio, run the GigaStudio License Authorizer utility from the

Start Menu. It is located in the Tascam Program Files group.

Until you have registered your GigaStudio, the status area of the License Authorizer

will state that you need to do so.

Select the Register Product Now ... option. Once you have successfully registered your

copy of GigaStudio 3.0, you will have the option of saving a backup of your license. In the future, should it be necessary, you can easily restore your GigaStudio license from the backup location.

Fill out your personal identication information carefully. This how the Tascam product registration folks will identify you when you register and receive upgrades, additional licenses, and technical support. Your CD Key should be located in the GigaStudio

3.0 packaging. The information in the top section is required, and must complete in order for you to register. The information in the lower section is optional, but could be helpful to TASCAM in any future correspondence with our tech support and customer service departments.

Online Registration

Click “next” to continue. There are two methods by which you may register. Select either the Register at the Tascam Website option, or choose to Register Ofine. It is recom- mended that you use the Register Online option. This will require that your GigaStudio machine is connected to the internet and can receive a conrmation e-mail message.

After selecting Register Online, you will then be presented with the following screen with a set of elds in which you will place your registration key when you receive it in a conrmation e-mail message.

You should also see a web page on your screen as well. This contains a form where your information has been automatically lled into the form. Please double-check to makesure that all the required elds are lled in with the correct information. Click the Submit button at the bottom of this web page.

The status area of the registration window will show that it is waiting on you to enter your registration key. You will receive the key in an e-mail message. You can copy the entire alpha-numeric key and then paste it into the rst eld. It will automatically spread across the appropriate elds for you.

You may want to save your registration information electronically as well as a printed copy. Perhaps your GigaStudio machine is not connected to receive e-mail messages, but you have an ofce machine that is. You can click on the links in the lower portion of the registration screen to open these les:

There are two links here that will launch the le automatically for you. You can than save these to an alternate location, or print them out. Notice that they are located in your GigaStudio installation directory.

Ofine Registration

If your GigaStudio machine is not connected to the internet, or you would prefer to register from a different location where you have internet access, it is possible to register by using the Register Ofine method. When you use this process, you will have the option of saving two les, “registration.txt” and “registration.html” to a oppy disk or another removable and portable storage medium.

There are explicit intructions on this page to help you register ofine. Should you decide to register online, click the Back button and select the Register Online option.

Successful Registration

Upon entering your valid registration key, you will see a conrmation message. If not,

you will prompted to re-enter your key, making sure to enter it correctly.

The product status area of the GigaStudio License Authorizer will display the current

status of your license.

Backup License

As soon as you have successfully registered GigaStudio, you will then have the opor-

tunity to back up your license to a location you specify. The default location is a directory created by the licensing manager at c:\g3LicenseBackup.

If you do not wish to back up your license (not recommended) you can de-select the check box in the back up options section of the conrmation screen.

When you have chosen a location, by clicking the browse button, or using the default location, you will see a message that you have backed up your GigaStudio 3 license with the location shown as a le path.

Step-by-Step Review

Removing a Previous Installation

1. Be sure that you back up any performance les (.Gsp), articulation les (.Art), and instruments (.Gig) before proceeding.

2. Use the Windows Control Panel Add/Remove Programs to completely remove the previous GigaStudio installation from your computer.

3. Restart the computer. You are now ready to begin installation of GigaStudio 3.0.

Installing GigaStudio 3.0

1. Place the GigaStudio 3.0 CD in your drive. If the installation wizard does not start automatically, browse the CD contents and select the “Setup” le to begin the installation.

2. Select the drive and folder location for GigaStudio. The default location will be your system drive. This should be ne for most users.

3. Select the drive and folder location for your .gig content. This should be a separate drive from the system drive containing your OS and programs.

4. Select the drive and folder for your impulse content. This should be on a separate drive from your .gig content. Use your system drive if you do not have a third drive available for impulse data.

Registering GigaStudio 3.0

1. There are two methods by in which you may register. Select either the automatic method at the Tascam website, or choose to register ofine.

2. Fill out your personal identication information carefully. This how the Tascam product registration folks will identify you should you need to contact them for support by phone, fax, or e-mail.

4. If you are connected to the internet and elected to register automatically, you will get a conrmation screen with a links to a text and HTML le containing all your registration data. Save this le to the location you specify for future reference.

5. If registering ofine, your information will be in the text le you saved to your registration backup location. You can print this page for faxing and keep a copy on le with your GigaStudio purchase and license records.

Getting Help

Always have your CD Key available in order to identify yourself as a registered Gigatudio 3.0 user. Have your printed or electronic copy of your registration information handy as well. This will be greatly appreciated by the ne registration folks at TASCAM and will help them register your GigaStudio 3.0 more efciently.

Automated Systems, Registration, Technical Support

http://www.tascamgiga.com

TASCAM International Direct Contact Information

http://www.tascamgiga.com [check for your local tech support ofce location]

You will nd contact information for all departments as well as phone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail addresses, and mailing addresses for your local TASCAM customer service representatives.

User Interface Essentials

The user interface has many user-denable features enabling you to customize the look and feel of GigaStudio. This design has been optimized for maximum user exibility and workow. While it would be impossible to create a one-size-ts-all interface design, research and end-user requests have greatly inuenced the way the program can be individually customized.

It will be well worth your while to become familiar with the user-denable aspects of the program. As it is with any set of tools, you will nd ways to do the same thing differently, new ways of doing the same thing, and better ways to do things. As your experience increases and your expertise evolves you will be able to rene the look and feel of GigaStudio as you see t.

GigaStudio is made up of many components that can be resized, selected, hidden, and further congured and manipulated in a number of ways.

Selecting Components

At the bottom of the MIDI Mixer Port window are tabs for each of the available Ports. Click on the tab to view the 16 MIDI channels of the selected MIDI Port.

You may also use the keystroke Alt + n where n is the number of the MIDI Port you wish to select. For example Alt + 3 would select the Port 3 view and bring its 16 channel display to the front. For a comprehensive list of keystrokes see the Keystroke Appendix.

The tool bar can be used to select components as well. To switch to the DSP Station view select the button on the tool bar and the DSP Station will be displayed in place of the MIDI Mixer. Note that the tooltip text tells you what the icon button does, when

you hold your mouse cursor over the button.

To bring back the MIDI Mixer, click the MIDI Mixer tool bar icon and the last state of the MIDI Mixer Port 3 view will be displayed in place of the DSP Station.

Using these tool bar buttons it is possible to toggle between the two component

views very quickly.

Resizing Components

Place the mouse cursor over the border between the MIDI Mixer Ports and the QuickSound Loader and it will change to up/down arrows. Click and drag to move the dividing line so that one view increases in size while the other diminishes.

The overall size of a component can be adjusted by placing the cursor over any of its corners. When the cursor becomes a diagonal two-headed arrow, click and drag the component to increase or decrease its size.

Floating Components

It is now possible to “oat” components such as the QuickSound Loader, Virtual Keyboard, DSP Station, and MIDI Mixer. Simply grab a component along its left-hand edge and drag it away from where it is docked and the component will now oat above the rest of the user interface. To oat the DSP Station, select the View Menu option “DSP Station in separate pane”.

For an example, grab the left-hand edge of the Virtual Keyboard display at the bottom of the interface window and drag it away toward the center of the screen.

The Virtual Keyboard component itself can now be resized and placed where it is most useful.

To move a oating object around the screen, grab its title bar and drag it with the mouse. When you nd a suitable place for the component, release the mouse and the object will stick in place until it is moved again or hidden from view.

Perhaps, at times, it would be most useful out of the way. There are several ways of

doing this:

Simply click on the X (standard Windows close function) in the upper right-hand corner of the Virtual Keyboard component to dismiss the component.

Alternatively, you can select the “Keyboard Pane” op-

tion in the View Menu. To recall the Virtual Keyboard,

simply click on the tool bar icon OR select the “Keyboard Pane” option again in the View Menu and it will be restored to its last location.

The same can be done for the QuickSound loader pane. Toggling this window into view only as long as you need it will free up work space. When you are done with a component, simply dismiss it to make more of your screen available for other tasks. It is only a click away whenever you need to use it again.

When using multiple monitors, it can be advantageous to oat several of the interface components and place them onto a different monitor. This can be useful for toggling the QuickSound loader on and to quickly load instruments while watching the MIDI Mixer Port view, tweaking EQ and FX on DSP Mixer inputs, ne tuning GigaPulse parameters, and toggling the Virtual Keyboard on and off to use the mouse to play or simply monitor the incoming MIDI data as the notes are triggered from your sequencer.

All the aspects of the user-dened interface components can be saved in the “Save As…” options of a saved performance. See the tutorial on working with performances and the related reference sections for more details.

If you click the Reset tool bar button in its default state, it will revert the entire GigaStudio user interface back to its power-up default state.

When you have the Reset->User Interface option selected, all the user interface components will be retained after a Reset is selected.

See about more details on the reset options in the related reference section. For more details on the individual components and their particular user interface attributes see the reference section for each component.

Fader, Knob, & Slider Adjustments

When adjusting the various control widgets in GigaStudio 3.0. click directly on the control and drag to move the cursor.

As soon as you drag to move it, the cursor will disappear enabling you to see the widget movement as well as its displayed value. To disable this behavior, simply go the GigaStudio Settings General page. Under the Visual Preference section, un-select the “Auto Hide Cursor” option.

The direction in which you drag the cursor will determine the behavior of the widget

movement:

For Knobs, click and drag the cursor:

Move cursor up to adjust knob clockwise. Move cursor down to adjust knob counter-clockwise. Move cursor right to adjust knob clockwise. Move cursor left to adjust knob counter-clockwise. Move cursor diagonally for ne adjustment.

For Faders (vertical), drag the cursor:

Up to adjust the fader upward. Down to adjust the fader downward. Diagonally left to right to make ne adjustments upward. Diagonally right to left to make ne adjustments downward.

For Sliders (horizontal), drag the cursor:

Right to adjust the slider right-ward.

Left to adjust the slider left-ward. Diagonally left to right to make ne adjustments right-ward. Diagonally right to left to make ne adjustments left-ward. Hold the [Alt] key while dragging for ne adjustment both ways.

In review, you will notice that the default behavior of the cursor is to automatically

hide while you are making adjustments to a knob, fader, or slider (widget). To disable this behavior, simply go the GigaStudio Settings General page. Under the Visual Preference section, un-select the “Auto Hide Cursor” option.

GigaStudio 3.0 Conguration Manager

Before running GigaStudio 3.0 for the rst time, it is highly recommended you open the GigaStudio Conguration Manager directly from the Windows Start Menu.

This will enable you to congure MIDI and audio hardware and software settings and will help to minimize any potential conicts with other demands already placed upon your system resources.

First Time Startup Procedure

Upon launching the Giga Conguration Manager, you will be presented with a set of comprehensive dialogs for making adjustments for making the most of your particular needs. As you become more accustomed to working in the Giga environment, you may wish to revisit this dialog and revise these settings as you continue to work with your sampled instruments.

You should rst select the Hardware tab and assign the Hardware Adapter (sound card) and MIDI Port Conguration for your Giga system.

Select Audio Hardware

Select the drop-down menu for the hardware adapter and choose the audio interface you wish to use with GigaStudio.

In this example, we have only one option to choose from. It is possible that multiple cards are installed on a given system. It will be necessary to dedicate at least one pair of audio outputs to be used by GigaStudio.

Keep in mind that you must have a GSIF supported driver for your audio hardware adapter to work with GigaStudio. Most professional sound card manufacturers have GSIF driver support for their products. If you do not have a GSIF supported sound card, you can still run GigaStudio in ReWire mode. You can only use it as an integrated sampler in your ReWire host DAW application if you are running in ReWire mode.

Sample rate and bit depth can be congured as well. It is very important that these settings remain consistent throughout all of your integrated audio programs (sequencers, audio editors, multi-track audio DAWs) and sound card settings so that resampling is not required at any step along the way to the nished master (unless desired, of course). This will also keep any sync, tuning, and timing consistent with other aspects of your project, such as video and other time-specic cues.

Select MIDI Hardware

Next, select the MIDI Port conguration. It is not necessary to enable all eight MIDI ports, but you must have at least one port enabled for external MIDI input. In this example, we have selected a virtual MIDI cable from a networked computer running a sequencer over a LAN connection.

In this dialog, we can choose from a number of software and hardware MIDI In devices. Each of the eight MIDI In Ports can be congured with a discrete “cable” for up to 128 MIDI channels. Advanced methods for utilizing MIDI resources such as port linking and stacked instruments will be covered in more detail in their respective sections. For now, simply assigning one MIDI Port will be sufcient.

Congure the Synthesizer

Next, select the Synthesizer tab. Here are settings for polyphony,

capture as well as other settings in GigaStudio 3.0.

The Polyphony Settings

Looking at the polyphony slider, we see that it is set at 160, but this is not anywhere near the maximum setting. In fact, maximum polyphony is ultimately determined by the performance and hardware capabilities of each individual system. Above the polyphony slider and slightly to the right is a setting for maximum polyphony.

The Maximum Polyphony eld can be changed to any number from 1 to well over a thousand voices. Depending on the system performance, this setting

will need to be ne tuned for the optimum setting. Click on the up and down buttons to increment by one, or click in the center handle and drag the mouse cursor up or down to rapidly increment this setting. Keep in mind, that you will need to click the Apply button for any actual changes to take place.

As more polyphony is requested, more system resources must be allocated for handling the voice streams. Some of the system memory will be allocated to these polyphonic streams and will no longer be available for loading instruments. In order to help you to gauge this allotment of memory, there is a graphic display just below the polyphony slider that dynamically tracks these memory requirements based on the amount of memory installed in the system.

The System Memory Status Display

In this example, we start with a maximum setting of up to 256 voices. On the slider we have a conservative setting of 160 out of a possible maximum of 256 simultaneous voices or streams.

The system we are working with has 512MB of memory is installed. Here we can see that our polyphony setting of 160 will require 5% (shown in green) of the installed RAM for streaming the samples. The remaining amount of RAM (shown in blue) remains available for loading instruments.

To understand this further, let’s move the polyphony slider up all the way to the dened 256 maximum.

Notice that the graphic readout has increased slightly to accommodate the demands

of additional polyphony.

The remaining memory has decreased accordingly leaving slightly less RAM available for loading instruments. A more extreme example shows how these demands make a dramatic effect on the overall system resources.

The graphic readout has increased to show that 33% of the available memory is now required to accommodate as many as 1000 simultaneous voice streams.

This readout also shows that the available memory for loading instruments has decreased accordingly.

It is not possible to allocate more than 50% of installed memory for polyphonic streaming. Therefore the theoretical limitation placed on polyphony is derived, at least in part, from the amount of physical RAM installed in the system.

Bounce To Disk

Capture bit depth is, by default, set to “Track Hardware Bit Depth”. This option will set the capture bit depth to the same as that of the audio hardware bit depth setting in the System Settings->Hardware tab discussed earlier.

This is essentially an enhanced “capture to wave” function allowing for muti-track recording of the master channel outputs of the GigaStudio 3.0 DSP Station. Here are settings for ne tuning that function.

You can select any bit depth that your audio hardware driver is capable of supporting. In this case, we can select from 16, 24, or 32 bits per sample. You should consider the proper setting to match

the other audio les in your project, as well as that of your target delivery format.

Audio capture is buffered by the system to record as many as 64 audio tracks simultaneously. Some systems may benet from additional buffering than the default 0.5 MB. This is dependant on your audio card’s total audio output stream capability.

An 8 channel audio card will be capable of 8 channel capture to wave. The buffer size setting can be increased to compensate for drop outs in the audio les captured, if you nd it is necessary.

Synthesizer Engine Settings

Adjust master attenuation and dither (if necessary).

Master Attenuation sets an attenuation on the overall output of the output master channels of the GigaStudio 3.0 DSP Station. With extreme amounts of polyphony, the levels of a mix can become saturated at the outputs. Therefore it may be necessary to apply a judicious amount of attenuation to the master outputs. You should monitor your sound card hardware mixer utility to see if you are overloading at the outputs.

Dither should only be enabled if you reducing the bit rate output to

16. Most modern professional sound cards are 24-bit and will require no dithering. If you do have dither enabled on a 24-bit sound card, the sound quality can be degraded by the unnecessary dither.

Stacked Instruments

Stacked instruments are managed by MIDI bank select. With this setting, banks can be dened as long as they are assigned a number that is greater than 127. The rst 128 (0-127) banks are reserved for normal instrument assignments.

Apply or Cancel

Click Apply or OK to accept any changes you have made, or click Cancel to dismiss or undo anything you are not sure of and you can begin again. Once you are done with the Hardware and Synthesizer tabs, you are ready to run GigaStudio for the rst time.

The other tabs of the GigaStudio Conguration Manager are covered in the remainder of this section. Please refer to them for more details as needed.

Mixer/Disk Engine

Dene the number of mixer input and group channels. You can have 32-128 mixer input channels (up to 64 stereo pairs) and 2-32 group channels (up to 16 stereo groups).

Sequencer programs that are running on the same machine as Gigastudio must share system resources. The priority setting helps to balance the computational load demands by this user denable

setting. It is best to experiment to nd the optimum setting for your particular system. A higher setting will give up some of the processing threads for the sequencer. A lower setting will give GigaStudio more processing priority. The default seting is 1 which will give GigaStudio the higher priority over your sequencer as long as the two are both running on the same machine.

Hardware

Your GSIF sound card and driver information are displayed here. Select one of the available sound cards installed in your computer.

Select any available sample rate for the GigaStudio audio

output master channels.

Select any available bit depth for the GigaStudio audio

output master channels.

Select as many output channels as you require from your GSIF sound hardware. A check mark will indicate any active channels in use by GigaStudio. Click to enable or disable outputs.

Select any available input channels as your GSIF 2 sound hardware has available. With a GSIF 2 supported audio card, you can have a live input from a microphone, guitar, or use it as an effects unit from an external mixing console.

ReWire/Plugins

Congure the number of channels, up to 64, you would

like to make available to your ReWire host application.

Dene the search path(s) for your saved effects presets. You can click on a displayed path to enable or disable it.

Dene the search path for your installed VST plugins. You can click on a displayed path to enable or disable it.

Congure your plug-ins for use with GigaStudio 3.0. This will

open a list of all installed NFX and VST plug-ins.

The Congure Plug-ins dialog is helpful for troubleshooting as well as scanning for new plug-ins and viewing their types and capabilities. Click a plug-in to highlight it in the list. Then you can view its capabilities, add it to the blocked plug-ins list, or remove a blocked plug-in. One button enables you to unblock all blocked plug-ins.

A plug-in’s Name and associated image le loca-

tion are displayed.

Type indicates Giga or VST. Pins indicates input and output conguration. This is a stereo in and 7-channel surround output plug-in.

Capabilities include “Multi-Channel” and “Requires SSE” so to take full advantage of this plug-in you should have the appropriate hardware to do so.

Convolution/Modeling

IIS conguration settings. See the electronic release notes for the latest information.

Trouble Shoot

If you should have trouble with getting GigaStudio 3.0 to run properly, there are a number of helpful options for isolating the source of the problem. See the Reference section for more details on this tab.

Startup Options

Options are available for disabling GigaStudio’s awareness of the selected options. A thorough test with each of the options enabled or diabled and in varying combinations can help to isolate the source of a given difculty. This is also helpful information for anyone who is helping you to solve a technical issue.

QuickSound Database Options

Create a log le in case you have trouble with the database updating. This feature can help you track down a corrupt or missing le.

Warning Messages

These are all enabled by default. Un-select an option to disable any warning messages. If you have no Giga compatible (GSIF) sound card installed, you may still run in ReWire mode, but you will always get a warning that you have no Giga compatible cards installed ay time you launch GigaStudio. So in this case, it would be a good idea to un-select the “No Giga Compatible Cards” warning message.

Diagnostics

It is possible to run a diagnostic utility with several levels of options and e-mail the report to Tascam tech support. The Debug mode is a sophisticated extension of the diagnostics utility recommended for advanced users only.

GigaStudio 3.0 Settings

It will be necessary to take care of some settings specic to your GigaStudio 3.0 installation. See the preceding GigaStudio Conguration Manager if you have not already done so.

Starting GigaStudio

Once you have your system settings congured, GigaStudio 3.0 can be started just as you would most any other Windows program. Go to the Start Menu, select the Tascam group, then select the GigaStudio Workstation option. Optionally, double-click the desktop shortcut icon.

The GigaStudio Settings Manager

Open the GigaStudio Settings manager from the File menu. There are several tabs devoted to different aspects of the program. Click on each tab to bring its view to the front.

General Settings

External Editor/Sequencers

There are quick launch buttons available at all times in the GigaStudio interface. If you plan to use a sequencer or wave editor on the same computer as you are running GigaStudio, dene the applications you wish to use here. Each of these will open a standard le browser window so that you can select the application’s executable le. Once you have assigned the applications, they can be launched with the click of the mouse.

The quick launch tool bar buttons provide quick and easy access to the Instrument Editor, Sequencer, and Wave Editor as dened in the general settings.

Browse to the program le location of your preferred sequencer application. It must be located on the same computer as GigaStudio.

This is set by default to launch the GigaStudio 3.0 Instrument Editor. Other third party tools may become available.

Browse to the program le location of your preferred wave editor application. It must be located on the same computer as GigaStudio.

Startup and Recovery

“Load last performance on startup” will automatically load the GigaStudio environ-

ment to the last saved state it was left in whenever Gigastudio is started.

“Load default performance on startup” will automatically load the dened default performance whenever GigaStudio is started. Here you can assign a saved performance le through a standard le browser window to be your preferred default performance.

“Load the last Window sizes and position at startup” retains the size and position of the interface elements of the last saved session.

“Always start audio engine during startup” enables the audio engine automatically whenever GigaStudio is started. This is recommended unless you are having difculties with your audio hardware when starting GigaStudio. You can then use this option as a means of troubleshooting your system at startup.

When GigaStudio is already running, you can start and stop the audio engine by clicking the tool bar icon to enable/disable it.

When the audio engine button is disabled, the state will be displayed as “stopped” with a red square in its corner. When it is again “started” (default state) the button will show a green point-

Off On

er in its corner. Stopping the audio engine temporaily can help resolve a program conict or audio driver problem.

Visual Preference

“Auto Hide Cursor” is the default state of the cursor. Whenever you adjust a widget control (knob, slider, or fader) the cursor will disappear allowing you to see the position of the widget and readout of the controller value. If you nd that you would rather not hide the cursor when making these adjustments, then disable this option.

“Lower User Interface Refresh Rate (High Polyphony mode)” reduces the resources given to the visual display so that more resources are available for processing and streaming voices by the audio engine.

The QuickSound Loader interface text and background colors can be dened with a standard color pallette selection dialog. Click the color swatch elds to assign preset or custom colors.

Reset Options

These options dene the behavior of the reset button on the main tool bar. These same options are available in the drop-down menu along side the tool bar reset button.

“Reset Instruments” will clear any instruments currently loaded into the MIDI Mixer port channel slots as well as any loaded in memory.

“Reset Mixer” will return all mixer settings to their default state.

“Reset Hardware” will clear any audio driver buffers and streams that are currently active.

“Reset User Interace (Window sizes and positions)” is like the startup option. The

main difference is that this setting is used speciaclly for a “Reset” operation while the startup is intended to be used as a “startup state”. You may wish for both to do exactly the same thing. If you would prefer not to retain the window sizes and positions on a “Reset” then you should leave this option disabled.

“Load Default performance after reset”. Use this option to load a preferred default

performance upon “Reset” whether or not you have dened this as a “startup state”.

Use combinations of reset options depending on the project and its specic needs.

Here are some examples:

• Reset only the loaded instruments while retaining all the mixer settings and win-

dow positions and sizes.

•Reset only the hardware in the case of overly stressed hardware/drivers.

•Reset the preferred default performance such as an orchestral template with a pal-

ette of instruments, mixer settings, effects, and all the window sizes and positions.

Performance/Instrument Loading

Performance

“Remember recent performance les” will dene a number from 0-16 recent perfor-

mance les in the File menu list.

“Remember recent .gig les” will dene a number from 0-16 recent instrument les

in the File menu list.

Loading from the QuickSound Window

Set the default state of a load performed form the QuickSound window with a drag-

and-drop operation.

“Load on current channel, replacing previous instrument” is the default state for a load operation. Hold down the [Ctrl] key while loading to assert stacked instrumenmode for the selected channel. As soon as the instrument is stacked to a channel the mode will revert to normal (not stacked) until the [Ctrl] key is used again during a dragand-drop load operation.

“Stack on current channel” can be set as the default state for all drag-and-drop load operations by selecting this option. While you are working in this state, hold down the [Ctrl] key to revert to a normal (non-stacked) load operation.

General MIDI Support

Dene a folder where your General MIDI library is located. This helps GigaStudio to make instrument assignments by program change numbers whenever a standard GM le is dragged to the MIDI Mixer interface. A standard le browser window is provided for this preference.

“Launch Sequencer on downloading MIDI le” will open your sequencer automati-

cally whenver a standard GM le is dragged to the MIDI Mixer interface. This feature particularly pertains to certain GM libraries for GigaStudio such as the Conexant GM500 General MIDI sample library available from TASCAM®.

QuickSound

Search Mode

Any time you perform a search in QuickSound, two things need to happen which the user must control. First is to select and highlight the local sampler, a drive, or a folder. The second thing you must do is to type in a search keyword or choose a default le extension from the drop-down list of the QuickSound search eld. The manner in which the resulting search is performed and displayed depends on these user dened settings.

In the Search Mode settings, you can choose between Recursive or Local modes for any searches performed in the QuickSound search eld. Recursive mode will include all tree-level drives, folders and le names that are within the top branch selected in the QuickSound window.

Search Properties

Select Auto Complete Existing Criteria for searches that involve .gig, *.gig, etc. This fa- cilitates searches for known le types quickly.

Select the Restore to Last Search on StartUp option to display the last search you per- formed during your last session with GigaStudio the next time you start the program.

Results Properties

To view all the instruments within the .gig les without having to manually expand each view select the Automatically Expand Gigs to show Instruments option.

Select the Show Keyword Hit Report option to display the result of the number of keyword results in a search. An example for searching with the keyword “piano” might have “<PIANO> 7 les under selected directory” displayed above the search eld.

Result Window’s Reset Conguration

Set the preferred view of the columns displayed in the QuickSound Instrument List. Select or de-select each of the columns you wish to have available. The default columns are “Name, “ Folder”, “Size”, “Type”, “Modied”, and “Usage”.

Name displays the .gig le name expandable to show all instruments contained within the .gig le.

Folder displays a folder and le path location of the instrument.

Size displays the instrument le size in kilobytes.

Type displays brief details regarding the le type such as “16 bit wave le”, “Gig le

3.o”, and “Performance”.

Modied displays the date and time the le was last edited or changed in some way. MemFootPrint displays the amount of memory required in kilobytes to load the in-

strument.

Chans is for wave les and displays “stereo” or “mono” accordingly. SampleRate is for wave les and displays its sample rate such as “44.1kHz”. Group Flag displays a dened group for the instrument. Usage displays a percentage, a bar display, as well as the number of times an instru-

ment, wave le, or performance has been loaded.

QuickSound Database Properties

Select the Monitor File Activity (default) to constantly monitor any changes made to

the system. This allows the QuickSound File Monitor to actively track all changes and update the database instantly. To disable the File Monitor, de-select this option. This may be necessary if you nd that the File Monitor is causing problems with your system while running programs other than GigStudio. You can always rebuild or update the database manually at any time. It is recommended that you do this quite often if you choose to disable the File Monitor.

Advanced Settings allows you to dene which le types, drives and folders to include

or exclude in the database rebuilding process.

As a troubleshooting option, you can select the Display File Statistics as Database is

being built in order to monitor any possible corrupt les that are causing a problem with the database building process.

To quickly restore defaults to all the le type, drive, and folder settings, click the Re-

store Defaults button.

To save a special set of dened le types, drive, and folder settings, click the Save Set-

tings button.

To rebuild the database, click the Rebuild Entire QuickSound Database Now button.

Akai Convertor

The SConv tab allows customization of GigaStudio’s Akai conversion utility, SCon-

verter. All of the conguration options on this panel are accessable from the SConverter Context Menus.

Conversion Options

Akai format les are often dual mono. When SConverter converts Akai Programs, it

can detect if mono samples are intended to be used together as a stereo pair. To create a merged stereo le select the Merge L/R Samples option.

The Akai convertor will attempt to emulate the lter settings of the imported le

when the Use Akai Filter Info option is selected.

Temporary Disk Usage

You can specify a drive and folder to be used for Akai conversions. Use the “Browse” button to bring up a folder browser dialog. When you drag/drop Akai objects to MIDI channels or the VirtualPiano, SConverter converts the S1000/S3000 CD/Partitions/ Volumes/Programs on the y into .gig or .wav les. These les are considered transient and are placed in a temporary directory. You may use the Browse button to change this directory.

NOTE: SConverter will automatically append a ‘Temp’ directory onto the end of the path shown. This ‘Temp’ directory is subject to deletion.

As the above mentioned les accumulate, you may wish to delete them. This can be done manually at any time, by selecting Clean Temp Dir from any SConverter context menu You can choose between two options for managing the temp folder:

To automatically empty the temp directory after a conversion operation, select the Empty Temp Directory When Disk is Ejected or Program Exits option.

To keep the contents of the temp directory for as long as you decide, choose the Emp- ty Temp Directory Manually (using SConvertor Context Menu) option. You can empty the directory by right-clicking the converted les and selecting the context menu option.

NOTE: You can prevent removal of les in this directory by setting their properties to ‘Read Only’. This would allow you to specify les you wish to keep while deleting all the other les from the ‘Temp’ directory.

Short cut operations

You can dene the SConvertor double-click operation to one of a list of pre-dened operations for a short cut. The default setting is for a double-click to act just as if you had performaed a single click.

An example of a time saving short cut for an operation would be “Comb2Gig-> GSEdit”. In this example the double-click performed on a multi-selection would combine the selected instruments to a .gig le and automatically open them in the GigaStudio Instrument Editor for further design and custom adjustment of parameters.

Scope of Operation

Select one option from a list of pre-dened conversion operations. You may set the above mentioned double click operations to independently for Partitions and Volumes (NonPrograms), Programs, and Items in the Batch List…or you may set them all to the same operation.

All will enable all non programs, programs, and batch conversion items to be converted in the same operation.

The NonPrograms option will convert partitions or volumes of the Akai disk to the .gig format.

The Programs option will convert only the program data of the Akai le to the .gig format.

The Batch Items option will convert only the listed instruments and programs in the

batch list.

QuickSound Tutorial 1

Finding, Loading, & Playing Instruments

Once you have completed installation, the rst thing you will want to do is to load some instruments and make some noise- or, music! Perhaps you only have a few GigaStudio instruments. You may have many. Regardless of the quantity of instruments and sample libraries you already have, we recommend you become familiar with the basics of using the QuickSound database engine and the integrated instrument loader window. Utilizing this powerful set of tools, you can quickly nd, audition, and load instruments located on any storage medium connected to your GigaStudio workstation computer.

Here is a quick overview of the procedure for nding. loading, and playing an instrument:

1. Launch GigaStudio 3.0. You will see the MIDI Mixer view for Port 1 channels 1-16. Each of these channel slots corresponds to the incoming MIDI data from your controller keyboard or sequencer program.

2. Verify MIDI activity at the MIDI status indicator. Play some notes on your keyboard or from your sequencer. You should see the incoming MIDI activity at the status bar along the bottom of the GigaStudio window.

3. Choose Local Sampler in the QuickSound browser. The drive and directory tree view shows all the hard drives and folders in the familiar branching view. Local Sampler is the top level branch of the entire view.

4. Type in GigaPiano in the search eld. You must have something in the search eld any time you wish to search, audition, and load instruments. The GigaPiano will appear in the instrument list view.

5. Double click on the GigaPiano gig le. This action is the most direct method of loading instruments to the MIDI Mixer. Note that the instrument will be loaded to the aselected MIDI channel. A selected channel will have its border highlighted. Click any port channel to select it.

6. Play your keyboard. As long as your keyboard is transmitting its MIDI data on the same channel as GigaStudio is set to receive, you should hear the GigaPiano. If you are not hearing the GigaPiano, check MIDI and audio hardware settings on your keyboard, the sound card driver properties, and the GigaStudio System Settings.

With the default view of the GigaStudio interface on startup, in the upper part of the screen you will see the Port 1, 16 MIDI channel display of the MIDI Mixer. There are multiple ports available depending on the version of GigaStudio you have. With GigaStudio Orchestra you get 8 ports each having 16 MIDI channels equaling 128 MIDI channels. For now we will concern ourselves only with the 16 MIDI channels of Port 1 (default performance view).

Let’s get familiar with the QuickSound loader window and learn to use some of the search functions. First, nd the loader window itself. In the default startup view, the loader can be found just below the MIDI Mixer Port view.

If the loader is not visible, it may be hidden. To enable (or “unhide”) the loader view, click on the toolbar button.

Refer to the User Interface Basics section to better understand how to manipulate

the look and feel of GigaStudio to your best advantage.

Finding Instruments

First of all, it is necessary to type in a search key word in the QuickSound Search eld. You must type at least two characters to activate a search of any kind. There are some basic pre-dened searches available in the drop-down menu for the search eld. To follow this tutorial, select the “*.gig” option from the menu options. If you don’t have anything typed in the QuickSearch eld, you won’t be able to load an instrument.

The search eld provides access to powerful ltering of a comprehensive database of all your instruments and any other audio data les. For now, we are asking to see all the .Gig type les available. Note that the search is always conned to the drive or folder you have highlighted in the folder tree view. You should select the “Local Sampler” for now. This will list every available .Gig le on the GigaStudio computer in the Instrument list.

In addition to the Instrument List, in the QuickSound loader window there are two other subsections. On the far left is the folder tree view.

This view shows the hierarchy of all drives and folders connected to the GigaStudio computer. This pane will only reveal directories. Files will not be visible in this pane.This view can be toggled on/off with the Drive Tree tool bar button.

Click on a drive or folder to select it and narrow your search to that selection. To expand a drive or folder, click the plus sign (+) to select any of its sub folders.

In the middle is the instrument list view. File search results show up up in this pane. Folders cannot be seen in this view.This view shows a list of all the instruments we asked to see from the search eld criteria. This view is scrollable to show more lines and columns of information about the listed .Gig instruments. Click the Instrument List tool bar button to toggle this view on/off.

On the far right is the loaded instruments view. This view shows a list of all instruments that are presently loaded in the sampler memory. This view is scrollable to show more lines and columns of information about the listed .Gig instruments. This view can be toggled on/off with the tool bar icon.

Each of the three views can be toggled on/off with the tool bar icons as long as at least one view is active. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the different view congurations available by toggling the three views on and off in

different combinations. Hiding all but one of the views creates a lot of visual space for more columns of information. Hide the drive tree view and the loaded instrument list. This leaves all the available space in the window for the instrument list.

Notice that there are several additional columns of information types now visible along the top of this view. These headers can be used to sort the instruments by clicking on them. For example, click on the “Name” header and all the instruments are listed in reverse alphanumeric order, by instrument name.

Click again to revert to forward alphanumeric order. Each of the other columns behaves in similar fashion. You can also select an arrangement of the view by right-clicking on any instrument in the list and selecting the View->Arrange Icons options from the pop-up menu.

The QuickSound loader views can also be congured to your liking by opening the QuickSound conguration dialog. Click the tool bar icon to quickly access the settings dialog. For more details see Reference->GigaStudio Settings->QuickSound.

Now try some different search eld entries. For instance, type “piano” into the search eld to view all les containing “piano” in the le name and/or a keyword named “piano” in its QuickSound le properties.

How did QuickSound know which les to display? First, it checks all le names for the keyword “piano” and then it checks the keywords in the le properties of each audio le on the system. Actually it’s already done that since building the QuickSound database. Now when you type in keywords, the database is cross referenced and the search results are displayed for you instantly.

To view a le’s keyword properties, right click on an

instrument and select the “Properties” option.

This will open a dialog with many elds for entering your own keywords. Many sample library developers provide keywords already in place. You are always free to add to and change these yourself.

In this window you can add, change, or remove keywords from the instrument properties. These changes are automatically updated when you close the properties dialog.

The real power in this option is selecting groups of instruments with a multi-selection. Right click on any instrument within the group, add a keyword, and it will be added to every instrument (perhaps hundreds or thousands of them) in the selected group. At any time in the future when you wish to nd an instrument and you know you have

added a keyword that is easy to remember and relevant to the type of sound you are looking for you will be able to recall it instantly.

Auditioning Instruments

Before loading any instrument it is possible to get a quick listen by using

the “Play Audition Sample” tool bar button.

It is possible to assign any sample within the .Gig le to an instrument’s

audition sample. Developer’s may provide a single sustained note, a short phrase, an entire ensemble demo, or a spoken guide with examples of how to use the instrument in a composition. By default, if no specic sample has been assigned, the audition button will play the rst alphanumeric named sample within the instrument.

To customize your own sample libraries, you may wish to compose your own short phrases, perhaps with or without spoken notes, to remind yourself of how you would intend to use a particular instrument. In this manner, you can create your own genrespecic examples or even journal entries tied directly to the instrument les for future reference.

Loading Instruments

While the audition sample button is helpful, to actually play a sample you must rst load it onto a MIDI port channel. To do this we will use the “Audition Mode” button.

The “Audition Mode” button has an active and inactive state. Click the

button to place it in the active state.

You rst need to select a port and channel to load an instrument. Click on

a port channel to make it the active channel. By default, Channel 1 on Port 1 is selected and any instrument that is double-clicked in the QuickSound loader will be loaded to this location.

While the “Audition Mode” button is active, any instrument that is double-clicked will be loaded to the selected port and channel. The previous instrument will be detached, but remain loaded in memory until it is unloaded. In this way, it is easy to cycle through a series of instruments at the keyboard until the you nd the one you want.

By watching the Loaded Instruments List you can revert back to previously played instruments for quick A-B comparisons as long as the instruments are still loaded.

The list can become quite large very soon, so it is a good idea to monitor this list along with the Status Bar Memory indicator at the bottom of the screen.

Once you have decided on an instrument you can unload the ones you are not using in order to free up memory for loading other instruments. To do this, right-click on any instrument in the Loaded Instruments List and select “Unload Unmapped” to remove all instruments except for the ones that are mapped to a port and channel.

See Reference section for the QuickSound Loader for more details on loading/ unloading instruments.

Alternatively, you can use the MIDI Mixer port channel drop-down list to detach an

instrument.

Use the same menu to browse the local computer, removable drive, or network to

load an instrument.

Select another channel and continue to audition and load instruments. Once you nd you have lled all 16 channels, you can switch to another port and continue auditioning and loading. You are no where near out of room for instruments. With up to eight ports available you can have up to 128 channels of instruments loaded. The only other limiting factor is the availabity of system resources. Remember to periodically unload unmapped instruments to free up your memory. By monitoring the status bar at the bottom of the screen, you can see how many resources are still available at a glance.

Toggle off the Audition Mode button to load instruments on other channels. When Audition Mode is off, each subsequent double-click will load an instrument to the next available port channel.

It is also possible to drag-and-drop an instrument directly to a port channel from either the Instrument List or the Loaded Instrument List. Simply drag the instrument and drop it on the port channel loader pane.

Each of these methods is effective and some situations will call for different methods to be used. Your experience and work habits will ultimately dictate how you choose to load instruments.

Playing Instruments

There are three ways to play a loaded instrument.

1. Set your MIDI controller keyboard to channel 1 and connect a keyboard/sequencer

to the GigaStudio computer via the MIDI interface congured for MIDI port 1.

2. Your keyboard/sequencer may be set to use a port other than 1 and a MIDI channel other than 1. In this case you should select the corresponding port and channel in GigaStudio so that this selection will have the focus of the QuickSound Loader. For example, enable audition mode, select port 6 channel 3, and each subsequent load by double-click will be placed at port 6 – channel 3. To audition and load on another channel simply click on another port channel.

3. Use the GigaStudio Virtual Keyboard display. First select a port and channel with the instrument loaded and play the Virtual Keyboard with your mouse.

See more about the behavior and control of this keyboard at Reference->Virtual Key-

board.

While you are playing a controller keyboard or sequencer, there are three visual indi-

cators to monitor the incoming MIDI.

On the status bar, the MIDI port activity monitor changes from green to red upon

receiving MIDI messages.

The MIDI Mixer port channel velocity meter lights up to reect the velocity of the incoming note-on messages. The level indicator will remain active until a note-off message is received.

The corresponding keys on the Virtual Keyboard change color for the duration of a

note-on and revert to normal after a note-off is received.

Now that you have become an expert at nding, loading, and playing instruments, you will want to save the various combinations, or palettes, of instruments as a GigaStudio Performance le (.GSP). Learn all about performances in Tutorial 2 – “Creating & Working With Performances”.

Tutorial 2

Creating & Working With Performances

A performance (.GSP) le contains no audio data, no MIDI data, and no pictures of your signicant other. What good is it then? Basically, it contains a map of every instrument loaded, every knob, fader, and slider setting, every audio effect (NFX & VST), and GigaPulse plug-in setting, as well as the size and arrangement of the various graphical components as they are displayed on your monitor(s). All this can be instantly recalled with a single tiny little performance (.GSP) le.

There are two main ways to create a new performance le:

Start with a blank new performance. New performances have a default

state with all the factory default performance settings.

All the instrument loader slots are empty and the faders are all at nominal settings, with no FX loaded. Essentially you have a blank slate. Using the skills you learned in the QuickSound tutorial you gradually build up a number of instruments, tweak the various settings, and add some plug-in processing. The sum total of all the particular settings you have made are then saved with the performance.

An alternative method of creating a performance is to open an existing performance le, change it to suit a special need. Then do a “Save As..” to create an additional performance with a new and unique name.

In this manner you can have several performances derived from the same basic template of loaded instruments, mixer settings, tweaks, and plug-ins, but each tailored to a specic application. Using this approach it is possible to have a skeletal rhythm section saved as BasicRhythm.GSP or My Drums.GSP and tailor each performance derived from this to have different additional rhythm and lead instruments.

Be aware that performance les are tiny, like MIDI les, in that they contain only pointer data for the various parameters and a map of the loaded instrument locations, not the instruments themselves. Therefore making a multitude of variations of a huge performance is going to take very little hard drive space.

Custom Default Performance

Any performance environment can be made to be the “Default Performance”. There is probably a way you would like to dene your own version of a clean slate as being somewhat different from the way the factory default .GSP is congured. After working with GigaStudio performances for a while you may nd yourself always loading up a particular performance when staring a new project. This would be a good reason to set it up as your default performance. There are two very simple ways to do this:

One way is to use the le menu option to “Save settings as default performance”. As you build and experiment with your settings you can update your default state by selecting this option from time to time.

When you are presented with the le browser dialog check the “Save as default performance” box in the “Customize the performance Save” area of the dialog.

The other method is to use the le menu option to “Save As..” to open the dialog for more available options.

You can congure the “Reset” tool bar button to load the default performance upon reset. Take note that you can further customize the default performance settings by selecting the “Use customize performance” option on the “Save As..” dialog. There are many options available such as how to

handle instruments, mixer, port and channel assignments, as well as the look and feel of the graphical components of the interface.

In this tutorial, we will only cover a few of these options in order to explain the over-

all concept of loading multiple performances together. See the Reference->Save As.. sec- tion for more details on every possible option available here.

Performance Load/Reset Options

A very powerful new feature with regard to performances is the ability to load more than one performance at a time. This new feature for GigaStudio 3.0 is called an Instrument Performance (.GSI) le. This is different from a normal session performance (.GSP) which includes all the settings for the entire GigaStudio environment including the mixer, window sizes and positions, effects routing , as well as any included instruments. The Instrument Performance le (.GSI) enables you to save the applicable environment for the instrument(s) saved in a .GSI. For example, you can create a drums only performance with multiple channels of individual drum and percussion instruments along with mixer, EQ, dynamics, and plug-in settings and save it as one performance (My Drums.gsi).

The drums .GSI includes a stacked instrument. We will get to details about this powerful new feature later. For now, we have already created a stacked drum set made up of individual instruments and saved it as a .GSI.

When creating a Instrument Performance you will need to specify that it have certain properties upon saving if you want to be able to load it with another performance. The default behavior for all GigaStudio Performances (.GSP) is that the sampler is reset upon loading a new session performance (.GSP). This would mean that all loaded instruments and all the associated settings would be unloaded and replaced by the instruments in the newly loaded performance (.GSP). Fortunately, now there is a way to override this default behavior. The way to do it is to use the “Save As…” dialog and select the Instrument Performance (.GSI) option.

Select the Instrument Performance (*.gsi) option from the Files of Type drop-down menu.

For example, if a performance is built on port 3 channels 7-10, the .GSI can be mounted to port 6 channels 2-5 (or any other port channel, provided there are enough contiguous channel slots available). In the example that follows, we will create separate .GSIs which will be automatically saved with the “Reset sampler…” and “Preserve the Port and Channel..” options turned off to demonstrate the construction of a complete performance session (.GSP).

You can separately create a rhythm section performance containing bass, guitar, or-

gan, and piano (My Rhythm.gsi).

Then create another .GSI with a horn section including trumpets, saxes, and trom-

bones (My Horns.gsi).

When properly congured, these .GSP les can be mixed and matched by dragging them to any port channel in the MIDI Mixer to create a compound performance le. This can then be saved as a new performance if you nd it useful it and would like to keep it around. You can then load a single .GSP le to load all these instruments and settings.

To see how this works, we can combine two performances that we built and saved with custom options. Here is what the MIDI Mixer port window looks like when we rst load the My Drums.gsi to channel 1 and then load the My Horns.gsi to channel 5.

This example is shown using only one MIDI port and its channels. You can mix and match instruments and performance les on up to 8 ports of 16 channels each for a total of 128 MIDI channels. Utilizing stacking and linking, even more load congurations are possible.

Stacking Instruments

In the previous example we used a stacked instrument, composed of multiple drum instrument les. This is easily done in the MIDI Mixer using the QuickSound Stack Mode tool bar button.

While Stack Mode is active in the QuickSound window, any instrument that is double-clicked or any of the other load methods will be placed onto the selected MIDI port channel. The rst instrument loaded to the channel will appear as a normally loaded instrument.

Any subsequent instrument that is loaded, while in Stack Mode, will cause the channel slot to expand into a series of sub-channels which appear as gray colored slots, while the original channel slot becomes designated the channel Master. The channel Master remains the normal purplish-blue color.

There is no limit to how many instruments you can stack on a single MIDI channel, excepting the limit of available system resources. Keep an eye on the status bar at the bottom of the screen to monitor available resources at a glance. At the top of the next page is an example of six drum instruments stacked onto channel 1.

There are several benets to stacking instruments. In the example stacked drum set, we can mute or solo the entire drum set by toggling the channel 1 “Stacked Instrument – 0”. This acts as a master channel. We can mute or solo individual instruments by toggling the individual sub-channel of the stack. Each of the volume sliders can be set for a submix and the overall level controlled by the channel master volume slider.

Each sub-channel can be muted, soloed, and opened in QuickEdit. If the instrument has an embedded NFX, the edit screen can be opened with the FX button. Like any normal port channel, its volume, among other controllers, can be sub-mixed with the slider controls. In addition each sub-channel can be routed to its own DSP Station (audio mixer) channels for discrete FX processing.

To free up more space on the screen, hide the stacked instrument sub-channels by clicking the channel master slot on the arrow at the far left. Click it again to expand out the view.

Linking Ports

Another method of quickly combining instruments is to use the port linking mode. When one port is linked to one or more additional ports the incoming MIDI data is duplicated on each linked port. It has the equivalent function of a traditional hardware MIDI thru box.

The MIDI Port Status bar can be found along the bottom of the GigaStudio interface. The dim green color of the ports indicates they are unlinked.

Click on the port boxes to toggle the link status of the individual ports. They will turn

a bright green color when linked.

Additional ports must be linked to Port 1. Keep this in mind when you are planning on using linked ports in a project. You should compose on a port other than port 1 to avoid having to link its channels by default. Any other combination of linked ports is possible. With the Port Link Mode active, all 16 MIDI channels of the incoming MIDI at port 1 is duplicated (MIDI thru) at each of the linked ports. For example, a sequencer track can be playing a melody at Port 1 channel 3 on a ute. You can layer this ute melody with a viola on port 3 channel 3 and a Spanish guitar on port 4 channel 3. Any MIDI received on port 1 will be sent to the corresponding channels of each of the linked ports. If no instruments are loaded, MIDI messages will be ignored.

Any un-linked ports will receive incoming MIDI in normal mode. In the above example with 5 ports linked, the remaining ports 2, 6, and 8 will not receive the MIDI thru from any of the other port channels. So any composing you do with instruments loaded on these port channels will not be linked to the port 1 channels, nor any of the other linked ports. With up to eight MIDI ports, this makes for a very exible setup in which to use a combination of channel stacking and port linking in very creative ways.

Step-by-Step Review

1. Create a new performance by clicking the toolbar shortcut button.

2. Load instruments and make mix adjustments.

3. “Save As...” and select Instrument Performance (*.gsi) and give the le a name.

4. Create another new performance by clicking the toolbar shortcut button. If you

have not saved the currently loaded performance, you will be prompted to do so.

5. Load some different instruments and make mix adjustments for them.

6. “Save As...” and select Instrument Performance (*.gsi) and give the le a name.

You now have two distinct instrument performance les which can be loaded with

other instrument performance les.

7. Load the rst .GSI you created to any port channel you choose. Select the port and channel by clicking on it to highlight it. You can search in the QuickSound browser for les with .GSI extension or by a keyword in the le name. Drag the le from the QuickSound instrument list to its destination port and channel.

8. Load the second .GSI you created to any available port channel. Once the two instrument performances are loaded, you can make further adjustments and add additional instruments and effects to your GigaStudio Performance session (.GSP).

9. “Save As...” the entire environment as a .GSP by saving the le with the default GigaStudio Performance (*.GSP) as the selected le type.

You now have three separate elements available for future sessions with GigaStudio. Working in this way, you can create many useful building blocks for putting together performances quickly. Best of all, since you designed them, these elements have all been customized for the way you like to work.

Tutorial 3 - Routing Audio in the DSP Station

The GigaStudio DSP Station provides extensive mixing, routing, and processing for audio output of all your Giga content. With GSIF 2, any external audio routed to the sound card inputs can be processed in the same way. To switch to the DSP Station view click the DSP Station tool bar button:

The keystroke for toggling the DSP Station view is [Alt]+[D]. For a complete list of all keystrokes see the Appendix – Keystrokes.

The basic look and feel of the DSP Station has been designed and modeled to work like a traditional studio mixing console. There are many enhancements as well, including channel strip dynamics and EQ, along with MIDI control and user-dened behavior of each channel strip.

The DSP Station has four main signal routing sections separated by different views. The Inputs, Groups, Aux Returns, and Output Masters are tab-selectable at the bottom of the DSP Station window.

Inputs & Groups

The number of DSP Station inputs is also user denable from 2-128, where the default is 32 inputs. You can dene the number of inputs in the System Settings->Mixer/Disk Engine tab found in the File Menu or in the Start Menu by opening the Giga Conguration Manager.

The DSP Station mixer inputs section is where all the audio sources are placed. By default, the 16 MIDI Mixer channels of each port are routed to the rst 32 DSP Station inputs. This routing is user denable on each MIDI Mixer channel pane.

Load an instrument on MIDI port 1 channel 1 and switch to the DSP Station Inputs view. By default, this instrument’s audio is routed to the DSP Station Input channel pair 1, 2 as indicated at far right end of the MIDI Mixer port channel slot.

Switch to the DSP Station view of the mixer input channel strips are in their minimized state, or Narrow view.

Each of the channel strips is functionally identical for Inputs and Groups. Once you understand the functions of one channel strip, you will understand the majority of the functions of the DSP Station mixing and routing.

The two main points for routing are at the top and the bottom of each DSP Station channel strip. At the top are the displayed channel number pairs. These are xed and cannot be changed.

The MIDI Mixer port channel slots are where this channel number pair is assigned as a source input. By default, the inputs are routed from the sampler engine (MIDI Mixer). This will be the default input assignment. If you have GSIF 2 driver supported sound card, you can select from the available audio inputs on your sound hardware.

At the bottom of each channel strip is the user-denable output routing for the

channel strip pair.

Here, it is possible to route the audio directly to any of the available Output Master channel pairs (default 1,2) or to one of the available Group inputs. The number of Output Master channels is dependent on how many audio outputs your hardware can support as well as which of those outputs have been designated for use by the GigaStudio Conguration Manager-> System Settings->Hardware tab.

The number of available groups is dened on the same Mixer/Disk Engine tab where you dene the number of Mixer Input pairs.

The Groups serve the same functions as the Input channels, except that multiple channel pair outputs can be routed to the same Group channel pair. This provides a dedicated channel pair for control, or a sub-mix, of multiple instruments routed to a Group channel pair.

Each of the Group channel pair outputs are then routed directly to the selected Output Masters. Here are four input channel pairs routed to Group1,2 (G1:2) which are then routed to Output Masters 1,2 (H1:2)

To maximize a channel strip to Wide view, click on the top where the

channel strip numbers are, for example 1,2 on the rst channel strip.

This reveals the Wide Channel view for the selected strip.

More than one strip can be in Wide Channel view at one time, but it is best to keep most of them in Narrow view to maximize screen space for the task at hand. The Wide view is about as wide as eight Narrow view channel strips.

While in Wide view, you can assign Inserts by clicking on an Insert slot. Select and effect to patch directly to the input channel pair.

Utilize any of the eight available Aux busses by assigning an effect to an Aux Buss and then control the level of signal pre or post-fader.

Each send can be turned on/off using the ON button for each Aux Send. ON shows as bright green, OFF shows as grey.

The level of effected signal returned to the Output Masters is controlled by the Aux Return channel pairs.

You can also tweak Dynamics and EQ settings. There is dynamic compression and limiting as well as up to four instances of six types of EQ on every Input and Group channel.

At the bottom of the channel strip just above the channel output assignment is the name eld for the channel strip.

To enter text, click on this eld and type a name of your choosing, and hit the “Enter” key.

The input channel name will then be saved with the performance (.GSP) environment.

Go ahead and assign an Insert effect. Notice there are two columns of four slots for different effects. A stereo effect should only be inserted on a left insert since it will require both left and right channels. The default state of each slot is blank, indicating no insert assignment is active. Click on the top left insert slot to call up the insert assignment dropdown menu.

To assign a Native Plug-in (NFX), select that sub-menu and choose an available plugin from the list.

When you select an NFX, this will launch the plug-in interface for you to make adjustments to.

Use the “Bypass” and A-B buttons at the top of the NFX plug-in window to listen to comparative edits as well as the unaffected signal.

You can dismiss the NFX interface by clicking the X in the upper right of its window. It will remain loaded but hidden from view.

To recall and edit the NFX interface, click on the slot where

the insert is loaded and select the Edit button on the Inserts section of the channel strip.

You can bypass all the inserted effect(s) by clicking on the

INS button at the top of the channel strip. Notice that the button changes from a bright green (loaded and active) to a dim green (loaded but inactive). This button is always available with the channel strip in Narrow or Wide view.

To bypass an individual effect inserted on a channel strip,

click the BYP button for the desired effect. The channel INS button will override the state of individual effects. If the loaded effects are not bypassed, but the INS button is inactive (dim green), then the inserted effects will not be heard.

To add more inserts to the same channel, repeat the above procedure. Up to four ste-

reo inserts can be used on a single channel strip..

To remove an insert, click on the loaded slot and select the “Remove…” option from

the drop-down menu.

Aux Busses

Assigning a plug-in to an insert on a specic channel strip is often necessary to achieve a desired result. It is not very efcient if you are using a similar or even the same plug-in on several channels as inserts. To get the maximum benet from your plug-ins it would be best to use channel inserts only in special circumstances, such as a anger on a bass harmonica sample.

Use an Aux bus to handle a shared effect plug-in, such as a reverb, delay, or GigaPulse convolution model that you can apply to any number of channels routed to it through the channel strip Aux Sends.

There are eight Aux sends that each can be congured to be pre- or post-fader, depending on what the mix calls for.

Select the Aux Returns tab to view the eight Aux Buss channel strip pairs.

These have a much simpler control interface. There are four insert slots for each of the Aux Busses. Load a plug-in to an insert slot and control the level returned to the mix at its selected Output Master channel pair.

In the same way as the Input channel strips, the inserted plug-in(s) can be toggled on and off with the “INS” button at the top of the Aux Buss channel strip. The INS button has three states.

Grey = Off. No Insert effect has been assigned

Bright Green = Active. Inserted effect is sent to the Output Master.

Dim Green = Inactive. Inserted effect is not sent to the Output Master.

To control the amount of the individual level sent to the shared plug-in effect, go back to the Inputs tab and open a strip to Wide Channel view. Go to the Aux Sends section of the Wide Channel view. Every Input and Group channel has up to eight Aux Sends available. More than one, in fact many, mixer Input and/or Group channels can be handled by each of the eight Aux Busses.

We have activated Aux Sends 1-5 for routing send levels from this channel to ve different Aux Busses each having a different effect.

Here any of the eight Aux Busses can be accessed by each of the available mixer input channels. For example, we could have a reverb on Aux Buss 1, a chorus on Aux Buss 2, a stereo multi-tap delay on Aux Buss 3, a ThunderChicken FlapperWapperator VST on Aux Buss 4, and a GigaPulse modeled resonance of a railroad boxcar on Aux Buss 5. We

still have 3 Aux Busses left over to use for something else we’re sure to think of later.

For one instrument, we can apply a little reverb by turning up the Send 1 knob, and add some delay by turning up the Send 3 knob.

The level of the effected signal returned to the Output Masters is controlled by the Aux Return channel pairs.

For another instrument loaded on a different channel, we can use some of the same plug-ins, yet specify different amounts by setting the Send knobs to their own levels.

For our sampled 55 gallon oil drum, a fair amount of the FlapperWapperator can be added by turning the Send 4 knob way up, and a judicious use of just enough of the modeled boxcar resonance on Send 5 should set very nicely in the mix.

Again, the level of effected signal sent to the Aux Busses is returned at the level set by the Aux Return channel pair faders.

For an eerie show-biz effect, turn Send 1 about half way up on the oil drum and click the PRE button and turn the Input channel fader all the way down. What you will hear is none of the dry signal and only the Aux Return level sent to the Output Master channel pair from any send that is designated by the PRE button.

Creative use of Aux Buss routing and PRE fader assignment gives you a lot of control over every aspect of the mix.

Each of the sends can be toggled on and off for comparative monitoring of the mix elements.

See the Reference->DSP Station->Aux Sends for more details.

Click on the top where the channel strip numbers are displayed to toggle the chan-

nel strip back to Narrow Channel view.

Although the Narrow view hides all the Insert slots, Dynamics and EQ

controls, it is still powerful enough to do all of the following.

Select the channel input source from a loaded instrument in

the sampler or an allocated GSIF 2 audio hardware input.

Toggle the audio signal of all Insert assignments routed to the

output masters as a group. Off is muted and on is active.

Channel Insert status monitor shows how many inserts are

placed on the channel strip.

Bypass or enable the Dynamics effect for the channel.

Bypass or enable all applied bands of EQ for the channel.

Mute and un-mute an individual channel.

Toggle the Solo mode of a channel strip.

Dene the panning mode for the channel. See the Reference->DSP Station for more details.

Unlink and Link the fader mode. See the Reference->DSP Station for more details.

In addition, the name eld can be edited and the output of the channel strips can be selectively routed to a Group channel pair or to an Output Master pair.

Groups

Group channel pairs are identical to the Input channel pairs, except that their output routing goes directly to the selected Output Masters section. Simply select from the available outputs.

One method of utilizing a Group fader is to load individual drums to Input channels, use the Aux sends for processing the individual drum plug-ins, and route all the drum tracks to the same Group channel pair. The level of the entire group can be controlled at a single Group channel fader, while the individual drums in the mix can be adjusted at the Input channel faders.

The name eld for a Group channel can be edited in the same way that an Input channel can.

Groups can utilize their own Inserts, Dynamics, EQ, and Aux Sends as well as fader level and pan position controls. They have all the functions and features of the Input channel pair strips with the one exception that the output must be routed directly to an Output Master channel pair.

Step-by-Step Review

1. Load an instrument into a MIDI port channel (port 1 ,channel 1) in the GigaStudio MIDI Mixer.

2. Assign the instrument to a mixer input channel pair in the DSP Station. You may choose to use the default assignment (Port 1, channel 1 defaults to DSP station in-

put channel strip 1,2).

3. Switch to the DSP Station view [Ctrl] + [D] and locate the mixer input channels your instrument is assigned to. While playing the instrument, adjust the level of the faders. You can unlink them and adjust either left or right fader individually.

4. Expand the channel strip to wide view by clicking in the top of the channel strip. Here you can assign insert effects, EQ, compression, and route signal to aux busses.

5. By clicking the INS, DYN, EQ buttons, you can monitor and bypass any of the active DSP processes on each of the mixer channels. Remember an active processor that is bypassed will have its button displayed as a dim green color. Click the M and S buttons to mute or solo a channel strip.

6. Utilize the aux busses for shared effects to conserve computational resources. Remember that each instance of a plug-in will increase the demand on your system. Aux buss routing is a good way to make efcient use of your system resources.

7. Use the Group assignments for managing a large number of instruments in a complex mixing environment. Group channels are identical in design to the Input channels and can be used as sub-masters with their own DSP assignments.

Tutorial 4 - ReWiring GigaStudio

GigaStudio works as a ReWire synth application (slave mode) with any ReWire 2.0 host DAW such as Cubase SX, Acid, Live, Nuendo, Sonar, or Pro Tools. Currently, both applications must be run on the same computer. First of all, here is a general discussion of conguring GigaStudio and how to set up a ReWire mixer application. Following this discussion are sections devoted to specic software applications. See the Appendix on ReWire for more information about the ReWire specication and how it pertains to GigaStudio.

Conguring GigaStudio for ReWire

GigaStudio can run in either of two modes, standalone or ReWire. In standalone mode, the MIDI messages originate from an external source such as a sequencer or MIDI controller keyboard. The MIDI source is connected directly to the GigaStudio MIDI In ports. In ReWire mode, the MIDI input comes from a software connection from the ReWire host or DAW application. Think of it as a virtual MIDI connection.

In the same way, the audio outputs of the GigaStudio are routed to the ReWire inputs of the host DAW. The number of audio channels available depends on how many are congured in both the mixer application (ReWire master) and GigaStudio (ReWire slave). Up to 64 audio channels are available in GigaStudio.

There are two ways to access the ReWire set-

tings for GigaStudio:

1. While GigaStudio is running open, choose File/System Settings, then choose the Rewire/ Plugins Tab.

2. Before running GigaStuido, openthe Start/Programs/TASCAM/Conguration Man-

ager and choose the Rewire/Plugins Tab.

After setting the number of audio ReWire channels, be sure to click “Apply” or “OK” and close the Giga Conguration Manager and close GigaStudio if it is running. It is very important that you set up GigaStudio for ReWire rst before opening the host application and starting a ReWire session. Now the host application will be aware of GigaStudio as a ReWire slave program and will see that we have set the number of ReWire channels to 64.

Open the host application (audio sequencer) and verify that the audio and MIDI connections are properly congured and everything works. Make sure your MIDI is coming in from whatever input source you are using (MIDI controller keyboard) and you are getting audio out (recorded track monitoring).

Insert at least one ReWire track in the sequencer/mixing application. The exact method on how to do this will vary among host applications. In most cases, a menu will list all available ReWire channels, allowing you to designate these to a sequencer track

or effect send/return. GigaStudio will be listed as “Giga3” in any ReWire device menu. With GigaStudio you can have up to 64 ReWire channels (32 stereo) arriving at your host’s application audio mixer..

When you insert a ReWire device, some applications have an option of launching the ReWire slave application (GigaStudio). If this is not the case, then you must launch GigaStudio manually. When GigaStudio opens this time you will notice that the status bar along the bottom of the screen shows that you are running it in ReWire mode.

GigaStudio in ReWire Mode

One very important thing has happened. GigaStudio has detected that ReWire is activated instead of using its standard audio hardware settings and the number of audio channels specied will instead be routed to the host DAW application.

Each of the channels activated in the DAW application correspond to the instruments you have routed to the output masters in the GigaStudio DSP Station. You must do all the instrument loading and signal routing in GigaStudio. For starters, load an instrument onto port 1 channel 1 and leave the routing as is. The default output channels will be ReWire 1,2 in the DSP Station.

In ReWire mode, the DSP Station Output Master channel strips are where the instruments in a GigaStudio performance are routed. These outputs are designated as ReWire outputs instead of sound hardware outputs.

In the DSP Station Inputs view, select the ReWire channels from the output selection menu for each channel strip you wish to route to the ReWire host DAW application.

It is also possible to route an input (or several inputs) to a group and then assign that group to the corresponding ReWire channels in the host DAW application.

Go back to your host app and nd the track with the “Giga3 Mix ReWire 1/ReWire 2” designation and try starting playback of the track. You should automatically hear the instrument you have loaded in GigaStudio.

Well, you just set up a basic ReWire connection. This setup will enable you to play and record MIDI tracks in your sequencer and have them play along with your audio tracks and apply mixing and processing all in the host DAW application environment.

Be sure to save both your sequencer project and your GigaStudio performance (.GSP). The ReWire connection is only a method of connectiong the two programs. A good rule to follow when saving project les is to give them the same name, date, version, or any other identiable characteristic that will help you keep your projects organized, one for

the host application (sequencer) and one for GigaStudio (performance le .GSP). Two les, exact same names, different le extensions.

Conguring Multiple Rewire Output Channels

In our example, we set up a simple stereo rewire connection between our host (sequencer) application and GigaStudio. It is possible to send additional instruments to individual rewire channels, that arrive on their own mixer channels in the host application..You can apply the plug-ins you are familiar with in your mixing app to the GigaStudio ReWire channels or use the GigaStudio NFX and VST plugins in the DSP Station’s mixer environment.

In GigaStudio, load three instruments on

channels 1, 2, and 3 in MIDI Mixer Port 1.

Route each of the instruments to their own mixer inputs. In our example, we have selected pairs 1:2, 3:4, and 5:6. These are the DSP Station Input channel assignments.

Switch to the DSP Station Inputs view and you will see that the output routing on each channel pair is set to R1:2 (default).

Click on the channel output slot to dene a new routing.

Leave the rst DSP channel pair set to ReWire 1:2, but change the next two channel routings (channel strips 3:4 and 5:6) to ReWire 3:4 and ReWire 5:6. We will not congure any additional routings for the purposes of this example, but as you can see, it is possible to congure as many ReWire channels as you have available. Up to 64 if you have designated this many in the Giga Conguration Manager / System Settings on the Rewire/Plugins tab.

Note: Only activate in your host DAW application as many ReWire audio channels as you will need for your project. this will keep the CPU demands lower, therby leaving more computational power for effects such as the GigaPulse convolution engine.

Click on the Output Masters tab to gain access to the faders for the ReWire outputs. Adjust the levels here if you need to avaoid clipping at the inputs of the host application.

In your host application (sequencer) activate a number of MIDI tracks, route the MIDI outputs to “Giga3” channels 1, 2, and 3 where you have instruments loaded in GigaStudio Port 1. The audio will be routed to “Giga3 ReWire 1/ReWire 2”, “Giga3 ReWire 3/ReWire 4”, and “Giga3 ReWire 5/ReWire 6”. You have just successfully routed 3 midi tracks from your host application (sequencer) to GigaStudio and returned the audio result from GigaStudio back to the host application’s (sequencer) audio mixer.

Rendering ReWire Tracks to Audio Files

With ReWire it is not necessary to record the output from GigaStudio to audio wave les. The host application you are using can render the GigaStudio ReWire tracks along with the rest of your projects “real world” recorded audio tracks.

By routing GigaStudio tracks individually, you can render or “bounce to disk” one instrument at a time. It may be necessary to do this so that you can temporarily shut down GigaStudio to maximize all your processing power for a complex or dense mix in your sequencer.

To do this, solo each of your returning GigaStudio rewire audio tracks with the render or “bounce to disk” option enabled and record your GigaStudio ReWire tracks. Eventually you will replace all your ReWire tracks with audio tracks. At this point, you can close GigaStudio, de-activate the ReWire channels and proceed with the mixing and processing your project within your host DAW application.

How to ReWire GigaStudio 3.0 with Live 2 or Live 3

This procedure is based on Live version 2 or 3 for Windows XP.

1. If you have not used Live yet, please be sure to run it at least once before proceeding. This is so that Live can install its ReWire engine in your system.

2. Go to Live’s In/Out View and select Giga3 as the “In Type”.

3. Enable Live’s monitoring switch.

4. Launch GigaStudio 3.0

5. Select the desired ReWire Channels in Live´s In Channel menu if you have devices in GigStudio routed to specic channels other than the DSP Station Output Master channels 1:2.

Gigastudio 3.0 is now ready to run in ReWire Slave mode, while Live is the ReWire

Master. You can record the GigaStudio ReWire input in Live as you would with any other input in Live. (For more application specic information see the recording section of the Live manual).

To successfully disconnect the ReWire connection from Live you must always quit

Gigastudio rst.

How to ReWire GigaStudio 3.0 with Acid 4.0

This procedure is based on ACID Pro version 4.0 for Windows XP. No other versions of

Acid have support for ReWire.

1. If you have not used Acid yet, please be sure to run it at least once before proceeding. This is so that Acid can install its ReWire engine in your system.

2. Go to Acid’s Insert menu and select Soft Synth. Go to the ReWire tab and select an available Giga3 ReWire device.

3. Scroll the Acid mixer window to nd the new stereo buss for the Giga3 ReWire device.

4. Launch GigaStudio 3.0.

5. Select the desired ReWire MIDI channels in Acid’s Soft Synth Properties window if you have devices in GigaStudio routed to specic channels other than the DSP Station Output Master channels 1:2.

6. Add more stereo busses in Acid’s Project Audio Properties for additional outputs routed from the GigaStudio DSP Station.

Gigastudio 3.0 is now in ReWire Slave mode, while Acid is the ReWire Master. You can

render the GigaStudio ReWire input in Acid as you would with any other track in

Acid. (For more application specic information see the ReWire section of the Acid

4.0 manual).

To successfully disconnect the ReWire connection from Acid you must always quit

Gigastudio rst.

How To ReWire GigaStudio with Cubase SX

This procedure is based on Cubase SX version 2.0 for Windows XP.

1. If you have not used Cubase SX yet, please be sure to run it at least once before proceeding. This is so that Cubase SX can install its ReWire engine in your system.

2. Go to the Cubase SX Devices menu and select Giga3.

3. Activate the ReWire channels in the Cubase SX ReWire menu (Devices/Giga3). You may need to have GigaStudio running in order to do this. The ReWire channels will become available as channel strips in the Mixer. These channel strips can have the following properties:

• ReWire channels show up on the right hand side of the audio and MIDI chan nel strips.

• ReWire channels will function just like any other audio channel in the Mixer.

4. Launch GigaStudio 3.0.

5. To take full advantage of the mixing features in Cubase SX you will need to route the different GigaStudio instruments directly to the DSP Station ReWire output master channels. For example, if your GigaStudio performance contains eight different instruments and you connect these to separate output masters in the DSP Station, they will appear on separate ReWire channels in the Cubase SX Mixer. You can then use the mixer in Cubase SX to adjust volume and pan, add effects and EQ

- individually for each GigaStudio instrument.

6. If you simply connect all your Giga instruments through the DSP Station mixer to the stereo output pair on the Output Masters 1:2, all sounds will appear mixed on a single ReWire stereo channel pair. This a perfectly acceptable option as there are extensive mixing and processing capabilities in the GigaStudio, allowing you the option of a pre-processed stereo mix. Note the manual assignment as the DSP station always defaults to ReWire outputs 1.2.

Gigastudio 3.0 is now in ReWire Slave mode, Cubase SX is the ReWire Master. You can render the GigaStudio ReWire input in Cubase SX as you would with other tracks, using the “Import to Pool” and “Import to Track” options in a Cubase SX project. (For more application specic information see the recording section of the Cubase manual).

To successfully disconnect the ReWire connection from Cubase SX you must always

quit Gigastudio rst.

How To ReWire GigaStudio 3.0 with Nuendo

This procedure is based on Nuendo version 1.5.2 or later for Windows XP.

1. If you have not used Nuendo yet, please be sure to run it at least once before proceeding. This is so that Nuendo can install its ReWire engine in your system.

2. Go to the Nuendo Devices menu and select Giga3.

3. Launch GigaStudio 3.0.

4. Activate the ReWire channels in the Nuendo ReWire menu. The ReWire channels will become available as channel strips in the Nuendo VST Mixer. These channel strips can have the following properties:

• ReWire channels show up on the far right hand side of the audio and MIDI channel

strips.

• ReWire channels can be any combination of mono and stereo.

• ReWire channels will function just like any other audio channel in the VST Mixer,

with the exception that ReWire channels have no ‘Input” buttons.

5. To take full advantage of the mixing features in Nuendo you will need to route the different GigaStudio instruments directly to the DSP Station ReWire output master channels. For example, if your GigaStudio performance contains eight different instruments and you connect these to separate output masters in the DSP Station, they will appear on separate ReWire channels in the Nuendo VST Mixer. You can then use the mixer in Nuendo to adjust volume and pan, add effects and EQ - individually for each GigaStudio instrument.

Gigastudio 3.0 is now in ReWire Slave mode, while Nuendo is the ReWire Master. You can render the GigaStudio ReWire input in Nuendo as you would with other tracks, using the “Import to Pool” and “Import to Audio Track” options in a Nuendo project. (For more application specic information see the recording section of the Nuendo manual).

To successfully disconnect the ReWire connection from Nuendo you must always quit Gigastudio rst.

How To ReWire GigaStudio 3.0 with Pro Tools

This procedure is based on Pro Tools version 6.1 or later for Windows XP.

1. If you have not used Pro Tools yet, please be sure to run it at least once before proceeding. This is so that Pro Tools can install its ReWire engine in your system.

2. Set up Giga3 as a ReWire client. Select ‘Giga Conguration Manager’ from ‘Start menu > Tascam’. On the ‘ReWire/Plugins’ tab, select the number of desired output channels.

3. In Pro Tools, add a track. For stereo, add a stereo audio track, instantiate Giga3 via ‘multi-channel RTAS plugin’ insert on audio track, which launches Giga3 automatically.

Note: RTAS on audio tracks is required for TDM systems only. On LE systems you

should use an Aux track.

For multi-channel, quad, or surround, add the necessary number of mono audio tracks. Instantiate Giga3 using the ‘RTAS plug-in’ insert on each individual audio/aux track.

Note: Multi-channel support can also be achieved by adding a multi-channel track (TDM systems only), and then using a “multi-mono” instance of the Giga3 ReWire plugin. Make sure to unlink (plug-in header switch) before setting individual input channels.

4. On the ReWire dialog, choose the Giga3 outputs to be used on the audio track. For multiple mono, choose each output (on the ReWire dialog) for each mono track individually. Set the pans as needed for each mono track.

5. Add a MIDI track, select the MIDI input device, select GigaOut:Port (1-8) and channel (1-16) for the MIDI output device. All 128 Giga3 MIDI ports/channels are supported in Pro Tools. MIDI routed to any midi channel on any of Giga’s 8 midi ports (8 x 16 MIDI channels).

6.‘Record enable’ the midi track to send the midi data to Giga3.

7. In GigaStudio, load instruments, performances, FX and convolution as you normally would do. Save any new performances or changes to performances.

You should always create your ReWire inputs from GigaStudio on an Aux Input track in Pro Tools LE. On TDM systems, you will only be able to instantiate it on an Audio Track. On the output tab for that track, select an output to an open buss, then create an Audio Track and, on its input tab, select the same buss. Here is a walkthrough:

a. Create a Stereo Aux Input track in Pro Tools. (File Menu > New Track).

b. Insert the Giga3 ReWire plug-in on the insert of that track.

c. In the Rewire plug-in window, select the output from Giga3 that you want to record (for example, Mix L - Mix R).

d. On the output tab on that track select an open Bus (for example, Bus 1 - 2

Stereo).

e. Create a new Stereo Audio Track and set its input to the same Bus indicated in Step 4 (in this case Bus 1 - 2 Stereo).

f. Record enable the track and you’re all set. When you now press ‘Record’ and ‘Play’ in the Transport, the outputs from your ReWire application will be re corded on that Stereo Audio Track.

8. If you simply connect all your Giga instruments through the DSP Station mixer to the stereo output pair on the Output Masters 1:2, all sounds will appear mixed on a single ReWire stereo channel pair. This a perfectly acceptable option as there are extensive mixing and processing capabilities in the GigaStudio, allowing you the option of a pre-processed stereo mix. The choice is entirely up to you as to which mixing environment you prefer to use for the Giga3 audio streams.

To disconnect Giga3 select ‘no insert’ to remove the ReWire device from the track. Be aware that this does not unload Giga3. To do that you must close the GigaStudio application itself, or it will be unloaded when quitting Pro Tools.

System performance optimization tips:

• IMPORTANT: Place .gig content on separate Hard Drive than Pro Tools audio les.

Ideal conguration for Giga and ProTools on the same system would have at least 3 hard drives.

1. For your OS and applications.

2. For recorded ProTools tracks.

3. For streaming samples for GigaStudio.

• In Pro Tools, ‘Setups/Playback Engine’, set the ‘CPU Usage Limit’ to 65% or higher. Be aware that the ‘DAE Playback Buffer’ may need to be increased before raising the ‘CPU Usage Limit’ to above 65%. On some Pro Tools LE systems, it may be necessary to raise the ‘CPU Usage Limit’ to 80% or higher.

• For Pro Tools LE systems, in addition to the normal Pro Tools LE hardware system requirements, a 3GHz or faster computer with at least 1GB of memory is recommended for use with GigaStudio 3.0. There may also be a reduction in the overall number of concurrent RTAS plug-ins possible while running concurrently with GigaStudio 3.0.

• If you are using an Mbox USB / Pro Tools LE system, lowering the default 1024 ‘H/ W Buffer Size’ buffer size may help improve latency performance, but the amount of achievable polyphony will also be reduced. Due to the high latency system timing of the USB interface, an MBox USB system may not be suitable for some live MIDI input, such as keyboard playing, needs with GigaStudio 3.0.

• Run the Windows XP ‘Defragmentation’ tool on all hard drives containing .gig les.

How To ReWire GigaStudio 3.0 with Sonar

This description is based on Sonar version 2.0 or later for Windows XP.

1. If you have not used Sonar yet, please be sure to run it at least once before proceed-

ing. This is so that Sonar can install its ReWire engine in your system.

2. Go to the Sonar Insert menu and select Giga3 from the ReWire Device sub-menu.

You can set the following options in the DXi Synth Options dialog:

• Create MIDI Source Track - If selected, this option will create a new MIDI track named “Giga3”.

• First Synth Output - If selected, this option will create a new audio track that uses the rst output of Giga3 as the input. This would select Giga3’s DSP Station Output Master channels for the new track.

• All Synth Outputs - This option automatically creates audio tracks for each ReWire channel available in Giga3, and sets the input for each track to the corresponding channel.

• You also have the option of opening Giga3 from within Sonar by checking the “Synth Property Page” box in the dialog. By doing so, GigaStudio will launch when you click OK in the dialog.

3. If you did not select the “Synth Property Page” option, launch GigaStudio 3.0 man-

ually.

4. Now open the “In” pop-up for a Sonar audio track and the Giga3 ReWire applica-

tion will now be available on the menu, with GigaStudio’s ReWire channels listed on the sub-menu. Selecting a channel will direct the output from GigaStudio to the selected track. Repeat this step for all the ReWire channels you wish to use in Sonar.

5. To take full advantage of the mixing features in Sonar you will need to route the different GigaStudio instruments directly to the DSP Station ReWire output master channels. For example, if your GigaStudio performance contains eight different instruments and you connect these to separate output masters in the DSP Station, they will appear on separate ReWire channels in the Sonar Console. You can then use the Console in Sonar to adjust volume and pan, add effects and EQ - individually for each GigaStudio instrument.

Gigastudio 3.0 is now in ReWire Slave mode, Sonar is the ReWire Master. You can render the GigaStudio ReWire input in Sonar as you would with other tracks, using the “Bounce to Track(s)” option in the Sonar Edit-Export sub-menu. (For more application specic information see the recording section of the Sonar manual).

To successfully disconnect the Giga3 ReWire connection from Sonar you must always quit Gigastudio rst.

For more information about the Rewire spec as it pertains to GigaStudio 3.0 see the ReWire Appendix.

Tutorial 5 - QuickEdit

QuickEdit is a powerful utility that enables you to quickly perform quick parameter

changes. QuickEdit functions include:

• Articulation – synth parameters like attenuation, pan, tuning, envelopes, lters,

and LFOs

• Dimensions – navigate through specic dimensions, like velocity cross-switches, for

quick & precise edits

• Wave View – drag envelope, lter and LFO curves directly on the graphic waveform

• Keyboard – additional special purpose version of the virtual keyboard

Any edits made in the QuickEdit are non-destructive to the .Gig itself. Rather, the edits are saved with the performance (.GSP). When you load a performance containing instruments you specically made QuickEdit adjustments to, the settings will be instantly recalled and applied on a performance by performance basis. To make permanent edits to the .Gig instrument, see the related sections of the GigaStudio 3.0 Instrument Editor.

To perform edits to any instrument loaded in the GigaStudio MIDI Mixer port channel view or QuickSound loaded instrument list, launch the readily available QuickEdit utility. The instrument must be loaded rst, then there are two ways to open QuickEdit:

The rst method is to simply click the green ‘Q’ button on the MIDI Mixer channel slot.

The other method is to right-click on any instrument in the QuickSound Loaded Instrument list and select the ‘QuickEdit…’ option.

Either method will launch the QuickSound utility interface.

For the purposes of this tutorial, we will be using the VSL 14 Violins Enemble basic all instrument which has velocity, keyswitch, and stereo dimensions. We will demonstrate the function of each of the editable parameters available in the QuickEdit utility.

Here is the VSL Violin Ensemble keyswitched instrument loaded in QuickSound.

Before explaining how QuickEdit works, you need some background on the components of a GigaStudio Instrument. There are several properties of the overall design and construction of the instrument that will help you to perform any number of precise as well as general overall adjustments.

Note region selection and split selection must be understood in order to make edits on a global (entire instrument with every split and region) or individual (a single or several selected splits and regions) basis. Before proceeding with any edits, double-check that you are going to edit the correct instrument. Since it is possible to have a QuickEdit window open for every loaded instrument, you want to be sure you are editing the right one.

Each QuickEdit Window has a name eld in its title bar. You can also grab this bar to drag the window around the desktop.

Once you have veried that this is the instrument you wish to edit, the rst place to

look is in the QuickEdit Keyboard view located at the bottom of its window.

In the Keyboard view, we can observe several of the loaded instrument properties:

• The range of the instrument is laid out in the white keys. The lowest note region is selected and is yellow. The octave numbers label each C note. We can see that the violin section has a range from G2-D6.

• There are special green keyswitch dimension keys at the left in of the keyboard, with the lowest dimension key selected. A black dot on the key indicates the selection. We can see that the violin section has a keyswitch range of C0-G0.

• Above the keys are region selection indicators. For each note selected, a corresponding region indicator will turn yellow. Any edits performed in QuickEdit will only affect selected regions and splits (sub-regions).

• Keyboard Select is set to ‘individual regions’ (default).

• Dimension Select is set to ‘individual splits’ (default).

• The default velocity for mouse-triggered notes is 100 (default).

Any or all of the properties can be changed as well as manipulating the view of the

keyboard itself.

Some basic controls in this view are zoom (+ / -) buttons and scroll (< / >) buttons at both ends of the keyboard window allowing you to resize the keys and adjust the range of the notes displayed within it.

The MIDI Select button, when activated (green), places the keyboard in Midi Select mode which allows you to select note regions as well as individual splits within those regions from a MIDI source such as your

controller keyboard or sequencer.

We will explore the functions of the keyboard further when we begin to make some basic edits. For now, we need to be able to interpret what the rest of the QuickEdit parameters mean, how we can adjust them, and which note regions and splits will be affected by those edits.

With regard to an instrument’s articulation (the manner in which the sampler plays a sample), there are parameters organized into sections in the Articulation view located at the top of the QuickSound window. Each section has its own set of parameters and the default settings reect the state of the loaded instrument. If you have edited an instrument in QuickEdit and loaded its performance le (.GSP), then the settings of the parameters will reect those of the last saved state of that performance.

Here is a break down of the Articulation view’s control sections.

In the Global parameters section:

• Attenuation reduces the output level (range 0-96 dB)

• Pan denes the placement in the stereosound stage (-64-63, from left to right)

• Tune varies the pitch by a dened offset (-49-50 cents)

Envelopes 1 (amplitude) and 2 (lter) have exactly the same controls. Each can be set independently of the other, yet some parameters will have a direct effect on the other. For instance, a lter envelope (when a lter is activated) with its sustain setting at zero would render a region/ split inaudible. Each of the control functions are as follows:

•Pre-Attack (%) sets the minimum level for attack

•Attack (sec) sets the speed of the attack

•Decay1 (sec) sets the speed of the pre-sustain decay

•Sustain (%) sets the level of the sustaining sample

•Decay2 (sec) sets the speed of the sustain decay

•Release (sec) sets the speed of the release

As you can see, some control settings are a function of volume (preattack, sustain) and others are a function of time (attack, decay1 & 2, release). For a more thorough discussion of the function of these parameters see the related section in the QuickEdit Reference section.

There are two controls for Envelope 3. They are used to con-

trol the pitch envelope:

•Attack (sec) sets the attack speed for pitch

•Depth (cents) sets the amount of de-tuning

The remaining controls are for setting MIDI control source

modulators to the EG1 (amplitude) and EG2 (lter) envelopes. The default status for many instruments will be OFF, although many Giga developers are including these controls built into their instruments as an added performance feature. Learn more in the Editor section.

The lter on our violin section is not active. To apply a lter, we can simply select a lter type and dene its parameters, and assign MIDI control sources for lter cutoff and resonance.

The velocity curve can be dened for the applied lter.

Cutoff frequency, resonance, velocity scaling, keyboard break point, and the velocity dynamic range can be set as well.

The LFO (low frequency oscillator) has frequency, internal and external depth controls for each of the envelope generators.

The frequency is adjusted in cycles (Hz) while the depths are adjusted in cents.

Some practical applications of LFO include simulated tremolo and vibrato as well as rotating speaker behavior can be programmed into an instrument using these controls. Your imagination may come up with a new and creative use for LFO controls.

The Dimension view displays all the available pre-programmed dimension controllers contained in the loaded instrument. In our violin section example instrument we have the following dimensions:

The rst dimension controller listed is Key Down Velocity. We can see that thee are two splits dened for the velocity of the selected region by the yellow (active) and dull green (inactive) bars.

The next dimension controller is the Stereo dimension. All note regions that hold stereo samples are automatically assigned a Stereo dimension controller. The active split is yellow.

The last dimension controller listed is a keyswitch with eight dimension keys assigned. The active dimension split is yellow.

While it is not possible to add more dimensions in QuickEdit, it provides a way to select the dimension splits and to modify its parameters. More extensive work with dimensions is best left to the GigaStudio 3.0 Instrument Editor. See the related sections on dimensions for more details.

The Wave view provides valuable visual feedback when adjusting various param- eters or to monitor split points between samples.

In the Wave view are scroll (< / >) and zoom (+ / -) buttons for navigation as well as a traditional waveform display for mono or stereo samples with a timeline along the top edge.

Making QuickEdits

Now that you have a better concept of region and split selection (focus of an edit) and the various controls available (edit parameters), you can condently begin experimenting with QuickEdits. Remember any edits you make, no matter how drastic, will have no effect on the original .Gig le instruement. You can always revert to a known good starting point by opning the instrument in a new performance.

First, we will do a QuickEdit to a single split sample whose pitch sounds a little at. To nd the exact sample, rst play around the general area until you nd the note. It is important to discern if the entire region is affected by the pitch or if it is only one sample split. It may appear that the louder velocity, at MIDI note E5, in the C0 dimension is the problem.

Before proceeding, we need to decide on the type of selection we are going to make. For dimension splits, use the Dimension Se-

lect menu to choose the type of selection. Since we are going to concentrate on only one sample split, choose the individual splits option. To manually select the dimension where our sample is located, click the green dimension control key (keyswitch).

The selection is then marked with a black dot on the key. This selection will remain active until a different dimension key is selected. Next, we select the note region. In the slot just above the keys along the range of the keyboard are the note region selectors. A selected note region will be yellow. To manually select a note region where our out of tune same is, click on E5 in the region selection slot.

When we selected the note region, the selection for the upper velocity split is the one we want. The reason for this is that the behavior of the click for note-on velocity is dened as 100 (default).

If you wanted a different velocity split, simply adjust the velocity fader

control to dene the velocity value of a mouse-click for note-ons.

Selecting the Auto option enables you to click at different places on the

individual keys to get low to high velocity values.

Now we can edit the precise dimension, note region, and split at the sample level. Simply adjust the Articulation control for Tune to correct the sample’s pitch. When you save the performance, the edit will be saved with it.

Now that you understand the concept of a manual selection, use the MIDI Select to do a multiple selection of several note regions. First, enable MIDI Select.

With MIDI Select active, any note played on either the GigaStudio host Virtual Keyboard (keystroke Alt+K) or an attached MIDI control source (controller keyboard) will select each subsequent note triggered.

Any edits made will affect only the selected note regions. Be sure to select any dimension, velocity, and stereo splits and then make the edits. To reset the selection click, with the mouse, any key in the instrument note range on the QuickEdit keyboard.

There are many powerful selection options to know about that are beyond the scope

of this tutorial. For more details see the related reference section on QuickEdit. As you can see, from the concepts already covered, a lot can be done with an instrument without ever leaving the GigaStudio environment.

Step-by-Step Review

1. To use QuickEdit on a loaded instrument, click the Q button on the MIDI Mixer load-

er channel pane. You can QuickEdit any instrument, including those within a stacked instrument, but you cannot QuickEdit a stacked channel master.

2. By default, an instrument loaded in QuickEdit has all its regions and splits selected.

To make an edit to any parameter at this point will affect the entire instrument.

3. To make a partial or individual split edit, rst make the selection(s). Use the mouse

or enable MIDI Select to make selections from your keyboard.

4. Edit any of the articualtion parameters. All edits are updated in real time so you

can listen as you make adjustments.

5. Save the changes you have made with a performance. Remember, there are two types of performances, so you can save the entire GigaStudio session environment (.GSP) or a specic instrument level performance (.GSI) for loading into other performance sessions. (.GSPs).

The edits you make with QuickEdit are non-destructive edits. The parameter changes are saved as offsets within their respective performance (.GSI or .GSP) le. The original .gig les are not affected. To make a permanent edit to a .gig le, it will be necessary to load the instrument into the GigaStudio 3.0 Instrument Editor, make the edits, and then save the changes over the old le, or Save As.. to a new instrument le.

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