Mixcraft-9-Manual.Pdf
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
USER MANUAL Written by Mitchell Sigman and Joseph Clarke Design and layout by Mitchell Sigman and Alan Reynolds TABLE OF CONTENTS Getting Started . 6 Mixcraft 9 Home Studio Limitations . 7 Important Sound Setup Information . 8 Quick Start. 10 Registration. 18 Mixcraft Reference .. 19 Loading and Saving Projects . 32 Tracks Types and Controls . 37 Using Clips and the Main Clip Grid . 58 MIDI Basics . 69 Recording MIDI Tracks . 71 Recording Audio Tracks. 78 Details Tabs - Viewing and Undocking . 86 Project Tab. 89 Sound Tab . 90 MIDI Editors: Clips . 102 MIDI Editors: Piano Roll Editor . 111 MIDI Editors: Step Editor . 120 MIDI Editors: Score Editor . 127 Sound Editor . 131 Mixer Tab . 139 Library Tab . 149 Performance Panel . 171 Video Tracks and Editing . 186 Automation and Controller Mapping . 210 Mixing Down To Audio and Video Files . 229 Burning Audio CD’s . 235 Markers . 237 Using Effects . 243 Included Effects . 254 Using Virtual Instruments . 285 Included Virtual Instruments . 297 Alpha Sampler . 306 Omni Sampler . 311 Acoustica Vocoder . 320 Plug-In Management .. 327 ReWire . 330 Using Natively Supported Hardware Controllers . 332 Using Generic MIDI Controllers and Control Surfaces . 339 Musical Typing Keyboard (MTK) .. 342 Preferences . 344 Main Window Menus . 364 Keyboard Shortcuts . 375 Cursors . 381 Troubleshooting . 385 Glossary . 397 Appendix 1: Using Melodyne For Basic Vocal Tuning. 402 Appendix 2: Backing Up Mixcraft Projects and Data . 407 Appendix 3: Nifty Uses For Output Bus Tracks . 409 Appendix 4: Freesound Org. Creative Commons License Terms . 413 Appendix 5: Natively Supported Hardware Controllers . 415 Appendix 6: Copyrights and Trademarks . .. 416 GETTING STARTED Welcome to Mixcraft 9, a powerful recording DAW software offering the tools and performance power to create professional music and video projects... easily! ABOUT THE MANUAL This manual was written to provide a full walkthrough of the steps that an artist may encounter when using Mixcraft. It manual provides a range of step-by-step instructions and explanations of all of Mixcraft’s features. We’ll also throw in some helpful tips “outside-the-box” tips (usually in a sidebar on the right side of the page). We recommend viewing in Adobe Acrobat Viewer. If you don’t have already have Acrobat, you can download it free from Adobe (a quick Google search will find the correct installer for your system.) Blue underlined text indicates links to other sections of this manual. You may want to jot down the page you’re on prior to clicking these links, as most PDF viewers don’t have a “go back to where I was” function. Italicized text usually means we’re referring to the same control or dialog text on the screen, or on your computer’s QWERTY keyboard. CHECKING FOR UPDATES Acoustica periodically provides updates to software. You can easily obtain these updates through Acoustica’s website. To check for updates, go to the Help menu at the top of the screen and choose Check For Update... ADDITIONAL HELP We’ve made a heck of an effort to include as much Mixcraft 9 information as possible in this manual, but if you get stumped, contact Acoustica tech support online at www.acoustica.com and click the Support link. Mixcraft also has a lively online forum with tons of useful archived information and support not only from the Acoustica tech support staff, but seasoned Mixcraft users as well. Find it at www.acoustica.com, click Support, then Discussion Boards. Welcome to the Acoustica family... we hope you’ll enjoy Mixcraft 9 and make some great music (and video) along the way! 6 MIXCRAFT 9 HOME STUDIO LIMITATIONS Mixcraft is available in three different versions: Mixcraft 9 Home Studio, Mixcraft 9 Recording Studio, and Mixcraft 9 Pro Studio. In order to offer Mixcraft 9 Home Studio at such an affordable price, it sacrifices some features compared with its big brothers. Below is a summary of its reduced feature set: Feature Limits System bit-depth compatibility 32-bit compatible only Tracks sixteen total audio and instrument tracks Performance Panel eight sets Automation pan and volume only Sound Library 6500+ loops and sound effects Virtual Instruments Acoustica Instruments, Impulse, Messiah, MiniMogueVA, VB3 Organ Samplers Alpha Sampler (Omni Sampler not included) Effect Plug-ins Acoustica Chorus, Acoustica Compressor, Acoustica Delay, Acoustica Distortion, Acoustica EQ, Acoustica Flanger, Acoustica Reverb, Classic Auto-Filter, Classic Chorus, Classic Compressor, Classic Delay, Classic EQ, Classic Flanger, Classic Master Limiter, Classic Phaser, Classic Reverb, EZQ Equalizer, GTune Guitar Tuner, Voxengo Amp Simulator, Voxengo Spectrum Analyzer Submix, Send, and Output Tracks no Audio Mixdown Formats MP3, WAV, WMA, OGG Video Mixdown Formats MP4, WMV, AVI CD Burning yes MIDI/Audio FX Routing no ReWire Hosting no Import To Library no 7 IMPORTANT SOUND SETUP INFORMATION When Mixcraft is first launched, it’s important to ensure that the audio latency is optimally set. Ideally, using a very low latency setting is best, as it results in little or no audible delay when playing virtual instruments or recording using software monitoring. Your computer’s processor speed and amount of RAM, as well as your audio system or sound card all affect audio playback and recording performance. Optimally adjusting your sound device will be a balancing act between latency versus gapping or breaks in continuous sound. If you are recording audio using Mixcraft’s built-in monitoring or playing virtual instruments, you’ll need to adjust your latency response properly. CHOOSING AN AUDIO DRIVER TYPE 1. Click File> Preferences... 2. Click on the Sound Device tab. 3. Wave RT was introduced in Windows Vista and is part of every newer version of Windows; this the default audio driver. If you have a slower computer, you may need to increase the latency setting. 4. If you’re using Windows 7 or 8, you may be able to click WaveRT Exclusive Mode. Depending on your computer’s speed and power, this mode will allow down to three milliseconds of latency. In this mode, other programs will lose audio capability when Mixcraft is running. You may need to restart other programs to get their audio back. WaveRT exclusive mode is the best way to use every last ounce of computing power. 5. If you don’t have WaveRT, the next best option is ASIO. If it’s grayed out, go to your sound device or sound card manufacturer’s website and install the latest drivers. Click on the ASIO Device flip menu and choose the sound device or sound card you wish to use. You can adjust the settings of the ASIO device by clicking “Open Mixer.” Each ASIO driver is implemented differently; consult the manual or help for your sound device in order to optimize the latency setting. Ensure that Default Output (Playback) is set to the correct device so you’ll hear audio properly. 8 6. If you don’t have Vista or an ASIO option enabled, select Wave. To reduce latency, Right On Track decrease the Number Of Buffers and reduce the Buffer Size. The Latency field will You may notice that update - this will entail a bit of trial and error as adjustments are made. Click OK, Mixcraft won’t allow then check the quality of audio playback. A setting of 100 milliseconds or less is you to drop the loop tolerable; lower settings of 20 milliseconds or less are preferred. on a track with a little keyboard icon; that’s QUICK GLANCE CHART because these are MIDI tracks. Make sure to drag audio loops to Type Notes audio tracks, i.e. tracks WaveRT The default option. Latency down to 20 milliseconds. with a loudspeaker icon. Mixcraft actually WaveRT Exclusive Takes over the computer’s audio, but will work down has a number of to three milliseconds of latency. This option is available different track types when WaveRT is selected. Audio from other programs optimized for different and Windows will not work at the same time that you are purposes, but while in this mode. we’re in “quick startville,” we’ll just ASIO Best for playback and recording synchronization. Must concern ourselves with have a supported ASIO driver for your sound device. audio tracks, that play digitized audio, and Wave Only use if absolutely necessary. MIDI tracks, that play note on/off messages. COMPUTER SPEED CONSIDERATION If you have a slower computer and experience audible breaks in audio recording or playback, you may need to increase the latency setting. Alternatively, you may need to purchase a higher performance sound card or audio system designed with music recording and playback in mind. Changing the latency will depend on what type of audio driver is used. See the Choosing An Audio Driver Type section on the previous page for more information. Another effective speed enhancement is to defragment your hard drive, or purchase a new hard drive. (Old hard drives can get slow with age.) Notice the CPU meter on the lower right corner of Mixcraft.This indicates the amount of CPU resources used by Mixcraft compared to the entire computer’s CPU usage. 9 QUICK START “I don’t wanna read this big ol’ manual now, I wanna rock!” (or thereabouts). Don’t worry, we’ve got ya covered. In this section, we’ll show how to play audio clips from Mixcraft’s huge included library, record audio and MIDI tracks, and add effects. LOAD AND PLAY AN AUDIO CLIP To launch Mixcraft, double-click the Mixcraft 9 icon on the desktop. We’ll begin by dragging an audio clip of a bass line into the Main Window - that’s the big gray grid where clips of audio, MIDI, and video playback. Click the Library tab at the bottom of the arrange window, then click the Library pop- menu and and select Loops.