Open Labs Production Station Manual © 2008 Open Labs Inc. All Rights Reserved Open Labs 4020 South Industrial Drive Austin TX, 78744 USA Open Labs Production Station Manual 1 Preface This Product Manual gives information about the Open Labs production station, as per Generation 4 specifications. Manual Organization The chapters in this User Manual are arranged as follows: ● Introduction: information and overviews of an Open Labs production station. ● Getting Started: information on preparing your Open Labs production station for use. ● First time: instructions on what to expect from the software and hardware environment of your Open Labs production station. ● Playing Sounds: instructions on how to use Karsyn to play sounds with your Open Labs production station. ● Recording: instructions on how to record on your Open Labs production station using REAPER. ● MIDI Mapping: information about mFusion, and using mFusion to create MIDI controller assignments. ● MimiK Manual: instructions on how to mimik keyboards/modules and how to play back said mimiked sounds. ● Hardware Maintenance: information regarding the need to make hardware changes. ● Appendix: information about preinstalled software, audio hardware, and sound banks. As well as an appendix for learning the basics of professional audio. Useful Suggestions This manual has a fair amount of information, however, from time to time you may not find what you need to know in this manual. Every application that comes with an Open Labs production station has a manual. These are usually in either a .PDF format or HELP file format, and can be located in their “c:\Program Files\Product Name” folder. Also, Google or Wikipedia are both great resources for finding more detailed information on the application you require assistance with. Open Labs Production Station Manual 2 Table of Contents Chapter 1 - Introduction .................................................................................6 Open Labs Production Station Components........................................................7 About the Touchscreen Monitor.....................................................................8 Chapter 2 - Getting Started.............................................................................9 Unpacking and Setting up your Open Labs Production Station..............................9 Connecting the Cables................................................................................9 Rear Panel Layout.................................................................................10 Audio & MIDI Connections.........................................................................10 Rear Panel I/O:.....................................................................................10 Front Panel Audio Interface.....................................................................11 Basic Connection Diagrams.....................................................................13 Turning on an Open Labs production station.....................................................14 About the BIOS...........................................................................................14 About the Open Labs GUI..............................................................................15 Chapter 3 – First Time ..................................................................................16 The Open Labs GUI In Detail.........................................................................16 About the MIDI Controllers............................................................................19 Master Control.........................................................................................19 DJ/VJ Controller.......................................................................................19 The Track Pad, Keyboard, and Special Keys......................................................20 Using USB Devices.......................................................................................21 Using DVD/CD-RW Drive...............................................................................21 Using the Internet.......................................................................................22 Adding Software to your Open Labs Production Station......................................22 New Software Installation Considerations.....................................................23 Chapter 4 - Quickstart...................................................................................24 Three Steps to Playing Sounds on an Open Labs Production Station....................24 Master Panel for Play Sounds.........................................................................25 Chapter 5 - Playing Sounds - Karsyn.............................................................26 Key Features...............................................................................................26 Karsyn’s Control Module................................................................................27 Output Busses.........................................................................................27 Adding and Deleting Output Busses.............................................................28 Instrument Modules..................................................................................28 Adding and Deleting Instrument Modules........................................................28 Instrument Console..................................................................................29 Docking and Floating the Instrument Console...............................................29 Adding and Removing Effects.....................................................................29 Advanced Performance Recovery....................................................................30 Preferences.................................................................................................30 MIDI Input Ports......................................................................................30 Remapping or Disabling MIDI Program Changes............................................30 Key Range and Transpose..........................................................................30 Open Labs Production Station Manual 3 Channel Map............................................................................................31 Continuous Controller Map.........................................................................31 Toggle Mode............................................................................................32 Saving and Loading MIDI Configurations......................................................32 Setting a Default MIDI Configuration...........................................................33 Insert Manager............................................................................................33 Showing Effects Consoles..............................................................................33 Using Effect Presets.....................................................................................33 Insert Effect Automation using MIDI Continuous Controllers...............................33 Working with Presets....................................................................................34 Creating Presets.......................................................................................34 Changing Presets from the Control Module...................................................35 Changing Presets from the QWERTY Keyboard..............................................35 Chapter 6 – Recording - REAPER...................................................................36 Recording with an Open Labs Production Station..............................................36 New to Recording? ......................................................................................36 Opening REAPER for the First Time.................................................................37 Inserting and Using a VSTi ...........................................................................38 Setting VSTi Preferences ...........................................................................38 VST Plug-in Settings ................................................................................38 Setting up a Virtual Instrument......................................................................41 Setting up Recording....................................................................................42 Setting up Track Input..................................................................................43 Recording in REAPER with a VSTi...................................................................47 Master Panel Layout..................................................................................47 Recording................................................................................................48 Enable Metronome....................................................................................49 Looping...................................................................................................50 Mixing ....................................................................................................52 Importing Existing Tracks...........................................................................52 Rendering ...............................................................................................52 Exporting Tracks.......................................................................................53 Chapter 7 – MIDI Mapping - mFusion™.........................................................57