INDEX, HelpOnHelp=0 The use of this help system is straightforward and requires only a few keys: cursor keys browse text [Tab] select next topic [Shift][Tab] select previous topic [Enter] jump to selected topic [Esc] close help [Alt][F1] previous help &BHow to:&N @MODDTS[MOD and DTS overview ] @MODED[edit a song ] @PLAYER[play the current song ] @SAMPED[edit and play samples ] MODED, Song/module editor=2 This is the place where you write and modify @SONGSTRUC[songs]. &BCursor movement: [Left] previous field [Right] next field [Up] previous frame [Down] next frame [Home] jump to note field [End] jump to last field [PgUp] previous page [PgDn] next page [^Left] previous track [^Right] next track [^PgUp] first frame [^PgDn] last frame [^Home] top of screen [^End] bottom of screen [-] previous pattern [+] next pattern [Alt][F1]..[F4] jump to frame 00..48 [Tab] jump to the @ORDERED[order editor] &BInput and output, global commands: [Alt][C] clear song (doesn't clear samples) [Alt][D] display memory informations [Alt][E] toggle 43/50 line mode (EVA/VGA only) [Alt][I] edit instruments [Alt][L] load module [Alt][M] make SoundTracker compatible @MODDTS[module] [Alt][O] OS shell [Alt][P] @PLAYER[play] current pattern [Alt][R] read pattern from disk [Alt][S] save current song as @MODDTS[DTS] [Alt][V] mixer control (SoundBlaster Pro only) [Alt][W] write pattern to disk [Alt][X] exit &BSeealso: @BLOCKS[blocks ] @AUTOJUMP[automatic jump ] @PLAYER[playing songs ] @MACROREC[macros ] SONGSTRUC, The structure of a module A module is made of patterns, which are similar to musical measures. Each pattern contains 64 frames, and one frame groups up to four @NOTE[notes] that are played at the same time. Let's see an example: D-3 01 C-2 02 D-2 02 F#2 02 A-3 01 ... .. ... .. ... .. F#3 01 ... .. ... .. ... .. A-3 01 ... .. ... .. ... .. D-3 01 A#1 02 D-2 02 G-2 02 A#3 01 ... .. ... .. ... .. G-3 01 ... .. ... .. ... .. A#3 01 ... .. ... .. ... .. and so on... The first frame, D-3 01 C-2 02 D-2 02 F#2 02 plays a D7 chord with the last three voices, and the first voice starts playing the main theme with a different instrument. Next comes A-3 01 ... .. ... .. ... .. which keeps playing on the first track. The blank fields in the last three tracks mean that the sound must not be changed. The D7 chord is played until the fifth frame, when it becomes a G- chord. You cannot directly specify the duration of a note, it depends on the number of blank notes that follow. When the last frame in a pattern has been played (or a "pattern break" @MODCMDS[command] is encountered) the player jumps to the first frame of the pattern that follows in the @ORDERED[order sequence]. MACROREC, Keyboard macros Macros are especially useful when you have to enter several times the same sequence of keys. Up to 10 macros can be defined and assigned to a hotkey from [Alt][0] to [Alt][9]. When macro recording in on, all key presses are recorded into an internal buffer, you may then recall a sequence of keys by simply pressing the corresponding hotkey. Note: macros cannot be nested and are disabled outside the song editor. &BCommands: [^R] toggle macro recording on/off ORDERED, Order editor Song patterns are not played in sequential order: to allow repetitions and longer songs, the sequence in which patterns are actually played is stored in a separate index array. Each index entry contains the number of the actual pattern to be played in that position or zero, which stays for "end of list". For example, suppose that your order sequence looks like this: ÉÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍ» º 00 ³ 3 º º 01 ³ 1 º º 02 ³ ..0 º º 03 ³ ..0 º : ³ : º 7D ³ ..0 º º 7E ³ ..0 º º 7F ³ ..0 º ÈÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍͼ That means: play pattern three first, then pattern one, then stop. More precisely, sound is not stopped at the end of list, but rather execution is restarted from the beginning (i.e. from pattern three). Of course you may specify the same pattern number more than once, this saves space if a pattern is to be played several times because you don't need to duplicate it in the song editor. To edit the index entry at cursor simply type in the pattern number for that position. &BCommands: [Up] previous entry [Down] next entry [PgUp] previous page [PgDn] next page [Home] search null pattern backward [End] search null pattern forward [Del] delete entry [Ins] insert entry [^PgUp] top of list [^PgDn] end of list [^Home] top of page [^End] end of page [Tab] song editor [Enter] edit pattern at cursor [F5]..[F8] toggle channels on/off [^F3]/[^F4] decrement/increment song speed [F3]/[F4] decrement/increment global volume [^A] add a semitone to entire song [^S] subtract a semitone from entire song [Alt][E] switch to 43/50 lines mode (EGA/VGA only) [Alt][I] @SAMPED[edit instruments] [Alt][L] load module [Alt][O] OS shell [Alt][P] @PLAYER[play entire song from cursor] [Alt][V] mixer control (SoundBlaster Pro only) [Alt][X] exit BLOCKS, Blocks Blocks are used to perform operations on a group of notes. You can mark all from a single note to a track or pattern, the marked area is called a "block". Blocks can be copied, moved, deleted and manipulated in a number of ways, as shown below: [^B] mark block begin/end [^T] mark current track [^L] mark line block begin/end [^P] mark current pattern [^U] unmark block [^C] copy block (block is inserted at cursor) [^O] copy block (block overwrites underlying notes) [^M] move block [^D] delete block [^A] add a halftone to all marked notes [^S] subtract a halftone from all marked notes [^V] set marked notes to default sample [^W] wipe all marked notes AUTOJUMP, Automatic jump Usually song editing is track oriented and you want the cursor to move vertically rather than horizontally. Also, you often need to move the cursor down two or four steps, according to the duration of the notes you are entering. The autojump feature gives you control upon these parameters, making it easier and faster to enter notes. [^F5]..[^F8] set autojump to 1,2,4,8 [^J] toggle autojump on/off MODCMDS, SoundTracker commands The command field of a @NOTE[note] tells the player that a special action is to be taken when that note is played. There are basically two sets of commands: local commands modify only the note they refer to, global commands affect the entire song. Here is the list of commands supported by Dr. Track: @CMD0[Arpeggio ] (local) @CMD1[Portamento up ] (local) @CMD2[Portamento down] (local) @CMD3[Tone portamento] (local) @CMD4[Vibrato ] (local) @CMDA[Volume slide ] (local) @CMDB[Pattern jump ] (global) @CMDC[Volume change ] (global) @CMDD[Pattern break ] (global) @CMDF[Speed change ] (global) CMD0, Arpeggio Syntax: 0 second note/third note Example: C-2 01 047 The current note is changed at very high speed according to the parameter field. In the example above, the first note is C-2, the second note is E-2 (4 semitones up from C-2, see below) and the third is G-2 (7 halftones up from C-2). These three notes are played in sequence, one every 1/50th of second, so that it's almost impossibile to distinguish them. With this command effects like fast arpeggioes or trills are easily achieved. + 0 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + A + B + C ... C-2 C#2 D-2 D#2 E-2 F-2 F#2 G-2 G#2 A-2 A#2 B-2 C-3 ... If the parameter field contains no data (i.e. both auxiliary note displacements are zero), the first note is not modified and the command is displayed with a single dot. CMD1, Portamento up Syntax: 1 speed Example: C-2 01 103 Increases the pitch of the current note. CMD2, Portamento down Syntax: 2 speed Example: C-2 01 203 Decreases the pitch of the current note. CMD3, Tone portamento Syntax: destination note [sample] 3 speed Example: E-2 01 305 The destination note is not played immediately, it is just used as an argument for the command. It's the current note pitch that moves towards the destination note, at the specified speed. Suppose to have a track like this: C-2 01 .00 ... .. ... ... .. ... E-2 01 305 ... .. 300 ... .. 300 When the player reads E-2 01 305 it doesn't play E-2. However, because the pitch of E-2 is higher than that of the last played note (C-2), the current pitch is increased. It's likely that the distination note is not reached within a single frame, so you have to repeat the tone portamento command until E-2 is actually played. Fortunately, you don't have to reenter the command in it's complete form, because the player remembers both the destination note and speed of the last command. Thus frames like ... .. 300 suffices to keep portamento going. Moreover, when E-2 is reached any portamento command which is not in the complete form is ignored, so there's no need to know exactly how many commands have to be used to reach the destination note. CMD4, Vibrato Syntax: 4 speed/size Example: F#3 04 462 Periodically changes the pitch of the current note. To keep the last vibrato effect use the command without parameters. For example: F#3 04 462 ... .. 400 ... .. 400 CMDA, Volume slide Syntax: A up speed/down speed Example: C-2 01 A02 ... .. A02 Slowly changes the volume of the current note. The same command is used to increase or decrease the volume: if you use the left digit of the parameter field then volume will be increased, otherwise decreased. When the volume reachs the minimum (maximum) any decrease (increase) volume command is ignored. CMDB, Pattern jump Syntax: B order entry to jump at Example: ... .. B02 Breaks the current pattern and jumps to the specified entry in the order list. The jump command is executed only after the frame which contains it has been played. CMDC, Volume change Syntax: C volume Example: C-2 01 C20 Sets the volume of the current note (maximum value is 40h). CMDD, Pattern break Syntax: D Example: ... .. D00 Jumps out from the current pattern. Execution continues from the next pattern in the order array. CMDF, Speed change Syntax: F speed Example: ... .. F05 Sets the song speed. Valid values are 00h thru 0Fh. NOTE, Note structure A single note consists of several fields, as shown below: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ note ³ ÚÄÄÄÄÄ octave ³ ³ ÚÄÄ @SAMPLENOTE[sample] ³ ³ ÄÁ C-2 06 047 ³À´ ³ À command parameters ÀÄÄ @MODCMDS[command] Inside the song editor, notes are entered from keyboard, which is arranged to emulate a piano keyboard (er, you may need a bit of fantasy): 1 2 5 6 7 Q W E R T Y U I S D G H J Z X C V B N M , Shift the first octave to access the third one. To edit other fields, move the cursor on them and type a legal value. SAMPLENOTE, Note: sample field The sample field of a @NOTE[note] contains the index of the instrument to be used when that note is played. Legal values range from 0 to 31: when the index is 0 the last specified sample is used, otherwise a new sample is selected for the current track. Samples can be loaded and modified with the @SAMPED[sample editor]. SAMPED, Sample editor The sample editor is where you load and modify instruments. It's divided in two windows: the selection window (lower) and the editing window (upper). The selection window lists all instruments currently loaded in memory. The number on the left of each sample is the index which identifies that instrument in the song editor. You can use the cursor keys to move the selection bar across the list and then press [Enter] or [Tab] to edit the selected sample. Other keys are: [Alt-A] save all samples; [Alt-B] load a sample from a @LIBRARY[library]; [Alt-C] remove all samples from memory; [Alt-E] toggle between 25 and 43/50 lines video modes; [Alt-L] load a sample from disk into the selected slot; [Alt-O] OS shell; [Alt-S] save the selected sample on disk. The editing window allows you to change the instrument parameters. If you need help enter the editing window and press [F1] on the desired item. LIBRARY, Sample libraries Sample libraries are an easy yet powerful way to organize samples on disk. On start Dr. Track looks for a file named "DRT.LIB", which is a simple ASCII text file containing information about sample directories. The structure of that file is straightforward, here is an example: ;*** ;*** DRT.LIB example ;*** c:\drt\samples Default sample directory c:\drt\samples\synth Synth c:\samples\perco Drums, percussions Lines starting with a ";" character are comments and are just ignored, other lines contains two fields: the DOS directory name and the corresponding library name. Using libraries you select directories by library names, not DOS names. This simple approach has many advantages: &B-&N library names are easier to remember and more "descriptive" than the corresponding DOS names; &B-&N the directory name may have any length (if libraries are not used only the first 32 characters of a directory name are stored in sample files); &B-&N directories may be moved or renamed, and only the DRT.LIB file has to be changed: this automatically updates all songs which refers to library names. The last point is very important: sample pathnames are stored in song files (@MODDTS[DTS]), so if you rename a directory, some .DTS files may still reference the old name. When loading such files Dr. Track allows you to skip the misnamed sample and add it later, but it's much better to use libraries and avoid the problem at all. When editing a sample directory name you may use library names, adding the character "=" to the beginning (i.e. "=Synth", "=Drums", etc.). SAMPREPED, Sample repeat/start Samples can be played "one-shot" or "looped". A sample, i.e. a digitized instrument, is played "one-shot" when it hasn't a repeat part: this means that when the last byte in the sample has been played, the sound stops. On the other side, when the last byte of a "looped" sample is reached, the sample is played again starting at the offset specified by the "repeat start" parameter: the repeat part is played until another event cause the process to be interrupted (e.g. a new note, a command, etc.). The repeat part contains "repeat length" bytes starting at "repeat start". Note that for one-shot samples the repeat length is 0002h and not 0000h (zero). ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ &Brepeat length&N ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ ssssssssssssssssssrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeee ³ À &Brepeat start offset&N Because Dr. Track can play in the background dynamically adjusting to new parameters, you can modify the "repeat" values on the fly and hear how the sound changes. This special feature will help you much when experimenting with looped samples. &BCommands: [Left] or [-] decrement value [Right] or [+] increment value [^Left] fast decrement [^Right] fast increment [Home] minimum value [End] maximum value SAMPVOLED, Sample volume This parameter controls the default volume of an instrument, i.e. the volume used to play the instrument in a song when no other commands are specified. Commands: [Left] or [-] decrement value [Right] or [+] increment value [^Left] fast decrement [^Right] fast increment [Home] minimum value [End] maximum value SAMPDIRED, Sample directory This is the directory in which this sample will be saved. If the name is preceeded by the "=" character, then it's interpreted as a @LIBRARY[library] name and the corresponding DOS directory is retrieved from the library configuration file ("DRT.LIB"). You may also press [Alt][B] and pick a library from the current list. SAMPFILEED, Sample filename This is the file name used when samples are saved on disk. SAMPNAMEED, Sample name This is the name of the sample. Because under DOS file names cannot be longer than 12 characters, Dr. Track uses this field both for compatibility with the Amiga format and to store sample descriptions. It's this name that's stored in MOD files. LINEED, Line editor The line editor is called whenever the user needs to input a string of text. When you enter the line editor, the current string is highlited to mean that it has not been modified yet. If you want to modify this string then strike any non-character key (e.g. [End] or [Left]), otherwise the old string will be automatically deleted when you start typing a new one. &BCommands: [Esc] discard changes and exit [Enter] accept changes and exit [Left] character left [Right] character right [Home] beginning of line [End] end of line [^Left] word left [^Right] word right [^Home] delete to the beginning of line [^End] delete to the end of line [Del] delete character [BackSpace] delete character left SONGIO, I/O commands [Alt][C] clear song (doesn't clear samples) [Alt][D] display memory informations [Alt][E] toggle 43/50 line mode (EVA/VGA only) [Alt][I] edit instruments [Alt][L] load module [Alt][M] make and save module (SoundTracker compatible) [Alt][O] OS shell [Alt][R] read pattern from disk [Alt][S] save song (compressed module without samples) [Alt][V] mixer control (SoundBlaster Pro only) [Alt][W] write pattern to disk [Alt][X] exit to DOS PLAYER, MOD player Dr. Track's built-in player allows you to hear an entire song or just the pattern you are composing. The player is activated with [Alt][P]. From the song editor only the current pattern will be played, so that you can immediately listen to your recent work. From the order editor the entire song is played, starting at the current pattern position. While it's playing, Dr. Track displays complete information about what's going on: - the status window is updated with the current pattern, speed and volume; - the pattern window shows the current pattern and frame; - the order window tracks the sequence of patterns played; - the power meters show which tracks are playing and on which channel; - on VGAs the current waveform is displayed in realtime (if the "graphics" option is enabled). &BSeealso: @PPRR[real time recording and testing] @PPOS[OS shell] @PPVC[volume control and fade out] Press [Esc] to stop music. PPRR, Real-time recording and testing Pressing [Alt][F5] (or [Alt][F6], etc. for the other channels) enters the "real-time recording" mode: when "rec" is active a message highlights on the selected channel and the notes you enter from the keyboard are placed right into the song data, at the current position. Pressing [Alt][F5] again enters the "real-time testing" mode, which is the same as the "rec" mode except that notes are played but not saved. Another [Alt][F5] disables both "rec" and "test" modes. Notes are played according to the current default sample, which may be changed with the following keys: [^F1] or [F9] decrement default sample; [^F2] or [F10] increment default sample. PPOS, DOS shell and playback Because Dr. Track is able to play in the background, you can shell to DOS with [Alt][O] and let the music playing. The player doesn't need any of the standard interrupts and is very fast, so it cannot interfere with the programs you run, however remember that in most cases the amount of memory available to DOS is limited. Please don't run any program which uses the SoundBlaster's DAC, that will probably hang your system when you exit from shell (by the way, it's all right with FM chips). PPVC, Volume control and fade out You can control the output volume with [F3] (decrement) and [F4] (increment). This are expecially useful when recording songs on tape (if you use EMM386, QEMM or similar products you should disable them before running DRT to get best sound quality). Press [Alt][F] to fade music out. Also, channel may be turned on and off pressing [F5], [F6], [F7] and [F8] for channels #1, #2, #3 and #4 respectively. SONGNAME, Song name It's the title of the current song or module and may be up to 22 characters long. This string is saved in @MODDTS[MOD] and @MODDTS[DTS] files. &BSeealso: @LINEED[line editor ] @SONGFILENAME[song filename ] SONGFILENAME, Song filename It's the DOS filename used to write a @MODDTS[MOD] file on disk after a &Bmake module&N command ([Alt][M] from the @MODED[song editor]). When saving the file in @MODDTS[DTS] format, the extension is automatically changed in &B.DTS&N. &BSeealso: @LINEED[line editor ] @SONGNAME[song name ] MODDTS, MOD and DTS file overview &BMOD&N files contain all that's needed to play and edit a song: patterns and samples are merged in a single file which is then called a "module". Dr. Track is binary compatible with Amiga MOD files created with the SoundTracker and NoiseTracker programs. &BDTS&N files are unique to Dr. Track. They store only patterns and some extra information in a mildly compressed format. Actual sample data is not saved within DTS files: it contains only the names of the samples used. When you read such a file these names are used to retrieve sample data from disk, which saves a lot of space when you have samples that are used in different songs. Sample names may refer to DOS directories or, much better, to sample @LIBRARY[libraries].