From 0f0ae515af4b242e7a3afc9a7631bf0f27f46d87 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Tim E. Real" Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2013 06:51:28 +0000 Subject: HTML files --- muse2/doc/html/split/documentation/node4.html | 591 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 591 insertions(+) create mode 100644 muse2/doc/html/split/documentation/node4.html (limited to 'muse2/doc/html/split/documentation/node4.html') diff --git a/muse2/doc/html/split/documentation/node4.html b/muse2/doc/html/split/documentation/node4.html new file mode 100644 index 00000000..ec5899e3 --- /dev/null +++ b/muse2/doc/html/split/documentation/node4.html @@ -0,0 +1,591 @@ + + + + + +Introduction + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ +next + +up + +previous + +contents +
+ Next: Basic overview + Up: User's manual + Previous: User's manual +   Contents +
+
+ + +Subsections + + + +
+ +

+Introduction +

+ +

+A brief history of computer audio and MusE +

+To quickly summarize over a decades open source development: in 1999 Werner + Schweer released the first version of MusE, muse-0.0.1.tar.gz, in it's first +few releases (actually not few, Werner relentlessly churned out new releases) +MusE was only a midi sequencer. The target was to create a fully fledged +midi sequencer for the Linux operating system. Over the years audio was +added among with other things implemented and sometimes abandoned. +Today MusE is a stable and feature rich music creation environment which +strives to encompass most of the music recording process, creation, editing, +mastering. + +

+ +

+Definitions +

+CTRL refers to the control key on the keyboard, e.g. CTRL+C +means to press and hold the control key while pressing the c key. Make sure +you know where you have it so you won't accidentally lose control +(bad jokes are the best jokes, so say we all!). +
SHIFT refers to the shift key on the keyboard, see above for usage +
ALT refers to the alt key on the keyboard, see above for usage +
$> is used as a generic definition for a terminal prompt. When the +manual lists a command that shall be typed, the prompt is not part of the +command. +
+Keys are always referred to in bold uppercase, e.g. A. For instance +SHIFT+A for the key a pressed together with the shift key. +
+Sometimes terminal examples are written tabbed in with a fixed font to +visualize more closely what something looks like on the screen. +E.g. +
$> muse2 +
+

+ +

+Getting up and running for impatient people +

+Install MusE from the repository of your chosen distribution. +To get decent performance start http://jackaudio.org/Jack with +the following command in a terminal: +
$> jackd -d alsa -d hw:0 -p 256 +
+Or, if you prefer, use the launcher utility +http://qjackctl.sourceforge.net/QJackCtl to get some +help starting Jack. +After this, start MusE from the menu or fire up another terminal and +type + +

+muse2. +
+If this didn't work out read on for the slightly more complete route for +getting things started. + +

+ +

+Getting up and running +

+ +

+Installation from binaries +

+There are several ways to install MusE depending on your situation. The +most convenient way is to install a prepackaged version from your chosen +distribution. The drawback of this is that it may not be the most recent +version, though often there is a more recent package from a private packager. + +

+Installation from source +

+Building MusE from source is not hard, there are a number of prerequistes +that must be met but the actual building should be painless (ha, famous +last words). +
+Please follow the README in the source package and/or read the instructions +on the homepage: http://muse-sequencer.org/index.php/Installation +

+ +

+Hardware +

+MusE on the Linux platform supports midi through ALSA and Jack-midi and audio +through Jack. For information on what hardware is supported there are some +convenient places to check: + + +Also, as is often a very good approach for Linux and open source, the +various forums available on the internet often contain good information. +Chances are someone has already tried your configuration and/or had your +specific problem and the solution is already written down. + +

+Launching +

+After installation the binary muse2 is installed on the computer. If MusE +was installed from a distribution repository the binary may have a +different name depending on the distribution policies. Most distributions +do however install a menu entry so MusE should be conveniently available +from there. + +

+Audio preconditions +

+In the standard case MusE expects to find and connect to the Jack audio +server http://jackaudio.org. Make sure jack is installed (if MusE was +installed with a distribution-package Jack will very likely already be +installed) For Jack to run with best performance your system should be +sufficiently tuned to allow it to run with realtime capabilities. The +realtime configuration is configuration of the operating system and roughly +consists of two parts. + +
    +
  1. By default on most distros only the superuser lets applications setup +realtime capabilities. Please see the APPENDIX for setting up realtime +
    2. +
  2. Maximizing performance. A standard linux installation may not able +to reach the performance required by a power user. This requires exchanging +the linux kernel for a so called lowlatency kernel, this is also covered by +the realtime APPENDIX. +
    3. +
+ +

+ +

+Running MusE +

+Find MusE in the menu or open a terminal and enter muse2. + +

+$> muse2 +
+A splash screen should pop up followed +by the main application window and you are off! +
+If an error like the screenshot below pops up the Jack audio server is +either not running or started as a different user than what you are trying +to start MusE as. + +

+ + + +
Figure 2.1: +Jack server missing
+
+ +
Image no_audio
+
+ +

+Midi only +

+MusE can be started in Midi-only mode where MusE does not have any external +dependencies apart from ALSA midi. In this case start MusE from a terminal: +$> muse2 -a + +

+ +

+ALSA midi with Jack +

+If Jack is running, by default MusE will not use ALSA devices, preferring +Jack midi instead. To force ALSA devices to be used as well as Jack +midi, start MusE with the -A option: $> muse2 -A + +

+ +

+Beginners tutorial +

+To get a quick grip of what MusE can achieve please follow this beginners +tutorial. + +

+Midi Setup +

+First off, fire up MusE as was described in the previous chapter, making +sure that the jack audio server is started with sufficient configuration +to allow for audio output without breakup. Also make sure your system can +make sound. + +

+Soft synth test +

+With MusE up and running right click in the Track-pane (see +Fig. 2.8) and select +Add Synth > MESS > vam soft synth. +A Soft Synth track called vam-0 should appear as well as a separate GUI +for the synthesizer. + +

+Now right click once more in the Track-pane and select Add Midi +Track. Another track appears called Track 1, and its track list Port +column should show it is bound to the synth that was just created vam-0. +If it is not, click on the Track 1 Port column to open a drop-down list +of available devices and choose vam-0. + +

+ +

+r0.05 +Image arrow_tool + +
+Now select the drawing tool icon +from the toolbar, alternatively press the shortcut key D. +Move the mouse over to the arranger canvas as referenced in +Fig. 2.8 +and point at the midi track, the mouse should have changed to a small pencil. +Draw a Part along the midi track using the mouse. For this exercise it is +not important where or how large the drawn Part is. When you are done double +click on the drawn part. This will open up the Piano Roll editor. To the +left of the Piano Roll there are piano keys in a vertical line, try clicking +on the keys in this virtual keyboard each click should be rewarded with a +synth sound (maybe of questionable quality, a sound nevertheless) + +
+ + + +
Figure 2.2: +vam synthesizer
+
+ +
Image vam_synth
+
+ +

+ +

+Missing sound +

+If you got sound from the previous exercise you can carry on to the next, +or keep reading for further enlightenment in case you come upon trouble +later on. If there is no sound we need to do some fault hunting. First +off, click on Arranger window once more and select the vam-0 track in the +track-pane. + +
+ + + +
Figure 2.3: +Midi editor view
+
+ +
Image main_window_with_midi_editor_vam
+
+Now bring back Piano Roll window and align the windows so you +can see the piano keys as well as the Meter on the Mixer Strip (see the +5 Function by function chapter for more information on these windows). +The result should be something like the following: + +

+When pressing one of the keys on virtual Keyboard the Meter on the Mixer +Strip should light up in green to visualize that the Synth is making +sound, if it is not try to trace back your steps and and see if you did +anything differently than described. +Now, if the Meter lights up but there is still no sound we need to +check the routing between the tracks. Click on the Arranger window again +and select the Out 1 track, this is the predefined output which MusE by +default loads at startup, at the bottom of Mixer Strip there are two +buttons looking like tele- jacks, these bring up the inputs and outputs +of the track, click on the right one, the output and make sure that it is +connected to some valid outputs on your system. + +

+r0.25 +Image output_routing + +
+Click on the outputs to select them, if you did changes here go back and +try clicking on the Piano Roll keyboard again, hopefully it helped. If there +still are problems make sure your system actually can make sound through +Jack, this is however getting outside the scope of this manual. +
+
This might be the time to bring up the concept of community support. +Open source software could never be what it is without the support given by +individuals on forums and mailinglists, if the information given in this +document is not enough, try googling your problem and/or get in touch with +one of the online forums for MusE or Linux audio in general. See some pointers +in the Support chapter. + +

+ +

+Recording Midi +

TBD + +

+Recording Audio +

+At this point we'll make a a slight detour into full on audio recording. Getting +audio out of MusE has already been covered in the previous chapters so we will +concentrate on the additional steps needed to record onto an audio track. +
+
+When MusE is first fired up, the +output track has already been created (more about this in the chapter about +templates), to proceed with audio recording we need to add two additional tracks, a +wave track and an input track. +
+When MusE is first started right click in an empty space on the track view + +
+ + + +
Figure 2.4: +Add track
+
+ +
Image main_window_add_track
+
+and select Add Audio Input. Right click again and also select +Add Wave Track. Two additional tracks are now visible in the Arranger, +"Input 1" and "Track 1", bring up the mixer with F10 and you should see +the following configuration. + +
+ + + +
Figure 2.5: +Mixer with one input
+
+ +
Image mixer_with_one_input
+
+ +
+Note the buttons on each mixer strip. hover over them to see their +functionality. For more information on all the buttons see coming chapters +about the mixer. For now lets just do what we must. +
+1. click on the stereo symbol over the slider to change the input to a mono track. +
+2. do the same for the wave track (optional) +
+3. click on the Mute (gray speaker) icon on the input track to unmute it. +
+4. click on the input routing button (see the tooltip, it looks like a tele plug) +on the input track and select an appropriate connection from your system. +
+5. click on the output routing button on the input track and select +Track 1 +
+
+Already after the meter on the input track should be able to display that there +is incoming sound from your sound source. If there actually is sound coming +from your sound source, that is. +
+We are now nearly ready to start recording. First we need to select a location +to store the files. MusE does not use a centralized storage of soundfiles but +uses the path of the song-file (extension .med) as guidance as to where the +audio files should be placed. Now as it happens MusE will prohibit us from +starting a recording until the songfile has been stored. So lets take advantage +of this behaviour and just go ahead and try to record. Let's get started. +
+In the mixer click on the red record dot on the Audio Track to arm it +for recording (or enable if you will). Now when there is audio coming into the +input it will also show up on the Audio Track. Also note that all the input and +output routing buttons on the tracks now have the same gray color, this means +that all of the tracks have a proper connection. + +
+ + + +
Figure 2.6: +Mixer buttons
+
+ +
Image mixer_with_one_input_buttons
+
+ +
+All fine and dandy. Now bring up the arranger window and find the round, red on +white record button and click on it. This is your queue to MusE to +prepare for recording. However since we have not saved our song we are presented +with a dialog to do just that. +
+
+ + + +
Figure 2.7: +Save song
+
+ +
Image project_my_first_song
+
+Note the check box for creating a project folder, when working with audio this +is very much recommended or you may soon loose track of what audio files belong +to which song. +
+Finally we are ready to start recording! The process is completed by clicking +on the Play button in the Arranger. If all went well MusE then starts +to record a wave file from the Input Track placed in your song directory. +
+When you wish to stop recording press Stop in the Arranger, now the +resulting waveform should be visible in the Arranger. After rewinding the Play +position and pressing Play again the resulting sound should be audible +through the connected output. + +

+ +

+ + +next + +up + +previous + +contents +
+ Next: Basic overview + Up: User's manual + Previous: User's manual +   Contents
+ + + + -- cgit v1.2.3