This is a new experiment in communication... a direct link, via Sound On Sound, between Dr.T's Music Software Inc. on the left side of the big pond, and all of you computer musicians on the right. On a regular basis we will be sending over a page of hints, tips, and brouhaha to those of you in the mother country. So listen up, here is the latest news.

UPDATES & REVISIONS

All updates and revisions to Dr.T's products are handled through our distributor in the UK, MCMXCIX Distribution. Be sure that you send in your warranty registration card immediately after you purchase your program or you may not be eligible for updates. We must have your card on file to be able to give you technical support or update service. If you purchase a product which does not have a warranty card, contact MCM immediately. There are updates to almost all of the Dr.T's products.

• We have added a version date on the KCS boot-up screen. Now you can tell what version you have as the program boots. This is important because some MPE features are only available to the latest KCS revisions.

READ.ME FILES

Be sure to check on any updated program disks to see if there are any READ.ME files. These files generally contain information on the programs which did not quite make it into the manual or even the addendums which came with the programs. It is the last-minute info on the programs. You can print this out or display it by simply clicking on the File icon and choosing the Print or Display option from the dialogue box. You could also load the file into your word processor as an unformatted ASCII text file and print that way.

HINTS & TIPS

• It is super easy to split apart merged tracks in the KCS or Level II. Let's say that you want to play some music from your hardware sequencer into KCS and then split it apart by MIDI channel. Hook up the MIDI cables between the two devices. Now make sure that the hardware sequencer is in a mode that sends MIDI Clock.

Go to the Open Mode edit screen and click on 'Set Options'. Select 'MIDI Clock' from the Timing options. Now click 'OK' to return to the edit screen. Select the Record option and select Real-Time. If you have MIDI controllers in the track that you are playing over, be sure to select the Aftertouch and Controllers options, otherwise they will not be recorded in KCS. Click 'OK' to go to Open Mode Record/Play and start the hardware sequencer.

When it has finished playing, the KCS will stop if the hardware box stops sending clocks, otherwise simply press the right mouse button. You will return to the edit screen. Note which sequence you recorded in and now go to Track Mode edit. Select the 'Copy Sequence To All Tracks' option and type the appropriate sequence number in the dialogue box. Click 'OK' and the job is done. If you go to Track Play/Record you will see all of your parts nicely split by MIDI channel on separate tracks. Piece of cake, huh?

• New KCS and Level II features include: when clicking on Delete or Erase in edit, the program does not ask if you want to do this - it just happens. You can use Undo to get the original back if this is not what you wanted to do. In Transpose/Auto Correct, whatever option you have highlighted stays lit when you come back to it later. Also, we removed the Alternate key assignment display from the KCS and Level II Track Mode Play/Record screens. The keys still work, of course. We think that this 'cleans up' the screen and removes some possible confusion as to what the heck 'N1' means.

CAGED ARTIST TIPS

• One of the neatest features about the MPE is the ability to control the KCS from the other programs. In the Caged Artist editors you can play the current cue, track, sequence, or any note, with the right-hand mouse button. You can set these options from the System page in your editor, but it is even easier to do than that! Simply press N to play a Note, C to play a Cue, T to play a Track, or S to play a Sequence from any page of the editor other than the System page. This makes it very easy to edit the patch and play a note to check your edits from within the editor, and then press C to hear the edited patch 'in context'.

• Don't forget about the Patch Injector included on all Caged Artist editor disks. For those of you wanting to shoot a patch over to your D110, or whatever, while in the middle of your spreadsheet, letter to your mum, or while working in another company's GEM-based sequencer, this program is the easiest possible solution. Just install the unprotected accessory on your boot disk, access it in the standard manner and follow the prompts. Patch Injector works with all Caged Artist Atari editor files and will be updated as more editors are created. Contact MCMXCIX for information on updates.

• For Caged Artist editors supporting multitimbral instruments like the Roland D110, MT32, Kawai K1, K5, Yamaha FB01 or TX81Z, try creating some MONSTER SOUNDS! You can do this by setting several instruments to the same MIDI channel. Pick the sounds you want to combine (they may need some editing so that modulation and pitch bend are in sync), and store everything you have thus edited back to a bank with an appropriate name like 'Dracula 4'. Don't forget to save it to disk, especially if you have one of those naughty MT32's which so easily lose their minds.

NEW RELEASES

Level II for the Apple Macintosh, MT32 editor for the Macintosh, D110 editor for the Macintosh and the Atari ST. Phantom, Keys! and Tunesmith for the Atari.

KCS HINTS

• Save a file called EMPTY.ALL on your data disk, containing no sequences, tracks, or songs. Then if you need to clear out the contents of the KCS to start afresh, just load this file. Don't forget that this also loads the associated Set Options information!

• If you were recording a piece in a lower clock setting (eg. 24ppq) and later need to change it to a higher clock, just go to the SET OPTIONS page, change just the Steps per Beat, and answer 'Y' to the next two questions. The first one will change all of your sequences into the higher resolution, and the second one will adjust all related parameters to the proper values.

• A very convenient way of working in KCS is to start out in Track mode and write the different sections of your piece, and then send the completed section over to Open mode by pressing 1. This lets you send your tracks to Open mode without leaving the Play page. By writing several different tracks and muting and unmuting them, you can quickly come up with a lot of music based around your rhythm parts (just like all of that funky dance music you hear making a lot of money on the radio). Once you have enough sections in Open mode, then go to Song mode to chain them together. You may now send this completed song back to Track mode, and have it play in its entirety while you lay down a solo, live drums, or whatever. Then when you are happy with it, send it back to an Open mode sequence as a completed 'song'. You can always pull it apart by MIDI channels when you send it to Track mode, and if you have Level II KCS, you could create a preset that would even separate your drum/percussion parts to different tracks by individual notes within a single MIDI channel!

• Here is a PVG preset that will take a sequence/track and optimise the durations in relation to the next start time. In PVG, go to Global 1, and click on 'Staccato/Legato'. Now go to Global 2 and enter 31 for DURATION, 1 for WEIGHT, and 0 for CHANGES. Click on 'Edit Mode' and then select 'OK'. The sequence you were just on will now have all the durations optimised according to the next start time following it. If you have chords or double hits, you will notice that only one is given the proper duration, while the others are given durations of zero. To fix these, go to the Master Editor, and then go to the Chords page. Now select 'Maximum Durations' and they will be corrected.

• If you own KCS Version 1.6 and not Level II, and need to split off MIDI controllers from a track/sequence, click on 'Split' on the Edit page and enter a value of 0. All of the controller information on the track will be automatically split off to the next available track.

GETTING HELP

You don't have to make a 'very' long distance phone call to get help with Dr.T's products. MCMXCIX has a staff of three techno-MIDIs on call from 1-5pm Monday through Friday to answer your questions. Be nice to these boys please. If the phone is busy, remember that they are working very hard to take care of the entire UK. Be sure that you have the following things to hand when you call: your program's serial number, your manual.

This page has been written and compiled for SOS by Dr.T's Music Software Inc.