noob (ish) questions

[scuzzphut]

alright chaps

i've downloaded and played with ext many times in the past, but this time , I'm really starting to think that this could be my do-it-all host.


I am finding the feature set quite overwhelming though, so would anyone mind answering some noob questions for me


(1) There are 2 rows of boxes above the sequencer arrange window. The upper ones are for setting the loop start and end points - what are the lower ones for?

(2) Is there a toggle somewhere that will let me hear an existing note when I click on it in the midi editor?

(3) Is there an equivelant to freeze for audio tracks? ie. once I've recorded a guitar line and inserted a JCM900 and tweaked until I'm happy - is there a simple way to render that to audio into a new track ? A "bounce" feature, if you will

(4) If I use ctrl-d to duplicate a midi part in the sequencer, then edit one of them, the other is edited too. I know that I can un-ghost before I edit, but is there a toggle that will make duplicates unique instead of ghosts - or should I be using something other than ctrl-d to make non-ghost copies?

(5) It would be nice to open up an audio recording in an external editor (I'm thinking something nice and light, like audacity) make a tweak (even just normalise) and then dump it back into ext. Any tips?


I am now seeing what all the fuss is about. Ext is super powerful and feature rich. Great work, Jorgen

[scuzzphut]

oh - and has anyone got the auxiliary sends on this thing working in ext?

[plastique]

(1) There are 2 rows of boxes above the sequencer arrange window. The upper ones are for setting the loop start and end points - what are the lower ones for?

in the second a line displays the song position

(2) Is there a toggle somewhere that will let me hear an existing note when I click on it in the midi editor?

usually you can preview by clicking on the vertical piano - if it works in _every_ component i'm not sure , but it should ...
in any case , audio outs have to be connected to the master out (directly or indirectly)

(3) Is there an equivelant to freeze for audio tracks? ie. once I've recorded a guitar line and inserted a JCM900 and tweaked until I'm happy - is there a simple way to render that to audio into a new track ? A "bounce" feature, if you will

you can solo a track and in the file options choose 'render to wav' , then re-import

(4) If I use ctrl-d to duplicate a midi part in the sequencer, then edit one of them, the other is edited too. I know that I can un-ghost before I edit, but is there a toggle that will make duplicates unique instead of ghosts - or should I be using something other than ctrl-d to make non-ghost copies?

control-d only makes ghost copies.
you can do them manually instead : ctrl+shift+drag (while ctrl+drag is with ghosting)

(5) It would be nice to open up an audio recording in an external editor (I'm thinking something nice and light, like audacity) make a tweak (even just normalise) and then dump it back into ext. Any tips?

it's been requested and hopefully implemented soon .
the audio features where on hold for quite a while since with the next version ( 1.28 ) a lot of live-oriented features have (and will be) added, maybe next one will focus on audio again ...

hope this helps

PS: can't answer you mixer question.

[scuzzphut]

(2) Is there a toggle somewhere that will let me hear an existing note when I click on it in the midi editor?

usually you can preview by clicking on the vertical piano - if it works in _every_ component i'm not sure , but it should ...
in any case , audio outs have to be connected to the master out (directly or indirectly)

yup, clicking on the piano works fine - I just wondered if clicking on the actual notes in the piano roll could be made to "sound" them. I find that helps a lot when editing. Maybe I should add an FR

thanks for your swift responses - I appreciate it

[elfan]

yup, clicking on the piano works fine - I just wondered if clicking on the actual notes in the piano roll could be made to "sound" them. I find that helps a lot when editing. Maybe I should add an FR

Tee-hee , I absolutely _LOVE_ that people have started to request this feature. You are not alone. I, for one, agree with you.

It's on the FR list. The FR on the list suggests that notes should be auditioned when inserted/transposed from the QWERTY keyboard, but if you talk to Simon I perhaps he can supplement the existing FR with your suggestion.
Anyway, it's just a matter of waiting for it... And/or giving subtle hints once and a while... And/or nagging about it .

//Tomas

[Sicklecell666]

"(1) There are 2 rows of boxes above the sequencer arrange window. The upper ones are for setting the loop start and end points - what are the lower ones for?"

The lower box is song position, and if you click inside that row, that's where you'll be taken position wise.

Also, at the bottom of the midi window there is a very thin strip seperating the piano roll from the velocity window. Click & drag on that & you'll widen your velocity lane view.

"(2) Is there a toggle somewhere that will let me hear an existing note when I click on it in the midi editor? "

No, but this is a feature request. We were discussing this the other night.

(3) Is there an equivelant to freeze for audio tracks? ie. once I've recorded a guitar line and inserted a JCM900 and tweaked until I'm happy - is there a simple way to render that to audio into a new track ? A "bounce" feature, if you will

Yeah, & you can define it's settings between 16 & 32 bit. You need to click on the title bar for the instrument track you wanna freeze to the left in the sequencer window. A drop down menu is there & freeze is one of the options. You'll need to assign a samples folder the first time you do it.

(4) If I use ctrl-d to duplicate a midi part in the sequencer, then edit one of them, the other is edited too. I know that I can un-ghost before I edit, but is there a toggle that will make duplicates unique instead of ghosts - or should I be using something other than ctrl-d to make non-ghost copies?

That one I'm not so sure about. I just ghost & un-ghost, but a modifier to copy a non-ghosted part would be good if it isn't there.

"(5) It would be nice to open up an audio recording in an external editor (I'm thinking something nice and light, like audacity) make a tweak (even just normalise) and then dump it back into ext. Any tips?"

Not there yet that I know of, but I'm sure that one has been requested. A built in Normalize feature would be slick, as you say..

I am now seeing what all the fuss is about. Ext is super powerful and feature rich. Great work, Jorgen

It would be great to have you onboard, scuzz!

[scuzzphut]

OK - I bit

Ordered today - nice to see that ShareIt handle the distribution of the key - no waiting around for emails and all that.

I am very happy I shelled out for this one - it's a really impressive piece of kit and it's great that it's constantly evolving.

[experimental.crow]

you can add me to the list ...

did an extensive demo , and bought yesterday ... going to be alot to learn here , and i really appreciate the in-depth tutorials provided by nic-fit , and the responsive user base ...

i was originally attracted by the arp module , but am most impressed by the open-ended architecture of this app ...

and the price ?... doesn't get more user friendly than that ...

[Sicklecell666]

well done guys.

Welcome aboard to the both of you.

[JamminFool]

I am very happy I shelled out for this one - it's a really impressive piece of kit and it's great that it's constantly evolving.

i bought a couple of months ago and am continually amazed at what i got for my money. definitely one of the best investments in music software i have made.

[spacefox]

oh - and has anyone got the auxiliary sends on this thing working in ext?

Haven't tried the CMX in EXT, but why not use the EXT own mixer instead?

P.S. Dr. Lazy says hi.