255 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
255 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
==============================================================================
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_ _ _ _ _
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_ __ ___ (_) | | ___ _| |_ _ __ __ _ ___| | _____ _ __
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| '_ ` _ \| | | |/ / | | | __| '__/ _` |/ __| |/ / _ \ '__|
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| | | | | | | | <| |_| | |_| | | (_| | (__| < __/ |
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|_| |_| |_|_|_|_|\_\\__, |\__|_| \__,_|\___|_|\_\___|_|
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the fantastic guide |___/ by null1024
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====================================================================Beta 2.51=
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last modified on [10.26.2011]m.d.y
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Warning:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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This document is more accurate than my AHX one by far, considering I'm a
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regular at using Milky. However, there are omissions, inaccuacies [well, maybe
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, maybe not], and just plain hard-to-read sections in this. I apologise
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beforehand, just in case something screws up.
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About:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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Are you a newbie to tracking? Are you a pro coming to tracking on the PC? Are
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you familiar with Milky, but wonder where the shortcuts are? Is ModPlug too
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much of a piece of crap to you? Schism too odd? Just need something to read?!
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Then... this is the guide for you.
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Tips+Notes...:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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* Use FT2 edit mode rather than Milky. Trust me, it's easier. Especially since
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this is the mode you're most likely to get help with, very few use Milky's
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"modern" edit mode. Hell, this guide is written assuming you're using FT2
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style. Don't expect many of these shortcuts to work in FT2 though, lots of
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them are for Milky's new [or nicer] features.
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* Go to Config > Resampling > No Interpolation if you are doing any of the
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sample synthing tricks in this file. Trust me.
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Keys [take note, written for a US key layout, sorry!]:::::::::::::::::::::::::
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* Caps Lock or 1: note-off. This screws people up a lot, but note that on not-
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Windows platforms, it's usually 1. Try 'em both to see which one works.
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* Most of your keys with letters on them: insert note. You should know this.
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* F1-F7: change octave. Note that the number after the F is the octave for the
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Q key, not the one for Z.
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* Ctrl-Alt-C: Copy. There's another shortcut, but I think that's Alt-F4, and
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that doesn't work on some non-Windows platforms [namely because the window
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manager likely has Alt-F4 bound to say... clicking the close button on the
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window]
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* Alt-F3 or Ctrl-Alt-X: Cut.
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* Ctrl-Alt-V: Paste. There's another key shortcut, but it doesn't work on my
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machine [I dunno if the window manager is picking it up or not]
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* Alt-F6: Porous Paste. Mixes together what was underneath what you paste and
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what you paste on top, rather than clearing it out like normal paste does.
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Quite useful, especially for single-channel echo.
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* Alt-Arrow key: Select. You do this before you copy or cut or whatever :D
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* Shift-Up/Down: Change instrument.
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* Shift-Left/Right: Move in orderlist.
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* Shift-V: Volume scale the track.
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* Ctrl-V: Volume scale the pattern.
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* Alt-V: Volume scale the block you selected.
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* Ctrl-Alt-Z: Undo.
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* Ctrl-I: Bring up instrument editor.
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* Ctrl-S: Bring up sample editor.
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* Ctrl-A: Bring up advanced edit box.
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* Shift-I: Interpolate. This is useful as hell. A special little tip is to use
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it on effects: put an effect that has memory on. At the top and bottom of
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where you want to apply the effect, put it there. Select the effect column
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from the top of where you want it to the bottom, and interpolate. Then put in
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the parameters for the effect at the top. Seems long, but it beats holding
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down the effect letter for 64 rows. Much faster than it sounds.
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* `: Change edit step [how many rows to skip when inserting notes]. Adds 1 to
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it. Use Shift+` to decrease it. Seems not to work on OSX.
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Getting Started:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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* Earlier revisions of this file assumed the reader had some knowledge of
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using a tracker. I don't know why they did, you are likely reading this
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because you don't. So, to business:
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* Load up Milky. You should see the note grid. Pressing spacebar will change
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between edit and preview modes [edit mode allows the user to input notes in
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the grid, preview lets you test an instrument].
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* Before we can even input a single note, we need an instrument. Click the
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Sample Edit button [it might be abbreviated, maybe as Smp. Edit, depending on
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your Milky resolution]. Rightclick in the big black box with a line [otherwise
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known as the sample area], and click "New". In the dialog that appears, type
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128 and press OK.
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* Now, rightclick that area again, go to Generators > Sawtooth. Change volume
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to 40. Press OK.
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* This is the most important bit of making an instrument this way [eg, not
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using outside sample sources] -- set the loop. There should be a bunch of
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radio buttons near the sample area, click the one that says "Forward".
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*There, you have a sample! On to getting notes in the pattern! Check out the
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Instrument Tips section of this document for more information on sample
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making.
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<todo: write this section in morebetterer fashion>
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* Making notes in a pattern -- press space so the line is red, arrow keys
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move the cursor, use the keyboard letters to input notes, function keys set
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octave.
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<yes, this needs a rewrite, why do you ask?>
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Instrument Tips:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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* Want an easy echo effect? Does your sample loop?
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Then... either A: make an instrument with an envelope like so:
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==================
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\
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\ |\
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\| `, |`,
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\ \| `,|``..
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==================
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if you want a fairly lazy echo. Try to keep the lengths of the fades the same,
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and realize that this echo doesn't sustain. At all.
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...or B: if you want sustain...
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==================
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`,
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==================
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Use a really steep, really short drop that doesn't completely reach the
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bottom. Sustain it at the first point, and have a really low fadeout [try say,
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around 07C or so]. Remember, XM instruments don't stop at the end of the
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envelope, unlike in IT. When you're ready to cut the note, use a note-cut or
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Kxx on that. If working at speed 6, I like using K04, personally.
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* Using the sample editor for anything described here? Then you'll need a
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little setup. Remember -- unless specified, make sure your settings are as so
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for any samples you make for the "Sample limited?" section below...
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When making a new sample [right-click when on the wave area > New], set the
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length to 100. When choosing your wave [right-click wave area > Generate >
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anything but Noise or Silence], make sure volume is at 50.00 and period is at
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1.0. Why? Prevents clipping, and these are the settings the sounds here were
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created with. Also, I mention this here because this guide is written a bit
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inconsistently -- I mightn't explain something earlier on that I eventually
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get to later, so putting this before lets me ignore that issue because what
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you need is before now.
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Once you're comfortable [or feel like I'm hand-holding you too much], you can
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do things differently. Actually, in normal use, I use 40.00 when I make
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samples. Also, a lot of my samples are synthed by bouncing them out of another
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tracker, Renoise, which has a bunch of DSPs and stuff, and supports VST/DSSI
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plugins/instruments.
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* Sample limited? Try synthing out samples in Milky. Try combining waves that
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you generate with the built in sample editor. Drawing works too, but sometimes
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things sound better with clean and well-formed chipwaves.
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NOTE NOTE NOTE! When doing this, remember to turn off interpolation due to the
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nature of these waves, unless you want muddy samples. Remember to do this in
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the .WAV Disk Op menu as well [change the resampler to no interpolation on the
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save as box, underneath where it says Quality].
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One nice thing you can easily synth is a supersaw. Assuming instrument 1 is a
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saw, put this at the top of your pattern, set it to speed 6, BPM 125, and
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do a WAV disk-op on it [Ctrl-D, select .WAV and Save As in that order, then
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hit record]:
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00|C-5*1*****|C-5*1**X18|C-5*1**X28|C-5*1**202|C-5*1**102|
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and that's it. Load the sample into Milky and clean it up a bit by cutting off
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the very beginning: you'll hear the instruments detuning slowly until they
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form a supersaw. Try changing the parameters on this one, for example, making
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the values smaller produces a nice phasing instrument. Try to loop it well,
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it's a bit tricky. Cut any excess sample you don't need, too: long samples are
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huge.
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Another nice trick is doing a kick drum. With sample 1 being a square and
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sample 2 being a triangle at speed 3, 125 BPM.
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00|C-5*110250|C-5*240250|
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01|*****0C200|*****30200|
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02|*****08200|*****20200|
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03|*****04200|*****10200|
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04|*****00***|*****00***|
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Record that, load it back into Milky in another slot, and cut the silence at
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the end off. Why mix the square and triangle, and why is the square so quiet?
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Square alone sounds distorted. Nice for a gabber track, but you probably don't
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want such a harsh sound. Triangle alone sounds wimpy. Seriously, mute the
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channel with the square when testing how it sounds. You will hear how wimpy it
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is on its own. The square would overpower the triangle at full volume, so it's
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quieter, and the mix gives it a richer sound.
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There's an even better kick drum if you want more of a clubby sound.
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In Milky's sample editor, make a sine wave for instrument 1. Ping-pong loop
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it. Then, at speed 6, 160 BPM...
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00|C-7*140240
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01|*****30200
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02|*****20200
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03|*****10200
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04|*****00***
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and do the record thing. The ping-pong sine has a sound like a low-pass
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filtered square wave, so it retains the best characteristics of a sine
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[smoothness, clearness], and a square [loudness, punch].
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Take note, the BPM and speed values listed are just for best effect when
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sampling these sounds. You can use a different BPM/speed combination, but then
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you'll have to tweak the sounds to fit.
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Take further note -- you don't have to bounce these sounds to samples and load
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them back in if you don't want to, but you will have to deal with the channel
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usage that this incurs. Also, changing the notes as needed too.
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With that in mind, here's a sound that doesn't lend well to sampling, PWM.
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It works when sampled, and sounds the same almost, but looping it is annoying,
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unless you want to spend a while figuring out where it sounds just right.
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Here's what you do:
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Make 2 sawtooth waves. Take the second one and go to Advanced > Backwards in
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the wave area's right-click menu. Go to the Ins. Edit screen [the button is in
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the top left corner of the Milky display, or just hit Ctrl-I] and change the
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finetune to -003 or so.
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Then, in your pattern...
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00|C-4*1*****|C-4*2*****
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and remember to substitute C-4 for the note you want. If you don't want the
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sound to start over when you have a new note, for any note except the first
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you use this instrument on in the pattern, use the effect 3FF.
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So an example pattern would be
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00|C-4*1*****|C-4*2*****
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01|**********|**********
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02|**********|**********
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03|**********|**********
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04|D-4*1**3FF|D-4*2**3FF
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05|**********|**********
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06|E-4*1**300|E-4*2**300 <--NOTE! 3xx has memory, so you only need to do 3FF
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07|**********|********** once on the pattern. You can just type 300 on
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08|**********|********** the rest [so, just type 3 in the first column]!
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...and you can see where this goes.
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Pattern Tips::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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* The 3FF tip is useful for a lot more than just the PWM not resetting, you
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can apply that to most other samples, especially if it has a long attack and
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you don't want it constantly restarting. If the attack is done with envelopes
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instead of in the sample, you might just want to zero out the instrument
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column [just type 0 over whatever is in it, DO NOT HIT DELETE], which will
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prevent the instrument from restarting.
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* Volume column effects are fantastic. Look those up in the official Milky
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manual, which is the best reference for what you can do. One of my favorites
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is vibrato and portamento. Set vibrato on first note, then use V0 in the
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volume column down the pattern. Then, on the first note to portamento to, use
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3xx [say, 330], and continue that down the pattern. You can even do things
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like arps with vibrato [although, you'll have to set the vibrato with 4xy
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somewhere else, either in the pattern above, or in some empty space above your
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notes if there is any. There is the option of setting it with Sx and Vy on the
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first 2 notes of the arp if neither of the previous options is avaliable, but
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you won't have vibrato on the first row [or it might be screwed up from a
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previous vibrato setting... take note!]]
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******************************************************************************
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Contact:
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IRC: null1024 or null|phone on irc.esper.net, shoot me a PM or join #null.
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email: nullsolaris@gmail.com [note, this often goes unchecked]
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******************************************************************************
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[EOF]
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