DigiTape for FALCON 030 ======================== Demo-Version 11/23/92 Demo-Version means: ------------------- You can create tapes with the maximum length of 20 seconds. You can play longer tapes but record only 20 seconds. The demo version runs on any ATARI ST/STE/TT machine but only with FALCON 030 the record and replay functions are supported. To give you an impression on the other machines we made a random generator playing the V/U-meters. In General: ----------- This software is only avaliable for ATARI FALCON 030. It supports the built in sound system with stereo 16 bit A/D and D/A convertors and realtime effects generated by the specially integrated Motorola DSP56k as reverb, flanger, vibrato (others projected ...). You can record two tracks simultaneousely with up to 50 kHz sampling frequency, copy them into 6 replay-tracks, replay these six tracks (and additional two recording-tracks), use at replay up to three, in realtime generated effects and finally listen to all that noise patiently. Further on planning includes a special hardware for digital in/out and additional sampling frequencies. Hard Disc: ---------- The best is clearing the partition of your hard disc on which you want to create a tape. Default path is E:\. Note that you will need a lot of disc space: Sampling Rate x Running Time(sec) x No. of Tracks x 2 + 8KB(Header) Example: a tape with 2 record tracks and 4 replay tracks, a sampling frequency of 25 kHz and playtime of 3:15 min will swallow 58.000.000 Bytes (58 MB) of your hard disc. Working with DigiTape: ---------------------- DigiTape actually provides three different operating modes: 1. Multi-track digital tape recorder 2. Online sound processing using effect modules 3. Frequency analyzer Tape Recorder: ============== General use it as a real tape: First create a tape. Plug in a microphone or another sound source into the microphone jack of the FALCON 030. Record into the stereo record-tracks. Copy the record-tracks to the playback-tracks. Record and copy until all playback-tracks are used. Last you can record and then convert the record tracks into playback-tracks (conversion is reverseable). In the remix-rack add possibly effects and mix all playback- tracks regarding panorama and volume. Menu->New Tape: --------------- Create a tape file with fixed parameters: Select tape length, number of playback-tracks, sampling rate. A new tape has always 2 record-tracks. It is not possible to change the length and the number of tracks after creating the tape. If you select a configuration that exceeds the given hard disc speed, DigiTape will print a warning. You can ignore it if you want to check the configuration. Maybe it works ( 6+2 track, 25kHz etc. could work with a faster hard disc! But we are not sure it will, so we integrated a low tolerance level for warning). The tape label is always shown on the DigiTape desktop. It contains also the track labels shown on the track slider modules. Click to change it. Menu->Record: ------------- DigiTape records always in stereo onto the two record-tracks. If you want to record from a mono source, the second record track will record nothing. Copying of only one mono track to one play-track of course is possible. Select 'MONITOR PLAYBACK TRACKS' to monitor earlier recorded and copied tracks while recording. Select 'MONITOR RECORD TRACKS' to play the recently recorded record tracks. Deselect 'MONITOR LINE IN' if you don't want to hear the source. Select 'KARAOKE' to achive an effect that eliminates or reduces drastically the voice signal. With that you can produce playback- tape of you favorite interpreter for Sing-iT-yourself (japaneese: karaoke). If you copy a track in the menue 'copy tracks' option from 'RECORD' to 'REPLAY' and you want the voice-signal eliminated, then turn this switch on. If you do not want any signal eliminated then please watch, that this switch has to stay turned off! If 'AUTO REPEAT' is selected, reaching the end the tape will rewind and continue playing or recording. The record sliders set the analog input gain. The line out slider sets the analog output gain. It should be used to acommodate the Falcon output level to your headphones or amplifier. The master slider sets the digital volume level and is used to avoid digital overflow shown on the peak level indicators. Menu->Copy Tracks: ------------------ To record the next instrument, you have to copy the recorded track to any of the playback-tracks. This is necessary because record and playback-tracks can not be mixed together. The Track Copy dialog shows the signal of each track of the first minute. The lower two tracks are the record tracks. Select one or both (depends whether you click inbetween the two tracks or only on one) and drag them to a play-track. Copying will take some time (depending on tracklength up to en minutes), don't get nervouse. Now you can go back to the record-dialog to make a new recording. If all play-tracks are already used, you can convert the record-tracks to play-tracks. After this, no more recording on this tape is possible, but all track can be mixed together. Be careful: the 'KARAOKE' button in the menue 'RECORD' influences the signal copied. If switched on, normally the voice signal is cut away, otherwise if it is set, you might cut away other signals! Menu->Mixer & Effects: ---------------------- The mixer dialog shows a modular rack for track and effect modules. The maximum number of visible track modules depends on the tape configuration. Up to three effect modules are allowed. The output of each module is added on the master module. Each module has an eject button. You can eject a an effect module by hiding or deleting it, a track module can only be hidden. A hidden module stays active. Each empty slot has a select button. You can select new modules (on the select pop up menu are shown only modules that fit into the actual configuration of the DSP) or unhide hidden modules. Any hidden module can be snapped into any slot, the slot number does not correlate with the track or effect number. For example it can be useful to hide track modules if you have 8 replaytrack modules (created on a 6+2 tape by converting the two record tracks to replay tracks). You have to hide two of them to snap in two more effects. Track Module: A track module has a number and a title that can be chosen in the tape title. It has as maximum four outputs, every output can be silenced with a button near the slider. The big slider and the balance set the output to the master. Due to the number of effects selected, you will find some more buttons (A, B, C) and additional minisliders at the bottom of the track module. The minisliders regulate the track moduls output to the effect input corresponding to the button status. For example: if you want an effect module work only on one track, select the corresponding, alphabetic button at the bottom of the track module and adjust the effect input level with the small slider.The corresponding buttons on all other track moduls have to be deselected. Delay Modules: Two modules with different maximum delay times are implemented. The DSP memory space gives a limitation to 3 short delay modules or 1 long and 1 short delay. The delay module output does not contain the original input. Add the original signal by using the output of the track module (or 'signal bypass' on the online rack). Vibrato Module, Flanger Module: No comment necessary at all, play the sliders (vibrato might be useful for friends of the grand old opera, flanger serves well in e-guitar soli in santana's stile). More Modules are planned and will be implemented within the next weeks. In the demoversion the slider settings and the module configuration are not to be saved (is implemented in the full version). Effects Online: =============== For easy satisfaction try the online features of Digitape: Up to 4 effect modules can be used together. The slots are organized as follows: The effect pair in the left slots are working on the stereo input left and right. The balanced outputs are added. The resulting stereo signal will again be changed by the two effects in the right slots. The output will be heared. If you want to produce a reverb, the orignial signal has to be added through the 'bypass' button (see above). Frequency Analyzer: =================== Try and see. You might tune your guitar while playing all strings together or watch what signal is produced by your voice - best action is done by poping the microphone. Have a good time playing around! DigiTape is avaliable for US $150 at any Atari dealer or directly from us. Order now ! Any questions are welcome: Your CGS ComputerBild Team 231 Northborough Road Norbury London SW16 4TU Phone: 080 679 7307 Fax: 081 764 7898 ### NEW ### NEU ### NOUVEAU ### Now there is a new record avaliable for DigiTape, featuring Dr. Hans Riedl (guit), Andreas Thomsing (bass), Ralf Kroll (drums). Besides, these people are very well known musicians in Germany and this is their first album to be published on FALCON 030. The songs "Boogie iT" (58 MByte) and "SlowBlue" (52 MByte) are avaliable on a 3.5" optical disk at Trade iT records or Atari Germany, c/o Normen Kowalewski, price 85 $ (cash in advance).