In the Sample Editor, the context menu contains the following commands. Some of these commands
are only available when a range of the waveform is selected. Most of these commands are
also available in the Sample menu.
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- To access the context menu: for Windows, right-click; for Mac OS, control-click.
- Note: Undo and Redo are also available in the Edit menu, and via keyboard shortcut
(Windows: control-Z; Mac OS: cmd-Z).
Using the Onscreen Controls
The Sample Editor window includes several graphic displays and controls:
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Shows running time in sample numbers (not milliSeconds).
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The Loop Handles set the position of the orange Looping
region. To move a Loop Handle, click on it and drag left or
right. The middle Loop Handle moves the loop region without
changing its length.
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- Note: The Loop Handles only appear when the Loop
button is on - see 10.
- Note: The Loop Start and Loop End points are also displayed
as numbers that you can edit directly - see 9.
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The Volume Handles are controls for applying a fade-in, fade-
out, or volume change to the selection:
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- Note: The Volume Handles are only available when a
range of the Sample's waveform is selected - see Making
a Selection.
- To apply a Fade-In to the start of the selection: Click on
the left Volume Handle, then drag to the right. Release the
mouse button at the point where you want the fade-in to
finish. If you want to fade in from the beginning of the
whole Sample, be sure your selection begins at the very
first sample.
- Note: By contrast, the Fade-In command applies a fade-
in to the full length of the selection - see Sample Editing
Commands.
- To apply a Fade-Out to the end of the selection: Click on
the right Volume Handle, then drag to the left. Release the
mouse button at the point where you want the fade-out to
start. If you want to fade out at the end of the whole Sample,
be sure your selection ends at the very last sample.
- Note: By contrast, the Fade-Out command applies a
fade-in to the full length of the selection - see Sample
Editing Commands.
- To change the selection's volume: Click on the center Volume
Handle and drag up or down.
- To change the whole Sample's volume: Use the Select All
command, then click on the center Volume Handle and
drag up or down.
- Note: By contrast, the Normalize command turns the
selection's volume up to the maximum possible level
before clipping - see Sample Editing Commands.
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Displays the start, end, and length of the currently selected
range of the Sample waveform - or, if there's no selection, the
current cursor position. All numbers are in Sample numbers,
not milliSeconds.
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Displays the current waveform zoom levels:
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- To zoom the time axis (horizontal) in and out, use the X
controls. At 1:1, each horizontal screen pixel shows one
audio sample.
- To zoom the volume axis (vertical) in and out, use the Y
controls.
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Sets the playback sampling rate for this Sample, in samples
per second.
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- Note: Changing this number will not convert the data to
a new sample rate and will change the pitch. This field is
treated as an instruction for how fast to play the Sample
data, so the higher the number, the higher the pitch and
the shorter the sound.
- Caution: Be careful when changing the Sample Rate. If
any Instruments use this Sample, then changing the
Sample Rate will change those Instruments' pitch -
which is usually a problem.
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7 Root Key field
8 Root Key button
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Records the pitch (MIDI note number) that the Sample produces
when played at its current Sample Rate. To set the Root
Key, either click on the field and then type in a note name (followed
by the Enter key), or click the button and select a note
from the keyboard that appears.
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- Caution: If the Root Key is not set correctly, then Instruments
automatically built from this Sample will play out
of tune.
- Note: The Root Key note is used whenever you make a
new Instrument using this Sample, and allows the Beatnik
Editor to automatically preserve correct pitch in
Keymaps that it creates for you (see the Make Instrument
dialog box and the Make Song Using command).
- Note: Changing the Root Key does not affect Instruments
that already use this Sample. The Root Key note is
only used when new Keymaps are created.
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9 Loop Start and Loop End
fields
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Display the start and end of the Looping region, or 0 if no
loop exists. Both numbers are in Sample numbers, not milliSeconds.
To set either field, click on the field, and then type in
a sample number (followed by the Enter key).
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- Note: The Loop Start and Loop End points also appear in
the waveform display as Loop Handles - see 2.
- Note: The Loop Start and Loop End fields only apply
when the Loop button is on - see 10.
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Controls whether the Sample will loop when played. When
the Loop button is lit, Looping is turned on.
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- Note: To set the Looping region position, see the Loop
Handles (2) or the Loop Start and Loop End fields (9)
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Plays the Sample. Use to check your work as you make edits.
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- Note: The spacebar on your computer keyboard also
acts as a Play / Stop button.
- Note: Playback always starts from the current sample
cursor position (vertical white line), not necessarily
from the start of the Sample. Every time you click in the
waveform display, the cursor moves to that position.
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Stops playback of the Sample.
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- Note: The spacebar on your computer keyboard also
acts as a Play / Stop button.
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Displays additional information about the Sample:
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- Sample Length - In sample numbers, not milliSeconds.
- Channels - Mono (1 channel) or Stereo (2 channels).
- Bit Depth - Resolution of the Sample in bits, either 8 bit or
16 bit. Note that 8-bit sounds have noticeably lower fidelity
than 16 bit sounds.
- Compression Type - The Sample's current compression
type, as set via the Compression dialog box.
- bytes used on disk- The amount of disk space used by the
Sample. Note that you can reduce this number with compression,
or by reducing the bit depth or sample rate in a
separate sample editing program.
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