A Session is a workspace where you build Custom Instruments, audition imported Songs, and
manipulate imported Samples. For easy importing, you can drag audio and MIDI files from the
desktop directly into any Session window. To show more or fewer items, you can resize the window.
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- New in version 2.1: New Get Resource Usage command in the context menu displays the
selected Song, Instrument, or Sample's total size in bytes.
- The displayed size includes all dependent objects. For an Instrument, this will be the
Instrument resource plus all Samples used in the Instrument. For a Song, the size will
include all Instruments it uses, plus all the Samples used by those Instruments.
- Working with Multiple Sessions
Tabs for Songs, Instruments, and Samples
Within Each Tab, `Show:' Displays a Category of Items
Working with Listed Items
Working with Multiple Sessions
You can keep multiple Session documents open if you want to. With more than one Session window
open, you can freely drag, copy, and paste Songs, Instruments, and Samples between windows.
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Each Session will have its own separate Undo history, so the Undo and Redo commands always
apply just to the Session you're in at the time. Also, the onscreen keyboard in the Player window
always only uses Instruments from the Session you're in at the time (that's why keyboard playback
may pause momentarily when you move between open Sessions).
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Tabs for Songs, Instruments, and Samples
The Session document window organizes your music and sound resources under three tabs, like
the tabs on file folders: a Songs tab, an Instruments tab, and a Samples tab. These tabs select
which kind of resource will appear in the list beneath - to see what's inside any tab, just click on
it:
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Songs
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Instruments
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Samples
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Within Each Tab, `Show:' Displays a Category of Items
To help you focus on the right things at the right times, all three tabs include a Show: pop-up
menu that controls what categories of items appear in the list - for example, in the Samples tab
you can view just Custom Samples, just Built-In Samples, or All Samples:
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Custom Samples
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Built-In Samples
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All Samples
(Custom + Built-In)
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Besides your own music and sound elements, every Session document also gives you access to the
music and sound resources in the built-in Beatnik Bank - the same resources available in every
Beatnik Player for Web browsers.
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By default, the Show: menu focuses on the categories containing the content you've created.
That's why a Session looks empty when you first create it - there aren't any Custom Songs, Custom
Instruments, or Custom Samples yet.
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Here's the full list of Show: item categories for each tab:
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Songs tab
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Instruments tab
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Samples tab
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All
Custom Songs
Groovoids*
Imported RMF
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Bank 0 Melodic - General MIDI*
Bank 0 Percussion - General MIDI*
Bank 1 Melodic - Beatnik Special*
Bank 1 Percussion - Beatnik Special*
Bank 2 Melodic - Custom Melodic
Bank 2 Percussion - Custom Percussion
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All
Custom Samples
Built-in Samples*
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Working with Listed Items
You can rename, copy, paste, and delete items in any Session window, and apply commands to
selected items.
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- Note: There are a few restrictions on working with Built-In items. None of the Built-In items
can be modified, and Groovoids and Built-in Samples can't be copied. However, you can
copy Built-In Instruments and use them as a basis for your own Instrument designs.
To Select items:
- To select a single item, just click on it.
- To select multiple items, shift-click on them.
- To add single items to the selection, or to remove them, use control-click (for
Windows) or cmd-click (for Mac OS).
To Rename an item:
- Mac OS: Click the item name, then when the name box appears, type a new name.
- Windows: Click the name to select it, then click again and let the mouse hover
there for a moment. When the name box appears, type a new name.
- Or select the item, and then select the Rename command from the Edit menu or
the context menu.
- To access the context menu: for Windows, right-click; for Mac OS, control-click.
To Copy one or more items:
- Select the items, and then select the Copy command from the Edit menu or the
context menu.
- To access the context menu: for Windows, right-click; for Mac OS, control-click.
- Or select the items, and then type control-C (for Windows) or cmd-C (for Mac
OS).
To Delete one or more item:
- Select the items, and then select the Delete command from the Edit menu or the
context menu.
To access the context menu: for Windows, right-click; for Mac OS, control-
click.
- Or select the items, and then type the Delete key.
To apply any other command to one or more items:
- Select the items.
- Select a menu command.
- Commands are available in the application menus and the context menu. The available commands
depend on the items you've selected; for example, Sample menu commands are only
available when Sample items are selected.
- To access the context menu: for Windows, right-click; for Mac OS, control-click.
- See also: Commands in Song menu, Instrument menu, and Sample menu.
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