Sets the initial or current tempo of a sequence in beats per minute. The current sequence tempo is shown at the top of the screen on the STATUS BAR. If used while a sequence is not playing, this option sets the initial sequence tempo. This value is saved with the sequence and is the tempo used before any tempo events are encountered within a track (see TEMPO VIEW). If used while a sequence is playing, this option changes the current sequence tempo without affecting the initial tempo, which is restored when the sequence stops.
This option is only available while a sequence is being played. It sets the initial tempo of the sequence to its current tempo. This will then be the tempo that is restored when the sequence stops.
Enables and disables sequence/playlist cycle mode. If cycle mode is enabled when a sequence reaches its end, the sequence is automatically restarted from the beginning. Similarly, if cycle mode is enabled when the last song in a playlist ends, the playlist is automatically restarted from the first song. The current cycle mode status is indicated by a status flag on the Status Bar.
Enables and disables the metronome which is played on each beat while the sequencer is playing or recording. The metronome can be played via the PC's own internal speaker or through a MIDI device. Press F9 once to enable the PC metronome, a second time to change to the MIDI metronome and a third time to disable the metronome. The current metronome status is indicated on the Status Bar by a status flag; a lower-case 'm' indicates the PC metronome is active and an upper-case 'M' indicates the MIDI metronome is active. The settings for the metronome are loaded from a program initialization file when BeatMaster is started.
Enables and disables the MIDI keyboard emulator which allows the use of the computer keyboard to emulate a MIDI keyboard. The keyboard emulator can be used while a sequence is playing. The four rows of ten normal alpha-numeric keys on the PC keyboard are arranged as alternating lines of black and white keys. This provides two scales, one above the other, which range from B-flat up to D. The plus and minus keys increase and decrease the octave and the current octave number (0 to 9) is indicated in the STATUS BAR at the top of the screen while the keyboard emulator is active.
Notes played on the keyboard emulator are treated just as if they had arrived from the MIDI-IN port. If MIDI-THRU is enabled, the notes are transmitted to the current MIDI-THRU interface. If a track is being recorded, the notes are placed into the recording-track. In NOTE VIEW the cursor moves automatically to the key-number of each note played.
Sets the number of beats in a bar, which is also used (when in BAR MODE) as the number of beats to display in the various event views. This value is saved with the sequence.
Sets the number of beats in a zoom, which is also used (if in ZOOM MODE) as the number of beats to display in the various event views. This value is not saved with the sequence.
This option leads to a sub-menu containing the options used to specify the MIDI interfaces used by the sequencer. Computers use MIDI interfaces as 'translators' to communicate with MIDI instruments and other MIDI devices. Each interface installed in computer can be attached to one or more MIDI devices chained together using MIDI cables. BeatMaster allows you to use up to four independent MIDI interfaces by defining the interface types and I/O port addresses for the four available interface ports (A, B, C and D). Each track in a sequence is assigned to one of these four ports. You can also use the same interface settings for more than one port, allowing one interface to be treated as if it were many interfaces.
BeatMaster supports two of the most popular MIDI interface types currently on the market, both of which have many clones; the Sound Blaster and the MPU-401. BeatMaster can also use the FM chips included on a Sound Blaster compatible card to emulate a MIDI synthesizer and one of the four interface ports can be assigned to this. External instrument definition files are used define the FM instrument voices.
The MIDI Port options are used to specify the MIDI interface type and I/O address of each of the four interface ports (A, B, C and D). All ports are set by default to the first interface detected when you start the sequencer. If a program initialization file (eg. DEFAULT.INI) is found when BeatMaster is started, the settings for the four interface ports are restored to the settings contained within that file.
BeatMaster continuously scans all active MIDI interfaces for input. When recording, data received from any port is placed into the recording track. If MIDI-THRU is enabled (see below) all data received is re-transmitted to MIDI-OUT on the interface specified by the MIDI-THRU option. In NOTE VIEW the cursor will move automatically to the key-number of each note received.
This option presents a sub-menu for selecting the current MIDI-THRU port. All data received from MIDI-IN (from any interface) will be re-transmitted to this port. Data can be sent to a specific port (A, B, C or D) or to the port associated with the current track. If a specific port is selected, all data are transmitted to that port unconditionally and without modification. If the current track is used, the key and velocity offsets and MIDI event filters defined for the current track in TRACK VARIABLES VIEW are applied to all events and no events are transmitted if the track is muted or if another track is soloed. No events are transmitted if MIDI-THRU is disabled.
This option leads to a sub-menu which controls how MIDI real-time events are used and interpreted. MIDI real-time events are used to start, stop and continue the playing of a sequence and to allow synchronization between MIDI devices. In a given MIDI setup, one device (the 'master') normally provides the timing for all other connected devices (the 'slaves').
This option is used to select the system real-time control mode. In 'MASTER' mode real-time messages are transmitted to all MIDI-OUT ports to synchronize and control other devices. In 'SLAVE' mode real-time events received from any port can be used to synchronize and control BeatMaster using another device. If real-time control is set to 'NONE', no real-time messages are transmitted, any real-time messages received are ignored and none of the other real-time options have any effect.
The setting of this option indicates whether BeatMaster will transmit (in 'MASTER' mode) or receive (in 'SLAVE' mode) Song Position Pointer messages. These messages are used to set the current beat in a sequence.
The setting of this option indicates whether BeatMaster will transmit (in 'MASTER' mode) or expect to receive (in 'SLAVE' mode) timing-clock messages. These are used to synchronize all devices in a system with one timing source.
This option is used to specify the rate at which timing-clock message will be transmitted (in 'MASTER' mode) or received (in 'SLAVE' mode) in clocks per quarter note. Four settings are available; 24, 48, 96 and 192.
This option determines how MIDI devices are initialized before a sequence is played. There are two stages in the initialization process and how they are used depends on both the 'Initialization' setting and the beat at which the sequence is started. There are three settings for the initialization mode; Automatic, Start and Manual.
Many of the events transmitted to a MIDI device when a sequence is played change the internal configuration of the device in order to produce different effects. When the sequence is next played, the device must be restored to its original configuration to ensure that the sequence plays correctly. The settings in CHANNEL VARIABLES VIEW are provided to allow the initial configuration for each MIDI channel used by the sequence to be specified. These settings (the 'initial controllers') are transmitted before any other events when a sequence is played. With the 'Initialization' option set to 'Automatic', the initial controllers will always be sent. In 'Start' mode, initial controllers will only be sent when the sequence is started from the beginning (beat #0). In 'Manual' mode, initial controllers will not be sent.
A sequence may be started from any beat. The starting beat might be after events within tracks which modify the configuration of a MIDI device. To ensure that the sequence will begin playing from any beat with the correct device configuration, all events which precede the starting beat can first be transmitted. This feature is enabled by setting the initialization mode to 'Automatic'. In 'Start' or 'Manual' mode these events will not be sent.
With the 'Initialization' option set to 'Manual', no automatic initialization takes place. In this mode, the Initialize option on the EVENT MENU can be used to manually transmit initial controllers and events. The initialization mode is set to 'Automatic' by default.
Enables or disables the creation of back-up files when a sequence or a text file is saved. Back-up files have the same name as the original file but have a .BAK extension. This option is enabled by default.
Changes the file format used to save a sequence between 'Normal' format and 'Extended' format. Extended format files include special (sequencer-specific) events which contain the non-MIDI data shown in TRACK VARIABLES VIEW and are not recognized by other sequencers. Normal format files omit this extra data. Both file formats are compatible with the standard MIDI file format.
When a sequence is loaded the current mode is set to the format of that file. If you then change the format, the file will be saved using the new format. The extended format is used by default for a new file.
Saves all settings on the OPTIONS MENU in the program initialization file. These settings are restored when the program is next started. They can also be saved automatically by enabling the Save On Exit option below.
Enables or disables a feature which automatically saves the settings on the OPTIONS MENU when the program terminates. This option is enabled by default.
Loads and displays the program initialization file that was processed when BeatMaster was started. The file is displayed in TEXT FILE VIEW and can be viewed and updated just like a normal text file. It contains each of the settings on the OPTIONS MENU and some other configuration variables.