~Getting started
     MIDI Master Drummer Version 2.5 is a graphic rhythm editor 
and sequencer. It runs in color or monochrome on all Atari 
ST/STE/TT/Falcon030 systems. If you have a color ST system, you 
must use medium resolution; for Falcon030 VGA you must be in an 
80-column video mode. Assuming that you already have your computer 
hooked up to your MIDI rig, double-click on MMD_2_5.PRG to start 
the program (make sure that the MMD_2_5.PRG and MMD_2_5.RSC files 
are in the same folder). If the optional MMD_HELP.TXT file is also 
in the same directory, it will be loaded at startup, giving you 
access to online help during your work session.
     Master Drummer is divided into three parts: Pattern mode, 
where patterns are composed; Phrase mode, where the patterns are 
linked together into musical phrases; and Song mode, where phases 
are linked together into song parts and song parts are sequenced 
into a complete song. You can select the mode you need from the
Edit menu.

~Setting up a configuration
     On the left side of the Pattern mode display is a list of 
sixteen drums, each with its own MIDI note and MIDI channel 
assignment. In order to use Master Drummer you need to customize 
these assignments for your particular instruments.
     TO ENTER A DRUM NAME OR CHANNEL, double-click on the drum 
name or channel you wish to modify. A dialog box will pop up in 
which you can enter this information. Valid MIDI channels are 
numbered from 1 to 16.
     TO SET A GLOBAL MIDI CHANNEL (i.e. the same MIDI channel for 
all drum tracks), select "Global channel" from the Edit menu. 
Click on the up and down arrow buttons in the dialog box to select 
the desired channel.
     TO ENTER A DRUM PITCH, double-click on the pitch you wish to 
change. A seven-octave keyboard will pop up on the screen. As you 
click on any particular key, the computer will send the correspon-
ding note to your instruments over the MIDI channel which you have 
selected.
     The seven-octave popup keyboard encompasses MIDI notes 24 to 
108 (C1-C8). To access the two octaves below that (MIDI notes 0 to 
23), press the computer's <Left Shift> key while clicking on the 
popup keyboard. To access the top octave-and-a-half (MIDI notes 
109-127), press the <Control> key while clicking on the popup 
keyboard.
     While the popup keyboard is being displayed you can also 
enter drum pitches using a MIDI keyboard or controller. The notes 
will be displayed on the popup keyboard as you play them. Master 
Drummer simultaneously "echos" this pitch data to the computer's 
MIDI output port in order to play any connected drum machines, 
synths or samplers. If your MIDI keyboard is also your drum synth, 
you will want to disable this MIDI Thru function in order to avoid 
doubling the played note. Toggle MIDI Thru on and off by pressing 
the "Z" key on the computer. (You can also select and deselect 
MIDI Thru from the Edit menu.)
     To remove the popup keyboard from the screen, right-click the
mouse.
     All drum names, note assignments, MIDI channel assignments, 
and randomization parameters (see "Auto-generating drum tracks" 
below) together make up a Master Drummer Configuration. You can 
create individual configurations for different drum machines and 
synthsizers, and save them to disk.
     TO NAME A CONFIGURATION, select "Name config" from the Edit 
menu. The configuration name should describe the device it was 
designed for. Once entered, it will be displayed in the Pattern 
window's title bar.
     TO SAVE A CONFIGURATION TO DISK, select "Save" from the File 
menu and click on the "Configuration" button. The file must have a 
".CFG" extension.
     TO LOAD A CONFIGURATION FILE, select "Load" from the File 
menu and click on the "Configuration" button. Loading a configura-
tion file will replace current configuration data. Note: if you 
name a configuration file as "DEFAULT.CFG" and keep it in the same 
folder with MMD_2_5.PRG, it will auto-load when the program is 
started.

~Making Patterns
     The middle of the Pattern mode display is dominated by the 
Pattern Grid. This grid is actually a graphic representation of 
one or more measures of music. You'll notice that the default 
Pattern Grid displays three Measures, each with four Beats, with 
each beat divided into four Pulses. You can rearrange the Pattern 
Grid into any number of Measures, Beats, and Pulses you wish, as 
long as the total number of pulses in any particular pattern does 
not exceed 48.
     TO CHANGE THE MEASURES, BEATS, AND PULSES OF A PATTERN, 
select the "Set Meter" option under the Edit menu. A dialog box 
will appear and allow you to enter this information.
     TO ENTER A NOTE IN THE PATTERN GRID, left-click the mouse on 
the pulse where you want the note to sound.
     TO ENTER AN ACCENTED NOTE IN THE PATTERN GRID, right-click 
the mouse on the grid (this is a new Version 2.5 feature; The old 
shift-key/left-click method of accent entry has also been retained 
in this version for compatibility).
     TO DELETE A NOTE FROM THE PATTERN GRID, click the mouse on 
the note you wish to delete while holding the <Alternate> key on 
the computer keyboard.
     TO MAKE A TEMPORARY BACKUP OF A PATTERN IN MEMORY, select 
"Backup pattern" from the Edit menu. This feature allows you to 
backup a pattern before you accidentally to mangle it.
     TO RETRIEVE A BACKUP, select "Retrieve" from the Edit menu. 
When you retrieve the pattern, the current pattern is swapped with 
the contents of the backup buffer so you can switch back and forth 
between the two versions for comparison.
     TO UNDO THE LAST PATTERN EDIT, press the <Undo> key on the 
computer keyboard. When you press Undo, the pattern is swapped 
with the contents of the Undo buffer so you can switch back and 
forth for comparison.

~Playing patterns
     TO SET THE TEMPO in Pattern mode to a specific beats-per-
minute value, select the "Set tempo" option from the Clock menu. 
You can enter any value from 20 to 245 in the dialog box.
     TO AUTOMATICALLY SET TEMPO BY TAPPING, select the "Autoset 
tempo" option from the Clock menu. Tap the zero (0) key twice to 
establish the tempo. Hitting any other key will abort the option.
     TO PLAY THE PATTERN, click on the PLAY button at the bottom 
of the display, or press the space bar on the computer keyboard. 
You can freely edit the pattern while it is playing.
     TO MUTE A DRUM TRACK WHILE THE PATTERN IS PLAYING, right-
click the mouse in the "En" (Enable) column. The "" will change
to an "M" to indicate that the track is muted.
     TO UNMUTE A TRACK, left-click on the "M". The "M" will
change back to a "".
     TO CHANGE PLAYBACK TEMPO ON THE FLY, click and drag the arrow 
inside the Tempo bar in the lower right hand corner of the 
display.
     TO CHANGE PLAYBACK TEMPO INCREMENTALLY, tap on the "<" and 
">" keys on the computer keyboard.
     TO CHANGE THE OVERALL LOUDNESS OF THE PATTERN, click and drag 
the arrow inside the MIDI Velocity bar in the lower left hand 
corner of the display.
     TO CHANGE TEMPO LOUDNESS INCREMENTALLY, tap on the "{" and 
""}" keys on the computer keyboard.
     TO TOGGLE THE METRONOME ON AND OFF press the "T" key on the 
computer keyboard.
     TO PAUSE PATTERN PLAYBACK, press the <Escape> key. Click on 
the CONTINUE button in the dialog box to resume playback, or press 
the <Return> or <Enter> key on the computer.
     TO CHANGE THE CURRENTLY PLAYING PATTERN, press the "up" or
"down" arrow keys.
     TO STOP PLAYBACK, click on the PLAY button again, or press 
the computer's space bar.

~Pattern editing aids and shortcuts
     TO SELECT A PATTERN FOR EDITING, click on "Select pattern"
under the Edit menu. A large dialog box with the names and numbers 
of all patterns is displayed with the current pattern highlighted. 
Click on a pattern to select it. You may also select a pattern by 
using the four arrow keys on the computer keyboard and pressing 
<Enter>.
     Double-clicking on a pattern in the "Select pattern" dialog 
allows you to edit the pattern's name without selecting it.
     TO SELECT PATTERNS IN CONSECUTIVE ORDER, press the "up" and 
"down" arrow keys on the computer.
     TO NAME A PATTERN, select "Name pattern" from the Edit menu.
     TO COPY ONE DRUM TRACK TO ANOTHER WITHIN A PATTERN, OR TO 
SWAP ONE DRUM TRACK WITH ANOTHER WITHIN A PATTERN, click on the 
name of the drum track you wish to copy, and drag it to the name 
of the track you want to copy it to or swap it with. An alert box 
will inquire whether you wish to copy or swap the tracks.
     TO ERASE A DRUM TRACK, right-click on the drum name. An alert 
box will ask if you really want to erase the track.
     TO COPY ONE PATTERN TO ANOTHER select the "Copy pattern" 
option under the Edit menu. Enter the pattern number or numbers 
you wish to copy to in the dialog box. A second dialog is ask 
whether you want the entire pattern copied, or just those which 
have been selected (i.e. those with an "S" in the Enable column).
     TO COPY THE MEASURE, BEAT, AND PULSE SETTINGS OF ONE PATTERN 
TO ANOTHER (not the notes themselves), select the "Copy meter" 
option under the Edit menu. Enter the pattern number or numbers 
you wish to copy to in the dialog box.
     TO SHIFT THE NOTES IN A PATTERN to the left or right, select 
the track or tracks you want to shift by clicking in the "En" 
column while holding down the Alternate key on the computer 
keyboard. An "S" will appear to indicate that the track has been 
selected for editing. Then click on the "Shift notes" option under 
the Edit menu. An alert box will ask if you want to shift the 
notes left or right. Click on the CANCEL button when you wish to 
quit note-shifting.
     TO RHYTHMICALLY COMPRESS OR EXPAND A PATTERN, select 
"Compress/Xpand" from the Edit menu. Pattern expansion "stretches" 
a pattern by a factor of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7. Pattern compression 
"squishes" a pattern by corresponding values (1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 
1/6 and 1/7).
     TO SELECT ACCENT LEVELS, select the "Accent velocity" option 
under the Edit menu. There are nine buttons in the dialog box 
representing nine levels of accent loudness. The ninth (loudest) 
level is the default velocity, and is represented on the Drum Grid 
as a ">". Accent levels 1 through 8 are displayed on the grid as 
their respective numerals ("1", "2", "3", etc.). Click on the 
accent level button you wish to use. You can combine as many 
different accents in a pattern as you wish.
     TO SELECT ACCENT LEVELS ON THE FLY WHILE EDITING A PATTERN, 
press numeral keys "1" to "9" on the computer keyboard. This 
features also works while the pattern is playing.
     TO SET THE ABSOLUTE VELOCITY VALUE OF ACCENTS, select the 
"Accent velocity" option under the Edit menu. At the bottom of the 
dialog box is a "Maximum Base Velocity" value which can be 
adjusted up or down by clicking on the arrows. This sets the 
loudest possible velocity value for unaccented notes in a pattern 
(in other words, it's the highest value you will get by sliding 
the arrow in the "MIDI Velocity" bar all the way to the right). 
The lower this Maximum Base Velocity value is set, the greater the 
difference in velocity will be between the nine levels of accents. 
Lower values make differences in accent loudness more extreme, and 
higher values make differences in accent loudness more subtle. 
Generally, you'll want to keep the Maximum Base Velocity level in 
the 90 to 100 range for the most musical results (100 is the 
default value).
     The Maximum Base Velocity level is global and applies to all 
patterns in memory.

~Auto-generating drum tracks
     TO GENERATE NEW DRUM TRACKS in Pattern mode, first select the 
tracks you wish to create by clicking on the "En" column while 
holding the <Alternate> key on the computer keyboard. An "S" indi-
cates that the track is selected. Click on the "Generate tracks"
option under the Randomize menu. Enter the range of patterns you
wish to create in the dialog box.
     TO SET RANDOMIZING PARAMETERS, select "Set parameters" under 
the Randomize menu. There are four parameters assigned to each 
drum track which influence how the track will turn out:
     Note density (0-99) determines the degree of probability that 
a drum note will appear in any particular pulse.
     Accent probability (0-99) determines the likelihood that a 
drum note will be accented.
     Quantization probability (0-99) sets the probability that a 
note's pulse position will be rounded down to the designated 
quantization value.
     Quantization value (1-48) determines that the pulse position 
of any quantized note will be a multiple of this value.
     Note density and accent probability should be easy to under-
stand, but the idea of quantization might require some explana-
tion. Consider this example:

     Let's say you have a pattern which consists of one measure 
     divided into four beats, with each beat divided into eight 
     pulses (in conventional music notation, that would be equiva-
     lent to one measure of 4/4 time, with each quarter note 
     divided into thirtysecond notes). You want to generate a 
     cowbell track in which notes fall only on sixteenth notes 
     (one quarter of a beat). In that case, set Quantization 
     probability to its maximum value (99) so that all notes will 
     be quantized, and set the Quantization value to 2, since a 
     sixteenth note is equal to two pulses (i.e. two thritysecond 
     notes).

     The actual number of notes that will be generated depends 
upon the Note Density value. A value of 99 will put a note on 
every sixteenth note; a value of 50 will randomly put notes on 
approximately half the total number of sixteenths in the pattern.

~Saving and loading patterns
     TO SAVE PATTERNS TO DISK you must be in Pattern mode. Select 
"Save" under the File menu. Patterns may be saved in one of three 
different formats:

     1) All pattern file: all 99 patterns are saved as a block in 
Master Drummer format with a flag indicating whether the patterns 
are to be played in Pulse=pulse mode or Beat=beat mode (see 
"Setting clock parameters") below. The velocity value of each note 
in the patterns is saved in a relative (non-absolute) format; when 
patterns are reloaded you can freely readjust the absolute velocity 
level of accents by changing the Maximum Base Velocity value (see 
the paragraph headed "TO SET THE ABSOLUTE VELOCITY VALUE OF 
ACCENTS" under the chapter entitled "Pattern editing aids and 
shortcuts" above).

     2) Single pattern file: the currently selected pattern is 
saved in Master Drummer format without a Pulse/Beat mode flag. The 
data is otherwise identical to that of the All pattern file.

     3) Standard MIDI File: when in Pattern mode, the currently 
selected pattern is saved as a MIDI File, either as a format 0 
(single multi-channel sequence) file, or a format 1 (multi-track) 
File. The velocity values assigned to notes in a MIDI file are 
calculated according to the position of the arrow in the MIDI 
Velocity bar and the velocity values assigned to accents (see the 
paragraph headed "TO SET THE ABSOLUTE VELOCITY VALUE OF ACCENTS" 
under the chapter entitled "Pattern editing aids and shortcuts" 
above).

     TO LOAD PATTERNS FROM DISK, select "Load" under the File 
menu. In addition to being able to load All pattern and Single 
pattern files, Master Drummer can also extract a single pattern 
from an All pattern file. Clicking on the "Extract pattern" button 
will bring up a File Selector box. After you select an All pattern 
file, a large dialog box with the names and numbers of the 
patterns in that file will be displayed. Click on a pattern to 
load it into Master Drummer.
     Master Drummer cannot load or edit Standard MIDI files.

~Creating phrases
     Now that we've cooked up a few drum patterns, the next 
logical step is to link them together into musical phrases. Select 
"Phrase mode" from the Edit menu.
     On the left of the screen are sixteen Phrase buttons, and on 
the right sixteen Phrase fields.
     TO SELECT A PHRASE FOR EDITING, click on its Phrase field. A 
dialog box will appear into which you enter the Pattern numbers 
that you want in the phrase, for example:

     11 12 12 13 14 15 16 18 22

     TO NAME A PHRASE, double-click on its Phrase button or select
"Name phrase" from the Edit menu. Type a name in the dialog box.
The name will appear in the selected Phrase button.
     TO COPY A PHRASE, click on its Phrase button at the left side 
of the screen and drag it to its destination.
     Besides pattern numbers, you can also include Velocity, 
Tempo, and Phrase Repeat data in a Phrase field, for example:

     T144 V64 11 12 12 13 V86 14 15 16 18 T160 22

     Velocity is indicated by the letter "V" (upper or lower case) 
followed by a velocity value from 0 to the Maximum Base Velocity 
value (there must be no space between the "V" and the number).
     IMPORTANT: THE INDICATED VELOCITY VALUE MUST NOT EXCEED THE 
MAXIMUM BASE VELOCITY VALUE, OR IT WILL BE IGNORED. The default 
Maximum Base Velocity value is 100. To reset the Maximum Base 
Velocity, go to Pattern Mode and select "Accent velocity" under 
the Edit menu.
     Tempo is indicated by the letter "T" (upper or lower case) 
followed by a beats-per-minute value from 20 to 245 (there must be 
no space between the "T" and the tempo value).
     A Repeat is indicated by an "R" (upper or lower case) 
followed by the number of repeats, up to a maximum of 999 (there 
must be no space between the "R" and the number of repeats). You 
may use only one repeat instruction in a phrase. It's OK to put 
additional pattern numbers and velocity or tempo markings after a 
repeat.
     Any Velocity, Tempo, or Repeat data which is out-of-range or 
mistyped will be ignored by the program during playback.

~Auto-generating phrases
     Master Drummer allows you to randomize the pattern content of 
phrases while in Phrase mode. You must first designate which 
patterns to choose from for this random selection process.
     TO SELECT PATTERNS FOR PHRASE RANDOMIZING, click on "Select 
patterns" under the Randomize menu. You'll see a large dialog box 
containing the names and numbers of all the patterns. Select 
patterns by clicking on them individually, or by clicking and 
dragging over a group (note: clicking and dragging will automati-
cally de-select any patterns which were previously selected).
     While the "Select patterns" dialog box is being displayed you 
may also edit the name of any pattern, or audition any pattern 
before you decide to select it. Double-clicking on a pattern name 
brings up small dialog box which contains a text field for the 
pattern name, four "Probability" buttons, and an "Audition" but-
ton. The Probability buttons set the level of likelihood that the 
pattern will be randomly chosen out of the group you are selecting 
(Button 1 sets the lowest probability, Button 4 the highest). The 
Audition button starts pattern playback; pressing the right mouse 
button terminates playback if you don't want to hear the whole 
thing.
     To close the "Select patterns" dialog, click on the "Done" 
button.
     TO RANDOMIZE A PHRASE, select "Random selection" under the 
Randomize menu. A dialog box will appear requesting the number of 
patterns you want for the phrase. If you do not like the phrase 
that is generated, pressing the <Undo> key on the computer will 
restore the original phrase.
     TO SHUFFLE THE ORDER OF PATTERNS IN A PHRASE, select "Shuffle 
order" under the Randomize menu. Pressing the <Undo> key on the 
computer will restore the original order.

~Keyboard shortcuts for Phrase Mode
     Since working in Phrase Mode is basically text entry, you 
might find it more convenient to use the following keyboard 
shortcuts for entering data and for playing phrases:
     TO SELECT A PHRASE FOR EDITING OR PLAYBACK, use the up and 
down arrow keys on the computer keyboard. The selected Phrase 
button will be highlighted.
     TO EDIT A PHRASE WHICH HAS BEEN SELECTED, press the "P" key 
on the computer keyboard.
     TO PLAY A PHRASE WHICH HAS BEEN SELECTED, press the space 
bar. To stop playback, press the space bar again.

~Playback control for Phrase Mode
     Although you cannot edit a phrase while it is playing, you 
can interact with it in real time:
     TO CHANGE THE CURRENTLY PLAYING PHRASE (in sequential order), 
press the up and down arrow keys on the computer keyboard. 
Playback will jump immediately to the newly selected phrase. If 
the selected phrase is empty, playback will stop.
     TO CHANGE THE CURRENLY PLAYING PHRASE IN NON-SEQUENTIAL 
ORDER, click the mouse on the Phrase button of the next phrase you 
want to hear. The new phrase will be marked with an asterisk (*), 
and playback will jump to that phrase at the end of the currently 
playing pattern.
     TO SKIP THROUGH PATTERNS WITHIN A PHRASE DURING PLAYBACK, use 
the left and right arrow keys on the computer keyboard.

~Saving and loading phrases
     TO SAVE PHRASES TO DISK you must be in Phrase mode. Select 
"Save" under the File menu. Phrases may be saved in one of two 
different formats:

     1) Master Drummer format: phrases and song parts are saved 
together in a single file simply called a "Song file". A Song 
file does not contain pattern rhythms (that's what a Pattern file 
is for); it is simply a list of pattern numbers for phrases, and 
of phrase numbers for song parts, along with corresponding velo- 
city, tempo and repeat data. Phrase and song part names are also 
included in the Song file.

     2) Standard MIDI File: the currently selected phrase can be 
saved as either a format 0 (single multi-channel sequence) MIDI 
File, or a format 1 (multi-track) MIDI File. The velocity values 
assigned to the notes are calculated according to the position of 
the arrow in the MIDI Velocity bar and the velocity values 
assigned to accents (see the paragraph  headed "TO SET THE 
ABSOLUTE VELOCITY VALUE OF ACCENTS" under the chapter entitled 
"Pattern editing aids and shortcuts" above).

     TO LOAD PHRASES FROM DISK, select "Load" under the File menu. 
As stated above, phrases and song parts are loaded together in a 
single, Master Drummer-format file.

~Creating a song
     After assembling phrases, the final step is to chain them 
into a complete song. Select Song Mode from the Edit menu.
     On the left of the screen are sixteen Part buttons, and on 
the right sixteen Part fields. A "Part", in Master Drummer 
parlance, is a section of a song consisting of several phrases.
     TO SELECT A PART FOR EDITING, click on its Part field. A 
dialog box will appear into which you enter the Phrase numbers 
that you want in the part, for example:

     1 2 2 3 4 5 6 8 12

     TO NAME A PART, double-click on its Part button or select
"Name part" from the Edit menu. Type a name in the dialog box.
The name will appear in the selected Part button.
     TO NAME A SONG, select "Name song" from the Edit menu. The
song name will appear in the title bar of the Song mode window.
     TO COPY A PART, click on the appropriate Part button and
drag it to its destination.
     Besides phrase numbers, you can also include Velocity, Tempo, 
and Part repeat data in a Part field:
     Velocity is indicated by the letter "V" (upper or lower case) 
followed by a velocity value from 0 to the Maximum Base Velocity 
value (there must be no space between the "V" and the number).
     IMPORTANT: THE INDICATED VELOCITY VALUE MUST NOT EXCEED THE 
MAXIMUM BASE VELOCITY, OR IT WILL BE IGNORED. The default Maximum 
Base Velocity value is 100. To reset the Maximum Base Velocity, go 
back to Pattern Mode and select "Accent velocity" under the Edit 
menu.
     Tempo is indicated by the letter "T" (upper or lower case) 
followed by a beats-per-minute value from 20 to 245 (there must be 
no space between the "T" and the tempo value).
     A Repeat is indicated by an "R" (upper or lower case) 
followed by the number of repeats, up to a maximum of 999 (there 
must be no space between the "R" and the number of repeats). You 
may use only one repeat instruction in a part. It's OK to put 
additional phrase numbers and velocity or tempo markings after a 
repeat:

     T144 V64 1 2 2 3 V86 4 5 6 8 R4 T160 2

     Any Velocity, Tempo, or Repeat data which is out-of-range or 
mistyped will be ignored by the program during playback.
     NOTE: If you have Velocity or Tempo data embedded in your 
Phrases and in your Song Parts, the data in the Phrases will take 
precedence. For that reason, in order to avoid confusion you 
should place Velocity and Tempo data in either Phrases or Song 
Parts exclusively, but not in both!

~Auto-generating song parts
     Master Drummer allows you to randomize the phrase content of 
song parts. You must first designate which phrases to choose from 
for this random selection process.
     TO SELECT PHRASES FOR SONG PART RANDOMIZING, click on "Select 
phrases" under the Randomize menu (you should currently be in Song 
mode). You'll see a dialog box containing the names and numbers of 
all the phrases. Select phrases by clicking on them individually, 
or by clicking and dragging over a group (note: clicking and 
dragging will automatically de-select any phrases which were 
previously selected).
     While the "Select phrases" dialog box is being displayed you 
may also edit the name of any phrase. Double-clicking on a phrase 
name brings up small dialog box which contains a text field for 
the phrase name.
     To close the "Select phrases" dialog, click on the "Done" 
button.
     TO RANDOMIZE A SONG PART, select "Random selection" under the 
Randomize menu. A dialog box will appear requesting the number of 
phrases you want for the song part. If you do not like the song part 
that is generated, pressing the <Undo> key on the computer will 
restore the original song part.
     TO SHUFFLE THE ORDER OF PHRASES IN A SONG PART, select "Shuffle 
order" under the Randomize menu. Pressing the <Undo> key on the 
computer will restore the original order.
     TO SCRAMBLE THE ORDER OF PARTS WITHIN THE SONG, select 
"Scramble parts" under the Randomize menu. Note: there is no 
provision to restore the original order of Song parts after they 
have been scrambled. Save your song to disk before scrambling. 
Song parts can be reordered manually by Swapping (click and drag 
on Part buttons).

~Keyboard shortcuts for Song Mode
     Since working in Song Mode is basically text entry, you might 
find it more convenient to use the following keyboard shortcuts 
for entering data and for playing parts:
     TO SELECT A PART FOR EDITING OR PLAYBACK, use the up and down 
arrow keys on the computer keyboard. The selected Part button will 
be highlighted.
     TO EDIT A SELECTED PART, press the "P" key on the computer 
keyboard.
     TO PLAY A SELECTED PART, press the space bar. To stop 
playback, press the space bar.

~Playback control for Song Mode
     Although you cannot edit a part while it is playing, you can 
interact with it in real time:
     TO CHANGE THE CURRENTLY PLAYING PART IN SEQUENTIAL ORDER, 
press the up and down arrow keys on the computer keyboard. 
Playback will jump immediately to the newly selected part. If the 
selected part is empty, playback will skip to the next one until 
the end of the song.
     TO CHANGE THE CURRENLY PLAYING PART IN NON-SEQUENTIAL ORDER, 
click the mouse on the Part button of the next part you want to 
hear. The new part will be marked with an asterisk (*), and 
playback will jump to that part at the end of the currently 
playing pattern.
     TO SKIP THROUGH PHRASES WITHIN A PART DURING PLAYBACK, use 
the left and right arrow keys on the computer keyboard.

~Saving and loading a song
     TO SAVE A SONG TO DISK you must be in Song mode. Select 
"Save" under the File menu. A song may be saved in one of two 
formats:

     1) Master Drummer format: phrases and song parts are saved 
together in a single file simply called a "Song file". A Song 
file does not contain pattern rhythms (that's what a Pattern 
file is for); it is simply a list of pattern numbers for Phrases, 
and of phrase numbers for Song Parts, along with corresponding 
velocity, tempo and repeat data. Phrase and song part names are 
also included in the Song file, along with the song title.

     2) Standard MIDI File: the entire song can be saved as either 
a format 0 (single multi-channel sequence) MIDI File, or a format 
1 (multi-track) MIDI File. You cannot save a single song part as a 
MIDI file. The velocity values assigned to notes in a MIDI file 
are calculated according to the position of the arrow in the MIDI 
Velocity bar and the velocity values assigned to accents (see the 
paragraph headed "TO SET THE ABSOLUTE VELOCITY VALUE OF ACCENTS" 
under the chapter entitled "Pattern editing aids and shortcuts" 
above).

     TO LOAD A SONG FROM DISK, select "Load" under the File menu. 
As stated above, phrases and song parts are loaded together in a 
single, Master Drummer-format file.

~Setting clock paramters
     TO SET CLOCK PARAMETERS, select "Set parameters" under the 
Clock menu. The options available are:

     1. select Pulse=pulse mode and set pulse resolution
     2. select Beat=beat mode and set beat resolution
     3. toggle metronome and set metronome resolution
     4. toggle MIDI Clock and MIDI Start, and set MIDI Clock 
resolution.

     Master Drummer 2.5 lets you give each of your 99 patterns a 
different Measure, Beat, and Pulse setting. If you create patterns 
with beats containing different numbers of pulses per beat, you 
need to let the program know whether you intend the duration of 
each PULSE to be the same from pattern to pattern, or whether you 
want the duration of each BEAT to be the same.
     The distinction between Pulse=pulse mode and Beat=beat mode 
is easy to grasp once you hear it. Experiment with patterns using 
different numbers of pulses per beat and you'll quickly understand 
the difference.

~Setting clock resolution
     The clock resolution value is used by Master Drummer 2.5's 
internal timer to regulate pattern playback, and also by its 
routines that convert pattern data into Standard MIDI file format. 
When you create Stadard MIDI files you'll generally want the clock 
resolution to equal that of your sequencer (usually expressed as 
"pulses per quarter note" or PPQN). Changing resolution does not 
affect the tempo, it merely insures that rhythms will be repro-
duced accurately.
     When setting clock resolution in Beat=beat mode you are asked 
for the number of steps per beat in the range of 24 to 240. The 
value you select should take in account the way you subdivide the 
beat from pattern to pattern. Generally speaking, if your patterns 
divide the beat into 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, or 12 pulses per beat, a clock 
resolution of 24 will suffice, because all those values divide 
evenly into 24. However, if a pattern were to divide the beat into 
7 pulses, they would not be of equal duration (specifically, they 
would divide as 4-4-4-3-3-3-3). At slow tempos such rhythmic 
inaccuracies are especially noticeable, so it's best to use a 
higher clock resolution. At 240 steps per beat, 7 pulses divide as 
35-35-34-34-34-34-34, which is much more accurate.
     In Pulse=pulse mode you are asked for the number of steps per 
pulse, since pulse duration is constant from pattern to pattern. 
However, since tempo is calculated according to the number of 
beats per minute (rather than pulses per minute), you are also 
asked for the number of pulses per quarter note in order to give 
pulse duration a tempo reference (i.e. quarter notes per minute). 
The product of the steps per pulse multiplied by the pulses per 
quarter note must be in the range of 24 to 240. As an example:
     If you set the number of steps per pulse at 24, and the 
number of pulses per quarter note at 4, clock resolution will be 
equivalent to 96 steps per quarter note (24 X 4).
     With four pulses per quarter note, at any given tempo each 
pulse would be equal in duration to one-fourth of a quarter note 
(i.e a sixteenth note) at that tempo.
     Metronome resolution Metronome resolution is expressed as 
steps per click. If you wish the metronome to click once every 
beat, the metronome resolution should be equal to beat resolution. 
If you wish the metronome to click twice every beat, it should be 
half of the beat resolution.

~Keyboard equivalents for menus
(Note: ^ = <Control> key on computer)

File (All Modes)
L...........Load file 
S...........Save file
Q...........Quit program

Edit (All Modes)
F1..........Enter Pattern Mode
F2..........Enter Phrase Mode 
F3..........Enter Song Mode

Edit (Pattern Mode)
P...........Select pattern
N...........Name pattern
B...........Backup pattern
R...........Retrieve pattern
C...........Copy pattern
F...........Shift pulses
Tab.........Compress/expand pattern
X...........Erase pattern(s)
M...........Set meter
Y...........Copy meter
A...........Set accent velocity and Maximum Base Velocity
1...........Accent level 1
2...........Accent level 2
3...........Accent level 3
4...........Accent level 4
5...........Accent level 5
6...........Accent level 6
7...........Accent level 7
8...........Accent level 8
9...........Accent level 9
^N..........Name configuration
D...........Set global MIDI channel 
Z...........Toggle MIDI Thru (for MIDI pitch entry)

Edit (Phrase Mode)
N...........Name phrase
P...........Edit phrase
X...........Erase all phrases

Edit (Song Mode)
N...........Name song part
P...........Edit song part
X...........Erase all parts

Clock (All Modes)
K...........Set clock parameters
U...........Set tempo 
O...........Autoset tempo
T...........Toggle metronome

Randomize (Pattern Mode)
G...........Generate tracks 
W...........Set randomizing parameters

Randomize (Phrase Mode)
H...........Select patterns for phrase randomization
I...........Randomize pattern content of phrase
^J..........Shuffle pattern order in phrase

Randomize (Song Mode)
H...........Select phrases for song part randomization
I...........Randomize phrase content of song part
^J..........Shuffle phrase order in song part
^V..........Scramble song part order

Help (All Modes)
HELP........online assistance
