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Midisoft Recording Session, Version 1.11
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INFORMATION FOR NEW USERS
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Thank you for purchasing Midisoft Recording Session. We look
forward to satisfying your MIDI needs for years to come.
If you mail in the enclosed registration card, we will automatically
send you information on upgrades and new products when they are
available. We also will send information about our other music
packages, include the powerful Midisoft Studio for Windows, the
educational Music Mentor, and our various other music products.
We encourage you to contact us with any comments or questions as you
use our program.
Midisoft Technical Support
PO Box 1000
Bellevue, WA 98009 USA
FAX: 206-883-1368
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QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE WITH THIS RELEASE
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======= NO SOUND ON PLAYBACK =======
If you have trouble getting playback, verify that MIDI output is
working by using the Media Player provided in Windows. If Media
Player successfully plays within Windows, then you will be able to
get Midisoft Recording Session to play back by selecting either
MIDI Drivers / Multimedia Drivers / Extended-Level
or
MIDI Drivers / Multimedia Drivers / Base-Level
from the Setup Menu. Read MAPHELP.TXT for hints on selecting
Extended-Level vs. Base-Level Mapping.
Also, before you try anything else, make sure your cables are
properly connected. MIDI Out to MIDI In -- MIDI In to MIDI Out.
======= IF YOU HAVE A 286 OR 386SX COMPUTER =======
Our Score and Mixer real-time displays work best with 386 or faster
computers. On a slower computer, using this feature can affect the
responsiveness of mouse clicks during playback and recording. If you
have a 286 or 386SX computer, we recommend you disable real-time
displays (menu: Options / Follow Score View Notes and Follow VU Meter),
save the new options (menu: Setup / Save Options and Setup), and use
these features only as needed.
======= SELECTING RESTS WITH THE MOUSE =======
To select rests (for the Splice-Cut and Splice-Paste operations),
use the mouse to a region that includes the rest by using click &
drag selection.
======= SELECTION INCLUDES NON-NOTE DATA =======
Selecting regions with the mouse will include all MIDI events,
including those that don't appear as musical notation (e.g.
Controllers, Pitch Bend, etc.). You can prevent this by choosing
Track / Split By Pitch / Extract All Notes
in the Pitch Range from C-1 to G9 (or 0 to 127).
This will extract all note data to the next "Clean" track, leaving
only non-note data in the original track. This can also be done
during recording by choosing Split Input By Pitch from the
Setup / Preferences and setting its value to G9.
======= CHANGING START-TIMES SOMETIMES DOES NOT "ROLL" =======
Changing start times and durations in the MIDI List View will
normally roll if the mouse button is held down, although if the
note crosses another event (or measure boundary), each increment
or decrement will require an individual mouse click.
======= TEMPO INDICATORS SOMETIMES DO NOT UPDATE =======
The tempo indicators in the Mixer and Tape Deck views will not
update until Play or Record is pressed.
======= AUTO-REWIND TO A MEASURE OTHER THAN 1 =======
With Auto Rewind enabled, music will normally rewind back to measure
1 when finished or when "Stop" is pressed. To return to a measure other
than 1, mark the measure by pressing the Play button during playback.
If you do not want a new auto rewind point after pausing the music,
continue playback by pressing the Pause button again.
======= ADDING SHARPS AND FLATS =======
The Sharp (#) and Flat (b) tools increment or decrement the number of
accidentals that a note has. For example, applying a Sharp to "B"
results in B-sharp (B#) and applying another Sharp results in
B-double-sharp (Bx). A new feature allows an accidental tool to be
used in conjunction with the Control key, changing the note to its
enharmonic equivalent. For example, applying a Control+Sharp to "B"
results in C-flat (Cb) and applying a Control+Flat to "B" results in
A-double-sharp (Ax). Note that these changes will not be saved in a
MIDI file format. To retain these changes, save your work as a
song file (.sng).
======= ABOUT SYSTEM EXCLUSIVE =======
Under the options menu is an option to filter system exclusive.
Unchecking this option will allow system exclusive events to be read
in that are embedded in MIDI files. It does not allow system
exclusive events to be recorded in. Since a larger buffer needs to
be allocated for system exclusive events, we recommend keeping this
filter enabled.
======= SONGLIST.TXT =======
Multiple song lists are allowed, each residing in a separate directory.
To use a particular song list, load a song that resides in that directory
and select Save Options and Setup from the Setup menu.
When you next start Recording Session, you will have the option of
using the song list.
One song list might read:
c:\studio\relaxing.mid
e:\midifile\soothing.sng
c:\sleepy.sng
while another reads:
e:\midifile\awaken.sng
c:\midifile\bells.mid
======= SYSTEM ENHANCEMENTS/CHANGES =======
If you change operating systems (e.g. installing DOS 6.0, upgrading to
Windows for Workgroups, etc.), either reinstall Recording Session or
delete your SESSION.INI file located in the directory where
Recording Session resides.
======= OUT-OF-MEMORY ERRORS =======
If you get an "Out of Memory" alert and have less than 200K of
available memory left, save your work as a Song File Type (.sng),
exit Recording Session, and start fresh. We also recommend that
you consider purchasing more RAM, as all-around performance improves
dramatically with increases beyond minimal memory.
======= RUNNING ON MACHINES WITH LESS THAN 3 MEGS RAM =======
If you are running on a 2-3Mb computer, your usage of memory will
affect the operation of our program. We recommend that you use
HIMEM.SYS (to access the high 384K Extended Ram), but don't tie up
any RAM into SMARTDRV.EXE. If Recording Session claims not to have
enough memory, Windows might not be correctly detecting high memory.
Recording Session (or most other Windows software) will not operate on
a 1Mb computer. You can check your available memory by selecting
"About Program Manager" in the Windows Program Manager's Help.
We do not suggest using Expanded memory. (Windows runs best using
EXTENDED memory, not EXPANDED.)
======= OTHER MEMORY DRIVERS =======
Because Recording Sessions' MIDI drivers require instant
access to memory, problems can be avoided by not using memory
managers (such as earlier versions of QEMM) which intercept and
map memory calls. We recommend that you simply use the HIMEM.SYS
driver that comes with Windows. Similarly, TSR programs that are
using your computer's clock can also cause problems. If you
are getting machine crashes or lock ups, we suggest clearing out
your machine's startup files (AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS) to the
bare minimum (even remove DOS shells) and try running Recording
Session again before contacting our technical support department.
Remove non-essential entries in your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT
files, as well as bringing down the FILES= and BUFFERS= values
in your CONFIG.SYS. If you are using DOS 5 (or later), also
make sure that you have a DOS=HIGH entry in CONFIG.SYS.
======= NORTON DESKTOP FOR WINDOWS =======
You might experience path or driver problems using Norton Desktop.
If you encounter such problems, we recommend installing Recording
Session again into Windows Program Manager.
======= USING WINDOWS 3.0 =======
Recording Session supports Windows 3.0, but we recommend upgrading to
Windows 3.1, a significantly improved operating system. If you are
using Windows 3.0, however, here are a few special considerations:
* You can only use the Roland MPU401 (or Midiface) card with the
Midisoft Drivers. Multimedia Drivers (and support for sound
cards) requires Windows 3.1 or the Multimedia upgrade to Windows 3.0.
Such sound cards include the Sound Blaster and the Pro Audio Spectrum.
* You must manually copy the files COMMDLG.DLL and SHELL.DLL
from the Recording Session disk into your Recording Session
subdirectory. These files come built into Windows 3.1.
* Our online help file uses the Help engine that is built into
Windows 3.1. You will be unable to use our online help until
you upgrade to Windows 3.1.
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IF YOU HAVE A ROLAND-COMPATIBLE SOUND OR MIDI CARD
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On some machines, our stand-alone Roland drivers record more
reliably than those included in Windows 3.1. For this reason,
if you have a Roland-compatible MIDI card, you might consider using
our drivers instead of the drivers provides in Windows 3.1.
Setup / MIDI Interface / Midisoft Drivers.
On the other hand, you have much more flexibility by choosing
Multimedia Drivers. For example, if you need to (1) Use the MIDI
Mapper, (2) Use multiple ports, (3) Use other software that also
needs Windows MIDI drivers, or (4) Use a card that is only
MPU401-compatible in UART mode, you should use Multimedia Drivers
with Windows' MPU401.DRV installed in Windows Control Panel.
To use this choice, select
Setup / MIDI Interface / Multimedia Drivers.
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ABOUT THE DEMO SONGS
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In addition to publishing music sequencing and notation programs like
Studio for Windows and Recording Session for Windows, Midisoft also publishes
MIDI data and music education software from which the following demo songs
have been taken. Among these products are:
The Midisoft Multimedia Music Library--A rich collection of original MIDI
music for use in multimedia presentations.
A World of Music--15 volumes of MIDI sequences of all types ranging from
classical to jazz to pop. The World of Music Sampler is currently available.
Please check for availability of the additional volumes.
Music Mentor--A music entertainment and education program that combines text
and graphics with simple animation and MIDI-generated sound to make learning
about music fun.
======= SPECIAL PRICES AVAILABLE FOR NEW PRODUCTS ======
For information about additional products, write or call us at:
Midisoft Corporation
PO Box 1000
Bellevue, WA 98009
USA
VOICE: (206) 881-7176
FAX: (206) 883-1368
