K403/K503 Assignment 3: Introduction to Digital Performer

Review the readings from the Digital Performer manual.
Bring a simple, polyphonic piece of music to the studio. Create a sequence with at least three MIDI tracks assigned to different K2600 channels. Select an appropriate patch from the DEFAULT PATCH column (not from the PATCH column) for each track. Record the piece of music in "real time" using the metronome. (See below for help in setting up the metronome.) You can record at a slow metronome setting, and then speed it up for playback. Try to fix note mistakes by using one of the editing windows.
Take a different piece of notated music, and create a sequence with it using the Step Record command.
Back up your sequence folders to the CECM server and your USB flash (thumb) drive, and be prepared to play one of your sequences during the tutorial.

After this Assignment, make sure these topics are famliar:

Setting up a project
Exploring the Transport Controls, Consolidated Window and Tracks Window
Adding MIDI Tracks to Project
Recording in real time to several tracks with different patches
Recording using step edit (using counter to start at various points)
Set tempo, click, meter
Moving or duplicating phrase blocks in the Tracks window using various edit resolutions (changed using + and - buttons)
Saving a backup to the server

Digital Performer MIDI Recording Tips

Double-click the metronome icon to bring up the metronome configuration dialog. Use Speaker Click as a metronome, since it's a little easier to set up than MIDI Click. The metronome sound will enter the mixer as the "MOTU 828 Main Out" line inputs.

To adjust the tempo of the metronome, do one of these two things:

Click on the metronome mark edit field in the control bar, and type in a new tempo (followed by the Return key).
Click on the little arrow in the top right corner of the control bar to reveal the Tempo Slider. (You may have to click this arrow twice — once to reveal icons that open various editing windows, and again to reveal the Tempo Slider.)

Remember: you must record-enable a track in order to use the synth, channel and patch specified in that track when playing the PC88 keyboard. And of course, you must record-enable a track in order to record into it.

Read about the Digital Performer interface in chapter three of Introduction to Computer Music: Volume One.

Here are some instructions for recording in DP.

In Digital Performer, make sure that each track has a unique output device and channel number. An output device is usually just the name of an instrument, such as "K2600". Channel numbers range from 1 to 16, and they are appended to the device name in the track list — e.g., "K2600-1".
A channel can play only one sound at a time. In other words, you can't assign two K2600 programs to the same channel.
Find the OUTPUT column in the Tracks window.

If the device names and channel numbers don't look right to you, click and hold on the OUTPUT column entry for a track to get the hierarchical menu of output devices and channels. Choose "K2600-X" to select channel X on the Kurzweil.
Set up K2600 programs for each track. First, you have to find the DEFAULT PATCH column in the Tracks window. You may need to drag the window divider — the dot pointed to by the arrow below — to the right in order to reveal this column.

Click in the DEFAULT PATCH column.

This gives you a menu of the various banks of programs in the Kurzweil. Most banks have 100 programs.

When you hold your mouse over one of the bank names, you see a large menu of the programs in the bank. Choose one of those programs.

NOTE: Sometimes the large program menu covers up the bank menu. If this happens, move the Tracks window to a different part of the screen, and try again.
NOTE NOTE NOTE: Do not use the PATCH column, because its settings are not saved with the file! Use the DEFAULT PATCH column instead.
If you need more tracks, use the menu command: Project > Add Track > Midi Track.
IMPORTANT: Choose a unique channel number for each new track. Otherwise, the new track will use the same patch — and other settings, such as volume and pan — as other tracks having the same channel number.
When recording the first few tracks, use the metronome. If you play along with the metronome, the music you record will fit the beats that Digital Performer uses to display your notes. This will be important for successful editing.
Turn the metronome on and off by pressing its button in the Control Panel.
The metronome plays out of the Mac, not out of the synthesizer, which plays your notes. Normally, you don't need to worry about this distinction, except to adjust the metronome volume.
You can turn the metronome on and off at any time by clicking (once) the metronome icon in the Control Panel.
You might want to set a few count-off measures, so that you can get used to the tempo before recording begins. The metronome plays during the count-off, but the sequence doesn't advance. To set this up, click the Count-off button in the Control Panel. To change the number of count-off measures, double-click the button.
I recommend not playing in the first measure, so as to leave room for pickup notes and for synthesizer setup messages that we'll learn about later.
Set the tempo for recording using the Tempo box in the Control Panel. Drag the BPM (beats per minute) number field up or down to change tempo. You can do this while playing or recording.

It can sometimes be helpful to record at a slower tempo than you intend to use for playing.
Set the meter (if other than the default 4/4) by using the Project & Modify Conductor Track & Change Meter command.
Click the record-enable button for the track you want to record. It turns red.

You should hear the right sound when you play notes on the keyboard.
Press the Record button in the Control Panel to record.
You should hear the metronome as well as any other tracks you've already recorded. If you've already recorded a time-keeping track (like drums), you may want to silence the metronome by clicking its icon in the Control Panel.
Press the Stop button to stop recording.
Press the Rewind button to go back to the beginning of the sequence.
Press the Play button to hear what you recorded.
If you don't like what you recorded, either undo your recording (Edit > Undo) or choose New Take from the TAKE column menu in the Tracks window. Takes are numbered, and you can switch between them at any time to decide which take you like.

Be sure to watch the video lessons that appear, starting on page three, in Chapter Three: MIDI of Introduction to Computer Music: Volume One. In particular, watch the video about Step Recording in Digital Performer.

Digital Performer Track Overview

Before you can use a command in the Edit or Region menus, you must specify what data (notes, pitch bend, etc.) the command should process. You do this by selecting the data or a time range that includes the data. For example, to transpose some notes, you select them and then issue the Transpose command. If you don't select some notes first, the Transpose command will have no effect. There are many selection methods in Digital Performer. Experiment with them to find the most useful method for each situation.

The Track Overview is good both for making selections before issuing menu commands, and for performing some editing functions directly by dragging with the mouse. The Track Overview occupies the right side of the Track List window, which you see when you create a new file.

The Track Overview represents groups of notes and other data inside little boxes called phrase blocks. To select the notes inside a phrase block, you can either select the phrase block, or you can select a time range that includes the phrase block.

NOTE: The instructions below assume that the following menu option is checked:

Edit Menu > Cursor Selection Mode > All Selections

To select a phrase block:

move the cursor to the middle of the phrase block until it changes from a crosshair into an arrow.
Then click the block. The notes inside it turn yellow, indicating that they are selected, and the arrow turns into a pointing finger.

Hold down the shift key and click on other blocks to include them in the selection.

To select a time range that includes a phrase block:

move the cursor to the left part of the block (or to the left of the block itself), making sure that the cursor remains in the shape of a crosshair.
Click and drag to the right to enclose the block in a selection rectangle. As you drag, you will see the selection growing column by column. When you release the mouse, the notes - and some of the empty space around them - will be selected. Notice that this method lets you select material in a manner that respects the musical time grid, regardless of how the position of the block relates to that grid.

After you've selected some notes in either of these ways, you can issue an editing command, like Transpose, Invert Pitch, Quantize, Change Velocity, etc. Or, you can drag your selection to move or copy the notes to a new place in the track (or some place in a different track).

To move a phrase block:

Select the block, as described above.
Before clicking again, move the cursor over the phrase block until it turns into a pointing finger.
Click and drag the block wherever you want to move it.

The position of the block relative to the time columns is maintained automatically when you move the block. Let's say that the columns represent measures, and the block you want to move begins on the second beat of a measure. Then, after you drag the block to a new measure, the block will snap to the second beat of that measure without any special effort on your part. (If you want to suppress this automatic behavior, hold down the command (Apple) key before you drag.) Clicking the + and - magnifying glasses at the bottom right of the window changes the musical duration of the columns.

To copy a phrase block:

Pretend that you're going to move it (as described above).
When you see the pointing finger cursor, hold down the option key on the computer keyboard. The cursor shows two fingers pointing instead of just one, suggesting that your action will create a copy.
Click the phrase block, and drag it to a new place. The original block remains.

More about cutting and pasting

More extensive information about cutting and pasting in Digital Performer is available here.

Drum Editor

You might also try using the Drum Editor to enter parts for instruments, like drum kits, that map different sounds across the keyboard. See the instructions on this page for help getting started with the Drum Editor.