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Chapter 1. Introduction
Table of Contents
Download
You can download Hydrogen from http://www.hydrogen-music.org. On the 'Downloads' page you can find several binaries (installers) for Linux, Mac and W indows. (note that some versions may not be available for Windows and Mac) If you want to compile Hydrogen yourself (see the section called Build), you can download the latest source files directly from our subversion server with:
$ svn co http://svn.assembla.com/svn/hydrogen/tags/0.9.5
Compiling Hydrogen depends on the following libraries: o o o o o o o o o qt (>= 4.0) at http://www.trolltech.com libsndfile at http://www.mega-nerd.com/libsndfile/ ALSA (>= 1.x) at http://www.alsa-project.org (only if you wish to use ALSA as audio driver) Jack Audio Connection Kit (>= 0.80) at http://jackaudio.org/ (only if you wish to use Jack as audio driver) PortAudio at http://www.portaudio.com (only if you wish to use PortAudio as audio driver) Flac at http://flac.sf.net (only if you wish to use flac samples) ladspa at http://www.ladspa.org (only if you wish to use ladspa effects) liblrdf at http://sf.net/projects/lrdf (only if you wish to use lrdf to categorise effects) lash at http://lash.nongnu.org (only if you wish to use lash)
Please install them with your distribution's package manager. If you're running a debian-based system, you can install the libraries with:
Build
Depending on the branch you are compiling you will need to use Scons or Cmake. Check the INSTALL.txt and the README.txt files for more info (located in the top level dir once you downloaded the sources).
Using scons
Decompress the tarball or go to the directory where the subversion copy was checked out:
$ scons --help
If you want to use features which are not enabled by default (for instance PortAudio), you can enable them with:
$ scons portaudio=1
Namely, if you get some error while running Hydrogen and you want to report it remember to configure hydrogen with:
$ scons debug=1
$ scons -c
Preferences
First of all you should make sure that the audio engine is configured properly. The preferences dialog can be accessed via the tools menu (tools -> preferences).
The Beat Counter drift compensation and start offset allow you to compensate for system latency when you are using the Beat Counter function (see the section called Tap Tempo and BeatCounter) The Max number of bars in a song can be set here (currently limited to 800) and if you want to use rubberband for sample time-streching (see the section called Sample Editor rubberband) you need to enter the path where rubberband is installed on you system here.
The following drivers are available: jackd: The Jack driver is a professional audio server which permits very low lag and exchanges with other audio software. We strongly recommend using this driver to have the best out of Hydrogen. JACK server will start automatically if not already running. ALSA: the widely adopted Linux standard audio drivers OSS: The Oss audio driver uses /dev/dsp and it's based on the OSS interface which is supported by the vast majority of sound cards available for Linux; this said, the use of this audio driver blocks /dev/dsp until Hydrogen is closed i.e. unusable by any other software. Use it as last resort. PortAudio: an open-source multi platform audio driver CoreAudio: a driver for Mac OS X (experimental)
Main menu
Projects: this menu offers file related functions. New - Create a new song Show Info - Set general properties of the song such as name, author, license and generic notes Open - Open a song Open Demo - Open a demo song (demo songs are stored in$INSTALLPATH/share/hydrogen/data/demo_songs) Open recent - Open a menu showing last used songs Save - Save changes to current song Save as - Save current song specifying a name (default path: $HOME/.hydrogen/data/songs)
Open pattern - Open a saved pattern belonging to the current drumkit Export pattern as - Saves a pattern. It will be stored in $HOME/.hydrogen/data/patterns/drumkit_name Export MIDI file - Export current song in MIDI format Export song - Export current song in W AV format Quit - Quit Hydrogen
Instruments: this menu offers instruments and drumkit (sound libraries) functions. Add instrument - Add a new instrument to your current drumkit Clear all - Delete all instruments from the current drumkit Save library - Saves all instruments settings (and their sound samples) in$HOME/.hydrogen/data/library_name Export library - Compress all instruments samples and settings in a drumkit in$HOME/.hydrogen/data/library_name Import library - Imports another drumkit from the local filesystem or download it from a remote location through an XML feed. The XML file that should be provided is NO T RSS compliant (see Hydrogen website for an example). To load another drumkit in your current working session of Hydrogen, read the section called Sound Library (Drumkit/Pattern/Song Manager).
Tools: opens the mixer, the director, the playlist editor, the instrument rack and the general preferences window. Playlist editor - A tool to manage playlists. Director - Open the director window. Mixer - Open the mixer window. Instrument rack - Open the instrument rack panel. Preferences - Open the main preferences window. Read the section called Preferences on how to configure Hydrogen.
Debug: tools mainly for debugging and monitoring Hydrogen (only available when compiled with debug support !). Info User manual - Open a window with this manual :) About - The usual window with license information, acknowledgements, etc. Show audio engine info - Open a monitor with various stats debug action - Insert debug commands. Print Objects - Print on stdout current objects map.
An advanced tap tempo function: choose note length and how many notes to wait before recalculating BPM, then hit the comma key repeatedly until the 'R' letter appears and then the BPM will be updated. (see the section called Tap Tempo and BeatCounter) Manually set BPM Manage JACK transport Open the mixer and the instrument rack panels
o Main controls to start [Hotkey = Spacebar], stop, record, fast forward, rewind, loop a song or a pattern. Spacebar],
o Set Pattern/Song Mode. When Song mode is selected Hydrogen will play the complete song. This is the sequence of patterns you have created in the Song Editor (see the section called Song Editor). When Pattern ). mode is selected Hydrogen will play the pattern that is currently selected, and thus displayed in the Pattern Editor (see the section called Pattern Editor).
o Set measure type and Beat Counter (see the section called Tap Tempo and BeatCounter).
o Set speed of playing (range: 30-400 bpm) [Hotkey = mouse wheel] and button to enable/disable metronome 400 o Shows CPU load and MIDI events. The CPU bargraph gives you an indication of the CPU load. The MIDI led of lights up every time Hydrogen receives a midi message. o Click J. TRANS to enable Jack transport. If the J. MASTER button is pressed Hydrogen will work as 'master', else it will act as 'slave' to another 'master' program (e.g. Ardour). This applet is only available if Jack Audio Driver is selected.
The Tap Tempo is a part of the BeatCounter, which is essentially a Tap Tempo on steroids. By default the BeatCounter display is not visible. To see the BeatCounter widget click the upright button (BC) between Song/Pattern mode selector and the BPM-widget, or, simply press the comma key. (,). The tempo that you tap will be considered even beats of the song's beat type. The beat type can be set to 1/8 (for eightnote beats), 1/4 (for quarter-note beats), 1/2 (for half-note beats), and 1/1 (for whole-note beats). To change the beat type use the left +/- buttons. To change the Countdown Counter value, use the right +/- buttons. The Countdown Counter value can be set between 2 and 16 beats. (I.e. if you set the beat to 6, you will have to tap 6 times before the new tempo is computed and set.) When the display shows an R, it means that the BeatCounter is ready to start from 0. W hen you tap the comma key, the R will change to 1, and will increment with every keystroke until it reaches the Countdown Counter value (shown just below the 'R'). The button in the bottom right-hand controls the auto-start feature, and it toggles between S and P. When it shows P for (Play), the song will set the new tempo and automatically start to play after you tap the right number of beats (if it's not already playing, of course). This way, if you have the BeatCounter set up for 4/4, you can tap 1-2-3-4, and start playing on the next beat. W hen it shows S (for Set BPM), the auto-start is disabled. For example: Suppose you have a live band, Hydrogen, and a softsynth that is controlled by Seq24)... and you want them all to start at the same time. Set the beat type to 1/4 and the number of beats to 4. Enable auto-start (button shows P). Count off the band 1-2-3-4 (while tapping the comma key) and everyone starts on 1. Another example: Same situation, but the song doesn't require Hydrogen or synths until some point later. During that time, a human (e.g. guitar player) will be setting the tempo. On the measure before Hydrogen is supposed to play, tap the comma key 1-2-3-4 with the beat... and you're in on the next beat (at the right tempo). If you are using the JACK Transport, the BeatCounter continues to work. If another program is the JACK Transport Master, Hydrogen will respond to tempo change events from that application. Note that in this situation, Hydrogen is supposed to be a slave, so some of the BeatCounter features will be disabled or will not work properly. If Hydrogen is the JACK Transport Master, tempo changes from Hydrogen will be reflected in those programs (if they support it). Some of the settings to adjust the BeatCounter's latency compensation, are located on the General tab of the Preferences Dialog (see the section called The General tab ). Here you will finde two spinboxes: Beat counter drift compensation in 1/10ms adjust to compensate for latency between the keyboard and the program. Beat counter start offset in ms adjust the time between the BeatCounter's last input stroke and when the song starts playing (if auto-start is activated).
Note that these can be set to positive (+) or negative (-) values. In order to find useful values for these, you will need to take some time to play with it. Also, you may want different values depending on the speed of your hardware, audio devices, drivers, etc. Using the BeatCounter effectively requires practice.
Song Editor
The "Song Editor" (Figure 2.2, The Song Editor) gives an overview of the whole timeline of the song (e.g. intro, verse, bridge, chorus and so on); each blue colored square on this panel represents a complete bar as shown in the underlying "Pattern Editor" panel. The song editor gives you complete freedom to add/remove patterns to the song and to move or copy any part of your song.
Main controls
o o o
Completely delete all patterns (asks for confirmation!). Create a new pattern (and asks for a name). Move currently selected pattern up or down. Note that you can also just drag-and-drop a pattern up/down in the pattern list. drop
Enable Select Mode. This mode allows you to select a part of the song and delete/move/copy it. Once you have selected a part of your song you can delete it by pressing the Delete button. You can canmove it by simply dragging your selection to another location, and you can also copy you selection by Ctrl-dragging it to a new location.
Enable Draw Mode. This mode allows you to create a song by drawing blocks on the song canvas. on Clicking a square on the song canvas will add a pattern (the square will turn blue), clicking it again will remove that pattern from the song.
Switch from "Single pattern mode" to "Stacked pattern mode" and back. For more info on this see the section called Midi actions actions.
Once you have entered the new tempo and clicked OK, the tempo change will show up on the tempo ruler. If you click the Tempo marker again you can edit the tempo, change the bar or delete the tempo marker.
In addidtion to changing the tempo when the song switches from intro > verse, it is also very handy to have a clear indication of this tempo switch (or any other event in the song). For this purpose you can also ad Tags markers to the song. These Tags are short text messages you can add to your song at any given moment that will be displayed whenever the song playhead passes by that Tag. To add a Tag to your song simply middle-click on the song ruler (just below the tempo ruler) and a window will pop up where that allows you to add text for any bar.
Once you are done you will see a small blue 'T' in the song ruler for every tag you have entered. Middle-click anywhere on the song ruler to edit the tags.
Now all we need is a way to see the tags we have entered. This can be done using the Director window. Open the Director by pressing Alt-D, or Tools- Director :
The Director is your best friend when you need a quick overview of what Hydrogen is currently doing. This comes in very handy when you are recording a song, or if you are using Hydrogen live on stage. The Director shows you the song name, a visual metronome and of course the song Tags. Just below the metronome you can see the latest tag, and below that the next upcoming tag. This way you have a nice overview of what is going on, and what is about to happen in the song
Patterns options
Right-clicking the name of a pattern will show you a menu where you can change a number of things : clicking Figure 2.3. The Pattern Options menu
o o
Edit : will open the selected pattern in the Pattern Editor. Copy : will copy the selected pattern to a new pattern in your song. rn Note that patterns with the same name are not allowed.
o o
Delete : will completely remove the selected pattern from the song. Fill/Clear : will open a window that allows you to fill/clear a part of the song with the selected pattern by entering the start- and end bar.
Properties : will open a window where you can change the name of the pattern and also assign it to a certain category.
o o o
Load Pattern : will open the selected pattern in the Pattern Editor. Save Pattern : will open the selected pattern in the Pattern Editor. Virtual Pattern : will open the selected pattern in the Pattern Editor. Virtual patterns are a convenient way of grouping patterns together. For example, say you have a song in which three patterns are always played together at the start of each bar. Previously, the way to do this in the pattern matrix was to explicitly enable the three patterns at each bar. With virtual patterns we can assign a pattern to be a sort of meta-pattern that implicitly invokes these three patterns together when the new virtual pattern is enabled in the pattern matrix. This way, we only need to set one pattern every bar, instead of three. Virtual patterns provide a function that's similar to the regular pattern editor, and one could argue that since a virtual pattern is also a regular pattern, we could have just merged the three patterns into this new one. However, the advantage that virtual patterns provide is that if one of the original three patterns changes, the virtual pattern automatically inherits the change. A virtual pattern can also invoke other virtual patterns.
Pattern Editor
The "Pattern Editor" lets us create or modify the pattern (bar) which is currently selected. You can add/remove notes, and tune a number of per-note properties like velocity and pan. The Pattern Editor can be used in 2 modes : 'Drum' mode or 'Piano' mode. You can switch between these modes by clicking the Drum/Piano button (located on the top-right of the Pattern Editor) First let's take a look at the (classic) 'Drum' mode :
From left to right : o o SIZE : lets you choose the size of the pattern (the number of bars) RES : this is the current grid resolution (4 through 64) Remember this constraint concerning the grid: if you are working with a resolution of 16 you can't go back to 8 and remove a 16th note. On the other hand if you are working with a resolution of 8 and you try to insert a note in the middle of two bars (looking for a 16 bars precision), notes will be placed in the previous or in the following 8th bar. This constraint can be removed if you disable the whole grid resolution (choose "off" from the grid resolution LCD control). Now you'll be able to place notes wherever you prefer. o o HEAR : when enabled Hydrogen will play the sample as it's being added to the pattern. QUANT : enables/disables quantization. When enabled the beats inserted will automatically respect the grid resolution currently applied. Drumset / Instrument : when set to Drumset the keys on your midi keyboard will map to the instruments in your drumkit as described in the instrument mapping table below. If you set it to Instrument the keys of your midi
keyboard will trigger the instrument that is currently selected. The pitch of the instrument will follow the key you press on your keyboard. This feature is mainly used for non-drum instruments. An example : if you use a sample of a piano for one of your instruments, you will be able to 'play' that piano instrument using your keyboard just like you are playing a piano synth. o Note Length / Note off : these are 2 different ways to define the duration of a note. See the section called Pattern Editor Sequence area for usage. Drum/Piano : switch Pattern Editor between Drum and Piano mode. (see below)
Each instrument has its own set of features that are accessible by right-clicking the instrument. From the context menu that pops up you can select o o Clear notes : to remove all notes for this instrument in this pattern. Fill notes : this allows you to fill up the pattern with notes for the selected instrument. Depending on the choice you make (fill all, fill 1/2, fill 1/4 ...) notes will be placed at all, 1/2, 1/4, etc of the note positionsthat are allowed by the grid setting. So be careful not to mix up the 'musical' 1/2-note and the 'fill 1/2' note. Randomize velocity : automatically apply a pseudo-random velocity to each note of that instrument in the pattern. The more velocity you set on the instrument, the more hydrogen will hit hard on that instrument when played. Delete Instrument : well, deletes the instrument ;-)
The small red and green buttons right of the instrument names are the mute (red) and solo (green) buttons. The order of the instruments can be rearranged by simply dragging an instrument up/down in the list and dropping it on a new position within the drumkit. Doing so will not change anything to the sequence you have created for that instrument, nor will it change anything to the song or pattern you are working on. It willhowever, have an impact on the MIDI note mapping : in the table below you can find the link between the instrument position, the MIDI note and the qwerty keyboard keys. Important Notes : The name of the instrument depends on the drumkit that is loaded. This list below refers to the GMkit that is loaded by default. Keep in mind that it is the position of the instrument (within the loaded drumkit) that is linked to a MIDI-note/keyboard-key and not the name of the instrument.
(Figure above, from left>right : a 'normal' note, a note in 'note length' mode, a note in 'note off' mode) So far we have only used the mouse to create a pattern, but you can also record your beats by clicking the Record button (see the section called Main menu) and simply playing your pattern on your MIDI drum or your pc keyboard (see instrument mapping above). This is probably a more musical way of creating a pattern, but it's up to you to decide what works best for you. (Also see Chapter 3, A new song for a basic walk-through of how the pattern editor works)
The striped black and white area represents a piano keyboard and in the gray area you can choose the octave. By placing a dot on the octave scale and a dot on the 'keyboard' you can choose any note.
Mixer
The Mixer window can be opened by pressing Alt+M, by clicking Mixer in the Tools menu, or by clicking the Mixer button on the main toolbar. The Mixer consists of 3 sections (left>right) : the instrument channel strips, the FX plugin rack and the master fader section. The Hydrogen Mixer works very much like a hardware mixer does : it lets you set the volume, pan, FX and several other things for every instrument.
Next are 4 pre-fader FX send knobs that determine how much of this instrument will be sent to the effect plugins in the FX fader rack.
Just below that you can find an LCD peak-value display, and finally the volume fader and VU meter for that instrument. value fader IMPORTANT NOTE : keep in mind that the volume and pan settings that you find on the Mixer are global settings. The per-note velocity and pan settings in the Pattern editor are settings that are relative to the settings in the Mixer window ! note settings
Plugins Kill
A LADSPA plugin is compiled, executable code. It is capable of hanging, crashing, freezing, screeching, overflowing buffers, and even phoning home. If you start having issues with Hydrogen, disable your plugins and see if things improve. Some plugins are not designed for real-time use, and some are just plain better than others. time Once you have installed some plugins you can select one by clicking the make sure that the button (in the Master section) is enabled) Now the FX selector window will pop up : Figure 2.8. Select an Effect button. (if you do not see the FX rack,
Once you have selected a plugin you will immediately have access to the parameters of that plugin :
You can select another plugin by clicking the 'Select FX' button, and If you quickly want to enable/disable the effect click the 'Deactivate' button (or the Bypass ( ) button in the FX rack). This can be handy for a quick A/B comparison. After you have selected the FX and tweaked it's parameters you can use the FX return knob to increase/decrease how much of this FX will be returned to the master output.
Master section
The Master section contains the Master volume fader with VU meters, and 3 global Humanize 'effects' (Velocity, Timing and Swing). These are not the type of effects as described in the LADSPA section, instead these effects will alter the way the notes are played, in order to add a 'human feel' to the song : layed, Velocity : this knob will add a certain randomness to the note velocity. The higher you turn this knob, the more the velocity will be randomized. Timing : this knob will add a certain randomness to the note timing (lead/lag). The higher you turn this knob, the note more the timing will be randomized. Swing : this knob will add a certain amount of swing to the song.
Note that Hydrogen can also be switched to 'per instrument output' mode (see the section called The Audio System tab tab), and in this mode all channel strip outputs will be available in Jack (not just the Master output). This allows you to route the individual instruments directly into any other Jack enabled application (eg Ardour) and gives you a lot more flexibility. On the bottom-right of the Master section you can find the' FX' button (show/hide the FX rack), and the 'Peak' button right (enable/disable the VU meters). Note that the VU meter fallof speed can be configured in the preferences window (see the section called The Appearance tab) each instrument switching the ) button. See next section for a detailed overview.
As you can see the Soundlibrary contains all Drumkits (System- and User drumkits), your saved Patterns and your saved Songs. Each Drumkit is a collection of a number of instruments (snare, kick, sampled voice, bass sound ...) and in its turn an instrument can consist of multiple layered samples. Note that every block has a number of parameters (continue every reading for more details). This said. let's take a look at the Soundlibrary interface and see what it can do for you: The Sound Library saves you time in managing your drum kits, favorite patterns, and favorite songs. When making new favorite songs and drum kits, the Sound Library makes it easier for you to reuse and mix the instruments and patterns from other kits and songs. Figure 2.10. The Soundlibrary
System Drumkits
This lists the drumkits that were installed by your system administrator. The location of these System Drumkits is determined by the compile-time prefix. On Unix-like operating systems, this is usually/usr/share/hydrogen/data/drumkits, or possibly /usr/local/share/hydrogen/data/drumkits. These kits are available to all users on the system, and users are usually not able to add to them. To load a drumkit from here, right-click the drumkit and select Load. This will replace your current drumkit with the one that you selected. To load a single instrument from that kit, left-click the plus to the left of the drumkit's name to show all the instruments. W ith your left mouse button, click and drag the instrument into your current kit. The instrument will be added to the drumkit that you currently have loaded.
If you select one of the drumkits you will see info about this kit in the right pane of the Import window : name, description, author and also the license type.
Warning
If you are using Hydrogen for commercial purposes, (creating songs and selling these on-line or in any other way) you need to pay special attention to the license type of the drumkit(s) you are using. If the exact license is not available for a drumkit, do _NOT_ assume that it is a CC (or other open and free license type). Even if the kit is CC licensed you should always check with the author before using the kit in your songs. DISCLAIMER : hydrogen is not responsible for the drumkits that are made available for download by our users, either via the hydrogen-music.org site or via any other channel. You can install a drumkit by selecting it and clicking 'Download and Install'.
Once the kit has been downloaded it will be available in the Sound Library under User drumkits.
Release The amount of time to go from the sustain volume back down to 0. Typical samples that are used in Hydrogen are: the sound of a single drum hit, the sound of a single cymbal hit, the sound of a single cowbell hit. W henever you put a note in the pattern (or play a note using MIDI), Hydrogen will play whatever sound you have loaded. So, to put together a drum kit you need to gather short recordings of the bass drum, each tom, each cymbal, the high hat open, the high hat closed, the snare drum (snare on), the snare drum (snare off), rim shots, etc. However, there are no rules about what a sample can be. It's not uncommon to use Hydrogen to trigger non-drum sounds like: audio clips of people talking, a clip from a song, sound effects, audio clips from movies, and famous people speaking. Be creative!
Instrument Parameters
In the instrument editor, click on the General button. Here you can adjust several parameters that are apply to the whole instrument (not for each layer).
The parameters that you can adjust are: Envelope parameters: Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release. (See Envelope Generator) Gain: The overall volume of the instrument. Mute Group: W hich mute group this instrument is a member of (see Mute Group). Filter Parameters: Bypass, Cutoff, Resonance. Random Pitch
It's important that you understand the section called Concepts in order to continue on. Envelope Parameters When the instrument is triggered, its volume is run through an ADSR Envelope. The parameters operate as follows: Attack the amount of time that the volume of the sample goes from 0 to the full velocity of the note. If the value is 0, the sample will play immediately at full velocity. If the value is 1.0, the sample volume will use the maximum [1] time available for the attack parameter. Decay the amount of time for the volume of the sample to go from full velocity down to the sustain volume. If the value is 0, the sample will immediately skip from the attack volume to the sustain volume. If the value is 1.0, [1] the sample volume will use the maximum time available for the decay parameter. Sustain the volume to play the note after the decay phase is over, and until the note is released. If set to 0, the note will be silent. If set to 1.0, the note will play at full velocity. Release the time to fade out the note from the sustain volume back down to 0 (silent). If set to 0, the note will [1] fade out in the minimum amount of time (about 5 ms). If set to 1, it will fade out for the maximum time available.
If the sample is shorter than the times that you specify, the sample will end, regardless of which phase of the ADSR it is in. If the note is sustained, it does not draw out the note while you are holding it. It only holds the gain (volume) parameter during that time. Gain and Mute Group The gain sets the overall volume for the sample. This gain is applied after the gain that you set for the layer, and before the gain that is set for the mixer. If the Gain is 0, the instrument will be silent. If the gain is 1.0 the volume of the samples will not be adjusted (i.e. 0 dB). If the gain is set higher, the samples will be amplified.
Warning
It is very easy to set the Gain too high, causing your sample to clip. Remember to test the gain with full-velocity notes. If you clip your signal here, it will only get worse as Hydrogen processes it. Hydrogen provides more mute groups than you know what to do with (over 256). A mute group is a grouping of instruments that are mutually exclusive only one instrument may be playing at any time. If one is playing and another instrument in the group is triggered, it will immediately silence (mute) and start playing the other instrument. This is useful, especially, for instruments like hi-hats where the open sound and the closed sound are different instruments. If the mute group is set to Off, then the instrument is not part of any mute grouping. If the mute group is set to any number, then that is the group that the instrument is a part of. To set other instruments into the same grouping, set their mute group parameter to the same number. (For example, to group all the high-hat instruments, you can set all their mute group parameters to 1. To have a snare drum mute group, set their mute group parameters to 2.) Filter and Random Pitch The filter is a low-pass resonance filter. If you don't wish to use is, click the BYPass button so that it's red. If it's not red, then the filter is active. The cutoff parameter adjusts the cutoff frequency for the filter. The resonance parameter adjusts how much to resonate the cutoff frequency. If the resonance is set to 0, then the filter is just a simple low-pass filter.
Note
The cutoff frequency of the filter varies with the sample rate of your audio card. The range of the knob (0 to 1.0) is optimized for a 48,000 kHz sample rate. The random pitch parameter allows you to randomly vary the pitch of the sample every time it is triggered. The value is set between 0 and 1.0. The pitch change is fairly small: 2 half-steps value. Using this sparingly can help your sequences to sound more like a real drummer.
The velocity setting for the layer is 0-velocity on the left, and full velocity on the right. Set up Layer 1 to sound for soft notes, and Layer 2 to sound for hard notes. (I.e. Layer 1 on the left and Layer 2 on the right.) Now, in the pattern area, set up a simple pattern that plays this instrument. Adjust the velocity settings on each note so that you can get the different samples to sound. Now set the pattern to loop and notice how your different samples are getting triggered. (To learn about editing a pattern, see the section called Pattern Editor) For each layer, you can set the Gain and the Pitch. The pitch also has a Fine adjustment. Use the Gain adjustment to control how loud the sample will play. This is necessary because it's extremely difficult to get a set of samples that all sound at about the same volume. By adjusting here, the samples that were recorded too quietly can be turned up to match your loud samples (that had to be turned down).
Warning
It is very easy to set the Gain too high, causing your sample to clip. Remember to test the gain with full-velocity notes. If you clip your signal here, it will only get worse as Hydrogen processes it. The pitch of the sample can be modified with the pitch controls. The Pitch knob adjust the pitch in musical half-steps. (So, -12 is down 1 octave). The pitch on the right adjusts the pitch 50 cents. (One half-step is 100 cents.)
Note
The pitch is adjusted by playing the sample back faster or slower. This is called the Doppler Effect. So, if you have a 1second sample that you turn down -12 (1 octave), your sample will only last for .5-seconds. If you do not want this to happen you should use rubberband instead (see the section called Sample Editor rubberband) You can hear the sample in a layer by clicking the layer id (just below the 'General' and 'Layers' buttons) and the 'Delete Layer' button will delete the currently selected layer.
Sample Editor
So far we have created a multilayered Drumkit, set a number of instrument parameters, played with velocity settings and so on. Now it's time to go one step deeper and edit the samples using one of the newest Hydrogen features : the Sample Editor. The Sample Editor allows you to tweak and manipulate your samples. This is a function that will really speed up the creation of a drumkit since you can do the fine-tunning of the sample within Hydrogen. In pre-0.9.5 builds the typical workflow would be to prepare your sample in an external sound editor, import the sample in Hydrogen, test it, go back to the audio editor, import again, test ... The sample editor allows you to do most of the sample manipulation within Hydrogen. This mean less switching between Hydrogen and your audio editor and more time to make music ! NOTE : the changes you make to your samples in the Sample Editor are non-destructive and are saved per song. So the original sample will not be changed, and you can reuse the same sample in multiple songs with different Sample Editor settings. Figure 2.14. The Sample Editor
The Sample Editor consists of 3 sections (as indicated in the figure above): Sample Editor in/out points In this section you can set the start, stop and loop points for the sample by dragging the the 3 markers : S-marker (green) : indicates the Start-point (in-point) of the sample. E-marker (red) : indicates the End-point (out-point) of the sample. L-marker (blue) : determines the loop-in point of your sample
You can easily move one of the markers by grabbing them close to the letter that marks them. W henever you grab one of the markers you will see a detail view of the position of that marker on the second (smaller) window on the right, making it
easy to find the zero-crossings in the sample. This detail window also has a slider next to it that allows you to zoom in and out on the vertical axis. Think of it as a sort of volume 'zoom'. Underneath these 2 windows you can find (from left>right) : the position of the Start marker, the position of the Loop marker, the Loop mode, the number of loops and the position of the End marker. The position of the markers is expressed in number of samples from the very beginning of the sample. These values will change if you drag the markers, but you can also fine-tune the marker position by using the up/down arrows of the spinboxes, the up/down keys on your keyboard, or by using your mouse scroll wheel while hovering above the spinboxes. Apart from the marker positions there are 2 settings that apply to the Sample Editor's loop function : loop mode and loop number. W ith the loop function you can repeat the part of your sample that is in between the Loop- and the End-marker.. The way it is looped is determined by the Loop mode (forward, revers or ping-pong) and the number of times it is looped is determined by the Loop number. If you want to hear a preview of the tweaking you have done so far, you first need to press the 'Apply Changes' button (@ the bottom of section 3) and then the Play button to hear the result. Sample Editor rubberband This section of the Sample Editor allows you to control the Rubberband settings. Rubberband is a tool that can change the tempo of a sample without changing the sample's pitch (and vice versa). If you are using Ubuntu you can install rubberband from the Software Center (rubberband-cli). For other linux distros check your package manager. For other platforms please check the rubberband site . After installing rubberband you should check if the path to the rubberband cli is configured correctly (see the section called The General tab). If rubberband is installed correctly you will have access to the rubberband settings, and an extra button named 'RUB' will be available in the Main Toolbar, right of the BPM LCD display :
Back to the rubberband settings : o Sample length to beat : when set to 'off' rubberband functionality is disabled. Normally this parameter should be set to the length of the part of the sample between the Start and End marker, expressed in number of beats. Pitch : this setting allows you to change the pitch of the sample, expressed in semitones,cent. Crispness : this setting does not affect tempo or pitch, but changes the way the sample sounds.
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Note : If you want Hydrogen to recalculate the sample length on the fly (using rubberband) you must enable the 'RUB' button (see figure above). Sample Editor volume/pan In the bottom section of the Sample Editor you can see the end result of the tweaks you have made by pressing the Apply Changes button. You can also change the the Volume and Panorama (Pan) of your sample here. This is done by creating 'envelopes' like the ones you find in numerous DAW 's for (parameter) automation. To edit an envelope you first need to select 'Volume' or 'Panorama'in the upper right corner of section 3. The Volume envelope is blue, the pan envelope is yellow. Left clicking in the bottom window will ad a node to an envelope, and also allows you to drag an existing node. Right-clicking a node will delete it. Don't forget to Apply Changes before you play your tweaked sample.
Turn down the gain. Every time you have a gain knob (i.e. an amplifier), this is called a gain stage. With every gain stage you have, it's easy to overdrive your signal which means the signal gets distorted by clipping. In addition, if you have two samples that, by themselves, peg your meters what do you think happens when you combine them? That's right, you overdrive the signal again. If things sound bad and distorted, start by turning down the gain setting on the layer... especially if it's larger than 1.0. Then turn down the instrument gain. Then any gain on a LADSPA effect. Then the fader on the mixer. Then the master output fader. Test samples at full velocity. Your sample will be played louder if the velocity is higher. So, if you set everything to sound nice and full with velocity at 0.7, what will happen when you get a full velocity of 1.0? (Hint: clipping.) Try to use samples that are -6 dB max. Visually, this means samples that peak at only 1/2 of full scale. Otherwise, turn your layer gain to about .5. Remove all DC offsets from the sample. In a sample editor, there is usually a line down the center of your sample's waveform. This is the zero-line. The beginning of your sample should be on this line. The end of your sample should also be on this line. However, if your signal is a little above or a little below this line, you will hear a click at the beginning and the end of your sample whenever it is played. If your sample editor doesn't provide any tools to fix a DC Offset problem, you can eliminate the noise by putting a slight fade-in/out at the ends of your sample. The ADSR will not be longer than your sample. If you have a short sample, it doesn't matter how long you set the attack and delay the sample will stop playing at the end. Things change with the sample rate. If you have a really nice setup with all your parameters painstakenly tweaked... things will change if you change the sample rate of your audio card. Many of Hydrogens internal settings and parameters are done based on how many samples go by, and not on how many seconds go by. The sort of things that change are: anything time-base (like attack and release) and anything frequency based (like the cutoff frequency).
Midi actions
In this section you can find more info about defining MIDI actions and how these can be useful for you. Before you can work with midi actions you should have your Midi devices, drivers and connections configured correctly (see the section called The Midi System tab)
An Event is an incoming Midi message, and the Action describes what Hydrogen should do whenever that Event is detected. If you take a look at the Events list you will see that there are 3 types of Events available (as described in the Midi standard): o o o NOTE : input coming from a regular black/white key of a keyboard or a drumpad CC : controller commands coming from faders or rotary controllers MMC_x : machine control events coming from play/stop... buttons on a controller
The Param. (parameter) value right of the Event is the identifier of the note/button/controller that is linked to this Action. This parameter can be entered manually, or automatically by using the Midi learn function (see the section called The Midi System tab).
Note
You can also activate the Midi learn function by Shift-clicking most of the gui elements. A 'W aiting for Midi input...' popup informs you that Hydrogen is now waiting for you to press a key or turn/move a controller. If you Shift-click on a gui element that does not support Midi automation a popup will inform you about this.
Next is a list if the available Actions : o o PLAY : start playback PLAY/STOP_TOGGLE : toggles between PLAY and STOP. Execute this action will start playback, execute it again and playback will stop + the playhead will return to the start op the song.
PLAY/PAUSE_TOGGLE : toggles between PLAY and PAUSE. (the playhead will not return to the start of the song, but will stay at its current position) STOP : stop playback and return to the start of the song PAUSE : pause the song MUTE : mutes the the Master output UNMUTE : unmutes the Master output MUTE_TOGGLE : toggles between MUTE and UNMUTE NEXT_BAR : jumps to the next bar in the song PREVIOUS_BAR : jumps to the previous bar in the song BPM_INCR : increments the tempo of the song BPM_DECR : decrements the tempo of the song BPM_CC_RELATIVE : change the tempo relative to the current tempo, using a controller M ASTER_VOLUME_RELATIVE : changes the Master output volume, relative to the current setting (if you are using rotary encoders) M ASTER_VOLUME_ABSOLUTE : changes the Master output volume to the absolute value of the midi control (use with midi fader) STRIP_VOLUME_REL AT IVE : see MASTER_VOLUME_RELATIVE, but applies to the channel strip defined in the Action Parameter. STRIP_VOLUME_ABSOLUTE : see MASTER_VOLUME_ABSOLUTE, but applies to the channel strip defined in the Action Parameter. EFFECTx_LEVEL_RELATIVE : changes the volume level of an effect SELECT_NEXT_PATTERN : will select the pattern that is defined in the Action Parameter. Note that the reference to the pattern is zero-based : pattern1=0, pattern2=1 ...
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SELECT_AND_PLAY_NEXT_PATTERN : combines the SELECT_NEXT_PATTERN with PLAY PAN_RELATIVE : will change the panorama setting, relative to the current value PAN_ABSOLUTE : will change the panorama setting to the absolute value that the linked controller sends to Hydrogen BEATCOUNTER : allows you to set the tempo (see the section called Tap Tempo and BeatCounter T AP_TEMPO : allows you to set the tempo (see the section called Tap Tempo and BeatCounter SELECT_INSTRUMENT : selects one of the instruments in the drumkit
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The attack, decay, and release parameters are all set by the number of audio samples. This means that the time changes depending on the sample rate of your sound card. The max time for each of them is 100,000 audio samples (typ. 2.27 sec at 44.1 kHz).
A new pattern
We'll start from an empty song with an empty pattern, as created by default: "pattern" mode should be selected now. It is also possible to change name of the pattern. Now let's click on the Play button and while the pattern is playing let's add notes in the grid of the Song Editor (Figure 3.1, The Pattern Editor) simply left_mouse_clicking on it: adjust grid resolution and BPM speed if needed. Remember some constraints of the grid: if you are working with a resolution of 16 you can't go back to 8 and remove a 16th note; same thing happens if you are working with a resolution of 8 and you try to insert a note in the middle of two bars (looking for a 16 bars precision): they will be placed on the previous or on the following 8th bar (unless you choose offfrom the Grid Resolution LCD, in this case you're free to place notes wherever you prefer). Be sure to select the correct pattern in the Song Editor before adding notes in the Pattern Editor! Figure 3.1. The Pattern Editor
A new sequence
Once patterns are created (Figure 3.2, Inserting Notes in a Pattern we can copy/paste/delete them simply dragging Figure Pattern), with the mouse (activate the select mode for the Song Editor and keep pressed left mouse button to select those you want to move or copy). Figure 3.2. Inserting Notes in a Pattern
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[CTRL + S] = Save File [CTRL + SHIFT + S] = Save File as [CTRL + P] = Export Pattern as [CTRL + M] = Export MIDI file [CTRL + E] = Export Song [CTRL + Q] = Quit Hydrogen [ALT + D] = Show Director window [ALT + M] = Show Mixer window [ALT + I] = Show Instrument rack [ALT + P] = Show Preferences window [CTRL + ?] = Show manual [Backspace] = Restart song or pattern from the beginning [spacebar] = Play / Pause [,] (comma key) = Tap tempo (beatcounter)
Glossary
This is a glossary of general terms encountered when using Hydrogen, synthesizers, drums, or samplers. The definitions in the text are simplified, but the definitions here are more general and have more explanation. For example, the text of the manual would have you believe that an ADSR is the only kind of envelope generator, and could only ever control the volume. W hile it's simple for new users, it's not quite right. ADSR A type of envelope generator that allows you to control the Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Releaseparameters. Generally, the parameters are proportional to the velocity. In Hydrogen, the ADSR envelope generator only controls the volume (attenuation). Read more about this in the Wikipedia Article ADSR Envelope See Also Envelope Generator, Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release. Attack This is the first phase of an ADSR envelope, and is the amount of time to turn the parameter up from 0 to full velocity after triggering the note. See Also ADSR. Attenuation In filters and mixers, this the amount that a signal is reduced (volume). See Also Roll-off. Band-Pass Filter A filter that preserves a certain band of frequencies, and attenuates (silences) all others. This is often done by combining a high-pass and a low-pass filter.
See Also Filter, High-Pass Filter, Low-Pass Filter. Clipping A phenomenon that happens to a signal when the signal is too large for whatever is receiving it. The peaks of the signal (which are normally smooth curves) get cut off straight at the max volume (clipped). This distorts the sound and is usually undesirable. An example of clipping is when you play music louder than your speaker can handle. Parts of the music sound harsh and fuzzy. Cutoff Frequency On high-pass and low-pass filters, this is the frequency that divides between those that pass, and those that are attenuated (silenced). In a high-pass resonance filter, or a low-pass resonance filter, the cutoff is also the frequency zone that gets boosted. For example, if you have a low-pass filter and you set the cutoff frequency high (i.e. 20kHz)... the filter will not affect the sound. All the audible frequencies will pass through undisturbed. As you lower the cutoff frequency to something like 40 Hz (the low string on a bass guitar), it sounds like someone is putting a blanket over the speaker. The higher frequencies are being attenuated above 30 Hz. See Also Filter, High-Pass Filter, Low-Pass Filter, Resonance Filter. Decay After reaching full velocity from the attack, this is the amount of time to turn the parameter down from full velocity to the sustain level. See Also ADSR. Envelope Generator A way to control (change) a parameter over time as a response to triggering, holding, and releasing a note. Did your eyes just glaze over? Let's try again: Imagine that you're playing a note on the keyboard and you have your other hand on a knob (volume, filter cutoff, etc.). As you play the note, you twist the knob (often up, then down... or down, then up). You do the same thing on each note. That's what an envelope generator does. See also ADSR Fader A slider control used to adjust the attenuation (volume) in a mixer. Faders always have an "audio" taper, which means that the attenuation amount changes on an exponential scale. Filter A device that changes a sound by attenuating specific frequencies. A tone knob is an example of a simple, lowpass filter. See Also Band-Pass Filter, High-Pass Filter, Low-Pass Filter, Resonance Filter. Gain In an amplifier, this adjust how much (or how little) a signal is amplified (volume). A higher gain value is a louder signal. High-Pass Filter A filter that attenuates (silences) low frequencies, but allows high frequencies to pass through. See Also Filter, Cutoff Frequency. Instrument
In Hydrogen, an instrument is a single noise-maker (like a bass drum kick, or a tom). Layer In an instrument you can load several different samples (each one called a layer), and have a different sample play depending on the velocity of the note. Only one sample at a time will play. Suppose you have a sample of a floor tom being struck softly. If you simply play the sample louder it will not sound the same as a real tom that has been struck very hard. If you wish to mimic this in your instrument, you can load one sample for soft playing, and a different sample for loud playing. See Also Instrument. Low-Pass Filter A filter that attenuates (silences) high frequencies, but allows low frequencies to pass through. See Also Filter, Cutoff Frequency. Mute To make no noise. A setting on an instrument that prevents any audio output. Mute Group A group of instruments (samples) that should mute (stop playing) immediately after another instrument in the group is triggered. This is typically used in hi-hats, where there's a different instrument (sample) for when the hi-hat is open or closed. W ith a real hi-hat, the sound of the open hi-hat will stop as soon as you close it. However, if you use two samples the open sound will continue even after you have triggered the closed sound. By placing both instruments in the same mute group (group #1, for example)... triggering closed sound will immediately stop the open sound (and vice versa). Octave A span of frequencies where the top-most frequency is exactly twice the frequency of the bottom frequency. For example, the range 20 Hz to 40 Hz is an octave. So is 120 Hz to 240 Hz, and 575 Hz to 1150 Hz. While the frequency differences are very different (20 Hz, 120 Hz, and 575 Hz, respectively), to the human ear they sound like the same distance. Release After the note is released, this is the amount of time to reduce the parameter from the sustain level to 0. See Also ADSR. Resonance When referring to a resonance filter, this is the parameter that determines how much of a boost (gain) to give the frequencies at the cutoff. See Also Resonance Filter. Resonance Filter A filter that gives a large boost to a very narrow range of frequencies. Typically it will be part of a high-pass or a low-pass filter, where the boosted frequencies are centered on the cut-off frequency. See Also Filter, Cutoff Frequency, Resonance. Roll-off This is the amount that frequencies are attenuated (suppressed) as the frequency changes (typically measured in dB/octave).
For example, in a low-pass filter the frequencies below the cutoff frequency are not attenuated (they pass-through with the same volume). Same with the cutoff frequency. As you go above the cutoff frequency, the frequencies that are near the cutoff frequency are not attenuated very much at all. However, the frequencies that are much higher than the cutoff are attenuated (suppressed) a lot. This is usually approximated by a straight line (on a log scale) and measured in in dB of attenuation per octave of frequency. See Also Attenuation, Filter. Sample A short recording of a sound, typically between .1 and 3.0 seconds long. Sustain The level to hold the parameter after finishing the decay time. This level will be maintained until the not is released. See Also ADSR. Velocity How hard you hit a note. MIDI devices are required to send this information along with the note. Synthesizers use this information to adjust several parameters on the sample (typically the volume). In Hydrogen, it is only used to adjust how loud the sample is played back.