Track Manager

Overview

Ribbon Editor

Toolbar

Quick Access Icons
Zoom Icons
Movement Icons
Part Icon
Tools Area
Time/Beat Icon
View Icons

Number
Icon
Color
Name
Volume
Mute Flag
Solo Flag
Record Flag
Effects Flag
Takes Flag
Sample Rate Indicator
Data

Parts

Takes

Track Groupping

Track Menu

Part Menu

Keyboard Shortcuts

Overview

The Track Manager (TM from now on) is the all-in-one viewer for almost everything you create with TP. It contains a toolbar and the tracks you have created.

The Track Manager toolbar and track view permits the following:

• Arranger movement and manipulation.
• Parts manipulation.
• Loops manipulation.
• Previewing tracks.
• Manipulating takes (TP supports unlimited takes per track, for more on takes, see below).
• Undo/Redo per track or per selected tracks
• Inline editing using the pianoroll, the score editor or the byzantine editor.
• Runtime manipulation of markers, loops etc.

Ribbon Editor

If you use Windows 7, most functionality in the tracks is shown in the "Editor" tab (If you use Windows XP, the same functionalities are available through right click menus):

The editor has 4 groups:

• Devices, which load ASIO drivers, MIDI drivers, VST effects and other Devices.
• Track, which adds new tracks, imports them from files and exports them to files (For more, see File Types).
• Selected Tracks, which perform actions to the selected tracks.
• Parts, which allow you to manipulate specific selection or parts.

Toolbar

The toolbar contains 7 categories of buttons: Some of them are shown/hidden with the aid of the first "View" button.

• Quick Access Buttons
  This contains buttons for quickly accessing TP elements without opening menus or dialog boxes:
  
  • Devices button, which allows you to configure ASIO/MIDI/MME devices with a popup menu.
  • Effects button, which allows you to bring up the VST editor for your VSTs.
  • Link Preset button, which allows you to quickly select a Link Preset (for more see Visual Linker)
  • View Split button, which maximizes/restores data view. This button is useful if the editors (Pianoroll / Score) are opened.
    
• Zoom Buttons
  These buttons zoom the tracks horizontally or vertically
  • Zoom In button, unlimited zoom in. Hold down Shift to zoom vertically.
  • Zoom Out button, unlimited zoom out. Hold down Shift to zoom vertically.
  • Zoom All button, zooms so the entire tracks are visible. Hold down Shift to zoom vertically to the default vertical zoom.
• Undo/Redo Buttons
  These buttons perform undo/redo operations.
  • Enable Undo Redo button, enables the recording of the action history so the undo is available. If you untoggle that, no undo will be possible.
  • Undo button, undos the last action of all the selected tracks.
  • Redo button, redos the last undone action of all the selected tracks.
    Note: If you want per track undo/redo then you should use the undo/redo buttons in the track viewer, see below for more.
• Movement Buttons
  These buttons move the arranger.
  • Down button, moves one down. This is helpful if you want to edit a track that is too down in the list.
  • Up button, moves one up.
  • Left button, moves the arranger one measure left.
  • Right button, moves the arranger one measure right.
  • Goto button, which asks you for a specific position (For more on the position format, see Marker Dialog).
• Part Button
• Tools Buttons
  These are the tools you have to manipulate the arranger. Depending on what tool is selected, the mouse and/or the keyboard does different things.
  • Arrow Tool
    This tool does default actions. If you click with the mouse, you set the transporter's position (This only works when non playing to prevent accidental movements).
  • Hand Tool
    This tool allows you to scroll the arranger left or right quickly with the mouse. It allows also scrolling up or down the track list (the same function as the Up/Down buttons in the toolbar)
  • Select Tool
    This tool allows you to select a range (the mouse snaps into grid if the grid lines are on, see below the View Buttons). If you have selected a range, the sequence starts from the selection start and ends at the selection end when playing/recording.
  • Eraser Tool
    This tool erases whatever is pointed at (midi or audio data).
  • Split Tool
    This tool splits the hit part into 2 parts at the hit position (for more, see Parts below)
  • Join Tool
    This tool allows you to select 2 adjacent parts that are joined.
    Note: The Split and Join tools revert back to the Arrow tool after the split/join is complete to prevent accidental duplicate splits/joins.
  • Preview Tool
    This tool allows you to listen to a track without configuring the linker manually. See below Track Menu for more on previewing.
    
  • Magnifier Tool
    This tool magnifies the portion of the screen you click on it, or de-magnifies it when you click with the right mouse button.
    This tool is mostly useful when the pianoroll or score is active and you want to resize its default height.
  • Loop Tool
    This tool performs 2 functions, depending on the sequencer state:
    • If the sequencer is not running, then with the loop tool you can select a region (the mouse snaps into grid if the grid lines are on, see below the View Buttons) and this region automatically becomes a loop region (for more, see Regions)
    • If the sequencer is running, if you click it in a non loop region, the region starts to loop indefinitely until you release the mouse.
  • Take Tool
    This tool allows you to create a track take (for more on track takes, see below) by selecting the a region you want to add a take (the mouse snaps into grid if the grid lines are on, see below the View Buttons).
• Time/Beat Button
  This button switches the view between time view and beat view. When working with MIDI, most times you 'd want to work in beat mode. When working with audio, most times you 'd want to work in time mode.
  • In time view mode, all seconds are equally spaced. Beats might not be equally spaced (they will only be equally spaced if the tempo is the same).
  • In beat view mode, all measures are equally spaced. Time indicators will not be equally spaced unless there are no tempo changes.
    For more, see Tempo.
• Item Button
  This button configure what you view in the track manager.
  • Time
    Views the time in seconds.
  • Beat
    Views the measures/beats.
  • Tempos
    Views the tempos.
  • Tempo Curve
    Views the tempo curve changes.
  • Markers
    Views the markers
  • Data
    Views the data (i.e. the graphiic representation of midi/audio). If you want to save CPU usage, disable this.
  • Feedback
    Views the new data recorded. If you want to save CPU usage, disable this one while recording.
  • Regions
    Views the regions.
  • Samples
    Views the sample position.
    Note: If one or more tracks have different sample rates, the sample position has no meaning and therefore it is not shown. See Working with different sample rates.
  • Runtime Effects
    Views all the track run time effects.
  • Snapping Grid
    Views grid lines on time/beats/markers etc. If you have selected a tool that uses the mouse to select areas, the mouse snaps to that grid (unless Shift is held down).
  • Automation Curves
    Views the automation curves assigned to tracks.
    
  • Routing
    Views the automatic linking for each track.
  • Undo/Redo
    Views the undo/redo buttons for each track.
  • Activity
    Views the track activity while playing. This option enables or disables activities for all the tracks. If you want to enable or disable activity for a specific track, you can use the Mixer.
  • Information
    This presents information about the track. Currently, the following are shown:
    • # of samples (audio track)
    • # of midi events (midi track)
• Editor Buttons - Push them to open the editors (Click them while holding SHIFT to open the editors in external Windows).
  • Audio
    Views the audio editor.
    Note: Each track has its own audio editor so if you press this if 3 tracks are selected, each of them will show its own audio editor. If you want to use a single audio editor for more than one track, group the tracks (see Track Groupping below).
  • Score
    Views the score editor.
    Note: Each track has its own score editor so if you press this if 3 tracks are selected, each of them will show its score editor. If you want to use a single score editor for more than one track, group the tracks (see Track Groupping below).
  • Pianoroll editor
    Views the midi/pianoroll editor.
  • Note: Each track has its own pianoroll editor so if you press this if 3 tracks are selected, each of them will show its pianoroll editor. If you want to use a single pianoroll editor for more than one track, group the tracks (see Track Groupping below).
  • Byzantine editor
    Views the byzantine editor.
    

Track Viewer

The rest of the Track Manager area shows yout tracks

Note that TP does not have "mono" or "stereo" tracks, because that approach would limit you to 2-channels only. In TP, each track is one channel. That way TP allows you to do anything you want, whether you want to have 2 "stereo" channels or 42 channels. You can use the Track Groupping to visually combine tracks, and the Visual Linker to connect them the way you want.

On the top of the tracks there are lines with time, beat, tempo, markers, regions, effects. These are shown or hidden depending on the toolbar buttons discussed above.

If you have marker/region/tempo presets, a small button after each text line allows you to load a preset.

The elements of each track are:

• Number
  Absolute index of each track.
  Note: You can reorder tracks by selecting a track, then press Ctrl+Up or Ctrl+Down to move the selected tracks up or down.
• Magic Wand
  Use this icon to apply intelligent linking to that track. For more, see Intelligent Linker.
• Color
  A color for the track. The default is green for midi tracks, and red for audio. Clicking on that will allow you to choose a custom color.
  The defaults are :
  • Green - MIDI
  • Red - Audio
  • Blue - MIDI Loop
  • Yellow - Byzantine
• Track Name
  The track name. Double click that to assign a new name. Very large names won't be drawn entirely to save space.
• Volume Indicator
  The current track volume. The minimum value is 0, and the maximum depends on the Max Mixer Position (See Options) which is 200% by default. Use the mouse to:
  • Adjust the volume automatically, by left clicking the position.
  • Drag the volume.
  • Middle click to reset it to 100%
  • Right click to show a menu in which you can:
    • Change the view format (Percentage, normalized value or dBs)
    • Set the volume manually
• Mute button
  This mutes the track.
• Solo button
  This mutes all other tracks (except the ones that also have the solo flag on)
• Record button
  This arms the track for recording or releases it for playing. For more, see Track Switching.
  Note: TP provides 2 methods for recording, the Overwrite mode (so new recording overwrites old) and the Mix Mode (new recording is mixed with the previous data). See below Track Menu.
• Effects button
  This applies run-time effects for the track. For more, see Run Time Effects.
• Takes button
  This allows you to manipulate track takes (for more, see below)
• Sample Rate Indicator
  This indicates the sample rate of the track (only for audio tracks). The sample rate is displayed only if not all the tracks have the same sample rate. For more on this, see Working with different sample rates.
• Track Data
  The track notes or audio.

Parts

Parts are subsections of each track. You can create a new part by doubleclicking the track (the part is created at the position you hit). You can manipulate parts via the Part menu (See below Part Menu)

Takes

Takes are the feature to have multiple streams for a single range in an audio track and the ability to select which one is active. You can have unlimited take regions for each track, but the take regions must not overlap.

To create a take, you can use either the Track Menu (see below), or the Take tool. Select a range and TP will ask you the exact range and an optional take name. After you have created a take section, an extra button (The take button) is shown in the track viewer. This brings a popup window with the options to add more takes to a created region (you can have unlimited number of takes for each take region), delete existing ones, or select a take per region. After you have selected a take for a region, it becomes the active one and TP reads from or writes to it.

Note: If a take is selected, any audio function (like the audio effects) will be applied to that take. In order to prevent confusion, undo/redo operations are disabled for a track if a take is selected.

You can also duplicate a selected take to a new take, and "apply" a take (that is, copy it to the main stream) as well. When you apply the take, the original stream is re-selected, undo information is saved and undo/redo works again.

You can load a take region through a Script as well. Takes can be selected at runtime.

Groups

Track groupping is a feature that groups visually the selected tracks. It is recommended for the groupped tracks to be sequentially (You can use ctrl+up or ctrl+down to move the tracks) but it is not required.

To group the selected tracks, either use the Track Menu or Alt+G. To ungroup the selected tracks, use Shift+G.

The most useful feature of groupping is that, for groupped tracks, only one Pianoroll or Score is shown which combines all the groupped tracks in one control.

Track Menu

The track menu offers the following features:

• Add tracks
  • Add midi track ,adds a midi track
  • Add audio track, adds an audio track
  • Add multiple tracks, adds a number of tracks
  • Add midi loop track, adds a midi track specific for loops. For more, see Loop Designer.
  • Add byzantine Track, adds a midi track specific for byzantine music. For more, see Byzantine Editor.
  • Add track group, adds a group of 2,4 or 6 tracks.
• Add take to selected tracks, adds a take.
• Movement
  • Track up/Track down, moves the selected tracks up or down in the track list.
• Automation
  • Add automation curve to selected Tracks/Parts, adds a curve.
• Go to Position... moves the arranger to a selected position.
• Edit Selected Tracks opens the Pianoroll or Audio editor for the selected tracks.
• Select Track Linking Mode, allows you to configure the automatic linker for the selected track.
• Duplicate Selected Tracks, duplicates the selected tracks and their data/properties into new tracks.
• Convert MIDI channel of selected track, asks you for a new midi channel (1-16) for a midi track. All of the notes created in that track are converted to be in the same MIDI channel.
• Resampling
  • Set sample rate for selected tracks (With resampling) will resample the selected audio track to the new sample rate. After that procedure, you will probably need a Resampling Mixer to play the track correctly.
  • Set sample rate for selected tracks (No resampling) will change the sample rate of the track without actually resampling it.
• Groupping
  • Group/Ungroup selected tracks will group/ungroup the selected tracks.
• Track Recording Mode, allows you to set the track recording mode.
  • Overwrite (default) replaces old track data with new data.
  • Mix mixes new track data with existing track data.
• Save selected tracks
  • To midi, creates a midi file with all the selected midi tracks. See supported file types.
  • To audio, creates an audio file with all the selected audio tracks.See supported file types.
  • To audio with SR conversion, allows you to specify a custom sample rate for the audio file.
    Note: If you have selected an area, TP will prompt you to choose to save the entire tracks, or the selected area only.
• Preview selected tracks, preview the selected tracks. This feature allows you to quickly listen to a track or tracks without manually creating links in the Visual Linker. Select the tracks you want to preview, place the transporter in the desired position, and then choose the "Preview Selected Tracks" command from the menu. Press OK to stop previewing.
  Note: The Preview Tool allows you to click on a track at a specific position to preview more quickly, but the Preview Tool can only preview one track.
• Apply VST to selected tracks applies a VST to the tracks. For more see Audio Effects.
• Clear selected tracks will clear the contents of the selected tracks.
• Delete selected tracks will delete the selected tracks.
  Note: because this action cannot be undone, for your safety, the actual files that contain the tracks are not deleted until TP exits. If you delete tracks accidentaly, you can still recover them by duplicating the file name (found in the project's directory) that was used by the track, and later importing it via the Sound Files menu.

Part Menu

The part menu offers the following part features:

• New Part
  • New Part Here, creates a new part at the hit position
  • Split Here, splits an existing part (similar to the split tool)
  • Create Space here allows you to create empty space within a track position
• Part Manipulation
  • Toggle silence, mutes that specific part.
  • Toggle lock, locks the part so it can't be altered/moved.
  • FG/BG color, assigns custom colors to the part.
  • Name, sets a custom part name.
• Resize Part, resizes a part. If this is an audio part, optional time stretching occurs (see Audio Effects)
• Pitch Shift , changes the part's pitch (see Audio Effects).
• Delete part
  • Leaving space, leaves empty space where the part was
  • Delete space, deletes space (all subsequent parts are moved down)
• Cut/Copy/Move/Paste part cuts copies moves or pastes parts at the selected position.
• Paste as ghost, pastes a ghost copy of a part. A ghost copy is duplicated mirror of the part. If you change the data in the original part, the ghost part is also changed.
  Note: Ghost parts exist as long as the track exists. When the track is saved and the project is reopened, the ghost part becomes a normal part and its data is not affected by other parts.

Track Manager Keyboard Shortcuts