Beats
Listening
Vusic "listens" to the music that is currently playing. It analyzes the sound and extracts those sounds that fit a certain
frequency. When the amplitude (strength) of that sound frequency reaches a distinct
peak, then Vusic triggers a beat.
Beat Meter
In the BEAT METER panel, the moving blue horizontal bar is the beat meter.
The beat meter displays the amplitude (strength) of the current sound frequency.
A distinct peak triggers a beat. Drag the sensitivity slider below to trigger
fewer or more beats. If Vusic is not recording or "listening" is turned
off, then the display is disabled. The circle to the right is a beat indicator,
which lights up on every beat when the beat meter peaks. If "listening" is turned
off, then the beat indicator will flash at regular intervals, based on the current
tempo. Click the beat indicator to trigger and insert a forced beat.
Beat Sliders
If "listen for beat" is turned off, then the beat indicator will flash
at regular intervals, based on the manual tempo. If the sliders are above the
baseline, then they will trigger on every beat regardless of their position.
The GRADIENTS, COLOR, FILLS, BRUSHES, and MOVEMENTS panels each have two sets
of sliders. These sliders determine how a change is triggered. The threshold meter
(above) and the beat counter (below) work together. The beat counter counts the
beats and when the target number of beats is reached, a snapshot of the beat meter
is duplicated inside the threshold meter. If the bar extends beyond the right
of the current position of the threshold slider nub, then the little black circle
lights up and a change is triggered. To turn off automatic triggering, drag the
beat counter slider to the far left.
To the right of these sliders is a popup menu that lists options for how changes
are triggered. There are five options. Fixed Position: a new component is not
selected, but the current component is reapplied to the screen. Sequential Selection:
a loaded component will be selected one at a time, in sequence. Random Selection:
a loaded component will be selected at random. Random File on HD: a random component
will be loaded from your hard drive replacing the current component. Sequential
File on HD: a component will be loaded from your hard drive one at a time, alphabetically,
replacing the current component. Please note that loading brushes and fills from
the hard drive is much slower than switching to an already-loaded component.
Frequency Panel
Select "Frequency..." from the Settings popup menu to open the FREQUENCY
panel.
Frequency Spectograph: This is a display of all the
sound frequencies of the current sound input.
Frequency Slider: Drag the slider to change the current
listening frequency.
Default Button: Clicking this button will reset
the frequency and sound sample size settings to their factory defaults.
Beats Per Minute Panel
Select "Beats per Minute..." from the Settings popup menu to open the
BEATS PER MINUTE panel.
Beat Tempo Slider: Drag this slider to set a fixed
tempo when "listening" is turned off. The tempo is defined by the number of
beats per minute. If you need to enter a tempo to the nearest hundredth, type
in the decimal number followed by the letter "T."
Entering Manual Beats
You can manually set a beat for the current music track. To set a regular
beat, select "Manual Beats..." from the Settings popup menu. To set a beat pattern
or sequence, select "Patterned Beats..." from the Settings popup menu.
The "Beat" button allows you to tap in a sequence of beats by clicking on the
button. Click the button or press the "E" key in sync to the music.
In the case of manual beats, the beats are averaged and the resulting average
tempo is calculated, updated, and displayed. You may enter up to 255 taps. In
the case of patterned beats, the sequence is remembered and displayed. The display
shows the relative spacing of beats. The marker at each end represents the same
beat, as the sequence wraps around. You may enter up to 9 taps.
If you make a mistake, you can clear the entered beats by clicking the "Clear"
button or pressing control-E. This enables you to restart a sequence.
After entering a sequence of beats, click the "Apply" button or press shift-E
to activate the new tempo or pattern. Once you click this button, "listening"
is automatically turned off. Any previous tempo is now disabled. The new tempo
or pattern starts immediately when the button is clicked, so it is important to
click the "Apply" button in sync with the music's beat.
If the tempo or pattern begins to drift later, clicking the "Align" button
in sync with the music's beat will restart the tempo or pattern and it will
line up with the music's beats again. To return to "listening" mode, click the
"Listen" button in the top row of buttons.
Sound Samples
Frequency values are calculated by taking a range of sound samples and
analyzing the waveform. The more samples, the more accurate the calculations.
Unfortunately, this takes more computer processing time. Fewer samples can be
analyzed more quickly and the frequency spectrum becomes more generalized. You
can set the number of sound samples using the keyboard. Pressing "N" on the keyboard
preceded by a number from 1 to 20 will change the number of sound samples analyzed.
The number 1 means that 100 samples are used. The number 20 means that 2000 samples
are used. Click the "Default" button to restore frequency and sound sample settings
back to factory defaults of 600 samples and 72hertz.
Keyboard Shortcuts
E (Enter beat) will enable you to tap in beats manually. Pressing
the shift key will apply the new tempo. Pressing the control key is the same as
clicking the "Clear" button. (Changed feature as of 11/19/01.)
I (Insert) will manually insert a beat. (New feature as of 9/26/01.)
L (Listening) will toggle the "listening" feature.
N (Number) will set the number of sound samples. Must be preceded
by typing 1 to 11 first.
T (Tempo) will update the tempo. Must be preceded by typing 0 to 240
first. Decimals are allowed.
TAB will re-align a manual beat or a patterned beat.
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