Sonic Engineering

Xtrakk helptext


******** Xtrakk Help ******** version 0.5.69
concept, programming: Finn Anklam finn-anklam@directbox.com	betatest, helptext: Holger Gerdes murmel99@compuserve.de
thanks to Chris Nowak for his open source project 'OpenSmdi' (search the net for 'opensmdi') and a copy of the smdi specification, which was very helpful for the realisation of the smdi transfer of Xtrakk ! thanks to Tom Anklam for being such a mad synthesist
topics:	text explanation:
1.WHAT IS Xtrakk? 2.WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? 3.START/HOW DOES IT WORK? ...a)import ...b)settings ...c)export 4.MENUS AND OPTIONS 5.BACKGROUND INFORMATION 6.LINKS	TOPIC subtopic program function window function checkbox menu dialog important text important note normal text textmark or hyperlink

1.WHAT IS Xtrakk?

Xtrakk is a freeware program. Xtrakk was tested under W98, W98SE (should run but not tested under W95 and WinNT 4.0).

the general purpose of Xtrakk is to read sample data from a sample source and write these sample data to a sample destination.

the sample formats which can be read or written are realized as a plug-in, which means Xtrakk can be extended by adding new plug-ins. in the moment there are no new plug-ins planned for the future, but if you are a programmer and want to develop one, contact the author for the source code.

Xtrakk comes with four standard plug-ins :

waveserver.waveread - reads wavefiles (.wav)
soundfontserver.soundfont - reads soundfonts (.sf2)
waveserver.wavewrite - writes wavefiles (.wav)
smdiserver.smdiwrite - writes to SMDI devices (e.g. samplers) via SCSI

with these plug-ins the following operations are possible:

Xtrakk imports soundfonts, extracts the samples of a soundfont “instrument" (.sf2) and writes them to single wavefiles (.wav) or sends them via SMDI (requires a scsi connection between your computer and your sampler) to a sampler all-at-once. see the notes on soundfont import.

Xtrakk imports .wav files and sends them via SCSI to samplers. it is also possible to save them again as .wav with extensions applied. some special sample parameters can be added to the sample names and the exported files themselves. they are written into all kinds of files, but it depends on your sampler/software if they are recognized. see wavefile export.

2.WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?

sampleformat conversion

imagine you’re building a wavefile sample archive and need to convert the samples of your soundfonts to wavefile format. Xtrakk lets you do this.

SMDI sample transmission

imagine you have some wavefile samples you want to be played by your sampler. if your sampler supports SMDI, use Xtrakk as a very fast and reliable SMDI transmission tool.

SMDI transfer of sampler instruments/layers

imagine you have a SMDI sampler and you want to hear a soundfont preset applied with the samplers exciting capabilitites ... in the moment there is no way to convert soundfonts to sampler soundbanks, so you have to do it manually. you could export the samples to wavefiles in vienna2.3 editor, but it doesn´t work without SBcard, and you have to do it one-by-one. in this case use Xtrakk as a sample extraction and SMDI transmission tool which allows the transmission of the samples of a soundfont "instrument" (or preset if it has just one instrument) all-at-once - and (for E-MU samplers) automatic keyboard placement of these samples: transmit samples and play them ! see the notes on SMDI transfer and E-MU sample placement.

playback sample data

you can prelisten all samples (mono and stereo, unlooped). to use this function you need a soundcard installed. if one or more audio devices are installed, you can select the playback device in your systems ´multimedia´ configuration dialog. Xtrakk (but not its playback) even works without any soundcard installed.

this all is possible with only the four standard plug-ins. by adding new plug-ins, Xtrakk could support more sampleformats, non SMDI samplers (e.g. AKAI), MIDI sample dump standard (SDS) or in general : any file which contains one ore more samples.

3.START/HOW DOES IT WORK?

after the installation start the program in the start\programs menu (after reading the license-agreement you can bypass this about-box by hitting <enter> or unchecking the "show at startup" box.)

the program mainly works with right-click (into "sample source" and "samples" windows) context menus, but also with the program window menus and keyboard shortcuts as shown there. additionally the keyboard shortcuts ctrl - o and ctrl - s open/save files with the selected plug-ins.

F1 opens this helptext.

for the checkboxes at the lower right as well as for “destination device" and “name prefix" a quick info is available - move the mouse cursor over a control without clicking.

a) import:

go to the menue file - open and select a sample source plug-in. in the case of a .sf2 file choose soundfontserver.soundfont and then a soundfont you want to work on, in the case of a .wav sample choose waveserver.waveread and open a .wav file.

once the sample source plug-in is selected, you can drag-and drop the corresponding files onto the program window or use keyboard shortcut ctrl-o.
opening a soundfont with a complex structure might take a while, but the functions on the right side are available as soon as the left side of the program window ("contents of the sample source") shows its first entries.

b) settings:

the left window (contents of the sample source) displays a tree with the content of the opened sample source : presets (digit icons), layers (keyboard icons) and samples (wave icons) including loop points, root key and so on. it shows all samples, even if they are not attached to a layer/preset.

for a description of presets and layers see the organisation of samples.

clicking a sample selects, if specified, its layer and preset in the right window (the first one found, the sample may appear in one or more layers/presets).
the following functions are available here:

prelisten a sample : right-click for the context menue - "play sample". all samples are played without their loop, so in the case of a single-cycle waveform you might not hear much.

export a sample : right-click - "export sample". this export function is for exporting imported single .wav samples, and it is useful if a .sf2 sample doesn´t show up in a preset.

the right windows (preset, layer and samples) are for selecting,exporting and prelistening the samples :
- in the preset flip menue you can choose the preset you want to export.
- in the layer window the instruments/layers of the chosen preset are shown. select one by clicking on it.
- in the samples window you can select the samples of the chosen instrument by checking the selectboxes or right-clicking into the window opening a context menue. there you can select/unselect all, invert the selection and play the highlightened sample. playing the sample works as same as in the left “sample source" tree.

note: imported single .wav files naturally do not have presets and layers.
they can just be exported from the left window by right click / context menu / export

at destination directory you can change the path (drive:\folder\). not existing folders will be created.
since samplenames do not always make sense and not all sample destinations support samplenames with too many characters, it might be necessary to rename the exported samples.
you can (but must not) edit name prefix. by default this shows the preset and layer. if this is too long for your sampler display, shorten the “name prefix" to what you want. this is applied to all exported samples.
sample parameters (sample name, fine tune, MIDI root note, keyboard range, velocity range) can be added to the samplename, depending on the following generated name checkboxes:

fixed name prefix :
fixes the "name prefix" to what it is or what you entered. if unchecked, "name prefix" defaults to preset and layer name.

original samplename :
the original sample name is added to the wavefile name.
behind “name prefix" and “original samplename" (if selected) the sample parameters
- root note (MIDI note number and note name in brackets),
- fine tune ("FT" in cents of a halftone),
- key range ("KR", lo note name, hi note name), and
- velocity range ("VR", lo velocity value, hi velocity value)
can be added to the name of the wavefile for reconstructing it in your sampler more easily.
these checkboxes do not affect E-MU sample placement.

small attributes :
cuts away the name letters of the sample parameter values so that just the numbers remain. check this box to get short names, if your sampler hasn´t got enough space for long sample names.
when exporting to .wav files, the resulting samplename is used as filename.

note: before you can export via SMDI, "smdiserver.smdiwrite", you have to edit the sample id checkboxes :

first sample ID :
specifies the first sample number a sample is written to your sampler memory. the following samples are written to the next numbers.

skip double samples :
sometimes one sample appears several times in one layer. in order to preserve sampler memory check this box to write the sample just one time, but uncheck it for correct E-MU sample placement.

note:this checkbox also affects the ”samples” window !

search free samples :
if Xtrakk tries to export a sample to a given sample ID and the sample destination already contains a sample for this sample ID, Xtrakk exports the the sample to the next free sample ID when this checkbox is set.

overwrite existing samples :
when checked, all sample IDs in the sample destination will be overwritten with the exported samples, even if they already contain samples.

c) export:

note: before proceeding, remember that existing samples (in your SMDI device or your computers file system) might be overwritten.

you determine how a sample is exported, by choosing a sample destination plug-in in the file-save menu :

wav export:

if you choose waveserver.wavewrite in the file-save menu, you can change drive and folder if you want to (otherwise the settings you made are taken). click the OK button. the wavefiles will now be written on harddisk using the “generated sample name" settings.

smdi export:

if you choose smdiserver.smdiwrite in the file-save menu, the SMDI write dialog box is shown. choose your SMDI device in the flip menu. Xtrakk needs some more information about your sampler :
enter the smallest and greatest possible sample id (e.g. 1...999 for EMU samplers).
set loop end to first sample behind loop : unfortunately sampler formats differ in the meaning of the loopend value. loopend can be the first sample behind the loop (e.g. E-MU) or it can be the last sample inside the loop. if detunes or clicks appear in the sample loops played in your sampler, change this checkbox (assuming the sample source defines correct loop points).
use emu sample placement : for E-MU samplers it is possible to transmit the samples with corresponding keyboard range and root key values (see E-MU sample placement). leave this box unchecked for non E-MU samplers.
now click the OK button. SMDI transmission starts using the “sample id" settings and showing status bars for each sample.

if you want to open the dialog box again without changing the plug-in, look here

if the wanted sample destination plug-in is already chosen, you can simply export the selected samples by right-clicking in the "samples" window - context menu/export samples or by keyboard shortcut ctrl-s.

4. MENUS AND OPTIONS

file -> options dialog

export configuration :
sometimes the counting of the octaves starts at -1 (MIDI note number 60 = C4), sometimes at -2 (MIDI note number 60 = C3) . it depends on the manufacturer of your sampler (have a look at the MIDI implementaton chart). use this checkbox if you want to adjust the note names used for the sample attributes "MIDI root note" and "key range". this checkbox also affects the displayed values in the left window (samples, key range and root key). in the most cases -2 should be correct.

software configuration :
the first box is for marking/unmarking all samples in the right “samples" window by default.
the second lets you specify a directory for wav export when checked, otherwise it is generated automatically.

installed sample destination plug-ins:
selecting and right-clicking smdiserver.smdiwrite allows you to open the smdi write configuration dialog box

file -> register plug-ins

this is for updates. new sample source and sample destination plug-ins can be registered here to expand the programs functionality.
note : plug-ins can also be registered by drag&drop from windows explorer onto Xtrakks main window.

help -> about dialog

shows some general information, the license agreement and contains two ”mailto” links for contact.

5.BACKGROUND INFORMATION

intention

is intended to be a transmitter of sample data between sample sources and sample destinations, not a converter for complete presets of sample-based instruments (with filter, envelope, lfo, effects and so on). each sampler manufacturer has created an own, mostly non-dos format to save the sampler soundbanks, not mentioning the different capabilities of the playback hardware. this makes it difficult to program a real converter. (don´t forget Xtrakk is freeware... we did it all-for-nothing ;-)

the organisation of samples

each sampler or sample file format has its own way of organizing samples. Xtrakk generalizes this as follows :

samples are defined by a sample ID : a unique number which corresponds to one single sample.

samples contain playback information : to play a sample properly, additional information is necessary - samplerate, mono/stereo, loop points, MIDI root note, finetune.

samples are contained in a layer : to play a sample on a keyboard, it must be at least assigned to a range of MIDI note numbers (the keyboard range). this is done by a layer - a layer specifies one ore more samples and their corresponding keyboard ranges.

layers are contained in a preset : most samplers support ‘multi-layering‘. for example, with multi-layering you can play a layer with soft piano samples if a key is hit slowly and play a layer with loud piano samples if the same key is hit fast. this is called "velocity switching".

if a sample source format is not organized in this way, the conversion of the sample organization between sample source and Xtrakk is done by the plug-in.

example : Xtrakk layers are called ‘instrument‘ in soundfonts. furthermore soundfont preset and instrument settings can modify some of a samples playback information (loop-point, MIDI root note). the soundfont plug-in converts and shows ‘instruments‘ as Xtrakk "layers" and shows the modified playback information as if it was only determined by the sample.

why not all-samples-at-once?

In most cases it would make no sense to send/write all samples of a sample source. For example a soundfont : you would get a huge amount of samples with no valid key range, root key, loop points etc. because this is determined in soundfonts layers/instruments and the same sample can be referenced by different layers.

why not going through all of the presets, and for each preset through all of its layers and export the samples corresponding to each layer ? the answer : different presets could contain the same layer - in practice this could mean that a 10 MB multi-sample, multi-layer soundfont with 8 Presets which all use the same 10 MB of sample data and only differ in additional settings (filter, envelope, ...) sums up to 80 MB (8 times identical sample data) after being exported by Xtrakk.

notes on stereo support

stereo samples are supported (playback/save/transmit), but is depending on a correct sample definition in the sample source or the smartness of the sample source plug-in. if a sample is not defined as stereo, there is no way for Xtrakk to know this (sometimes a stereo preset consists of mono samples, panned left and right).
you can determine if a sample is stereo in two ways:

in the left tree and in the "samples" window, Xtrakk displays "2-" as prefix for the sample ID.

the "number of channels" value of a sample in the left tree shows 2 if it is stereo or 1 if it is mono.

soundfont import

soundfont is a popular emu/creative labs sampler bank format designed for use in EMU APS or soundblaster live soundcard synths (.sf2 specifications are documented on the EMU website).

you can find masses of soundfonts in the web for free, lot of them in an excellent quality. grab a search engine and enter "soundfonts"... :-)
soundfont .sbk files (for old SB cards) do not work, because they make use of ROM samples not included in .sf2 files.

wavefile export

the samples playback information (sample name, loop points, fine tune, MIDI root note, keyboard range, velocity range) as well as the generated samplename are written to the riff-chunks (non-sound parts) of the wavefiles; see specification.

it depends on your sampleeditor if they are all recognized. please have a look at your manual or simply try out.

SMDI transfer

SMDI transmission was tested with E-MU ESI32 and ESI4000 samplers, and should work with any other sampler which supports standard SMDI sample transmission.

note: AKAI has got a special SCSI protocol - the SMDI plug-in can´t transmit to AKAI samplers via SCSI.

the SMDI specification does not support the transmission of any format-specific sound data (e.g. filter, envelope, lfo, effects...).

when exporting via SMDI, data in the sampler memory may be automatically overwritten, if the “overwrite existing samples" box is checked. take care.

E-MU SMDI transfer and sample placement

transmitted samples are attached to the "current preset" (the last one shown in the display) deleting the former attachments. since there is no way to transmit samples without an active “current preset”, create a new preset or select an empty one before transmitting any samples. make backup copies of your work.

the generated samplenames are pretty long if all sample parameters are included. choose only the necessary ones (you can deselect root note/key range) and set small attributes.

E-MU sample placement is an extended SMDI format. it includes the sample parameters "midi root key" and "key range". Xtrakk generates them from the chosen layer and transmits them with the sample.

sample placement only makes sense when transmitting the samples of a single layer. samples are placed in the "current preset" using root key and key range thus recreating a layer - ready to be played (if the sample source does not contain correct sample placement information, you must rebuild a multi-sample, multi-layer preset manually).

the most effective ways we found on an ESI to transfer a multi-sample/layer preset:

without key ranges and root keys:
when you have finished the first preset with its samples starting at sample ID 1 and keyranges already set for each sample, save it to disk. for each following layer now overwrite the samples (starting at sample ID 1 !), which results in a preset with the same keyboard zones but different samples played for each zone, and save this to a different (!) bank on your disk.
after building all the presets you must import them into a single ESI bank.
you have to edit the velocity switch values manually *sigh* and link the presets. note : before linking the presets (preset definition 6) you must specify the crossfade type ‘velocity ranges‘ (preset definition 5).

if key ranges and root keys are included, it´s easier:
create a template (empty preset with basic settings), copy it as many times as you need it, transmit to the first, name it, then activate the next empty template and start another transmission.
again: You have to edit the velocity switch values manually *sigh* and link the presets. note : before linking the presets (preset definition 6) you must specify the crossfade type ‘velocity ranges‘ (preset definition 5).

key ranges and root keys are included, but there are lot of filter/envelope/etc settings:
use method 1. and do all the editing on the first preset before you proceed.

note: maybe you find a better way. please let us know.

6. LINKS

free soundfonts for download	www.hammersound.net
free esi samples for download	http://members.nbci.com/ESIsamples http://home.att.net/~denim http://www.16bitdigital.com
tools, tips and links for soundfonts	www.synthzone.com/soundfont.htm
soundfont specification	http://www.emu.com/products/aps/tutorials.html
wavefile specification	http://www.sonicspot.com/guide/wavefiles.html
vienna 2.3 a soundfont editor, works only if you have installed a SB soundcard	http://www.soundblaster.com/goodies/
esi-win editor software that allows you to read/write/organize EMU esi files at windows PCs	http://www.simplydata.ndirect.co.uk/ESI-Win/
mesa AKAI sampler editor	in the support section of http://www.akaipro.com/defaultF.htm select the product “mesa" and click on “OS download"