9  Menus

Menus are handled similarly to most Atari ST applications, but notice that M signals you as to when it is waiting for a menu event by changing the mouse to a crosshair.  It will change back when normal operation is resumed.

Most menu options can also be activated by an Atari keyboard command.  Keyboard commands are shown to the right of the menu item and are preceeded by either a box, for Alternate key, or a  ^ for Control.  To use a keyboard command, hold the Control or Alternate key and type the control on the Atari's keyboard.  The caps lock should be off.

Many menu options act on Patterns.  They will act on whatever Patterns are selected.  Select a Pattern by clicking on its Pattern type icon in the Pattern window (P5).  Select multiple Patterns by shift-clicking on the desired Pattern icons.

In cases where multiple Patterns are selected but only one Pattern is to be affected, as in Cut and Copy,  only the first Pattern is used.

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The File Menu

The File Menu contains commands for opening and saving files, and for quitting the program.

New

New brings the program back to its startup state.  This is different from the Load Startup State option in that New clears the Pattern information whereas Load Startup State does not.

You can set the startup to whatever you like, however, by using the Save Startup State command, described below.


Open...

Open presents you with a standard file dialog with the names of all the M documents currently saved on disk.  M files are save with the suffix .MST .  When you open an M Document, the current state of the program will be overwritten by the contents of the newly-opened Document.  The name of the new Document will appear as the name of the Global Control Window.

If warning boxes are active when selecting Open, you'll be asked if you want to save your current document before opening a new one.



Save,
Save As...

These commands save your current work as an M Document.  It's a good idea to save your work periodically, even while it's in progress (and even while it's playing!), to protect it from accidents such as power failures.  

Select Save to automatically update the version already stored on disk with the current version.

Select Save As... if you're saving the file for the first time or if you want to save your current version with a new name.  A standard dialog for saving a file will be presented.

Note: Remember to use the .MST suffix so that M can easily find your files.


Save Movie File...

After you have captured an M performance as a Movie, selecting the Save Movie File... will produce the standard dialog box and save the data captured in the Movie as a MIDI File.

Note: Remember to use the .MID extension when saving MIDI files.


Save Startup State

This command saves the current state of the screen on your working copy of the M disk as STARTUP.SET, so that when the program is opened, by selecting New or by double-clicking on the M icon, or by loading in the startup state, it will display that current state as the startup screen.

Save Startup State can be useful for tailoring M's default behavior to the way that you prefer to work.  If you have only one MIDI synthesizer, for example, you might want to configure the Orchestration Variables to output all the Patterns through MIDI channel 1.


Load Startup State

Load Startup State can be useful for recalling the startup state of the program (or the STARTUP.SET on the current disk) without altering the contents of the Patterns.

Note: Any disk can have its own STARTUP.SET.


Quit

For use only in emergencies.  After all, you can always have your pizza delivered.


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The Edit Menu

The Edit menu allows you to move information between M's scrapbook and Patterns.  You must have at least one Pattern selected in order to cut, copy or paste.

To select a Pattern, click on the desired Pattern icon in the Patterns window (P5).  The selected icon will be highlighted.  Select  multiple patterns by holding down the Atari's shift key and selecting the desired Pattern icons.


Cut, Copy, Paste

To copy information from one Pattern to another, do the following.  Select the Pattern from which you want to Copy.  Select Cut or Copy from the Edit menu.  Cut and Copy are identical except that Cut also clears the Pattern's contents.  Then select the Pattern to which you want to paste.  Then select Paste from the Edit menu.

If you copy into a Pattern of a dissimilar type, the destination Pattern type will automatically change to conform with the type you're copying.  For a discussion of Pattern types, see Chapter 4.

To copy a Pattern from one document to another, do the following.  First select the source Pattern.  Then select Cut or Copy from the Edit menu.  Then select Open... from the File menu and choose the document to which you want to copy.  Then select the destination Pattern in the new document.  Then select Paste from the Edit menu.

Note:  Information pasted into the Scrapbook cannot be shared with other Atari applications.




Erase

To clear a Pattern's contents, select the Pattern you want to clear, then select Erase in the Edit menu.  The Pattern's Note Counter will go to 0  and the Pattern will be cleared.  In the case of Drum Machine Record Patterns, all the notes will be replaced with rests.


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The Pattern Menu

The commands in the Pattern menu allow you to change a Pattern type, open a Pattern's Edit window, rescramble a Pattern's notes, and permanently transpose a Pattern's notes.


New Pattern(s)...

This menu item can only be activated when a Pattern type is selected in the Patterns window.  After selecting New Pattern(s)... , a dialog box will appear.  Select the icon for the Pattern type you want.  Then select the maximum number of notes that the Pattern will contain by changing the MAX numerical (in the lower right corner of the window).  Then click OK.  The selected Pattern type and icon in the Patterns window will be replaced by the new Pattern type and icon.


Edit

This command opens the Edit window for a selected Pattern.  First select the icon for the Pattern type you want to change, then select this menu item.  Note that Edit windows can also be produced by Alternate-clicking on a Pattern type icon. If the Edit window is already open this command will bring it to the top of the desk.


Rescramble Pattern(s)

This command operates on a selected Pattern to rescramble its scrambled note ordering.  See Chapter 4 for more details.


Transpose Up 1/2-Step
Transpose Up Octave
Transpose Down 1/2-Step
Transpose Down Octave

These commands will transpose a selected Pattern as it is stored in memory.  Note the difference between this command and the controls in the Transp variable.  This command changes the key in which a selected Pattern was originally recorded.  The controls in the Transposition variable change the transposition of Patterns during playback, leaving the Pattern stored in memory in the key in which it was originally recorded.


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The Options Menu

The Options Menu is M's general purpose menu.  It handles functions such as using the metronome, syncing to and from external devices, setting levels for the cyclic editor, turning warning boxes on and off, and sending MIDI system messages.


Use Metronome

To enable the metronome, select this command.  When Use Metronome is enabled, you'll hear a click from the Atari's speaker to help you synchronize your playing to M's clock.  

To adjust the speed of the metronome, use the 1/4-note= control in the Global Control window (GC11).  See Chapter 4 for details.

To disable the metronome, reselect Use Metronome.  When Use Metronome is not enabled, no clicking sound will be heard.


Send Clock 

To synchronize an external device to M's clock, select this menu item.  Note that the setting of the metronome determines the speed of the clock signal.  A beat of the metronome equals a quarter note for a drum machine.  See Chapter 4 for further discussion of the metronome.

Note: The external device must be in "clock receive" mode.  The device will start when you start M.  The device will restart its pattern when you click on Sync.  The device will stop when you stop M.



External Sync

External Sync allows you to synchronize M to the clock of an external device.  Once this item is selected you must activate M first by clicking on the Start/Stop button (GC2), then start the music from your external device.


Set Cyc Levels

Selecting this item produces a dialog box which allows you to assign levels in the Cyclic Editor.  See Chapter 5 for a detailed discussion of the Cyclic Editor window.


Timed Step Record/ Build Step Record

This item is a toggle which determines the mode for recording a Step-Time Record Pattern in real time.  The current mode is the one displayed.  See Chapter 4 for a detailed discussion of recording in both modes.


Warning Boxes

To enable or disable warning boxes, use this command.  If Warning Boxes is checked, M will ask you to verify the deleting of Patterns, the overwriting of Patterns, and all other destructive operations.  When this option is not selected, warning boxes are not presented.


MIDI Messages

Selecting this item produces the MIDI Message dialog box which allows you to transmit MIDI messages to your synthesizers.  To transmit a MIDI Message, first select the channels on which to transmit your message by clicking in the appropriate channel boxes.  Then push the appropriate button for the message you want to send.

Omni On tells your synthesizer to receive messages on all MIDI channels.  

Omni Off tells your synthesizer to receive on only the MIDI channel(s) that you've specified.   If you've got only one synthesizer that plays one timbre, this setting won't really matter.  If you have a multi-timbral synthesizer, or if you're using several synthesizers, you'll most likely choose Omni Off.

Local Off disconnects a synthesizer's keyboard from its sound-generating mechanism so that it only sends MIDI event information.  This allows you to use the keyboard to transpose or control various functions in M without hearing the keys you depress played as notes.  

Local On restores the connection.  But remember that different synthesizers will react differently to these messages.  The Yamaha DX-7, for example, does not recognize the Local Control Off message unless it's upgraded with E! from Grey Matter Response.

Mode Poly or Mono sets the way your synthesizer will react to note data from M.  Poly mode causes your synthesizer to receive several notes as independent voices.  Mono mode causes your synthesizer to play only one line of notes.

All Notes Off will send the standard All Notes Off message to the desired channels.  As with the Local On/Off message, this message is ignored by many synthesizers.


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The Redraw Menu

Selecting an item in this menu causes the screen representation of the current control settings group to be redrawn every time it changes while conducting.  This should be done sparingly because redrawing takes up valuable computer time.  All enables all control settings to be redrawn all the time.