Sound Fx/Sound Fx.iso/Software/UNZIPED/DRUMZWIZ/READTDW.TXT

Text File | 1997-03-21 | 8KB | 154 lines

****         PLEASE READ BEFORE PROCEEDING            ****
****                                                  ****
****      IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THIS            ****
****    SOFTWARE AND ITS INSTALLATION & SETUP         ****


This information will briefly cover some items relevant to the
installation and operation of The*Drumz Wizard software.


 ==>  WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU READ & UNDERSTAND  <==
 ==>  THE INFORMATION SUPPLIED IN THE DOCUMENTATION     <==
 ==>  THAT DESCRIBES THE UNIQUE FEATURES, CAPABILITIES  <==
 ==>  AND OVERAL ARCHITECTURE OF THIS SOFTWARE IN ORDER <==
 ==>  TO PROPERLY USE THIS SOFTWARE TO ITS FULLEST      <==
 ==>  THIS INFORMATION IS PROVIDED AS THE FIRST TOPIC   <==
 ==>  IN THE ON-LINE HELP SYSTEM                        <==

Many of the sample patterns supplied with this shareware are
greater than 1 bar in length.  You can only edit and create
patterns that are 1 bar until the software is registered ....
therefore you will only be able to audition many of the
sample patterns provided and not be able to edit them.  All
of the patterns in the category: "SAMPLEZ" are single-bar
patterns that you can open, play, edit and save to disk.
You will however be able to create and edit as many single-bar
patterns as you like.   Also, all of the sample patterns are
configured to use General MIDI patches & drum-voices, if you
are using a non General MIDI compatible device, then it will
be necessary for you to make appropriate patch and/or
drum-voice changes (using the Drummer Settings utility).

This is a pattern-based music composing tool ....
It may be somewhat different than other music composing tools
that you have experience with.  Its value is in its uniqueness
to allow you to create musical patterns in real-time and then
use those patterns in song-sequences.  We have provided you
with great flexibility in creating and managing patterns,
however with that flexibility comes some trade-offs.  While
much of this software is intuitive, some aspects and features
are quite subtle and may unfortunately not be immediately
intuitive to you -- so, again, we strongly recommend reviewing
the "Specificationz & Important Information" topic in the
on-line help system!!!


SHAREWARE:
Please keep in mind that this software is not free, but is
being freely distributed as shareware.  You will be able to
use all of the primary features of the software as well as
save your work, however until you register some of the
features are disabled and the software will regularly remind
you that it is a shareware.  After you register the software
with MTI all of the features will be fully enabled and the
registration reminders will be disabled.  Plus you will be
able to receive support on the software, the ability to import
additional sample styles, and be able to upgrade to our other
products as well as receive future upgrades of this software
at a low cost (bug fix updates are always free).


INSTALLATION:
Being distributed as shareware, all of the documentation is
provided in the on-line help system and other accompanying
files (such as this) that may be installed with this software.

While many aspects of this software are indeed intuitive, this
is a powerful and flexible tool with many subtle and advanced
features.  We strongly recommend that you review the overview
topics of Pattern-based composing and how this software
accommodates pattern-based composing!

When you continue with this installation all of the files
necessary to run The*Wizard software will be installed into
the destination directory folder that you select (therefore to
remove the software, you need only delete the directory
folder); a default destination directory folder will be
suggested.  In addition to the software itself, many samples
are also available .... the topic of sample patterns & songs
is further discussed below.

The first time you run the program, you will be asked to
select a default output MIDI device driver.  You should
select the device driver that you will likely be using as your
primary MIDI sound source.  This may be a port of a MIDI
interface that is connected to a MIDI instrument (such as a
synthesizer, etc.) or it may be the internal sound engine of a
sound card.  If you have a sound card, make sure to select the
sound engine and not the MIDI I/O port (which may look like
"MPU401 MIDI Out"); because if you select the card's MIDI I/O
port and have nothing connected to it, then you will not hear
anything each time you create or import patterns.  When you
are prompted to select your desired default output MIDI device
driver, use the "Test" button to verify your selection.  After
you select a default output MIDI device driver, the program
will automatically update all pre-installed sample patterns &
songs to use your selected output MIDI device driver (this may
take a few moments).  If you accidentally select the wrong
MIDI output device driver, you can change it from within the
software .... to do so use the "MIDI Settings" utility.  You
can easily change the output device of a pattern or all of a
song's patterns using the "Default MIDI Device Selection"
function (these features are explained in the documentation).


SAMPLE PATTERNZ & SONGZ:
Several sample patterns will automatically be installed into
one or more pattern categories.  These pre-installed patterns
will immediately be available for you to listen to and/or
modify to your liking.  As mentioned above, the pre-installed
patterns & songs will be configured to play out of the default
output MIDI device driver that you select the first time that
the program is run.

Additional sample patterns are provided in one or more
pattern-group files.  You can import any patterns from a
pattern-group into pattern categories for ready use with this
software .... to do so refer to the topics on "pattern groups"
and "pattern importing & exporting".  When you import patterns
from a pattern-group file, they will configured to play out of
the default output MIDI device driver that you select the
first time that the program is run.

The reason we are distributing patterns in this manner is that
patterns installed in categories require computing resources;
they also consume space on your hard-disk, though that space
is actually quite small.  Slower PC systems (80386 & 80486) as
well as systems with low amounts of RAM memory may cause your
PC system to operate somewhat slowly for pattern loading
operations due to the resources Windows requires to load the
many patterns provided.  This matter is entirely a result
of how Windows itself manages data and memory.

As has always been our goal .... if your PC system can run the
Windows operating system then it can also run our software.
Therefore we have chosen to create a minimal default
installation that will perform well on any PC system.  As you
gain experience with the software, you can determine the
number of installed patterns (and those saved into group
files) that best meets your needs and the performance of your
particular PC system.  If you are not experiencing any
performance problems, then you should freely maintain as many
patterns in your active categories as you like.  However if
accessing the Pattern Manager utility and/or loading of
patterns is a bit slow on your PC system, then consider
archiving some of your lesser used patterns into one or more
pattern-group files.


Have fun!  Enjoy this software!  Make great music!
And, thanks for purchasing our software!

- The MediaTech Innovations Staff -