What is Sound Club?

Sound Club is a piano roll type digital music editor that you use to create music files, as well as listen to and modify music created with various other editors. Sound Club 2.x is the successor of Sound Club 1.0 that was an MS-DOS program.


Features of Sound Club

Sound Club has the following advanced features:

•	Fully digital sound processing.

Sound Club uses digital waveforms as instruments that are mixed together in real-time to produce music. This makes music sound very natural. You can even use human voice or some sound effect as a musical instrument.

This also means that music created with Sound Club is fully independent of sound card, as Sound Club only uses the standard Windows waveform output functionality to play music. In other words, Sound Club songs will sound the same on any Windows PC.

•	16-bit CD quality stereo playback.

Sound Club is capable of real-time stereo mixing with 16-bit resolution and sampling rates up to 48 kHz. In addition, Sound Club can use real-time instrument oversampling to further improve playback quality.

•	Virtually unlimited number of voices playing simultaneously.

The interface of Sound Club does not limit the number of voices that can be playing in parallel. This means that, in case of real-time playback, the maximum number of simultaneous voices is determined by the processing power of the computer. However, as Sound Club features highly optimized instrument mixer engine, this limit has been pushed as high as possible (as an example, Sound Club can mix about 60 simultaneously playing, 16-bit, oversampled instruments on a Pentium 100).

•	Intuitive way of representing music.

Sound Club is a piano roll type editor. This means that you don't have to know the standard musical notation in order to compose music.

•	Real-time editing and recording.

You can alter the song while it is playing in the background, hearing the changes at once.

In addition, you can record your own performance using either computer keyboard or an external MIDI keyboard.

•	Support for MOD and S3M music file formats.

In addition to its native SN2 and SN file formats, Sound Club can load and save popular MOD and S3M formats.

•	Export to WAV.

Sound Club lets you to convert your song into a single WAV file for easy incorporation onto audio CD-s.

•	Preset instrument bank.

Over 500 instruments are included in the preset instrument bank of Sound Club.


Song Structure and Representation

Every Sound Club song consists of:

•	Patterns

•	Pattern sequence

•	Song options

Patterns are pieces of song, or themes, that are played straight from the beginning to the end without repeating any parts. Patterns can be viewed and edited in Pattern windows.

Pattern sequence is a list that specifies how different patterns are combined to form a song. For example the following pattern sequence:

Intro

Main Theme

Main Theme

End Theme

specifies that first pattern called 'Intro' should be played, then pattern 'Main Theme' should be played twice, and finally, pattern called 'End Theme' should be played. Pattern sequence can be viewed and modified in the Sequence window

Song options can be viewed and modified in the Song Options window. They consist of the following:

•	Song description

Song description is an arbitrary text message accompanying song.

•	Overall tempo

This is the overall tempo of the song. It runs from 50% (slowest) to 200% (fastest).

•	Ticks per beat specifier

Ticks per beat specifier is a number that specifies the number of ticks per beat in song patterns.

•	Beats per measure specifier

Beats per measure specifier is a number that specifies the number of beats per measure in song patterns.

Patterns consist of the following:

•	Pattern name

Pattern name is an identifier that appears in the upper left corner of the Pattern window. It can be set from the Sequence window.

•	Tempo track

Tempo track specifies the local tempo and the changes of it in pattern. Tempo track can be viewed and modified in the Tempo section of the Pattern window. It is represented by black ribbon. The nearer it is to the top of the window, the faster is the tempo. On the left edge of the of the Tempo section of the Pattern window tempo values in beats per minute are displayed.

Note: The actual tempo is not always of the value displayed in the Tempo section because it depends on overall tempo as well.

•	Voices

Voice is an instrument plus the data specifying the way it is being played in the pattern.

Voices consist of:

•	Name

The name of the voice's instrument is also the name of the voice. Names of all voices in the selected pattern are displayed in the Tempo section at the bottom of the Pattern window. Clicking on some of them causes the corresponding voice to be selected.

•	Notes

Notes are the horizontal black and grey lines displayed in the Notes section of the Pattern window. Notes belonging to the selected voice are black while the others are grey.

The height of a note-line represents the pitch of the note. Higher note-lines are the ones of higher pitch. Duration of the note is represented by the length of the note-line. On the left edge of the of the Notes section of the Pattern window corresponding note names are displayed.

Adjacent notes can be tied together with portamento effect. In that case a line appears that connects the first note with the succeeding one.

•	Volume

Volume of the voice is represented in a way similar to the tempo representation - by black ribbon in the Volume section of the Pattern window. There are 31 vertical positions for the ribbon. The nearer it comes to the top of the window, the louder the current voice will be playing. On the left edge of the of the Volume section of the Pattern window corresponding volume values are displayed.

Note: Sound Club uses logarithmic volume scale.

•	Balance

Balance representation is analogous to volume representation. 31 positions go from 15 right (the floor of the Balance section) to 15 left (the top).


Loading a Song

1	Click the File menu, and then click Load (or press F2).

2	Specify the name of the song you want to load, and then click Open.

Note 1: In addition to its native SN2 music files, Sound Club can load SN, MOD, and S3M music files.

Note 2: As every song file format has its own particularities, Sound Club obviously cannot take all of them into account. Some details - like vibrato commands - are always ignored. Therefore, sometimes the song may not sound exactly the same as it did in the editor it was created with.


Creating a New Song

1	Click the File menu, and then click New.


Setting Song Options

1	Click the View menu, and then click Song Options (or press Alt+F9).

Now you are able to set the following options:

•	Song description

Click the Song Description box, and type the description.

•	Overall tempo

Click the Overall Tempo slider, and roll mouse to the left or right while holding down the mouse button.

•	Ticks per beat

Click the Ticks per Beat box, and type in the desired value.

Note: After you click OK, you will be asked whether you wish to have current song aligned as well,  Aligning the song means that all notes in the song will be lengthened or shortened according to the new value of ticks per beat.

•	Beats per measure

Click the Beat per Measure box, and type in the desired value.


Setting Pattern Sequence

1	Click the View menu, and then click Sequence (or press Alt+F7).

2	Click the name of the pattern in the Patterns section that you want to be played first, and then click Insert.

3	Click the name of the pattern that you want to be played next, and then click Insert.

4	Repeat step 3 until the sequence is completed.

To set the point where the song should be looped from

1	Click the View menu, and then click Sequence (or press Alt+F7).

2	Click the position in the Playing Sequence section where you want to place the looping point.

3	Click Set Repeat.


Creating a New Pattern

1	Click the View menu, and then click Sequence (or press Alt+F7).

2	Click the position in the Patterns section where you want to insert the pattern.

3	Click New Pattern.

4	Type the name of the new pattern, and then click OK.

Note: After creating a new song, a pattern called 'Pattern I' is automatically generated. So you don't have to create the first pattern of the song - the only thing you may wish to do is to change the name of it.


Entering Tempo

To enter tempo changes to current pattern, first open the Tempo section of the Pattern window

1	Click View menu, and then check Tempo (or press Alt+F3).

To change tempo in current pattern

1	Using horizontal scrolling bar, scroll the pattern to the left or right until the place where you wish to position a tempo change to is on screen.

2	Find the cell in the Tempo section whose horizontal position corresponds to the place in pattern where the change is needed, and vertical position corresponds to the new tempo value (see the bar on the extreme left edge of the Tempo section).

3	Click on it.

To create an effect of smooth increase or decrease in tempo

1	Click tempo ribbon at the location you wish to start the effect from.

2	Hold down the mouse button and roll mouse to the right until you reach the position you wish to end the effect at (a red ribbon appears, showing the new shape of tempo ribbon). Roll mouse up or down until you reach the tempo value you wish to end the effect at.

3	Release the mouse button (black tempo ribbon takes the shape of red one).


Resizing Pattern

To lengthen current pattern

1	Use the right arrow button on the horizontal scrollbar (or right arrow key) to scroll past the end of the pattern.

2	Click at the position you want to be the end of the pattern.

To shorten current pattern

1	Select a block at the end of the pattern, having the length you want to shorten the pattern by.

2	Click Edit menu, and then check All Voices (or use Alt+A).

3	Click Edit menu, and then click Cut (or press Del).


Renaming Pattern

1	Click the View menu, and then click Sequence (or press Alt+F7).

2	Click the pattern in the Patterns section you want to rename.

3	Click Rename.

4	Type the new name, and then click OK.


Deleting Pattern

1	Click the View menu, and then click Sequence (or press Alt+F7).

2	Click the pattern in the Patterns section you want to delete.

3	Click Delete, and then click Yes.


Creating a New Voice

1	Click the Voice menu, and then click Add Voice (or press F3).

2	Click the icon representing the type of the instrument you wish to use for the voice.

3	Use the scrolling bar if necessary, and double-click the name of the desired instrument.

Note 1: If you wish to use an instrument that is already loaded, you don't have to search it from the bank - just click Loaded button in the Add Voice window. The list of loaded instruments appears and you are free to select the desired instrument.

Note 2: You can test instruments prior to loading them by using keyboard.


Entering Notes with Mouse

To enter a note

1	Click the left mouse button at the location in the Notes section of the Pattern window where you want to place the beginning of the note.

2	Hold down the button, and roll mouse to the right until the note has reached desired length.

3	Release the mouse button.

Note: You can test notes to hear how they sound by clicking on the note bar at the left of the Notes section of the Pattern window.

To lengthen an existing note

1	Click the left mouse button at the location in the Notes section of the Pattern window where you wish to be the end of the note.

2	Hold down the button, and roll mouse to the left until the new end has reached the existing note.

3	Release the mouse button.

To delete a note

1	Click the left mouse button at the beginning of the note you want to delete.

2	Hold down the button, and roll mouse to the right until the note has been deleted.

3	Release the mouse button.


Entering Notes with Keyboard

To enter a note

1	Position the blue edit cursor by using arrow keys.

2	Click the Note button of the corresponding duration.

3	Press the desired note on the keyboard.

Note: If you hold down the Shift (Ctrl) key while pressing a note on a computer keyboard, the pitch of the note will be shifted up (down) by one octave.

To enter a rest at current position

1	Press Space.

To delete previously entered note

1	Press Backspace.


Entering Volume

Entering volume changes of current voice is exactly analogous to entering tempo except the Volume section of the Pattern window has to be opened instead of the Tempo section:

1	Click the View menu, and then check Volume (or press Alt+F1).


Entering Balance

Entering volume changes of current voice is exactly analogous to entering tempo except the Balance section of the Pattern window has to be opened instead of the Tempo section:

1	Click the View menu, and then check Balance (or press Alt+F2).


Entering Portamento

To set portamento

1	Select a block containing the notes you want to connect with portamento effect.

2	Click the Edit menu, and then click Portamento, and then click Set (or press Alt+S).

To clear portamento

1	Select a block containing portamento effects you want to clear.

2	Click the Edit menu, and then click Portamento, and then click Clear (or press Alt+C).


Recording Voice

1	Select the voice you want to record, by clicking on its name.

2	Click the Voice menu, and then click Record Voice.

3	Press any key to start recording.

You can stop recording by clicking the Play menu and then clicking Stop (or by pressing Esc).

Note: Alternatively, you could record your performance while the voice is playing and Follow Playback is turned on.


Replacing Instrument

1	Select the voice you want to replace the instrument of, by clicking on its name.

2	Click the Voice menu, and then click Replace Instrument (or press F4).

3	Click the icon representing the type of the instrument you wish to use.

4	Use the scrolling bar if necessary, and double-click the name of the desired instrument.


Muting Voice

1	Select the voice you want to mute or un-mute, by clicking on its name.

2	Click the Voice menu, and then click Mute Voice.

OR

1	Click the right mouse button on the name of the voice you want to mute or un-mute.


Deleting Voice

1	Select the voice you want to delete, by clicking on its name.

2	Click the Voice menu, and then click Delete Voice.


Selecting a Block

1	Click the right mouse button at the location in the Notes, Volume, Balance, or Tempo section of the Pattern window where you wish the block to begin from.

2	Hold down the button and roll mouse to the right until the block has desired size.

3	Release the button.

OR (this applies to Notes section only)

1	Position the blue edit cursor at the location where you want the block to begin.

2	Hold down the Shift key and press right arrow key until the block has desired length.

3	Release the Shift key.

Note 1:	The All Voices selection in the Edit menu determines whether the selected block contains the data of all voices or current voice only. If All Voices is checked, then the block appears green, otherwise it is yellow.

Note 2:	A selected block contains the information of the section where it was selected in, except if it was selected in the Notes section - in that case the block contains notes as well as tempo, volume, etc. information.

For example, if you wish to change the overall volume of current voice, here is one convenient way to do this:

1	Select a block in the Volume section of the Pattern window, having the length of current pattern.

2	Transpose block.

Note 3:	To unselect block, simply click the right mouse button anywhere in the Notes, Volume, Balance, or Tempo section of the Pattern window.


Cutting Block to Clipboard

1	Click the Edit menu, and then click Cut (or press Shift+Del).


Copying Block to Clipboard

1	Click the Edit menu, and then click Copy (or press Ctrl+Ins).


Pasting Block from Clipboard

1	Position the blue edit cursor at the location in the Notes, Volume, Balance, or Tempo section of the Pattern window where you want to paste the block to. You can do that either by clicking the right mouse button at the desired location, or by using the arrow keys to move the cursor.

2	Click the Edit menu, and then click Paste (or press Shift+Ins).


Inserting Space

1	Select a block starting from the position you wish to insert the space at, and having the length of needed space.

2	Click the Edit menu, and then click Insert Space (or press Alt+I).


Repeating Block

1	Click the Edit menu, and then click Repeat Block (or press Alt+R).

Note 1: Selected block is repeated until the end of current pattern.

Note 2: If the block was selected in the Notes section of the Pattern window, then the voices, that do not have notes in the selected block, remain unaffected by this command.


Transposing Block

1	Click the Edit menu, and then click Transpose Block.

2	Click the left mouse button on the block, and, holding down the mouse button, roll mouse up or down until the block has been transposed as wished.

3	Release the mouse button.

OR

1	Hold down the Shift key.

2	Click the left mouse button on the block, and, holding down both the mouse button and the Shift key, roll mouse up or down until the block has been transposed as wished.

3	Release the mouse button and the Shift key.

Note: During step 2, a red 'shadow' of block appears, showing how the contents of the transposed block would look like. Also, current transpose value is displayed on the status line at the bottom of the Pattern window.


Recording Block

1	Click the Edit menu, and then click Record Block.

2	Press any key to start recording.

You can stop recording by clicking the Play menu and then clicking Stop (or by pressing Esc).

Note: Alternatively, you could record your performance while the block is playing and Follow Playback is turned on.


Clearing Block

1	Click the Edit menu, and then click Clear Block (or press Alt+L).


Deleting Block

1	Click the Edit menu, and then click Delete (or press Del).


Changing Instrument Name

1	Click the View menu, and then click Instruments (or press Alt+F8).

2	Click the instrument you want to rename.

3	Click Rename.

4	Type the new name, and then click OK.


Changing Instrument Icon

1	Click the View menu, and then click Instruments (or press Alt+F8).

2	Click the instrument you want to change the icon of.

3	Click Change Icon.

4	Click the new icon, and then click OK.


Replacing Instrument

1	Click the View menu, and then click Instruments (or press Alt+F8).

2	Click the instrument you want to replace.

3	Click Replace.

4	Click the icon representing the type of the new instrument.

5	Use the scrolling bar if necessary, and double-click the name of the desired instrument.


Importing Instrument

1	In the Load Instrument window click Import.

2	Specify the name of the file you want to import as instrument, and then click Open.

Note: Sound Club can import WAV files and raw sample files. In case of the latter, Sound Club will prompt you for control information about the file, using the Import Raw Instrument window.


Playing Song

1	Click the Play menu, and then click Play Song (or press F5).


Playing Pattern

1	Click the Play menu, and then click Play Pattern (or press F6).


Playing Voice

1	Select the voice you want to play, by clicking on its name.

2	Click the Play menu, and then click Play Voice (or press F8).

OR

1	Double-click the left mouse button on the name of the voice you want to play.


Playing Block

1	Click the Play menu, and then click Play Block (or press F7).


Looping Playback

1	Click the Play menu, and then check or un-check Repeat.

If Repeat is checked then voice and block playback immediately start over the moment the end of voice or block has been reached. Song playback wraps to looping point specified in the Sequence window.


Following Playback

1	Click the Play menu, and then check or un-check Follow Playback.

If Follow Playback is checked then the blue edit cursor is attached to the red playback position indicator.

Note: Follow Playback only affects current Pattern window. Therefore you can have several Pattern windows open, some of them following playback and some not.


Fast Forward and Rewind

To fast forward playback:

1	Press + on the numeric keypad.

To rewind playback:

1	Press - on the numeric keypad.


Stopping Playback

1	Click the Play menu, and then click Stop (or press F9).


Saving Song

To save the changes in loaded song

1	Click the File menu, and then click Save.

Note: If this is the first time you are saving current song then File/Save acts identically to File/Save As.

To save the song under a new file name

1	Click the File menu, and then click Save As.

2	Type the new file name, and then click Save.


Exporting Song to Another Format

1	Click the File menu, and then click Export.

2	From the Save as type box, select the desired format.

3	Type the file name, and then click Save.


Exporting Song to WAV

1	Click the File menu, and then click Export to WAV.

2	In the Output resolution box, check 16 bit, if you want the WAV file to have 16-bit resolution, otherwise check 8-bit.

3	In the Output type box, check stereo, if you want the WAV file to be stereo.

4	Check Oversample instruments, if you want Sound Club to use oversampling.

5	In the Sampling rate box, type the sampling rate for the WAV file.

6	Type the file name, and then click Save.


Saving Instrument

1	Click the View menu, and then click Instruments (or press Alt+F8).

2	Click the instrument you want to save.

3	Click Save.

4	Type the file name, and then click Save.

Note: For the instrument to be included in the Load Instrument window, you have to save it to the Instrument folder, that is specified in the Options window, or to any of its subfolders.


Exporting Instrument to WAV

1	Click the View menu, and then click Instruments (or press Alt+F8).

2	Click the instrument you want to save as WAV file.

3	Click Export to WAV.

4	Type the file name, and then click Save.


File Menu

The File menu contains commands related to disk operations.

•	New

This command clears currently loaded song and sets all song options to defaults. If you haven't saved last changes of the loaded song then you will be asked whether you wish to save the song. Click Yes to save it, No to abandon changes, or Cancel to resume current session.

•	Load

This command loads a song from disk. If you haven't saved the last changes you made then you will be asked whether you wish to save the song. Click Yes to save it. Click No to exit without save. Click Cancel to resume the session. After that, the Load Song window appears.

•	Save

This command saves the song under its current file name, replacing the old version on disk. If it is the first time the song is being saved, this command acts just like Save As command (see below).

•	Save As

This command enables you to save currently loaded song under a new file name. After clicking it, the Save Song window appears.

•	Export

This command enables you to export currently loaded song to other song format than SN2. After clicking it, the Save Song window appears.

•	Export to WAV

This command enables you to convert currently loaded song to a single WAV file. After clicking it, the Export to WAV window appears.

•	Exit

This command terminates current session. If you haven't saved the last changes you made then you will be asked whether you wish to save the song. Click Yes to save it. Click No to exit without save. Click Cancel to resume the session.


Edit Menu

The Edit menu contains commands related to block operations.

•	Cut

This command cuts selected block to clipboard.

•	Copy

This command copies selected block to clipboard.

•	Paste

This command pastes the contents of clipboard to current pattern at the position of blue edit cursor.

•	Delete

This command deletes selected block. If the block was selected in Volume, Balance, or Tempo section of the Pattern window, this command acts like Clear Block (see below).

•	Clear Block

This command sets the contents of the block to default values (clear notes, set volume to maximum (30), set balance to middle (0), set tempo to middle (120 beats per minute)).

•	Insert Space

This command inserts empty space, having the size of selected block, at the location of the block.

•	Repeat Block

This command causes the selected block to be repeated until the end of current pattern. This is very useful when creating bass or percussion voices that often consist of a continuously repeating note sequence.

Note: If the block was selected in the Notes section of the Pattern window, then voices that have no notes in the selected block, are ignored by this command.

•	Transpose Block

This command switches to Block Transpose mode, where you can transpose the block.

•	Record Block

This command is analogous to the Record Voice command in the Voice menu, but it records notes in the selected block only, and block playback is performed instead of pattern playback.

•	Portamento

This command sets or clears portamento effects in the selected block.

•	All Voices

If this is checked, then block operations affect all voices in the current pattern. Otherwise other voices than the current one are ignored by block operations.


View Menu

The View menu contains commands that open up various windows.

•	Pattern

This command opens up a Pattern window.

•	Sequence

This command opens up the Sequence window.

•	Instruments

This command opens up the Instruments window.

•	Song Options

This command opens up the Song Options window.

•	Keyboard

This command opens up the Keyboard window.

•	Options

This command opens up the Options window.

•	Volume

This command opens up or closes down Volume section in current Pattern window.

•	Balance

This command opens up or closes down Balance section in current Pattern window.

•	Tempo

This command opens up or closes down Tempo section in current Pattern window.


Voice Menu

The Voice menu contains commands for managing voices.

•	Add Voice

This command adds a new, blank voice to current pattern. After clicking it, the Add Voice window appears.

•	Replace Instrument

This command lets you to change the instrument assignment for current voice. After clicking it, the Replace Instrument window appears.

•	Record Voice

This command lets you to enter notes for a voice in real-time, while playbacking the other voices at the same time. After you have pressed this button, you have to press any key to start recording. Then the pattern playback starts and you can enter notes from your computer keyboard or an external MIDI keyboard.

Recording can be aborted either by clicking the Play menu, and then clicking Stop (or by pressing Esc).

Note 1: Alternatively, you could record your performance while the voice is playing and Follow Playback is turned on.

Note 2: Note length is determined by the Note buttons.

Note 3: You can change the current voice while recording.

•	Delete Voice

This command deletes current voice.

•	Mute Voice

This command mutes or un-mutes current voice.


Play Menu

The Play menu contains commands related to the playback of current song.

•	Play Song

This command playbacks whole song.

•	Play Pattern

This command playbacks current pattern.

•	Play Block

This command playbacks selected block in current pattern.

•	Play Voice

This command playbacks current voice in current pattern.

•	Stop

This command stops the playback.

•	Repeat

If this is checked, Sound Club automatically restarts the playback when it finishes. This way the song, or voice, or block is played in a continuous loop. You can set the looping point for the song from the Sequence window.

•	Follow Playback

If this is checked, the blue edit cursor is attached to the red playback position indicator in the current pattern.


Window Menu

This menu contains commands related to management of open windows.

•	Cascade

This command rearranges open windows in a cascading fashion.

•	Tile

This command rearranges open windows in a tiled fashion.

Note: Additional commands, corresponding to the open windows, are added to this menu in run-time for switching between open windows.


Help Menu

This menu contains commands giving you on-line assistance.

•	Help Topics

This command opens up the Help Topics window.

•	Bluemoon on the Web

This command starts your Internet browser to look up Bluemoon's website at http://www.bluemoon.ee/.

•	About Sound Club

This command displays version information about Sound Club.

Note: Context-sensitive help is available by pressing F1.


Open File Window

The Open File window is a standard Windows file load dialog box. It appears when you want to load a song or import an instrument.

•	Look in

This box displays current folder.

•	Toolbar: Up One Level

This button opens the folder one level higher than current folder.

•	Toolbar: Create New Folder

This button creates a new folder into the current folder.

•	Toolbar: List / Detailed

This pair of buttons determine the appearance of items in the file list below.

•	File list

The contents of current folder are displayed in this list.

•	File name

This is the box where you can type the name of desired file.

•	Files of type

This box lists the types of files to display in the file list.

•	Open

This button closes the Open File window, and opens the file specified in the File name box.

•	Cancel

This button closes the Open File window without opening a file.

•	Help

This button displays this text.


Save File Window

The Save File window is a standard Windows file save dialog box. It appears when you want to save a song under a different file name (or export to different format), or save or export an instrument.

•	Save in

This box displays current folder.

•	Toolbar: Up One Level

This button opens the folder one level higher than current folder.

•	Toolbar: Create New Folder

This button creates a new folder into the current folder.

•	Toolbar: List / Detailed

This pair of buttons determine the appearance of items in the file list below.

•	File list

The contents of current folder are displayed in this list.

•	File name

This is the box where you can type the name to save the file under.

•	Files of type

This box specifies the format to save the file in. All files in current folder that are of that type are displayed in the file list above.

•	Open

This button closes the Save File window, and saves the file under the name specified in the File name box.

•	Cancel

This button closes the Save File window without saving the file.

•	Help

Displays this text.


Export to WAV Window

The Export to WAV Window is a Save File window with the extensions listed below. It appears when you want to save current song as a single WAV file.

•	Output resolution

This determines whether the WAV file will have 8-bit or 16-bit resolution.

•	Output type

This determines whether the WAV file will be mono or stereo.

•	Sampling rate

In this box you can type the desired sampling rate for the WAV file.

•	Oversample instruments

If this is checked then Sound Club will use oversampling when converting the song to WAV.


Pattern Window

A Pattern window is an interface for viewing and modifying patterns of current song. It can be opened by clicking the View menu, and then clicking Pattern (or by pressing Alt+F5).

•	Pattern name

In this box, the name of current pattern is displayed. Clicking on it lets you to select another pattern.

•	Toolbar: Edit functions

The first group of buttons on the toolbar are shortcuts to the following commands in the Edit menu:

Cut

Copy

Paste

Delete

•	Toolbar: Note buttons

The second group of buttons on the toolbar are Note buttons.

•	Toolbar: Play functions

The third group of buttons on the toolbar are shortcuts to the following commands in the Play menu:

Play Pattern

Play Block

Play Voice

Stop

Follow Playback

•	Notes section

This is the main area of the Pattern window. Here you can view and modify notes belonging to current pattern.

•	Voices section

In this area of the Pattern window all voices of current pattern are displayed. Here you can select which voice is the current one.

•	Volume section

In this section, you can view and modify volume tracks for all voices of current pattern. You can open and close this section by clicking the View menu, and then clicking Volume (or pressing Alt+F1).

•	Balance section

In this section, you can view and modify balance tracks for all voices of current pattern. You can open and close this section by clicking the View menu, and then clicking Volume (or pressing Alt+F2).

•	Tempo section

In this section, you can view and modify the tempo track of current pattern. You can open and close this section by clicking the View menu, and then clicking Volume (or pressing Alt+F3).

•	Measure

This field on the status line at the bottom of the window displays the number of the measure the blue edit cursor is on.

•	Time

This field on the status line at the bottom of the window displays the time since the beginning of the pattern till the position where the blue edit cursor is located.

•	Transpose

This field only appears when you are transposing a block. It displays the amount the block would be transposed by.

Note 1: See the Song Structure and Representation topic for more information about the contents of the Pattern window.

Note 2: You can open several Pattern windows, not just one.


Sequence Window

The Sequence window is an interface for viewing and modifying pattern sequence of current song. It can be opened by clicking the View menu, and then clicking Sequence (or by pressing Alt+F7).

•	Patterns

In this list, all patterns of current song are displayed.

•	Playing Sequence

In this list, the pattern sequence of current song is displayed. The little arrow at the right edge of this list represents the looping point of current song.

•	Open

This button opens a Pattern window for the selected pattern.

•	New Pattern

This button inserts a new pattern to the Patterns list at the selected position.

•	Rename

This button lets you to rename the selected pattern in the Patterns list.

•	Delete

This button either deletes the selected pattern from the Patterns list, or deletes the selected item from the Playing Sequence, depending what list is the solid selector on.

•	Insert

This button inserts the selected pattern in the Patterns list as an item to the Playing Sequence at the selected position.

•	Set Repeat

This button moves the looping point to the selected position in the Playing Sequence.

•	Play Pattern

This button playbacks the selected pattern.

•	Play From

This button plays the song, starting from the selected position in the Playing Sequence.


Instruments Window

The Instruments window is an interface for viewing and modifying instruments of current song. It can be opened by clicking the View menu, and then clicking Instruments (or by pressing Alt+F8).

•	Instrument list

In this list, all instruments in current song are displayed.

Note 1: A tiny sign 'B' at the end of the instrument name means that this is an instrument found in instrument bank of Sound Club.

Note 2: You can test instruments listed here by using keyboard.

•	Replace

This button lets you to replace the selected instrument with another one. It opens up the Replace Instrument window.

•	Save

This button lets you to save the selected instrument, so you could include it into your other songs later. It opens up the Save Instrument window.

•	Export to WAV

This button lets you to save the selected instrument as a WAV file, so you could play and modify it with other software. It opens up the Export Instrument to WAV window.

•	Change Icon

This button lets you to change the icon of the selected instrument.

•	Rename

This button lets you to rename the selected instrument.


Song Options Window

The Song Options window is an interface for viewing and modifying song options. It can be opened by clicking the View menu, and then clicking Song Options (or by pressing Alt+F9).

•	Song Description

In this box you can type whatever you might have in mind.

•	Song Length

In this box the total length of the song (in minutes and seconds) is displayed.

•	Ticks per Beat

In this box you can specify the number of ticks per beat for current song.

•	Beats per Measure

In this box you can specify the number of beats per measure for current song.

•	Overall Tempo

This slider determines the overall tempo of current song.

•	OK

This button closes the Song Options window, and accepts the changes you made.

•	Cancel

This button closes the Song Options window, and abandons changes.


Keyboard Window

The Keyboard window is an interface for testing instruments and melodies. It can be opened by clicking the View menu, and then clicking Keyboard (or by pressing Alt+F10).

•	Instrument box

This box displays the instrument to be used for playing. You can change the instrument by clicking on this box.

•	Keyboard mapping box

This box displays current mapping of computer keyboard keys to musical keyboard keys. You can change the mapping by clicking on this box.

Note: This box acts as a shortcut to the Keyboard mapping box in the Options window.


Options Window

The Options window is an interface for setting various program related options. It can be opened by clicking the View menu, and then clicking Options.

The Options window has three sheets: Playback, Environment, and MIDI Keyboard. The Playback sheet contains the options related to playback:

•	Output device

From this box you can select the device Sound Club should use for output.

•	Sampling rate

From this box you can select the sampling rate for output.

•	Output resolution

In this box you can specify whether the output resolution should be 8-bit or 16-bit.

•	Output type

In this box you can specify whether output should be stereo or mono.

•	Oversample instruments

In this box you can specify whether Sound Club should use oversampling when generating output, or not.

•	Amplification

Using this slider, you can specify the overall amplification of instrument amplitudes Sound Club should use while mixing, relative to default amplification.

Note: Setting this value too high may result in distorted sound, because then the output waveform has to be clipped to fit into valid boundaries.

•	Advanced

This button opens up the Advanced Playback Options window.

The Environment sheet contains the options related to Sound Club environment:

•	Cell size

From this box you can select the cell size for Pattern window.

•	Keyboard mapping

From this box you can select what two octaves are mapped onto the keys on the computer keyboard.

•	Song folder

In this box you can type the default folder for song files.

•	Instrument folder

In this box you can type the folder Sound Club should search the additional instrument files from when displaying the Load Instrument window.

The MIDI Keyboard sheet contains only one option:

•	Input device

From this box you can select the device your MIDI keyboard is connected to.

Buttons in the Options window are:

•	OK

This button closes the Options window and accepts the changes you made.

•	Cancel

This button closes the Options window and abandons the changes.

•	Apply

This button applies the changes without closing the Options window.

•	Help

This button displays this text.


Advanced Playback Options Window

The Advanced Playback Options window is an interface for setting a couple of system related playback options. It can be opened by clicking the View menu, and then clicking Options, and then clicking Advanced.

•	Output buffer length

This is the length of chunks Sound Club is feeding its output data to the system in. The larger it is, the less responsive Sound Club gets to real-time playback changes, like keyboard keypresses. On the other hand, setting this too low may result in discontinuous playback.

•	Output buffers

This is the number of chunks Sound Club precalculates. Just like the previous setting, the larger it is, the less responsive Sound Club gets, but setting this too low may result in discontinuous playback.

•	OK

This button closes the Advanced Playback Options window and accepts the changes you made.

•	Default

This button resets the values in the Advanced Playback Options window to factory defaults.

•	Cancel

This button closes the Advanced Playback Options window and abandons the changes.


Load Instrument Window

The Load Instrument window is a dialog box for loading the bank instruments as well as independent instrument files. It appears when you want to replace a loaded instrument, or add a voice to current pattern, or replace an instrument of a voice.

•	Category (icon) box

In this box you can select an instrument category by clicking on a corresponding icon.

•	Category name

In this box the name of current category is displayed.

•	Instrument list

In this box you can select an instrument of current category.

Note 1: A tiny sign 'B' at the end of the instrument name means that this is an instrument found in instrument bank of Sound Club.

Note 2: You can test instruments listed here by using keyboard.

•	OK

This button closes the Load Instrument window, and loads the current instrument.

•	Loaded

This button opens up the Loaded Instruments window, where you can choose between instruments that are already used in current song.

•	Import

This button lets you to import an instrument from a WAV file or raw file. It opens up the Import Instrument window.

•	Cancel

This button closes the Load Instrument window, without loading instrument.


Import Raw Instrument Window

The Import Raw Instrument window is an interface for providing Sound Club the information about the raw instrument file you want to load. It appears when you click Import in the Load Instrument window, and then select a raw file to load.

•	Sampling rate

In this box you type the sampling rate for the instrument.

•	Sample resolution

In this box you can specify whether the sample resolution in the file is 8-bit or 16-bit.

•	Sample type

In this box you can specify whether the sample type in the file is stereo or mono.

•	Header size to skip

In this box you can type the number of bytes in the beginning of the file that contain file header and must therefore be skipped.

•	OK

This button closes the Import Raw Instrument window as well as the Load Instrument window, and loads the specified file.

•	Cancel

This button closes the Import Raw Instrument window without loading the file.


Keyboard Shortcuts

Function keys

F1	on-line help for the current window or menu.

F2	load file (File/Load).

F3	add voice (Voice/Add Voice).

F4	replace the instrument of voice (Voice/Replace Instrument).

F5	play song (Play/Play Song).

F6	play pattern (Play/Play Pattern).

F7	play block (Play/Play Block).

F8	play voice (Play/Play Voice).

F9	stop playback (Play/Stop).

Alt+Function keys

Alt+F1	open or close the Volume section of current Pattern window (View/Volume).

Alt+F2	open or close the Balance section of current Pattern window (View/Balance).

Alt+F3	open or close the Tempo section of current Pattern window (View/Tempo).

Alt+F4	exit program (File/Exit).

Alt+F5	open another Pattern window (View/Pattern).

Alt+F7	open the Sequence window (View/Sequence).

Alt+F8	open the Instruments window (View/Instruments).

Alt+F9	open the Song Options window (View/Song Options).

Alt+F10	open the Keyboard window (View/Keyboard).

Alt+keys

Alt+A	toggle All Voices (Edit/All Voices).

Alt+C	clear portamento effect in selected block (Edit/Portamento/Clear).

Alt+I	insert space at selected block (Edit/Insert Space).

Alt+L	clear selected block (Edit/Clear Block).

Alt+R	repeat selected block (Edit/Repeat Block).

Alt+S	set portamento effect in selected block (Edit/Portamento/Set).

Alt+1 to Alt+6

press the corresponding Note button.

Alt+arrows	select another voice in Voices section of current Pattern window.

Other keys

NumPad +	fast forward playback.

NumPad -	rewind playback.

Left arrow, Right arrow, Home, End

scroll the Notes, Volume, Balance, and Tempo sections of current Pattern window horizontally.

Up arrow, Down arrow, Page Up, Page Down

scroll the Notes section of current Pattern window vertically.

Backspace	delete the note(s) left of the blue edit cursor.

Shift+Left arrow, Shift+Right arrow

select block.

Shift+mouse

transpose selected block.

Shift+Del	cut selected block to clipboard.

Ctrl+Ins	copy selected block to clipboard.

Shift+Ins	copy selected block from clipboard to pattern at the blue edit cursor.

Del	delete selected block.


Error Messages

•	Can't align pattern

The pattern could not be aligned the way you requested. First, either the new/old or old/new ratio of ticks per beat values must be integral. Second, if the new ticks per beat value is less than the old one, the notes in the pattern must start and end at the locations that can be represented using the new ticks per beat value.

•	Can't save an instrument that was loaded from instrument bank

Instruments that are loaded from instrument bank cannot be saved because there is no reason why you should do this.

•	Damaged song file

Sound Club recognized the format of the song file, but found that it contained incorrect data that does not agree with this format. Most likely, it is a damaged song file.

•	Disk full

The disk you wanted to save the file to had not enough free space for the file. Delete some files and try again.

•	Error reading instrument bank file SCLUB.BNK

The file could not be read by Sound Club. Maybe the disk is damaged. Run a disk doctor, delete the file and re-install Sound Club.

•	Failed to create thread

Sound Club wasn't allowed to create a program thread to perform the function you requested. System resources may be exhausted. Restart the computer.

•	File read error

The file you wanted to load could not be read by Sound Club. Maybe the disk is damaged. Run a disk doctor.

•	File write error

Sound Club could not save the file. Maybe the disk is damaged. Run a disk doctor.

•	Instrument bank file SCLUB.BNK is damaged

The file contained incorrect data. You should delete it and re-install Sound Club.

•	Instrument file is damaged

The file you wanted to load was either damaged, or was not a proper file to load.

•	Internal error

This error indicates a bug in Sound Club, and hopefully never occurs.

•	Internal load error

This error indicates a bug in Sound Club load song routine, and hopefully never occurs.

•	No output devices installed

Sound Club found no output devices for playing the waveform data.

•	Not enough memory

There was not enough memory to complete the operation you requested.

•	Output device is already in use by other application

The output device specified in the Options window is already in use by another program. Quit the other program.

•	Resource data load error

Sound Club was not able to load data from its resource file. Either the file is damaged or system resources are exhausted.

•	This song uses instrument(s) that are not present in bank file

The song uses at least one instrument that is to be loaded from your instrument bank file, but your bank file does not contain this instrument. This song cannot be loaded with this bank file.

•	Unable to create file

Sound Club was unable to create the file as you requested. Either you have specified an invalid file name, or you do not have access rights for writing to the specified folder.

•	Unable to create window

Sound Club was unable to create the window needed for selected operation. Probably the Windows GDI resource is exhausted. Restart the computer.

•	Unable to open file

Sound Club was unable to open the specified file. Either you do not have access rights to the specified folder, or the file is already in use by another application.

•	Unable to open instrument bank file SCLUB.BNK

The bank file was not found. Re-install Sound Club.

•	Unknown error

This is an error that should normally never occur in Sound Club. Sound Club encountered an exotic situation it does not know how to cope with.

•	Unknown or damaged song file

Sound Club did not recognize the file you wanted to load. The file was either damaged or of unknown format.


Ordering Information

United Kingdom

Springsoft

Springfield House

Llanfynydd

Wrexham

Clwyd, LL11 5HW

UK

Phone:	(+44) 01352 770049

Fax:	(+44) 01352 770816

http://www.springsoft.com/

Possible methods of payment:

•	Cheques/Postal Orders in pounds Sterling

•	Credit Card (Access, VISA, Mastercard, Delta, American Express)

Sound Club full version:	39.95 Pounds

Other Countries

Ticksoft

Waldstr. 49

76133 Karlsruhe

GERMANY

Phone:	+49 721 91 09 520

Fax:	+49 721 91 09 599

http://www.ticsoft.de/

Possible methods of payment:

•	Prepayment by Eurocheck

•	Credit Card (Mastercard/Visa)

Sound Club full version:	DM	99.80

Shipping and Handling:	DM	8.05

Shipping to countries

other than Germany:	DM	5.75

Please check our WWW-site for the distributor nearest to you.


SN2 is the file format Sound Club stores its songs in.


SN is the file format Sound Club 1.0 for DOS stored its songs in. For backwards compatibility, current version of Sound Club can load them.


MOD is a very popular file format for storing digital music. MOD originated from music editors for Commodore Amiga platform, but is now widely supported among music editors and players for PC as well.


S3M is the native song file format of Scream Tracker, version 3.x. Scream Tracker is a very popular music editor for PC.


WAV is the standard file format for storing waveform sounds on the Windows platform.


Sampling resolution is a property that determines the precision of individual samples in waveform data. 8-bit resolution means that eight bits (or one byte) are allocated per each sample, whereas 16-bit resolution means that sixteen bits (or two bytes) are allocated. Therefore 16-bit resolution results in better playback quality than 8-bit resolution. 16-bit resolution is also standard for CD audio.


Sampling rate is a property that determines how many samples in waveform data correspond to one second in playback length. The larger it is the better is the playback quality. Standard sampling rate for CD audio is 44100 samples per one second.


Instrument oversampling is a technique for improving playback quality. It effectively increases the sampling rate of the instrument by calculating virtual sample values between each of the two adjacent samples in instrument waveform data.


Voice is an instrument and the data (notes, volume, balance, effects) specifying the way the instrument should be played.


Tick is the smallest fraction of note in Sound Club. Each tick of a note has volume, balance, and portamento information associated to it. The tempo track specifies the duration of ticks.


Beat is a set of ticks. Adjacent beats are separated with thin vertical line in Sound Club patterns.


Measure is a set of beats. Adjacent measures are separated with bold vertical line in Sound Club patterns.


Portamento effect is an effect for two adjacent notes, where the pitch of the first note is smoothly shifted towards the pitch of the second note, therefore resulting in a continuous transformation of the first note into the second one. In Sound Club, portamento effect is represented by a thin black diagonal line connecting the two notes.


Note button is one of the buttons belonging to the second group of buttons on the toolbar of the Pattern window. This group of buttons determine the length of notes entered from the keyboard.


Overall tempo is a property of song that indicates how much the actual playback tempo differs from the tempo values displayed on the left edge of the Tempo section of the Pattern window. Overall tempo can be set from the Song Options window.


MIDI keyboard is a device that can be connected to your computer and used to record your performance to Sound Club patterns.