Mac OS 9 Lives

Classic Mac OS Software => Digital Audio Workstations & MIDI Applications => Vision & Studio Vision by Opcode => Topic started by: Syntho on July 16, 2017, 05:22:25 PM

Title: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: Syntho on July 16, 2017, 05:22:25 PM
As a convert to Studio Vision, I'd like to start using Galaxy instead of my old copy of Sounddiver. The SVP manual took a while to digest and it's looking like I'll have to do the same with Galaxy. Especially since I plan to integrate Galaxy with SVP.

To get me started, can someone explain the difference between bundles, banks and libraries? I understand that Banks are like Program bank A, Program bank B on a synth, and that a bundle can hold any/every type of data bank that that synth has (patch bank, combi or multi bank, FX bank etc). But where do Libraries come in?

Any tips or tricks I should know of generally? I can't wait to see how it integrates with SVP.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: IIO on July 17, 2017, 08:04:37 AM
if it is the same as in sounddiver the library is simply "all you ever saved" in the form of single patches.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: GaryN on July 17, 2017, 04:50:17 PM
It's simple.

BANKS are exactly what you imagine they are. Exactly like a bank of patches in a synth. You upload and download them as such.

BUNDLES are well, bundles of BANKS you gather together for organizing. They may be all from one synth and maybe organized into types like Piano, Horns, Strings etc. BUT they can also be multiple BANKS for different / multiple synths too. Galaxy can load/reload ALL of your synths simultaneously from a BUNDLE of patches of their corresponding BANKS. You can imagine say, a "smooth jazz" BUNDLE where all your synths get loaded with soft keys, Rhodes-type stuff etc; maybe an EDM BUNDLE with lots of perc and bass stuff.  Got a couple of devices you gig with? You can make a "Gig" BUNDLE to easily load those and then go back to whatever you were working with afterwards.
You can make song BUNDLES where all of the patches used on a recording can be recalled for a remix or such. Lots and lots of possibilities.

LIBRARIES are the final way to sort out and file patches. They hold unlimited numbers of patches and are intended for sorting types: A library of Pianos of all types, of orchestral sounds of whatever. Say, you're looking for just the right patch for something; you step through ALL of the patches of a type one-at-a-time till you find it. Every time you select one, Galaxy will load it into the synth in a blink.

Once you get stuff organized into BANKS, SVP will "subscribe" to whichever one you use on a project. The patch names will be stored with and appear in the song file. SVP will prompt you to load the necessary banks when you load the songfile.

Yes, it's like Logic and Soundiver, but Opcode was first.

The main "tip & trick" you need is patience. The initial sorting and organizing is critical. If you have lots of patches and/or lots of devices, it's a BIG task.
Just naming / renaming patches, weeding out duplicates, testing them etc. is a LOT of work. BUT at least you only have to do it once.
If you put in the time and effort to sort it all out though, that time will pay dividends forever as long as you use the software.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: Syntho on July 17, 2017, 08:30:30 PM
I read the entire Galaxy manual (much shorter than expected) and now I'm getting the hang of it. The manual wasn't as clear about sending/receiving patches as I'd like. The example it gave said that with an editor window open, the Send/Receive menu performs slightly different actions than if a library or bank is open.

On page 143 it says, "if you choose store patch or send bank, the current edit will be saved first. Then the patch will be stored or the Bank sent.". "Store Patch"? Do they mean Send Patch? Because the closest thing to Store Patch is in the Program Menu where it says "Store Current Edit", and that saves it, but doesn't send it, and Send Patch doesn't save it, but it does send it. That line in the manual is confusing.

I think in general to store a single patch on my synth, I have to send it to the buffer first (if it's not already there from the Editor window), then manually save on the synth itself. And to get everything reflecting what I see in Galaxy, I've got to send the whole bank, or save one patch at a time manually which is time-consuming.

PS: The manual is slightly different than the actual program. For example, there is no 'keyboard echo' (I'm taking it they mean Keyboard Thru?) and the midi keys window is in the Windows section and not the Play menu.

The other thing I'm gonna have to reread is about how Galaxy and SVP integrate - inserting sysex data for patches and all of that into SVP.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: GaryN on July 17, 2017, 09:50:38 PM
On page 143 it says, "if you choose store patch or send bank, the current edit will be saved first. Then the patch will be stored or the Bank sent.". "Store Patch"? Do they mean Send Patch?
I think so. You're right - "Send Patch" makes sense. It's a typo.
PS: The manual is slightly different than the actual program. For example, there is no 'keyboard echo' (I'm taking it they mean Keyboard Thru?) and the midi keys window is in the Windows section and not the Play menu.
Correct again. "Keyboard thru" is the intended term. (In fairness, when this stuff was written, waaay back when, much of the terminology was not yet settled)
Also, I think you're referring now to "MouseKeys" not "MIDIKeys" and that is in the Windows Menu section.
The other thing I'm gonna have to reread is about how Galaxy and SVP integrate - inserting sysex data for patches and all of that into SVP.
Now we're heading into the weeds for sure. I think you'll find that the general expectation back then was that SVP handled the sequence and Galaxy handled the synth data - you would just send patch changes and controllers etc from SVP during sequence playback as needed.

SVP can capture and store sysex as a sequence that you can later trigger if needed. You can see it, edit it if you're familiar with the format, but there's no special "sysex editor" function in either app.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: Syntho on July 18, 2017, 12:29:53 AM
"if you choose store patch or send bank, the current edit will be saved first" - using Send Patch doesn't save it though, it just sends it over to your synth. That's why I thought there might be some other command called Store Patch somewhere.

Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: Syntho on July 18, 2017, 03:46:39 PM
I'm thinking that the final revisions of Galaxy didn't ever come with updated manuals. The manual I have (hard copy and pdf) is for version 1 it seems, and the software version that I have is 2.5. I'm guessing the Store Patch or Send Patch thing functions slightly differently because of that. And that would also explain the Menu options not matching up.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: Syntho on July 18, 2017, 06:48:37 PM
For some reason I can't get Galaxy to launch in System 7. It gives me an error type 1 no matter what I do. It works in OS8 though.

EDIT: Turns out, it was some files in the Librarians folder that was making it crash. It doesn't do that in OS8 with the exact same set. I only added what I needed and it works fine now.

PS: After years of fooling with these machines, I STILL find these weird idiosyncrasies that I have to maneuver around and tweak to get it solid and stable. It never ends... but I'm almost there too.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: GaryN on July 18, 2017, 08:41:41 PM
I'm thinking that the final revisions of Galaxy didn't ever come with updated manuals. The manual I have (hard copy and pdf) is for version 1 it seems, and the software version that I have is 2.5. I'm guessing the Store Patch or Send Patch thing functions slightly differently because of that. And that would also explain the Menu options not matching up.

You know, I don't think there ever were updated manuals. There weren't any major revisions to the app other than the integration of Editors and System / PPC stuff.
Oddly though, you have a menu options issue that I don't. Is your "Opcode part #" on page one  110-0206-02 ?

For some reason I can't get Galaxy to launch in System 7. It gives me an error type 1 no matter what I do. It works in OS8 though.
EDIT: Turns out, it was some files in the Librarians folder that was making it crash. It doesn't do that in OS8 with the exact same set. I only added what I needed and it works fine now.

Not surprising. One thing I've found is that Opcode apps (being as wide ranging as they are by the time you have MIDI, Digital Audio recording, Synth Libraries and Editors) generate, store and refer to lots of individual files that are kept in specific folders in a specific hierarchy so that they can be found as needed.
When an app goes looking for a file, if it doesn't find it where expected, or if there's an improper version with the same title, or whatever…SPLAT!

The Opcode Motto should have been "Neatness Counts"
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: Syntho on July 18, 2017, 09:30:56 PM
Is your "Opcode part #" on page one  110-0206-02 ?

Yep, that's mine. Under the Windows menu, I see MouseKeys. In the manual it says it's under the Play menu.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: GaryN on July 19, 2017, 02:45:52 PM
You missed your calling. You should be a proofreader.
You're correct. On page 55 it says Play>MouseKeys. That's an error. BUT…
It also correctly shows MouseKeys under the Windows menu on page 127

Oh well…
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: Syntho on July 19, 2017, 03:12:45 PM
I'm pretty good at studying manuals  ;D The thing that bothers me most is how it said Store (Send) patch saves the patch before sending. Hmm...
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: Syntho on July 21, 2017, 05:49:32 PM
How would one go about hacking a Galaxy editor to display custom names of multisamples? For example, some drum modules have both mono and stereo samples. It would be convenient to edit the list of multisamples and add a (ST) trailer on the name so I know what I'm working with. There's a programming tool for the editors but I haven't looked at it yet.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: GaryN on July 22, 2017, 05:39:48 PM
How would one go about hacking a Galaxy editor to display custom names of multisamples?
You don't. You store the mono and stereo versions as two different patches in the Librarian and name them there.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: Syntho on July 24, 2017, 05:55:16 PM
I'm having trouble with the Cross Reference Bank command. It freezes when I try it on some synths, and with others it jumbles the names of the patches. It won't work on either System 7 or OS8.

There are also some weird idiosyncrasies with certain editors, like how when you click to edit a multi/combi (parent patch), it mutes the timbres that are supposed to sound. You have to unmute them hear anything. Hmm...

I wish this were the 90s again. I could actually get answers to this software that no one is using  :)
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: GaryN on July 24, 2017, 08:29:37 PM
Hmmm… honestly, you're now further into the weeds here that I ever go, but I can make an educated guess.
I think you're probably trying to use the app on synths that are newer revisions than Galaxy and it doesn't understand something in the data formats - hence the freeze. Remember: there were no updates after a certain point. And: this is just a guess; don't hold me to it.

As for the timbre muting, I can't begin to theorize without a lot more info. If you like, you can .sit a couple of problem patches and send them to me. I'll open them here and see what happens.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: Syntho on July 24, 2017, 09:24:39 PM
Open the bundle. Double click the Combi bank. Sending the patches to my synth works fine. When I double click them or click the Edit button though, when the editor comes up the programs are muted. I have to unmute them to hear anything. It does this for every single combi.


I don't believe you need the synth to see what I'm saying here.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: GaryN on July 25, 2017, 07:17:42 PM
Wow golly gee whiz!

You're absolutely right, they come up muted.
I played around and theorized, even twisted one up for inspiration and I came up with…

Squat, nada, zip, zero.

I think if this was intentional for some reason, they would have pointed it out and explained why in the manual.  So…
I guess it's a bug…probably unique to the Korg Editor, or maybe not, but most likely.
I personally don't have any other synths that create similar "combi" patches to compare, so I guess you gotta live with it.
I mean, it could be a LOT worse. At least everything works and it's just a minor inconvenience.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: Syntho on July 25, 2017, 08:45:24 PM
Well at least it's not me. The version of the editor I'm using is 1.0.9 I believe. I don't know if there's a newer one or not.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: GaryN on July 26, 2017, 10:45:42 AM
Well at least it's not me. The version of the editor I'm using is 1.0.9 I believe. I don't know if there's a newer one or not.
Are you sure about the version? I've have "Korg X/N Series Editor" ver 1.0.3 "Shipped with Galaxy 2.5" Created 4/6/95
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: Syntho on April 10, 2018, 11:28:29 PM
I'm back at trying to see what's going on with this. There was a tech publication about the Korg X/N series editor and it made no mention about any of the issues I covered. The editor I've got is version 1.0.3. I wonder if it's possible to get another version than 1.0.3. I took a look around and I didn't see any other version available. It's the librarian that's version 1.0.9.

I'm thinking this is just probably another one of those things that was never fixed due to the end of Opcode. The X and N series synths are very slightly different, with the X series coming out before the N series, so we're probably just looking at unfinished software. I wish to god we could get Dave Oppenheim and the other guys to come back and finish SVP and Galaxy for us  8)
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: GaryN on April 11, 2018, 01:37:07 PM
I wish to god we could get Dave Oppenheim and the other guys to come back and finish SVP and Galaxy for us  8)
Once Gibson goes down completely - which looks like any day now - you probably can.
All it would take is $$$$…or maybe $$$$$$$$$$$$$
I've got $…anybody else?
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: Syntho on May 03, 2019, 09:50:23 AM
I'm back to this same issue. For some weird reason the damn combis are muted. I have no friggin' clue why it does this. If it weren't for this one issue, this editor would be flawless. It's a huge hiccup though.

Surely there is some work around for this. For Galaxy to have its very own manual for these Korg synths shows us that a lot of time went into making them. I'm thinking of trying to find some earlier revisions (or possibly later ones!) of the Korg X/N editor that has this bug fixed. Maybe it's the editor file, maybe it's galaxy itself... I have no idea. I'm gonna have to hunt for the files though since I don't think we have much Galaxy stuff except for what's posted on this site.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: Syntho on May 03, 2019, 11:57:54 AM
Does anyone have a large archive of Galaxy files? I wish we could get one going like we did with the Logic archive. So far I can only find a couple different librarians for the X/N series. There's GOT TO BE an updated editor that works out this bug. The newest editor I have was released in December 1997 and is version 1.0.3.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: macarone on May 03, 2019, 03:15:42 PM
When requesting a specific file, it would be helpful if you gave the exact name and version you are looking for, and even when it was released.

I did a search for just Galaxy and the attached contains everything I found, but I suspect it has nothing to do with what you are looking for.

Still, it's  all less than 3 megs, so I'm u/l'ing.

Moderator: feel free to delete if it's nothing to do with the topic.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: GaryN on May 03, 2019, 03:46:35 PM
There's GOT TO BE an updated editor that works out this bug.
No… there doesn't – anymore than there's got to be a newer drug than Prozac for OCD OCD OCD OCD OCD OCD OCD OCD OCD OCD …………………………………………………
…………………………………………………

Seriously, both of us looked long and hard for an update for this last year without success. It's virtually certain there isn't one.
As bugs go, this one is only in the annoyance category. Just think how you would feel if the bug crashed the system 50% of the time but you still had to use it. It could be much worse dude.

Personally, I have a couple synths that I have to edit with Soundiver. I also have a couple for which NO editor exists at all.
This is far from the worst issue caused by Horrible Henry blowing up Opcode.

Live with it.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: Syntho on May 03, 2019, 03:56:23 PM
Thanks for the post macarone. Not what I needed, but a good archive in any case for reference.

I'll definitely have to give up on it. The thing that makes me think there's another version out there is that the editor is 1.0.3, so maybe something was released beforehand. The other reason I think there may be a working version is because the bug is such a glaring one that surely they didn't release every version with that same issue.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: GaryN on May 03, 2019, 11:41:06 PM
I'm back to this same issue. For some weird reason the damn combis are muted. I have no friggin' clue why it does this. If it weren't for this one issue, this editor would be flawless. It's a huge hiccup though.
So, I wrote my last previous response about this earlier today and a little later. I got a notification (what I get for NOT turning them off) from Yahoo Opcodeusers from you about this too. So……

Prompted to think about it even more - which sucks for me since i don't even own a Korg anything, it finally dawned on me that what Korg calls "Combis", Yamaha and the rest of the world calls "Performances" - where you have more than one patch active at one time. Those I understand. Then it dawned on me that:

How can you edit a Combi? It's well, a combination of more than one patch. In order to edit any one of the contributing patches, you have to be able to hear what you're editing…that is the changes you're making. For many edits, you're better off hearing only the patch you're editing so the rest would need to be muted. In hat case, you either have to start with them all off then turn on the one you want to tweak OR start with them all on then turn off the other ones.

This concept gets complicated in a software MIDI editor because the edit commands have to be sent to the right places and that can get complicated with multiple patches operating. There are of course, other parameters unique to multiple-patch setups like relative balances, pan, key ranges etc, that need their own edit window but those are also separate and separately-addressable parameters.

So, now we're here:
Maybe it is a bug.
Maybe it's just a matter of which way to arrange it: all on or all off to start.
Maybe it's a limitation of the architecture of the editor that can't be overcome.
Maybe it's a limitation of the architecture of the editor that could have been overcome with more time and/or cleverness.
OR
Maybe it's a limitation of the architecture of the editor caused by expanding a simpler editor from a simpler Korg model that worked just fine except for the awkward way it handles the Combis that didn't exist on the original model it was written for and the guy thought "Shit, I'll have to fix this in a later update" that never happened. His idea of "a huge hiccup" may have been a lot bigger than yours.

That's what I would bet on. You're just trying to wish an update that never was into existence.
Title: Re: Teach me about Galaxy
Post by: Syntho on May 05, 2019, 02:20:47 AM
The editor is nearly 100%. It's the only bug in it at all. There's also programming tools to make our own editors. I'm wondering if it's possible to actually edit a preexisting editor. If that's the only bug to fix, and if I were a programmer and had the know-how, I'd come up with my own fix for it in a heartbeat. I have no idea what to do though.

The Korg X/N synth architecture is definitely a bit different, and I know so because 1) the lack of editors for them back then and 2) the ones that were around, all had bugs. Sounddiver for example works fine, with one exception: when editing a combi, and when you unmute a program inside a combi, if that program happened to be in the G (GM) bank, it reselects the same-numbered program in the A bank. It doesn't like programs in the G bank for some reason.

There's always this one little bug in all of them. Ugh! Maybe I'll learn how to fix it myself. Galaxy is the superior software over Sounddiver in my opinion.