Digital Performer 1.x
Version history · release evidence · compatibility notes · documentation
Quick navigationClick a version to jump directly to its full entry.1992 1.0 ·
1.01 ·
1.1b1993–94 1.3 ·
1.4 ·
1.41Y1995 1.5 ·
1.61996 1.61 ·
1.62ß ·
1.7 ·
1.71
Digital Performer 1.0Date / status: 1992CONTEMPORARY REFERENCESreMarks 3 ·
SOS Oct 90 ·
SOS Mar 91 ·
SOS Apr 91 ·
SOS Dec 91 ·
MIX Jan 92 ·
SOS Mar 92 ·
SOS Mar 92 ·
REP Mar 92 ·
REP Mar 92 ·
MT Apr 92 ·
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MT May 92 ·
REP May 92 ·
REP May 92 ·
SOS Jun 92 ·
EM Jun 92 ·
MT Jun 92
Digital Performer 1.01Date / status: Jul 92CONTEMPORARY REFERENCESMT Jul 92 ·
MIX Aug 92 ·
EM Sep 92 ·
MT Sep 92 ·
SOS Sep 92 ·
MT Oct 92
Digital Performer 1.1bDate / status: 1992CONTEMPORARY REFERENCESSOS Nov 92 ·
SOS Nov 92 ·
SOS Nov 92 ·
EM Dec 92 ·
EM Dec 92 ·
Recording Musician Jan 93
Digital Performer 1.3Date / status: Mar? Apr? May? Jul? 1993CONTEMPORARY REFERENCESSOS Mar 93 ·
SOS Arp 93 ·
SOS May 93
Digital Performer 1.4Date / status: Aug? Oct? 1993CONTEMPORARY REFERENCESEQ Oct 93 ·
MT Aug 93 ·
EM Sep 93
Digital Performer 1.41YDate / status: 1994COMPATIBILITY NOTELast version to support CBX-D5 (Yamaha-MOTU agreement lasted only 1 year)
CONTEMPORARY REFERENCESFAQ (Last Updated: September 11, 1996)
Digital Performer 1.5Date / status: Available by May 1995AUTHORIZATIONv1.5 - v1.71 use the same Master Disk Hard Disk Authorisation system
CONTEMPORARY REFERENCESSOS May 95
Digital Performer 1.6Date / status: ca. Aug 1995CONTEMPORARY REFERENCESSOS Aug 95 ·
SOS Aug 95 ·
SOS Dec 95 ·
FAQ (Last Updated: September 11, 1996)DOCUMENTATION / RELEASE NOTESCompatibility headlineNow Supports Pro Tools II & III and TDM
OverviewAbout Digital Performer - Overview - Digital Performer™ provides a powerful new approach to making music in the MIDI era: it integrates MIDI with desktop digital music production on the Macintosh computer. Digital Performer allows you to simultaneously record and play back multiple tracks of digital audio and MIDI data in a comprehensive, totally integrated, creative environment. Digital Performer’s award-winning multitrack sequencer design, combined with new non-destructive digital audio editing capabilities, provide you with unprecedented flexibility and control over the music that you make.
Digital Performer supports the following Digidesign hard disk recording systems: ■ Audiomedia ■ Audiomedia II ■ Audiomedia LC ■ Sound Tools II ■ Pro Tools (4 - 16 channels) ■ Pro Tools III (16 - 48 channels) ■ TDM and TDM-compatible software plug-ins
Integration with Performer’s existing interface - In developing Digital Performer, we have integrated audio features into Performer’s existing features in a way that complements Performer’s unique user interface—and accommodates those of you who are already familiar with Performer. In fact, many features in Performer work on audio data in exactly the same way as MIDI data. For example, soundbites (parcels of audio data) have on-velocities just like notes. You can edit them in the same way as you edit note velocities. Soundbites can be cut, copied, and pasted in exactly the same fashion as MIDI note data.
If you are not familiar with hard disk recording and playback, there are aspects to Digital Performer that may be entirely new to you. If so, we recommend that you review chapter 6, “Hard Disk Recording Basics” (page 47) for a briefing on concepts that are crucial for working with Digital Performer.
Digital audio specifications - Digital Performer records professional, CD-quality monophonic digital audio at whatever sampling rates are offered by the recording hardware being used. Digital Performer can record in stereo by recording into a pair of audio tracks. Recording with Digital Performer produces approximately 5 Megabytes of data per minute of monophonic audio at 44.1 kHz (10 megabytes per minute of stereo). Digital audio data can be backed up and mixed down to any standard digital audio medium.
File formats - Digital Performer generates 16-bit, Sound Designer II files at any available sampling rate. It can load and play back files in thefollowing formats: Sound Designer, Sound Designer II (mono), and Audio IFF.
New features in Version 1.6New Features in Version 1.6
All new features in Performer Version 5: Digital Performer 1.6 has all of the new features introduced in Performer Version 5, including color, Groove Quantize, and more.
Movie Window for digital video playback: Digital Performer 1.6 can play back QuickTime movies.
Using the mouse to edit values in text boxes: You can now change number or note values in text edit boxes throughout the program by clicking on the text box and dragging up or down. You can also still edit text box values in the usual ways (by typing, etc.).
Support for the Digidesign Audio Engine (DAE): Digital Performer Version 1.6 has been completely re-engineered for the Digidesign Audio Engine (DAE) . DAE handles the core tasks of interacting with the Digidesign audio recording hardware. Digital Performer’s support for DAE provides support for: ■ Pro Tools III (16-48 tracks) ■ Pro Tools (4-16 tracks) ■ 4 independent audio inputs/outputs in Sound Tools II systems ■ Audiomedia LC support ■ Complete support for TDM ■ Future compatibility with Session 8
Support for TDM: Digital Performer’s TDM-related features allow you to mix and process audio tracks with TDM plug-ins if you have a Pro Tools I with TDM or Pro Tools III hardware setup. TDM effects are accessed via the effects inserts in the new Mixing Board window (described later). pananrnneti The number of effects that you can apply simultaneously depends on TBM Plug-Ins the amount of DSP processing hardware you have in your system. The example below shows Digidesign’s 4-band EQ plug-in.
Multi-track graphic editing window for audio tracks: There is now one graphic editing window for all audio tracks in a sequence. In the window, you can quickly display and hide any combination of the audio tracks in a sequence. In addition to many other advanced graphic editing features, this window displays and edits audio volume, audio pan, and loop data directly on top of the audio waveforms in each track.
The Mixing Board window: totally integrated mixing, EQ, and effects: The new Mixing Board window has channel strips controlling volume, pan, inserts, solo, mute, and automation for every audio and MIDI track. You can configure this window to display all or any combination of the tracks in a sequence, and you can save board layouts for instant recall. Volume and Pan are available for both MIDI and audio tracks. Effects are available for all MIDI tracks and all audio tracks Gif the hardware supports audio effects). Choosing an effect from one of the insert pop-up menus opens the Effects window.
Effects window: The Effects window can be accessed by choosing the desired effect from the channel insert pop-up menus in the Mixing Board as shown in Figure 3-1 on page 18. The Effects window provides access to all third-party TDM plug-ins you have in your system, as well as MIDI processing parameters for MIDI tracks.
MIDI output processing: MIDI tracks can now be non-destructively processed with MIDI “effects”. This means that you can transpose a track on the fly, for example, without affecting the original data in the track. MIDI processing is located in the effects section of the new Mixing Board window. This new feature offers two initial effects: transposition and velocity compression. Look for many other MIDI processing modules in future versions of Digital Performer, including quantizing, shifting, and many more.
Improved audio file management and organization: Digital Performer offers improved sound file management. Audio files for a Digital Performer project are stored in an automatically created Audio Files folder. You can store the audio files wherever you want—even on a different hard drive—and Digital Performer will keep track of them by placing System 7 aliases in the folder. Digital Performer keeps better track of audio files by taking advantage of other System 7 file management enhancements.
Audio scrubbing: Version 1.6 offers scrubbing in soundbites by command-dragging inside a pop-edited soundbite as shown below.
Scrubbing while selecting: When you are selecting a region of audio within a soundbite, you can scrub the audio as you select to get auditory feedback of what youare selecting.
Adjusting soundbite boundaries: The boundaries of soundbites can now be freely adjusted by dragging the endpoints of the soundbites. The waveform is“uncovered” or covered as you drag to show more or less of the audio data in the audio file.
Dragging and dropping soundbites: You can drag and drop soundbites from the Soundbites window into the Tracks Overview, Event List window, and the Graphic Editing window. In the Graphic Editing window and Tracks Overview, use the command key while dragging to place the soundbite at the end of the previous one to quickly build a playlist.
Soundbite “throwing” in the Graphic Editing window: By command-dragging soundbites in the Graphic Editing window, you can “throw” them to the edge of the next or previous soundbite. You can achieve a similar effect by dragging soundbites from the Soundbites window into an event list, which drops the soundbite into the track at the end of the last soundbite.
Enhancements for selecting and editing inside soundbites: Many enhancements have been made to select and edit audio within a pop-edited soundbite. For example, you can now scroll and zoom the window as needed while the soundbite remains popped up. You can even do so with a portion of the soundbite highlighted. You can also cut, copy, or erase a highlighted region within a soundbite.
Enhancements to the Audio Monitor window: The Audio Monitor has numerous small enhancements to improve its usefulness during a session.
Edit on Zero Crossings command: You can now control whether Digital Performer will automatically find zero crossings when you edit soundbites with commands such as cut, copy, split, trim, etc. Turning off Edit on Zero Crossings mode gives you greater precision. Turning it on helps avoid noise artifacts at edit boundaries.
MIDI Time Code Generation: Digital Performer can now transmit MIDI Time Code to any piece of MIDI hardware in your setup via the Transmit Sync command in the Basics menu. It can also transmit MTC to other applications running at the same time as Digital Performer when Inter-application MIDI is turned on in FreeMIDI Setup preferences (File menu).
MTC is generated at the SMPTE frame rate specified for the current file except when Digital Performer is set to Slave to External Sync and is receiving MTC. In this case, incoming MTC is echoed directly.
To generate MTC: Choose Transmit Sync from the Basics menu. Choose a destination for MTC from the pop-up menu. You can choose more than one destination by clicking on the menu as many times as needed. Choose the destination again from the menu to turn off MTC transmission. If Inter-application MIDI is enabled in FreeMIDI Preferences (FreeMIDI Setup, File menu) you can send MTC to other FreeMIDI applications (including OMS applications, if OMS Emulator is installed).
Frame Rate command in the Basics menu: You can now set the SMPTE frame rate for a file using the Frame Rate command in the Basics menu. When you choose this command, a hierarchical menu appears containing the various supported SMPTE frame rates. Choose one and it will change the SMPTE frame rate for the current file. This has the same effect as setting the SMPTE frame rate from within the Receive Sync dialog.
Improved audio track muting and soloing: Audio tracks now mute and solo faster than previous versions. When muting, the response is instantaneous. When unmuting, the response depends on whether the DAE still has audio data to play. If it does, then the response is instantaneous. If not, then there is a delay while the DAE reloads its buffers.
Soundbite names can be edited in edit windows: Option-click to pop-edit soundbite names now in the event list window and in the graphic editing window info bar.
Audio faders now animate during playback: Audio faders in consoles now animate during playback to reflect audio volume and pan controller data in the track. Faders for audio tracks in the Mixing Board also animate during playback.
New preferences: There are several new audio-related preferences. You can set preferences in by choosing Preferences from the File menu.
System requirementsAudio hardware requirements: Digital Performer 1.6 supports the following Digidesign audio cards: ■ Audiomedia I and II ■ Audiomedia LC ■ Sound Tools II ■ Pro Tools (4-16 channels) ■ Pro Tools Project (formerly called Session 8 ) ■ Pro Tools III (16-48 channels).
Refer to Digidesign for information about the compatibility of the hard disk(s) you plan to use with the Digidesign Audio Engine (DAE) and their audio hardware.
Some of these audio cards may not be supported in future versions of DAE. Please check with Digidesign for the latest information regarding future compatibility.
Macintosh requirements: Digital Performer will run on any Macintosh that is compatible with the Digidesign audio cards listed in the previous section. Please contact Digidesign about the compatibility of these audio cards with specific Macintosh models.
System software requirements: Digital Performer requires System 7.0 or higher with 32-bit memory addressing enabled. If your Mac is not 32-bit clean, the Digital Performer installer will automatically install MODE32 or the 32-bit Enabler, whichever is correct for your Mac model. However, you must still enable 32-bit addressing manually after running the installer.
RAM requirements: Digital Performer requires a minimum of 12 megabytes of RAM, but this configuration may require you to lower Digital Performer’s default memory partition or strip your system of extensions, control panels and fonts. More RAM is recommended. If you have System 7.5 or higher, you will probably need more than 12 Mb of RAM because of the size of System 7.5.
Install and test your Digidesign hardware first
We recommend that you install and test your Digidesign hardware before installing Digital Performer 1.6. If possible, try playing back some audio with Sound Designer II or other Digidesign software to verify that the hardware is properly installed and functioning normally. If you experience problems, this will help narrow your focus and eliminate Digital Performer as a possible cause. Once you’ve got the Digidesign hardware working, you will most likely not have problems with Digital Performer.
Installation & authorizationInstalling Digital Performer 1.6: Before installing Digital Performer, we recommend that you review the hardware requirements listed above before proceeding.
Restart your Macintosh with Extensions OFF by holding down the Shift key while powering it up.Insert the Digital Performer 1.6 master disk (the disk with the colored glossy label) in any floppy drive and double-click the installer program named “Double-Click to Install”.
Follow the instructions provided. Currently, the installer installs DAE 1.32, DigiSystem 2.8, AROSE 1.19 (only needed on System Accelerator-equipped Macs) and Pro Tools SysAxe 2.34 (only needed on System Accelerator-equipped Macs). If you already have any of these Digidesign files in your system, the installer will only replace them if they are older versions. Please contact Digidesign for information on newer versions of these files.After completing the installation, restart your Mac.
Launch Digital Performer 1.6 and you will be asked to write-enable and insert the Digital Performer 1.6 master disk.
This will authorize Digital Performer 1.6 to run on your hard disk. If you want to install Digital Performer on a hard disk other than the one to which the installer copied it, drag the Digital Performer™ 1.6.ƒ folder to that hard disk before launching and authorizing.
Digital Performer 1.61Date / status: ca. Mar '96CONTEMPORARY REFERENCESEQ Mar '96) ·
FAQ (Last Updated: Sep 11 '96)DOCUMENTATION / RELEASE NOTESVersion 1.61 enhancementsVERSION 1.61 ENHANCEMENTS
Support for up to 64 tracks of Pro Tools
Users with TDM systems that include more than 16 voices can now use the additional voices.
Running as a “MIDI Only” application
The Basics menu now has a checkable “MIDI only” item. Select MIDI only mode to disable audio functions in Digital Performer. The MIDI Only and Configure Hardware commands are available when no file is open. When MIDI Only is enabled, project folders for New and Existing files are not created.
Improved Audio Patch Thru
Audio Patch Thru now provides two monitor modes on TDM systems. When an audio track is record-enabled, input audio is always patched thru during recording and when stopped. Enable Audio Patch Thru (the headphone icon button in the Audio Monitor window title bar) to control whether Audio Patch Thru also occurs during playback. Note that when Audio Patch Thru is enabled, soundbites in record-enabled tracks are not played back.
Mono versus stereo monitoring
On non-TDM systems (original ProTools, Session 8, and Audiomedia II), the Audio Monitor mini-menu has two new checkable monitor modes: Mono Monitoring and Stereo Monitoring. This controls whether inputs are patched thru directly to the corresponding output or mixed to the output pair.
Digital Performer 1.62ßDate / status: Available by Feb 24 '96DOCUMENTATION / RELEASE NOTESVersion 1.62 enhancementsVERSION 1.62 ENHANCEMENTS
Session 8 support - Digital Performer, along with the latest version of the DAE, supports up to 50 virtual audio tracks, audio scrubbing, 4 virtual EQ's (1 per track), and audio controller automation with the Session 8 hardware.☛ Please note that Digidesign calls the Session 8 hardware “Project” in the DAE’s Hardware Configuration dialog box.☛ Using a large number of virtual tracks or a smaller number of virtual tracks with denser automation data on Session 8 systems will cause DAE -9155 errors. This is a result of the performance limits of the Session 8 card itself.
Bridge I/O supportDigital Performer now supports all of the audio inputs and outputs that may be made available by installed Bridge I/O cards.
SampleCell TDM supportThe SampleCell TDM outputs can now be routed to Digital Performer as inputs to an audio track.
Nudging with the arrow keysJust select some data in the MIDI or Audio Graphic Editing window and type the left or right arrow keys on your Mac keyboard to nudge the data forward or backward in time. The Nudge amount varies with the current Zoom level if Edit Resolution is disabled and equals the Edit Resolution value if Edit Resolution is enabled.
Preference for disabling Disk I/O alertsOn expanded TDM systems with more than one Disk I/O card, soundbites from soundfiles that reside on a hard disk connected to a specific Disk I/O card can only play back on audio voices specific to that Disk I/O card. Whenever Digital Performer notes a hard disk/voice conflict, it produces a warning alert. There is a new preference in the Preferences dialog box that allows you to disable this warning alert. Soundbites that cannot playback due to these conflicts appear with X's in their display in the audio graphic editing window.
Bug fixesBugs fixed since Version 1.61
• This latest version of the DAE seems to fix random crashing during playback problems that some users have reported to both MOTU and Digidesign.
• A bug that causes crashes when certain TDM plug-ins are installed has been fixed. This was caused by plug-ins with names that contained more than 31 characters.
•A bug that caused available memory to be used up while fast forwarding or rewinding in files with audio tracks with automation disabled has been fixed.
• Potential crashing problems when adding audio tracks or mixing audio have been fixed.
• Problems with incorrect playback of automation data have been fixed.
• Potential crashing problems when editing data in the Event Info bar of Graphic Editing windows has been fixed.
• Problems on 442 (w/no TDM) and AudioMedia II systems that caused bogus DAE errors to be reported when working at or near the virtual track limit have been fixed.
• Error reporting of automation data queuing errors has been improved. Errors that do not cause actual playback problems should be reported less often, if at all now.
• A crash that occurred when copying and pasting sequences that had Device group assignments in their tracks was fixed.
• Deselecting a soundbite in the soundbites window no longer makes it audition in audible mode.Bugs fixed since Version 1.6
• A bug that could have caused intermittent crashing problems when edge editing soundbites has been fixed.
• A bug that could have caused intermittent crashing problems during playback has been fixed.
• The response of the Transport Controls in files with many audio tracks and files with many chunks has been greatly improved.
• Miscellaneous bugs with the reading and writing of standard MIDIfiles have been fixed.
• A bug that could cause MIDI Time Code (MTC) to be transmitted incorrectly has been fixed.
• A bug that could cause Digital Performer to intermittently start at an offset from the chunk's actual SMPTE start time when playing back while slaved to external SMPTE was fixed.
• Bugs that caused problems when opening older Performer and Digital Performer files that contained Custom Consoles have been fixed.
• Some bugs with the Compact command were fixed.
• A bug that caused problems when opening files that contained Console controls assigned to Device Groups has been fixed.
• On TDM systems, event chasing of audio pan and volume data has been greatly improved.
• Console controls no longer send their current values whenever the current Counter location is changed.
• Console controls in Console windows that are closed no longer have their values recorded to their targets during non-Auto Punch recording.
Digital Performer 1.7Date / status: Jan? Feb? '96CONTEMPORARY REFERENCESDocs✓,
EM Jan '96✓,
SOS Feb '96✓,
EM Jul '96✓,
SOS Aug '96✓,
SOS Sep '96✓
DOCUMENTATION / RELEASE NOTESBugs fixed since Version 1.62Bugs fixed since Version 1.62
• A bug that caused edge-editing problems with soundbites located at large measure numbers with edit resolution set to small values has been fixed.
• A bug that caused improper volume playback when playing soundbites in Song chunks with automation enabled and no automation data in the soundbite's track has been fixed.
• A long-standing bug that could cause soundfiles still containing soundbites to improperly be deleted has been fixed.
• Soundbites with velocities other than 127 are now chased properly when beginning playback after their attack time.
• Drag-and-drop of soundbites into the Audio Graphic Editing window now snaps to the Edit Resolution, if Edit Resolution is enabled.
• Digital Performer now remembers the positions of most windows, even if they are not open when you save the file.
• Edits to audio tracks can be heard right away. In previous versions, the old data could still play for 5 - 10 seconds.
• The Audio Graphic Editing window now draws soundbites correctly in Conductor track mode, when there is not a constant tempo.
• The Scale Tempos... command will now insert a tempo event at the beginning of the selection, if there was not already one there.
• An old bug that caused a crash when play-enabling a linked chunk while the Mixing Board window was open has been fixed.
• A bug that caused stereo/mono monitoring (Project and Session 8 hardware only) preference to be set incorrectly when first opening Digital Performer has been fixed.
Digital Performer 1.71Date / status: 19 March '96, 6 June '96, and 7 June '96 timestampsCONTEMPORARY REFERENCESMacWorld Sep '96✓,
Digidesign PCI Systems Compatibility - Supported Digidesign Hardware, Software, and CPU ConfigurationsDOCUMENTATION / RELEASE NOTESInstallation, authorization, PCI features & bug fixesFor complete information on the features included in Digital Performer 1.71, please read the "Guide to Pure DSP/Read This First, Installation Guide" booklet, which comes with your Digital Performer 1.7 update package.
INSTALLATION - To install the Digital Performer 1.7 to 1.71 updater, locate the DP 1.7 to 1.71 Updater application and double-click it's icon. The updater will ask you to locate Digital Performer 1.7. Once you have located it click "Update" and version 1.7 will be updated to version 1.71.The updater will leave your original version 1.7 intact.
Digital Performer 1.71 uses the same hard disk authorization as Versions 1,5, 1.6, 1.61, 1.62ß and 1.7. So if your hard disk is authorized to run any of these earlier versions, Version 1.71 will also run. Depending upon from which version you are updating, the first time you launch Digital Performer 1.71, you may get a message asking for the original authorization master disk. After re-verifying your authorization, you will not be asked for the master disk again.
NEW PCI FEATURES AND NOTES
•Support for Digidesign's AudioMedia III, Pro Tools Project PCI, and Pro Tools III PCI.
•AudioMedia III supoprt provides 8 audio playback voices (virtual track limit of 32) and 8 total channels of EQ with 1 insert per track
•Pro Tools Project PCI support provides 8 audio playback voices (virtual track limit of 50) and 8 total channels of EQ with 2 inserts per track.
•Pro Tools III PCI support (core system) provides16 audio playback voices (virtual track limit of 49) and more DSP resources available per DSP chip.
•Improved DSP allocation for TDM mixers. Digital Performer now takes advantage of the added processing power of PCI TDM systems (allowing up to a 36x2 mixer on PCI systems, only 24x2 on NuBus systems).
•DAE 3.0 is required for PCI systems and will not run on NuBus systems.
•We recommend DAE 3.01 for PCI and DAE 2.96 for NuBus.
•For Pro Tools Project PCI users DAE 3.01 is required.
•Digidesign is making DAE 3.01 availble soon. We will post it for downloading at our web site (www.motu.com) as soon as we have it.
BUG FIXES IN VERSION 1.71
Bugs fixed since Version 1.7
•A bug that caused a random crash while edge editing has been fixed.
•A bug that would cause a crash when opening files with the Song window open has been fixed.
•Fixed a bug in the Mixing Board that incorrectly activated track automation while automation was disabled if a TDM plug-in was instantiated.
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