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[smilesdavis]

1.0 (1992)

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, SOS May 92, SOS May 92, MT May 92, REP May 92, REP May 92, SOS Jun 92, EM Jun 92, MT Jun 92

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reMarks No. 3, Summer 1991

Digital Performer — A Random Access Revolution

Inspiration strikes! You quickly sequence in a killer drum groove and rockin’ piano part. Then you set up a microphone, plug it into your Macintosh and tear off a lead vocal track that makes Ray Charles drop his Diet Pepsi! No it’s not a dream, it’s Digital Performer® in action.Digital Performer creates a new frontier for desktop music production by integrating MIDI sequencing and digital audio recording. Digital Performer allows you to simultaneously record and playback multiple tracks of digital audio and MIDI in an integrated, creative environment. Digital Performer’s award-winning sequencer design, combined with random access digital audio provide unprecedented flexibility and control over the music that you make.Digital Performer allows you to record professional, CD-quality digital audio and sequence MIDI instruments. Digital Performer lets you add guitar solos to your sequences. Create music for advertisements and record the voice-over all with your Macintosh. For many projects, Digital Performer eliminates the need to synchronize to a tape recorder.In developing Digital Performer, we have integrated audio and MIDI features in a way that complements Performer’s unique user interface—and accommodates those of you who are already familiar with Performer. In fact, because of the random access capabilities, many features in Digital Performer work on audio data in exactly the same way as MIDI data. Parcels of audio data (called soundbites) can be cut, copied, and pasted in exactly the same fashion as MIDI note data. Wherever possible, Digital Performer uses identical displays and commands for both audio and MIDI recording and editing. This creates a seamless environment for creative work.Digital Performer currently supports the Digidesign Sound Accelerator and Audiomedia hard disk recording systems, which provide two channels of recording and playback and Pro Tools which offers 4–16 track capability. Digital Performer will easily accommodate future developments in digital multitracking systems.

Working with Digital PerformerDigital Performer records audio in much the same way as a multitrack tape system, but with increased flexibility. You can record an unlimited number of audio tracks with playback dynamically allocated to the available tracks of your hardware. Digital Performer gives you unprecedented flexibility for editing, rearranging and mixing the audio with your MIDI tracks.

Random Access Audio for Fun and ProfitHow the Tapeless studio helps make ultra-clean recordings with no waxy build-up!Digital Performer is designed around digital audio recording systems such as Digidesign’s Sound Tools that record directly onto the hard disk of your computer. These systems are an important advance in functionality over digital systems that record onto tape such as a DAT or F1 format recorder. These new direct-to-disk systems give you Random Access to any portion of your recording.

Random Access PlaybackTape cannot easily provide fast, random access playback because as you record, the tape winds forward in a linear fashion. To get to a section in the middle of the tape, you must rewind or fast forward the tape to the correct position. This takes time and forces you to stop playback while searching.However, with a hard disk, the read head of the disk drive can access any position on the disk very quickly, much faster than the ear can hear. This allows you to select any portions of the recorded information to be played back in any order seamlessly, without any drop-out in signal or wait between sections.When using this random access capability, you can record a long passage, say two verses and two choruses, and then either play back the entire recording or create smaller regions of this recording, anything from a single word or drum hit to any measure to one of the choruses. You can create as many of these “regions” as you wish and then play them back in any order, all without affecting the original recording at all! This random access method of playback brings the same flexibility to audio tracks that MIDI sequencers brought to virtual MIDI tracks.

Digital AudioWhen digitally recording audio, you are in effect recording the actual audio waveform to a stream of numbers. A digital recorder reduces the audio signal to a formula of amplitude over time. There are two terms that are important to understand when dealing with digital audio recorders, “sampling rate” and “amplitude resolution.”Amplitude is how loud the signal is at any given time. Professional Digital Audio recorders often use an amplitude resolution of “16 bits,” or 65,536 individual steps. This means that at any instant, the amplitude of the audio source can be recorded with a range of possible values from 0 to 65,535.The sampling rate determines how many “snapshots” of the amplitude level are taken every second. The professional standard The professional standard of 44.1 kHz sampling rate means that 44,100 recordings of the amplitude level are made every second. To make accurate digital recordings, you need to have a sampling rate that is at least twice the frequency of the highest pitch you wish to record.The sampling rate determines the highest frequency that can be recorded. The amplitude resolution determines the dynamic range. Together, the 16 bit resolution and 44.1 kHz sampling rate give the necessary fidelity and detail to accurately reproduce sound. These are the standards used for CD-quality digital audio. For more information about digital audio, we suggest the following books: • Principles of Digital Audio — by Ken Pohlmann • The Recording Studio Handbook — by John Woram • Digital Audio Engineering — edited by John Strawn

On-Line Helpful HintsPerformer’s comprehensive On-Line Help provides quick access to on-screen explanations of each feature in the program. On-line help can be a lifesaver during an important session and can help minimize frustration by providing fast answers and information about Performer’s features without interrupting your work.You can get help on any item in Performer, including menu items, grayed out (unavailable) menu items, mini-menus, windows, and buttons by clicking the item with Performer’s Help cursor.The Help information in Performer is stored separately in a special file called the Performer Help file. When you install Performer you must also install the Performer Help file in order to be able to get help when running Performer.Once you have installed the Performer Help file and you are running Performer, you can get help on anything in Performer’s screen with the Help cursor. To turn the arrow cursor into Performer’s Help cursor, hold down the command, option, and shift keys together. When you release the keys, the cursor will turn back into an arrow. On extended keyboards, you can also activate the Help cursor by pressing the Help key.To get help on something, just click it with the Help cursor. If it’s a menu item, select it from the menu with the Help cursor. When you release the mouse button, a help window will appear that briefly explains the item. To make the help window disappear, click anywhere. All major features in Performer have a help item as well as most smaller features.Performer’s Help menu contains two selections: About Help and Show Balloons.Choosing About Help opens a Help window that describes in detail how to use the On-line Help feature.Choosing Show Balloons makes the arrow cursor turn into the Help cursor without holding down any keys. This is convenient when you would like to browse several features. In Show Balloons mode, any item that you click on or select from a menu will open a help window. Pressing the help key is the same as choosing Show Balloons.In Show Balloons mode, you can temporarily turn the cursor back into the arrow by holding down the command-option-shift key combination. To permanently turn the cursor back into the arrow, choose Hide Balloons from the Help menu or press the Help key again.

A sampling of the new features.Recording with Digital Performer produces approximately 5 Megabytes of data per minute of monophonic audio (10 megabytes per minute of stereo). Digital Performer generates 16-bit, 44.1 kHz, mono Sound Designer II files and can load and play back files in Sound Designer, Sound Designer II (Mono and Stereo) and Audio IFF formats.

Soundbites and SoundfilesA "soundfile" is a file on the hard disk that contains audio data. A "soundbite" is a region within a soundfile or a portion of the soundfile. For example, a soundfile could consist of a recording of an entire song. A region might be a two bar phrase from the second chorus in the middle of the soundfile.Soundbites (regions) exist within a soundfile. A soundbite is any portion of a soundfile. It can even be the entire soundfile. Soundbites are called “regions” in a Sound Designer II file. For example, a Sound Designer II file has a region list, from which you can build playlists.A Soundbite is just a pointer to a section of a soundfile, not the actual data itself. This allows you to make edits and changes to a specific Soundbite without affecting the original data. If you trim or delete a Soundbite, you are only changing pointers that indicate how to play a portion of a sound file. This is called “Non-Destructive Editing” as it does not damage the original recording in any way.Soundbites are edited in the same way as MIDI note data. In addition to top-editing a track line and clicking in the Event List and Graphic Editing windows, Soundbites can be edited by most of Performer’s region editing commands that apply to MIDI note data. These commands include: all Edit menu commands (Undo/Redo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Erase, Repeat, Merge, Snip, Relock, Shift, and Select All), Quantize, Smart Quantize, Deflam, Change Velocity, and Reverse Time also affect soundbites.

The Soundbites WindowAs you work with Digital Performer, you’ll create many soundbites. The soundbites window helps you manage them. Think of this window as your “catalog” of audio data. It lists all of the portions of audio that you are working with in the file.The Soundbites Window shows the exact duration, sampling rate, bits and number of channels for each soundbite, as well as the soundfile from which the soundbite was created. You can sort this list by name, soundfile and size. Digital Performer’s Audible Mode allows you to audition any soundbite directly from this window.

Audio TracksDigital audio soundbites are recorded into Audio Tracks. In almost every way, these tracks function in the same way as Performer’s standard tracks which contain MIDI data. You can assign an Audio Track’s playback channel assignment and set its record and play enable status. Performer supports an unlimited number of Audio tracks (within RAM) with playback dynamically allocated among the available hardware channels.Soundbite events can be viewed and edited in the tracks Overview section just like MIDI data. This window is perfect for arranging sections of your music or changing the form of a composition.

Event Editing for Audio SoundbitesDigital Performer has two event editing windows for more detailed editing of soundbites; Event List and Graphic.The Event List window provides a playlist style view of the different soundbites as they appear over time. You can pop-edit, placement and volume like a standard MIDI event.The Graphic Editing window actually shows you a picture of the waveform that makes up the Soundbite. You can freely move soundbites by dragging their pictures forwards or backwards in time. The Graphic Editing window includes a continuous data grid for pan and volume events. This window also allows selection of soundbites for more sophisticated editing such as Split, Trim and Strip Silence. To select a soundbite, double-click on it. It will highlight and an editing box will appear around it.After a soundbite is selected, you may highlight any region within it to modify its length with the Trim or Split commands.

TrimThe Trim command allows you to select any region of a soundbite and “trim” off the rest of the soundbite. This creates a new soundbite from the original soundbite that is only the portion you selected.

SplitThis is similar to trim, however instead of removing the unhighlighted section from the track, it splits the soundbite into multiple soundbites.

Strip SilenceStrip Silence breaks up a soundbite into several smaller soundbites by removing all of the portions that consist of silence. For example, the following soundbite consists of the spoken phrase “Hey! Watch out!”You could use Strip Silence to remove the silence from between the words and create three separate soundbites.

Volume and Pan for Audio TracksVolume and pan events can be created for audio tracks in the same view and edit volume and pan events in both the Graphic and Event List editing windows.

Mono and Stereo SoundbitesAny audio track in Digital Performer can have both Mono and Stereo soundbites. This allows maximum flexibility in handling your digital audio playback assignment.

ZoomThe Time Zoom buttons to the left of the Time Ruler expand and contract time to give you a more global or detailed view of the waveform.

The Audio Monitor WindowThe Audio Monitor Window shows the level of Digital Audio playback. The window also doubles as an input monitor for recording new digital audio tracks.

Digital Performer Features• Unlimited Number of Audio Tracks • Digital Audio Event List window • Digital Audio Graphic Editing window • Soundbites window • Audio Monitor • Stereo and Mono Soundbites • Non-Destructive Editing • Split • Trim • Strip Silence • Re-load • Compact

Digital Performer 101: Questions and AnswersEverything you always wanted to know about Digital Performer!

What Hardware do I need?First, you need a Macintosh SE/30, II, IIx, IIcx, IIci, or IIsi. As of this printing, you can use either the Pro Tools, Sound Tools or Audiomedia systems from Digidesign. You can use any of the Digidesign audio converters such as the AD In, DAT I/O, or PRO I/O. Support for other systems will be available in the future. You will also need a large hard disk, 10 megabytes for every minute of stereo digital audio you wish to record.

How many tracks can I record?Digital Performer supports an unlimited number of digital audio tracks. It is important to note however that the hardware that you use to play back the digital audio will present a limitation. The Digidesign Sound Tools and Audiomedia cards support 2 tracks with upgrades to the Pro Tools multi-track systems coming soon. Digital Performer will support more advanced multi-track systems as they become available.

How do I get Digital Performer?You may purchase the program from any authorized Mark of the Unicorn, Inc. dealer. Registered users of Performer may upgrade directly from Mark of the Unicorn.

What Is a "Soundbite"?In Digital Performer, a set of pointers to a region in a soundfile—the start of the region and the end of it—is called a soundbite. In a Sound Designer II file, it is called a region. In Digital Performer, we call these regions soundbites because the word region means something entirely different in Performer: it is a period of time within one or more tracks over which an editing command will take effect. Therefore, to avoid confusion with the word region, we use the term soundbite to describe a Sound Designer II file region. They are one and the same.

How Do I Record in Stereo?Simultaneously record two mono channels and then pan them hard left and right for playback.

What is Non-Destructive Editing?Almost every operation in Digital Performer that affects audio data is non-destructive, which means that it never alters the audio data that has been recorded onto the hard disk. Instead, when you cut, copy, paste, or use other similar editing commands in Digital Performer, you are actually editing pointers to the original audio data. A pointer is a reference in Digital Performer to a specific location in a soundfile. The soundfile itself is not altered. Non-destructive editing provides immense power and flexibility when handling large audio data files (soundfiles). You can copy and duplicate regions in the soundfile from Digital Performer, but in fact, you are only creating pointers to the original data, which take up virtually no memory or disk space.

What If I Want To Do Destructive Editing?Destructive editing operations include things like reversing the audio, setting fades, normalizing, changing gain, etc. These operations can be done within Sound Designer II. Digital Performer’s “Edit in Sound Designer II” command provides a convenient way to quickly switch into Sound Designer II to perform destructive editing on a soundbite you have created in Digital Performer.

Can I record a CD into Digital Performer, and then view the music in the Notation Editing window?This is a very good idea. Unfortunately, the technology to analyze the waveforms, separate the sound out into different instruments, do pitch-to-MIDI conversion so it can be displayed as Notation or Graphic editing events, and do it all fast enough to be usable is still years away. Anyone with good insights on how to accomplish this should send us their resume!
1.01 (Jul 1992)

MT Jul 92, MIX Aug 92, EM Sep 92, MT Sep 92, SOS Sep 92, MT Oct 92

1.1b

SOS Nov 92, SOS Nov 92, SOS Nov 92, EM Dec 92, EM Dec 92, Recording Musician Jan 93

1.3 (Mar? Apr? May? Jul? 1993)

SOS Mar 93, SOS Arp 93, SOS May 93

• all features of Performer 4.1
• supports up to two CBX-D5s (8 tracks) and makes full use of the D5's dual DSPs to provide an extensive range of effects.

1.4 (Aug? Oct? 1993)

EQ Oct 93, MT Aug 93, EM Sep 93

• all features of Performer 4.2
• general PowerBook compatibility
• MIDI-slave-to-audio operation
• 4 channels of audio using the Audio Media II card (custom MOTU driver)
• Enhanced continous sync
• Recording digital audio with external sync
• Tempos to 100ths
• Tracks overview/ Event List/Graphic editor/Wave editor
• Treats everything as a separate mono fileSoundfile mixing
• Cut/copy/paste/merge/move/pan/gate/split into sections/volume
• Crossfades drawn or recorded with Consoles
• Consoles for MIDI and audio
• After Dark compatibility

1.41Y (1994) — Yamaha CBX-D5-specific build

The Yamaha–MOTU agreement lasted only one year; CBX support was subsequently discontinued.

1.5 (avail. by May 1995)

SOS May 95

• QuickTime support
• Digidesign DAE support

1.6 (ca. Aug 1995) Sticker: "Now Supports Pro Tools II&III and TDM"



SOS Aug 95, SOS Aug 95, SOS Dec 95

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About 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.

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New 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.

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Audio 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.

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Installing 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.
1.61 (ca. Mar 1996)

EQ Mar 96)

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VERSION 1.61 ENHANCEMENTS

Support for up to 64 tracks of Pro ToolsUsers with TDM systems that include more than 16 voices can now use the additional voices.

Running as a “MIDI Only” applicationThe 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 ThruAudio 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 monitoringOn 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.
1.62ß (available by Feb 24, 1996)

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VERSION 1.62ß ENHANCEMENTS

Session 8 supportDigital 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.
1.7 (Jan? 1996)

EM Jul 96, SOS Aug 96, SOS Sep 96, MacWorld Sep 96, EM Jan 96, SOS Feb 96

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Audio hardware requirements

Digital Performer 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. A PowerPC Macintosh is recommended for faster DSP processing.

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 16 megabytes (Mb) 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 at least 20 Mb of RAM because of the size of System 7.5.

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VERSION 1.7 ENHANCEMENTS

PureDSP™ Pitch Shifting, Time-Scaling, and Gender-bending

Improved Scale Time command

Improved menu organization

Commands that have to do with configuring your audio hardware have been moved to the Basics menu, which, in general, contains other commands for configuring and customizing Digital Performer.

Audio windows have been moved, sensibly, to the Windows menu, which has been alphabetized to make it easier to find the window you are looking for.

Several new commands have been added to the Audio menu, including the new Spectral Effects command and several commands for managing audio tempos.

Soundbites Window enhancements

The Soundbites window has several new features, which are summarized in the next few sections.

More, configurable columns

The Soundbites window now has more columns. Since you may not always be interested in seeing all of them, you may now choose which columns to view. The Columns Setup mini-menu command works just like the same command in the Tracks window (short-cut: double-click or option-click the label at the top of one of the columns). Also, you may rearrange the columns (as in the Tracks window) by dragging the label at the top of a column to the left or right. Digital Performer saves your customized column arrangement in the Digital Performer preferences file (in the Preferences Folder in the System Folder), so it is remembered in all of your Digital Performer files.

New Columns

The QUARTER|TICKS column shows the length of the soundbite in quarter notes and ticks. If the soundbite doesn’t have a tempo map, this column will be empty.

The TEMPO column shows the tempo of the soundbite if it has a tempo map. If the tempo of the soundbite varies, the average tempo is shown (labeled “avg.”) If the soundbite doesn’t have a tempo map, this column will be empty.

In previous versions of Digital Performer, the FILE column could show either the full path name of the soundfile, or just the file name. Now, this column always shows just the filename. If you need to know the full path name, you can see it in the status area (see the section on the status area, below).

The DISK column shows the name of the disk on which the soundfile resides.

The DSP column shows the DSP Preferences for the soundbite. You may choose independently for each soundbite how it should be transposed (if at all), and also whether it should ever be time-scaled. See the section on the status area, below, to find out how to set these preferences.

Sorting soundbites

The Sort command in the mini-menu can now sort the soundbites according to any column. Also, as described in the Guide to Digital Audio, sorting does not affect the order of soundbites that have the same value for the column you are sorting on, so you may find it useful to sort first by one column and then by another. For instance, if you first Sort by File and then Sort by Disk, the soundbites will now be arranged primarily by disk, but within each disk they will be sorted by file name.

Status Area

The new status area at the top of the Soundbites window gives you information about the selected soundbite or soundbites. It also allows you to set the DSP Preferences for the selected soundbites. (See “soundbite preferences for DSP” on page 11 for more information.)

The status area is the only place you can see the full path name of a soundbite’s soundfile. It also gives a more detailed description of a soundbite’s tempo map (minimum, maximum, and average tempo) than the tempo column does. You may find it best to keep the DISK, TEMPO, and DSP columns hidden most of the time, since that information is all available in the status area.

Save As Digital Performer 1.6

The Save As command now allows you to save a file so that it may be opened by Digital Performer 1.6, 1.61, or 1.62.

New sync remote controls

There are three new remotes in the Remote Controls window:■ Turn Slave to External Sync on or off■ Turn MIDI Machine Control on or off■ Turn FreeMIDI Sync on or off

MIDI Patch-thru in the background

A new checkbox in the Patch Thru dialog allows you to enable Digital Performer to patch thru even when another application is in front. For this to work, you must make sure the FreeMIDI applications only mode is enabled in FreeMIDI Setup’s Preferences.
1.71 (19 March 1996, 6 June 1996, and 7 June 1996 timestamps)

MW Sep 96

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For 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.

INSTALLATIONTo 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.

Bugs 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.

Bugs 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.

[smilesdavis]

2.0 (shipping Jan 16, 1997)

EM Jul 97, Sweetwater "Feb 24 97", Sweetwater "Feb 27 97"

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…that MIDI percussion track needs some groove quantizing. And the lead vocal audio track has way too much reverb. Gotta tweak the scale on that MIDI arpeggiator so it matches the new key. With Digital Performer 2.0, you can do it as fast as you can think it, in real time, as the music plays. And non-destructively, too, so you aren’t altering your original material. Digital Performer has effects inserts on both MIDI and audio tracks, which are integrated into a seamless, fully automated on-screen mixing console. Now add Pro Tools™/Digidesign’s industry-leading hard disk recording system — along with dozens of cutting-edge TDM™ plug-ins — and Digital Performer turns into the most powerful, flexible and intuitive MIDI and digital audio recording system available.

version 2 feature highlights
100% PowerPC native
(still runs great on any 68030 Mac or faster)
Support for Apple Sound Manager — play and record CD-quality digital audio on Power Macintosh with no extra hardware (available as a free upgrade Q1 1997)
Exceptional sample rate conversion produces virtually no harmonic distortion
Expanded support for Pro Tools III TDM, including 16 TDM busses, 4 sends per track (pre or post), aux tracks and master faders
Supports QuickTime Musical Instruments — plays MIDI on Macintosh internal speaker
Drag-and-drop markers on the main tracks overview and audio editor
“Unlimited” “takes” per track — keeps your track list short and manageable
Nondestructive MIDI output processing
MIDI echo and arpeggiator effects — now every synth you own can be an arpeggiator!
Unlimited multiple mixdowns for an entire sequence with instant recall
Adjust Beats feature lets you drag beats and barlines to line up with notes
Global selection — data stays selected in all windows, even after successive edits
Smart Selections™ provides “intelligent assistance” for fast, musical editing
MIDI scrubbing
Improved real-time notation — the best automated transcription you can get

circle #554 on reader service card

New version!

Digital Performer 2.0

Macintosh midi sequencing & digital audio recording/editing/mixing/effects / with music notation printing

Digital Performer wins another in 1997!

Mark of the Unicorn, Inc.
1280 Mass Ave. Cambridge, MA 02138
VOX 617/576-2760
FAX 617/576-3609
WEB www.motu.com
AOL keyword MOTU

©1997 Mark of the Unicorn, Inc. All trademarks are property of their respective holders.
2.1 (shipping Jun 1997)

SOS Jul 97, EM Aug 97

40 or more tracks of digital-audio recording, mixing, busing, EQ and effects processing on a Power Macintosh, performed nondestructively and in real time without dedicated internal audio hardware
real-time effects, including reverb, compression, limiting, expansion, gating, chorus and echo
new Samplers window for transferring samples between the Macintosh and compatible hardware samplers
local sample storage and integrated DSP processing
expanded integration with contemporary samplers, including the E-mu E4 series

2.11 (released Sep 26, 1997, at the 103rd AES Convention in New York City)

EM Oct 97, SOS Oct 97,MOTU.com, SOS Dec 97, KORG.com

support for Digidesign Pro Tools|24 (introduced Sep 24, 1997, and publicly presented at AES beginning Sep 26, 1997)
Korg 1212 I/O support
Apple Sound Manager support
Digidesign AudioMedia II and AudioMedia III support
free eVerb MAS plug-in
MAS support announced by DUY for four plug-ins
support for contemporary Akai, Roland and E-mu samplers

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Configuring Digital Performer
Digital Performer features fully integrated, direct support for the 1212 I/O. If the 1212 I/O is selected as the Sound Manager input and output device, this may cause problems during the initial Digital Performer audio hardware configuration process. Before configuring Digital Performer for use with the 1212 I/O, we recommend temporarily de-selecting the 1212 I/O in the Sound control panel, as described below.

To configure Digital Performer for use with the 1212 I/O:

1. Quit Digital Performer, if it is currently running.
2. Open the Sound control panel.
3. Select "Built-In" for both Input and Output.
4. Open Digital Performer.
5. Make sure that the MOTU Audio System is selected as the Audio System (in the Basics menu).
6. In the Basics menu, select MOTU Audio System options->Configure Hardware Driver.
The Configure Hardware Driver dialog will appear.
7. Select "Korg 1212" from the menu at the top of the dialog.
8. Set the other parameters as desired, and then press OK.
9. Quit Digital Performer.
10. Go back to the Sound control panel, and re-select the 1212 I/O for Input and Output.
2.2 (late 1997)

MOTU.com, EM Aug 98

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What’s New in Digital Performer Version 2.2

• Stereo tracks—edit, mix & process sample-locked stereo audio
• Stereo PureDSP time-scaling and pitch-shifting
• Mono & stereo crossfades—includes batch processing, background processing and custom fade curves
• Sound Manager support—no extra hardware needed to record, play, edit and mix CD-quality hard disk audio on Power Macs
• Support for KORG 1212 I/O audio card
• 32-bit real-time audio effects, including 8-band parametric EQ (up to 40 bands per track), hi-fidelity reverb (eVerb), dynamics, chorus, echo and more
• Dozens of effects presets
• Custom effects presets
• Unique Sample System—drag and drop audio between your Mac and today’s popular samplers
• Support for Adobe Premiere™ audio plug-ins with background processing
• Virtually unlimited audio tracks with new Bounce to Disk feature
• And much more…

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Installing Digital Performer 2.2 from this CD-ROM
1. Insert this disc into your Macintosh.
2. Double-click the “Install Digital Performer 2.2” icon (or the 2.2J icon for the Japanese version).
3. Follow the directions the installer gives you.
4. When the installer asks for it, insert the Digital Performer 3.5-inch authorization disk that accompanies this CD-ROM.
2.3 (shipping by Jan 29, 1998; presented at NAMM Jan/Feb 1998)


Digital Performer Overview
System Requirements
MAS Developer Index

PreAmp-1, a real-time plug-in designed to simulate tube-preamplifier warmth and distortion
integrated stereo recording, editing, processing and mixing
fades and crossfades with equal-power, equal-gain and custom curves

When using Digital Performer v.2.3 with OS8, in addition to the FreeMIDI extensions, Digital Performer will not boot unless the “SOMobjects for MacOS” extension is selected in the Extensions Manager. This has not been an issue on older versions of Digital Performer. The reason for this is that MOTU is starting to utilize some of the new features built in to new versions of the Mac OS. According to them it makes things more stable and easier to update. By Sweetwater on April 6, 1998

2.4 (May 15, 1998 / installer/package build date: June 4, 1998)

MOTU.com, MOTU.com, Macworld Mar 99

24-bit recording and processing
Digidesign Pro Tools|24 support, for the system introduced Sep 24, 1997
Apogee AD-8000 support
MOTU 2408 support
Sonic Modulator plug-in
sample-accurate synchronization -> Sample-Accurate Sync (ADAT Timecode) New 11/98!
Yamaha A3000 integration
enhanced Adobe Premiere plug-in support
AIFF and WAV import/export
drag-and-drop plug-in management

Jul 23 1998: Referring to yesterday’s blurb (inSync 7/22/98) about Waves plug-ins working with the MOTU Audio System (MAS) the guys at Waves have informed us that they do work much better with Digital Performer 2.4 than 2.3. The 2.3 version can have problems on the Korg 12/12 card in particular. The Digital Performer 2.4 upgrade is free to any registered 2.3 user

Digital Performer 2.4 features more efficient MAS
Starting with version 2.4, Digital Performer includes a new, more processor-efficient version of the MOTU Audio System (MAS), which offers greatly improved performance with the 1212 I/O. This means that you can play back more simultaneous tracks, or use more real-time effects.

The improvement comes from a change to MAS, so that it processes only the inputs and outputs actually being used at any given time. (Previous versions always used processing power for all inputs and outputs, whether or not they were being used.) This improvement is particularly noticeable when using audio cards with large numbers of inputs and outputs, such as the 1212 I/O.

For more information, see the MOTU website, at http://www.motu.com/english/software/dp/dp24/mas.html.
For more general information on this subject, see Impact of the 1212 I/O on CPU Processing Power.

Sample-Accurate Sync (ADAT timecode) New 11/98!

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What's New in Digital Performer Version 2.4

■ Sonic Modulator plug-in — create rich, unique effects with four LFOs, pitch, phase, amplitude & delay
■ 24-bit recordig — complete support for Pro Tools 24 
■ Dithering — cconvert 24 bit sessions to 16 bit
■ Sample accurate sync — to ADAT with KORG 1212 or MOTU Audio 2408. Or to DA88 with the 2408 and a DPT
■ Drag & Drop sampler support for Yamaha A3000
■ Drag & Drop effects plug-ins — quickly apply, move and duplicate effects by dropping them into "insert sockets"
■ Plug-in effects grouping — store, recall, move and duplicate effects as a group
■ Auto volume display in dB with boost up to +6dB
■ Audition Premiere plug-ins through your audio card and adjust the preview duration up to 60 sec
■ AIFF/WAV file import/export ■ Drag & Drop MIDI file importing dozens at once
■ and much more ...

Installing Digital Performer 2.4 from this CD-ROM
1. Insert this disc into your Macintosh.
2. Double-click the "Install Digital Performer 2.4" icon (or the 2.4J icon for the Japanese version).
3. Follow the directions the installer gives you.
4. When the installer asks for it, insert the Digital Performer 3.5 inch authorization disk that accompanies this CD-ROM.
Starting with version 2.4, Digital Performer supports the 1212 I/O's direct ADAT timecode synchronization.

Basic setup instructions

1. In Basic->Receive Sync, under "Type of sync," select "Sample accurate."
2. In Basics->MOTU Audio System Options->Configure Hardware Driver, select the 1212 I/O, and set the Sync Source to "ADAT."

Except when using the original ADAT without a BRC, the Sync Source can also be set to "SPDIF/word clock." Due to hardware restrictions, "Internal" cannot be used when syncing to ADAT timecode.
Remember to set the ADAT's clock source appropriately! See Setting the word clock source on an ADAT system for more details.
For more detailed information on setting up Digital Performer, please consult the Digital Performer 2.4 update documentation.

Use auto-punch

For best results, Korg recommends using Digital Performer's auto punch in/out feature.

Start the ADAT well before the punch-in point

Start the ADAT well before the punch-in point, on the order of 10-15 seconds. Shorter times may work, as long as you always see Digital Performer's counter moving in sync with the tape before the punch-in point arrives.

When using the BRC, turn off Digital Performer's MMC

When using sample-accurate sync in conjunction with an Alesis BRC, Korg recommends that you turn off Digital Performer's MMC (MIDI Machine Control) features.

1. Open Digital Performer's MIDI Machine Control window.
2. Make sure that the MMC Master Button (at the top of the window, between the computer and tape icons) is showing a white arrow; this means that it is deactivated.
3. As an added precaution, set the ADAT/BRC online/offline button to "Offline."

In OS 8.1, Apple removed the Options window for the built-in audio I/O, which had previously been used to select the input source (microphone, line inputs, CD, etc.) and turn play-through on and off. This window was brought up by the Options button in the Sound control panel (see Fig. 3) and by similar buttons in software such as Peak and Digital Performer. Under OS 8.1, these buttons no longer do anything. Digital Performer 2.4 addresses this issue by providing a new Sound Input menu in its own Sound Manager driver-configuration window.

[smilesdavis]

2.41 (1998)

Using DP 2.41 (or later) with other audio programs
Digital Performer 2.41 adds a new option to the File->Preferences dialog box, called "Play in background."

When "Play in background" is enabled, Digital Performer will hold on to the 1212 I/O as long as the program is open. This prevents the 1212 I/O from being used by other audio programs, such as waveform editors. Currently, it also prevents use of the 1212 I/O by Premiere plug-ins - even if the "Release Audio Driver while previewing" is enabled under Audio Preferences.

To allow use of the 1212 I/O by other programs and Premiere plug-ins, disable the "Play in background" option.

2.42 (1998)


2.43 (1998)

2.5 (announced Dec 1, 1998)

Sweetware Sound advertisment March, 1999

After many years of floppy disk‑based copy protection mechanisms, it seems as if the iMac and Blue G3s have finally broken this practice, with many of the software manufacturers changing to floppyless installation methods. MOTU now specifically mention that Digital Performer 2.5 [...] will authorise on all Macs without any need for a key disk or 'challenge and response' code schemes.

Digital Performer 2.5 and later include the MasterWorks Limiter, as well as many new mastering plug-ins.

DP 2.5 introduced the feature to import CD audio tracks into a stereo track of DP or into the soundbites window. To click drag a track from an Audio CD, here’s what to do

For our Mac system, however, I prefer MOTU’s Digital Performer 2.5 ($795). Digital Performer integrates extremely well with the other components in our particular system. BitHeadz and MOTU have been working together closely in several areas, and their programs communicate with each other quite well. For example, Unity and Retro appear in FreeMIDI just like other sound modules, and inside Digital Performer, you can select their numerous patches by name from pop-up palettes, which eliminates a lot of hassle. What’s more, MOTU will soon be offering a free version 2.6 upgrade, which will allow you to route Unity's outputs directly into Digital Performer's mixer for full audio integration. You can then mix Unity's outputs with Digital Performer’s other audio tracks and apply any of Performer’s plug-in effects to any or all of the audio tracks.

2.51 (3/23/1999)

Digital Performer 2.51 patcher (3/23/1999)
The enclosed update patcher will update Digital Performer version 2.5 to version 2.51. Run the patcher, select the installed Digital Performer 2.5 version and update.

Digital Performer 2.51 corrects a file saving problem that resulted in Error=103. Files that return the Error=103 in DP 2.5 can be opened and resaved with DP 2.51. This version also corrects a punch in/out record problem. In DP 2.5, punch in/out record did not work properly when opening a file saved with punch in/out enabled. Finally, we corrected problems that DP 2.5 had with entering Memory Start/End times.

• Direct I/O support for compatible Digidesign hardware, requiring Digidesign System Init 3.3.1 or later
• improved Direct I/O performance with Pro Tools|24 MIX and MIXplus systems
• improved S/PDIF input through AudioMedia III when switching between DAE and MAS, requiring DAE/DSI 3.3.1 or later
• optional PCI-324 Driver and PCI-324 Sound Manager Driver updates
• support for the blue-and-white Power Macintosh G3
• improved input monitoring in BIAS Peak

• improved support for ASIO hardware like the Yamaha DSP Factory
• intended specifically for Digital Performer 2.5 users operating ASIO hardware

2.6 (May 18, 1999)

MOTU.com, EM Jan 00, Sweetwater

• Polar - interactive looping/recording environment[/url]
• AudioTap, a plug-in that lets you route audio from any Sound Manager-compatible program directly into Performer[/url]
• new color-coding schemes and customization options[/url]
• powerful, new, fully integrated 24-bit waveform editor[/url]

The release of Digital Performer 2.6 added direct support of OMS via the FreeMIDI 1.4 release. If OMS (we recommend 2.3.6 or higher) is installed, Digital Performer can be configured to use your current OMS Setup, including OMS Devices and Patchlists. Because DP can now run under OMS, FreeMIDI’s OMS Emulation mode has been removed. If you wish to run Digital Performer with Digidesign’s Sample Cell under OMS (for example), you must configure an OMS Setup.

• functionally identical to MAS 2.0 as shipped with Digital Performer 2.6
• improved support for AudioMedia sample rates under the MAS native AudioMedia driver

2.61MTS (update notes dated Oct 18, 1999; released Oct 21, 1999)

MIX Aug 00

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Some of What’s New in Digital Performer

• Built-in waveform editor — use a pencil to remove clicks and pops at the sample level or perform other “destructive” editing without spending hundreds on extra waveform editing software
• MasterWorks Compressor and Limiter plug-ins — 64-bit mastering plug-ins with lookahead peak-limiting and all the advanced features you need
• Graphic 8-band EQ
• Sample-accurate editing — zoom in to the sample level and nudge MIDI and audio events by as little as one sample
• Pro Tools|24 MIX and MIXplus support
• Support for Sonorus StudI/O™, Yamaha DSP Factory™, and Event Layla™
• Digidesign Direct I/O support
• Normalize
• Fade In/Out
• Project copying/backup enhancements — “easily” collect all related audio/fade/analysis files when copying or archiving projects
• and much, much more...

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Installing Digital Performer from this CD-ROM
1. Insert this disc into your Macintosh.
2. Double-click the “Install Digital Performer” icon (or the “Digital Performer-J” or “Digital Performer-F” icons for the Japanese or French versions).
3. Follow the directions the installer gives you.
Digital Performer 2.61 patcher (10/21/1999) *LINK VERIFIED* Patches DP 2.6 to DP 2.61-MTS (special MTS - MIDI TIME STAMPING™ build for compatible MOTU USB MIDI interfaces: MIDI Timepiece AV-USB, MIDI Express XT-USB, micro express-USB, FastLane-USB). Sawtooth compatiblity (Power Macintosh G4 "sawtooth" support). Requires FreeMIDI 1.43 and MAS 2.03
Digital Performer 2.61 update notes (10/26/1999) *LINK VERIFIED*

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Digital Performer requires a Power Macintosh with 32 Mb of RAM or more and System 7.5.5 or higher. System 7.6.1 or later is recommended. A 17-inch monitor (or larger) is highly recommended. However, this configuration will not be able to play and record audio under Sound Manager.

current shipping MOTU Audio System 2.03
PCI-324 Driver 1.4
console applications for all MOTU audio hardware
ASIO 2 driver for MOTU hardware
2.7 (final shipping application build dated Apr 12, 2000; publicly available by May 8, 2000)

Does not require a Master Disk.

EM Oct 2000

• latest PCI-324 drivers
• latest console applications for MOTU audio hardware

2.71 (Jun 2000)


2.72 (final application/updater build dated Sep 28, 2000)

USB-Mac compatible
Now supports MOTO Audio System, ASIO 1.0, ASIO 2.0, DAE / TDM Including the following Digidesign Systems: Project II, Pro Tools24, Pro Tools24 Mix, Pro Tools24 Mix Plus
Includes our exclusive new MIDI timing technology - MTS - MIDI Time Stamping - the most accurate MIDI timing available.

• PCI-324 Driver 1.5 for AudioDesk

3.0 (Jan 18, 2001)

MOTU.com, EM Apr 01., MIX Mar 01, EQ Mar 01, EQ May 01

3.01 (Sep 24, 2001)

EQ Nov 01, Sweetwater

3.02 (Dec 13, 2001)

MIX May 02, MIX Jul 02, EM Aug 02

3.1 (Q1 2002)

Sweetwater, EQ Oct 01, EQ Jan 02, EQ Mar 02, MIX Mar 02, EM Sep 02, MIX Oct 02

3.11 (Oct 23, 2002 — final Digital Performer release for Mac OS 9)

EQ Feb 03