Xewton Music Studio Documentation

Analogously to the keyboard tab, sliding and pinching on the menu bar scrolls and zooms the song ruler, i.e. the currently viewed part of the song (if the song is longer than one measure).

6.1.2 What is a track?

Think of a track as one instrumentalist in a band or an orchestra. It holds recorded notes (events), an instrument and parameters. There can be multiple tracks with the same instrument but different parameters (e.g. volume, pan, attack/release time).

6.1.3 Track management

Only one track can be selected at one time. The keyboard will play this track's instrument, the record button will record on this track, and all the changes you make in the instrument tab will apply to it. You cannot delete the first track, the maximum number of tracks is 128. If you switch to 2 keyboard rows, a separate track for the lower row will be created (more on that later).

6.1.4 What is an event ?

A recorded note places 2 events on a track: key-down and key-up (also called note-on and note-off). The position of an event is stored with a resolution of 48 ticks per beat, which equals to 192 ticks per bar with a signature of 4/4, meaning that the shortest note can be a 1/192th.

6.2 Common controls

6.2.1 Play button

Start or stop playback of the song. Stop rewinds to the left marker.

6.2.2 Loop button

If looping is active and playback reaches the right song marker (usually the song end), it will jump to the left marker and continue playback from there. This allows you to loop any part of the song, since the markers can be moved in the song ruler.

6.2.3 Display

Shows the current playhead position in the format measure-dot-beat, e.g. 7.2 means that the playhead is in the 2nd beat of the 7th bar (measure). The display also shows parameter values (pan, volume) if you change them, and the currently selected notes in the piano-roll editor.

6.2.4 Beat button

Toggles the beat & metronome setup screen.

6.2.5 Layout button

Toggles the layout mode where you can...

- slide and pinch anywhere to scroll and zoom
- tap on the minimap to quickly scroll to an area
- tap the zoom+in and zoom-out buttons
- view the song length in seconds (on the right side of the minimap)

6.2.6 Undo button

Undo the previous action (selection does not count as an action). The undo memory is cleared if you switch between the mixer, sequencer and event editor.

6.2.7 Track edit mode switch

Switches between the mixer (MIX) and the sequencer (SEQ).

6.2.8 Tempo indicator

Shows the song tempo, bpm stands for beats per minute. Double tap it to bring up the beat & metronome setup.

6.2.9 Song ruler

The numbers and the vertical lines indicate the measures (bars), the short vertical lines are beats. The ruler also holds the playhead (white vertical line). Slide anywhere on the ruler to set the playhead position.

6.2.10 Song markers

The left and right song makers are located on the ruler and can be moved to a certain song position. Recording always starts at the left marker. If looping is enabled and playback reaches the right marker, it will jump to the left marker. Exporting to a wav file will only consider the area between the markers.

6.3 Mixer

6.3.1 Track list



	Here you can select a track and scroll the list of existing tracks. Each track row holds its number, instrument icon, volume bars, mute/solo/fx icons (see below), the keyboard row icon, and the recorded notes below the ruler. Move your finger across the track view to scroll the playhead and get an audio preview. Double tap any region of a track to enter the piano-roll editor. Congruent (identical) and overlapping notes are marked orange. Congruent notes result in higher note volume, while overlapping notes may not play as intended. Delete congruent notes and move overlapping notes to an additional track.

6.3.2 Instrument icon

Double tap it to change the track's color to a random color. The two green bars indicate the track's gain for both channels (L/R), showing volume and pan information at the same time.

6.3.3 Keyboard row icon



The selected track always shows the keyboard icon because it's playable in the keyboard tab. If you switch to 2 keyboard rows, a separate track for the new row will be created. The mixer shows you which track is assigned to which keyboard row. Selecting a track will always assign it to the upper row. However, the track assignment of the lower row cannot be changed. If you switch back to one row, the lower row's track will be deleted if nothing has been recorded on it.

6.3.4 Add track button



Add a new track with the current instrument to the bottom of the list.

6.3.5 Mute button



Mutes the selected track, excluding it from playback. Muted tracks are dark and display the mute icon.

6.3.6 Solo button



If one or more tracks are switched to solo, all non-solo tracks will be excluded from playback.

6.3.7 FX button



Sets the effects bus of the selected track. Per default, all standard effects apply to the track. Tap the FX button once to mark the track as FX track, meaning that also the FX effects (more on that in the effects tab section) apply, in addition to the default effects. Tap the button again to exclude the track from all effects (useful for raw drum and base sounds). The blue FX icon right to the track icon indicates each track's FX state. The image below illustrates the bus structure: Each effect is calculated only once. The effect's FX switch controls which bus it acts on. The amplifier effect acts on each track before they are mixed (pre-fader). Simply put, first the amplifier is applied, then all FX effects are applied to all FX tracks, this is mixed with all the other tracks, then all remaining effects are applied, the result is mixed with the no-FX tracks and put through the limiter.

6.3.8 Edit button



Switches to the piano-roll editor for the selected track.

6.3.9 Duplicate button



	Duplicates the selected track, thereby copying its parameters and notes.

6.3.10 Delete button



	Brings up a popup asking you if the track should be deleted or cleared. Clear will delete its notes but leave the track in the list. Delete will remove the track from the list.

6.3.11 Pan knob



	Touch it and move your finger left or right to change the selected track's stereo pan. The display in the menu bar will show the current value (left is -127, center is 0, right is +127).

6.3.12 Volume slider



	Displays and sets the track's volume. Its function is identical to the instrument tab's volume slider. The display in the menu bar will show the current value from 0 to 100%.

6.4 Sequencer

6.4.1 Track list

The sequencer's track list is almost identical to the mixer's track list. Since the sequencer edits bars (measures), track selection is not possible and the current track is not highlighted. Tapping a track's instrument icon will select all bars in the track.

6.4.2 New selection button



	Clears the current selection and starts a new one. Tap it, then draw a rectangle on the track's note sections in order to select bars. Selected bars are highlighted and their notes are colored dark blue.

6.4.3 Change selection button



	Adds or subtracts bars from an existing selection. Tap the button, then tap an unselected bar to add it to the selection, or a selected bar to deselect it.

6.4.4 Move button



	Activates the move mode where the selected bars can be dragged around. The song length can be increased by moving bars past the song end.

6.4.5 Duplicate button



	Duplicates the selected bars and selects the new ones which can be moved around immediately. The copied notes will appear orange until they are moved, because they are congruent (identical) with the originals. IMPORTANT: Not moving the new notes will cause them to be identical (orange) to the originals. They will be played back with increased volume.

6.4.6 Repeat button



	Duplicates the selected bars and moves them to the right so that they start where the selection ended. The song length is automatically increased if the new bars reach past the song end.

6.4.7 Transpose button



	Brings up the transpose menu which allows you to change the tone pitch of the selected bars. The semitone buttons de/increase it by one semitone, the octave buttons by 12 semitones. If the tonal range of the instrument does not allow for further transposition, the corresponding buttons will be disabled. The display in the track menu shows the number of semitones currently transposed.

6.4.8 Quantize button



	Brings up the quantization popup for quantizing the selected bars.

6.4.9 Edit button



	Switches to the piano-roll editor for the selected track. This button is enabled only if the selection of bars does not span more than one track.

6.4.10 Delete button



	Deletes the notes in the selected bars.

6.4.11 Song bar edit button



	Toggles the song bar edit mode where whole bars can be inserted and cut from the song. Tap anywhere to select a bar of the song (not just individual tracks), it will be highlighted red. The cut button deletes all notes in the selected bar and cuts it, i.e. shifts all later notes one bar to left and decreases the song length by 1 bar. The insert button inserts an empty bar at the position of the vertical line left to the red area. This means that the song length is increased by 1 bar and all notes to the right of the line are shifted one bar to the right.

6.5 Piano-roll editor

6.5.1 Piano-roll view

In contrast to the mixer and the sequencer screen, the piano-roll editor displays only one track. The horizontal song ruler is still the same, but the vertical axis now represents keys. The mini keyboard on the left serves as a ruler for the note pitch. The background has the track's color scheme, where the dark stripes represent black notes. White horizontal lines between B and C keys mark the octaves. Notes are displayed as blocks, the color indicates the volume (or velocity) from bright green (silent) to dark blue (loud).
Congruent (identical) and overlapping notes are marked orange. Congruent notes result in higher note volume, while overlapping notes may not play as intended. Delete congruent notes and move overlapping notes to an additional track.

6.5.2 Vertical scrolling

Slide vertically on the mini keyboard to scroll and do the pinch gesture to zoom vertically. At low zoom factors, selecting individual notes is nearly impossible, but of course greater note ranges can be selected at once.

6.5.3 Draw button

Tap it to enable the draw mode, where notes can be created without recording on the keyboard. A crosshair, an OK button and a new menu will appear. Underneath the crosshair, the translucent note is the one which will be created if you press the OK button. Move the crosshair to the desired note location and tap OK to create the note - immediately, a new translucent note awaits creation. The song length can be increased by dragging the crosshair past the song end. Press the done button to exit the draw mode.

6.5.3.1 Note buttons


	The selected note defines the length of the note to be drawn.

6.5.3.2 Dotted button



	Increases the note length by 50%.

6.5.3.3 Quantize button



	Quantizes the new note even before it is drawn. If this button is enabled, the crosshair snaps to a raster defined by the selected note button.

6.5.4 New selection button



	Clears the current selection and starts a new one. Tap it, then draw a rectangle in order to select notes. Selected notes are highlighted and the note range of the whole selection is shown by the display in the track tab menu.

6.5.5 Change selection button



	Adds or subtracts notes from an existing selection. Tap the button, then tap an unselected note to add it to the selection, or a selected note to deselect it.

6.5.6 Move button



	Activates the move mode where the selected notes can be dragged around. The bottom menu changes to display note buttons for setting a grid: tap a note button to instantly quantize the selected notes and at the same time set the grid (raster) for moving these notes around. "OFF" means that the notes are moved without a raster, i.e. on a 1/192th grid.

6.5.7 Duplicate button



	Duplicates the selected notes and selects the new ones which can be moved around immediately. The copied notes will appear orange until they are moved, because they are congruent (identical) with the originals. IMPORTANT: Not moving the new notes will cause them to be identical (orange) to the originals. They will be played back with increased volume.

6.5.8 Length button



	Tap it to enable the length edit mode which brings up a new menu. The buttons in this menu (notes, dotted, done) have the same function as in draw mode. Either tap a note button to set the length of all selected notes to an absolute value, or move your finger horizontally to de/increase the relative length.

6.5.9 Volume button



	Toggles the volume mode where the volume (or key velocity) of the selected notes can be modified by moving your finger vertically. The display in the menu bar shows the current volume of the first selected note, ranging from 0 to 127 (default is 100). The note color indicates the volume from bright green (silent) to dark blue (loud).

6.5.10 Quantize button



	Brings up the quantization popup for quantizing the selected notes.

6.5.11 Delete button



	Deletes the selected notes.

6.6 Quantization popup

Quantization is the most important step after recording since it corrects the timing. If the quantization raster (resolution) is one quarter note, every selected note is moved to the nearest raster point in a 1/4 note raster. The selection of the right raster is crucial, therefore you might want to try out different settings for each recording. For example, if you played a rather fast melody and quantized it to 1/4, the timing will be ruined - in this case, just tap the undo button and try again with a higher resolution like 1/16.

6.6.1 Note buttons

Set the quantization raster (or resolution) by selecting a note. In practive, low resolutions like 1/4 are the right choice for slow notes like the background cello in the demo "Canon in D (Pachelbel)". 1/16 fits to most melodies, while at 1/32 you will only notice the difference if you recorded fast notes (like a fast drum pattern) or at a low tempo setting.

6.6.2 Dotted button

Increases the quantization raster note length by 50%. For example if you selected 1/8 dotted, the quantization resolution is 1/6 of a bar.

6.6.3 Triplet button

Treats the notes as triplets, meaning that the raster note length is multiplied by 2/3. This allows for more swing and quantization of Jazz style melodies. Naturally, dotted and triplet cannot be enabled at the same it.

6.6.4 Note lengths button

If checked, note lengths will also be quantized, meaning that every note length will be an integer multiple of the selected quantization note. This is especially handy if you want to enforce legato.

6.6.5 Soft (humanize) button

If you want to keep a human touch to the recording, soft quantization will shift every note by just 50%, keeping it slightly off the perfect timing.

6.7 Beat screen

6.7.1 Signature

Tap the + or - button to change the song signature to a value between 3/4 and 6/4. Most songs have a signature of 4/4, meaning that 1 bar has 4 beats (i.e. the length of 4 quarter notes).

6.7.2 Tempo

Tap and drag the tempo (is is not necessary to use the - and + buttons) to change it quickly. The tempo range is 40 to 240 beats per minute.

6.7.3 Tap tempo button

An alternative tempo input method is to tap this button with the desired tempo at least two times.

6.7.4 Metronome style

Choose between four metronome sounds. The higher pitched (first) sound indicates the beginning of a bar, the other sound marks the other beats.

6.7.5 Precount

Set how many bars a recording will be precount. This is handy if you want to record the first note at the very beginning of the song (beat 1.1). Without precount, there wouldn't be enough time to tap the record button and immediately play the first note. Additionally, precount helps to get in line with the rhythm before you start playing (recording). For example if precount is set to 2 bars, the playhead position is at the beginning of the song (1.1) and you tap the record button, the playhead will count 2 bars from -2.1, -1.1 until the recording starts at 1.1.

6.7.6 Precount only at the beginning

If checked, precount is only applied if the left song marker is positioned at the beginning of the song. If it is not checked and the left song marker is for example at position 7.1, a 1-bar precount will beginn at 6.1.

6.7.7 Metronome volume slider

Sets the gain of the metronome sound.

6.7.8 Preview button

Tap and hold this button to preview the current metronome style and volume with the current song tempo and signature.