Versions and Updates Version 2.0 |

Beatnik Editor version 2.0 was released in September of 2000. Version 2.0 was the first release of the Beatnik Editor that supported both Windows and Mac OS. There was one maintenance release, version 2.0.1, to address a problem when Registering with an email address containing the underscore character (_).
What's New in Version 2.0
Topics:
Summary of Changes Tips for Version 1 Users Changed Key Commands Summary of Changes
The Beatnik Editor software has been completely rewritten for version 2.0, with a new look and feel, and major improvements in technology and user interface:
Cross-Platform - The Beatnik Editor is now available for both Mac OS and Windows. Revised Session window now includes tabs for all Songs, Instruments, and Samples in a project. You can keep multiple Session documents open at once, and you can drag, copy, and paste your Songs, Instruments, and Samples between Sessions. In fact, you can now copy and paste multiple objects at once. Revised Export RMF command makes RMF creation a single-step process: - With multiple Songs selected, Export RMF now creates one RMF file per Song. - With Instruments selected, Export RMF automatically creates a Song to trigger them, and includes it in the RMF file. - With Samples selected, Export RMF automatically creates Instruments from the Samples, per your instructions, and a Song to trigger them, and includes everything in the RMF file. No more MIDI file import step. Now GrooveGram-style RMF files are practically automatic - just load the RMF file, loop it, and add some JavaScript buttons to Mute and Unmute the Tracks. New support for RMFX files - just select the RMFX option in the Export RMF dialog box. No need for complex template Session files or cumbersome hand operations any more. (An RMFX file is an RMF file containing one or more Instruments, but no Songs - useful for sounds that will be triggered interactively with the Music Object but not used in stored Songs.) New Sample Editor with visual editing of sample waveforms and loop points. Commands include Cut, Paste, Clear, Crop, Gain Change, Normalize, Fade In, and Fade Out. New JavaScript window to help streamline the Sonification process. It shows the equivalent JavaScript code for actions that you take in the Beatnik Editor. You can copy the code in this window, and paste it right into your HTML editor. New Make Using... shortcut commands to streamline common operations: - Make Instrument Using Samples automatically builds one or more Instruments from one or more selected Samples, including creating the Keymap and laying the Samples out per your instructions. - Make Song Using Samples goes a step further, and creates not just the Instruments, but a simple Song that triggers them when the RMF file is played. - Make Song Using Instruments does the same thing in cases where you already have an Instrument built. Improved Undo / Redo - Every edit operation is Undo-able and Redo-able. The undo history is effectively infinite (limited by memory, disk, etc.). Each window has a separate Undo trail. Improved MIDI Sequencer Link - The Beatnik Editor is now always responsive to external MIDI input, so there is no longer a Link to Sequencer command. You can always play from an external MIDI keyboard instead of the onscreen keyboard, if you prefer. You can always audition your current Instrument Bank by playing a song from your sequencer (or from any Standard MIDI File player, such as the Windows Media Player). Improved Song Info features (formerly `Copyright') - You can now apply the same Song Info settings to multiple Songs at once, in a single operation. You can also set up a default set of values for all the Song Info fields, then in a single step apply them all - or only some of them - to a Song whenever you want. Improved Instrument Editor now combines Keymap, Filter, Volume Envelope, Modulation, and Output controls into one window with multiple pages and graphic editing. You can now drag Samples into the Keymap from a Session window, and your Instruments can now use up to five Modulators (previous limit was three). Improved Compression features - A new caching system makes it easier to compare different compression types for a given Sample. Also, the original, uncompressed version of every sample is kept, so you can always switch to a different compression type later with no loss in fidelity. You can also apply the same compression type to any number of Samples at once, in a single operation. Improved Export Audio File feature lets you save linear audio versions of your Songs in WAV, AIFF, and MP3 formats (in addition to the original Sound Designer II on Mac OS). Improved MPEG compression - The new MPEG encoder and decoder run much faster and sound much better. Improved Modulation Editor - Modulation options are now presented as four basic Modulator Types - LFO, Envelope, LFO with Depth Envelope, and Offset Modulator - and the controls that are irrelevant for each type are kept from view. Improved window behavior - The Sample Editor and Instrument Editor windows are modeless - that is, you can leave them open while doing work in other windows, and you can keep as many Sample Editors and Instrument Editors open as the available memory will allow. Also, when the Beatnik Editor starts up, it now automatically returns to the state it was in just before the latest shut down. This includes which Session documents were open, selected items, window positions, MIDI channel Mute and Solo buttons, and so forth. Improved documentation - Revised and expanded Beatnik Editor User's Guide, now supplied both in printable PDF and online HTML formats. Also new onscreen ToolTips (Windows only). Tips for Version 1 Users
If you've been working with earlier releases of the Beatnik Editor, you should be aware of a few significant workflow changes introduced in version 2:
Full-Time Live MIDI Input The Beatnik Editor's MIDI Input feature now operates all the time - there's no longer any need for the Link to Sequencer command. Just select the right MIDI Input source in the Preferences dialog box. Total Undo Whereas the Beatnik Editor version 1 had limited Undo functionality, version 2 offers total Undo all the way back to your most recent Save or Save As.... Also, there are now multiple Undo histories. That is, every window you open maintains its own independent Undo history. This means that while you're in a Sample Editor or Instrument Editor, you can Undo your changes all the way back to the original, unedited version without affecting any of the work you're doing at the same time in other windows. Important Notes: When you close a Sample Editor or Instrument Editor window, all the edits you made are rolled into one single Undo-able step in the Session document's Undo history. For example, if immediately after closing a Sample Editor you click in your Session document and then Undo, you'll get the Sample as it was before you started editing it - not the Sample as it was before your most recent edit inside the Sample Editor. The same also holds true for changes to Instruments. You can now Revert a Sample Editor or Instrument Editor window, with same effect. Multiple Sessions Whereas the Beatnik Editor version 1 operated on one Session document at a time, version 2 is able to keep as many Sessions open as the available memory will allow. You can drag, copy, and paste Custom Songs, Custom Instruments, and Custom Samples between your open Session documents. Dragging or pasting also offers the option of bringing any dependent resources along - for a Song, its Custom Instruments and Custom Samples can also be cloned; and for an Instrument, its Samples can also be cloned. Important Note: When dragging or pasting into a Session document would result in more than one Instrument with the same MIDI program number, the Beatnik Editor will renumber the colliding Instruments and alert you. If you see this message, you should carefully verify that any Songs being added still play correctly because the Beatnik Editor will not update the Song's MIDI Program Change events to use the altered Instrument numbers. If the Song is now playing with wrong Instruments, you will need to use your MIDI sequencer program to set the program numbers manually in your original sequence, then save a revised MIDI file and Re-Import MIDI (see Song Settings dialog box). Changed Key Commands
Menu | Beatnik Editor 1.0 command | Beatnik Editor 2.0 command | Description
File
J
| I | Import
P
| (none) | Link to Sequencer (P is now Compression)
Edit
1, 2, 3
| (none) | Minimum, Medium, and Maximum volume commands have been removed
Song
Y
| (none) | Changed `Copyright' to `Song Info' (Y is now Redo)
Instrument
K, M, G, F
| (none) | Changed to page select buttons in Instrument Editor window
I
| (none) | Instrument Settings moved into Instrument Editor window (I is now Import)
Window
4, 5, 6
| (none) | Songs, Instruments, and Samples are now tabs in the Session window
7, 8
| (none) | Keyboard and Realtime windows are now combined in the Player window
9
| (none) | Help window moved to Help menu

Versions and Updates / Version 2.0 top |