Introduction About the Beatnik Editor |

The Beatnik Editor is a powerful program that works a little differently from any other application you've ever used before. It's three different things, all at the same time:
A MIDI- and Audio-to-RMF File Converter An Editor/Librarian for Beatnik Instruments A Live MIDI Synthesizer
If that sounds like it might be too much stuff to worry about, you can relax - you don't have to master the whole thing. In fact, most people use the Beatnik Editor strictly for converting music and sounds into the RMF format - and that part's easy.
A MIDI- and Audio-to-RMF File Converter
It's important to understand that the Beatnik Editor isn't a tool for creating RMF music and sound files from scratch - its Sample Editor is very simple, and there aren't any facilities for building MIDI songs or editing individual MIDI events (like notes). Instead, the Beatnik Editor is designed as a tool for collecting your existing MIDI files and audio sample files, and then converting them into the RMF format for secure, interactive playback on the Web in the Beatnik Player (and elsewhere).
To create an RMF file, you first import your Standard MIDI Files and/or digital audio files (WAV, AIFF, AU, Sound Designer II, or MP3) into a Beatnik Editor Session document, then add your copyright notices, credits, and other information - and finally export the whole bunch as a single RMF file.
Drag-and-drop operation and streamlined processes make converting to RMF as quick and easy as possible.
An Editor/Librarian for Beatnik Instruments
If you're a musician, sound engineer, or sound designer, then the Instrument Editor window and Sample Editor window are meant for you - they're the parts of the Beatnik Editor that act as a patch editor for the expressive and flexible software MIDI synthesizer at the heart of all Beatnik Platform players.
The Instrument Editor window is a workspace where you can apply the Beatnik synthesizer's powerful sound shaping capabilities to your own imported sound Samples, and save the combinations as custom Instruments for use in RMF files. The Sample Editor window gives you tools for cleaning up imported Samples, to make them - and the Instruments that use them - sound better.
A Live MIDI Synthesizer
You can also play the software wavetable synthesizer inside the Beatnik Editor software live, in real time - using either the onscreen keyboard in the Player window, or a MIDI connection from an instrument or controller. Or from another MIDI program running at the same time - which lets you compose and arrange your music in your MIDI sequencer, using the Beatnik Editor as your sound module, at the same time you're also editing your instruments in the Beatnik Editor - and all on the same computer, if you want. It's a much faster way to make MIDI music.
Key Concepts
Before we can get very far, it's important that you understand a few key concepts regarding the Beatnik Editor.
The Beatnik Editor is Different from the Beatnik Player
You may have heard of the Beatnik Player, Beatnik Xtra, Beatnik Audio Engine, and other Beatnik Platform playback software. It's important to understand that the Beatnik Editor is different from these players:
The free Beatnik Player is Beatnik's Web browser plug-in. RMF content can be played in several different Beatnik Platform players, but more RMF content is created for the Beatnik Player for Web browsers than any other target (see RMF Playback Platforms). The Beatnik Player handles RMF playback with interactive user control, but doesn't include any file creation or editing functions. The Beatnik Editor, by contrast, is a professional authoring tool for making RMF files and the custom Instruments and Samples they contain. The Beatnik Editor is Similar to the Beatnik Player
Despite very different appearances, the Beatnik Player and the Beatnik Editor also have much in common. Both contain the exact same synthesizer engine, and the Beatnik Player comes with the same set of built-in Instruments, Samples, and `Groovoids' you'll find in your Beatnik Editor Session documents. Understanding these similarities is very important - they're the reason why the sounds you create and hear in the Beatnik Editor are exactly the same as what your audience will hear when your RMF content plays in Web browsers.
Beatnik Editor Session Documents are Different from RMF Files
You already know that the purpose of the Beatnik Editor is to create RMF files, but it's crucial to remember that the Beatnik Editor's Session files are different from RMF files.
Beatnik Editor Session files are the Beatnik Editor's own file format. They contain, in unprotected and (usually) uncompressed form, collections of the music and sound resources that go into the RMF files you create. Whenever you use the New or Save command in the Beatnik Editor, that's a Session file and not an RMF file. When you've got those resources sounding the way you want, then you're ready to export an RMF version of them. RMF files are the compressed, encrypted files that you can safely deploy for playback in Web browsers, Shockwave movies, and all the other Beatnik Platform players - without risking your intellectual property. The Beatnik Player never sees a Session file, only RMF files. You export RMF files from the Beatnik Editor. Guard Your Session Files!
It's critical to understand that once you've converted your music and sound resources into an RMF file, you can never extract those resources back out. The original resources for making any RMF file are kept in Beatnik Editor Session files, so losing the Session file means losing the ability to make changes to the RMF file.
This means you shouldn't think you can safely discard your Beatnik Editor Session document (.bsn file) once you've generated your RMF file and uploaded it to your Web site. If you do, then later, when you need to change some sound or music for the site, you'll realize your original resources are gone and you can't make the change!
The moral of this story is: Never delete your Session documents, back them up regularly, and generally guard them against damage or loss.

Introduction / About the Beatnik Editor top |