Live Performance Workstation

Version 1.5

User Manual Copyright © 2002-2005 Brainspawn, Inc.

Quick Technical Support

· Visit www.brainspawn.com to access product updates.

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· Visit the Knowledge Base at http://www.brainspawn.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=16.

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1. Table of Contents

1. Table of Contents ..................................................................................................2

2. BRAINSPAWN Software License Agreement.........................................................5

3. Technology Acknowledgements............................................................................7

4. Introduction ...........................................................................................................7

System Requirements..................................................................................................................................11

Technical Support .........................................................................................................................................11

Registration.....................................................................................................................................................11

Installation.......................................................................................................................................................11

File Compatibility...........................................................................................................................................12

5. Working with forte ...............................................................................................13

Overview ..........................................................................................................................................................13 Output Busses.......................................................................................................15 Instrument Modules ...............................................................................................16

6. Creating and Maintaining Racks ..........................................................................17

Adding, Deleting, and Copying Instrument Modules...........................................................................17 Adding an Instrument Module .................................................................................17 Deleting an Instrument Module ...............................................................................17 Copying an Instrument Module ...............................................................................17

Adding, Deleting, and Copying Output Busses ....................................................................................19 Adding an Output Buss ..........................................................................................19 Deleting an Output Buss.........................................................................................19 Copying an Output Buss.........................................................................................20

Trimming Racks.............................................................................................................................................21

Automatic Backups.......................................................................................................................................21

7. Working with Instrument Modules .......................................................................22 Volume .................................................................................................................22 MIDI Activity ..........................................................................................................22 Module Name........................................................................................................22 Mute and Solo .......................................................................................................22 Output Buss Assignment ........................................................................................22

Instrument Console.......................................................................................................................................23 Docking and Floating the Instrument Console ..........................................................23

Preset Manager ..............................................................................................................................................24 Selecting a Preset..................................................................................................24 Recently Used Presets...........................................................................................24 Favorite Presets ....................................................................................................25 Preview Presets.....................................................................................................25 Creating a new User Preset....................................................................................25 Deleting a User Preset ...........................................................................................26 Assigning MIDI Presets to Specific Channels...........................................................26 FXP/FXB Load/Save for VST Plugins......................................................................26

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Working with MIDI Configurations............................................................................................................27 Remapping or Disabling MIDI Program Changes .....................................................28 Channel Channel Routing and Layering ..................................................................29 Quick MIDI Routing................................................................................................30 Advanced MIDI Channel Routing ............................................................................31 Key Range and Transpose .....................................................................................32 MIDI Controller Remapping and Layering ................................................................34 Toggle Mode .........................................................................................................35 Saving and Loading MIDI Configurations.................................................................35 Setting a Default MIDI Configuration .......................................................................36

Scene Change Commands..........................................................................................................................36

Working with ReWire Instruments............................................................................................................36

8. Working With Audio Effects.................................................................................37

Adding and Removing Effects ...................................................................................................................37

Insert Manager................................................................................................................................................38

Showing Effects Consoles..........................................................................................................................38

Bypassing Effects .........................................................................................................................................38

Using Effect Presets .....................................................................................................................................38

MIDI Routing to Effects................................................................................................................................38 Insert Effect Automation using MIDI Continuous Controllers .....................................39

9. Working with Audio Inputs ..................................................................................41

10. Working with Scenes and Set-Lists .....................................................................42

Creating Scenes.............................................................................................................................................42

Changing Scenes from the Control Module...........................................................................................43

Changing Scenes from the Keyboard......................................................................................................43

Changing Scenes from MIDI.......................................................................................................................43 Accessing Large Numbers of Scenes using Bank Select ..........................................43

Scene Change Actions.................................................................................................................................44 Set Configuration Data (FXB, FXP, and/or DirectX Persistent Data) ..........................44 Resets ..................................................................................................................45 Program Changes..................................................................................................45 Held Notes over Scene Changes ............................................................................45 Using Samplers with Scene Changes......................................................................45

Scene Tempo..................................................................................................................................................45 Controller Automation of Tempo .............................................................................46

Play/Stop and MIDI Panic ............................................................................................................................47 Controller Automation of Transport..........................................................................47

Setlists and Songs ........................................................................................................................................47

Setlist Manager...............................................................................................................................................49 Manage Setlists .....................................................................................................49 Manage Songs in the Active Setlist (Left “Songs” Column) .......................................49 Manage Scenes in Songs (Center Column) .............................................................49 Creating Scenes ....................................................................................................50 Protecting Scenes..................................................................................................50 Updating Scenes ...................................................................................................50

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Using Scenes ........................................................................................................50 Renaming Scenes..................................................................................................50 Applying a Description to a Scene...........................................................................50 Reordering Scenes ................................................................................................50 Deleting Scenes ....................................................................................................50 Changing Scenes from MIDI...................................................................................51 Exiting the Setlist Manager .....................................................................................51

How Rack Changes Affect Scenes ...........................................................................................................52

SceneView .......................................................................................................................................................53

11. Advanced Performance Recovery .......................................................................55

12. Rack Stress Test..................................................................................................56

13. Preferences..........................................................................................................57

General Options.............................................................................................................................................57

Edit Shortcuts.................................................................................................................................................59

Audio Options.................................................................................................................................................61

Plugin Options................................................................................................................................................63

VST/VSTi Options..........................................................................................................................................64

Scene Options................................................................................................................................................65

MIDI Input Ports .............................................................................................................................................66

MIDI Configuration ........................................................................................................................................67

Copy Options..................................................................................................................................................68

14. Menus ..................................................................................................................69

File .....................................................................................................................................................................69

View...................................................................................................................................................................69

Options.............................................................................................................................................................69

Help ...................................................................................................................................................................69

15. Keyboard Shortcuts.............................................................................................70

16. Command Line Switches .....................................................................................71

17. Performance and Troubleshooting ......................................................................72

MIDI-to-Audio Latency..................................................................................................................................72

Audio Dropouts..............................................................................................................................................72

Log File.............................................................................................................................................................73

Additional Options in Options.ini..............................................................................................................73

Safe Mode........................................................................................................................................................75

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2. BRAINSPAWN Software License Agreement

The use of this product indicates your understanding and acceptance of the following terms and conditions. This license shall supersede any verbal, or prior verbal or written, statement or agreement to the contrary. If you do not understand or accept these terms, or your local regulations prohibit "after sale" license agreements or limited disclaimers, you must cease and desist using this product immediately. Copyright laws supersede all local regulations. This license is a contract between you, the end-user of this software, hereinafter referred to as "THE USER", and BRAINSPAWN, hereinafter referred to as the “AUTHOR(S)", and is governed under the laws of the State of Texas. Copyright This product (in whole or in part, including all files, data, and documentation, from here on referred to as PRODUCT) is © Copyright 2001 BRAINSPAWN, all rights reserved, and is protected by the United States copyright laws, international treaties and all other applicable national or international laws. This PRODUCT may not, in whole or in part, be copied, photocopied, translated, or reduced to any electronic medium or machine readable form, without prior consent in writing, from the AUTHOR(S) and according to all applicable laws. The sole owner of this PRODUCT is the AUTHOR(S). No Warranty The AUTHOR(S) provides absolutely no warranty. The software and information are provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including, but not limited to, any implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk as to the quality and usefulness of the software and information is with THE USER. Should the information prove to be incorrect and/or software not work as expected, THE USER assumes the cost of all necessary servicing, repair or correction. In no event will the AUTHOR(S) be liable to THE USER for any damages, any lost profits, lost monies, or other special, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use this software and/or information (including but not limited to loss of data or data being rendered inaccurate or losses sustained by third parties), even if THE USER has advised us of the possibility of such damages, or for any claim by any other party. Restrictions THE USER may not use, copy, modify, translate, or transfer the PRODUCT or any copy except as expressly defined in this agreement. THE USER may not attempt to unlock or bypass any copy-protection or authentication algorithm utilized by this PRODUCT. THE USER may not remove or modify any copyright notice, nor any "about" dialog or the method by which it may be invoked. Operating license THE USER has the non-exclusive right to use the PRODUCT only by a single person, on a single computer at a time. If the PRODUCT permits, THE USER may physically transfer the PRODUCT from one computer to another, provided that the PRODUCT is used only by a single person, on a single computer at a time. In group projects where multiple persons will

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use the PRODUCT, each member of the group must purchase an individual license. Use over a local area network (within the same locale) is permitted provided that the PRODUCT is used only by a single person, on a single computer at a time. Evaluation THE USER has the right to evaluate this PRODUCT for the period of 30 days, provided that terms of Operating license are compiled with, and that the PRODUCT is not used for profit, including but not limited to creating patch libraries and sounds for any pieces THE USER are profiting from. Should THE USER continue use of the PRODUCT after your evaluation period expires, or use it for any profit, THE USER shall pay the registration fee. Back-up and transfer THE USER may make one copy of the software part of the PRODUCT solely for back-up purposes. THE USER must reproduce and include the copyright notice on the back-up copy. The PRODUCT may be transferred to another party. To perform such a transfer, THE USER must notify the AUTHOR(S) in writing of the transfer. The letter must include:

· The name of the party to which the transfer is made

· THE USER’s registration information

· A statement that THE USER is ceasing all the rights to use the PRODUCT

· THE USER’s signature.

· New registration information will be issued by the AUTHOR(S) to the new user of the PRODUCT.

· Terms

This license is effective until terminated. THE USER may terminate it by destroying the complete PRODUCT and all copies thereof. This license will also terminate if THE USER fails to comply with any terms or conditions of this agreement. THE USER agrees upon such termination to destroy all copies of the software and of the documentation, or return them to the AUTHOR(S) for disposal. Redistribution THE USER are permitted to distribute the evaluation shareware package of this PRODUCT provided that the a) the package is not modified in any way, and b) that no profit is earned from such redistribution. However, THE USER can charge reasonable fees to cover costs of media, packaging, shipping, handling, electronic transmission and storage, and other costs impacting THE USER in the process of such distribution. Other rights and restrictions All other rights and restrictions not specifically granted in this license are reserved by the AUTHOR(S).

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3. Technology Acknowledgements

ASIO technology by Steinberg Soft- und Hardware GmbH

VST PlugIn Interface Technology by Steinberg Soft- und Hardware GmbH

DXi technology by Cakewalk

ReWire 2.0 technology by Propellerhead Software AB

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4. Introduction

Welcome to brainspawn forte. forte is a live performance workstation for virtual instruments, offering more control and convenience than a traditional rack of hardware sound modules. forte is optimized for the stage, with low latency audio, vast MIDI routing capabilities, and unique live performance features. Key Features

· Low Latency Multiple Instrument Hosting: Play up to 32 virtual instruments live with mixing and routing to multiple audio outputs.

· Intuitive User Interface: If you’ve seen a rack of hardware sound modules, forte will look familiar to you.

· Performance Automation: Reconfigure virtual instruments and MIDI routing instantly with remote controlled “Scenes.”

· Advanced MIDI Routing and Filtering: Independent routing and filtering per MIDI input port; MIDI control of audio effect plugins, MIDI Clock tempo synchronization.

· Audio Effects: Add audio effects to audio inputs, instruments or audio buss outputs.

· Audio Thru: Process live audio input through audio effects with very low latency.

· Virtual Set List: SceneView displays the set of upcoming configurations in large font.

· Performance Features: Auto-start on boot up, auto-recovery, remote control, SceneView and other features eliminate the need to use the keyboard and mouse during performance.

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New Features for forte 1.5

· Setlist Management: Scenes can be used in Songs, which are part of SetLists. This promotes storage efficiency since scenes can be reused. It also allows flexible setlist changes without reordering scenes. You may also print Set Lists for use in a show.

· Use Forte as a ReWire Master.

· Mono Inputs and Outputs: Single-channel (mono) audio inputs and outputs can be assigned to busses and input channels. Previously these were stereo pairs only.

· ASIO Sound Card Sharing: Forte now only opens the input and output channels it needs instead of all the channels on the soundcard (For ASIO mode only).

· Insert Effect Bypass: Each insert effect can by bypassed per-scene.

· Tap Tempo: Change the tempo of instruments and effects dynamically by tapping a new tempo into them using a MIDI controller pedal, MIDI button, or a button in SceneView.

· Tempo Control: Alter the tempo of instruments and effects dynamically with MIDI controller knobs or sliders, and increment and decrement tempo using MIDI controller pedals or buttons.

· Global Tempo: Use a separate tempo for each scene or use a single tempo for all scenes in the rack.

· Play/Stop Control: Play and stop sequencing plugins using a MIDI controller pedal or button. This can be configured to be different for every scene or the same for the all scenes in the rack.

· Panic Control: Panic (all MIDI notes off) using a MIDI controller pedal or button. This can be configured to be different for every scene or the same for the all scenes in the rack.

· Enhanced MIDI-controlled Scene Changes: Change scenes based upon program change only from certain ports and channels. Also, access more than 128 scenes using bank select.

· Scene Change Actions: Users may control scene change actions for every instrument module in the rack independently for every scene:

o Choose to send plug-in configuration data never, only if changed, only the first time a scene loads, or always.

o Choose to send MIDI program changes to each channel on the instrument.

o Choose to send All Notes Off, All Sounds Off, and Reset All Controllers

· Enhanced MIDI-Filtering and Remapping: New MIDI Filtering features allow user to:

o Split a channel message to multiple channels simultaneously

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o Apply Key and CC filtering independently for each From/To channel remap pair

o Split controller messages to multiple destinations simultaneously, each with different linear re-scaling and optional toggle-mode

o Linearly rescale CC messages.

o Specify a start position for toggle remapping

o New remapping user interface includes matrix-based channel remapping dialog box for quick channel patching and QuickRoute (a pop-up menu with easy access to simple routings, available without opening the instrument console)

· Enhanced SceneView: Includes:

o Custom background picture per-scene

o Right click context menu to select scenes

o Optionally hide portions of the SceneView display to show the background picture

o Full screen mode

o Option to automatically open scene view when auto-loading a rack

· Preset Preview: Automatically cycle through the presets on a plugin while you play

· Stress Test: Gain confidence in your choice of plugins and hardware by automatically sending MIDI notes, Program Changes, Panic, and scenes changes through rack file at configurable frequency and duration.

· Warnings on Destructive User Actions: Each warning can be disabled by checking a “do not show again” checkbox

· Descriptive Rack Load, Save, and Trim

· Backup Rack Files to Alternate Locations

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System Requirements

· Operating System: Windows 2000 Professional SP3 or Windows XP Home/Professional SP1 or higher. Recommended Windows 2000 SP3 updates from Windows Update: Q322913, Q322842. Note: forte is not supported on Windows 95, 98(SE), Me, or NT 4.0.

· Processor Speed: Minimum 1.5GHz.

· Memory: 128MB – some plugins such as soft-samplers may require more.

· Plug-Ins: At least one supported VSTi or DXi instrument (see www.thedirectxfiles.com or www.kvr-vst.com for some links to instruments).

· MIDI: At least one Windows compatible MIDI input port.

· Audio Output Device: At least one Windows WDM-compliant or ASIO audio output device. For best results see MIDI-to-Audio Latency on page 72.

· Graphics: 1024x768 256 color graphics mode or higher.

Technical Support For Technical Support, visit www.brainspawn.com. Submit your issue on the technical support page. We make every effort to answer questions within 24 hours. Visit www.brainspawn.com to access product updates. Visit www.brainspawn.com/forum for support forums. Visit the Knowledge Base at http://www.brainspawn.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=16. Note that quality of output is dependent upon the CPU, memory, and disk limitations of your PC. Some systems may not be able to achieve the rated specification.

Registration forte requires user registration in order to install. User registration is both a User Name and a License Key, which are provided by email upon purchase. The User Name and License Key must be entered exactly as provided during program installation.

Installation forte is provided as a self-installing program (.EXE) file. To install, double click the installation program file and use the wizard to read or supply the following information:

· Read and Agree to be bound by the brainspawn software license agreement

· Read any other release notes provided by the installer

· Enter User Name and License Key provide by email from brainspawn upon purchase

· Choose installation folder

· Choose program group

· Optionally choose to create a desktop icon

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File Compatibility forte 1.5 can read rack files and MIDI configuration files created with previous versions of forte. However, it writes files in an XML format that cannot be read by previous versions.

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5. Working with forte

Overview forte is a live performance workstation for virtual instruments. The user interface is designed for musicians making the transition from hardware rack-mount rigs, and so follows the concept of stackable horizontal modules. The modules consist of a Control Module at the top, output busses for controlling access to audio device outputs, and instrument modules for controlling sound sources. Here is an example rack showing the organization of the display: Control Module

Output Buss

Instrument

Modules

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Control Module The top rack space is the Control Module.

On the Control Module you can:

· Turn rack power on or off. When off, forte does not consume CPU power for audio processing and closes the audio outputs.

· Load and save racks.

· Add, remove, or duplicate instrument modules.

· Add, remove, duplicate, and hide output busses.

· Create and manage scenes.

· Set Tempo.

· Set Transport.

· Configure program options.

· Rename plugins (open the Add Module menu and right click to rename).

· View CPU utilization.

· MIDI Panic.

Rack Power

Transport

Play/Stop

Add/Remove Instruments and Busses

Duplicate Modules And Busses

Show/Hide

Busses

Snapshot new Scene

Scene List

Next/Previous Scene

CPU Meter

MIDI Panic

Scene Tempo

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Output Busses

Below the Control Module are the output busses. A buss is the place to add audio effects to multiple instrument modules simultaneously or control the mix of several modules as a group.

On each buss you can:

· View audio levels going into the audio output device (post buss effects) with the Audio Meter.

· Change the volume of all audio routed to the buss with the buss volume fader (post buss effects).

· Add, remove or reorder VST and DirectX audio effects.

· Display the console for each VST and DirectX audio effect.

· Select an audio output device.

Each buss is assigned to a single mono or stereo audio output and may share hardware outputs. You may rename busses by clicking on the “Buss Name” field and entering a new name. The audio meter displays peak level. Red is clipping level. To correct for overdriven outputs you may:

· Adjust the buss volume fader. This affects every module feeding the buss.

· Adjust audio output level at the instrument or audio effect console. Many instruments and audio effects have output level controls.

· Adjust audio output level using MIDI input. Many instruments respond to MIDI controller 7 (volume).

· Change the global volume trim in Preferences.

The audio meter also provides an indication of audio dropouts. When an output is incapable of providing enough audio to the sound card, it will notify you by driving the meter to bright red. If no sound is being produced but the meter intermittently shows a spike, check to make sure you are not running too many modules and busses.

Audio Meter

Buss Name

Audio effects patch point

Soundcard Output

Buss Volume

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Instrument Modules

Below the output busses are the instrument modules. Each contains one VSTi or DXi instrument. Although the sounds on this instrument can be changed, the instrument itself cannot. To use a different instrument, create a new module.

Instrument modules may contain VST and DirectX audio effects which are applied to that module only. The output of a module goes to one output buss. The buss routing for a module can be changed at any time by clicking on the buss assignment display. On each module you can:

· Adjust volume of the instrument output (post effects).

· View MIDI input activity.

· Display or hide the console for the instrument.

· Mute or Solo the module.

· Add, remove, bypass, or reorder audio effects.

· Display the console for audio effects.

· Select an output buss.

The Selection Caret, which is present in some skins, is a graphical marker on a module or buss that represents the item that will be acted upon. For example, the caret determines which module or buss will be deleted by pressing the [DEL] key. Clicking the left mouse button on another module or buss moves the selection caret.

Module Name MIDI Activity LED

Volume

Audio effects patch point

Buss Assignment

SOLO MUTE

Show/Hide Instrument Console

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6. Creating and Maintaining Racks

The user file of forte is called a “rack” and is stored in a file with an .RCF extension (Rack Configuration File). Racks consist of instrument modules, output busses, audio effects, and scenes.

Adding, Deleting, and Copying Instrument Modules

Adding an Instrument Module

Adding an instrument Module can be accomplished in several ways:

· Select the File | New | Module menu item.

· Press the [INSERT] key on your keyboard.

· Right-click on the Control Module or a Module and select ‘Add Module…’

· Press the Module ‘Add’ button on the Control Module.

Each of these actions displays a menu containing a list of all the available Instruments on your system. When an Instrument Module is added:

· The initial preset is set to the first MRU (Most Recently Used) Preset.

· A MIDI Configuration file is loaded. This is either the last-set configuration or a default configuration for that Instrument if one has been set.

· The buss assignment is set to the first buss.

Deleting an Instrument Module

To delete the selected Instrument Module, as indicated by the Selection Highlight or Caret, press [DELETE] on your keyboard; click the Module ‘Del’ button on the Control Module; or right-click on the Instrument Module and select ‘Remove’.

Copying an Instrument Module

When you copy an Instrument Module you may choose the Instrument that the new module will use. The copied items are the other attributes of the module such as those shown in this dialog box. To copy the selected Instrument Module, as indicated by the Selection Highlight or Caret, press [CTRL]+[C] on your keyboard; click the module ‘Copy’ button on the Control Module; or right-click the Instrument Module and select ‘Copy Module’. Each of these actions displays a menu containing a list of all the available Instruments on your system.

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After selecting an Instrument, you may be presented with the above list of copy options to choose which parameters to copy. This dialog box will be shown only if the option “Display this page when copying Modules?” is selected. This dialog is also available in Preferences.

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Adding, Deleting, and Copying Output Busses

Adding an Output Buss

Adding an output buss can be accomplished in several ways:

· Selecting File | New | Buss menu.

· Pressing [CTRL]+[INSERT] on your keyboard.

· Right-clicking on the Control Module or a Module and selecting ‘Add Audio Output Buss.’

· Pressing the Buss ‘Add’ button on the Control Module.

If no busses exist, the first buss will use the Default Audio Output Buss if configured in Preferences. Each additional buss will use the first available unused output.

Deleting an Output Buss

To delete the selected output buss, as indicated by the Selection Highlight or Caret, press the [DELETE] key on your keyboard; click the Buss ‘Del’ button on the Control Module; or right-click on the output buss and select ‘Remove’.

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Copying an Output Buss

To copy the selected output buss, as indicated by the Selection Highlight or Caret, press [CTRL]+[C] on your keyboard; click the Buss ‘Copy’ button on the Control Module; or right-click the output buss and select ‘Copy Output Buss’.

You may be presented with the above list of copy options to choose which parameters to copy. This dialog box will only be shown if the option “Display this page when copying busses?” is selected. This dialog is also available in Preferences.

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Trimming Racks Scenes contain data for each instrument or effect in the rack. If that instrument or effect is removed or replaced, over time the scenes and the rack file can continue to hold information on missing plugins. The Trim… command in the File menu is a convenient way to update every scene in your rack file and remove stale data. To trim a rack, select File | Trim… from the menu, then press the Trim button. You will see a progress bar and a log of the trim. When finished, be sure to test the rack before saving it to make sure each scene still generates the sounds it should.

Automatic Backups Whenever you save a rack file, forte will automatically back up the existing version of the file before saving the new version. The backup will exist in the same directory with a backup number appended to the name. You may control the maximum number of backup in Preferences. You may also specify an alternate location to store backup files.

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7. Working with Instrument Modules

Each Instrument Module contains a VSTi, DXi, or ReWire Instrument. The instrument is not assignable after a module is created.

Volume

The volume fader controls the master mix volume of this module (post effects).

MIDI Activity

The MIDI Activity LED flashes when a instrument receives MIDI input data. If the MIDI Configuration blocks incoming data, the MIDI LED will not flash.

Module Name

This is the name of the instrument that this module contains.

Mute and Solo

Mute disables audio processing for an Instrument Module. A muted module takes no CPU processing power. Mute status is stored in each Scene so you may change which Instrument Modules are active between scenes. The keyboard shortcut [CTRL]+[M] will mute the currently selected Instrument Module as indicated by the Selection Highlight or Caret. Solo mutes all Instrument Modules except the soloed one. Solo is a temporary setting and is not saved with scenes or racks. The keyboard shortcut [CTRL]+[L] will solo the currently selected Instrument Module, as indicated by the Selection Caret.

Output Buss Assignment

Each Instrument Module is routed to one output buss. This buss is changeable by clicking the output buss name and selecting another buss from the pop-up menu.

Module Name Audio effects patch point

MIDI Activity LED

Volume Buss Assignment

SOLO MUTE

Show/Hide Instrument Console

Bypass effect

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Instrument Console Each instrument has its own user interface, called a “Console,” in forte (e.g. Native Instruments B4 has the vintage drawbar organ keyboard shown below). Consoles can be either displayed or hidden.

Docking and Floating the Instrument Console

The console may either be docked (embedded in the forte window below the Instrument Module strip) or floating (shown in a separate window). To float a docked console, double click on the docking handle or single click on the float button at the top left of the console window. To dock a floating window, double click on the title bar of the console window.

Show/Hide DXi Console

Instrument Console

Console Docking Handle

Preset Manager

Undock

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Preset Manager forte features easy access to different preset sounds on a instrument. These sounds can be either built into the instrument (similar to ROM presets on hardware sound modules), or created and stored by the user (similar to RAM presets on hardware sound modules.) Regardless of the type of preset, forte always displays presets in an easy-to-find alphabetical format broken into sub-menus. A user-defined preset has a “user” icon next to the name whereas ROM presets have a “chip” icon.

Selecting a Preset

Click the preset name bar and select the preset from the Favorites submenu, one of the Presets submenus or the MRU (most recently used) list. Each of the Preset submenus holds the available presets in alphabetical order.

Recently Used Presets

When you select a preset, it is added to the top of the recently used list and is easier to find and select the next time. The number of presets in the recently used list is configurable in Preferences.

Click here to show presets menu

Most recently used presets

Right-click for more preset options

Load/Save VST FXB/FXP File

Preview Presets

Click here to save a user preset Click here to save a user preset

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Favorite Presets

You can designate a preset a “favorite” with easy access via the Favorites submenu by right-clicking on the preset and selecting “Add to Favorites.” You can remove a favorite by right-clicking the preset in the Favorites submenu and selecting “Remove from Favorites.”

Preview Presets

Forte will automatically cycle through an instrument’s presets, pausing for 10 seconds on each while you audition them. Press Continue to advance to the next preset before the 10 seconds is finished or Abort to stop previewing.

Creating a new User Preset

If you change the sound of an instrument preset, you may save this new version by clicking the Save User Preset button and providing a name in the preset name field.

This preset is now available in the Presets submenus in alphabetical order and with “user” icon next to it. User presets may be added to the Favorites list just like any other preset.

Save User Preset

Preset Name Field

Favorites Menu

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Deleting a User Preset

You can delete a user preset by right-clicking on it in the submenus and selecting “Delete User Preset.”

Assigning MIDI Presets to Specific Channels

If an instrument supports it, you may right click on a preset and assign it to any MIDI channel (1-16).

FXP/FXB Load/Save for VST Plugins

If the plugin being shown is a VST or VSTi plugin, two additional options appear in the preset manager menu: Load FXP/FXB: You may browse and load a standard VST FXP or FXB file into the plugin. Save FXP/FXB: Save the state of the plugin in a standard VST FXP or FXB file.

Right-Click on a preset and choose a MIDI Channel to assign it to

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Working with MIDI Configurations Each instrument module contains a MIDI configuration, which controls how incoming MIDI data is routed or modified prior to being sent to the instrument. Options include remapping MIDI program changes, restricting note ranges, transposing notes, remapping channels, and remapping MIDI continuous controller data. Using MIDI Configurations it is possible to configure a large number of MIDI input devices to play simultaneously through a rack using different channels, splits, and layers. MIDI Configurations are modified using the Program Map and MIDI Routing tabs in the instrument console.

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Remapping or Disabling MIDI Program Changes

Incoming MIDI Program Changes may optionally be remapped or disabled. If remapping is on, the program change is remapped to a configurable list of presets. If remapping is off, the program change is sent directly to the instrument which may or may not respond by changing its internal preset. The list can be of any length up to 128 entries. Additionally, MIDI Program Changes can be ignored. When checked, program change messages are not remapped or passed to the instrument.

The remap is:

Output Program = Input Program MODULO Number of Entries

This means, for example, if there are 3 entries in the remap table:

Incoming MIDI Program Change

Remapped MIDI Program

Change

0

1st entry

1

2nd entry

2

3rd entry

3

1st entry

4

2nd entry

To add a remap entry, press [New]. To delete a remap entry, highlight the entry in the list and press [Delete].

Enable the Program Map

Add or remove map entries

Click to make the instrument ignore MIDI program changes

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Channel Channel Routing and Layering

The MIDI Routing tab configures channel-specific MIDI input settings.

Each MIDI input port can be either enabled or disabled. If enabled, each input channel can be remapped and layered. In the above picture:

· Channel 1 is mapped straight through to channel 1 · Channel 2 is disabled · Channel 4 is remapped to channel 1 · Channel 6 is layered to channel 1 and channel 6. This means that each channelized

MIDI event (e.g. notes) on channel 6 is duplicated and sent to the instrument both on channel 1 and channel 6.

Right click a row in the To column to make changes to this mapping. Click the triangle icon to expand or collapse portions of the channel display. Right click the To column on the port row to enable or disable the entire port, disable all its channels, reset channels to a 1-1 map (unity), or map all channels to channel 1. For each MIDI input port and channel from/to pair you can independently configure:

· What MIDI note ranges a instrument will respond to (splits and layers configuration)

· How incoming MIDI notes will be transposed (after note range filtering)

· How incoming MIDI continuous controller data is remapped to different controller numbers.

Quick MIDI Routing

Advanced MIDI Channel Routing

Channel Routing and Layering

Quick MIDI Routing

Advanced MIDI Channel Routing

Channel Routing and Layering

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Quick MIDI Routing

Use the Quick MIDI Routing button to quickly set up basic channel routing:

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Advanced MIDI Channel Routing

Use the Advanced MIDI Channel Routing dialog to configure channel from/to pairs using a convenient matrix view:

Select input port

Basic Routing Presets

Enable/disable entire column

Enable/disable or reset entire row

Enable/disable individual mappings

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Key Range and Transpose

You may configure an instrument to respond to only a subset of the entire 128 note MIDI keyboard. To do this, select the port and from/to channel pair in the left column, then click the mouse in the keyboard graphic. The disabled upper and lower ranges will be displayed in grey.

You may change the upper and lower ranges a note at a time by clicking the up/down arrow buttons for each. The MIDI keys that lie within the enabled range are then transposed by the amount shown in the transpose box. Training is a convenient way to automatically set the upper and lower ranges. Press [Train] and a message will show “Training…” Now simply press two notes (simultaneously or one after another) on your MIDI input device. The instrument module must not be muted, and the rack power must be on for training to succeed. Press Reset to enable the entire keyboard. IMPORTANT: Key Range and Transpose are channel-routing-specific. You will have as many ranges and transpose settings as you have channel mappings. Be sure to select the desired channel mapping on the left before altering the key range and transpose

Gray note range is filtered out

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MIDI Controller Remapping and Layering

Incoming MIDI continuous controller data may be remapped to a different controller number, layered to multiple controllers, or disabled.

Each MIDI controller can be either enabled, disabled, remapped, layered, toggled, or rescaled. In the above picture:

· CC 0 is mapped straight through to CC 0 · CC 1 is layered to Modulation and Decay Time · CC 2 is disabled · CC 3 is configured to toggle between 0 and 127 every time the incoming value

reaches 127. (Init Off) means CC 3 is initialized to 0 on the scene change. (Init On) means CC 3 is initialized to 127 on the scene change.

· CC 4 is rescaled linearly from 0-127 to 40-100. Right click a row in the To column to make changes to this mapping. Click the triangle icon to expand or collapse portions of the channel display. Right click the Mode colume to change Toggle modes. Click in the 0 and 127 columns to set linear rescaling values. Training is a convenient way to automatically set the “from” field without having to consult your MIDI controller configuration. Select a “from” field, press [Train] and the field will change to “Training…”. Now simply change a controller on your MIDI input device and the field will automatically change to the controller number you sent. The Instrument Module must not be muted and the rack power must be on for training to succeed. If the [Auto-Train] button is on when [New] is pressed, training will be started automatically. You must manually select the “to” field. Some instruments provide a comprehensive list of MIDI controllers which will be shown in the “to” field. Many, unfortunately, do not and you must consult the instrument manual and select a numerical field. IMPORTANT: CC remapping and layering are channel-routing-specific. You will have as many CC remap settings as you have channel mappings. Be sure to select the desired channel mapping on the left before altering the CC remap.

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Toggle Mode

Toggle Mode configures a controller mapping to toggle the “To” value between 0 and 127 each time the “From” value transmits a value of 127. This feature allows you to assign MIDI foot switches to features on the instrument like an organ’s rotary speed: Step on the pedal once to slow the rotors down and step again to speed them up. Toggle mode is configured with a starting value. When the MIDI configuration is applied on scene change, the initial state of the toggle is sent to the instrument. (Init Off) means the instrument controller value is initialized to 0. (Init On) means it is initialized to 127.

Saving and Loading MIDI Configurations

MIDI Configurations are assigned to an Instrument Module, but some settings can be saved and reloaded from a file.

Press [Save] to save a configuration. This includes for each MIDI input:

· Key Range

· Transpose

· Channel remap

· Controller remap

This allows frequently used MIDI configuration parameters to be applied to other Instrument Modules or stored for future use. When a MIDI Configuration is loaded you may optionally load or ignore specific portions of the configuration. NOTE: Each MIDI Configuration file stores information about a single MIDI port. If you save a file, it will reflect the configuration of the currently selected port (if a channel from/to pair is selected beneath it, it will still save the parent port info.) When you load a MIDI Configuration

Load MIDI Configuration Save MIDI Configuration Assign default MIDI Configuration

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file, it is loaded into the current port. This makes it useful to save MIDI Configuration files that are “device-specific” because devices are attached to ports.

Setting a Default MIDI Configuration

A last-used MIDI configuration is always saved with an Instrument Module. Usually, this MIDI configuration will be reloaded automatically on any future Instrument Module using the same instrument. However, if you select a MIDI configuration to be the default, it will be used instead.

Scene Change Commands In the Scene Commands tab, each scene can be configured to affect each instrument plugin in a variety of ways. See “Working with Scenes and Setlists” for more information.

Working with ReWire Instruments You may create an instrument module using ReWire instruments. When doing so, the instrument console will be a generic panel to launch the ReWire console. ReWire instruments will follow Forte’s play/stop transport and tempo. However, they do have some limitations:

· Rack Load is not automated - The ReWire specification has no concept of a host application sending configuration information to the ReWire instrument. Therefore, the ReWire instrument must be manually configured after forte is running.

· Scene changes do not work – For the same reason, Forte cannot send configuration information on scene change. Some ReWire instruments may respond to program changes, however.

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8. Working With Audio Effects

Adding and Removing Effects

VST and DirectX audio effects may be inserted into either modules or output busses. To insert an effect, right-click on an audio effects patch point shown above and select the DirectX effect from the pop-up menu. To delete an effect, right-click on the effect you wish to remove and select “Remove Audio Effect” on the pop-up menu. You can use the up/down arrows on the right to view different effects in the chain. By right-clicking and opening the insert menu, you may right click on an effect and add it to your favorites, rename it or hide it.

Buss Audio effects patch point

Instrument Module Audio effects patch point

Previous/Next patched Audio effect

Right-Click to add Inserts or open Insert Manager

Double click on an effect to open its console

Bypass button

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Insert Manager Right click an effect and select Insert Manager to control the order of inserts at that patch point.

Showing Effects Consoles Double click an effect to show its console. Working with audio effects consoles is very similar to working with instrument consoles. The only differences are that the console window is always floating (never docked) and there are no Program Map or MIDI Configuration tabs. Close an effect console by clicking the upper right hand close button.

Bypassing Effects Effects may be bypassed either by clicking the bypass button in the instrument module or buss or by unchecking the “Active” column in the Insert Manager. Effects are bypassed independently for each scene, so you may use scene changes to switch effects in and out of an instrument module or buss.

Using Effect Presets Accessing an Audio Effect Preset is identical to accessing instrument Presets.

MIDI Routing to Effects MIDI input is sent to insert effects. The filtering is different for effects than for the instrument module:

· Program changes from MIDI are never sent to insert effects.

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· The Instrument Channel and Controller remap is not applied to MIDI before it goes to the effect. Each effect has its own Controller remap to apply automation.

· Insert effect Controller mapping is not MIDI input port specific (unlike an instrument’s controller remap).

· Instrument Transpose is applied so that plugins like harmonizers can build chords on incoming audio data from MIDI notes.

Insert Effect Automation using MIDI Continuous Controllers

Incoming MIDI continuous controller data may be remapped to VST or DirectX 8.0 automation parameters. They can also be configured to toggle the effect’s parameters. This can be useful to remap, for example, your foot-pedal MIDI input to Amplitube’s stomp effects. The list contains each remap entry up to 128 with a “from” and a “to” column, along with a “toggle” checkbox. The list will only display entries that are remapped to automation parameters. Any controller not listed in the “from” column is not remapped and toggle is disabled. Any disabled controllers will not be passed to the instrument.

The above example shows MIDI CC 1 remapped to control the effect’s “Body Sze” parameter. CC 2 is toggling CC 8, and CC 3 is mapped to “Tone”.. To add a remap entry, press [New]. To delete a remap entry, highlight the entry in the list and press [Delete]. Training is a convenient way to automatically set the “from” field without having to consult your MIDI controller configuration. Select a “from” field, press [Train] and the field will change to “Training…”. Now simply slide or rotate a controller on your MIDI input device and the field will automatically change to the controller number you sent. The Instrument Module must not be muted and the rack power must be on for training to succeed. If the [Auto-Train] button is on when [New] is pressed, training will be started automatically.

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You must manually select the “to” field. Most effects provide a list of automatable parameters which will be shown in the “to” field.

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9. Working with Audio Inputs

Audio inputs allow you to run audio from external sources through modules and busses. Audio inputs are available on any instrument module in the Audio Input Configuration tab of the console. This shows the Audio Input Configuration tab:

You may select the mono or stereo audio input source and monitor the input levels. Select “No Audio Input” from the input selection box to turn off audio input. Although some instruments will process audio input, most will not. For this reason there is a special module you can create from the add module menus called ‘brainspawn Audio Input’. This module is a module without an instrument. In the Audio Input module, the audio is sent directly from the input to the module's insert effects. WARNING: Be very careful when using audio inputs that you do not accidentally enable an audio feedback loop! This may damage your audio equipment if volume is too high.

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10. Working with Scenes and Set-Lists

Scenes are one of the most powerful features of forte. Scenes enable you to use a single rack for an entire performance and automate preset changes, output routings, and mutes. Each rack file can contain multiple scenes visible in the Scene window.

Each Scene contains a complete configuration including:

· A preset for every instrument in the rack. This does not need to be a saved preset because the actual settings of each instrument are saved instead of just a name.

· An effect preset for every audio effect in the rack. Again, this does not need to be a saved preset. Bypass status is also saved.

· A MIDI input enable for each port on each Instrument Module.

· A MIDI keyboard range, transpose, channel and controller remap for every MIDI input on every Instrument Module.

· An output Buss selection for every Instrument Module.

· A tempo (which many VST and DirectX plugins will follow).

· A transport (used by many drum machines, arpeggiators, and ReWire devices).

Note that the Program Change remap is not included in a Scene. Scenes may be optionally changed using incoming MIDI program changes. When this feature is enabled, MIDI Program Remap does not work because the program change messages are used to change scenes instead of being remapped and sent to the instruments.

Creating Scenes Scenes can be created by clicking the Scene button to the left of the scene list on the Control Module. The new scene will be given a name that represents the time and date the scene was created. Scenes can also be created from within the Setlist Manager (described below).

Display Setlist Manager

Snapshot new scene Right-click to display scene menu

Scene Tempo

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Changing Scenes from the Control Module You can change the current scene by clicking the up or down arrow to the right of the scene list.

Changing Scenes from the Keyboard You may also advance to the next scene by pressing [SPACE], or move to a specific scene by pressing a shortcut key you have assigned to that scene.

Changing Scenes from MIDI Use the “Enable Scene Remap” option in the Setlist Manager to change scenes on incoming MIDI bank select and program change. You can enable program changes to select scenes on specific MIDI ports and channels.

When enabled, incoming program changes select scenes in the active setlist: Program 0 selects the first scenes, Program 8 selects the 9

th scene, etc. If the program number is higher

than the last scene in the setlist, the last scene will be selected.

Accessing Large Numbers of Scenes using Bank Select

By default, a bank of scenes consists of up to 128 scenes, each selectable via program change. If more than 128 scenes exist in the active setlist, MIDI bank select (CC0 and CC32) can be used to select alternate banks of 128 scenes. In order for this feature to work, the controller must send bank selects starting at 0, 1, 2, etc. Some devices use different bank numbering schemes that may not work.

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Scene Change Actions Each scene can be configured to affect each instrument plugin in a variety of ways. In the instrument’s console is a “Scene Commands” tab where you may determine what happens to the instrument when the current scene is applied.

Set Configuration Data (FXB, FXP, and/or DirectX Preset Data)

This option selects how configuration data is applied to the plugin:

· Do not use per-Scene configuration data – when this is checked, data specific to each scene is not loaded into this instrument. Instead the instrument is loaded once with the configuration it held when the rack file was last saved and maintains that configuration across all scene changes in the rack. This is selected any time a plugin is loaded that appears on the scene skip list in preferences.

· Load configuration data into the instrument only if it is different from the previous scene – Forte tracks the data sent to a plugin and this option will only send configuration data if it is different than what was loaded by the previous scene. This can reduce scene change times by avoiding unnecessary operations. Note that forte cannot know if you have manually changed the plugin’s configuration; the comparison is only done between the data of the previous scene and the current scene.

NOTE: Using alternate MIDI controllers: You may change the number of scenes per bank by modifying a setting in OPTIONS.INI. Select Tools|View INI Files… and open OPTIONS.INI. Find the line that says “ScenesPerBank=128” and change that to a different value. If you change this to 4, for example, you must select bank 1, program 0 to access the 4

th scene in the setlist. Likewise, bank 2, program 2 would select the 10

th

scene. The ability to alter the number of scenes per bank can be useful when using some MIDI controllers like guitar footboards that select programs using separate pedals.

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· Always load configuration data into the instrument when changing to this scene – Always load this scene’s data into the instrument. This is the equivalent to previous versions of forte if the plugin was not on the scene skip list.

Resets

· Send all notes off to the instrument - sends a note off for each playing note, plus the MIDI “All Notes Off” command on each channel.

· Send all sounds off to the instrument – sends MIDI “All Sounds Off” command on each channel.

· Reset all controllers – sends MIDI “Reset All Controllers” command on each channel.

Program Changes

This option allows you to send a program change to each MIDI channel.

Held Notes over Scene Changes

With specific settings on the Scene Commands tab it is possible to hold notes over scene changes. This can only happen, however, if the MIDI filtering for the plugin is the same in the new scene as in the old scene. If the new MIDI filter is more restrictive (allows fewer notes or has a different transpose setting) the playing notes are forced off to avoid hanging notes.

Using Samplers with Scene Changes

Some plugins require a significant amount of time to process setting configuration data. Many of these are samplers which must load new sample sets into memory when configuration data is applied. Therefore to properly use plugins like this, you should configure them to “Set configuration data only if this is the first scene used”, and use a combination of MIDI channel filtering and program changes when changing scenes to alter their sounds.

Scene Tempo Each scene can contain a tempo instruments and effects can sync to. In addition, you may optionally choose to have forte adjust the tempo dynamically from incoming MIDI Clock messages from a chosen MIDI input port. To alter the Scene’s tempo. Click the tempo button in the Control Module.

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The Set Tempo dialog will let you adjust tempo using the horizontal slider control, or by typing the tempo into the edit box. You may also tap the tempo on the Tap Tempo button. If you click Follow MIDI Clock on port, forte will follow the tempo of incoming MIDI Clock messages from the highlighted input port. Use the slider below to configure how quickly tempo responds to changes in MIDI Clock. If you uncheck Enable Per-Scene Tempo, the current tempo configuration will be used for all scenes in the rack.

Controller Automation of Tempo

You may configure tempo to respond to MIDI controller and note messages on specific ports and channels. Using these features, you may:

· Configure a knob to adjust tempo · Configure buttons or pedals to increment and decrement tempo · Configure a button, pedal, or key, or drum pad to tap tempo

Tap tempo responds on the fourth tap.

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Play/Stop and MIDI Panic Even though forte is not a sequencer, many virtual instruments and effects depend upon host transport control to control drum machine patterns and arpeggiators. Most ReWire devices also require host transport control. For this reason, forte features a Play button. Each Scene may have the transport button in either the Play state or the Stop state. This means you can stop and start drum machines on scene change. When play starts, forte reports a start position of measure 0 beat 0 tick 0. If you stop and restart the play button, the position will reset to 0. This is consistent with forte not being a sequencer and assures that pressing Play will cause an instant measure 0 downbeat.

Controller Automation of Transport

You may configure transport to respond to MIDI controller messages on specific ports and channels. To do so press the Transport Setting button on the header. Using these features, you may:

· Configure buttons or pedals to start and stop the transport · Configure buttons or pedals to force a MIDI panic

If you uncheck Enable Per-Scene Transport, the current transport automation configuration will be used for all scenes in the rack.

Setlists and Songs Setlists and Songs are ways to manage scene order. A rack file may contain several Setlists. Setlists contain Songs, and Songs contain Scenes. In this way, Scenes may be used more than once in the same Song or different Songs, and Songs may be reused in Setlists. Only one Setlist may be active at a time. If no Setlists are defined in a rack file, the scenes will be presented in order in the Scene List and SceneView (identical in behavior to previous versions of forte). If one or more Setlists are defined, the active Setlist’s Songs and Scenes will be presented in Song order/Scene Order. For example, if the Setlist contains 2 songs:

· Song “Pictures At An Exhibition” contains Scenes “part 1”, “part2”, and “part3” · Song “Tarkus” contains Scenes “part a” and “part b”

The Scene List and SceneView will show

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· Pictures At An Exhibition::part 1

· Pictures At An Exhibition::part 2 · Pictures At An Exhibition::part 3 · Tarkus::part a · Tarkus::part b

By simply reordering the Songs in the Setlist, you can get a different Scene order:

· Tarkus::part a

· Tarkus::part b · Pictures At An Exhibition::part 1 · Pictures At An Exhibition::part 2 · Pictures At An Exhibition::part 3

If a Scene name is formatted to match a Song name like this: Song: “Neverland”, Scene: “Neverland|Key Solo”, The part of the scene name before the ‘pipe’/vertical bar character (|) will not be shown. This allows you to create song-specific scenes and not show the song name twice. Instead of “Neverland::Neverland|Key Solo”, you would get “Neverland::Key Solo”.

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Setlist Manager Double click the scene list to display the Setlist Manager

Manage Setlists

· New: Create a new Setlist.

· Delete: Delete current Setlist. · Clone: Create a new Setlist from the current Setlist. · Rename: Rename the current Setlist.

Manage Songs in the Active Setlist (Left “Songs” Column)

· New: Create a new Song. · Close: Create a new Song from the existing selected Song.

· Use: Use (apply) the first Scene in the selected Song. · Rename: Rename the selected Song. · Move Up/Down: Reorder Songs. You may also simply drag them into different

orders.

· Remove: Remove a Song from the active Setlist.

Manage Scenes in Songs (Center Column)

· Use: Use (apply) the first Scene in the selected Song. · Move Up/Down: Reorder Scenes in Song. You may also simply drag them into

different orders. · <<: Add selected Scene from right column to selected Song.

· Remove: Remove selected scene from Song.

Change scenes with MIDI program change

Protect a scene

Manage Setlists

Print a Setlist

Manage Scenes

Manage Songs

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Creating Scenes

Click [Snapshot] to create a new scene.

Protecting Scenes

Click to the left of the scene name in the “P” column to protect a scene. A protected scene cannot be updated.

Updating Scenes

Select the scene that needs updating and press [Update]. The data in the scene is replaced with a new snapshot. The name is not changed and you cannot update a protected scene. You may also update a scene without opening the Setlist Manager by pressing [CTRL]+[U].

Using Scenes

Click [Use] to change to the selected scene.

Renaming Scenes

Click [Rename] to rename the selected scene. You may then type in the new name. You may also rename by simply clicking on the current name in the list. You cannot rename a protected scene.

Applying a Description to a Scene

Use Descriptions to add more information about a scene. This information is displayed in SceneView.

Reordering Scenes

Click [Move Up] or [Move Down] to move the selected scene up or down in the scene list.

Deleting Scenes

Click [Delete] to delete the selected scene. You cannot delete a protected scene.

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Changing Scenes from MIDI

Click “Enable Scene Map” to change scenes on incoming MIDI program changes. The remap is: Scene = Input Program MODULO Number of Entries This means, for example, if there are 3 entries in the Scene table:

Incoming MIDI Program

Change

Scene Number

0

1st entry

1

2nd entry

2

3rd entry

3

1st entry

4

2nd entry

Exiting the Setlist Manager

Click [Close] to exit the Setlist Manager.

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How Rack Changes Affect Scenes It is likely that you will add or remove modules, busses, or effects from your rack after you have created some scenes. When a Scene is used:

· Any new Instrument Module the scene does not recognize will be muted. This is to preserve as much as possible the sound that was generated by the scene. To integrate the sound of the new module into a scene, unmute and configure it and then update the scene in the Setlist Manager, or by pressing [CTRL]+[U].

· Any new Audio Effect the scene does not recognize will not be changed

· If modules or effects have been removed, the scene will skip them and silently update itself to remove the unused data. This will happen even if the scene is protected in the Setlist Manager.

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SceneView SceneView is a full-screen display that shows the previous, current, and next scene names. Enable SceneView by selecting the View|SceneView menu option or pressing [ALT]+[0]. Exit SceneView by pressing [ESC], or by pressing the close button on the top right of the window.

You may assign a background picture to a scene by clicking the “Pic” button in the lower right hand corner. This can be useful for displaying alternate information like song lyrics or just art you enjoy. You may right click on the Scene View to hide or show various elements shown above. For instance, if you set the background picture to be song lyrics, you may wish to hide the scene names. You may configure SceneView to open automatically when a rack loads. See Preferences for more information.

1-click access to all scenes

Previous scene

Current Scene

Next Scene

Tap Tempo

Set Background Picture

Next Scene Prompt

Scene Description or Notes

Tap Tempo

Set Background Picture

Next Scene Prompt

Scene Description or Notes

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Scene Shortcut Keys Keystroke

Action

Alt + 0 Shows/hides the full-screen SceneView display. Esc will also close the SceneView display

Ctrl + E Creates a new Scene with a default name based on the current date and time Ctrl + U

Updates the current Scene

Space

Advances to the next Scene

Note: These shortcut keys are reassignable in Preferences.

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11. Advanced Performance Recovery

Advanced Performance Recovery (APR) is a performance feature designed to provide forte some additional resilience in a live situation. It is a 'watchdog' system. A separate Windows application monitors forte's health by listening for a signal from forte every few seconds. If the watchdog stops detecting this signal, it will forcibly kill forte (if it still exists in a running state) and restart it with the last rack and scene it was using. APR is disabled by default. You can enable it in preferences and it requires a restart to begin. When enabled, a new window will pop up and sink into the icon tray. This is the watchdog, and you can pop this up and disable monitoring any time you wish. The watchdog will also automatically close if you close forte. APR is designed for live performance. It should not be enabled when you are interacting with the forte user interface, for example building or configuring racks. The reason for this is that some plugins require large amounts of time to load sample sets and this can be falsely detected by the watchdog as a “lack of activity” situation.

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12. Rack Stress Test

The capability to play virtual instruments in a live setting is based upon making a number of elements work together reliably:

· Computer Hardware and BIOS (including ACPI) · Operating System · Soundcard and MIDI drivers from various sources

· Forte · Vitual instruments of various technologies (VST, DXi, ReWire, etc.) from countless

vendors in various states of stability Each of these elements can be a weak link that makes the system unreliable. Each can interact with other elements in unexpected ways. For this reason, forte includes a built-in stress test to allow you to test all of the above working together in the same rack file for extended periods of time. To start the stress test:

1. Turn down or off all of your audio outputs! 2. Load your performance Rack File. 3. Select Tools|Stress Rack… from the menu.

4. Select the length of time you wish to stress the rack. This can range up to 24 hours (this test is unattended, so you can start it and go do something else).

5. Select which events to include in the test and how frequently to send them. 6. Press Start.

You may stop the test before it completes by selecting Tools|Stop Stress from the menu. When the test is complete, it will offer to open your log file. At the end of the log you will find information about scene change times, memory utilization over the course of the test, and CPU utilization in each scene. Note that although this stress test can be useful for finding weak links in your rack setup, we can never promise that it will result in a 100% stable live setup. There are simply too many variables. However, this stress test is certainly better than assuming everything will work.

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13. Preferences

You can change forte’s preferences by selecting Options|Preferences… from the menu bar or by right-clicking on the Control Module and selecting “Preferences.” Preferences are divided into pages selectable on the left side of the window.

General Options Launch forte when Windows starts? – Select if you want to start forte automatically when you log into Windows. For this to be useful, Windows should be configured to log in automatically. Hide splash screen at start? – Select if you do not want to see the splash screen at program startup. Open SceneView at launch? – Automatically shows the SceneView when a rack loads. Autoload Rack when forte Starts? – Loads either the last used rack or a specified default rack when forte starts.

Preferences Pages

Accept or abandon changes

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Default Rack Save location – Path used to save rack files. The default is <my documents>\brainspawn\forte 1.0

Default Backup Rack Save location – Path used to save backup rack files. The default is the same directory used to save the rack file.

MRU Sizes – select how many racks, instruments, and inserts to keep in your most recently used lists. Enable Advanced Performance Recovery – See Advanced Performance Recovery on page 55. Disable Screen Saver while playing? – Disables any configured screen saver when the rack power is on. Minimize to System Tray – Choose whether forte minimizes to an icon on the task bar or in the system tray. Use all available CPUs – This is a troubleshooting option which should remain checked. If you are using a multiple processor system and encountering problems, you can uncheck this option to see if it is related to multi-processing. Number of Auto-Backups to keep – Every time you save a rack file in forte, it makes a backup to preserve the old file. The number of backups is configurable here. Logging Level – Configures the amount of information logged to the log file (see Log File on page 73.)

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Edit Shortcuts

This page configures hot-key assignments. To assign a new hot-key:

· Select the function you wish to assign a key to

· Set the cursor in the ‘Press new shortcut key’ box and press the key you wish to assign to the function

· Press the Assign button

Check “Disable shortcuts when Consoles are open” to disable hot-key assignments when plugin consoles are open. This can solve problems where hot-key assignments conflict with plugin keystrokes.

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Skins

forte supports skins which can be selected from this screen. For alternate skins, please visit www.brainspawn.com. For information on creating your own, please contact technical support.

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Audio Options

Device List - Shows all audio output devices available to forte. Each output may be enabled or disabled for use within forte by the check box next to its name. A disabled output will not be available to assign to a buss and is not used when determining audio buffer sizes on startup. “Min Buffer Size” displays the buffer requirements reported by the audio driver. The device list reflects the WDM/ASIO selection below. In ASIO mode, only one driver may be selected at a time. Audio Driver Mode – WDM/KS or ASIO – This selection determines the audio driver mode. ASIO Control Panel – Open the ASIO control panel. Audio Sample Rate – Select the sample rate forte will use to access your sound cards. Global Volume Trim – This gain adjustment is applied to each buss after all effects but before audio is sent to the sound card. It is applied at the same point the buss volume fader is applied.

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Default Audio Output – Configures the device that will be used when the first buss is created. Additional busses use first available outputs. Custom Buffer Settings – Configures the minimum size and number of buffers used. When both are set to “Auto”, the configuration is automatically computed based upon enabled audio outputs. If you experience audio dropouts, try different settings here. Current Buffer Size/Latency – Displays the current buffer size and number of buffers. forte automatically computes the minimum buffer size when it starts based upon the enabled audio outputs and the Custom Buffer Settings described above. The Current Latency is the estimation of software latency based upon the current buffer configuration.

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Plugin Options

Group plugins by these companies – Use this box to organize your instruments and audio effects by plugin manufacturer. Any company name not represented in this list is presented in the top-level menu of the menus. These plugins will be hidden from the add/copy instrument menus – Use this box to exclude plugins from menus. These plugins will not be available in forte – You may quarantine a plugin by adding it to this list. A plugin on this list will not be loaded when a rack is loaded and it is not available in the Instrument Module or audio effects menus. These plugins will be hidden from the add insert menus – Use this box to exclude plugins from menus. Preset MRU Size - Configures the number of “most recently used” presets on the Preset menus.

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VST/VSTi Options

VST Search Paths – Use this box to list multiple directories to search for VST plugins. Unrecognized VST Plugins List – This is a list of DLL files in the VST search paths that did not appear to be usable VST plugins and are skipped on subsequent restarts. Re-Profile – If a plugin is on the unrecognized list but shouldn’t be (for example a timed out DR-008 demo replaced by a purchased version) you can re-profile on the next restart to rebuild the unrecognized list.

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Scene Options

Once of the most powerful features of Scenes is the ability to load each plugin in the rack with different data on each scene change. Some instruments, however, take a very long time to change configuration. A common example is soft-samplers which must load new sample sets from disk. This page allows you to configure a list of plugins that will not be loaded with new data on scene changes. For instance, you can include Kontakt in a rack, but if it is on this list, the sample set will not change between scenes. Instead, use MIDI routing changes between scenes to alter the output. If an instrument is listed here, the configuration action specified in Scene Commands (see Scene Change Actions) is overridden to set configuration data only once when the instrument is loaded. This preserves the behavior of previous versions of forte.

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MIDI Input Ports

Enable/Disable MIDI Input Ports – Use this list to enable or disable MIDI input ports for use in forte. If an input port is not checked in this list, it will not be opened for input and it will not be included in the MIDI Configurations list. Leave MIDI ports open – If checked, forte will open MIDI input ports when started, but will not close them when rack power is turned off. It will always close ports when exiting. When unchecked, input ports will be closed when rack power is turned off.

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MIDI Configuration

This page configures which portions of a MIDI Configuration file will be used when you load a configuration file. Instrument Module Creation options allow you to select the MIDI Configuration to use: Autoload MIDI Configuration File unchecked to start with a generic configuration:

· All 128 MIDI keys are passed to the instrument

· No transpose

· No channels or controllers are remapped

Autoload MIDI Configuration File checked to start with either a specified default configuration or the last used configuration.

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Copy Options See Adding, Deleting, and Copying Instrument Modules.

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14. Menus

Here is a summary of forte’s menus:

File

· New

· Rack – Creates a new rack with no modules or busses.

· Scene – Creates a new scene in the current rack.

· Module – Adds a module. You must select the instrument to use.

· Buss – Adds a buss.

· Open… – Opens a previously saved rack file. You must select the .RCF file to use.

· Save – Saves the current rack to a .RCF file.

· Save As… - Saves the current rack with a different name.

· Play – Toggles rack power on or off.

· Recent racks – Open a recently used rack.

· Exit – Exit forte.

View

· SceneView – Enables full-screen list of scenes for distance viewing.

Options

· Preferences… - Change program preferences.

· Skins… - Change program skins.

Help

· About forte…

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15. Keyboard Shortcuts

Keystroke

Action

Alt + 0 Show/hide the full-screen SceneView display. Esc will also close the SceneView display. Ctrl + B Show/hide all Output Busses. Ctrl + C Copies the selected Output Buss or Instrument Module. See Adding, Deleting, and Copying

Instrument Modules on page 17, and Adding, Deleting, and Copying Output Busses on page 19 for more information.

Ctrl + E Creates a new Scene with a default name based on the current date and time. Ctrl + L Solos the selected Instrument Module. Ctrl + M Mutes the selected Instrument Module. Ctrl + N Does nothing. Ctrl + O Displays the ‘Open rack’ dialog box and allows a previously saved rack to be loaded. Ctrl + P Toggles the rack power On/Off. Ctrl + R Creates a new, empty rack. You will be prompted to save the current rack if changes have been

made to it. Ctrl + S Saves the current rack. If the rack has not been saved before, you will be prompted to name the

new rack. Ctrl + U Updates the current Scene. Ctrl + W Show/hide the console window of the selected module. Ctrl + X or Alt + F4

Exits forte.

Space Advances to the next Scene. Ctrl + Space Moves to previous Scene. Insert Adds a new Instrument Module to the rack. Alt + Insert Adds a new insert effect to the current Module. Ctrl + Insert Adds a new Output Buss to the rack. Ctrl-D Deletes the selected Instrument Module or Output Buss. Home Scrolls the Control Module into view. End Scrolls to the bottom of the rack. TAB or Down Arrow

Advances the Selection Caret to the next Instrument Module or Output Buss. When the Selection Caret reaches the last Module in the rack, it wraps around to the first.

F1 Opens the forte User Manual. NUMPAD 1~9

Presses the MIDI Panic button.

1 ~ 0 Use Scene numbers 1 through 10. Ctrl + 1 ~ 0 Use Scene numbers 11 through 20. Shift + 1 ~ 0 Use Scene numbers 21 through 30. Ctrl + Shift 1 ~ 0

Use Scene numbers 31 through 40.

Shift + TAB or Up Arrow

Moves the Selection Caret to the previous Instrument Module ot Output Buss. When the first Output Buss is reached, it wraps around to the last Module in the rack.

Note: These shortcut keys are reassignable using Edit Shortcuts in Preferences.

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16. Command Line Switches

forte supports the following command line switches: Switch

Action

/safe

Starts forte in safe mode

/rack <rack name>

Loads the specified rack when forte starts. Must include full path, using backslash (\) between directories.

/synth <instrument name>

Loads specified instrument at start. Instrument Name must be the friendly name as displayed in fortes menus.

Notes:

· The /rack parameter overrides the /synth parameter. If both are specified on the command line, the Rack, not the instrument, will be loaded at start up.

· Both /rack and /synth, override the 'Load Rack' options found on the 'General Options' page.

· /safe cannot be used with any other command line parameter.

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17. Performance and Troubleshooting

Visit www.brainspawn.com to access product updates and look for the latest technical support notes. Support forums are available at www.brainspawn.com/forum. The Knowledge Base is available at http://www.brainspawn.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=16. Forte’s performance is highly dependent upon the WDM or ASIO audio device drivers present in your system and the 3

rd party instruments and effects plugged into it.

MIDI-to-Audio Latency Latency is the amount of time that passes between when a MIDI controller is triggered and when audio is heard. Low latency is essential in live play. In forte, latency is directly determined by the number and size of audio buffers used (expressed as size × count). For example, 64 × 1 will have half the latency of 128 × 1 or 64 × 2:

Buffer Configuration Latency in milliseconds 64 × 1 1.45 (acceptable for drum trigger input)

128 × 1 or 64 × 2 2.90 192 × 1 5.80 256 × 1 5.80

384 × 1 8.71

512 × 1 11.61

(still acceptable for certain types of keyboard sounds)

forte uses several factors in configuring buffer settings. If the user has specified either a number of buffers or a buffer size in Custom Buffer Settings (see Audio Options on 64), that will be used regardless of whether or not it is a good choice. If the user has left both Custom settings at “Auto”, forte will compute a suitable buffer configuration based upon enabled audio outputs. If one of the Custom settings is “Auto” and the other is not, the automatic buffer configuration will consider the user choice and alter the other setting to compensate. In ASIO mode, only one output can be enabled at a time, so the automatic buffer configuration is fairly simple. However, in WDM/KS mode, multiple outputs can be enabled. The automatic configuration chooses a buffer size that is equal to the smallest buffer size supported on any enabled output, and then increases the number of buffers until enough data will be supplied to the cards with the larger buffer sizes. For example, if you have two enabled cards, one of which can do 64 samples/channel (e.g. Dakota) and one which can do 441 samples/channel (e.g. most SoundBlasters), the automatic configuration will result in 64 × 8 (latency of 11.61 ms) to ensure that enough data will reach the SoundBlaster. Normally, you should leave the Custom settings at “Auto”. If the automatic settings result in dropouts, then you should take note of the current settings and adjust the custom settings to increase either the buffer size or number of buffers until dropouts no longer occur.

Audio Dropouts The audio meter on each buss provides an indication of audio dropouts. When an output is incapable of providing enough audio to the sound card, it will notify you by driving the meter to maximum level, which will fade just like audio peaks. Audio dropouts may be detected by either:

· Listening for pops

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· Watching for unexpected red peaks on the peak level LEDs. For example if you are not playing MIDI notes and no sound is being produced but the peak level LEDs brighten to red occasionally, it is likely you are experiencing dropouts.

Here are some tips for minimizing dropouts:

· Don’t show instrument consoles during performance – some consoles have animation such as meters which can use a significant amount of CPU power.

· Don’t task-switch to other applications during performance – this causes a burst of UI activity similar to meter animation.

· Shut down CPU or disk-intensive background applications.

· Run fewer modules, busses, or audio effects in a single rack.

· Adjust the Custom Buffer Settings.

Sometimes dropouts are caused by soundcard driver issues. For more information on how to adjust forte for use with certain soundcards, see Additional Options in Options.ini on page 73. forte is a live-performance application so it will not deliberately stop if an audio dropout occurs.

Log File forte maintains a log file in its program files directory called “forte.log”. The level of information logged to this file is configurable in General Options. The following logging levels are supported: Silent – no logging output. Errors – System information and errors are logged. This includes application start time and version, Windows version, DirectX runtime version, and application end time. Warnings – System information, errors and warnings. Information – System information, errors, warnings, and verbose status information such as instrument/effect plugin information and WDM output information. If you are having a problem with forte, looking at the log file may be very helpful, especially if Logging Level is set to Information. If you email technical support it is helpful to attach the log file. The log file is kept in the application data directory, typically “C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\brainspawn\forte 1.0\forte.log”

Additional Options in Options.ini forte stores its configuration options in a file called “C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\brainspawn\forte 1.0\options.ini” This path may differ on some installations. You can view this folder in forte by using the menu command Help | View INI Files…. There are some additional options in OPTIONS.INI that can not be configured within the program Preferences pages and must be configured by directly editing the file.

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[Audio] KSNumExtraBuffers = 0. This indicates the number of extra buffers used when communicating with WDM soundcards. There are always 2 buffers. This option increases that number. For example, if KSNumExtraBuffers = 1, forte will use 3 buffers. ASIOUsePreferredBufferSizeOnly=0. If =1, forte will only access the ASIO driver using its preferred buffer size. If =0, forte will try to use the minimum buffer size.

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Safe Mode forte supports “safe” mode where you can prevent any instruments or effect plugins on your system from being loaded. A list of all installed instrument and effect plugins will be displayed in alphabetical order. You may select to ‘Skip’ a plugin, which prevents the plugin from being loaded but does not add it to the “bad list”. Skipped plugins will be available again the next time you start forte. You may also select ‘Mark Bad’ to add a plugin to the “bad list” and make the plugin unavailable within forte..

You may start forte in safe mode by adding the ‘/safe’ parameter to the command line or by holding down the CTRL key while starting. If forte ever crashes, it will automatically offer to enable safe mode the next time it is started. In safe mode, the rack power will not automatically turn on when adding the first module or loading a rack. If a problem exists when rack power is on, this will allow you to modify the rack first. You may re-enable plugins within forte in the Plugin Options page of Preferences.

Click here to skip

Click here to mark bad