Master Tracks Pro was originally developed by Passport, now it is a product of GVox (http://www.gvox.com). As of May 2001, the educational discount price was $66. The platforms supported are Windows 3.1, 3.11, or Win 9x; Macintosh Classic II or better System 7, Mac Systems newer than 7.6.x are not recommended.Installing on a Windows computerMaster Tracks Pro is a full-featured MIDI sequencing program. It does not have audio tracks per se but there are ways to trigger audio events from the program via MCI. The various editing views (including notation view) display only one track at a time. Notation for one track at a time may be printed.
Make sure that your MIDI drivers are installed and that the MIDI settings in Windows Multimedia Control Panel are correct. Also, make sure that any keyboard you may use for input or playback is turned on, connected, and has the correct settings. (General MIDI mode on.)
Insert the installer CD-ROM. Go to the Start menu -> Run -> Browse. Navigate to the CD drive and the setup.exe program. Follow the instructions as they appear.Checking your MIDI setup
Start Master Tracks Pro.
Use the Setup -> MIDI Setup menu to open the MIDI Setup Dialog. If you are NOT using any external instruments, only your computer to play back, your dialog settings should look something like this:
The Track EditorIf you are using external MIDI keyboards, etc., then your MIDI interface output driver should be selected for ports A and B and the In Port Assignments should list your MIDI interface input driver. The Receive Sync is for using a drum machine or SMPTE video deck.
Make sure that local is OFF on your keyboard and ON in the sequencing software.
Make sure the volume is up on your sound module (whether internal or external) and that speakers or headphones are attached and turned on and up.
The Track Editor lists all of the tracks in the sequence. The left part of the window is the Track Sheet. The right part is the Song Editor.
The tracks are listed by number in the Tk column. Clicking on the Tk button hides the Track Sheet. The track numbers may be dragged up/down to different locations. Track sheet information for a track (not its performance data) may be copied by shift-clicking the number and dragging.
The triangles in the P column control whether a track is heard in playback. A solid triangle enables playback. Click on a triangle to make it appear hollow and mute a track.
The R column enables recording in a track. Shift-click to record faders for the track.
The S column enables Soloing (muting all others not soloed).
The L column enalbe looping back to the beginning of a track.
Name of tracks are set by clicking and typing in this column.
Chnl is used to set the beginning output port and MIDI channel for the track. Often, downloaded files sound strange because the drum tracks are not set to channel 10 (and they should be). This is where to fix that.
Prg is where the program number/name (instrument sound) is selected for the beginning of the track.
Click in the Cntlr column to choose MIDI controllers to be recorded with a fader or to set initial controller values.
Val shows the inital value for the contrller selected in the Controller column.The Song Sheet is used to select measures or series of measures for editing such as insert, delete, copy, paste. It is also used to place and display markers at the beginnings of measures
Master Tracks Pro will play Master Tracks Pro files, Encore files, MusicTime files, and standard MIDI files.Things you can do with MIDI
Go to File -> Open and navigate to the desired file. Highlight it and click OK.
The Transport Window may be used to play the files (sequences).
If the Transport Window is not visible, go to the Window menu and select Transport.
The buttons on the Transport Window are labeled and most are self-explanatory.
The Measure Counter (Meas Beat Clock) shows the current measure, beat, and clock (1/240 of a quarter note). You may click on one of the fields in the counter to type in a new location.
Current Time displays the time in hours, minutes, seconds, and frames (as set in the SMPTE settings).
In: and Out: show what area of the sequence has been selected for editing, if any.
Count turns the count-off on/off. Click turns the metronome on/off.
Auto enables automatic rewind to where recording or playing last started.
Int Sync allows external sync from a drum machine or SMPTE interface.
Thru allows you to hear your keyboard respond to notes even when you are not recording.
- Change Tempo
Use the Conductor Window to adjust the Offset Tempo as the sequence plays. The tempo stored in the sequence is shown in the lower right of the Conductor Window. Click on that button to return to the saved tempo.
Click on the time signature button to open the Change Conductor dialog to change and save a newtempo.
- Change Key
This affects only the appearance of the notation, not the pitch. Choose "Change Key Signature from the Change menu.
Select "All" in the Edit menu and choose "Transpose" from the Change menu to transpose everything. (C3 is middle C.)
To change one track, select it in the Song Sheet and use the Change menu.
- Change Volume
Use the Master Fader (under Windows menu) to set the initial volume of all tracks: set it to the desired level. Stop all playback and save the file.
Use the Master Fader to control volume of all tracks in real time as they play.
Record volume changes by enabling fader recording (shift-click under R) in the desired tracks (after they have initial settings) choose controller 7 in their Cntrl boxes. Start recording and move the slider.
- Change Orchestration
Click in the Prg box in the Track List to change the instrument for a track. (Rewind to beginning before playing.)
- Turn Tracks On/Off
Click in the P box in the Track List to change whether a track is muted or not.
- Play Metronome
Click on the Click button on the Transport to hear the Metronome. Double-click to set the Metronome sounds.
- Loop Sections of Song
Click in the L box in the Track Sheet to loop a track from its beginning.
- Mark Points in Music
Drag the yellow triangle at the top of the Song Sheet to the right to set a marker at the beginning of a measure.
- Record Tracks
Click in the R box to enable recording on a track. Use the Click, Count, and Punch buttons to set up options, click record and play.
- Add/Delete/Change Notes
Use the arrow tool and click on a note in the Piano Roll or Notation Window and drag to change. Choose the eraser and click on a note and press delete to erase. Use the pencil to "draw" new notes. Choose the piano keyboard to select all notes of a given pitch to drag or erase, etc. Use the Track button to select another track to edit.