The 'General' tab contains the main settings for the active song (tracker file), including the title, file type, tempo, and volume. It also contains the settings for each individual channel and the effects used in the song. Changing any of the settings here changes them for the currently open song only. This tab contains the following areas:

• {Title and properties}
• {Tempo Settings}
• {Volume Settings}
• {Channel Settings}
• {Effect Plugins}
• {Factory Preset}
• {Mix Settings}

Title and Properties

Song Title

Song Properties

This button opens the song properties menu where the song type, tempo and playback properties may be changed and viewed. It also contains a field that shows the which versions of MPT were used to create and to save the current song file.

Loop Song

This check box enables/disables song looping. When enabled, this starts the song playing again when it reaches the end, starting from the point given in the 'restart position' field (usually zero). It does this continually until the song is stopped by pressing the 'stop song' button on the toolbar or the 'stop' button present on the 'pattern tab'. An empty box indicates it is disabled. Loop song is OFF by default.

Player Settings...

Clicking on the 'Player Settings...' button will open the {Player Settings...} menu, giving a list of playback effect and mixing algorithm options. The player settings are settings for the program, not the current song and changes made apply to playback of all files.

VU meter

The pair of thin boxes graded from red at the top through yellow to green at the bottom are {VU meters}. These give a graphical representation of the approximate volume of audio going through the left and right stereo output channels. When active this will 'light up' from the bottom (quiet) to the top (loud). The very top bar lighting up red is an indicator of the audio clipping and means that you should turn the signal down to stop distortion. The boxes are unlit when there is no signal passing through.

Tempo Settings

Tempo

This displays and allows the user to change the current tempo. What the tempo shown represents is governed by what {tempo mode} the song is in. The value may be changed by using the up and down arrow buttons to the right of the bpm value displayed, by typing in the box directly or using the slider on the right. Tempos can range from 32 to 512 . The default value is 125.

Speed

This displays and allows the user to change the song speed. What the speed represents is governed by what {tempo mode} the song is in. The value may be changed by using the up and down arrow buttons to the right of the speed value displayed or by typing in the box directly. Values for speed can be 1 to 64. 1 is very fast and 64 is incredibly slow. The default value is 6. A value of 6 is usually used, but 3-8 are common. This value has no effect if using "Modern" tempo interpretation (which is recommended).

• Needs explanation of the wackiness that goes on here and the differences made by alternative tempo modes

Restart Position

This changes the restart position. Values from 0-35 are possible. This specifies which pattern MPT should jump to when the whole song has played and 'loop play' is enabled.

Volume Settings

Initial Global Volume

This changes the song's volume from 0 (silence) to 128 (loudest). The default value is around 64. Be aware that higher values may result in clipping (and distortion).

VSTi Volume

This changes the volume of VST instruments. It affects the level of all VSTis used in a song and is useful for fine-tuning the volume of VSTis. Values can be from 0 (silence) to 500 (loudest). The default value is 100.

Sample Volume

This changes the volume of sample playback in a song. This affects the level of all samples (and therefore the instruments that use them) in the song. Values can be from 0 (silence) to 500 (loudest). The default value is 100.

Channel Settings

These settings can be used to change the name, volume, panning, and effects for each channel. Think of this area as the 'mixing desk' where you can boost or reduce the volume of channels to create a better balance in the sound. Only four channels have their settings displayed at once; use the tabs (marked 1-4,5-8 and so forth) to navigate to the required channels.

Channel Name

The channels are given numerical names only (e.g. Channel 1, Channel 2 etc.) initially but the box at the top of the channel settings area can be used to enter a name for the channel. This is very useful for keeping track of what is in each channel. For example, you might mark your bass drum channel "BD". The name can be up to 19 characters but should be shorter as otherwise it can be hard to see the whole name when in the {?pattern view?}. The channels always have their numerical name displayed in the general tab whether they have a new name entered or not. In the patterns view they have their number followed by their given name (if entered).

Initial Volume

This sets the volume of the channel. The value can be changed by using the slider, typing in directly, or by using the up/down arrows next to the box. Values range from 0 (silence) to 64 (full volume). The default volume for all channels is 64 (full volume).

Initial Pan

This sets the panning (left/right placement) of the channel. The value can be changed by typing directly in the box, by using the up/down arrows next to it, or by using the slider. Values range from 0-256, where 0 is wholly left , 128 is the centre, and 256 is wholly right. The default setting on all channels is 128 (centre).

Mute

This button toggles whether this channel is muted or not. When muted, all samples and instruments on this channel are not played. Mute is OFF by default and the button is raised when off.

Surround

This button toggles the surround function for each channel. When it is on, this sends the audio from the channel through the surround effect using the current values in the {Player Settings...}. Surround is OFF by default and the button is raised when off.

Effect

This drop-down menu allows the selection of which effect is to be applied to the channel. This list will initially contain only empty slots to which effects are added by using the {Effect Plugins} section below the channel section. Note: It is recommended that you apply effects to instruments, rather than to channels: this will make your life a whole lot easier when you start inserting, removing, or moving channels.

Effect Plugins

These settings are used to set up the VST effects and VST instruments which are to be used in the song. This area controls all the plugins in the song, regardless of the channels or instruments they are used in.

Select...

This button is used to select which plugin is loaded into the currently displayed effect slot. It brings up the {Mix plugins} dialog.

Edit...

This button brings up the selected plugin's own interface in a separate window. If the plugin does not have a custom interface, then MPT will create a basic one with a list of all parameters and a slider / number entry box to edit them. MPT will also add a menu to the top of every plugin, regardless of whether it supplies its own interface or not, which gives access to the {File}, {Presets}, {Info}, and {Options menus}.

Display name

This displays the name that is used to represent the plugin in pattern view {and should it be used in the send to menu as well??}. It can be edited to give a more easy to identify name; this is especially useful when you are using several instances of the same plugin. This name can be up to 31 characters long but should be kept shorter as otherwise it won't be completely visible in the pattern view.

I/O Type

This simply displays the stereo configuration of the currently selected plugin. It shows whether the plugin in question is taking in mono or stereo audio, and whether it is outputting mono or stereo. Note: In the case of VSTis, it displays 'Stereo-In', despite most VSTis not actually accepting input.

Move

Selecting this brings up the {move to slot} menu to enable you to move a plugin from one slot to another. The drop down list in this menu enables you to select any empty slot to move the plugin into. Moving a plugin preserves all its settings.

Insert

Selecting this brings up a dialog which asks if you wish to insert an empty FX slot in front of the currently selected slot. Selecting "Yes" moves all the plugins down by one slot and adds a new empty slot for putting an effect in. This is useful for adding an effect between two others where there is no slot left free. Note: if there is a plugin present in the last slot then pressing yes will warn you that it will be lost if another is inserted.

Factory Preset

The settings in this area are used to select, save, load and modify the settings for a plugin.

Load

This opens an 'Open File' dialog to browse to find {.fxp preset files} to load. Note: trying to load a preset file for an instrument which did not create it will result in an error.

Save

This opens a 'Save File' dialog to browse to a location to save the current settings as a {.fxp preset files} preset file. Note: presets only work with the plugin from which they were originally saved, so it's recommended that you reflect this in the files name, e.g. "Freeverb2-BigRoom.fxp"

Parameter

This drop-down menu displays the currently selected parameter in the current effect and enables the selection of any of the other parameters. The numbers on the left-hand side are in hexadecimal and are needed when automating the effects parameters in a song {link to more details/tutorial??} The parameter's value can be changed by using the slider below or by entering a value between 0.000 and 1.000 in the box and pressing 'set' to update the value in the plugin.

Mix Settings

This area is used to control the flow of audio from the currently selected effect to determine it's volume, what it's applied to and where it goes.

Master

This check-box when ticked applies the currently selected effect to the master output - i.e. to all channels. When another effect placed later in the effects list also has 'master' selected then it will effect this one too. {Check this!! - what happens when a chain goes 'through' this and has sound coming out beyond this point in the list? I think it comes out without being affected but not sure...}. An empty box indicates it is disabled. This is off by default.

Bypass

This check box enables/disables the bypassing of this particular plugin. A VSTi will cease to make sounds and a VST will stop having an effect on the audio that is being routed through it. An empty box indicates it is disabled. This is off by default.

Expand

Normally, with the default mix mode, as you move the dry/wet slider to the right, the amount of each signal that contributes to the output evolves as follows:

Dry 0%   -> 100%
Wet 100% -> 0%

With expand, under the covers the amounts vary like this:

Dry -100% -> 100%
Wet  100% -> -100%

To illustrate, here are the percentages of signal taken into account in default mix mode:

This is potentially interesting conceptually, but unlikely to be useful musically.

Dry Mix

This check box enables/disables the dry signal coming through as well as the 'wet' signal (the signal that goes through the effect). This is most commonly used for plugins that have no wet/dry mix settings built in. For example, in a delay plugin with no dry signal all you get is the later echoes with no original sound, which is not normally what you want. This should be activated to fix that problem. The {Wet Dry slider} slider to the right controls the amount of wet and dry signal coming through so the output can be further fine-tuned to the right levels. An empty box indicates it is disabled.

Mixmode

This drop-down menu contains a list of different mixing modes that can be applied to the currently selected plugins output and the dry signal that goes into the plugin. The available types are:

• {Wet subtract}
• {Dry subtract}
• {Mix Subtract}
• {Middle Subtract}
• {LR balance}

ADD MORE INFO ABOUT THE TYPES HERE, OR IN MORE SUB-PARTS. some more details on forums????

• default : normal processing
• Wet subtract : MIX += DRY - WET * wetRatio
• Dry subtract : MIX += WET - DRY * wetRatio
• Mix subtract : MIX -= WET - DRY * wetRatio
• Middle subtract : MIX -= middle - WET * wetRatio + middle - DRY
• LR balance : MIX_L += wetRatio * (WET_L - DRY_L) + dryRatio * (DRY_R - WET_R)
• LR balance : MIX_R += dryRatio * (WET_L - DRY_L) + wetRatio * (DRY_R - WET_R)

Gain

This adjusts the volume of the plugin from 0.1 - 8.0 in increments of 0.1. This is used to reduce or boost the volume of plugins that are quieter or louder than desired. The default gain is 1.0 (no change in volume).

Output To

This drop-down menu contains a list of all the plugins that are further down (higher numbers) in the plugin slots list. If there are no other plugins further down the list then it will be empty. Selecting one of these will route the output from the currently selected plugin through the plugin in the 'output to' box. In this way multiple effects can be chained together. This box says 'Default' (no chaining) by default.

Wet-Dry Slider

This slider controls the mix of wet and dry signal that will be output from this plugin. This is useful for varying the amount of effect applied when the plugin itself has no wet/dry signal mixing. The amounts can be set from 0% wet and 100% dry to 100% wet and 0% dry in increments of 1%. This defaults to 100% wet.