Patch Studio Documentation

I. Introduction
A. Preface
B. Terminology
II. The Guts
A. The Main Window
B. Creating a new Virtual Device
C. Making Connections
D. Hotkeys
III. Registration
A. Demo Version
B. How to Register

I. Introduction

A. Preface

Patch Studio is a MIDI tool that allows you to connect MIDI devices and applications together. It also allows you to create "virtual devices" that act like filters. You can connect MIDI devices and virtual devices together to form a flexible system of routing and filtering. This can achieve anything :-), ranging from simply routing your keyboard to your synthesizer to splitting your keyboard in half and sending data to multiple consumers or even more complex systems. And yes, Patch Studio is a BeOS application. I just use the MacOS decor. You can switch between the BeOS, AmigaOS, MacOS, and Windows decors by pressing left Control-Alt-Shift, clicking on the Be menu, and using the Decor submenu.

B. Terminology

MIDI message. A MIDI message can be thought of as a command. When you hit a key on your keyboard, it sends a MIDI message; when you press the foot pedal, it sends a MIDI message; when you change the instrument, it sends a MIDI message, and so on and so forth. Each MIDI message has a type and one or more properties. The MIDI message types are as follows: ChannelPressure, ControlChange, KeyPressure, NoteOff, NoteOn, PitchBend, ProgramChange, SystemCommon, SystemExclusive, TempoChange. The properties depend on the MIDI message type. For instance, the NoteOn message has Channel, Note, and Velocity for properties. These properties can be filtered with Virtual devices.

Connection. A connection between a MIDI producer and a MIDI consumer routes the outcoming MIDI stream from the producer to the incoming port on the consumer. This allows you to connect something like your keyboard to a synthesizer, which would allow you to hit a key on the keyboard and have it relay to the synth for synthesizing :).

Virtual device. A virtual device is a special kind of software MIDI device that is created and managed by Patch Studio. It is user-configurable and allows you to do two things:
  1. Block certain MIDI messages from being passed through. This is useful for filtering a single channel or only part of the keyboard.
  2. Modifying the incoming MIDI stream. This allows you to do many things, including tranposition (offsetting the note value), changing the velocity, and much more.

Ensemble. An ensemble contains all of the loaded virtual devices, all of the normal devices, and all of the connections in your setup. You can save and load ensembles for quickly retrieving different setups.

Hotkeys. A hotkey is a quick way to open an ensemble. They are triggered by pressing the number key associated with them. You can configure the hotkeys with the Ensemble... Configure Hotkeys option.

II. The Guts

A. The Main Window

Main Window
This is the main Patch Studio window. Most of the time in Patch Studio will be spent here. This window is used to monitor MIDI activity and connect devices together. Starting from the top, the following is what is in this window:
  1. Menu bar. Besides the toolbar, this is where you go to access all of the functionality of Patch Studio. Here is a breakdown of the menu system:
    • Ensemble
      • New - This clears all virtual devices and connections to create a blank new ensemble.
      • Open... - This offers a Tracker open dialog for opening an ensemble.
      • Save - Saves the current ensemble. This will offer a Tracker open dialog if the ensemble has never been saved.
      • Save As - See Save.
      • Ensemble #1-#0 - This is menu equivalents of hitting the numeric keys to trigger an ensemble hotkey.
      • Configure Hotkeys... - This opens the Configure Hotkeys window that allows you to assign ensembles to each hotkey.
      • Quit - Quits Patch Studio
    • Virtual Device
      • New... - This creates a new Virtual Device and opens the configuration screen for it.
      • Open... - This offers a Tracker open dialog for opening a saved virtual device.
      • Unload... - This brings up the Unload window which allows you to remove virtual devices.
      • Save... - This allows you to save a virtual device to a file on your hard drive.
      • Save As... - See Save.
      • Edit... - This brings up the Edit window which allows you to configure your virtual devices.
    • Help
      • Help... - Brings up this document.
      • Bug List... - Brings up the Patch Studio bug list.
      • Report a Bug... - Allows you to submit a bug report to the author.
      • About... - Brings up Patch Studio's About screen.
  2. Toolbar. The toolbar allows a secondary, faster way of accessing certain functions. From left-to-right, here is a breakdown of the toolbar:
    1. New Virtual Device.
    2. New Ensemble.
    3. Open Ensemble.
    4. Save Ensemble.
    5. Hotkeys 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0.
    6. About.
  3. Connection View. This displays the icons for producers down the left side and consumers along the top. Clicking the X that lines up with the producer and consumer you want makes a connection. See the section on connections for more information.
  4. Status bar. This shows contextual information, such as the name of the producer/consumer under the mouse cursor.

B. Creating a new Virtual Device


Hit Virtual Device... New to bring up the New Virtual Device window. There are three panes to this window:
  1. Choose which messages will be blocked from passing through. This allows you to stop certain messages from passing. You define what these messages are by adding them to the list below. Hit the Add button to create a new one. That will bring up the Edit Block Mask window:

    Select the MIDI message type with the Message: combo box. Patch Studio will then fill the Property: combo box with the associated properties. Choose the property you wish to monitor with said combo box. In the From: and To: textboxes, enter in the range of the property chosen that you wish to block. For instance, if you choose NoteOn/NoteOff with property Note and range 1 to 50, Patch Studio will not allow any note on/off messages between notes 1 and 50 to pass through. Note that you may also use C#3 form when entering Note values. The Label you specify will appear in the listbox in the Virtual Device window.
  2. Manipulate the MIDI messages passing through. This is where filtering takes place. You define the modifications by adding them to the list below. Hit the Add button to create a new modification. That will bring up the Edit Modification window:

    Select the type of modification with the Type: combobox. These types are described below:
    • Change - This always changes the specified property to a constant number.
    • Range - This contrains the specified property to a specific range. Numbers outside of this range will be changed to the minimum or maximum of the range.
    • Offset - This adds the offset number to the property's incoming value. This is most commonly used for note tranposition.
    • Delay - This makes the message stay in the queue for the specified time before being passed on. This is most commonly used for an echo effect. Note that the property combobox is not used for this type.
    After choosing the type, choose the Message and Property as with adding a block mask in the previous pane. The two textboxes below the Property combo box change according to the type chosen. The Label you specify will appear in the listbox in the Virtual Devices window.
  3. Choose a name for your device. This is a simple textbox that allows you to specify the global name for your virtual device that all MIDI applications see.

C. Making Connections


Making connections is easy. Just find the producer on the left and the consumer at the top, find where they meet in the grid of Xs, and click. A dark X signifies a connection, and a light gray one signifies no connection.

D. Hotkeys


Hotkeys are simple. To bring up the Configure Hotkeys dialog, hit Ensemble... Configure Hotkeys on the main window. In this dialog, there are 10 textboxes, one for each hotkey. To set the ensemble for a hotkey, either use the "..." button to graphically browse for it, or type the path in the textbox. The Save button allows you to save the list of hotkeys to a file, and the Open button allows you to open a saved list of hotkeys.

III. Registration

A. Demo Version

The demo version of Patch Studio is crippled in two ways: Sorry, but it has to be this way. People don't buy if they can just use the trial version.

B. How to Register

To register, just go to BeBits and click on the Buy Now link. Follow the on-screen instructions. Wait until I send you a keyfile and follow the emailed instructions. Easy, da?
Brian Luft (brian@luft.as)