Torq MixLab Getting Started - M
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1. M AUDIO TORO Digital System GETTING STARTED IVI AUDIO Torq MixLab Getting Started 1 Congratulations on your purchase of M Audio s MixLab DJ system M Audio is industry leader in professional music products for computer based musicians and DJs What you hold in your hands is a piece of that heritage a piece of the very products used daily by professionals around the world With the Torq MixLab package you will DJ using your collection of audio files on your computer You can even record the results and burn them onto CD or copy them onto a media player Installation 1 Connect the included USB cable between the X Session Pro and an available USB port on your computer 2 Insert the Torq MixLab disc into your computer s CD ROM drive Windows The installation should start automatically Macintosh The disc will mount and display its content Double click Install Torq 3 Follow the on screen instructions to complete the software installation 4 Launch Torq by double clicking the new link that was added to your desktop Or Start gt All Programs gt M Audio gt LE gt LE Windows Macintosh HD gt Applications gt LE gt LE Macintosh That s it Torq is ready Now how does it work Let s go through a few practical examples together and find out 3 T2. the left with the mouse seur e Q 3 Press the Play Pause button on the right side of the X Session Pro to start playback of Deck B You ll hear the beginning of Gabriel amp Dresden Club Mix in your headphones 4 Turn up the Headphone Volume slider until the song is at a comfortable listening level Now take off your headphones Notice that you still hear the BT track over the speakers and not Gabriel amp Dresden That is because you moved the Crossfader all the way to the left Pressing the headphone button on the right mixer channel allows you to hear Gabriel amp Dresden Deck B privately in your headphones Synchronizing the Songs Put your headphones back on but leave one of the earcups off This way you can hear one song in your speakers and the other in your headphones Notice how the two songs are completely out of sync with each other It sounds pretty terrible If you were to try to mix Gabriel amp Dresden into the speakers right now it would result in what DJs fondly call a train wreck In order to avoid a train wreck you need to change both the speed and position of Gabriel amp Dresden so that it matches the speed and position of BT Torq LE has a handy Sync button to accomplish this task for you Click the Sync button on Deck B and listen to what happens The two songs now play at the same speed and are in sync with each other You can see that the BPM values for the two Decks are
3. EQ knob for Deck B Turn this knob to the 12 o clock position the instant Defective ends That action allows the bass from Picture Of You to take over when Defective ends Now that Defective has ended it s time to load a new song in its place You ll use A Spirit Lost by The Nova Dream Sequence 1 Now that Defective has ended turn off the Sync button on Deck B This will keep Picture Of You playing at its current speed when you load the next song 2 Click and drag A Spirit Lost from the File List and drop it onto Deck A replacing Defective 3 This song is not as loud as Defective so turn the left Volume slider on the X Session Pro all the way up 4 Turn the left Filter to the 12 o clock position in order to disable the effect 5 Turn the Low and Mid EO knobs on Deck A all the way down You ll also need to turn up the High EO to roughly the 3 o clock position so the indicator on the knob is pointing to the right 6 Press the Sync button on Deck A to match tempos to Deck B A Spirit Lost is now standing by to play 7 When QuickCue Marker 5 of Picture Of You passes under the Now Line start A Spirit Lost by pressing the Play Pause button The songs should sync up as shown below 12 Torq MixLab Getting Started M AUDIO W Unlike a moment ago when you started Picture Of You you won t hear A Spirit Lost when you first start playing it This is because you removed the majori
4. all went smoothly you now hear both The Crystal Method and ECB amp DJ Heather playing from your speakers at the same time 10 MixLab Getting Started M AUDIO W Next you ll use the Filter effect to remove the high frequencies from Picture Of You right when the drums stop in Defective We ve placed a QuickCue Marker in Picture Of You to indicate where this should happen 1 If you look at the Overview Waveform for Deck B you ll see that the yellow Now Line is approaching QuickCue 1 Put your hand on the Filter knob for Deck B this is the knob in the upper right corner on the X Session Pro controller When QuickCue Marker 1 of Deck B pictured in the Scrolling Waveform display passes under the Now Line quickly turn the Filter knob counter clockwise to the 9 o clock position the indicator will be pointing to the left This makes the ECB amp DJ Heather song sound muffled and you ll only hear a little bit of the bass drum Now slowly turn up the Filter knob as the music builds in this section Your goal is to have the knob at 12 o clock when QuickCue Marker 2 passes under the Now Line of Deck B If you did that properly then you managed to cause the ECB amp DJ Heather track to mirror the same pause in energy as heard in The Crystal Method song you made the two songs sound like one W This whole time the bass has been removed from Picture Of You because you turned the Low EQ knob on
5. follow the examples in this tutorial is a Y adapter cable that connects to your soundcard s stereo output via a male 1 8 jack and provides two female 1 8 jacks for your headphones and your sound system You can find such cables at every well stocked electronics or music store Please also check the full Torq User Guide for more information which can be found on the in the Torq LE application folder M AUDIO Torq MixLab Getting Started Inca Part Il Overview MixLab is composed of two parts the Torq LE DJ software and the M Audio X Session Pro DJ controller Torq LE is a full featured DJ application that has all the functions you d find on expensive DJ CD players and turntables It plays back music at varying speeds and pitches and automatically matches tempos of songs creating smooth transitions between tracks You can also perform remix tricks such as looping and instant jumps to other locations in the song Lastly Torq LE allows you to apply effects to the music and fully control the mix of the songs The M Audio X Session Pro provides you with hands on control over Torq LE After plugging the X Session Pro into one of your computer s USB ports Torq LE instantly recognizes it Moving the controls on the X Session Pro results in the corresponding on screen controls moving in kind This is the best way to DJ since you can perform multiple tasks at once on the controller as opposed to controlling only one thi
6. matched indicating that the songs are running at the same speed IVI AUDIO Torq MixLab Getting Started 7 gt Mixing the Songs Now that you have Deck B synchronized to Deck A you can try mixing them together 1 Slowly move the crossfader on the X Session Pro from the left towards the center You ll hear the Gabriel and Dresden track fade in on top of BT 2 When the crossfader is at the middle you ll hear both songs at the same time Both songs are playing in sync so they almost sound like one 3 Continue moving the X Session Pro crossfader towards the right The BT track on Deck A will start to fade away When the crossfader is fully right you ll hear only the Gabriel and Dresden track on Deck B Congratulations You just performed your first DJ crossfade It may not have sounded as smooth as other DJ mixes you ve heard but this was only your first attempt and you may not have heard those songs before Once you begin to work with familiar music you ll find it easier to do clean crossfades Part IV An Advanced Mix So let s take this up a notch In this example you ll mix three songs together You ll start with Defective by The Crystal Method mix into Picture Of You by East Coast Boogiemen amp DJ Heather and finally you ll mix into A Spirit Lost by The Nova Dream Sequence You won t use the crossfader to mix this time you ll leave it right the center Instead you ll use the EOs and Filters to create th
7. the X Session Pro turn the right Low EO knob down all the way This action removes the bass frequencies from Deck B when it starts playing 3 Click on Picture Of You Ken s Drunk on Jack Mix by ECB amp DJ Heather and drag it up to Deck B Release the mouse button to load the track 4 Click the Sync button on Deck B to turn it on Even though the ECB amp DJ Heather song is already the same speed as The Crystal Method they both have a BPM of 125 having Sync on keeps the two tracks aligned with each other automatically M AUDIO Torq MixLab Getting Started W Your next task is to start the ECB amp DJ Heather track at just the right moment so that it will play along with The Crystal Method a complimentary fashion We ve placed a QuickCue Marker in Defective to indicate where Picture Of You should start 1 looking in the Overview Waveform in Deck A you ll see that the yellow Now Line is slowly approaching QuickCue Marker 1 Put your finger on the Play Pause button for Deck B so you ll be ready to press it 2 When playback gets close enough you ll also see QuickCue Marker 1 show up in the Scrolling Waveform display as shown below wwe 3 When QuickCue Marker 1 is in the center of the Scrolling Waveform press Play Pause on Deck B This action starts playback of Deck B and synchronizes it to Deck A It should look like this CEPTE L h L hik A h h If
8. Deck B all the way down In a moment the bass on Defective will stop and you ll need to turn the Low EO back up 1 You should see the yellow Now Line of Deck B s Overview Waveform approaching QuickCue Go ahead and put your hand on the Low knob of Deck B When QuickCue 3 scrolls under the Now Line at the center of the Scrolling Waveform display quickly turn the Low knob to the 12 o clock position With the bass restored the ECB amp DJ Heather track carries the beat during this breakdown in The Crystal Method track When QuickCue 4 passes under the Now Line quickly turn the Low EO back down fully counter clockwise This removes the bass from Picture Of You when the beat in Defective starts again By turning down the bass in one of the songs it allows your mix to sound cleaner While not always necessary this is a good trick to remember as playing multiple bass parts together often sounds bad IVI AUDIO Torq MixLab Getting Started 11 W Very soon you ll reach the end of the song Defective help make the transition as smooth as possible you ll use the Filter to gradually muffle the song until it ends 1 When QuickCue 2 of Deck A passes under the Now Line slowly turn down the Filter on Deck A 2 You ll want to do this slower than before as your goal is to have the Filter knob at the 9 o clock position right when Defective ends 3 At the same time put your hand on the Low
9. Help on the Web The M Audio website www m audio com contains the latest software updates as well as useful links to news stories FAOs and technical support We recommend checking this site periodically to ensure you have the latest software version and most up to date information about your M Audio products 14 MixLab Getting Started M AUDIO fe Warranty Terms M Audio warrants products to be free from defects in materials and workmanship under normal use and provided that the product is owned by the original registered user Visit www m audio com warranty for terms and limitations applying to your specific product Warranty Registration Immediately registering your new M Audio product entitles you to full warranty coverage and helps M Audio develop and manufacture the finest quality products available Register online at www m audio com register to receive FREE product updates and for the chance to win M Audio giveaways 2006 Avid Technology Inc All rights reserved Product features specifications system requirements and availability are subject to change without notice Avid M Audio X Session Pro and MixLab are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology Inc All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners M AUDIO Torq MixLab C Tested to comply with FCC standards FOR ONE R STUDO E 382 WARNING This pr
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11. ab Getting Started 5 Part Action gt Playing Music The next step is to load one of the songs onto a Deck so you can play it 1 Click on the song titled Somnambulist by BT and drag it up to Deck A on the left side of the screen 2 Release the mouse button to load the song into the Deck 3 Move the crossfader on your X Session Pro to the left This ensures that you ll hear only Deck A 4 Press the Play Pause button to start the song You should now hear the music from you computer s speakers 5 You can adjust the overall volume of Torq LE using the Master Volume slider located to the right of the crossfader pictured below Keep an eye on the meter in this window if the top segments light up turn down the Master Volume until they turn off This prevents the music from distorting gt Loading the Next Song While the BT track plays on Deck A you can load another song into Deck B 1 Click on the song titled Gabriel and Dresden Club Mix and drag it up to Deck B on the right side of the screen 2 Release the mouse button to load the song onto the Deck MixLab Getting Started M AUDIO gt Previewing the Next Song 1 Put your headphones on and press the Right Headphone Button on the X Session Pro You ll see the PFL Headphone icon light up on the right side of the Mixer on screen 2 Turn down the headphone volume by moving the Headphone Volume slider to
12. e mix You ll see how adjusting the frequencies of a song can help create a subtle blend between songs This example also introduces you to QuickCue Markers There are five assignable QuickCue markers for every song When placed in the song they appear in the small Overview Waveform in the Deck and in the larger Scrolling Waveform display in the middle of the screen They show up as white numbers with a white circle around them and Torq LE saves their locations with every song We have already placed the QuickCue Markers in the songs you re about to use During this example you ll perform certain tasks when playback reaches these various markers Let s get started 1 Click on the song Defective by The Crystal Method and drag it over Deck A 2 Replace Somnambulist with Defective by releasing the mouse button 3 Move the Volume A slider on the X Session Pro down 4 lines This turns down the volume of Defective which happens to be a very loud song 4 Press the left Play Pause button on the X Session Pro to start Deck A MixLab Getting Started M AUDIO W The next song you re about to load onto Deck B is not as loud as Defective on Deck A You ll therefore need to increase the volume of Deck B in order to match the loudness of Deck A 1 Use the mouse to increase the right Gain knob all the way to 6dB This makes the song twice as loud as normal in order to match it with the song on Deck A 2 On
13. knowledge of your music library is also what helps you select the right progression of songs by choosing songs of similar style and feel MixLab Getting Started M AUDIO gt Getting the Music Together In case this is your first stab at mixing we ve provided you with an exciting and diverse collection of music from various M Audio M Powered artists During installation the installer copies this collection onto your hard drive in a folder called Traqs If you Windows user you ll find this folder in your My Music folder Mac users will find the folder in their Music folder In order to help you select songs Torq LE includes a Browser and Database to organize your music library To search and sort your music library with ease simply add your music folders to the Database To illustrate let s start by adding the Traqs folder to Torq LE s database 1 If you re using a PC click the in front of My Music in the Browser pane If you re using a Mac click the in front of Music in the Browser pane Right click on the Torq Traqs folder CTRL click if using a with one mouse button and select Add to Database Torq LE now includes the Torq Traqs folder in any searches of the Database You can confirm this by clicking on Database in the Browser pane the following list of songs should be displayed M AUDIO Torq MixL
14. ng at a time with the mouse DJing is an art As with any art it takes practice to become proficient However there are many features in the Torq MixLab package that will jump start your learning process This manual describes the features and use of the Torq MixLab system and offers insight into the art of DJing Once you are proficient with Torq MixLab the sky s the limit you ll be ready to take the step up to the tools used by the pros gt Food For Thought In some ways DJing resembles the circus tricks of spinning plates or juggling objects As the DJ it is your job to keep everything up in the air in a smooth fashion so that the music never stops as you move from one song to another All of the tools available to you merely influence and cajole the playback of music that would normally play straight through uninterrupted and independent from each other from beginning to end It is therefore a necessity to think one step ahead of where you are since some DJ techniques must be performed before you actually want your audience to hear them This ability to anticipate changes in the music directly relates to how well you know the music in your library If you know the structure and patterns of a song like the back of your hand you ll know what sections are appropriate for looping interesting places to introduce filters and other effects and empty or quiet areas where you might need to mix in another song Intimate
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16. on Deck B during this breakdown to make the bass drum fade away The Low EQ should be all the way down by the time A Spirit Lost reaches QuickCue Marker 5 M AUDIO Torq MixLab Getting Started 13 Part V Keep Spinning Give yourself a pat on the back you ve just performed a rather complex mix between three songs In case you didn t perform everything just right feel free to repeat this example until it feels natural Also feel free to experiment with other mixing techniques try using the High EO knobs in addition to the others when blending between tracks Try using the crossfader too to add volume changes to the mix In the end it s all about what you like to hear Experiment These two examples offer only a glimpse of what is possible with Torq MixLab Please continue reading the complete Torq MixLab user guide on the included CD ROM to learn the specific details of the Torq LE program or refer to the interactive manual press the Help button of Torq LE located at the top right of the application and choose User Manual from the resultant dialog box There are many features that you haven t used yet There are also some troubleshooting tips for synchronizing tracks in the event that Torq LE doesn t analyze the song properly some music can t be analyzed due to variations and complexity in the song Read more and you ll be ready to mix anything at your next party or podcast Additional Information and Support
17. orq MixLab Getting Started M AUDIO Tutorial Part I Preparation First we ll need to check a few settings required for the following examples 1 Click the E icon in the upper right section of the Torq LE window The Audio Preferences dialog opens Make sure your soundcard is selected under Audio Interface Windows users If a driver with the word ASIO in its name is available select it Click on the field labeled Master Output and check the available choices a If Left Right Left Right are available e Select Left for Master Output and Right for the Cue Output b If there are multiple entries listed in the Master Output field and some of them say 1 2 in their name and others say 3 4 e Select a 1 2 driver for the Master Output and a 3 4 driver for Cue Output Make sure to connect your sound system to your soundcard s first stereo output and your headphones to your soundcard s second stereo output For serious DJing you need a soundcard that features separate stereo outputs for pre listening cueing and for the sound the audience hears Your soundcard features only one stereo output Torq still allows you to use all of its features including pre listening by using a trick Torq splits your soundcard s stereo output into two mono outputs one for pre listening and one for the audience the left right choices in this dialog All you need to
18. ty of the frequencies in the song by turning down the Low and Mid EO knobs Therefore to make the song audible you ll need to turn up the EQ knobs 1 When Deck A reaches QuickCue Marker 1 quickly turn up the left Mid EO knob to the 9 o clock position Continue to slowly turn up the Mid EQ Your goal is to have the knob set to the 11 o clock position when A Spirit Lost reaches QuickCue Marker 2 You ll hear the synthesizer pattern from A Spirit Lost begin to fade in as you do this Once you ve passed QuickCue Marker 2 play around with the Phaser effect on Deck A Slowly move the knob around and listen to the sound of the synthesizer pattern change When playback of Deck A reaches QuickCue Marker you ll need to do two things at once First turn the Phaser knob all the way down to turn off the effect Second turn the Low EO of Deck A to 12 o clock Immediately turn the Deck A Mid EO the rest of the way to the 12 o clock position At the same time use your other hand to turn down the Mid EO on Deck B by the same amount This action causes A Spirit Lost to become the dominant song in the mix Continue to turn down the Mid EQ on Deck B until it s completely counter clockwise You should do this before A Spirit Lost reaches QuickCue 4 When Spirit Lost reaches QuickCue Marker 4 the bass drum in the song stops but you ll still hear the bass drum from Picture Of You Slowly turn down the Low EQ
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