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Forte 3 User Manual

1. Basic Scene Automation e Change scene with MIDI Program Change incoming MIDI program change events map to scenes in the currently defined set e Change scene with MIDI Program Change with 1 second delay for knob scrolling similar but useful if you have a MIDI knob that scrolls through program changes The scene is not changed until the knob stops changing for 1 second e Advance to next scene e Back to previous scene e Undo scene change moves to the previously active scene no matter where that was in the set list Quick Scene Automation cefines eight automation events that select a scene in the Scene and Set Manager Quick Scene Access list 2013 Brainspawn Inc Scenes Songs and Setlists 59 Scene and Set Manager Basic Scene Automation Quick Scene Automation tin Enab Quick Access Scene mida Enab Quick Access Scene 2 vegas In B USB MIDISPORT 4x4 v Berpe Ay gt Event Note Learn QuickAccess Scene 3 QuickAccess Scene 4 ere If Quick Access Scene 5 atl Dues YI Quick Access Scene 6 ete If Quick Access Scene 7 Datei I Quick Access Scene Quick Scene Automation Learn Most scene automation controls have a Learn button Press Learn to accept the next MIDI event as the automation definition 8 6 Transpose Forte features a flexible set of transposition features that allow you to make transpose choices in several ways 1 Each plugin
2. ssssssssssssssseeseseeeeee enne eterne nennt nnns 39 Setting a Default MIDI Configuration enne eterne enhn en rnn nnne nnns innen 41 Using MIDI Qutfrom Plugins soe ee eee e eee e 41 E JDpWendguructpeeee 42 LATDITOM er pr 43 Insert mile IDID TC IL LOI 44 TAS Tu MANAG C ERREUR M M 46 Part VIII Scenes Songs and Setlists 47 2013 Brainspawn Inc 6 Forte 3 User Manual 1 Oo 0 FP WO N Part IX Part XIII 1 Scene Operations 5 ii eiccede cose tec cured eee eod Fa Uva Eo av TE d a Oc VR E dua DERE oER ovo da ke ed Ead eor Coda e ud 47 SCONE TANS POSE wicsvsssscvsscccvecesscsevsessansccecsescsveavervesavsecevesscavevcevseuscesauseveseysescvessnnvevecuceuscdsoneucesaveetsteascavevueveensevsenses 49 EC NIKE M TT 49 Scene TANS POP E 51 CSABEEDREIAJLCIMMMU C ER P 52 Different Ways to Use Scenes Songs and Sets c ccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaeeseeeeeeees 53 Scene and Set Manager secczcesdeeedecgacvegechace eve cu ctuskseddewavesdacsevedhedeyeek e ne annene n rre EORR 54 Scene MIDI Automaliori ir o tee EL thee a tee de ec au a Rock RE 57 TRANS OSG ct 59 Import Scenes and Song
3. erem 93 2 SATEIM Dr Cie 94 3 Moving From 32 bit to 64 bit Forte VST Plugins eeeeeene Hn 94 A OPTIONS IND File E 95 5 ubog File reir uM ue 97 Part XV Menu Reference 97 Part XVI Keyboard Shortcuts 100 Part XVII Technology Acknowledgements 102 Index 0 2013 Brainspawn Inc Ee Forte 3 User Manual 1 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 photocopie
4. Advancing through the scenes changes the setup for each song in the set Songs with Multiple Scenes What happens if you have a song setup that is complicated enough that you want to change your setup in the middle of a song At this point you may define some songs and add the various scenes to the song You then must define one or more sets to add the songs into For example Friday Night Set Long Distance 001 LD Part 1 002 LD Part 2 Hotel California 003 HC Part 1 004 HC Part 2 Unfortunately this leads to many scenes awkward scene naming and perhaps duplicated setups so you may wish to use the same scenes over again Songs with Reused Scenes Friday Night Set Long Distance 001 Rich Piano 002 Dirty Organ Hotel California 003 Dirty Organ 004 Rich Piano Where Rich Piano and Dirty Organ are the same scenes reused in two different songs 2013 Brainspawn Inc s Forte 3 User Manual 8 4 This reduces rack size and complexity because you have fewer scenes to manage Unfortunately it doesn t provide much useful musical cue information because the scene names have no context within the song Cue notes to the rescue Songs with Cue Notes on Scene Names Once a scene is added to a song you may rename it in place in the Set Manager This doesn t actually change the scene s name but assigns a cue note to the scene that only applies to the scene in that song Friday Night Set Long Distance 001 Section A
5. 7 o Channel 4 MEN Loue M sms C Channel 5 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 e Load FXP FXB You may browse and load a standard VST FXP or FXB file into the plugin e Save FXP FXB Save the state of the plugin in a standard VST FXP or FXB file MIDI Program Map 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 2013 Brainspawn Inc Using Plugins 31 Ff Vises Program Change Map Prog g a Preset Turn on Drop out Rock Basic Variation J B Percussion The remap algorithm 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 Remapped MIDI Program Change 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 7
6. None None v v None o gt gt v None None v v v hy v iby w M Y None v d o d Scene Change Tab on a plugin Set Configuration Data FXB FXP and or DirectX Preset Data This option selects how configuration data is applied to the plugin e Do not set per Scene plugin 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 e Auto Set plugin configuration 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 2013 Brainspawn Inc Using Plugis 43 e Yes Set plugin configuration when changing to this scene load configuration data into the instrument when changing to this scene e No Do not set plugin configuration when changing to this scene do not load configuration data
7. Preferences xs General Options MIDI Input Ports x Edit Shortcuts Skins MIDI Input Ports Uncheck to disable port Click custom name to rename Audio Options Plugin Options Port Name Custom Name SceneView Options In amp USB MIDISPORT 4x4 In amp USB MIDISPORT 4x4 Scene Options In B USB MIDISPORT 4x4 In B USB MIDISPORT 4x4 fm MIDI Input Ports In C USB MIDISPORT 4x4 In C USB MIDISPORT 4x4 Rm In D USB MIDISPORT 4x4 In D USB MIDISPORT 4x4 y Control Surfaces SpeedSoft MIDI cable 1 SpeedSoft MIDI cable 1 u Copy SpeedSoft MIDI cable 2 SpeedSoft MIDI cable 2 NI Kore MIDI IN 1 NI Kore MIDI IN 1 TranzPort TranzPort OK Cancel 4 Leave MIDI ports open 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 Custom Name You may assign each port a custom name by clicking in the custom name area This is useful to rename ports according to what MIDI device is connected to them It can also be used if you are moving racks between Forte installations If port friendly names are the same no MIDI port remapping is required See MIDI Port Renaming for details 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
8. C Program Files Steinberg Asio asiomm32 dll C Program Files Steinberg Asio asiomme dll C Program Files Steinberg HALion 4 components baios dll D Plugins SimulanalogGuitarSuiteGUI Simulanalog Boss VST module ignored because it does not have a built in D Plugins SimulanalogGuitarSuiteGUI Simulanalog Boss VST module ignored because it does not have a built in D Plugins SimulanalogGuitarSuiteGUI Simulanalog Fend VST module ignored because it does not have a built in D Plugins SimulanalogGuitarSuiteGUI Simulanalog Iban VST module ignored because it does not have a built in D Plugins SimulanalogGuitarSuiteGUI Simulanalog Mars VST module ignored because it does not have a built in D Plugins SimulanalogGuitarSuiteGUI Simulanalog Ober VST module ignored because it does not have a built in D Plugins SimulanalogGuitarSuiteGUI Simulanalog Univ VST module ignored because it does not have a built in D Pluginsx HALion 4 HALion 4 dll User Ignored This tab displays the list of DLL files that were skipped during the VST scan and displays the reason for rejection You may select one or more DLL files and Remove them from the list in which case the next scan will attemp to rescan these DLLs You may also press Rescan to immediately rescan any selected DLLs for inclusion in the plugin list 2013 Brainspawn Inc Using Plugins 25 7 1 4 VST CrashList hi
9. button Add scenes to songs by dragging them from the scene pool or by highlighting them and pressing the Insert button Remove scenes from songs by clicking on the scenes and pressing the Remove button Double click a Song name to rename it Click in the Trn column to transpose 9 the entire song up or down Move scenes up or down in a song by pressing the Up or Down buttons hold CTRL while clicking up or down to move 10 positions at a time hold SHIFT to move to top or bottom The Use column displays how many times the song is used in various sets Scene Pool The Scene Pool is a collection of all scenes You can Clone a scene by clicking on it and pressing the Clone button Delete a scene by clicking on it and pressing the Delete button Double click on a scene name to rename it Check or uncheck the Inc column to include or exclude the scene from the checked scenes setlist Check or uncheck the Lnk column to lock or unlock a scene for modification Double click the Description column to add description information to the scene 2013 Brainspawn Inc Scenes Songs and Setlists 57 e Click in the Trn column to transpose the scene up or down You cannot create new scenes here because scenes are snapshots of the current rack Press the button on the console to create a scene Quick Access Scenes The Quick Access scene area enables you to define up to 8 scenes that are accessible instantly by MID
10. stretches background images to fit screen SceneView2 The following options alter the appearance of SceneView 2 SceneView2 SceneViewMIDIMeterCCMin 0 minimum scaled value of MIDI meter in SceneView SceneViewMIDIMeterCCMax 127 maximum scaled value of MIDI meter SceneView If missing the defaults are 0 127 However if you set max 20 the displayed MIDI meter range will be from 0 20 Defaults The following options allow customize behavior of Forte for specialized setups Defaults 2013 Brainspawn Inc Troubleshooting Wait For Offline Audio Devices 0 or 1 default 1 If O when Forte starts without any audio devices it will present an audio configuration prompt If you press Cancel at this prompt Forte will start with no audio devices at all If you then load a rack file you may use an offline configuration This is preferable if a missing audio device causes the audio driver to issue an error dialog box If missing or 1 then Forte will retry audio detection each second for 10 seconds before resorting to the audio configuration prompt This is preferable if the audio device is slow to be recognized by Windows Trim Delay Ms number of ms to delay between scenes during Trim operation default 0 14 5 Log File Forte stores a log of useful information in a text file call FORTE LOG FORTE LOG is located in the user s application data folder This folder has been located in different places in differen
11. 2 2 MIDI Filtering and Automation 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 2013 Brainspawn Inc 32 Forte 3 User Manual 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 6 is layered to channel 5 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 5 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 o ooo om f 4 Maple Mi 1 spose For each MIDI input port and channel from to pair you can independently configure e What MIDI
12. Forte Plugin Manager ES IEJ VST Scan Folders VST Plugins Ignored Files Crash Log Path Crash detail Show Crash Details Remove from this list Rescan selected files for VSTs ome If the Plugin Manager crashes when trying to enumerate a VST plugin it will log the results in this list You may extract extra details remove it fromthe list or rescan it immediately 7 2 Plugin Console Each instrument has its own user interface called a Console e g Native Instruments B4 has the vintage drawbar organ keyboard shown below Consoles can be either displayed or hidden 2013 Brainspawn Inc Forte 3 User Manual IE El Alt Bus Out 1 Saul Explosion ag GE T s D LE a 3 LT n PERCUSSION BEBE NALA cp thd hal 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 Preset Manager Forte features easy access to different preset sounds on an 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 prese
13. MIDI and audio ports Producer Edition In Producer Edition a rack file can hold multiple hardware profiles and can intelligently choose a compatible profile when you load a rack Once a rack has been loaded on a specific set of devices and the mapping wizard is complete the saved rack can then be moved back to the other hardware and return to this hardware configuration with no additional user intervention required Each hardware configuration will have an associated hardware profile that determines MIDI and audio mapping Selecting a Profile PRODUCER Edition 2013 Brainspawn Inc Rack File Operations 67 6 Profile Manager Priority Profile Name ls this profile compatible with your current hardware 1 Original No missing audio output device s NI Kore Line OUT 1 NI Kore Line OUT 2 2 create new profile Drag profiles up or down to change priority Click in the profile name area to rename a profile Click delete to delete a profile Rack Load Behavior Wait 5 seconds for user selection then automatically use the first compatible profile Y Click OK to use or create a profile Click Use Offline to use an existing profile offline besos Cancel When you load a rack file you are given an opportunity to choose between compatible profiles or create a new profile By default the opportunity lasts for 5 seconds before the first compatible profile is automatically loaded This behavior can be chan
14. Rich Piano 002 Section B Dirty Organ Hotel California 003 Intro Dirty Organ 004 Bridge Rich Piano Scene Naming with the Pipe character Some users prefer to build the song names into the scene names in order to distinguish for instance the intro to one song vs the intro to another song If the scene s name is of the form song scene a song name a pipe character and the rest of the scene name and the song part of the name matches the song the scene is in the song and pipe character will be omitted when displayed Scene and Set Manager 2013 Brainspawn Inc Scenes Songs and Setlists 55 Scenes and Setlists ce e ss Scene and Set Manager Basic Scene Automation Quick Scene Automation Set Pool Hideses MOT Melee Scene Pool ETE EN Song Name lt m z 8 Quick s Scenes am Delete song is disabled because one or more songs are in use by sets OK Cancel Scene and Set Manager The Scene and Set Manager is where you can organize scenes into songs and sets Access the scene manager by pressing the button on the Console Set Organizer The top left is the Set organizer Two predefined sets exist e all scenes consists of all scenes in the Scene Pool This is an easy way to advance through all scenes in order without imposing Song management e checked scenes is the similar but only includes and advances through scenes checked in the Inc include column You can double cl
15. Scene Tempo Follow MIDI Clock on port In amp USB MIDISPORT 4x4 How fast should forte adjust tempo to incoming MIDI Clock Quickly less stable timing Slowly more stable timing LN Controller Automation Adjust tempo using Patt Channel Controller In amp USB MIDISPORT EET gt gt All Channels Increment tempo using Pott Channel Controller In USB MIDISPORT 4x o aid Channels Decrement tempo using Port Channel Controller In USB MIDISPORT 4x All Channels CC 44 Tap tempo using Port Channel Controller or Note All Ports All Channels Note 40 Tempo Configuration If Enable Per Scene Tempo is checked the controls in this display are specific to the scene If unchecked the settings are global to the rack e Follow MIDI Clock Enables you to configure a MIDI port to sync to MIDI Sync F8 real time messages e Adjust Tempo Enables you to configure a MIDI controller typically a slider or knob that alters tempo in real time e Increment Decrement Tempo Enables you to configure MIDI controllers typically buttons or pedals that bump the tempo up or down 1 BPM in real time e Tap Tempo Enables you to configure a MIDI note or controller typically a button or 2013 Brainspawn Inc Scenes Songs and Setlists 51 pedal that is used to set a new tempo by tapping a beat in real time 8 1 3 Scene Transport E aa aca Even though Forte is not a sequencer
16. VST plugin is a many step process with these tools What we wanted when we started Forte was a single purpose tool something to just play VSTs 2013 Brainspawn Inc 12 Forte 3 User Manual Forte exists to turn the experience of playing VSTs into something as simple as sitting down at a piano and just as fun Forte has existed on the market for 9 years now Our emphasis is on stability for performance not trying to get to the next major revision out as fast as possible To get started with Forte if you don t have any VST plugins try downloading the free mda Piano at http mda smartelectronix com synths htm Simplicity As I mentioned above Forte is a single tasker All of its features are in support of playing VSTs There s no recording playback sequencing timelines tracks or any of that There are however some unique features for playing live Forte can be configured to automatically start when you boot Windows It can also be configured to automatically load a rack of VSTs meaning that you can plug in your PC hook up MIDI and audio cables and when you turn it on it will boot automatically and be ready to play your first song Herding VST Plugins Scenes One of the key features of Forte is called a Scene Because Forte can host many VST plugins at once it becomes a complex task to get them all configured the way you want them Scenes make it easy to take a snapshot of your entire rack of VST plugins in thei
17. a performance system First it has a stress test that simulates you playing on stage If you load your rack of VST plugins into Forte and start the stress test it will jam huge amounts of MIDI down the plugins throats while thrashing between 2013 Brainspawn Inc What is Forte 13 scenes The intensity levels are adjustable but the point is that its doing what you would be doing on stage but much more aggressively Its trying to punish the VSTs and see if they break Not all VSTs are up to the task so its good to know up front Also if you find a particular rack of VSTs to be reliable you can preserve a manifest containing the versions of all the VSTs the OS libraries the audio drivers and critical Forte settings Later if you do encounter problems you can compare this manifest against your current one and look for any changes in your PC configuration So in summary Forte exists to play VSTs as opposed to compose or produce with them We ve had years to polish Forte and many musicians are using it professionally every night 5 1 System Requirements The following are the recommended minimum requirements for running Forte Windows XP Home Professional SP2 or higher 32 bit Windows Vista 32 bit or 64 bit Windows 7 32 bit or 64 bit Minimum 1 5GHz Multiple cores supported 1GB more recommended for large racks and sampler plugins e At least one supported DXi or VSTi soft synth At least one Windows compatible MIDI
18. during a stress test If you see the audio dropout counter incrementing its a sign that something in the system is choking occasionally This many not always be a big deal It depends upon when the dropouts occur and your own particular usage See Diagnostics Display 2013 Brainspawn Inc Troubleshooting Memory Display Shows Available Memory Tools Menu Use the Memory display on the Tools menu to see how much usable memory you have On 32 bit versions of Windows with 4GB of RAM it is normal to see usable memory of only about 1500MB or so on an empty rack The reason for this is that 32 bit Windows by default give each application only 2GB of memory It is not a problem with Forte About 500MB of that is loaded with the application and a large number of Windows DLL components It is possible using the 3GB switch in BOOT INI search the Microsoft support site for specifics to allocate 3GB to each application See Memory Information 9 DPC Latency Checker Shows Device Driver Behavior DPC Latency Checker is not a Brainspawn tool It is a free download from www thesycon de deu latency check shtmi Run this tool and verify you can get green results This indicates your OS drivers are behaving well for real time audio Use this in combination with the Diagnostics display and the Stress test Another tool recently recommended is LatencyMon at www resplendence com latencymon Safe Mode is Useful for Narrowing Do
19. into the instrument when changing to this scene Resets e 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 e 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 The menu has an option called Program Change that allows you to enter the bank and program number manually In the Enter Bank Program dialog box a button called BankCalc allows you to enter the bank number in MSB LSB format for your convenience 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
20. 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 O tick 0 If you stop and restart the play button the position will reset to O This is consistent with Forte not being a sequencer and assures that pressing Play will cause an instant measure 0 downbeat Play Stop the transport MIDI Panic Configure Transport MIDI Automation 2013 Brainspawn Inc 52 Forte 3 User Manual 8 2 E Transport Settings 9S Play Port Channel Controller Inv USB MIDISPORT 4 B59 8 4I Channels Panic Port Channel Controller Inv USB MIDISPORT 4 All Channels 4 Enable Per Scene Transport Settings Transport Configuration If Enable Per Scene Transport is checked the controls in this display are specific to the scene If unchecked the settings are global to the rack e Play Enables you to configure a MIDI controller typically buttons or pedals that toggle the transport between play and stop e Panic Enables you to configure MIDI controllers typically buttons or pedals that trigger MIDI panic Songs and Setlists Forte enab
21. s per scene MIDI filter contains a transpose value in half steps 2 A scene can have a transpose value that affects all incoming MIDI notes 3 A song can also have a transpose value that affects all scenes in the song 4 A set can have a transpose value that affects all songs in the set The transposition is cumulative This means you can define transpose at any of the above layers and the effective transpose will be the sum of all This also means you can use the same scene multiple times in different songs and have different transposition in each 8 7 Import Scenes and Songs Select Import Songs or Scenes from the File menu to move songs or scenes from another rack file into the current one You can choose which rack file and which songs or 2013 Brainspawn Inc e Forte 3 User Manual scenes to import Imports Scenes and Songs ES Import Scenes OK port Songs Cancel Forte will import the scenes using the following rules e If forte can adapt an existing bus for use with the new scene it will by adding insert plugins These plugins are bypassed by default in the other existing scenes e If forte can adapt an existing instrument module the imported scene has the same 2013 Brainspawn Inc Scenes Songs and Setlists 61 instrument it will add insert plugins as necessary Forte will attempt to match existing buses scenes and insert plugin chains as much as possible There is no user int
22. then you can update the scene to save changes How Rack Changes Affect Scenes 2013 Brainspawn Inc Scenes Songs and Setlists 49 It is likely that you will add or remove modules buses or effects from your rack after you have created some scenes When a Scene is used e 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 e Any new Audio Effect the scene does not recognize will be placed into the bypass state e 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 8 1 1 Scene Transpose Forte includes several ways to transpose a performance up or down by scene song or set See Scene and Set Manager and Transpose 9 for more details 8 1 2 Scene Tempo ES 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 2013 Brainspawn Inc so Forte 3 User Manual Set Tempo p 4 Enable Per
23. to Auto the configuration is automatically computed based upon enabled audio outputs If you experience audio dropouts try different settings here WDM KS Multiple Driver Buffering Displays the current buffer size and number of buffers in WDM mode 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 Global Volume Trim This gain adjustment is applied to each bus after all effects but before audio is sent to the sound card It is applied at the same point the bus volume fader is applied 2013 Brainspawn Inc Configuring Options and Preferences 83 13 4 Plugin Options F Preferences General Options Plugin Options Forte 2 Edit Shortcuts Skins Plugin Manager Audio Options Plugin Options 10 Preset MRU Size SceneView Options i Scene Options H S MIDI Input Ports M MIDI Output Ports Ti Control Surfaces ey Copy The Plugin Options page enables you to set the number of Most Recently Used presets to track It also has a button link to the Plugin Manager P to enable you to discover and organize plugins 2013 Brainspawn Inc s Forte 3 User Manual 13 5 SceneView Options l Preferences 9x 4 General Options SceneView Options Forte Audio O
24. would be rescaled to 60 30 Toggle Mode Toggle Mode configures a controller mapping to toggle the between two values each time a controller 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 maximum and minimum value to toggle between When the MIDI configuration is applied on scene change the maximum value of the toggle is sent to the instrument Further incoming trigger values of 127 cause the toggle to toggle between the minimum and maximum values Snap Mode Snap mode configures a controller mapping to snap between the minimum and maximum value 0 and 127 by default based upon the input CC value 0 63 snaps to the minimum and 64 127 snaps to the maximum value 2013 Brainspawn Inc Using Plugins 39 7 2 2 1 Merging MIDI Input Filters This allows you to merge the selected MIDI port s filter settings into another Merge From In A USB MIDISPORT 4x4 Y Merge To In B USB MIDISPORT 4x4 X 7 Copy Unity Mapped Channels channels that pass MIDI without modification Always Only if destination port channel is unity mapped Only if destination port channel is disabled V Copy Non unity Channels V Copy Disabled Channels 7 Only if destination port channel is unity mapped E Modify in all Scenes dm
25. DUCT THE USER may not remove or modify any copyright notice nor any about dialog or the 2013 Brainspawn Inc Brainspawn Software License Agreement 9 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 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
26. ER HDD Re RR RE rene 13 Part VI User Interface Overview 14 Oed umeem 14 2 Output Bus Modules i ordered tte needa l Ana Era a ei px ens ka pasa igencbaecaucuardalecenete 15 x SE NStHUME NE Mod le Sie E 16 A Plugin Consoles soaa a aea Rea ra eror tier eeiit reperi iret PR rein EASA 16 E EA AEA e 17 Styling Scene View 2 with Stylesheets eeeeesissesiesessessseseeeeene nennen nenne nennt nat nn sant n nns tn nest nnns nnns 19 6 Scene and Set Manager eee eese cewealeestecnseycecensyeetceueddcececdeuctenecesceatesdveituveddeeseed 21 Part VII Using Plugins 21 1 Plugin Mana Ge iio 50 2 rene terere neerxs 21 MASJIESD DESIDERIUM 22 VST AITGEMBDCI SEED EE 23 Ignored VST FilES LIST EE 24 AASI E O CA a rg 25 2 Plugin Console 25 MIDI Program Map sristy tsaoirse A 30 MIDI Filtering and Automation esesesseseeissessseeeesee esee nennen nina nn tnn nan tn nna t ainaani inns nates sa sins ss biaissa aina 31 Merging MIDI Input Filters 5 4 niente otn trennt nae couacauvsievenncbeuSeavsdecesstacesceauveves eae YEAR at aa d aeaa 39 Saving and Loading MIDI Filter Presets
27. Forte 3 User Manual 2013 Brainspawn Inc Brainspawn Forte 3 Forte 3 User Manual 2013 Brainspawn Inc All rights reserved No parts of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means graphic electronic or mechanical including photocopying recording taping or information storage and retrieval systems withoutthe written permission ofthe publisher Products that are referred to in this document may be either trademarks and or registered trademarks of the respective owners The publisher and the author make no claim to these trademarks While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this document the publisher and the author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions or for damages resulting from the use of information contained in this document or from the use of programs and source code that may accom panyit In no event shall the publisher and the author be liable for anyloss of profitor any other commercial damage caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this document Contents 5 Table of Contents Foreword 0 Part Brainspawn Software License Agreement 8 Part Il Where to go for Help 10 Part Ill Installer 10 Part IV What s new in Forte 3 10 1 Rack File Compatibility with Forte 2 cccccccsceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeeeeaeeeeeesaeeeeeesaeeeeeeeaneeeees 11 Part V What is Forte 11 Lo System Require me nts 1 oer EE HERR ERO XR ERR ERREUR VERE AEE
28. I control regardless of the current set order When activated the scene will join the current set at the next location and the scene will be advanced to The following scene advance will then move to the original next scene The inserted scene is not removed from the set order until the rack is reloaded You may also insert a quick access scene via the SceneView2 Quick Access buttons You may show or hide the Quick Access Scenes area by pressing the Show Hide button See Scene MIDI Automation for details 8 5 Scene MIDI Automation Scene changes can be automated with user defineable MIDI events or by specific control surface 9 commands To define scene change MIDI events click in the Console to show the Scenes and Setlists display Basic Scene Automation defines five automation events 2013 Brainspawn Inc s Forte 3 User Manual Scenes and Setlists ce Scene and Set Manager Basic Scene Automation Quick Scene Automation Enable Change scene with MIDI Program Change egal In A USB MIDISPORT 4x4 erase 3 Enabe Change scene with MIDI Program Change with second delay for knob scrolling egal In C USB MIDISPORT 4x4 Keenia Enable Advance to next scene Ag In C USB MIDISPORT 4x4 v Me1 11 Event cc a Enabe Back to previous scene KSAS In C USB MIDISPORT 4x4 v Me1 11 Event cc as Enable Undo scene change SAS In C USB MIDISPORT 4x4 v Rei I Event cc as
29. Presets Load FXP FXB Save FXP FXB mfi Bank0 Program 0 J mf J B Percussion mf House 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 2013 Brainspawn Inc Using Plugins 29 4 i Alt Bus Out INT PERCUSS RM a QML Tide 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 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 multi channel operation you may right click on a preset and assign it to any MIDI channel 1 16 2013 Brainspawn Inc 30 Forte 3 User Manual 7 2 1 mf Pianol mf Pianol mf Pianol mf Sy PhBrass 2 mf Pianol Presets 5 em sent Add to Favorites e mfi SynthE p Preview Presets M Synth Channel 1 2 Organ 3 P Synth Channel 2 4 2 mf Trombone ef Syn Stl Channel 3
30. S SI SI SI SI SI S S You may merge the attributes of a MIDI input port filter into another port by right clicking on a port name in the MIDI Routing tab of a plugin The dialog box enables you to configure various attributes to copy or skip 7 2 2 2 Saving and Loading MIDI Filter Presets MIDI Configurations are assigned to an Instrument Module but some settings can be saved and reloaded from a file 2013 Brainspawn Inc 40 Forte 3 User Manual ejm aS Press Save to save a configuration This includes for each MIDI input e Key Range e Transpose e Channel remap e 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 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 2013 Brainspawn Inc Using Plugis 41 7 2 2 3 Setting a Default MIDI Configuration A last used MIDI configuration is alway
31. Set name if using songs and sets or displays the rack name otherwise e Next Scene Hint Bottom Displays the name of the next scene in the set Note that the numerical range of the MIDI meter can be altered via an OPTIONS INI tweak See OPTIONS INI File 9 Selecting Scenes in SceneView2 There are several ways to select scenes in SceneView2 e Click a scene in the Full Scene List on the left side Click Next or Previous Performance Control Buttons on the bottom Click Undo Scene Change Performance Control Button to return to the previously used scene e Click a Quick Access Scene Button to select one of several previously defined scenes Right Click anywhere in SceneView2 to get a menu of both current set items and all scenes Select any set itemto jump to that location in the set Select any scene item to insert that scene immediately into the set and advance to it Customization SceneView elements such as the scene list Quick Scene buttons meter bridge and other buttons may be shown or hidden in SceneView Options SceneView is stylable using Qt compatible stylesheet syntax In SceneView Options 9 you can specify an alternate css file to style the controls Two example files are installed by default in the Forte installation folder SceneView2 Default Style css and SceneView2 Dim Red Style css You can use these examples to create your own styles but style sheet creation assistance is not available from Brainspawn support Th
32. ate a control surface Choose a device a control surface definition a MIDI input and a MIDI output You may also edit existing control surfaces or remove them 2013 Brainspawn Inc Forte 3 User Manual r Preferences 2S B A General Options Control Surfaces Edit Shortcuts 9 Skins Control Surfaces Audio Options Plugin Options Device Input Dutput SceneView ptions Scene ptions 4 MIDI Input Ports MIDI Output Ports d r Control Surfa Add Control Surface X My Copy Device Frontier Design TranzPort MIDI Input Port dedicated MIDI Output Port dedicated Add E dit Delete Some control surfaces have dedicated MIDI inputs and outputs like the Frontier TranzPort In this case you do not need to choose ports as they are already known 10 3 Mackie Control Compatible Devices The Mackie Control surface definition has the following capabilities Refer to FactoryControlSurfaceDefinitions xml located in the forte install directory for full details Some devices emulate Mackie Control so examining the definition is important to understanding how your control surface works e Automated volume on buses and instruments the first eight modules are mixed with the 8 faders of the control surface A bank up down button enables you to control the next 8 modules Toggle Mute 2013 Brainspawn Inc Control Surfaces and Automation e Next Scene Previo
33. ay by plugin instead of by scene See Rack Editor Change Create a new hardware profile for this rack This can be used to Hardware swap MIDI port assignments by creating a new rack and mapping Profile existing ports to alternates See Hardware Profiles 9 Merge MIDI Merges MIDI input port filters into one Input Filters Crashes Forte This is a test to see if it exits cleanly with your setup AMATERI of MIDI and audio drivers Memory Displays available memory Information Display Displays audio and MIDI diagnostic counters See Diagnostics Display Diagnostics Stress Rack Starts and stops the rack stress test See Stress Test B About B Displays version and user registration information F1 Help Displays searchable help Displays the README RTF file that accompanies a release with last minutes notes mee Displays a cycling helpful tip 2013 Brainspawn Inc 100 Forte 3 User Manual the Day 16 Keyboard Shortcuts 3 lt un troke It Show hide the full screen SceneView display Esc will also close the SceneView display or trl Show hide all Output Buses WO Copies the selected Output Bus or Instrument Module See Adding Deleting and Copying Instrument Modules and Adding Deleting and Copying Output Buses for more information Ctrl Creates a new Scene with a default name based on the current date and time reps tri Solos the selected In
34. change add it to this file Note that this MUST be a valid XML file in order for the feature to work See Plugin Compatibility Fixes DeviceCompatibility xml Diagnosing Crashes and Freezes Forte Crashes Forte crashes are usually accompanied by an offer to submit a crash report Please do so if at all possible Crash dump files are essential to finding and fixing crashes within the Forte application itself Plugin caused Crashes If a crash happens within a VST plugin you will usually get a VST crash handler which displays Forte version Plugin version Plugin vendor if known The action Forte was attempting with the plugin when the crash occurred Please report this to the plugin vendor first If the plugin vendor believes this is a Forte issue have them contact Brainspawn 2013 Brainspawn Inc 2 Forte 3 User Manual If the plugin crash occurs during Scene change or plugin data load you may also use the SingleStepVSTPluginLoad troubleshooting gn to narrow down the specific data that is causing the crash See OPTIONS INI File for details If a plugin crashes during scene capture or ea ale may try settings StopAudioDuringSceneCapture 1 in OPTIONS INI amp Blue Screen Crashes Blue Screens are ALWAYS a result of a defective device driver Typically this will be an audio driver a MIDI driver or a software protection device driver Freeze Hang If Forte freezes during an operation work to identify if the conditi
35. cific sustain is entirely captured in the scene 2 The current MIDI configuration of each plugin in the rack For example if an instrument is configured to respond to the upper half of a MIDI key split and transpose down one octave that would be captured in the scene 3 The output bus routing and volume of each instrument module Tempo used to sync plugin delays and other tempo related parameters 5 Transport used to drive arpeggiators in plugins A This means that each scene in the rack may have a completely different set of the above characteristics 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 8 1 Scene Operations as 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 a Switching Scenes Once multiple scenes are created you may switch between them in several ways From the Console you may press the next scene or previous scene buttons You may also 2013 Brainspawn Inc 4 Forte 3 User Manual e Press the space bar to adva
36. ct which events to include MIDI Notes and Controllers turn your audio down Select number per second 1 120 60 MIDI Panic every 30 seconds Power Cycle every 30 seconds MIDI Program Changes changes scenes if mapping enabled Select frequency every 5 seconds Sequential Scene Changes Random Scene Changes Select Frequency of Scene Changes every 5 seconds 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 Although this stress test can be useful for finding weak links in your rack setup we can never promise that it will result ina 100 stable live setup There are simply too many variables However this stress test is certainly better than assuming everything will work 12 2 Diagnostics Display Use the Diagnostics display in the Tools menu to
37. current port map to all ports current plugin current scene 4 14 Rack File Compatibility with Forte 2 Forte 3 can load rack files created in Forte 2 However a rack saved in Forte 3 may lose some functionality when loaded in Forte 2 As far as we know there are no breaking changes If you load a Forte 2 rack in Forte 3 and resave it it should work as it always did on Forte 2 However using new features in Forte 3 will obviously not work when reloaded in Forte 2 Use backups 5 What is Forte Let s Start at the Beginning Forte is a VST plugin host application for Windows PCs VSTs are software packages that synthesize sounds There are thousands of VSTs in existence and more each day For a good database of VST plugins see kvraudio com However VSTs are plugins and are not useful unless you add them to another software application called a host Many hosts exist today including Cakewalk Sonar Reaper Cubase and Forte Forte was conceived in 2001 for the simple reason that there existed no VST host that made it easy to play music There are many VST hosts around but all of them are designed as studio tools to enable music production They have tracks and timelines and tempos and key change markers and MIDI and audio editing These are all great and we love these programs but they are Swiss Army Knives with a million gadgets Getting to the point of actually being able to play music on a MIDI keyboard through a
38. d 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 PRO
39. device You may use the following emulation modes either with USB or MIDI e MC C Mackie mode for Cubase e LC Logic Control e MCSo Mackie mode for Sonar 2013 Brainspawn Inc Control Surfaces and Automation e bhui Mackie Baby HUI When using MIDI cables use S 3 standalone mode and the MIDI OUT B THRU port to prevent MIDI loops 11 Performance Features See e Autostart e MIDI Panic B 11 1 Autostart General Options Launch Forte when Windows starts Hide splash screen at start Open SceneView at launch Autoload Rack when Forte starts Check to load default rack Uncheck to load last used rack Forte contains features to enable you to boot your computer up directly into your rack file This enables low or no touch startup operation e Check Launch Forte when Windows starts to auto run Forte as soon as you log into Windows If you configure Windows to auto login Forte will start as soon as Windows auto logs in e Open SceneView at launch automatically starts Forte with SceneView enabled Autoload Rack when Forte Starts automatically loads a specified rack file when Forte 2013 Brainspawn Inc Forte 3 User Manual 11 2 12 12 1 starts By checking these items and configuring Windows to automatically log in you can press the computer s power button and automatically be ready to play your rack file MIDI Panic The Panic button sends MIDI Note Off instruction
40. en different scenes in the rack and to make quick and easy changes Access the Rack Editor in the Tools menu A dialog box appears 2013 Brainspawn Inc Rack File Operatios 65 Edit Rack bokas v AllNotes Off All Sounds 7 Reset Cont Do not use per Scene configuration data Disconnect this instrument when loading configuration data Reorder Buses j Instruments Cancel J This shows the structure of the rack file in a tree on the left side of the screen When you highlight a plugin the right side updates with a line for every scene in the rack Each column cell is editable Using this dialog it is easy to see in which scenes a plugin has a different configuration from other scenes The columns are e Scenes Scene name e All Notes Off Configures whether all notes off is sent when the scene is activated e All Sounds Off Configures whether all sounds off is sent when the scene is activated e Reset All Controllers Configures whether a reset all controllers is sent when the scene is activated e Blob This is a signature for the plugin s configuration data If the signatures are the same on different lines it means two scenes are using the same configuration data You may select from any used set of configuration data by clicking in this cell e Apply This determines how plugin configuration data is sent when a scene is activated It is exactly equivalent to the options
41. er to use VST plugins Forte must know what folders on your computer they are installed in Add or remove folders here and then press Find to search for your VST plugins The VST Scan Folders tab enables you to add folders to scan for VST plugins You may add or remove folders from the list and may start scanning 2013 Brainspawn Inc Using Plugins 23 7 1 2 VST Plugins List Forte Plugin Manager lo I s VST Scan Folders VST Plugins Ignored Files Crash Log Name Vendor Type Path ET 1973 Stillwell A VST 32bit D YPluginsM973 dll 1973 Bridge Stillwell A VST 32bi D Wlugins 1973 dll Amber FXpansion VSTi 32bit D WluginsVAmber dll Amber jBridge FXpansion VSTi 32b D WluginsVAmber dll AmberFX FXpansion VST 32bit D WPluginsAmberFX dll a AmberFX j amp ridae FXpansion VST 32bi D WPlugins AmberFX dll AmpliTube 2 IK Multim VST 32bit D WPlugins AmpliTube2DUOLERW dll AmpliTube 2 Bridge IK Multim VST 32 bi D WluginsVAmpliTube2DUOLERW dll Cypher FXpansion VSTi 32bit D Plugins Cypher dll Cypher jBridge FXpansion VSTi 32b D Plugins Cypher dil CypherFX FXpansion VST 32bit D WPluginsYCypherFX dll CypherFX Bridge FXpansion VST 32bi D WluginsYCypherFX dll Fusor FXpansion VSTi 32bit D Plugins Fusor dil Fusor jBridge FXpansion VSTi 32b D WluginsYFusor dll NaiveLPF 0 6 AdmiralQ VST 32 bit D Wlugin
42. erface to guide this process so make sure you are working with a backed up file in case you do not like the results You may prefix the imported songs or scenes with text if you prefer 9 Rack File Operations 9 1 Creating New Racks Select File menu New Rack to create a new empty rack file You may then add buses and instrument plugins For each instrument you may wish to alter the plugin s sound and the MIDI configuration Then snapshot one or more scenes to organize the rack into a set list See Plugin Console 9 to edit plugins See Scene and Set Manager to organize scenes into a performance setlist 9 2 Loading and Saving Racks To load a rack file press the or use the File Open command to select a rack file to load Rack files use the extention rcf To save a rack file press the or use the File Save or Save As comand to save a rack file Automatic Backup When you save a rack file Forte can save a backup of the current file See Configuring Options and Preferences to configure backup The backup files have the extension rcf bk 2013 Brainspawn Inc 5 Forte 3 User Manual 9 3 Copying and Replacing Instruments and Buses 9 3 1 Copying Intruments Preferences General Options Module Copy B Edit Shortcuts Skins V Copy Audio Effects plugins Audio Options Copy Audio Effects plugin settings Plugin Options E SceneView ptions V Copy assigned buss Scene ptio
43. es Troubleshooting It is important to understand that Forte as a VST host is part of a performance system that also includes your choice of PC OS plugins and audio MIDI interfaces Brainspawn does not offer system integration services Instead we have developed a number of tools to assist you in integrating a performance ready system When assembling a performance rig please use these tools to build confidence in your system Stress Test Tools Menu The stress test tool in the Tools menu exercises your rig by simulating MIDI input and performing scene changes You can configure the stress test to perform various operations and leave it running for hours You can also pump more MIDI into your system via stress than you could ever by simply playing a keyboard If your live rig can survive indefinite amounts of stress that is a good confidence builder However it is not any sort of certification of reliability The primary value in the stress test is if it fails If it fails either a hang or dropouts or a crash or a blue screen it positively indicates that a component of your system is not durable Be sure to turn your audio inputs down during stress tests The output is decidedly not very musical See Stress Test B Diagnostics Display Shows You Audio Dropouts and MIDI Activity Tools Menu Use the Diagnostics display in the Tools menu to see a count of audio dropouts as well as total MIDI events in or out Use this
44. eto EE S 74 Confidence Building Tools 74 Stress TeSt risici M 74 Diagnostics Displays aara an aa EE ose E ELI FEBS REDE TNR SUR AE aeaa NEA iaat 75 L ETAT RRm 76 Configuration Manifests eiit cniin Desine iba ke Eee a Fe o Uni aaa Y Dena REE d De seas 77 Automatic Backup cee coved sche sees case hehe r E a r aA a aAA a Ea ovens Inu 77 Configuring Options and Preferences TT Edit Shores ianea aen ERa nere ripetere Iter ipn 79 2013 Brainspawn Inc 2 SKINS 80 3 Audio Optioris 2 2 or rer ee A aare ia a educar dier re aiaa ey a ear dl cts r aiaa pii 81 MM Ini Neun ue R 83 5 SceneView Options erede reiner ierra Rei ennag FAri a 84 6 Scene OptOns a cence G 85 7 MIDI Input and Output Ports enero decir eite ra ninda cues dea nk Ra Pep a orna n Rank m Ped iauna cR iuE 86 MIDI ConfiguratiOn me 87 8 Control Surfaces ecrire re ces avcernidenaseee aE aa ai aaria aaran aahei STE e 88 9 Copy Options iniisa nannan doeau aaan raina aaan ea aAa aaa Ea a Ea Ae aa baaa Aaa aiaa aaa aiaia 88 Part XIV Troubleshooting 88 1 Plugin Compatibility Fixes Device Compatibility xml
45. ew w SceneVie Displays older SceneView from Forte 2 w old version Options es Displays Forte Preferences See Configuring Options and Preferences S sks Displays the Skins page of preferences Control Displays the Control Surfaces page of preferences See Control Surfaces Surfaces Rehearsal Prompts you before you change scenes in case changes need to be Mode updated first This should never be used in performance Tools View INI Files Opens Windows Explorer at the folder containing Forte INI and other support files Log File Email Email Forte log file reset the contents of the log file or open the log Reset View file in Notepad for viewing 2013 Brainspawn Inc Menu Reference 99 Create Capture Forte manifest information and optionally embed it in the Installation current rack file for later comparison See Configuration Manifests Configuration Manifest Validate Against Compares a new manifest against a manifest created previous and Manifest stored in the rack file See Configuration Manifests Y P Copy Manifest Copies the current manifest to the Windows clipboard See to Clipboard Configuration Manifests 42 Clear Manifest g any manifest from the rack file See Configuration Manifests Manage VST Start VST plugin manager to find plugins See Plugin Manager Plugins Displays the rack editor The rack editor enables you to see your Rack Editor rack in_an alternate w
46. ged in the profile selection dialog box Note that incompatible profiles are also shown with the reason they are deemed incompatible This can help you remember to plug in hardware if necessary You may choose to use an incompatible profile in offline mode by selecting it and pressing the Use Offline button In this mode the real audio and MIDI hardware is ignored and simulated devices with the expected names are created and used instead No MIDI input or audio streaming is possible when using a profile offline but this is useful for rack editing New Profile Creation Wizard The new profile creation wizard has three stages 1 Select the name of the profile and choose an existing profile upon which to base the new one PRODUCER only 2 Map MIDI Ports Here you may swap MIDI port assignments or remove them 3 Choose ASIO driver ASIO mode only This allows you to adapt a rack to a different ASIO setup Upon completion the new profile is active and is available in the list of profiles the next 2013 Brainspawn Inc e Forte 3 User Manual 9 6 2 10 10 1 time the rack is loaded In PERFORMER edition this new profile replaces the old profile Tools Menu Change Hardware Profile This tool launches the profile creator to change MIDI and ASIO assignments after the rack is loaded You must reload the rack for the new profile to take effect MIDI Port Renaming Forte enables you to assign custom names to MIDI port
47. gin console check the 2013 Brainspawn Inc Troubleshooting 9 Disconnect this instrument when loading configuration data box Don t Download new plugin data on Scene Change Scene Commands Tab You can also check the box Do not use per scene configuration data to avoid having a new VST chunk downloaded during a scene change This is especially recommended for sampler plugins In this case the plugin will remain configured the same during the entire set but you can send program changes to it on scene change This is much more light weight All this is configured on the Scene Commands tab Run Forte in Administrator Mode Some plugins can t be discovered or don t behave correctly on Windows Vista or Windows 7 unless Forte is running with Administrator privileges Right click on the Forte shortcut and configure it to always run as administrator Change the Device Compatibility file Forte tries to make a good decision about how to get and set VST configuration chunks or FXB FXP data However sometimes a plugin wants something different to get or set its entire state Forte has a way to override scene capture and recall behavior for individual plugins A file called DeviceCompatibility xml in the install directory contains plugin specific settings which can override the default behavior Plugins are referenced in this file by either CLSID or VST ID If your favorite plugin does not correctly restore its settings on scene
48. here to go for Help Go to www brainspawn comygo support for help 3 Installer The Forte installer comes in 4 variations Producer Edition unified installer installs 64 bit Forte 4 Performer Edition to 64 bit OS or 32 bit Forte 4 to 32 bit OS Producer Edition 32 bit installer installs 32 bit Forte 4 Producer Edition to either 64 bit or 32 bit OS e Performer Edition unified installer installs 64 bit Forte 4 Performer Edition to 64 bit OS or 32 bit Forte 4 to 32 bit OS e Performer Edition 32 bit installer installs 32 bit Forte 4 Performer Edition to either 64 bit or 32 bit OS When you purchase the product the initial download link is to the unified installer If you wish to install 32 bit to a 64 bit OS you need to go to www brainspawn com go download and choose the appropriate 32 bit only installer During installation you will be asked to enter your registration user name and license code 4 What s new in Forte 3 64 bit version Multiple output VSTi DXi support each stereo pair of a virtual instrument now has independent routing inserts mix see console Mix tab Supports VST plugins with up to 8 inputs only the 1st two channels are used This is to enable support for complex processors like The Glue compressor Improved hardware adaptation Rename MIDI Ports with custom names Improved Scene Access Quick scene picker menu Left click on scene list in header Improved MIDI Filters 4 key ranges in midi fil
49. ick on a custom set s name to rename it You may also double click on the number to the right of a set to transpose 9 the entire set up or down the number of halfsteps This is done by altering incoming MIDI note data The Set Organizer may be shown or hidden with the Hide Sets button Current Set The current set area shows the song and scene order of the currently defined set You 2013 Brainspawn Inc s Forte 3 User Manual may Drag songs up and down in the set to reorder them Add songs to the set by dragging them from the song pool or by highlighting them and pressing the Insert button Remove songs from the set by highlighting them and pressing the Remove button Use the Up or Down buttons to move songs up or down in the set Hold CTRL while clicking up or down to move 10 positions at a time hold SHIFT to move to top or bottom Show or hide the individual scenes in the song list by pressing the Show Hide Scenes button Export a set list to the clipboard by pressing the Export button You may then paste the results into another application for printing The end of set item is in the set list to mark the end of the set and to allow you to drop songs at the end of the set Song Pool The Song Pool is a collection of all defined songs You may Create new songs with the New button Delete songs by clicking on them and pressing the Delete button Clone a song by clicking on it and pressing the Clone
50. ign to the function e 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 Skins m Preferences X General Options Skins Edit Shortcuts Skins Audio Options Default 7 Preview Plugin Options Description SceneView Options Scene Options E MIDI Input Ports Forte 2 0 Producer Edition Default Skin Ti MIDI Output Ports fy Control Surfaces Copy Select an installed SynthSkin from the ListBox above Pressing the Preview button will load and display the selected skin Select OK to store the selected skin as your new default or press Cancel to revert back to your current default skin 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 2013 Brainspawn Inc Configuring Options and Preferences 81 13 3 Audio Options Dp Preferences pa General Options Audio Options Edit Shortcuts Skins Audio Driver Model Audio Options ASIO WDM KS Sample Rate 44100 v Plugin Options SceneView ptions ASID Control Panel Highlight an ASIO driver to enable this button Scene ptions i i MIDI Input Ports Device Buffer Size Estimated MIDI Latency P MIDI Output Por
51. ime for scenes to build up extra data that is no longer important For instance if a plugin is removed from the rack the data for that plugin is no longer needed It will not automatically be removed Instead you may Trim the rack to remove unused data The command is in the File menu Trim simply cycles through all scenes in the rack applies each one and then recaptures it as a new up to date snapshot 2013 Brainspawn Inc Forte 3 User Manual 9 5 f Trim Rack Se The trim process is now complete Please check all Scenes within the Rack for errors Save the Rack once you are confident no errors were introduced Trim started at 2011 December 12 17_14_35 Now trimming Scene 2011 December 12 16 08 43 Now trimming Scene 2011 December 12 16 08 44 Now trimming Scene 2011 December 12 16 08 45 Now trimming Scene 2011 December 12 16 08 45 Trim finished at 2011 December 12 17 14 36 If you encounter a hang or crash during rack trim you may use a troubleshooting option to see if that addresses the issue See Trim Delay Ms in OPTIONS INI Rack Editor The Rack Editor allows you to view the currently loaded rack file by plugin instead of by scene Recall that the main display shows the state of each plugin for the current scene The Rack Editor changes this perspective to view a particular plugin across all scenes This allows you to see at a glance how a plugin s configuration changes betwe
52. input port e At least one Windows ASIO or WDM compliant audio output device 1024x768 256 color graphics mode or higher 2013 Brainspawn Inc EN Forte 3 User Manual 6 User Interface Overview An Introduction to Forte s Interface www brainspawn com go forte m Snapshot new Scene N Next Previcus Scene Chooser Organize Scenes De uem iis Save Load Rack Files MIDI Panic stops all playing MIDI notes Scene Mdyagement Ti Control Ld P Playing Add Remove Copy Instrument Modules and Wyses empo Con Audio On Off 7 Start or Stop Plugin Arpeggiators bus Output Volume and Meter Audio out Transport Setlist r Velume Mute Solo ES El Line Digital Out L Line Digital vut R Assign Bus output m Teig mda Piano E ES Bus 1 E L S Click to undock a plugin from the rack JE mda Piano Audio input Program Map MIDI Routing Scene Co Click to open the plugin VST effect plugins go here 6 1 Control Module The top rack space is the Control Module Transport On the Control Module you can e Turn rack power on or off When off Forte does not consume CPU power for audio 2013 Brainspawn Inc User Interface Overview 15 processing and closes the audio outputs e Load and save racks e Add remove or duplicate instrument modules e Add remove duplicate and hide output buses Create and manage scenes e Set Tempo Set Transport Configure program o
53. is is an advanced user topic for those familiar with style sheets Old SceneView The Forte 2 version of SceneView is also available Show SceneView by selecting View SceneView old version menu item or pressing ALT 0 Exit SceneView by pressing ESC or by pressing the close button on the top right of the window 2013 Brainspawn Inc User Interface Overview s 000 Close to the Edge The Solid Time o 001 Close to the Edge Total Mass Retain 002 Close to the Edge l Get Up Get D 003 Close to the Edge Seasons of Man to the Edge The Solid Time of C Close to the Edge Total Mass Retain SceneView Forte 2 version 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 6 5 1 Styling Scene View 2 with Stylesheets SceneView 2 is built using Qt4 user interface technology and is stylable using a variant of CSS for Qt This topic lists the names and types of the various stylable elements Two default style sheets css files are included in the Forte installation folder These can be used for reference For a full discussion of Qt4 Stylesheets please search the Internet for Qt4 Stylesheets In short each element is independently addressable by name or widgets can be styled by control type Children of controls inherit styling of the parent unless s
54. is the first scene used and use a combination of MIDI channel filtering and program changes when changing scenes to alter their sounds 7T 3 Audio Input Audio inputs allow you to run audio from external sources through modules and buses Audio inputs are available on any instrument module in the Audio Mix tab of the console 2013 Brainspawn Inc Forte 3 User Manual 7 4 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 Insert Effects Adding and Removing Effects 2013 Brainspawn Inc Using Plugins 45 Alt Bus Out M 1 Delay 4 El Analog 3 4 3 4 rem w Jul 1 Pluggo Resosweep 5 El Main Bus Out VST and DirectX audio effects may be inserted into either modules or output buses To insert an effect right click on an audio effects patch point shown above and select the DirectX effect fro
55. l Windows style ini formatting OPTIONS INI is located in the user s application data folder This folder has been located in different places in different versions of Windows As of Windows 7 it is in the C Users lt username gt AppData Roaming brainspawn forte 3 folder A handy way to access this folder is to start Forte and select the menu command Tools View INI Files and application data folder which opens the folder for easy access OPTIONS INI has several sections Many of the settings are configured via the Options Preferences Panel see Configuring Options and Preferences However sometimes certain advanced troubleshooting options are settable by directly editing OPTIONS INI This section defines some useful troubleshooting options Often the option does not exist in OPTIONS INI by default which means it takes its default state To enable an option navigate OPTIONS INI to the specified section the text with the brackets around it and add or edit the line of text containing the option name and the sign After using a troubleshooting option you may turn it back off by simply removing it or switching its 1 or O state You must restart Forte after saving OPTIONS INI for option changes to take effect Troubleshooting SingleStepVSTPluginLoad 0 disabled default or 1 enabled If SingleStepVSTPluginLoad 1 Forte prompts you before each step of sending data to a VST plugin during scene load You may skip a step by
56. les you to further organize your rack for performance beyond defining individual scenes Forte also defines Songs and Setlists A Song is an ordered list of scenes This enables you to re use scenes in different songs reducing the burden of maintaining separate duplicate scenes A Setlist is an ordered list of songs Using Setlists you can build sets from songs each containing scenes and you can rapidly alter a set by simply altering the set list by moving adding or removing songs See Scenes and Setlist Manager for more details Also see Different Ways to Use Scenes Songs and Sets 9 for hints on how to use songs and sets effectively Song and Set Transpose Songs and Sets may contain customized transpose settings enabling you to conveniently transpose entire sets or individual songs or scenes up or down See Transpose for details 2013 Brainspawn Inc Scenes Songs and Setlists 53 8 3 Different Ways to Use Scenes Songs and Sets The Scene Song Set system is flexible enough to use in many different ways Here are some common ways musicians use them Scenes are Songs The most basic method of using scenes is to create a scene for each song you wish to play Name the scene after the song and order them as desired in the scene list In this mode the Set Manager us configured to use either all scenes or selected scenes sets As an example 001 Long Distance 002 Hotel California 003 Tom Sawyer etc
57. lly 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 2013 Brainspawn Inc 3 Forte 3 User Manual 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 Mode Minimum Maximum and Initial Value Each CC remapping can be set up to assume an initial value on scene load and scale between a minimum and maximum value e Init If supplied the CC value is transmitted to the plugin when the scene is applied This is a way to set up initial controller values for future manipulation If Init is blank no initial value is sent e Min Max When an input CC value is remapped incoming values are rescaled between the Min and Max values For instance if Min 30 and Max 60 then incoming values of 0 127 would be rescaled to 30 60 If Max is less than Min the scaling works in reverse For instance if Max 30 and Min 60 thenincoming values of 0 127
58. m 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 Bypassing Effects Effects may be bypassed either by clicking the bypass button in the instrument module or bus 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 bus Using Effect Presets Accessing an Audio Effect Preset is identical to accessing instrument Presets MIDI Routing to Effects MIDI input is sent to both instrument and bus insert effects The filtering is identical to instruments However by default all MIDI Input ports to inserts are disabled This is to avoid confusion It is assumed that most MIDI input is to be directed at the instrument plugin not the effects plugins You may enable MIDI by opening the plugin console and editing the MIDI configuration Also if you have Forte configured to 2013 Brainspawn Inc s Forte 3 User Manual 7 4 1 automatically reload the last used MIDI configuration with the plugin it may be inserted with whatever previous configuration you used Also note that MIDI Program Change
59. 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 e The name of the party to which the transfer is made e THE USER s registration information e A statement that THE USER is ceasing all the rights to use the PRODUCT e THE USERS signature e 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 2013 Brainspawn Inc 10 Forte 3 User Manual 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 2 W
60. me or all plugins during this run This is useful if you believe a plugin is causing a problem Excluded plugins are replaced with proxies simulated place holders during rack load Disabled automatic rack load feature e Does not automatically start the audio engine Stops at the profile selection dialog regardless of the timeout mode Producer Edition only Moving From 32 bit to 64 bit Forte VST Plugins Background Forte identifies all plugins by a unique identifier called a CLSID The CLSID of a plugin can be found in the plugins xml cache file and it looks something like 305B2033 9E2D 4FF1 A6D4 6930EC21AB26 but is different for each plugin CLSIDs were originally a unique identifier for DirectX and DirectShow plugins For VST plugins Forte created a CLSID by hashing together the plugin s VSTID value with the plugin s DLL name and combining the result with a standard fragment of CLSID xxxxxxxx 9E2D 4FF1 A6D4 6930EC21AB26 This has always worked well except that many plugin vendors deliver the 32 bit and 64 bit plugins with the same VST ID but using different DLL filenames This unfortunately results in different generated CLSIDs For instance the CLSID generated by 32 bit Forte uses the 32 bit DLL plugin name and the 64 bit uses the other DLL plugins name resulting in different CLSIDs which if not accounted for makes it impossible to load some rack files built in 32 bit Forte into 64 bit Forte Plugin Cache plugins xml and pl
61. messages are never sent to insert plugins This is to reduce cases where multiple effects plugins are inadvertently changing sounds when the user intents to change only the instrument You can automate audio effects with MIDI the same way you automate instruments Please refer to MIDI Filtering and Automation 59 for how to do this Scene Change Commands In the Scene Commands tab each scene can be configured to affect each insert effect plugin in a variety of ways See Scene Commands 9 for more information Insert Manager Right click an effect and select Insert Manager to control the order of inserts at that patch point a minimoog V Insert Manager ka a Pluggo Resosweep Remove All Move Top Up Down Bottom Insert Manager 2013 Brainspawn Inc Using Plugins 47 The insert manager enables you to reorder add or remove insert effects plugins from the instrument module 8 Scenes Songs and Setlists Forte s most defining feature is the ability to organize plugins for performance Organizing plugin settings into repeatable sets of sounds is what sets Forte apart from Digital Audio Workstations The most basic unit of performance is a scene A scene is created as a snapshot of the current rack at a particular point in time The snapshot includes Hn The current state of every instrument and effect plugin in the rack For example a VST plugin with a Piano patch tweaked with a spe
62. n MRU Sizes Rack Instruments Inserts 4 8 X 8 X V Disable Screen Saver while playing Z Minimize to System Tray Use all available CPUs Logging Level 4 v Number of Auto Backups to keep Errors e 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 e Hide splash screen at start Select if you do not want to see the splash screen at program startup e Open SceneView at launch Automatically shows the SceneView when a rack loads e Autoload Rack when Forte Starts Loads either the last used rack or a specified default rack when Forte starts e Default Rack Save location Path used to save rack files e Default Backup Rack Save location Path used to save backup rack files The default is the same directory used to save the rack file e MRU Sizes select how many racks instruments and inserts to keep in your most 2013 Brainspawn Inc Configuring Options and Preferences 79 recently used lists e Disable Screen Saver while playing Disables any configured screen saver when the rack power is on e Minimize to System Tray Choose whether Forte minimizes to an icon on the task bar or in the system tray e Use all available CPUs This is a troubleshooting option which should remain checked If you are using a multiple processor system and encountering
63. n and a large number of Windows DLL components See this to take advantage of a Windows configuration change that makes more memory available to Forte 2013 Brainspawn Inc Confidence Building Tools 12 4 Configuration Manifests Problem A rack file once worked perfectly on your PC but now it doesn t or you ve moved it to another PC and it doesn t work Use a configuration manifest to help diagnose the changes in your setup that may be affecting your Forte rig Here s how Once your rack is working the way you want it to select the new Tools menu item Create Installation Configuration Manifest Answer Yes when asked to embed the manifest in your rack file The next time you save your rack file the manifest will be contained within it e A manifest is a snapshot of your configuration containing e A record of every DLL module VST plugins ASIO drivers Windows components 3rd party components and its version e Key configuration settings from OPTION INI When you have a problem select the new Tools menu item Validate Against Manifest to create a difference report in your Windows clipboard This can then be pasted into Notepad or other text editor to view The difference report contains e A list of manifest items missing from the current configuration e g DLLs e A list of manifest items in your current configuration that are not in the manifest e Any manifest items that are different e g DLL versions are diffe
64. n by a vendor e CLSID a big string of letters and numbers affects a specific plugin A CLSID is how Forte unambiguously identifies a plugin This value matches the value Forte uses to identify the plugin in its plugin cache file plugins xml The flags that be used within a Device element include e SaveFXB if 1 save an FXB chunk with a scene e SaveFXP if 1 save an FXP chunk with a scene e saveProgramNumber if 1 save the VST program number with a scene e saveParams if 1 save the VST parameters with a scene typically only effects would 2013 Brainspawn Inc o Forte 3 User Manual 14 2 14 3 use this option e isVSTi if 1 forces a plugin to be identified as an instrument plugins This is useful for example with Guitar Rig which is an effect plugin not an instrument but since you would typically want it to have its own module and be fed by audio input you can force it to be treated as an instrument Safe Mode Safe Mode is a troubleshooting tools that disables certain convenience behavior in Forte To start Forte in Safe Mode you may start Forte from the Forte safe mode Start Menu item or hold down the left CTRL key while clicking on the icon Forte will automatically ask you if it should start in safe mode if it exited abnormally the previous time it ran Safe Mode alters Forte s behavior in the following ways e Disables the automatic crash reporting tools e Presents a dialog box to disable so
65. nce to the next scene e Move to a specific scene by pressing a shortcut key you have assigned to that scene e Pressing control buttons on configured Control Surfaces 9 e From MIDI automation defined in the Scenes and Setlist Manager Updating Scenes Scenes are snapshots in time of the rack file Later changes to the rack do not automatically update a scene In order to update a scene you must update the scene which is the same as taking a new snapshot To do this right click on the scene list in the rack header and select Update Managing Scenes and Building Sets as See Scenes and Setlist Manager for details on how to manage scenes songs and setlists Rehearsal Mode Because scenes are snapshots of the rack at a moment in time they cannot be edited ive If you alter something and then re apply the scene those changes will be lost unless you enable Rehearsal Mode in the Options menu Rehearsal Mode prevents inadvertent scene changes by prompting you to confirm your intent to change scenes Rehearsal Mode is enabled to protect you against losing changes in a scene You may avoid this prompt by turning off Rehearsal Mode in the options menu Do you wish to change scenes Options Rehearsal Mode is a special mode that helps you avoid losing changes to a scene before updating it If this option is enabled any scene change will result in this prompt You have the opportunity here to cancel the scene change
66. note ranges a instrument will respond to splits and layers configuration 2013 Brainspawn Inc Using Plugins 33 e How incoming MIDI notes will be transposed after note range filtering e How incoming MIDI continuous controller data is remapped to different controller numbers Quick MIDI Routing Use the Quick MIDI Routing button to quickly set up basic channel routing poo Disable All Ports Full Reset Maple All Channels P TranzPort Maple Midi In Port3 gt Channel 01 Pies Maple Midi In Port4 gt Channel 02 TranzPort b Channel 03 Traveler id Channel 04 Channel 05 Channel 06 Channel 07 The menu item Full Reset resets all port mappings and then applies the selected port channel The menu item Port Reset only changes the port selected while leaving other ports unaffected Advanced MIDI Channel Routing Use the Advanced MIDI Channel Routing dialog to configure channel from to pairs using a convenient matrix view 2013 Brainspawn Inc 3 Forte 3 User Manual Dieablo All Enable At Disable All Enable Al Discble All Enable A1 Disable All Enable Al Disable All Enable A1 Uy ise il Enable Disable All Enable A1 Channel 02 Channel 03 Channel 06 Channel 07 Channel 08 Disable At Enable Al SBBB 9B BB BO amp Channel 03 Disable All Enable A1 Disable All Enable A1 Di
67. ns 4 Co i py Solo setting H MIDI Input Ports D MIDI Configuration V Copy Mute setting AY MIDI Output Ports Jc PNT opy MIDI Configuration Vy Control Surfaces x il CE Copy V Copy Scene settings Module Copy Bus Copy WARNING The following option should only be selected if you are using Copy to replace an old version of a plug in with a new version and even then only when a backup has been made Copy plug in data Display this page when copying Modules You may copy an instrument to a new instrument and specify a new instrument plugin The preferences above will be used to copy or skip various attributes of the original instrument module 2013 Brainspawn Inc Rack File Operatios 63 9 3 2 Copying Buses r Preferences pa EX General Options Bus Copy r Edit Shortcuts Skins V Copy Audio Effects plugins Audio Options v Copy Audio Effects plugin settings Plugin Options SceneView Options Copy Scene settings Scene Options MIDI Input Ports o MIDI Configuration MIDI Dutput Ports Control Surfaces Ge Copy Module Copy Bus Copy V Display this page when copying busses You may copy a bus to a new bus The preferences above will be used to copy or skip various attributes of the original bus module 9 4 Trimming Racks Because Scenes contains snapshots of a rack at the time the scene is captured it is possible over t
68. ograms such as Forte By default Windows allocates up to 2GB of virtual memory for each running application 2013 Brainspawn Inc Troubleshooting s 14 4 Plugin Compatibility Fixes DeviceCompatibility xml Forte tries to make a good decision about how to get and set VST configuration chunks or FXB FXP data However sometimes a plugin wants something different to get or set its entire state Forte has a way to override scene capture and recall behavior for individual plugins A file called DeviceCompatibility xml in the install directory contains plugin specific settings which can override the default behavior Plugins are referenced in this file by either CLSID or VST ID If your favorite plugin does not correctly restore its settings on scene change add it to this file Note that this MUST be a valid XML file in order for the feature to work An typical example entry would be Device Name KarmaFX gt saveFXB bool 1 gt saveFXP bool 0 gt saveProgramNumber bool 0 gt saveParams bool 0 gt Device This instructs Forte how to save scenes not restore them so you must restart Forte reload your rack and recapture your scenes The entry is defined by the Device tag Plugins can be identified in several ways e Name lt partial case insensitive plugin name gt affects any plugin that matches the plugin name e Name lt partial case insensitive plugin vendor name gt affects any plugi
69. on can be consistently reproduced then try the following Start in Safe Mode launch Forte while holding down the left CTRL key and exclude some of the plugins reload the rack file and see if the hang can be reproduced Retry as necessary until you narrow the hang to a specific plugin Start Task Manager or Process Explorer at http technet microsoft com en us sysinternals bb896653 aspx and see if the CPUs are 100 busy Open the Diagnostics display in the Tools menu and see if the dropout count in increasing during the freeze Make sure you don t have a MIDI feedback loop Forte Log File Forte maintains a log file that has adjustable levels of output It is located in your application data directory under brainspawn forte You can also conveniently access it using the menu command Tools Log File View which will open it in notepad You can adjust the output levels in Preferences Logging Level The levels are Silent Errors default Warnings or Information If you are having a problem finding an audio driver or plugin or any other type of startup problem you can sometimes find useful information in the log file Sometimes you will need to adjust preferences to change the logging level to Information and restart Forte before viewing the log The log will contain detailed information about what Forte did during startup Using 3GB with 32 bit Windows It is possible to increase the amount of virtual memory Windows allocates to user pr
70. on the Scene Commands tab of an instrument or insert effect The three options are 2013 Brainspawn Inc e Forte 3 User Manual 9 6 9 6 1 o Auto to load data only if its different than the current scene o Yes to always load data o No to never load data NOTE Scenes to not automatically reference every plugin in the rack file For example if you create a scene and then add a new plugin the existing scene will not automatically contain any information about the new plugin In this case the rack editor will display a message plugin not configured in scene If you wish to add this plugin to the current scene you may either update the scene or trim 9 the rack File Trim to update all scenes Reordering Modules In the lower left corner are two buttons to reorder buses and instruments Click one to open a dialog allowing you to change the order of modules NOTE when you change the order of modules forte must save close and reopen the rack file Adapting to Hardware Changes Hardware Profiles A hardware profile is a feature in Forte which allows greater flexibility in mapping MIDI and audio devices It is a named set of hardware driver dependencies stored within a rack file Performer Edition In Performer Edition a rack file can hold one hardware profile However Forte 2 0 includes a powerful remapping wizard enabling you to alter your rack s hardware mappings quickly even switching to alternate
71. one port to another e Copy to all ports on this plugin enables you to duplicate the configuration of one port to all ports on this plugin only e Copy port to all scenes copies the port configuration to all other scenes for this plugin and this port 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 2013 Brainspawn Inc 36 Forte 3 User Manual gt D DOr We Shown settings apply to current map In B USB MIDISPORT 4x4 2 Keyboard Enable MIDI Notes Range NHA There are for independent key range and transpose tabs enabling you to do advanced things like automatically playing a chord or leaving dead spaces in the middle of a keyboard 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 P
72. pecifically overridden Knowing the control names allows for customization of each including hiding specific things not hidable in options by coloring it with transparent color rgba 0 0 0 0 Note that future versions of Forte may change significantly 2013 Brainspawn Inc Yes set Title Area The Solid Time of Change Total Mass Retain Get Up I Get Down 2 Forte 3 User Manual Meny n 002 Total Mass Retai Upcoming Scenes il 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 et Up Get Down Next Scene Hint Meter Bridge Control Name verticalLayout nextSceneHintBar nextSceneHintLayout horizontalSpacer_2 nextSceneHintLabel sv2frame_MainSceneArea upcomingScenesAreaLayout previousSetItem frame cueNote sceneName setOrderNumber songName sceneDescription currentSetItem nextSetItemi nextSetItem2 Qt Control Type OPTIONS INI SceneView Visiblity flag QV BoxLayout Qframe QHBoxLayout Spacer Qlabel Qframe QV BoxLayout SceneViewltemWidge t QFrame QLabel QLabel QLabel QLabel QLabel SceneViewltemWidge see elements above t SceneViewltemWidge see elements above t SceneViewltemWidge see elements above t ShowNextSceneHint ShowUpcomingScenes 2013 Brainspawn Inc User Interface Overview 21 nextSetItem3 SceneViewltemWidge see elements above t sv2frame_MeterBridge Custom Widget ShowMeterBridge setOrderListWidget QListWidget ShowFullSceneList sv2frame_QuickAccessBut
73. problems you can uncheck this option to see if it is related to multi processing e 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 e Logging Level Configures the amount of information logged to the log file 13 1 Edit Shortcuts r Preferences DG B General Options Edit Shortcuts Edit Shortcuts Skins Commands Current shortcuts Ado Options Console Show Hide x CTRL R Plugin Options Edit Copy SceneView ptions Exit Scene Options File Open H A MIDI Input Ports File Save i File New Rack Ti MIDI Output Ports Ty Control Surfaces H Copy File New Scene File Play Help MIDI Panic Module Add Audio Effect Module Add Bus Module Add Synth Module Delete Module Next Module Previous Module Select Bottom Module Select Top Module Show Hide Bus Reload Rack Scene 01 Scene 02 Reset Reset All Description Create a blank Rack C Disable shortcuts when Consoles are open Assign Remove Press new shortcut key Currently assigned to 2013 Brainspawn Inc so Forte 3 User Manual 13 2 This page configures hot key assignments To assign a new hot key e Select the function you wish to assign a key to e Set the cursor in the Press new shortcut key box and press the key you wish to ass
74. ptions Plugin Options E SceneView Options Use SceneView 2 as default instead of old SceneView Scene ptions R MIDI Input Ports SceneView 2 Options Y MIDI Output Ports 4 Control Surfaces 4 Show Full Screen V Show Full Scene List 4 Show MIDI Meter v t te Copy Show Performance Control Buttons V Show Quick Access Buttons V Show Upcoming Scenes 4 Show Title 4 Show Meter Bridge 4 Show Next Scene Hint Style Sheet css in Qt format Clear to restore default style SceneView 1 Options Z Show Full Screen 4 Show Select Picture 7 Show Big Text E Show Mini Scene Preview J Show Full Scene List E Show MIDI Meter V Show Tap Tempo E Show Scene Number Forte 3 has two completely separate SceneViews SceneView 1 is the view found in previous versions of Forte and is kept to maintain visual compatibility for those who need it SceneView 2 is is new and has more capabilities Use SceneView2 as default this option opens the new SceneView in Forte 3 whenever a Forte 2 rack is loaded and is configured to display SceneView If unchecked the old SceneView will open The Style Sheet path control enables you to customize the look of SceneView 2 using css styles compatible with Qt Widgets Examples can be found in your Forte install folder Changes to this page will take effect the next time SceneView is opened 2013 Brainspawn Inc Configu
75. ptions e View CPU utilization e MIDI Panic 6 2 Output Bus Modules Below the Control Module are the output buses A bus is the place to add audio effects to multiple instrument modules simultaneously or control the mix of several modules as a group Main Bus Out 4 fe Analog 1 2 1 2 On each bus you can e View audio levels going into the audio output device post bus effects with the Audio Meter e Change the volume of all audio routed to the bus with the bus volume fader post bus effects e Add remove or reorder VST and DirectX audio effects e Display the console for each VST and DirectX audio effect e Select an audio output device Each bus is assigned to a single mono or stereo audio output and may share hardware outputs You may rename buses by clicking on the Bus Name field and entering a new name The audio meter displays peak level Red is clipping level To correct for overdriven outputs you may e Adjust the bus volume fader This affects every module feeding the bus e Adjust audio output level at the instrument or audio effect console Many instruments and audio effects have output level controls 2013 Brainspawn Inc 16 Forte 3 User Manual 6 3 6 4 e Adjust audio output level using MIDI input Many instruments respond to MIDI controller 7 volume e Change the global volume trim in Preferences The audio meter also provides an indication of audio dropouts When an outp
76. r current state and store it for recall Be creating several scenes you can the switch through different configurations of plugins very quickly Scenes can be organized into Songs and Setlists making it easy to use scenes as building blocks for performance sets For example a song might require a grand piano and an organ for the first half and an electric piano and a clavinet for the second half Add two plugins and configure them for the piano organ create a scene to preserve that setting and then create another scene with the plugins reconfigured for the second half Name them appropriately and then you can easily switch in the middle of the song In fact you can even get Forte to listen to a specific MIDI event and advance to the correct scene automatically Imagine playing the 1st half of the song stepping on a pedal to advance to the next scene and continuing to play through the second half Now imagine that with about one hundred scenes It works Professional musicians have built big rigs with a dozen VSTs and many scenes and they play through that set every night Stability Bringing a computer on stage seems like high risk behavior but it is the way of the future Many musicians are doing it now and more all the time If you choose to use VSTs for performance wouldn t it be nice to have some tools built into the host to help you become comfortable with your rig s reliability Forte has two major features designed to help you ring out
77. rent e Matching items You may also copy the embedded manifest to the clipboard for examination with Tools Copy Manifest to Clipboard and delete the current manifest with Tools Clear Manifest 12 5 Automatic Backup Whenever you Save a rack Forte can automatically copy the existing file to a backup copy The backup copy filename is appended with a sequence number e g _1 and the file extension is changed from rcf to rcf_bk See Configuring Options and Preferences to change how many backups are maintained 13 Configuring Options and 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 The first page of Preferences is General Options which affect miscellaneous configuration items 2013 Brainspawn Inc Forte 3 User Manual r Preferences 2s General Options General Options p Edit Shortcuts Skins Launch Forte when windows starts Audio Options Hide splash screen at start pen SceneView at launch Autoload Rack when Forte starts Plugin Options SceneView Options Scene Options Check to load default rack Uncheck to load last used rack H A MIDI Input Ports fi MIDI Output Ports Control Surfaces l thy Copy Default Rack Save location Default Backup Rack Save locatio
78. ress 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 MIDI Controller Remapping and Layering Incoming MIDI continuous controller data may be remapped to a different controller number layered to multiple controllers or disabled 2013 Brainspawn Inc Using Plugins 37 In B USB MIDISPORT 4x4 2 to 2 Each MIDI controller can be enabled disabled remapped layered toggled or rescaled In the above picture e CC 0 is mapped straight through to CC 0 e CC 1 is layered to CC 9 and CC 62 o The CC62 mapping snaps to 20 and 60 and will generate no values in between e CC 2 is configured to toggle between 40 and 80 starting at 80 whenever CC2 128 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 O 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 automatica
79. ring Options and Preferences 85 13 6 Scene Options Fr Preferences 2S General Options Scene Options Edit Shortcuts 2 Skins These plugins will not be loaded with new preset data on scene changes Audio Options This is for use primarily with plugins that take too long to load presets like some samplers Plugin Options which must load new sample data from disk SceneView Options Scene Options 4 MIDI Input Ports XX MIDI Dutput Ports s Control Surfaces Copy Remove One 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 2013 Brainspawn Inc s Forte 3 User Manual 13 7 MIDI Input and Output Ports P
80. rs 21 through 30 Use Scene numbers 31 through 40 2013 Brainspawn Inc ow Forte 3 User Manual 17 Moves the Selection Caret to the previous Instrument Module ot Output Bus When the first Output Bus is reached it wraps around to the last Module in the rack Note These shortcut keys are reassignable using Edit Shortcuts in Preferences Technology Acknowledgements Eg ASIO technology by Steinberg Soft und ol Hardware GmbH A ver PlugIn Interface Technology by Steinberg Soft und Hardware GmbH DX technology by Cakewalk nh 2 0 technology by Propellerhead RE cortware aB 2013 Brainspawn Inc
81. rte 3 this is where you can add your own definitions You may alter or create new definitions using the Control Surface Definition Editor in the start menu This application always automatically edits MyControlSurfaceDefinitions xml You may also edit the XML files by hand if you have the knowledge to create valid XML 2013 Brainspawn Inc Control Surfaces and Automation e Forte Control Surface Definition Editor File New Delete ZS Sample 1 Automated Mute Automation Sample 2 Automated Bus Insert B New Delete Bus 2 Volume from MIDI Controller event on channel 1 CC 1 any Value Sample 3 Automated Bus Volume e Press New to create a new control surface e Double click a definition in the left pane to rename it or highlight and press Delete to remove it Use the File Save menu command to save your changes e Use the New and Delete buttons to add or remove individual automation items to the highlighted current control surface definition Click the down arrow on an automation to edit source and destination configuration e When you are finished use the File Save menu command to save the altered file In order to use this new control surface definition you must start Forte open Control Surface Preferences and configure 9 the definition for use 10 2 Configuring Control Surfaces for Use in Forte Open Options Preferences and select the Control Surfaces item Select Add to cre
82. s 4 edere nei rere eret inten egeo tei n ioo nero unas 59 Rack File Operations 61 Creating New Racks irre netten naa anana 61 Loading and Saving Racks iiie eene ere tece annu aee s aka Pone PER n Dona ka Pm sape E Da es 61 Copying and Replacing Instruments and Buses eeeeeeeenne mene 62 erint M 62 Copying BUSES ECC 63 Trimming Racks aa ects ease ccd Ree ee ceed ee a eg siete aie 63 Rack Editor esc osccccocsict 64 Adapting to Hardware Changes ccccccsseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeaseeeesaeeeeeseeaeeeeeeaneeeeanes 66 Hardware Profiles enki enciende rere tese ira Etna pesos Dra se Pav Sucve nob dura pe chro cea 66 MIDI Port Re naming RR insa sinari asanda eae aaa da aaea 68 Control Surfaces and Automation 68 Control Surface Definitions and Editor c cccceeeeeeeeee cece cece eeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaeeeeeeeeeaeeeeaeeeeeeees 68 Configuring Control Surfaces for Use in Forte eeeseeeeeee menn 69 Mackie Control Compatible Devices cccccceeeeeeeeeeee cece ee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeseaeeeseeeeeaaeeseeeeesees 70 Frontier Design TranzPort rie ree ies ecu x eco te syaeye ceavendiares ceeees4 71 Behringer BCF2000 and Compatible Devices eeeeeeeenenennn enn 71 Performance Features 73 Aultostart 5 einen ELIGE uel ume 73 MIDI PAN O aer
83. s If you use two different setups with different MIDI port hardware but use the same custom names Forte will treat them as identical and avoid profile migration For instance you could assign MIDI Port A to be My Big Keyboard naming it for how its connected If two setups both have a My Big Keyboard port they will be considered the same ports See Custom Names C for details Control Surfaces and Automation Forte supports a variety of control surfaces including custom definitions A control surface is a way to automate Forte that is not specific to an individual rack Control Surface Definitions and Editor A control surface definition tells forte how to react to MIDI events and how to update the control surface when changes happen In order to be useful a control surface must be configured in preferences By configuring a control surface you apply a definition to a specific set of MIDI inputs and outputs Upon startup Forte reads three XML files containing control surface definitions e FactoryControlSurfaceDefinitions xml located in the forte install directory this file contains control surface definitions supplied by Brainspawn e SampleControlSurfaceDefinitions xml located in the forte install directory this file contains tutorial definitions to aid you in creating your own e MyControlSurfaceDefinitions xml located in the application data directory typically C Users lt yourname gt AppData Roaming brainspawn fo
84. s 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 This paperclip icon will be displayed with a green color if a default exists for this instrument module Double clicking the button erases any existing default 7 2 2 4 Using MIDI Out from Plugins VMI Virtual MIDI Input configures a plugin to appear to the rest of the rack as a virtual MIDI input port This is a way to utilize MIDI events produced by plugins If you press VMI for a plugin a new MIDI port is created for all other plugins in the rack This new port is disabled by default but can be configured exactly like any other MIDI port Be careful not to enable a plugin to receive its own MIDI output if there is any chance it will simply echo that output This would set up a feedback loop of MIDI events B EID Enable plugin as a virtual MIDI input port F in A USB MIDISPORT 4x4 4 In B USB MIDISPORT 4x4 2013 Brainspawn Inc e Forte 3 User Manual 7 2 3 Scene Commands Commands to execute when switching to this scene Auto Set plugin configuration if it is different from the previous scene All Notes Off All Sounds Off Disconnect this instrument when loading configuration data al Reset All Controllers MIDI Program Changes None None gt gt gt
85. s to all plugins in the rack Confidence Building Tools Forte has a number of features designed to help you with diagnostics endurance and change control Select one of these topics for more information e Stress Test e Diagnostics Display 9 e Memory Information 9 e Configuration Manifests i e Automatic Backup Stress Test The capability to play virtual instruments in a live setting is based upon making a number of elements work together reliably e Computer Hardware and BIOS e Operating System e Soundcard and MIDI drivers from various sources e Forte e Virtual instruments of various technologies VST DXi ReWire etc from many vendors 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 2013 Brainspawn Inc Confidence Building Tools n Stress Rack This feature allows you to put your rack under stress It is provided as a tool to help you gain confidence in your configuration However it is not a substitute for other pre show testing Cancel Choose stress options and press Start Results will be written to your log file and can be viewed when the process is complete STEP 1 Select how long you wish to run the stress test 1 hour STEP 2 Sele
86. sWaiveLPF dll NaiveLPF 0 6 jBridge AdmiralQ VST 32bi D Plugins NaiveLPF dll SC Big Time DEMO VST 32 bit D Plugins SC Big Time DEMO dil SC Big Time DEMO fj VST 32bi D Plugins SC Big Time DEMO dll FreeG Mono Sonalksis VST 32 bit D Plugins Sonalksis FreeG Mono dll Loading D Plugins Audio Ease Altiverb 6 dll with jBridge Ignore selected Plugin DLLs V Enable jBridge if installed Rescan selected Plugins Remove selected Plugin DLLs Stop VST Scan This is the list of discovered VST plugins It includes the plugin name the plugin vendor what type of plugin it is and the DLL pathname You may select one or more plugins and Remove or Ignore the DLLs that host these plugins Ignored plugins will go on the Ignored VST Files List as user ignored If jBridge support is enabled and jBridge is installed a jBridged version of each plugin will also be created jBridge enables Forte to host VST plugins in a separate process and also allows 32 bit Forte to host 64 bit plugins and vise versa 2013 Brainspawn Inc 2 Forte 3 User Manual 7 1 3 Ignored VST Files List F B Forte Plugin Manager o e is VST Scan Folders VST Plugins Ignored Files Crash Log Path Ignored because C Program Files Steinberg Asio Asiomm 16 dll C Program Files Steinberg Asio asiodx dll C Program Files Steinberg Asio asiodxfd dll C Program Files Steinberg sio asioglld dll
87. sable All Enable At Disable All Enable Al Disable All Enable A1 Channel 14 Disable All Enable Al hms TM AAASOG AEe Disable All Enable A1 hme DAA OC Ee eL E Gol f dz dS i Enable Al ES 9 IE 5 E E E Ev E E GO S KS S 9 R9 9 R9 9 R9 R9 R9 RS R9 R9 R9 OD Channel 10 Channel 11 AO Channel 12 Channel 13 1 amp 9 9 EB 9 E9 9 ES E9 E9 E9 amp 9 E9 9 9 9 E c9 589 589 589 59 599 9 5 a Peay rcu ra E pog OK Cancel Configuring MIDI Ports Right click on a MIDI port to alter how events are filtered for this plugin 2013 Brainspawn Inc Using Plugins 35 ajmo From To V in AUSB MIDISPORT 4x4 Enabled r In C USB MIDISPORT 4x4 Disable all incoming MIDI on this MIDI port In D USB MIDISPORT 4x4 Ld r V SpeedSoft MIDI cable 1 r Ld r Disable all incoming MIDI on all MIDI channels Reset all channels to pass through Route all channels to channel 1 SpeedSoft MIDI cable 2 NI Kore MIDI IN 1 TranzPort Copy port to clipboard Paste port from clipboard Copy to all ports on this plugin in this scene only USB MIDISP ORT 4x4 Copy port to all scenes this plugin only Merge ports In B e Copy Paste enables you to copy the MIDI routing for
88. see a count of audio dropouts as well as total MIDI events in or out Use this during a stress test If you see the audio dropout counter incrementing its a sign that something in the system is choking occasionally This many not always be a big deal It depends upon when the dropouts occur and your own particular usage The diagnostic display also includes a count of MIDI output errors for use with EHCo If 2013 Brainspawn Inc Forte 3 User Manual you suspect not all EHCo data is being transmitted correctly the error counts can indicate errors returned from the MIDI output port driver Diagnostics 0 Audio drop outs MIDI Events In 0 0 MIDI Events Out MIDI Output Errors NOT READY o 0 MIDI Output Errors other 12 3 Memory Information Memory Information gives you information about how much memory your rack file is consuming and how much spare memory you have If the required memory is greater than the Threshold a warning will be displayed when the rack is loaded e NEN Total Physical Memory 3327 11 Mb Usable Memory 1672 48 Mb Current Rack Size 421914 Mb 1415 48 Mb Warning Threshold On 32 bit versions of Windows with 4GB of RAM it is normal to see usable memory of only about 1500MB or so on an empty rack The reason for this is that 32 bit Windows by default give each application only 2GB of memory It is not a problem with Forte About 500MB of that is loaded with the applicatio
89. selecting No on the dialog box The data to be loaded is logged to the log file before loading into the plugin and is also logged if skipped If a load operation causes the plugin to crash the immediately preceding data item is probably to blame and the raw content of the data is available in 2013 Brainspawn Inc Forte 3 User Manual the log file The log file is called Forte log in the same folder as OPTIONS INI See Log File for more information Audio Options Audio StopAudioDuringSceneCapture 0 don t stop restart audio default or 1 stop restart audio engine during scene capture or update If you encounter issues with plugins during scene capture or update you may try setting this value to 1 When set to 1 Forte will stop the audio engine during scene capture and restart it if needed when complete Audio RestartAudioOnMIDIPanic 0 don t stop restart audio default or 1 stop restart audio engine during MIDI Panic RestartMIDIOnMIDIPanic 0 don t stop and restart MIDI Ports default or 1 stop and restart MIDI Ports during MIDI Panic MIDI Meter The following MIDI Meter options allow for highly specialized uses of the MIDI meter SceneView SceneViewFavorSceneNames 0 default or 1 if 0 when using single scene songs the song name will be displayed in SceneView2 if 1 when using single scene songs the scene name will be displayed in SceneView2 StretchBackgroundImage 0 default or 1 If 1
90. st to create a difference report in your Windows clipboard This can then be pasted into Notepad or other text editor to view The difference report contains o A list of manifest items missing from the current configuration e g DLLs o A list of manifest items in your current configuration that are not in the manifest o Any manifest items that are different e g DLL versions are different o Matching items You may also copy the embedded manifest to the clipboard for examination with Tools Copy Manifest to Clipboard and delete the current manifest with Tools Clear Manifest See Configuration Manifests Common Advice for Plugin Problems Use Single Threaded Mode Preferences Menu Forte uses different threads for different plugins and sometimes plugins cannot handle this Go into preferences and uncheck Use all available CPUs and restart Forte This will use only one CPU core thread for all streaming You will waste CPU capacity but it has been known to help with some plugins Use Disconnect on Scene Change Scene Commands Tab Scene changes can be complicated times for plugins Right in the middle of processing both audio and MIDI they are asked to completely reconfigure their sound A Scene change typically causes a new VST chunk FXB or FXP data block to be downloaded into the plugin Some plugins have a hard time with this Try disconnecting the plugin during scene changes On the Scene Commands tab of the plu
91. strument Module roO Mutes the selected Instrument Module Ctrl M Ctrl Displays the Open rack dialog box and allows a previously saved rack to be loaded d i Toggles audio engine On Off Ctrl Toggles transport Play On Off T trl Creates a new empty rack You will be prompted to save the current rack if changes have been made to it BBE trl Saves the current rack If the rack has not been saved before you will be prompted to name the new rack NO Ctrl Updates the current Scene ra Show hide the console window of the selected module Ctrl Exits Forte 2013 Brainspawn Inc Keyboard Shortcuts w Ed Ed X or 2 T PINE UR Advances to the next Scene Moves to previous Scene e Adds a new Instrument Module to the rack Alt Adds a new insert effect to the current Module Insert CEF Adds a new Output Bus to the rack Insert Ctrl D Deletes the selected Instrument Module or Output Bus Home Scrolis the Control Module into view Scrolls the Control Module into view the Control Module into view essere to e portom orne eet Scrolls to the bottom of the rack Advances the Selection Caret to the next Instrument Module or Output Bus When the Selection Caret reaches the last Module in the rack it wraps around to the first 1 9 Use Scene numbers 1 through 10 nd Use Scene numbers 11 through 20 Use Scene numbe
92. t versions of Windows As of Windows 7 it is in the C Users lt username gt AppData Roaming brainspawn forte 3 folder A handy way to access this folder is to start Forte and select the menu command Tools View INI Files and application data folder which opens the folder for easy access The Log file by default only stores warnings and errors You may select a higher level of logging in Options Preferences General See Logging Level for more information 15 Menu Reference File Closes any currently loaded rack prompting to save if necessary and creates a new empty rack New Rack Ctrl or Creates a new scene in the current rack Scene or Creates a new instrument or bus in the current rack Module Bus rt o Ctrl Closes any currently loaded rack prompting to save if necessary pen O and opens a different rack Import Imports songs or scenes from a different rack into the current rack Songs or See Importing Songs and Scenes from other Racks Scenes Save Ctrl Saves the current rack Save As S 2013 Brainspawn Inc o Forte 3 User Manual Trim Updates all scenes in the current rack This can be handy for Rack removing unused data from a rack file See Trimming Racks Audio Ctrl Play or stop the audio engine Engine P Transport Ctrl Start or stop the Transport Play Play T Recently a list of recently opened rack files loaded rack files X Displays SceneVi
93. ters to support dead zones layers chords etc Improved per Scene Blob Control Changed scene command blob options for finer control Options now named No Auto Yes in addition to not per Scene e MIDI Monitor for plugins visually determine what MIDI is making it to a plugin 2013 Brainspawn Inc What s new in Forte 3 11 SceneView2 New Scene Manager for better management of sets More MIDI automation options for scene changes Up to 8 Quick Access scenes re callable via MIDI automation for immediate access regardless of set order Global transpose options assignable to scenes songs sets or the entire rack jBridge support to host both 32 bit and 64 bit VST plugins Audio and MIDI I O devices are now rediscovered on rack creation or load Enhanced MIDI Panic to stop the audio engine reset all MIDI ports and restart audio Offline Operation When loading a rack that is missing audio or MIDI hardware you can now either adapt the rack to new hardware or choose to run the rack in offline mode Offline mode creates proxy devices to simulate all audio and MIDI hardware This rack will not stream audio or receive MIDI but it can be used for limited rack editing Improved MIDI filter editing features Copy channel or port mappings to clipboard as XML Paste channel or port mappings from clipboard Copy current channel map to all channels on the port current plugin current scene Reset a channel to pass through unity Copy
94. to success Native Mode Forte contains several provided control surface definitions for native Behringer BCF2000 e BCF2000 Bus Mix faders control only bus volume e BCF2000 Instrument Mix faders control only instrument volume only channel 1 for multi channel instruments e BCF2000 Module Bus and Instrument Mix faders control the first eight Forte modules either bus or instrument only channel 1 for multi channel instruments Using the BCF2000 Connected via USB When using the BCF2000 with USB configure the device in U 1 mode U 2 3 or 4 may work as well but the internal routing is more complex In USB mode a MIDI driver will appear in Windows called BCF2000 When setting up the USB BCF2000 control surface in Forte the port will appear as dedicated Using the BCF2000 Connected via MIDI cables When using the BCF2000 with MIDI cables configure the device this way e Connect MIDI in to the BCF2000 MIDI IN port e Connect MIDI out from the BCF2000 using MIDI OUT B Thru Do not use MIDI OUT A as that will result in a MIDI loop e Use S 3 mode standalone mode 3 to avoid a MIDI loop When configured this way input to the BCF2000 alters fader position but is not output back thru to the output Manual Fader manipulation will generate MIDI out to Forte Emulation Modes The Behringer BCF2000 can also be configured to emulate the Mackie and Logic control surface products by pressing a mode button while powering on the
95. tons Qframe button_QA1 QPushButton ShowQuickAccessButtons button_QA2 QPushButton ShowQuickAccessButtons button_QA3 QPushButton ShowQuickAccessButtons button_QA4 QPushButton ShowQuickAccessButtons button QA5 QPushButton ShowQuickAccessButtons button_QA6 QPushButton ShowQuickAccessButtons button_QA7 QPushButton ShowQuickAccessButtons button QA8 QPushButton ShowQuickAccessButtons sv2widget_MidiMeter Custom Widget ShowMidiMeter sv2frame PerformanceButtons QFrame ShowPerformanceButtons lastSceneButto QPushButton n nextSceneButton QPushButton panicButton QPushButton powerButton QPushButton prevSceneButton QPushButton tapTempoButto QPushButton n transportButto QPushButton n sv2frame_Toolbar QFrame Title QLabel ShowTitle menuButton QPushButton 6 6 Scene and Set Manager See Scene and Set Manager in Scenes Songs and Setlists 7 Using Plugins 7 1 Plugin Manager The plugin manager is a utility integrated into Forte that scans for VST plugins and enables you to manage them Access the plugin manager either from the program start menu Manage VST Plugins or from Forte s Tools Manage VST Plugins menu item When exiting the plugin manager Forte will immediately rebuild its plugin list to reflect changes made in the plugin manager 2013 Brainspawn Inc 22 Forte 3 User Manual 7 1 4 VST Scan Folders P B Forte Plugin Manager EEA VST Scan Folders VST Plugins Ignored Files Crash Log In ord
96. ts i M Control Surfaces ASIO4ALL v2 64 31 38 ms H A Copy 4 Kore Controller 264 26 24 ms F NI Kore Controller 264 26 24 ms Check the default ASIO driver to use when automatically creating the first bus Custom Buffer Settings 7 Use preferred ASIO buffer size S instead of minimum size Buffer Size Auto Number d Bullens WDM KS Multiple Driver Buffering Global Volume Trim D dB X e Audio Driver Mode WDM KS or ASIO This selection determines the audio driver mode In ASIO mode only one driver may be used at a time and the selection is made when the ist bus in the rack is created In WDM KS mode multiple drivers may be used simultaneously e Audio Sample Rate Select the sample rate Forte will use to access your sound cards e ASIO Control Panel Open the ASIO control panel e Device List ASIO mode Shows all installed ASIO drivers The checkbox indicates which ASIO driver will be used when you automatically create a bus when adding the first instrument e Device List WDM mode Shows all WDM devices available to Forte Each output may 2013 Brainspawn Inc 8 Forte 3 User Manual be enabled or disabled for use within Forte using the check box next to its name A disabled output will not be available to assign to a bus and is not used when determining audio buffer sizes on startup Custom Buffer Settings Configures the minimum size and number of buffers used When both are set
97. ts 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 2013 Brainspawn Inc Using Plugins 27 Preview Presets mf Reggae Basic Variation 70 Load FXP FXB m Lord 1 Save FXP FXB M A Whiter Shade Acid Scan Amon DII Bank 0 Program 0 t m LB Per ussion Augernisation Balls Barbara D Ahoi Brians Choice Can t Stand the Rain Captain Phlanger Careful with that Axe 4333331313431 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 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 2013 Brainspawn Inc om Forte 3 User Manual Preview
98. ugins64 xml 2013 Brainspawn Inc Troubleshooting Forte keeps track of discovered VST plugins in a cache file called plugins xml for 32 bit and plugins64 xml for 64 bit The Forte installer will attempt to migrate the Forte 2 plugins xml cache file if itis available and a Forte version doesn t already exist This means that in most upgrades from Forte 2 or 3 32 bit to 64 bit a 32 bit plugins xml file will be available to 64 bit Forte as well as its own plugins64 xml Forte 64 bit will load its plugins64 xml cache normally but will also scan the alternate plugins xml file for information about potential substitutions If you load a 32 bit rack file into Forte 64 and it doesn t have a particular CLSID because that CLSID was generated in 32 bit Forte it will replace the plugin with the 64 bit version of the VST plugin if it shares the same VST ID For this feature to work a 32 bit plugins xml file must be available in the same location as plugins64 xml When installing 64 bit Forte make sure you either select the option to migrate Forte 2 data which will copy the plugins xml from the Forte 2installation folder to the new Forte folder Alternately you may copy the plugins xml file into the Forte installation folder manually 14 4 OPTIONS INI File NOTE This section is for advanced users only and involves editing the options file manually Forte options are stored in a text file call OPTIONS INI using traditiona
99. ult in SceneView Options 9 as well as control which portions of the SceneViews are visible SceneView 2 Show SceneView2 by selecting View SceneView 2 Exit SceneView by pressing the Menu button in the upper right corner and choosing the Close item You may also select a background picture per scene with this menu Yes set Title Area Clo the e 001 The Solid Time of Change 002 Total Mass Retain 003 Get Up I Get Down Upcoming Scenes 002 Total Mass Retain et Up Get Down Next Scene Hint Jo nN On BR wn ee Meter Bridge SceneView 2 Forte 3 version Meter e Full Scene List Left A list of the entire set Click on any item to switch to that scene e Performance Control Buttons Bottom Panic Tap Tempo Play Undo Scene Change Previous Scene Next Scene and Rack Power e Upcoming Scenes Middle Displays a list of the next few upcoming scenes in large font e Meter Bridge Bottom Displays the audio levels of each bus 2013 Brainspawn Inc 18 Forte 3 User Manual MIDI Meter Right Displays the current value of the assigned MIDI Controller Click the combo box indicator to assign a controller to meter e Quick Access Scene Buttons Right Press one of these 8 buttons to quickly insert one of the predefined Quick Access Scenes into the current set and switch to it See Scene and Set Manager amp for help on defining Quick Access Scenes Title Top Displays the
100. us Scene e Tap Tempo e Transport Play Stop and Panic This definition includes feedback to the control surface for automated flying faders 10 4 Frontier Design TranzPort If a Frontier Design TranzPort controller is attached to a USB port Forte will open it and respond to commands TRANZPORT LE ERI FRONTIER 10 5 Behringer BCF2000 and Compatible Devices The Behringer BCF2000 can be used in several modes with Forte e Connected via USB or MIDI U 1 2 3 4 and S 1 2 3 4 e Mackie mode or native Behringer Mode USB MIDI modes are selected by pressing Store and Edit together and using knob 1 to select U 1 2 3 4 through S 1 2 3 4 followed by exit Note that you may need to restart Forte as this can add or remove MIDI drivers in Windows 2013 Brainspawn Inc Forte 3 User Manual Mackie Mode vs native Mode is selected by holding a button while powering on the device Note that USB MIDI modes are only settable while in native Mode although they can apply in enumation mode too Consult the BCF2000 documentation for more information The key to successfully using the BCF2000 is coordinating its own internal settings with an appropriately configured control surface definition in Forte Some BCF2000 modes echo MIDI input back to output resulting in a MIDI loop as Forte and the BCF2000 both try to send the same data back and forth to each other forever Therefore setting up the BCF2000 correctly for Forte is critical
101. ut 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 buses Instrument Modules Below the output buses 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 m 7T E fe At Bus out 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 bus The bus routing for a module can be changed at any time by clicking on the bus assignment display On each module you can e Adjust volume of the instrument output post effects e View MIDI input activity e Display or hide the console for the instrument e Mute or Solo the module e Add remove bypass or reorder audio effects e Display the console for audio effects e Select an output bus Plugin Consoles See Plugin Console 9 2013 Brainspawn Inc User Interface Overview 6 5 SceneView SceneView is a full screen display that shows the previous current and next scene names In Forte 3 SceneView has been updated However for user preferences the original version has been retained as well You may choose which version to display by defa
102. when exiting When unchecked input ports will be closed when rack power is turned off 2013 Brainspawn Inc Configuring Options and Preferences 87 13 7 1 MIDI Configuration Preferences Da General Options MIDI Configuration Edit Shortcuts Skins V Load Keyboard Range settings gus pner V Load Keyboard Transpose settings Plugin Options ms SceneView Options v Load Channel Map Scene Options V Load Controller Map B A MIDI Input Ports MIDI Configuration Ti MIDI Output Ports Module Creation d ies 7 Autoload MIDI Configuration File E opy Check to load default configuration Uncheck to load last used configuration V Display this page before each load 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 e All 128 MIDI keys are passed to the instrument e No transpose e No channels or controllers are remapped Autoload MIDI Configuration File checked to start with either a specified default configuration or the last used configuration 2013 Brainspawn Inc Forte 3 User Manual 13 8 13 9 14 Control Surfaces See Configuring Control Surfaces for Use in Forte Copy Options See Copying Intruments and Copying Bus
103. wn Problem Plugins Start Forte in Safe Mode by holding down the left CTRL key while clicking on the icon You will be given the opportunity to exclude certain plugins from this run of Forte If you load a rack with plugins excluded they will be replaced by proxies which are just internal placeholders By excluding plugins you can narrow down problems to specific plugins REMEMBER In safe mode the rack is not automatically enabled for streaming you must press the rack power button to start Configuration Manifests Show You What Changed Tools Menu 2013 Brainspawn Inc s Forte 3 User Manual Problem A rack file once worked perfectly on your PC but now it doesn t or you ve moved it to another PC and it doesn t work e Use a configuration manifest to help diagnose the changes in your setup that may be affecting your Forte rig Here s how e Once your rack is working the way you want it to select the new Tools menu item Create Installation Configuration Manifest e Answer Yes when asked to embed the manifest in your rack file The next time you save your rack file the manifest will be contained within it e A manifest is a snapshot of your configuration containing o A record of every DLL module VST plugins ASIO drivers Windows components 3rd party components and its version o Key configuration settings from OPTION INI e When you have a problem select the new Tools menu item Validate Against Manife

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