Keymap Instrument Editor

The Instrument editor

The Instrument editor is the most important Keymap window and has been designed for an efficient workflow with most of the functions just one mouse click away. The editor makes extensive use of context menus which you access by clicking the right mouse button (or ctrl+single mouse button) over the main window elements. In the Instrument editor you typically edit Zones, Layers, Groups and the instrument parameters, but through the built-in auxiliary sample editor editor you can also edit Samples. You can drag and drop samples into the Layer matrix to create Zones automatically, or to assign samples to existing Zones.

Keymap gives you an unlimited number of overlapping layers so you can create very complex sounds. In each layer, zones are never allowed to overlap. This makes for a very clear and precise visualization every time.

In the Layer matrix, Zones are visualized as rectangles over a certain note range and velocity range. A Zone is played when a note from the MIDI Keyboard or virtual keyboard is played within both the note and velocity ranges.

Dynamics envelope

You are probably familiar with the concept of velocity curves on MIDI keyboards. With velocity curves you essentially reshape the velocity response of the keyboard to better match your playing style, or to play with more expression.

The Dynamics remap envelope in Keymap uses the same concept applied to the velocity values of your mapped Zones for each single layer. In this way you can adjust the velocity mapping of a whole layer just by drawing an envelope, and all Zones velocity parameters in that layer will be modified accordingly.

Smart editing

As no Zones can overlap in a Layer in Keymap, the application uses an advanced tessellation engine to solve the problem of overlaps or irregolar zone shapes. While moving selected Zones around the matrix with the mouse, you can overlap them as long as you hold the mouse button pressed.

When you release the zones, the tessellation engine cuts zones in order for them to fit without overlaps, using several flexible user-selectable modes. The tessellation engine is also used when you want to delete an arbitrary part of one or more zones.

This speeds up the most complex edits, as you do not have to think what to cut, but simply where to cut. Similarly, you can resize multiple zones, and all the others will be autocut/resized by the tessellation engine.

Real time workflow

The instrument editor is designed to give you a great realtime visualization of what you do,

so that instead of just imagining what a command does to your instrument, you can see it directly on screen.

Whenever possible, the edit actions don’t stop Keymap and are performed in realtime. Keymap also makes extensive use of the Apple Mighty Mouse scrolling trackball, to give you a simply great editing experience.

Smart Inspectors

The built-in parameter inspectors let you change parameters for multiple selected zones/groups with one single edit action, and most menu commands and functions similarly work with multple selected zones/groups.

Each parameter can also be tweaked using the mouse of the cursor keys, or reset to the default value with a double click. When changing selection from a MIDI controller, the focus remains on the currently edited parameter, so you can simply select a zone, type a parameter value, press enter, select a new zone by MIDI, and keep going.

QuadraSmooth

Oftentimes when you create an instrument out of multiple samples, you want a smooth audio level from your samples even if the the volume of their waveforms differ, and possibly without having to alter your samples by normalization or by applying a gain change of the actual sample data.

This can be especially important when two adjacent Zones play samples with a noticeable volume difference. While crossfades can be used to smooth the transition, the difference in volume still remains.

The QuadraSmooth function in Keymap solves this problem. QuadraSmooth lets you set the four desired volume levels at the corners of your layer matrix, and then Keymap automatically changes the volume of Zones in order to match the desired volume profile across the layer matrix. Each single layer has its own set of independent QuadraSmooth parameters.

Magic Pads

When building instruments, some tasks are intrinsically repetitive. Loading samples, splitting them in individual audio segments, mapping those segments in the instrument...

Magic Pads are drag and drop destinations for samples, and automatically perform predefined sets of actions on the dropped samples.

The magic pads can be used to quickly split samples to multiple notes or velocities, to create a complete playable instrument from an appropriate recording, and much more.

Single cycle loop explorer

Keymap offers great tools for creating and editing single cycle loops. You can create a single cycle loop by simply selecting a point of the sample and pressing a key.

Keymap will also automatically set the loop tune so that the single cycle plays at the right pitch, and can also retune short loops of arbitrary length, letting you to explore different formants for that cycle, a bit like a sync oscillator does in a synth.

Automapping

When creating instruments from scratch, the most arduous task is to load each sample, assign the proper root notes and adjust the Zone borders. Keymap offers several Automapping functions that let you place samples over the Keyboard automatically by using pitch detection, or mapping data from the sample files, or the root name embedded in the sample filenames. You can also select if you want the note ranges built so that the root note is placed on high note, on low note or in the middle of the note range. And obviously you can just set the root notes, leaving the existing note and velocity ranges as it is.

Autolooping

Finding an optimal loop in a sample is often a difficult, boring and time consuming task. Keymap offers a series of extremely powerful autolooping tools that work for real, and enable you to find loops in your sample material very easily. While a lot of complex DSP is required for this to happen, we designed the simplest possible user interface for it. You basically select a sample area (up to the entire sample), and you “Autoloop” it, and that’s all. You can also search for loops by limiting the search Zone only to a certain range over the sample. Autolooping can be performed on multiple Zones at once.

Polyphonation

In the instrument editor, you can use the Harmonic Resynthesis DSP technology available in Keymap, to polyphonate a sample. In other words you can load a sample and build re-synthesized versions of it for the two surrounding octaves. The polyphonated Zones will play for the same exact amount of time, so that you can very easily use this to create harmonies of spoken words, or other similar applications where you are stuck with very few samples and you want intermediate samples too.

Remapping

Sometimes you might need to rearrange Zones for a specific use. Keymap offers an extensive selection of remapping functions. You can remap to white or black keys only, or you can compact Zones toward low notes or high notes, or remap them from a certain note with a certain interval.

You can pivot remap in order to convert a multi note instrument into a multi velocity instrument, or a multi velocity instrument into a multi note.

You can swap the latest two played Zones, or expand Zones to fill the whole map. You can also simplify existing complex instruments by setting how much you want to reduce the number of Zones. Once Zones are set to the proper root note, you can also have Keymap build the Zone ranges for you.

Trim, fade and phase

With Keymap you can select a portion of a sample, or a Zone, or even multiple Zones, and tweak a slider for trimming the attack to a desired dB level. The same can be done for the release. This lets you select your Zones containing raw samples, set the two values, and…you’re done!

Similarly, you can set zones to start on the rising edge of a sample, or apply some fade in and fade out in one single editing action.

EXS24, EXS24mkII, EXSP24, Logic, Logic Express, GarageBand, Logic 8 and Logic Studio are registered trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective companies.

Drag and drop edited samples from Keymap to the Finder

You can now export samples from the instrument editor or the resources window to the finder by drag and drop. When you use this feature, Keymap will always create new samples at the drag and drop destination, and existing files will never be overwritten. As these files are in standard 24 bit AIFF format, all the edits you performed in Keymap, including fade in, fade out, looping, crossfade looping, blends and HR Resynthesis, are rendered to the sample files.

With this feature it also becomes very simple to use Keymap as a scratchpad where you edit/remix loops, slice beats and musical phrases, which you can then export as normal audio files to be used in Logic’s arrange window.

Logic 8 Integration
Instrument Editor
Group Editors
Setup Editor
Sample Editor
Harmonic Resynthesis
Resources Window
Surround+Space mixer
Batch Creator
Spectral Tuner
Keymap and Kontakt, Structure.

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