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40

CHAPTER

1

English

D E S I G N   G R O U P

         

40

English

CHAPTER

8

SNAPSHOTS

B

y now, you’ve surely noticed that Torq has many features designed to make DJing 
easier. Automatic tempo-detection and beat-matching allow you, the DJ, to spend 

your time doing other things rather than manually keeping two tracks in sync. For example, 
you can remix the song using loops and QuickCues, tweak the sound using effects and 
EQ,  and  add  samples  to  the  mix.  The  sheer  quantity  of  options  available  to  you  easily 
exceeds the number of fingers you have on your hands, so controlling all these features 
simultaneously can become a challenge. Torq’s innovative Snapshot system allows you to 
overcome these obstacles by allowing you to perform multiple tasks with the simple push 
of a button or two.

A  Snapshot  is  very  much  like  it  sounds—a  virtual  picture  of  settings  within  Torq.  You 
can configure the controls and effects in Torq as you like, then save all those settings in a 
Snapshot that you can recall instantaneously. Torq enables you to make a virtually unlimited 
list of Snapshots, all with unique control parameters, and sort them in the Snapshot list—
this list becomes an arsenal of your best tricks, which you can use at any time.

Snapshot List

If you press the Tab key on your keyboard or click the Camera tab (shown below), the 
Database  and  Browser  will  be  replaced  with  the  Snapshot  List.  The  list  has  multiple 
columns, like the File List, and each row represents one Snapshot. Press the Tab key again 
(or click the Browser tab) to return to the Database and Browser.

Creating a Snapshot

To create a new Snapshot, simply click the New Snapshot button above the Snapshot list. 
Torq will immediately create a new Snapshot entry and the name will be highlighted so that 
you can type in a proper name for the Snapshot. Type in something you can remember and 
press Enter. You can always rename the Snapshot by double-clicking its name and typing 
in a new one.

Snapshots

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Snapshot List

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Creating a Snapshot

 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  40

Masking a Snapshot

 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .   41

Using Snapshots

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Duplicate Snapshot

  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .   41

Delete Snapshot

 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .   41

Momentary vs. Latching  
   Behavior

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Polyphonic Snapshots

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Summary of Contents for Torq

Page 1: ...User Guide Performance Software English D E S I G N G R O U P ...

Page 2: ...fset Buttons 24 Sync Button 25 Locked Sync 25 Momentary Sync 25 Master Tempo 25 Chapter 6 26 External Control 26 Enabling Vinyl CD Control 26 External Control Calibration 28 Control Type 28 Velocity and Position 28 Error Index 29 Standard Mode 30 Absolute Mode 30 Relative Mode 30 AMPutate Mode 30 Deck Control 31 BPM Matching 31 Runout Protection 32 MIDI Control 32 Chapter 7 35 Sampler 35 Signal So...

Page 3: ...er 15 75 Preferences 75 Audio Tab 75 Audio Interface 76 Sample Rate 76 Buffer Size 76 Mixer Mode 77 Channel Assignments 78 MIDI Tab 79 Auto Detect M Audio Devices On Off 80 Scratch Sensitivity 80 Crossfader Curve Control 80 MIDI Shift Key 80 MIDI Devices 80 External Control Tab 81 External Control 81 AMPutate Mode 81 Control Calibration 82 Plug ins Tab 82 System VST Plug in Directory 82 Custom VST...

Page 4: ...tension of tried and true DJ tools and techniques for your Mac OS X or Windows XP computer Torq is not bound by the limits of hardware it embraces the technology of today s most advanced audio production applications and integrates with them in a fashion that makes you part of the music Exercising this level of control upon your collection of songs is a task that has many facets and Torq addresses...

Page 5: ...ions within the song Torq is equipped with two of these Decks one on each side of the screen Main Waveform Display One of the wonderful benefits of computer technology is the ability to visualize audio While being interesting to the eyes in their own right waveform displays can be an invaluable tool when DJing Torq s user interface is dominated by two such waveforms at the top center of the screen ...

Page 6: ...eir audience hear it This allows them to match the tempo of the new song to the current one along with finding the correct starting position for the song Torq will allow you to monitor either Deck on headphones and also features a stereo headphone split normally reserved for high quality DJ mixers Browser Database There is a third ingredient to DJing and that s music lots of music To help you stay ...

Page 7: ... segment of sound and then play it back on command at varying speeds and volumes DJs use samplers to add additional sounds into their mix like crash cymbals boomy bass drums and vocal hits Torq has a 16 cell sampler that can play audio files and record loops that play in perfect sync with your mix Snapshots DJing is done with the hands but you may find that your mind wants to hear more than your two...

Page 8: ...ction the resultant audio is sent to the Master Output Torq features an automatic output limiter that will keep your music from distorting as well as a module for recording the final mix to a file as you play You can then burn the results onto a CD or convert them to MP3 for podcasts ...

Page 9: ... port for use by approved SynchroScience Hardware Device Hard drive 7200RPM or faster Desktop OS Mac OS X 10 4 7 CPU Dual G5 2 GHz RAM 1 GB USB One available port for use by approved SynchroScience Hardware Device Hard drive 7200RPM or faster Minimum System Requirements reflect the ability to run Torq using a basic feature set Some advanced or intensive features will require increased system specifi...

Page 10: ...der click Next 11 You will be asked where Torq should install the application shortcuts If you are not familiar with this leave the default Torq folder selected and choose Next 12 The installer will give you the option of creating a desktop icon This icon is used to quickly launch Torq directly from your desktop Make your selection and choose Next 13 Confirm your install settings and choose Install...

Page 11: ...tist Name Like the Song Name above this field will be empty if there is no entry in the Artist category of the file Time Elapsed This is the current location of the song marked by the yellow Current Position Marker in the Overview Waveform Display The Time Elapsed is expressed in hours minutes seconds frames 30 fps When the Current Position Marker is at the beginning of the song the Time Elapsed wil...

Page 12: ...the music the song will not return to the beginning it will stay in the same location as when you stopped it If you want to return to the beginning use the Seek controls described below Seek The Seek buttons are used to skip forward or backward through the song allowing you to find certain points or beats within the song from which you can start playing 1 If you click briefly on the Forward or Backw...

Page 13: ...ritten in favor of the new one Playing QuickCues Once you ve set a couple QuickCue Points all you have to do is click on the desired QuickCue button and the Deck will immediately jump to this new location and begin playing If you set your QuickCue Points at key positions within the song you can immediately jump to different sections on the fly such as jumping ahead to a chorus or back to the intro ...

Page 14: ...ng which is merely the act of repeating a section of a song The creative aspect of DJing suggests that a simple trick such as looping can be exploited in a variety of ways Indeed you can use looping to remix a song by changing the arrangement extending your favorite parts of the song You can also use looping as a safety net allowing the end of a song to play infinitely giving you more time to mix i...

Page 15: ...these loops via the QuickLoop buttons Using QuickLoops The QuickLoop buttons allow you to instantly loop a section of a song by a preset length By default each of the four buttons represents a different bar length one bar two bars four bars and eight bars Simply press one of these buttons at the beginning of the section you want to loop and Torq will automatically place the Loop In and Loop Out Ma...

Page 16: ...may be that the slider is working backward since the speed of the song will increase as you move the slider down on screen However this is the proper behavior for pitch controls found on DJ turntables and CD players It makes sense if you consider the following The pitch adjust slider on a turntable is mounted flat on the surface of the turntable s housing Therefore when you use the slider you eithe...

Page 17: ...ll be shown in the BPM display for the Deck which is located just to the left of the Speed Adjust slider The BPM shown here is a living value it will change when you alter the speed of the song with the Speed Adjuster This is extremely helpful when trying to synchronize two songs since you ll be able to nearly match the tempos of the two songs just by matching the BPM values shown in the displays ...

Page 18: ... display Key The Key Adjust is used to raise or lower the Key of a song without changing the tempo This is useful when attempting to match the melodies of songs in both Decks during a mix known as key matching You can adjust the key of a song with the Key Adjust buttons or by dragging the up or down on the Key Display Fine Tuning 1 Click and hold the mouse cursor over the Key Display number 2 Drag...

Page 19: ...o The Key will move up one semitone 6 Now press both buttons simultaneously 7 The Key Adjust will return to 0 MIDI Keyboard Control 1 Right click CTRL click Mac on the Key Display It will turn red indicating that it s waiting for an assignment 2 Press a key on your MIDI keyboard This key will automatically be assigned as the root key of the Torq Key Adjust 3 If you press a MIDI key that is 1 semit...

Page 20: ...e not taking advantage of Torq s ability to keep tracks aligned using Sync you can do it manually using the Nudge buttons If you hear a song become ahead or behind the other the Nudge buttons will allow you to push the song back into alignment by creating a small change to the playback speed of the song If the song is ahead of the beat press the right Nudge button to slow it down You ll see the wa...

Page 21: ...ms move behind it Information Shown on Display So what purpose do these Scrolling Waveforms serve other than looking really cool Answer They offer you a way to visualize the alignment and synchronization of the two Decks as well as providing some other important information Waveform By looking at the audio waveform itself you can see where the beats are in the song These sharp hits transients typi...

Page 22: ...e song you will see them here The QuickCue markers have numbers above them corresponding to the assigned QuickCue button and the standard Cue Point appears as an orange line Phase Grid Torq superimposes a Phase Grid over the Scrolling Waveforms to indicate the location of the beats in a song The thicker lines in the Phase Grid indicate the locations of the downbeats in the music Torq will attempt ...

Page 23: ...olding on the mouse button drag the mouse left The playback tempo will be momentarily increased making the waveform scroll a little faster to the left 3 Now hold and drag the mouse to the right Playback will remain going forward but the tempo will be slowed slightly resulting in a waveform that still scrolls right to left but at a slower rate 4 As soon as you stop dragging playback will return to ...

Page 24: ...usic it refers to where the beats are located in a song such as the downbeat of a measure When beat matching songs you ll normally want the downbeats of both songs aligned with each other When aligned properly the beats of both songs will blend together into one larger beat If the songs are misaligned or out of phase it will sound terrible as the beats of the two songs will be playing at different...

Page 25: ... your mouse movements 3 Once you have aligned the thicker downbeat marker of the grid to the downbeat of the music release the mouse button Note You can turn on Caps Lock instead of holding Shift if you need to adjust the grid using just one hand Turn off Caps Lock when you re finished so you can regain proper control of the waveforms Adjusting with Nudge Buttons 1 Hold down the Shift key then clic...

Page 26: ...or will Torq continue to match tempos if you change them So if you just need to synchronize for a moment and wish for the music to run freely afterward click the Sync button once to turn it on then click it again to turn it back off the Tempo will be matched to the other Deck and you ll be free to start and manipulate the music as you wish Master Tempo Using the Sync button as described above will...

Page 27: ...dio signals and will use the encoded information to control the playback of the Decks Enabling Vinyl CD Control 1 Connect the outputs of your first turntable or CD player to inputs 1 2 input A of the Conectiv Be sure to set the input selector to Phono if using turntables or Line if using CD players or turntables with built in preamps Turntable or CD Player 2 Connect the outputs of your second turn...

Page 28: ... and select the Audio tab 4 Click the Control Input A drop down menu and choose input 1 input 2 5 Click the Control Input B drop down menu and choose input 3 input 4 6 Now click the External Control tab 7 The first option enables External Control Click the drop down menu and select Yes ...

Page 29: ...e to look in order to diagnose the problem Control Type If the external control system is enabled but doesn t seem to be working first check the Control Type settings for each Deck before you tear out all the wiring in your DJ rig If you have the wrong Control Type selected Torq will not react in the proper manner to the control signals Once you ve verified the setting here you can continue diagnosi...

Page 30: ...edle of your turntable on the Control Vinyl but leave the turntable stopped 3 Lower the Power Threshold to 40 and look at the Velocity value for the deck 4 If the Velocity is showing random values even though the turntable is stopped that means the Power Threshold is too low Torq is picking up noise and interpreting it as a control signal 5 Increase the Power Threshold by 5dB and look at the Veloc...

Page 31: ...ll follow You can even scratch like normal The added benefit is that should the needle skip a groove while you re scratching you won t lose the sound you were using You can continue to scratch the same location of the audio file even if the needle keeps skipping Note While there will be no audible change in music playback when switching a Deck from Absolute mode to Relative mode there is a chance th...

Page 32: ...urce is stopped when you switch control to the other Deck it will remain stopped If the control source was playing when you switch control to the other Deck it will remain playing Note Because the AMPutate system allows you to swap control between two independent Decks the Decks are forced into Relative mode to prevent any undesirable jumps in playback position when toggling control Therefore when...

Page 33: ...rarily disable external control for the Deck while letting the song on the Deck continue to play You will be able to take the needle off the record and place it back at the beginning without Torq stopping the music the same is true for the CD you can jump back to the beginning of the track without stopping the music Once Torq reads a few seconds of signal from the new location it will re engage ex...

Page 34: ...r any of the buttons knobs or sliders seen on screen for you to memorize Instead you get to assign the most important controls for you to whatever MIDI controls make the most sense to you Creating a MIDI Assignment Torq uses a simple MIDI Learn scheme to make assigning controls on your MIDI controllers a breeze 1 Right click CTRL click on Mac the button knob or slider you wish to control via MIDI ...

Page 35: ... the selected control The same method for changing and clearing MIDI assignments described above also works for keyboard assignments Assigning Buttons to Knobs or Sliders If you so desire you can assign a MIDI button key or a key on your computer s keyboard to a knob or slider in Torq s interface When doing this pressing the MIDI button or key will cause the knob or slider s value to toggle betwee...

Page 36: ... various controls in the Sampler along with techniques for capturing perfect loops Signal Source Before you can record a sample you must choose an audio source for the sample When using Torq this is as simple as engaging the PFL headphone icon on a Mixer channel When you do this you ll hear that channel in your headphones and it will also be routed to the Sampler This means that the Headphone Volu...

Page 37: ...mples 1 To record a loop instead of a one shot press and hold SHIFT while clicking on the Record button Instead of beginning recording immediately recording will wait for the downbeat determined via the phase information of the source Deck The Record button will be yellow while it s waiting for the downbeat Once the downbeat is reached the button will turn red and recording will commence 2 Clickin...

Page 38: ...p immediately when clicked Loop Sample Button The Loop option can be checked or unchecked to enable or disable sample looping When active the sample will loop automatically when it reaches its end The looping will be synchronized with the Master Tempo if the Master Tempo button is activated When deactivated the sample will be triggered as a one shot This means the sample will play only once when t...

Page 39: ...le grayed out if the sample slot is empty Unload Sample Choosing this option will remove the current sample from the sampler Load Sample Bank This option will allow you to load a bank of 16 samples into the Sampler using only one action Choosing this option opens a standard dialog box that looks only for tsb Torq Sample Bank files Browse your hard drive and select a tsb file Torq will read this file ...

Page 40: ...f Torq s Decks also have a pair of QuickScratch buttons When you press one of them the associated sample assigned using the QuickScratch buttons in the Sampler will be immediately loaded into the Deck You can then manipulate the sample in the same manner used for full songs Press the QuickScratch button again and the original song will be loaded back into the Deck Here s a practical example You pl...

Page 41: ...that you can recall instantaneously Torq enables you to make a virtually unlimited list of Snapshots all with unique control parameters and sort them in the Snapshot list this list becomes an arsenal of your best tricks which you can use at any time Snapshot List If you press the Tab key on your keyboard or click the Camera tab shown below the Database and Browser will be replaced with the Snapsho...

Page 42: ...only the EQ knobs on the left side of the mixer will be updated when the Snapshot is triggered Any other settings the current key of the song any effects in the Effect Racks etc will remain unchanged If you were to also check the EQ Kills and Key columns the Decks key setting will be updated by the Snapshot along with the EQ Kills too Checking all of the columns and all parameters within the Snaps...

Page 43: ...that you created using multiple Strobe effects Polyphonic Snapshots On top of all this you can trigger multiple Snapshots at a time You can for example trigger one Snapshot that cuts the bass and boosts the treble on Deck A while triggering another that detunes the track on Deck B You ll notice that whenever you activate a Snapshot its check boxes in the Snapshot List will light up indicating that...

Page 44: ...e in a later performance and Torq will even document all of the songs you play in a set for later review the Session Playlist This section will show you how to navigate your hard drive s using the Torq Browser and how to add folders containing music files to the Database It will also explain how to search for particular songs how to organize songs by categories for easier viewing and how to manage ...

Page 45: ...ign folders that contain music you d like to spin Adding Folders to Database To add a music folder to the Database 1 Use the browser to search for a folder 2 Right click on the folder you want to add 3 Choose Add to database from the pop up menu 4 The folder will then be assigned to the Database you can click the in front of Database to see this new folder listed beneath it 5 Now when you click on...

Page 46: ...ase 2 Click on one of the folders The File List will be updated to only show the songs contained in that specific folder Removing Folders from Database There are two ways to remove folders from the Database You can either search through the folders currently listed within the Database and remove them or you can locate the original folders on your hard drives to remove them To remove folders directl...

Page 47: ...d fields are stored in a special file with the same name as the song but with the extension tqd at the end This is the Torq Data file By saving your edits to the TQD file Torq can save your changes much faster changing an ID3 tag requires re writing the entire audio file something that could affect system performance during live use Additionally the audio file could become corrupted during the re write ...

Page 48: ...or in the case of song length and BPM calculated as part of Torq s file analysis An ID3 tag is a standard format for storing additional information within a music file You can sort the contents of the File List by clicking on any one of the categories at the top of the window For example if you click the Album category the File List will be sorted alphabetically A to Z by Album name If you click Alb...

Page 49: ...he songs with love in their titles are shown Ignore Field Torq offers another method for refining your searches by means of the Ignore field Here you ll enter terms that you want Torq to omit from the search results The Ignore command will only be applied to the currently selected categories explained above To omit terms from the search results 1 Click to put a cursor in the Ignore Field 2 Type in t...

Page 50: ...ber will be appended to the name to differentiate it from the other s i e Empty Playlist 1 Rename Playlist 1 Right click CTRL click on Mac on your desired Playlist and choose Rename Playlist from the pop up menu 2 Type in the new name you would like to give the Playlist and hit the Enter key on your computer keyboard 3 The Playlist will display its new name Deleting a Playlist 1 Right click CTRL c...

Page 51: ...n this Playlist What would you like to do You will then have a choice of clicking one of the following buttons Ignore Clicking this button will allow the Playlist to load however all missing songs will be displayed in red in the File List window Auto scan Clicking this button will cause Torq to search all hard drives connected to your computer in an attempt to find the missing file s If a file is fou...

Page 52: ...see if you ve played a song already or if you need to reference a list of what you played at a previous gig An empty Session Playlist is created each time you launch Torq It is named Session Playlist YY MM DD where YY MM DD represents the year month and day of the Playlist respectively Each song you load into a Deck will automatically be added to the bottom of the Session Playlist Note If a Playli...

Page 53: ...omatically be reflected in Torq Library The iTunes Library is the entire collection of music and videos currently managed by iTunes You can browse and search the iTunes Library by clicking the plus sign in front of the iTunes heading in the Browser then clicking the Library heading The contents of the Library will be shown in the File List Note If you have an especially large iTunes Library it may ...

Page 54: ...e the contents of the iPod can be searched using the Library or Playlist headings You can also include the contents of the iPod in the Database by doing the following Note If you are connecting an iPod to your computer after Torq is already running you will need to refresh the Browser window in order to see the new iPod in the Browser list To do this press F5 on your computer s keyboard or click t...

Page 55: ...see the new drive in the Browser list To do this press F5 on your computer s keyboard or click the Browser heading at the top of the window Audio CDs Torq can also play music from audio CDs inserted into your computer s CD drives Click on the Audio CD heading in the Browser to choose an audio track from the CD Because Torq must rip the audio from the CD into a temporary file on your computer it wil...

Page 56: ...m a Deck enters the Mixer it enters a channel A channel is a section within a mixer that processes a single audio signal Since Torq has two Decks the Mixer has two channels one for each Deck While the signals from both Decks enter the same mixer they remain separate in their respective channels allowing you to process them differently before mixing them together into a single channel which is what...

Page 57: ... same volume you can use the Mid EQ to turn down the louder song until it more closely matches the quieter song DJs also like to mix things up during their sets by adding their own manipulations to the songs they play For example a DJ might cut the High and Low frequencies from a track a few beats before the chorus of a song then bring them back right when the chorus starts the perfect job for Tor...

Page 58: ... to the left you will only hear the channel for the left Deck Similarly if you move the Crossfader all the way to the right you will only hear the right Deck The Crossfader was invented to offer DJs an easy way to fade out of one song while fading in another while only using one hand Indeed it still performs this task quite well However since its introduction DJs have taken this simple tool and tr...

Page 59: ...t you want to use for Crossfader Curve control Torq will read the incoming MIDI messages and immediately assign it to the Crossfader Curve 5 Exit the Preferences Crossfader Assign Another part in the evolution of the Crossfader is the Crossfader Assign As explained above the left Deck is routed to the left side of the Crossfader while the right Deck is routed to the right side Clicking the Crossfa...

Page 60: ...interface determines the behavior of the Cue Source knob which you hear in the headphones When the Split button is off the Cue Source knob will blend between the PFL audio signal which only you can hear and the Main Mix which your audience can hear Since the knob can blend between these two sources you can preview what your mix will sound like It can be a good way to check that your tracks are ali...

Page 61: ...ince Torq is a digital audio system it has a limited amount of headroom dynamic range Whenever your mix exceeds the headroom clipping distortion normally occurs To prevent this undesired sound Torq features a Limiter on the Master Output which will keep the Main Outputs from clipping Whenever the green circle located at the right edge of the Master Volume meter lights the Limiter is protecting the...

Page 62: ...n the Filename button Note The sample rate of the recorded file will match the sample rate currently selected in the Audio tab of the Preferences Setting the Record Level The Master Volume slider will control the level of your recording You ll want to set this slider as high as possible without constantly triggering the limiter it s OK if you trigger the limiter every once in a while If you set the...

Page 63: ...se from a list 1 Click on an empty Effect Slot A pop up list of available effects will appear 2 Click on one of the effect names from the list to load it into the slot When loaded an icon will appear in the Effect Slot representing which effect is in use 3 To remove an effect choose the blank effect at the top of the pop up list Enable Button Before you can use an effect you must turn it on and th...

Page 64: ...ules so do experiment with the opposite routing and check out the results When using VST effects it will be up to you to set the Routing to the proper mode Traditionally Reverbs and Delays are used as Send effects Distortions Phasers Flangers and Filters will normally be used as Inserts Again experimentation is key so try both modes to compare the results Tweak Knob Effects are fun because you can...

Page 65: ...ack to its input again causing echoes of the echoes also known as Feedback DJs typically use Delays to fill up space during a break in a song the last couple of beats before the break can be echoed or to stretch out the ending of a song by letting it echo and slowly fade away Because of the tempo synced nature of Torq s Delay effect you ll also be able to add rhythmic variance by layering echoes th...

Page 66: ...a tempo that is read as 122 BPM the delay time will be set to 120 BPM quarter note delay If you tap a tempo that is read as 158 BPM the delay tempo will be rounded up to 160 which is a dotted eighth Reverb Reverb is the phenomenon in which sound bounces off the walls within a room creating hundreds thousands of echoes that cannot be individually identified by the human ear The total result of all t...

Page 67: ...the flanged version by turning this knob fully clockwise in order to emphasize the effect Note The effect will still work in Send mode but it will be less pronounced Tweak Knob and Button The function of the Flanger s Tweak knob is determined by the state of the Tweak button When the Tweak button is off the Flanger will be in Manual mode The Tweak knob will then control the delay time of the Flange...

Page 68: ...cies above 1kHz are reduced or removed While there are other parameters that also affect the behavior of a filter Cutoff Frequency is the parameter that you ll be controlling in Torq Enable button This button will turn the Dual Filter on and off Mix Knob and Routing Button The Dual Filter is designed to be used as an Insert effect For this reason the Routing button will automatically switch to Inse...

Page 69: ...e Tweak Knob When set to Overdrive mode the Tweak knob will increase the volume of the signal being fed into the distortion When the knob is fully counterclockwise the input signal is not boosted and therefore undistorted As you turn this knob clockwise the volume will begin to increase At a certain point you ll start to hear the audio become distorted You can leave the knob here for a subtle dist...

Page 70: ...rotation of the turntable This has a couple of inherent problems First the turntable can t change direction immediately it must slow down to a stop then speed back up in the opposite direction This can make reversing playback seem sluggish Additionally if the song is playing backwards it will no longer be in the proper location when you resume normal playback For example if you reverse playback as...

Page 71: ...to resume normal playback Repeat This effect can be used to create the granular hyper repeats heard in lots of today s dance music All you have to do is trigger the effect and play with the loop length to get instant results Here s how it works Enable Button Engaging this button will start the effect The Repeat will remain active until this button is turned off again Mix Knob and Routing Button Th...

Page 72: ...over the Torq interface 3 To close the window click the close icon in the window s title bar or click the Wrench icon in the Effect Rack 4 To open the same VST interface again click the Wrench icon again Note At the top of the VST drop down menu list you will see a blank plug in as an option If you select it no VST will be loaded into the Slot any current VST will be unloaded Assigning Controls It...

Page 73: ...times For that reason Torq has been designed with VST Crash Guard which is a system that will allow Torq to stay running even if an error should occur in the VST plug in causing it to crash If this occurs Torq will detect the crash and will quickly bypass the offending plug in to keep the music going When this happens you can either attempt to re load the plug in in hopes that it will reset and be...

Page 74: ...roduction and performance and is therefore the perfect complement to Torq To begin a ReWire session 1 Launch the ReWire Host application This could be Ableton Live Pro Tools M Powered or any other application that will host a ReWire session 2 Launch Torq Since Torq is launched second it will automatically launch into ReWire Slave mode 3 In order to hear Torq you ll need to select Torq as the sourc...

Page 75: ...ng in Torq you can even play instruments in real time for spontaneous results When Torq is used with a regular audio interface you have the option of assigning various output channels of Torq to outputs on the audio interface see Audio Preferences When using ReWire those same audio outputs are available within the Host application If you switch Torq into External Mixer mode you ll find that ReWire ...

Page 76: ...ultiple output audio interface The extra outputs allow you to make use of song cueing i e pre listening to a song on headphones before you mix it Preferences 75 Audio Tab 75 Audio Interface 76 Sample Rate 76 Buffer Size 76 Mixer Mode 77 Channel Assignments 78 MIDI Tab 79 Auto Detect M Audio Devices On Off 80 Scratch Sensitivity 80 Crossfader Curve Control 80 MIDI Shift Key 80 MIDI Devices 80 Exter...

Page 77: ...io is non stop a 5 minute song will play for 5 minutes without interruption So how can the computer keep audio playing while it s jumping around to do other tasks The answer is buffering An audio buffer is a temporary storage tank that can hold a brief moment of audio The computer will fill the audio buffer with music then let the buffer play while it does other things like update the clock on your...

Page 78: ...ble at these settings keep in mind that the system performance can be compromised as you increase the CPU load This is most notable when using CPU intensive VST effects Loading one of these effects may cause pops and click in your audio at which point you will have to increase the buffer size until the audio is clean again Note Using some external VST effects can introduce additional audio bufferi...

Page 79: ... the output you will connect to the speakers Cue Output click to access the drop down menu and select the stereo output pair for cueing or pre listening to the output of a Deck This is the output for the headphones Line Input A click to access the drop down menu and select the stereo input pair for use as the Line Input for Channel A of the Mixer Line Input B click to access the drop down menu and...

Page 80: ...click to access the drop down menu and select the stereo input pair for use as the Line Input for Channel A of the Mixer Line Input B click to access the drop down menu and select the stereo input pair for use as the Line Input for Channel B of the Mixer Control Input A click to access the drop down menu and select the stereo input to which your left turntable or CD player is connected This is als...

Page 81: ...I controller to the Crossfader Curve parameter You can then control the Crossfader Curve with a knob or slider on your MIDI controller 1 Press the button labeled Learn to activate it 2 Turn a knob on your MIDI controller 3 Torq will immediately assign the knob to the Crossfader Curve Check this by looking at the Crossfader graphic in the main window while turning the knob MIDI SHIFT Key When using...

Page 82: ...rnal vinyl or CD control for the Decks The Deck Play Pause buttons will also change to Absolute Relative buttons when this option is enabled see External Control section earlier in this manual AMPutate Mode This option enables AMPutate mode which allows one external control source to control either of the Decks In this mode you can press the Vinyl button on the Deck you wish to control with record...

Page 83: ...in this manual for the proper calibration procedure Velocity this display allows you to see the influence of the external control input When working properly playing back the Control Vinyl or CD at its original speed should result in a number very close to 1 0 in this field Position when external control is working properly this display will show a number that increases as the source plays forward E...

Page 84: ...avior of certain features of Torq Torq Engine This setting is used to switch the Torq Audio Engine between Normal and Economy modes This option should be left on Normal unless you have a slow computer Switching to Economy will degrade graphical performance and have a slight impact on sound quality but can often allow Torq to run smoothly on older machines Cue Exclusivity This option affects how th...

Page 85: ...copy of Apple iTunes installed on your computer selecting Yes for this option will integrate its Music Library into Torq s Database Any songs currently a part of your iTunes Library will be instantly accessible in Torq along with all other folders assigned to the Database If this option is off you ll have to specifically select the iTunes Library in the Browser window to view its contents Transport...

Page 86: ... and beat of the other Deck or Master Tempo with no regard to the downbeats in the Phase Grids Any attempts to realign the synced Deck will result in Torq forcing the track back into alignment with the nearest beat the thick lines of the Phase Grids may be out of alignment with each other Tempo Only when selected Torq will only match the tempo of a synced Deck to the other Deck or Master Tempo Whe...

Page 87: ...e 4 on Deck A F7 Max Waveform view Shift 5 Set QuickCue 5 on Deck A F8 Hide Sampler Shift 6 Set QuickCue 1 on Deck B Tab Toggle Browser and Snapshot views Shift 7 Set QuickCue 2 on Deck B 1 QuickCue 1 on Deck A Shift 8 Set QuickCue 3 on Deck B 2 QuickCue 2 on Deck A Shift 9 Set QuickCue 4 on Deck B 3 QuickCue 3 on Deck A Shift 0 Set QuickCue 5 on Deck B 4 QuickCue 4 on Deck A 5 QuickCue 5 on Deck ...

Page 88: ... 49 0 7941 98 7000 fax 49 0 7941 98 70070 Web www m audio de M Audio Canada 1400 St Jean Baptiste Ave 150 Quebec City Quebec G2E 5B7 Canada Technical Support e mail techcanada m audio com phone 418 872 0444 fax 418 872 0034 Sales e mail infocanada m audio com phone 866 872 0444 fax 418 872 0034 Web www m audio ca M Audio Japan アビ ッ ドテク ノ ロジー株式会社 エムオーデ ィオ事業部 460 0002 愛知県名古屋市中区丸の内2 18 10 Avid Techno...

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