MANUAL

manual

MANUAL

Getting started When SongFactory loads, are presented with several options. If you’re starting for the first time, you’ll probably want to choose “Rock Band” from “Select a band”.

Main options: 1. Select a band

Select a band from the list to start a new song – SongFactory ships with “Rock Band”, and new bands will be available soon.

2. Select a previous song

Your recently saved songs will appear in this list. Extra options: 3. Create new band

Choose this option to build your own custom band. For more information on this, see the “Creating your own band” section towards the end of the manual.

4. Load saved band

If you’ve already created your own band, you can load it by clicking this button. Any previously created bands should also appear in the main “Select a band” list.

MANUAL

Using chords Adding Chords You’ll notice that the score is broken down into bars, with 4 beats per bar*. To add a chord, click on the beat that the chord should appear on, and a menu will appear. Choose the required chord from that menu *(6/8 and 3/4 time signatures are not available with this version of SongFactory)

Shortkeys You can also add chords by clicking on the required beat and then typing the chord. E.g. for “G/Bsus4” type “G”, “/”, “B”, “4” or for “Dm” type “D”, “m”.

MANUAL Deleting To delete a chord, either click the “x” in the top right corner of the chord or highlight the chord (by clicking on it) and press “Delete” or “Backspace” on the keyboard.

Using samples Adding samples The sample library is located at the bottom right hand corner of the screen. The samples are categorised into “Verse”, “Chorus”, “Fills” and “Misc”. To use a sample, click and hold the sample, and then drag it onto the score. When the sample is over the “Samples” part of the score, release the mouse button to drop the sample onto the score. The sample can then be stretched/squeezed by clicking and dragging it’s left and right edges.

MANUAL

Deleting To delete a sample, either click the “x” in the top right corner of the chord or highlight the chord (by clicking on it) and press “Delete” or “Backspace” on the keyboard. Sample Library Controls Listen To listen to a sample before using it in your song, click the play button to the left of the sample name. Favourite To mark a sample as a favourite, click the star to the right of the sample’s name – the sample will then appear in the “Favourites” category. Intensity The intensity column on the far right indicates how “intense” a particular sample is. The louder the sample, the higher it’s intensity rating.

MANUAL

Using lyrics Adding lyrics Lyrics are always connected to a chord in the same way as you’d see on a chord sheet. To type lyrics, enter the words in the box under the appropriate chord. To indicate the end of a line, use the “/” character – this will force a new line at this point when you generate a lyric sheet.

Generating a chord sheet To generate a chord sheet, go to the menu at the top and select File->Generate Chord Sheet.

MANUAL

Recording Record track To record some audio (e.g. a vocal track or guitar part) plug a microphone into your soundcard’s microphone socket – it may look something like this:

Next, move the playback pointer to the place you’d like to record from. (You can click and drag it to move it.) Finally, press the record button to start recording – you’ll hear the 4 previous beats played back before recording begins to give you a chance to pitch your note.

Deleting To delete a recording, either click the “x” in the top right corner of the recording or highlight the recording (by clicking on it) and press “Delete” or “Backspace” on the keyboard. Problems If you’re having problems recording, please go to http://www.notoriousnotes.com for support.

MANUAL

Mixing Set your levels SongFactory’s session band is already mixed when you load it, but you can change it’s levels along with the settings for all of your recorded tracks. To open the mixer, press the mixer button on the left hand side of the window or go to the menu at the top and select Song->Show Mixing Desk. The mixing desk allows you to change volume levels, mute (silence) tracks, apply reverb and pan (move the instrument to the left or right speaker). You can also set the final output volume.

MANUAL

Copy and Paste Duplicate sections Often, sections of songs are repeated. Copy and paste allows you to duplicate parts of the song that you’ve already made. To copy and paste chords, samples or audio tracks sequence:

Select the items you’d like to copy by either : o Holding “Ctrl” on the keyboard and clicking on the items or o Clicking on the score and dragging to create a blue selection window around the

items

Copy the items by either: o Pressing “Ctrl” + “C” on the keyboard or o Use the menu at the top Edit -> Copy

Paste the items by moving the playback marker to the position where you’d like the items and then either :

o Press “Ctrl” + “V” on the keyboard or o Use the menu at the top Edit -> Paste

Exporting your songs Export Once you’ve finished your song, you’ll probably want to put it on a CD or put it in your mp3 collection. To do this, you’ll need to export your song as an audio file. Using the menu at the top, select File -> Export Audio. A save window will appear. Enter a filename and select the file type from the dropdown list at the bottom – either wav, ogg or mp3. Wav files are high quality but very large. Ogg and mp3 files are smaller but slightly lower quality.

MANUAL

Creating your own band Edit samples If you’d like to change how individual instruments are playing in a sample, you can edit this by either double-clicking the sample in the sample library or using the menu and selecting Song -> Edit Samples. This will bring up the “Edit Samples” window. Within this window, select the sample that you’d like to change by clicking on it. You can then change the sounds that the instruments are playing, the name, category and intensity of the sample using the controls on the right hand side. You can also add new samples by clicking the “+ Add” button and configuring the new sample with the controls on the right hand side.

Start from scratch If you’d like to build a new band from scratch, select “Create new band” when SongFactory starts. This allows you to choose which instruments you’d like in the band and then set up samples. Saving your band Once you’re happy with your band, you can save it. This means that you can use it again for new songs. To save the band (and the mixer settings associated with it) use the top menu and select File -> Save Band As. Once you’ve saved your band, it will appear in the band list at startup.