FX Configurations

You can save FX configurations from the Group 1/2 Input/Ouput mixers. This is done by first selecting the tab of the FX mixer whose configuration you want to save so that it is frontmost in the main window view. Then choose “Edit FX Configs” from the File pulldown menu. A small window will come up containing a list of saved FX configurations (if any). You can name the FX configuration you are saving, and hit “SAVE”. It will now appear in the list. Once you are done editing the list, select “done”. Changes you’ve made will now be reflected in the pulldown “FX Configs” menu.

Enhancing Your Sets With Set Lists

Set lists are a kind of preset which can be easily saved and recalled and which can greatly enhance your performances with BinkyToy. It is worth paying special attention to the way they work.

Whenever you have a setup in BinkyToy that you particularly like, you can go to the file menu and select “Edit Set Lists” (command-L). Type a name, press “save” and select “done.” In this menu you also have the option of selecting a previously saved set list and deleting it. To write over a previously saved set list with your current state, simply retype the name and press save. You will be asked if you really want to overwrite the existing set list of the same name.

What will be saved in this way will be all of the current contents of your two groups: files loaded, FX&Levels setttings, and Scratch settings. None of the options at the top of your screen will be saved (Output and Input settings, Audio I/O, Vinyl Demod, etc.). What also will not be saved is the status of the play button for your files, meaning that when you later select the set list for recall, any files playing will continue to play through the recall. (more on this in a bit).

When you want to recall a stored set list, simply go to the “Set Lists” menu and select it from the pull down list of saved set lists. When you do this, all of the files and their associated settings will be loaded into your current state. If the audio files in the set list were not currently in your BinkyToy session, they will appear. If they were already in the current session, they will of course still be there, but their associated settings (FX&Levels, Scratch settings) will change to their stored state. Note that this may cause a discontinuity in the sound if those sound files were playing previous to the set list being recalled, as the file will continue to play, but the settings and the cue point will jump to whatever was stored.

Any files in your current session which are not in the set list you have recalled will be unaffected. If they were playing, they will continue to play. If done carefully, with some understanding of what is stored in the particular set list that you are calling, this can allow you to make smooth transitions.

Note that there is a possibility of overtaxing your CPU when recalling a set list, if you were already doing something fairly intensive and then you call a set list which increases the strain, for example if your set lists add an extra reverb or two to already playing files.

One final note: recalling a set list may cause an audio file to jump from one group to the other. This instance is the exception which proves the previously stated rule that a file's playing status continues through a set list recall: if a file is in group 1 and is playing, and then a set list is called in which the same file is in group 2, the file will move but will not continue playing in group 2.

Key Mappings

A Key Mapping is a collection of key commands which are stored and recalled together. These key commands, which may be accessed at any time during a BinkyToy session by a single keystroke, allow you to recall a particular cue point within an audio file, assign a particular fx configuration to an audio file or input/output channel, or change the play parameters for an audio file. A single key command can store and recall a virtually unlimited number of these file cue commands, fx config patches and file actions. Because of this, a single keystroke can completely change the performance state of BinkyToy.

A key command can enable you to perform many actions at once, and a key map can place a large number of these commands at your fingertips. It takes time and planning to prepare a set of key commands, but once you do you'll be able to do things in performance that lazier BinkyToy users could only dream of.

Here's how to do it: click on the “Keyboard Commands” tab in the upper part of the BinkyToy window and you'll see a representation of a keyboard and a scrolling list of key names, as shown in Figure 15.

Figure 15: Keyboard Controller Tabbed View.

If you press a key on your computer's keyboard, you will see the corresponding key on the graphic become highlighted. If you press a key on your keyboard that doesn't cause a corresponding highlight on the graphic, that key is not available as a key command trigger. For example, the command-Apple key is not available, as it would then cause key commands to go off when you are trying to perform an operation for which a combination of the command key and another key have been reserved.

So how do you go about the incredibly serious bidness of making a key command? Find the key that you want to use to trigger an action in the scroll down list and double click on it. A window will appear, appropriately entitled the Edit Key Command window, which allows you to set the sucker up, as shown in Figure 16. The control key you have selected is listed at the top, and below that, where it says “Command Title,” is a space for you to write a name for your command. You can name it now or later, or change the name at any time.
The rest of the Edit Key Command window is divided into three sections, because there are three different types of things you can do with a key command: file cueing, fx config patching, and file actions. One key can do as many file cues, fx patches and actions that you want it to.

The three sections work very similarly: First you pick the file that you want the command that you are setting up to work on by selecting it in the “File Name” pull-down list. All of the files in your current session will appear in this list. Second, depending on which of the three sections you are in, you either choose the cue point (click on the time display and use the arrows to set the time), select a source from which to copy a fx configuration from the pull-down list, or select one of the actions (see details below) from the action pull-down list. When you've done this, you click on “New [File Cue, FX Patch, or Start/Stop] Command.” When you have saved the command, you will see a number added to the pull-down list next to the name of the section you are in (i.e. next to the words “File Cueing,” “FX Config Patching,” or “File Action.”). The numbers in these lists allow you to select a command for viewing. You can also delete the currently displayed command by selecting the button that says “Delete [File Cue, FX Patch, or Start/Stop] Command.”

“File Cueing” and “FX Config Patching” are pretty straight-ahead. Let's talk about the list of Actions available in the File Action pull-down list:

Start Play: playback of the selected file will start when the key command is called. If the file is already playing, play will continue.

Stop Play: playback of the selected file will stop when the key command is called. If the file is already stopped, nothing will change.

Vinyl Control On: vinyl control for the selected file will be enabled.

Vinyl Control Off: vinyl control for the selected file will be disabled.

Set Looped: the selected file will be set to loop. The file will not change playing status (i.e. if it is playing it will keep playing. If not playing, it will not start playing).

Set Un-Looped: the selected file will be set not to loop (assuming it was looping in the first place). The file will not change playing status (i.e. if it is playing it will keep playing. If not playing, it will not start playing)

Set Reversed: the selected file will be set to play in reverse. The file will not change playing status.

Set Forward: the selected file will be set to play forward (assuming it was playing in reverse). The file will not change playing status.

Figure 16: The Edit Key Command window.

There are a couple of other things about key commands you should know:

Key commands remember which group a file is supposed to be in: if the file does not appear in the group that it was in when the file was saved, the stored action will not be performed correctly.

Like a set list, key commands cause the files to load and load FX and other settings as they were when saved, if the file was not present when the key command is called. However, if the key command calls files that are present, it will not change their fx and other settings.