
























AMW.DOC - Documentation for "A Multimedia Workstation / Voice"
          Version 1.0

AMW Version 1.0, "A Multimedia Workstation / Voice"
Copyright (C) 1993, by Joseph Duer, All Rights Reserved.


Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     What is "A Multimedia Workstation / Voice" ?. . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     What is a Sound Blaster ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     How is voice recorded and processed ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     What can this program be used for?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     What's with the "/Voice" ?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3

Installing AMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4

Running AMW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4

The AMW screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     The Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     The Status Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     The Buffer Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     The top level menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5

The File Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     Load. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     Save. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     Change Dir. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     Change Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     Quit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7

The Edit Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     Zoom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     UnZoom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8

The Play Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
     Full Voice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
     Zoomed Section. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8

The Record Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
     Set Sampling Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
     Record Voice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8

The Voice Processing Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
     Set Sampling Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
     Raise Volume. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
     Lower Volume. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
     Reverse Voice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Introduction


     What is "A Multimedia Workstation / Voice" ?

     This program is a utility that allows a user to manipulate
     Sound Blaster voice files.  You can make them faster,
     slower, louder, and quieter.  You can also ZOOM in on a
     particular part of the voice data and save that part only,
     thus serving as a true voice editor.

     What is a Sound Blaster ?

     The Sound Blaster is a voice / music card, manufactured by
     Creative Labs.  The basic Sound Blaster contains a FM chip
     for music generation and a 8 bit DSP, which is what does
     the voice input/output.  The Sound Blaster also is offered 
     with a 16 bit DSP, 2 voice channels and many other options
     and combinations.  This program will utilize the basic
     SB options, so that it will work with all Sound Blasters.

     How is voice recorded and processed ?

     This is actually a fairly simple thing to explain.  When you
     set the blaster to start recording, it "listens" a certain
     number of times per second and assigns an integer value
     based on how loud the incoming sound is.  How many times per
     second?  That is defined by what is called the "sampling
     rate". The default sampling rate is usually 8000, or 8000
     samples per second.  This sample data is stored in memory
     and can be saved to disk.  You can then load the voice file
     and "play" it out of the blaster to a speaker whenever you
     want.

     What can this program be used for?

     AMW is a voice recorder / player / editor.  You can record
     your own voice with a microphone, record music by connecting
     your stereo to the blaster, or even connect your audio VCR
     output and record the soundtrack of a movie.  Once you have
     recorded it, you can then change the sampling rate, raise
     of lower the volume, or even flip the voice over so that it
     plays in reverse!  You then have the option of saving your
     changes to disk.

     For editing, the ZOOM feature allows you to select a certain
     part of the voice data, this would allow you to remove
     unwanted "noise" at the beginning or end of a file.


     What's with the "/Voice" ?

     AMW will be a full Multimedia application including Voice,  
     Music, and  Images.  This is only the Voice module.  Not
     too far into the future, all the modules will be available.



Registration information

     AMW is shareware.  That means that you can distribute this
     program to whomever you like.  It also means that you can
     use it yourself for a 30 day evaluation period.  

     After 30 days, if you still want to use it, you must
     register your copy or else you will be in violation of
     the copyright.

     Registration is easy, and cheap.  A single user license
     is $20.  A unlimited user site license is $100.  Use the 
     form in the file REGISTER.FRM and mail to the address 
     below:

     Joseph Duer
     P.O. Box 414
     Trumbull, CT   06611

     Please note:

     People ordering from outside the USA must enclose a check
     in US funds, drawn from a US bank, and add $5 to help with
     the additional shipping costs.

     With registration, you will receive a printed copy of the
     documentation as well as the ability to get help with
     any problems that you may have running the software.

     You can reach me by mail at the above address, my CompuServe
     my id is [73750,2263], you can send me a message in the
     sound card area in the MIDI forum on CompuServe.  


Installing AMW

     AMW will work from any location on a disk drive.  To install
     the program, create a directory for the software and change
     directory over to the new directory:

     Example:

     C:\> MKDIR AMW
     C:\> CD AMW
     C:\AMW> 

     Then, copy all the files from your distribution diskette
     into the new directory:

     Example:

     C:\AMW> COPY A:*.*

     This command will copy all the AMW files into the AMW
     directory.  When that is done, you are ready to run AMW.


Running AMW

     To start AMW, simple type AMW at the DOS prompt:

     Example:

     AMW

     At that point, the screen will clear and the AMW screen
     will be displayed.


The AMW screen


     The Scope

     The Scope is the large aqua rectangle in the center of the
     screen. It is where the voice data is displayed.  The center
     line is 0, and the top and bottom lines are 127 and -127
     respectively.  If you don't know what that means don't
     worry,  Just remember that the further away from the center
     line you go the louder the voice will be.

     The Status Line

     The status line looks like this:

00:00.00-Time Index  Data/Graph ratio 1 to 1  Time Index-00:00.00

     The "Time Index" is what point in time the displayed voice
     data is at.  For example, if you have just loaded a voice
     file that was 5 seconds long, the left time index would be
     00:00.00 (the start of the data) and the right index would
     be 00:05.00 ( the end of the data).

     If you then ZOOMed in on the center of the data, your time
     indexes might look like this

     Left:  00:03.25  - Start of zoomed data is 3.25 seconds
                        into the voice.

     Right: 00:04.75  - End of zoomed data is 1/4 second from the
                        end of the voice data.

     You can also deduce from this that the zoomed data is 1 1/2
     seconds long.

     The Data/Graph ratio is the number of bytes that were 
     averaged together to plot a specific point.  Since there are
     only 640 pixels across a VGA screen, and some voice files
     are 500,000 bytes or more, you cannot plot every voice data
     on the screen.  So, the data is averaged with the data 
     around it and one point is plotted representing a group of
     voice data.  The first number in the ratio tells you how
     many numbers were averaged together to plot each point.

     The Buffer Information

     In the lower left hand corner of the screen, you will see
     the information pertaining to the voice currently loaded:

     Buffer name:   The name of the file read in or NONAME if
                    recording.

     Voice size:    The total size of the voice data (in bytes)

     Sampling rate: The current setting of the sampling rate.

     Playing time:  How long the voice would take to "play"
                    out of the external speaker.

     Free memory:   How much free far memory is available.

     
     The top level menu

     When your first start AMW, you will see the following
     options on the top line of the screen:

     File    Edit    Play   Record   Voice Processing

     The File menu is used for loading, saving, and clearing
     voice data.  The Edit menu is used for moving through and
     selecting specific voice data.  The Play menu is used to 
     send the voice data out to an external speaker.  The Record
     menu is used to record voice from and external source into
     memory.  The Voice Processing menu is used for manipulation
     of the voice data.  All menu selection are explained below.

The File Menu

     Load

     The first selection on this menu is "Load".  When this 
     option is selected, a box will appear in the center of
     the screen with a list of all available .VOC files in the
     current directory.  You can choose one of the files by 
     clicking on the filename with the mouse twice.  The first
     click will highlight the selection, the second click will
     select it and begin the process of loading it.  To cancel,
     click on the cancel option at the bottom of the box.

     Save

     This option allows you to save a file to disk.  It will save
     the current voice data and settings.  When you select this
     option, you will see a box appear in the center of the
     screen.  This box will contain the prompt "Enter Filename:".
     You then enter the name you want the file to be called and
     press the Enter key.  The file will then be saved to disk.
     To cancel this command, press the Escape key.


     New

     This option clears out the voice buffer of any data and
     resets all parameters to their original values.  You would
     use this if you wanted to clear out data you were working on
     so you could record something.  Be sure to save your work
     before you clear it out.


     Change Dir

     Change Dir is the equivalent of the DOS CD command.  When
     you select this option, you will see a box appear in the
     center of the screen with the following prompt:

     Enter name of directory to move to:

     At this point, enter the name of the directory you want to
     change to, for example: C:\VOC.  If you enter a directory
     that does not exist, you will see the error message "Invalid
     directory" and you will be prompted again.  Press Escape
     at any time to exit this command.


     Change Device

     This option is used if you want to work with voice files
     that are on another disk drive.  When you select this option
     you will see a box in the center of the screen and the
     following prompt:

     Enter letter of the device to move to:

     At this point, enter the name of the disk drive you want to
     access, for example: A.  You only have to type in one letter
     and press the return key.


     Quit

     The quit option allows you to exit the program normally.
     Once again, be sure to save your work before you exit.


The Edit Menu

     Zoom

     The Zoom selection allows you to close in on a specific area
     of the voice data.  After you select Zoom, you will see a
     message near the top of the screen that says:

          Click mouse on the first point of the ZOOM area

     Now, click the mouse on the spot where you want the zoom
     area to start.  A yellow line will appear.  That is one 
     boundary.  The program will then display another prompt:

          Click mouse on the second point of the ZOOM area

     At this point, click the mouse at the point where you want
     to define the other boundary.  You will then see a yellow
     line where you clicked the mouse.  The program will then
     automatically ZOOM in the area between the two yellow
     lines, and will display the zoomed area on the scope.

     You may zoom in on the data as many times as you like.


     UnZoom

     This command undoes all the zooming you have done and
     redisplays the entire voice data on the scope.


The Play Menu

     Full Voice

     You would use this option when you want to listen to the
     entire voice file.  When you select this option, the program
     will start "playing" the voice data immediately.  You will 
     also see a red line travelling from left to right across the
     screen.  This line shows the voice data being played at that
     instant.  This is helpful if you want to zoom in on a
     certain sentence.  Just watch the screen as the voice is
     played and then zoom in on the points where the sentence
     began and ended.

     While the voice is being played, the message "Playing voice,
     press Escape to pause..." will appear near the top of the
     screen.  You can pause or stop the voice playing by pressing
     the Escape key.  If you press once, the voice pauses.  Press
     it again, and it cancels the request to play and waits for
     your next command.


     Zoomed Section

     This option is for playing the data you have zoomed in on, 
     and not the entire voice data.  See Full Voice for details
     on playing voice.


The Record Menu

     Set Sampling Rate

     This command allows you to set the sampling rate for the
     voice you are about to record.  The "sampling rate" is the
     number of times per second the sound blaster "listens" to
     incoming voice.  Generally, the higher the rate, the better
     quality the recording.  A good rule of thumb is to use 8000
     for recording male voices and 11000 for female voices.  The
     female voice is more complex and requires a higher sampling
     rate to achieve the same quality.


     Record Voice

     When this option is selected, the program immediately begins
     to record the voice coming into the sound blaster.  The 
     message "RECORDING... Press escape to terminate" appears
     near the top of the screen.  The program will continue to
     record the voice coming in until you press the Escape key,
     or you run out of free memory.  When recording is done, the
     new voice data is displayed on the scope.


The Voice Processing Menu

     Set Sampling Rate

     This option sets the sampling rate the program will use when
     playing out the voice data.  Some very interesting effects
     can be created by using this option.  For example, you could
     load a voice file that has a sampling rate of 8000, and
     you use this option to set the sampling rate to 12000. When
     you play the voice, it will sound much faster and people
     speaking will sound much like the cartoon "Chipmunks".  If
     you had changed the sampling rate to be lower, the voice
     would sound much slower and deeper, like a record playing at
     the wrong speed (For those of you old enough to remember the
     record players!).


     Raise Volume

     This option is used to make the voice data "Louder".  When
     Raise Volume is selected, you will see a box appear in the
     center of the screen with the prompt:

          Enter percentage to raise volume:

     You can enter a number between 1 and 999.  Remember that 
     raising the volume 100% will make it twice as loud, so be
     careful that you don't make the voice data unlistenable.

     
     Lower Volume

     This option is used to lower the loudness of the voice
     data.  When you select "Lower Volume", you will see a box
     appear in the center of the screen with this prompt:

          Enter percentage to lower volume:

     You can enter a number between 1 and 999.  Remember that
     lowering the volume by 100% cuts the volume in half, so
     be careful not to lower the volume so much that you can't
     hear it.

     As a footnote to the Record, Raise and Lower Volume
     commands,  it is better to Record the voice at a low level
     and then raise it with the Raise volume command.  You will
     find when recording loud voices, your voice data will sound
     metallic, tinny, or just plain awful.  When the voice
     sounds like this it means that you are exceeding the sound
     blaster's capabilities and the high volume sounds are being
     lost.  That is why it is better to record low, and then
     raise the volume.

     Reverse Voice

     This option is a very simple one, yet interesting.  Reverse
     Voice takes the voice data and flips it over.  This puts the
     end of the data at the beginning and the beginning data at
     the end.  A far simpler analogy woulcd be for you to look
     at your computer screen through a mirror.  Everything
     backwards, right?

     Since this option literally flips the data you can use it
     again to flip the voice data back to the way it originally
     was.  This is the best option to use when trying to show
     this program to your friends.

