You can use your own local samples or more interestingly browse the internet within LNX for on-line samples. With one click you can download, transcode and load them into your instruments. In a collaboration this has the added benefit of allowing others to download the samples automatically. Once downloaded samples are saved in a cache which can be accessed when off-line. Both GS Rhythm and SC Code have Sample Players and Web Browsers. In GS Rhythm they can be found with the buttons below. The left button [Magnifying Glass] opens the Web Browser and the right button [Wave] opens the Sample Player.
The Sample Player
In the sample player you can preview samples and change their metadata. This metadata contains information on volume, start position, end position, fundamental pitch, looping, markers, velocity & tempo.
- Previous / Next Sample in the list. Samples are stored in a list and this selects the previous or next sample. In GS Rhythm changing the sample you view also changes it to the sample being used. (also up and down cursor keys).
- Sample Name & Path are both displayed here. Clicking on the path reveals / opens the file in the Operating System.
- Browser opens the browser and allows you to browse, add or remove samples to or from the list.
- Waveform of the selected sample.
- Start position to start playback from.
- Play position shows where about in the waveform you are listening.
- Play plays the sample. (also space bar)
- Stop stops playback.
- Scroll bar moves the waveform when zoomed in.
- Zoom In & Out of the waveform.
- Fit to window zooms out so all the waveform is displayed.
- Amp adjusts the volume of the selected sample.
- Start adjusts the start position for playback.
- Loop allows the sample to loop while playing.
- Follow scrolls the waveform during playback so you always see the current playback position.
- Ok closes the Sample Player.
The Web Browser
The Web Browser works very much like any other web browser. You can navigate the internet, set home pages, add favourites, view history and search pages. But when you click on a link and its a recognised sound file, the browser will download, transcode and add it to the list of samples being used by the instrument. Recognised sound formats include wav, aif, mp3, m4a, aac, mpeg, sd2, flac and many more. Not all websites allow you to access these sound files directly so the favourites include a few pages that do.
The Browser also allows you to access the Cache & Local Sound Folder stored on your computer.
- Sample List - Samples are kept in lists and this list shows you the status of each sound. Either successfully loaded, downloading or failed. Use the mouse or cursor keys to navigate the list. Double click opens the sample in the Sample Player. The Return key both plays the sample and selects the next one. The Delete key removes the sample from the list.
- Navigation arrows - show the previous or next page.
- Browser Menu.
- Home - shows & opens the home page.
- Favourites - shows a list of favourite sites.
- Add to Favourites - will add the current page to the favourites.
- Manage Favourites - opens a window that allows you to add, remove or change the order of your favourites.
- Set Current Page as Home - does what it says.
- Address - type web addresses here.
- History Menu - shows your browsing history for quick access to webpages already visited. The history isn't saved and is blank every time you restart LNX.
- Web page - is the actual web page. In here you can click links to access other pages or download samples.
- Downloads menu.
- Stop downloads - stops all samples currently downloading.
- Retry failed Downloads - If any samples failed due to connection issues, this will try to download them again.
- Copy all Downloads - will copy every sample in the list to the clipboard.
- Paste all Downloads - will paste every sample from the clipboard into the list.
- Delete - removes the selected sample from the list.
- [Wave] button- will open the selected sample in the Sample Player.
- Preview - will either play a sample once its downloaded or play a sample when its selected in the list.
- [File] button - will try to download the file in the URL text field.
- URL text field - enter a URL here to manually add a sample to the list.
- Find - will find the next instance of the search text on the page.
- Search field - the text to search for.
- [Magnifying Glass] button- will open the Cache & the Local Sound Folder page. If there is text in the search field the Cache & Local files will be filtered to only show items matching the search.
The Cache and The Local Sound Folder
When samples are downloaded they are added to the Cache, this means they can be accessed when your computer is offline. It is also where you can access the Local Files folder. To open the Cache & Local Files use the [Magnifying Glass] button found in the bottom right hand corner of the Web Browser.
The cache is found in the folder ~userHomeFolder/music/LNX_Studio Sample Cache.
The Local Files folder is a folder where you can keep your own samples you want LNX to have access too. This is currently restricted to this folder. Local samples are not sent over a network so if you wish to use this content in a collaboration make sure all users have the same content in this folder.
The Local Files folder is found here ~userHomeFolder/music/LNX_Studio Sample Cache/file.
This page allows you to click on samples in the Cache or the Local Folder to add them to your instrument. You can also open the local folder, refresh it or delete all Cache files from here.