45. Quick-start procedure to create a simple sound.

  1. Start off by opening a Tracks node other than track 0 (track nodes are in the tree view in the top left of the main Kangas Sound Editor screen), and then an Edit node (immediately under the open track node). You should see a panel with a grid to the right of it appear to the right of the tree view.
  2. Click with the mouse in the Edit Panel you have just opened, you should see some property values appear in the bottom left of the Kangas Sound Editor.
  3. Enter a "Duration" value of, say, 10 (seconds), and press return. You should see the grid in the right view retract. This step can be omitted from version 3, where there is a configurable default duration of ten seconds.
  4. Use drag n' drop to place a Sequence box ('123..n', has blue bar) into the clear part (ie no grid) of the Edit Panel.
  5. Use drag n' drop to place a Sound box (curved lines, has yellow bar) inside the Sequence box.
  6. Use drag n' drop to place a Harmonic box (piano keys, has magenta bar) inside the Sound box.
  7. The Harmonic box properties should be visible in the bottom left, if not, select them by clicking inside the Harmonic box.
  8. Press the search button next to the code field, and you should see a 'Find harmonic' dialog box appear.
  9. Press the 'Go' button. Some predefined Harmonics should appear. Select one (such as 'acoustic guitar') by clicking on it. You can look for Harmonics beginning with 'a' by typing 'a' into the 'Start of name' field and pressing the Go button.
  10. Position the mouse-cursor inside the Sound box, but not inside the Harmonic box, and click to select the Sound box, which should become highlighted (yellow).
  11. Press the search button next to the 'Volume graph' field to select a Graph. Press the Go button.
  12. Select a Graph - We recommend 'decaytonothing2'. You can look for Graphs beginning with 'd' by typing 'd' into the 'Start of name' field and pressing the Go button.
  13. Enter a value in the 'Vol. Ext.' field - '3' is a good starting value.
  14. Enter a value in the duration field, of say, 2 (seconds).
  15. In the 'duration' drop down below, select 'Fixed'.
  16. Select the Sequence box by clicking inside it (but not over the Sound box or Harmonic box).
  17. If the start pitch values (bottom left) are in the range 0 to 16, enter a value about half-way (e.g. 8); otherwise (start pitch values in range 0 to 127), enter a start value of, say, 70.
  18. Enter a duration value of, say, 2, and press enter. The Sequence box should enlarge in size, and the grid on it should disappear.
  19. Press the 'Compute' button. If this fails with a message of the form 'Error java.io.IOException...', then run the menu function 'Configure->Other parameters' (or 'Other' tab of 'Preferences' on the Mac), check that the 'Sound files directory' and 'Intermediate files directory' fields are existing directories on your computer, modifying these fields if necessary, and then press the Save button. Pressing Save will attempt to create these directories if they do not exist.
  20. Click 'Ok' when the 'Sound computation complete' dialog appears.
  21. Press the 'Play' button. A sound (maybe not the most exciting) should now play in your audio player. In case there is a problem (e.g. no sound plays), check the audio player setting, which is configured with the 'Audio player command' field of the menu function 'Configure->Other parameters' (or 'Other' tab of 'Preferences' on the Mac).

For a YouTube tutorial video which roughly corresponds to this procedure, click here. This video hasn't yet been updated for version 3, so there are some differences in what you will see there.