When you first start buzz you will end up in something that looks like notepad or a similar program, you have the blinking marker on a white sheet. Look above the marker and you will see some buttons, a bpm and tpb box and the elapsed, current and loop time of the song you are currently working with.

Info window [F10]

You will also note that one button is marked, [blah blah] - place the mouse on top of it and you will get an explaining text [view info F10] - Look at the top row of buzz and it should look something like - Untitled - Buzz [info] - This shows you that you are currently in the info window, this is where you will later write info about yourself and the song when you are ready to release it.

Slowly move and hold the mouse cursor over each of the other buttons, you will now find buttons for - the wavetable, machine, pattern and sequencer windows, you will also find a button called [free wavetable]

-The different sections in buzz

Free waveoutput [F12]

This is used when you are working with multiple audio programs, let's say you want to listen to an mp3 to get ideas, or perhaps program some drums in some other audio program, just press the button and buzz stops using the waveoutput drivers, click it again when you are ready to continue using buzz.

Pattern editor [F2]

This is where you program the generators and effects using notes and hex to make the melodies, effects or drums.

Machine window [F3]

This is where you create the generators and effects.

Sequence editor [F4]

This is where you arrange the patterns from the different machines into songs or loops.

Wavetable window [F4]

This is used to load outside wave samples into your song, to later use as loops, oneshots, drums or intruments. Note that you are only allowed to load 16bit, 44khz mono waves using the wavetable window loader.

-Bpm & Tpb

Bpm / Tpb settings

Bpm is the number of [Beats Per Minute] or the song's speed, lower Bpm numbers for slower songs and higher for faster songs. Tpb is the number of [Ticks Per Beat] but it's also about speed however this is something only trackers recognize. When you track, everything is divided in ticks, each tick represents a possible note or effect/program/ volume/panning change. Let's say your song is 120 bpm's and in 4 tpb, 60 seconds each minute gives us - 2 beats each second - and 4tpb gives us 2x4 = 8 ticks each second. This is the real value of the speed of the song, the Bpm setting itself doesn't actually say that much.

-The playbuttons

Play, rec, stop and loop

These work just like they would on your cd, the only difference here is the Rec button, (note that this is only available in buzz1.2 beta8 or newer) With this button you are able to record changes in your songs in realtime. Each and every effect and generator has silders that represent different variations in the sound. Normally these variations would be programmed in the pattern editor using hex, the Rec button however allows you to program them in realtime while playing the song, when you move a slider while using Rec the new number and the position of it will be written down in the pattern editor using hex. This allows you to delete or alter the position and value after you've recorded the wanted changes in realtime. The loop button is used for recording a song, press it and the song will stop looping allowing you to record it to the very end without having to worry about it restarting again. The loop button is only available in buzz1.2 rc1 or newer.

-The VU meter

Vu-meter

This works like all other VU meters, keep an eye on it, because when it reaches above red some parts of your songs will be distorted. To lower the volume to keep it from distorting just pull and push the slider back and forth until you have the ideal volume where nothing or only the parts you want distorted reach above the red field. The reason to why there is distortion is that when the voulme goes beyond the highest level the VU will start cutting the peaks, making the sound harsh and noisy.

-Cut, copy & paste

Cut, copy & paste

These need no introduction really, there is however something worth mentioning. These only work in the info window and pattern editor in the older versions, in the newer ones you are however allowed to cut, copy and paste in the sequence editor as well.

-Quick buttons

New, save & load

These are quickbuttons for saving, loading and making new songs.

Now you should have a clue about what all buttons do and how buzz works, from here we will continue with in depth explanations of all the different sections of buzz. As we do this we will also make a small demo song so you will get the idea of how everything works, letting you experiment and make own songs after you've read through the get started guide.

next - [understanding the machine window]

- back to index -

©2000 - newt