Vivaldi User Guide

Glossary

ADJUST: The rightmost button on the mouse. Usually used to alter things.
application: A computer program which provides a tool, such as the sample editor.
caret: Vertical bar indicating the position at which typed charactes will appear.
channel: One "mixing track"; only one note at a time can be played on one channel.
click: Press and immediately release (in other words, tap) a mouse button - usually SELECT.
compression: Spotting recurring trends in data so as to be able to store it using less space.
Desktop Tracker: A newer version of Tracker, with data compression and up to 16-channel sound, though of poor playback quality without MIDI.
Digital Symphony: A music program for the Archimedes series of computers. Digital Symphony music files are a bit like MusicDumps with up to 63 samples and a different, more complex, method of pattern sequencing. These files must be converted with DSConvert before Vivaldi can use them.
directory window, directory display, directory: Directories are like folders in a filing cabinet; files are stored in them, and other folders (called subdirectories) can be put in them. A directory window or display (also called a Filer window) is a window showing the contents of a directory.
double-click: Click a mouse button (usually SELECT) twice in quick succession.
drag: Press and hold a mouse button while moving the mouse pointer, then release.
event: One item of information in a pattern, holding note, sample, and effect data.
file: A collection of information bundled together in a particular way (the format) and given an identifier (the filename).
hexadecimal: Base 16 - this means that instead of having 10 digits (0-9), like decimal, it has 16: 0-9, followed by A-F. So, hexadecimal numbers count like this: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F 10 11... and so on.
They are used in Vivaldi for describing some effect values where two values need to be put into one number - to do this, the first digit of the hexadecimal number is used as the first value, and the second is used as the second one, since one 2-digit hex number will fit into 1 byte of memory.
For example, &5C (the & prefix means that a hexadecimal number follows) would mean the first value is 5 and the second is &C, or 12 decimal.
icon: Small picture representing something; something to be clicked on.
icon bar: Strip along the lower edge of the Desktop screen showing icons which represent those applications and filing systems currently operating.
menu: List of options. Usually called up by clicking the MENU button.
MENU: The middle mouse button. Usually used to bring up a menu.
pattern: A collection of up to 8 channels' worth of up to 64 events each.
pitch: How high or low a sound is.
pointer: The arrow on the screen which is moved by moving the mouse.
sample: A sound sample is a digital recording of a sound. The Vivaldi programs play samples back at different speeds to simulate different pitches.
SELECT: The leftmouse mouse button. It is usually used to choose things, or to drag objects around.
sequence table: A table, up to 128 entries long, holding the order in which the patterns are to play.
SoundTracker: A generic name for the type of file originally produced by a popular music program of the same name on the Amiga series of computers. STracker, ProTrack and TeqMusic files are all types of SoundTracker file. This type of file can only store up to 31 samples, and the stereo settings are fixed.
Tracker: An old music package for Acorn machines, superseded by Desktop Tracker. Tracker files are not compressed, but they can store up to 36 samples. The stereo positions can be set to any of several predefined positions.

For more basic terminology, consult your computer's Welcome and User guides.