Lmms Manual

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https://docs.lmms.io/user-manual/getting-started/faq

FAQ
About
What is LMMS anyway?
LMMS is part of a family of softwares known as digital audio workstations, or DAWs.
It is a sound generation system, synthesizer, beat/bassline editor and MIDI control system that can power an entire home music studio.
With LMMS, sounds and tones can be generated, played, and artfully arranged to create entire tracks with ease.

The tools needed to arrange sounds and rhythms to create tracks, layer tracks to create songs, and save songs to an output format are all there, ready for you to use.

With a MIDI keyboard, you can also play your music live while composing or performing.
Is LMMS comparable to any commercially available software?
Users may find LMMS has much in common, at least in principle, with Apple's Garage Band, FL Studio (formerly Fruity Loops), Logic Studio, Beat Machine Pro and similar powerful audio tools.
In terms of capability, LMMS easily matches the lower to middle-tier professional software available.
This makes LMMS a great introduction to audio production.
LMMS is also constantly developing.
Is LMMS offered in my language?
Possibly.
See currently supported languages.
Is it free?
Yes.
LMMS is free and open source.
This means that as long as there are people coding for LMMS on their own free time, LMMS will become better and better!
2.1.2 Usage
How do I create an instrument track in the Beat/Bassline Editor?
Drag it in from the sidebar as you would with the Song Editor! You can open My Samples or My Presets (buttons on the far left side of the window) and double click on the preset to get it there too.
How do I change the note an instrument plays in the Beat/Bassline Editor?
Click on the instrument button on the track.
There's a green bar just above the keyboard at the bottom, an orange square indicates the key that is played.
Click on the blue bar to change the note.
How do I enable and adjust looping points?
Click on the enable/disable loop points button in the song editor or piano roll.
It is disabled by default.
Two blue arrows will appear in the upper tracking area of the window.
You can adjust these loop points by right-clicking and dragging them or pressing middle and right button.
I made some piano chords in the Song-Editor but now I want to loop them.
How to get them to the Beat+Bassline Editor?
Simply hold Ctrl while dragging the instrument handle into the Beat+Bassline Editor.
Only the first pattern will follow.
How do I import a drums beat I'd made in Hydrogen?
As of LMMS 0.4.14, you can import your Hydrogen file directly into LMMS.
If you exported it as a MIDI, it can be easily imported with Project > Import.
Remember to specify a SoundFont file! If on the other hand, you exported it to WAV, you'll have to use the AudioFileProcessor plugin and import it from there.
You can import your MIDI the same way too.
How do I import a FLAC, WAV or OGG file?
Through the AudioFileProcessor plugin.
Can I sell my song that I made in LMMS?
Yes.
As long as you have just used samples, instruments and effects from LMMS, or know that the external material has correct licenses, you can sell your song created in LMMS.
How do I edit the locations in the sidebar when you open a file in LMMS?
Highlight the folder that you want to be on the sidebar, select it, and drag it to the sidebar.
What do I do when it is pops and clicks at the beginning or end of a note?
Turn up the attack or the release knob.
2.1.3 Settings
I want to use another soundcard than the default one with LMMS.
How to achieve this?
It's recommended to set your preferred audio-interface and it's parameters using the setup-dialog.
If this doesn't work for some reason, you can also set the environment-variable "AUDIODEV" to whatever your audio-device is (e.g.
/dev/dsp for OSS or surround40:1,0 for ALSA).
I want to import MIDI files but it tells me I need to specify a default soundfont?
First download a soundfont for free from the internet.
Then in LMMS go to Edit > Settings > Paths (folder icon).
Under the "default soundfont file"-section, you can browse for the downloaded file.

What is LMMS anyway?

LMMS is part of a family of softwares known as digital audio workstations, or DAWs.
It is a sound generation system, synthesizer, beat/bassline editor and MIDI control system that can power an entire home music studio.
With LMMS, sounds and tones can be generated, played, and artfully arranged to create entire tracks with ease.
\nThe tools needed to arrange sounds and rhythms to create tracks, layer tracks to create songs, and save songs to an output format are all there, ready for you to use.
\nWith a MIDI keyboard, you can also play your music live while composing or performing.

Is LMMS comparable to any commercially available software?

Users may find LMMS has much in common, at least in principle, with Apple's Garage Band, FL Studio (formerly Fruity Loops), Logic Studio, Beat Machine Pro and similar powerful audio tools.
In terms of capability, LMMS easily matches the lower to middle-tier professional software available.
This makes LMMS a great introduction to audio production.
LMMS is also constantly developing.

Is LMMS offered in my language?

Possibly.
See
currently supported languages.

Is it free?

Yes.
LMMS is free and open source.
This means that as long as there are people coding for LMMS on their own free time, LMMS will become better and better!

2.1.2 Usage

How do I create an instrument track in the Beat/Bassline Editor?

Drag it in from the sidebar as you would with the Song Editor! You can open
My Samples or My Presets (buttons on the far left side of the window) and double click on the preset to get it there too.

How do I change the note an instrument plays in the Beat/Bassline Editor?

Click on the instrument button on the track.
There's a green bar just above the keyboard at the bottom, an orange square indicates the key that is played.
Click on the blue bar to change the note.

How do I enable and adjust looping points?

Click on the
enable/disable loop points button in the song editor or piano roll.
It is disabled by default.
Two blue arrows will appear in the upper tracking area of the window.
You can adjust these loop points by right-clicking and dragging them or pressing middle and right button.

I made some piano chords in the Song-Editor but now I want to loop them.
How to get them to the Beat+Bassline Editor?

Simply hold Ctrl while dragging the instrument handle into the Beat+Bassline Editor.
Only the first pattern will follow.

How do I import a drums beat I'd made in Hydrogen?

As of LMMS 0.4.14, you can import your Hydrogen file directly into LMMS.
If you exported it as a MIDI, it can be easily imported with Project \u003e Import.
Remember to specify a SoundFont file! If on the other hand, you exported it to WAV, you'll have to use the AudioFileProcessor plugin and import it from there.
You can import your MIDI the same way too.

How do I import a FLAC, WAV or OGG file?

Through the AudioFileProcessor plugin.

Can I sell my song that I made in LMMS?

Yes.
As long as you have just used samples, instruments and effects from LMMS, or know that the external material has correct licenses, you can sell your song created in LMMS.

How do I edit the locations in the sidebar when you open a file in LMMS?

Highlight the folder that you want to be on the sidebar, select it, and drag it to the sidebar.

What do I do when it is pops and clicks at the beginning or end of a note?

Turn up the attack or the release knob.

2.1.3 Settings

I want to use another soundcard than the default one with LMMS.
How to achieve this?

It's recommended to set your preferred audio-interface and it's parameters using the setup-dialog.
If this doesn't work for some reason, you can also set the environment-variable \"AUDIODEV\" to whatever your audio-device is (e.g.

/dev/dsp for OSS or
surround40:1,0 for ALSA).

I want to import MIDI files but it tells me I need to specify a default soundfont?

Installation
Minimum System Requirements
OS: Windows 7, MacOS X Lion, Linux

CPU: 1.5 GHz x86, x86_64, or ARM-based CPU with 2 cores

RAM: 1 GB

Available Storage Space: 100 MB

LMMS may run on systems that do not meet these requirements, but its performance or stability is not guaranteed.

Recommended System Requirements
OS: Windows 10, MacOS X High Sierra, Linux

CPU: 2 GHz x86, x86_64, or ARM-based CPU with 4 cores

RAM: 4 GB

Available Storage Space: 512 MB

More CPU cores, higher CPU clock speed, and additional RAM will increase LMMS's capacity to handle large projects and more plugins.

Installing LMMS
LMMS is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

While packages are available for many Linux distros, the AppImage provided at lmms.io/download is the preferred installation method.

Building LMMS from Source Code
Visit the LMMS development wiki on GitHub for instructions on how to compile LMMS for Linux.

Recommended System Requirements

Installing LMMS

LMMS is available for
Windows
,
macOS
, and
Linux
.

Building LMMS from Source Code

Visit the
LMMS development wiki on GitHub

SettingsThe Settings window can be accessed from the Main Menu Bar by clicking "Edit" and then "Settings".
General Settings

The General Settings dialog

Buffer Size
Buffer size determines the latency of the audio coming out of LMMS, but values too low for your computer may cause unwanted audio artifacts that render the program unusable (Faster computers will be able to handle smaller buffer sizes).

If you experience pops, crackles, or stuttering audio, an insufficient buffer size is likely the culprit (see 2.3.1.1).
As of 1.3, Buffer size settings are listed under Audio Settings.
Misc
Enable tooltips: This option enables informational tooltips to appear when hovering over controls.

Show restart warning after changing settings: This option enables or disables the warning pop-up window that appears after changing settings.

Display volume as dBFS: This option changes volume displays to use dBFS, a standard unit across many digital audio workstations, instead of the default 0-100.

Compress project files per default: This option saves storage space by using the compressed .mmpz save file format rather than the larger .mmp format.

One instrument track window mode: This option allows only one open instrument window at a time, meaning LMMS will close the previous instrument window when you open another one.

HQ-mode for output audio-device: This option improves the quality of playback sound for some output devices.

Compact track buttons: This option visually compacts tracks in the Song Editor by hiding track names and rearranging the solo & mute controls for each track.

Sync VST plugins to host playback: This option allows VST plugins to utilize the project tempo, effectively allowing them to synchronize with LMMS.

Enable note labels in piano roll: This option labels notes with their note name in the piano roll when enabled.

Enable waveform display by default: This option allows the master output oscilloscope to be enabled by default.

Keep effects running even without input: This option prevents effects from sleeping when they don't have input.

Create backup file when saving a project: This option creates a backup save file whenever you save a project, when enabled.

Reopen last project file on start: This option opens the last project you worked on when opening LMMS, rather than a blank project, when enabled.

As of 1.3, "Sync VST Plugins to host playback" and "Keep effects running even without input" have been moved to Performance settings, and "HQ-mode for output audio-device" has been moved to Audio settings.
Plugin Embedding
No embedding: display plugins outside of LMMS, as seperate windows.

Embed using Qt API: display plugins within LMMS using Qt API.

Embed using Win32 API: display plugins within LMMS using Win32 API.

As of 1.3, Plugin embedding is listed under Performance Settings.
Language
This selects the language in which text is displayed.

If your language is not included in the available options, learn how you can contribute to localization efforts here.

Directories

The Directories dialog

Working Directory
This is where the user's own samples, projects, presets, etc.
are stored.
GIG Directory
This is where the user's own .gig files are stored.
This is typically somewhere in the working directory.
SF2 Directory
This is where the user's own .sf2 files are stored.
This is typically somewhere in the working directory.
VST Plugin Directory
This is where the user's VST plugins are stored.
These can be either 32 or 64 bit plugins.

LMMS does not yet support VST3 plugins.

LADSPA Plugin Directories
This is where the user's LADSPA plugins are stored.
STK RawWave Directory
This is where the user's STK RawWave files are stored.
Default Soundfont File
This is the location of .sf2 files.
If one is specified, the SF2 Player (see 5.13) will automatically load a default SoundFont when an instance is created.
Themes Directory
Despite the name, this is actually points to where the current theme is stored.
To change themes, set this path to the location of the desired theme.
Background Artwork
This points to an image used for the background of the main LMMS window.
Leave it blank to use the image provided by the current theme.
Performance Settings

The Performance Settings dialog

Autosave
AUTO SAVE: This slider determines the time between auto-saves.

Enable auto-save: This setting allows LMMS to periodically save a backup of your project.

Allow auto-save while playing: This setting allows auto-saving during playback.

UI Effects vs.
Performance
Smooth scroll in Song Editor: This setting enables smooth scrolling in song editor.

Show playback cursor in AudioFileProcessor: This setting enables the display of the playback cursor in AudioFileProcessor.

Audio Settings

The Audio Settings dialog

Audio Interface
This option selects how LMMS outputs sound.

On macOS and Windows, SDL is the recommended interface.

Dummy (no sound output): This option disables audio output.

ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture)*:

With this interface, you can choose Devices and Channels.

JACK (JACK Audio Connection Kit)†:

With this interface, you can choose Clients and Channels.

OSS (the Open Sound System)*:

With this interface, you can choose Devices and Channels.

PortAudio:

With this interface, you can choose Backends and Devices.

SDL (Simple DirectMedia Layer):

SDL only has one option, a text box where you can specify the device.
If you leave this blank, a device will be selected automatically.

* This setting is only available on Linux operating systems.
† This setting is only available on Linux and macOS operating systems.

MIDI Settings

The MIDI settings dialog

MIDI Interface
This option selects how LMMS receives MIDI input.

Dummy (no MIDI support):

This option disables MIDI support.

WinMM MIDI*

Apple MIDI†

Jack-MIDI‡:

Jack-MIDI only has one option, a text box where you can specify the device.
This is lmms by default.

* This setting is only available on Windows operating systems.
† This setting is only available on macOS operating systems.
‡ This setting is only available on Linux and macOS operating systems.

General Settings

Buffer Size

Buffer size determines the latency of the audio coming out of LMMS, but values too low for your computer may cause unwanted audio artifacts that render the program unusable (Faster computers will be able to handle smaller buffer sizes).
\nIf you experience pops, crackles, or stuttering audio, an insufficient buffer size is likely the culprit
(see 2.3.1.1)
.

As of 1.3, Buffer size settings are listed under Audio Settings.

Misc

This option saves storage space by using the compressed
.mmpz save file format rather than the larger
.mmp

As of 1.3, \"
Sync VST Plugins to host playback
\" and \"
Keep effects running even without input
\" have been moved to Performance settings, and \"
HQ-mode for output audio-device
\" has been moved to Audio settings.

Plugin Embedding

As of 1.3, Plugin embedding is listed under Performance Settings.

Language

This selects the language in which text is displayed.

Directories

Working Directory

This is where the user's own samples, projects, presets, etc.
are stored.

GIG Directory

This is where the user's own
.gig files are stored.
This is typically somewhere in the working directory.

SF2 Directory

This is where the user's own
.sf2 files are stored.
This is typically somewhere in the working directory.

VST Plugin Directory

This is where the user's VST plugins are stored.
These can be either 32 or 64 bit plugins.

LADSPA Plugin Directories

This is where the user's LADSPA plugins are stored.

STK RawWave Directory

This is where the user's STK RawWave files are stored.

Default Soundfont File

This is the location of
.sf2 files.
If one is specified, the SF2 Player
(see 5.13) will automatically load a default SoundFont when an instance is created.

Themes Directory

Despite the name, this is actually points to where the
current theme is stored.
To change themes, set this path to the location of the desired theme.

Background Artwork

This points to an image used for the background of the main LMMS window.
Leave it blank to use the image provided by the current theme.

Performance Settings

Autosave

UI Effects vs.
Performance

Audio Settings

Audio Interface

This option selects how LMMS outputs sound.

SDL

*
:

†
:

*
:

MIDI Settings

MIDI Interface

This option selects how LMMS receives MIDI input.

‡
:

lmms

† This setting is only available on macOS operating systems.

TroubleshootingMake sure you are running the latest version of LMMS before troubleshooting issues.
The latest version can be found at https://lmms.io/download.
General Troubleshooting
My settings won't save
Some users report that they can't save their settings.
This is a recurring Windows issue, with reason not known in depth.
To solve this problem, follow these steps:

Close LMMS.
Make sure nothing from LMMS is running in the background.
You can look for this in your "Task Manager".
(If you don't know how to use "Task Manager", restarting your PC is a good alternative.)

In versions older than Windows 8, "Documents and Settings" is the folder you are looking for.
In Windows 10, look in your "C:\Users\<Username>\.
There is a file called .lmmsrc.xml.

Use the search tool to find this file.
.lmmsrc.xmlYou can't rename this file, but you can move it.

Move it to one of the folders you have there, e.g.
plugins.
Now restart LMMS.

You should be now asked to enter new settings, and these settings should be persistent.

A terminal command version of this process exists:

Run CMD as administrator

Paste this command:

move %USERPROFILE%|.lmmsrc.xml %USERPROFILE%|.lmmsrc.xml.bak
LMMS is taking forever to load a project
Try adding exceptions in your antivirus for files the project depends on, such as:

LMMS.exe

RemoteVstPlugin.exe

Plugins and their related data

Audio Troubleshooting
My Audio is Crackling
Buffer Size
Your buffer size may be too small, resulting in buffer underruns.
To fix this, increase your buffer size.
Note that this will increase latency.
Audio Interface
Certain audio interface configurations don't play nice with LMMS on some systems.
If you are on macOS or Windows, make sure you have SDL selected.
On Linux, if PulseAudio is producing these unwanted artifacts, try ALSA instead.
Track Volume
Your audio within LMMS may be too loud, resulting in digital clipping.
This can be fixed by reducing the volume of the instruments in LMMS (either with the "VOL" knobs or through the mixer).
Volume Envelopes
If an instrument has attack or release values small enough, the rapid change in volume can sound like clicks or pops at the beginning or end of each note.
Increasing the attack and release values for the culprit instrument's volume envelope can fix this kind of clicking.
I Can't Hear Anything
Dummy
Certain audio interface configurations (specifically Dummy) just don't work.
If you are on macOS or Windows, make sure you have SDL selected.
Try to avoid PortAudio if possible.
JACK-transport
If you have JACK selected as your audio interface and you are experiencing no audio output, JACK-transport might not be running.
Start an application like qjackctl and click on "play" or its equivalent.
LMMS should automatically should start JACK-transport on startup, but this fails on some systems.
You may also need to connect LMMS to your sound card, using the patch bay in qjackctl.
The Audio Lags or is Delayed
Buffer Size
Buffer size is directly related to latency.
If you can, try decreasing your buffer size to minimize latency.
Video Troubleshooting
LMMS has very small windows
LINUX
Try using a shell script:

#!/bin/bash
export QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR="0"
export QT_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTORS="eDP-1=2.5;HDMI-1=2.5;DP-0=2.5".<absolute path to lmms AppImage>

Set chmod +x <script name> and then make a symlink in a desired location.

You have to add all your connected monitors to QT_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTORS in order to make it work with all connected monitors.

Development Troubleshooting
LMMS Segfaults and There are No Error Messages on the Console
Use the GNU Debugger to run LMMS again, and try to replicate the crash:

$ gdb lmms
GNU gdb 6.X
Copyright (C) 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
...

(gdb) r
Starting program: lmms
...

If a segfault happens, LMMS will freeze and you'll get some information on the terminal.
Entering bt or bt full will show a backtrace you can report.
Make sure you have debugging symbols in LMMS.
That usually means compiling with the -g flag and not stripping the symbols afterwards.
I Compiled LMMS With VST-Support, but it Doesn't Work at All
Make sure you didn't pass -fomit-frame-pointer in a FLAG-parameter to configure.
This is known to lead to an unusable LVSL (LMMS VST Support Layer).

General Troubleshooting

My settings won't save

Some users report that they can't save their settings.
This is a recurring Windows issue, with reason not known in depth.
To solve this problem, follow these steps:

, look in your \"C:\\Users\\\u003cUsername\u003e\\.
There is a file called
.lmmsrc.xml

.lmmsrc.xml
You
can't rename this file, but you
can move
plugins

move %USERPROFILE%|.lmmsrc.xml %USERPROFILE%|.lmmsrc.xml.bak

LMMS is taking forever to load a project

Try adding exceptions in your antivirus for files the project depends on, such as:

Audio Troubleshooting

My Audio is Crackling

Buffer Size

Your
buffer size may be too small, resulting in buffer underruns.
To fix this, increase your buffer size.
Note that this will increase latency.

Audio Interface

Certain
audio interface configurations don't play nice with LMMS on some systems.
If you are on macOS or Windows, make sure you have SDL selected.
On Linux, if PulseAudio is producing these unwanted artifacts, try ALSA instead.

Track Volume

Your audio within LMMS may be too loud, resulting in digital clipping.
This can be fixed by reducing the volume of the instruments in LMMS (either with the \"VOL\" knobs or through the mixer).

Volume Envelopes

If an instrument has attack or release values small enough, the rapid change in volume can sound like clicks or pops at the beginning or end of each note.
Increasing the attack and release values for the culprit instrument's volume envelope can fix this kind of clicking.

I Can't Hear Anything

Dummy

Certain
audio interface configurations (specifically Dummy) just don't work.
If you are on macOS or Windows, make sure you have SDL selected.
Try to avoid PortAudio if possible.

JACK-transport

If you have JACK selected as your audio interface and you are experiencing no audio output, JACK-transport might not be running.
Start an application like
qjackctl and click on \"play\" or its equivalent.
LMMS should automatically should start JACK-transport on startup, but this fails on some systems.

You may also need to connect LMMS to your sound card, using the patch bay in
qjackctl
.

The Audio Lags or is Delayed

Buffer Size

Buffer size is directly related to latency.
If you can, try decreasing your buffer size to minimize latency.

Video Troubleshooting

LMMS has very small windows

LINUX

Try using a shell script:

export QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR=\"0\"

Set
chmod +x \u003cscript name\u003e and then make a symlink in a desired location.

Development Troubleshooting

LMMS Segfaults and There are No Error Messages on the Console

Use the GNU Debugger to run LMMS again, and try to replicate the crash:

GNU gdb 6.X

...

(gdb) r

Starting program: lmms

If a segfault happens, LMMS will freeze and you'll get some information on the terminal.
Entering
bt or
bt full will show a backtrace you can report.

Make sure you have debugging symbols in LMMS.
That usually means compiling with the
-g flag and not stripping the symbols afterwards.

I Compiled LMMS With VST-Support, but it Doesn't Work at All

Make sure you didn't pass
-fomit-frame-pointer

Reporting a Bug
Bug Tracker
For reporting any kind of bugs, use the GitHub issue tracker.
Please take a look at other submitted bugs before opening a new item as someone else might have reported the same bug.
Reporting Bugs with gdb
If you are using LMMS and encounter a segmentation fault (crash), please include a full backtrace:

Linux
Linux
gdb /usr/bin/lmms
r

Then attempt to replicate the crash.
Once LMMS crashes:

thread apply all backtrace

The output of this command is interesting for us! Please either report it to the issue tracker or email it to the mailing list.
How to Report Bugs without GDB

Linux
Linux
$ ulimit -l unlimited
$ lmms

Now when LMMS crashes, there will be a file called "core" in your working directory.
The file may be large enough to be worth zipping.

For reporting any kind of bugs, use the
GitHub issue tracker
.
Please take a look at other
submitted bugs before opening a new item as someone else might have reported the same bug.

Reporting Bugs with
gdb

If you are using LMMS and encounter a segmentation fault (crash), please include a full backtrace:

Then attempt to replicate the crash.
Once LMMS crashes:

The output of this command is interesting for us! Please either report it to the
issue tracker or email it to the
mailing list
.

How to Report Bugs without GDB

3.1 Interface OverviewThere are 11 main parts to the LMMS interface.
These are described in detail in their respective pages.

For information on the Settings window, refer to this page.

Menus
The Main Menu Bar serves as a general menu for LMMS.

Main Menu Bar

The Toolbar contains options for managing project files, showing/hiding interface windows, and altering master controls for projects.

Tool Bar

The Sidebar is used to introduce resources to a project.

Sidebar (Instrument Plugins tab)

Windows
A majority of the interface contains a number of windows, each serves a different purpose.

The Instrument Window contains settings for an instrument.

Instrument Window (AudioFileProcessor)

The Song Editor contains all the different sound-generating elements and automation clips in a project file.

Song Editor

The Beat+Baseline Editor is where repetitive loops (such as drum/basslines) can be created and contained.

Beat+Baseline Editor

The Piano Roll allows you to create and edit note sequences.

Piano Roll

The Automation Editor allows you to create a profile that any connected parameter can follow.

Automation Editor

The FX-Mixer is where FX channel routing and manipulation takes place.

FX-Mixer

The Project Notes window allows you to create notes for yourself in a project file (For example, "B+B is only to be used for drumlines in this project".)

Project Notes

The Controller Rack is where controllers are added/configured, these controllers allow you to make alterations to connected parameters (like an Automation Clip would).

Menus

The
Main Menu Bar serves as a general menu for LMMS.

The
Toolbar contains options for managing project files, showing/hiding interface windows, and altering master controls for projects.

The
Sidebar is used to introduce resources to a project.

Windows

A majority of the interface contains a number of windows, each serves a different purpose.

The
Instrument Window contains settings for an instrument.

The
Song Editor contains all the different sound-generating elements and automation clips in a project file.

The
Beat+Baseline Editor is where repetitive loops (such as drum/basslines) can be created and contained.

The
Piano Roll allows you to create and edit note sequences.

The
Automation Editor allows you to create a profile that any connected parameter can follow.

The
FX-Mixer is where FX channel routing and manipulation takes place.

The
Project Notes window allows you to create notes for yourself in a project file (For example, \"B+B is only to be used for drumlines in this project\".)

The
Controller Rack is where controllers are added/configured, these controllers allow you to make alterations to connected parameters (like an Automation Clip would).

3.3 Main Menu Bar
3.3.1 File Menu
The file menu allows you to load, save, and export projects and import MIDI files and Hydrogen files.

File menu

New creates a new project

New from template creates a new project from a selected template

Open gives you a dialog to choose an existing project file to open

Recently opened projects opens up a sub-menu listing all the recently opened project files.

In LMMS, you can save projects to two formats:

<myname.mmp> - creates an XML file that can be read in any text editor.

<myname.mmpz> - creates a coded and compressed file (these cannot be read in any text editor).

Save saves the current project.
(For a new project, this functions as "Save As").

Save As gives you a dialog to choose a location to name and save your project in.
(You can also save your project as a template by clicking on the file-type drop-down menu within the dialog.)

Save as new version saves the current project to a new file by adding numbers to the end of the original project name, starting with 01.

Save as default template replaces the default template that LMMS opens upon initialization.

Import allows you to import MIDI and Hydrogen files as new instrument and B+B patterns.

Export allows you to record your project to a file.
(Currently, only .wav, .ogg, and .mp3 are supported for Audio exports.)

Export Tracks allows you to export stems of your project file to a selected folder.

Export MIDI allows you to export your project's midi data as a .mid file.

Quit exits LMMS.
You will be asked if you want to save your project if changes were made since

3.3.2 Edit Menu

Edit Menu

Undo/Redo do exactly as their names imply, they can also be accessed via the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+Z and Shift+Ctrl+Z, respectively.

The Undo/Redo feature only works correctly for some forms of editing.

In particular, in the Piano Roll Editor the bulk move, copy and paste facilities using the selection tool and/or clipboard do not get undone or redone correctly.
The developers are aware of this problem.

The third option is Settings, which opens the Settings dialog.
3.3.3 View Menu

View Menu

Song Editor, Beat+Baseline Editor, Piano Roll, Automation Editor, FX Mixer, Project Notes, and Controller Rack all focus/open their respective windows.
Volume as dBFS toggles between the default LMMS percentage system and the industry standard dBFS system.
Smooth scroll toggles between instantly snapping to the playerhead position when playing the project, and a smooth transition.
Enable note labels in piano roll toggles labeling notes with their note name in the piano roll.
As of 1.3, the window toggles are:

Song-Editor (Ctrl+1)

Beat & Bassline Editor (Ctrl+2)

Piano-Roll (Ctrl+3)

Automation-Editor (Ctrl+4)

Mixer (Ctrl+5)

Project-Notes (Ctrl+7)

Controller-Rack (Ctrl+6)

3.3.4 Tools Menu

Tools Menu

The only option currently in this menu is the LADSPA Plugin Browser.
It can be used to view information about available LADSPA Plugins.
3.3.5 Help Menu

Help Menu

There are three items:

Online Help opens the manual (you are here).

What's This? changes your cursor into a help cursor that you can use to click on any part of a LMMS window to see its function/purpose.

About gives you a dialog that lists: LMMS program version, its home page, its key developers, translation information if you are using LMMS in a language other than English, and the GNU GPL license that the software is released under.

The file menu allows you to load, save, and export projects and import MIDI files and Hydrogen files.

creates a new project

mmp

mmpz

saves the current project.
(For a new project, this functions as \"
Save As

gives you a dialog to choose a location to name and save your project in.
(You can also save your project as a
template

allows you to import MIDI and
Hydrogen
allows you to record your project to a file.
(Currently, only .wav, .ogg, and .mp3 are supported for Audio exports.)

allows you to export your project's midi data as a
.mid

3.3.2 Edit Menu

Undo/Redo do exactly as their names imply, they can also be accessed via the keyboard shortcuts
Ctrl+Z and
Shift+Ctrl+Z
, respectively.

The third option is
Settings
, which opens the
Settings dialog.

3.3.3 View Menu

Song Editor, Beat+Baseline Editor, Piano Roll, Automation Editor, FX Mixer, Project Notes, and Controller Rack all focus/open their respective windows.

Volume as dBFS
toggles between the default LMMS percentage system and the industry standard dBFS system.\n
Smooth scroll toggles between instantly snapping to the playerhead position when playing the project, and a smooth transition.\n
Enable note labels in piano roll toggles labeling notes with their note name in the piano roll.

As of 1.3, the window toggles are:

3.3.4 Tools Menu

The only option currently in this menu is the
LADSPA Plugin Browser
.
It can be used to view information about available LADSPA Plugins.

3.3.5 Help Menu

There are three items:

3.4 ToolbarThe toolbar is located at the top of the LMMS interface underneath the Main Menu bar.

Toolbar

The toolbar has four sections:

On the left hand side are two rows of buttons which can be controlled by clicking and keyboard shortcuts.

The buttons are arranged in 2 rows.
The top row contains buttons that handle the project (file controls).
The bottom row has buttons that toggle the different windows of the LMMS GUI (window controls).

In the center are three numerical displays for a timer, tempo controls, and time signature controls.

To the right of the numerical displays are two sliders, one for master volume and the other for master pitch.

To the far right is a Wave and Cpu usage display which shows the current audio waveform being played and CPU usage.

3.4.1 File Controls
The six buttons in the top row deal with opening and saving files.

The Create New Project button creates a new project.

The Create New Project From Template button creates a new project using a selected template.

The Open Existing Project button opens an existing project file from your LMMS Working Directory (you are also able to point to other directories).

The Recently Opened Project button lists files that you have saved recently.
You can then choose a project to open from this list.

The Save Current Project button saves the current project.
If you have yet to save the current project, you will be asked to name it and select a directory to store it in.

The Export Current Project button is a shortcut to export the current project as a .wav, .ogg, or .mp3 file (.flac is also avaliable for export as of 1.3).

This opens the same dialog box as the file menu's Export option.

3.4.2 Window Controls
The seven buttons in the second row show or hide various workspace windows.
These are toggle buttons for the workspace windows, allowing you to work in a tabbed GUI.

The toggle buttons are:

The Song-Editor toggle button shows/hides the Song Editor.

The Beat+Bassline Editor button shows/hides the Beat+Bassline Editor.

The Piano Roll Editor Window button shows/hides the Piano Roll Editor.
(Must be linked to a Piano Roll Clip before it can be used)

The Automation Window button shows/hides the global-song Automation Editor window.

The FX-Mixer toggle-button shows/hides the FX-Mixer.

The Project Notes button shows/hides the Project Notes window.

The Controller-rack toggle button shows/hides the Controller-rack.

These buttons can be toggled on or off by clicking or by using keyboard shortcuts.
The keyboard shortcuts are as follows, from left to right:

Song-Editor (F5)

Beat & Bassline Editor (F6)

Piano-Roll (F7)

Automation-Editor (F8)

Mixer (F9)

Project-Notes (F10)

Controller-Rack (F11)

As of LMMS 1.3, the shortcuts are:

Song-Editor (Ctrl+1)

Beat & Bassline Editor (Ctrl+2)

Piano-Roll (Ctrl+3)

Automation-Editor (Ctrl+4)

Mixer (Ctrl+5)

Project-Notes (Ctrl+7)

Controller-Rack (Ctrl+6)

In addition to these toolbar controls, all windows have a margin from which a Context Menu can be opened:

Stay On Top keeps that window on top of all other windows.

Maximize displays that window in fullscreen if possible.

Move makes the window follow the cursor until the left mouse button is pressed.

Size resizes the window (following the cursor) until the left mouse button is pressed.

3.4.3 Tempo Control

Tempo control

The tempo control displays the current tempo of the song.
The tempo can be adjusted in three ways:

By left-clicking on the numerical display and, while continuing to hold the left mouse button down, moving the mouse up or down.

By left-clicking on the numerical display and, while continuing to hold the left mouse button down, rolling the mouse wheel up or down.

By double-clicking on the numerical display, a window will open which will allow you to type in a new numerical value for the tempo.

The tempo can also be automated like any other parameter.
3.4.4 Timer

Timer

The timer shows the time from the beginning of the song to the current position of play-head.
Clicking on the timer toggles it to instead show how many bars, beats, and ticks from the beginning of the song to the current position of the play-head.
(Ticks subdivide beats, depending on the time-signature you have chosen.)
3.4.5 Time Signature Controls

Time signature controls

The default time signature is 4/4.
You can change the time signature by holding the left mouse button down on the value you wish to change and dragging up or down with the mouse.
You can also double-click to open a window which will allow you to type in a new value.

The top number dictates the number of beats per measure, and the bottom number dictates the value (eighth, sixteenth, etc.) of each beat.

3.4.6 Master Volume and Pitch Controls
To the right of the tempo control are the master volume and pitch controls.
The Master Volume control sets the master volume for the entire project.
The Master Pitch control transposes all instruments except those with the Master Pitch toggle disabled.
Both are controlled by holding the left mouse button down on the slider and dragging it up or down with the mouse.

3.4.6 Wave and CPU Usage Display

Wave and CPU usage display

The Wave/CPU display shows both the current waveform being played and the current CPU usage of all LMMS instruments, effects, and sequencing.
You can turn the wave display off or on by left-clicking it.
When it is disabled, it will read "Click to enable".
For the waveform display color:

Green indicates no clipping

Orange indicates clipping is a risk

Red indicates clipping

The toolbar has four sections:

file controls
).
The bottom row has buttons that toggle the different windows of the LMMS GUI (
window controls

timer
,
tempo controls
, and
time signature controls

master volume and the other for
master pitch

Wave and Cpu usage display
3.4.1 File Controls

The six buttons in the top row deal with opening and saving files.

The
Create New Project
The
Create New Project From Template
The
Open Existing Project
The
Recently Opened Project
The
Save Current Project
The
Export Current Project button is a shortcut to export the current project as a .wav, .ogg, or .mp3 file (.flac is also avaliable for export as of 1.3).

3.4.2 Window Controls

The seven buttons in the second row show or hide various workspace windows.
These are toggle buttons for the workspace windows, allowing you to work in a tabbed GUI.

The toggle buttons are:

The
Song-Editor
The
Beat+Bassline Editor
The
Piano Roll Editor Window
The
Automation Window
The
FX-Mixer
The
Project Notes
The
Controller-rack
These buttons can be toggled on or off by clicking or by using keyboard shortcuts.
The keyboard shortcuts are as follows, from left to right:

As of LMMS 1.3, the shortcuts are:

In addition to these toolbar controls, all windows have a margin from which a Context Menu can be opened:

3.4.3 Tempo Control

The tempo control displays the current tempo of the song.
The tempo can be adjusted in three ways:

The tempo can also be automated like any other parameter.

3.4.4 Timer

3.4.5 Time Signature Controls

The default
time signature is 4/4.
You can change the time signature by holding the left mouse button down on the value you wish to change and dragging up or down with the mouse.
You can also double-click to open a window which will allow you to type in a new value.

3.4.6 Master Volume and Pitch Controls

To the right of the tempo control are the master volume and pitch controls.

The
Master Volume control sets the master volume for the entire project.

The
Master Pitch control transposes all instruments except those with the Master Pitch toggle disabled.

Both are controlled by holding the left mouse button down on the slider and dragging it up or down with the mouse.

3.4.6 Wave and CPU Usage Display

The
Wave/CPU display shows both the current waveform being played and the current CPU usage of all LMMS instruments, effects, and sequencing.
You can turn the wave display off or on by left-clicking it.
When it is disabled, it will read \"Click to enable\".\nFor the waveform display color:

3.5 SidebarThe Sidebar is permanently attached to the left side of the window.
It has 2 modes: retracted and extended.
In retracted mode it looks like this:

Retracted mode

It has six sections that provide easy access to the various elements (instruments, samples files, and presets) that you will use in LMMS.
When you click on any one section label, the side bar will extend and show you the contents of that section.
Click the section label again to retract the bar.
3.5.1 Instrument Plugins
When you click on the Instrument Plugins button (), the sidebar expands to show you the available instrument plugins:

Instrument Plugins

Instruments:

AudioFileProcessor - playing audio files

BitInvader - "simple and dirty" wavetable synthesis

Freeboy - an emulator of the sound chip of the Nintendo Game Boy

Kicker - drum synthesis

LB302 - a monophonic implementation of the TB303 sound

Mallets - a struck-instrument synthesizer

Monstro - a 3-oscillator synth with pulse sync and a modulation matrix

Nescaline - a synth emulation of NES audio chip

Opulenz - an FM synth emulation of Yamaha YM3812, a.k.a.
OPL2

Organic - an additive organ synthesizer

PatMan - a GUS-compatible patch instrument

SF2 Player - the official SoundFont2 player

SFXR - a simple sound generator

SID - an emulator of the sound chips used by the C64

TripleOscillator - the "standard" subtractive synthesis module

VeSTige - VSTi-hosting plugin

Vibed - vibrating-string synthesis module

Watsyn - a 4-oscillator wavetable synth

ZynAddSubFX - a powerful hybrid synthesizer

By default, no instrument plugin is selected.
When you hover the mouse over one, its box will expand to include a description of the plugin: you can then drag an instrument plugin to either the Song Editor or the Beat+Bassline Editor, or double-click an instrument plugin label to add it directly to the Beat+Bassline Editor.
3.5.2 Section Navigation
In all sections, except for the Instrument Plugins section, the listing you get is like a directory tree.
Folders are marked with a folder icon.
If you click in the check-box to the left of the folder-icon, the folder opens and displays its contents indented to the right of the folder name.
To close it, click the check-box again.

My Samples

These folders are the same as on your computer, allowing you a convenient way to open sounds and presets on your hard disk from within LMMS.
Open folders can be smart-searched, so you can find an item with a token search.
Use the small input-field in the bottom.
Just enter a few characters from the item's filename, and the smart-search in LMMS will filter the names in the currently open folder.
Smart-search does not search sub-folders!
To the right of the input-field there is an Update button.
If you can't find a newly created file, click the Update button: all the folders are updated and the tree will collapse (this is also an easy way to close all open folders).
Let's take a closer look at the tabs.
3.5.3 My Projects

My Projects

The second option in the sidebar; a shortcut to the project folder-browser.
Depending on your user-created sub-folders, there will be a browser-tree.
Double-click on the name of the project you want to load.
Wait for the project to load completely, before using other features in LMMS!
The next 2 tabs on the side-bar contain your instruments.
They are the Samples and the Instruments.
Both have similar behavior.
3.5.4 My Samples

My Samples

My samples gives you easy access to LMMS samples collection.
Samples can be WAV, OGG and FLAC sound files.
You have smart-search and can update the display.
To preview the sample, left-click and hold on its name.
Drag the sample to the Song-Editor or the Beat+Bassline Editor to add it as a new track.
When you drag-and-drop a sample into either editor, the new track will be added at the bottom of the track list.
You can drag the grip dots on the left end of the track to move the track to where you want it in the track list.
Double-click the sample to add it to the Beat+Bassline Editor as a new track.
The mouse cursor symbol will show a reject-sign as you drag if the sample can't be dropped into that window.
3.5.5 My Presets

My Presets

My presets gives you easy access to a collection of predefined instruments.
Presets are instrument plugins with pre-saved settings and tuned controls.
You have search field at the bottom, and can update the display by clicking the refresh button.
Warning: you should make it a habit to save your project before you preview a preset (i.e.
before you left-click and hold on a preset), because sometimes previewing can crash LMMS.
Another thing you must remember is to never preview VeSTige preset! VSTs are not build by the LMMS-team, and they can't be handled as our own instruments can.
I repeat: never preview VSTs!
Drag the preset to the Song-Editor or the Beat+Bassline Editor to add it as a new track.
If you drag a preset into (i.e.
on top of) an existing preset in either of the editors, it will replace the previous preset.
Otherwise, when you drag-and-drop a preset into either editor, the new track will be added at the bottom of the track list.
You can drag the grip dots on the left end of the track to move the track to where you want it in the track list.
Double-click the preset to add it to the Beat+Bassline Editor as a new track.
The mouse cursor symbol will show a null sign as you drag if the preset can't be dropped into that window.
You can also right-click any preset, and use the context-menu, to add it to the editors.
This way of adding presets, gives you very good control, and you should always use this method, when you handle VSTs.
3.5.6 My Home

My Home

The 5th tab in the sidebar, My home is a shortcut to a specific folder on your system.
On Windows systems this corresponds to the %HOMEPATH% folder (i.e.
the current user's profile) containing folders such as Desktop, Favorites, MyDocuments, etc.
3.5.7 Root directory

The last tab on the sidebar is a shortcut to the root of your computer's folder tree.
You can browser the tree and even use token-search.
Quite handy for general purposes.

3.5.1 Instrument Plugins

When you click on the Instrument Plugins button (

), the sidebar expands to show you the available instrument plugins:

Instruments:

3.5.2 Section Navigation

In all sections, except for the Instrument Plugins section, the listing you get is like a directory tree.
Folders are marked with a folder icon.
If you click in the check-box to the left of the folder-icon, the folder opens and displays its contents indented to the right of the folder name.
To close it, click the check-box again.

These folders are the same as on your computer, allowing you a convenient way to open sounds and presets on your hard disk from within LMMS.

Open folders can be smart-searched, so you can find an item with a token search.
Use the small input-field in the bottom.
Just enter a few characters from the item's filename, and the smart-search in LMMS will filter the names in the currently open folder.

Smart-search does
not search sub-folders!

To the right of the input-field there is an Update button.
If you can't find a newly created file, click the Update button: all the folders are updated and the tree will collapse (this is also an easy way to close all open folders).

Let's take a closer look at the tabs.

3.5.3 My Projects

The next 2 tabs on the side-bar contain your instruments.
They are the Samples and the Instruments.
Both have similar behavior.

3.5.4 My Samples

My samples gives you easy access to LMMS samples collection.
Samples can be WAV, OGG and FLAC sound files.
You have smart-search and can update the display.
To preview the sample,
left-click and hold on its name.
Drag the sample to the Song-Editor or the Beat+Bassline Editor to add it as a new track.
When you drag-and-drop a sample into either editor, the new track will be added at the bottom of the track list.
You can drag the grip dots on the left end of the track to move the track to where you want it in the track list.
Double-click the sample to add it to the Beat+Bassline Editor as a new track.
The mouse cursor symbol will show a reject-sign as you drag if the sample can't be dropped into that window.

3.5.5 My Presets

Warning: you should make it a habit to save your project
before you preview a preset (i.e.
before you left-click and hold on a preset), because sometimes previewing can crash LMMS.
Another thing you must remember is to never preview VeSTige preset! VSTs are not build by the LMMS-team, and they can't be handled as our own instruments can.
I repeat: never preview VSTs!

Drag the preset to the Song-Editor or the Beat+Bassline Editor to add it as a new track.
If you drag a preset into (i.e.
on top of) an existing preset in either of the editors, it will replace the previous preset.
Otherwise, when you drag-and-drop a preset into either editor, the new track will be added at the bottom of the track list.
You can drag the grip dots on the left end of the track to move the track to where you want it in the track list.
Double-click the preset to add it to the Beat+Bassline Editor as a new track.
The mouse cursor symbol will show a null sign as you drag if the preset can't be dropped into that window.
You can also right-click any preset, and use the context-menu, to add it to the editors.
This way of adding presets, gives you very good control, and you should always use this method, when you handle VSTs.

3.5.6 My Home

3.5.7 Root directory

3.6 Instrument Window

Various instrument windows look like this:

TripleOscillator

AudioFileProcessor

OpulenZ

The window is divided up into three main sections:
the instrument controls at the top

the sound controls in the middle

the piano keys at the bottom

3.6.1 Instrument Controls

General instrument controls

Preset name dialogue.
By default this is the name of the instrument.

An instrument volume knob

A pan knob

A pitch knob.
100% means that the pitch is changed a semitone.

Pitch range.
Changes how many semitones the pitch knob spans.
If it is set to 3, 100% on the pitch knob means 3 semitones.

FX channel.
A link to the FX-Mixer.
Remember to always set this uniquely.

A save button.
Saves the settings of this instrument as a preset.

The pitch range dial is not available on all instruments.
All other of these controls are present on all LMMS factory instruments.
3.6.2 Sound Controls
Plugin: shows the controls for how this particular plugin generates sound.
This is the only tab that changes per plugin.

ENV/LFO: shows the controls for the sound's envelope (its expression in respect to loudness cutoff and resonance, all with individual settings, over time), its use of the Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO), and also lets you access 15 built-in filters.
This tab is not supported by ZynAddSubFX, VeSTige and LB302.

Func: shows the controls for making the instrument automatically play arpeggios or chords.
A huge number of different chords can be selected.

FX: shows the chain of effects plugins operating on this instrument.
You can use LADSPA and/or VST effect plugins.

MIDI: shows which MIDI channels this instrument will receive and send events on

Let's take a closer look at these tabs.
3.6.2.1 Plugin
The plugin tab contains all the controls that set how this plugin actually generates sound.
For more information, read the individual plugin's page.
3.6.2.2 ENV/LFO

ENV/LFO tab

3.6.2.2.1 Envelopes
Envelope of an instrument is how loud or soft it is from the moment the note is pressed, over after it it released, to when the sound is completely silent.
Immediately before the note is pressed, the envelope is at zero and the instrument produces no sound.
The note goes through an attack from when the note is pressed until it reaches its maximum loudness.
From then there is an initial hold period when the note remains at maximum loudness.
The note then decays to a softer pitch which is the sustain level.
Finally when note is released, it fades away to silence.
There may also be a pre-delay between when the note is pressed and when the volume starts rising.
The ENV/LFO/Filter section has three sub-tabs that select the target for three separate envelopes.
The default one, and the one discussed above, is the volume target.
You can select the target in the same way that you select the tab in the instrument, by clicking on the label.
To control the envelope, you have six knobs to set each of the above parameters - pre-delay (DEL), attack, hold, decay, sustain, release - and a 7.
one to control the amount (AMT) of the effect that the envelope has on the parameter.
For the volume envelope, this "amount" does not actually affect the sound - the envelope only works if the amount control is 100% on.
Note that you can either set the amount using its knob or click on the envelope graph in order to turn it completely on or off.
The graph is green when it's turned on, grey when off and a shade between those two colors when the control is between fully on (1) and fully off (0).
The amount can also be turned down to negative one, a feature which is only useful for the Cutoff and Q/Reso targets.
3.6.2.2.2 Filters
In order to enable the filter, press the filter titlebar and the light at the left will turn on.
When this light is on, the filter is active.
Keep in mind that filtering the sound of an instrument adds a small calculation overhead and can add a slight delay to the sound, so if you're not using the filter then keep it off.
The types of filters in LMMS:

Lowpass: this filter lets low frequencies through

Highpass: this filter lets high frequencies through

Bandpass csg and Bandpass czpg: these filters let only a certain band frequencies through

Notch: the inverse of the Bandpass filter, this cuts only a certain frequency band

Allpass: a filter that lets all frequencies through but has the same phase shifts, time delays and resonance properties as other filters

Moog: a modification to the normal Lowpass filter made popular by Moog synthesizers

2x Lowpass: a lowpass filter with twice the Q factor

Each type of filter lets you control the cutoff frequency and the Q/Resonance amount.
You can experiment with this by choosing a plugin that generates multiple frequencies - using anything other than a sine wave will do that - and then set the cutoff and Q factor and see how it changes the sound.
3.6.2.2.2.1 Filters with envelopes
Filters do not have to be static and unchanged throughout the entire note.
LMMS allows you to control both the cutoff frequency and the Q factor via an envelope.
Nor does this envelope have to be the same as the volume envelope for the note - each parameter can have an independent envelope.
The envelope sets the value from its maximum or minimum to the set control level; for example, if a lowpass filter has the cutoff control set to 1kHz and an envelope is used to sweep this value up in a long attack and long decay, the value of the control will go from 14kHz (the maximum) down to 1kHz and then back up.
This will make the instrument sound like it's been damped down and then the damping removed.
3.6.2.2.3 LFO
All LFO effects takes place through a filter, so the first thing is to activate the filter (light ON) and choose one from the drop-down.
The LFO provided by LMMS allows you to control the value of the volume, cutoff and Q factor targets independently - the LFO for each is shown under the same tab as the envelope for the same target.
Each has four parameters that you can set:

The delay before the oscillator starts

The attack or fade-in rate of the oscillator - the rate at which it goes from starting to having full effect

The speed of oscillation.
This is probably the parameter you are most likely to use.
It is measured in milliseconds per oscillation, because often one knows the time taken for a complete cycle rather than the rate in Hz (this is also because the accuracy of setting the LFO in fractions of a Hz is less than setting it in fractions of a second).
If right-click the knob, LMMS opens a contex menu, and you will have the option to beat-synchronize the speed.
This is a b feature and very useful for wobble or dubstep instruments.

The amount that the LFO affects the given target.
Like an envelope, you can either set the amoun control manually or click on the waveform display at the left of the LFO to turn it on or off.

LMMS also has an LFO plugin.
This is inserted in the Controller rack.
3.6.2.3 FUNC

FUNC tab

Normally, each "note down" command plays one note in the instrument.
With the Arp/Chord controls, you can change this so that it plays a chord (with the root note being the note played) and/or and arpeggio (i.e.
the notes of the chord played one after another rather than simultaneously).
To control this, the Arp/Chord tab is divided into two sections, one for the chords and the other for arpeggios.
You turn them on by clicking on their title bar and the light at the left will turn on.
By default they will be turned off.
Both sections have two common controls - the list of chords that can be played and the range in octaves over which the chord will be played.
Since some chords span more than one octave, some chords or arpeggios will overlap.
The list of chords available is vast, ranging from standard chords through jazz to regional chords and natural modes such as Lydian and Dorian.
3.6.2.3.1 Chords
The chords section has no other controls than the ones listed above.
When a note down signal is received, that note will be the base for the rest of the chord.
All the notes of the chord will play simultaneously until the note is released.
3.6.2.3.2 Arpeggios
The arpeggios section has a number of extra controls:

The direction that the arpeggio is played in can be selected from up, down, both directions (up then down) and random notes from the chord.

The time (in milliseconds) between each note.
Right-click opens context menu to set tempo sync.

The gate time (as a percentage of the note time above).
At 100%, each note will be played for the full time between each note.
At less, each note will be cut short and the rest will be filled with silence.
At more than this, each note will overlap the next note and will finish later than the start of the nest.

The mode of playing arpeggio

In free mode, an arpeggio will be started when the note starts.
If a second note is played later, a second arpeggio will start at that (later) time and play independently of the first.

In sort mode, no matter when another note is pressed, the arpeggios will be played in the same order, with only one note being played at any given time.
For example, if the key for C is played with an ascending Major chord arpeggio, the arpeggio of C-E-G will be played repeatedly.
If the key for F is then held down, the arpeggio will play C-E-G-F-A-C one after the other - the arpeggio for C then the arpeggio for F.

In sync mode, any notes held down at the same time will play a chord arpeggio in that interval.
To take the above example, when F was held down the arpeggio would play CF-EA-GC repeatedly - the notes C and F simultaneously, then the notes E and A, then the notes G and C.

3.6.2.4 FX

FX tab

The LADSPA effects allow many ways to control the sound of an instrument.
These can vary from simple effects like delays and echos to complex phasers, distortion and reverbation.
Effects can also be chained one after the other to produce very complex sounds.
When you add an effect the green light will automatically turn on.
When it is off the sound isn't processed by the effect.
You can easily check the "dry" sound of the instrument without effects, against the "wet" sound with the effects in place, by turning the green light off.
Click the "add" button to select a new LADSPA/VST effect to add to the chain.
This then gives you several controls over the process of sending sound to and receiving it from the effect:

The W/D (wet/dry) knob sets the ratio between the input signal and the effect signal that forms the output

The decay control sets how much silence must pass before the effect turns off completely.
Turning the effect off reduces the amount of CPU time used processing silence and reduces the chance of unwanted noise.
However, if the effect turns off too soon it may introduce a "clipped" sound to the effect: for instance, in the case of a reverb, if the reverb time is longer than the decay time then the reverb will be cut off before it has fully died away.
You should make it a habit to always match the decay of effects and this decay knob.

The gate threshold controls the level of noise in which below the instrument will be considered to be silent.
A flanger effect placed on an instrument with a very long fade-out (say a ride cymball) will be almost inaudible at the end of the tail of the cymball.
Cutting the effect off early may reduce the CPU requirements and the chance of unwanted effect noise being heard.

The controls button displays (or removes) the separate window giving the controls specific to this effect.

Note that some effects will also have ways to set their internal wet/dry level.
This sometimes takes the form of a wet/dry knob, but can also be two knobs to set the level of the wet output and the level of the dry, bypassed, output.
To remove an effect, select its context menu (right-click) and choose "Remove effect".
You can also change the order of any effect in the effect rack by moving it up or down.
3.6.2.5 MIDI

MIDI tab

These controls allow you to set which MIDI channel the instrument receives MIDI events on, and which it sends events to.
Both these controls work in similar ways:

Click the Receive MIDI-events or Send MIDI-events title next to the light to turn the reception or sending of MIDI events on or off

The channel setting controls which MIDI channel events will be received or sent on

The Default velocity control clamps all incoming or outgoing notes to once velocity when set

The Device selector button shows a list of which devices in your system can act as sources or sinks for MIDI events

3.6.3 Piano Keys
At the bottom of the instrument window is a small section of a piano keyboard.
This will display the notes that are playing by greying out the key or keys as they're played.
The scroll bar at the bottom of the screen allows you to move up and down, i.e.
left and right, the keyboard to see different ranges of notes.

Piano keys in instrument window

3.6.3.1 Base Note
In addition, the green mark just above the keys shows the base note of the keyboard.
Whichever note you select with this mark will be played as A4, i.e.
the concert pitch of 440Hz.
For instance, moving this to A3 will make all the notes played move up by an octave (since A3 is now A4 and so forth).
This allows you to adjust an individual instrument to be pitched correctly in relation to all the others.
This is mostly unimportant for synthesizers where the A4 note is programmed to be 440Hz.
However, for the AudioFileProcessor pugin, this is extremely useful, as it allows you to adjust the note to be played back at its correct pitch.
As an example, if you recorded a saxophone playing a B♭, you would adjust the base note to be B♭, so that the saxophone was played in the same pitch as your other instruments.
3.6.3.2 Keyboard
When the instrument window is selected, you can use the keyboard of your computer to play notes in a two-octave range.
In addition, any MIDI keyboard can be used to send MIDI command to this instrument when it's selected.

Keyboard as piano

The window is divided up into three main sections:

instrument controls

sound controls

piano keys
3.6.1 Instrument Controls

The pitch range dial is not available on all instruments.
All other of these controls are present on all LMMS factory instruments.

3.6.2 Sound Controls

Let's take a closer look at these tabs.

3.6.2.1 Plugin

The plugin tab contains all the controls that set how this plugin actually generates sound.
For more information, read the individual plugin's page.

3.6.2.2 ENV/LFO

3.6.2.2.1 Envelopes

Envelope of an instrument is how loud or soft it is from the moment the note is pressed, over after it it released, to when the sound is completely silent.
Immediately before the note is pressed, the envelope is at zero and the instrument produces no sound.
The note goes through an
attack from when the note is pressed until it reaches its maximum loudness.
From then there is an initial
hold period when the note remains at maximum loudness.
The note then
decay
s to a softer pitch which is the
sustain level.
Finally when note is
release
d, it fades away to silence.
There may also be a
pre-delay between when the note is pressed and when the volume starts rising.

The ENV/LFO/Filter section has three sub-tabs that select the target for three separate envelopes.
The default one, and the one discussed above, is the volume target.
You can select the target in the same way that you select the tab in the instrument, by clicking on the label.
To control the envelope, you have six knobs to set each of the above parameters -
pre-delay (DEL),
attack
,
hold
,
decay
,
sustain
,
release - and a 7.
one to control the
amount (AMT) of the effect that the envelope has on the parameter.

For the volume envelope, this \"amount\" does not actually affect the sound - the envelope only works if the amount control is 100% on.
Note that you can either set the amount using its knob or click on the envelope graph in order to turn it completely on or off.
The graph is green when it's turned on, grey when off and a shade between those two colors when the control is between fully on (1) and fully off (0).
The amount can also be turned down to negative one, a feature which is only useful for the Cutoff and Q/Reso targets.

3.6.2.2.2 Filters

In order to enable the filter, press the filter titlebar and the light at the left will turn on.
When this light is on, the filter is active.
Keep in mind that filtering the sound of an instrument adds a small calculation overhead and can add a slight delay to the sound, so if you're not using the filter then keep it off.

The types of filters in LMMS:

Lowpass:

Highpass:
Bandpass csg and
Bandpass czpg:
Notch:
Allpass:
Moog:
2x Lowpass:

3.6.2.2.2.1 Filters with envelopes

Filters do not have to be static and unchanged throughout the entire note.
LMMS allows you to control both the cutoff frequency and the Q factor via an envelope.
Nor does this envelope have to be the same as the volume envelope for the note - each parameter can have an independent envelope.
The envelope sets the value from its maximum or minimum to the set control level; for example, if a lowpass filter has the cutoff control set to 1kHz and an envelope is used to sweep this value up in a long attack and long decay, the value of the control will go from 14kHz (the maximum) down to 1kHz and then back up.
This will make the instrument sound like it's been damped down and then the damping removed.

3.6.2.2.3 LFO

All LFO effects takes place through a filter, so the first thing is to activate the filter (light ON) and choose one from the drop-down.

The LFO provided by LMMS allows you to control the value of the volume, cutoff and Q factor targets independently - the LFO for each is shown under the same tab as the envelope for the same target.
Each has four parameters that you can set:

delay

attack

speed

amount
LMMS also has an LFO plugin.
This is inserted in the Controller rack.

3.6.2.3 FUNC

Normally, each \"note down\" command plays one note in the instrument.
With the
Arp/Chord controls, you can change this so that it plays a
chord (with the root note being the note played) and/or and
arpeggio (i.e.
the notes of the chord played one after another rather than simultaneously).
To control this, the Arp/Chord tab is divided into two sections, one for the chords and the other for arpeggios.
You turn them on by clicking on their title bar and the light at the left will turn on.
By default they will be turned off.

Both sections have two common controls - the
list of chords that can be played and the
range in octaves over which the chord will be played.
Since some chords span more than one octave, some chords or arpeggios will overlap.
The list of chords available is vast, ranging from standard chords through jazz to regional chords and natural modes such as Lydian and Dorian.

3.6.2.3.1 Chords

The chords section has no other controls than the ones listed above.
When a note down signal is received, that note will be the base for the rest of the chord.
All the notes of the chord will play simultaneously until the note is released.

3.6.2.3.2 Arpeggios

The arpeggios section has a number of extra controls:

direction

time (in milliseconds) between each note.
Right-click opens context menu to set

gate

mode of playing arpeggio

free

sort

sync

3.6.2.4 FX

When you add an effect the green light will automatically turn on.
When it is off the sound isn't processed by the effect.
You can easily check the \"dry\" sound of the instrument without effects, against the \"wet\" sound with the effects in place, by turning the green light off.

Click the \"add\" button to select a new LADSPA/VST effect to add to the chain.
This then gives you several controls over the process of sending sound to and receiving it from the effect:

W/D (wet/dry)

decay

gate

controls
Note that some effects will also have ways to set their internal wet/dry level.
This sometimes takes the form of a wet/dry knob, but can also be two knobs to set the level of the wet output and the level of the dry, bypassed, output.

To remove an effect, select its context menu (right-click) and choose \"Remove effect\".\nYou can also change the order of any effect in the effect rack by moving it up or down.

3.6.2.5 MIDI

These controls allow you to set which MIDI channel the instrument receives MIDI events on, and which it sends events to.
Both these controls work in similar ways:

Receive MIDI-events or
Send MIDI-events

channel

Default velocity

Device selector
3.6.3 Piano Keys

At the bottom of the instrument window is a small section of a piano keyboard.
This will display the notes that are playing by greying out the key or keys as they're played.
The scroll bar at the bottom of the screen allows you to move up and down, i.e.
left and right, the keyboard to see different ranges of notes.

3.6.3.1 Base Note

In addition, the green mark just above the keys shows the base note of the keyboard.
Whichever note you select with this mark will be played as A4, i.e.
the concert pitch of 440Hz.
For instance, moving this to A3 will make all the notes played move up by an octave (since A3 is now A4 and so forth).
This allows you to adjust an individual instrument to be pitched correctly in relation to all the others.
This is mostly unimportant for synthesizers where the A4 note is programmed to be 440Hz.
However, for the AudioFileProcessor pugin, this is extremely useful, as it allows you to adjust the note to be played back at its correct pitch.
As an example, if you recorded a saxophone playing a B♭, you would adjust the base note to be B♭, so that the saxophone was played in the same pitch as your other instruments.

3.6.3.2 Keyboard

When the instrument window is selected, you can use the keyboard of your computer to play notes in a two-octave range.
In addition, any MIDI keyboard can be used to send MIDI command to this instrument when it's selected.

3.7 Song EditorThe Song Editor displays the structure of the song.

Song Editor

The left side of the window displays the instrument and beat/bassline tracks

The right side of the window displays the actual content - the note blocks, or segments of each track at each bar in the project

3.7.1 Working with Segments
Each track has content in the form of segments or elements, often you will hear other users using the term "blocks".

Instrument track block

For instrument tracks, the display is a miniature piano roll.
Double-clicking on it will open the Piano Roll Editor window where you can add, delete, or modify individual notes.

Sample track block

For sample tracks, the display is a miniature waveform of the sample.
Double-clicking on it will open a File-Open dialog where you can choose a new sample for that element.
LMMS can't edit recorded sounds, nor can LMMS record sound!

Beat/Bassline track block

For Beat/Bassline tracks, the display is simply a colored block/segment showing that the beat/bassline is active.
Double-clicking on it will open the Beat+Bassline Editor window where you can add, delete, or modify individual notes in the beat.

To create new segments, left-click in the track activity area within the bar where you want the segment to start.
For instrument and sample tracks, this creates a blank area where you can put notes or samples.
For beat/bassline tracks, this creates 1 (or more) bars filled with that particular Beat+Bassline as configured.

To move a segment, drag it by clicking and holding the segment.
As it's dragged, the segment will snap to the start of any bar, but you can free drag (with a 1/64th resolution) by holding down the Ctrl key after you begin dragging (Ctrl+drag before you begin dragging initiates the "copy" procedure).

To copy a segment, hold the Ctrl key down before you begin dragging and then drag the copy to its new location.
You can also right-click on the segment, select copy, left-click to create an empty segment where you want the copy to go, right-click and select paste.
You can't copy segments of one track type to tracks of a different type.
To copy again, the Ctrl key has to be released and repressed before the next drag operation.

To delete a segment, click it using the middle mouse button or right-click on it and select delete.
Double-clicking on a block opens the Piano Roll or Beat+Bassline Editor, so you can edit the segment's contents.

3.7.2 Toolbar

Song Editor toolbar

The Song Editor window has a toolbar that allows you to control playback of the song, add new tracks, choose edit tools, customize the method of playback, and control the general view of the song.
3.7.2.1 Editing Tools
3.7.2.1.1 Draw Mode Tool

Draw mode tool icon

Despite their different content, the ways of working with segments are mostly similar.
Most of the work in the Song Editor is done using the Draw mode tool.

Left-click in an empty bar to add a segment

Middle-click on a block to delete it

Ctrl+middle-click is a mute/unmute toggle for that block

Right-click on a segment to get a context menu

Left-drag on a segment to move it (block will snap to bar boundaries)

Ctrl after left-drag begins on a segment to move it freely (won't snap to bar boundaries)

Ctrl before left-drag begins on a segment to copy it

When you hover your mouse over the right end of a segment, the mouse cursor becomes a double-headed arrow so you can drag the end of the segment to make it extend over more or fewer bars (this does not work for instrument tracks)

left-drag: the segment extension/retraction snaps to bar boundaries

Ctrl+left-drag: the segment extension/retraction is free (does not snap to bar boundaries)

3.7.2.1.2 Edit Mode Tool

Edit mode tool icon

The Edit mode tool, also known as the selection tool, allows you to drag a rectangular selection box that selects multiple segments.
You can then handle the selection as a group.
Selected segments change their color to distinct them from unselected.

Ctrl+left-click on any segment you want to remove from the selection group

Drag horizontally on any selected segment to move the selection group:

left-drag: movement where segments snap to bar boundaries

Alt+left-drag: free movement (segments don't snap to bar boundaries)

Click on any empty bar to clear the selection from the selected segments

Marked blocks can not only be moved, but can be copied (Ctrl+c) and inserted (Ctrl+v) at the play-head position, anywhere in your project.
You can also delete (DEL) marked blocks.
It is recommended that you use the magnification settings, to find the magnification, that gives you the best view of your project.
Since 1.2, LMMS has a 12.5% magnification, that allows you to see 350 bars of your project!
3.7.2.2 Changing Structure in a Project
Sometimes whole segment of a project is either needed to be removed, or you need space to insert new blocks.
This is where you use INSERT and DELETE.
First you move the play-head to the position where you want the change.
3.72.2.1 Expanding a Project
Shift+Insert key inserts a new, empty bar to the right of the play-head's current position into all the tracks.
You will essentially push everything upwards, and hence have a longer project, as the result!
3.7.2.2.2 Condensing a Project
Shift+Delete key moves all one bar to the left of the play-head's current position.
You will essentially pull everything downwards, and hence have a shorter project as the result!
Both methods are powerful tools for making big changes in your project.
3.7.2.3 Navigating
The scroll bars at the right and bottom of the window allow you to move the editors view around, but you can also scroll with your mouse-wheel.
Use Shift+mouse wheel to scroll horizontally, Ctrl+mouse wheel to scroll vertically.
3.7.2.4 Playback Controls
The Play button starts playback at the current play-head position.
The keyboard space bar has the similar functionality, depending on the settings for play-head behavior of the Return mode button (see below).
During playback, a Pause button icon represents the Play button icon.
It will pause playback and leave the play-head at its current position.
The Stop button (or keyboard space bar) stops playback (or a paused playback), and returns the play-head to the location defined by the Return mode button.
The Return mode button is a 3-position toggle that controls where the play-head moves when you halt playback using the Stop button.
There are 3 modes:

Back to Zero (default): the play-head returns to the beginning of the song (bar #1)

Back to start: the play-head returns to the position where this playback started

Continue: the play-head remains where it was stopped, i.e.
it doesn't move

The Auto-scroll button is ON by default.
During playback, the view in the Song Editor window will automatically scroll horizontally to display the current play-head position.
As the play-head moves past the right edge of the window, the window will scroll horizontally so the play-head continues at the left edge.
In the performance settings, the option "smooth scrolling" can be enables.
With Auto-scroll OFF, the play-head can disappear during playback.
Loops in LMMS are understood as 1-n bars! It is the logic of a sequencer that determines that loops are the same as whole bars.
The Loop-points button is OFF by default.
When turned ON, the loop will appear (bright green) on the timeline.
You can set the loop-points as follows:

When you click on the time bar for setting right-loop-point use right-click only

When you click on the time-bar for setting left-loop-point use Shift+right-click

Setting loop-points will by default snap to the bar dividers.
You can control that.
If you hold AltGr, then you can set your loop exactly as you want.
You can even drag them up and down.
During Song Editor playback, the play-head will loop continuously between the start and end loop-points.
This is useful for testing a particular section of your piece, but only exists in playback mode.
It is not a way to repeat a section a certain number of times within your composition - you'll have to use copy/paste for that.
3.7.2.5 Adding Tracks
There is no button for adding a new instrument track.
You do this by dragging the desired plugin or preset from the Sidebar to an empty area in the Song Editor.
Next, click on the instrument track's name to show/hide the Instrument Editor window for that plugin.
This window is where you can make changes to the sound of the instrument.
To add a new Beat/Bassline track, click the Add beat/bassline button.
Right-click on the beat/bassline track's name to rename it.
To add a new sample track, click the Add sample-track button.
3.7.2.6 Zoom Controls

Zoom control

You can zoom in to show fewer bars or zoom out to show more bars in the window.
There are several ways to zoom:

Hover your mouse over the zoom number and roll your mouse wheel up/down to zoom in/out

Hover your mouse anywhere else in the Song Editor window and Ctrl+mouse scroll wheel up/down to zoom in/out

Left-click on the zoom number to zoom in by 1 level.
Right-click on the zoom number to zoom out by 1 level.

Use the zoom drop-down arrow and select a zoom level

3.7.2.7 Changing Track Height
Anywhere in a track, use Shift+drag to change the height of a track.
You can only make it taller than the default height, not shorter.
3.7.3 Track Settings Bar

Track settings bar

The left side of the track, the track settings bar, contains buttons and controls that allow you to work with the tracks as a whole.
The stippled area at the left end of the track is the Grip handle.
In Draw mode, use it to drag a track up or down in the track stacking order.
The track order has no effect on the sounds produced, it just helps you keep things organized.
Ctrl+drag on the grip handle makes a clone of the track that you can place either at the bottom of the track list, in Beat+Bassline Editor, or even in an other opened project, if you have enough RAM for two instances of LMMS.
You use considerable less RAM if you only copy-drag, and do not play any of the projects!
The Track tools icon has a tool-tip that says "Actions for this track".
Click it to see a menu with options:

Clone this track makes an exact copy of the track (instrument settings and segments) and pastes it at the bottom of the track list

Remove this track deletes the track

MIDI: option for instruments to connect a MIDI device

The Mute/unmute toggle looks like a green light that you turn ON and OFF by clicking on it.
Use it to turn off the sounds from this track temporarily.
For example, you may want to hear the track of an accompanying instrument without hearing the lead instrument.
As all knobs, lights and faders in LMMS these can be automated.
The Solo/unsolo toggle is the second light, the one to the right.
It is a red light that you turn on and off by clicking on it.
Use it to turn off temporarily all the other tracks except this track, or add some other tracks to the playback, simply by un-muting any track of your own choice.
That way you can have one solo track plus any number of selected tracks playing together alone.
When you want to have all tracks active again, you simply unsolo the solo track.
That will unmute all tracks in your Song Editor again.
The rest of the track settings bar displays the sound source information.
This varies somewhat between instrument tracks, sample tracks and beat/bassline tracks.

Instrument track bar

Instrument tracks have:

a volume and a pan control (automatable)

a button that displays the instrument's preset name

left-click opens the Instrument Editor

right-click opens a dialog to rename the track

the activity light is a rectangular light located far right in instrument tracks, which lights up whenever the instrument plays a note.
You can click it to preview the sound of the instrument.

Sample track bar

Sample tracks have:

a volume control (automatable)

a button that displays the track name

left-click opens the Effects chain Editor where you can choose effects to add

right-click opens a dialog to rename the track

Beat/Bassline track bar

Beat/Bassline tracks have:

a button that displays the track name

left-click opens the Beat+Bassline Editor, if it's not already open

right-click opens a dialog to rename the track

3.7.4 Track Context Menu
The track context menu appears when you right-click on a segment in the track.
The options available vary by the type of track as follows:
3.7.4.1 Instrument Track Context Menu

Instrument track context menu

Open in piano-roll opens the clicked-on pattern in the Piano Roll Editor

Delete deletes the clicked-on segment

Cut removes the clicked-on segment and puts it in the clipboard

Copy makes a copy of the clicked-on segment and puts it in the clipboard

Paste pastes the contents of the clipboard into this segment, overwriting its previous contents.
The segment name is copied and pasted with the contents of the segment which helps you see the original source of this segment (see "Change name" below).

Mute/unmute allows you to turn off the sound of the clicked-on segment.
It does not affect the volume of the other segments in the track.

Clear all notes allows you to erase the contents of the clicked-on segment without deleting the segment itself

Reset name resets the segment name to the track name, and the name is again hidden

Change name allows you to change a segment's name.
Segments within a track can have their own names, and by default the segment name is the same as the track name.

Add steps and Remove steps allow you to add or remove the number of steps in a bar.
This is the same option as in the Beat+Bassline Editor.

3.7.4.2 Sample Track Context Menu

Sample track context menu

The actions of each option are essentially the same as those for the instrument track above.
The record function is not yet functional.
3.7.4.3 Beat/Bassline Track Context Menu

Beat/Bassline track context menu

The actions of each option are essentially the same as those for the instrument track above.
The only addition is:

Change color allows you to change the color of the segments in the BB track.
This helps you to distinguish the function or content of the tracks by their color, and helps you to quickly know which bassline you are dealing with in a complex rhythm sections.
You can use the edit mode tool aka selection tool to select a group of Beat/Bassline segments and color them all at once.

3.7.5 Reusing and Copying Tracks
Sometimes you may like to use notes you have in another project.
You can't use the notes in other projects just as a reference, but! You can copy these notes from one project to another! Let's say we have a nice arpeggio, and we'd like to reuse that within a tiny change, in a new project.
3.7.5.1 Method 1
If you have decent hardware, with 2+ GB of RAM, you can have two LMMS running simultaneously.
Point to the track with the existing arpeggio.
On the track button we have a nobbled bar leftmost in this picture:

Beat/Bassline track bar

Hold Ctrl

Point on the nobbled bar

Press and drag the whole track button from the "donor" project to the receiveing project's Song Editor

You now have copied all notes and the preset into the new project.
In our case we would have "both" the arpeggio-notes, "and" all the arpeggio settings in the preset copied to the new project.
If you create a project called something like .my-aprs.mmp, and build all the arps, you can think of, then you can use that project as a template for any project, and that way you have an arpeggio library.
3.7.5.2 Method 2
This is not at all as potent, byt can be used by anyone, despite low-end HW.
Open the piano-roll pattern in project 1

Mark all (Ctrl+a)

Copy all (Ctrl+c)

Create a new project or open an existing project

Open a piano-roll in that project

Insert the notes from the first project (Ctrl+v)

As you can see we only had one instance of LMMS open, and this is a very CPU and RAM friendly way to copy between projects, but we only got notes from one note block, with this simple method.

segments
3.7.1 Working with Segments

Each track has content in the form of
segments or
elements
, often you will hear other users using the term \"blocks\".

For
instrument tracks
, the display is a miniature piano roll.
Double-clicking on it will open the Piano Roll Editor window where you can add, delete, or modify individual notes.

For
sample tracks
, the display is a miniature waveform of the sample.
Double-clicking on it will open a File-Open dialog where you can choose a new sample for that element.
LMMS can't edit recorded sounds, nor can LMMS record sound!

For
Beat/Bassline tracks
, the display is simply a colored block/segment showing that the beat/bassline is active.
Double-clicking on it will open the Beat+Bassline Editor window where you can add, delete, or modify individual notes in the beat.

create new segments

move a segment
, drag it by clicking and holding the segment.
As it's dragged, the segment will snap to the start of any bar, but you can free drag (with a 1/64th resolution) by holding down the Ctrl key
after

copy a segment
, hold the Ctrl key down
before you begin dragging and then drag the copy to its new location.
You can also right-click on the segment, select
copy
, left-click to create an empty segment where you want the copy to go, right-click and select
paste

delete a segment
, click it using the middle mouse button or right-click on it and select
delete
.
Double-clicking on a block opens the Piano Roll or Beat+Bassline Editor, so you can
edit the segment's contents

3.7.2 Toolbar

The Song Editor window has a toolbar that allows you to control playback of the song, add new tracks, choose edit tools, customize the method of playback, and control the general view of the song.

3.7.2.1 Editing Tools

3.7.2.1.1 Draw Mode Tool

Despite their different content, the ways of working with segments are mostly similar.
Most of the work in the Song Editor is done using the
Draw mode tool.

in an empty bar to

on a block to

is a
mute/unmute
on a segment to

on a segment to
move it
after left-drag begins on a segment to
move it freely
before left-drag begins on a segment to

hover your mouse over the right end of a segment
, the mouse cursor becomes a double-headed arrow so you can drag the end of the segment to make it extend over more or fewer bars (this does not work for instrument tracks)

3.7.2.1.2 Edit Mode Tool

The
Edit mode tool, also known as the selection tool, allows you to drag a rectangular selection box that selects multiple segments.
You can then handle the selection as a group.
Selected segments change their color to distinct them from unselected.

on any segment you want to

on any selected segment to
move the selection group:

movement where segments
snap
free movement (segments
don't snap
on any empty bar to
clear the selection
Marked blocks can not only be moved, but can be copied (Ctrl+c) and inserted (Ctrl+v) at the play-head position, anywhere in your project.
You can also delete (DEL) marked blocks.
It is recommended that you use the magnification settings, to find the magnification, that gives you the best view of your project.
Since 1.2, LMMS has a 12.5% magnification, that allows you to see 350 bars of your project!

3.7.2.2 Changing Structure in a Project

Sometimes whole segment of a project is either needed to be removed, or you need space to insert new blocks.
This is where you use INSERT and DELETE.\nFirst you move the play-head to the position where you want the change.

3.72.2.1 Expanding a Project

Shift+Insert key inserts a new, empty bar to the right of the play-head's current position into
all
the tracks.
You will essentially push everything upwards, and hence have a longer project, as the result!

3.7.2.2.2 Condensing a Project

Shift+Delete key moves
all one bar to the left of the play-head's current position.
You will essentially pull everything downwards, and hence have a shorter project as the result!

Both methods are powerful tools for making big changes in your project.

3.7.2.3 Navigating

The scroll bars at the right and bottom of the window allow you to move the editors view around, but you can also scroll with your mouse-wheel.

Use
Shift+mouse wheel to scroll horizontally,
Ctrl+mouse wheel to scroll vertically.

3.7.2.4 Playback Controls

The
Play button starts playback at the current play-head position.
The keyboard space bar has the similar functionality, depending on the settings for play-head behavior of the
Return mode button (see below).

During playback, a
Pause button icon represents the Play button icon.
It will pause playback and leave the play-head at its current position.

The
Stop button (or keyboard space bar) stops playback (or a paused playback), and returns the play-head to the location defined by the
Return mode button.

The
Return mode button is a 3-position toggle that controls where the play-head moves when you halt playback using the Stop button.
There are 3 modes:

Back to Zero (default):

Back to start:

Continue:

Loops in LMMS are understood as 1-n bars! It is the logic of a sequencer that determines that loops are the same as
whole bars.
The
Loop-points button is OFF by default.
When turned ON, the loop will appear (bright green) on the timeline.
You can set the loop-points as follows:

right-click

Setting loop-points will by default
snap to the bar dividers.
You can control that.
If you hold AltGr, then you can set your loop exactly as you want.
You can even drag them up and down.

During Song Editor playback, the play-head will loop continuously between the start and end loop-points.
This is useful for testing a particular section of your piece, but only exists in playback mode.
It is not a way to repeat a section a certain number of times within your composition - you'll have to use copy/paste for that.

3.7.2.5 Adding Tracks

There is no button for adding a new instrument track.
You do this by dragging the desired plugin or preset from the Sidebar to an empty area in the Song Editor.
Next, click on the instrument track's name to show/hide the Instrument Editor window for that plugin.
This window is where you can make changes to the sound of the instrument.

To add a new Beat/Bassline track, click the
Add beat/bassline button.
Right-click on the beat/bassline track's name to rename it.

To add a new sample track, click the
Add sample-track button.

3.7.2.6 Zoom Controls

You can zoom in to show fewer bars or zoom out to show more bars in the window.
There are several ways to zoom:

]

3.7.2.7 Changing Track Height

Anywhere in a track, use Shift+drag to change the height of a track.
You can only make it taller than the default height, not shorter.

3.7.3 Track Settings Bar

The left side of the track, the track settings bar, contains buttons and controls that allow you to work with the tracks as a whole.

The stippled area at the left end of the track is the
Grip handle
.
In Draw mode, use it to drag a track up or down in the track stacking order.
The track order has no effect on the sounds produced, it just helps you keep things organized.
Ctrl+drag on the grip handle makes a clone of the track that you can place either at the bottom of the track list, in Beat+Bassline Editor, or even in an other opened project, if you have enough RAM for two instances of LMMS.
You use considerable less RAM if you only copy-drag, and do not play any of the projects!

The
Track tools icon has a tool-tip that says \"Actions for this track\".
Click it to see a menu with options:

The
Mute/unmute toggle looks like a green light that you turn ON and OFF by clicking on it.
Use it to turn off the sounds from this track temporarily.
For example, you may want to hear the track of an accompanying instrument without hearing the lead instrument.
As all knobs, lights and faders in LMMS these can be automated.
The
Solo/unsolo toggle is the second light, the one to the right.
It is a red light that you turn on and off by clicking on it.
Use it to turn off temporarily all the other tracks except this track, or add some other tracks to the playback, simply by un-muting any track of your own choice.
That way you can have one solo track plus any number of selected tracks playing together alone.
When you want to have all tracks active again, you simply unsolo the solo track.
That will unmute all tracks in your Song Editor again.

The rest of the track settings bar displays the
sound source information.
This varies somewhat between instrument tracks, sample tracks and beat/bassline tracks.

Instrument tracks have:

activity light

Sample tracks have:

Beat/Bassline tracks have:

3.7.4 Track Context Menu

The track context menu appears when you right-click on a segment in the track.
The options available vary by the type of track as follows:

3.7.4.1 Instrument Track Context Menu

and
Remove steps
3.7.4.2 Sample Track Context Menu

The actions of each option are essentially the same as those for the instrument track above.
The record function is not yet functional.

3.7.4.3 Beat/Bassline Track Context Menu

The actions of each option are essentially the same as those for the instrument track above.
The only addition is:

3.7.5 Reusing and Copying Tracks

Sometimes you may like to use notes you have in another project.
You can't use the notes in other projects just as a
reference
, but! You can copy these notes from one project to another! Let's say we have a nice arpeggio, and we'd like to reuse that within a tiny change, in a new project.

3.7.5.1 Method 1

If you have decent hardware, with 2+ GB of RAM, you can have two LMMS running simultaneously.
Point to the track with the existing arpeggio.
On the track button we have a
nobbled bar leftmost in this picture:

You now have copied all notes and the preset into the new project.
In our case we would have \"both\" the arpeggio-notes, \"and\" all the arpeggio settings in the preset copied to the new project.
If you create a project called something like .my-aprs.mmp, and build all the arps, you can think of, then you can use that project as a
template for any project, and that way you have an arpeggio library.

3.7.5.2 Method 2

This is not at all as potent, byt can be used by anyone, despite low-end HW.

3.8 Beat+Bassline Editor

Beat+Bassline Editor

The Beat+Bassline Editor is the main window for sequencing rhythms and repetitive musical lines in LMMS.
3.8.1 Toolbar

Beat+Bassline Editor toolbar

Play and Stop buttons allow you to play and stop the currently selected Beat/Bassline (BB) track.
When Play is pressed, it will be replaced with a Pause symbol allowing you to pause the playback rather than stop it entirely.
Stop returns the play-head to the first step in the BB track; Pause allows you to continue from the last played step.
Add steps and Remove steps allow you to add or remove the number of steps in a bar.
The drop-down menu allows you to select the BB track to edit.
It displays the current Beat/Bassline (BB) track being edited.
The Add Beat/Bassline button creates a new Beat/Bassline track in the Song Editor, numbered sequentially from "Beat/Bassline 0".
Right-click on the new BB track's name in the Song Editor and rename it to something useful.

All BB tracks are linked in such a way that they share the same instruments.

If you delete or toggle-mute an instrument in one BB track, the effect will be applied in all BB tracks within this project.
So, if you have multiple BB tracks in your song, remember that all the BB tracks will contain the same instruments.
This means that you'll have to enforce silence on those instruments that you want silenced in a particular BB track.
For example, say you have a first BB track with a kick drum, snare, and HiHat, and a second BB track with just a clap and a shaker.
All 5 instruments will be in both BB tracks.
You'll want the clap and shaker instruments in the first track to be silent, so in the first track, for both the clap and shaker, you can either

Make sure all the steps are turned off (see Context menu clear below)

Context menu mute the track (toggle mute won't work because the instrument will be toggle muted in all other BB tracks)

Also, you'll have to do the same thing to the kick, snare, and HiHat in the second BB track to make sure those 3 are silent.
The Add automation track button adds a new automation track to the current BB track.
3.8.2 Instrument Track

Instrument track

Each instrument added to the Beat+Bassline Editor will look like this.
The track settings you recognize from the Song Editor are on the left side and the Step Editor is on the right (the gray boxes).
3.8.2.1 Step Editor
By default an instrument track has 16 steps (16 gray boxes), 4 steps to each beat in a 4-beat bar.
Each step icon is both an on/off toggle and a volume knob.
A left-click on a step toggles it on or off.
To change its volume, hover your mouse over step and raise or lower its volume by rolling your mouse scroll wheel up or down.
The step is bright green at full volume, gray at zero volume, and an intermediate brightness of green at intermediate volumes.
A left-click will still turn the step on or off, and the step remembers its last volume setting.
Editing the volume of a step in the Piano Roll (see below) is also reflected in the color brightness of a step.

When a step is turned on, the sound from the instrument will play at that step in the bar.
The 4 steps in each beat group are shaded alternately light and dark gray to make orientation easier.
Right-clicking on a step gives you the context menu for that track.

BB track context menu

Open in piano-roll allows you to edit the notes of a segment in the Piano Roll Editor rather than just as steps.
This allows you to place notes with more than 1/16th precision, and to vary the pitch, length, and volume of the notes (steps).

Copy and Paste allow you to copy a set of steps from one track to another by copying the original track's steps, right-clicking on the new track and choosing Paste

Mute/Unmute allows you to context menu mute/unmute the instrument in this BB track only.
Unlike the toggle mute/unmute switch (the light), this method does affect the same instrument in other BB tracks in the same project.

Clear all notes allows you to quickly erase all the steps in this track

Reset name resets the segment name to the track name, and the name is again hidden

Change name allows you to change the name of this track

Add steps and Remove steps allow you to add or remove the number of steps in a bar

The Beat+Bassline Editor is the main window for sequencing rhythms and repetitive musical lines in LMMS.

3.8.1 Toolbar

Stop returns the play-head to the first step in the BB track;
Pause allows you to continue from the last played step.

Add steps and
Remove steps allow you to add or remove the number of steps in a bar.

The drop-down menu allows you to select the BB track to edit.
It displays the current
Beat/Bassline (BB)
track being edited.

The
Add Beat/Bassline
button creates a new Beat/Bassline track in the Song Editor, numbered sequentially from \"Beat/Bassline 0\".
Right-click on the new BB track's name in the Song Editor and rename it to something useful.

Also, you'll have to do the same thing to the kick, snare, and HiHat in the second BB track to make sure those 3 are silent.

The
Add automation track button adds a new automation track to the current BB track.

3.8.2 Instrument Track

Each instrument added to the Beat+Bassline Editor will look like this.
The track settings you recognize from the Song Editor are on the left side and the Step Editor is on the right (the gray boxes).

3.8.2.1 Step Editor

By default an instrument track has 16 steps (16 gray boxes), 4 steps to each beat in a 4-beat bar.

Each step icon is both an on/off toggle and a volume knob.
A left-click on a step toggles it on or off.
To change its volume, hover your mouse over step and raise or lower its volume by rolling your mouse scroll wheel up or down.
The step is bright green at full volume, gray at zero volume, and an intermediate brightness of green at intermediate volumes.
A left-click will still turn the step on or off, and the step remembers its last volume setting.
Editing the volume of a step in the Piano Roll (see below) is also reflected in the color brightness of a step.

When a step is turned on, the sound from the instrument will play at that step in the bar.

The 4 steps in each beat group are shaded alternately light and dark gray to make orientation easier.

Right-clicking on a step gives you the context menu for that track.

and
Paste

and
Remove steps

3.9 Piano Roll

Piano Roll Editor

The Piano Roll Editor is the main workspace for composing and editing melodies and harmonies.
It can be accessed through either the right-click context menu on or double-clicking on:

a segment in an instrument track, e.g.

a step in a track in the Beat+Bassline Editor

It can also be accessed using the Show/Hide Piano-Roll buttonin the main toolbar (shortcut F7, or Ctrl+3 in 1.3).

Notice that the Show/Hide Piano-Roll button opens the last edited segment.
If you just started a new session (not to be confused with starting a new project), you must first connect Piano Roll to a segment to be able to use it.
LMMS will not remember the last edited segment from one session to another.

3.9.1 Toolbar

Piano Roll toolbar

Many of the tools are similar to those found in the Song Editor, with several important additions listed (listed below).
3.9.1.1 Playback and Record

Playback and record buttons

In addition to the Playback and Stop controls, there are two Record buttons which will record the notes you play on either:

an attached MIDI keyboard

your computer's keyboard

Either Clickto start recording without playing Song Editor/B&B tracks, or Clickto start recording with Song Editor/B&B tracks playing.
Press to stop playback or recording.
The computer keyboard's spacebar can toggle between Playback and Stop in both playback and record modes.

As of 1.3, allows you to record notes one at a time.

After you press stop, you will be able to see all the notes you played in the Piano Roll.
These notes can be edited just like any other notes.
3.9.1.2 Editing

Editing tools

Selected notes can be manipulated together.
Some keyboard shortcuts include:

Moving the selection (left click + drag)

Copying the selection (Shift+left click + drag)

Transposing the selection (Shift/Ctrl + arrow keys).
Shift will move the selection one beat/semitone at a time, while Ctrl will move the selection one octave/measure at a time.

The 4 editing modes (tools) are Draw, Erase, Select, and Detune.
You can draw notes with Left click and erase with Right click.
(These are explained in further detail in the Edit Notes subsection of this Section).
The Select mode tool allows you to select individual notes to create a group or "selection" of notes, which you can manipulate.

Rectangular Selection: use the Select tool to drag a rectangular area around some notes.
When you release the mouse button, the selected notes will turn blue.

Individual Selection: use the Select tool to left-click on a note - it will turn blue

Add to (or remove from) Selection: you can add more notes to the current selection by holding down the Shift key (Shift+drag or Shift+click) and the additional notes will turn blue, too.
If the notes are already selected, it will remove them from the selection.

Clear Selection: left-click on an empty space in the Piano Roll

Detuning (Note similarities to Automation Editor)

The Detune mode allows you to edit the frequency profile of an individual note.
When you click on a note, an Automation Editor window opens for that note, and from here you can use your mouse to plot points for a Detune profile graph, this profile will be used to alter the final pitch of the edited note when played.

Notice that in Piano roll, edited notes will have green lines that reveal their Detune profile.

VST instruments cannot have per-note detuning.
You may still detune the instrument as a whole from the Instrument Window's "PITCH" knob.

3.9.1.3 Clipboard

Clipboard buttons

The Clipboard buttons allow you to cut, copy, and paste a selection, and the Delete key on the computer keyboard will delete the selected notes.

Click the Copy button (Ctrl+c) to copy the selected note(s) and place them in the clipboard.
Shift+drag on the selected note(s) to duplicate - drag a copy of the selected note(s) away from the original(s).

3.9.1.4 Playback Control

Playback buttons

These work the same as the playback controls in the Song Editor.
To repatriate loops:

Set right loop-point: use right mouse button only

Set left loop-point: use right mouse button + Shift

(1.3 and later) Set both right/left loop-points: use right mouse button near desired loop-point

Hold Ctrl to place loop-points freely.
3.9.1.5 Zoom

Zoom control

This works the same as in the Song Editor.
The drop-down menu can be used to set horizontal zoom.

Vertical Zoom Control

As of 1.3, vertical zooming is now avaliable in the Song editor.

3.9.1.6 Quantization

Quantization control

The Quantization can be set using drop-down menu, this allows you to set the minimum resolution for manipulating note length using that fraction of a bar, when using both Draw mode and Record.

For example, if you set the Quantization to 1/1 , you'll only be able to place notes at the start of a whole bar, and you'll only be able to adjust their length in 1-bar increments.

If you set the Quantization to 1/16, you'll only be able to place notes at 1/16 intervals, and you'll only be able to adjust their length in 1/16 intervals.

So on and so forth.
snaps notes to the nearest division (set by Quantization) in the Piano Roll.
3.9.1.7 Tools
As of 1.3, Tools are new avaliable in a dropdown menu next to .

Tools

Glue (Shift+G): combines two notes if they are right next to each other and on the same pitch.

Glue Tool

3.9.1.8 Edit Notes
3.9.1.8.1 Draw and Move Notes
Use the Draw mode tool to place notes in the Piano Roll.
As you hover your mouse or move a note in the work area, a gray horizontal line will track the vertical position of your mouse.
This can help you see the pitch of the note you're placing by allowing you to track back to the Piano Keys.
Left-click to place a note, or if a chord is selected:

Place the notes of the chord with current note as the root note

Shift+left-click to place notes in arpeggio mode (this will only duplicate notes onto themselves if no chord is selected)

Hover over the center of a note until a four headed arrow appears then:

Drag to move the note(s) either left/right in time or up/down in pitch.
The note(s) will snap to the nearest time increment as set in the Quantization drop-down menu.

Alt+drag to move the note(s) either left/right in time or up/down in pitch, but without snapping to the nearest time increment.
Instead, the note(s) will "free-drag" and snap to the nearest 1/192 time increment (max Quantization in LMMS).

Hover over the right end of the note until a two headed arrow appears, then

Drag the end of a note to the left/right to change the length of the note(s) in accordance to the current selected quantization.

Alt+drag the end of a note to the left/right to change the length of the note(s).
The right end of the note(s) will "free-drag" and snap to the nearest 1/192 time increment, i.e.
max Quantization

Holding down the Ctrl key in Draw mode converts the mouse cursor to the Select mode tool, and it returns to the Draw mode on release.

3.9.1.8.2 Erase notes
There are 3 ways to erase notes:

Use the Erase mode tool to delete notes: (both left and right-click)

Right-click to delete notes in Draw mode

To delete multiple notes, use the Select mode tool (or Ctrl+click and drag) and press delete

3.9.1.9 Default Note Length

Note length control

The Default note length setting (in bars) can be set using a drop-down menu.
This sets the default length of notes made when you click in the Piano Roll with the Draw mode tool.

You can choose either between a specified note length, or that the next note will be the same length as the last drawn note.
As soon as you have established a perfect note-length and position, you will normally like to use the setting "last note".
3.9.2 Note Volume and Panning

Individual note velocity

Click the Note Volume/Note Panning button below the piano keys to toggle between the Note Volume and Note Panning editor.

Velocity is shown as a vertical green bar below the note in the Note Volume editor.
You can change the velocity of each note by clicking on the desired value above/below the current value.
The color of the note will brighten with increased velocity and dim with decreased velocity.

If you are using a Velocity-Sensitive Midi keyboard, the velocity of each note will be set automatically when using Record.
Also note that Velocity may affect more than just Volume, depending on the instrument.

Individual note panning

Pan is the ratio of the note volume that is transmitted out the right stereo channel versus the left stereo channel.

Pan is shown as a vertical green bar below the note in the Note Pan editor.
You can set the Pan for each note by clicking on the desired value above/below the current value.
The color of the note will darken on one side depending on the strength/direction of the Pan (Right: Bottom will darken, Left: Top will darken).
3.9.3 Piano Keys

Piano keys

You can vertically scroll the Piano Roll using either the scroll bar on the right side of the window or the scroll wheel on your mouse (Holding Ctrl allows you to scroll horizontally).

Left-click on any piano key (or or press a key on a connected midi controller) to hear the corresponding note.
You will also hear any noteblock that is Left-Clicked from within the Piano Roll.

Your Keyboard can be used to play notes in the Piano Roll.

You can mark all whole notes with their appropriate alphabetic notation (This option is found in the General Settings page as "Enable note labels in Piano roll").

Piano Keys with note labels enabled

You can also mark individual notes, chords and scales.
All these options are available as items in a context menu, by right-clicking anywhere on the Piano Keys.
The piano key you open the context menu impacts what notes are affected by its options.
From this context menu you are able to:

mark scales, chords, corresponding octave semitones, and semitones.

unmark corresponding octave semitones and semitones, or unmark all notes.

select all corresponding octave semitones.

C major marked on Piano Roll

To mark/unmark Scales/Chords, you first need to select the type of scale/chord from the two rightmost drop-down menus found in the toolbar.
Chords/Scales are marked from their root notes/1st scale degree, respectively.

The Piano Roll Editor is the main workspace for composing and editing melodies and harmonies.
It can be accessed through either the right-click context menu on or double-clicking on:

It can also be accessed using the
Show/Hide Piano-Roll button

in the main toolbar (shortcut F7, or Ctrl+3 in 1.3).

Show/Hide Piano-Roll button opens the last edited segment.
If you just started a new session (not to be confused with starting a new project), you must first connect Piano Roll to a segment to be able to use it.
LMMS
will not
3.9.1 Toolbar

Many of the tools are similar to those found in the Song Editor, with several important additions listed (listed below).

3.9.1.1 Playback and Record

In addition to the Playback and Stop controls, there are two
Record buttons which will record the notes you play on either:

Either Click

to start recording without playing Song Editor/B\u0026B tracks, or Click

to start recording with Song Editor/B\u0026B tracks playing.\nPress

to stop playback or recording.
The computer keyboard's
spacebar can toggle between Playback and Stop in both playback and record modes.
\nAs of 1.3,
allows you to record notes one at a time.\n\nAfter you press stop, you will be able to see all the notes you played in the Piano Roll.
These notes can be edited just like any other notes.

3.9.1.2 Editing

Selected notes can be manipulated together.
Some keyboard shortcuts include:

The 4 editing modes (tools) are
Draw
,
Erase
,
Select
, and
Detune
.\nYou can draw notes with Left click and erase with Right click.
(These are explained in further detail in the Edit Notes subsection of this Section).

The
Select mode tool allows you to select individual notes to create a group or \"
selection
\" of notes, which you can manipulate.

The
Detune mode allows you to edit the frequency profile of an individual note.
When you click on a note, an Automation Editor window opens for that note, and from here you can use your mouse to plot points for a Detune profile graph, this profile will be used to alter the final pitch of the edited note when played.
\nNotice that in Piano roll, edited notes will have green lines that reveal their Detune profile.

3.9.1.3 Clipboard

The Clipboard buttons allow you to cut, copy, and paste a selection, and the
Delete key on the computer keyboard will delete the selected notes.

Copy button (Ctrl+c) to copy the selected note(s) and place them in the clipboard.
Shift+drag on the selected note(s) to
duplicate
3.9.1.4 Playback Control

These work the same as the playback controls in the Song Editor.
To repatriate loops:

Hold Ctrl to place loop-points freely.

3.9.1.5 Zoom

This works the same as in the Song Editor.
The drop-down menu can be used to set horizontal zoom.

As of 1.3, vertical zooming is now avaliable in the Song editor.\n

3.9.1.6 Quantization

The Quantization can be set using drop-down menu, this allows you to set the minimum resolution for manipulating note length using that fraction of a bar, when using both Draw mode and Record.
\nFor example, if you set the Quantization to 1/1 , you'll only be able to place notes at the start of a whole bar, and you'll only be able to adjust their length in 1-bar increments.
\nIf you set the Quantization to 1/16, you'll only be able to place notes at 1/16 intervals, and you'll only be able to adjust their length in 1/16 intervals.
\nSo on and so forth.\n
snaps notes to the nearest division (set by Quantization) in the Piano Roll.

3.9.1.7 Tools

As of 1.3, Tools are new avaliable in a dropdown menu next to
.

3.9.1.8 Edit Notes

3.9.1.8.1 Draw and Move Notes

Use the Draw mode tool to place notes in the Piano Roll.
As you hover your mouse or move a note in the work area, a gray horizontal line will track the vertical position of your mouse.
This can help you see the pitch of the note you're placing by allowing you to track back to the Piano Keys.

Left-click to place a note, or if a chord is selected:

four headed arrow appears then:

two headed arrow appears, then

3.9.1.8.2 Erase notes

There are 3 ways to erase notes:

Erase mode

Select mode
3.9.1.9 Default Note Length

The
Default note length setting (in bars) can be set using a drop-down menu.
This sets the default length of notes made when you click in the Piano Roll with the Draw mode tool.
\nYou can choose either between a specified note length, or that the next note will be the same length as the last drawn note.
As soon as you have established a perfect note-length and position, you will normally like to use the setting \"last note\".

3.9.2 Note Volume and Panning

Click the
Note Volume/Note Panning button below the piano keys to toggle between the Note Volume and Note Panning editor.
\nVelocity is shown as a vertical green bar below the note in the Note Volume editor.
You can change the velocity of each note by clicking on the desired value above/below the current value.
The color of the note will brighten with increased velocity and dim with decreased velocity.

Record

Pan is the ratio of the note volume that is transmitted out the right stereo channel versus the left stereo channel.
\nPan is shown as a vertical green bar below the note in the Note Pan editor.\nYou can set the Pan for each note by clicking on the desired value above/below the current value.
The color of the note will darken on one side depending on the strength/direction of the Pan (Right: Bottom will darken, Left: Top will darken).

3.9.3 Piano Keys

You can vertically scroll the Piano Roll using either the scroll bar on the right side of the window or the scroll wheel on your mouse (Holding Ctrl allows you to scroll horizontally).
\nLeft-click on any piano key (or or press a key on a connected midi controller) to hear the corresponding note.
You will also hear any noteblock that is Left-Clicked from within the Piano Roll.

You can mark all whole notes with their appropriate alphabetic notation (This option is found in the
General Settings
page as \"
Enable note labels in Piano roll
\").

From this context menu you are able to:

found in the toolbar.

3.10 Automation

Automation Editor not connected to a segment

The Automation Editor allows you to control the value of any automatable control at any point in time during the song.
This allows you anything from very simple effects like turning up the volume of an instrument at the start of the song, to very complex manipulation of envelopes or instrument filters.
Even the controls in LADSPA effects and VST effects can be automated!
As the Piano Roll, you must connect the Automation Editor to a segment, in this case an Automation segment.
If you open the Automation Editor (shortcur F8), and it looks like the image, close it and double-click on an Automation track segment to connect to.
What Can Be Automated?
Controls are the knobs, sliders, light switches, digital readouts, etc, that can be found in the LMMS GUI.
All controls on default LMMS GUI can be automated, including the following types

Light switches:

Digital readout (FX numbers, pitch range):

Option buttons:

Sliders:

Knobs:

If you're unsure if a control can be automated, right-click on its icon and look for a contex menu item called Edit song-global automation.
If it's there, the item probably can be automated.
Most ZynAddSubFX controls do not support automation.
You can automate any controls on third-party VST instruments by clicking on the "Control VST plugin" icon .
Toolbar

Automation Editor toolbar

The toolbar controls much of the functionality, and is similar in many ways to the toolbars of other windows.
The fundamental tools are similar in behavior to their equivalents in the Piano Roll Editor.
Additional tools are:

The line progression tools

Tension knob

Editing Automation

Editing automation

The image shows a typical view of the automation window.
The window title Automation Editor-Lead>Volume tells you that you are editing the automation graph of the "Volume" control that belongs to the track named "Lead".
The image does not show this correctly because the automation is not connected to a control.
The main part of the window is a graph of the value of the control over time.
Time is listen along the horizontal axis (at the top of the window) in the units of bars (a.k.a.
the "timeline").
The value of the control is listed along the vertical axis at the left of the window in whatever units the control uses.
Within the graphing area, the mouse cursor is linked to the horizontal and vertical axes by red lines to make it easier to see where you are working in both dimensions.
How you should interpret the bar numbers in the Automation Editor depends on which method you are using to automate a control - Song-global or Automation track.
The blue part of the graph provides an easy way to see the curve of the graph.
The area between the curve and zero is shaded blue.
In the case of a volume control, all the values are zero or greater, so zero is at the bottom of the value scale.
For controls where the value can be negative, for example, a stereo pan control, the "zero line" is in the middle of the graph and blue shading can occur on either side of the zero line.
Control Points
The red circle () is the control point.
The automation graph must always go through these points.
After the last point the automation graph will be a straight line, the value of the last point could last in infinity, but is limited by the length of the segment in the Song Editor.
Drawing Control Points
Using the Draw mode tool (pencil - ), you can create new control points simply by clicking on (or near) a vertical line.
In all cases, if control point already exists somewhere on that vertical line, it will be removed to where you clicked.
If a control point does not exist on that vertical line, it will be created there.
You can move an existing point up/down its vertical line by dragging it directly - you are reshaping the graph.
You can delete a control point by right-clicking (same as deleting a note in the Piano Roll Editor).
The timeline spacing of control points as you draw is set by the Q (quantization) setting ().
By default this is set to 1/16 which means 16 control points per bar (or a control point vertical line every 1/16th of a bar).
You don't have to have a control point at every point that is possible - a horizontal line only requires 2 control points (one at each end).
Working with Selections
Operations such as cut, copy, paste, delete, and move selection operate on 1+ selected control points.
The Select mode tool allows you to drag a rectangular area around 1+ points to select them.
The vertical orange bar of the point(s) will turn blue.
You can also use Ctrl+A which will select all the control points in the Automation Editor.
You can the cut, copy, delete, and/or paste the selected points.
Use the Delete key on the computer keyboard to delete the selected points.
The Paste operation uses both the timeline position (horizontal value) and the control value (vertical value) of the control points when pasting them into a new (or the same) automation track block.
Beware the vertical value might not make sense for a different control.
After pasting, the pasted points are still selected, which allows you to move them as a group.
For example, if you copied the control points from bars 20 to 30 from one automation block and pasted them into a different automation block, the points will occupy bars 20 to 30 in the new block, but, because they are still selected, you can move them to a different location.
The Move selection mode tool allow you to move (by dragging) the selected control points and without regard for the Q setting.
The selection will move at the maximum Q of 1/192.
This is similar to the "free drag" (Alt+drag) of notes in the Piano Roll.
Beware while moving a selection that any existing points that the selection passes over will be deleted!
Erasing Control Points
The Erase mode tool can delete control points, as can right-clicking on them.

As the Piano Roll, you must connect the Automation Editor to a segment, in this case an Automation segment.
If you open the Automation Editor (shortcur F8), and it looks like the image, close it and double-click on an Automation track segment to connect to.

What Can Be Automated?

Controls are the knobs, sliders, light switches, digital readouts, etc, that can be found in the LMMS GUI.
All controls on default LMMS GUI can be automated, including the following types

If you're unsure if a control can be automated, right-click on its icon and look for a contex menu item called
Edit song-global automation
.
If it's there, the item probably can be automated.
Most ZynAddSubFX controls do not support automation.
You can automate any controls on third-party VST instruments by clicking on the \"Control VST plugin\" icon

Toolbar

Editing Automation

The image shows a typical view of the automation window.
The window title
Automation Editor-Lead\u003eVolume tells you that you are editing the automation graph of the \"Volume\" control that belongs to the track named \"Lead\".
The image does not show this correctly because the automation is not connected to a control.

The main part of the window is a
graph of the
value of the control over
time
.
Time is listen along the horizontal axis (at the top of the window) in the units of bars (a.k.a.
the \"timeline\").
The value of the control is listed along the vertical axis at the left of the window in whatever units the control uses.
Within the graphing area, the mouse cursor is linked to the horizontal and vertical axes by red lines to make it easier to see where you are working in both dimensions.
How you should interpret the bar numbers in the Automation Editor depends on which method you are using to automate a control - Song-global or Automation track.

The blue part of the graph provides an easy way to see the curve of the graph.
The area between the curve and zero is shaded blue.
In the case of a volume control, all the values are zero or greater, so zero is at the bottom of the value scale.
For controls where the value can be negative, for example, a stereo pan control, the \"zero line\" is in the middle of the graph and blue shading can occur on either side of the zero line.

Control Points

The red circle (

) is the
control point
.
The automation graph must always go through these points.
After the last point the automation graph will be a straight line, the value of the last point could last in infinity, but is limited by the length of the segment in the Song Editor.

Drawing Control Points

Using the
Draw mode tool (pencil -

), you can create new control points simply by clicking on (or near) a vertical line.
In all cases, if control point already exists somewhere on that vertical line, it will be removed to where you clicked.
If a control point does not exist on that vertical line, it will be created there.
You can move an existing point up/down its vertical line by dragging it directly - you are reshaping the graph.

You can delete a control point by right-clicking (same as deleting a note in the Piano Roll Editor).

The timeline spacing of control points as you draw is set by the
Q (quantization) setting (

).
By default this is set to 1/16 which means 16 control points per bar (or a control point vertical line every 1/16th of a bar).
You don't have to have a control point at every point that is possible - a horizontal line only requires 2 control points (one at each end).

Working with Selections

Operations such as cut, copy, paste, delete, and move selection operate on 1+
selected control points.

The
Select mode tool allows you to drag a rectangular area around 1+ points to select them.
The vertical orange bar of the point(s) will turn blue.
You can also use Ctrl+A which will select all the control points in the Automation Editor.
You can the cut, copy, delete, and/or paste the selected points.

Use the
Delete key on the computer keyboard to delete the selected points.

The
Paste operation uses both the timeline position (horizontal value) and the control value (vertical value) of the control points when pasting them into a new (or the same) automation track block.
Beware the vertical value might not make sense for a different control.
After pasting, the pasted points are still selected, which allows you to move them as a group.
For example, if you copied the control points from bars 20 to 30 from one automation block and pasted them into a different automation block, the points will occupy bars 20 to 30 in the new block, but, because they are still selected, you can move them to a different location.

The
Move selection mode tool allow you to move (by dragging) the selected control points and without regard for the Q setting.
The selection will move at the maximum Q of 1/192.
This is similar to the \"free drag\" (Alt+drag) of notes in the Piano Roll.
Beware while moving a selection that any existing points that the selection passes over will be deleted!

Erasing Control Points

The
Erase mode

3.11 FX-MixerThe is the FX-Mixer show/hide toggle button.

FX-Mixer

To add an FX-channel, press the + button on the right.
You can delete or move an FX-channel by right-clicking on it and choosing the desired option from the context menu.
You can also rename an FX-channel by double-clicking on its name.
Each FX-channel has separate left and right (stereo) volume indicators located on each side of the fader slider control, but the left and right volume cannot be controlled independently by the fader, it controls both simultaneously.
To change the volume of an FX-channel, drag its fader up and down with the mouse.
You can also add an Amplifier effect to balance channels.
Each FX-channel also has a Mute/Unmute LED toggle switch below its name.
An FX-channel can be selected by clicking on its name.
The name will turn from white to green, and only one FX-channel can be selected at any time.
When an FX-channel is selected, the Effects Chain for that FX-channel will display in the Effects Chain box at the far right end of the window.
When selecting an FX-channel, you can click on "Send" on another channel to send its signal to it.
You can use the knob to control the level of signal that is sent to the channel.
3.11.1 Master FX-channel

Master FX-channel

By default, all instruments have their "FX" initially set to channel zero which is the "Master" channel at the far left end of the FX-Mixer window.
The Master channel controls the overall volume of all the combined instruments and FX-channels.
Also, it ca function as FX-channel zero (FX0) which allows you to apply effects to the master output (i.e.
everything combined).
3.11.2 Add Effects to FX-channels

Effects chain

To add an effect to an FX-channel, select the FX-channel (i.e.
click on its name), then click the Add effect button below the Effects Chain box (see image).
This will open a dialog box where you can select one effect from the list of all available effect plugins.
You can add another effect by clicking the Add effect button again (you can only add one effect at a time).
You will get a "Controls" dialog individualized for the particular effect plugin you just added - here you can edit the effect plugin's configuration.
Notice that the effect plugin has been added as an entry at the bottom of the stack in the Effects Chain box.
Each effect's entry has a standard set of visible controls:

On/Off LED toggle switch (yellow)

Knobs for W/D, Decay, and Gate (these are explained in section Instrument Editor#FX tab)

Controls button that is a show/hide toggle for the effect plugin's configuration dialog

A right-click context menu allow yo to:

remove the effect's entry from the Effects Chain box

move the effect's entry up or down in the stacking order

Also notice that the Effects Chain box itself has an On/Off LED toggle (green) that turns off all the effects on that FX-channel only.
3.11.3 Assign Instruments to FX-Channels

FX-channel assignment

To assign an instrument to an FX-channel, click on its name in either the Song-Editor or Beat+Bassline Editor, depending on where it is located.
In the instrument settings window, set the FX CHNL to the FX-channel you want by:

hovering your mouse over the digital readout number and scrolling the mouse wheel

dragging your mouse vertically on the digital readout number

A double-click on the digital readout number will change the selected FX-channel in the FX-Mixer window to the FX-channel with that number.
The right-click context menu for the digital readout number has Reset, Copy, and Paste followed by a number in parentheses.
The number in parentheses is the number that it will be reset to, or will be copied to the clipboard, or will be pasted, respectively.
Multiple instruments can be assigned to a single FX-channel in order to get the same effect on each instrument (e.g.
an equalizer).
3.11.4 Channel Grouping

Channel grouping

The interface in LMMS for sending channels may be confusing at first sight.
Select a channel except for the Master channel

The other channels should have a "send" button above them

Click on a send button to send a signal to the channel it is attached to

You can adjust the strength of the signal you are sending with volume knobs below the send buttons

is the FX-Mixer show/hide toggle button.

Each FX-channel has separate left and right (stereo) volume indicators located on each side of the
fader slider control, but the left and right volume cannot be controlled independently by the fader, it controls both simultaneously.
To change the volume of an FX-channel, drag its fader up and down with the mouse.
You can also add an Amplifier effect to balance channels.

Each FX-channel also has a Mute/Unmute LED toggle switch below its name.

An FX-channel can be
selected by clicking on its name.
The name will turn from white to green, and only one FX-channel can be selected at any time.
When an FX-channel is selected, the Effects Chain for that FX-channel will display in the Effects Chain box at the far right end of the window.

When selecting an FX-channel, you can click on \"
Send
\" on another channel to send its signal to it.
You can use the knob to control the level of signal that is sent to the channel.

3.11.1 Master FX-channel

By default, all instruments have their \"
FX
\" initially set to channel zero which is the \"Master\" channel at the far left end of the FX-Mixer window.
The
Master channel controls the overall volume of all the combined instruments and FX-channels.
Also, it ca function as FX-channel zero (FX0) which allows you to apply effects to the master output (i.e.
everything combined).

3.11.2 Add Effects to FX-channels

To add an
effect to an FX-channel, select the FX-channel (i.e.
click on its name), then click the
Add effect button below the
Effects Chain box (see image).
This will open a dialog box where you can select one effect from the list of all available effect plugins.
You can add another effect by clicking the Add effect button again (you can only add one effect at a time).
You will get a \"Controls\" dialog individualized for the particular effect plugin you just added - here you can edit the effect plugin's configuration.
Notice that the effect plugin has been added as an
entry at the bottom of the stack in the Effects Chain box.
Each effect's entry has a standard set of visible controls:

A right-click context menu allow yo to:

Also notice that the Effects Chain box itself has an On/Off LED toggle (green) that turns off all the effects on that FX-channel only.

3.11.3 Assign Instruments to FX-Channels

To assign an instrument to an FX-channel, click on its name in either the
Song-Editor or
Beat+Bassline Editor
, depending on where it is located.
In the instrument settings window, set the
FX CHNL to the FX-channel you want by:

3.11.4 Channel Grouping

The interface in LMMS for sending channels may be confusing at first sight.

3.12 Project Notes

Project notes window

In LMMS there is a notepad in which you can write useful info.
It can be for yourself regarding the project or for others to see if you share your project.
It includes these tools:

Font type

Font size

Bold

Italic

Underline

Text align

Color

Undo

Redo

Copy

Cut

Paste

In LMMS there is a notepad in which you can write useful info.
It can be for yourself regarding the project or for others to see if you share your project.

It includes these tools:

3.13 Controller RackControllers are used to vary the position of a knob or other control over time using another signal such as an LFO waveform.
They differ from automation because automation uses a shape drawn manually and usually the shape is not a repeated pattern.
In contrast, LFO controllers use waveforms to yield a regular pattern.

Controller rack

The Controller Rack displays all the controllers created within this project.
There are 2 types of controllers:

LFO controller

Peak controller

The right-click context menu allows you only 1 options: "Remove this controller".
You can change the names of the controllers by double-clicking on the current controller name.
3.13.1 LFO Controller
LFO stands for Low Frequency Oscillator.
This button is the Controller Rack show/hide toggle button (F11).
To add an LFO controller entry to the Controller Rack, click the Add button at the bottom of the window.
To edit the settings for a particular LFO controller entry, click the Controls button on the right side of the entry.
The LFO controller settings are:

8 waveform option buttons

4 knobs

BASE: the center (or zero line) around which the wave oscillates

SPD: speed is the rate (frequency) of wave oscillation

AMP: amount is the size (amplitude) of the wave

PHS: phase offset is where in the waveform the wave starts its first oscillation

3 speed-multiplier option buttons

3.13.2 Peak controller
A Peak controller allows you to use the volume peaks from an audio source to automate the values of a control.
A Peak controller is similar to Gate, but with greater flexibility.
Peak controllers commonly use the output signal of a percussion track to control the volume of a sustained sound on a different track.
This results in the sustained sound being chopped up in time with the percussion.
In LMMS, when you add a Peak Controller it is visible in the Controller Rack, but it's actually an effect applied to an FX-channel.
If you click on the "Controls" button you'll get a window telling you to use the FX-channel's controls (magenta arrow).
Therefore, to get to the Peak Controller settings, click the "Controls" button on the Peak controller entry in the Effects chain box (yellow arrow).
Beware an FX-channel can have more than one Peak controller entry.

The Controller Rack displays all the controllers created within this project.

There are 2 types of controllers:

The right-click context menu allows you only 1 options: \"Remove this controller\".
You can change the names of the controllers by double-clicking on the current controller name.

3.13.1 LFO Controller

LFO stands for
Low Frequency Oscillator
.

This button is the Controller Rack show/hide toggle button (F11).
To add an LFO controller entry to the Controller Rack, click the Add button at the bottom of the window.

To edit the settings for a particular LFO controller entry, click the Controls button on the right side of the entry.
The LFO controller settings are:

3.13.2 Peak controller

A Peak controller allows you to use the volume peaks from an audio source to automate the values of a control.
A Peak controller is similar to Gate, but with greater flexibility.
Peak controllers commonly use the output signal of a percussion track to control the volume of a sustained sound on a different track.
This results in the sustained sound being chopped up in time with the percussion.
In LMMS, when you add a Peak Controller it is visible in the Controller Rack, but it's actually an
effect

4.1 Safety
As mentioned in General settings, the Backup feature is ON by default.
It is highly recommended to keep it that way! You may also like to invoke the Autosave feature.
Whereas a .BAK file represents the penultimate version of your work, Autosave will create a copy of the current file state.
Autosave will only be invoked when LMMS is idle, so it will not by default happen in replay or during export! You control the interval between each Autosave.
Because an autosave results in a tiny drop in performance, you find the settings for using Autosave in Settings > Performance.
A choice of 5 - 15 mins is recommended.
The default is 5 mins.
If LMMS crashes it is very important that you pay attention to the screen next time you open LMMS! You will get 2 options from Autosave:
Ignore: anything Autosave has kept will be deleted!

Recover: LMMS will load the Autosave version of the last loaded project as a recover project! You need to use File > Save as and rename the recovery file to a name of your own choice! Do that immidiately!

Remember to save often! Save your project every time you've created something that sounds great.
It's also a good strategy to save different versions of your song, allowing you to revert to a previous version of the project in the event that you've tweaked the production into something you don't like.
LMMS provides a special version control option for this in the File menu: Save as new version.
Let's say your project was named as "MyProject", the new version will be named "MyProject-01", and the old file will not be altered.
When you save a project for the first time, you will be prompted for a folder and project name.
You also have to choose if your project should be compressed (mmpz) or uncompressed (mmp).
Subsequent saves will overwrite this file, and LMMS will show you a small message at the bottom of the screen.

Wait for the message, before you continue your work!

Backup
feature is ON by default.
It is highly recommended to keep it that way! You may also like to invoke the
Autosave feature.
Whereas a
.BAK file represents the penultimate version of your work, Autosave will
create a copy of the
current file state.

Autosave will only be invoked when LMMS is
idle
, so it will not by default happen in replay or during export! You control the interval between each Autosave.
Because an autosave results in a tiny drop in performance, you find the settings for using Autosave in Settings \u003e Performance.
A choice of 5 - 15 mins is recommended.
The default is 5 mins.
If LMMS crashes it is very important that you pay attention to the screen next time you open LMMS! You will get 2 options from Autosave:

LMMS provides a special version control option for this in the File menu:
Save as new version
.
Let's say your project was named as \"MyProject\", the new version will be named \"MyProject-01\", and the old file will not be altered.

When you save a project for the first time, you will be prompted for a folder and project name.
You also have to choose if your project should be compressed (mmpz) or uncompressed (mmp).
Subsequent saves will overwrite this file, and LMMS will show you a small message at the bottom of the screen.

4.2 Jumping Right InA project is created by adding instruments (sidebar tab 1), samples (sidebar tab 3) and/or presets (sidebar tab 4) to either the Song-Editor or the Beat+Bassline-Editor.
Each added element is in LMMS regarded as a Track.
In this way you can have instrument tracks based on presets, Beat+Bassline tracks and automation tracks.
The Song-Editor is useful for non-repeating sound events, such as melody lines, while the Beat+Bassline-Editor is useful for repeating sequences, like percussion.
Events created in the Beat+Bassline-Editor are "continuous", i.e.
they can't be expanded (but can be copied, of course).
The actual song is always built in the Song-Editor.
This is where all the elements (Song-Editor blocks), including events in the Beat+Bassline Editor, come together on the timeline forming the project.
When starting a new project in LMMS there are 4 items loaded in the Song Editor by default.
The first one, named "Default Preset", is an instance of the TripleOscillator (3-OSC) generator; it's a good example of an instrument container.
This TripleOscillator instance's default settings generate sounds using waveforms, default it is simple sine waveform, but that you can change.
Let's take a look at this instrument, because it has behavior that is the same for all other instrument containers.
When you move your mouse over the instrument containers, they will highlight.
This indicates that the instrument can be clicked as if they were buttons! Left-click the 3-OSC.
This opens the instrument GUI.
The 3-OSC instrument is now chosen, and it is at the same time the focused instrument.
Click again, and the GUI will close.
All instruments behave like this.
When you make changes on the GUI you create a preset.
If it sounds less than horrible, you have an instrument-preset :) If you right-click you will have a rename option.
Always name your presets! To the left of the instruments there are 2 clickable lights ().
When the green light is ON, the track is activated.
In its OFF state the track is muted.
The other light is red.
When it is ON, the track will mute all other tracks and play solo.
Next, to the left of these, we have the action-button ().
Here you can delete or clone the track and all of its events.
To the right of the Instruments, before the knobs, we have a vertical bar.
When clicked, it will play the root note of the instrument.
We also have a dial for volume and one for balance:

Volume and panning

In most great programs, there are always more than one way to do a specific task! This makes various workflows possible.
This is also the case with LMMS.
The volume dial we just looked at, is a good example.
You can adjust volume with several different controls.
In the main component we have the main sound settings, called the "master volume".

Master volume

You would really never change this setting for creative reasons.
But if the phone rings...
The same goes for master pitch.
Creative changes in volume is best done in other controllers.
The volume dial on your instrument, that is suited for controlling the volume on a saved instrument preset.
The volume sliders in FX-Mixer are suited to set volume in a project.
Remember that everything you like to save for general usage, that must be saved with the preset! This goes for the aforementioned volume, but also for effects added on the FX-Tab.
Amazing FX chains that you build in the FX-Mixer will not be simple to use in a new project! If, however, it is made directly in an instrument preset, then it is natively usable in any project, as a saved instrument preset!
Planning and making good decisions can spare you a lot of fruitless redoing!
I will also recommend you to use the project notes.
Write down your ideas, because it is next to given, that you will not remember where in the project you had that "neat little phrase".
On the right half of the Song Editor, we have the timeline.
Create a track by adding events to this timeline.
The timeline is divided in bar-sized blocks.
Click in one next to 3-OSC.
You get a visually different "box".
If you double-click this box, you open the Piano-Roll Editor.
This is where you compose.
You can also right-click in the box and choose the context menu option Open in Piano-Roll.
We will return to that later.
Below the 3-OSC you have the Sample Track.
It is great for vocals or other larger WAV or OGG files that you want to replay unaltered, but can also be used as an advanced clip looper.
You can add a new sample track with the 6.
button on the Song Editor toolbar ().
Next you have the default Beat+Bassline instance.
Just for illustration, click on one of the boxes in the timeline next to the Beat+Bassline track.
You get a blue block.
Click and drag its right end and it will expand.
This is what I meant by Beat+Bassline events are "continuous".
When you did that with the 3-OSC, the block would not expand.
You can add a new Beat+Bassline with the 5.
button on the Song Editor toolbar ().
Last is an instance of the Automation track.
This can give you advanced variations in real-time, and it is with automation that you can create nice subtle changes in the sound over several bars, known in trance and house music, or rhythmic repeated growls and effects for, say dubstep.
How to do all this and how to use automation tracks is explained in Working with automation.
You can add a new automation track with the 7.
button on the Song Editor toolbar ().

Track
.

In this way you can have instrument tracks based on presets, Beat+Bassline tracks and automation tracks.

The Song-Editor is useful for non-repeating sound events, such as melody lines, while the Beat+Bassline-Editor is useful for repeating sequences, like percussion.

Events created in the Beat+Bassline-Editor are \"continuous\", i.e.
they can't be expanded (but can be copied, of course).

The actual song is always built in the Song-Editor.
This is where all the
elements (Song-Editor blocks), including events in the Beat+Bassline Editor, come together on the timeline forming the project.

When starting a new project in LMMS there are 4 items loaded in the Song Editor by default.
The first one, named \"Default Preset\", is an instance of the TripleOscillator (3-OSC) generator; it's a good example of an instrument container.
This TripleOscillator instance's default settings generate sounds using waveforms, default it is simple sine waveform, but that you can change.\nLet's take a look at this instrument, because it has behavior that is the same for all other instrument containers.
When you move your mouse over the instrument containers, they will highlight.
This indicates that the instrument can be clicked as if they were buttons! Left-click the 3-OSC.
This opens the instrument GUI.
The 3-OSC instrument is now chosen, and it is at the same time the focused instrument.
Click again, and the GUI will close.
All instruments behave like this.

When you make changes on the GUI you create a preset.
If it sounds less than horrible, you have an instrument-preset :) If you right-click you will have a rename option.

Always name your presets! To the left of the instruments there are 2 clickable lights (

).
When the green light is ON, the track is activated.
In its OFF state the track is muted.
The other light is red.
When it is ON, the track will mute all other tracks and play solo.

Next, to the left of these, we have the action-button (

).
Here you can delete or clone the track and all of its events.
To the right of the Instruments, before the knobs, we have a vertical bar.
When clicked, it will play the root note of the instrument.
We also have a dial for volume and one for balance:

On the right half of the Song Editor, we have the timeline.
Create a track by adding events to this timeline.
The timeline is divided in bar-sized blocks.
Click in one next to 3-OSC.
You get a visually different \"box\".
If you double-click this box, you open the Piano-Roll Editor.
This is where you compose.
You can also right-click in the box and choose the context menu option
Open in Piano-Roll
.
We will return to that later.

Below the 3-OSC you have the Sample Track.
It is great for vocals or other larger WAV or OGG files that you want to replay unaltered, but can also be used as an advanced clip looper.
You can add a new sample track with the 6.
button on the Song Editor toolbar (

Next you have the default Beat+Bassline instance.
Just for illustration, click on one of the boxes in the timeline next to the Beat+Bassline track.
You get a blue block.
Click and drag its right end and it will expand.
This is what I meant by Beat+Bassline events are \"continuous\".
When you did that with the 3-OSC, the block would not expand.
You can add a new Beat+Bassline with the 5.
button on the Song Editor toolbar (

Last is an instance of the
Automation track
.
This can give you advanced variations in real-time, and it is with automation that you can create nice subtle changes in the sound over several bars, known in trance and house music, or rhythmic repeated growls and effects for, say dubstep.
How to do all this and how to use automation tracks is explained in Working with automation.
You can add a new automation track with the 7.
button on the Song Editor toolbar (

4.3 Instruments: Samples & PresetsNow we take a look at those components that create sounds: samples and instrument presets.
To insert one of the many factory pre-defined instrument presets into the Beat+Bassline Editor or Song Editor, click the 4.
button in the sidebar.
It works just like a browser.
You can now choose a preset and drag it into the song editor.
Everything that you can do in the sidebar browser with presets, you can also do with samples (just click the 3.
button in the sidebar).
Furthermore, you can click and hold your mouse on the name of a preset or sample.
LMMS will then let you listen to that particular instrument, as a kind of sound test.
You can then drag the instrument into the editor.

If you add VST instruments to your preset collection, you should never use this preview feature on these VST presets!

You can also double-click an instrument in the browser.
This will place the objects directly into the Beat+Bassline Editor, or you can right-click on the instrument in the browser list tree, and LMMS will open a context menu.
Here you have the option to send this instrument into an empty slot in the Song Editor or to replace a current active instrument with this new instrument.
The active instrument is the one that is highlighted in the Song Editor, and has its GUI opened, in other words has been mouse-clicked.
Always use the send to active instrument option when ever you need to load a VST instrument preset (more on this: How to use VST instrument presets).
When you insert an instrument, the instrument's GUI editor window will open.
You can also see this GUI by clicking on the instruments grey name button in the Song or Beat+Bassline Editor.
When you click the name button, it will change to lightgray.
This instrument is now the active instrument.
The name button acts as a toggle for the GUI editor window.
Instrument GUI's have five tabs: PLUGIN, ENV/LFO, FUNC, FX and MIDI.
The PLUGIN tab changes with the type of instrument.
All other tabs are standard for every instrument, however the ENV/LFO tab is only available on the kind of instruments that can use this feature.
VeSTige, LB302 and ZynAddSubFX plugins do not present this tab.
An in-depth explanation of how to use the features on the various tabs can be found in the Working with instruments section.
If you want to remove an instrument completely from your song, click on its gray toolkit icon and choose "Remove this track".
Instruments are divided into factory provided and user specified.
Subfolders in your file system can be used to organize the instruments or samples hierarchichally.
Later you may like to create your own instruments from scratch.
The sidebar's 1.button opens the instruments plugins.
These are empty default preset templates that you can use for your own instruments.
Drag them into your project and play around with all the settings on the GUI.
Some hints and tips on how to create 3-OSC instruments can be found in Making TripleOscillator patches.
You can of course also make changes to the factory-defined instruments and save those as your own.
Overwriting existing factory-defined instrument is not recommended.

never
You can also double-click an instrument in the browser.
This will place the objects directly into the Beat+Bassline Editor, or you can right-click on the instrument in the browser list tree, and LMMS will open a context menu.
Here you have the option to send this instrument into an empty slot in the Song Editor or to replace a current active instrument with this new instrument.
The active instrument is the one that is highlighted in the Song Editor, and has its GUI opened, in other words has been mouse-clicked.

Always use the send to active instrument option when ever you need to load a VST instrument preset (more on this: How to use VST instrument presets).

When you insert an instrument, the instrument's GUI editor window will open.
You can also see this GUI by clicking on the instruments grey name button in the Song or Beat+Bassline Editor.
When you click the name button, it will change to lightgray.
This instrument is now the active instrument.
The name button acts as a toggle for the GUI editor window.
Instrument GUI's have five tabs: PLUGIN, ENV/LFO, FUNC, FX and MIDI.
The PLUGIN tab changes with the type of instrument.
All other tabs are standard for every instrument, however the ENV/LFO tab is only available on the kind of instruments that can use this feature.
VeSTige, LB302 and ZynAddSubFX plugins do not present this tab.
An in-depth explanation of how to use the features on the various tabs can be found in the Working with instruments section.

If you want to remove an instrument completely from your song, click on its gray toolkit icon and choose \"Remove this track\".

Instruments are divided into factory provided and user specified.
Subfolders in your file system can be used to organize the instruments or samples hierarchichally.

4.4 Creating a TrackThe standard way to create a track is to add percussion instruments to the Beat+Bassline Editor and instruments for melody tracks into the Song Editor.
Then create different percussion loops using the Add bassline button in the Beat+Bassline Editor for each rhythmic element you want - a main bass line, a hihat line, special rhythms and breaks, etc.
These are listed in the Song Editor as they're created.
To make them play, click on the start bar in the track's timeline to create a new block element (segment).
You can also drag in Beat+Bassline blocks to make the pattern go across multiple bars.
The same technique can be used for repetitive bass lines, if you create them in the Beat+Bassline Editor.

Keyboard as piano

For melody tracks, click in the Song Editor on the bar where you want a new melody segment and then double-click that block element to open the Piano Roll Editor.
Place your notes in the piano roll, by clicking on the notes wanted start "position" or tick, to create a new note, you can then drag the notes right-hand edge to be as long as you want.
You can also drag notes up and down to change their pitch.
Alternatively, you can press the record button in the Piano Roll Editor and play notes in real time, either on the computer keyboard or a MIDI keyboard.
We recommend that you as next read and do the exercises in the section Your First Song with LMMS.

Add bassline button in the Beat+Bassline Editor for each rhythmic element you want - a main bass line, a hihat line, special rhythms and breaks, etc.
These are listed in the Song Editor as they're created.
To make them play, click on the start bar in the track's timeline to create a new
block element (segment).
You can also drag in Beat+Bassline blocks to make the pattern go across multiple bars.
The same technique can be used for repetitive bass lines, if you create them in the Beat+Bassline Editor.

Alternatively, you can press the record button in the Piano Roll Editor and play notes in real time, either on the computer keyboard or a MIDI keyboard.

4.5 Using MIDI
4.5.1 MIDI Settings

MIDI settings

You can find the MIDI settings in the Settings window.
ALSA-Sequencer is the recommended setting for Linux.
WinMM MIDI is the default setting for Windows.
Modify the default settings only if necessary.
4.5.2 Quick MIDI Setup

MIDI quick select

This is a quick way of connecting your Instrument to a MIDI device.
For more advanced settings go to the MIDI tab.
4.5.3 The MIDI Tab

Plugins MIDI

The MIDI tab in the Instrument Editor has some more advanced options.
You can read on how to connect a MIDI device to an instrument in the MIDI tab section.
To connect to a knob, right-click on it, select "Connect to controller", make sure MIDI controller and Auto Detect are lit up, then just move the mod wheel on your MIDI device.

You can find the MIDI settings in the Settings window.

ALSA-Sequencer is the recommended setting for Linux.
WinMM MIDI is the default setting for Windows.
Modify the default settings only if necessary.

4.5.2 Quick MIDI Setup

This is a quick way of connecting your Instrument to a MIDI device.
For more advanced settings go to the MIDI tab.

4.5.3 The MIDI Tab

The MIDI tab in the Instrument Editor has some more advanced options.

You can read on how to connect a MIDI device to an instrument in the MIDI tab section.

4.6 Using VSTs
For this section, download and install the VST Synth1.
You can find it here.
When downloading other VSTs, you should try to download them from their official sites.
However in VST Resources you can find several safe sites dedicated to hosting VSTs for download.
So why Synth1? It is our proof-of-concept VST.
When you download VSTs, unpack them in the folder you have entered as your default VST folder in the preferences of your LMMS installation.

Settings

VST-PLUGIN DIRECTORY is where LMMS will look for VSTs.
In Synth1's case, it will need to be installed.
This is not always the case with VSTs, but for the few that ask you to specify the installation folder, be sure to always use the same one.
It is also recommended that you use a sub-folder structure for the various VSTs.
This is especially important for VSTs that have their own banks and/or multiple files they require to run.
Let's load one instance of Synth1.
Normally you will load VSTs into already open projects, and it is important that you always save before loading VSTs.
In LMMS, click on the Instrument plugins button on the left sidebar.
This should open up a list of built in instruments.
Loading from this list opens the instrument in its default state - something that is very important for successfully opening VSTs in LMMS,

Locate VeSTige in the list and drag it into your project

Open the instrument GUI, e.g.
click on the instrument in the Song Editor

To the right of the text "No VST Plugin loaded" there is a folder symbol - click on it

Browse the VST folder

Click on the .dll and wait for LMMS to load the VST

When it loads, the VST's GUI will open.

Be careful when opening/closing VST GUIs as it tends to freeze LMMS, so use "Show/Hide" button whenever you need to hide the GUI.

If you successfully loaded Synth1, you should now be able to use it in your project.
You can also automate the dials and sliders in your VSTs.
Directly below the folder icon there is a wrench icon.
Clicking on it will show the interface for the VST's controllers.
You can Ctrl+drag any of these dials into an automation track or connect them to a controller.

Synth1 LMMS dial array

LMMS can save and load VST presets:
Name the instrument

In the VeSTige window, click on the save con

In the save window that opened, create a new folder called "VeSTige" in the presets folder, located in your LMMS installation.
You can then make sub-folders for specific VSTs if you'd like.
This keeps things tidy and structured, but is completely optional.

Loading saved VST presets is just as easy:
Remember to always save the project first!

Load a new VeSTige plugin into the project, from sidebar

Open the VeSTige GUI

Right-click the preset in sidebar.
This will open a menu.
Choose "Send to Active Instrument Track"

Wait for it to load

4.6.1 VSTs in Linux

This guide is for usage of Windows-built VSTs, used on Linux through Wine.

You can only use 32-bit VSTs!

You need to install Wine before you install LMMS' AppImage for Linux.
The first time you start LMMS through the AppImage file, Wine may ask you to install upgrades - accept them all! Afer installation, go into Edit > Settings > Misc.
Disable Sync VST plugins to host playback.
This works best for Linux.
4.6.2 Instrument Tabs
The instrument-plugin for VSTs is empty because it is not supported.
You can use all the features of the FUNC tab, and you can also use effects on VSTs.

Synth1
.
You can find it
here
.
When downloading other VSTs, you should try to download them from their official sites.
However in VST Resources you can find several safe sites dedicated to hosting VSTs for download.

So why Synth1? It is our proof-of-concept VST.

When you download VSTs, unpack them in the folder you have entered as your default VST folder in the preferences of your LMMS installation.

VST-PLUGIN DIRECTORY is where LMMS will look for VSTs.

In Synth1's case, it will need to be installed.
This is not always the case with VSTs, but for the few that ask you to specify the installation folder, be sure to always use the same one.
It is also recommended that you use a sub
-
folder structure for the various VSTs.
This is especially important for VSTs that have their own banks and/or multiple files they require to run.

Let's load one instance of Synth1.
Normally you will load VSTs into already open projects, and it is important that you always save before loading VSTs.

Instrument plugins

VeSTige

When it loads, the VST's GUI will open.

LMMS can save and load VST presets:

Loading saved VST presets is just as easy:

4.6.1 VSTs in Linux

4.6.2 Instrument Tabs

4.5 Exporting a SongThere are many factors to consider when exporting a finished song, such as computer processor, amount of memory and the quality level desired.
Then matching those up to each and every option given for the export, the more processor power and memory the computer has the smoother the process will be and the more options can be chosen at higher levels, but will increase the time it takes to export the song.
There will be no fast easy rule for exporting, but to take the best guess and try it.
If it does not come out sounding the way it was intended, then delete the finished export, change the settings and try again.
The export does not alter or damage the original .mmpz file, it is only reading as in the case of say ripping from a CD to computer.
So keep adjusting the settings until it comes out the way it was intended to sound during the creation.
The good news is that it will only take a few trial and error exports to figure out what any particular computer build can handle.
Not taking the time on the export and winging it is like missing a note in a song or when playing an instrument, it just does not sound right.
The same holds true for the export, take the time here and the outcome will be what it needs to be, as it sounded during playback, but better.
It is highly recommended that you upgrade your LMMS installation to the newest release.
4.5.1 Exporting a Song
There are two ways to get to the export utility.
You could either click on the export button (), or go to Project > Export (Ctrl+E).
After this choose the name for the song and a location to save to.
Following this there will be the Export Project window.
This window displays all the export options that can be used to adjust the quality and precision of the exported song file.
4.5.2 File Format
There are two options:

WAV or waveform audio format is usually the best choice for newer users because it can be read on most computers and media devices without conversion

OGG vorbis format is a preferred choice for those who are particular about sound quality, however this format is limited in what devices it can be played on

4.5.3 Sample Rate
This option allows you to adjust how many times the song will be sampled per second.
The more times the song is sampled per second the more sensitive the exporter will be to changes in the song.
In other words, if you have a lot of changes over a short amount of time you will want a higher sample rate.
In general this should be left as it is.
44.1kHz is what normal CD's use.
If the sample rate is turned down too much, the song will not sound properly and you might get aliasing.
On the other hand, high sample rates will make the song file become extremely large and take much longer when being processed by the exporting tool.
4.5.4 Bit Rate
Bit rate refers to the amount (speed) at which the song is processed by the device reading it.
Number of bits per second. This option is important because it allows choosing both quality and size of the song file.
The higher the bit rate the better the quality of the music.
However, it also means a larger file.
The following list gives comparable examples of bit rates:
Bit rate
Application example
64 kbps
AM radio
128 kbps
FM radio
160 kbps
Compressed MP3
192 kbps
Digital audio broadcast
256 kbps
High quality MP3
320 kbps
CD quality

4.5.5 Bit Depth

Bit depth = 3 graph example

4.5.5.1 Musical Approach
Bit depth is the number of different volumes a sound in the song can have.
If the song is 3 bits, it has 2^3=8 volume levels in total.
We say it has a bit depth resolution of eight.
It is well known that a wave must go both up and down - have both crests and troughs - and is symmetrical around the X axis, therefore you must divide 8 by 2 to actually get the volume levels of the sound waves you hear.
So the total calculated levels must be divided by 2 to get the levels you can hear.
As you can see from the graph, there are only four volume levels above or below the X axis.
The weakest sound possible with bit depth equal to 3 would be therefore a wave with amplitude of 1.
The loudest possible sound is represented in the image with an amplitude of 4.
Dynamic range is connected to bit depth.
4.5.5.2 Computer Science Approach
A way the processor in the computer interacts with the program in terms of scientific notation or integer format while the song is being encoded.
Choosing the 32 bit float will allow the computer to do a more accurate compilation of the song, however it requires more processing power to achieve this.
Using the 16 bit integer will allow for faster processing, especially on older or under-powered computers.
In general to achieve a better sounding song, this setting should be set to 32 bit float.
4.5.6 Interpolation
Interpolation means the same as regression.
Draw the sound waves smoothly.
When LMMS gets the sample points it can choose to draw a line between two points, or it could try to draw smooth curves with smart algorithms.
Analog sounds have smooth curves, and thus logically present the best sound.
If you want the best result, always use the "sinc best" option.
The audio file size is not affected by this option.
4.5.7 Useful resources

Video explaining sample rate, bit depth and interpolation

Video explaining bit rate and more

It is highly recommended that you upgrade your LMMS installation to the newest release.

4.5.1 Exporting a Song

There are two ways to get to the export utility.
You could either click on the export button (

), or go to Project \u003e Export (Ctrl+E).
After this choose the name for the song and a location to save to.

Following this there will be the Export Project window.
This window displays all the export options that can be used to adjust the quality and precision of the exported song file.

4.5.2 File Format

There are two options:

4.5.3 Sample Rate

This option allows you to adjust how many times the song will be sampled per second.
The more times the song is sampled per second the more sensitive the exporter will be to changes in the song.
In other words, if you have a lot of changes over a short amount of time you will want a higher sample rate.
In general this should be left as it is.
44.1kHz is what normal CD's use.
If the sample rate is turned down too much, the song will not sound properly and you might get aliasing.
On the other hand, high sample rates will make the song file become extremely large and take much longer when being processed by the exporting tool.

4.5.4 Bit Rate

Bit rate refers to the amount (speed) at which the song is processed by the device reading it.

Number of bits per second.
This option is important because it allows choosing both quality and size of the song file.
The higher the bit rate the better the quality of the music.
However, it also means a larger file.
The following list gives comparable examples of bit rates:

4.5.5 Bit Depth

4.5.5.1 Musical Approach

Bit depth is the number of different volumes a sound in the song can have.
If the song is 3 bits, it has 2^3=8 volume levels in total.
We say it has a bit depth resolution of eight.
It is well known that a wave must go both up and down - have both crests and troughs - and is symmetrical around the X axis, therefore you must divide 8 by 2 to actually get the volume levels of the sound waves you hear.
So the total calculated levels must be divided by 2 to get the levels you can hear.
As you can see from the graph, there are only four volume levels above or below the X axis.
The weakest sound possible with bit depth equal to 3 would be therefore a wave with amplitude of 1.
The loudest possible sound is represented in the image with an amplitude of 4.
Dynamic range is connected to bit depth.

4.5.5.2 Computer Science Approach

A way the processor in the computer interacts with the program in terms of scientific notation or integer format while the song is being encoded.
Choosing the 32 bit float will allow the computer to do a more accurate compilation of the song, however it requires more processing power to achieve this.
Using the 16 bit integer will allow for faster processing, especially on older or under-powered computers.
In general to achieve a better sounding song, this setting should be set to 32 bit float.

4.5.6 Interpolation

Interpolation means the same as regression.
Draw the sound waves smoothly.
When LMMS gets the sample points it can choose to draw a line between two points, or it could try to draw smooth curves with smart algorithms.
Analog sounds have smooth curves, and thus logically present the best sound.
If you want the best result, always use the \"sinc best\" option.
The audio file size is not affected by this option.

4.5.7 Useful resources

Video explaining sample rate, bit depth and interpolation

4.6 Your First Song with LMMS
4.6.1 Your First Melody
4.6.1.1 Choosing the Instrument
You've got the default screen in front of you, with the Song Editor, Beat+Bassline Editor and Project Notes open.
First, click the Presets icon () on the Sidebar to open up the list of preset sounds.
Double-click on the TripleOscillator or click on the plus symbol on its left to open this folder and you will be presented with a diverse range of instruments.
You can hold the mouse button down on any preset to hear a preview of its sound.

My Presets

For now, let's drag the "Xylophon" preset into the space in the middle of the Song Editor.
When you drop it, a new track will be created with that preset as the instrument.

Dragging a preset

Xylophon dragged

If this were a percussion-type instrument, we might be better off dragging it to the Beat+Bassline Editor instead; you'll see why in a second.
We really want to give this instrument a string of notes (or a Piano Roll) to play, though, so Song Editor it is.

4.6.1.2 Making the Melody
We now want to add notes to make the melody.
Left-click in the first bar of the Xylophon track and a new piano roll segment will appear ().
Double-click on that and the Piano Roll Editor will appear, allowing you to put notes into that newly-created segment.

Piano Roll Editor

4.6.1.2.1 The First Note
Now click in the black square just to the right of the "A4" note (which is three lines, or semitones, down from the note marked "C5").
This will create a new crotchet, a note one beat long, starting at that time.

The first note

However, this is too long: we need notes half a bear - a quarter - long.
To change this, we simply move the mouse pointer to the right-hand edge of the note, until the cursor changes into a left-and-right arrow.
Then we hold the mouse button down and drag the end of the note left two "blocks" (each block being 1/16 of a bar).

Resizing notes

After this, the new notes we put down will be the same length, because the Piano Roll Editor is by default set to Last Note ().
You can change this in the drop-down.
However most of the time you will work with the "Las Note" setting, but if you suddenly create notes in the length you expected, it's because you accidentally made a change to this drop-down.
4.6.1.2.2 More Notes
Continue creating notes in the pattern shown:

Popcorn pattern

To place a note, you need to aim for the line at the start of the bear; LMMS will recognize a small fraction of the area left of the beat line as being closer to that beat than the previous.
You can control this with the "Q setting".
Default Q is correlated to note-length.
That is "Note lock".
But again you can change that "magnetic point" in the Q-drop-down.
If you make a mistake placing a note, you can move it to its correct position by clicking on the middle of the note (where the cursor turns into a four-way cross) and dragging the note to its new position.
LMMS will play the note that you're dragging onto as an aide to correct placement.
You can move notes horizontally (in time) as well as vertically (in pitch).
If you need to delete a note, simply right-click on it.
4.6.1.2.3 Copy and Paste
We now want to repeat those seven notes at the start of the bar in the next bar.
There are three ways to do this.

The first and worst way to do it is to simply click the correct notes.
This is tedious.

The first real way to do it is to use the duplicator tool.
First select the notes you want to copy.
Hold down Ctrl and make a selection rectangle around the notes you want to copy.
Next, hold Shift and drag the newly selected notes.
You are now dragging a copy of the selected notes.
You can place these where you want them to go.

Notes selected

Copy-dragging the notes

Duplicated notes

Alternatively, you can use good old copy and paste.
Again, use Ctrl to select the notes you want, and then press Ctrl+C.
Press Ctrl+V to paste the notes at the beginning, and move them to their new location.

To select all notes you can press Ctrl+A.
We can now press the play button () in the Piano Roll Editor window to play the melody back.
When it gets to the end of the last bar in which there are notes, it will automatically repeat back to the start of the first bar.
Oops!
When we play the melody so far, we realize that the melody actually starts on the wrong beat.
The second A4 note is really supposed to be the start of the bar, and the two notes before it are leading in from the previous bar.
However, we can't go further back than bar 1 in our piano roll.
We need to move all the notes forward.
Press Ctrl+A to select all the notes.
Then you can click and drag to move them all over in order to have the first note start on the right beat (see picture below).
Now we need to avoid another and far more annoying Oops: loosing everything you made! Now you have made something that actually sounds great, it is high time for saving your project!
The first time you save, LMMS will prompt you for a projec6t name.
That's entirely up to you, but LMMS also lets you decide whether your project should be compressed (.mmpz), or kept as uncompressed XML (.mmp).
Make your choice and save your project now!
Observe the message in the bottom of your screen!
Make sure you always see this message, every time you save your project, and if you end your work, and close LMMS, I recommend that you wait about 10 seconds, after you have saved the last time, before you close the program.
You could also take a peek on your disk, and actually make sure that the project has been saved, has a believable size, and a correct time-stamp.
But only when you close LMMS.
4.6.1.2.4 The First Four Bars
If you're confident, you can now continue adding the notes of the tune to make the first four bars (up to where the main melody repeats).
Here's what your piano roll should look like at the end of this:

Popcorn melody

4.6.1.3 More Structure
We can now close the Piano Roll Editor and go back to the Song Editor.
You will see that the track segment we initially double-clicked to create the melody has expanded out to fit the notes that we've added.
We now want to copy that segment to create the next four bars.
The easiest way to do that is to simply hold down the Ctrl key, then drag the initial segment.
This will drag a copy of the segment to a new location, which must be outside the initial segment.
This process will look like this:

Copying segments

Drop the segment on bar 6.
This is actually one bar too late, as the first three quarters of a bar of this segment are empty, as is the last quarter of the last segment.
Fortunately, segments can overlap and their notes will play simultaneously.

You should avoid having segments overlap as there is no clear display of how many segments overlap in a particular area.
A small segment might completely disappear behind a large one, leaving you confused as to where those extra notes were coming from

Drag the second copy so that it starts at bar 5.
You can now play this using the play button in the Song Editor.
You will hear a short pause as it counts the first three beats of silence, then the melody will start.
It should play smoothly through the two repeats.
The Song Editor should now look like this:

How the Song Editor should look like

4.6.1.4 Variation 2
We can now go on to create another piano roll segment and fill in the next four bars:

Melody variation

Due to the way that the segments overlap, you will have to create the new segment in a new bar, e.g.
bar 11, and then move it into position over the previous segment.
Note that there is a slight oddity in the Piano Roll Editor that causes you to start editing at bar 2 when opening occasional new segments.
Check which bar you're writing notes into before getting too far!
Your Song Editor should now look like this:

Final Song Editor look

4.6.2 Your First Beat
For our first beat we are going to click the my samples button on the Sidebar ().
This is your sample collection that comes standard with LMMS.
On the list of folders that appeared, one of them labeled "drums".
Double-clicking the folder will show a list of percussion instruments.
Click on them to hear the different sounds of the instruments.
If you look at the open windows one of them should read Beat+Bassline Editor.
Locate that box before going forward.
If you have closed it by chance it is located on the left top toolbar.
Going back to the samples you just heard select a Kick drum (any will work).
Double-click the sample and it should appear in the Beat+Bassline Editor.
Also add a Closed HiHat and a Snare.
You will end up with 3 instruments in the Beat+Bassline Editor.
You can make drum patterns by clicking the grey squares ().
You can play your drum patter by pressing the play button ().
The pattern will loop until you stop it.
Here are some example drum patterns that you could use in your projects:
4.6.2.1 Drum Patterns
4.6.2.1.1 Four on the Floor
Standard beat pattern commonly used in Disco, House and Techno songs.

Four on the floor

4.6.2.1.2 Amen Break
This drum solo was originally performed by Gregory Sylvester Coleman, but has been heavily sampled and pitched up for use in jump-up drum and bass and jungle.

Amen break

4.6.2.1.3 Typical Beakbeat
By moving the Bass drum out of the regular 4/4 timing we create a "Breakbeat".

Typical breakbeat

4.6.2.1.4 Prodigy - Smack My B**** up
Breakbeat intro.

Prodigy - Smack my B**** up

4.6.2.1.5 Prodigy - Main Beat

Prodigy main beat

Note the lowered volumes of the snare drum in the 2 examples above, i.e.
the dimmed lights in some steps.
To change the volume of a step, hover your mouse over it and roll the scroll wheel down to lower volume and up to raise volume.
The brightness of the step will change.
Want to hear how all these patterns sound? Download a demo project here.
There is more to making great percussion.
Here we only looked at simple "notes" added directly in BB Editor.
But you should also read the section Composing Bass Lines and Drum Sequences, where more advanced methods are explained.
You will learn how to alter quantizing and humanize in piano roll.
4.6.3 Good Song! Bad result.
You are not there yet!
One of the most common problems is sound-clipping and nasty artifacts.
One of those make the song sound like it comes from a tin bucket.
Sometimes distortion will feel like really unpleasant hearing irritation, and your first impulse is to look for a volume control.
Your next job is to make sure you do not have that! This part of the process is at least as important as the previous ones.
Take a look at the mixer.
You can see that all channels have their own dB meter.
The first thing you need is to make sure that no meter, including master is (constantly) in the red area.
When a sound-intensity causes the meter to go "into the red", you will get distortions, and really bad sound, well, in fact even risk of damage to speakers, and worse - your ears!
I choose the phrase constantly.
I did that because it is acceptable that your meter occasionally touches in the red, but it's a fine art to know when touching is more like groping.
If you have clipping, you can deal with it in a lot of different ways.
You can find much more about tools as limiters and compressors in the more specialized chapters of the wiki.
You can also watch the mixing video tutorials and learn much more about the power of the LMMS mixer.
Right now, you can try to just change the volume sliders and get rid of the red-clippings.
Then listen to your track again.
You should be able to hear the difference.
The instruments should be cleaner and stand better individually in the total mix.

4.6.1.1 Choosing the Instrument

You've got the default screen in front of you, with the Song Editor, Beat+Bassline Editor and Project Notes open.
First, click the Presets icon (

) on the Sidebar to open up the list of preset sounds.
Double-click on the TripleOscillator or click on the plus symbol on its left to open this folder and you will be presented with a diverse range of instruments.
You can hold the mouse button down on any preset to hear a preview of its sound.

For now, let's drag the \"Xylophon\" preset into the space in the middle of the Song Editor.
When you drop it, a new track will be created with that preset as the instrument.

4.6.1.2 Making the Melody

We now want to add notes to make the melody.
Left-click in the first bar of the Xylophon track and a new piano roll segment will appear (

).
Double-click on that and the Piano Roll Editor will appear, allowing you to put notes into that newly-created segment.

4.6.1.2.1 The First Note

Now click in the black square just to the right of the \"A4\" note (which is three lines, or semitones, down from the note marked \"C5\").
This will create a new crotchet, a note one beat long, starting at that time.

After this, the new notes we put down will be the same length, because the Piano Roll Editor is by default set to Last Note (

).
You can change this in the drop-down.
However most of the time you will work with the \"Las Note\" setting, but if you suddenly create notes in the length you expected, it's because you accidentally made a change to this drop-down.

4.6.1.2.2 More Notes

Continue creating notes in the pattern shown:

To place a note, you need to aim for the line at the start of the bear; LMMS will recognize a small fraction of the area left of the beat line as being closer to that beat than the previous.
You can control this with the \"Q setting\".
Default Q is correlated to note-length.
That is \"Note lock\".
But again you can change that \"magnetic point\" in the Q-drop-down.
If you make a mistake placing a note, you can move it to its correct position by clicking on the middle of the note (where the cursor turns into a four-way cross) and dragging the note to its new position.
LMMS will play the note that you're dragging onto as an aide to correct placement.
You can move notes horizontally (in time) as well as vertically (in pitch).

If you need to delete a note, simply right-click on it.

4.6.1.2.3 Copy and Paste

We now want to repeat those seven notes at the start of the bar in the next bar.
There are three ways to do this.

To select all notes you can press Ctrl+A.

We can now press the
play button (

) in the Piano Roll Editor window to play the melody back.
When it gets to the end of the last bar in which there are notes, it will automatically repeat back to the start of the first bar.

Oops!

When we play the melody so far, we realize that the melody actually starts on the wrong beat.
The second A4 note is really supposed to be the start of the bar, and the two notes before it are leading in from the previous bar.
However, we can't go further back than bar 1 in our piano roll.
We need to move all the notes forward.
Press Ctrl+A to select all the notes.
Then you can click and drag to move them all over in order to have the first note start on the right beat (see picture below).

Now we need to avoid another and far more annoying Oops: loosing everything you made! Now you have made something that actually sounds great, it is high time for saving your project!

The first time you save, LMMS will prompt you for a projec6t name.
That's entirely up to you, but LMMS also lets you decide whether your project should be compressed (.mmpz), or kept as uncompressed XML (.mmp).
Make your choice and save your project now!

Observe the message in the bottom of your screen!

Make sure you
always see this message, every time you save your project, and if you end your work, and close LMMS, I recommend that you wait about 10 seconds, after you have saved the last time, before you close the program.
You could also take a peek on your disk, and actually make sure that the project has been saved, has a believable size, and a correct time-stamp.
But only when you close LMMS.

4.6.1.2.4 The First Four Bars

If you're confident, you can now continue adding the notes of the tune to make the first four bars (up to where the main melody repeats).
Here's what your piano roll should look like at the end of this:

4.6.1.3 More Structure

We can now close the Piano Roll Editor and go back to the Song Editor.
You will see that the track segment we initially double-clicked to create the melody has expanded out to fit the notes that we've added.

We now want to copy that segment to create the next four bars.
The easiest way to do that is to simply hold down the Ctrl key, then drag the initial segment.
This will drag a copy of the segment to a new location, which must be outside the initial segment.
This process will look like this:

Drag the second copy so that it starts at bar 5.

You can now play this using the play button in the Song Editor.
You will hear a short pause as it counts the first three beats of silence, then the melody will start.
It should play smoothly through the two repeats.

The Song Editor should now look like this:

4.6.1.4 Variation 2

We can now go on to create another piano roll segment and fill in the next four bars:

Due to the way that the segments overlap, you will have to create the new segment in a new bar, e.g.
bar 11, and then move it into position over the previous segment.

Note that there is a slight oddity in the Piano Roll Editor that causes you to start editing at bar 2 when opening occasional new segments.
Check which bar you're writing notes into before getting too far!

Your Song Editor should now look like this:

4.6.2 Your First Beat

For our first beat we are going to click the my samples button on the Sidebar (

).
This is your sample collection that comes standard with LMMS.
On the list of folders that appeared, one of them labeled \"drums\".
Double-clicking the folder will show a list of percussion instruments.
Click on them to hear the different sounds of the instruments.

If you look at the open windows one of them should read Beat+Bassline Editor.
Locate that box before going forward.
If you have closed it by chance it is located on the left top toolbar.

Going back to the samples you just heard select a
Kick drum
(any will work).
Double-click the sample and it should appear in the Beat+Bassline Editor.
Also add a
Closed HiHat and a
Snare
.
You will end up with 3 instruments in the Beat+Bassline Editor.
You can make drum patterns by clicking the grey squares (

).
You can play your drum patter by pressing the
play button (

).
The pattern will loop until you stop it.

Here are some example drum patterns that you could use in your projects:

4.6.2.1 Drum Patterns

4.6.2.1.1 Four on the Floor

Standard beat pattern commonly used in Disco, House and Techno songs.

4.6.2.1.2 Amen Break

This drum solo was originally performed by Gregory Sylvester Coleman, but has been heavily sampled and pitched up for use in jump-up drum and bass and jungle.

4.6.2.1.3 Typical Beakbeat

By moving the Bass drum out of the regular 4/4 timing we create a \"Breakbeat\".

4.6.2.1.4 Prodigy - Smack My B**** up

Breakbeat intro.

4.6.2.1.5 Prodigy - Main Beat

Want to hear how all these patterns sound?
Download a demo project here.

There is more to making great percussion.
Here we only looked at simple \"notes\" added directly in BB Editor.
But you should also read the section Composing Bass Lines and Drum Sequences, where more advanced methods are explained.
You will learn how to alter quantizing and humanize in piano roll.

4.6.3 Good Song! Bad result.

You are not there yet!

One of the most common problems is sound-clipping and nasty artifacts.
One of those make the song sound like it comes from a tin bucket.
Sometimes distortion will feel like really unpleasant hearing irritation, and your first impulse is to look for a volume control.

Your next job is to make sure you do not have that! This part of the process is at least as important as the previous ones.

Take a look at the mixer.
You can see that all channels have their own dB meter.
The first thing you need is to make sure that no meter, including master is (constantly) in the red area.
When a sound-intensity causes the meter to go \"into the red\", you will get distortions, and really bad sound, well, in fact even risk of damage to speakers, and worse - your ears!

I choose the phrase
constantly
.
I did that because it is acceptable that your meter occasionally touches in the red, but it's a fine art to know when touching is more like groping.

If you have clipping, you can deal with it in a lot of different ways.
You can find much more about tools as limiters and compressors in the more specialized chapters of the wiki.

You can also watch the mixing video tutorials and learn much more about the power of the LMMS mixer.

5.1 AudioFileProcessorThe AudioFileProcessor plugin is used to play back uncompressed or compressed samples in an instrument.
It looks like this:

AudioFileProcessor

The amplitude for playback of the wave file, in percentage of the original.
You can go above 100% if your wave file is quiet and you want to make it louder.
If the master volume or the volume of the instrument or track is low enough you won't cause any clipping, because of the way the audio signal is processed in LMMS, naturally, you can also quiet a sound down by using percentages less than 100%.
However, this won't correct clipping that was present in the original file.

The start and end of playback of the sample can be used if you only want to play back a specific part of a sample.

The reversed R controls the direction of playback.
When inactive, the sample is played forward; when active, the sample is played in reverse.

The cyclic arrows control whether the sample is repeated from the beginning once it reaches the end (or vice versa for reversed playback) if the note is still held down and playback has progressed all the way through the file.

The icon with two bars and a marker enables stutter-mode.
In this mode, sample playback is always started from the point where it last ended.
You can reset the position back to the beginning by playing a very low note, one that is below 20hz in frequency.

The folder icon allows you to choose a new file from a file open dialog.
You can also change the current sample by dragging a sample from the Samples section of the Side Bar.

amplitude

start and
end

direction
repeated

new file

5.2 BitInvaderThe BitInvader plugin is a customizable wavetable synthesizer.

BitInvader

Interpolation: Interpolates (smooths) the waveform

Normalize: Normalizes the output signal.
(Removes DC offset)

The Length knob sets the sample lentgh of the waveform in a range from 8 to 128.

Smooth the waveform by clicking on the button labeled S

Draw your own waveform on the wavedisplay

On the right side of the waveform display are pre-configured waveforms:

sine

triangle

saw

square

white-noise

user-defined shape

Length
the waveform by clicking on the button labeled

5.3 FreeBoy

Freeboy

5.4 GIG PlayerThis page is empty.

5.5 KickerKicker is a kick and bassdrum synthesizer.

Kicker

It works by starting with a triangle wave at a certain frequency and gradually changing it to another frequency.

Start and End knobs control the start and end frequency of the sound.
Note that the knob is not active if the LED is on.

Start from note: When this LED is on, the start tone will be the note selected in the Piano Roll

End to nore: When this LED is on, the end note will be the note selected in the Piano Roll

Frequency slope: Change the steepness of the frequency envelope.
Larger values let you slide more.

Click adds a click/punch to the beginning of the kick sound

Start and End Distortion: Simple distortion envelope

Gain: Additional gain added to the output (makes it louder)

Length: Length of the volume envelope

Envelope Slope: Change the steepness of the volume envelope

Noise: Replaces part or the whole signal with white noise

Kicker was originally meant for drum synthesis.
It is best used in the Beat+Bassline-Editor.
To get sounds which sound like drums you should set "Start knob" to a low frequency and "End knob" even lower.
"Length" should also be quite low.

It works by starting with a triangle wave at a certain frequency and gradually changing it to another frequency.

and
End

and
End Distortion:

Kicker was originally meant for drum synthesis.
It is best used in the Beat+Bassline-Editor.

5.6 LB302The LB302 is an incomplete monophonic imitation of the TB-303.

LB302

5.6.1 VCO (Voltage-Controlled Oscillator)
You can set different waveforms for the oscillator: saw, triangle, square, square with rounded end, moog-like wave, sine wave, exponential wave and white-noise.
Slide sets the slide decay.
5.6.2 VCF (Voltage-Controlled Filter)
24dB/oct

Cutoff

RES (Resonance)

Env Mod

DEC (Decay)

5.6.3 DIST (Distortion)

Slide

Accent

Dead

5.6.1 VCO (Voltage-Controlled Oscillator)

You can set different waveforms for the oscillator: saw, triangle, square, square with rounded end, moog-like wave, sine wave, exponential wave and white-noise.

Slide sets the slide decay.

5.6.2 VCF (Voltage-Controlled Filter)

5.6.3 DIST (Distortion)

5.7 MalletsMallets is a sample-based synth emulating tuneful things to bang on :)

Mallets

There are three different categories, and the settings are accordingly different depending on the sound you are selecting.
Percussion instruments: Marimba, Vibraphone, Agogo, Wood1, Reso, Wood2, Beats, Two Fixed and Clumps

Tubular bells

Bars: Uniform Bar, Tuned Bar, Glass and Tibetan Bowl

You can change the basic sound by clicking on the name in the box.
Left-click to step forward, right-click to go backward.
You can also click on the arrow and will get a drop-down menu with all included sounds.
5.7.1 Percussion Instrument Settings

Hardness

Position

Vib Gain

Vib Freq

Stick Mix

Spread

5.7.2 Tubular Bells Settings

Modulator

Crossfade

LFO Speed

LFO Depth

ADSR

Spread

5.7.3 Bar Settings

Bowed (on/off)

Pressure

Motion

Speed

Vibrato

Spread

There are three different categories, and the settings are accordingly different depending on the sound you are selecting.

5.7.1 Percussion Instrument Settings

5.7.2 Tubular Bells Settings

5.7.3 Bar Settings

5.8 MonstroMonstro is a native LMMS instrument.

Monstro

5.8.1 Main Views
Monstro is divided in two main views: Operators and Matrix.
Operators view contains all sound generators: oscillators 1-3, and additionally two modulators: LFOs 1-2, Envelopes 1-2.
Matrix view contains the modulation matrix: it has knobs that control how the modulators affect the generators.
5.8.2 Operator View
5.8.2.1 Generators
Oscillator 1 is the pulse wave oscillator.
Note that it's a naive pulse wave and is not band-limited.
It has 7 knobs:

Volume and panning

CRS: controls the coarse tuning, in semitone steps

FTL and FTR: control the fine-tuning for left and right channels, respectively.
The units are cents (1/100 of a semitone).

SPO (stereo phase offset): phase difference between left and right channels

PW (pulse width): aka duty cycle, control the "shape" of the pulse wave.
At 50%, the wave is a perfect square wave.
Adjusting the knob to either direction makes the pulse more rectangular.

Additionally Osc1 contains a "sync send" mechanism.
This controls when the Osc1 sends sync signals.
You can set it to send sync signals either on the rise, fall or both of the pulse.
Rise refers to when off-state changes to on-state, fall is the opposite.
Changing the pulse width, phase, FTL/FTR or pitch affects the timing of these signals, but changing the volume or panning does not.
Sync mechanisms are elaborated below.
Oscillator 2 is a regular oscillator.
It can generate any of a selection of predefined waveforms, some of which are band-limited, others not.
It can also generate white noise.
It contains 6 knobs: Volume, panning, CRS, FTL, FTR, SPO.
They work the same as above.
Additionally Osc2 contains a sync mechanism.
This can be used to sync Osc2 with the sync signals sent by Osc1.
There's two sync modes, which can be used separately or combined:

Hard sync resets the phase at every sync signal, meaning the waveform starts again from the "beginning"

Reverse syn inverts the waveform's polarity at every sync signal, meaning that +1.0 amplitude becomes -1.0 and vice versa

Oscillator 3 is a regular oscillator.
It is the same as Osc2, except for one difference: it has no FTL/FTR knobs, but instead has a SUB knob, and two waveform selectors.
The SUB knob interpolates (mixes) linearly between the two waveforms selected.
The waveforms themselves are the same as on Osc2.
Osc3 also contains the same sync mechanism as Osc2, which works the same way.
Additionally, in the bottom right corner, there's a modulation mode switch, which controls the relationship between Osc2 and Osc3.
The modes are:

Mix: Osc2 and Osc3 are mixed together

AM: Osc2 modulates the amplitude (volume) of Osc3

FM: Osc2 modulates the frequency (pitch) of Osc3 (implemented as phase modulation to prevent pitch drift)

PM: Osc2 modulates the phase of Osc3

If the mode is any other than Mix, Osc2 will be inaudible and only affects the output of Osc3.
5.8.2.2 Modulators
LFO is short for "Low Frequency Oscillator".
Both LFO1 and LFO2 work the same way.
They are always inaudible and only affect the generators.
Each contains 3 knobs:

Rate knob controls the speed (frequency) of the LFO.
The units are milliseconds, signifying the length of the cycle.
You can convert this to Hz by the formula: Hz = 1 / ( Rate / 1000 )

Att controls the attack length of the LFO.
Basically, adding more attack makes the LFO start working gradually instead of instantly.

Phs controls the phase of the LFO.
Does not affect Random or Random Smooth modes.

Each LFO has a selection of waveforms.
Note that none of these are band-limited.
They're the same as the non-band-limited waveforms on the regular oscillators, except for two differences: Random and Random Smooth.
Random works as a shaped noise: the LFO generates a random value that changes once per cycle (defined by the Rate knob).
Random Smooth is the same, except that the value of the LFO changes smoothly between the random values - they're interpolated with cosinus interpolation, which means each transition between values is shaped like half of a sine wave.
Envelopes have 7 knobs:

PRE controls the pre-delay before the envelope

ATT controls the length of attack - the phase where the envelope goes up from 0 to 1

HOLD controls the length of time the envelope stays at 1

DEC controls the length of the decay phase (going from 1 to 0).
However, if sustain is bigger than 0, the actual decay phase will be cut short.

SUS controls the sustain level, on which the envelope stays in the decay phase when a note is held

REL controls the length of the release phase, again expressed as the length of time from 1 to 0.
However, if sustain is lower than 1, the actual release will be shorter

SLOPE controls the shape of the envelope slopes (attack, decay and release).
Negative amounts will curve the slopes of the envelope downwards, while positive amounts curve them upwards.

5.8.3 Matrix View
The Matrix view contains 11 modulation targets, each of which can be modulated by any or all of the 4 modulators.
All of the 3 oscillators have these modulation targets:

Volume: Envelopes controlling volume are a special case.
With volume envelopes, the modulation is always multiplicative: envelopes will never make the volume higher than what it is originally.
Volume envelopes are normalized so that the peak part of the envelope is inverted so that attack starts from original volume and slopes downwards.
LFOs work on volume relatively - a modulation value of 0.5 modulates between 50% and 150% of the original volume.
Negative values invert the LFO.

Phase: The maximum difference on both envelopes and LFOs is 360°.
Envelopes on phase always start from +0° phase offset and go either up or down, depending on the modulation value.
LFOs oscillate between negative and positive phase offset, but the range is the same: at maximum modulation value, they oscillate between -180° and +180°.

Pitch: The maximum range for both envelopes and LFOs is 2 octaves.
The scale is logarithmic, so 0.5 represents 1 octave, 0.25 is 6 semitones, etc.
The pitch is capped with minimum and maximum values, which are 18Hz and 48kHz respectively.
If the envelope/LFO would go beyond these values, it gets clipped.

Additionally, oscillators 1 and 3 each have an extra modulation target:

Osc1 PW: The pulse width (duty cycle) of oscillator 1.
The maximum range for both is 100 percentage points, so an envelope can go from +0 to either +100pp, or -100pp with a negative modulation value, and an LFO can oscillate between -50pp and +50pp.
The modulation is obviously capped at the min/max values of the PW knob (0% and 100%).

Osc3 SUB controls the mixing between the two waveforms.
This works the same way as the above.

5.8.4 Tips
Monstro is a complex synth, so it can at some settings use a lot of CPU power.
The more modulators you use, the higher the CPU usage.
If you set any modulator in the matrix to other than 0, it gets calculated, and this consumes more CPU power.
Similarly, the FM, AM and PM modes consume slightly more CPU than the Mix mode, as they require additional calculations.

5.8.1 Main Views

Monstro is divided in two main views: Operators and Matrix.
Operators view contains all sound generators: oscillators 1-3, and additionally two modulators: LFOs 1-2, Envelopes 1-2.
Matrix view contains the modulation matrix: it has knobs that control how the modulators affect the generators.

5.8.2 Operator View

5.8.2.1 Generators

Oscillator 1 is the pulse wave oscillator.
Note that it's a naive pulse wave and is not band-limited.
It has 7 knobs:

Additionally Osc1 contains a \"sync send\" mechanism.
This controls when the Osc1 sends sync signals.
You can set it to send sync signals either on the rise, fall or both of the pulse.
Rise refers to when off-state changes to on-state, fall is the opposite.
Changing the pulse width, phase, FTL/FTR or pitch affects the timing of these signals, but changing the volume or panning does not.
Sync mechanisms are elaborated below.

Oscillator 2 is a regular oscillator.
It can generate any of a selection of predefined waveforms, some of which are band-limited, others not.
It can also generate white noise.
It contains 6 knobs: Volume, panning, CRS, FTL, FTR, SPO.
They work the same as above.

Additionally Osc2 contains a sync mechanism.
This can be used to sync Osc2 with the sync signals sent by Osc1.
There's two sync modes, which can be used separately or combined:

Additionally, in the bottom right corner, there's a modulation mode switch, which controls the relationship between Osc2 and Osc3.
The modes are:

If the mode is any other than Mix, Osc2 will be inaudible and only affects the output of Osc3.

5.8.2.2 Modulators

LFO is short for \"Low Frequency Oscillator\".
Both LFO1 and LFO2 work the same way.
They are always inaudible and only affect the generators.
Each contains 3 knobs:

controls the phase of the LFO.
Does not affect
Random or
Random Smooth
Each LFO has a selection of waveforms.
Note that none of these are band-limited.
They're the same as the non-band-limited waveforms on the regular oscillators, except for two differences: Random and Random Smooth.

Random works as a shaped noise: the LFO generates a random value that changes once per cycle (defined by the Rate knob).

Random Smooth is the same, except that the value of the LFO changes smoothly between the random values - they're interpolated with cosinus interpolation, which means each transition between values is shaped like half of a sine wave.

Envelopes have 7 knobs:

5.8.3 Matrix View

The Matrix view contains 11 modulation targets, each of which can be modulated by any or all of the 4 modulators.

All of the 3 oscillators have these modulation targets:

Additionally, oscillators 1 and 3 each have an extra modulation target:

5.8.4 Tips

Monstro is a complex synth, so it can at some settings use a lot of CPU power.
The more modulators you use, the higher the CPU usage.
If you set any modulator in the matrix to other than 0, it gets calculated, and this consumes more CPU power.

5.9 NEScaline

NEScaline

5.10 OpulenZOpulenZ is an emulation of the Yamaha YM3812, a.k.a.
OPL2, FM synth chip which was used i sound cards around 1990 - the Adlib and Sound Blasters.
It generates sound through frequency modulation or adding 2 oscillators.

OpulenZ

5.10.1 Operators
The two oscillators are called operators.
In FM mode (bottom left), operator 1 modulates operator 2.
Otherwise both operators are routed to the output.
5.10.2 Controls
For each operator, the controls are:

ATT, DEC, SUS, REL: an ADSR envelope

KSR: keyboard scaling rate.
When KSR is on, envelopes get faster when the pitch rises.

PERC: percussive envelope.
Makes the envelope go straight to release ignoring held keys.

TREM: applies tremolo (slight amplitude modulation) to the operator

VIB: applies vibrato (slight pitch modulation) to the operator

FEEDBACK: only for operator 1 - feeds a portion of the operator's output back into ir

LVL: the output level of the operator

SCALE: determines the scaling applied to the output level when the pitch rises

MUL: the frequency multiplier for the operator.
1 stands for the standard pitch played on the keyboard, 0 is one octave below.

WAVEFORM: selection from 4 waveforms: sine, half sine, absolute sine and quarter sine.
NB: a DC removal plugin might be a good idea when routing waveforms other than sine to the output.

5.10.2.1 Global Controls
FM: when this is on, frequency modulation is used.
Otherwise the operators are mixed together.

DEPTH, TREM and VIBR: these select deeper tremolo and vibrato.
Applies to both operators.

5.10.3 Useful Resources
Getting started with FM: http://www.gorenfeld.net/lou/fmguide.html
Programming the AdLib/Sound Blaster FM Music Chips: http://www.shipbrook.net/jeff/sb.html (some of the controls are presented inverted in LMMS, to fit better with other symbols)

5.10.1 Operators

The two oscillators are called operators.
In FM mode (bottom left), operator 1 modulates operator 2.
Otherwise both operators are routed to the output.

5.10.2 Controls

For each operator, the controls are:

5.10.2.1 Global Controls

5.10.3 Useful Resources

Getting started with FM:
http://www.gorenfeld.net/lou/fmguide.html

Programming the AdLib/Sound Blaster FM Music Chips:
http://www.shipbrook.net/jeff/sb.html

5.11 OrganicOrganic is an additive synthesizer which combins the output of up to 8 oscillators.

Organic

Although it has more oscillators than TripleOscillator, it is less flexible because it lacks a lot of its abilities, among them the option to modulate the oscillators with each other.
The phase offsets of each oscillator are randomized whenever a note is played (for both stereo channels separately).
For that reason this instrument sounds slightly different everytime you press a key even when you don't change any settings.
Organic is most useful for creating organ instruments (that's where its name comes from) and pads.
5.11.1 Individual Oscillator Controls
Wave: The waveform generated by the oscillator

0%: Sine

1%: Sawtooth

2%: Pulse

3%: Triangle

4%: Moog Triangle

5%: Exponential

Vol: Volume of the oscillator

Pan: Stereo panning of the oscillator

Wide: Coarse of the oscillator.
Has a range of one octave up and down.

5.11.2 General Controls
Dist: Adds a clipper effect (distortion)

Vol: General volume

Randomize: Randomizes all oscillator settings

5.11.3 Tuning of the Oscillators
This is the default coarse of the oscillators with "Wide" on 0
5.11.3.1 Semitones Relative to Base Note
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
-12
-7
0
+12
+19
+24
+28
+31

5.11.3.2 Semitones Relative to Previous Oscillator
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
+7
+12
+12
+7
+5
+4
+3

Organic is most useful for creating organ instruments (that's where its name comes from) and pads.

5.11.1 Individual Oscillator Controls

The waveform generated by the oscillator

5.11.2 General Controls

5.11.3 Tuning of the Oscillators

This is the default coarse of the oscillators with \"Wide\" on 0

5.11.3.1 Semitones Relative to Base Note

5.11.3.2 Semitones Relative to Previous Oscillator

5.12 PatManPatman is a GUS-patch (.PAT) player.

Patman

GUS patches are patches associated with Gravis Ultrasound soundcards.
Their concept is very similar to SoundFont and they can be considered SoundFont predecessors.
Patman is a simple patch loader.
It also allows looping of the patch.
There aren't many patches online, but you can find a pretty good collection here.

GUS patches are patches associated with Gravis Ultrasound soundcards.
Their concept is very similar to SoundFont and they can be considered SoundFont predecessors.

Patman is a simple patch loader.
It also allows looping of the patch.
There aren't many patches online, but you can find a pretty good collection
here

5.13 Sf2 PlayerSf2 Player, or rather SoundFont2 Player, uses files called SoundFonts (.sf2).

Sf2 Player

There are no SoundFonts included in LMMS, but you can find a lot of SoundFonts on the internet, see 8.3 SoundFont resources.
A SoundFont bank contains base samples in PCM format (similar to WAV files) that are mapped to sections on a musical keyboard.
This is especially useful for people working with MIDI files, since most SoundFonts contain samples of real instruments.
You can select the default SoundFont that will be used when loading MIDI files in the Settings.
Many SoundFonts have multiple patches which is multiple sounds, often different instruments or different styles of instruments.
To select a patch you can use the patch and bank spinners, or click on the wrench icon to open a window where you can see all banks and patches.
Because the Sf2 Player is a MIDI bases instrument, you can't use ENV/LFO in it.
This tab is intentionally left empty.
You can also apply Reverb and Chorus directly in the plugin.
Some SoundFont files support reverb and chorus.
SF2 player gives four knobs for controlling the effects:

Reverb

The Size knob lets you select the room size for the reverb

The Damp knob controls the damping.
Damping set to 1 will cut the reverb when the note is released.

The Width knob controls the stereo width

The Level knob controls the wet level

Chorus

The Num knob controls the number of instruments you are supposed to hear.
This represents how many signals are being processed.

The Level knob controls the amount of the effect you want.
If it is set to 0 you only hear the original sound.

The Spd knob controls the speed/rate of the LFO

The Depth knob controls the depth of the modulation.
Higher values increase detuning.

Many SoundFonts have multiple patches which is multiple sounds, often different instruments or different styles of instruments.
To select a patch you can use the patch and bank spinners, or click on the wrench icon to open a window where you can see all banks and patches.

Because the Sf2 Player is a MIDI bases instrument, you can't use ENV/LFO in it.
This tab is intentionally left empty.
You can also apply Reverb and Chorus directly in the plugin.

Some SoundFont files support reverb and chorus.
SF2 player gives four knobs for controlling the effects:

Size

Damp

Width

Level

Num

Level

Spd

Depth

5.14 sfxr

sfxr

sfxr is a port of the original sfxr tool.
It is used to generate retro video game sounds.
Please note that volume level of the sounds generated by sfxr varies quite a bit, especially with the RAND button.
5.14.1 Generator
The easiest way to use sfxr is with the generator tab in the top right corner.
In this box are two large text buttons and seven smaller buttons.
5.14.1.1 Text Buttons
The RAND button, short for random, generates a completely random sound effect.
Because of this, it can generate all kinds of sounds, from cool to boring, and even completely silent ones.
To the right of it is the MUTA button, short for mutate.
This is similar to randomizing, but instead tweaks your current sound a bit.
It's useful to generate variations on a sound, or change a sound slightly to (hopefully) make it better.
5.14.1.1 Icons
Underneath the RAND and MUTA buttons are seven icons.
These each represent presets that sfxr uses to generate a specific type of sound.
In order, they are:

- Coin/Money pickup

- Shooting

- Explosion

- Powerup

- Damage

- Jump

- Interact

These generate a wide variety of sounds, while still managing to be recognizable.
This is where sfxr really shines.
5.14.2 Controls
There are also several controls that can be used to tweak a generated sound, or to create on from scratch.
To the left of the generator tab are the available waveforms ().
Below this are several knobs for changing other parameters.
5.14.2.1 Envelope

Envelope

The top knobs are labeled Env., short for envelope, and are bordered by, and connected with, blue lines.
They decide how the volume of the sound changes over time.
ATT, or attack, determines how long it takes for the sound to reach maximum volume.
HOLD is how long the sound stays at this level.
SUS, short for sustain, is how loud the sound gets at the start.
Finally, DEC, or decay, is how long it takes for the sound to fade out.
5.14.2.2 Frequency

Frequency

Underneath the envelope knobs are the green Freq. knobs, which control the frequency of the sound.
START is the start frequency, and MIN is the minimum frequency.
SLIDE makes the sound change frequency over time, with a positive number making it go up, and a negative number making it go down.
D.SLI., or Delta slide, affects how fast the frequency changes.
Values closer to 1 or -1 make the frequency change faster, while values closer to 0 make it slower.
A negative value reverses the slide, making an upwards slide go downwards and vice versa.
V.DEP., or vibrato depth, changes how much of an effect vibrato has, while V.SPD., or vibrato speed, changes how fast the vibrato is.
5.14.2.3 Change

Change

In the middle and on the right of the knobs are two red knobs, labelled Change.
C.AMT stands for change amount, when you have positive values, the note will at a point, decided by the C.SPD - change speed or suddenly jump to a higher frequency.
If you set the knob to negative values the new frequency will be lower than the original.
This new frequency will last for as long as the note is held.
Change amount set to 0 doesn't affect the sound.
Change amount set to 0.25 raises the tone with one semitone.
Change amount set to 1 raises the tone with 3 octaves and 4 semitones.
The Change speed takes the note frequency in consideration on it's calculations, a low frequency note plays the original note longer before jumping to the new frequency than a high note does.
Even if change speed is set to 0, the note will jump.
5.14.2.4 Square

Square

In the middle and on the left of the knobs are two orange knobs with options for when a square wave is used, labelled Square.
S.Duty changes the duty cycle, shifting the lowest parts of the square wave up, while S.SPD changes the duty cycle over time in a sweep.
5.14.2.5 Repeat

Repeat

Under the middle and on the left of the knobs is a section called Repeat, with only one grey knob, R.SPD. or repeat speed.
Setting this knob to anything other than zero will play the sound twice, with a slight delay in between.
The higher the value, the shorter the delay.
5.14.2.6 Phaser

Phaser

Under the middle and to the right is a section labelled Phaser, with two silver knobs.
PH.OFF. or phaser offset, and PH.S. or phaser sweep.
A phaser combines a signal with an offset version of itself, leading to phase cancellation in some frequencies.
In practical terms this leads to a shifting filter effect.
5.14.2.7 Filter

Filter

All the way at the bottom, there are five purple knobs, labelled Filter.
The ones that start with L are low pass filter settings, and the ones that start with H are high pass filter settings.
LF.C. and HF.C. are low pass cutoff and high pass cutoff, respectively.
On a low pass filter, frequencies below the cutoff are dampened.
LF.S. and HF.S. are low pass sweep and high pass sweep.
Positive values increase the filter cutoff with time (lowering it for low pass and raising it for high pass), and negative values decrease it, with numbers further from zero changing the cutoff more.
Finally, the low pass filter has an additional resonance knob, LF.R., to increase or decrease resonance.
With resonance, frequencies near the cutoff point are boosted.

sfxr is a port of
the original sfxr tool
.
It is used to generate retro video game sounds.

Please note that volume level of the sounds generated by sfxr varies quite a bit, especially with the RAND button.

5.14.1 Generator

The easiest way to use sfxr is with the
generator tab in the top right corner.
In this box are two large text buttons and seven smaller buttons.

5.14.1.1 Text Buttons

The RAND button, short for random, generates a completely random sound effect.
Because of this, it can generate all kinds of sounds, from cool to boring, and even completely silent ones.
To the right of it is the MUTA button, short for mutate.
This is similar to randomizing, but instead tweaks your current sound a bit.
It's useful to generate variations on a sound, or change a sound slightly to (hopefully) make it better.

5.14.1.1 Icons

Underneath the RAND and MUTA buttons are seven icons.
These each represent presets that sfxr uses to generate a specific type of sound.
In order, they are:

These generate a wide variety of sounds, while still managing to be recognizable.
This is where sfxr really shines.

5.14.2 Controls

There are also several controls that can be used to tweak a generated sound, or to create on from scratch.
To the left of the generator tab are the available waveforms (

).
Below this are several knobs for changing other parameters.

5.14.2.1 Envelope

The top knobs are labeled
Env.
, short for envelope, and are bordered by, and connected with, blue lines.
They decide how the volume of the sound changes over time.

ATT
, or attack, determines how long it takes for the sound to reach maximum volume.

HOLD is how long the sound stays at this level.

SUS
, short for sustain, is how loud the sound gets at the start.
Finally,
DEC
, or decay, is how long it takes for the sound to fade out.

5.14.2.2 Frequency

Underneath the envelope knobs are the green
Freq.
knobs, which control the frequency of the sound.

START is the start frequency, and
MIN is the minimum frequency.

SLIDE makes the sound change frequency over time, with a positive number making it go up, and a negative number making it go down.

D.SLI.
, or Delta slide, affects how fast the frequency changes.
Values closer to 1 or -1 make the frequency change faster, while values closer to 0 make it slower.
A negative value reverses the slide, making an upwards slide go downwards and vice versa.

V.DEP.
, or vibrato depth, changes how much of an effect vibrato has, while
V.SPD.
, or vibrato speed, changes how fast the vibrato is.

5.14.2.3 Change

In the middle and on the right of the knobs are two red knobs, labelled
Change
.

C.AMT stands for change amount, when you have positive values, the note will at a point, decided by the
C.SPD - change speed or suddenly jump to a higher frequency.
If you set the knob to negative values the new frequency will be lower than the original.
This new frequency will last for as long as the note is held.
Change amount set to 0 doesn't affect the sound.
Change amount set to 0.25 raises the tone with one semitone.
Change amount set to 1 raises the tone with 3 octaves and 4 semitones.
The Change speed takes the note frequency in consideration on it's calculations, a low frequency note plays the original note longer before jumping to the new frequency than a high note does.
Even if change speed is set to 0, the note will jump.

5.14.2.4 Square

In the middle and on the left of the knobs are two orange knobs with options for when a square wave is used, labelled
Square
.

S.Duty changes the duty cycle, shifting the lowest parts of the square wave up, while
S.SPD changes the duty cycle over time in a sweep.

5.14.2.5 Repeat

Under the middle and on the left of the knobs is a section called
Repeat
, with only one grey knob,
R.SPD.
or repeat speed.
Setting this knob to anything other than zero will play the sound twice, with a slight delay in between.
The higher the value, the shorter the delay.

5.14.2.6 Phaser

Under the middle and to the right is a section labelled
Phaser
, with two silver knobs.

PH.OFF.
or phaser offset, and
PH.S.
or phaser sweep.
A phaser combines a signal with an offset version of itself, leading to phase cancellation in some frequencies.
In practical terms this leads to a shifting filter effect.

5.14.2.7 Filter

All the way at the bottom, there are five purple knobs, labelled
Filter
.
The ones that start with L are low pass filter settings, and the ones that start with H are high pass filter settings.

LF.C.
and
HF.C.
are low pass cutoff and high pass cutoff, respectively.
On a low pass filter, frequencies below the cutoff are dampened.

LF.S.
and
HF.S.
are low pass sweep and high pass sweep.
Positive values increase the filter cutoff with time (lowering it for low pass and raising it for high pass), and negative values decrease it, with numbers further from zero changing the cutoff more.
Finally, the low pass filter has an additional resonance knob,
LF.R.

5.15 SID

SID

5.16 TripleOscillatorThe TripleOscillator plugin is a synthesizer which generates sounds by combining the waveform of up to three function generators.

TripleOscillator

5.16.1 Plugin Settings
The first panel controls the way the oscillators interact with each other.
The available settings are:

PM (Phase Modulation): phase of oscillator is modulated (i.e.
phase locally changes left/right) by sub-oscillator

AM (Amplitude Modulation): output oscillator and its sub-oscillator is multiplied

Mix: the waveforms are added (default)

Sync (synchronized): the waveform of the first oscillator is restarted with the frequency of the second one (the waveform of the second one does not matter in this mode)

FM (Frequency Modulation): frequency of oscillator is modulated (i.e.
phase globally changes left/right) by sub-oscillator

The next three panels are the settings for the three oscillators.

The waveform generated (pictures)

Vol (Volume): amplitude of the waveform.
Set to 0 when you don't want to use this oscillator.

Pan (Panning): affects the stereo panning of the oscillator

Crs (Coarse): frequency of the oscillator relative to the note played in semitones

FL and FR: fine-tuning of the frequency for the left and right stereo channel

PO (Phase Offset): phase offset of the waveform relative to the other oscillators

SPD (Stereo Phase Offset): phase offset between left and right stereo channels

5.16.2 Waveforms
5.16.2.1 Sine
The "purest" sound.
Useful for organ-like instruments.
Due to a sine wave being only one exact frequency, normal frequency filters have little effect on sine waves.
5.16.2.2 Triangle
Similar to sine, although a lot less smooth.
Useful for string instruments.
5.16.2.3 Sawtooth
A very sharp, "synth-like" sound.
Useful for string instruments and generic "synth-like" instruments.
5.16.2.4 Square (Pulse)
The typical sound of vintage arcade games.
Sounds much less old-fashioned when combined with other waveforms.
Be cautious, as the square wave will sound a lot louder than the other waves.
5.16.2.5 Moog-like Saw
Sounds similar to saw, but can also be used for some organ-like sounds.
The shape is due to a historic glitch in the analogue circuitry of the original Moog synthesizer.
5.16.2.6 Exponential
If used correctly, it can be used for softer synths.
5.16.2.7 White Noise
Useful for creating drum beats and other effects like wind (you might prefer to use Kicker for synthesized percussion instruments).
5.16.2.8 User-defined
Double-click to use any sound file as a waveform
5.16.3 Tips

The best results are reached by combining different waveforms with different chorus settings.

Most sounds created by a TripleOscillator sound boring and dull without an Envelope.

If yo want to know more about basics of sound synthesis you may read this awesome article by Beau Sievers - http://beausievers.com/synth/synthbasics/

5.16.4 Making Patches
If you find all your instruments sound like an Atari 2600 (unless that's what you were going for), these guidelines for creating patches that sound like familiar musical instruments or sounds will help you.
These instructions are intentionally a bit vague, so you can easily adapt them to the type of music you want to make.
When making patches, it often helps to have a BB track playing the sound over and over as you edit.
When creating instruments with different generators, not just TripleOscillator patches, there are a few unwanted events that may occur.
The most frequent problem is "clicks".
The instrument sounds pretty much ok, but there's a distinct "click" artifact every time the note plays.
Clicks are annoying, but most can be easily removed.
The start-event clicks are the easiest.
Open the ENV for VOLUME

Set AMT to maximum

Set ATTACK to just a little over 0 (try 0.04)

Listen to the sound.
If your click artifact didn't change a little, then the click is from the "termination" of the sound.
Here the situation is more difficult.
You may be able to remove the click by giving REL <= 0.05.
Annother annoying problem is "noisy crater" randomly occurring in longer notes.
This is often caused by too high ! in respect of either the cutoff Frq or the actual chosen filter.
These type of artifacts can be seriously difficult to remove without changing the quality of the sound.
Often success versus fiasco depends on minute alterations in Q.
If you are not familiar with terms like LFO, filters and resonance-Q amount, you should now go to the section Working with Instruments and read the paragraph The Env/LFO/Filter tab.
All the basics (and more) are explained there.
5.16.4.1 Synth Bass
We'll start with your basic synthesized techno bass sound, because this is a relatively simple patch to start learning your way around the TripleOscillator.
Start with a fresh TripleOscillator with the default sine wave patch.
Start on the "PLUGIN" page and change the waveforms.
Try some different combinations: a square, a triangle and a sine wave are a good combo, or set them all to saw or moog-saw.

Select the "ENV/LFO" page.
Turn the filter on to "LowPass", "2x LowPass" or "Moog" and turn the cutoff all the way down.
Your sound becomes almost inaudible.

Go to the "CUTOFF" sub-page and turn the envelope on.
Turn "Hold", "Sustain" and "Release" to zero.
Hear the filter now?

Now start playing with the resonance knob in the "FILTER" section.
If you're using the Moog filter, don't turn the resonance past about 0.85 - you've been warned!

Now play some really low notes.

5.16.4.2 Organ
Real organs are basically additive synthesizers: they add together a few dozen simple sine waves to form a complex tone.
This is pretty easy to mimic with the TripleOscillator and LMMS' chords.
Start with a fresh sine patch, and using each oscillator's "Crs" (coarse) knobs, place them in 3 different octaves.

Go to the "FUNC" page and turn on chords.
Set the chord to "Octave" and set "RANGE" to 3 or 4.
Neat, eh?

Play different C's.
They sound similar, don't they? That's because most of the harmonics are the same.

For some fun, change on of the oscillators to a triangle wave.

You can refine the sound by changing which octaves each oscillator plays in, or by adjusting their relative volumes.

5.16.4.3 Electric Bass
Electric bass guitars produce a wide variety of tones.
This is just your basic bass with no overdrive or anything like that.
Start with a sine patch and mute OSC 1.
Turn OSC 2's volume to 100%.

Set "OSC 2 + OSC 3" to PM (Phase Modulation).

Turn on the volume envelope and give it a long decay, very short release and an attack around 1/50 or 1/20 of a second.

Go to the "FX" page and add a TAP Chorus/Flanger effect.
This adds an extra layer of richness to the sound.

Now, go back to the "PLUGIN" page and decide where you want OSC 3's volume (that is, the amount of phase modulation between OSC 3 and OSC 2).

Finally, reinforce the fundamental (lowest harmonic) of your sound by turning OSC 1 up just a bit.
This is optional.
Or you can use a triangle wave.
Whatever, it's your sound.

5.16.4.4 Kick Drum
Ok, this is going to sound weird to some, maybe.
Why use TripleOscillator to make a kick drum? The answer: because you can.
Also, because it can produce some pretty neat sounds! We're going to use a technique called subtractive synthesis here.
To make this tutorial easier to follow, I'm marking with [tags] which is the name of the tab you need to be on on the instrument window.
[Plugin] To start with, we'll make some noise.
Set all the oscillators to produce white noise.
The other settings don't matter at this point, as most of them don't have any effect on the noise generation.
Then we'll move on to the Env/Lfo tab.
That's where the magic happens.
[Env/Lfo] Here, we're going to set the volume envelope first.
Here are good settings for it:

Amt: 1 (full)

Del: 0

Att: 0

Hold: 0

Dec: 0.248

Sus: 1

Rel: 0

Ok, try it now.
Right now you have a neat little snare drum, kind of a crappy one but still.
But read onwards, let's make it into a good kick.
Enable the filter.
Select the RC Bandpass (24dB) filter.
It is important to pick the right filter, it won't work so well with the 12dB one, unless you wan some weird kick drum...
Set the resonance to maximum and cutoff to minimum (that is, 10.0 and 1Hz, respectively).
Now, the instrument should sound like a bass guitar that constantly plays the same note.
But we're not done yet.
Go to the cutoff envelope, and set these values:

Amt: 0.2

Del: 0.02

Att: 0

Hold: 0.05

Dec: 0.187

Sus: 1

Rel: 0

Now listen to the sound.
It's a kick drum! How awesome is that? Now we can add some character to the sound.
Go back to the plugin tab.
[Plugin] Now, set the first oscillator to saw wave, set the Crs dial to -24, and try playing different notes (C3 - G4 are good).
See how the character of the sound varies slightly! You can vary it further by adjusting the volume of the saw oscillator.
Try detuning it with the FL/FR knobs.
Turn the SPD knob up to give it some stereo effect.
You can also try different waveforms to see how they affect the sound.
You can even change the second oscillator, it's enough that there's one noise oscillator to produce enough frequencies to subtract from.
You can try all kinds of weird things now to create weird, cool and fun bass/kick drum sounds, and you have much more control and fine-tune over it than you have in Kicker.

5.16.1 Plugin Settings

The first panel controls the way the oscillators interact with each other.
The available settings are:

The next three panels are the settings for the three oscillators.

5.16.2 Waveforms

5.16.2.1 Sine

The \"purest\" sound.
Useful for organ-like instruments.
Due to a sine wave being only one exact frequency, normal frequency filters have little effect on sine waves.

5.16.2.2 Triangle

Similar to sine, although a lot less smooth.
Useful for string instruments.

5.16.2.3 Sawtooth

A very sharp, \"synth-like\" sound.
Useful for string instruments and generic \"synth-like\" instruments.

5.16.2.4 Square (Pulse)

The typical sound of vintage arcade games.
Sounds much less old-fashioned when combined with other waveforms.
Be cautious, as the square wave will sound a lot louder than the other waves.

5.16.2.5 Moog-like Saw

Sounds similar to saw, but can also be used for some organ-like sounds.
The shape is due to a historic glitch in the analogue circuitry of the original Moog synthesizer.

5.16.2.6 Exponential

If used correctly, it can be used for softer synths.

5.16.2.7 White Noise

Useful for creating drum beats and other effects like wind (you might prefer to use Kicker for synthesized percussion instruments).

5.16.2.8 User-defined

Double-click to use any sound file as a waveform

5.16.3 Tips

}]},://beausievers.com/synth/synthbasics/

5.16.4 Making Patches

If you find all your instruments sound like an Atari 2600 (unless that's what you were going for), these guidelines for creating patches that sound like familiar musical instruments or sounds will help you.
These instructions are intentionally a bit vague, so you can easily adapt them to the type of music you want to make.
When making patches, it often helps to have a BB track playing the sound over and over as you edit.

When creating instruments with different generators, not just TripleOscillator patches, there are a few unwanted events that may occur.
The most frequent problem is \"clicks\".
The instrument sounds pretty much ok, but there's a distinct \"click\" artifact every time the note plays.
Clicks are annoying, but most can be easily removed.
The start-event clicks are the easiest.

Listen to the sound.
If your click artifact didn't change a little, then the click is from the \"termination\" of the sound.
Here the situation is more difficult.
You may be able to remove the click by giving REL \u003c= 0.05.

Annother annoying problem is \"noisy crater\" randomly occurring in longer notes.
This is often caused by too high ! in respect of either the cutoff Frq or the actual chosen filter.
These type of artifacts can be seriously difficult to remove without changing the quality of the sound.
Often success versus fiasco depends on minute alterations in Q.

If you are not familiar with terms like LFO, filters and resonance-Q amount, you should now go to the section Working with Instruments and read the paragraph The Env/LFO/Filter tab.
All the basics (and more) are explained there.

5.16.4.1 Synth Bass

We'll start with your basic synthesized techno bass sound, because this is a relatively simple patch to start learning your way around the TripleOscillator.
Start with a fresh TripleOscillator with the default sine wave patch.

5.16.4.2 Organ

Real organs are basically additive synthesizers: they add together a few dozen simple sine waves to form a complex tone.
This is pretty easy to mimic with the TripleOscillator and LMMS' chords.

5.16.4.3 Electric Bass

Electric bass guitars produce a wide variety of tones.
This is just your basic bass with no overdrive or anything like that.

}]

5.16.4.4 Kick Drum

Ok, this is going to sound weird to some, maybe.
Why use TripleOscillator to make a kick drum? The answer: because you can.
Also, because it can produce some pretty neat sounds! We're going to use a technique called subtractive synthesis here.
To make this tutorial easier to follow, I'm marking with [tags] which is the name of the tab you need to be on on the instrument window.

[Plugin] To start with, we'll make some noise.
Set all the oscillators to produce white noise.
The other settings don't matter at this point, as most of them don't have any effect on the noise generation.
Then we'll move on to the Env/Lfo tab.
That's where the magic happens.

[Env/Lfo] Here, we're going to set the volume envelope first.
Here are good settings for it:

Ok, try it now.
Right now you have a neat little snare drum, kind of a crappy one but still.
But read onwards, let's make it into a good kick.

Enable the filter.
Select the RC Bandpass (24dB) filter.
It is important to pick the right filter, it won't work so well with the 12dB one, unless you wan some weird kick drum...
Set the resonance to maximum and cutoff to minimum (that is, 10.0 and 1Hz, respectively).
Now, the instrument should sound like a bass guitar that constantly plays the same note.
But we're not done yet.

Go to the cutoff envelope, and set these values:

Now listen to the sound.
It's a kick drum! How awesome is that? Now we can add some character to the sound.
Go back to the plugin tab.

5.17 Vibed

Vibed

5.18 WatsynWatsyn is a wavetable synthesizer.

Watsyn

5.19 ZynAddSubFXZynAddSubFX is a powerful synthesizer with a wide range of sounds.
It has its own GUI with the options for simple or advanced controls, as well as its own effects system.
ZynAddSubFX is the most powerful embedded synthesizer in LMMS

ZynAddSubFX

This article will not cover ZynAddSubFX, not even remotely.
It would without any kind of "story-telling" be easy to write a 500 page book, and still come up short...! If you want to learn the most important features, you should watch the Video resources#ZynAddSubFX, there you can get specific hands-on visualizations of the most important things.
Here, we will only look at the special LMMS controllers and that is an absolute insignificant scratch of the surface, of this amazing synthesizer!
ZynAddSubFX is actually an embedded and fully integrated open source VST.
That is also the reason, that the LMMS ENV/LFO tab is empty.
VSTs can't utilize those.
ZynAddSubFX has been given a special LMMS UI, that gives you access to its seven different internal settings:

PORT: stands for "Portamento".
The setting is OFF when it is below 50%, and ON when over 50%.
You can not alter the slide-duration, for that you need to access the ZynAddSubFX controllers.

FREQ: it is the cutoff frequency of the default Low-pass 1 stages 12dB filter

RES (Resonance): also known as "Q" of the default filter.
Resonance increases the chosen part of the filter cutoff.
Kind of a "hump" in the spectrum.
You hear this as "sharpness" versus "dull" expression of the sound.
Too much resonance causes distortion, and can harm both hearing! and speakers.
The default presets in the ZynAddSubFX folders should only use moderate Q, because the internal ZynAddSubFX Q is quite high! Serious clipping from factory ZynAddSubFX presets will often be solvable, if you moderate the Q, sometimes significantly.
(When you make your own ZynAddSubFX presets, a Q <~ 10 is recommended.)

BW Wave Bandwidth: comes out as detuning of the waveform, and it is a very nice sound, indeed.
Unfortunately, not all ZynAddSubFX factory presets will allow Bandwidth modulation.
There need to be either UNISON or several PARTS of the instrument.

FM GAIN Frequency Modulation intensity: this dial will increase any modulation, that has been built inside the ZynAddSubFX preset.
Not just FM.
By default this dial will not change anything, because no factory presets have any modulation.

RES CF & RES BW Resonance Center Frequency & Resonance Bandwidth: these settings are not working with the default ZynAddSubFX presets.
In order to activate them, a Resonance envelope needs to be made, inside ZynAddSubFX.

How to control FM GAIN, RES CF & RES BW is explained in some of the Video resources.

This article will not cover ZynAddSubFX, not even remotely.
It would without any kind of \"story-telling\" be easy to write a 500 page book, and still come up short...! If you want to learn the most important features, you should watch the Video resources#ZynAddSubFX, there you can get specific hands-on visualizations of the most important things.

Here, we will only look at the special LMMS controllers and that is an absolute insignificant scratch of the surface, of this amazing synthesizer!

ZynAddSubFX is actually an embedded and fully integrated open source VST.
That is also the reason, that the LMMS ENV/LFO tab is empty.
VSTs can't utilize those.
ZynAddSubFX has been given a special LMMS UI, that gives you access to its seven different internal settings:

comes out as detuning of the waveform, and it is a very nice sound, indeed.
Unfortunately, not all ZynAddSubFX factory presets will allow Bandwidth modulation.
There need to be either
UNISON or several
PARTS

these settings are not working with the default ZynAddSubFX presets.
In order to activate them, a
Resonance envelope

5.20 VeSTige

VeSTige

VeSTige is a VST host that allow the use of external VST plugins.
It is a powerful way to extend the range of sounds you can create beyond the plugins provided by defaul.
Because VeSTige is a MIDI based host, you can't use ENV/LFO in it.
This tab is intentionally left empty.
5.20.1 Usage
Usage of VeSTige varies greatly depending on what plugin is loaded, but the basic features are the same.

The green folder button opens a file browser that allows loading of a plugin

The wrench icon shows all the parameters of the plugin as knobs, allowing for automation

Show/Hide GUI shows the plugin's user interface

Turn off all notes is a panic button that mutes the plugin entirely

The left and right arrow move back and forward in the list of presets

The down arrow shows a list of presets

The blue folder icon allows loading of presets

The blue down arrow pointing to a hard drive allows for saving presets

5.20.1 Usage

Usage of VeSTige varies greatly depending on what plugin is loaded, but the basic features are the same.

6.0 Effects PrologueThere are 2 types of plugins bundled with LMMS, LMMS plugins and LADSPA plugins.
LMMS plugins are described in the following pages, while LADSPA plugins get their own reference page.
The menu below can be accessed via the Add Effect button in an Effects Rack (found in the effects tab of instrument windows and the right hand side of the mixer window).

Add effect

Double-click to select an effect.
You can enter keywords using the text box at the top.

Keyboarders can use Tab, Up/Down arrow keys, and Enter to select plugins, after typing in keywords.

The menu below can be accessed via the Add Effect button in an Effects Rack (found in the effects tab of instrument windows and the right hand side of the mixer window).

Double-click to select an effect.
You can enter keywords using the text box at the top.

6.1 Amplifier

Amplifier

A simple amplifier that adjusts volume or panning of the audio without any other change.
Knobs
VOL: adjusts gain of the amplifier.

PAN: adjusts panning of the amplifier.

LEFT: controls left channel gain of the amplifier.

RIGHT: controls right channel gain of the amplifier.

A simple amplifier that adjusts volume or panning of the audio without any other change.

Knobs

6.2 BassBooster

BassBooster

A simple bass-booster plugin.
Essentially functions as a low-shelf filter.

FREQ: adjusts Cutoff Frequency.

GAIN: adjusts overall gain.

RATIO: adjusts amplitude ratio of affected (BassBoosted) to unaffected frequencies, from a range of .1 (1:10) to 10 (10:1).

An example of a low-shelf filter using Equalizer.

A simple bass-booster plugin.
Essentially functions as a low-shelf filter.

adjusts amplitude ratio of affected (BassBoosted) to unaffected frequencies, from a range of .1 (1:10)

6.3 BitcrushA basic Bitcrusher plugin.

Bitcrush

A Bitcrusher plugin.
It can be used to add distortion to an input.
IN Knobs
GAIN: adjusts input gain.

NOISE: mixes noise with input signal based on the amplitude of input signal.

OUT Knobs
GAIN: adjusts output gain.

CLIP: adjusts clip level for output signal (positive increases clip ceiling, negative decreases it).

Other Knobs
FREQ: adjusts samplerate (without interpolation) for time quantization (can be toggled with the button above the FREQ knob).

QUANT: adjusts quantization resolution for amplitude quantization (can be toggled with the button above the QUANT knob).

STEREO: adjusts stereo difference between Left and Right channels by altering the decimation frequency difference (this can minimally impact phase alignment).

A
Bitcrusher plugin.
It can be used to add distortion to an input.

IN Knobs

OUT Knobs

Other Knobs

6.4 Crossover Equalizer

Crossover Equalizer

A basic multiband volume control that uses crossover filters to split the input into 4 bands.

Sliders: adjusts gain of each band.
The buttons below these sliders can be used to mute the bands.

Knobs: adjusts crossover frequency between respective bands (think "cutoff frequency").

A basic multiband volume control that uses
crossover filters to split the input into 4 bands.

6.5 Delay

Delay

A Delay plugin.
It stores and then repeats the input.
X/Y Grid
DELAY: Y axis of grid, adjusts time between signal repetitions.

FDBK: X axis of grid, adjusts amount of signal repetitions.

The Dry signal is not output by this plugin, so having Wet/Dry set to 100% will omit the input signal.

LFO
RATE: adjusts LFO frequency.

AMNT: adjusts the strength of the LFO.

The LFO shape for the Delay plugin is a half-wave rectified sine.

Other
Slider: adjusts output gain.

A
Delay plugin.
It stores and then repeats the input.

X/Y Grid

LFO

Other

6.6 Dual Filter

Dual Filter

A plugin featuring 2 filters processed in parallel.
Filter Parameters
FREQ: adjusts cutoff/center frequency.

RESO: adjusts resonance/bandwidth of the selected filter.

GAIN: adjusts output gain of the selected filter.

Dropdown Menu: allows for the selection of a filter from a list.

Other
MIX: adjusts final output bias to favor one filter over the other.
With a value of:

-1, Filter 2 is muted and Filter 1 is the sole output.

0, Filter 2 and 1's outputs are mixed at 50/50.

1, Filter 1 is muted and Filter 2 is the sole output.

A plugin featuring 2 filters processed in parallel.

Filter Parameters

Other

adjusts final output bias to favor one filter over the other.

With a value of:

6.7 Dynamics Processor

Dynamics Processor

Dynamic Processor allows modification of signal dynamics, including compression, gating, expanding, or any other dynamics modifications.
This plugin is very similar to Waveshaper.
X/Y Graph
Curve: represents dynamic range in a linear scale of 0-1 amplitude.

X axis: represents the peak level of input.

Y axis: represents target level of output.

The Graph shows exact sample values rather than dbFS, making it appear non-linear.
Also note that a line of x=y will not alter the signal.

Graph Editing

Left Click draws lines following the cursor.

Shift + Left Click draws a straight line between the current and last point.

+/- 1dB: shifts graph line along the Y axis.

SMOOTH: smooths graph via cubic interpolation.

RESET: nukes graph and reverts it to default x=y function.

Knobs
INPUT: adjusts level of input gain.

OUTPUT: adjusts level of output gain.

ATTACK: adjusts how quickly the peak level rises.

RELEASE: adjusts how quickly the peak level falls.

These controls are analogous to those of a compressor.

Peak Detection
The level of the signal is measured in peak levels, there are three modes of peak detection:

MAXIMUM: measures the maximum amplitude between the left and right channel.

AVERAGE: measures the average amplitude between the left and right channels.

UNLINKED: separately measures amplitude between the left and right channels.
(The same dynamics curve and pre/post amplification is applied to both channels)

Dynamic Processor allows modification of signal dynamics, including compression, gating, expanding, or any other dynamics modifications.\nThis plugin is very similar to Waveshaper.

X/Y Graph

x=y
Graph Editing

nukes graph and reverts it to default
x=y
Knobs

Peak Detection

The level of the signal is measured in peak levels, there are three modes of peak detection:

6.8 Equalizer

Equalizer

A simple Parametric Equalizer.
Graph
X axis: shows frequencies from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz, divided into octaves (this makes the X axis appear nonlinear).

Y axis: shows amplitude from -18 dB to 18 dB (displayed linearly with respect to decibels).

Analyze:

In (Button): toggle display of input signal on graph (before signal alterations)

Out (Button): toggle display of output signal on graph (after signal alterations)

The bubbles on the graph can be used to plot Cutoff frequency* and Gain*.
Using the scroll wheel on these filters will alter their Bandwidth/Resonance*.

*These terms are explained in the Filter Settings subsection of this page.

Filters
You'll notice that there are 8 columns with numbers 1-8, these represent 8 different filters (of 5 filter types) that can be used to alter the input signal.
Filter Settings

: toggles their respective filters on/off.
(Notice the symbols next to the numbers)

: adjusts slope of Highpass (1) and Lowpass (8) Filters, respective to each filter.

: adjusts gain of Filters 2 through 7, respective to each Filter.

Row of Knobs:

Top Row: adjusts the Cutoff Frequency of their respective filter

Bottom Row: adjusts the Resonance (Filters 1, 2, 7, and 8) and Bandwidth (Filters 3, 4, 5, and 6) of their respective filters.

Filter Types
1: This is a Highpass Filter, it removes frequencies below the cutoff frequency.

2: This is Low Shelf Filter, it can either boost or reduce frequencies below the cutoff frequency.

3 through 6: These are Peak Filters, they can either boost or reduce frequencies around the cutoff frequency.

7: This is a High Shelf Filter, it can either boost or reduce frequencies above the cutoff frequency.

8: This is a Lowpass Filter, it removes frequencies above the cutoff frequency.

Other
In (Slider): adjusts the gain of the input signal.

Out (Slider): adjusts the gain of the output signal.

A simple
Parametric Equalizer
.

Graph

shows frequencies from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz, divided into
octaves

(Button):

Cutoff frequency* and
Gain*.

Using the scroll wheel on these filters will alter their
Bandwidth/Resonance*.\n\n
*These terms are explained in the
Filter Settings
Filters

You'll notice that there are 8 columns with numbers 1-8, these represent 8 different filters (of 5 filter
types
) that can be used to alter the input signal.

Filter Settings

:
: adjusts slope of
Highpass (1) and
Lowpass (8)
: adjusts gain of
Filters 2 through 7

adjusts the Resonance (
Filters 1
, 2
, 7
,
and 8
) and Bandwidth (
Filters 3
, 4
, 5
, and
6

Filter Types

This is a
Highpass Filter
, it
removes frequencies
below
This is
Low Shelf Filter
, it can either
boost or reduce frequencies
below
These are
Peak Filters
, they can either
boost or reduce frequencies
around
This is a
High Shelf Filter
, it can either
boost or reduce frequencies
above
This is a
Lowpass Filter
, it
removes
frequencies
above
Other

6.9 Flanger

Flanger

A Comb Filter modulated with a LFO.
Knobs
DELAY: adjusts comb filter delay.

AMOUNT: adjusts LFO amplitude.

RATE: adjusts LFO frequency.

FEEDBACK; adjusts comb filter feedback.

NOISE: adjusts amount of white noise mixed into input signal.

The LFO modulates comb filter delay, this LFO takes the form of a sine wave.

Buttons
Invert: currently does nothing (safe to ignore).

A
Comb Filter modulated with a LFO.

Knobs

adjusts comb filter
delay

adjusts comb filter
feedback

Buttons

6.10 Multitap Echo

Multitap Echo

A Multi-tap echo delay plugin.
Graphs
Green Graph:

X axis: displays number of steps (think "echoes") in chronological order.

Y axis: displays volume (in dB) of each successive step.

Blue Graph:

X axis: displays number of steps (think "echoes") in chronological order.

Y axis: displays lowpass cutoff (in Hz) of each successive step.

There is a lowpass filter applied to each step, whose individual cutoffs can be altered.

You can draw on the graph with Left Click + Drag to set volume/lowpass cutoff for each step as desired.

Knobs
Length: adjusts the amount of time that passes between each step.

Dry: adjusts the gain of the Dry (unaffected) signal.

Stages: adjusts the number of times each step goes through its lowpass filter.

Other
Number box (): adjusts the amount of steps that occur.

Swap inputs: swaps Left/Right input channels (can be used to create rich stereo fields), this does not swap the Dry signal's output channels.

A Multi-tap echo
delay plugin.

Graphs

displays lowpass cutoff (in Hz) of each successive step.

Left Click + Drag
Knobs

Other

(

6.11 Peak Controller

Peak Controller

This plugin allows you to take the waveform of a signal and use it as a controller.
Knobs
BASE: adjusts the starting point of the resulting controller's signals.

AMNT: adjusts the amount in which the amplitude of the input signal affects the controller's output (Note that this can be negative).

MULT: adjusts the number that AMNT is multiplied by.

ATCK: adjusts the time taken for the signal to reach its peak

DCAY: adjusts the time taken for the signal to return to its baseline.

TRSH: adjusts the amplitude threshold of the controller.
(In other words, how "loud" the signal needs to be to trigger the controller.

Buttons
Absolute Value: toggles taking the absolute value of the input waveform.

Mute: toggles muting of the output.

This plugin allows you to take the waveform of a signal and use it as a controller.

Knobs

adjusts the number that
AMNT

Buttons

6.12 ReverbSC

ReverbSC

A reverb plugin.

Input: adjusts gain of the input signal.

Output: adjusts gain of the output signal.

Size: adjusts amount of reverberation.

Color: adjusts the cutoff frequency of the lowpass filter (see Filter Types for Filter descriptions).

A
reverb plugin.

adjusts the cutoff frequency of the lowpass filter (see
Filter Types

6.13 Spectrum Analyzer
Spectrum Analyzer in 1.2 and earlier

Spectrum Analyzer

This plugin visualizes the frequencies present in the signal it monitors.
Graph
X axis: shows frequencies from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz, divided into octaves (this makes the X axis appear nonlinear).

Y axis: shows amplitude from 40 dB to -60 dB (displayed linearly with respect to decibels).

Buttons
Linear Spectrum: toggles linear display of frequencies (rather than by octaves).

Linear Y axis: toggles linear display of amplitude (rather than by decibels).

Spectrum Analyzer in 1.3 and later

Spectrum Analyzer

Buttons
Waterfall:

Averaging: enables averaging of display frames.

Stereo: enables the display of LR channels independently, with the Left channel represented by Blue and the Right channel by Red.

Peak hold: enables a "ghost" line that shows the peaks of the spectrum.

Pause/Play button: enables/disables the plugin.

Snowflake: freezes plugin display (along with the data displayed).

Drop-down Menus
Frequency Range : alters the range of displayed frequencies.

Amplitude Range : alters the range of displayed amplitude.

FFT Block Size : alters the frequency resolution of the display (Higher resolutions come at the cost of FPS).

FFT Window Type : changes algorithm used to remove FFT-related noise.

Blackmann-Harris displays the least noise but has low frequency resolution.

Rectangular displays the most noise but has high frequency resolution.

Graph
X axis: shows frequencies based on the Frequency range drop-down menu.

Y axis: shows amplitude based on the Amplitude range drop-down menu.

Clicking in the spectrum/waterfall display adds a ruler/cursor with value readouts.

Advanced
Envelope Res: alters the resolution of the Peak envelope ("Peak Hold").

Spectrum Res: alters the resolution of the display curve with fill-in color.

Falloff Factor: alters the speed at which the peak envelope ("Peak Hold") falls to zero.

Averaging Weight: alters how the display curve reacts to new samples.

High value: fast reaction, low jitter reduction.
enables real-time spectrogram.

Low value: slow reaction, high jitter reduction.

Waterfall Height: alters the time range, or the amount of temporarily stored frames, of displayed frequencies in the Waterfall display.

Waterfall Gamma: alters the amount of gamma correction in the Waterfall display.

Window Overlap: alters how many times each FFT sample is processed (higher values can help improve FPS).

Zero Padding: improves resolution when using a smaller FFT Block size, at the cost of performance.

This plugin visualizes the frequencies present in the signal it monitors.

Graph

shows frequencies from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz, divided into
octaves

Buttons

Spectrum Analyzer in 1.3 and later

Buttons

Drop-down Menus

:
:

:
changes algorithm used to remove FFT-related noise.

Graph

Advanced

alters the resolution of the display curve with fill-in color.

alters how the display curve reacts to new samples.

6.14 Stereo Matrix

Stereo Matrix

This plugin allows you to reroute the Left and Right channels of an input signal.
This is accomplished by splitting the input into 4 channels whose amplitudes can be adjusted with their respective knobs.

A negative amplitude will invert that channel's waveform.

This plugin allows you to reroute the Left and Right channels of an input signal.\nThis is accomplished by splitting the input into 4 channels whose amplitudes can be adjusted with their respective knobs.

6.15 StereoEnhancer

StereoEnhancer

This plugin adds stereo character to a signal by slightly delaying the right stereo channel.
The WIDE knob adjusts how many samples the Right stereo channel is delayed by.

StereoEnhancer can introduce phase misalignment.

Also note that because StereoEnhancer uses samples instead of milliseconds to determine delay, changing samplerates may change how it sounds.

This plugin adds stereo character to a signal by slightly delaying the right stereo channel.\nThe
WIDE
knob adjusts how many
samples the Right stereo channel is delayed by.

6.16 Waveshaper

Waveshaper

Waveshaper can be used for distortion and shaping the waveform of the signal.
This plugin is very similar to Dynamics Processor.
X/Y Graph
Curve: represents dynamic range in a linear scale of 0-1 amplitude.

X axis: represents the peak level of input.

Y axis: represents target level of output.

The Graph shows exact sample values rather than dbFS, making it appear non-linear.
Also note that a line of x=y will not alter the signal.

Graph Editing

Left Click draws lines following the cursor.

Shift + Left Click draws a straight line between the current and last point.

+/- 1dB: shifts graph line along the Y axis.

SMOOTH: smooths graph via cubic interpolation.

RESET: nukes graph and reverts it to default x=y function.

Knobs
INPUT: adjusts level of input gain.

OUTPUT: adjusts level of output gain.

Buttons
Clip input: toggles clipping of the input signal to 0dBV (or 1) before processing.

Waveshaper can be used for distortion and shaping the waveform of the signal.\nThis plugin is very similar to Dynamics Processor.

X/Y Graph

x=y
Graph Editing

nukes graph and reverts it to default
x=y
Knobs

Buttons

toggles
clipping

6.17 LADSPA PluginsLADPSA Plugins are not native to LMMS, but are bundled with it; they are entirely controlled via knobs.
As these plugins are not maintained by LMMS, they are not documented here, but some reference links are provided below:

C* Plugins: http://quitte.de/dsp/caps.html

Calf Plugins: https://calf-studio-gear.org/

Steve Harris: http://plugin.org.uk/ladspa-swh/docs/ladspa-swh.html

CMT: http://www.ladspa.org/cmt/plugins.html

TAP: https://tomscii.sig7.se/tap-plugins/

Other: http://linux-sound.org/plugins.html

As these plugins are not maintained by LMMS, they are not documented here, but some reference links are provided below:

http://quitte.de/dsp/caps.html

7.1 GlossaryHere is a list of terms used in LMMS with their meaning.
There can also be found few musical terms.
When communicating with other musicians and developers, please use the correct terms as this will be more efficient and easier for both parts.
7.1.1 A
7.1.1.1 Automation
Setting the position of a knob or other control in LMMS over time by a manually-drawn envelope.
Automation is edited in the Automation Editor for individual controls.
7.1.1.2 A Capella
Singing a song without instrument accompaniment.
7.1.2 B
7.1.2.1 Bit Depth
The resolution of each sample.
The number of volume steps in each sample.
The number of bits in each sample.
7.1.3 C
7.1.3.1 Compression
Making a file smaller.
It can be done in two ways:
Lossy compression makes the file smaller by loosing (unimportant) information (bits).
Ogg and mp3 are examples of lossy compressed audio files.

Lossless compression makes the file smaller by writing it in a smarter way (like zip files), thus no information gets lost.
Flac is an example of lossless compressed audio files.

7.1.3.2 Compressor
Reduces the dynamic range by amplifying quiet sounds and reducing the volume of loud sounds.
This is a science in itself, with a lot of possibilities, thus you should read more about compression to understand why the first sentence isn't necessarily true.
7.1.3.3 Controller
Setting the position of a knob or other control in LMMS over time by a generated envelope such as an LFO.
This differs from automation because automation is drawn manually by the user and is often not a repeated effect such as a sine, square or saw wave, whereas controllers use such waves to give a regular pattern to a control.
7.1.4 D
7.1.4.1 Damping
How the sound is decaying.
A knob controlling damping controls how the decay sounds, e.g.
how fast it goes silent.
7.1.4.2 Dry
When about music/sound: dry sound is a term used on sound without reverb or echo.
7.1.4.3 Dynamic Range
The ratio between the best and weakest sound in a song.
A song with high dynamic range have very weak and very b sounds.
7.1.5 E
7.1.5.1 EQ
Abbreviation for equalizer.
An equalizer adjusts the balance between frequencies (by adjusting the amplitude of audio signals at particular frequencies).
Equalizers often appear as frequency-specific volume knobs.
7.1.5.2 Envelope
An envelope is a way to control how the sound changes over time.
From when the sound starts, while the note is held to when the note ends, you can control with an envelope.
The ADSR envelope is perhaps the most common, it consists of ways to control the attack, decay, sustain and release.
7.1.6 F
7.1.6.1 Filter
A filter alters the frequency spectrum of a sound coming out of an oscillator.
Common filters are low-pass (meaning low frequencies are let through), high-pass (allowing high frequencies through), notch (blocking a narrow range of frequencies), and band-pass (allowing only a narrow range of frequencies).
Filters, even in the digital world, cannot be truly linear, i.e.
the graph of the filter's response over frequency shows a curved "knee" dropping rather than a vertical line.
This means that a low-pass filter set to 100Hz will let some frequencies lower than that through, although the lower the frequency, the more it will be cut.
The steepness of the drop in a filter is called it's Q parameter.
Historically, some analog filters also introduced "resonance" or amplification of frequencies around the "knee" point in the filter.
This effect has been used in much electronic music and is included in LMMS
7.1.6.2 FX
Short for effects.
7.1.7 L
7.1.7.1 LADSPA
It's an acronym for Linux Audio Developers Simple Plugin API.
It is a standard for handling filters and effects, licensed under the GNU LGPL.
It was originally designed for Linux through consensus on the Linux Audio Developers Mailing List, but works on a variety of other platforms.
It is used in many free audio software projects and there is a wide range of LADSPA plugins available.
7.1.7.2 LFO
Acronym for Low Frequency Oscillator.
This typically refers to oscillators whose usual frequency is in the 0.1 - 10Hz range, i.e.
from one beat every ten seconds to ten beats every second.
Above this frequency the oscillator is generating frequencies in the audible spectrum and the "low frequency" prefix is not used.
LFOs are typically used to control things such as filter sweeps and amplitude oscillation ("vibrato").
7.1.7.3 LMMS
Originally acronym for Linux MultiMedia Studio.
Today it runs on Windows and Mac as well, and therefore is an abbreviation of your choice.
7.1.8 O
7.1.8.1 Ogg
Ogg is a free, open standard container format by the Xiph.Org foundation.
Similarly to MP3, it is designed to provide efficient streaming and manipulation of high quality digital multimedia.
7.1.9 P
7.1.9.1 Peak Controller
A Peak controller is similar to a noise gate, but with greater flexibility.
Peak controllers are commonly placed on a percussion track, and then use the output signal to control the volume of another sustained sound.
This results in the sustained sound being chopped up in time with the percussion.
7.1.9.2 Project
The entire package of instruments, tracks, patterns and settings that comprise the whole performance of the song.
This is what you save and load from the Project menu.
7.1.10 Q
7.1.10.1 Q

The steepness of the cutoff of a filter

In the Automation Editor and Piano Roll assumed short for Quantization: the "resolution" of notes and automations

7.1.11 R
7.1.11.1 Reverb
Short for reverberation.
Umbrella term for an echo effect.
7.1.12 S
7.1.12.1 Sample
An individual audio file, used either in an instrument (see AudioFileProcessor plugin) or a Sample track.
7.1.12.2 Sampling
Measurement.
7.1.12.3 Sample Rate / Sample Frequency
How many times per second the signal is measured.
7.1.12.4 Sample track
A type of track that is designed to take audio files.
Multiple different samples can be placed in one sample track, and they can overlap.
7.1.12.5 Segment
A block in a track that contains a simple (in the case of a sample track), notes in a piano roll or repeats of a beat/bassline.
Each type of track uses one type of segment.
See Song Editor.
7.1.12.6 Song
The overall combination of tracks playing simultaneously that makes up your composition.
See Song Editor.
7.1.12.7 Spectrum
A term used to describe all the different frequencies in a sound.
The effect plugin Spectrum Analyzer displays the different frequencies present in that FX-channel.
7.1.12.8 Step

1/16 of a bar in the Beat+Bassline Editor

A single "tab" or "tombstone" in the pattern display

7.1.13 T
7.1.13.1 Template
A .mmpz file with either preloaded instruments, samples and/or automation tracks.
By clicking new project you load the default template with a TripleOscillator track, Sample track, BB track and Automation track in the Song Editor, and a Kicker instrument in the BB Editor.
7.1.13.2 Track
A row in the Song Editor containing an instrument, sample track, or beat/bassline.
7.1.14 V
7.1.14.1 VST
Acronym for Virtual Studio Technology.
Programs or plugins which tweak or produce sound.
They use the .dll extension and are supported by LMMS.
VSTi (Virtual instrument) is a common name for VSTs which generate sounds and signals, like any other instrument plugin.
These are loaded through VeSTige.
VSTfx (VST effects) is used to describe VSTs which tweak or change signals, like any other effect plugin.
7.1.15 W
7.1.15.1 WAV
Waveform Audio File Format.
A cross-platform uncompressed audio standard.
7.1.15.2 Waveform
A waveform describes the shape of a sound.
Different types of waveforms include:

Sine: the simplest waveform, it will only produce the fundamental frequency of a note, without any harmonics

Triangle: produces sound similar to sine, but with some harmonics.
Triangle waves in LMMS are symmetric.

Saw: produces a large amount of harmonics and is used in the synthesis of a large number of sounds.
Somewhat nasal.

Square: a symmetric pulse wave, sounds very digital/buzzy

Moog-like-saw: less high-end frequencies than a normal saw wave

Exponential: similar to a triangle wave, but with more high-end frequencies

Noise: random, produces every frequency

7.1.15.3 Wet
When about music/sound, used to describe sound with reverb or echo.
7.1.15.4 Width
When about music/sound, describes how stereo it sounds.
Effects which increase the stereo are commonly called stereo wideners.
To achieve this effect various techniques can be used, the most easy being delay between right and left channel.

7.1.1 A

7.1.1.1 Automation

Setting the position of a knob or other control in LMMS over time by a manually-drawn envelope.
Automation is edited in the Automation Editor for individual controls.

7.1.1.2 A Capella

Singing a song without instrument accompaniment.

7.1.2 B

7.1.2.1 Bit Depth

The resolution of each sample.
The number of volume steps in each sample.
The number of bits in each sample.

7.1.3 C

7.1.3.1 Compression

Making a file smaller.
It can be done in two ways:

7.1.3.2 Compressor

Reduces the dynamic range by amplifying quiet sounds and reducing the volume of loud sounds.
This is a science in itself, with a lot of possibilities, thus you should read more about compression to understand why the first sentence isn't necessarily true.

7.1.3.3 Controller

Setting the position of a knob or other control in LMMS over time by a generated envelope such as an LFO.
This differs from automation because automation is drawn manually by the user and is often not a repeated effect such as a sine, square or saw wave, whereas controllers use such waves to give a regular pattern to a control.

7.1.4 D

7.1.4.1 Damping

How the sound is decaying.
A knob controlling damping controls how the decay sounds, e.g.
how fast it goes silent.

7.1.4.2 Dry

When about music/sound: dry sound is a term used on sound without reverb or echo.

7.1.4.3 Dynamic Range

The ratio between the best and weakest sound in a song.
A song with high dynamic range have very weak and very b sounds.

7.1.5 E

7.1.5.1 EQ

Abbreviation for equalizer.
An equalizer adjusts the balance between frequencies (by adjusting the amplitude of audio signals at particular frequencies).
Equalizers often appear as frequency-specific volume knobs.

7.1.5.2 Envelope

An envelope is a way to control how the sound changes over time.
From when the sound starts, while the note is held to when the note ends, you can control with an envelope.
The ADSR envelope is perhaps the most common, it consists of ways to control the attack, decay, sustain and release.

7.1.6 F

7.1.6.1 Filter

A filter alters the frequency spectrum of a sound coming out of an oscillator.
Common filters are low-pass (meaning low frequencies are let through), high-pass (allowing high frequencies through), notch (blocking a narrow range of frequencies), and band-pass (allowing only a narrow range of frequencies).
Filters, even in the digital world, cannot be truly linear, i.e.
the graph of the filter's response over frequency shows a curved \"knee\" dropping rather than a vertical line.
This means that a low-pass filter set to 100Hz will let some frequencies lower than that through, although the lower the frequency, the more it will be cut.
The steepness of the drop in a filter is called it's Q parameter.
Historically, some analog filters also introduced \"resonance\" or amplification of frequencies around the \"knee\" point in the filter.
This effect has been used in much electronic music and is included in LMMS

7.1.6.2 FX

Short for effects.

7.1.7 L

7.1.7.1 LADSPA

It's an acronym for Linux Audio Developers Simple Plugin API.
It is a standard for handling filters and effects, licensed under the GNU LGPL.
It was originally designed for Linux through consensus on the Linux Audio Developers Mailing List, but works on a variety of other platforms.
It is used in many free audio software projects and there is a wide range of LADSPA plugins available.

7.1.7.2 LFO

Acronym for Low Frequency Oscillator.
This typically refers to oscillators whose usual frequency is in the 0.1 - 10Hz range, i.e.
from one beat every ten seconds to ten beats every second.
Above this frequency the oscillator is generating frequencies in the audible spectrum and the \"low frequency\" prefix is not used.
LFOs are typically used to control things such as filter sweeps and amplitude oscillation (\"vibrato\").

7.1.7.3 LMMS

Originally acronym for Linux MultiMedia Studio.
Today it runs on Windows and Mac as well, and therefore is an abbreviation of your choice.

7.1.8 O

7.1.8.1 Ogg

Ogg is a free, open standard container format by the Xiph.Org foundation.
Similarly to MP3, it is designed to provide efficient streaming and manipulation of high quality digital multimedia.

7.1.9 P

7.1.9.1 Peak Controller

A Peak controller is similar to a noise gate, but with greater flexibility.
Peak controllers are commonly placed on a percussion track, and then use the output signal to control the volume of another sustained sound.
This results in the sustained sound being chopped up in time with the percussion.

7.1.9.2 Project

The entire package of instruments, tracks, patterns and settings that comprise the whole performance of the song.
This is what you save and load from the Project menu.

7.1.10 Q

7.1.10.1 Q

Quantization:
7.1.11 R

7.1.11.1 Reverb

Short for reverberation.
Umbrella term for an echo effect.

7.1.12 S

7.1.12.1 Sample

An individual audio file, used either in an instrument (see AudioFileProcessor plugin) or a Sample track.

7.1.12.2 Sampling

Measurement.

7.1.12.3 Sample Rate / Sample Frequency

How many times per second the signal is measured.

7.1.12.4 Sample track

A type of track that is designed to take audio files.
Multiple different samples can be placed in one sample track, and they can overlap.

7.1.12.5 Segment

A block in a track that contains a simple (in the case of a sample track), notes in a piano roll or repeats of a beat/bassline.
Each type of track uses one type of segment.
See Song Editor.

7.1.12.6 Song

The overall combination of tracks playing simultaneously that makes up your composition.
See Song Editor.

7.1.12.7 Spectrum

A term used to describe all the different frequencies in a sound.
The effect plugin Spectrum Analyzer displays the different frequencies present in that FX-channel.

7.1.12.8 Step

7.1.13 T

7.1.13.1 Template

A .mmpz file with either preloaded instruments, samples and/or automation tracks.
By clicking new project you load the default template with a TripleOscillator track, Sample track, BB track and Automation track in the Song Editor, and a Kicker instrument in the BB Editor.

7.1.13.2 Track

A row in the Song Editor containing an instrument, sample track, or beat/bassline.

7.1.14 V

7.1.14.1 VST

Acronym for Virtual Studio Technology.
Programs or plugins which tweak or produce sound.
They use the .dll extension and are supported by LMMS.
VSTi (Virtual instrument) is a common name for VSTs which generate sounds and signals, like any other instrument plugin.
These are loaded through VeSTige.
VSTfx (VST effects) is used to describe VSTs which tweak or change signals, like any other effect plugin.

7.1.15 W

7.1.15.1 WAV

Waveform Audio File Format.
A cross-platform uncompressed audio standard.

7.1.15.2 Waveform

A waveform describes the shape of a sound.
Different types of waveforms include:

7.1.15.3 Wet

When about music/sound, used to describe sound with reverb or echo.

7.1.15.4 Width

7.2 Key Mappings
7.2.1 General
Key
Action
Notes
F6
Show Beat+Bassline Editor

F7
Show Piano Roll Editor

F8
Show Song Editor

F9
Show Automation Editor

F10
Show Project Notes

F11
Show Controller Rack

Ctrl+N
Create a new project
Will ask to save existing project if any changes have been made
Ctrl+O
Open an existing project
Will ask to save existing project if any changes have been made
Ctrl+S
Save current project

Ctrl+Shift+S
Save current project under a new name

Ctrl+E
Export current project

Ctrl+Q
Quit LMMS
Will ask to save existing project if any changes have been made
Ctrl+Z
Undo

Ctrl+Y
Redo

Page Up
Scrolls page up
Works with windows with a scroll bar
Page Down

Works with windows with a scroll bar

7.2.2 Instrument Plugins
Key
Action
Notes
Shift+drag on control
Copies the value of the clicked control and pastes it on the released knob
Applies only to standard twist-knobs
Ctrl+drag on control
Enables you to connect automation, LFOs or other knobs.
When you change linked knobs all knobs will change

7.2.3 All Editors with a Timeline
I.e.
the Beat+Bassline Editor, Piano Roll Editor, Song Editor and Automation Editor.
Key
Action
Notes
Home
Move playback position to beginning

Left-click on timeline
Move playback position to that time
Works during playback as well as when stopped
Shift+right-click / Middle click on timeline
Move loop start point to that time
If you click after the loop end point, it will move the loop start point to the loop end point and the loop end point to where you just clicked.
In other words, it places the loop point where you clicked, but loops always go forward in time.
Locked to the nearest bar position.
Shift+Ctrl+right-click / Ctrl+middle-click on timeline
Move loop start point to that time exactly
Same loop behavior as above.
Ignores bar locking.
Right-click on timeline
Move loop end point to that time
If you clicked before the loop start point, it will move the loop end point to the loop start point and the loop start point to where you just clicked.
In other words, it places the loop point where you clicked, but loops always go forward in time.
Locked to the nearest bar position.
Ctrl+right-click on timeline
Move loop end point to that time exactly
Same loop direction behavior as above.
Ignores bar locking.

7.2.4 Beat+Bassline Editor
Key
Action
Notes
Right-click on pattern
Show context menu for editing patterns

+
Move to next the pattern

-
Move to the previous pattern

Space
Start/pause playback of this pattern
Sometimes you have to make sure that you've selected a play point in the BB Editor or it will start playback on the Song Editor

7.2.5 Piano Roll Editor
Key
Action
Notes
Mouse wheel up/down
Move up/down in the Song Editor view (higher/lower pitches shown)

Shift+mouse wheel up/down
Move left/right in the Song Editor view (earlier/later times)
Alternatively use horizontal mouse wheel
Ctrl+mouse wheel up/down
Zoom in/out horizontally

Ctrl+C
Copy selected notes

Ctrl+V
Paste selected notes

Ctrl+X
Cut selected notes

Ctrl+A
Select all notes

Shift+D
Select draw tool

Shift+E
Select erase tool

Shift+S
Select selector tool

Shift+T
Select detuning tool

Delete
Delete selected notes

Home
Move playback point to start of automation

Space
Start/stop playback

Ctrl
Temporarily use the select tool
When held down
Alt
Disable quantization
When held down
Ctrl+Shift
Keep old selection while selecting new notes
When held down
Shift+drag selection
Copy selection and move those notes

Arrow keys
Scroll

Ctrl+Up
Move selected notes up an octave

Ctrl+Down
Move selected notes down an octave

Shift+Left
Move selected notes left

Shift+Right
Move selected notes right

Ctrl+Left
Move time ticker left

Ctrl+Right
Move time ticker right

Num pad
Change quantization

7.2.6 Song Editor
Key
Action
Notes
Right-click on segment
Show context menu for segment editing
Inconsistent with Piano Roll Editor
Middle-click on segment
Delete segment
Inconsistent with Piano Roll Editor
Ctrl+drag on segment
Copy segment

Ctrl must be re-pressed each time you want to copy

Can drag to new track (vertically) as well as new time (horizontally)

Dropping onto an existing segment replaces that segment

Drag on segment+Ctrl
Don't lock segment to bar start during move

If Ctrl is pressed before drag starts, see above entry

If you want to re-align the segment to guaranteed bar start, just move it again without holding down Ctrl

Shift+drag on empty part of track
Resize track
Clicking on a segment when you start the Shift+drag won't do anything
Ctrl+drag on "grip" section of track
Copy entire track

Mouse wheel up/down
Move up/down in the Song Editor view

Shift+mouse wheel up/down
Move left/right in the Song Editor view (earlier/later times)

Ctrl+mouse wheel up/down
Zoom in/out horizontally

Shift+Insert
Insert bar immediately after current play point

Shift+Delete
Delete bar immediately after current play point

Left/Right
Move play point earlier/later
Does not move current view window
Space
Start/pause playback

Home
Move play point to start of song
Does not move current view window

7.2.7 Automation Editor
Key
Action
Shift+left-click
Draw a straight line between this point and the previously clicked point
Mouse wheel up/down
Move view up/down
Shift+mouse wheel up/down
Move view left/right
Ctrl+mouse wheel up/down
Zoom in/out horizontally, i.e.
show more/less time
Up/Down
Move the window up/down
Left/Right
Move the playback position left/right
Ctrl+X
Cut selected values
Ctrl+C
Copy selected values
Ctrl+V
Paste previously selected values
Ctrl+A
Select all values
Shift+D
Select draw tool
Shift+E
Select erase tool
Shift+S
Select selector tool
Shift+M
Select selection movement tool
Delete
Delete selected values
Space
Start/stop playback
Home
Move playback point to the first bar in song

7.2.8 Project Notes
Key
Action
Ctrl+Z
Undo last edit
Ctrl+X
Cut selected text
Ctrl+C
Copy selected text
Ctrl+V
Paste selected text
Ctrl+B
Toggle bold text on/off
Ctrl+I
Toggle italic text on/off
Ctrl+L
Left justify text
Ctrl+E
Center text
Ctrl+R
Right justify text
Ctrl+J
Justify text to both margins

7.2.9 File Browser (in Side Bar)
Key
Action
F5
Refresh file listing

7.2.10 Other
Key
Action
Notes
Ctrl+click while rubber-band active
Invert selection

Shift+click on selection
Add/remove an object from selection

Ctrl+middle-click
Mute segment
Watch out for below!
Middle-click
Delete segment

7.2.2 Instrument Plugins

7.2.3 All Editors with a Timeline

I.e.
the Beat+Bassline Editor, Piano Roll Editor, Song Editor and Automation Editor.

7.2.4 Beat+Bassline Editor

7.2.5 Piano Roll Editor

7.2.6 Song Editor

]}]}]

7.2.7 Automation Editor

7.2.8 Project Notes

bold

italic

7.2.9 File Browser (in Side Bar)

7.2.10 Other

7.3 Video Tutorials
7.3.1 Introduction to LMMS / For New Users
Content
Link
Author
Audio settings, Piano Roll, Beat+Bassline
https://youtu.be/4dYxV3tqTUc
Ian Sannar
Sidebar, samples, presets
https://youtu.be/Ow4fHTmd1mo
Ian Sannar
First song; lead, beat, bass
https://youtu.be/5fUTCZ4wxVY
Ian Sannar

7.3.2 Piano Roll
Content
LInk
Author
Basics
https://youtu.be/7ZHM__Q1bkE
Kris Occhipinti

7.3.3 Automation Editor
Content
Link
Author
Automating a knob
https://youtu.be/7-vRYgPTSYY
Ian Sannar
Automating knobs
https://youtu.be/u7R9GAHQ2ik
LazerBlade

7.3.4 FX-Mixer
Content
Link
Author
Basics
https://youtu.be/BCbel56VuEU
bearsoundz
Channel separation & virtual instruments
https://youtu.be/J8MzUXf3TX0
bearsoundz
Expressions in side-chaining
ttps://youtu.be/ntzWiufjkko
bearsoundz

7.3.5 Internal Instrument Plugins
7.3.5.1 TripleOscillator
Content
Link
Author
Basic usage, using waveform files
https://youtu.be/7lI8VgbocQg
Ian Sannar

7.3.5.2 VeSTige
Content
Link
Author
Open and use VSTi
https://youtu.be/I5TvzIsYQaU
Ian Sannar

7.3.5.3 ZynAddSubFX
Content
Link
Author
Basics and ADDSynth
https://youtu.be/M_oLSb5DIpM
Ian Sannar
PADSynth
http://youtu.be/e7SMuDFxaOw
Ian Sannar
Touching up ADDSynth Instruments
https://youtu.be/_ZvKAbp_zaU
Ian Sannar
Oscillator Design
https://youtu.be/kGT9V6fJW5E
Ian Sannar
Synthesizing a Dubstep Growl
https://youtu.be/KYdWWk4Uir4
Ian Sannar
Synthesizing a Kick Drum
https://youtu.be/coVl1D-q7Bo
Tobiasz Karoń
Synthesizing a Snare Drum
https://youtu.be/EwZrKlqHbvs
Tobiasz Karoń
Synthesizing a HiHat
https://youtu.be/35j0SL8L7KQ
Tobiasz Karoń
Dubstep Growl
https://youtu.be/KYdWWk4Uir4
Ian Sannar
Pitch glide (portamento)
https://youtu.be/Rk5CHiHIFLI
Ian Sannar
Advanced portamento settings
https://youtu.be/tQRvEa1Xv88
bearSoundz
Advanced filter settings
https://youtu.be/4ZSGvjePUSI
bearSoundz
Advanced filters: formants 1+2
https://youtu.be/sdj_pzWzAtE
bearSoundz
Connecting all dials on LMMS GUI
https://youtu.be/wPDnDBOF93s
bearSoundz

7.3.6 External Instruments
7.3.6.1 VST Instruments
Content
Link
Author
Synth1, Supersaw
https://youtu.be/bNjV-O4OTSU
LazerBlade
Synth1, Chiptune
https://youtu.be/oFn_K5MGGRo
LazerBlade
Synth1, Sync lead
https://youtu.be/AEr9VrD674c
LazerBlade
Synth1, Progressive House Pluck
https://youtu.be/a6j3Z-ZFGBo
LazerBlade

7.3.7 Internal Effects; Ladspa and Native Effects
Content
Link
Author
Sidechaining with Peak controller
https://youtu.be/Q02AOg95Wzs
Ian Sannar
Various effects; reverb, waveshaper
https://youtu.be/BI3KAoQ2Eho
Ian Sannar
FX, EQ and sidechaining with peak controller
https://youtu.be/p0qkUgg6r-w
LazerBlade
Sidechain compression with Calf compressor
https://youtu.be/t2mxf3DcQTg
chris janowiak
Advanced Sidechaining with Calf Sidechain Compressor
https://youtu.be/Il0OH4I0-LE
Umcaruje

7.3.8 External Effects; VST
Content
Link
Author
LMMS VST settings
https://youtu.be/I5TvzIsYQaU
Ian Sannar
Glitching with the VST Glitch
https://youtu.be/J11sFdTFBqs
LazerBlade

7.3.9 Genres
7.3.9.1 Dubstep
Content
Link
Author
Part 1; beat
https://youtu.be/Ggh6VgBKrkA
LazerBlade
Part 2; wobbles and rough synths
https://youtu.be/0h_8Z7qsEfQ
LazerBlade
Part 3; variations
https://youtu.be/WmH8Oz1zqf0
LazerBlade
Synthesizing a dubstep growl in ZASFX
https://youtu.be/KYdWWk4Uir4
Ian Sannar

7.3.9.2 Hardstyle
Content
Link
Author
Hardstyle Screech
https://youtu.be/qw3mCQz0PoY
LazerBlade
Lead & Melody
https://youtu.be/Gj8O4XUdArs
LazerBlade
Intro and conclusion
https://youtu.be/03CUcE41SRw
LazerBlade
Complete Hardstyle Climax
https://youtu.be/XF3HyoiPpEg
LazerBlade

7.3.9.3 House
Content
Link
Author
Basics; beat, bass, lead
https://youtu.be/llL7z65crYo
LazerBlade
Saw strings and lead with Zyn, and Bass with TripleOsc
https://youtu.be/K9p-H6NYOks
How to LMMS

7.3.9.4 Reaggaeton
Content
Link
Author
Beat
https://youtu.be/_Gv7-B9ACg4
VbombzDaBomberman

7.3.9.5 Trance
Content
Link
Author
Trance melodies
https://youtu.be/x3rIduNXSgs
LazerBlade
Trance drum lines
https://youtu.be/z2NnztKm1yA
LazerBlade
Trance basslines
https://youtu.be/LAQH3zbE3Fo
LazerBlade

7.3.10 Other
7.3.10.1 Music Theory / Composition
Content
Link
Author
Crash course in music theory and composition
https://youtu.be/Q7DW4-Ql9bE
LazerBlade
Drums, beats, and white noise
https://youtu.be/LwMVMGLcy5Y
LazerBlade
Filters, automation, and build up
https://youtu.be/oTzSpVBjQlo
LazerBlade
Chords, scales & keys relationships
https://youtu.be/ZEgx-_hMFYg
bearSoundz

7.3.10.2 Mixing / EQ
Content
Link
Author
Kick & bass EQ/mixing
https://youtu.be/7277fVeS02g
LazerBlade
Filter types explained with graphic equalizer
https://youtu.be/3q6rcMrQ7v8
Ian Sannar

7.3.10.3 Mastering
Content
Link
Author
Mastering with Ardour; compression
https://youtu.be/0QKgycjw62A
LazerBlade
Mastering with Audacity; compression
https://youtu.be/lD7kUffopCs
LazerBlade

7.3.10.4 Exporting a Song
Content
Link
Author
Simple exporting
https://youtu.be/HcCbufxDIxc
Ian Sannar

7.3.2 Piano Roll

7.3.3 Automation Editor

7.3.4 FX-Mixer

7.3.5 Internal Instrument Plugins

7.3.5.1 TripleOscillator

7.3.5.2 VeSTige

7.3.5.3 ZynAddSubFX

7.3.6 External Instruments

7.3.6.1 VST Instruments

7.3.7 Internal Effects; Ladspa and Native Effects

7.3.8 External Effects; VST

7.3.9 Genres

7.3.9.1 Dubstep

7.3.9.2 Hardstyle

7.3.9.3 House

7.3.9.4 Reaggaeton

7.3.9.5 Trance

7.3.10 Other

7.3.10.1 Music Theory / Composition

7.3.10.2 Mixing / EQ

7.3.10.3 Mastering

7.3.10.4 Exporting a Song

7.4 Sample Resources
These are some pages where you can find samples for your projects.
Remember that samples can be copyrighted.
It is up to you to make sure that you can use the samples royalty-free in your projects.The Freesound Project is a collaborative database of Creative Commons licensed sounds.
Freesound focuses only on sound, not songs.
This is what sets freesound apart from other splendid libraries like ccMixter.
Vocal & A-Capella samples - some of the singers request that you contact them first, if you plan on using their voices for commercial projects.
Free Sample Packs gives links to many different sample packs, mostly royalty free.
Soundbible contains royalty free noises and sound FXs.
Fruitytuts gives a lot of samples, instruments, soundfonts and other musical resources for free.
Hyperreal has a library of classic synth and drum synth sounds.
This article on Musicradar lists tens of links to sample packs with hundreds of sound each.
All royalty free.

The Freesound Project is a collaborative database of Creative Commons licensed sounds.
Freesound focuses only on sound, not songs.
This is what sets freesound apart from other splendid libraries like ccMixter.

Vocal \u0026 A-Capella samples - some of the singers request that you contact them first, if you plan on using their voices for commercial projects.

Free Sample Packs gives links to many different sample packs, mostly royalty free.

Soundbible contains royalty free noises and sound FXs.

Fruitytuts gives a lot of samples, instruments, soundfonts and other musical resources for free.

Hyperreal has a library of classic synth and drum synth sounds.

This article on Musicradar

7.5 SoundFont ResourcesFreepats is a project dedicated to creating a free and open set of instrument patches, in any format, that can be used with softsynths.
GeneralUser GS is a GM and GS compatible SoundFont bank for composing or playing MIDI files.
Percussion-SF @ ArachnoSoft has some nice sf2 for special percussion.
7.5.1 SoundFont tools
Polyphone is a free program that will allow you to build new SoundFonts from scratch.
Conversion of sfz to sf2 http://lmms.io/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4761&p=15612#p15612:

load install application from https://www.polyphone-soundfonts.com/en/

run application

load some sfz bank

save as sf2

If you have problems while loading samples, open the sfz file in a text editor and change path for samples or remove setting:
"default_path=YOUR PATH"

Freepats is a project dedicated to creating a free and open set of instrument patches, in any format, that can be used with softsynths.

GeneralUser GS is a GM and GS compatible SoundFont bank for composing or playing MIDI files.

Percussion-SF @ ArachnoSoft has some nice sf2 for special percussion.

7.5.1 SoundFont tools

Polyphone is a free program that will allow you to build new SoundFonts from scratch.

Conversion of sfz to sf2
http://lmms.io/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4\u0026t=4761\u0026p=15612#p15612
:

https://www.polyphone-soundfonts.com/en/

If you have problems while loading samples, open the sfz file in a text editor and change path for samples or remove setting:

7.6 VST ResourcesVst4free has tons of VST(i)s in their library, and with a brief description and star rating on each sound or program you shoud be able to find what you like.
Vst Planet gives you information and updates about new VST(i)s and updates about them.
MyVST showcases free VST instruments and effects.
Updated frequently on their YouTube channel.
Collection of Free VSTs download pages
14000 free Synth1 presets! from the "Very Random Streams".
This zipfile gives you 14000+! Synth1 instruments, and instructions on how to install externall banks.

Vst4free has tons of VST(i)s in their library, and with a brief description and star rating on each sound or program you shoud be able to find what you like.

Vst Planet gives you information and updates about new VST(i)s and updates about them.

MyVST showcases free VST instruments and effects.
Updated frequently on their YouTube channel.

Collection of Free VSTs download pages

14000 free Synth1 presets!

7.7 Music Making ResourcesAll8's BeatFinder is a tool for BPM finding.
Scales&Chords is a tool for scale finding, chord progressions and more.
Attack Magazine contains beat making drum patterns dissected, explained and shown as sequencer patterns.
HowToMakeElectronicMusic is a website with tutorials, music production tips and reviews.
They are often based on FL Studio, but you can use them with LMMS too.
BedRoomProducersBlog too contains tutorials and reviews, and also some news about discounts on commercial products.
Audacity is a great multiplatform program for recording and editing audio.
SFXR has been ported to LMMS, but here you can use the full version.
You may also like the web based port.
Compedium of all possible scales analyzed mathematically.

All8's BeatFinder is a tool for BPM finding.

Scales\u0026Chords is a tool for scale finding, chord progressions and more.

Attack Magazine contains beat making drum patterns dissected, explained and shown as sequencer patterns.

HowToMakeElectronicMusic is a website with tutorials, music production tips and reviews.
They are often based on FL Studio, but you can use them with LMMS too.

BedRoomProducersBlog too contains tutorials and reviews, and also some news about discounts on commercial products.

Audacity is a great multiplatform program for recording and editing audio.

SFXR has been ported to LMMS, but here you can use the full version.\nYou may also like the
web based port
.

Compedium

7.8 Various Resources
Here are some sites that contain many categories of useful audio creation resources.KvrAudio contains loads of audio plugins, both free and commercial, and great community forums.
Vst Cafe is a blog about good, cheap, free stuff.
If you like game music and want MIDI files, there is a huge collection here: http://www.vgmusic.com/
Over time some threads on the Forum also represent a useful resource.
This one has a lot of interesting links found by LMMS users: Users-choices

KvrAudio contains loads of audio plugins, both free and commercial, and great community forums.

Vst Cafe is a blog about good, cheap, free stuff.

If you like game music and want MIDI files, there is a huge collection here:
http://www.vgmusic.com/

Over time some threads on the Forum also represent a useful resource.
This one has a lot of interesting links found by LMMS users:
Users-choices

Your First Song
You've got the default screen in front of you, with the Song Editor, Beat+Bassline Editor and Project Notes open.
First really good thing to do, is to write some information about your project in Project-notes.
It could be:

Working Title
Scale
Key
Inspired from
Project-start-date
Maybe you can think of others, that fits your personal preferences better, but scale and key is really important!

After you have made that, you do have a kind of a standard, or as we call it a Template!

You can save this Template, and that will be the basis for every project you make!
If you like to do that now, then go to

File| Save-as-default-template

Now you have a header on all your projects, in project-notes!

Fill in the data in your header

Your Scale is minor

key is A

Often written as Amin

After that has been done, close project-notes

We are now ready to find and add some instruments!

Choosing the instruments
In LMMS you have two types of instruments

Raw without any settings at all

Those you find in the Sidebar Sidebar as the topmost option Instrument Plugins

You can find detailed description of each of these plugins in Instrument

Instruments with special setup

Those we call Presets, and they are made so they sounds like real musical instruments!

You find these Presets in Sidebars 4.
option: My Presets

We will use Presets for your first song!

Click the Presets icon (
) on the Sidebar to open up the list of preset sounds.
Double-click on the TripleOscillator (3OC) -or click on the plus symbol on its left to open this collection, and you will be presented with a diverse range of preset-instruments, all made with 3OC.
You can hold the mouse button down on any preset and get a preview of its sound.

For Popcorn we will use a preset named "SquarePing", and we will use a really cool LMMS feature to help us find this preset: LMMS-token-search!

In the bottom of Sidebar, you have an input-field -This is a token-search field!

Just input a few letters of "SquarePing", and you will see how LMMS browse to all folders with presets that match your token!

We will use "SquarePing" from the Tripple-Oscilator collection

Drag the preset "SquarePing" onto the space in the middle of the Song Editor.
When you drop it, a new track will be created with that preset as the instrument-preset.

Making the melody
We now want to add notes to make the melody.
Left-click in the first bar of the track, that creates a segment! A light-grey block in your song-editor.(
).
Double-click on that and the Piano Roll Editor will appear Alternatively right-click in the segment- Then in context-menu select Open-piano-roll.
Both methods opens piano-roll, and we are ready to compose the melody!

The first note
First lets get familiar with the Piano-roll window, and take a look at the most important buttons in Piano-rolls speedbar.
An in depth explanation can be found in the section Piano Roll Editor.

First is Play
Fourth is Stop
Fifth is Draw-tool
Seventh Select-tool
Nineth is called Quantication or Q
-we also use these soon.

To the left you got a piano-keyboard.
The highest notes are up (notes with high frequency) and the lowest (notes with low frequency are down.
Press a note.
You should now hear the preset make a sound that correspond to the the note you pressed.

The piano is divided in octaves.
For each octave you will see the c-key marked, and the key has a number, that correspond to the octave-number.
We are going to insert notes in fourth octave!

To the right you have the area where you insert your notes.
It is made out of black squares, where one default tick has the size of 1/16 of a note.

The thin green lines shows the size of beats (Default four ticks)

The thick green lines shows the size of bars (Default four beats)

Click in the black square just to the right of the 'A4' note (which is three rows, or semitones, down from the note marked C5).
This will create a new crotchet - a note one beat long - starting at that time.

However, this note is too long: we need notes half a beat - 1/8 - long.
To change this, we simply move the mouse pointer to the right-hand edge of the note, until the cursor changes into a left-and-right arrow.
Then hold the mouse button down, and drag the end of the note left two ticks (each block default being one sixteenth of a bar).

After this, the new notes we put down will be the same length, because the Piano Roll Editor default is set to Last-Note (
) -But you can change that in the drop-down.
However most of the time you will work with the Last-Note setting, but if you suddenly cant create notes in the length you expected, its because you accidentally made a change to this drop-down.

More notes
Continue creating notes in the pattern shown:

To place a note, you need to aim for the line at the start of the beat; LMMS will recognise a small fraction of the area left of the beat line as being closer to that beat than the previous.
You can control this with the 'Q-setting'.
Default 'Q' is correlated to note-length.
That is 'Note-snap'.
But again you can change that 'magnetic-point' in the Q-dropdown.
If you make a mistake placing a note, you can move it to its correct position by clicking on the middle of the note (the cursor turns into a four-way cross) and dragging the note to its new position.
LMMS will play the note that you're dragging, as an audible aide to correct placement.
You can move notes horizontally (in time) as well as vertically (in octave-pitch).

If you need to delete a note, simply right-click on it.

Copy and paste
We now want to repeat those seven notes at the start of the bar in the next bar.
There are three ways to do this.

The first and worst way to do it is to manually simply click the correct notes.
But this is tedious, so let's use some of LMMS's features to speed this up.

The first smart way to do it, is to use the duplicator-feature of the drawing-tool.
First you select the notes you want to copy: Hold down Ctrl and make a selection rectangle around the notes.
Next, hold Shift and drag the newly selected notes .
You are now dragging a copy of the selected notes.
You can place this copy where you want.

Alternatively you can use good old copy and paste Ctrl+<a| c| v> short-cuts.
Again, use Ctrl to select the notes you want, and then press Ctrl+C.
Press Ctrl+V to paste the notes.
The notes will be inserted at the play-head position, but as long as they are selected, you can move them.

In LMMS we have lots of smart-move options!

When notes are selected you can smart-move them:

One Q-snap:
Hold shift, tab left/right arrow
One bar
Hold ctrl, tab left/right arrow
One semitone:
Hold shift, tab up/down arrow
One Octave
Hold ctrl, tab up/down arrow
To select all notes in piano-roll, also those not in view, you can press Ctrl+A.

We can now press the play button (
) in the Piano Roll Editor window to play the current melody.
When it gets to the end of the last bar in which there are notes, it will automatically repeat back to the start of the first bar.

This is fine, but You can now continue adding more notes of the tune.

Here's what your piano roll should look like at the end of this:

Lets take a look at our melody in song-editor!

Press F5!

So there we got our segment, coloured, and with the notes we have composed.

Now remember the melody.
The part we have here actually repeats trice more times.
We could go back to piano-roll and make a copy, like we did before, but instead we will copy the segment in song-editor!

Point at it
Press and hold Ctrl
Drag the segment to the right.
You will see that you now have a complete copy of the segment, and you can drop that anywhere.

Do this two more times, so you now have 4 segments in song-editor.

Save the project!
But now we need to avoid the most annoying situation of all: Loosing everything!

Now you have made something that actually sound great, it is high time for saving your project!

The first time you save, LMMS will prompt you for a project name.
Thats entirely up to you, but LMMS also lets you decide weather your project should be compressed (*.mmpz), or kept as uncompressed XML (*.mmp).
Beside the size difference between MMP and MMPZ, witch can be significant! It is important to know, that file-errors in MMP-files are rather easy to solve, and therefore the project can be rescued, whereas flawed MMPZ-files are next to impossible to rescue!

Make your choice, and save your project now!

Observe that the program-tittle-line now has changed, and your project-name has been inserted.
You should also notis, that as soon as you make an edit in your project, the tittle-bar shows a star next to your filename.
When you see that, then your project has not been saved, with your latest edits

When you save your work, observe the message to the left, in the bottom of your screen!

Make sure you always see this OK-message, every time you save your project, and if you end your work, and closes LMMS, i recommend that you wait about 10 secd, after you have saved the last time, before you closes the program.
You could also take a peek on your disk, and actually make sure that the project has been saved, has a believable size, and a correct time-stamp.
But that only when you close LMMS.

Your First Beat
We also want a percussion part in this project.
So letst make a beat in Beat&bass-editor!

First we open Beat&bass-editor: Press F6!
For our beat we are going to use Samples in LMMS sample-player named AudioFilePlayer or AFP.

Click the My samples button on the Sidebar (
).
This is your sample collection that comes standard with LMMS.
On the list of folders that appeared, one of them labeled "drums".
Double-clicking the folder will show a list of percussion instruments.
Click on them to hear the different sounds of the instruments.

In the samples select a Kick drum (any will work).
Double-click the sample and it should appear in the Beat + Bassline editor.
Also add a Closed Hihat and a Snare.
You will end up with 3 AFP in the Beat + Bassline editor.
You make drum patterns by clicking the grey squares
(
).
You can play your drum pattern by pressing the play button (
).
The pattern will loop until you stop it.

Here are some example drum patterns that you could use in your projects:

Drum pattern examples
[1] Four on the Floor - Standard beat pattern commonly used in Disco, House and Techno songs.

[2] Amen Break - This drum solo was originally performed by Gregory Sylvester Coleman, but has been heavily sampled and pitched up for use in jump-up drum and bass and jungle.

[3] Typical Breakbeat - By moving the Bass drum out of regular 4/4 timing we create a "Breakbeat"

[4] Prodigy - Smack my B**** up - Breakbeat intro:

and main beat:

Note the lowered volumes of the snare drum in the 2 examples above i.e.
the dimmed led's in some steps.
To change the volume of a step, hover your mouse over it and roll the scroll wheel down to lower volume and up to raise volume.
The brightness of the step's color will change.
Want to hear how all these patterns sound? Download a demo project here.

There is more to making great percussion.
Here we only looked at simple 'notes' added directly in B&B-editor.
But you should also read the section Composing Bass Lines and Drum Sequences, where more advanced methods are explained.
You will amo.
learn how to alter quantizing, and humanize in piano-roll.

Adding automation
Now we will use one of LMMS' most powerfull features: Automation!

Automation means that controllers like dials and sliders, can be controlled by drawed graphical shapes, during playback! This is how sweeps, risers, and growls are made in EDM!

Here we will only make an automation-example, and automate the dial, that controls a filter.

But before we do that, lets swap the current instrument for an other!

Before we do something like that, it is recommended that you save your project!

Open the Xylophon preset, so you see its interfase.

From sidebar, use the method to smart-token-search, for an instrument-preset named Square Ping

After you found that preset, right-click it, and choose: "Send-to-active-instrument"

That is how easy it is to swap a new preset into an other!br>
Play the project.

This preset has more Popcorn-feel!

Sometimes you can benefit from making tiny changes to a preset.
In my ears there is a tad to much resonance, it has a kind of metallic artefact..

Here is something you need to understand.
Even though a project sounds fine on your system, it may sound different on an other computer! That all depends on hardware!
On my pc, i would like to have less resonance.
We can set that on second tab on the preset.
It has the name "Envelope, Filter & LFO"

Open that!

In the bottom part, there is a dial named RESO.
Change the resonance to 0.12.
Play the project again! Can you hear the difference?

To the left of dial RESO, we have an other dial: FREQ -That is the dial we will automate!

In Song-editor we first add an Automation-track.

Press the 5.
button in Song-editor speedbar.
It is named Add Automation-track.

LMMS inserted a new type of track in your project! You should rename this track now! Right-click in the name-field, and write "Square Ping HP-automation".

Point to the FREQ-dial!
Press and hold Ctrl
Drag the dial up into the Automation-track and release Ctrl.

LMMS inserts a block in the track.
You can drag it longer, and you can see that the block has the same name as the track, but you can change that, on the context-menu

But the name is fine, so lets now add the automation

In this demo we will fade out over two bars, and fade in over the next two, for that we wil use a linear-progression!

Double-click in the Automation-segment.
That open the Automation-editor!

First select the linear-progression

Place points on the progression as shown, by left-clicking in the editor.

Close Automation-editor (F8)
Now play your project!

If you again open the tab "Envelope, Filter & LFO", you can see how the FREQ-dial moves because it it automated!

Good Song! Bad result
You are not there yet!

One of the most common problems, is sound-clipping, and nasty artefacts.
One of those make the song sounds like it comes from a tin-bucket.
Sometimes distortion will feel like really unpleasant hearing irritation, and your first impulse is to look for a volume control..

Your next job is to make sure you do not have that!
This part of the process, is at least as important as the previous ones!

The first thing we need to do, is to give each track in the project its own mixer-channel (Also called 'Bus')!

There are as usual several ways to assign instrument-mixer-Nr, to a track:

Context-menu on the instrument-UI
All Instruments has a controller for Mixer-assignment!

It is the controller named FX.
Because no FX-channels have been made, we need a new one.
Right-click the controller, and select: Assign-to.
then select new-Mixer-channel.

Two thing happens:
The value in the controller will change, and at the same time a new mixer-channel is created in Mixer, and it is also given the same name, as the assigned preset!

The same assignment can be made from the track-buttons action-button.
Here left-click, and assign the preset.

Take a look at the mixer now.
You can see that all channels has their own dB meter.

Start playing your project.

The first thing you need, is to make sure, that no meter, including master, are (constantly) in the red area.
When a sound-intensity causes the meter to go 'into the red', you will get distortions, and really bad sound, well in fact even risk of damage to speakers, and worse -Your ears!

Often you will hear 'into-the-red, being called 'spiked-out', 'maxed-out' or 'clipping' -Those all mean the same: Excessive volume, that creates artefacts!

I choose the phrase constantly.
I did that because it is acceptable that your meter occasionally touches in the red, but its a fine art to know when touching is more like groping..

If you have clipping, you can deal with it in a lot of different ways.
You can find much more about tools as EQs, limiters, and compressors, in the more specialized chapters of the wiki.

You can also watch the mixing video-tutorials, and learn much more about the power of the LMMS-mixer.

Right now, you can try to just change the volume sliders, and get rid of the red-clippings.
then listen to your track again.
You should be able to hear the difference.
The instruments should be cleaner, and stand better individually in the total mix.

Your First commercial success..
Is that even possible?

Is it possible to actually sign with a label, and make a real record-deal??

Some have done it already!
This is such a story.
Understand that this is just a story about how one person did get a 'deal', and that you dont have to use neither his methods, or indeed not his label, but it may be possible to do so.

Also understand that the label that is mentioned in this success-story, in no way is endorsed.
It is simply just an example

This is what the LMMS user Chrimiting have experienced :

My experience with labels is quite simple.

I have been making music for four years and had recently started posting music on Soundcloud exclusively for free.

I am still a small producer so my music doesn’t generate tons and tons of attention but my music has been circling the internet for about three months.

Around two months in, my track Geared was featured on Top EDM Drops’s youtube video top Bigroom drops of june.

This was my first ever exposure that gave me any tiny bit recognition in the EDM world.

Soon after the release of this video I was sent a message on Soundcloud from a guy named Ivan Ces who said he was the owner of a label in its very beginning called ICG Recordings.

He said that he was looking for artists such as myself who produced music like myself to be part of this multi genre label.

I replied saying I was interested and wanted to know what the details about any profits made in the music that was sold under the label.

It was originally a 50/50 deal but I had it changed to be 55% me 45 % the label.
After that I sent him a track I had recently finished called Buckshot (you buy Buckshot on Itunes now), He said that “they” liked it and he sent me a digital contract for the the single track the next day.

I now have another track coming out on the 18th of September 2015 called Serpent and it’s release was coordinated the same way.

This was my experience with a label and I hope that it gives you a small amount of insight to how getting “signed” to a label works.

the key thing is don’t always go to the label, build yourself so that they want you.

Labels want artists who will benefit them and their following.

thanks for reading.

Sincerely Chrimiting.

For the label in question : these links

Soundcloud

The label homepage

Discussion and comments should better take place on our forum:

Forum topic

As a suitable last thought in respect to this ..

When you make the down payment on your Ferrari-Testa-imposible ..or what such a thingy is called, a small donation would be appreciated :p

Footnotes
[1] - You could alternatively have dropped it on the existing "TripleOscillator: Default" track to replace that instrument with the one you were dragging, but this gives you an idea of how to create new instrument tracks.

[2] - You should avoid having segments that overlap as there is no clear display of how many segments overlap in a particular area.
A small segment might completely disappear behind a large one, leaving you confused as to where those extra notes were coming from.

Bit rate	Application example
64 kbps	AM radio
128 kbps	FM radio
160 kbps	Compressed MP3
192 kbps	Digital audio broadcast
256 kbps	High quality MP3
320 kbps	CD quality

Key	Action	Notes
F6	Show Beat+Bassline Editor
F7	Show Piano Roll Editor
F8	Show Song Editor
F9	Show Automation Editor
F10	Show Project Notes
F11	Show Controller Rack
Ctrl+N	Create a new project	Will ask to save existing project if any changes have been made
Ctrl+O	Open an existing project	Will ask to save existing project if any changes have been made
Ctrl+S	Save current project
Ctrl+Shift+S	Save current project under a new name
Ctrl+E	Export current project
Ctrl+Q	Quit LMMS	Will ask to save existing project if any changes have been made
Ctrl+Z	Undo
Ctrl+Y	Redo
Page Up	Scrolls page up	Works with windows with a scroll bar
Page Down		Works with windows with a scroll bar

Key	Action	Notes
Shift+drag on control	Copies the value of the clicked control and pastes it on the released knob	Applies only to standard twist-knobs
Ctrl+drag on control	Enables you to connect automation, LFOs or other knobs. When you change linked knobs all knobs will change

Key	Action	Notes
Home	Move playback position to beginning
Left-click on timeline	Move playback position to that time	Works during playback as well as when stopped
Shift+right-click / Middle click on timeline	Move loop start point to that time	If you click after the loop end point, it will move the loop start point to the loop end point and the loop end point to where you just clicked. In other words, it places the loop point where you clicked, but loops always go forward in time. Locked to the nearest bar position.
Shift+Ctrl+right-click / Ctrl+middle-click on timeline	Move loop start point to that time exactly	Same loop behavior as above. Ignores bar locking.
Right-click on timeline	Move loop end point to that time	If you clicked before the loop start point, it will move the loop end point to the loop start point and the loop start point to where you just clicked. In other words, it places the loop point where you clicked, but loops always go forward in time. Locked to the nearest bar position.
Ctrl+right-click on timeline	Move loop end point to that time exactly	Same loop direction behavior as above. Ignores bar locking.

Key	Action	Notes
Right-click on pattern	Show context menu for editing patterns
+	Move to next the pattern
-	Move to the previous pattern
Space	Start/pause playback of this pattern	Sometimes you have to make sure that you've selected a play point in the BB Editor or it will start playback on the Song Editor

Key	Action	Notes
Mouse wheel up/down	Move up/down in the Song Editor view (higher/lower pitches shown)
Shift+mouse wheel up/down	Move left/right in the Song Editor view (earlier/later times)	Alternatively use horizontal mouse wheel
Ctrl+mouse wheel up/down	Zoom in/out horizontally
Ctrl+C	Copy selected notes
Ctrl+V	Paste selected notes
Ctrl+X	Cut selected notes
Ctrl+A	Select all notes
Shift+D	Select draw tool
Shift+E	Select erase tool
Shift+S	Select selector tool
Shift+T	Select detuning tool
Delete	Delete selected notes
Home	Move playback point to start of automation
Space	Start/stop playback
Ctrl	Temporarily use the select tool	When held down
Alt	Disable quantization	When held down
Ctrl+Shift	Keep old selection while selecting new notes	When held down
Shift+drag selection	Copy selection and move those notes
Arrow keys	Scroll
Ctrl+Up	Move selected notes up an octave
Ctrl+Down	Move selected notes down an octave
Shift+Left	Move selected notes left
Shift+Right	Move selected notes right
Ctrl+Left	Move time ticker left
Ctrl+Right	Move time ticker right
Num pad	Change quantization

Key	Action	Notes
Right-click on segment	Show context menu for segment editing	Inconsistent with Piano Roll Editor
Middle-click on segment	Delete segment	Inconsistent with Piano Roll Editor
Ctrl+drag on segment	Copy segment	Ctrl must be re-pressed each time you want to copy Can drag to new track (vertically) as well as new time (horizontally) Dropping onto an existing segment replaces that segment
Drag on segment+Ctrl	Don't lock segment to bar start during move	If Ctrl is pressed before drag starts, see above entry If you want to re-align the segment to guaranteed bar start, just move it again without holding down Ctrl
Shift+drag on empty part of track	Resize track	Clicking on a segment when you start the Shift+drag won't do anything
Ctrl+drag on "grip" section of track	Copy entire track
Mouse wheel up/down	Move up/down in the Song Editor view
Shift+mouse wheel up/down	Move left/right in the Song Editor view (earlier/later times)
Ctrl+mouse wheel up/down	Zoom in/out horizontally
Shift+Insert	Insert bar immediately after current play point
Shift+Delete	Delete bar immediately after current play point
Left/Right	Move play point earlier/later	Does not move current view window
Space	Start/pause playback
Home	Move play point to start of song	Does not move current view window

Key	Action
Shift+left-click	Draw a straight line between this point and the previously clicked point
Mouse wheel up/down	Move view up/down
Shift+mouse wheel up/down	Move view left/right
Ctrl+mouse wheel up/down	Zoom in/out horizontally, i.e. show more/less time
Up/Down	Move the window up/down
Left/Right	Move the playback position left/right
Ctrl+X	Cut selected values
Ctrl+C	Copy selected values
Ctrl+V	Paste previously selected values
Ctrl+A	Select all values
Shift+D	Select draw tool
Shift+E	Select erase tool
Shift+S	Select selector tool
Shift+M	Select selection movement tool
Delete	Delete selected values
Space	Start/stop playback
Home	Move playback point to the first bar in song

Key	Action
Ctrl+Z	Undo last edit
Ctrl+X	Cut selected text
Ctrl+C	Copy selected text
Ctrl+V	Paste selected text
Ctrl+B	Toggle bold text on/off
Ctrl+I	Toggle italic text on/off
Ctrl+L	Left justify text
Ctrl+E	Center text
Ctrl+R	Right justify text
Ctrl+J	Justify text to both margins

Key	Action	Notes
Ctrl+click while rubber-band active	Invert selection
Shift+click on selection	Add/remove an object from selection
Ctrl+middle-click	Mute segment	Watch out for below!
Middle-click	Delete segment

Content	Link	Author
Audio settings, Piano Roll, Beat+Bassline	https://youtu.be/4dYxV3tqTUc	Ian Sannar
Sidebar, samples, presets	https://youtu.be/Ow4fHTmd1mo	Ian Sannar
First song; lead, beat, bass	https://youtu.be/5fUTCZ4wxVY	Ian Sannar

Lmms Manual

FAQ

About

2.1.2 Usage

2.1.3 Settings

Installation

Minimum System Requirements

Recommended System Requirements

Installing LMMS

Building LMMS from Source Code

Settings

General Settings

Buffer Size

Misc

Plugin Embedding

Language

Directories

Working Directory

GIG Directory

SF2 Directory

VST Plugin Directory

LADSPA Plugin Directories

STK RawWave Directory

Default Soundfont File

Themes Directory

Background Artwork

Performance Settings

Autosave

UI Effects vs. Performance

Audio Settings

Audio Interface

MIDI Settings

MIDI Interface

Troubleshooting

General Troubleshooting

My settings won't save

LMMS is taking forever to load a project

Audio Troubleshooting

My Audio is Crackling

Buffer Size

Audio Interface

Track Volume

Volume Envelopes

I Can't Hear Anything

Dummy

JACK-transport

The Audio Lags or is Delayed

Buffer Size

Video Troubleshooting

LMMS has very small windows

Development Troubleshooting

LMMS Segfaults and There are No Error Messages on the Console

I Compiled LMMS With VST-Support, but it Doesn't Work at All

Reporting a Bug

Bug Tracker

Reporting Bugs with gdb

How to Report Bugs without GDB

3.1 Interface Overview

Menus

Windows

3.3 Main Menu Bar

3.3.1 File Menu

3.3.2 Edit Menu

3.3.3 View Menu

3.3.4 Tools Menu

3.3.5 Help Menu

3.4 Toolbar

3.4.1 File Controls

3.4.2 Window Controls

3.4.3 Tempo Control

3.4.4 Timer

3.4.5 Time Signature Controls

3.4.6 Master Volume and Pitch Controls

3.4.6 Wave and CPU Usage Display

3.5 Sidebar

3.5.1 Instrument Plugins

3.5.2 Section Navigation

3.5.3 My Projects

3.5.4 My Samples

3.5.5 My Presets

Reporting Bugs with `gdb`