The transport controls

The transport controls allow you to play, stop, rewind, toggle looping on/off, and record. The current song position is shown to the right.

The browser

The browser is used to locate and import content by dragging and dropping into your arrangement. It contains all you need to get started with a new song, including beats, bass loops, synthesizer sounds, and audio effects.

The sequencer

The sequencer is where you do all your recording and arranging.

Creating a new project

To create a new project, go to the "File" menu and select "New...". This opens the "New project" dialog where you can select from a range of predefined setups, covering different recording situations such as multi-tracking or midi sequencing.

Opening an existing project

Select "Open..." from the "File" menu to open an existing project.

Saving your project

Select "Save as..." from the "File" menu to save your project. Enter a name for your project in the dialog that appears and click OK to save.

Sharing your mix

Click the export button next to the transport controls to open the "Export project" dialog. Here you can export you track as a MP3 or WAV file, so you can listen to it on the move or share it with others.

Tips & tricks

• It's a good idea to save your project often, you never know when the electricity goes down!
• You can define your own keyboard shortcuts in File > Setup > Shortcuts.
• Visit www.energy-xt.com for more information about Energy XT. Here you will also find our forum where you can ask questions and read about how other people are using Energy XT.

Adding a drum track

To add a drum track to your project, click the add track button above the tracks panel and select "Drum Sampler".

Inserting a drum loop

You can drag and drop drum loops from the "Loops & clips" section in the browser. If the browser is not visible, show it by selecting "Browser" from the "Window" menu.

The drum loop editor

If you want to edit the drum loop, simply click the arrow in the drum track panel to expand it for editing.

Making your own beat

Double-click (or Alt-click) to insert new drum hits, and right click to delete them. This can be done while Energy XT is playing back your beat, so feel free to experiment and listen as the beat changes in real time.

Saving your drum loop

When you are happy with the results, you can save the drum loop by right-clicking in the editor and selecting "Save as...". Saving independent drum loops allows you to re-use them in any other XT project.

Tips & tricks

• You can add your own samples to a drum loop by dragging and dropping from the browser.
• You can add swing/shuffle to your drum loops in the object bar.
• You can add as many drum tracks as you like in an Energy XT project.

Showing the mixer view

Click the "Mixer" tab to open the mixer. The mixer shows an overview of all instrument and audio channels in your project.

Adjusting volume and panning

The volume and pan controls are easily accessible in the mixer and lets you adjust the volume and panning of each mixer channel separately.

Using the equalizer

The mixer has a built-in four band equalizer on each channel. The equalizer can be used to boost or cut the volume of a sound at a specific frequency. Click the arrows to select an equalizer band, and play around with the controls to hear how it affects the sound. Remember to turn the equalizer band on by clicking the power icon.

Adding an insert effect

To add an insert effect, click the plus sign next to the "Inserts" section, and select the effect you want from the menu. Insert effects apply to a single channel.

Adding a send effect

To add a send effect, click the plus sign next to the "Sends" section, and select the effect you want from the menu. Send effects are shared by all tracks, you only have to specify the send level.

Tips & tricks

• The mixer view can be opened by pressing the F9 key.
• Adding effects is fun, but too many effects can ruin your mix!
• The sequencer has a built-in mixer channel for the selected track. If it's hidden, press F7 to show it.

Adding a synthesizer track

To add a synthesizer to your project, click the add track button above the tracks panel and select "Synthesizer".

Opening the synthesizer

Click the "Synthesizer" label to open it for sound editing. You can play around with the synthesizer controls to create your own sounds.

Switching sounds

You can drag and drop sounds from the "Presets" > "Synth" section in the browser onto the synthesizer to replace the current sound.

Saving your own sounds

Open the file menu by clicking the three dots in the upper left corner of the synthesizer window, and select "Save as..." to save it to the preset library. By saving your sounds, they will be available for use in any Energy XT project.

Editing notes

You can edit your own notes in the grid editor. To enable it, click the arrow on the track pane to expand it for editing. If there is no grid present in the arrange window, just double-click it to create a new part. Notes can now be added by double-clicking in the grid. Right click the notes to delete them.

Tips & tricks

• You can connect an external MIDI keyboard to play and record the synthesizer live.
• You can load any type of sound into the synthesizer, like thunder or bird sounds for instance.
• You can add audio effects to the synthesizers sound output in the mixer.

Adding an audio track

To record a guitar you will first need to add an audio track. To do this, select "Add New" > "Audio Track" from the "Track" menu.

Monitoring the input signal

When playing your guitar, you should now see activity in the level meters. Make sure the level is not too loud as this will cause distortion in your recording.

Recording

Make sure the loop button is deactivated. This will allow you to record traditionally, as you would on a regular tape recorder for instance.

Recording

Enable the metronome to hear a click-sound while recording. This will help you keep the tempo of the song while playing.

Recording

Hit the record button and start playing. By default, the metronome will precount 4 beats before actual recording starts.

Recording

Hit stop to see what you recorded. Play back and enjoy!

Tips & tricks

• Didn't get it right? Click the undo button and try again.
• Remember to set the tempo before you record.
• You can add a reverb effect to make the sound appear more spacious.

Setting up

In order to use VST instruments and effects, you will first need to tell energyXT where to search for plugins. To do this choose "File" > "Setup".

Setting up

The setup dialog box will appear. Click on the "Browser" tab, then click on the arrows to locate the Plugins section.

Locating the VST plugins folder

Click the "Add" button. This will open a dialog box where you can select a folder. On Windows, VST plugins usually reside under C:\Program Files\VstPlugins or C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VstPlugins.

Locating the VST plugins folder

When you have located the folder, click OK, then exit the Setup dialog.

Adding VST instruments

There are several ways of adding VST instruments to your XT project. One method is to drag the VST instrument from the browser into the track list. This will automatically create a new track with the instrument you selected.

Adding VST instruments

Another method is to use the quick-add button, and select the instrument you want from the drop-down menu.

Adding VST effects

If you want to add a VST insert or send effect, use the + button next to the "Inserts" or "Sends" section and choose the desired VST effect from the dropdown menu. Note that VST instruments can not be used as insert or send effects.

Installing LAME

EnergyXT needs a file called lame before MP3's can be created. To do this, point your web browser to http://lame.sourceforge.net/. From the navigation view on the left, go to "LAME Links". Select "LAME Binaries" from the menu, and you will find links to the LAME executable for both Windows and Mac OSX. See the next steps for more detailed download instructions for Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux.

Installing on Windows

Follow the link to the RareWares site (http://www.rarewares.org/mp3-lame-bundle.php), or use one of the other links to download the latest LAME bundle. Unzip the file and copy lame.exe into your EnergyXT folder. EnergyXT is typically located in "C:\Program Files\energyXT2".

Installing on Mac OS X

Follow the link to the Thalictrum site (http://www.thalictrum.com/), or use one of the other links to download the latest LAME bundle. When it's ready, locate the file called lame and copy it into your EnergyXT folder.

Installing on Linux

Most Linux distributions have a package manager (on Ubuntu it's called Synaptic Package Manager) that downloads software packages from the Internet and installs them for you. Open the package manager, search for LAME, and install it (if it is not already installed).

Exporting to MP3

Launch EnergyXT and open the project you want to export. Click the export project button (right next to the transport controls). Alternatively, you can select "Export Project" from the "File" menu.

Adjusting quality settings

In the Export Project dialog box, you can adjust some settings for how you want to export your project. Since we are creating a MP3 file, be sure to set the format to MP3. Other available formats are WAV and AIF. The field next to the format field sets the quality of the MP3 file. 192Kbps is adequate for most situations. You can select whether you want to export the entire project, or just the current loop region. When you are happy with the settings, click the "Save" button. Type a name for your MP3 in the dialog box that appears, and click "OK" to create it.

Importing MP3 files

With LAME installed, you can also easily import MP3 files into your EnergyXT projects. Simply select a MP3 file and drag it into your project.