Preferences

The most up to date help, with links to other music related topics, is on RecordingBlogs.com.

The following are settings that impact the way Orinj plays audio, stores audio data, and works in general. These settings are important for all of the four views of Orinj - the multitrack session, loops, and so on. These settings are accessible through the Preferences menus in all Orinj views. Choices are not specific to a session or file, but will persist in this and all future sessions until you change preferences again.

Temporary directory

Orinj uses a temporary directory/folder to store audio and other data. For example, Orinj will store newly recorded waves in that directory until you provide these newly recorded waves with a name and save them elsewhere. You can choose any directory as the temporary directory and you can always change your choice later. Just so Orinj operates smoothly, you should choose a directory that you do not normally use for other purposes as Orinj may store many files there, that is on a large hard drive or partition as audio data may be large, and that is on an internal hard drive (rather than, for example, a USB drive), so that Orinj can access audio data and operate quickly.

To set the temporary directory, click on Preferences and then on Directories in the Orinj menu. You will see the following dialog.

Directory preferences dialog

Specify the directory in the dialog either by typing it directly or by clicking on the Browse button and browsing to it. Click OK in the dialog to save your changes.

Audio buffers

Orinj uses buffers to read audio data from your hard drive and to send these data to your audio devices / soundcards. This means that Orinj will read a whole set of sampled data from your wave files instead of reading wave file audio samples one by one.

Buffers can have different sizes. Larger buffers mean that Orinj will access files on your hard drive fewer times and will read a large amount of data every time it access the drive. This makes Orinj faster, which will help in Orinj in doing other things, such as computing digital signal processing effects. Larger buffers also mean that Orinj will send larger amounts of data fewer times to the audio devices / soundcards.

Larger buffers also have disadvantages. Once audio data is sent to the audio devices for playing, for example, it will be played until it is exhausted. This means that, with larger buffers, Orinj will be slower to respond when you stop playback. Although Orinj can force some sound devices to stop, it does not do so. There are too many different audio devices and not all allow this sort of functionality.

If Orinj performs well when playing and recording, you probably do not need to change the sizes of your buffers. Otherwise, you should experiment with various sizes to see which works best.

To change your buffer sizes, click on Preferences and then on Buffers in the Orinj menu. You will then see the following dialog.

Audio buffer dialog

Specify the number and sizes of buffers that you want to use and click OK to save your changes.

Device properties

Audio devices / soundcards support some audio formats and do not support others. To see which audio formats are supported by your devices, click on Preferences and then on Device Properties in the Orinj menu. You will then see the following dialog, which lists various information about your sound devices.

Device properties dialog

(Note: One known issue is that Java - the software used to develop Orinj - does not recognize all sampling rates and sampling resolutions. Although your audio devices may support high sampling rates and sampling resolutions, such as 24-bit 96KHz audio, this dialog may show that these are not supported.)

Snap options

Snap options are important when moving waves and when selecting audio data. Suppose, for example, that you create a drum loop that extends for one measure of your song. You may want to select this drum sample and play it over and over again while practicing playing your song with it. You would want to be able to select the sample starting exactly at the beginning and ending exactly at the end of the sample. If you selection beginning and end do not match the sample beginning and end exactly, you sample will not play exactly "on beat". Making sure that your mouse selection snaps with the beginning and the end of the wave sample will ensure that your selection end points match the sample end points.

"Snapping" means that rather than clicking exactly at, say, the beginning of a wave, you only need to click somewhat close to the beginning. Orinj will then assume that you wanted to click exactly at the beginning and will adjust your selection accordingly.

Snapping, if set in preferences, can also apply to the moving of wave blocks. You can move a wave close to a certain position (another wave, the cursor, the time signature line) and Orinj will ensure that the wave starts or ends exactly at that position.

To change your snap options, click on Preferences and then on Snap Options in the Orinj menu. You will see the following dialog.

Snap options dialog

Make your changes and click OK to save them.

Light Look And Feel

Orinj comes with two different skins – look and feel options (colors, fonts, etc). To choose one, click on Preferences and then on Light Look and Feel in the Orinj menu. To choose the other, click on the same command again. Changes to the Orinj skin will occur only after you restart Orinj.