User Guide
Contents
1. User Guide Clicking User Guide opens the Beamz Player Help files Register Beamz Clicking Register Beamz will take you to the Beamz web site where you can register your Beamz About Beamz Clicking About Beamz opens a window showing your Beamz player version number and copyright information Beamz Video Songs When a Beamz Video Jam vJam song is loaded a window will open for the video player The video window can be resized and dragged anywhere Mony Mony vJam Master pulse 1 2 Nose lt gt RECORD SWAP RHYTHM VOLUME PLAYLIST ADVANCE a o CUSTOM PLAYLISTS RECORDINGS VOCALS SETTINGS a ol 7 R 3 Mend Go ee Click inside the video to expand it to full screen Click again to exit full screen view Hint Connect your PC to a second monitor like a large screen TV and drag the video window onto it Note To drag and drop a window to another display you need to set your second display to run in Extended Desktop Mode Beamz Karaoke Songs When a Beamz Karaoke kJam song is loaded a window just like the video window will open containing animated song lyrics Words and phrases are highlighted in time with the accompanying musical track Beamz Freestyle Songs Beamz Freestyle songs do not include a background rhythm track these Beamz songs have been created for users to match up and work with specific songs from a user s own iTunes and or MP3 music library The user must first IMPORT their ow2. Click the button you ll be asked if you really want to delete the playlist in question If you click Yes the playlist will be gone forever Edit An Existing Playlist Select the playlist you want to edit from the drop down combo box below the Playlist Library label in the upper right of the Create Playlists dialog The songs included in the playlist are queued in the list dialog box below the New Playlist Delete Playlist buttons You can add songs by either double clicking them in the Song Library listing or selecting multiple songs and using the button You can delete songs by selecting them and clicking the LES ZED button You can rearrange songs by selecting the song you want to move and clicking either the or button to reposition it in the playlist Click the OK button to save your changes to the playlist or the Cancel button to abandon your changes Rename An Existing Playlist Select the playlist you want to rename from the drop down combo box below the Playlist Library label in the upper right of the Create Playlists dialog Click the button Enter the new playlist name in the dialog box that appears and click OK Custom Layout The Custom Layout screen allows you to 1 Re arrange where the instruments are located to suit your playing style 2 Make your own mix of the song Clicking on the Custom Layout button on the main playing screen will open this window DEFAULT LAYOUT CUSTOM LAYOUT FLUTES N STRINGS BELLS
3. Genres Manage Playlists Beamz ME Extended Care Line up Get Movin MJ s Party Line up Reward Songs School Play Songs Get More Songs To choose a song from the Master Song List hover the mouse over Master Song List Another window will open that displays all Beamz songs currently installed on your computer sorted alphabetically Simply click the song you wish to play and it will be loaded into memory Hovering the mouse over Genres will produce another window listing the available Genres Hover the mouse over one of them to see a list of the songs for it then click on the name of the song you wish to play If you have created any custom Playlists they will be listed beneath the Manage Playlist selection In the illustration above there are 7 playlists Hover the mouse over one of them to see a list of the songs it contains then click on the name of the song you wish to play note The song advance forward back buttons will cycle thru the song list you are currently using either the Master Song List or a Playlist depending on how you selected the song that is currently loaded Managing Playlists To create edit or delete playlists click SONG LIBRARY Name I Can t Get No Satisfaction Freestyle I Can t Get No Satisfaction Jam 01 Chillaxin Jam 02 Slam Dunk Jam 03 XXL Jam 04 Vinyl Jam 05 Born 2 Groove Jam 06 Geez Spot Jam 07 Babylon Jam 08 Rewind Jam 09 As You Like It Ja
4. deleting playlists Create A New Playlist When you open the dialog if you have not created any personal playlists by default an empty playlist imaginatively named playlist with a number appended Playlist1 Playlist2 etc is created You can rename the playlist by selecting and typing over the default existing name located at the upper right of the dialog under the Playlist Library label If you have created playlists the last playlist you loaded will be selected by default a New Playlist If an existing playlist is loaded click the button and enter a name for it in the playlist name edit box Select the songs you d like to add to the new playlist in the Song Library on the left You can add a song to the playlist in the following ways 1 Double click a song to add it to the playlist queue 2 Drag asong from the song list to the playlist queue dialog box Add Song 3 Select a song from the song list and click the button D Once your re satisfied with the song list you can fine tune the order of songs using the and Move Down _ buttons at the lower right of the dialog box You can also remove songs by selecting them and clicking the LET sens L button Click the OK button to save the playlist or Cancel to abandon the playlist Delete An Existing Playlist Select the playlist you want to delete from the drop down combo box below the Playlist Library label in the upper right of the Create Playlists dialog
5. 2 Select A Song The first time you launch the Beamz Player Software the default song Beamz Suite will already be loaded for you If you would like to play a different song select the Playlist button and choose a song from the Master Song List note if no song is loaded when you open the player software Beamz is unable to locate your song folder Click the Settings button then select Options from the drop down menu move down to the area labeled Beamz Library select the Browse button and point to the folder where the songs have been installed 3 Review The Instruments That Are Available There are three possible combinations of instruments that can be played on a single Beamz console When Beamz Player first launches it always displays the first 1 in the main playing window The number is indicated in the center post graphic on the screen Pressing the center console button will Swap to the next set of instruments Unit 2 but don t do that just yet 4 Play The Instruments In The Unit 1 Selection Experiment with the Beamz controller by breaking the laser paths with a single finger multiple fingers and your whole hand Do this one beam at a time to get a feel for each instrument or sound effect and how they play using different techniques 5 Press The Swap Button To Get To Unit 2 Instruments Get to know the instruments in the Unit 2 selection the same way you did with Unit 1 6 Press The Swap Button To Get To Unit 3 Instr
6. Recording After you have recorded something you can play it back to hear how it sounds san 1 Click on the Recordings button Your recording will be listed in your Beamz music folder RECORDINGS 2 Click on the song you want to hear Recorded Performance Beamz Player automatically saves your recordings saving you the time amp work of doing it yourself Whenever a recording is stopped it will be automatically saved in MP3 format in a special Beamz folder within your personal music folder If you want change the file type or destination folder Beamz Options allows for this See Beamz Options Window When a recording is Auto Saved it is saved with a file name that shows the name of the song being recorded The date and time the recording was made is also saved An example would be Beautiful 3 17 2013 12 12 55 PM mp3 There are four ways to cause a recording to stop and be Auto Saved 1 Stop the recording by pressing clicking the Stop button 2 The song is stopped 3 Load another song 4 Exit the Beamz Player software Beamz Trigger Types As you become familiar with more and more Beamz songs you ll start to notice that in various songs that the lasers react in different ways The technical term for a Beamz laser is trigger When you break a Beamz laser you are said to be triggering its corresponding instrument All triggers are not created equal Beamz songs use different types of triggers The type of trigger
7. same way as Start Stop except it loops only while the Beam Trigger is held on Momentary Pause Triggers work the same way as Start Pause except it loops only while the Beam Trigger is held on Advance Triggers allow you to advance the melody of the currently playing song to the next section of the song For example let s say you re playing a classical piece and you re in a slow going low energy tear jerker section If you d like to advance to the next section of the song a high energy full on brass and percussion festival section you can trigger an Advance beam Swap and Hold Swap and hold is cool feature that lets you stick a particular beam in a continuous trigger mode without needing to keep the beam broken To hold a particular beam break and hold the beam while simultaneously pressing the Swap button on the Beamz controller s base The beam will continue to trigger and will remain a steady green until you switch back to it using the Swap button and break the beam again Swap and hold enables you to add to the existing rhythm accompaniment or even create your own accompaniment In order to use Swap and Hold it must be enabled on the Beamz Options screen note if the same instrument is also assigned to a different beam in the second bank you can break the beam in that bank to stop the triggering note f you press the large right Beamz controller button to stop the rhythm accompaniment the held beams will conti
8. D Ipar www thebeamz com User Guide Model C1R42 RevA Beamz Controller Overview 0 0 0 0 c cece eens 3 Getting Started Your First Performance 00 ee ee ee ne eee eens 4 Beamz Player Software Beamz Player Window 1 0 0 2c ee eee 6 Playlists T e aoa so Saag OA a Re ee ee ee ee ey oe 8 Managing Playlists 44 4 64 42 a Had 4 He oh has OH oe SG EES 8 CUSTOM LAVOUL ov 2 oe 52 a dua eee eadeeeedeee ey ache ewe dees ease 10 SENGS MONU a a s 4 6 2 oe eS E eG SOE ee eee ee 11 Beanz Options WINGOW lt lt s lt s66 e8 6e 56 660 6566 8Hh4R HG Ew HES 12 HeD MENU sepeser eas ee Gea anu cee mekki A rineka 12 Beamz Video SOngS Bed he OES Se EES OAD EDWSESEED HE SEDO 13 Beamz Karaoke Songs 0 ce ee ees 13 Beamz Freestyle Songs 1 0 cc ene 13 Getting The Most From Your Beamz Playing A Beamz Song With The Mouse And Keyboard anaana aaa 14 Recording A Performance 1 0 ee eens 14 Beamz rigger Types 204 X R aes 65654 4044 G54 bee oes POE RR RES 15 SWap CNG Rold 4 cures cee beeen se eeea se bee eee ee oe eS eo eee ee 16 Checking For Software Updates 2 0 ee ene 16 Beamz Technical Support 2 0 ee ee eens 16 Beamz Controller Overview The Beamz controller comprises four class 2 pulsing laser triggers and eight control buttons The lasers have been carefully chosen to balance power requirements and reliability while the pulsing operation insures minima
9. FLUTES N STRINGS GUITAR SYNTH GUITAR SYNTH MUSIC BOX CHOIR SWELLS MUSIC BOX CHOIR SWELLS WINE GLASS CHOIR BASS PATTERN WINE GLASS CHOIR BASS PATTERN HARP GLISSANDO GUITAR HARP GLISSANDO GUITAR CONDUCTOR BASS PATTERN CONDUCTOR BASS PATTERN SONG VOLUME RHYTHM VOLUME _ e S R la RS The left pane shows the Default Layout for the song the pre assigned instrument pallet the way it was originally composed Clicking the 4 button will restore the custom layout to this The right pane shows your Custom Layout For each of the three possible units there are four Beamz console triggers that can be changed in a custom layout They each have their location in the custom layout screen as illustrated below for Unit 1 Beamz 1 ad 1 ooo Beamz 2 BELLS FLUTES N STRINGS SYNTH Beamz 3 Beamz 4 Positioning the mouse over the purple beam display will play the instrument same as mousing over a beam on the Main Playing screen Click the Power button to turn them off if they get in the way while you re re arranging instruments Re assigning Instrument Locations There are two ways to change an instrument assignment in a custom layout Drag an instrument from the Default Layout at the left of the screen onto a beam location in the Custom Layout area at the right of the screen This replaces what was there Drag an instrument in the Custom Layout area to a different location within custom layout When drag
10. LS HELP SETTINGS E Ho 2 Song Name Beats Per Measure Displays the musical time of the song Unit Number Three units of instruments 4 on each page Beams Mouse Over any beam to play it Beams turn green when they are playing Master Volume Click on the or to adjust the volume up or down Record Click to begin your recording click again to end your recording Swap Click to toggle through additional units of instruments Rhythm Starts and stops the background track Playlist Advance Click the arrows to move forward or backword in the song list Custom Layout Allows you to rearrange the instruments available in the song enabling you to place your favorite instruments in whichever unit you prefer Songs and Playlists Click to go to your master song list or to create or access your custom playlists EE amp fal a 55 Recordings Clicking browses to your music folder where you can play back any recorded performance Vocals Click to turn vocals on and off Help Menu Settings Manage playlists and options Multi Units View Toggles are in each corner of the screen Click to open close windows for Units 2 and 3 The Beamz hardware controller always plays the selection of instruments shown in the main playing window For every Beamz song there are three possible Units of instruments that can be played by swapping them in and out of the main playing w
11. ging on top of another instrument at the new location they will swap the two instruments will switch locations Making A Custom Mix Each instrument location in the Custom Layout pane has its own volume slider that can be used for making a custom mix The Song Volume slider for all of the instruments is at the bottom of the custom layout pane Drag the slider left or right to change the volume setting Use the purple play bars to test your adjustments The Rhythm Volume slider controls the volume of the background song or rhythm track Saving your Custom Layout rE TS Ti Clicking 2 will save the changes you ve made to the assignments and clicking or will discard your changes and return you to the Beamz player mode You ll notice after you ve changed a beam s assignment that the title of the song turns from black to red in order to indicate that the song has been customized The song title will appear red in all song lists as well as well The original non customized song will also be listed with its name in black font Removing your Custom Layout If you have a custom layout for a pe that you no longer want to keep click the RER button to restore to the original settings then click Settings Menu When you click the Settings button the following menu is displayed S Use Custom Preset Manage Playlists SETTINGS Options The commands available in the Settings menu let you customize the behavior of t
12. he Beamz software interface Use Custom Preset If the current song has been customized using the Custom Preset menu item will be checked You can quickly toggle between a songs customized format and its default format using this menu item If you have not saved a custom layout for the current song then this menu item will be grayed out and unavailable Manage Playlists Clicking on Manage Playlists opens the Manage Playlists window The same selection is found on the Playlists Menu See Managing Playlists Options Clicking Options opens window where you can set Beamz Player options See Beamz Options Window Beamz Options Window The Beamz Options window allows you to configure how Beamz software works To open click on Options in the Settings Menu AT STARTUP Load last Song Playlist Yes No AUTO SAVE RECORDINGS Format OMPS WAV Browse Save recordings in this folder C Users Paula MusiciBeamz BEAM SWAPPING W Enable Swap and Hold At Startup You can either load the last song played or load no song when the Beamz interface is launched Auto Saved Recordings A recorded performance is automatically saved in your personal music folder when a recording is stopped the song itself is stopped and the ending is played another song is loaded or Beamz Player is exited You can also select the file Format MP3 or WAV for the saved recording and the folder where the recording will be saved By defaul
13. indow Multi Unit View Click on any of the E buttons located in each of the corners of the screen to open windows displaying the other two units Clicking iad will close them Beamz Unit 2 Beautiful Master Beamz Unit 3 4 gt RECORD SWAP RHYTHM PLAYLIST ADVANCE 5m CUSTOM PLAYLISTS RECORDINGS VOCALS HELP SETTINGS B KA REAC 25 F aeae vaa Each window can be resized and dragged anywhere on the desktop to suit individual needs Mouse over playing works in all windows Beamz Laser Triggers And Their Display Status On The Playing Screens The Beamz console has 4 lasers located inside the center post which are trained on a matching light sensor in the outer arms of the console When you stop the laser from hitting the sensor by breaking its beam the sensor will trigger the instrument to play The state of each laser trigger is indicated by its color on the display screen Purple Beam is armed and not being triggered Green Laser beam is being blocked triggered Black The laser beam is out of alignment or the laser or sensor is malfunctioning Visit www thebeamz com support technical FAQs for instructions to realign a laser beam or contact Beamz Technical Support Playlists Button Click on the Playlist button to get a menu of choices where you can choose a song to play work with playlists or visit the Beamz music store to buy more songs PLAYLISTS Master Song List
14. l interference from ambient light 1 Volume down Volume up Vocals mute button will light up when this is an option Advance to previous song in playlist Start stop recording 2 3 4 5 Advance to next song in playlist 6 7 Swap sounds go to another page of instruments 8 Start stop rhythm play background track Beamz Controller Base Details Beyond the base control buttons the controller includes TENE ERE 9 USB Port 10 MIDI HID mode switch Getting Started Your First Performance Once you ve got the Beamz software and music installed and the Beamz controller is connected to your computer you re ready to play 1 Launch the Beamz Controller Double click the Beamz player icon on your device The Main Playing screen is a virtual representation of the laser beams buttons and controls on the Beamz console The console will always play the instruments that are displayed in the main playing screen The four laser beams will play the instrument that is displayed above the purple laser graphic on the screen In this illustration they are Bells Flutes n Strings Guitar and Synth Beamz Player A Beautiful Beamz Music BELLS FLUTES N STRING 4 12 Note Pulse 2 7p ulse 4 24 Note Pulse GUITAR SYNTH Pulse 4 ee a ote Se 1 16 Note Pulse 1 16 N lt gt VOLUME PLAYLIST ADVANCE 000200 CUSTOM PLAYLISTS RECORDINGS VOCALS HELP SETTINGS BREATHE E m 46
15. m 10 From The Top Jam 3 a m Blues Smooth Jazz Smooth Jazz A Story About Lions Trees and Bridges Alaennative Pop A I N Y Freestyle Aint Too Proud To Beg Jam Aint Too Proud To Beg kJam Alchemy Alice vJam All Ever Needed Freestyle Artist The Rolling Stones In the style of The Rolling Stones Euge Groove Euge Groove Euge Groove Euge Groove Euge Groove Euge Groove Euge Groove Euge Groove Euge Groove Euge Groove Men Among Animals O m In the style of The Temptations n the style of The Temptations Moby All Want For Christmas Is You FreestylpPop sd Mariah Carey All My Ex s Live In Texas Freestyle All My Ex s Live In Texas Jam All My Ex s Live In Texas kJam Country Country George Strait in the style of George Strait In the style of George Strait gt v PLAYLIST LIBRARY New Playlist Delete Playlist Rename Playlist Check song to use custom layout Beautiful Wi Beamz Classical Wi Beamz Cool Jazz Wi Beamz Country lF DJ Simulator I Beamz Hip Hop the Playlists button and choose the Manage Playlists command from the pop up menu to display the Manage Playlists screen On the left side of the dialog you ll see all of your currently installed songs listed under Song Library You can click the headings at the top of the Song Library to sort by Name Genre or Artist On the right side of the dialog you ll see the controls for creating managing and
16. n song into the Beamz Freestyle song and then it allows them to play along with the imported song using Beamz Instruments Beamz Freestyle songs have been composed to work with the most popular versions of an artists song O Click the Song Notes button to view artist and song information feed Click the Import button to open a window allowing you to select your song from your personal music library After your song has been imported the button changes to Remove FREESTYLE Click the Remove button to restore the song to its original empty state Getting The Most From Your Beamz Playing a Beamz Song With The Mouse and Keyboard Mouse Over Playing Move the mouse over any beam to play it Click on the buttons to press them Keyboard Playing You can play the Beamz by pressing these keys on your keyboard as illustrated below Beamz Unit 2 Beautiful Master 4 gt RECORD SWAP RHYTHM VOLUME PLAYLIST ADVANCE s S CUSTOM PLAYLISTS RECORDINGS VOCALS HELP SETTINGS KA 2 oo oa t E awl vara The QWERTY keys will play Unit 1 instruments The ASDFGH keys will play Unit 2 instruments The ZXCVBN keys will play Unit 3 instruments Recording A Performance Beamz software allows you to make a recording of your performance play back your recorded performance and then save it in your personal music folder Start A Recording Click on the Record button Click on the Stop to end the Oo recording Play Your
17. nue to play until you break them again Checking For Software Updates From time to time we ll we will release new software updates to add features or improve performance You can check for updates to the Beamz software by visiting http www thebeamz com support downloads Click the Support tab Beamz Technical Support To view the latest list of Frequently Asked Questions FAQ please visit http www thebeamz com support technical fag If you cannot find what you need in FAQ please visit http www thebeamz com support
18. t Beamz Player will place the saved recording as an MP3 file in a Beamz folder located within your personal music folder If you wish to change this default location click the Browse button to select another location BEAM LIBRARY Folder where Beamz music is stored Browse CUsers Paula Musici Beamz Master Song File Beamz Swapping Swap and hold is a cool advanced feature that allows you to stick a particular beam in continuous trigger mode without needing to keep the beam broken However it can be confusing for people new to playing the Beamz so it is normally turned off After you have played to the point where you re comfortable swapping between each unit s selection on instruments you can turn it on To learn more see Swap and Hold Beamz Library Select the location of your Beamz song music files Use the Browse button to point to the folder containing your Beamz song music files The default location is a shared folder in the Windows operating system so that a computer shared by multiple people with separate user profiles will all have access to the Beamz song music folder note if you chose to move your Beamz song library to another location take note that as you purchase additional songs and install them you will need to direct the installer to place the song within the folder location you specified in Options Help Menu Clicking the Help button on the Main Playing screen opens the help menu
19. uments Get to know the instruments in the Unit 3 selection the same way you did with Units 1 and 2 When your re finished press the center button again to Swap to the Unit 1 instruments 7 Press The Rhythm Button Now you know which instruments are available and how they sound when they are played It s time to start the song and experiment with playing them along with the rhythm track or song Press the right console button to start the rhythm track While the rhythm track is playing experiment with each instrument one at a time Swap to the other instrument selections and play the instruments there It won t take long to pick out some favorites and come up with a great way to play them note breaking multiple beams in rapid succession can get noisy Less is usually better 8 Press The Rhythm Button To End The Song When you are ready to stop playing end the song by pressing the Rhythm button again Beamz Player Software Beamz Player Window The Beamz software interface is the mind of the Beamz music system The interface mimics the actual physical interface of the Beamz music controller and lets you choose different songs manage playlists of songs and customize song configurations il Beamz Player Beautiful Master ar ulse 1 21 Note pulse 1 12 No Pul Pre ey ote RN 5 lt b RECORD SWAP RHYTHM VOLUME PLAYLIST ADVANCE 10 11 12 13 14 15 oO 06 8 86 9 CUSTOM PLAYLISTS RECORDINGS VOCA
20. used for a each beam is usually displayed along with the name of the instrument on the main playing screen These are the Beamz trigger types you might encounter in Beamz songs Pulse Triggers are the most common of the Beamz trigger types Each time you break a beam assigned to a pulse trigger you ll get a single note from the assigned instrument If you block a beam you ll get a continuous stream of notes complementary to the rhythm accompaniment The rate the notes are pulsed is also displayed as musical note values One Shot Triggers are the easiest triggers to describe since they do exactly what their name implies No matter how long you break a beam to which a one shot trigger is assigned you will get a single note or riff You can break the beam repeatedly to get additional riffs One shots might trigger voices instrumental flourishes or drum breaks Again a one shot trigger is triggered just once no matter how long you break the beam Start Stop Triggers are used to start and stop a loop playing The first time you break the beam it starts a loop playing While the loop is playing breaking the beam again will stop it Breaking the beam a third time will start the loop playing from its beginning Start Pause Triggers work the same way as Start Stop except when stopped it stops in place pauses Breaking the beam a third time will start the loop playing where it was left off when it was paused Momentary Stop Triggers work the
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