FAQs

1. Q: When I try to launch the Hit Kit Ripper, I get an error message and Hit Kit Ripper automatically closes. What’s going wrong?
2. Q: I cannot see an R (record) button in any of the Audio tracks in the Arrange window.
3. Q: I have imported a MIDI file into Logic Hit Kit, but I cannot hear anything when I try to play it back.
4. Q: How do I create a MIDI track if I haven’t got a MIDI keyboard?
5. Q: The manual says that Hit Kit comes with a “library of ready to play sampler instruments”. However, I can’t find these anywhere. Where are they?
6. Q: How can I save my Hit Kit song into a format that I can burn onto CD?
7. Q: When I try to record with the microphone, there is an echo or delay between speaking into the microphone and hearing my voice played back through the speakers. How can I get rid of this?
8. Q: I have a G4 Power Macintosh. Where do I plug in the microphone?
9. Q: How can I use the preset tracks in the Arrange window (the ones labelled Grand Piano, Fingered Bs etc)?

1. Q: When I try to launch the Hit Kit Ripper, I get an error message and Hit Kit Ripper automatically closes. What’s going wrong?

A: We have become aware that a small number of Windows users are experiencing problems with the Hit Kit Ripper. We are trying our best to fix this problem, but in the meantime, there are many other free or shareware ‘Ripping’ programs available on the internet that allow you to do the same thing as the Hit Kit Ripper. You just need to make sure that the one you use can convert the samples on the audio CD to 16 bit, 44.1 khz WAV format. You could try using one called Windac by following the steps below:

a) Go to www.windac.de on the internet.

b) Click on Download on the left-hand side of the screen.

c) At the top of the page is a heading, Digital Audio Copy for Win32. Click on wdac154.exe six lines below this heading. The following screens will ask you where you want to store this file. You could, for example, just save it onto your desktop.

d) On your computer, find the wdac154 file you have just downloaded and double-click on it to install the program.

e) Follow the instructions that appear on your screen.

f) When set-up is complete, open the program by going to Start > Programs > Digital Audio Copy for Win32.

g) It may ask you to register. Click Register later.

h) Place the audio CD into the CD drive of your computer. The 19 drum and percussion samples will appear in the Windac program window.

i) Highlight the sample you would like to extract by clicking on it.

j) Go to Actions > Copy track(s). In the Copy Selected Tracks window, check that under File Format, the format says integrated Wave routines. If not, click Change, and select integrated Wave routine from the drop-down list. This is because it is very important that you rip the sample in WAV or WAVE format, NOT as an MP3 file. Logic does not recognise MP3 files.

k) Under Output file, click Change. In the Configure File and Pathname window, under Base Output Path, click the folder icon. Create a folder in which to store your ripped samples. Then click OK to take you back to the Configure window, then OK again to take you back to the Copy Selected Tracks window, then OK again to start window. When ripping is complete, click Close.

OR, if you have Windows 2000 or later, you can use a very useful and easy-to-use program called itunes. To download, go to www.apple.com/itunes/download.

2. Q: I cannot see an R (record) button in any of the Audio tracks in the Arrange window.

A: The first thing to check is whether you have told Logic which sound driver you are using: Within Logic, go to Audio > Audio Hardware and Drivers. Check that the box PC AV is checked. Then, click on the drop-down list next to Driver to select a sound driver. Close Logic, re-start your computer, and open Logic again.

If, after taking the above steps, you still do not see a Record button on each audio track, it sounds like a problem with the set-up of your sound card or sound drivers. If your sound card or sound drivers are not set up correctly, Logic will be unable to see any sound parts and will not realise your machine has the capacity to record sound.

As there are so many types of sound card, we cannot give any specific advice on your particular set-up. But there is the general advice from the Quickstart instructions here...

1) Sound card set-up
Your PC has a sound card that takes care of all sound that goes into and comes out of your computer. There are many different types of sound card, so if you don’t know, check the manual that came with your PC or with your sound card to see what type yours is. It is very important that your sound card has been set up according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If you are unsure, please check with the manual that came with your sound card, or refer to your sound card manufacturer.

2) Sound drivers set-up.
A sound driver is a software program that makes your sound card work. Check with the manufacturer of your sound card that you have the latest drivers. The latest drivers are often downloadable from the sound card manufacturer’s website. It is very important that your sound drivers have been installed and set-up according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If you are unsure, please check with the manual or refer to your sound card manufacturer.

3) Sound card recording format.
It is vital your sound card supports a recording format of 16 bit/44.1kHz. Most modern sound cards do, but if you’re unsure, or if you are unable to make any recordings with Logic, check with the manual that came with your sound card, or refer to your sound card manufacturer.

4) Sound card driver settings.
You can normally check the current settings of your sound card by going to Start > Settings > Control Panel > Multimedia > Devices, or to Start > Settings > Control Panel > Multimedia > Audio. You may also see some options under Start > Programs > ‘Sound card name’ (whatever your sound card is called). There are a couple of sound card settings it would be a good idea to check:

a) The buffer setting. The lower the buffer setting, the less the delay between recording and hearing the sound played back, but the bigger the drain on your PC. We recommend you start out with a buffer setting of around 512, but you may have a powerful machine that can handle a lower setting than this.

b) Mic input/Line input. You may find an option in your sound driver settings that allows you to change between Mic or Line input. For recording through a microphone, make sure this is set to Mic input.

Once Logic can ‘see’ your sound card and drivers, the R buttons should magically re-appear!

3. Q: I have imported a MIDI file into Logic Hit Kit, but I cannot hear anything when I try to play it back.

A: To play your MIDI file, you need to use Logic Hit Kit’s EXSP1 sample player. You can download for free the sample instruments from www. dk.com/hitkit (scroll to the bottom of the page and under Fun & Free, click on Exclusive Samples. For instructions as to how to install these samples, follow the link on that page to Hints and Tips). There are also many free or paid for sample instruments available on the internet. The Hit Kit’s EXSP1 is compatible with EXS24 and SoundFont 2 sample formats. Once you have downloaded and installed the sample instruments, by using Logic Hit Kit’s sample player, you can assign one sample instrument to each of your MIDI tracks in the following way:

1) Within the main Arrange window, highlight one of your MIDI tracks, say AudioInst 1. Double-click on the track to bring up the Score window.

2) Go to Windows > Open Mixer. In the Mixer window, within the AudioInst 1 track, click and hold the blank grey button, and choose Stereo > EXSP1. This brings up the EXSP1 sampler window.

3) Within the EXSP1 window, click and hold on the three red dots. Select one of your installed sampler instruments in the menu that appears.

4) Repeat the procedure to assign a sample instrument to each of your MIDI tracks

4. Q: How do I create a MIDI track if I haven’t got a MIDI keyboard?

A: You can either use the ES P synthesizer (synthetic sounds) or the EXSP1 Sampler (real instrument sounds).

To use the ES P synthesizer, follow these steps …

1) Within the main Arrange window, highlight one of the AudioInst tracks, say AudioInst Select the Pencil tool and ‘draw’ a line into the track. This represents the MIDI file you are about to create. Double-click on the track to bring up the Score window.

2) Go to Windows > Open Mixer. In the Mixer window, within the AudioInst 1 track, click and hold the blank grey button, and choose Stereo > ESP. This brings up the Synthesizer window.

3) Now go to Windows > Open Keyboard Window. Click the keyboard keys to play synthesizer sounds. Play around with the controls in the Synthesizer window to alter the sounds you play.

To use the EXSP1 sampler, you must first install some sample instruments on your computer. You can download for free a few sample instruments (including a piano) from www. dk.com/hitkit (scroll to the bottom of the page and under Fun & Free, click on Exclusive Samples. For instructions as to how to install these samples, follow the link on that page to Hints and Tips). There are also many free or paid for sample instruments available on the internet. The Hit Kit’s EXSP1 is compatible with EXS24 and SoundFont 2 sample formats. Once you have installed some sample instruments, you can play them in the following way:

1) Within the main Arrange window, highlight one of the AudioInst tracks, say AudioInst Select the Pencil tool and ‘draw’ a line into the track. This represents the MIDI file you are about to create. Double-click on the track to bring up the Score window.

2) Go to Windows > Open Mixer. In the Mixer window, within the AudioInst 1 track, click and hold the blank grey button, and choose Stereo > EXSP1. This brings up the EXSP1 sampler window.

3) Within the EXSP1 window, click and hold on the three red dots. Select one of your installed sampler instruments in the menu that appears.

4) Now go to Windows > Open Keyboard Window. Click the keyboard keys to play the sampler sounds.

5. Q: The manual says that Hit Kit comes with a “library of ready to play sampler instruments”. However, I can’t find these anywhere. Where are they?

A: The library of ready to play sampler instruments is not on the CD but is on DK’s Hit Kit website (www.dk.com/hitkit). Go to the website, scroll to the bottom of the page and under Fun & Free, click on Exclusive Samples. For instructions as to how to install these samples, follow the link on that page to Hints and Tips. For instructions on how to use the samples in conjunction with Logic, refer to the Logic manual p.101.

6. Q: How can I save my Hit Kit song into a format that I can burn onto CD?

A: To save your Hit Kit song file as one stereo file that you can then burn to CD, you need to use the Bounce button. The Bounce button is in the Mixer window but can be quite tricky to spot! Follow these steps to find it:

a) Open the song file you want to save to CD, and then open the Mixer window.

b) You see the Mixer window is arranged in vertical columns, corresponding to each of the tracks in the Arrange window (Audio 1, Audio 2 etc). Scroll to the right in the Mixer window until you reach the column labelled AudioInst 8. To the right of this column are two columns labelled Bus 1 and Bus 2, and then a column labelled Output 1-2.

c) Look at the bottom of the Output 1-2 column to see a button labelled Bnce. This is the Bounce button!

d) Click this button and in the Bounce window, enter the start bar and the end bar of your song.

e) Click Bounce! This will produce one stereo file of your whole song.

f) You should then be able to burn this file onto a CD in the usual way.

7. Q: When I try to record with the microphone, there is an echo or delay between speaking into the microphone and hearing my voice played back through the speakers. How can I get rid of this?

A: There are a few things you can try …
1) Uncheck the Software Monitoring box within Logic Hit Kit by going to Audio > Audio Hardware and Drivers. Keeping this box checked sometimes causes problems with playback if not enough memory is available.

2) Make sure the latency is set really low on your sound card. Usually this is controlled by something called the buffer setting. The lower the buffer setting, the less the delay between recording and hearing the sound played back, but the bigger the drain on your PC.

3) If you have only the minimum amount of RAM needed to run Logic Hit Kit (128 MB), then this could be a factor of the time delay. In this case, you could optimise performance by a) defragmenting your hard drive with a program such as Norton Utilities, and b) making sure that you have no other programs running when Logic is open.

4) If you are creating something that needs really critical timing, you may want to consider getting a small mixer or headphone mixer.

8. Q: I have a G4 Power Macintosh. Where do I plug in the microphone?

A: There are a few models of Macintosh that do not have built-in external microphone sockets. On these models, the only option for recording is to purchase a USB microphone or USB microphone adaptor. Steve Levine recommends the Griffin imic (into which the Hit Kit mic can plug): http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic/

9. Q: How can I use the preset tracks in the Arrange window (the ones labelled Grand Piano, Fingered Bs etc)?

A: To use these tracks, you must have a MIDI keyboard or MIDI module connected to your computer. The preset MIDI tracks use the standard MIDI system for telling your MIDI keyboard (or other MIDI device) what style to play the notes in. However, do bear in mind that if you play something into these tracks from your keyboard, you are just storing INFORMATION, not actual SOUND. If you ‘bounced’ your Hit Kit song file to create one stereo file, these tracks would not play. However, you should be able to set up your keyboard to use this INFORMATION to record a WAV file into one of the Audio tracks. This is then stored within Hit Kit as a sound, and can therefore be ‘bounced out’ along with the rest of your song. Refer to your keyboard manual for the correct connections for this.