Downloading:
For the PC simply download the file - mulab-win.zip - to any directory on your hard disk.
For the MAC simply download the file - mulab-osx.zip - to your download directory on your hard disk.
Typically, this is achieved by using your internet browser e.g. Internet Explorer or my personal favorite, Mozilla Firefox, to go to WWW.MUTOOLS.COM.
MuLab Free is a light version of MuLab and is fully functional without a user key. It has some restrictions compared to the MuLab full version, see the details on this doc page. MuLab Free can also be used as an alternative for demoing MuLab. MuLab Free 8.6.24 for Windows (32 bit). MATLAB (an abbreviation of 'matrix laboratory') is a proprietary multi-paradigm programming language and numeric computing environment developed by MathWorks.MATLAB allows matrix manipulations, plotting of functions and data, implementation of algorithms, creation of user interfaces, and interfacing with programs written in other languages. Although MATLAB is intended primarily for numeric. Mulab is simply great, all you need is onboard and if not, create it in MUX! The installation is super easy and it hosts 99% of all VSTs without any problem. It is fast and sounds remarkable good. The only advantage I see for the competitors is the lack of tutorials about Mulab.but who needs tutorials if a software is so easy to use.
At the top of the page there is a heading - Downloads - Click on this link and you will be presented with a down load page. Under the heading Download , there are two entries:
Mulab for OSX
Mulab for Windows
Now you must choose, based on your operating system, either OSX (MAC) or Windows (PC). Right Click on the link of your choice - the menu appears and choose either Save Target as ... or Save Link as .... This will then popup a box in which you need to select the folder on your computer where you will save the installation file MULAB-win.zip or MULAB-osx.zip). After choosing your favorite directory to store downloads, click on the SAVE button - the file will be downloaded to the directory of your choice.
TIP: Since I download many applications (on my PC), I have a Directory name DOWNLOAD with sub-directories for MUSIC, OFFICE, UTILS, DOCS, etc. I download the appropriate files to one of these sub-directories. When the DOWNLOAD directory gets up to about 600MB or so, I simply copy the whole thing to a CD (along with an index which is saved on my hard disk) and then clear the directory so I can start over. This allows me to manage a large number of downloads over the years.
So you must remember where you put the download. If you are just lazy or don't care, it probably went into My Computer or the Desktop. But in any case it is time to locate the file because you are going to double click on it to get the installation of MULAB Free going.
Installation:
For the PC:
Find the file in your explorer window (or on the desktop. If you have a ZIP utility, such as WINZIP, you are in luck because the utility will take over and ask you where to install the MULAB studio application. Just double click on the file - MULAB-free-win.zip. You will be asked to extract all the files to a default location, probably C:Program Files. This location will work nicely.
TIP: Again, since I have many Music Applications, I have created a folder named MUSIC and store almost all of my installed music applications here. This allows me to locate their associated files more easily. And also when I back up my music files, I need to only back up everything stored in MUSIC. For example, I selected D:MUSIC as the installation point for MULAB. After the installation, all of the files for MULAB were stored at D:MUSICMULAB.
After extracting the MULAB Free files from the installer Zip file (from MULAB-free-win.zip) the unzip process will create a sub-directory structure headed by a Directory named - MULAB Free. Under this directory, the installer will have placed the files necessary to execute and support the application. e.g. MULAB.exe, etc. along with 4 other sub-directories. If your installation does not look like the explorer window (here) then you have not extracted the files properly from MULAB-free-win.zip. If it looks like this then please continue.
Locate the file MULAB.exe in the MULAB Free directory. Right-click on MULAB.exe and drag to your desktop. Upon release choose the menu item 'Create Shortcuts Here'. This will create a shortcut on your desktop to use whenever you want to run the MULAB Free application.
For the MAC:
Double-click the MULAB-osx.zip file. This will start the installation and place the MuLab folder in the same directory as the Zip file. Copy the MULAB Free folder from your download folder to the folder of your choice or your applications folder. We recommend copying this folder to a Music folder where all of your music applications and files can be stored together. (no picture).Optional: A highly recommended addition to OSX, is the JACK OSX audio server. This serves the same purpose as ASIO on the PC and will lower the latency time for tighter response to audio performance on the MAC platform. If you choose to use the JACK Audio server, you will be rewarded with much better response to midi commands and to changes applied to audio signals through effects. The use of this server is fast becoming a standard for OSX audio applications and is also supported by MULAB Free, so it will make a good addition to your audio software arsenal. The installation of the server is very straight forward and can be easily and quickly accomplished by downloading the package from JACKOSX.COM . The package will be installed automatically and will create an applications folder for Jack. Inside the folder is the JackPilot program for starting, stopping and configuring the Jack OSX server. The Jack OSX server must be started and running before it can be used in any audio application and that includes the MULAB Free studio. Use the JackPilot program to start the server before starting MULAB.
For the MAC, Ctrl-click on the Mulab icon and drag it to the desktop.
Setup
The first time that MULAB is run, it will walk you through a few setup steps to identify your audio and midi ports.
Double-click on the desktop shortcut for MULAB. The first time you will get a display regarding the license for MULAB. Click on the button labeled - I Agree. Then read the Intro screen and click on the button labeled - OK.
The next setup screen is used to set up your Audio ports and name the Windows ASIO driver to be used. If your system has more than one ASIO driver, click on the name of the ASIO driver to reveal other drivers and select the one you want to use. Then click on OK (dont worry about ASIO inputs and outputs since these have all been chosen for you). MULAB does not use DirectX or MME outputs, so don't be looking for these. The only Audio ins and outs are through the ASIO driver. If you don't have an ASIO driver, you are not out of luck. Just go to http://www.asio4all.com/ and down load the ASIO driver. This driver is universal. It really works and it provides excellent throughput.
For the MAC, just take the default core audio device.
Near the upper left corner in Mulab, click on the Edit button. This provide access to Audio Setup (above) and Midi Setup.
Midi Setup is a list of midi input ports and output ports. By clicking in input port 1, you can choose your MIDI IN port - normally you have connected your keyboard controller here. By choosing the midi output port 1, you can set the port where your default MIDI OUT goes. If you want to use more than one output port, you can designate any other output port that you may want to use, by clicking in output port 2, etc. Then click on OK. (Note: Mulab Free is limited to a single MIDI IN/OUT port.)
If you skipped over these, or want to go back and make some changes, you can click on the EDIT button (upper left corner) of MULAB and choose Audio Setup or Midi Setup.
OK, you are done. The MULAB system is installed and setup to use your midi and audio equipment.
Test Your Audio setup.
If you are opening MULAB for the first time, you should be presented with a demo session. This will allow a quick look at some of the capabilities available in MULAB. If this is not the first time, then you must click on the FILE Button, click on Open Session and then navigate to the MULAB folder and highlight one of the MuSession files and then click on OK. This will load the Session. NOTE: current demo files may appear different.
This is the two main work areas that display the current composition.
The top window (known as the composition area) contains tracks of audio or midi data that can be directed to instruments and effects located in the racks window below. In the demo.MuSession the racks have been populated by instruments created using the built in MuSynth.
At the top of the display is the transport controls. The little triangle represents the Play/Stop button. Click on the traingle to start play of the Demo. Click again to Stop the play. The double triangles are for fast forward and fast rewind of the play position. Or you can click in the bar numbers area to quickly move the play position to that point. The space bar can be used to stop and start playback.
If you do not hear any music at this point. You need to go back and check what has been done so far. Make sure your Soundcard is not muted and that the volume slider is up especially for the audio outputs.
To Exit from MULAB, click on the X in the upper right corner or click on FILE and then click on Exit. You will be given a chance to save your work as a Session. So all of your tracks, Racks, etc. will be saved exactly as you left them. There are three choices:
Quit Without Save - the session and any changes are lost; the previous session remains as is
Save Before Quit- the session is saved as it now exists; previous session is overwritten
Cancel - Just forget it, I am not ready to quit.
Summary
For the PC it is mandatory to install an ASIO driver. Many soundcards ship with an ASIO driver, but some do not. MULAB will not work without this audio driver. If your soundcard does not provide this driver, download the driver from ASIO4ALL.COM. Studio software(MULAB) must be downloaded (the setup file). Then it must be installed into a working folder. Remember where it is installed because the location is sometimes referenced in relation to other music files, e.g. Session files, WAV files, Presets, setup files, etc.
Once the music software is installed, there are usually two setups that must be specified:
- Audio inputs and outputs
- Midi inputs and outputs
If the software uses Plugins, you will have to identify the location of the Plugins Folder(s). Some music software programs include internal instruments and effects so that plugins may not be required. MULAB includes many internal instruments and effects but also allows the flexibility of adding VST plugins.
If the Demo song does not play, go back and check your work.
MULAB Overview - Racks & Tracks
Basics - traditionally, computer objects (files, modules, windows, etc.) have been broken down into 2 major categories - Programs and Data. Any Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) must deal with programs and data so as to process the data and produce a resulting digital Data file that is consistent with Digital Standards e.g. CD or MP3. Each DAW does this in a little bit different manner, depending on how the program was designed and the objectives of the software designer.
Programs contain instructions that direct the computer to perform a process. These are sometimes called executables. In an audio processing environment we can categorize objects like Hosts, modules and plugins as programs. These objects contain instructions that the computer will follow to process the Data objects (which contain no computer instructions). Within MULAB, the programs are arranged in Racks and as modules in the Session Modular Area (for more advanced detailed arranging). By arranging the programs in a specific sequence, the computer musician can direct the computer to process audio data in a specific manner. For those just getting started with MULAB, the RACKS are where the programs can be placed quickly and easily. By themselves, the RACKS do nothing until they are supplied with Data.
Data consists of a sequence of binary or text information that can be processed by a program. In an audio processing environment we can categorize objects such as WAV, MP3, MIDI, OGG, etc. typically stored in files on memory devices. Within MULAB, these objects can be loaded onto TRACKS in the composition area and then arranged in the order that they will be sent to the RACKS for processing. For convenience, the TRACKS can be broken into PARTS for ease of arrangement. Digital Audio data (WAV) can be placed into a PART on a TRACK. The TRACK is then directed to send its PARTS Data to a Target Module, which can be a RACK or a specific module within a RACK that is looking for digital audio data to process. Other TRACKS may contain PARTS with midi styled data (event information). These TRACKS/PARTS are directed to RACKS that contain programs that have been designed to process midi styled information. Right click the Track header to choose the Target Module (RACK) for data on this track.
In summary - TRACKS contain data to be processed. RACKS do the processing. The combined processing produces digital Data file(s) that can be sent to a hardware audio interface that will convert the digital Data to an analog (electrical ) signal to be processed by amplifiers and speakers.Recording setup
To attempt recording with a computer you need an audio processor or sound card with either a LINE INPUT or a MIC INPUT port. Most computers have a 'mini' sound card built into the computer that provides both of these inputs. They are actually tied together and your studio software 'sees' these ports as a single AUDIO INPUT. The MIC Input is very sensitive and should not be used except with a low signal level mic. If you want to record the output of a radio, TV, Stereo, MP3 player, External MIDI Synth, Guitar, etc. Use the LINE INPUT jack to record these LINE level signals. DONT PLUG THESE INTO THE MIC INPUT because they will overpower the MIC Input circuit.
Sound cards also have other Audio inputs that can be used such as S/PDIF, Digital, AUX, Tape, MIDI Synth, CD, in addition to LINE level and MIC level inputs. Most of these sound cards share one thing in common - Only one of these inputs can be used to record an audio stream. There are some soundcards with multiple inputs, but mostly this equipment is left to external mixers and pre-amps that are able to handle multiple channels of audio recording. In other words - Most sound cards for the PC and MAC allow for a single Audio Input. This Input must be identified to your Audio Recording Software. So the rule is - Select the single source of Audio Input before attempting to record. Determine which port in your soundcard mixer will give you a good recording signal level.
For this reason alone, professional recordings are 'multi-track' recorded outside a computer. But for home studios this is really not a problem since there is only one musician and one input to be recorded at a time. From an equipment standpoint, a computer based home studio relies upon the operating system codecs (drivers) to turn sound waves into audio files - principally .WAV files for the PC and .AIFF files for the MAC. The Codecs do an excellent job and as long as the computer has the necessary power (minimum requirements), there is faithful reproduction of the recordings.
Today almost all home studio recordings are recorded at 44,100 hz with a bitrate of 16 bits. What does this mean? It means that a second of recorded data will be broken into 44,100 digital entries of 16 bits. So you can see that your computer must have the capability to process 88,200 bytes per second for each audio stream that runs concurrently. Since this all takes place digitally, there is no room for error and faithful reproduction should be perfectly repeatable. This sample rate (44,100hz) and the data bitrate (16) is often called CD Quality and governs the size of binary audio data stored on a CD. Once this data is recorded, it may be copied faithfully without loss of quality as many times as needed.
Of course, higher sample rates and bit rates are certainly available, but they require faster computers, more memory and faster and larger disks.
Selecting the Audio Input
Before you begin to record, you must tell the sound card which Input you will be using, so that the signal will be recognized by the computer. This selection is usually done with the Volume Control - In Windows this lurks in an Icon that resembles a little speaker in the lower right corner of the Task Bar. Double-click the Icon and select Properties>Recording. This reveals a list of the Inputs that are available to your sound card. You can place a check mark by the input that you want to record from. Remember, only one input can be used at a time for recording.
To record from the MIC, you must check the MIC channel for recording.
External mixing equipment can eliminate the single recording channel problem, but adds expense and additional equipment. For our lessons that follow, please check the MIC INPUT Channel as our recording source. And for this lesson you must have a MIC that can be connected to the Red jack on your computer (MIC INPUT). For Guitar, use the LINE IN channel. Whichever is selected will be routed to the MULAB Audio Input that was selected when you setup MULAB.
The microphone that you use will set the quality of your recording. So, the better the MIC, the better the recording. Since the computer itself operates at CD Quality, the MIC (and your home studio) will determine the quality of your recording. Most good mics will require a pre-amp, so the signal level is easy to obtain.
Set the MIC Volume in the Recording Control mixer to about 75% (the example shows about 95%, but this will vary). A figure of 75% is a good place to start and we will need to vary this later to get a good solid signal.
Setting up the program to record
This exercise is not going to create a masterpiece. Since this tutorial is designed to cover the basics of making music, you must learn the fundamentals before getting into the steps that are needed to create more sophisticated music. This step will teach you how to record an audio track with a background.
You are going to record the song 'My Darling Clementine'. You can, of course, choose another song, but this example comes ready to use. We will load the song, in midi format, so that that you will have something to sing or play along with. We plan to use the mda-piano as a background, and then record our own audio track alongside the background as it plays. Download the file - Clementine.mid - a save it in your MULAB Free folder. (By now you should be able to download files and save them easily).
Mulab Software
Start the MULAB Free program and select a new session. Set the BPM setting to 100, in the tape transport bar and also click the Midi-Record OFF (little picture of a note) and click the Audio Record ON (little picture of a sine wave).
Also we will want to tell the program to record a mono track as opposed to a stereo track. This depends on your audio equipment, but usually the default will be to record a stereo track if the equipment will handle it. This means that a left and right audio track will be created. This is fine for the finished piece of music, but for an individual track it is better to record the instrument or vocal as a mono track so that it can be moved around in the final mix. Right-Click on the record circle in the transport bar - a menu will popup. The menu is your recording Options. On one of the Inputs, click and select None from the list of inputs. Click on OK to save your options.
Now Click the FILE Button and then select Import MIDI File. An explorer window will open and you can highlight the Clementine.mid file and then click on OK. A midi track will appear. To reduce the vertical size of the tracks in the composer window, Use the vertical +/- buttons at the lower right of the composer window. Click on the '-' key to reduce the size of the tracks back to what you are used to. This will make room for us to see new audio tracks as they are added.
Now let's hear what the Clementine sequence sounds like. Right click on the Clementine track and set the midi sequence outout to Rack 1 (mda Piano) then load the mda-piano VSTi into the top slot of Rack 1. By now, you should be able to set up a Rack with a VSTi synth very easily.
Click the rewind (double arrows to the left to make sure that we are at the beginning of the track then click on start/stop arrow. You should easily hear what the track sounds like. Sing or hum a few bars along with it to test whether the key is right for you. (The Lyrics are printed below). Or if you plan to record a guitar then play a few licks along with the song. If the key is wrong, you will want to change to a more comfortable key. The original song was recorded in E major.
To change the key, right-click on the Clementine Sequence and then Click on Sequence then Click on Transpose notes. Type either a number of steps up or down (- in front of the number of steps) and the entire midi file will be transposed up or down the number of steps that were specified. Use the transport to replay the midi file and see if the key is better for you. If not just go back and change it up or down until it sounds right.
Note: 'My Darling Clementine' is a waltz (3/4 time), but all midi is displayed as 4/4 in this program. However, this should not affect the audio recording, since the total number of beats remains the same and the song will be recorded at 100BPM.
Setting the Recording Level
One way to get the correct level of the recorded signal is to follow this iterative procedure:
Mulab Music Software
- Click the Record circle to record a few bars then click on the start/stop arrow.
- give your recording a name and press Enter.
- Play it back.
- If it is not the right volume, double-click on the Windows mixer, Properties>recording and raise or lower the MIC volume.
(Keep the Windows mixer active on your task bar until we are done)
- If you have a powered Mic, you can raise the volume or get closer to the Mic.
- Click on the recorded audio track to darken it, then press Delete. Poof, it's gone
- rewind to the beginning.
Repeat the steps above until you get the recorded volume correct. The outline of the waves should be a clue as to the correct volume.
Another way
MULAB also provides an internal method to convert a Rack into an 'Input Monitor'. This feature allows you to set the strength of your recorded signal by watching the Volume indicator and make adjustments while you are recording. Right click on the Audio icon in the Transport bar. This will display the Audio Recording Options window. The Record From box should match your selected Audio input port.
Click on the little Edit button to select the left input - Mono. Best for vocals and guitar.
Click on the Monitor To box (which probably displays 'None') and select an unused Rack. This Rack now becomes a path for the Audio Input signal to pass before it is recorded - thus the indicator will display the strength of the Input signal as it is being recorded. In the example, you will see that Rack 2 has been selected as the Audio Input Monitor. Talk or sing into your MIC. Now the level of your audio signal will appear. Watch the level of the signal. The strongest part of your recording should not reach the top of the Audio level indicator. If it does, it will leave a tiny red mark to show that part of your recording has been clipped. For guitars this is not all bad (adds distortion) but for vocals it is a spoiler.
Try to keep your recorded signal away from the top of the audio level meter.
The Auto Normalize box, when checked, will cause Mulab to raise the gain on the recorded track to a normally high level. But to gain experience in setting levels, don't use this for now.
Save your session Now.
Recording a Track
To record an audio track, make sure the transport is at the beginning of the song, where you plan to begin recording. Click on the Record Circle to begin recording. The metronome will count off 4 beats and you can begin recording. Just remember that - Oh, My Darling - begins on beat 3 of the first measure. But you knew that.
When the volume is to your liking, go ahead and begin recording. If your take is not acceptable, just don't give the file a name and it will not be saved. If part of it is great, then save it with another name. (We will get to audio editing at a later time and show you how to take the good parts from one take and paste them where the bad parts were.) When you begin recording another take, make sure that previous recordings are muted (little speaker to the left of the track is dark). MULAB Free will always add another track when making a new recording.
Note: If you are using the Audio Input Monitor Rack, your recorded track Output will default to this same Rack you have set. After a successful take, you may want to change the routing of the Audio track Output to another Rack.
Note: If no setting has been made as to the output Target, the output of the Audio tracks have defaulted to 'Audio Output' so they are going straight to your Audio bus on the soundcard without the ability to set the volume or add effects. Audio Output is listed under Others in the Part output section (upper right of the Compose window). If you click on this Output, you can select another Rack to send the Audio output and then have control over the volume and be able to add effects to your audio recording.
The mixer strips in the Rack Window are there to help you balance the parts. If the piano part is too loud, cut it back with the mda-piano mixer strip. Likewise, the playback of your recording can be adjusted for a good balance. The recording can be viewed much closer, by double-clicking and opening up the audio editor. At the left of the audio editor is a vertical scale calibrated in dB. An ideal signal will never exceed a point about -3dB from the top or bottom. If the signal reaches 0 dB at the top or bottom, that means that 'clipping' will occur - your signal will be lost and the sound of this is usually unpleasant, so you don't want to have any of these occurrences in your recordings. So adjust your recording level to eliminate clipping. If you notice clipping in your take, you will have to re-record that portion so that a good version is available.
When you think you've got it, Save this session with your recorded track(s) so we can use the session in a later tutorial. You may want to make the session name something like Clementine, so we will recognize it later. You have reached the end of this section of the tutorial. It's time to review the summary. So skip over the lyrics below.
Lyrics
My Darling Clementine
In a cavern, in a canyon,
Excavating for a mine,
Dwelt a miner, Forty-niner,
And his daughter, Clementine.
Oh my darling, Oh my darling,
Oh, my darling Clementine,
You are lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.
Light she was, and like a feather,
And her shoes were number nine,
Herring boxes without topses,
Sandals were for Clementine.
Oh, my darling, Oh my darling,
Oh, my darling, Clementine,
You are lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry Clementine,
Drove the ducklings to the water,
Ev'ry morning just at nine,
Hit her foot against a splinter,
Fell into the foaming brine.
Oh, my darling, Oh, my darling,
Oh, my darling, Clementine,
You are lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry Clementine.
Ruby lips above the water,
Blowing bubbles soft and fine,
Sad for me, I was no swimmer,
So I lost my Clementine.
Oh, my darling, Oh, my darling,
Oh, my darling, Clementine.
You are lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry Clementine.
In a cavern, in a canyon,
Excavating for a mine,
Dwelt a miner, Forty-niner,
And his daughter, Clementine.
Oh my darling, Oh my darling,
Oh, my darling Clementine,
You are lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.
Lost and gone forever,
Awful sorry, Clementine.
Lost and gone forever,
Oh, my darling, Clementine.
Summary
- Use your Windows mixer / Recording Properties to select the recording source e.g. MIC input for vocals, LINE IN for guitar, etc.
- Use your Windows mixer / Recording Properties to set the recording level. (or adjust MIC power levels). The level should never reach 0db in a recording - this is known as clipping. Setting the Recording Level is a critical step in making successful live recordings.
- Record a Mono Track as opposed to a Stereo Track.
- Use a good Microphone for the best quality sound.
- Try to record in a key that works for you.
- To record, make sure the little wave is lit (Audio recording) and the metronome is OFF. Click on the Record Circle to begin. Start/Stop arrow or spacebar will end the recording..