Bhajis Loops FAQ
General | System and performances | Formats | Another question?General questions
What are the differences between Microbe and Bhajis Loops?
While Microbe is more oriented towards live performances, Bhajis Loops is better for composition and sequencing - While it takes seconds to create a basic drum track with a bassline on Microbe, the same task requires much more manipulations on Bhajis Loops, but you also have much more control on all the parameters, and a whole lot of extra features.
This also means that people without music skills will quickly manage to compose something with Microbe - because there is a narrowed number of options, while they will not be at ease with Bhajis Loops and its hundreds of options and settings. Microbe is thus more suitable for a non-musical just for fun use.
Is this program related to 8-bit music or chiptunes?
While several users of the program are indeed involved in the 8-bit music scene, Bhajis Loops is not restricted to this style. In fact, Palm devices can generate high quality sounds - 16 bits samples with high sampling rates. If you want dirty bleeps and noisy samples, you can get them with bit-crusher or distortion plug-ins - but you could as well have crystal-clear cymbals or pianos. The best is to download a few songs and listen to them by yourself!
Can I use a MIDI keyboard to record notes? Can I use Bhajis Loops to control MIDI synthesizers?
No MIDI interfaces are available for recent PalmOS devices - the few commercial products work only on the oldest devices. MIDI support will be added in Bhajis Loops as soon as the hardware is available!
Which languages are supported?
The Bhajis Loops documentation is available in English and French. Moreover, all the text strings used in the program are located in resources, so it is absolutely possible to translate the program in any language using a resource editor like BIRD.
Can I record my voice in Bhajis Loops?
If you own a Palm PDA with a microphone, yes! You can directly record your voice in Bhajis Loops.
System and performances questions
Which devices are supported?
Check the list on the download page!
Do I need special hardware?
Not at all! However, the sound is much better with headphones than with the built-in speaker of your PDA!
How much space does Bhajis Loops take in RAM?
Bhajis Loops and its plug-ins take about 1 Mb in RAM. But you can install them onto a memory card too!
How much sample data can I load?
The number and size of samples is only limited by the amount of free RAM.
How many voices / effects can I use?
On the slower devices, using the default 22kHz mode, you can use up to 8 simultaneous voices ; 16 voices on a Tungsten T3. Disabling the anti-aliasing filter increases these figures by 30%. Most of the effects take the CPU equivalent of one voice. The most demanding effects, such as reverbs or flangers, take the equivalent of two voices.
File formats questions
What kind of samples can I load in Bhajis Loops?
Samples can be loaded from the following sources:
- A built-in minimalistic collection of raw waveforms and drum sounds.
- Sample packs
- .wav files (simply copy them to a memory card!)
- .sf2 Soundfonts.
No mp3?
Playing an mp3 on a Palm is not a trivial task - developers are actually selling mp3 players! Moreover, you will get a much better quality for your music if you use uncompressed samples!
Similarly, Bhajis Loops cannot export songs as mp3 files essentially for performances reasons - a PDA has enough CPU to decode a mp3, but not to encode it!
Can I use Bhajis Loops to play or compose XM/MOD/S3M modules?
Even if Bhajis Loops and soundtrackers share a lot of common characteristics (built-in sampler, note effects, pattern/song architecture), Bhajis Loops has many exclusive features that make it incompatible with the standard module formats!
If you are really looking for a tracker or a MOD player, you can try PsyTexx by Alex Zolotov!
What can I do with my songs once they are finished? Can I remix or finalize them on my PC?
Bhajis Loops is very open! You can, for instance:
- Let other Palm users listen to your songs with the free replayer, pioopiooplayer!
- Export your songs as a .wav file on your memory card, and then open this file on your Mac/PC.
- Export your songs as a MIDIfile on your memory card.
- Use a PC conduit to directly export songs, MIDIfiles, instruments, or individual tracks during a HotSync.
- Play your songs on your PC in winAMP using the free Bhajis Loops plug-in.
Can I use Bhajis Loops to compose MIDI files? Ringtones for my Treo?
Bhajis Loops is a sample-based tool which has a lot of audio plug-ins and special features such as automation, so a Bhajis Loops song cannot be stored efficiently as a MIDIfile - That's why the application uses its own file format.
However, you can export your song as a MIDIfile using the conduit or directly from Bhajis Loops - and save it as a Ringtone on a Treo 600/650.
Bhajis Loops can import MIDIfiles, and is provided with a simple GM bank as well.
Another question?
Do you have any other question? Ask it at this address, or browse the users forum.
You can also read the reference manual for more information.