Getting Started with Ivory Standalone (PC)

Version 1.01

Introduction
Ivory Standalone is an application that allows you to get straight to the business of
playing Ivory! It has just enough features for you to configure your audio and MIDI
systems. There is also a handy practice metronome.

Installation
Ivory Standalone is installed in your Program Files folder. Along with this users guide
and the Ivory Library Tool, this was installed into its proper location by the Ivory
installer or by an updater. Ivory Standalone was also added to your start menu under All
Programs > Synthogy > Ivory Standalone.
The program file uses an Ivory VST.dll file which is stored in a folder called c:\program
files\synthogy\Vstplugins.

Running the program for the first time

When the program is launched, you will see a Synthogy backdrop, and then the Ivory
plug-in will appear. The first time the program is run, it does not have any knowledge of
your current audio driver or MIDI driver. You will need to use the MIDI | Device and
Audio | Device menu choices to set up your MIDI and Audio system.

Ivory Standalone menus

The File menu
This menu has only one choice: Exit.

The MIDI menu

There are 4 choices in the MIDI menu

Channel: This is a popup menu where you choose which MIDI channel will be seen by
Ivory. You can choose 1 MIDI channel (1-16) or any.
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Controls: This dialog box enables you to change certain Ivory parameters using MIDI
Continuous Controls. For example, you could map the Ambience Wet/Dry parameter
to the mod wheel on your keyboard. To do this, select the Ambience tab in the dialog
box, then select 1 Mod Wheel for the Wet/Dry parameter. You cannot map multiple
parameters to a single MIDI controller, and if you try, you will get a warning message,
and you will have to select a different controller for one of your parameters.
Ignore All Notes Off: Some older MIDI controllers and sequencers, such as those made
by Roland, will send a MIDI All Notes Off message when no notes are being held,
even if the sustain pedal is still held. If you find that Ivory doesnt seem to sustain
properly, select this menu item.

Device: The first time that Ivory Standalone is run, you should select this menu item
and choose your MIDI input port. After the device has been selected, the information is
stored in the Windows registry, so the next time Ivory Standalone is used, you will not
need to select it again (unless your old choices are unavailable).

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The Audio menu

There are 3 menu items in the Audio menu.

Device: The first time that Ivory Standalone is run, you should select this menu item
and pick your audio output device using the dialog box. In the Audio Device dialog box,
choose the appropriate Output port. If you see a selection of ASIO and MME devices,
generally it is better to choose an ASIO device. The performance will be much better.
The input device can usually be ignored. There is also a buffer size control which can be
adjusted to control the latency. Choose the lowest setting that works without causing
audio distortion, clicks, pops, etc. Be aware that ASIO devices can only be used by 1
program at a time, so if you have another program open with your ASIO device selected,
it will not be available to Ivory Standalone.
After the devices have been selected, the information is stored in the Windows registry,
so the next time Ivory Standalone is used, you will not need to select them again (unless
your old choices are unavailable).
If you are using an ASIO device, 2 more menu items are available in the device menu.
Asio control panel will launch the ASIO device control panel as supplied by the
manufacturer, and ASIO Channel selection lets you choose the appropriate output pair on
your ASIO device. You will need to use the Channel selection dialog once when the
program is first launched as well.

The Metronome menu

There are 3 menu items in the Metronome menu.

Start / Stop: Choose this menu item to Start or Stop the metronome. You can also use the
space bar to start and stop the metronome.
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Adjust: This modeless dialog box enables you to set Metronome Parameters. The first
parameter is Tempo, of course. The other parameters allow the user to change the
metronome sound. Assuming that you have selected a GM compatible synthesizer as
your metronome device (such as the built-in GS Wavetable Synth) then the default
parameters will let you hear a Sidestick triggered on MIDI channel 10, the drum channel.
If you choose a different synth as your metronome device you might want to adjust these
parameters to trigger a reasonable click sound.

Device: This menu item brings up a dialog box where you can select which output port
will be used for the metronome. By default the built-in synth is chosen, but you can route
the signal to an external MIDI port as well.

The View menu

The View menu has only one choice:
Status bar: This menu choice enable a bar at the bottom of the window, which offers a
brief explanation of each menu choice.

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The Help menu

This menu has only one choice: About.
About displays a dialog box with version and copyright information.

Ivory Standalone Command Line arguments

From time to time, you may have a need to prevent your audio device or MIDI device
from loading. Ivory Standalone can be launched from the Command Line. From your
Windows Start Menu, select Run, then type cmd and hit return. This brings up a
command line window. You can navigate to different folders (otherwise known as
directories) using the cd command. In the US version of Windows XP, Ivory
Standalone is located in the following path: c:\Program Files\Synthogy\Ivory. The
directory names for Program Files vary slightly in different countries. Type cd
followed by a space, followed by the path. Make sure to use the correct directory name
for Program Files for your version of Windows. This brings you to the Synthogy Ivory
home folder. The Ivory Standalone program file name is IvoryPCHost.exe. The
command line arguments are:
/noaudio
This argument will prevent the loading of audio devices.
/nomidi
This argument will prevent the loading of MIDI devices.
To prevent your audio or MIDI devices from loading automatically, type IvoryPCHost
followed by a space, then followed a command line argument, and then hit return. For
example:
C:\Program Files\Synthogy\Ivory>IvoryPCHost /noaudio
This command will start Ivory Standalone with no selected audio devices.

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