Introduction When you work with Metro to compose a piece of music, you are creating a Metro document file. This can include a song with up to 25000 Sections*, each of which can contain up to 99 tracks* of MIDI or audio data; each MIDI track can contain 64 SubSections (placing a Section within another Section creates a “SubSection”) and Output definitions for 254 Outputs. Metro can simultaneously play up to 64 tracks* of stereo audio files (audio performance is dependent on CPU speed and Hard Disk throughput). All of these elements of a Metro document file, and others, including references to audio files, are loaded or saved under a single file name, usually the title of the song. Documents reside on a storage medium (hard disk, floppy disk, removable media,etc.). All editing of Metro document files occurs in computer RAM (randomaccess memory). When loaded into RAM from a storage medium, any modifications youmake are temporary since an interruption in power (or equipment failure) couldcause data to be lost. Therefore, always save your documents periodically asyou work on them. Should an accident occur, you will be able to restore thedata from the last time the document was saved. All processing of audio files in Metro is constructive and disk-based. Inother words, Metro never alters or overwrites an original audio file, instead itcreates a new file which is substituted for the original file.  Metro document files save only references, or pointers, to audio files. Metro stores an alias to the audio files, not the audio files themselves. Use the Links option in the File menu to locate audio files that Metro cannot find (files that may have beenmoved or deleted from their original location). A file or document must be saved to some storage medium before you turn off your computer. Saving on hard disk is fast and convenient, but hard disks can fail unexpectedly. Always copy important Metro document files to a different disk (or CD) as insurance against hard disk failure. For maximum safety, keep a second set of CD's in a safe deposit box or other secure, remote location.Here are some links to get you started with Metro:Quick Setup Tasks Reference Troubleshooting *less for the SE and LX versions. |
