What is an arrangement asset?

This asset is used to create musical arrangements that can change character depending on the game state. Elias arrangements can segue into different states almost seamlessly, with musical adaptations and smooth transitions.

The Arrangement view is a two-dimensional grid of containers, with tracks on the horizontal axis and states on the vertical axis. Each container can hold one or more audio assets.

An arrangement uses a basic setup of tempo, loop length (in bars), and time signature to define the musical structure of the composition.

Music added to the arrangement is composed in a DAW, exported as audio assets, and then imported and structured i Elias studio.

Arrangement Tracks

• A new arrangement starts with one track.
• More tracks can be added by clicking the “+” button to the right of the track bar at the top.
• Track allows the music to be divided into different stems, that can be played and use arrangement rules independently.
• There is no hard limit to the number of tracks. But of course, overall performance may be affected if a lot of tracks are used.

Right-click the track to:

• Rename Track
• Add Track (before/after)
• Delete Track
• Change Color

Arrangment States

• A new arrangement starts with one state.
• More states can be added by clicking the “+” button below the last state.
• States are set up so that each track can use different loops and/or rules for different states. 
  For example, a higher state may include additional tracks playing simultaneously, to increase the musical intensity.
• Expand the Conductor to see and set names of states.
• There is no limit to the number of states.

Right-click the state menu to:

• Rename State
• Add State (before/after)
• Delete State

Arrangement Slots

Each Track have a Slot corresponding to each State. Each slot can contain one or more audio assets, or be silent.

Adding Audio Assets to Arrangement Slots

• First.. Add exported wav files to Elias Studios Asset Browser.
• Then: Drag and drop the audio assets from the Asset Browser onto a slot in the Arrangement matrix, to create a slot variation. 
• Multi-select audio assets to add multiple variations at once.
• You can also add and re-arrange variations one at a time via the slot timeline in the bottom. You can see the time line once a slot is selected.

Removing Variations

• Right-click a slot → Delete Variation (removes all).
• Right-click a specific variation in the Variation View → Delete Variation (removes one).

Adding Segments

• A Variation can consist of one or more Segments. 
• Drag and drop audio assets into the variation timeline to add Segments.
• Right-click a segment to Delete or Edit (adjust Start Bar/Beat and Length).

Segment length

• A Segment can be as short as one beat or as long as the entire loop.
• Segments overlap naturally, allowing tails (like reverb) to carry over between loops.
• Example using segments with tail: 
  • A 8-bar drum loop with reverb can be rendered with the tail included. 
  • Set the segment length to 8 bars (even though the exported file is longer due to a reverb tails), and the loop will overlap correctly, avoiding cutoffs.

Make a Silent Slot or Variation

• To silence a track at a specific slot, right-click the slot and select Make Silent.
• To remove the silent trigger, right-click and select Remove Variation.
• You can also have just one variation be Silent. Right click a variation in the time line and select Make Silent.
   
• NB!: State 0 (zero) is not shown in the Arrangement View but contains a silent trigger for each track. It can be used to mute all tracks (useful in the previewer or when setting up state logic via a patch).

Arrangement Settings

Tempo settings:

An arrangement has three tempo settings that can be found in the bottom-right corner of the application when an arrangement asset is open.

• BPM: The tempo that the arrangement should follow. Mixed tempos are not supported as of now.
• BARS: The loop length of the arrangement, set in bars. Even if an audio file is longer, the loop will occur after the last bar. This allows tails (e.g., reverb) to be left in the render for clean looping.
• METER: The time signature of the arrangement. Mixed time signatures are not supported as of now.
• NB! Changing these values after adding audio assets to slots may cause issues. It is best to configure these settings first.

Segue settings:

A segue is a transition between states or between variations within a state. In other words, it’s when one or more audio assets fade in, fade out, or crossfade after receiving an event. When a state switch is triggered, the segue settings determine:

• If a segue should occur.
• When the segue is allowed (agility).
• How the fade behaves. (fade and shift)

Agility options: 

• Bar – segues allowed on specific bars.
• Beat – segues allowed on specific beats.
• Anytime – segues can happen immediately, ignoring musical timing.
• Custom – define exact bars and beats where segues are allowed.
• Example: If Bar = 2, segues are allowed every second bar.
• Agility points are also shown as markers where segues can occur in the time line
• NB! Using uneven bar agility (e.g., 3 bars) in an arrangement with even length can cause segues to fail.

Agility: Transition:

• Exact – Locks to the tempo clock for perfect sync.
• Smart – Uses engine analysis to adjust transitions at musical silences, useful if you want faster transitions, that sounds almost as good as exact ones.

Fade

• Fade In – Length (ms) of fade-in when audio starts.
• Fade Out – Length (ms) of fade-out when audio stops.
• Crossfade – Length (ms) of crossfade between variations.
• Shift – Adjusts where the fade aligns relative to the agility point.

Segue settings inheritance logic:

Segue behavior can be defined at multiple levels and is inherited downwards. To override a parent settings, click the padlock to unlock a field, then adjust its values.

• Level 1 is Segue Template. As of now, Elias has one default template that is used for all arrangements as a default.
• Level 2 is Arrangement. Change general agility and fade settings for the arrangement here.
• Level 3 is Track. If you want some tracks to behave differently than the rest, you can choose to override the arrangement setting for just that track.
  For example: A drum track might allow for a faster agility, than a more melodic track.
• Level 4 is slot. To give even more fine control, Elias allows users to override slot settings as well.

Selection Strategy setting: State

Defines behavior when Elias do a segue into an empty slot.

• Play slot closest Above
• Play slot closest Below
• Play slot closest to Target (Randomized if slots are equally close)
• Least Possible Change
• Exact 

Selection Strategy setting: Variation

Defines behavior when segueing into a slot with multiple variations:

• Random
• Sequential
• Shuffle
   
• On Loop 
  • None
  • Repeat (play same variation as before)
  • Re-activate (play variation according to selection strategy)

Current limitations

• Only one segue template is available to start with in the current version. We aim to add more templates in the future. The current default template is aimed to be a balanced template, and have these settings:
  • Agility: Bar, Every 1, Transition = Exact
  • Fade In: 1000ms (Shift = 0)
  • Fade Out: 2000ms (Shift = 0)
  • Crossfade: 100ms (Shift = 0)
  • Selection Strategy (State): Least Possible Change
  • Selection Strategy (Variation): On Loop
• You can of course override this template for each individual arrangement, but if you want to set up more standarized arrangement settings, templates might be useful. 
• MIDI tracks will be supported in a future update.
• Variable tempo will be supported in a future update.
• Arrangement mixer (pre-patch mixer) will be supported in a future update.