XO Wave: Memory Locations Manager

In XO Wave, memory locations are somewhat like bookmarks in a web browser. They can be used to mark track locations in Edit and Mix windows (Markers), mark locations for CD tracks (CD Track Markers), save selection ranges, save Playback Bounds, or save the layout of a particular Edit or Mix view (Views).

The Memory Locations Manager allows storing and recalling memory locations, as well as assigning memory locations to keystrokes. Memory locations may be deleted, modified, named, and exported.

Creating Memory Locations

The easiest way to create a memory location is by pressing F1. This brings up the New Memory Location window (pictured at right), which allows you to select the type of memory location, its name, its keyboard shortcut, and possibly some additional information.

For example, if you are playing audio and want to create a CD Track Marker at a particular time, just press F1 at that point. When the New Memory Location window comes up, select CD Track Marker and click Ok.

Markers are created the same way, except that with Markers you may additionally assign a name and keystroke to the marker. In the example at the right, the user has assigned the Option-F2 keystroke to this memory location. After you assign a keystroke, pressing that keystroke jumps to its location.

In an Edit window, you can save a selection or the current playback bounds (start and end points), which may be named and assigned to a keystroke just like a marker.

In the Edit or Mix window, you may also save a view, which is a convenient way of storing display information relating to each track. For example, you can store the height and visibility of your tracks. This is convenient, for example, if you switch back and forth between editing a vocal track and working on the rhythm section. Views can also be named and assigned to keystrokes.

Markers and CD Track Markers can also be created (as well as viewed, edited and deleted) from the Edit window's Ruler.

When creating and editing CD Track Markers, you might be surprised where they end up. For example, if you try to create a new marker between two existing Markers, you might end up creating one after the current marker. This is because the Red Book CD standard specifies some restrictions on CD tracks, including minimum spacing between CD tracks.

Manipulating and Deleting Memory Locations

From the Memory Location Manager (pictured to the left), you can edit memory locations in a variety of ways. For example, you may rename a memory location by double-clicking its name and typing the new name. With a single memory location selected, you can change the keystroke, or view details about it at the bottom of the window.

You can restore a memory location by double-clicking on its icon or selecting it and clicking the Restore button. You may select one or more memory locations and delete them by clicking the delete button (which, of course, is undoable).

CD Track Markers are a bit different than other Markers. Specifically, they have several additional text fields. You may assign artist names, ISRCs (International Standard Recording Codes), and much more, to CD tracks. For more info on this metadata, see our Metadata Reference. To edit the ISRC, simply double-click the ISRC and enter valid ISRC data. Note that you will not be able to edit this information if you selected Auto Increment ISRCs in the Session Metadata Editor. Other data that is associated with CD tracks, such as songwriter, name, and artist, is used when creating CD Text information. To edit this information, you must select the CD Track marker and click Edit CD Text Data.

You cannot assign keystrokes to CD Track Markers because they are automatically assigned keyboard shortcuts: ⌥## where ## is the two digit track number, entered on the numeric keypad (rather than the number keys above the main keyboard). For example, to jump to CD track 7, press and hold the Option key while you type 0 and then 7 on the keypad.

You can also use the Memory Locations Manager to automatically create memory locations. Click Auto Create..., and you will see options for creating Markers or CD Track Markers at each edit point. If CD Track Markers are created from files that have metadata, that metadata will automatically be copied to the newly created CD Track Markers. If you enable Use Padding, CD Track Markers will be shifted a bit before the edit points, which helps them play back correctly on standalone CD players -- most of which cannot skip directly to the very beginning of a track. Note that existing CD Track Markers are overwritten when you Auto Create new CD Track Markers.

Finally, you can also export your memory locations to an HTML file which can be read in many other programs, including web browsers like Safari and Firefox, as well as Apple's TextEdit and Microsoft Excel.