KAGURA’s specific terms necessary for reading and understanding this manual will be explained in this chapter. By carefully reading the following term explanations you will be able to understand roughly what you can do with KAGURA, so please don’t skip this chapter.
Song
A Song in KAGURA is made of multiple Scene
The order of the scenes can be managed in the Timeline
The Song is packaged as a KAGURA original format called a ”.kss file”.
Creator Mode
It is a mode used to create Songs. It includes a Scene editing screen and a Timeline, and it is used to create one kss file at a time.
Player Mode
The Player Mode includes the screen which allows you to perform a Playlist composed of Songs. It can play multiple kss files, has an easy to use interface when it comes to live performances.
Image
It refers to the images which can be used in the Main Area. In addition to dragging and dropping from the Image Area to the screen, you can also add images from your computer using drag&drop.
The corresponding format of the image files are PNG or APNG. The images which have been placed in the Main Area are of two types, "Icons" and "Blocks", and they are set according to their characteristics, as explained below.
Audio
It refers to the sounds which can be assigned to Icons and Blocks in the Main Area. You can drag and drop from the Audio Area or from external sources (e.g. files from your own computer). The corresponding format for the sounds is the WAV format (48 kHz / 24 bit or less, stereo / mono correspondence).
Icon
It refers to the Image which have already been placed in the Main Area. Nothing will happen if you touch an image just by placing it. But by assigning an Audio or MIDI data to the Image, an animation will occur each time you touch it.
Block
It is a type of Icon that allows you to put multiple audio materials side by side in a line, either vertical or horizontal. By arranging them in a block, it becomes possible to add integrated settings such as volume, pan (balance in case of stereo material), monophonic settings etc. It is effective mainly for use to create a melody or as a MIDI fader.
In case of a monophonic setting, the previous sound gets interrupted, so various musical expressions can become possible. Expressions which cannot be obtained with just an Icon.
Playlist
A Playlist is composed of multiple Songs (.kss files), arranged in order. It can be used only in Performer Mode.
Scene
The Scene is the smallest unit of a Song. A Song is composed by arranging one or more Scenes in a row on the Timeline.
Timeline
A Timeline contains a sequence of Scenes in a Song.
When composing a Song, if you want the Icon layout to change during the performance, all you have to do is arrange the Scenes on the Timeline according to your vision.
The Timeline contains not just the order of the Scenes, but also functions, such as repeat count (including an infinite loop), MIDI triggers, key triggers, etc.
Quantize
When playing, the function that helps all sounds sync perfectly with a certain rhythm is called quantization.
When touching an Icon, you can choose to sync the timing (or MIDI output) of its sound with the timing of the tempo.
RealSense
KAGURA is compatible with the Intel® RealSense™ 3D camera. (Intel RealSense is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries).
By using RealSense, you will be able to use the following functions:
Depth Masking
It is a function of the RealSense camera which can be set so that KAGURA does not respond to movements farther than the selected distance.
Hand Gestures
While using the RealSense camera, with hand gestures you can move an Icon by grasping it, change the tempo of a Scene, use it for Sampling etc.