INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 FEATURES .................................................................................................................... 2 ABOUT THIS MANUAL .................................................................................................. 5 FRONT PANEL ..............................................................................................................
EDIT SINGLE ................................................................................................................. 58 NAMING PROGRAMS - COPYING AND RENAMING ...................................................... 59 DELETING PROGRAMS ................................................................................................ 60 MIDI PAGE .................................................................................................................... 64 OUTPUT LEVELS PAGE....................
CROSSFADING ................................................................................................ 155 MIXING AND LAYERING SAMPLES ................................................................ 155 SETTING DIGITAL FADES................................................................................157 EFFECTS MODE ......................................................................................................................... 159 ORGANISATION OF EFFECTS FILES ............................
NAMING TAGS ................................................................ ................................. 226 NOTES ON USING THE TAGGING SYSTEM .................................................... 227 HARD DISK CONTROL .................................................................................................. 228 IMPORTING SOUNDS FROM OTHER MANUFACTURER’S CD-ROMS........................... 229 GLOBAL MODE ...........................................................................................
APPENDIX 1 ............................................................................................................................... 279 CONNECTING AN EXTERNAL HARD DISK DRIVE......................................................... 279 NOTES ON USING HARD DISK DRIVES ................................................................ ........ 279 SCSI CABLES ................................................................ .................................. 279 TERMINATION ...............................
INTRODUCTION Welcome to the Akai S3000XL stereo digital sampler and thank you for buying it! The S3000XL features 32-voice polyphony, expandable memory, DSP functions, etc., and using the S3000XL’s resonant lowpass filters, multiple LFOs, envelope generators and extensive modulation possibilities, your new sampler can double as a first class synthesiser as well.
INTRODUCTION FEATURES • Polyphony 32 voices • A-D Conversion 16-bit stereo with 64-times oversampling • Internal processing 28-bit accumulation • D-A Conversion 18-bit with 8-times oversampling • Sampling rates 44.1kHz/22.050kHz • Phase locked stereo sampling and playback • Internal memory 2Mbytes standard, expandable to 32Mbytes using SIMMs • Sampling times 2Mbytes 24 seconds mono @ 44.1kHz 32Mbytes 5.94 minutes mono @ 44.
INTRODUCTION The S3000XL can also read CD-ROMs made for other manufacturer's samplers1. 1 • Data storage A variety of storage devices may be used to store data including floppy disk, hard disk, Syquest™ removable cartridges and Magneto Optical (MO) disks. Hard disk data may be backed up to a normal DAT tape using the digital i/o. • Flash ROM You may install up to 16Mbytes of FLASH ROM over and above the 32Mbytes of ordinary RAM giving you a total of 48Mbytes of memory.
INTRODUCTION • EDITING FEATURES EDIT SAMPLE Trim, Loop (with FIND and CROSSFADE functions), Join, Merge, Splice, Chop, Extract, Reverse, Gain normalisation, Timestretch, Re-sample.
INTRODUCTION ABOUT THIS MANUAL This manual has been written to allow you to get the most out of your new sampler. Please take the time to read it as a fuller understanding of the instrument will enable you to use the S3000XL’s remarkable facilities to the full. Not only are the controls and screens explained in detail but you will find hints and tips to help you with your sampling and programming.
INTRODUCTION FRONT PANEL DATA ENCODER POWER SWITCH FLOPPY DISK DRIVE AKAI professional LCD RECORD LEVEL s3000xl MIDI DIGITAL STEREO SAMPLER ON MAIN VOLUME REC GAIN DATA MIN OFF POWER SINGLE/ A MULTI/ B F2 F3 DISPLAY CONTRAST F4 F5 F6 F7 CURSOR F8 SCREEN FUNCTION EDIT/ E GLOBAL/ F MIN MAX 7/ Q 8/ R 9/ S MARK/# 4/ T 5/ U 6/ V JUMP/.
INTRODUCTION PHONES This stereo jack socket allows you to monitor the L/R (stereo) output of the S3000XL through stereo headphones. The level is regulated using the MAIN VOLUME control (see below). DISPLAY CONTRAST Sets the viewing angle for the LCD. You will note that pressing this control in switches off the LCD’ backlight thus preserving the LCD (think of it like a ‘screen saver’ on a computer. FLOPPY DISK DRIVE The 3.5 inch floppy disk drive will accept high density and low density disks.
INTRODUCTION TAKING CARE OF YOUR DISKS These floppy disks contain valuable sound data and, as such, should be treated with extreme care. Please observe the following points, therefore: 1 Never slide the metal cover back and touch the disk. Finger marks may render the disk unreadable. 2 Don’t leave the disk in the drive wherever possible.
INTRODUCTION REAR PANEL ANALOGUE AUDIO INPUTS INDIVIDUAL AUDIO OUTPUTS DIGITAL IN/OUT AKAI ELECTRIC CO., LTD S3000XL L/MONO INPUT R OUTPUT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 IN DIGITAL OUT MIDI STEREO OUT L/MONO IN OUT THRU R L/R STEREO OUTPUTS SCSI MIDI IN/OUT/THRU SCSI CONNECTION POWER CONNECTION ANALOGUE AUDIO INPUTS You make recordings through these two inputs. You can record in mono by connecting the audio source to only the L/MONO input.
INTRODUCTION computer for use with the editing software that is bundled with the S3000XL. MIDI Your MIDI controller (keyboard, drum pads, EWI, etc.) should be connected to the MIDI IN. The THRU socket carries a duplicate of the MIDI IN signal ‘thru’ to other modules or MIDI devices that may be connected. The OUT is normally only used to transmit MIDI System Exclusive data to another Akai sampler or to a computer. POWER CONNECTION This should be connected to an AC power source.
INTRODUCTION SETTING UP THE S3000XL This short section tells you how to get ‘up and running’ fast. For full details of operation, please refer to the appropriate section in this manual. CONNECTIONS Don’t switch the S3000XL on for the moment. L/R OUTPUTS SCSI HARD DISK, CD-ROM, MO DRIVE, etc.. IND OUTS - to mixer MIDI IN DIGI I/O DAT MIDI OUT AKAI mx1000 Connect the MIDI output of your MIDI controller (in this example, an Akai MX1000 master keyboard) to the MIDI input of the S3000XL.
INTRODUCTION LOADING THE DEMO FLOPPY DISKS To get you started, some sounds are provided on floppy disk. To load the sound library disk, insert it into the drive and press the LOAD key. Now simply press F7 - CLR. You will receive a prompt asking you if you want to clear the entire memory. Respond by pressing F8 - YES The library disk supplied comes with several programs.
INTRODUCTION MOUNTING THE S3000XL If you plan to rack mount the S3000XL, try to leave some ‘breathing space’ around it to prevent overheating. It is recommended you leave 1U of rack space above and below the sampler. If you are placing the sampler on a table, make sure that the table is sturdy and that the sampler is not positioned precariously. If you are using the S3000XL with a hard disk device of any kind, the disk drive MUST be mounted horizontally.
INTRODUCTION GETTING AROUND THE S3000XL The S3000XL is pretty straightforward to use. Basically, it operates in different ‘modes’ which are selected according to what it is you want to do. In these modes, you navigate your way around the functions using the soft keys. You move around the screens using the CURSOR keys and data is entered either using the DATA wheel or numerically from the numeric keypad.
INTRODUCTION There are many common keys in many of the functions, however, such as, for example, COPY, RENAME and DELETE which are always on F6, F7 and F8 in those pages where they appear. Commands such as GO, and ABORT always appear on F7 and F8. There is also a convention to the type of functions available which is worth noting. If a key has this highlighted type of display: then this signifies that pressing this key will take you to another page. If the key has this type of display: (i.e.
INTRODUCTION Turning the DATA ENTRY ENCODER clockwise by one step now will increase the value of the last highlighted digit, so: Now if the -/> key is pressed once, the first four digits will be highlighted: and turning the DATA ENTRY ENCODER one click clockwise will produce: If you turn the DATA control more than ten clicks, of course, the value of the whole parameter will be incremented or decremented by the number of clicks.
INTRODUCTION NAMING FILES - THE NAME KEY When samples, programs, effects or drum input settings are changed, they should be given a name for easy reference. NAME Pressing the NAME button in certain pages will enable you to name the data and you will notice that each button has a letter following its primary function (i.e. EDIT PROG/K, F4/D , HELP/ P ).
INTRODUCTION RECORD LEVEL, MAIN VOLUME, HEADPHONE OUTPUT Above the numeric keypad, you will find the RECORD LEVEL and MAIN VOLUME controls: REC GAIN MIN MAX MAIN VOLUME MIN MAX Input level for sampling is regulated using the RECORD LEVEL control and the S3000XL’s overall output level is controlled, not surprisingly, by the MAIN VOLUME control. This also governs the level of the sound appearing at the HEADPHONE OUTPUT.
INTRODUCTION HOW THE S3000XL WORKS Despite its versatility, the S3000XL is very straightforward and once you have a basic grasp of the flowcharts shown on the next pages, things will make more sense. Basically, you can have SAMPLES. These are the pieces of raw digital audio that are always the basis of any sound in the S3000XL.
INTRODUCTION Once you have placed your sample(s) into a program, you may play them from a MIDI controller in SINGLE mode. If the optional effects processor is fitted in your S3000XL, you may add powerful multi-effects such as simultaneous distortion, EQ, chorus/flange, delay and reverb to these programs. Once you have several programs in memory, you may use the MULTI mode to combine them together.
INTRODUCTION ANALOGUE INPUTS DIGITAL INPUTS FLOPPY DISK HARD DISK/CARTRIDGE CD ROM SAMPLE(S) EDIT SAMPLE TRIM CHOP CUT EXTRACT LOOP (X4) JOIN XFADE TUNE FADE REVERSE NORMALISE/RE-SCALE TIMESTRETCH RESAMPLE EDIT PROGRAM KEYGROUP(S) FX SEND PER KEYGROUP TUNE SAMPLE 1 TUNE SAMPLE 2 TUNE SAMPLE 3 TUNE SAMPLE 4 KG PITCH VEL SW/XFD 12dB/8ve LOWPASS RESONANT FILTER IND. OUTPUT ASSIGN PAN MASTER OUTPUT LEVEL PAN AMP ENV 2 KEYSPAN IND.
INTRODUCTION MULTI-MODE PARTS 1-16 FX SEND LEVEL PER PART PROGRAM SELECT MIDI CH TUNE OCTAVE LEVEL PAN FX BUSS PRIORITY OUTPUT ASSIGN 4-CHANNEL EFFECTS PROCESSOR MULTI-EFFECTS CHANNEL x 2 DISTORTION/EQ DISTORTION EQ MOD/DELAY EFFECTS RING MOD CHORUS or FLANGE or PHASE or PITCH SHIFT or PAN/FMOD REVERB DELAY REVERB REVERB ONLY CHANNEL x 2 REVERB REVERB Page 22 S3000XL Operator’s Manual
SINGLE MODE SINGLE MODE SINGLE is where you may select and play programs. Pressing SINGLE gives this screen display. NOTES REGARDING THE S3000XL’S SINGLE MODE Before we look at the functions in this mode, please bear the following in mind. SINGLE mode, as the name suggests, is essentially designed to play single programs. However, for historical reasons, in order to be compatible with sound disks created on Akai S1000, S1100 and the S3000 series, you can, in fact, play several programs at once.
SINGLE MODE out 0-127, please bear this in mind as you will have to offset all program change commands you issue by 1. Whichever method you use for selecting programs, when the program is selected, an asterisk appears alongside it number and the program number is indicated. One useful feature of the S3000XL is that it is possible to be playing one program whilst another is being selected. For example, whilst holding down a low string note you could select, say, a brass sound.
SINGLE MODE This sets the pan position of the program in the stereo outputs and the range is L50 through MID (00) to R50. This allows you to assign any program to one of the 8 individual outputs should you wish to mix the program using an external mixer. The range is OFF, 1-8. NOTE: It is possible to send individual keygroups to these outputs so the results you get may sometimes be a little unpredictable if you are not sure of the keygroup assignments.
SINGLE MODE complex keyboard splits and layers without having to concern yourself with the intricacies of setting keygroups within a program itself. Please note that this parameter has no effect on single programs, it is only when two or more programs have the same program number that it is effective. This is an abbreviation of POLYPHONY and allows you to limit the polyphony of a program.
SINGLE MODE NOTE: You will note that at a setting of 99, the program is at maximum level but you will not have any velocity sensitivity. This sets the program’s sensitivity to velocity. As mentioned, with set to 99, this parameter will have no effect.
SINGLE MODE LOADING FROM FLOPPY DISK The next key along, F5, gives you access to some basic disk functions for loading sounds into the S3000XL. Pressing in the SELECT PROG mode gives you this screen: Here, you have a choice of two options: loading a particular program and its associated samples ( ) or loading the entire contents of the disk ( ). If you have inserted a disk, pressing will bring up a list of all programs stored on that disk.
SINGLE MODE the manner described above - press to load the entire volume and particular program and its associated samples. to load a NOTE: There is more to using a hard disk than that, unfortunately, such as matching SCSI ID’s, formatting, etc.. For details on using the S3000XL with a hard disk, please refer to the section HARD DISK CONTROL in the DISK section. Other disk operations, like saving and formatting disks, are performed in the DISK mode, not from this page.
SINGLE MODE DELETING PROGRAMS Programs and their associated samples may be deleted from memory in this page, which is accessed by pressing the key. Pressing this key displays this screen: When this page is displayed, the cursor will highlight a program. Highlight the program you want to delete using the CURSOR keys.
SINGLE MODE NOTE: Obviously, is an option to be used with some caution. If the programs and samples in memory have not been saved to disk, deleting programs and/or samples at this point will be fatal - YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RETRIEVE THEM. Please be careful.
SINGLE MODE RENUMBERING PROGRAMS On the S3000XL, program numbers correspond to patch numbers on a synthesiser. When a MIDI Program Change message is received, the appropriate program is selected. However, to match S3000XL programs with the patch numbers on your synthesiser, you may want to renumber the programs, so that selecting a brass sound on the S3000XL will call up a similar (or complementary) patch on a remote synthesiser module. To do this, press the key.
SINGLE MODE USING THE S3000XL IN ‘OLD AKAI’ MODE! The next group of explanations deal with using the SINGLE mode like the SELECT PROG mode on earlier Akai samplers such as the S1000, S1100 and S3000 series. As mentioned, these functions have been retained in order to preserve compatibility with data created on these samplers. In keeping with other sound modules, the S3000XL sees the introduction of a new MULTI mode.
SINGLE MODE USING RENUMBERING TO CREATE MULTI-TIMBRAL SETUPS One of the most appealing things about MIDI is its multi-channel ability. Originally, synth modules could be set to a specific MIDI channel number so that several modules could be set to play several musical parts from a sequencer. Of course, as technology advanced, it became possible to do this within one module and such a module is known as ‘multi-timbral’ - i.e. ‘many sounds’.
SINGLE MODE SINGLE VS MULTI As mentioned, you may avhieve similar results in the MULTI mode where you can create multi-timbral setups, key splits, layered programs (and combinations of these) very quickly and easily. The advantages MULTI has over the ‘old Akai’ methods are • Selection of programs for a part is quick and easy. • You can try out different sounds very easily and is therefore ideal for loading in, say, a few pianos, a few basses, a few drum kits, etc.
SINGLE MODE • When you assign a new program to the setup, its level, pan, effects routings are recalled with it. This may be an advantage for some users but it does mean you have to reset the mix every time you replace one sound with another. Furthermore, even though a program’s effects channel is recalled when you assign a new program to the multi-timbral setup, the effects preset associated with that effects channel may be different and so cause unpredictable results.
MULTI MODE MULTI MODE - COMBINING SEVERAL PROGRAMS Multi mode is where you can combine up to sixteen programs together so that they may be played in combination. The MULTI mode has 16 ‘parts’ - slots into which up to 16 programs may be assigned and typically, this is used to sequence several programs multitimbrally2 by setting each part to be on a different MIDI channel.
MULTI MODE Pressing MULTI will give you this screen: ASSIGNING PROGRAMS TO PARTS To assign a program to a part, simply move the cursor to the program name field and use the DATA wheel to scroll through the programs in memory. Once you’e done that, move the cursor to the next part and select the program for that and so on.The other parts show a “?” indicating that no programs are assigned (the “?” would also show if a program was assigned to a part but that program wasn’t currently in memory).
MULTI MODE ASSIGNING PARTS TO THE INDIVIDUAL OUTPUTS Pressing F2 - will take you to the output assignment page: Here, you can set which of the 8 individual outputs each part will appear through. You may also set the level of the sound appearing at any of the outputs. TUNING AND TRANSPOSING PARTS To tune the parts, press F3 : The column allows you to tune the part in semi-tone steps and the column allows you to fine tune parts. NOTE: The range of the TRANSPOSE parameter is +/- 50 semitones.
MULTI MODE SETTING A PART’S PRIORITY When sequencing multi-timbrally, you may need to give certain parts higher or lower priority to prevent ‘note stealing’ when the 32-voice limit is exceeded. This is done in the PRIO(rity) page: The choices available are: LOW If the program is set to LOW priority, then notes from this program will be stolen first. HIGH If set to HIGH, then notes from other programs with lower priority will be stolen first before they are stolen from this program.
MULTI MODE SETTING UP A MULTI Assigning programs to a multi is simplicity itself. You simply move the cursor to the appropriate part and selecting the program using the DATA control. To set parameters such as level, pan, etc., move the cursor to the appropriate column and adjust the value for the selected part. The MULTI mode is always active for modifying with no special edit mode to enter. Let’s now see how to make up a simple multi. Firstly, you need to load in a few sounds.
MULTI MODE string part. It was suggested that you have a few pianos, basses and string/pad sounds this is so that we have a choice of alternative sounds for each part. MODIFYING THE MULTI The beauty of the S3000XL’s MULTI mode is that, as the sequencer is playing back your sequence, you can interact with the parts, assigning different programs to parts ‘on the fly’ within the context of the sequence (you can also edit program parameters such as envelope and filter settings, etc.
MULTI MODE NAMING A MULTI You may wish to name the multi file to something more suitable. Simply press the NAME key and enter a name of up to 12 characters from the front panel keys. You will receive the usual naming prompts: Pressing the NAME key again switches the numeric keypad from letters to numbers and you will receive this prompt: You may press NAME again to access the numeric keypad’s letters. When in the ‘numbers’ mode, the +/< and -/> keys input ‘+’ and “-’ to a name.
MULTI MODE RENUMBERING PROGRAMS There will often be occasions when you load in several programs, maybe from different disks or hard disk volumes and the programs you have loaded have the same program numbers or the numbers of the programs you have loaded are not well ordered, etc.. To overcome this, F7 in the MULTI screen ( ) takes you to the RENUMBER page: In this example, you have loaded a variety of programs some of which have the same program number, others of which are non-sequential.
MULTI MODE This is probably the best selection as it will simply renumber the programs 1-? sequentially regardless of the programs’ original numbers. I.e.: Once you are happy with the result of your renumbering, press F7 to return you to the main MULTI screen display. If you change your mind and do not wish to renumber any programs, simply press without pressing F3, F4, F5 or F6.
MULTI MODE IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT MULTI PARAMETERS The parameters in the multi such as level, pan, tuning, etc., are unique to the multi and override any similar parameters in the program assigned to any part. For example, it is possible to set a pan position within a program. You may load a sound, the pan position of which is set to L50. However, when you first assign that sound to a part, the part will be set to MID, the MULTI’s PAN setting. This has another implication.
MULTI MODE USING MULTI MODE FOR LAYERING PROGRAMS So far we have seen how to use the MULTI mode for creating multi-timbral set-ups for sequencing. For this, you set each of the sixteen parts to a unique MIDI channel so that can they may all be played from a sequencer outputting a complex arrangement with each element of the arrangement playing on a different MIDI channel. It is also possible, however, to use the MULTI mode to layer programs.
MULTI MODE USING MULTI MODE TO SET KEYBOARD SPLITS Using the same techniques for layering programs described above, you may also set key splits. For example, you may have an acoustic bass sample and a piano which you want to set up so that the bottom two octaves play the bass the sound and the upper three octaves the piano. Assign the bass to one part and the piano to another and set both parts to the same MIDI channel.
MULTI MODE And don’t forget... If you have the multi-effects processor installed, layers and splits may be sent to different effects in varying amounts to create even more variation. In the case of layering one program on top of itself, you might find sending parts to same effects processor is sufficient but, in the case of layering different sounds on top of each other (for example, bells and strings), the strings could be sent to one effects processor and the bell to another.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE PROGRAM EDITING Once you have a few programs in memory, it may be that you need to edit them to make them more suitable for your application. They may need simple tweaking such as altering the attack times or the filter cutoff or adding a bit of vibrato. You may want to totally reprogram the sound or create a new program for the latest batch of samples you have made. Whatever it is you want to do with a program, all this is done in EDIT PROGRAM.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE WHAT IS A KEYGROUP? A KEYGROUP is precisely that - a group of keys which have a particular note range on the keyboard. The simplest program you can have is with one keygroup in it that spans the entire MIDI range on C0-G8. The TEST PROGRAM that always boots up into the S3000XL is just such a program. I.e: KEYGROUP 1 Perhaps the next level up is to have a program with two keygroups. One covers the range C0-B2, the other C3-G8 - this would be a simple keyboard split. I.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE KEYGROUP ZONES Within each keygroup, you may assign up to four samples in what are referred to as ZONES. These can be used for a number of things that include velocity switching and crossfading, playback of stereo samples and layering. To playback stereo samples or to layer sounds or just to do a simple velocity switch/xfade, you could have something like this: KG1 KG2 KG3 KG4 KG5 Here we have five keygroups, each with two zones being used.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE OVERLAPPING AND CROSSFADING KEYGROUPS So far we have seen keygroups side by side. This is usually fine for most applications but there are sometimes occasions where the abrupt transition between one keygroup and another can be a bit obvious. For example, in a strings program where you have five string samples each at the G of every octave, the transition between B2 and C3 may sound a little strange.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE ASSIGNABLE PROGRAM MODULATION First introduced on the Akai S2800, S3000 and S3200, the S3000XL has Assignable Program Modulation (or APM for short) and this allows you to route virtually any controller (such as the LFOs, envelope generators, MIDI controllers such as modwheel, pitchbend, etc.) to a number of destinations (pitch, amplitude, tone, etc.).
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE This block diagram may help you to understand the concept of APM. EDIT PROGRAM KEYGROUP(S) FX SEND PER KEYGROUP TUNE SAMPLE 1 TUNE SAMPLE 2 TUNE SAMPLE 3 TUNE SAMPLE 4 KG PITCH VEL SW/XFD 12dB/8ve LOWPASS RESONANT FILTER IND. OUTPUT ASSIGN PAN MASTER OUTPUT LEVEL PAN AMP ENV 2 KEYSPAN IND. OUT 1 - 8 PAN PAN AUTO PANNING MASTER PROGRAM OUTPUT ENV 1 ENVELOPE TEMPLATES ENV 1 MOD.WHL P.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE EWI MIDI wind synthesiser will no doubt be able to use this function to great effect when playing the S3000XL directly from the EWI and selecting BREATH. Velocity This selects velocity as the controller. Key This selects keyboard position as the modulation control source. Lfo1 This selects LFO 1 as the modulation source. LFO1 may also be a modulation destination and it is possible to modulate its rate, depth and delay.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE NOTES ABOUT ASSIGNABLE PROGRAM MODULATION 1. When loading S1000 or S1100 library disks (which do not have APM), the S3000XL loads the assignments of the S1000/S1100 - i.e. the fixed assignments. Again, as a result, you need not worry about having to set these assignments yourself. On library disks developed for the S3000XL, you will see the assignments made by our sound programmers. Please study these and see if you can learn from them. 2.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE EDIT SINGLE EDIT SINGLE is used to create programs. In the S3000XL, we always use another program as the basis for a new one. There are several ways you can work this. You can use an existing program from your sound library that closely resembles the one you wish to create. In the main PROGRAM EDIT page, copy this to a new program. This may be edited accordingly with new sample(s) assigned, envelopes changed, filter cutoff altered, etc..
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE NAMING PROGRAMS - COPYING AND RENAMING If you have already recorded your own samples, then this procedure should be familiar as it follows the same conventions. To copy or rename a program, press the NAME key - this turns the front panel keys into letter entry keys and you may type in a name of up to 12 characters (upper case only). The +/< and -/> keys on the numeric keypad may be used to input backspace and spaces respectively.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE DELETING PROGRAMS It is possible to delete programs using the following prompt: key - F8. Pressing this will give you the You should press F7 or F8 accordingly. If you press GO, you may receive the prompt: This is asking if you want to delete the samples contained within that program as well. If the samples are used in other programs, then you will not receive this prompt. If you wish to lose the samples, press F7 - YES but if you need to keep them, press F8 - NO.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE The fields on the main EDIT SINGLE page are: This shows the selected program name. Different programs may be selected for editing by scrolling with the DATA control. You may also select them using MIDI program change. This field is not accessible but shows the number of keygroups used in the selected program. This field is also not accessible and shows the number of samples used in the selected program.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING MONO LEGATO ON/OFF Because this function is playing a single sample (or group of samples when playing stereo or layered sounds) through the sustain or loop, if you were, for example, to do a long legato run from the top of the keyboard to the bottom, you would be transposing the original sample you started with several octaves down.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE The soft keys along the bottom of the PROGRAM EDIT main screen are: This shows the currently selected MAIN PROGRAM EDIT page. This takes you to the parameters concerned with individual keygroups. These include the keyboard spanning, filters, envelopes, sample assignments, pitch and level adjustments, individual output assignment, etc., for individual keygroups.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE MIDI PAGE Pressing displays this screen: The top line of this page contains a field which allows you to change the program currently being edited. You may select different programs for editing here if you wish. The parameters on this page are as follows: This field allows you to set the program number of the program. This is the number which will be called up on receipt of a MIDI Program Change message and corresponds to a patch number on a synthesiser.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE This allows you to set the overall keyboard range C0-G8 of the program and this will override any keygroup range settings made in the keygroup SPAN page. For example, even though your program's keygroups may extend up to G8, if you set, say, C4 as the high extreme in this field, no sound will be heard above C4. You may use this function to create keyboard splits with other programs of the same program number.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE OUTPUT LEVELS PAGE Pressing the button takes you to the OUTPUT LEVELS page where you can control the audio output of the program from the S3000XL. You will receive this screen display: At the top right of the screen is the currently selected program name - in EDIT SINGLE, this may be changed and another selected for editing by scrolling with the DATA control. The parameters on the left of the screen set parameters concerned with output routing and levels, etc..
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE The parameters down the right of the screen allow you to affect the overall loudness of the program. Here you may set the overall output level 0-99 for the program. This also affects the program’s sensitivity to velocity and you will note that if this parameter is set to 99, the program will be quite loud but will have no velocity sensitivity. The default for this parameter is 80. This offers the optimum range for velocity and other dynamics.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE could layer a distorted guitar program and a distorted feedback program and introduce the feedback element of the sound using pressure to create a powerful heavy metal guitar. You can, of course, change the default selection from to anything you like simply by placing the cursor where it says and scrolling through the modulation options. The effect the loudness modulation parameters have on the overall loudness of the program depends on the modulation source you select.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE PAN PAGE In this page you may set the characteristics of the auto panning functions. Pressing will display this screen: As usual, the program name of the program currently selected for editing is shown here which you may change if you like. As in the OUTPUT page, we have three modulation inputs which can control panning.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE modulating LFO1’s rate with LFO2 so that the pan from side to side gradually speeds up and down or modulate LFO1’s rate with the modwheel to emulate the slowing down and speeding up of a rotary speaker in an organ program. ENV1/ENV2 These may be put to good effect to pan the sound around according to the envelope of the sound. Perhaps ENV2 is the most interesting with its multiple rates and levels.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE THE TUNE PAGE The next soft key is the tuning page. Pressing key and this takes us, not surprisingly, to the main program will give you this display: As usual, the program name is displayed at the top right of the screen - a different one may be selected if you wish. In this page, you set up different tuning temperaments for each program, if desired.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE MODULATION PAGES The next group of pages we will look at also affects the program as a whole but also has a direct influence on individual keygroups. These are the modulation pages where you may set the parameters for the two low frequency oscillators and the pitch bend. You may also set the parameters for the sostenuto pedal.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE pitchbend up or down, if you let the wheel or lever settle at zero, only the notes you are holding will bend. The pitchbend options on the S3000XL allow some very interesting performance techniques. By setting the pitch to UP: 2 and DOWN:12, with a heavy metal guitar sample, you can emulate string bending up and an octave ‘whammy bar dive bomb’ down. Many things are possible.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE LFO1 Pressing will give you this screen display: This is the page used for setting up LFO1. Again, the program name is shown at the top right of the screen and other programs may be selected for editing if you wish. The parameters for LFO1 are as follows: This allows you to select from three waveforms. They are: TRIANGLE ( ) - This gives a rising and falling effect.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE rich texture to ensemble sounds when being used for vibrato. When is set to OFF, all LFO’s are in sync. This latter option is probably more suited to use with synthesiser effects. You will find that slower LFO speeds are possible with set to off. The three fixed parameters for setting up LFO1 are: This sets the rate of LFO1. This is variable between very slow (01) for such effects as auto panning and filter sweeps and fast (99) for vibrato and other effects.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE • apply a slow LFO1 mod to the filter cutoff and assign a slow LFO2 to control LFO1’s speed, setting a value of + 50. Assigning it to depth will cause the effect of LFO1 to whatever destination it is applied to increase and decrease at a rate set by LFO2. Applying LFO2 to delay will only have an effect at the point of note-on. Selecting ENV1 or ENV2 to control speed will give changes in speed according to the shape of the envelope.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE SETTING LFO1 MODULATION DEPTH The master output of the LFO is set using the control and this has to be set to something other than 00 for there to be any effect unless the modwheel is moved - you may assign the LFO to a destination and set that destinations modulation level to maximum only to find that there is no effect. The reason for this is that the control in this page is not set or the modwheel is not up.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE LFO2 Pressing the key will take you to the second LFO page: This is a simpler LFO for auxiliary modulation purposes. Whilst LFO1 is normally used for vibrato via the modwheel or pressure, LFO2 can be used for secondary modulation purposes such as filter sweeps, amplitude modulation, panning, etc.. As usual, the program name is displayed in the top right hand corner. The parameters are as follows: This selects the modulation waveform.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE When the parameter is set to 00, the random steps will only change when a new note-on is received and will sustain at that level until a new note-on is received. I.e: MIDI NOTE ONS By applying this LFO in this way to, say, FILTER 1, each note you play may have a different tonal colour and this can be made into quite a dramatic synth effect by setting quite high modulation amounts and high resonance.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE Here, you can set whether or not LFO2 will re-trigger with every new noteon or not. With set to ON, each note you play will reset the cycle of the selected waveform to its leading edge. For example, with the triangle wave selected, you would get this result: MIDI NOTE ON This is useful for certain types of modulation effects where you want the effect to start at the same point in the modulation waveform for every note you play.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE SETTING UP THE SOFT PEDAL Pressing will display this screen: This final page in the modulation section allows you to set the response of the S3000XL to the soft pedal (MIDI controller 67). This can be very useful in obtaining better expression for piano sounds. The parameters are very simple and are as follows. The parameter determines how the volume of the sound will be affected when the pedal is pressed. The higher the number, the greater the amount of volume reduction.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE PORTAMENTO Portamento is a function that allows you to ‘glide’ from one note to another instead of moving in steps as is normally the case. P I T C H TIME NORMAL PLAYBACK (NO PORTAMENTO) P I T C H TIME WITH PORTAMENTO SWITCHED ON As you can see, when portamento is on, each note ‘slides’ to the next and the speed with which it slides is set by the portamento’s RATE parameter.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE portamento on to create the slide effect. Similarly, with fretless bass, the portamento pedal may be used to slide notes whenever you please. This sets the speed of the portamento. It is difficult to specify its range as this depends on the setting of the parameter described below but the longest portamento effect you can have is over 30 seconds.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE NOTES ON USING PORTAMENTO The portamento effect can be used when playing polyphonically or monophonically. When playing polyphonically, notes in a chord will slide up or down to the next chord accordingly at a speed set by the and parameter. If one note in a chord is held when a new chord is played, it will not be affected. When playing monophonically (i.e.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE KEYGROUP PARAMETERS - CREATING KEYGROUPS All the previous parameter descriptions have so far been concerned with global or master changes to the program - i.e. not keygroup specific. This next section delves deeper into PROGRAM EDIT and examines the individual keygroup parameters. These include keyboard mapping, sample assignment and, of course, the filters and envelope generators.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE For example: OPEN HI-HAT (or triangle, etc) CLOSED HI-HAT (or triangle, etc) OPEN AND CLOSED HI-HAT WITH MUTE GROUP OFF Here, you can see that the open hi-hat continues to play even though the closed hi-hat is triggered. OPEN HI-HAT (or triangle, etc) CLOSED HI-HAT (or triangle, etc) OPEN AND CLOSED HI-HAT WITH MUTE GROUP ON In this example, however, the open hi-hat is shut off by the closed hi-hat thereby creating a more natural effect.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE On the S1000 you needed to same program program which and S1000 and in early versions of S2800, S3000 and S3200 software, create a separate program, make it 1 voice polyphonic and assign it the number as the rest of your drums. Now, you may do all this within one you may find more convenient. Another application for this function is when using the MONO LEGATO mode. When the MONO LEGATO mode is switched ON, the program becomes monophonic.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE MAPPING OUT YOUR KEYGROUPS - SETTING KEYSPAN Pressing will display this screen: This is where you can set up the note ranges for the keygroup. You can see a graphic representation of the keyboard to the left of the screen. As you adjust the LOW and HIGH parameters for a keygroup, you will see its range depicted in the graphic representation of the keyboard to the screen’s left. The notes may be represented by name or as note number simply by pressing the SPAN soft key again.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE This allows you to tune the keygroup up or down in semitones and cents. The range is ±50.00. This introduces a fixed tuning offset and can be used when layering samples to provide a chorus effect. Unlike the TUNE parameter, this offset is constant no matter what the played pitch of the sample is. The range is ±50. This soft key switches on or off the facility to input notes from the keyboard.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE ASSIGNING SAMPLES TO KEYGROUPS AND ZONES - SMP1 Samples are assigned to keygroups in the SMPL page. Pressing gives this display: This is SMP1 (the first page to do with assigning samples - there are three in total). Here, for the first time, we catch a glimpse of the zones mentioned at the start of this section. In this example, the test program has one sample in it in zone 1. This has a velocity range of 1-127 and so will play across the entire keyboard.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE For layering sounds, you might like to set something like the following: Here we have assigned two identical synth samples to zones 1 and 2 and, as in the stereo program above, both have a velocity range of 0-127. In the SMP2 page, these can be detuned against each other and panned hard left and right to create a fat, warm, pseudo-stereo synth sound. This is a quick way of achieving this kind of sound. Of course, they don’t have to be identical samples - anything will do.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE USEFUL HINT FOR ASSIGNING SAMPLES! Assuming you have a lot of samples to assign and you have made up a program with sufficient keygroups, go to keygroup 1 and press MARK/#. Now move the cursor to the sample assign field below and select the first sample. NOW PRESS JUMP/. - this will take you to the KG field again and select another keygroup. Now press JUMP again to toggle you back to the sample assign field and select your next sample, press jump, new keygroup, jump, new sample, etc..
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE SMP2 Once you have assigned your samples, you may go to the next sample page by pressing . Here you may tune and pan your samples. You will get this screen: The top line of the screen is exactly as in SMP1 and displays the currently selected keygroup’s note range and keygroup, whether you are editing one individual keygroup or all of them as well as the program name. The other fields are: Again, this shows the zone number in the column below.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE This allows you to change the loop and playback characteristics of the sample. Normally, these are set in EDIT SAMPLE but they may be changed here if you wish. This will not affect the ‘raw’ samples’ loop and playback characteristics but can be used within the context of particular programs. This eliminates the need for copying the same sample several times (and hence wasting memory) to achieve the same effect.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE SMP3 Pressing takes you to the last of the three sample pages in PROGRAM EDIT. Here you may set the velocity start time for the sample(s) assigned to the currently selected keygroup. The screen display looks like this: This page allows you to determine the way in which velocity affects the playback starting point for each sample in a keygroup. This parameter is variable from +9999 to -9999.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE THE FILTERS Pressing displays the main keygroup function select where you may access the filter and the envelope generators: From this page press the key to take you to the filter page: The S3000XL is equipped with 12dB/octave lowpass resonant filters as found on many analogue synthesisers. As well as using them for the tonal modification of acoustic samples, they also allow you to totally transform a sound.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE of the filter’s envelope generator using velocity) we can have a certain amount of control over tonal dynamics as well. The S3000XL’s filters are equipped with resonance. This allows you to selectively boost the area around the cutoff frequency thereby boosting certain harmonics. L E V E L CUTOFF FREQUENCY WITH RESONANT PEAK FREQUENCY Although it has some uses when trying to accurately reproduce some acoustic samples, its use is more suited to synthesiser effects.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE NOTE: When increasing the resonance, depending on the sound, some very loud peaks may be created as certain strong harmonics get boosted. This can result in distortion. To reduce any distortion you may have, reduce the loudness control in the OUT pages. The next three parameters down the right hand filter. The defaults for these are respectively. These may be mixed and the range +/-50. You will note that for there to be any effect, set to something lower than 99.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE ENV1 - SHAPING AMPLITUDE Pressing F5 - will give this screen display: Here we have the normal parameters across the top of the page where you may select your keygroup, whether one or all keygroups are being edited and the program name. Also, beneath that you can see a graphic representation of the envelope. The keyspan is also shown and this may be changed here if you wish.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE Once the basic envelope has been set up, these other factors can be used to affect the speed of the envelope. This is variable from +50 to -50, and determines the amount by which the attack speed will be changed depending on the Note On velocity. A positive value will increase the attack time if the key is pressed fast, while a negative value will slow down the attack rate if the key is pressed fast.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE ENV2 - SHAPING THE FILTER Access to ENV2 is also via the KGRP or FILT page. However you arrive there, the screen looks like this: This is a 4-stage envelope generator with 4 rates going to 4 levels. Basically, Rate 1 goes to Level 1, Rate 2 to Level 2, Rate 3 to Level 3 (which is also the sustain) and Rate 4 goes to Level 4.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE USING THE FILTER AND ENVELOPE GENERATORS One of the inherent problems of sampling is that, because of memory limitations, it is usually necessary to loop a sample. This often has the effect of reducing (or even removing!) the sound’s natural dynamics making the sample more like a snapshot than a movie. To overcome this, however, we can use the filters and the envelope generators to restore some of those attributes.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE THE SECOND FILTERS If the IB304F filter bank is installed in your S3000XL, the second bank of filters is accessed by pressing . This will display the following screen: NOTE: If the IB304F is not installed, pressing will will show this message: Essentially, this looks very similar to the Filter 1 page except you will notice the extra parameter that selects these filters’ different modes.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE sound. As the resonance amount is increased, so the width of the response slope gets narrower so that individual harmonics are emphasised. The high pass filter offers this response slope: ROLL-OFF SLOPE CUTOFF FREQUENCY L E V E L HARMONICS FREQUENCY In this example, you can see that low frequency components are removed whilst high frequencies pass through. This filter can be used to make sounds very thin and brittle.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE keygroups simultaneously and, of course, you can select another program for editing if you wish. The other fields on this page are: This shows the current keygroup’s key range. When lowpass, band pass and highpass filters are selected, this allows you to set the filters cutoff frequency. When EQ is selected, this control sets the EQ band’s centre frequency. Here you may set the keyboard to track the filter. This is so that you can achieve an even tone across the keyboard range.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE NOTE: The attenuator should be enough to overcome distortion that may result from very high resonance settings. If, however, it is not, then you will have to turn the program level down in the OUT page. The next three parameters down the right hand side are the modulation inputs to the filter. The defaults for these are , and respectively. These may be mixed and the range for each modulation input is the usual +/-50.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE CREATING 24db/8ve 4-POLE LOWPASS FILTER There are two types of filters commonly used in analogue synthesisers. They are sometimes referred to as ‘2-pole’ or ‘4-pole’.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE Whilst you can hear a difference between 2-pole and 4-pole filters, going to 6-pole or higher does not yield any significant differences which is why such filters are rarely, if ever found on analogue synths. NOTE: Because the resonance control in FILTER 2 has twice the range of FILTER 1’s, theoretically, you should set FILTER 2’s resonance to twice that of FILTER 1’s but in practice, you will find that this is not strictly necessary.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE THE TONE PAGE If the IB304F is fitted, the S3000XL also features a simple tone control which is accessed via F8 . Pressing this will display this screen: The TONE section can best be described as ‘spectral tilt’. If you imagine a see-saw, the bench is the parameter and the fulcrum over which it rocks is the parameter.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE Setting a higher something like this: value with a negative slope value may produce L E V E L + - CENTRE FREQUENCY FREQUENCY CENTRE FREQUENCY=75 SLOPE=-50 Here, bass frequencies and some mid range components are boosted whilst high frequencies are cut. The main purpose of this section is to be able to gently remove unwanted noise from a sound. For example, you could use it to remove some mains hum from a sound or some hiss or other high frequency noise.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE ENV3 If the IB304F is installed in your S3000XL, a third multi-stage envelope generator is provided which is exactly the same as ENV2. This has no defined function (although its default assignment is to control the cutoff frequency of FILTER 2) but may be freely assigned to anything you wish. Typically it may be used to control FILTER 2 separately but may also be used to control pitch, panning, LFO1 rate, etc., especially if ENV2 is busy doing other things.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE KEYGROUP PITCH/AMPLITUDE MODULATION The final page in PROGRAM EDIT is where you may assign modulation to pitch and amplitude for individual keygroups. This is accessed via the KGRP page by pressing . You will receive this screen display: Along the top of the screen we have the usual parameters for selecting the keygroup and the program. The other parameters on this page are: This is a fixed, preset assignment that routes the LFO to pitch.
EDIT PROGRAM - SINGLE NOTE: The LOUDNESS modulation here is different from that we saw earlier in the OUT page. The OUT page is master control for the level of the whole program - this parameter in this page is applicable to individual keygroups.
EDIT PROGRAM - MULTI EDIT MULTI EDIT SINGLE and EDIT MULTI are both essentially the same but there is one big difference. In EDIT SINGLE, you can select any program for editing or create new ones or delete existing ones but, in EDIT MULTI, you can only edit the sound assigned to the currently selected part.
EDIT PROGRAM - MULTI SCREEN DIFFERENCES IN EDIT MULTI When in the MULTI mode, pressing EDIT will show something like this screen display: This differs from EDIT SINGLE slightly in that you cannot select another program. To select another program for editing in EDIT MULTI, return to the MULTI mode (i.e. press MULTI) and select the part that contains the program you want to edit.
SAMPLE SAMPLE MODE Edit sample is where you make and edit your recordings. In this mode, you may, amongst other things, trim, loop, join, merge, reverse, re-sample and timestretch recordings. But before we can do any of that, we first need to make some recordings. WHAT IS SAMPLING? Sampling is a process where we record sound digitally. All natural sound comes in the form of variations in sound pressure. Using a microphone, we can convert those changes in air pressure into rising and falling voltages.
SAMPLE One of the inherent problems with sampling is the RAM and it is not possible to have an endless supply of it installed in the sampler. As a result, our recordings (or samples as they are more commonly known in the music industry) have to be kept fairly short. In order to make them last longer so that long notes can be sustained, we need to loop them. This involves selecting a portion of the sound that will repeat over and over again when we hold our finger(s) on the keyboard.
SAMPLE RECORD MODE Pressing SAMPLE enters the record or ‘sampling’ mode. The first screen you see is the RECORD SETUP page where you may set certain parameters related to recording. This shows that you have named (or selected for over-writing) a sample called STRING C4. You may select another sample for recording over if you wish (assuming they exist, of course!) by moving the cursor to the sample name field and scrolling through the available samples.
SAMPLE Here you may select the input source. The options are ANALOG (the rear panel jack inputs) or DIGITAL (the digital audio input). This field allows you to select how recording will be initiated. The choices are: INPUT LEVEL - this selects that recording will begin once a threshold level has been exceeded. This is the default setting and one that is used by most people. The threshold is set in the REC page. MIDI NOTE - this selects that recording will begin when any MIDI note is received.
SAMPLE IMPORTANT NOTE - SAVING RECORD PARAMETERS TO DISK It is possible to save your own set of record parameters to disk. By setting the parameters as you need them, save the operating system to floppy disk (go to SAVE, move the cursor to ‘type of load:’ and select OPERATING SYSTEM. Now press WIPE and/or GO). This will save your personal record parameters to disk. From now on, when you boot up with this floppy in the drive, these record parameters will always be set for you.
SAMPLE When you have entered a unique name, you will see * NEW * appear next to the sample name indicating that the name you have entered is unique: If * NEW * does not appear, then a sample of the same name already exists in memory. TIP 1: It is worth taking the time to name your samples sensibly. It may be quick to simply call them SAMPLE 1, SAMPLE 2, 3, 4, etc., but, when you come to put them into a program, these names may not mean much to you.
SAMPLE ADJUSTING THE RECORDING AND THRESHOLD LEVELS Record levels are set by adjusting the front panel ‘REC LEVEL’ control. The level control should be adjusted so that the input meter to the left of the RECORD screen is as near to the top as possible. If you have selected INPUT LEVEL as the start mode in the RECORD SETUP page, you will need to set the threshold level here. The default has been sensibly chosen for most purposes but you may find that some sounds with a slow attack are clipped slightly.
SAMPLE to (i.e. this key will switch monitoring OFF). If you wish to take the sample again, there is no need to switch the meter back on again because pressing will do this automatically. If, however, you wish to either listen to the source again (in the event of a mistake, perhaps) or set up for the next sample, specifically press to switch the monitoring back on.
SAMPLE If you press GO or when the threshold is exceeded or the MIDI note is received, the S3000XL will start recording and you will get a display something like the following: This indicates that the S3000XL is recording digitally. As with analogue recording, the display fills with the incoming sound’s waveform. NOTE: The S3000XL has difficulty recording at 48kHz (i.e. from a DAT machine). You will receive the following warning if you try to record at 48kHz: It is advisable not to record at 48kHz.
EDIT SAMPLE EDIT SAMPLE Assuming you have made a few recordings, let’s move on to see how we can edit these. To edit a sample, press EDIT (of course, you must first be in SAMPLE mode). You will see this screen: Here we see one of the default sample waveforms, a pulse wave called, not surprisingly, PULSE. Also on this screen is information regarding the current state of your memory and you can see the size of the selected sample, how much memory is free and how many samples are currently in memory.
EDIT SAMPLE The soft keys along the bottom are: This indicates you are on the sample select page. Press this to switch between sample points and millisecond displays. This takes to you to the TRIM page where you may edit the start and end of a sample. This takes you to the LOOP page where you may set loops for the sample.. This takes you to the gain normalise page where you may set the sample’s level to its maximum thereby getting the best signal to noise ratio and dynamic range out of the sampler.
EDIT SAMPLE NAMING SAMPLES - COPYING AND RENAMING There are times when you want to rename a sample or copy it. You may want to rename it just to give it a more meaningful name. You may want to copy a sample so that you can work on it with no harm coming to the original. To copy or rename a sample, press the NAME key - this turns the front panel keys into letter entry keys and you may type in a name of up to 12 characters (upper case only).
EDIT SAMPLE It is worth taking the time to name your samples sensibly. It may be quick to simply call them SAMPLE 1, SAMPLE 2, 3, 4, etc., but, when you come to put them into a program, these names may not mean much to you. If you return to them in a week they certainly won’t. Names like PIANO C#3 is best - this tells you the instrument and the note it is sampled on so it will be easier to set your program up later when you come to assign your samples to specific keyranges.
EDIT SAMPLE TRIMMING SAMPLES Pressing in the main SLCT page will take you straight to the TRIM page and you will receive a display something like the following: This shows the waveform of the selected sample. You may edit the start and end of the sample accordingly. The fields along the top allow you to select whether you want to edit is STEREO or MONO (it’s pointless selecting STEREO if the sample is mono, by the way!) and you may, if you wish, select another sample for editing.
EDIT SAMPLE Moving the cursor to the field and adjusting that will give you a display such as: As with the field, you may move the cursor around the numeric field using the +/< and -/> keys found on the numeric keypad. Running across the top of the waveform display you will see up to four horizontal lines which show you where you have set your loop point(s). Up to four may be shown simultaneously - the top one is LOOP 1, the second one down is LOOP 2, the next one down LOOP3 and the bottom one is LOOP 4.
EDIT SAMPLE The four cut options are: This will take you out of the CUT screen and return you to the normal TRIM page. Use this if you change your mind when trimming. This will discard audio before the start point and after the end point you have set manually. You will note that if the start or end points are within an active loop zone, the CUT action will be ignored.
EDIT SAMPLE course, now you can’t see the end point so press the start and end points for editing. key to switch between the NOTE: To cut or not to cut, that is the question!! Whether you trim your samples and loop them afterwards or loop your samples and trim them afterwards is a matter for you to decide. Our programmers have found in their experience, that it is best to record the sample, loop it and then trim it afterwards.
EDIT SAMPLE LOOPING Looping is one of the trickiest areas of sampling but not impossible and the S3000XL makes it as easy as it can with some functions to help you make good loops. In either the SLCT page or the TRIM page, press the key to access the looping page. Again, you will see a display of the sample’s waveform in the left part of the display together with a magnified display of the point where the loop rejoins the original sample sound.
EDIT SAMPLE For the most part, you will probably find that one loop is sufficient for most sounds so don’t worry about setting multiple loops for every sound - you don’t have to use them. NOTE: The easiest way to set HOLD is to type in 9999 - this will select HOLD. The name of the currently selected sample is shown next which can be changed if you wish. The memory percentage indicator is also shown. Below this line are the fields for setting the loop points.
EDIT SAMPLE NOTE: The FIND function does not work when looping stereo samples - this is because each side would have a different loop point and so go out of phase. It will only look for the best loop point on the currently shown sample. NOTE: The crossfade function is destructive and will affect your sample permanently. Be sure to have saved your work before performing a crossfade in case you donÕt like the results or you make a mistake.
EDIT SAMPLE MAKING A GOOD LOOP Making a loop is one of the trickiest things in sampling. The trick is to match two points in the sample that are similar in level and tone. For example, this would not make a good loop: You have selected a high amplitude point in the sample and set a length that loops around a very quiet part.
EDIT SAMPLE NOTE: Sometimes when crossfading, because part of the area chosen for crossfade may be slightly out of phase with the loop area, you may sometimes get a dip in level where they cancel each other out. This is not a fault of the S3000XL but something that cannot be avoided. Using and are probably your best allies in looping. will automatically look for good points of equal amplitude whilst will ‘smudge’ the whole thing to eliminate glitches, thumps and any other unpleasantness.
EDIT SAMPLE LEVEL NORMALISATION Pressing in either the TRIM, LOOP or SLCT pages will display this screen: Here you may set new levels for the selected sample and also normalise it. Normalising is a technique where the sampler will analyse the loudest part of a signal and then adjust the whole sound to be at its optimum level - i.e. the loudest part of the signal is at the unit’s maximum level before distortion and the rest of the sound is brought up in level proportionately.
EDIT SAMPLE DSP FUNCTIONS - TIMESTRETCH, RE-SAMPLING AND EQ The S3000XL has three powerful digital signal processing (DSP) functions which are accessed via the key in the main SLCT page. TIMESTRETCH Timestretch allows you to alter the length of a sample, shortening it or lengthening it, without changing its pitch. Before we look at how to operate the timestretch functions on the S3000XL, let us first look briefly at how timestretch works.
EDIT SAMPLE with stretch factors exceeding 10% or so, you may get an echo or ‘flam’ effect on some transients because the processor has inserted a transient. When shrinking a recording, you may find a transient softened because the processor has decided to remove it. You will find this to be the case more or less on all devices that feature some form of time compression or expansion.
EDIT SAMPLE Here you can set the cycle length (in samples). The soft key can be used to help you find the right sample length. As with autolooping, the S3000XL applies software logic to the sample to calculate what it believes is the right answer but, like autolooping, whilst the S3000XL will often help you, it is not always infallible. The function only applies to the CYCLIC mode of timestretch. This sets the percentage by which the sample will be stretched or shrunk.
EDIT SAMPLE PERFORMING A TIMESTRETCH Set the parameters as described above - if you are stretching complex samples such as breakbeats, backing tracks, drumloops, voice over, backing vocals, etc., use the INTELL mode of operation. For stretching individual instrumental samples, maybe CYCLIC will be o.k.. First set the zone you want to stretch in the stretch and fields. If you want to stretch the whole sample (which is the usual application), this field will be set as soon as you select the sample.
EDIT SAMPLE RE-SAMPLING The re-sampling page (called RATE on the soft key because we didn’t have enough room!) allows you to re-sample your sounds at different sampling rates. This is to allow you to sample at anything other than 44.1kHz and 22.050kHz and to save memory.
EDIT SAMPLE PERFORMING A RE-SAMPLE First, create a new sample - re-sampling is a copy process and so you have to create a new sample by pressing NAME, entering a new name and pressing ENT. If you wish to use either of the two preset sampling rates, simply press either or - this will resample the original to three quarters or two thirds the original frequency. Alternatively, set a value of your choosing in the field and press .
EDIT SAMPLE EQ The S3000XL is also equipped with an EQ (equalisation) DSP function. This allows you to add EQ, affecting the tone of the sample. Pressing in any of the DSP pages will give this screen display: In the EQ, you may select from four different EQ types and apply cut and boost of gain at specific frequencies.
EDIT SAMPLE The next selection is BAND THIN: FREQ Similar to BAND WIDE described above, BAND THIN has a narrower ‘bell’ and so will accentuate or remove a tighter band of frequencies. This selection is useful for picking out a specific frequency in the sound (adding mid-range ‘crack’ to a snare, for example) or for removing a tight band of frequencies (i.e. cutting back some mains hum in a sample or removing some top end noise).
EDIT SAMPLE EQ’ING A SAMPLE Select the sound you want to EQ. The EQ process must always make a copy of the source sample so press NAME and enter a suitable name for the copy. Press ENT/PLAY to complete the naming process. Now set the parameters as you think fit. As you adjust the controls, you will see the ‘shape’ of the EQ on the screen: I.e. Once you think you have set something suitable, press you didn’t set a new name, you will see the message: to start the EQ process.
EDIT SAMPLE FURTHER EDITING FUNCTIONS The key in the SLCT page gives access to further editing functions such as sectional editing, splicing and joining samples together, reverse and fade up/down. THE PARAMETER PAGE The first page we see is the PARAMETERS page (the first one you access when you press the key) and looks like this: On the top line is the name of the sample you want to edit. As usual, this may be changed with the DATA control.
EDIT SAMPLE played, but an instantaneous trigger signal or key press will play the whole of the sample (the key does not have to be held down for the whole length of the sample). This allows you set a pitch shift of up to ±50 cents (one semitone) for a HOLD loop. This function is useful when you have a small, short, single cycle loop that has latched onto some strange, discordant aspect of the sound and is slightly out of tune with the rest of it.
EDIT SAMPLE REVERSING SAMPLES In the PARAMETERS page, when the soft key (F8) is pressed, the sample will be reversed. Pressing it again will reverse the sample back to its original form. Note that any loop points you have set will stay in the same absolute positions, and will not be reversed with the sample.
EDIT SAMPLE SECTIONAL EDITING Pressing will take you to this screen: This is the SECTIONAL editing page and shows a typical drum riff, something for which the sectional editing functions are ideally suited for editing. Whereas TRIM allows you to remove audio data either side of the start and end points, these functions allow you to remove data within the start and end points.
EDIT SAMPLE This is an ‘extract’ function that will remove the isolated area and copy it across to the new sample. I.e: This is particularly useful for isolating such things as single snare or bass drums from a pattern although any sound could be ‘lifted’ in this way. This allows you cut the section you have marked and keep the gap thus created. I.e: This is good for removing offending noises from a track where the rhythm or pace should be retained.
EDIT SAMPLE As with TRIM, the S3000XL is very considerate and won’t let you ruin good loops and if you move the start or end points into any loop zone (shown above the waveform) you will receive the warnings: or In this case, whatever editing action you perform will be ignored. As with Timestretch and Re-sampling, if you create a new sample from any of the above editing procedures, the original loop points will be lost and you will need to reset them. You may select to edit in mono or stereo accordingly.
EDIT SAMPLE THE JOIN PAGE In this page, you may join two samples end to end, crossfade them and merge them. This can be very interesting for creating long, evolving sounds and big, thick orchestral and synth textures. Pressing will display this screen: The samples to be joined together are known here as A and B, and the resulting JOINed sample is called J. Though A and B can be the same sample, the resulting (J) sample cannot be the same as either A or B.
EDIT SAMPLE CROSSFADING To avoid a sharp break in sounds when you splice them together, one sound can be crossfaded into another. The crossfading will start before the value set in the point of A, the time at which crossfading starts depending on the number of samples set in the field. This field has no effect, of course, when layering samples. Again, you can adjust the relative volumes of A and B by up to ±25dB, using the parameters.
EDIT SAMPLE Though the process of creating the sound you want may take some time, it’s possible you may discover some new sounds along the way which weren’t quite what you were expecting, but could find a place in your work. The type of sounds created here can be long evolving sounds which may find a place in soundtrack work as they can be very dramatic.
EDIT SAMPLE SETTING DIGITAL FADES It is also possible to set fades on a sample. This may seem unnecessary seeing that you may effectively set fades using the envelope generators in EDIT PROGRAM but it does have uses. Probably the one that springs to mind first is where you have a noisy drum sample. Whilst you could ‘shape’ the noise out in EDIT PROGRAM using envelope generators, it means that you have to do this every time you want to use this particular sample.
EDIT SAMPLE IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT SETTING START AND END POINTS: The start and end points are temporary whilst in the FADE page They are not stored anywhere. If you leave FADE or select another sample, these will be lost and you will have to set them again.
EFFECTS EFFECTS MODE If the EB16 is not installed in your S3000XL, you will see this message when you press EFFECTS: Please contact your local Akai dealer regarding this option.
EFFECTS With the EB16 installed, the EFFECTS key gives access to the S3000XL’s internal effects. The S3000XL’s effects processor is a 4 channel effects processor. Two channels (FX1 and FX2) offer multi effects that include distortion, ring modulation, EQ, modulation effects such as flanging, chorus and phasing, stereo pitch shift, autopanning, rotary speaker simulations plus delay/echo and reverb. The other two channels are reverb only channels (RV3 and RV4) giving a total of four reverbs.
EFFECTS The two multi-effects channels (FX1 and FX2) are divided into three distinct sections: DISTORTION/EQ/RING MOD into MODULATION/DELAY into REVERB. The ‘reverb only’ channels (RV3 and RV4) only offer reverb effects. Single programs may be assigned to these effects channels in the SINGLE mode but the power of the multi-channel processing comes into its own when in MULTI mode as each part may be sent to different effects channels.
EFFECTS ORGANISATION OF EFFECTS FILES There are 50 ‘effects’ presets (i.e. combinations of distortion, EQ, ring mod, modulation/pitch shift/rotary speaker and delay effects) and 50 reverb files. FX1 and FX2, (the multi-effects channels) can use any of the 50 effects presets. The reverb sections of FX1 and FX2 (RV1 and RV2) and the two reverb only channels RV3 and RV4 can use any of the 50 reverb presets.
EFFECTS ASSIGNING EFFECTS TO SINGLE PROGRAMS In the SINGLE mode, you can assign the program to one of the effects channels. The easiest way to do this is to use the MIX page in SINGLE: Here, you see a list of the programs in memory. You may route them to the effects simply by selecting the effects channel FX1, FX2, RV3 or RV4 in the column. The amount of effect applied to the program is set in the column.
EFFECTS Furthermore, a single program will ‘remember’ the four effects selected on the other channels. You can use this to offer some alternative effects for a single sound. For example, you may have a guitar sound to which you wish to add effects. For effects channel 1, you could select a filthy, heavy metal distortion sound with copius amounts of chorus, delay and a large hall reverb.
EFFECTS ASSIGNING EFFECTS TO MULTI PARTS In the MULTI mode, you route the selected part to the effects in the the main MIX page: column of In this example, we see that PART 1 is routed to FX1, PART 2 to FX2, PART 3 also to FX1, PART 4 to RV4, etc.. Each parts’ send level is adjusted in the column. The actual effects presets are selected in the EFFECTS mode. Pressing EFFECTS in MULTI mode will show something like this screen: Here you may select the multi-effects and reverb presets for the four channels.
EFFECTS NOTE ABOUT EFFECTS SELECTION IN MULTI The S3000XL makes no distinction between effects in MULTI or in SINGLE. This means that an effect created for use with a sound in SINGLE mode can be used on the same sound in MULTI mode. This has distinct advantages over other sound modules that have internal effects. Typically, the effects are tied either to the single program or the multi-file and effects created in one cannot normally be used in the other.
EFFECTS ASSIGNING EFFECTS TO INDIVIDUAL KEYGROUPS It is also possible to send individual keygroups in a program to the effects. This is of particular use in drums and percussion programs. This is done in EDIT SINGLE or EDIT MULTI in the KEYGROUP page: The and parameters allow you to send individual keygroups to the effects by overriding the main program’s effects routing. The default will be PRG (i.e. the routing is using the program’s effects buss selection) but you may also select OFF (i.e.
EFFECTS PROCESSING EXTERNAL SOUND SOURCES THROUGH THE EFFECTS As well as processing programs, parts and keygroups through the internal effects, you may also process external sound sources thereby turing the S3000XL into a very flexible stand alone effects processor as well. You may process internal AND external sounds through the effects for even more flexibility. For example, in a mixdown, you could be mixing tracks off tape whilst running the S3000XL ‘live’ from a sequencer synced to a timecode track.
EFFECTS The mixer’s aux sends are also being fed to the S3000XL’s inputs so that tracks from the DR8 may be processed through the S3000XL. The S3000XL’s individual outputs are being used here but you could just as easily use the L/R outputs if you are short of mixer channels and set the balance of the programs within the S3000XL. An extention of this may be to also be sequencing older synths that have no effects such as MIDI’d up anaolgue synths or FM synths, etc..
EFFECTS CHAINING EFFECTS Not only is it possible to have the multi-effects with distortion/EQ>mod/delay>reverb on FX1 and FX2 but you may also feed the outputs of these two channels to the ‘spare’ reverb channels RV3 and RV4. This allows you to add reverb to reverb. At first this may seem a bit pointless but one use that immediately springs to mind is adding a hint of ‘acoustic’ reverb to a gated or reverse reverb effect. This is done in the main EFFECTS page.
EFFECTS FX1 MOD/ECHO The output of FX1’s modulation/echo section will also be fed to the reverb in RV3: RV3 REVERB MOD/ECHO L/R outs L/R outs PATH DIST/EQ PATH CONTROL PATH REVERB L/R outs Again, you may have two reverbs applied to any sound routed to the FX1 buss. FX1 REVERB This routes the output of FX1’s reverb to RV3: MOD/ECHO L/R outs PATH DIST/EQ PATH CONTROL PATH REVERB RV3 REVERB L/R outs L/R outs This routing allows you to ‘reverb reverb’! This has several uses.
EFFECTS MUTING EFFECTS There may be times when you want to temporarily turn the effects off. You could of course, turn the send level down at the program/multi source but a quicker way is to use the soft keys. will mute all four effects channels. When pressed, it changes to this and the four individual mute keys will change to this: indicating that all effects are muted. Press F8 again to un-mute the effects. Soft keys F4-F7 show and you may also mute the effects channels independently using these keys.
EFFECTS EDIT EFFECTS EDIT As we have seen, there are 50 ‘effects’ presets (i.e. presets for the distortion/EQ/ring mod/modulation/delay effects sections of the multi-effects channels) which can be freely assigned to the two multi-effects channels FX1 and FX2. These multi-effects presets have associated with them, a reverb preset so that multi-effects and reverb are always selected whenever you select a new multi-effect preset.
EFFECTS EDIT DISTORTION/RING MODULATION The first page you encounter is the DIST(ortion) page Here, you can add ring modulation and distortion to a sound. A ring modulator is a device with two inputs and one output. One input carries the audio source and the other a sine wave signal of variable frequency. The two signals are modulated to produce a variety of different effects. If the modulating oscillator’s frequency is low, the effect will be a tremolo effect.
EFFECTS EDIT EQ Pressing in any of the effects pages will give you access to the EQ functions. The EQ section of the two multi-effects channels is a four band EQ offering lowpass control over a low frequency, two bandpass mid frequencies and a highpass high frequency control. I.e.: LP GAIN BP1 GAIN BP2 GAIN HP GAIN You may set the centre frequency and the gain for each of the four channels (on the two mid frequency ranges, you may also set the width of the EQ effect).
EFFECTS EDIT This sets the level of the four frequencies. For the two mid-range frequencies, you may also set the width of the EQ. Larger values set a wider width whilst lower settings produce a narrow width. WID = 00 WID = 99 With narrow WIDTH settings, you can accentuate certain frequencies more tightly whereas with higher width settings, a wider frequency range is covered by this EQ parameter. If you are familiar with synthesiser filters, this control is similar to the resonance control.
EFFECTS EDIT MODULATION EFFECTS The next group of pages deal with the modulation effects. These include effects such as chorus, flanging and phase shifting. Also in this section are pitch shift, rotary speaker emulation effects and autopanning. The modulation effects section screen looks something like this: You must first choose which type of modulation effect you want to use in the field. The choices are PHA/FLA/CHOR This selects that the modulation effects are phasing, flanging or chorus.
EFFECTS EDIT PHASING This gives a ‘swooshing’ effect. It uses a very short delay time which is modulated by an LFO. FLANGING This also gives a ‘swooshing’ effect but, because it uses a slightly longer basic delay time, the effects are more pronounced and more ‘metallic’. CHORUS This produces an effect similar to several instruments playing at the same time. It is good for ‘beefing up’ many different sounds and giving the impression of an ensemble effect.
EFFECTS EDIT ROTARY SPEAKER EFFECTS If ROTARY SPKRS is selected in the field, you will see this screen: In ‘the good ol’ days’, the sound of an organ was enhanced using a rotary speaker (it was also a popular one-off effect on guitar and other sounds as well). A rotary speaker is a speaker enclosure that has a speaker on a motor that literally spins round and round. This ‘throws’ the sound around giving a very pleasing effect.
EFFECTS EDIT Depending on the MIDI controller selected in the field, you may select whether crossing a threshold level of 64 that will cause the speed change or a switch action that will cause the speed change. When LEVEL is selected, once the controller goes past a level of 64, the speed will change. When TOGGLE is selected, the selected controller will switch between speed 1 and speed 2 and vice versa. Confused? Read on! Let’s take a practical example.
EFFECTS EDIT TIP: You may find the sound of a rotary speaker is enhanced using just a hint of distortion in the distortion section to re-create the overdrive effect commonly found on rock organ sounds.
EFFECTS EDIT AUTOPAN AND FREQUENCY MODULATION EFFECTS If you selected FMOD/AUTOPAN in the field, this selects the autopanner and frequency modulator. This will cause the sound to pan backwards and forwards from left to right and back again. You may also add pitch sweep effects to this to create Doppler effects. You will see this screen: The FMOD parameters are: This sets the speed of the frequency modulation. This sets the amount of frequency modulation.
EFFECTS EDIT STEREO PITCH SHIFT EFFECTS If you selected PITCH SHIFT in the field, the screen will look like this: The pitch shifter allows you to set an interval for left and right. More often than not, a small amount of detune is set here (i.e. LEFT = -00.05/RIGHT = +00.05) but you can also set these parameters to specific intervals such as a fifth (+07.00) or an octave (+12.00) or whatever. NOTE: As with all but the most expensive pitch shifters, there is a small delay in the pitch shifted sound.
EFFECTS EDIT The parameters set the delay time for the feedback loop and the parameters set the amount of feedback (repeats) for the sound. NOTE: You will please note that when PITCH SHIFT+FBK is selected, this uses the delay line normally used for echo effects. In other words, the echo effects described later in this section are not available when PITCH SHIFT+FBK is selected.
EFFECTS EDIT BYPASSING THE MODULATION EFFECTS The final selection in the modulation effects section is not an effect as such but bypasses the modulation section completely, thereby switching it out of the effect chain: Although you may move the cursor to the fields and set values, they will have no effect in this BYPASS screen.
EFFECTS EDIT DELAY AND ECHO EFFECTS The next section in the effects allows you to set delay and echo effects. The delay line in the multi-effects is dual channel allowing you to create ping pong and many other stereo delay effects. It can also operate in a mono mode and this has the advantage of doubling the available delay time. The echo/delay effects available are MONO LEFT This will create a mono echo effect and the signal is derived through the delay line’s left input.
EFFECTS EDIT STEREO This creates stereo echo and delay effects with separate control of the left and right delay times. FBK R HF DAMP LEFT IN DELAY RIGHT FBK L HF DAMP RIGHT IN DELAY LEFT NOTE: The delay section of the effects has one large pool of memory to create the echo and delay effects. When in any of the MONO modes of echo, the whole memory is used to create long delays.
EFFECTS EDIT MONO DELAY/ECHO EFFECTS If you selected either of the MONO echo effects, the screen you will see is something like this: The parameters are: Here, you may set a delay time of up to 700mS This sets the amount of repeats the echo effect will have by setting how much of the delayed output is fed back into the delay line. NOTE: Be careful with high unstable and cause ‘howl around’. settings as you can cause the delay line to go This sets the high frequency damping.
EFFECTS EDIT PING PONG ECHO EFFECTS The field allows you to add another repeat element to the echo effect and takes a ‘tap’ off the delayed signal to produce a secondary repeat. This allows you to create pseudo stereo ‘ping pong’ echo effects that bounce back and forth from left to right. A setting of 00 creates a mono echo effect. A setting of +50 will create a ‘ping pong’ echo effect that goes from right to left and back again.
EFFECTS EDIT CROSSOVER DELAY The XOVER delay selection offers an interesting variation on ping-pong echo. Ping-pong simply ‘switches’ between left>right>left>right>etc.. The XOVER delay effect will swap the left/right signals with every other repeat - i.e. left+right>right+left>left+right>etc..
EFFECTS EDIT STEREO DELAY/ECHO EFFECTS If you select STEREO in the MODE page, the screen display will show something like this: Here you may set the delay time, the high frequency damping and feedback level for the left and right delay channels. All parameters are identical to those explained in the MONO ECHO effects except, of course, that you have two separate channels of them. You may set completely different values in both channels to create some wild echo and delay effects.
EFFECTS EDIT REVERB EFFECTS Besides all the effects described so far, the effects processor also has a reverb effect on each of the four channels. NOTE: The multi effects described above relate only to the multi-effects channels 1 and 2. They are not available on effects channels 3 and 4 which are reverb only. Reverb is a delay effect we experience almost everyday. Whether we are in a bathroom or a cathedral, most acoustic environments have some form of reverberant characteristic.
EFFECTS EDIT In the effects processor, we have access to parameters that allow you to set up a wide range of reverb effects. The reverb page is as follows: Here, you can select from a range of reverb types that include large hall, small hall, large room and small room. You may also select certain special reverb effects such as reverse and gated - we will come to those a bit later.
EFFECTS EDIT As we saw in the delay section, as the sound echos so it normally gets progressively duller. The same is true of reverb. As the sound is bouncing all over the place, each time it hits a surface, that surface will absorb some high frequencies. If the room has a lot of furniture, curtains, drapes, cushions, whatever, the high frequencies are absorbed even more rapidly (which is why your living room doesn’t have a pronounced reverberant quality).
EFFECTS EDIT REVERSE REVERB So far, we have seen the parameters for the ‘natural’ reverb effects. There are, however, certain special reverb types which can also be selected in the TYPE parameter. If REVERSE is selected, you will see this screen: This has this effect on the sound: PRE-DELAY TIME In this effect, the reverb decay of the sound is read out backwards. The parameters are: This sets the time before the reverse reverb will start sounding. This sets the length of the reverse reverb.
EFFECTS EDIT GATED REVERB Gated reverb is ordinary reverb that cuts off abruptly. It was discovered by Peter Gabriel and his enginerr Hugh Padgham when setting up a drum sound and some noise gates were still connected to some mixer channels that had reverb going through them. When the drum was hit, the reverb decay on these drums was being stopped dead by the noise gates creating a dramatic sound where there was just a short burst of reverb after the sound.
EFFECTS EDIT The parameters for GATED 2 are identical: This sets the time before the gated reverb will start sounding. This sets the length of the gated reverb. This has the effect of making the gated sound more or less ‘grainy’ and ‘echoey’. Of course, GATED reverb is not only suitable for drums but can be used to add space to any sound. Try it on other percussion sounds such as congas or try it on rhythmic guitar parts or arpeggiated sequencer parts, etc.. Try it also with highly rhythmic keyboard parts.
EFFECTS EDIT EFFECTS OUTPUT SECTION The multi-effects section is laid out thus: DIST/EQ MOD FX DELAY REVERB LVL LVL PAN LVL PAN PAN L/R OUT You have control over the distortion/EQ section’s level and pan, the modulation/echo section’s output level and pan/balance and the reverb section’s output level and pan/balance. These are made available on the FX PATH & OUTPUT page: sets the output level for the sections denoted to the left of the fields and sets the pan position/balance of these effects.
EFFECTS EDIT EFFECTS DIRECTION The parameter allows you to set the flow or direction of the effects. Most multi-effects processors follow a ‘traditional’ path for the effects - i.e.: DIST/EQ MOD FX ECHO REVERB However, there are times when you want to have the modulation and echo effects in parallel with each other or to be able chorus, flange or phase the reverb to add a shimmer or a ‘swoosh’ to the reverb decay.
EFFECTS EDIT Another way to picture the is as follows: REV > MOD/ECHO -50 MOD/ECHO > REV 00 +50 At values of -01 to -50, more of the mod/echo section is fed to the reverb and setting of +01 to +50, more of the reverb is fed into the mod/echo section. As you can see, the offers a great deal of flexibility in the way the effects chain is laid out with just one simple control. Normally, you will probably use a positive setting (i.e.
EFFECTS EDIT SOLOING THE CURRENT EFFECT There are times when editing the effects that you may want to hear the effect in isolation. For example, you may be setting up a reverb on one of the channels in a MULTI where several instruments are being fed to different effects but the other effects are clouding your judgement of the parameters you are setting in the effect you are currently editing.
EFFECTS EDIT COPYING EFFECTS Sometimes, you may find an effects preset that is close to what you want but needs ‘tweaking’ You can, of course, edit the preset immediately but this may affect other sounds using this preset. For example, you may have a clean chorus/delay effect with reverb whcih is being used on a string pad sound but you want to use this same combination of effects on a guitar sound but add distortion and EQ.
EFFECTS EDIT COPYING EFFECTS BETWEEN DIFFERENT EFFECTS FILES There may be occasions where you have an effect in another effects file that you wish to use in the current effects file. To copy effects between different effects files, load the effects file that contains the effect you are interested in. Select that effect and, in the COPY page, use the soft keys to copy the selected effect to a ‘clipboard’ (a small bit of ‘invisible’ memory in the sampler).
SAVE SAVE MODE Once you have some sounds in memory that you have edited, you will no doubt want to save them for future retrieval. Pressing SAVE gives this screen: SELECTING FLOPPY OR HARD DISK If the cursor is not already on the field, move the cursor to the select or as appropriate using the DATA wheel. field and SELECTING THE HARD DISK PARTITION When a hard disk is formatted on the S3000XL, it is divided into sections called partitions (see later for details on formatting disks).
SAVE effects file (if the optional EB16 multi-effects processor is fitted). ALL PROGS+SAMPLES This will save all programs and samples only. The MULTI and any effects files will be ignored and not saved. ALL PROGRAMS ONLY This will save all the programs in memory but will not save the samples associated with them. This is useful if you have made any changes to one or more programs but you have not edited any samples. ALL SAMPLES This will save all the samples currently in memory.
SAVE SAVING TO FLOPPY DISK In the main SAVE page, select the media you wish to save to (i.e. floppy). You will see something like this screen: Now make your selection in the field by moving the cursor to this field and use the DATA wheel to make your selection. Now, either press WIPE or GO as you wish. WIPE will first erase the disk completely (BE CAREFUL!!) and then save the file(s). You will receive the following prompt: You should press F7 or F8 as appropriate.
SAVE SAVING TO HARD DISK In the main SAVE page, select the media you wish to save to (i.e. hard disk). You will see something like this screen: To select the partition to save to, place the cursor on the partition field and use the DATA wheel to select the partition. Now move the cursor to the field and select the volume you wish to save to.
SAVE NOTE: You will also receive this message when you select circumstances. under the same Setting SCSI ID’s, etc., is discussed later in this section.
SAVE RENAMING FILES Pressing F3 ( ) takes you to the RENAME page. In the rename page, you can rename individual files on disk, or rename a volume on disk (a floppy disk can contain only one volume, but a hard disk can contain many volumes). To name/rename a floppy disk, insert the disk which contains data to be renamed. To name a hard disk volume, select the partition and the volume to be renamed. To rename files, either insert the appropriate floppy disk or select the appropriate hard disk volume.
SAVE currently-selected program number will change to 1 and program number 1 of the volume which has just been loaded will be selected). NOTE: To rename a disk or a file on a floppy disk, removable cartridge or Magneto Optical disk, write-protection must be off. At any time, press F1 - SAVE - to return to the main SAVE screen. DELETING ITEMS FROM DISK Pressing the key displays this screen: You can delete a file (or files) from a floppy disk or hard disk.
SAVE HARD DISK CONTROL SCSI (Small Computer Serial Interface) has become very popular as a means of interfacing devices and because a SCSI interface is fitted as standard on the S3000XL, you may use a wide range of hard disks as a storage device for your sound library. Hard disks offer more in the way of size and also speed. More recently, the removable cartridge types of storage devices have become increasingly popular.
SAVE FORMATTING A FLOPPY DISK Before a floppy disk can be used with the S3000XL, it must be formatted. To format a floppy disk, insert the disk in the drive, and press . You will see this screen display: There are two types of floppy disk available - DD (double density) or HD (high density). The higher capacity HD disks are recommended. You may select which type of disk you are formatting in the field where you may select LOW or HIGH.
SAVE The key is used as a quick format for changing the size of the directory of disks formatted on an S1000 or S1100 (please see below - NOTES ON USING S1000 AND S1100 SOUND LIBRARY). Usually, you must use to format a new disk for use in the S3000XL. Trying on an un-formatted disk will display the prompt: You should use S3000XL Operator’s Manual .
SAVE FORMATTING A HARD DISK Hard disks can and should also be formatted before use. The maximum size of hard disk which can be formatted and used with the S3000XL is 510Mbytes. If any larger hard disk is attached to the S3000XL, data above this size will not be recognised or used. Switching to will display this screen: For convenience, large hard disks are split into partitions, which are named A, B, C, etc..
SAVE If the drive is not connected or the SCSI ID’s don’t match, you might receive the message when you press or : or it may say: Please check your SCSI cables and that the drive is switched on (it does happen!). Also, please check the SCSI ID settings of both the drive and the S3000XL. You will also get this message if a removable type of hard disk is being used and the disk is not inserted in the drive.
LOAD LOAD MODE The LOAD mode allows you to load data into the S3000XL. The main LOAD page looks something like this: A list of all files (programs, samples and drum settings) will be displayed on the right side of the page. Programs have a ‘P’ beside their name, samples have an ‘S’, and drum input settings have a ‘D’. Effects files have an ‘X’ beside them.
LOAD SELECTING THE HARD DISK VOLUME As well as being divided into partitions, each partition is divided into volumes. The volume is selected in the field (in the above example, it shows that the volume is not named - see later for details on naming volumes). To select the volume, move the cursor to the field and select using the DATA wheel. SELECTING THE TYPE OF LOAD The field allows you to select what it is you will load from disk (be it floppy or hard disk).
LOAD NOTE: If you have programs in memory that you call up in the multi via program change commands in the sequence (for example, you use MIDI program change to change the acoustic piano sound used in the verse to an electric piano sound in the chorus), those programs which are not currently in the multi at the time of saving will not be loaded. Your attention is brought to this as you may load a multi and then wonder why it is not playing back correctly .
LOAD LOADING FROM FLOPPY DISK In the main LOAD page, select the media you wish to save to (i.e. floppy). You will see something like this screen: Now make your selection in the field by moving the cursor to this field and use the DATA wheel to make your selection. Now, either press CLR or GO as you wish. Pressing (CLEAR) will delete all programs and samples from memory, and then load the chosen file(s) from disk(BE CAREFUL NOT TO ERASE ANYTHING YOU WANT TO KEEP THAT HASN’T BEEN SAVED TO DISK!!).
LOAD LOADING FROM HARD DISK In the main LOAD page, select the media you wish to load from (i.e. hard disk). You will see something like this screen: To select the partition to load from, place the cursor on the partition field and use the DATA wheel to select the partition. Now move the cursor to the field and select the volume you wish to load from.
LOAD It is possible that the chosen file(s) will occupy more memory space than is actually available, in which case the loading process will be halted and you will receive this prompt: Any files which have been completely loaded into memory prior to the prompt will remain in memory, however. Even if a file exists in memory with the same name as a file on disk, the disk file will still be loaded and the file in memory will be overwritten. If, for some reason, there is a problem with the hard disk (i.e.
LOAD LOADING S900/S950 SAMPLES AND PROGRAMS No special command is provided for S900 samples. Inserting an S900 disk will give you this display: Simply select the appropriate load type and proceed as above. The S3000XL display will inform you when a sample for the S900 is being read, and after each S900 sample has been successfully read, an additional message, ‘unscrambling S900 sample’ will appear, as the S3000XL converts the S900 data to S3000XL format (12-bit to 16-bit).
LOAD SEARCHING FOR FILES - USING THE FIND FUNCTION Because of the large amount of data on hard disks, a special ‘find’ function exists to locate files more rapidly. Pressing the key will display this screen: To locate the file you want, press NAME and then enter a suitable name and press ENT/PLAY. To search for the file, press the soft key which will display the file(s).
LOAD Once you become familiar with the FIND function, you will find it an invaluable aid to quickly searching for and loading sounds. NOTE: The FIND function does not work with floppy disks.
LOAD USING THE TAG DIRECTORY SYSTEM On the S3000XL, it is possible to ‘tag’ files. This is much the same as placing it in a special sub-directory. In this way, certain files in a partition can be categorised according to type or any other category you wish. For example, you may have a situation where all basses from all volumes in a partition have been tagged BASS and all strings tagged ORCHESTRAL. All vocal sounds may have been tagged VOICE. In this way, it is possible to access sounds much more easily.
LOAD NOTE 1: In order to tag files, if you are using an MO hard disk or removable cartridge, the write protect tab must be off as the tagging process requires writing to disk. NOTE 2: Because CD-ROMs are a read-only medium, you cannot tag files on a CD-ROM. To select a tag for loading, press the key to display this screen: Here we can see that the first set of files tagged BASS are in volume 2 and are those shown with the alongside them.
LOAD NOTES ON USING THE TAGGING SYSTEM The tagging system is very powerful and can save you a lot of time searching for files and this is especially useful if you have a busy deadline to meet or are working in an expensive studio or whatever. For example, you may tag all orchestral sounds including strings, brass, woodwind, orchestral percussion, choir and so forth into one tag TAG A (which, of course, you should subsequently name ORCHESTRA or something similar).
LOAD HARD DISK CONTROL SCSI (Small Computer Serial Interface) has become very popular as a means of interfacing devices and because a SCSI interface is fitted as standard on the S3000XL, you may use a wide range of hard disks as a storage device for your sound library. Hard disks offer more in the way of size and also speed. More recently, the removable cartridge types of storage devices have become increasingly popular.
LOAD IMPORTING SOUNDS FROM OTHER MANUFACTURER’S CD-ROMS On the S3000XL, as well as having access to a vast range of Akai sound library, you may also import sounds from CD-ROMs made for certain samplers made by other manufacturers thereby giving you access to even more sounds. This is done in the SCSI page. Assuming your CD-ROM is on a SCSI ID other that 5, change the SCSI ID here in the field to match that of the CD-ROM drive you are using and press F7 or F8 as appropriate.
LOAD NOTES REGARDING LOADING OTHER MANUFACTURERS SOUND LIBRARY There are certain restrictions when loading sounds from other manufacturer's CD-ROMs. • Layered programs using several ‘presets’ or those made using several ‘patches’ will be loaded as a single ‘preset’ or ‘patch’ into the S3000XL. In this case, load all the single ‘elements’ (i.e. presets or patches) and layer them in the MULTI mode.
GLOBAL GLOBAL MODE The GLOBAL mode gives access to certain ‘system’ parameters that affect the S3000XL as a whole. It also gives access to functions such as the disk recording, DAT back-up, MIDI song file playback, etc.. Pressing the GLOBAL key will display this screen:i This is, in fact, a menu screen where you may select the functions listed on it. The functions are accessed by pressing the soft keys.
GLOBAL MIDI FUNCTIONS When you first press the MIDI mode key, the BASIC MIDI CHANNEL CONTROL page is entered. The parameter sets the MIDI channel for the S3000XL as a whole and this is the MIDI channel used when in SINGLE mode and in SAMPLE mode (in MULTI mode, the S3000XL responds to all 16 MIDI channels and each part has its own channel). This parameter is shown in the SINGLE mode for your information.
GLOBAL By using this filter, you can control the response of the S3000XL to MIDI events. By filtering out aftertouch on a percussion program where it is not needed, for instance, you can improve the response of the S3000XL when a lot of MIDI data is received. PPM PAGE - MONITORING MIDI Pressing the key (F3) will display this screen: This page has no parameters. Instead, it provides a real-time display of all Note On information received on the 16 MIDI channels.
GLOBAL Here you will see a constantly changing display as notes are received. If any performance controls are used such as mod wheel or pressure, these too will be shown. If the information is not displayed on this monitor, the information is not reaching the S3000XL. Check your connections or the output channel of the transmitting equipment. If the information appears to be correct, but no sound or unexpected sounds are being produced, then the fault may lie in the MIDI setting of the program(s).
GLOBAL MIDI SAMPLE DUMPS Samples can be transferred between the S3000XL and other samplers via MIDI and this is done in the EXCL page: To perform a MIDI data dump, you must make a MIDI loop (MIDI OUT of the S3000XL connected to MIDI IN of the other sampler, and vice versa). This is necessary because of the way in which MIDI sample dumps are performed (in computer terms, a handshake protocol with error detection/correction).
GLOBAL PERFORMING A MIDI SAMPLE DUMP When all the parameters are set up, press the key to initiate transmission. Once the handshake protocol has been successfully initiated between the two devices, data transfer will take place. A new soft key, ABORT, will appear. Press this if you want to terminate the transmission prematurely. There is no receive key on the S3000XL as reception of bulk data will automatically take place once a remote device initiates the dump protocol.
GLOBAL MIDI VIA SCSI The final soft key in this mode, F7, calls up the SCSI screen: On this page you can enable or disable MIDI bulk data transmission along a SCSI buss, rather than the MIDI connections, and set the SCSI IDs for both the S3000XL ( ) and the other SCSI device ( ). The other SCSI device can be sampler of the S3000 or newer XL series or a personal computer (equipped with the appropriate software).
GLOBAL ME35T DRUM SETTINGS Pressing displays the following screen: The S3000XL is capable of acting as a highly sophisticated percussion sampler using the AKAI ME35T audio/MIDI trigger interface unit to produce MIDI trigger signals from a variety of sources. Two such units may be connected, and programming may be carried out from the S3000XL rather than on the more limited displays and controls of the ME35Ts.
GLOBAL This sets the trigger sensitivity of the selected input and should be adjusted to match your playing style and also to the nature of the drum pad, mic or bug you are using. As you adjust the trigger level, this is represented in the box to the right. This allows you to set the capture time of the selected input. This allows you to set the recovery time of the selected input and should be set so that stick bounce doesn’t cause unnecessary false triggering.
GLOBAL DAT BACK-UP AND RESTORE One very useful function of the digital interface is that of DAT backup. This allows you to make safety copies of your data on a simple DAT tape. This can be invaluable for archiving a hard disk when it is full and helps you overcome the problem of lost data in the event of a problem occurring with your hard disk. To access the DAT BACKUP functions, press F2 . You will receive this screen display: Here you may set the parameters and perform a backup or restore.
GLOBAL PERFORMING A DAT BACK UP This is simple! Assuming you have made the necessary digital audio connections, simply press RECORD and PLAY on the DAT (or whatever combination is required on your particular DAT machine) and, ensuring that the DAT is actually recording, press F7. The S3000XL will backup to DAT. If you are saving volumes to DAT individually, 2 Meg will take about 30 seconds.
GLOBAL STANDARD MIDI FILE - MIDI SONG FILE PLAY The S3000XL is able to load Standard MIDI Files (SMF’s) into its memory and play them as standard MIDI sequence files. Of course, you cannot edit these sequence files but this function allows you to use the S3000XL as a sequence data filer so that, if you are playing live and require backing tracks or whatever, you can do so without the inconvenience of taking your sequencer with you. These functions are made available using the key.
GLOBAL The soft key functions are: This will take you to the SMF load page (see below). You may delete the selected song file from memory using this key. This will play the selected song at the tempo specified in the or from the bar selected in the field. As the song plays, so you will see its progress in the fields. NOTE: Although you may select another song for playback, when the current song reaches the end, it will stop - it will not then play the next SMF.
GLOBAL The soft key functions are: This will take you back to the MIDI SONG PLAY screen where you may play the songs you have loaded. This will load the selected file into memory. If you try to load a file that is not a standard MIDI file, the S3000XL will remind you with an error message: NOTE: If you load a file that has the same name as a file that already exists in memory, the existing file will be deleted and replaced with the new one.
GLOBAL HARD DISK RECORDING The S3000XL is capable of recording audio to a hard disk. You may record audio whilst sequencing ordinary programs and samples allowing you to effectively overdub onto disk. This may be useful for laying down vocal parts or guitar, saxophone solos and the like over sequenced backing tracks. You may also, of course, play back audio from disk whilst running programs from a sequencer.
GLOBAL FORMATTING THE HARD DISK FOR DISK RECORDING Before you can use the disk record functions, it is necessary to format your hard disk. The S3000XL allows you to allocate a certain part of your hard disk for sound library and a certain part for disk recordings.
GLOBAL HOW THE DISK RECORD FUNCTIONS WORK The S3000XL flowchart is something like this INPUTS SAMPLE(S) TAKE(S) RAM DISK PROGRAM(S) MIDI TRIGGER SONG The takes can be played in a number of ways: Takes can be placed into what we call a SONG and triggered from MIDI. By assigning a take a MIDI note number and channel, incoming MIDI can be used to initiate playback.
GLOBAL 3 When triggering takes via MIDI, there is always a delay in the take playing back. This is due to disk access time (i.e. the speed with which the disks heads can find the audio material and get it ready to playback). It is possible to accurately set fixed delays so that these can be accommodated when triggering takes from, say, a MIDI sequencer and the sequencers track shifting functions can cater for this. It is assumed you have a basic working knowledge of the S3000XL by now.
GLOBAL USING THE DISK RECORD FUNCTIONS Pressing F8 - takes you directly to the disk record functions and will display this screen: Here you may select takes and view their record parameters as well as select new takes for recording or deletion, etc.. To return to the main GLOBAL functions, press the GLOBAL mode key. The fields on the DD page are: This shows the name of the currently selected take and you may select others by scrolling through them with the DATA control.
GLOBAL Pressing F7 ( ) will display this screen: The parameters on this page are used to set SCSI ID’s. The most important parameters you need to know about are and . SCSI allows up to 8 devices to be on the buss and these each have a unique number 0-7 (it’s similar to the concept of MIDI channels). In order for one SCSI device to ‘talk’ to a hard drive, their SCSI ID’s must match.
GLOBAL CREATING NEW TAKES You may create a new take for recording in the DD TAKES page if you wish simply by typing in a new, unique name. Whether the take is an existing one or a new one will be indicated in the display. It is possible to create new takes in any of the DD function pages simply by typing in a new, unique name. COPYING TAKES You may copy takes only within this DD page. This is done by pressing the NAME key, typing in a unique name and pressing ENT/PLAY followed by .
GLOBAL MAKING A RECORDING To prepare for a recording, press screen display: in any of the DD pages. You will receive this This is the disk record set-up page and here you may select and create takes to record as well as set their record parameters. The fields are: This shows the currently selected take. To select another, you can either scroll through the takes on disk using the DATA control or type in their names from the front panel by pressing the NAME key, typing in the name and then pressing ENT.
GLOBAL NOTE: Because it takes time for a hard disk to actually find the data and play it back, it is necessary to be able to set a fixed offset so that the disk always has enough time to find the take and play it back in sync with any other material that may be playing (for example, when sequencing programs in the S3000XL). The DELAY field is of use in that you can set the S3000XL to start recording after a certain delay when it receives a MIDI note-on.
GLOBAL The soft keys in this page are: This takes you to the DD TAKES view page This takes you the SONG mode where you may compile takes for sequential playback or MIDI triggering This takes you to the play page where you may play takes This takes you to the take editing display Shows the currently active page Takes you directly to the record page for recording new takes Takes you to the BACK-UP LOAD page where you may restore takes backed up to DAT.
GLOBAL RECORDING A TAKE Actual recording is done within the TAKE page. Pressing screen display: - F6 - gives you this This is very much like the record page you will probably already be familiar with in the sample recording pages. It shows you the type of recording you are about to make (i.e. stereo or mono), the take name, the threshold level (if INPUT LEVEL is selected in ), the free time left on disk and the length you have set for the new recording.
GLOBAL When a recording is being made, the screen shows the incoming waveform as it is being recorded. I.e: You may stop recording by pressing F8 at any time. If you are going to record digitally, when you enter the DD RECORD page, the screen will show: or whatever sample rate is being received. If no digital connection has been made or has become disconnected, the display will tell you: Please check your digital connections.
GLOBAL The soft keys in the DD RECORD page are: This takes you to the DD TAKES view page This takes you the SONG mode where you may compile takes for sequential playback or MIDI triggering This takes you to the play pages where you may play takes This takes you to the take editing display Takes you back to the RECORD SET-UP page Turns the audio meter on Turns the audio meter off This puts the S3000XL into a ‘record ready’ state awaiting the arrival of a suitable record start command depending on the setting
GLOBAL EDITING A RECORDING After you have recorded a take, you may need or want to edit it. This is done by adjusting the take’s start and end times and is done within the EDIT page. Pressing F5 - in any of the DD pages will display this screen: When you enter this page, you see a graphic representation of the take’s waveform and you may move the start and end points around freely.
GLOBAL The soft keys in the EDIT page are: This takes you to the DD TAKES view page This takes you the SONG mode where you may compile takes for sequential playback or MIDI triggering This takes you to the play pages where you may play takes EDIT Shows the currently active screen Allows you to zoom in on a waveform for greater editing resolution Allows you to zoom out of a waveform for a more general overview of the take This toggles the cursor between the start and end marks This will cause data either si
GLOBAL inconvenient to have to hear all of it just to check the end point. When the cursor is on the END field, pressing the ENT/PLAY key will cause the take to play back from the left side of the screen only. In this way, by adjusting the zoom factor accordingly, you may use this as a form of pre-roll so that you only need to audition the last 10 or so seconds of the take in order to assess your end point edit.
GLOBAL PLAYING TAKES There are a number of ways you can play a take within the S3000XL’s DD functions: 1 You can play a take in ANY page using the ENT/PLAY key 2 You can assign a series of takes to a SONG for sequential playback or for triggering from MIDI You can play ‘raw’ takes from within the PLAY page and this is accessed in any of the DD pages by pressing F3 .
GLOBAL - This will cause the take to play back upon receipt of a suitable MIDI note but with a delay offset set in the delay: field described below. If is pressed, however, playback is immediate in the PLAY page. - This will cause the take to playback when it receives a MIDI SONG START command after is pressed. NOTE: In all the above selections, the key must be pressed before a take is played. This sets the delay offset used for triggering a takes playback when is selected in the field described above.
GLOBAL USING THE PLAY PAGE Although you may play takes from within any page of the DD functions and whilst the SONG mode is provided either for sequential playback of many takes ‘back-to-back’ or for setting up lists of takes that you may wish to trigger from MIDI, the PLAY page is provided for playing individual takes in isolation and for setting their playback parameters prior to assigning them to a song.
GLOBAL EDITING A TAKE FOR SYNCHRONISED PLAYBACK When you make a recording that needs to be synchronised to other audio material (such as sequenced programs, etc.), providing you make the recording referenced to the other audio, there should be no need to worry about synchronisation and the S3000XL will follow exactly. There may be instances, however, where some adjustments need to be made and this can be done in the following ways.
GLOBAL USING THE SONG MODE The SONG mode is where you can compile a list of takes for playback. The SONG mode has two functions, in fact. You may use the SONG mode to compile a list of takes for triggering from MIDI notes or you may use the SONG mode to append and playback a sequence of takes ‘back-to-back’. The first application, triggering from MIDI, is most likely going to be used when ‘spinning in’ recordings from a sequencer over other sequenced material.
GLOBAL FADE OUT - This sets the fade out time for the take and is also variable up to 10 seconds. REPEAT - Although not operative when triggering takes from MIDI, this field sets the number of times a take will repeat itself when you run it as a SONG from the RUN key (see below for more information on this function).
GLOBAL If you are triggering from MIDI, you will most likely want to edit the MIDI note and channel and if you are creating a song to run takes sequentially, you will possibly want to set a repeat for that step. If you are at all unsure of the take you have selected, you can press the ENT/PLAY key to audition the selected take. There are several ways you can create the next step but the easiest method is probably this: Press F5 . This will mark the first step and a small block will appear beside it.
GLOBAL TRIGGERING TAKES FROM MIDI This powerful function of the S3000XL’s disk recording capabilities allows you to simultaneously playback audio from the hard disk whilst sequencing programs in the S3000XL. To set a up a list of takes for MIDI triggering, press the SONG key (F2 in all disk record pages) to get the following screen: This shows a blank, empty song or take list. To create a new list of takes, press F2 again. This takes you to the S.ED or SONG EDIT page where you may assemble your list.
GLOBAL 5-20 milliseconds will normally do the trick. Fades longer than that can be useful for fading in a take or causing a smooth, gradual decay at the end of a take’s replay. As soon as the S3000XL receives the appropriate note on the appropriate channel (i.e. one that is assigned to a take in a song), the following screen will be displayed: You may either issue a MIDI ALL NOTES OFF command from your sequencer/keyboard or specifically press F8 - STOP - on the S3000XL.
GLOBAL IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT TRIGGERING TAKES FROM MIDI When triggering takes from MIDI, if you stop the sequencer and restart it somewhere in the middle of where a take should be playing, it will not sound. This is because it requires the MIDI note-on to trigger it. In such circumstances, it will be necessary to ‘rewind’ the sequencer to a point somewhere before the MIDI note to ensure that the take receives the note on and will trigger.
GLOBAL USING THE SONG MODE TO CHAIN TAKES This mode of operation allows you to playback takes sequentially ‘back-to-back’. This mode will be invaluable to remix engineers for the creation of extended remixes. It will also be of use to jingle writers and TV theme music writers who often have to provide several versions of one piece of music with different lengths. The simplest method of using the song mode is to ‘top and tail’ an entire recording (i.e.
GLOBAL NOTE: The SKIP function causes playback to start from the next step, not the next repeat of any step. As the song is playing, a small highlighted box appears to the left of the step to indicate your playback position. If the song exceeds five steps, the list of steps will scroll up the screen with the currently playing step being placed in the centre of the screen. The step number at the top left of the screen also changes to show the step currently playing.
GLOBAL BLOCK EDITING IN SONG MODE So far we have seen how to create songs in a fairly simple fashion - i.e. in the S.ED page, press , press , move the cursor down a step, select a new take - and this will get you through creating a song. Even if that is all you learn to do, you should find song creation quite straightforward. There are other editing techniques available in the SONG mode, however, that makes this mode even more powerful.
GLOBAL Now move the cursor to the point just before BREAK - i.e. with the arrow pointing just above it thus: Now press and the whole block will be inserted before the BREAK. You will find these editing functions extremely useful when creating complex remixes as they allow you to shift whole sections and place them anywhere you like in a song very quickly and easily. It means that you can regard what are small, short takes appended together as one long take which can be inserted as you wish.
GLOBAL NAMING SONGS To name a song, simply press the NAME key and enter a name of up to 12 characters in the usual way, completing the action by pressing ENT/PLAY. SAVING A SONG To save a song, go to the SAVE mode and select CURSOR ITEM ONLY as the save type. Move the cursor to the song name (this will be TL1 if you have not named it) and press F7 or F8 depending on whether you wish to wipe the disk/volume as you save.
GLOBAL BACKING UP TAKES TO DAT Back up of takes to DAT is accessed via the PLAY page of the disk record functions. The soft key F7 - takes you to the BACKUP SAVE page. I.e: Press F7 - - will display this screen: This simple page displays the transmit rate for the back up to DAT. This can only be set to 44.1kHz and so this field is not accessible to the user but is shown merely for information. When a take is backed up to disk, all data related to it is also backed up, of course.
GLOBAL RESTORING TAKES BACK FROM DAT TO DISK The take restore functions are found in the DREC page on F7 - . I.e: Pressing this gives this screen display: This page looks very much like the normal record page except that you have lost the threshold field. To perform a restore of either a single take or all takes, line the DAT up to the appropriate point and press F8 on the S3200XL.
GLOBAL Assuming you wish to proceed with the restore, press PLAY on your DAT machine. When the take is being restored to disk, the screen will show: This is virtually identical to the normal record page when a recording is being made and the take’s waveform envelope will be displayed as it is being restored. The DAT restore function is, actually, just another way of recording and this ‘confidence monitoring’ keeps you informed of progress during the DAT restore process.
APPENDIX 1 CONNECTING AN EXTERNAL HARD DISK DRIVE SCSI devices (hard disk drives, CD-ROMs, etc.) are connected as follows: SCSI CABLE SCSI INTERFACE HARD DISK DRIVE (or CD ROM, etc.) To other SCSI devices The S3000XL uses a 25-pin SCSI connector. Using a suitable SCSI cable 3 , connect the drive(s) to the S3000XL as shown above. Most drives have two SCSI connections and the other can be used as a ‘thru’ to other SCSI devices such as CD ROM or another hard disk drive, etc..
APPENDIX 1 S2000 Terminated Hard disk Unterminated MO drive Unterminated CD-ROM Terminated Incorrect termination may give rise to data errors and possibly corrupted data so please ensure it is done correctly. If you have any doubts, please contact your dealer who will be able to help. SCSI CABLE LENGTH The SCSI specification states that the total length of the SCSI chain must not exceed 6 metres.
APPENDIX 2 DATA COMPATIBILITY ISSUES With any advance in technology, certain problems arise regarding data compatibility between older and newer models (witness the chaos with PowerPC software!). At Akai, we have tried to make models as compatible as possible both backwards (i.e. using data from new models on older machines) and forwards (i.e. using data from older machines on new ones). However, there are a few things owners of older Akai samplers should be aware of.
APPENDIX 2 WARNING! WHEN USING A HARD DISK, THE ACTION OF KILLING A VOLUME APPLIES ONLY TO THAT VOLUME. THIS IS NOT A FULL FORMATTING PROCEDURE. WHEN YOU SEE THE PROMPT, USE - DO NOT FORMAT YOUR HARD DISK AS THIS WILL ERASE EVERYTHING ON IT. If you are at all apprehensive about ‘killing’ the hard disk volume, save to another empty volume.
APPENDIX 3 INSTALLING THE OPTIONS The S3000XL can accommodate several options. These are the IB304F bank of second filters and third envelope generator, the EB16 multi-effects processor and memory expansion. These can be fitted by yourself if you feel confident to do so. To install any of these options, you must remove the top of the case. ** IMPORTANT NOTE ** Consult your AKAI Professional dealer on installation of any options (including memory) to the S3200XL.
APPENDIX 3 SIMMs operate a different speeds. SIMMs that operate at 70nS (nanoseconds) are recommended. SIMMs also come in various sizes. Please note the following memory configurations that are possible in the S3000XL.
APPENDIX 4 USING THE FXM008 FLASH ROM BOARD(S) Two FXM008 FlashROM boards may be installed in the S3000XL. FlashROM is similar in many ways to RAM except that FlashROM can retain data stored in it when the unit is switched off. This allows you to keep your favourite sounds in FlashROM and have them available automatically when you switch the S3000XL on.
APPENDIX 4 APPLICATIONS • If you have a set of sounds you use a lot, you can save them to FlashROM and have them all load automatically so that your favourite sounds are immediately available on power up. • If you are gigging, you can do the same, compiling your set beforehand so that your whole set is immediately available at the gig without needing to take fragile hard disks or floppy disks with you. • If you are working on a song, you can save your work to the FlashROM.
APPENDIX 4 HOW THE FLASHROM WORKS The FlashROM is a separate piece of the sampler’s memory area available on top of the RAM and data is saved to the FlashROM in the SAVE mode and works pretty much exactly the same as saving to disk. The FlashROM has volumes where different data may be saved.
APPENDIX 4 SAVING DATA TO THE FLASHROM Saving data to FlashROM is virtually identical to saving data to disk and is done, surprisingly enough, in the SAVE mode. Pressing SAVE will show something like this screen: As well as the usual FLOPPY or HARD-: options normally available at the top centre of the screen, you may also choose FLASH thus: As with a hard disk, the FlashROM is divided into ‘volumes’ and there are 100 volumes you can use, selected in the VOL: field to the right of the FLASH selection.
APPENDIX 4 Press GO - the operating system will be saved to the BOOT SYSTEM volume of the FlashROM allowing you to boot from here instead of floppy disk or a ROM chip. NOTE: You cannot save audio data to this volume, only an operating system. AUTOLOAD1-10 Here, you may save the sound data you wish to automatically load when you switch the S3000XL/S3200XL on. You could, if you wish, save everything to AUTOLOAD 1 so that maybe a full 8Meg of data is stored here and will load from this volume.
APPENDIX 4 You may, of course, save other items to the FlashROM and you may choose: MULTI This will save the multi, its programs, samples and effects to the selected FlashROM volume. ALL PROGS+SAMPLES This will save all programs and samples but not the MULTI or EFFECTS file (if the optional EB16 effects processor is installed). IND P+S You can save an individual program and its samples and the program you wish to save may be selected using the inner DATA wheel.
APPENDIX 4 WHAT TO DO NEXT Nothing really! The main use of the FlashROM is to be able to save an operating system to the BOOT SYSTEM volume and to have sound data saved to one or more of the AUTOLOAD volumes so that you simply need to switch on the S3000XL and have it boot the operating system and your chosen sounds. There are other uses, however.
APPENDIX 4 USING THE FLASHROM AS A FAST HARD DISK Although the time it takes to save data to the FlashROM is about the same as to disk, the load time is, of course, very much faster due to the fact that only the programs need to be loaded. If you prefer (or as well as), you can use the FlashROM as a small hard disk or as a ‘scratchpad’ to save to. Here’s a practical example. Imagine you are working on a song.
APPENDIX 4 EDITING SOUNDS ON THE FLASHROM It could be that you need to edit some sounds you have loaded from FlashROM. This is possible but there are some restrictions you should be aware of. Because the programs are loaded into memory, it is possible to edit these as normal and you can do anything to them you would normally be able to do if the sounds were loaded into RAM from disk.
APPENDIX 4 COPYING A FLASHROM SAMPLE TO RAM If you really do need to edit a sample in the FlashROM, the original sample will need to be loaded into RAM. This is done in the LOAD mode. Go to LOAD and select the volume the sample is in (if you just loaded from it, this should be the selected volume) and select CURSOR ITEM ONLY: Move the cursor to the sample you wish to load.
APPENDIX 4 FORMATTING AND ARRANGING THE FLASHROM As with a hard disk, the FlashROM needs to be formatted. This will arrange the memory on the board(s) to be ready to accept sound data and/or operating systems. Formatting should be performed when you first install the board(s). To format the FlashROM, go to SAVE and press FORM (F6). You will see this screen: As with disk formatting, you may select the type of format you wish to perform. In the example shown above, FLASH is selected.
APPENDIX 4 As you can see, there are 2 x 1Meg gaps in the memory area that have been created by deleting data from the FlashROM and although 3Mbytes of space is available, only 1Meg is actually free. Using ARRANGE will shunt the used memory up, freeing up 3Meg of contiguous memory to be used. The ARRANGE process is non-destructive and will not affect data in any way - all it does is shuffle data around the memory area to make contiguous memory available.
APPENDIX 4 SAVING FLASHROM DATA BACK TO DISK Any sounds you save to FlashROM can be saved back to disk. Assuming you have ‘loaded’ the FlashROM data, simply go to SAVE, select DISK, select FLOPPY or HDSK as appropriate and do a normal save to disk. Depending on the type of save you select, the multi and/or programs and/or samples and/or effects file will be saved as normal to disk. These can be subsequently loaded into RAM as normal. They may also be copied and used in other Akai samplers as normal.
APPENDIX 4 INSTALLING THE FLASHROM There are two slots into which the FlashROM can be installed and these are as follows: OUTPUT EXPANSION socket POWER SUPPLY SIMMs sockets Flash ROM board sockets EB16 socket DISK DRIVE IB304F socket If you are installing only one board, it can be inserted into either slot. Of course, if you install another, then it is inserted into the other slot. No special setup or modification is required. To install the board, first, DISCONNECT THE MAINS.
APPENDIX 4 Now power up the S3000XL with the Version 1.50 floppy disk in the drive. Once the boot up from floppy is complete, you will see the message: This will confirm that the FlashROM board has been ‘seen’ by the S3000XL. If two FMX008 boards are installed, the message will tell you “8MW fitted”. Please refer to the instructions given in this addendum for more details on how to use the FlashROM.
APPENDIX 4 IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT INSTALLING THE FMX008 YOURSELF You may install your FMX008 yourself if you wish as it is easy enough if you are careful. However, please note that the following problems could be had. • ALWAYS disconnect the S3000XL’s mains lead from the mains outlet when opening the S3000XL’s casework. • Unless you have disconnected the S3000XL’s mains lead from the mains outlet, you run the risk of an electric shock which could be fatal.
APPENDIX 5 MIDI CONTROLLER LIST The following is a list of the controllers that may be used as controllers within a program and which are selected in the main MIDI page in GLOBAL mode.
INDEX A ABOUT THIS MANUAL 5 Analogue recording 255 APM 19 , 54 Assignable Program Modulation 19, 54 AUDIO OUTPUTS 9 Autopan 69 C Compatibility, See DATA COMPATIBILITY Connections 11 COPY Keygroups 85 Programs 59 Samples 127 Takes 251 CURSOR KEYS 6 D DAT Backup/Restore 240- 241 DATA COMPATIBILITY 281 Effects files 282 ME-35T 282 Multis 282 S1000/S1100 compatibility 281 Songs and Qlists 282 Sound data 281 DATA ENCODER 6, 15 DATA ENTRY 15 DELETE Keygroups 85 Programs 30 Samples 30, 128 Takes 251 Deleting pro
INDEX EDIT SAMPLE (cont) FIND function 134, 137 Loop length 134 Loop select 133 Loop time 133 Loop tune 149 Loop type 148 Making a good loop 136 Looping 133- 137 Mixing/layering samples 155 Naming 127 Pitch 148 Program monitor 125 Renaming 127 Reverse 150 Sample End 130 Sample Start 129 Sectional editing 151 Splicing samples 154 Trimming 129 -132 Tuning 148 Zoom in/out 131 EFFECTS 160 Assigning effects to MULTI parts 38 Assigning effects to programs 24, 66 Assigning to keygroups 167 Assigning to multis 165
INDEX GLOBAL (cont) Deleting takes 251 EDITING 258-260 Discarding audio 259 , 260 NOW time 258 Take end point 258 Take start point 258 Trimming a take 259 Zoom In/Out 258 , 259 Features 245 Formatting disks 246 Loading songs 275 MIDI Triggering 268 -270 Naming songs 275 Naming takes 251 PLAYBACK 261- 264 Fade In/Out 261 Level/Pan 262 MIDI Triggering 263 Output assignment 262 Play page 263 Playing takes 261 Priming takes 263 Start type 261 Syncing takes 264 Varispeed 261 Recording 252- 257 Recording analogue
INDEX MULTI (cont) Key splits 48 Layering programs 47 Loading 43 Mixing the parts 38 Modifying 42 Naming 43 Part priority 40 Renumbering programs 44 Saving 43 Sending parts to the effects 38 Setting the part’s MIDI channel 38 Setting up 41 Transposing parts 39 Tuning parts 39 MULTI EDIT See EDIT PROGRAM Multi-sampling 50 Multi-timbral setups 34, 37 Muting effects 25 , 38 N NAME KEY 6 , 17 NAMING DD Takes 251 Disk files 209 Disk volumes 209 General 17 Multi 43 Naming samples 118 , 120 Program 59 Renaming DD
INDEX SINGLE (cont) Renumbering programs 32 Selecting programs 23 Single Vs Multi 35 Viewing programs 24 SMF Song play 242 SOFT KEYS 6, 14 T TAKES See GLOBAL-HARD DISK RECORDING TIMESTRETCH See EDIT SAMPLE TRIMMING SAMPLES See EDIT SAMPLE TUNING Keygroups 93 Loop 149 Multi part 39 Program 71 S3000XL 231 Sample 148 Zones 93 V Velocity sensitivity 26 , 67 VIBRATO See LFO1 Z ZONE See KEYGROUP Zoom In/Out 131, 133, 134 , 151 , 157, 258 S3000XL Operator’s Manual Page v
