User Guide

PC2 Made Easy

19. Using the Arpeggiator

One often-overlooked feature of the PC2 is the arpeggiator. This can be a lot of fun to

play with - you can get many interesting and unusual effects. Basically, an arpeggiator

takes notes that you play and repeats them in a pattern. Typically, you might use it to

arpeggiate chords that you play, but it can have other uses such as playing percussion

patterns.

This tutorial will be a bit different from the others - instead of creating a specific

arpeggiator effect, we will experiment with various parameters and hear the different

results.

You can use the Arpeggiator in both the Internal Voices and MIDI Setups mode. We will

start in Internal Voices mode, but if you find a specific set of parameter values that you

like as you explore through the tutorial, you can simply press the Store button to save

the settings as a single zone Setup.

1. Start in Internal voices and call up any sound that you want to work with. To best

hear the effects of the arpeggiator, you might want to start with a program that has a

percussive attack and also decays, such as piano, marimba, guitar, etc.

2. Press the Arpeggiator button. Turn the Arp Active parameter On. Play a chord on the

keyboard. You should hear the notes arpeggiated. If you hear nothing at all, go to the

Global Menu and check to make sure the Clock parameter is set to Internal. If you hear

notes but they arenÕt arpeggiated, press the >> three times to make sure Zone Enable is

On and once more to make sure Latch Mode is set to Keys.

Try playing a single note. Notice that it is repeated. Try adding more notes. As you

press them they are added to the arpeggio. Let go of one of the keys. Notice that note is

dropped from the arpeggio while the others continue. Notice that the arpeggiator plays

the notes in the specific order that you strike them. Also notice that the loudness of the

arpeggiated notes depends on how hard you strike the keys.

Hold the sustain pedal and let go of the keys. Notice that even though the notes ring out

like they would when you press the sustain pedal, the arpeggiation stops. In order for

the arpeggiator to work, the keys must be held down, or otherwise latched (we will cover

various latching methods in the next tutorial).

Now turn the Arp Active parameter back to Off.

3. Hold the Controllers button and press the SW4 controllers button. Press the <<

button and set the Switch Type to Toggle. Press the >> button, then 116, then Enter. The

PC2 uses MIDI controller 116 to turn the arpeggiator on and off. Press the >> button

and set the On Value to 64. Press the >> button twice and set the Off Value to 0. Since a

Switch controllers has only two states (On or Off), any value between 0 and 63 is

considered Off and any value between 64 and 127 is On. Now if you turn the button on

and strike the keys, you will hear arpeggiation. If you turn the button off, then you will

just hear the notes you played. Leave the button turned on.

As a side note Ð SW4 is assigned to #116 in the Default Internal Voices Setup, so any

time you are in Internal Voices Mode, you can use this button turn arpeggiation on.