Operation Manual

NN-XT SAMPLER
167
Working with Key Ranges
About Key Ranges
Each zone can have its own separate key range, the lowest and the highest key that
will trigger the sample.
A good example of use for this is when sampling a certain instrument. Sampling of a
piano for example is usually performed by making several recordings of different notes
at close intervals, and then mapping these samples to separate, contiguous, fairly nar-
row key ranges. This concept is called multi-sampling.
The reason for this is that if one single sample is played across the entire keyboard, it
will most likely sound very unnatural when played too far from its original pitch, since
the amount you can transpose a sound without negatively affecting its timbre is very
limited.
Setting up Key Ranges
You can adjust the key range of zones in a number of ways:
By Dragging the Zone Boundary Handles
1. Select the zone in the Key Range area.
2. Point and click on one of the handles that appear at each end.
3. Drag the handle left/right.
Dotted lines extend from the edges of the zones up to the keyboard area. These
lines give you a visual indication of which keys the key range will encompass.
There is also an alphanumerical indication at the bottom left of the display.
4. Repeat the procedure with as many zones as you wish, to create a complete
key map.
By using the Lo Key and Hi Key controls
Directly below the key map area is a row of knobs. These are the sample parameters.
As the name implies, they are used for changing various parameters that affect how
the zones are played back. In the middle of the sample parameters area are two knobs
called “Lo Key” and Hi Key”.
These can be used for setting the low key and the high key of a zone’s key range, just
like dragging the boundary handles as described above:
1. Make sure the zone for which you want to set the key range has edit focus.
2. Use the knobs to change the corresponding key - low or high.
Check the display right above the knobs for an indication of the key. You can also
keep an eye on the lines extending from the zone edges to the keyboard area.
By Dragging the Zone Boundary Handles on the Tab Bar
As previously described, the area directly below the keyboard area is called the tab
bar. This shows the key range for the currently selected zone, and also contains
boundary handles.
Dragging a boundary handle on the tab bar.
These handles can be used much to the same effect as when dragging the boundary
handles in the key map display. However, the handles on the tab bar can change the
key range of multiple zones at the same time.
The following applies:
• The tab bar shows the key range for the zone with edit focus.
• Dragging the boundary handles for that zone will also simultaneously change the
key range for a number of surrounding zones if:
D The high key or low key (depending on which handle you drag) of the
other zones are the same as the zone with edit focus.
D The other zones are adjacent to the zone with edit focus.
! Note that it doesn’t matter whether the other zones are selected or not.
They will be affected anyway.
Clicking and dragging the high key boundary handle of a zone with the default key range of C1 - C6...
...to change the key range to C1 - C2.