Part 2 Track Merge ~~~~~~~~~~~ Pressing the BACKSLASH (\) key, just to the right of RETURN, selects the Track merge option. This is used to combine two or more tracks tnto a single track, which can simplify the editing of tracks that are on the same MIDl channel, and frees up tracks for further recording. When this option is selected, the message line will prompt you for a list of tracks to be merged; select the tracks with the mouse or the track keys, and press RETURN. Each track in the list will be merged with the lowest track, and then erased. ALlGN ~~~~~ The sequencer's ALIGN feature is used during recording to force the length of track 1 to a whole number of measures. If ALIGN is off while recording track 1, recording stops as soon as the sequencer is stopped, so the last measure of the track may be less than 96 steps (or whatever the current measure length is), and the sequencer will loop unevenly. When ALIGN is on, the sequencer will continue to record to the beginning of the next measure after recording is stopped. ALIGN is turned on and off with the DELETE key. Since track 1 sets the length of all tracks, ALlGN has no effect when recording tracks other than track 1. Hidden Controls ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are a number of other controls which can only be accessed from the keyboard. Most can also be set from the SET OPTIONS screen, which can be reached directly from the play/record screen by pressing 0 (ZERO) on the computer's typewriter keyboard. See the SET OPTIONS chapter for more on these controls. The HELP key and this manual's appendix also list the hidden control keys. When a hidden control is changed from the play/record screen, a message confirming the change will appear on the message line. Hidden controls can be changed while the sequencer is playing or recording. AUTO-RECORD is selecled with the | (SHIFT-BACKSLASH) key. When this switch is turned off the RECORD switch will turn on when it finishes recording a track. AUTO-RECORD is normally on. The visible metronome can be turned on or off with the $ (SHIFT-4) key, and the audible metronome is toggled with the % (SHIFT-5) key. The & (SHIFT-7) key disables the step display in the measure/step counter. Track looping is turned on or off with the ( (LEFT PARENTHESIS) key, and FILTER is toggled with the ) (RIGHT PARENTHESIS) key. The filter channel is a changed with the PLUS (SHIFT-EQUAL) and UNDERSCORE (SHIFT-MINUS) keys. SILENT PUNCH is turned on or off with the MINUS (-) key. TEMPO CHANGE BY RATIO is toggled between one BPM and 2.5% by pressing the ^ (SHIFT-6) key. A few hidden controls are not duplicated on the SET OPTIONS screen. The PANIC BUTTON (the ~ key, or SHIFT-ACCENT) sends an All Notes Off message on all 16 MIDI channels as well as sustain pedal off and zero pitch bend messages for the appropriaate channels. Pressing # (SHIFT-3) will mute all tracks and pressing @ (SHIFT-2) wills unmute all tracks regardless of their current statuses. Finally, the ! (SHIFT-1) key brings up the ALL TRACKS TO SEQ edit window, which is described in detail in Chapter 4. Track Shift, Swap, and Name ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Function keys Fll through F16 are used to select the SHIFT track options. The SHIFT options are used to shift a track forward or backward in time, relative to the other tracks. The shift amounts are + 1, + 3, + 12, -1, -3, and -12 for keys F11- F16. (Remember, function keys Fll to F20 are selected by pressing SHIFT and a function key from Fl to F10.) The DELETE key can be used to toggle between a positive and negative shift amount when a SHIFT option is active. Note that since the DELETE key is normally used to toggle ALIGN, the ALIGN feature can not be changed when a SHIFT option is active. The program cannot shift a track if its first event would be placed before the start of the track, which means that negative shift values cannot be used on tracks which start on the first beat. Nor will events shifted beyond the end of track 1 be phayed. Shifting a track changes the time value of the first event in the track by adding or subtracting the shift amoumt, and this change will be reflected in the event list on the edit screen. The TIME value for the first event of the track will be displayed in the right part of the message line whenever a SHIFT operation is performed. You should be careful to turn SHIFT off by clicking on the MUTE button when you are done shifting tracks, as we have found that it is easy to accidentlly mess up a track by shifting it when you really want to mute it. SWAP is activated by pressing F18. The SWAP track option is used to swap the position of two tracks in the track display. Since notes on the lower numbered tracks are played before notes on the higher tracks swapping tracks can be used to correct for minor timing problems caused Eyb MIDI bandwidth limitations or differences in instrument response times. See Chapter 13 for more on sequencer timing. When the NAME track option is selected with the F20 key, selecting a track will allow you to enter a name for that track. The input from the keyboard is not parsed (interpreted) as it is entered, so the BACKSPACE, DELETE, and similar keys will insert funky graphics symbols in the name, rather than performing the expected operations. Typing mktakes can be corrected from the edit screen. MIDI Song Pointer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If a MIDI song pointer message is received while in Track mode, the program will start all tracks from the specifed point. Song pointer messages will be ignored if the clock source, on the SET OPTIONS screen, is not set to MIDI WITH SONG POINTER. The correct time value will be inserted at the beginning of any track that is recorded after a song pointer message is received. Song pointer is sent by the sequencer at the beginning of the cue loop, if cueing is activated and if SONG POINTER SEND has been enabled, as described in Chapter 11. Countin ~~~~~~~ If a countin has been set on the SET OPTIONS screen the program, will wait for the programmed number of steps before starting to play or record. For example, a value of 96 will create a one measure countin. The metronone will sound and MIDI clock will be sent during the countin. Velocity Pedal ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The velocity pedal feature of the KCS allows you to modify the note on velocities of a part being recorded with a continuous controller. This can be used, for example, to play accents on synths which recognize velocity but don't send it, or to do a MIDI mixdown on a synth which recognizes velocity but not volume control. In conjunction with the live edit feature described later in this chapter or the loopback recording technique discussed in Chapter 13, the velocity pedal can be used to affect velocities of previously recorded tracks or sequences as well. When velocity pedal is active, all continuous controllers on the velocity pedal channel (which is set from the SET OPTIONS screen only) will be combined with the note velocities of the incoming MIDI data in one of three ways. The three velocity pedal modes are selected with the F19 (SHIFT-F9) key, which is also used to turn the velocity pedal on or off. When the velocity pedal is on, control changes on the velocity pedal channel are not recorded or merged by the program. Pitch bend and aftertouch are not used for the velocity pedal. Pressing F19 once selects the FULL velocity pedal mode, where the note on velocities are simply replaced with the last controller value received. FULL is most useful when recording a part from a non-velocity sensitive keyboard, which is played on a velocity sensitive slave. A mod wheel or foot pedal can be used to set the not velocity between 1 and 127, regardless of how hard you strike the keys. MIX averages the last controller value received with the velocity of the note. This is most useful for making minor changes in a previously recorded track using live edit or loopback recording. SCALE combines the last controller value and the note velocities in such a way that the controller has more effect at the top and bottom of its range, but very little near the middle. For example, if the controaler is at or near 1, the recorded velocities will be at or near 1, no matter how hard the keys are struck. If the controller is at or near 127, the recorded velocities will be at or near 127. BUT, if the controller is near 64 (the center of its range), the recorded velocities will be determined mostly by the note velocities sent by the keybeard. SCALE is best suited to major editing on prerecorded tracks or sequences using live edit or loopback recordmg. Note that the velocity pedal channel, on the SET OPTIONS screen, need not be set to the channel that the keyboard or receiving synth is on, but must be set to the channel of the device with the continuous controller beung used. Live Edit ~~~~~~~~~ Live edit is an advanced feature of the Keyboard Controlled Sequencer which allows you to delete notes from a track or alter their velocities in real time, as the sequencer is playing. Since live edit is much more complicated than the other features of Track mode, we recommend that you become thoroughly familiar with the rest of the KCS before diving into live editing. Live edit is activated by selecting the EDIT SELECT track option with the F17 (SHIFT-F7) key. When this option is selected the words EDIT SELECT will appear in the message line, and the PUNCH buttons will be replaced with a set of EDIT buttons. The edit buttons are used to handle backup tracks and to turn live editing off and the ALTERNATE CONTROL, and LEFT and RIGHT SHIFT keys are used to edit the selected track. When a track is selected, the word EDIT will appear in its status display and a backup track will be created in the first available track. The track can now be edited with the keys mentioned earlier. RIGHT SHIFT will delete notes that play while it is held down, by replacing them with DE events. ALTERNATE will replace note velocities with velocity value Y from the step time record screen, which defaults to 127. If one of the true velocity pedal options is selected, pressing ALTERNATE will set the note velocities from the velocity pedal. LEFT SHIFT will replace note velocities with step time velocity value W (default 64). ALTERNATE plus LEFT SHIFT will replace note velocities with step time velocity value U (default 16). CONTROL will replace notes in the edit track with notes from, the backup track. Normally, this acts as an "undo" command but can also be used as a compositional device if the backup track is changed from the edit screen. For instance, if the backup is transposed up an octave, then pressing CONTROL will have the effect of transposing notes up an octave when it is pressed. The edit buttons are used to manage the current edit track's backup tract and to disable or exit from live edit. Clicking on an edit button will affect only the currently selected edit track. The BACKUP button will replace the backup track with the edited track. Use this only when you are satisfied with any editing you have done, and be careful, as the original track will be lost when this button is pressed. RESTORE is the opposite of BACKUP. It replaces the edid track with its backup track. Use this when you make catastrophic mistakes in your editing. DONE changes the status of the track from EDIT to PLAY, and turns off live editing for that track. The backup track can be deleted as well, if desired. Clicking on DONE again will replace the edit buttons with the punch buttons; pressing the * (SHIFT-8) key has the same effect. OFF temporarily disables the editing keys, without turning live edit off. This allows you to select functions which require the SHIFT keys, such as velocity pedal or certain track options. Note that OFF doesn't turn live editing off - that is done with the DONE button. Chapter 7 ~~~~~~~~~ OPEN MODE PLAY/RECORD ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Open mode is the Keyboard Controlled Sequencer's generalized sequencing mode. In Open mode, you can define up to 128 independent sequences, any number of whdch may be played back simultaneously. These may be completely independent of each other, or some sequences may include commands to start and stop other sequences. A sequence which starts or stops another sequence is called a control sequence. By chaining control sequences together, you can realize very complex pieces of music. Chapter 4 describes how you can create control sequences using the edit screen. There are two types of sequences: primary and secondary. Primary sequences are designated by the numbers 1 - 9 and the letters A - Z, and are activated from the Open mode play screen by pressing the corresponding key on the typewriter keyboard. Secondary sequences are designated by the two digit numbers 00 - 92. They are activated from the Open mode play screen by typing two digts on the numeric keypad on the right side of the computer keyboard. Play/Record Screen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Entering Open mode from either the Track or Song mode edit screens will place you on the Open mode edit screen. The play/record screen is entered by double clicking the right mouse button, by clicking on PLAY and selecting GO TO PLAY SCREEN, or by single clicking the ri@ht mouse button while holding down the SHIFT key. The program uses the same screen for both play and record operations. An important difference between Open mode and Track mode is that going to the Open mode play screen does not automatically allow you to record. To record in Open mode, you must eiiher select the RECORD option from the edit screen, or activate Open mode real time recording from the play screen. This procedure is described in detail later in this chapter. The Open mode play/record screen looks like this: The play screen consists of two areas: the sequence area at the top, and the status lines at the bottom of the screen. The sequence area shows the status of the 35 primary sequences and the first 45 secondary sequences. (The remaining secondary sequences can be played from this screen as well, but no status information is shown for these sequences.) Four consecutive sequences are displayed on each lime. The P, F and W columns contain information concerning the status of each sequence. The S (Sequence) column contains the designator for each of the 80 sequences displayed. The RE (REpeats) column shows the number of repeats programmed for each sequence. A 99 in the RE column means that the sequence will loop indefinitely. NAME shows the name of each sequence. The P (Play) column shows the number of times each sequence has left to play and counts down as each repitition of the sequence occurs. A 9 will be displayed in the P column if that sequence has nine or more repeats left to play. The F (From) colunn contains the letter or number of the control sequence that started the sequence. This field is blank if the sequence was started from the computer keyboard. A W in the W (Wait) column indicates that the sequence is currently waiting for another sequence to finish, and an M means the sequence is currently muted. The status lines at the bottom of the screen display information about various record and play options and also show the measue/step counter, the real time clock and the clock source or tempo. The words RECORD, CUE, MIDI MERGE, PAUSE, etc. will appear on the status lines when these features are activated and dissappear from the status lines when they are de-actavated. The current cue point and cue sequence are also shown. CLOCK, Metronome and Measure/Step Display ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The cunrent clock source is displayed next to the word CLOCK on the next to last line. This will be the current clock rate in beats/minute if the internal clock display is being used, MIDI if MIDI clock is being used without song pointer, or MIDI WITH SP if MIDI clock is bemg used with song pointer. If the internal clock is in use, the clock rate can be changed during play by using the COMMA (,) key to increase the tempo, or the PERIOD (.) key to decrease the tempo. The clock rate can also be changed from within a sequence using TM, AC, or DC events, or from the SET OPTIONS screen, described in Chapter 11. The SET OPTIONS screen is the only way to change the clock source. The measure/step counter displays the current measure and step being played. It will be reset to measure 1 if you press UNDO to stop all sequences or CLR HOME to erase the current recording. It will be set to the cue or song pointer location if you start a cue or a song pointer message is received. The program provides both a visible and an audible metronome. The visible metronome appears in the bottom, right hand corner of the screen. The audible metronome can be heard through the speaker of your monitor. The separation between metronome clicks can be programmed from the SET OPTIONS screen. Playing Sequences ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Primary sequences 1 - 9 and A - X are started by pressing a key on the typewriter keyboard, and secondary sequences 00 - 92 can be started by typing a two digit number on the numeric keypad. (Primary sequence 1 - 9 cannot be started from the numeric keyboard, nor can secondary sequences be started from the typewriter keyboard.) If ALIGN is turned off, the sequence will start immediately; otherwise it will wait for the beginning of the next measure and then start. The numeric keypad also has a "bank lock" feature, which allows selecting any secondary sequence from within a bank of ten sequences using a single key. Pressing the ASTERISK (*) key on the numeric keypad after entering one or both digits of a secondary sequence will lock the 10's place (the first digit) of that number, and subsequent numeric keypad digits will immediately start the appropriate sequence in the bank. For example, pressing on the numeric keypad after pressing 1 will lock the 1 in as the first digit of the secondary sequence, and pressing numeric keys 2, 3, and 4 will start sequences 12, 13, and 14. Bank lock is turned off with the ( (LEFT PARENTHESIS) key on the numeric keypad. The most recently started secondary sequence is displayed in the lower right corner of the screen, which is helpful when you are using the bank lock feature, and the word BANK will appear beside the sequence number if bank lock is turned on. Normally, the sequence will play for the programmed number of repeats and stop. To stop a sequence from, looping press the appropriate sequence key or numeric keypad number once. The sequence will play to the end and then stop. To stop a sequence immediately, press the sequence key or number twice if it is looping, or once if it is in its last play. To play several sequences at once, press the ESC key to put the program into pause, start the sequences, then press ESC again. Muting Primary Sequences ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To mute any primary sequence that is playing press SHIFT and the sequence key simultaneously. An M will appear under the W heading for the sequence. The sequence will continue to keep time, but no events will be sounded. Notes currently playing will be shut off unless they were defined with separate ON and OFF events. Such notes will stick until Fl, UNDO, or the PANIC BUTTON is pressed. To unmute a sequence, press the sequence key again (no SHIFIt this time). The M will disappear and the sequence will resume sounding at the same point it would have been at, had the mute feature not been invoked. Use mute to cue in and out multiple overdubs in real time, or to isolate and listen to individual sequences. Secondary sequences cannot be muted from the Open mode play screen, though they can be muted and unmuted with MS and US events. Cancel ~~~~~~ Pressing the UNDO key will canccl, or stop, all active sequences, and set the measure counter to 0. If you are currently recording it will erase the recorded sequence and allow you to start recording again. Cancel will not erase a sequence which you recorded earlier in the current play/record session. Pause ~~~~~ The ESC key can be used as a pause button during playback or record. Pressing ESC shuts off any notes being played and stops the internal clock, or if MIDI clock is being used, all clocks will be ignored until the pause button is pressed again. The word PAUSE is displayed on the middle status line until it is deactivated or you leave the play/record screen. Notes played on the keyboard are not recorded when paused, but the last controller of each type played is recorded, if the CONTROLLER PAUSE switch is active on the SET OPTIONS screen. See Chapter 11 for more details. Cueing ~~~~~~ The TAB key activates the cue feature. Each time you press the TAB key the cue sequence will begin playing from the cue point. Program changes that occur earlier in the cue sequence will be sent over MIDI, and sequence start events and tempo changes will be executed. The cue sequence is set from the play options dialog box described in Chapter 4. It can also be changed from the play/record screen using the left and right cursor control keys. The CURSOR LEFT key decreases the cue sequence by one, and the CURSOR RIGHT key increases the cue sequence by one. The cue point determines where phayback will begin in the cue sequence. This also can bm set from the play options dialog box and changed from the play/record screen using the CURSOR UP and CURSOR DOWN keys and the INSERT key. The up arrow moves the cue point higher, the down arrow moves the cue point lower, and INSERT tnggles the amount that the cue point moves between one measure and eight measures. The cue feature is particularly useful when the cue sequence is a control sequence that plays an entire piece. You can use cue to hear the piece starting from any point. By keeping alternate arrangemems of your songs on consecutive sequence keys, you can quickly go back and forth between the same pmint of different arrangements of a piece with the cursor keys. Align ~~~~~ When activated, ALlGN forces the program to wait till the end of a measure before exiting the record mode. This assures that all sequences recorded will loop properly. ALIGN also forces all sequences that are started from the computer keyboard to wait until the beginning of the next measure before playing. ALlGN is normally on when recording, and off when in play and not recording. It can be toggled on or off with the DELETE key. MIDI Merge ~~~~~~~~~~ MIDI MERGE is activated by pressing the SEMICOLON (:) key. All incoming MIDI data, including system exclusive messages received by the computer is merged with the sequence data being played. Press the : key again to de-activate MIDI merging. MIDI mergng is disabled when ECHO is on. Echo ~~~~ The ECHO feature is used to rechannelize MIDI data recorded by the program and send it out the computer's MIDI out. This allows you to record on any channel while using a keyboard controller that transmits on a single channel. If ECHO is active, the word ECHO will appear on the bottom of the screen, followed by the echo channel. You can use the BACKSPACE key to toggle echoing on and off from the play/record screen, and use the > and < (SHIFT-PERIOD and SHIFT-COMMA) keys to increase or dccrease the echo channel. Filter ~~~~~~ FILTER is used to force the sequencer to accept MIDI data on only one channel, the filter channel. Incoming data on other channels as ignored. FILTER is turned on with the ) (RIGHT PARENTHESIS) key, and the filter channel can be lowered or raised with the UNDERSCORE (SHIFT-MINUS) or PLUS ( + ) keys respectively. Set Options and Help ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The SET OPTIONS screen can be reached directly from, the Open mode play screen by pressing the 0 (ZERO) key. The SET OPTIONS screen is described in Chapter 11. Pressing the HELP key will bring up the Open mode help screen, which shows the functions of each key on the computer keyboard in Open mode. These functions are also summarized in the Appendix to this manual. Exit ~~~~ Pressing F1 will immediately end the play/record process and take you dirctly to the edit screen. The left mouse button duplicates this function in Open mode. Panic Button ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pressing the ~ (SHIFT-ACCENT) key will send All Notes Off messages on all 16 MIDI channels. This is useful for canceling stuck notes on any synthesizers that, for one reason or another, did not receive a note off message. The All Notes Off message is not recognized by all instruments, so this button may not always clear all stuck notes. The panic button also clears any sustain pedal or pitch bend settings that may have been left "hanging". Recording in Open Mode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Open mode recording can be selected in one of two ways. Clicking on RECORD from the Open mode edit screen will bring up an edit window which allows you to select one of four recording methods, or pressing the RETURN or ENTER keys on the Open mode 1 play screen will enable real time recording. Generally speaking selecting RECORD from the edit screen provides more flexibility in recording while the RETURN/ENTER method is more convenient if you are playing an Open mode sequence and want to record a part whenever inspiration strikes. Real time recording is described later in the chapter. When you select RECORD from, the edit screen, an edit window will ask which sequence you want to record, and will also present a set of record options. The sequence will default to the next empty sequence, or you can enter a sequence. Enter one key for a primary sequence or two digits for a secondary sequence. Remember that sequences Y and Z are reserved for internal use by the program and cannot be recorded. Four record options are displayed in the left part of the edit window, one of which must ge selected. STEP TIME allows you to create a sequence using a method similar to step mode entry on a drum machine. Step time entry is useful for entering fast arpeggios, regular chord patterns or other parts with few changes in note to note timiing. The step time recording process is described in detail in Chapter 9. REAL TIME records events from the synthesizer keyboard in real time. In this mode the program is similar to a tape recorder, recording all notes as you play. OVERDUB will automatically play the overdub sequence and set the length of the current sequence to match that of the sequence you are overdubbing to. You must select an existing sequence to overdub to if you choose OVERDUB. RECORD WITH CUE is another way to record a new sequence in sync with an existing sequence. RECORD WITH CUE differs from OVERDUB in that the existing sequence may be started at any measure. It is particularly useful when the existing sequence is a partly completed song that you want to add parts to in specific places. You must select an existing sequence to be the cue sequence. The real time record options are described in detail later in this chapter. Controllers, Aftertouch, Note Off Vel, and Echo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These record options set the sequencer to record or ignore MIDI controllers, aftertouch, and note off (release) velocity. CONTROLLERS enables the recording of pitch bend, control changes, and program changes. If a pitch bend or sustain pedal (MIDI controller 64) event is recorded, a zero pitch bend or sustain pedal off message will be placed at the end of the recording. AFTERTOUCH controls the recording of aftertouch (pressure) information. Since aftertouch and controller data use such large chunks of memory, it is best to disable CONTROLLERS and AFTERTOUCH uless specifically required. NOTE OFF VEL allows separate storage of note off events, including note off velocity. There are only a few synths capable of sending and receiving note off velocity. Notes recorded with note on velocity are stored as separate note on and note off events, and are more difficult to edit. The KCS can only remember to hold down 64 notes (on all synths) at one time using ON events, so if you need more than that, you need to record some parts with note off velocity. The letters C A O will appear beside RECORD on the play/record screen if any of these options are turned on. The options can also be turned on and off directly from the play/record screen. The COLON (:) key toggles controllers, the QUOTE (') key aftertouch, and the DOUBLE QUOTE (") key note off velocity. ECHO can also be toggled from this window. ECHO is described earlier in this chapter. Real Time Record ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you select the REAL TIME, OVERDUB, or RECORD WITH CUE options, the play/record screen will be diplayed. The only visible differences between play and record are that the words RECORD and ALIGN appear at the bottom of the screen along with any other active record options. The following example shows the screen that would appear if your first action in Open mode is to record sequence 2, echoing onto channel 4. The number of the sequence being recorded is shown in red on a color monitor. When you besn playing on the synth keyboard, the metronoe (bottom right of screen) will begin flashing and the measure/step counter will start counting up. A metronome will also sound on your monitor speaker. If you did not specify a name, the MIDI channel of the first event recorded will be d@splayed under NAME. If you want to begin the sequence with a rest, press the FlO key. If, during recording you make a mistake and wish to start again press the UNDO key. The current recordLng will be erased and the program will start recording again when you play the keyboard or press FlO. When you have finished recording press FlO and the sequence will begin playing back immediately if ALIGN is off or when the measure completes if ALIGN is on. If your new sequence is playing back and you decide you don't like it, you can erase it and record again by pressing CLR HOME. Recording will start again when you play the keybeard or press FlO. Press FlO a second time to end recording and hear what you just played. All of the play features described earlier in this chapter also function when recording. To stop recording and go to the edit screen, press Fl. As mentioned earlier, real time recording can also be selected directly from the Open mode play screen by pressing the RETURN or ENTER key. If RETURN is pressed, recording will start as soon as a note on or other relevant MIDI event is received at the MIDI in jack, and if ENTER is pressed, recordjng begins immediately. The first unused sequence will be used for recording. Pressing FlO will turn recording off and play the newly recorded sequence, pressing UNDO will erase the current recording and stop all sequences, and the CLR HOME key will erase the last sequence recorded in the current session. Additional Open mode sequences can be recorded in a single real time recording session by pressing either RETURN or ENTER, even if recording was initiated from the edit screen. This process can be repeated as many times as needed, to record additonal sequences. Overdub ~~~~~~~ The OVERDUB option allows you to record a new sequence in sync with an existing sequence called the overdub sequence which is automatically played back by the prograrn as you record. You can start the overdub process by playing a note on your synth or by pressing F10. In either case, the overdub sequence will automatically be started and recording will begin. When the overdub sequence completes, the program will automatically end the recording process and play back both sequences together. If you make a mistake during recording or are dissatisfied after the recording, you can use the UNDO or CLR HOME keys to start over, as described above under REAL TIME RECORD. Since the overdub sequence can be any Open mode sequence, including a control sequence, It is possible to overdub a sequence to a section of a song, or an entire piece. Overdubbing to a control sequence is done in the same mamer as overdubbing to any other sequence. If you start the overdub sequence with FlO and don't play any notes at all before it ends, the overdub sequence will still loop, and the program will remain in record. This allows you to listen to your overdub sequence a few times before recording. Record with Cue ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RECORD WITH CUE is very similar to OVERDUB, but allows you to start the overdub sequence at any measure. This is useful for things like adding tom fills to a section, adding some grace notes to a long piano sequence, or adding controllers to a piece after the basic arrangement was done. The program will automatically insert the correct amount of time before the first event. When the RECORD OPTIONS edit window is displayed, select RECORD WITH CUE and then click the mouse to OVERDUB/CUE SEQ, and enter a sequence key or number. If you select an unused sequence, the program will alert you. You can also set a new cue point at this time. This will be the measure at which the program will start the cue sequence. When you get to the play/record screen the cue sequence and cue point displays will reflect the values you entered. Play a note or press FlO to start recording. The cue sequence will begin playing at the specifed cue point. Press FlO when you have completed recording. Both the cue sequence and sequence you recorded will start playing back from the selected cue point. You can restart both sequences at any later time by pressing FlO or TAB. If you make mistakes and want to start over, you can press UNDO if you are still recording or CLR HOME if you have completed recording. The program will erase your recording and return to the beginning of the recording procedure. Recording with Velocity Pedal ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When the VELOCITY PEDAL option has been activated from the SET OPTIONS or Track mode record screens, the sequencer will not directly record note on velocities, but will instead record values based on the position of any continuous controllers on the velocity pedal channel. The velocity pedal function cannot be accessed from the Open mode play/record screen. See the chapter on the Track mode play/record screen for more information on the velocity pedal. Recording with a Countin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can use the SET OPTIONS screen to set a recoring countin. This allows you to use the metronome or an external MIDI drum machine to get the feel for a few beats before recording. If you are using a countin, press F10 when you are ready to record or overdub. The program will sound the metronome and send MIDI clock, but it will not start recording or start the overdub sequence until the number of steps specified for the countin have passed. MIDI Song Pointer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If the MIDI W SONG POINTER clock sourse option was selected from the SET OPTIONS screen, and the program receives a MIDI song pointer message during Open mode play, the program will turn on all active sequences, and start the current cue sequence at the point specified by the song pointer message. The only MIDI events that will be sent while the program is chasing the song pointer are program changes. It may take a few seconds for the program to chase many measures into a complex piece, and songs with a lot of continuous controller data will take a little longer than other songs. Recording with song pointer is similar to recording with cue. If the clock source has been set to MIDI WITH SONG POINTER, and the program receives a song pointer message, the cue sequence will be started at the location specifed by the song pointer message, and recording will begin. If a second song pointer message is received, and no notes have been recorded, the program will start the record process again. If a second song pointer message is receeved after some notes have been recorded, the program will end recording and play back both the cue sequence and the newly recorded sequence, starting at the song pointer location. You can still use CLR HOME to erase the new sequence and restart the recording process. Chapter 8 ~~~~~~~~~ Song Mode Play ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Song mode play screen allows you to play songs created on the song mode edit screen described in Chapter 5. You cannot record while in Song mode. The Song mode pIay screen is reached from the Song edit screen by clicking on PLAY or pressing the right mouse button. The following example shows the Song mode play screen as it might look before a song is started: The Song mode play screen has severl sections. The top line has the song number and title. The bottom of the screen is used for status lines, as in Open and Track modes. Most of the rest of the screen is used for a list of up to 48 song segments. A song can have up to 100 segments, but only the first 48 can be seen on the play screen. Each song segment shown has a number , and a segment key. The segment keys are used to select segments much like track keys can be used to select tracks in Track mode. Typewriter keys 1 - 9 are used for segments 1 - 9, keys A - Z for segments 10 - 35, and keys on the numeric keypad for segments 36 - 48. There is also a set of segment/channel options, seleted with the function keys which determine how the song is affected by selecting a segment. Each segment plays a single Open mode sequence. The sequence key (for primary sequences) or a two digit sequence number (for secondary sequences) is shown in the SQ column. The sequence name is displayed in the NAME column, and the number of times the segment is to play is shown under REP. Other information will appear in the REP column as the song is played. The right edge of the screen displays the status of the 16 MIDI channels. Each channel has a channel number and a corresponding key (1 - 9 and A - G). Channels can be soloed and muted, in the same way that tracks are in Track mode. Playing the Song ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The song is started by pressing FlO or clicking the right mouse button. When play starts, the measure/step counter starts to count, and a red musical note will appear in the REP column for segment 1. This symbol indicates the segment currently playing. If the segment is programmed to play more than once, the number in the REP column will count down as it plays. PAUSE and MIDI MERGE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Song can be paused at any point by pressing the ESC key; pressing ESC a second time lets the song continue. MIDI merging can be toggled using the SEMICOLON (;) key. PAUSE or MIDI MERGE will appear in red on the status line if either of these functions are active. See the chapters on the Track and Open mode play screens for details on PAUSE and MIDI MERGE. Cueing and Single Segment Looping ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A song may also be started at an arbitrary cue point, just as in Track and Open modes. Pressing the TAB key stacts the song at the current cue point. The cue point is moved forward or backward using the CURSOR UP and CURSOR DOWN keys, and the cue point move amount is toggled between one and eight measures with the INSERT key. See the chapters on the Track and Open mode play screens for more details on cueing. The F2 key will cause the current segment to loop indeinitely. 99L appears under REF to show looping, Pressing F2 again will cause the segment to end after its current play. Segment/Channel Options ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Song mode provides seven segment/channel options channel which allow you to alter the playback of a song just as the track options discussed in Chapter 6 allow you to alter the playbach of individual tracks. These options can assist you in composition by allowing you to hear sections of a piece in different contexts and instrunents in different combinations. They can also be used to provide real time control in performance. The current segment or channel option is selected with one of the function keys F3 - F9. Pressing a segment or channel key will cause the current option to be applied to the corresponding segment or channel. The segment/channel options are MUTE/UNMUTE, PLAY IMMEDIATE, PLAY AFTER CURRENT, SET LOOP START, SET LOOP END, SOLO, and SET SWITCH. The MUTE/UNMUTE, SOLO, and SET SWITCH options are similar to the corresponding options in Track mode, but they apply to MIDI channels instead of tracks. The PLAY IMMEDIATE, PLAY AFTER CURRENT, SET LOOP START, and SET LOOP END options are unique to Song mode and apply to segments. The current segment/channel option is displayed on the right end of the top status line. The default is PLAY IMMEDIATE, as shown in the screen example on the last page. Only one segment option or one channel option may be active at any time. MUTE, SOLO and SET SWITCH ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The MUTE, SOLO, and SET SWITCH options are very similar to the corresponding options in Track mode. MUTE is selected with the F3 key, SOLO with F8, and SET SWITCH with F9. When one of these options is active, keys 1 - 9 control channels 1 - 9, while keys A - G control channels 10 - 16. When a channel is muted, MIDI data for that channel is not sent. When a channel is soloed, only data for that channel is sent. When a switch between two channels is set, the RETURN key alternately mutes one channel and unmutes the other. The words MUTE, SOLO, or SWIT will appear next to a channel which is currently muted or soloed, or for which a switch is in the process of being set. See the chapter on the Track mode play screen for more details on muting soloing or switching. PLAY IMMEDIATE and PLAY AFTER CURRENT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These features allow you to alter the order in which segments as a song is playing. When PLAY is active, pressing the segment key for any segment tn the song will cause the program to immediately stop playing the current segment and start the new segment. The song will then continue normally from that segment. PLAY AFTER CURRENT differs from PLAY IMMEDIATE in that the current segment is allowed to finish its current repetition before the new segment is started. This is especially useful when altering the structure of a song in real time with Song mode's interactive control features. Song Mode Loops ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Song mode allows you to set a starting and ending loop point, and to loop the song between these points. The loop points are defined in terms of segment numbers, not measures. The SET LOOP START and SET LOOP END Segment options allow you to set the starting and ending segments for the loop. The letters B and E will appear in the REP column next to the beginning and end segments of the loop as they are set. Pressing the SLASH (/) key turns looping on and off. The word LOOP appears on the left end of the top status line when looping is active. The followng example shows the Song mode play screen after a song has been started, and loop points set: In this example, a loop has been set up between segments 3 and 5. Since looping is actiwe, segments 3, 4, and 5 will play repeatedly until the loop as turned off with the / key. The red musical note indicates that segment 5 is currently playing. Channels 3 and 5 have been muted. MIDI events on these channels other than program changes will be ignored. The segment/channel option is PLAY IMMEDIATE. Pressing any key in the range 1 - 6 will cause the program to immediately jump to the beginning of the corresponding segment. Song Pointer in Song Mode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If the MIDI W SONG POINTER clock option has been selected on the SET OPTIONS screen, and a song pointer message is received, the program will start playing the current song from the point specified by the song pointer message. Exit ~~~~ Press Fl or the left mouse button to exit to the Song mode edit screen. Chapter 9 ~~~~~~~~~ STEP TIME RECORDING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The step time recording features of the KCS allow you to record note information from your synthesizer keyboard, while using the computer keyboard or mouse to specify tuning information. Note velocity can be specified from either keyboard. This can be a faster and more intuitive way of precisely entering rhythmically regular passages than the typing method described in Chapter 4. It is particularly convenient in Track mode, as the new passage can be played along with tracks that were previously recorded. The step time recording screen contains fifteen choices fOf note times, fifteen choices for note durations and six choices for note velocity. The current choices are indicated by a red asterisk. As you play notes on the synth keyboard they are recorded with the current time, duration, and velocity values. Each choice is assigned to one of the numeric or alphabitic keys shown to the left of the possible values. You can make a new choice for time, velocity or duration by pressing the appropriate key on the computer keyboard, or by clicking the mouse on your choice. The red asterisk will move to display your choice. If you select a zero velocity which is norally assigned to the Z key the program will record the actual velocity with which each note is played on your synth. A new Open mode sequence can be recorded in step time by selecting the STEP TIME option from the record dialog box. A new track can be recorded in step time by selecting the STEP TIME TRACK option. If you pick this option, the program will allow you to select the measure at which you will start recording. You can also extend an existing sequence or track using step time record by selecting the STEP TIME APPEND option. The step time recording procedure is the same in any case. The step time record screen is shown below: The choices for time, duration and velocity are listed in columns, along with the keys used to select the choices. The bottom line shows the current measure and step, which will be the MST-ST value for the next note entered. The box directly aboxe this contains buttons for a number of step time recording options, as well as two edit buttons. Recording in Step Time ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Once the various record parameters are set up, recording in step time is simply a matter of entering the notes for each step from the synth's keyboard. Pressing and releasing a single key puts a single note at that step; pressing more than one key before any key is released puts a chord at that step. All notes played will be assigned the chosen duration and velocity values. The first note or chord will get a time of 0, while subsequent notes get the selected time value. The measure and step counters will be updated as each note is played. While recording you can select a new time, duration, or velocity value from any of the choices displayed by pressing the key shown next to the desired value, or by clicking on the new value with the mouse. The asterisk moves next to your choice, and subsequent notes will use the new choice. If the DUR FOLLOW feature is active, selecting a new time will cause the program to select a new, proportional duration as well. This is convenient when entering data with a lot of different time values. The durations of the last note or chord entered will also be adjusted to the new value if DUR FOLLOW is on. This prevents the previous note from overlapping the new one if the time is reduced. DUR FOLLOW is on when the step time record screen is first entered, and can be turned on or off with the F4 key. Changing the Time, Duration and Velocity Values ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can easily enter time, duration, or velocity values other than the ones initially supplied by the program. While holding the SHIFT key, press the key for the time, duration, or velocity value you vwsh to alter; or place the mouse pointer on the value to be changed at click both mouse buttons together. A red ! will appear next to the selected value at the top of the screen and the message line will prompt you for a new step time value. You may enter up to a three digit number. If you enter a one or two digit number press RETURN. The new value will appear on the screen, and will be selected as the current value. The fifteen time and duration values, as well as the five preset velocity levels, are stored along with other sequencer parameters in .ENV (environment) files, which are described in more detail in the next two chapters. Time Chg Delay ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Normally, selecting a new time value when entering a step time sequence or track causes the next note played to get the new time value. Enabling TIME CHG DELAY causes the new time value to be assigned to the next note entered, rather than the current note. This is more naturl when entering a score from sheet music. TIME CHG DELAY can be activated with the mouse, or by presswing the SLASH (/) key. The default setting for this switch iœs offF but intuatively obvious. Rest, Tie, and Delete ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Click on REST or press the F3 key to insert a rest in your recording. The measure and step counters will be increased, and the time value of the next note will be increased by the current time value. Click on TIE, or press RETURN to enter a tie. This will increase the time and also add the current time value to the duration of the most recently recorded note or chord. Clicking on DELETE or pressing UNDO will delete the last note or chord entered. Play Options ~~~~~~~~~~~~ The PLAY OPTIONS allow you to play back part or all of the sequence or track being entered. Each option can be selected by clicking on that option, or by pressing a key on the computer's keyboard. SEQ/TRACK plays the current sequence or track from the beginning and can also be selected by pressing F6. 24 NOTES and 8 NOTES cause the last 24 or eight notes entered to be played; the associated keys are F7 and F8, respectively. Play can be stopped with the F1 key or left mouse button, or restarted with FlO or the right mouse button. 8 BARSS and 2 BARS, or the F9and FlO keys, let you hear the last eight or two bars of your recording. In Open mode, you will hear the sequence in isolation; but in Track mode, all previously recorded and unmuted tracks will also be heard. The cue point will also be reset if you use these options in Track mode. In Open mode, LAST CUE or the TAB key will play the current cue sequence from its cue point. If the current CUE sequence is a control sequence that plays the sequence being recorded, this allows you to hear your recording in context. In Track mode, LAST CUE will play all tracks from the current cue point. You can interrupt or restart play as described earlier. Audition Velocity ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you are not sure of the dynamics you wish to use for your recording you can use the AUDITION VELOCITY feature to try different note velocities until you find the one that sounds best. Use the mouse, or press F5 to activate AUDITION VELOCITY. New notes will not be recorded; instead the current velocity selection will be changed to the velocity of each note as it is played. When you decide that you like the velocity of the last note played, press F5 again. Recording will resume using the new velocity value. Note that if you're using a keyboard that sends release velocity the current velocity selection will change when you release a key as well as when a key is pressed. In this case, be sure to turn AUDITION VELOCITY off before releasing the key. Duration Adjust ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clicking on one of the four DURATION ADJUST values or pressing one of the four cursor control keys allows you to make small adjustments to the current duration selection, and to hear the result in the context of the current time value. Press the CURSOR RIGHT key to increase the duration by one, the CURSOR LEFT key to decrease by one, the CURSOR UP key to increase by four, or the CURSOR DOWN key to decrease by four. The most recently recorded note will be played eight times with the new durataon and the current time and velocity values. If no notes have been recorded yet, a middle C will be played. Pause ~~~~~~ If you want to play some notes without recording, press the ESC key. The word PAUSE will appear, and the program will stop recording. Press ESC again to resume recording. ECHO and MIDI MERGE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Iaf you are using a master keyboard and an external synth module, you will need to activate either ECHO or MIDI MERGE, just as you do on the other screens. These functions can be selected and the echo channel changed with the BACKSPACE, SEMICOLON (;), > (SHIFT-PERIOD), and < (SHIFT-COMMA) keys, as described in Chapters 6 and 7, or the mouse can be used. If ECHO or MIDI MERGE is on while in step time record, the velocity of all notes received from MIDI will be reset to the currently selected velocity before the notes are transmitted to the MIDI out jack. Exit from Step Time ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Click on EXIT or press Fl to go to the edit screen, or use EXIT TO PLAY or F2 to go to the play screen. Chapter 10 ~~~~~~~~~~ LOAD/SAVE ~~~~~~~~~ The Atari ST and Amiga vergions of the KCS use six different types of disk files to store the data used by the program. Each file has a unique extension. When you select LOAD/SAVE from one of the edit screens a dialog box or edit window will ask whether you want to load or save a file, which disk drive to use, and what file type is to be accessed. After selecting a drive (on the ST only) and file type, click on LOAD or SAVE. Another dialog box will display a directory of files with the selected extension on the current disk. In the Atari version, files are selected in the window using the GEM protocols that are discussed in the STs docuentation. In the Amiga version, a fairly self explanatory file select window will appear. After selecting a file name, click on CANCEL to exit or OK to load or save the file. You do not have to specify .ALL,.SEQ, .ENV, etc. as these extensions will be added by the program. In the ST version of the program, clicking on FORMAT will format a blank disk for data storage. The file type selected is irrelevant when formatting a disk. Dialog bexes will confirm your choice, and ask for the disk type. (In the Amiga version of the program, you may format disks directly from the WorkBench.) Clicking on CANCEL exits the LOAD/SAVE screen. File Types ~~~~~~~~~~ .ALL files contain all songs, sequences and tracks, plus the status of each individual track and the contents of the text area, in memory at the time the file was saved. .. dtLL files can only be loaded or saved from Track or Open modes. Loading a .ALL file will erase all data in the sequencer's memory. .SEQ files hold a single track or sequence. These files can only be loaded or saved from Track or Open mode. The file saved will be the currently selected track or sequence; when loaded, the file will be put in the next available track or sequence, depending on the mode selected. .TRK files hold all 48 tracks, plus their statuses. Savng all tracks can be done from any mode, but loading tracks can only be done from Track mode. .SNG files hold a single song as wel1 as the sequences used in that song. When a .SNG file is loaded, each sequence is put in its original location, unless that slot is already occupied, in which case the sequence is moved to the first empty slot and the song is changed to reflect the new location. This allows merging multiple songs into a single .ALL file. Songs can only be loaded or saved from Song mode, and the song loaded or saved is the currently selected song or the next available song, respectively. A set of Open mode sequences that are not otherwise used in a song can be saved and loaded as a group by creating a dummy song made up from a list of the desired sequences. In this case, though, PRIMARY and ST events contained in Open mode sequences will not be reassigned if that sequence is already in use, so you will need to be careful to avoid such conflicts if you use the dummy song method. .ENV files are environment files, and contain most of the parameters diplayed in the SET OPTIONS edit window, as well as the time, duration, and velocity values used in step time recording. If a file named DEFAULT.ENV is saved on the KCS program disk, this file will be loaded when the program boots. .ENV files are also created automatical@y whenever you save a .ALL file. When a .ALL file is saved, the searches for a .ENV file with the same name and loads that file as well. MIDI Files and File Formats ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For Atari ST owners who would like to use KCS sequence files with other sequencers that support the MIDI sequence file format, we have written a utility program entitled CONVERT.PRG, which will convert KCS sequence files to MIDI standard files, and vice versa. (An Amiga version will be available shortly.) The MIDI sequence file fornhat is an emerging standard, which has been unofficially adopted by many music software publishers, including Dr. T's, Opcode, Intelligent Music, Passport, and others. Instructions for the use of this program are contained in a README file, which is included with the program. CONVERT.PRG may be found on many MIDI related bulletin boards, or it may be obtained directly from Dr. T's for a nominal fee. For advanced computer musicians who would like to write programs that can exchange files with the KCS, the file formats for the .ALL, .SEQ, .SNG, and .TRK file types are available for a nominal charge to cover printing and shipping. Contact us for more information. Caveats ~~~~~~~ One point to be aware of when saving ,ALL or other long files is that a computer with 1 meg or more of memory can hold many more notes than can fit on a single disk. A double sided disk can hold about 120000 notes, and a single sided disk (on the ST only) only holds about half this number. If you somehow find yourself with more notes than will fit on a single disk, you will have to save some individual sequences or songs then delete them and save the remaining data in a .ALL file. CAUTION: With the exception of the DEFAULT.ENV file mentioned earlier, you should NEVER save your data files on the KCS program disk! This could cause conflicts with the program,'s copy protection, which will make it impossible to load the program. The write protect tab on the program diskette should be left open at all times except when saving a DEFAULT.ENV file. Chapter 11 ~~~~~~~~~~ SET OPTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~ The SET OPTIONS edit window allows you to set a number of important parameters used by the prog@am. The SET OPTIONS screen can be reached from any edit screen by clicking on SET OPTIONS, or from any play screen by pressing the 0 (ZERO) key. The SET OPTIONS screen is divided into six areas, each of which contain buttons and numeric data fields for a group of related parameters. Settings for the different parameters are changed as described in the section on edit window in Chapter 1. Most of the parameters on this screen can also be loaded from or saved to disk in a .ENV file, which is described later in this chapter. MIDI ~~~~ MIDI MERGE causes the program, to transmit all data received at its MIDI in to the MIDI out jack. MIDI merge can be turned on and off from this screen, or with the SEMICOLON (;) key on any of the play screens. You will need MIDI merge if you are using a master keyboard and remote modules. MIDI merge functions when the program is on one of the play/record screens, though not on the edit screens, and MIDI merging is overridden when ECHO is on. Also note that if a system exclusive message being received by the program is interrupted for some reason, the program will hang up until you press Fl. START IS 1ST CLOCK allows you to tell the program whether it should respond to a MIDI start or continue command as though it were the first MIDI clock, or simply as an instruction to start listening for MIDI clocks. If you are syncing to an external MIDI clock source, pick the setting which seems to sync better with your other equipment. In particular, if you are transferring sequences from another instrument using the techniques outlined in chapter 13 and the time of the first event recorded is always off by one clock step, yu should change this setting. This option has no effect if the internal clock is being used. NO MIDI START lets the program respond to MIDI clock even if a MIDI start command is not received. This is sometimes needed for certain specialized applications involving recording from other sequencers, and has no effect when the internal clock is selected. SONG POINTER SEND activates the transmission of MIDI song pointer messages by the KCS. When this option is turned on, the program will send an apropriate song pointer message whenever a song, sequence, or track is started from a cue point, or when a track loops to the beginning of a cue loop. The DLY button, to the left of SONG POINTER SEND, adds a one second delay between the MIDI Song Pointer and Continue messages after CUE is selected on any play screen. This allows the external instruments to catch up to the sequencer before it starts. MIDI CLOCK OUT tells the program to enable or disable the sending of MIDI clock. If you are not syncing a drum machine to the KCS via MIDI clock, you may want to turn this off to reduce the amount of data sent via MIDI. For some specialized applicaions, you may want to send MIDI clock selectively from your sequences using * events, and not send it automatically with every clock step. RUNNING STATUS reduces the amount of MIDI data transmitted by eliminating redundant status bytes, which can help reduce timing or other problems caused by MIDI data overload. Use with caution, especially if you are using a MIDI switch box. MIDI SLOW adds a slight delay after each byte sent out over MIDI. Some MIDI instruments cannot respond to MIDI data when transmitted at the standard MIDI transmission rate (the baud rate to you techies). Yamaha instruments are the most notorious for this, but it is also a problem with some MIDIed Drumulators. If your instruments randomly miss or stick on some notes, try setting MIDI SLOW to a value in the 60's. Use the smallest value that you can for MIDI SLOW, as increasing it causes the program to spend time waiting around when it could be working. MIDI instruments can also miss data because too much is being sent at one time. This sounds like the problem described above, but is acutally quite different. The instruments get so much MIDI data that they have no place to put it while they are doing their other work, and some gets lost. MIDI SLOW will probably not help this problem. You will have to get some MIDI channel filters, so instruments only receive data intended for them, or you will have to record less data. Continuous controllers (mod wheels, pitch wheels, aftertouch, etc.) are a likely cause of this problem RECORDING ~~~~~~~~~ The options in this portion SET OPTIONS screen are used to set certain parameters which affect recording in Track and Open modes. With the exception of MUTE NEW TRACKS, all recording options affect both Track and Open mode recording. Many of these options can also be changed from the record screens as well, and further information can be found in those chapters. CONTROLLERS, AFTERTOUCH, and NOTE OFF VELOCITY are used to enable or disable the recording of MIDI controllers (coninuous controllers, pitch bend, and program changes), aftertouch, and note off, or release, velocity. The PAUSE switch, next to CONTROLLERS, allows recording controller settings when the sequences is paused. When this switch is on, the last value only of any controller that is adjusted when the sequencer is paused will be recorded. This could be used, for example, to enter a single volume control message in a previously recorded part, by playing the sequence to the point of the insertion, pressing PAUSE, and then playing a few notes on the keyboard while adjusting the volume. Once you've found the proper setting, restart the sequencer by pressing PAUSE again, and the final volume setting will be recorded. (Of course, the RECORD switch must be turned on, as well, and the sequence or track containing the newly recorded data will need to be merged with the original track or sequence, as always). SYSEX enables the recording of system exclusive messages. When this switch is on, sysex messages of up to 5000 bytes can be recorded as single byte events. This is less memory efficient than storing sysex data in a librarian program, but it may be more convenient in some instances. ALIGN is used to force tracks or sequences to "line up" with the start of each measure, when recording or playing. If ALIGN is on while you are playing sequences from the Open mode play screen, sequence playback will not start as soon as the sequence key is pressed, but at the beginning of the next measure. If ALIGN is on while recording in either Track or Open modes, recording will not stop immediately when the F10 key is pressed, but will continue until the start of the next measure. MUTE NEW TRACKS causes tracks to be muted as soon as they are recorded. This is convenient, for instance, when recording multiple takes of a long solo over a track, since earlier takes of the solo will not be played back as the sequencer loops. It is also handy when looping over a short cue, to give you a chance to play a short riff many times while you work on getting it right. QUANTIZE toggles real time auto-correction. When QUANTIZE is on, the time values and durations of all events recorded will be rounded to the nearest multiple of the number to the right of QUANTIZE. Unlike auto-correction from the edit screens, quantization cannot be undone. Another difference is that all event types, including controller events and program changes, will be rounded when QUANTIZe is on, whereas only note messages are affected by autocorrection. ECHO is similar to MIDI merging, except that all data received is rechannelized before recording or transmission to the MIDI out jack. The number to the right of ECHO is the echo channel. FILTER forces the sequencer to only receive data on a single MIDI channel, called the filter channel. Data on all other channels is filtered out. This is especially useful when recording data from another sequencer into the KCS, or when "expanding" a single channel's data from many sequences into a single sequence using the loopback recording technique described in Chapter 13. The number to the right of FILTER is the filter channel. COUNTIN allows you to select the number of "free" steps that you get before recording starts in real time. The metronome will sound and MIDI clock will be sent during the countin, but the program's clock will be held at 0 until the count is over. Remember, this is set in steps, not metronome beats, so to get a one measure countin at 96 steps per measure, you must enter 96. The maximum value for COUNTIN is 255 steps. OTHER ~~~~~ SILENT PUNCH only affects the operation of the sequencer in Track mode. When SILENT PUNCH is on, notes that are being punched out will be muted while punch points are being set. Once the punch points are set, the punched portion of the track will be muted regardless of the setting of this switch. SILENT PUNCH also affects notes that are deleted when LIVE EDIT is active - if SILENT PUNCH is off, notes that are being deleted will still sound when LIVE EDIT is on. ACTIVITY DISPLAY enables the musical icons which appear next to active tracks in the track status display. You might want to turn the activity display off when recording or playing very dense musical passages, or when using high clock resolutions. STEP DISPLAY enables the step portion of the measure/step counter. Turning the step display off reduces the computer's work load slightly, and allows the program to concentrate on more important tasks. MIN:SEC DISPLAY enables the real time clock, which displays the amount of time elapsed since the sequencer was started. As with the STEP DISPLAY switch, turning this switch off may help in hypercritical timing applications. See Chapter 13 for details on the real time clock. RE-RECORD STOP affects the operation of the UNDO key and RE-RECORD button in Track mode only. When this switch is highlighted, pressing the UNDO will erase the current recording, stop the clock, and reset the measure/step counter. When Re-RECORD STOP is off, pressing UNDO will erase the current recording, but the sequencer will continue to play. TRACK MODE LOOP, suprisingly enough, controls looping in Track mode. When this switch is off, all trakcs will play through only once. It is also possible to play or record past the end of track 1 (which normally sets the loop point for Track mode) by turning TRACK MODE LOOP off. You should be careful about recording on tracks other than track 1 when TRACK MODE LOOP is turned off, since any data recorded past the end of track 1 will be lost when a DOUBLE, APPEND, or ALL TRACKS TO SEQ operation is performed, unless the length of track 1 is extended by changing the TIME value of track 1's final DE event. TEMPO CHG BY RATIO changes the amount of tempo change which occurs when tempo is changed from the Track mode control panel, or from the computer keyboard. When this switch is off, the tempo will change by 1 BPM when any of the tempo controls is pressed; when this switch is on, the tempo will change by about 2.5% for each button press. MIDI KEYS is a convenience feature for advanced KCS users, that allows controlling certain sequencer functions from an external MIDI footswitch controller. When this switch is on, MIDI controllers 64, 65, and 66 (the sustain, portamento, and sustenuto pedals, respectively) duplicate the functions of certain keys on the computer's keyboard on the program's Track mode, Open mode, and step time record screens. The sustain pedal duplicates the F10 key and right mouse button on all three screens, but is especially useful in Track mode, since this allows you to start recording and set the track loop point with no hands. In Track mode, the portamento pedal is equivalent to the RE-RECORD button, and the sustenuto pedal controls the STOP button. In Open mode, the portamento and sustenuto pedals are used to start real time recording, and duplicate the functions of the RETURN (record on next event) and ENTER (record immediate) keys, respectively. On the step time record screen, the portamento pedal inserts a rest, and the sustenuto pedal deletes the previous note. These controllers are recognized on all MIDI channels, and are not merged or recorded when MIDI KEYS is active. DRUM CHANNEL selects one channel which will not be affected by any pitch transpositions, either as part of a song or control sequence, or when editing a sequence or track. This is intended for use with MIDI drum machines. Since drum machines assign each drum to a separate MIDI note, transposing a drum part will cause the wrong drums to be played by the sequencer; hence the need for a drum channel. DEBOUNCE sets the amount of time a mouse button must be held down before it will repeat on the Open or Track mode play screens, in 5 millisecond increments. A value of 100 corresponds to 1/2 second. You may find that different values of debounce are needed for different applications. CUE MOVE AMOUNT sets the amount that the cue point(s) will move when the cue move buttons are pressed. This will toggle between one and eight measures when the INSERT key is pressed on any play screen, but can be set to any value from 1 to 99 on the SET OPTIONS screen. VELOCITY PEDAL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The switches in the VELOCITY PEDAL section are used to choose one of the three velocity pedal options, as well as the velocity pedal channel, which are used to affect note velocities during Open or Track mode recording, or when LIVE EDIT is active in Track mode. Velocity pedal in Open mode can only be selected from this screen. See the chapters on the Open and Track mode play/record screens for details on velocity pedal functions. TIMING ~~~~~~ The parameters in the TIMING section of the SET OPTIONS window are used to select the clock source and set the timing resolution of the sequencer. Chapter 13 has more information on timing resolution. INTERNAL CLK selects the program's internal timer as the clock source. The number to the right of the switch is the tempo, in beats per minute. The tenths of BPM digit is treated as a separate field by the program, which means you will need to use the mouse to place the cursor on this digit. Remember that the internal clock is always used when playing a sequence or track from the edit screen, so the setting of the clock source selector switches will have no effect when working on the edit screen. MIDI CLOCK selects an external MIDI clock as the clock source. The sequencer will wait for a MIDI start or continue message before starting any tracks or sequences unless the NO MIDI START button is turned on. MIDI W SONG POINTER selects the external MIDI clock source and enables the reception of MIDI song pointer messages. When a song pointer message is received, the sequencer will move to that point in the current song cue sequence, or track, and play from that point. STEPS/MEASURE sets the number of steps in a measure, which only affects the measure/step counter on the play and edit screens, and the event list on the edit screen. This value will change whenever an SM event is encountered by a sequence or track. The followng table shows the correct STEPS/MEASURE setting for the most common time signatures and STEPS/BEAT values. Time Steps/Beat Signature 24 48 96 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3/8 36 72 144 2/4 48 96 192 5/8 60 120 240 3/4 72 144 288 7/8 84 168 336 4/4 96 192 384 9/8 108 216 432 5/4 120 240 480 6/4 144 288 576 7/4 168 336 672 STEPS/BEAT sets the overall timing resolution of the sequencer. The standard value for STEPS/BEAT is 24. Higher values allow for more precise timing, but also make editing more difficult and put a greater strain on the computer, by giving it less time between steps in which to do its "housekeeping" chores. If STEPS/BEAT is changed during a SET OPTIONS session, the program will ask if you want to "Adjust all event times?" when you @eave the SET OPTIONS screen. Answering "Y" to this question will compress or expand all event times and durations to match the new resolution. The program will also ask of you wish to adjust the related parameters. A "Y"$ answer here will change the STEPS/MEASURE, STEPS/MIDI CLK, and STEPS/METRO settings proportionally, or "N" will leave the settings unchanged. STEPS/MIDI CLK sets the number of sequencer steps between each MIDI clock. This should normally be set to 1 when STEPS/BEAT is 24, and adjusted proportionally when STEPS/BEAT is increased. The sequencer uses the current tempo setting to interpolate between MIDI clocks when an external MIDI clock is used and STEPS/BEAT is greater than 24, so there will be an improvement in resolution when STEPS/BEAT and STEPS/MIDI CLK are increased, even if an enternl clock is in use. METRONOME ~~~~~~~~~ STEPS/METRO sets the interval between metronome ticks. The default is for the metronome to occur every 24 steps. If you want the metronome more or less often, or you change the STEPS/BEAT setting, you will want to change the number of steps per metronome. AUDIBLE METRONOME enables or disables the metronome "click" that is produced by the monitor speaker. VISIBLE METRONOME enables or disables the musical icon metronome that is shown on the Track mode and Open mode play/record screens. PLAY METRONOME turns the metronome on when the sequencer is in play. If this switch is off, the metronome will only occur when the program is recording. Environment Files ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Most of the parameters shown on the SET OPTIONS screen can be saved in an environment file. This allows you to quickly and accurately change the recording and playback parameters when you move to a new recording situation. Environment files have a .ENV extension. Environment files contain the values for time, duration, and velocity used on the Step time record screen, as well as the following SET OPTIONS parameters. All the parameters from the MIDI and METRONOME sections of the SET OPTIONS screen (except the DLY switch) are saved, and in the TIMING section, all parameters are saved. In the RECORDING section, the CONTROLLERS, AFTERTOUCH, and NOTE OFF VELOCITY record switches are saved, as well as the ECHO status and channel. In the OTHER section, all parameters except TRACK MODE LOOP, MIDI KEYS, and the CUE MOVE AMOUNT are saved, and in the VELOCITY PEDAL section, only the CHANNEL is saved. In the Amiga version of the program, the screen colors are also saved. If a file named DEFAULT.ENV exists on the KCS program disk, it will be automatically loaded when the program boots up. .ENV files are also loaded and saved automatically with .ALL files, under the same file name. If the STEPS/BEAT setting in the environment file is different than the current setting when you are loading a .ENV file, the program will ask if you want to adjust all event times. See the LOAD/SAVE chapter for more information on .ENV files. Chapter 12 ~~~~~~~~~~ MIDI ~~~~ While it is possible to make good use of the Keyboard Controlled Sequencer wdthout detailed knowedge of MIDI, you will undoubtedly find that as you start to realize some of the enormous potential inherent in most MIDI instruments; an understanding of the nuts and bolts of MIDI can be very helpful. This chapter contains information on a number of subjects pertinent to the KCS, but is by no means a complete guide to MIDI. Fortunately, a number of well written books on the subject have appeared on the market; we recommend tracking one down if you need more detailed information. MIDI Connections ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A MIDI cord consists of a twisted and shielded pair of wires, with the body of the plug isolated from the shield. At the MIDI out jack, the MIDI cable plugs directly into the synth or computer's circuitry; but at the MIDI in of the receiving instrument, the cable connects to an "opto isolator", which uses light, rather than electrons, to couple the signal into the instrument. This means that there is no electrical conductor between the MIDI in of one machine and the MIDI out of another, so you can't blow something by incorrect patching. Although MIDI cables look the same as standard DIN or Roland sync cables, the grounding of the two cables is different. DIN cables can create "ground loops", which will cause hum and other nasty sounds to appear at the output of your synthesizer(s). As mentioned in the first chapter of this manual, the Atari ST uses a nonstandard method for creating a MIDI thru connection with its MIDI out jack. This causes a conflict with some types of (nonstandard) MIDI cables which have the two normally unused pins (1 and 3) shorted to the pins which carry MIDI data (4 and 5). The best solution to this situation is to have the ST permanently modified to meet the MIDI spec; a less drastic s9olution is to check your cables with an ohm meter, preferably before leaving the store with them. MIDI Modes ~~~~~~~~~~ MIDI modes determing how an instrument will respond to incoming MIDI data. MIDI modes can be a source of confusion to beginners and pro's alike, primarily because one MIDI manufacturer mininterpreted the meaning of one of the modes when they introduced their first MIDI synthesizer. The three original modes were broken into four modes to allow for this. Since then, other manufacturers have created new modes to take advantave of various types of multi-timbral implementations. The original four MIDI modes can be selected on any synth that implements them through a control change (CC) event called a mode message; any other modes must be selected at the instrument or with a sysex message. The section below on USEFUL MIDI COMMANDS gives an example of how to select one of the four standard modes from the KCS. The four standard modes are called Omni On/Poly, Omni On/Mono, Omni Off/Poly, and Omni Off/Mono; they are also known as modes 1 - 4, respectively. The two Omni On modes cause the synth to receive data on all 16 MIDI channels at once; this is good for keyboards that are connected together in a layering arrangement, but not so hot for sequencing applications. Many earlier synths and drum machines power up in mode 1 (Omni On/Poly), and must be changed to one of the other modes to be used in a multi instrument sequencing environment. Mode 2 (Omni On/Mono) is virtually useless in all situations, as it causes an instrument to play ponly one voice monophonically, from all MIDI channels. This is the extra mode that was accidentally created in the early days of MIDI. The two Omni Off modes, modes 3 and 4, are more useful in a sequencing environment. Mode 3 (Omni Off/Poly) causes a synth to play all its voices polyphonically on one MIDI channel, while Mode 4 (Omni Off/Mono) puts each voice on a separate MIDI channel for monophonic operation. The CZ-101 and Sixtrak both use Mode 4 to implement their multi-timbral features, while more advanced synths like the Oberheim Xpander, Ensoniq ESQ1 and Yamaha FB01 use non-standard MIDI modes to allow assigning some voices to one channel, and some to others. Other MIDI Messages ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some synthesizers can be placed in an operating condition called Local Control Off. In this mode, they will respond only to signals coming in via MIDI, while ignoring their keyboards. They will continue to send keyboard information via MIDI OUT. Local Control On will return the synth to normal operation. Local control messages are subset of the continuous controllers, and are sent from the sequencer with CC events. System real time messages are used to synchronize MIDI instruments in real time. The timing clock message will advance drum machines and sequencers to move in time with the sequencer. Other system real time messages include the start, stop and continue commands. Normally, these events are sent by the KCS at the appropriate times, but they can be sent as single byte messages for specialized applications. Other less useful real time messages include the reset and active sense messages. System common messages are miscellaneous messages which can be sent to instruments, regardless of what channel they are on. These include the song select command, the tune command (which initiates oscillator tuning on analog synthesizers), and the much ballyhooed song position pointer message. System exclusive (sysex) messages are used by individual manufacturers to do whatever they want to do with their instruments that is not covered in the normal MIDI spec. This includes, but is not limited to, functions such as patch dumps, remote button pushing, and even displaying messages on an instrument's display. You can use single byte events to send sysex information, but it is your responsibility to determine the response of your instruments to the information sent. The March 1987 issue of Electronic Musician has an article on using system exclusive data with the KCS. Some Useful MIDI Commands ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All of the message types described above can be sent from the KCS, either as CC events, or with single byte messages. While many earlier synthesizers, such as the Sixtrak, have their own controller assignments, the assignments of all MIDI controllers are now standardized by the MIDI Manufacturers Association, and are listed on the next page. Many instruments also have assignable controls, which can be set to send or recognize any MIDI controller. This allows you to use any of the unassigned or less common controllers for whatever purpose you'd like. Examples of such instruments are the Oberheim Xpander, Matrix 12, and XK keyboard the Yamaha KX76 and KX88 keyboard controllers, and the Kurzweil MIDIBoard. Controller Name Number Range ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Modulation Wheel 1 0 - 127 Breath Controller 2 0 - 127 Early DX7 Aftertouch 3 0 - 127 Foot Controller 4 0 - 127 Portamento Time 5 0 - 127 Data Slider 6 0 - 127 Main Volume 7 0 - 127 Balance 8 0 - 127 Pan 10 0 - 127 Expression 11 0 - 127 General Purpose #1 16 0 - 127 General Purpose #2 17 0 - 127 General Purpose #3 18 0 - 127 General Purpose #4 19 0 - 127 LSB's for #'s 0 - 31 32 - 63 0 - 127 Sustain Pedal 64 0 or 127 Portamento On/Off 65 0 or 127 Sustenuto Pedal 66 0 or 127 Soft Pedal 67 0 or 127 Hold 2 69 0 or 127 General Purpose #5 80 0 or 327 General Purpose #6 81 0 or 127 General Purpose #7 82 0 or 127 General Purpose #8 83 0 or 127 Tremolo Depth 92 0 - 127 Chorus Depth 93 0 - 127 Celeste Depth 94 0 - 127 Phase Depth 95 0 - 127 Data Increment 96d 0 or 127 Data Decrement 97 0 or 127 Non Reg. Parameter MSB 98 0 - 127 Non Reg. Parameter LSB 99 0 - 127 Reg. Parameter MSB 100 0 - 127 Reg. Parameter LSB 101 0 - 127 Local Control On/Off 122 0 or 127 All Notes Off 123 0 Omni Off 124 0 Omni On 125 0 Mono On (0 = Omni Off) 126 0 - 16 Poly On 127 0 As an example of how these might be used, here is a sequence that sets a CZ-101 on Channel 5 to MIDI mode 4 (Omni Off/Mono) and then turns Local Control Off on channels 6 and 7: MSR- ST EVNT TIME CH TYP NOTE VEL DUR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1- 1 1 0 5 CC 126 0 1- 1 2 0 6 CC 122 0 1- 1 3 0 7 CC 122 0 The other three modes require two mode change messages to select a particular mode, for instance, control changes on controllers 124 and 127 to select Omni Off/Poly On. The numbers to be entered in single byte events for the other messge types are given below: Message Name 1st Byte 2nd Byte 3rd Byte ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sysex Start 240 ID # Song Pointer 242 LSB MSB Song Select 243 Song # Time Request 246 Sysex End 247 Timing Clock 248 Start 250 Continue 251 Stop 252 Axtive Sense 254 System Reset 255 The values used for the second and third bytes in the first three messages must be in the range of 0 - 127. If is you are using the song select message to select a song on an external drum machine or sequencer, you'll need to send a stop message just before the song select message, and a start message immediately thereafter. The form of system exclusive messages varies from one instrument to another; consult your manual for details. Program Changes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The program numbers assigned to MIDI program change numbers can vary quite a bit from one manufacturer to the next. Generally speaking, sending a program change to a Sequential of Oberheim synthesizer will cause that patch number to be selected, while sending the same program change to a Yamaha or Ensoniq instrument will select that patch number minus one. Casio uses a strange overlapping system which is described in the APPLICATIONS chapter, while Korg, Roland, and others use a "bank system" in which programs are selected via a modified octal numbering system. The following table shows which numbers to enter in a PG event to select a program on instruments that use the bank system. The Group A and Group B columns respect another level of program selection used on some Roland instruments. Use the values in the Group A column for synths without this feature. Program Group A Group B ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 11 - 18 0 - 7 64 - 71 21 - 28 8 - 15 72 - 79 31 - 38 16 - 23 80 - 87 41 - 48 24 - 31 88 - 95 51 - 58 32 - 39 96 - 103 61 - 68 40 - 47 104 - 111 71 - 78 48 - 55 112 - 119 81 - 88 56 - 62 120 - 127 The MIDI implementation chart which comes with each instrument should describe the program numbering scheme for that machine: if not, REXMAN! MIDI Note Numbers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MIDI note numbering is also handled differently by different manufacturers. The note numbering system used by Dr. T's is shown in the chart below, where th keyboard represents a five octave keyboard like those found on most instruments today. Note that the system we use does not coincide with that used by Yamaha. Yamaha designates the lowest key on the five octave keyboard C1, whereas we call that key C2. MIDI Drums ~~~~~~~~~~ When drum machines are played through MIDI, each drum is asigned to one or more notes on the MIDI keyboard. While newer machines allow you to assign each drum to a specific note (and possibly to a specific channel as well), there is sort of a quasi-standard in effect regarding drum machine note assignments. These assignments, which are also used in our Copyist transcription program, are listed below. Drum Note #'s Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bass 35, 36 B1, C2 Snare 38, 40 D2, E2 Rim 37 C#2 Claps 39 D#2 Floor Tom 41, 43 F2, G2 Low Tomm, 45, 47 A2, B2 Mid Tom 49 50 C3, D3 Hi Tom 52, 53 E3, F3 Open Hi Hat 46 A#2 Closed Hi Hat 42, 44 F#2, G#2 Crash cymbal 49 C#3 Ride Cymbal 51 D#3 Tamb/Crash 2 54 F#3 Cowbell 56 G#3 Shaker 58 A#3 Most drum machines only allow one note number to be assigned to a single drum. In this case, use the higher note for any drums which are listed with two numbers. Chapter 13 ~~~~~~~~~~ TIPS FOR ADVANCED USERS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the four years since the release of Version 1.0 of the Commodore 64 KCS, the thousands or musicians who use the program have undoubtably come up with many thousands of useful techniques, tricks, and shortcuts. Much as we would like to, space does not permit us to present all of them here. This chapter discusses many fundmental KCS techniques which might not be obvious at first, and will hopefully serve as a catalyst for further experimentation. Control Sequences in Open Mode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A sequence shich consists of sequence control events (PRIMARY, ST, XX, XL, MS, US, PT, or VT) is called a control sequence. You may find it beneficial to record individual sequences or parts of songs and then use control sequences to start them up. This example will start three sequences together and end four measures later. MSR- ST EVNT TIME CH TYP NOTE VEL DUR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1- 1 1 0 A 0 0 1 1- 1 2 0 7 0 0 1 1- 1 3 0 2 -4 0 1 5- 1 4 384 DE When the control sequence which follows is started, sequences A and B immediately start and will play four times. One measure later, sequence 15 (which is a secondary sequence) starts playing for two repetitions. Two measures later, sequence B is forced to shut off, and another two measures later, the TM event will change the tempo to 100 beats/minute. MSR- ST EVNT TIME CH TYP NOTE VEL DUR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1- 1 1 0 B 0 0 4 1- 1 2 0 A 0 0 4 1- 1 3 96 ST 15 0 2 1- 1 4 192 XX B 1- 1 5 192 TM 100 Creating Songs with Control Sequences ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are two techniques that we recommend for using control sequences to combine Open mode sequences into songs. The first technique involves creating a control sequence that starts other control sequences and waits for each sequence. This sequence controls the segueing of the sections of the piece. The sequences started by this sequence each start the sequences required by their section. In the following example, the song consists of sequence 1, followed by 2, 3 and then 1 again. MSR- ST EVNT TIME CH TYP NOTE VEL DUR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1- 1 1 0 1 0 0 1W 1- 1 2 0 2 0 0 1W 1- 1 3 0 3 0 0 1W 1- 1 4 0 1 0 0 1W MSR-ST EVNT TIME CH TYP NOTE VEL DUR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1- 1 1 0 A 0 0 1 1- 1 2 0 B 0 0 2 1- 1 3 0 C 0 0 1W 1- 1 4 0 DE The sccond sequence above is sequence 1. Sequences A, B, and C are started together, and sequence 1 waits for sequence C to complcte before ending. Sequence B is played tiwce. When using a structure such as this, you will probably want all parts to play for the same Control amount of time. In the case, sequence B would be half the length of sequences A and C. The W (Wait) for sequence C prevents the song from, continuing to sequence 2 until sequence C has completed. The DE event may look superfluous, but it is necessary to keep sequence 1 from ending after sequence C is started, causing the main control sequence to continue. If you always end a control sequence that will be started by another control sequence with a DE event, you will prevent such problems without having to think about what goes on inside the program. The other technique is to use a single control sequence without waits to "schedule" the starting of other sequences. This has the disadvantage of requiring you to compute and enter the times necessary to get all of the parts to start exactly when you want them to. It has the advantage of comptete flexibility. Parts can be started while other parts are still playing, and XX or XL events can be used to stop looping parts without calculating their normal stop points. MSR- ST EVNT TIME CH TYP NOTE VEL DUR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1- 1 1 0 A 0 0 1 1- 1 2 0 B 0 0 2 1- 1 3 0 C 0 0 1 9- 1 4 768 B 0 0 2 9- 1 5 0 D 0 0 99 9- 1 6 0 E 0 0 1 13- 1 7 384 F 0 0 1 13- 1 8 0 XX D This example might be used to play a song with the same beginning as the one in the previous example. Eight bars into the piece, sequence B is started for two more plays. Sequence D, perhaps just a sixteenth note hi hat, is started indefinitely, and sequence E is started for a single play. Four bars after that, sequence D is stopped and sequence F is started. The second method is the one Dr. T usually prefers when he is composing music instead of writing software. Control Sequences as Real Time Controllers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Many of the KCS's event types which modify the playback of other sequences can be used as real time controllers themselves, by creating control sequences which perform specific operations on other sequences. For example, suppose that you find that, when creating songs in Open mode, you often have a need to mute every part EXCEPT your drum sequences. Assuming that you use channel 16 for your drum parts, enter the following sequences in sequences 91 and 92. MSR- ST EVNT TIME CH TYP NOTE VEL DUR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1- 1 1 0 MS * 1- 1 2 0 US *16 MSR- ST EVNT TIME CH TYP NOTE VEL DUR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1- 1 1 0 US * Now typing 91 on the nuberic keyboard will mute all active sequences, and immediately unmute all active sequences that start with an event on channel 16. This is effectively the same as muting all sequences but those on channel 16. Sequence 92 will return all sequences to their original, unmuted status. Note that, as with all applications which involve starting Open mode sequences from the keyboard, the number of repeats programmed for each control sequence will have a profound effect on the operation of any real time control sequences. In the preceeding example, if sequence 91 is set to loop indefinitely, then all subsequent sequences on that start with a channel other than 16 will be muted each time sequence 91 loops, and if sequence 91 is set to loop only once, then sequences that start after sequence 91 is played will not be muted. Generally speaking, real time control sequences should be set to repeat only once, if predictable effects are to be obtained. Real time control sequences can perform more exciting functions than simply muting tracks, though. Suppose that, for some reason, you'd like to simulate the effect of playing a 33 RPM record at 45 RPM. In this case, you'd need to speed up the sequencer's tempo, while simultaneously transposing each part up by a corresponding amount. The following sequence does just that: MSR- ST EVNT TIME CH TYP NOTE VEL DUR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1- 1 1 0 AC 372 1- 1 1 0 PT * 5 If you're picky about details, you could program a sequence in which the tempo and pitch transposition are gradually increased, to simulate the flywheel effect caused by the inertia of the turntable. Of course, you will probably want to create a corresponding sequence to return the speed to normal, unless you really enjoy listening to records at the wrong speed. If you have created a series of real time control sequences that are useful in a number of applications, it may be convenient to save these sequences in a group, so they can be loaded for use with other sequences. This can be done by simply creating a song, in Song mode, which contains all of your real time control sequences. Such a song would never be played as other songs are, of course, but this technique allows these sequences to be saved and loaded as a group. See Chapter 10 for details. Additional Control Sequence Techniques ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You may wish to create a separate control sequence that contains all of the program changes needed for your song. You might want to put a few steps of rest in this sequence if using the first technique, or start this sequence slightly ahead of the others. The extra time gives the program changes a chance to "settle" before any notes are played. You may wish to set up the basic structure of your song using either of the above techniques, and then use the RECORD WITH CUE feature to add additional parts which can start at any point in the sequence. You must then add a sequence start event (without a WAIT) for each new sequence at the beginning of the main control sequence. Dr. T frequently uses this technique to overdub continuous controller information after the basic piece is completed. Suggestions on Timing Resolution ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Keyboard Controlled Sequencer defaults to a resolution of 24 steps/beat. This corresponds to clocks that are separated by about 20 milliseconds (ms) at a tempo of 120 beats/minute. The program allows you to increase the steps/beat value up to 384, but there are several reasons that we recommend a value no higher than 96. Given that it takes 1 ms to send most MIDI messages, and that no instruments will respond instantly, setting the time between clock steps to 1 or 2 ms does not give you as much increased resolution as you might think. A higher resolution creates larger time and duration values which are more difficult to edit. Other disadvantages stem from the design of the KCS. The program was designed to use the time between clock steps to do work to get ready for the next time step. If the time steps are too close together, the program will not always be able to do this work. The program was also designed to play the lower numbered tracks or sequences before the higher numbered. This order is preserved even when tracks are copied to a sequence. You can thus improve timing of critical parts by putting them on the lowest numbered tracks or sequences. If the time steps are so close toghether that the program has not finished with the previous time step before it is supposed to start the next, this advantage will be lost. When in Track mode, timing accuracy may be affected slightly by mouse movement and placement. Generally speaking, if you have critical timing requirements, you should avoid moving the mouse while in Track mode, and, on the ST, keep the mouse away from any active display areas on the screen, such as the measure/step counter or the activity displays. We have never found a need to do this, but if you are a perfectionist and are working with a high resolution clock, these steps may be helpful. The real time clock is derived from the same clock used to step through the sequencer. Thus, when an external clock is in use, the program has no direct knowledge of the tempo - so the calculations used to maintain the real time clock are based on the TM, AC and DC events within a sequence. This might seem to be an inherently inaccurate method for calculating the time, but as long as the external clock source is a SMPTE or similar sync signal (such as that generated by our Model S synchronizer) that was laid down using the same tempo changes, the results are excellent. In our measurements, we have found the accuracy of this method to be around 1 second in 4 hours using the same computer as the clock source, though in real life the accuracy of the clock will be limited by the accuracy of the tape deck's motors. The tempo events in a piece are also used to calculate the real time clock value when chasing a cue point, either in response to a MIDI song pointer message or to selecting a "play from cue" operation, and to interpolate between MIDI clocks when synchronizing to an external 24 PPQN clock (for instance) while using a higher internal clock resolution. Since MIDI song pointer messages are quantized in units of six clock steps, the time and tempo calculation routines used for these purposes by the KCS expect to see TM, AC, and DC events auto-corrected to a six step grid. Otherwise, timing inaccuracies will result. The longest single rest (DE event) that the program can record is 65535 steps, which corresponds to about 683 bars at 96 steps/measure. If you are recording a part that begins more than this number of steps into a track, the part will play 65536 steps earlier than you expect, and you will have to put extra rests in from the edit screen. Syncing to Tape ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you are using a sync to tape box such as our Model S or the Roland SBX80, we suggest that you mute all tracks, sequences, or channels when you lay down the sync tone. The reason for this is that, when the sequences is playing a full set of sequences, the MIDI data st5ream is pretty busy, and the timing of individual clock messages may be affected slightly. By muting all sequences, we allow the computer tofunction strictly as a very expensive but deadly accurate MIDI clock source, which is all that is needed when laying down a sync tone. However, be sure NOT to mute the conductor track in Track mode, or any Open mode sequences that contain TM, AC, or DC events, as this will eliminate all your tempo changes from the sync track! The exact procedure for recording a sync tone will depend on your sync box, but the basic method is as follows. First, set up the sequencer as described above, then start the tape recorder. After it has run for a bit, start the sequencer. When the song has finished, stop the recorder and rewind the tape. (You might want to let the clock run on for a while after the song ends, in case you decide to lengthen the song later.) Now unmute all the previously muted tracks or sequences, set the sequencer's clock source to MIDI (or MIDI W SONG POINTER. if your sync box supports this feature) on the SET OPTIONS screen, and patch the MIDI clock output from the sync box into the computer's MIDI input. From here on, everything should function as described in your sync box manual. Sending System Exclusive Messages ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ System exclusive messages, which most MIDI hardware manufacturers use to communicate patch data and other non-standard message types, can be set from the KCS using single byte events. For many shorter messages, the single byte events can be simply inserted in the sequence without any adjustments to the remainder of the sequence, but for longer messages such as data dumps, it may be necessary to add time to the sequence after the message, to allow the KCS to "settle". For example, it takes about 1 second to send a 3000 byte sysex message. This message should all be sent on one time step (that is, each event in the message should have a TIME value of zero) since the receiving instrument may react strangely if delays are inserted into the message. While the message is being sent, the sequencer is accumulating a "backlog" of other messages to be sent (MIDI clocks, note messages, etc.) which will all be sent immediately after the sysex message as the sequencer tries to catch up with itself. For this reason, it's a good idea to put a dead space, with no activity in eiher the sequence itself or any synchronized instruments, in the song immediately following any large sysex messages. The KCS can directly record system exclusive messages of up to 5000 bytes if the SYSEX button on the SET OPTIONS page is active. Sometimes bulk dumps (which may be longer than this limit) may consist of a series of shorter sysex messages. These will be recorded properly if each individual message does not exceed this limit. For larger messages, the public domain program DRTSYSEX.PRG (ST only), which can be found on a number of MIDI related bulletin boards, can be used to converert sysex messages of up to 32K bytes into sequence files. To record a sysex data dump from a MIDI instrument, turn on the SYSEX button on the SET OPTIONS screen, and select an Open mode sequence for recording. Following the instructions in your instrument's manual, initiate a data dump forom the instrument's front panel. If everything is working properly, the sequencer will start to record immediately, and the word SYSEX will appear on the screen as the name for that sequence. The sequencer's clock may pause momentarily while long data dumps are being recorded. If you have an instrument that does not allow sending sysex data dumps directly from its front panel, it may be possible to initiate a data dump by sending a "dump request" message to the instrument from the Open mode record screen, while recording the data dump in an Open mode sequence. Be sure that your dump request sequence is set to play only once; otherwise, strange behavior will certainly result. Synths which require handshaking during sysex dumps, such as Casio and some Roland instruments, will need to have delays inserted a certain points in the dump request. See your owner's manuals for details on dump requests, and please don't call us for help with specific instruments! Transferring Sequences from Other Sequencers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you are upgrading to the Keyboard Controlled Sequencer from a less powerful hardware or software sequencer, you might be wondering if you will have to redo all the work you've done on your old sequencer, to play the same music on the KCS. Fortunately, transferring sequences into the KCS from another instrument is quite simple. Essentially, we treat the older sequencer as a keyboard player with a built in MIDI clock, and let it play into the KCS while we record. First, set the external sequencer to send MIDI clock, and disable looping, if possible. If you can't turn looping off on the external sequencer, make sure you have a blank sequence available in that machine. The tempo of the external sequences can usually be set to its maximum value with no problems, which is handy if you have a lot of sequences to transfer; but be careful when transferring dense music, since minor timing discrepancies might occur due to MIDI data logjams. On the KCS, set the clock source to MIDI, enable the recording of controllers and aftertouch, and turn MIDI MERGE on. ECHO should be off, and you will probably want to leave FILTER off as well, unless you want to record one channel at a time. QUANTIZE should be off, and ALIGN should be on. Now go to the Track or Open mode record screen, as you prefer, and you are ready to record material from the original sequencer. If recording in Track mode, be sure not to set the length of all tracks. You can either record a single sequence, pattern, segment, whatever, from the external device, or an entire song. We usually prefer to record single sequences from the external device in Open mode, and then string them together using control sequences or Song mode. Once a sequence is recorded in Open mode, it is a simple matter to bread it into individual channels by copying the sequence to Track mode. When you enter the record screen, ensure that recording is enabled and press F10 or the SPACE bar to start recording. The KCS will wait for a start signal from the external sequencer. Start your song or sequence on the external sequencer, and data on all 16 MIDI channels will be recorded by the KCS. If looping is disabled on the older sequencer, then a stop signal will be sent at the end of the sequence and recording will cease. If looping is turned on, then select the blank sequence mentioned earlier after starting the external sequencer. On most machines, this will cause the blank sequence to start as soon as the first sequence is finished. Stop both sequencers after the blank sequence starts. In this case, you will undoubtedly need to remove some time from the end of the recorded sequence or track, to compensate for recording part of the blank sequence. In either case, you may also need to make slight adjustments to the timing of the first event of the track or sequence. Since drum machines are nothing but stripped down sequencers with built in sounds, drum patterns can be transferred to the sequencer in the same way. This allows you to keep all of your drum parts on the same disk as the rest of a song. For more information on transferring sequences between two instruments, see the December 1986 issue of Music Technology. Loopback Recording ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Loopback recording is an extension of the idea of transferring sequences from another sequencer; but in this case, the external device is replaced by a previously recorded track or sequence in the KCS itself. This might seem like a strange notion at first, but there are a number of applications for this technique. For example, loopback recording can be used to reduce a complex control sequence to a single sequence for use within a song, or for capturing a performance using the interactive play features of Track or Open modes. To set up for loopback recording, connect the computer's MIDI in jack to its own MIDI out, either directly or through a merger. Set the clock source to INTERNAL CLK. ECHO and MIDI MERGE must very definitely be turned off, and MUTE NEW TRACKS should be on of you're in Track mode. You will need to turn FILTER on if you want to record on only one channel while listening to all channels. From here, the procedure is the same as recording from a keyboard, except that the KCS is providing th ekeyboard player. Simply turn RECORD on and start the sequencer. One way to use this technique would be to bounce portions of several tracks down to one trakc, while muting and unmuting the individual tracks as needed. The result would be a single track which contains only the portions of the other tracks that you want to keep. You could double portions of a track using loopback recording by muting the track in the appropriate places, and then merging the new track with the original. In Open mode, loopback recording can be used to reduce a song, which may have evolved from a few simple sequences to an ungainly collection of looped and unlooped control sequences interspersed with XX, XL, and other events, to a more manageable single sequence. If you prefer to create songs in real time by starting and stopping sequences from the keyboard, loopback recording can be used to capture such a performance. The velocity pedal feature of Open and Track modes was designed specifically for use with this technique. As a sequence or track is played, it is re-recorded in another sequence or track with velocity values processed by the velocity pedal. When doing this, you will need to set the filter channel to the channel of the sequence or track that is being processed with the velocity pedal, so that only that channel is recorded. Chapter 14 ~~~~~~~~~~ TROUBLESHOOTING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While MIDI is one of the most successful and consistent interfacing standards in the computer industry, it is still possible that certain types of equipment won't work well together. Many times, what might seem like a perfectly reasonable configuration won't give the expected results. This could be because you are trying to use a feature which is not implemented on a particular machine, or because you haven't initialized your synths correctly, or for many other reasons. When you get into a situation like this, a MIDI data display program can be very helpful. You can then determine if a piece of equipment is doing what it is supposed to do, or if the problem lies elsewhere. A MIDI display program for the Commodore 64 was published in the September 1986 issue of Electronic Musician, and instructions for adapting this program to the ST appeared in the June 1987 issue. We're sorry, but Dr. T's can only answer directions directly regarding the operation of our software, and not questions regarding the idiosyncrasies of a particular piece of equipment. See Appendix 1 for further information on customer support. There are two general approaches that are useful when troubleshooting a complex system. you can attempt to isolate the source of the trouble by changing one aspect of the system at a time, or you can simplify the system by using fewer pieces of equipment or program features. You should try both approaches when confronted with a problem in the use of the software. Don't forget the Doctor's prescription for dealing with MIDI technical problems, REXMAN (Relax, EXperiment, and read your owner's MANuals). The remainder of this chapter outlines solutions to various common problems. Program Gives Errors on Loading ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Does the computer load other programs? If so, you might have a bad disk. In this case, contact Dr. T's to arrange for a replacement disk. DO NOT send back your disk without contacting Dr. T's for a return authorization number. Returned products which do not display such a number on the outside of the package will be returned to the sender. And remember, NEVER save your data files on your KCS program disk! Program Gives Errors While Running ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you booted your Atari ST from a system disk containing disk accessories, try re-booting from the KCS program disk. If you are using an Amiga, it is possible that some other programs may cause problems when run concurrently with the KCS. Try eliminating all other programs from the Amiga's memory, or re-booting from the KCS program disk. We are interested in hearing about any problems you may have when multi-tasking the KCS with another company's product, but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to solve the problem. Computer Appears to be Dead ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Adjust your monitor settings and check for a loose monitor cable. is the disk drive on and is the drive cable OK? Is the mouse properly inserted in the correct jack? Try turning the computer's power off for at least 15 seconds, then re-boot. This forces the computer to completely clear it's memory. Instruments Do Not Respond ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First check to see that all your MIDI cables are connected properly, that data reception is enabled on each instrument, and that the correct channel assignments are being used. If nothing plays at all, the program might be set to sync to a nonexistent external clock. check the clock source on the SET OPTIONS page. The program may have crashed. Save your files (if possible), remove the disk, power down or reset the computer, and then run the program again. If a sequence or track that you've just finished recording won't play back, use the edit screen to confirm that you have acutally recorded data, and that it's on the right channel. Check your master synth, as well as the ECHO and FILTER settings on the SET OPTIONS screen if not. Continuous Controllers are Recorded Incorrectly ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Occasionally, a long string of continuous controller messages, such as pitch bend or the modulation wheel, may be recorded as a string of program changes or other incorrect message types. This happens if the instrument used for recording employs running status, and recording is turned on after the start of the controller motion. When running status is used, a MIDI status byte is sent only at the start of the controller motion, rather than with each individual message, and if recording is enabled after this single status byte is sent, the KCS (or any MIDI devide, for that matter) will not interpret the subsequent data correctly. If this happens, simply re-record the controller data, but play a single note before moving the controller. This ensures that a status byte will be sent at the beginning of the controller motion, and the note can be easily removed on the edit screen. Note that changing the RUNNING STATUS switch on the SET OPTIONS screen of the KCS will not help with this problem. Some Instruments Don't Respond Correctly All the Time ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some instruments can't respond to MIDI information at the full specified MIDI rate. This is especially true for some DX7's. The symptom is that the instrument appears to be missing notes. Sometimes changing programs will fix the problem; a more drastic action is to re-power the instrument. Use the MIDI SLOW function in the SET OPTIONS section of the program to slow down the MIDI transmission rate. Use the lowest value which provides acceptable results. MIDIed Drumulators are also susceptible to this problem. Sequencer Plays Back, but Notes are Garbled ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Using nonstandard MIDI cables on the Atari ST's MIDI output can cause this problem, especially if you're playing an instrument that's connected to the computer's MIDI in at the same time. Check your cables to make sure that pins 1 and 3 are not shorted to pins 4 and 5. Some synthesizers also have these pins shorted together at their MIDI inputs, which will cause problems if you are using a 5 conductor MIDI cable, though three conductor cables do not exhibit this problem. Are notes overlapping improperly? If an instrument is in mono mode and notes overlap, the instrument may not retrigger its envelopes. If an instrument is in poly mode and notes of the same pitch overlap, undesirable results might occur. If a note ends and a new note begins in the same time step, the new note will start before the old one ends, causing an overlap. Sending program changes too close to a note on or off message can cause missing or stuck notes on some synths. Try moving any program changes in the area of the affected notes. Synthesizers Spit Out Notes at High Speed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you loop an Open mode sequence that contains one or more MIDI events, all with times of zero, the program will send these MIDI events as fast as it can, causing your synthesizer to sound as if it's going haywire. If you loop a control sequence of length zero, and the control sequence does not have a WAIT programmed, that sequence will keep restarting all of the sequences it is controlling, and they will keep replaying their first notes. Don't loop any sequence whose times are all zero, unless it has a WAIT programmed and a DE event at the end. A MIDI loop condition, where the computer's MIDI out is fed back to its own MIDI in through a merger, can also cause this to occur. Instrument Sends Data, but Doesn't Receive ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The instrument may not be set to receive on the MIDI channel that it is sending on. Are your MIDI cables good? Some sync cables look like MIDI cables, but won't work properly for MIDI. Check that the synth's MIDI receive channel is the same as its send channel, and that ECHO and FILTER are set properly. MIDI Controllers Are Not Recorded ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Have you set the KCS to record controllers? Does this instrument send and receive the controllers you're using? Some early MIDI synths, such as the Roland Jupiter 6, won't send control changes over MIDI. Others, like the Prophet 600, must have controllers enabled from the front panel each time the synth is turned on. Early DX7's sent aftertouch as controller 3. Sequencer and Drum Machine Go Out of Sync When Looping ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This can occur if the length of the sequence in Open mode or of track 1 in Track mode is not a multiple of the length of the drum box pattern. Check to make sure that the sequence ends on the first step of a measure, rather than step 96 or some other nearby value. If you do not use the ALIGN feature while recording you will almost always end the recording process a little before or after the end of a measure. On playback each loop will put the sequence further out of sync. When using ALIGN, you must press the F10 key DURING the last measure that you wish to record. Pressing F10 a fraction of a beat into the next measure will force the program to continue recording for another entire measure, even if you do not play any notes. Clicking on STOP or pressing F1 immediately stops recording and defeats the ALIGN feature. If a drum box is synced to the program via MIDI, it may lose timing clock information if too much MIDI information is being sent. As the piece progresses the drum machine will go further out of sync. Does the drum keep sync when only playing a few sequences? Does it play better if no sequences with PB, AT or CC events are running? Select RUNNING STATUS on the SET OPTIONS screen may help. Other ways around this are to use the drum machine as the master, or to have the KCS play the drums instead of sending time to the drum machine to play its own patterns. Synths Not Accepting Program Changes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some synthesizers, for example Sequential's instruments, power up in a mode in which they do not accept program changes via MIDI. Your synthesizer manual should contain instructions on how to make them accept program changes. Many instruments only accept a limited range of program numbers, and reject all others. A Programmed Wait Does Not Occur ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sequences which call other sequences and use the WAIT feature should have a DE event with a time of zero for the last event. If you do not do this, you will encounter problems when you try to chain this sequence into a higher level control sequence. Noticeable Time Delays Occur When Sequences Start or Loop ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The computer is a powerful, but finite tool. If you attempt to play several sequences simultaneously, which in turn each play a lot of notes simultaneously, the computer may lag. If this occurs, rearrange your sequence structure to reduce the amount of work the computer has to do in one time step. Edit the timing so that not as many sequence start events occur at the same time. Most instruments will react strangely if you try to send a patch change and play a note in the same time step. See the note on program changes under Sequencer Plays Back, But Notes Are Garbled. Synthesizer Not Functioning in Multi-Timbral Mode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some multi-timbral synthesizers (the Sixtrak and the CZ-101, for example) power up in poly mode. To use the multi-timbral feature, you must set them to mono mode, either through MIDI (see the MIDI chapter) or by following the instructions in your owner's manual. The Sixtrak will always transmit on its basic channel, so you may need to use Local Control Off and ECHO to record in real time. you will have to use the edit screen to insert program changes for each channel recorded, as selecting a program on the Sixtrak affects all six voices. If a synth appears to be responding sluggishly in multi-timbral mode (short staccato notes are lost or one note may have a rough attack), try using the MIDI SLOW option on the SET OPTIONS screen. Chapter 15 ~~~~~~~~~~ APPLICATION NOTES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This Chapter contains tips for making better use of certain instruments with the Keyboard Controlled Sequencer. Since new equipment continues to be released at an increasing rate, it is not possible to make a complete listing of products that will work with the program. Many instruments share design features, so the following information may be useful even if you do not own the instruments discussed. Casio CZ Series ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Casio CZ-101 is a programmable eight voice polyphonic digital instrument. It can hold 32 programs (16 of these are presets and may not be changed) or 48 programs if you buy the optional RAM cartridge. Dr. T's also has available a patch librarian/editor for the CZ, and RAM cartridges pre-loaded with 64 of our favorite sounds. The CZ-101 is very useful with the KCS because it can also function as four mono synths. It may be programmed to work on any four adjacent MIDI channels, with each channel playing a different sound. One drawback is that there is only one output jack for the four different sounds. You will have to change DCA envelope levels to balance the relative volumes. There is no MIDI thru on the CZ synthesizers, so you'll need a MIDI junction box or else patch the CZ at the end of the MIDI chain. The CZ's are not sensitive to velocity but respond well to variations in duration because of their three 8 stage envelope generators. you can put the CZ-101 in mono multi-timbral mode by pressing the SOLO button. You can then use the MIDI, cursor right, and up arrow buttons to select programs, or you can select programs from the sequencer. Note in the multi-timbral mode the CZ may not always react predictably. Notes may ge chopped or missed. If doing serious recording, you may wish to use a syncing device and record each Casio part in normal rather than in mono mode. This will also depend on what patches you are using and the value of the notes it is receiving. Casio has an "overlap" in its program calling. A program on the Casio can be specified with either of two numbers when selected from the sequencer. KCS PG Value CZ Program ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 0 - 15 Presets 1 - 16 16 - 31 Presets 1 - 16 32 - 47 Internal 1 - 16 48 - 63 Internal 1 - 16 64 - 79 Cartridge 1 - 16 80 - 95 Cartridge 1 - 16 The CZ's have one MIDI controller conflict with other instruments. MIDI controller 6, which is assigned to the data slider on most instruments, is used for a tune control on the CZ's, which can cause problems if data slider information is accidentally sent to a CZ. Another quirk of the CZ's is that in Mono mode, pitch bend is only received on one channe - and not the basic channel, as you'd expect, but the most recently selected voice channel, which is shown beside the letters VO in the Casio's MIDI display. Korg EX-800, Poly-800 and DW-6000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Poly-800 and EX-800 are similar, with the newer EX-800 being a keyboardless version of the Poly-8OO with a few more features. Both machines send on channel 1 and may be set to receive on any channel and both may select an external MIDI clock to drive their own sequencer along with the KCS. The Poly 800 sends its sequence data on channel 2. The DW-6OOO is a 6 voice synth with 64 programmable memories. It features a digital waveform generator system. The DW-6000 will send and receive note data, program change, pitch bend, OSC mod, VCF mod, damper pedal, podamento switch and system exclusive messages. Korg instruments use a modifed octal numbering system to arrange patches into "banks", as described in the MIDI chapter. These Korg instruments neither send or receive velocity but they do respond to MIDI volume information. Standard MIDI controller assignments are used except for mod wheel and breath control (controllers 1 and 2), which are used for joystack up and joystick down on the Korgs. MIDI Clock and Merge Boxes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The MIDI interfaces used by the Amiga and ST do not provide any inputs other than MIDI in. If you want to sync to tape or to an external drum machine, you need a device that provides MIDI clock to the computer. If you want to be able to use the real time record features of the KCS while syncing to tape, you need a device that can combine the MIDI clock signal from your drum machine or sync box with the MIDI output of your keyboards. The Yamaha KX76 and KX88 keyboards do this automatically, and some others may as well. Harmony Systems, JL Cooper and others make MIDI merge boxex, which merge two MIDI inputs into a single MIDI output. Yamaha makes a device which does MIDI merge and provides several additional continuous controllers. Any of these will allow you to merge MIDI clock with MIDI keyboard data, and newer models will simultaneously generate a MIDI clock and merge it with data from one or more MIDI instruments. MIDI Junction or Thru Boxes and MIDI Switcher Boxes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Many companies manufacture MIDI thru boxes. They consist of one MIDI input and several MIDI outputs, and are useful if you have several instruments with no MIDI thrus. Kamlet, 360 Systems, JL Cooper, and others make MIDI switcher boxes. These are more elaborate boxes that allow you to choose among several MIDI inputs for each of 8 or 10 MIDI devices. We find these invaluable in our setups. Ensoniq Mirage ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Mirage samplwr responds to vwlocity changes particularly well with velocity controlled ADSR's velocity sensitive oscillator mix, and keyboard scaled decay. You may have several samples spread across the keyboard, giving the impression that it is several instruments (although there is only one audio output). You can balance the volunle between the two keyboard sides. The instrument powers up in omni mode. The Mirage Operating System Version 3 update adds a lot more MIDI control to the instrument which the KCS can address using CC events or single byte messages. Among the performance enhancements are aftertouch, breath controller, and Local Control Off. The Mirage can also be made to initiate a disk load by sending it an appropriate program change command; see your Mirage manual for details. Ensoniq ESQ1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The ESQl is a very powerful eight voice multi-timbral synthesizer, which can receive on up to nine channels simultaneously when the instrument is in multi mode. Channel assignments are controlled by the ESQ1's internal sequencer. Since each sequence on the iESQ1 can be selected from MIDI by sending an appropriate song select command, it is possible to re-assign the channel that the ESQ receives on from one instant to the next. Since voices are assigned to channel on an "as needed" basis, it is possible to play up to eight voices on any of the nine channels at one time, without worring about which channel has how many voices assigned to it. The keyboard sends release velocity through MIDI, though the ESQ won't recognize this information. It is also possible to push any button on the ESQ's front panel via system exclusive messages; see the version 2.0 update documentation for details. Yamaha KX76 and KX88 Master Keyboards ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CAUTION: KX76's and KX88's can have problems when using the MIDI merge feature of the KCS. If you patch a KX76 or 88 to receive data from the KCS, and then send it on to the receiving synths, and the KX76 or 88 (or at least ours) receives too much MIDI data at one time, it will erase its internal memory and go back to the state it was in when it was shipped from the factory. Beware of MIDI loops and length 0 sequences when using a KX76 of KX88 in this manner. Yamaha RX11 and RX15 Drum Machines ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The RX11 features several variations of the most essential drums. There are 8 snares, 3 kicks, 3 closed hats, 2 open hats, 2 cowbells, 2 claps, and 2 rimshots. It is possible to set the instrument select, note number, volume, pan, and MIDI channel assignment for each drum from the KCS using system exclusive messages; the codes for doing this are contained in the RX11 service manual. One problem with the RX11 is that it can not record when wynced to an external device, either through MIDI or the tape sync input; nor will it send a MIDI clock or tape sync pulse while recording. It also "hangs up" and refuses to accept MIDI information for about two seconds after receiving a MIDI start command, if it is set to an empty pattern or song. For these reasons, it is best to ignore the RX11's pattern recording features and use it strictly as a drum synthesizer, with the KCS controlling the drums via MIDI note commands. In this case, set the RX11's clock source to EXTERNAL. The RX15 is similar to the RX11, but has fewer features. There are not as many drums, fewer patterns and only two audio outputs. Nor does it receive the system exclusive messages that the RX11 recognizes. One problem the RX15 has when syncing to MIDI clock is that occasionally, if it receives too much data (such as note information intended for another instrument) it will start to miss MIDI clocks. This causes the drum machine to lose sync, and the musician to pull his hair out. Try activating RUNNING STATUS on the SET OPTIONS screen. Appendix 1 ~~~~~~~~~~ SERVICE AND SUPPORT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This program and the associated documentation are copyright (C) 1986, 1987, and 1988 by Emile Tobenfeld. This program is licensed to be used on a single machie, by the original purchaser only. It may not be copied without explicit written permission. The diskette on which the program is furnished is warranted for ninety (90) days from the date of delivery. The program is not guaranteed to meet your requirements, and operation of the program is not guaranteed to be uninterrupted or error free. In no event will Emile Tobenfeld or Dr. T's Music Software be liable for any damages, including any lost savings, lost profits, or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use this program, even if we have been advised of the possibility of damages. Dr. T's Music Software and Emile Tobenfeld shall not be responsible for any damages claimed by any other party, resulting from the use or attempted use of this program. All warranties implied are Dr. T's, not your local dealer. If problems arise, call Dr. T's directly. Copy Protection and Backups ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The disk containing the KCS is copy protected, and must be inserted in drive A: on the Atari ST, or any disk drive on the Amiga, when running the program from either the hard or floppy disk. We regret the necessity for copy protection, but experience has shown this to be the only way to deal with unauthorized distribution of our programs. Software piracy is a crime and deprives your fellow artists of their rightful income. Because of this problem, we are much more fun to deal with if we have your completed warranty card in our hands when you call for technical support. Backup disks may be obtained from Dr. T's for $15, when you send in your warranty registration card. You must include either your completed warranty card or your diskette serial number and a copy of the sales receipt. When calling Dr. T's for customer service, there are a number of things that you can do to help us help you, which can also save you money on your long distance bill. Here is a check list of things to have ready when calling Dr. T's. 1. Your diskette regstration number 2. Your manual 3. Computer turned on and KCS booted 4. Any data related to the problem 5. Information on your computer's disk configuration, monitor type, printer type, etc. 6. Paper and pencil When you call us, we will walk you through the program and ask you questions about what happens, so it is very important that you have this material at hand when calling. If you don't have this ready, we will ask you to call back later with the required information. After you've completed the checklist, call us at (617) 244-1542 between 10 AM and 4 PM Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday. Appendix 2 ~~~~~~~~~~ COMMAND KEY REFERENCE LISTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next few pages contain reference lists of the keyboard functions on the Track, Open, and Song mode play and record screens, and the step time record screen. You may make copies of these pages and keep the copies close at hand when using the KCS, if you like. TRACK MODE PLAY/RECORD SCREEN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TRACK SELECT KEYS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 - 9 : Tracks 1 - 9 A - Z : Tracks 10 - 35 Numeric 1 - 9 : Tracks 36 - 44 Numeric ( : Track 45 Nvmeric ) : Track 46 Numeric ' : Track 47 Numeric / : Track 48 CONTROL PANEL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ F1 :EXIT F2 :RECORD F10/SPACE :PLAY ESC :PAUSE ENTER :STOP . :TEMPO UP , :TEMPO DOWN UNDO :RE-RECORD ? :ERASE TRK : :CONTROLLERS ' :AFTERTOUCH * :NOTE OFF VEL ; :MIDI MERGE BACKSPACE :ECHO > :ECHO CHAN UP < :ECHO CHAN DOWN TAB :CUE CRSR UP :START CUE UP CRSR DOWN :START CUE DOWN CRSR RIGHT :END CUE UP CRSR LEFT :END CUE DOWN LIVE EDIT ~~~~~~~~~ RIGHT SHIFT :DELETES NOTES CONTROL :RESTORE NOTES ALTERNATE :VEL = 127 LEFT SHIFT :VEL = 64 ALT/L.SHIFT :VEL = 16 AMIGA KEY SUBSTITUTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Atari ST Amiga ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNDO :Right AMIGA key INSERT :Right ALT key CLR HOME :Shift-DEL Numeric ( :Numeric - Numeric ) :Shift-Numeric - Numeric * :Numeric . Numeric / :Shift-Numeric . The four numeric key substitutions apply to the Amiga 1000 only. TRACK OPTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ F3 :MUTE/UNMUTE F4 :SET PUNCH F5 :CLEAR PUNCH F6 :ERASE PUNCH F7 :COPY PUNCH F8 :SOLO F9 :SET SWITCH F11 :SHIFT +1 F12 :SHIFT +3 F13 :SHIFT +12 F14 :SHIFT -1 F15 :SHIFT -3 F16 :SHIFT -12 F17 :EDIT SELECT F18 :SWAP F20 :NAME CLR HOME :ERASE ALTERNATE :MUTE ONLY SHIFT :UNMUTE ONLY HIDDEN CONTROLS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DELETE :ALIGN RETURN :TRACK SWITCH \ :TRACK MERGE | :AUTO-RECORD % :VISIBLE METRONOME $ :AUDIBLE METRONOME ! :ALL TRACKS TO SEQ ^ :TEMPO CHG BY RATIO & :STEP DELAY # :MUTE ALL TRACKS @ :UNMUTE ALL TRACKS * :EDIT/PUNCH BUTTONS - :SILENT PUNCH / :CUE LOOP ] :CUE BACK 1 BAR [ :CUE BACK 2 BARS ' :CUE BACK 4 BARS = :CUE BACK 8 BARS INSERT :CUE MOVE AMOUNT ( :TRACK LOOP ) :FILTER _ :FILTER CHAN DOWN + :FILTER CHAN UP F19 :VELOCITY PEDAL ~ :PANIC BUTTON 0 :SET OPTIONS SONG MODE PLAY SCREEN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SEGMENT KEYS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 - 9 : Segments 1 - 9 A - Z : Segments 10 - 35 Numeric 1 - 9 : Segments 36 - 44 Numeric ( : Segment 45 Nvmeric ) : Segment 46 Numeric * : Segment 47 Numeric / : Segment 48 SEGMENT OPTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ F4 :PLAY IMMEDIATE F5 :PLAY AFTER CURRENT F6 :SET LOOP START F7 :SET LOOP END CHANNEL KEYS ~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 - 9 : Channels 1 - 9 A - G : Channels 10 - 16 CHANNEL OPTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ F3 :MUTE/UNMUTE F8 :SOLO F9 :SET SWITCH HIDDEN CONTROLS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ F1 :EXIT LEFT MOUSE :EXIT F10/SPACE :PLAY ' :TEMPO UP , :TEMPO DOWN UNDO :STOP RETURN :CHANNEL SWITCH TAB :CUE CRSR UP :CUE POINT UP CRSR DOWN :CUE POINT DOWN INSERT :CUE MOVE AMOUNT CRSR LEFT :LAST SEGMENT CRSR RIGHT :NEXT SEGMENT F2 :LOOP CURRENT SEGMENT \ :LOOP ON/OFF ; :MIDI MERGE BACKSPACE :ECHO > :ECHO CHAN UP < :ECHO CHAN DOWNT 0 :SET OPTIONS ~ :PANIC BUTTON ============================================================================