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Novation K Station Users Manual

1. 9 OSCs 1 2 3 AFTERTOUCH LFO1 PITCH DEPTH 10 OSCs 1 2 3 BREATH LFO1 PITCH DEPTH 11 FILTER KEYBOARD TRACKING O NONE 127 PRECISE PITCH TRACK 12 FILTER MODWHEEL DIRECT FREQUENCY DEPTH 13 FILTER AFTERTOUCH DIRECT FREQUENCY DEPTH 14 FILTER BREATH DIRECT FREQUENCY DEPTH 15 FILTER MODWHEEL LFO2 FREQUENCY DEPTH 16 FILTER AFTERTOUCH LFO2 FREQUENCY DEPTH 17 FILTER BREATH LFO2 FREQUENCY DEPTH 18 AMPLITUDE MODWHEEL DIRECT DEPTH 19 AMPLITUDE AFTERTOUCH DIRECT DEPTH 20 AMPLITUDE BREATH DIRECT DEPTH 21 EFFECTS TYPE CONTROL see packed parameter 8 22 EFFECTS GLOBAL SYNC CONTROL see packed parameter 9 23 EFFECTS VOCODER amp EXTERNAL AUDIO CONTROL see packed parameter 10 24 RESERVED 25 EFFECTS SELECT KEYBOARD OCTAVE see packed parameter 11 26 OSC SELECT NOISE RING EXTERNAL SELECT PWM SOURCE SELECT LFO SELECT see packed parameter 12 27 31 may be used in future software releases NRPNs FOR GLOBAL DATA not part of programs 32 MIDI RECEIVE CHANNEL 0 15 33 MIDI TRANSMIT CHANNEL 0 15 34 37 may be used in future software releases 38 MIDI CLOCK SOURCE 0 internal 1 external 39 may be used in future software releases 40 MASTER TUNE CENTS 41 VELOCITY CURVE 0 soft 1 hard 42 EXTERNAL INPUT RANGE 0 line 1 mic 43 EXTERNAL INPUT TRIM 10 20 dB 44 EXTERNAL INPUT TRIGGER SENSITIVITY 0 is most sensitive 45 GLOBAL SYNC TYPE 0 1 2 note when all n
2. OSC SELECT NOISE RING EXTERNAL SELECT PWM SOURCE SELECT LFO SELECT bits 0 1 Osc Select 0 1 1 2 2 3 bits 2 3 0 Noise 1 Ring1 2 2 External Input bits 4 5 0 PW Position 1 LFO2 Mod 2 Mod Env Modbits 4 5 bit 6 LFO Select 0 LFO1 1 LFO2 Appendix MIDI System Exclusive MIDI System Exclusive Message Formats SYSEX MESSAGE COMMON FORMAT FOh 00h 20h 29h 01h 41h SyCh F7h SYSEX START NOVATION ID 1 NOVATION ID 2 NOVATION ID 3 DEVICE TYPE K STATION SYSEX CHANNEL MESSAGE TYPE CONTROL BYTE SOFTWARE VERSION VERSION INCREMENT 0 99 PROGRAM BANK 1 4 PROGRAM NUMBER 0 99 DATA BLOCK DATA BLOCK END OF EXCLUSIVE 1 Synth Always transmitted as 7Fh for receive can be 7Fh or the receive channel Current Sound Program Global data etc See following Messages Used to control destination bank when program dumps are received Bits OVVVV vvv eg 00001000 version 1 0 Hold keypad 5 during power up to view the full version eg 1 0 06 Zero if not appropriate Zero if not appropriate data block s included if appropriate to message type Note Currently the software version and version increment bytes are transmitted for information only and are ignored when a message is received Future software releases may on receipt of some message types from an earlier version alter the data before storing it This will only apply to messages which contain data blocks To ensure future compati
3. OY ONONIT SVAN mes aerr gt onovatio in music anything is possible i Copyright Novation E M S Limited 2002 K Station User Guide Version 1 1a Features and specifications subject to change without notice due to improvements www novationmusic com INTFOdUCHON casi iia 2 Using this Mana nn alanis 2 Main Features cccccceccceeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 2 Conventions used in this Manual 2 Quick Start Guide ccooncccccccnccconancccnaancnonaaanns 3 Connecting to audio and MIDI equipment 3 Listening to the factory preset sounds 3 Selecting SOUNCS ette cool 3 Editing a sounden a RRE 4 SAVING S nd ssa a a 4 Listening to the factory demonstration 4 Synthesis Tutorial cccccceseeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 5 Elements of a SOUNG ccecceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 5 Oscillators and waveforms ccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeees 5 The Mixer i 6 The Flan i 7 Envelopes and Amplifier ooooocoicnnnnnnncniinn 8 EOS laa oca 9 Memories nei e ee iare aa AE 9 SUM Vit ds 9 MIDI Tutorial nooooooccccnnniccnccccccccnnncnanannnnnnnnnnanans 10 About MID ua 10 MIDI messages used by the K Station 10 MIDI and Sequencers cccccccccccnccnnccnnccnnnnnnneninnnos 12 SUMMAY ed cases O 12 Main Features and Operation 13 Front Panel Layout atada 13 Modes and Menug ccccc
4. 27 36 SONS Visor 36 Triggering i e ae idre 27 36 TRIM OB even ca ie ah he ee 36 Audio Patricia 5 Breath Control e eii 37 AMP GN ia Ai a cea 37 Filter Freg Slim ata 37 Ost Pitch MOC sx sure r 2sact erechataetets cando 37 Ose Pitch leccion aioe ia taker eee 37 Chorus Effect cooooocooocncccnccncncnononocnncnnnnanonon 20 29 30 Feedback lia is 30 Mod Centeno li 30 Mod Depth ccoo tii 30 A E TAS 29 Sync Initial POSItION ooonoonnnnnnnicinnnnicnnnocannoncconncrcnnncrarnrrnnn 30 Syne Rae sess n e eda a ei e 29 TYP ves E E E AE E E ES 29 Wheel Level cccccccccceceeeeeceececeeeeeeeceeeceaeaeeeeeneeaeeeeeeeee 30 COMPARE Buttn cc eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenneeeeeaeeenneeeee 4 13 22 Comparing Programs ccccecececceceeeeeeeaeeeeeeseeneeeeeeeees 4 22 COMME CHONS vs scsee cee gacedsnedesseeetecedeeeesegdatenegeceeedeeedanebtessceeteaueedts 3 Control Change cccccceceeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 2 10 40 43 A 12 Cutoff FreQueny siiin ereiaro iioii 7 Data Compatibility 00000 cece cette nn eeeeteeeeeeeees 2 33 DATA PROGRAM KNOb eseese 3 13 21 Delay EMectiusiniitcaa singed lin des 20 28 FeGdDaCKisiciicesie kbs aaa ada eee Eien 28 Stereo Widths tiini iiti ia 28 SYNC EEA EEE a A ET 28 EIA E E E E E E E E 28 Time Rallo a aaa 28 Wheel Level ccoo ie 28 DEMO rack sacada 4 Di Plica 13 21 36 Display Contrast nessen ii 34 Display Times amp
5. FreQs eeeeecseceeeececeeneeeceeeeeenneeesenaeeeeeeeees 35 Displaying a Program EGit cccccecceeeeeeeeeceeeeeeseeseeeeeetees 21 Distortion EF eCt occccoonoconnonccononanononocononnnonccannanonononono 20 30 Level COMpensatiON occoioconinnnnonccnn criaron 30 Wheel Level misini o a a i 30 Editing S ndsuse aa inita 4 Ef Cts iii ri 2 20 28 33 External Audio IMpPUt oooonocccccnnnncccccccccocanoncnonononanononanananno 27 36 LEVEL KO Di cutre renacido 20 21 SELECT BU LONS cion irc 20 21 22 SELECT LEDS vuitton 20 36 Elements Of A SOUNG cc ccccceceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseaeeeeeesseseneeeeees 5 ENVELOPES clics cita anta iii 5 8 26 27 ATTACK Knob SIid ef eee eee eeeeeee ener eeeneeseeeeeenneeeee 8 18 l 1 Index DECAY Knob Slid l cccccccessseeeseececeeeeeeeeeaneeeeeees 8 18 M lt Tigger nesre eenean naala Oa eana eai 27 RELEASE Knob Slider cocccccccconnoncccninocinnnononcnnononos gt 4 8 18 SUSTAIN Knob Slider oooccccccccnccccoconocanrnnnnnnonos 4 8 18 o NOTO EAEE 20 31 Frequency Poltica add 20 31 Mod Depth cocaina tea da 31 Mod Rate ocio ci ccc scccsesectecncctcinodganducvicacaccvesddueedeesdeeucsrienduees 31 Sync Initial POSION einir eseedediteevesteedetasteesed 31 Syne Mod Rate sis iis ariii pudia esaat 31 Fiter aena O 2 5 7 17 25 27 37 External AUdiO oocccccccccccccoononoconoconononocononnorononnnonanononona
6. MOD ENV DEPTH Knob Controls the amount of change to the filter Cut off set by the FRE QUENCY knob by the Modulation Envelope In its central position there is no change to the filter Cut off frequency Adjusting the knob anticlockwise from centre will introduce an increasing amount of nega tive modulation The filter will close as the MOD ENV runs through its cycle Adjusting the knob clockwise from centre will introduce an increasing amount of positive modulation The filter will be opened by the MOD ENV SLOPE Button Controls how drastically the frequencies above the Cut off point are removed from the sound When the 12dB position is selected the Cut off slope is gentle so higher harmonics are not attenuated reduced in volume as sharply as they are when the 24dB position is selected 17 KEY TRACK Knob Controls the amount of change to the filter Cut off set by the FRE QUENCY knob by the pitch of the note played Set fully anticlockwise and there is no change to the filter Cut off frequency With clockwise movement there will be an increasing amount of modulation The filter will be opened more as higher notes are played on the keyboard This control is used to define how the timbre of a sound changes over the keyboard At the fully clockwise position the filter tracks the pitch changes in a 1 to 1 ratio This means that with RESONANCE set to a high level the pitch of the Filter s self oscillation will increase in semiton
7. Menu Page 4 The rate speed of the dedicated EQ LFO may be locked to the tempo of the musical piece to allow auto EQ Filtering effects The following table describes the musical timings available EQ Synchronisation to MIDI Clock table Display MIDI Clocks Synchronised to Display MIDI Clocks Synchronised to OFF Manual Rate 32nd T 2 32nd Triplet 1bar D 144 1 5 Bars 32nd 3 32nd 2 bars 192 2 Bars 16th T 4 16th Triplet 4bar T 256 4 Bar Triplet 16th 6 16th 3 bars 288 3 Bars 8th T 8 8th Triplet 5bar T 320 5 Bar Triplet 16th D 9 16th Dotted 4 bars 384 4 Bars 8th 12 8th 3bar D 432 4 5 Bars 4th T 16 4th Triplet 7bar T 448 7 Bar Triplet 8th D 18 8th Dotted 5 bars 480 5 Bars 4th 24 4th 8bar T 512 8 Bar Triplet 2nd T 32 2nd Triplet 6 bars 576 6 Bars 4th D 36 4th Dotted 7 bars 672 7 Bars 2nd 48 2nd 5bar D 720 7 5 Bars 1bar T 64 1 Bar Triplet 8 bars 768 8 Bars 2nd D 72 2nd Dotted 9 bars 864 9 Bars 1 bar 96 1 Bar 7bar D 1008 10 5 Bars 2bar T 128 2 Bar Triplet 12bars 1152 12 Bars When a sync interval is selected the tempo of the EQ Filter sweep is controlled by the Arpeggiator s TEMPO knob when MIDI Clock Source is set to INT or by the external sequencer s tempo when MIDI Clock Source is set to EXT See Page 35 for information on changing the Global MIDI Clock Source When controlling the EQ Mod Rate from a sequencer it is important to ensure that the sequencer is transmitting MIDI Clock messages Consult your sequencer manual for
8. Selecting Sounds The fastest way to become familiar with the K Station is to follow this quick start guide It covers connecting up the K Station listening to the factory preset sounds selecting sounds editing a sound and saving a sound into a memory location Connecting to audio and MIDI equipment Before connecting the K Station to other units in the system ensure the power to all units is off Connect an audio cable from the Left and Right master output sockets to a suitable amplifier or mixing desk stereo inputs If the K Station is to be operated in MONO either output may be used Connect the power supply Novation PSU 6 to the socket Power In 9VDC and connect the adapter to the AC mains Switch on the power The K Station s display will enter Program mode and show a Program number Finally switch on the other units in the Audio system amplifier mixer etc Although the K Station has its own keyboard which would normally be used to trigger the internal sounds it is still possible to play the K Station by connecting an external master keyboard if desired If it is desired to use an external master keyboard or sequencer computer please refer to the advanced set up diagram illustrated on Page 39 Left Right Audio Master Outputs Input Midi Sockets yy y Power In On Off Phones y 4 ooo 000aDO Rear Panel Listening to the factory preset sounds Set the VOLUME control to a reasonably high ou
9. Similarly if the same LFO were applied to the Filter Cutoff frequency instead of the Oscillator pitch a similar wobbling effect known as wow wow would be heard As well as LFOs being available to modulate different sections of the synthesizer additional Envelopes may also be used simultaneously Clearly the more Oscillators Filters Envelopes and LFOs there are in a Synthesizer the more powerful it becomes The first generation of synthesizers produced many years ago were large modular machines where each part of the synthesizer was housed in a separate unit block These blocks could only be physical ly connected together by combinations of cables known as patch leads A typical sound produced by this method would often involve connect ing dozens of patch leads Every time a new sound was required the leads would have to be physically disconnected and reconnected The positions and connec tions of the leads would have to be noted down on paper if there was to be any hope of creating that particular sound ever again If not reconnected in exactly the same way the sound would be lost forever Modern machines such as the K Station have all the blocks in one compact unit and the sound generating or modulator blocks are arranged in a sensible fashion Front panel switches and knobs deter mine how each block functions and where the sound modifying blocks such as the LFOs and Envelopes are routed instead of having to physicall
10. This is a special type of MIDI message which can actually contain any type of data depending what the synthesizer manufacturer decides to put in it The only constraint with system exclusive messages is that they always contain certain header information which is exclusively used by the manufacturer and usually the relevant synth model as well What this effectively means is that a K Station will only accept a system exclusive message designed especially for it If the K Station should receive a system exclusive message transmitted by a different make of synthesizer the message would simply be ignored Similarly other makes of synthesizer will ignore any system exclusive messages originally sent by a K Station Novation have employed system exclusive messages for two distinct purposes on the K Station Firstly they can be used to back up all of the K Station s memories and global data This feature is extremely useful in building up a sound library on a computer or for making a safety copy of sound and global data This data backup format is actu ally fully compatible with the Novation A Station so it is easily possible to transfer sounds from the A Station to the K Station or vice versa Data backup is discussed in detail on Page 33 in the Advanced Features chapter Secondly Novation also use system exclusive messages to enable a K Station to update its entire operating system via MIDI The latest operating system for the K Station is a
11. cua 35 MEMOS nre a E a e en 3 9 Memory protect ccccccceeeceeecceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeneeeees 4 33 34 36 Menu Always Page OM oooccccocccccnoncnononcnnnnoncnnnannn nana nan nan nnnnnns 36 Menu Mode 14 21 22 23 25 26 28 33 35 37 38 MENUS Button nnna n r a dat 13 14 MIDI 3 10 11 19 21 28 29 31 32 35 A2 12 Channel MESSageS scc sccccteeeetesebeeeesceesesedsesscteeestecerseceneete 11 e A A E 11 19 28 29 31 32 35 Clock Input StatUS oooonocioccccnnocccnnnonanoncnnonnannncnn nn nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnns 35 CONNECION aria ti 3 10 12 GONtrOllErS cocina ir cartas 10 Implementation Chatt cccececceceeeeeeeeteeeeeeeeees 11 A 12 Keyboard Transmit ChaMMel ooccconncccnnncconocccnnncnccnanananinnninns 35 EE 10 11 A2 12 Receive Channe c csccscececeececeeceeaeseeceeeeeeseaeeaueeeseeeeens 35 SOC ia to E DA S E id da 3 10 Transmit Channel ccccccccccccecseseseeceeeeceseeseeaeseseeeeeeeenas 35 TAN 10 11 A O E E eos srenct as 5 6 16 LEVEL KiOD viicccesoskevocs ls stscscseaceches dci 16 OSC Kn ODS viii aaa 16 SOURCE ButtON c cccccnccnnccncnnncncnononononcnccanconononononarancnnnannnnos 16 MOD Envelope c ccecceeceeeeeececeeeeeneeaeeeeseeneaeeeeeeeees 8 18 27 Index Mode SelectiON cccconconocnnonnnonnnonoonononncononanennnonononancnnnnnnanns 22 Ne OC cid dd eee 10 26 35 A2 12 Modulation Wheel cceccceeeeeeeseeeee
12. see packed parameter 9 EFFECTS VOCODER amp EXTERNAL AUDIO CONTROL see packed parameter 10 may be used in future software releases VOICE LEVEL TO OUTPUT amp EFFECTS EFFECT TYPE SELECTOR KEYBOARD OCTAVE see packed parameter 11 OSC SOURCE PW LFO SELECTORS see packed parameter 12 GLOBAL DATA BLOCK 256 bytes Parameter POWER UP PROGRAM BANK 1 4 POWER UP PROGRAM NUMBER 0 99 MEMORY PROTECT 0 protected 1 not protected MIDI LOCAL CONTROL 0 off 127 on MIDI RECEIVE CHANNEL 0 15 MIDI TRANSMIT CHANNEL 0 15 may be used in future software releases MIDI CLOCK SOURCE 0 internal 1 external may be used in future software releases MASTER TUNE CENTS VELOCITY CURVE 0 soft 1 hard EXTERNAL INPUT RANGE 0 line 1 mic EXTERNAL INPUT TRIM 10 20 dB EXTERNAL INPUT TRIGGER SENSITIVITY 0 is most sensitive GLOBAL SYNC TYPE 0 1 2 note when all notes off first note after prog change midi song start PARAMETER MOMENTARY DISPLAY TIME off 200 1200mS MENU INITIAL PAGE MODE 0 first 1 last used KEYBOARD WHEELS MIDI TRANSMIT CHANNEL 0 15 PROGRAM MODE PARAMETER DISPLAY MODE 0 timed 1 permanent KEYBOARD OCTAVE SHIFT ALL NOTES OFF CONTROL 0 off 1 kill notes amp send midi all notes off May be used in future software releases Zeros are transmitted Use zeros for future compatibility A 11 Appendix MIDI Implementation Chart MIDI Implementation Chart Date 24 1 02 Model
13. 1 2 position selected it controls the volume of the Ring Modulator Ring Modulation is useful for creating harder Metallic tones With the EXT position selected it controls the volume of an external audio signal connected to the INPUT socket on the K Station s rear panel This signal can be processed by the filter envelopes and effects An external audio signal may be a microphone CD player guitar etc With a little experimentation quite effective and dramatic changes to the sound can be produced Filtering wah wah gating using the Effects Section for adding reverb chorus etc Experiment Note All three sound sources may be used simultaneously and if they are it may be necessary to reduce the Program Level dB in order to avoid signal distortion see page 26 Main Features and Operation 16 Filter Section Filter Section The K Station s Filter is a Low Pass type As the FREQUENCY knob is adjusted anticlockwise harmonics are gradually removed from the sound When almost closed only the fundamental frequency remains Fully closed and no sound at all passes This type of Filter is musically the most useful especially for bass sounds Filter frequency resonance mod env depth 12 dB O 24 dB key track Ifo2 depth FREQUENCY Knob This controls the basic Cut off frequency of the filter Set fully clock wise the filter is wide open allowing all frequencies harmonics pro duced by the Oscillators to so
14. 183 Dance9 193 Dance10 154 Pad6 164 Pad7 174 Pad8 184 Pad9 194 Pad10 155 Keyboard 165 Keyboard7 175 Keyboard8 185 Keyboard9 195 Keyboard10 156 Strings6 166 Strings7 176 Strings8 186 Strings9 196 Strings10 157 Brass6 167 Brass7 177 Brass8 187 Brass9 197 Brass10 158 Organ6 168 Organ7 178 Organ8 188 Organ9 198 Organ10 159 SoftLead6 169 Soft Lead7 179 Soft Lead8 189 SoftLead9 199 Soft Lead10 No Name No Name No Name No Name No Name 250 Bass16 260 Bass17 270 Bass18 280 Bass19 290 Bass20 251 Hard Lead16 261 Hard Lead17 271 Hard Lead18 281 Hard Lead19 291 Hard Lead20 252 Arpeggio16 262 Arpeggio17 272 Arpeggio18 282 Arpeggio19 292 Arpeggio20 253 Dance16 263 Dance17 273 Dance18 283 Dance19 293 Dance20 254 Pad16 264 Pad17 274 Pad18 284 Pad19 294 Pad20 255 Keyboard16 265 Keyboard17 275 Keyboard18 285 Keyboard19 295 Keyboard20 256 Trance6 266 Trance7 276 Trance8 286 Trance9 296 Trance10 257 Brass16 267 Brass17 277 Brass18 287 Brass19 297 Brass20 258 SFX1 268 SFX2 278 SFX3 288 SFX4 298 SFX5 259 Vocoder1 269 Vocoder2 279 Vocoder3 289 Ex Aud Trig 299 Ex Aud to FX Sound 300 Double Saw Example 1 The double effect works by making each oscillator produce two waves for each setting sine saw and tri These are normally in phase and appear to be one waveform The phase difference between each of the two waves for a single oscillator can be independently phase shift ed by adjusting the pulse amount con
15. 92 93 95 96 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 MIDI SPECIFIED USE undefined Isb undefined Isb undefined Isb undefined Isb undefined Isb undefined Isb undefined Isb undefined Isb undefined Isb undefined Isb undefined Isb undefined Isb sustain pedal portamento on off sostenuto pedal soft pedal legato footswitch hold 2 sound controller 1 sound controller 2 sound controller 3 sound controller 4 sound controller 5 sound controller 6 sound controller 7 sound controller 8 sound controller 9 sound controller 10 gen controller 5 Isb gen controller 6 Isb gen controller 7 Isb gen controller 8 Isb portamento control undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined effects 1 depth effects 2 depth effects 3 depth effects 4 depth effects 5 depth data increment data decrement nrpn Isb nrpn msb rpn Isb rpn msb undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined all sounds off reset controllers local on off all notes off omni off omni on mono mode setup poly mode on K STATION USE OSC2 MOD ENV PITCH AMOUNT OSC2 PULSE WIDTH POSITION 0 50 or in phase double wave OSC2 LFO2 PULSE WIDTH MOD OSC2 MOD ENV PULSE WIDTH MOD
16. Novation K Station Version 1 0 Function Transmitted Remarks Basic Default 1 16 1 16 Memorised Channel Changed 1 16 1 16 Default MODE 3 4 Memorised in Program Data Messages X X Altered kkkkkkkkkkk Note 0 127 0 127 Number Velocity Note On Note Off kekk kkkkkkkk Aftertouch Keys Channel Pitch Bend 8 Bit data Control Change 1 3 5 10 1 3 5 10 See Controller amp NRPN 12 37 40 65 12 37 40 65 tables for full details 67 85 87 89 67 85 87 89 91 95 98 100 91 95 98 100 102 112 114 119 102 112 114 127 Program 0 99 Change kkkkkkkkkkK System Exclusive Program amp Global data dumps OS upgrades System Real Time Start Song Clock System Common Aux Local On Messages All Notes Off Active Sense Reset Control All Sound Off Mode 1 OMNI ON POLY Mode 2 OMNI ON MONO O Yes Mode 3 OMNI OFF POLY Mode 4 OMNI OFF MONO X No Appendix A 12 Aftertoucher eiin th he ad 11 37 A 4 A 9 AMP GAIN se msi part 37 Filter Freq Silicio 37 Ose Pitch MOda e ieee o eet 37 Ose Pitch Sl coi tina 37 AMP Envelope niingie e 4 18 24 27 Nano LIET Aaa a E E E tay Sables tats 5 8 37 A A eiiiai 19 38 Gate Mesta ra A eA 38 KOYS Civic edades 38 Paths ac cscss den esdrea eM as ea taastlen ea ee 38 Octave Ranges is sccieiedie ito 38 ON 7 OFF But ictericia 19 Patterns tia a aa a 38 Syne TY PO iia id 38 TEMPO Kn0b sciocoosicccinriccian tee ice 19 Audio putita 2
17. OSC3 SEMITONE 12 12 OSC3 CENT 50 50 OSC3 BENDWHEEL PITCH AMOUNT OSC3 LFO1 PITCH AMOUNT OSC3 MOD ENV PITCH AMOUNT OSC3 PULSE WIDTH POSITION 0 50 or in phase double wave OSC3 LFO2 PULSE WIDTH MOD OSC3 MOD ENV PULSE WIDTH MOD SUSTAIN MOMENTARY ARP LATCH ON ENVELOPE MODES OSC WAVEFORM KEYSYNC see packed parameter 1 UNISON VOICE TYPE FILTER TYPE see packed parameter 2 UNISON DETUNE INDIVIDUAL OSCILLATOR RANDOM DETUNE OSC 1 2 3 WAVEFORM PORTAMENTO MODE see packed parameter 3 OSC 1 2 3 OCTAVE OSC 1 gt 2 SYNC see packed parameter 4 OSC1 LEVEL to filter OSC2 LEVEL to filter OSC3 LEVEL to filter NOISE LEVEL to filter OSC 1 2 RINGMOD LEVEL to filter EXTERNAL INPUT to filter LFO 1 2 WAVEFORM DELAY MULTI MODE see packed parameter 5 LFO 1 2 KEYSYNC LOCK PHASE CONTROL see packed parameter 6 NON SYNC LFO1 SPEED SYNC LFO1 SPEED 0 NON SYNC LFO1 DELAY GRADUAL ONSET TIME NON SYNC LFO2 SPEED SYNC LFO2 SPEED 0 NON SYNC LFO2 DELAY GRADUAL ONSET TIME may be used in future software releases ARPEGGIATOR SYNC SETTING 0 15 32Triplet 1 bar ARPEGGIATOR GATE TIME 100 GIVES TIED NOTE IN MONO MODE ARPEGGIATOR CONTROL see packed parameter 7 REVERB SEND LEVEL DELAY SEND LEVEL CHORUS SEND LEVEL PAN MOD DEPTH VOCODER BALANCE 0 off 64 full vocoder 127 modulator only NRPN NUMBER IGNORED NOT TRANSMITTED for future compatibility assu
18. Once all notes on the keyboard have been released the next chord to be played on the keyboard will clear the existing latch memory and only the newly played chord will be Arpeggiated Main Features and Operation Effects Section Effects Section The K Station is equipped with seven different Effects which may be used simultaneously These effects are saved as an integral part of a sound when writing it to memory Adding Effects to a sound can dra matically enrich the overall sound texture Some types of Effect are particularly useful in giving a sound a perceived position in three dimensional space Adding such sounds to final mix of a piece of music gives a much greater sense of depth Each type of Effect has several settings associated with it which give fine control over how the Effect interacts with a sound These settings may be changed using the various Effects menus See Page 28 in the Advanced Features section for more details Effects delay reverb chorus distortion ol select 130 panning vocoder y Effects SELECT buttons These two buttons are used to select which of the seven Effects is cur rently being edited The seven types of Effect available are Delay This Effect simulates the echoes which would be heard when a sound is reflected off of a hard flat surface such as stone wall The K Station actually incorporates a stereo version of this echoing effect To visualize a stereo echo
19. Panning knob on a mixing console It can be used to position a sound anywhere from left to right in the stereo field Changing the Pan Position of a sound Ensure that Panning is selected by the SELECT buttons in the Effects section Turn the Effects section LEVEL knob clockwise or anticlock wise to move the sound across the Stereo field Use the PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu functions available See table below Pan Menu Page Function Display Value 1 Mod Depth PAN Mod Depth 0 127 2 Rate PAN Rate 0 127 3 Sync Rate PAN Sync OFF 12bars 4 LFO Sync Initial Position PAN Init Pos OFF RGT Mod Depth Menu Page 1 The Panning effect has its own dedicated LFO not to be confused with the two LFOs available on the K Station s front panel which can be used to automatically pan a sound backwards and forwards across the stereo field This function controls the depth of this automatic panning effect When Mod Depth is set to zero no automatic panning will be applied and the position of a sound in the stereo field will be static being solely determined by the manual Pan position Rate Menu Page 2 This function controls the Panning LFO s speed If the Mod Depth see above is set to a non zero value the Panning LFO will move the sound from the Left to the Right at a speed determined by this Rate setting Note The Panning LFO should not be confused with the two LFOs available on the K Station s front panel
20. Sync Rate Menu Page 3 A very pleasing audio effect may be heard when the Panning effect is synchronized to the tempo of a musical piece The following table describes the musical timings available Panning Synchronisation to MIDI Clock table Display MIDI Clocks Synchronised to Display MIDI Clocks Synchronised to OFF Manual Rate 32nd T 2 32nd Triplet 1bar D 144 1 5 Bars 32nd 3 32nd 2 bars 192 2 Bars 16th T 4 16th Triplet 4bar T 256 4 Bar Triplet 16th 6 16th 3 bars 288 3 Bars 8th T 8 8th Triplet 5bar T 320 5 Bar Triplet 16th D 9 16th Dotted 4 bars 384 4 Bars 8th 12 8th 3bar D 432 4 5 Bars 4th T 16 4th Triplet 7bar T 448 7 Bar Triplet 8th D 18 8th Dotted 5 bars 480 5 Bars 4th 24 Ath 8bar T 512 8 Bar Triplet 2nd T 32 2nd Triplet 6 bars 576 6 Bars 4th D 36 Ath Dotted 7 bars 672 7 Bars 2nd 48 2nd 5bar D 720 7 5 Bars 1bar T 64 1 Bar Triplet 8 bars 768 8 Bars 2nd D 72 2nd Dotted 9 bars 864 9 Bars 1 bar 96 1 Bar 7bar D 1008 10 5 Bars 2bar T 128 2 Bar Triplet 12bars 1152 12 Bars When a sync interval is selected the tempo of the Panning is con trolled by the Arpeggiator s TEMPO knob when MIDI Clock Source is set to INT or by the external sequencer s tempo when MIDI Clock Source is set to EXT See Page 35 for information on changing the Global MIDI Clock Source setting When controlling the Panning Rate from a sequencer it is important to ensure that the sequencer is transmitting MIDI Clock messages Consult the sequencer m
21. UP PROGRAM NUMBER 0 99 MEMORY PROTECT 0 protected 1 not protected MIDI LOCAL CONTROL 0 off 127 on MIDI RECEIVE CHANNEL 0 15 MIDI TRANSMIT CHANNEL 0 15 may be used in future software releases MIDI CLOCK SOURCE 0 internal 1 external may be used in future software releases MASTER TUNE CENTS VELOCITY CURVE 0 soft 1 hard EXTERNAL INPUT RANGE 0 line 1 mic EXTERNAL INPUT TRIM 10 20 dB EXTERNAL INPUT TRIGGER SENSITIVITY 0 is most sensitive GLOBAL SYNC TYPE 0 1 2 note when all notes off first note after prog change midi song start PARAMETER MOMENTARY DISPLAY TIME off 200 1200mS MENU INITIAL PAGE MODE 0 first 1 last used KEYBOARD WHEELS MIDI TRANSMIT CHANNEL 0 15 PROGRAM MODE PARAMETER DISPLAY MODE 0 timed 1 permanent KEYBOARD OCTAVE SHIFT ALL NOTES OFF CONTROL 0 off 1 kill notes amp send midi all notes off may be used in future software releases Zeros are transmitted Use zeros for future compatibility DATA BLOCKS USED IN SYSEX MESSAGES See Midi Controller Map for further details of parameters and meaning of PROGRAM DATA BLOCK 128 bytes Byte aOnakWNnN O Parameter UNISON VOICE TYPE FILTER TYPE see packed parameter 2 UNISON DETUNE INDIVIDUAL OSCILLATOR RANDOM DETUNE PORTAMENTO TIME PREGLIDE SEMITONES 12 12 O preglide disabled OSC 1 2 3 WAVEFORM PORTAMENTO MODE see packed parameter 3 OSC 1 2 3 OCTAVE OSC 1 gt 2 SYNC see packed paramet
22. additional main output tempo sync ed enveloped filter This is a powerful eq filter which is at the output stage of the signal path of the K Station This can boost frequencies as well as attenuate them compared the low pass filter which can only attenuate Positive settings of the amount control will boost frequencies above the fre quency point and attenuate frequencies below it Negative settings of the eq amount will attenuate frequencies above the frequency point and boost frequencies below it The key point to this feature is the EQ Depth control This will use a dedicated LFO to move the frequency point of the eq The eq LFO can be sync ed to midi clock or to the arpeggiator clock and an eq initial position can also be set just like for the chorus and pan effects This example has been set up for use with an external input It will work particularly well with drum loops etc Try varying the amp enve lope controls and the eq level depth rate and frequency controls 40 K Station Technical Specification Specification Oscillators 1 2 and 3 Waveform Octave Range Mod Env Depth LFO1 Depth PWM Source Ring Mod FM 2 3 FM Level 2 3 FM Mod Level FM Env Attack Rate FM Env Decay Rate Comprehensive Aftertouch Breath and Pitch Mod Wheel control of both static Square Saw Variable Pulse Tri Sine Double Saw Double Tri Double Sine Shift 1 0 1 2 100 to 100 100 to 100 Mod Env
23. always initially set to the current ly selected Program s number Press the WRITE button again Overwrite 499 will be displayed It is possible to abandon the save procedure at any point by pressing the PROGRAM button The K Station will return to Program Select Mode without saving the Program to memory To proceed with the saving procedure finally press the WRITE button again This saves the edited Program to memory and once the sound has been written the K Station will return to Program Select Mode To save a Program in a different location Press the WRITE button The display will now show the current Program number and the destination memory number where the Program is about to be saved to In this example Write to 499 Notice that the destination memory is always initially set to the current ly selected Program s number The destination memory may now be selected by using the KEYPAD buttons DATA knob or PAGE buttons in a similar manner as when selecting sounds in Program Select Mode In this example select 498 Press the WRITE button again Overwrite 498 will be displayed It is possible to abandon the save procedure at any point by pressing the PROGRAM button The K Station will return to Program Select Mode without saving the Program to memory To proceed with the saving procedure finally press the WRITE button again This saves the edited Program to memory and once the sound has been written the K Station will re
24. at max resonance 46 FILTER FREQUENCY 47 FILTER KEYBOARD TRACKING 0 NONE 127 PRECISE PITCH TRACK 48 FILTER MODWHEEL DIRECT FREQUENCY DEPTH 49 FILTER AFTERTOUCH DIRECT FREQUENCY DEPTH 50 FILTER BREATH DIRECT FREQUENCY DEPTH 51 FILTER FREQUENCY LFO2 MOD DEPTH 52 FILTER FREQUENCY MOD ENV DEPTH 53 FILTER MODWHEEL LFO2 FREQUENCY DEPTH 54 FILTER AFTERTOUCH LFO2 FREQUENCY DEPTH 55 FILTER BREATH LFO2 FREQUENCY DEPTH 56 FM FIXED LEVEL 57 FM ENVELOPE DEPTH 58 FM ENVELOPE VELOCITY DEPTH 59 FM ENVELOPE ATTACK 60 FM ENVELOPE DECAY 61 AMPLITUDE ENVELOPE VELOCITY DEPTH 62 AMPLITUDE ENVELOPE ATTACK 63 AMPLITUDE ENVELOPE DECAY 64 AMPLITUDE ENVELOPE SUSTAIN 65 AMPLITUDE ENVELOPE RELEASE 66 MOD ENVELOPE VELOCITY DEPTH 67 MOD ENVELOPE ATTACK 68 MOD ENVELOPE DECAY 69 MOD ENVELOPE SUSTAIN 70 MOD ENVELOPE RELEASE 71 may be used in future software releases 72 NON SYNC LFO1 SPEED 73 SYNC LFO1 SPEED 0 NON SYNC 74 LFO1 DELAY GRADUAL ONSET TIME 75 NON SYNC LFO2 SPEED 76 SYNC LFO2 SPEED 0 NON SYNC 77 LFO2 DELAY GRADUAL ONSET TIME 78 LFO 1 2 WAVEFORM DELAY MULTI MODE see packed parameter 5 79 LFO 1 2 KEYSYNC LOCK PHASE CONTROL see packed parameter 6 80 ENVELOPE MODES OSC WAVEFORM KEYSYNC see packed parameter 1 81 AMPLITUDE MODWHEEL DIRECT DEPTH 82 AMPLITUDE AFTERTOUCH DIRECT DEPTH 83 AMPLITUDE BREATH DIRECT DEPTH 84 ARPEGGIATOR GENERAL SY
25. be achieved when an LFO is modulating the filter cut off frequency and this is synchronized to the tempo of a musi cal piece To synchronize an LFO alter this value until the desired musical timing is displayed See the synchronization table below for details on how these settings relate to the MIDI Clock LFO s Synchronisation to MIDI Clock table Display MIDI Clocks Synchronised to Display MIDI Clocks Synchronised to OFF Manual Rate 32nd T 2 32nd Triplet 1bar D 144 1 5 Bars 32nd 3 32nd 2 bars 192 2 Bars 16th T 4 16th Triplet 4bar T 256 4 Bar Triplet 16th 6 16th 3 bars 288 3 Bars 8th T 8 8th Triplet 5bar T 320 5 Bar Triplet 16th D 9 16th Dotted 4 bars 384 4 Bars 8th 12 8th 3bar D 432 4 5 Bars 4th T 16 Ath Triplet 7bar T 448 7 Bar Triplet 8th D 18 8th Dotted 5 bars 480 5 Bars 4th 24 Ath 8bar T 512 8 Bar Triplet 2nd T 32 2nd Triplet 6 bars 576 6 Bars 4th D 36 Ath Dotted 7 bars 672 7 Bars 2nd 48 2nd 5bar D 720 7 5 Bars 1bar T 64 1 Bar Triplet 8 bars 768 8 Bars 2nd D 72 2nd Dotted 9 bars 864 9 Bars 1 bar 96 1 Bar 7bar D 1008 10 5 Bars 2bar T 128 2 Bar Triplet 12bars 1152 12 Bars Be aware that if an LFO is synchronized to the MIDI Clock the front panel LFO SPEED knob will have no effect on the LFO speed The actual speed of the LFO will be determined instead by the tempo of the MIDI Clock signals being transmitted by a sequencer Many sequencers do not transmit MIDI Clock messages at all when they are stopped Setting this f
26. be covered in more detail Oscillators and waveforms Oscillators portamento semitone detune pwm depth mod env pw position depth el on el 0 eos position O 2 O eos O l o 2 03 O 2 em mod env oscillator octave waveform pw select lfol depth The Oscillator is really the heartbeat of the Synthesizer It generates an electronic wave which creates the vibrations This Waveform is produced at a controllable musical pitch initially determined by the note played on the K Station keyboard or a received MIDI note mes sage The initial distinctive tone or timbre of the waveform is actually determined by the wave s shape Many years ago pioneers of musical synthesis discovered that just a few distinctive waves contained most of the useful harmonics for musi cal synthesis The names of these waves reflect their actual shape when viewed on an instrument known as an Oscilloscope and are known as Sine waves Square waves Sawtooth waves Triangle waves and Noise Waves Each one has a specific fixed amount of musically related harmonics except noise waves which can be manipulated by further sections of the Synthesizer Noise is a special case since it contains all frequencies Synthesis Tutorial Oscillators and Waveforms The Mixer The diagrams below show how these waveforms look on an Oscilloscope and illustrate the relative levels of their harmonics Remember it is the relative levels of the various harmonics pres
27. before loading a whole bank of Programs or Global data otherwise the dump will be rejected Advanced Features The Utilities Menu Restore Factory Settings Menu Page 2 When originally shipped from the factory the K Station is supplied with two banks of 100 preset memories However it is possible to over write these memory locations with new sounds or accidentally erase them This utility enables any of the preset memories to be restored back by reading the data from the K Station s non erasable ROM chip The Restore Factory Settings are shown in the table below and may be selected using the DATA PROGRAM knob when in Menu Page 2 Restore Factory Settings ONE PROG One Program ONE BANK 100 Programs from Factory Bank 1 or 2 GLOBAL D Global Data Restoring a Single Factory Preset Sound ONE PROG When restoring a single Program the restored Program will be placed into whatever Program is currently selected by the K Station If neces sary select the appropriate destination Program from within Program Select Mode then re enter Menu Mode and return to this Page of the Utilities Menu When the WRITE button is pressed the K Station will prompt for the Program number to be restored from ROM as displayed below Rest 100 lt 100 The from location is at the far right of the display and this may be altered using the DATA PROGRAM knob For ease of locating the desired sound each factory preset may be auditioned usi
28. byte When a third party librarian or device receives either a program dump or program pair dump it can ignore the C value but when it transmits one of these dumps to a K Station it must be aware of the effect of the C value GLOBAL DATA DUMP When received the flash global data block is overwritten The source bank and program number are irrelevant and the control byte is ignored FOh 00h 20h 29h Oth 41h SYSEX REQUEST MESSAGES receive only SYSEX START NOVATION ID 1 NOVATION ID 2 NOVATION ID 3 DEVICE TYPE K STATION SYSEX CHANNEL MESSAGE TYPE CONTROL BYTE SOFTWARE VERSION VERSION INCREMENT PROGRAM BANK PROGRAM NUMBER GLOBAL DATA BLOCK 256 bytes END OF EXCLUSIVE CURRENT SOUND DUMP REQUEST FOh 00h 20h 29h 01h 41h SyCh SYSEX START NOVATION ID 1 NOVATION ID 2 NOVATION ID 3 DEVICE TYPE K STATION SYSEX CHANNEL MESSAGE TYPE CONTROL BYTE SOFTWARE VERSION VERSION INCREMENT PROGRAM BANK PROGRAM NUMBER END OF EXCLUSIVE Transmitted 7Fh received 7Fh or current receive channel Global data dump Transmitted O received don t care Transmitted O Received don t care Transmitted O Received don t care See GLOBAL DATA BLOCK On page A 10 for format 7Fh or current receive channel Current sound dump request Don t care Ddon t care Ddon t care Don t care Don t care A 7 Appendix MIDI System Exclusive MIDI System Exclusive Message Formats Receive Requests SYSEX REQUEST MESSA
29. details Note When the Sync Mod Rate is set to OFF the timing of the EQ sweeps will be controlled by the setting of the Mod Rate Any incoming MIDI clock messages or Arpeggiator TEMPO settings will be ignored by the EQ effect LFO Sync Initial Position Menu Page 5 As well as being able to synchronize to MIDI clock tempo the dedi cated LFO used to modulate the depth of the EQ may have its initial position set after a specific MIDI event is received such as Program Change or Start Song see the Global Syne Mode function on Page 35 To change the EQ Initial position select Page 5 in the EQ Menu Use the DATA knob to select one of the initial positions shown in the table below EQ LFO Sync Initial Position OFF Off LOW Low Freq MID Centre Freq HI High Freq For example if the desired position is to start moving upwards then set this function to LOW After an appropriate MIDI event the LFO wave will start to climb from this low position Set to MID and it climbs from the centre of the waveform Note The dedicated EQ LFO should not be confused with the two LFOs available on the K Station s front panel Setting The EQ Amount Setting of the EQ cut boost amount at the EQ Frequency position is done by altering the LEVEL knob in the Effects section of the front panel See Page 20 Advanced Features The Panning Menu The Panning Menu The Panning function in the K Station performs the same function as the
30. imagine a sound being produced between two stone walls The echoes of the sound would bounce off each wall in turn until the echoes eventually dies away Use the LEVEL knob to introduce the Delay effect Reverb The Reverb Effect simulates the acoustic properties of a room In everyday life the materials that a room is made of and its size deter mine how sound waves are reflected from the room s walls Consider as an example how different a sound is when heard in bathroom with tiled walls Singing in particular can be dramatically improved Chorus This is a swirling stereo Effect often useful for fattening up a sound creating an impression that several synthesizers are being played in unison rather than just one This effect is actually achieved by slightly detuning the sound and adding it back to the original signal A similar related effect to Chorus is the Phaser Phasers phase shift certain frequencies of a sound and add them back to the original sig nal This gives a sound passed through a Phaser a distinctive swishing quality At extreme settings this can sound similar to jet plane passing overhead In the Chorus Menu it is possible to select whether the K Station s Chorus Effect behaves as a standard Chorus or as a Phaser Use the LEVEL knob to introduce the Chorus or Phaser effect Distortion As its name suggests the Distortion Effect distorts a sound signal Imagine how a sound recorded onto tape s
31. is added to a sound it will tend to get louder In order to contain or compress the sound back to a level which is consistent with other programs use this function which compensates for the perceived added loudness of a sound when Distortion is added Wheel Level Menu Page 2 This function determines how much movement of the K Station s Modulation wheel will introduce the Distortion effect 30 The EQ Menu The EQ Menu Contained in the Effects section is an EQ Equalisation Filter which can boost or cut high treble or low bass frequencies in a similar manner to the tone controls often found on domestic hi fi units As well as being able to boost low or high frequencies the final output EQ Filter may be used to create automatic sweeps of EQ and filtering EQ processing may be synchronized to tempo and locked to musical timings from 32nd triplets through to several bars Use the PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu functions available See table below EQ Menu Page Function Display Value 1 Frequency EQ Freq 0 127 2 Mod Depth EQ Mod Dep 0 127 3 Mod Rate EQ Mod Rate 0 127 4 Sync Mod Rate EQ Sync OFF 12bars 5 LFO Sync Initial Position EQ Init Pos OFF HI Frequency Menu Page 1 The EQ frequency set point determines where in the sound spectrum the boost or cut occurs The Frequency point may be moved any where from very low frequencies 0 less than 10Hz to very high fre quencies 127 ab
32. key board is pressed down or released When a keyboard note is pressed down the MIDI message also includes velocity information The veloci ty value in the MIDI message represents how hard the key was pressed down This velocity value can be used to add dynamics to the sound depending on how hard the note was played CONTROL CHANGE MESSAGES These messages are transmitted whenever one of the K Station s knobs or sliders are moved on the front panel Most settings within a menu will also transmit MIDI control change messages when the set ting is altered with the DATA knob The MIDI specification allows for 128 different types of controller message These are often referred to as Continuous Controllers CCO to CC127 Some controllers are rigidly defined by the MIDI standard for specific functions For example CC1 is always used for the modulation wheel Therefore whenever you move the K Station s modulation wheel it will transmit MIDI control change information using CC1 All other makes of synthesizers will also use CC1 for modulation wheel data However certain other control change numbers have no set purpose within the MIDI specification For example whenever the K Station s Filter FRE QUENCY knob is moved it will transmit using CC105 There is no guarantee however that other makes of synthesizer will use this control change number for the same purpose The K Station actually has many more than 128 different control set tin
33. key press regardless of the playing style used FM Env Attack Menu Page 8 When FM synthesis is being used see Page 24 this value determines the FM Envelope s Attack time Note The FM Envelope is used only for FM synthesis and should not be confused with the Amp or Mod Envelopes available on the K Station s front panel FM Env Decay Menu Page 9 When FM synthesis is being used see Page 24 this value determines the FM Envelope s Decay time Note The FM Envelope is used only for FM synthesis and should not be confused with the Amp or Mod Envelopes available on the K Station s front panel Audio Input Triggering Menu Page 10 The K Station is capable of processing an external audio signal through its Filter and or Effects section However it should be remem bered that the Amplifier is controlled by the AMP ENVELOPE controls on the front panel Unless the Amplifier has been triggered usually by playing notes on the keyboard or from a sequencer the Amplifier will be set at a zero volume level and no audio signal will be passed through it This is not a problem when the external audio signal is to be passed solely through the Effects Section since the Effects come after the Amplifier in the K Station s audio signal path However if it desired to process the external audio signal through the K Station s Filter it is often convenient to be able to automatically trigger the Amplifier and Mod envelopes
34. may be restarted every time a key is pressed For example if a siren type sound effect was required an LFO using a sawtooth wave would be set to positively modulate pitch Each time a new key is pressed the pitch would climb from the same point because the LFO waveform would be restarted rather than being at an undetermined pitch position Note If the LFO Common To All Voices function detailed below is set to ON for the LFO altering this value will have no effect How a keysync is applied to the LFO is determined by the changing the Global Sync Mode settings found in the Global Menu See Page 35 in the Advanced Features chapter for details LFO Keysync Phase Offset Menu Pages 3 amp 8 This setting provides an alternative point in the LFO s waveform cycle where the waveform will be restarted from when LFO Keysync is set to ON To hear the difference set a slow LFO to modulate Oscillator pitch modulation and experiment with different LFO waveforms and LFO Keysync Phase Offset settings LFO Common To All Voices Menu Pages 4 amp 9 Each of the eight voices have two LFO s sixteen in total The eight LFOs designated LFO 1 one per voice may be phase locked togeth er and similarly the eight LFO s designated LFO 2 may be locked To illustrate this assume the LFO waveform is a triangle wave and at a specific moment in time all eight are at the beginning of a the rising portion of the wave At a later point in time all
35. moved will only be shown on the screen for a short period of time as set by the Function display time in the Global Menu on Page 36 After a short time the display will revert back to showing the cur rent menu page It is possible to leave Menu Mode and return to Program Select Mode by pressing the MENUS button again the LED above the MENUS but ton stops blinking or by pressing the PROGRAM button 14 Oscillator Section Oscillator Section The Oscillators generate pitched waveforms as described in the Synthesis Tutorial chapter and these are fed into the Mixer Most of the controls that determine the pitch and waveform of the Oscillators and how they react to modulation are in this area Oscillators portamento semitone detune pwm depth mah EN pw position e l ev 1 o o position 2 O 1 e O fo 2 03 O em mod env DD O oscillator octave waveform pw select Ifo1 depth OSCILLATOR Select Button There are three independent Oscillators and each one can be inde pendently controlled by the buttons and knobs in the Oscillator area To make make the controls active and see waveform and octave for Oscillator 1 press the OSCILLATOR button once or more until LED 1 lights for Oscillator 2 press until LED 2 lights and for Oscillator 3 press until LED 3 lights OCTAVE Button Sets the basic pitch of Oscillator 1 2 or 3 in Octave jumps To change the basic pitch of the selected Oscillator to 1 octave fo
36. page A 10 for format MIDI System Exclusive MIDI System Exclusive Message Formats PROGRAM PAIR DUMP Conveys two adjacent programs where the first is even numbered eg 98 99 Note that P must be even When received the two sounds are stored in flash at the supplied bank and program number if C 1 If C 0 the bank used is the currently selected bank FOh 00h 20h 29h 01h 41h SyCh 02h C Vv Vi B P F7h SYSEX START NOVATION ID 1 NOVATION ID 2 NOVATION ID 3 DEVICE TYPE K STATION SYSEX CHANNEL MESSAGE TYPE CONTROL BYTE SOFTWARE VERSION VERSION INCREMENT PROGRAM BANK PROGRAM NUMBER PROGRAM BLOCK 128 bytes PROGRAM BLOCK 128 bytes END OF EXCLUSIVE Transmitted 7Fh Received 7Fh or current receive channel Program pair dump 0 or 1 destination bank control Transmitted 1 4 received don t care if C 0 0 2 4 98 Even numbered program See PROGRAM DATA BLOCK On page A 10 for format Odd numbered program See PROGRAM DATA BLOCK On page A 10 for format Note the purpose of the program pair dump is for internal efficiency in flash memory storage This message type is used for all bank dumps invoked from the front panel A full bank dump consists of 50 program pair dumps When a single bank dump is transmitted C 0 such that the receiving K Station current bank will be the destination When an all banks dump is transmitted C 1 such that the receiving Station will store the programs in the bank given in the B
37. protect switch is a safety feature designed to prevent memories from being overwritten by accident Therefore in order to save a sound the global memory pro tect must be switched off If an attempt is made to save to a memory while the global memory protect is still switched on the K Station will display a brief warning message No data will have been written to memory Switching off Global Memory Protect Press the MENUS button The LED above the MENUS button will now light indicating that the K Station is in Menu Mode Select the Global Menu by pressing the 7 button on the 0 9 numeric keypad If neces sary use the PAGE buttons immediately to the left of the display win dow to scroll up and down the pages within the menu until the display shows Mem Protect and its current setting ON or OFF Use the DATA knob to turn memory protect OFF Note To make permanent held even when power is off any changes to the K Station s global settings See Page 35 Quick Start Guide Exit Menu Mode either by pressing the MENUS button again or by pressing the PROGRAM button the LED above the MENUS button extinguish indicating that the K Station is no longer in Menu Mode To save a Program to the same location Press the WRITE button The display will now show the current Program number and the destination memory number where the Program is about to be saved to In this example Write to 499 Notice that the destination memory is
38. rise and fall times Main Features and Operation Mixer Section LFO 1 DEPTH Knob Controls the amount of pitch modulation to an Oscillator from LFO 1 It controls how much above and below the basic pitch the Oscillator reg ularly rises and falls If the LFO is set to Triangle wave and the LFO s speed knob is above the centre of its range this will produce a vibrato effect Other effects like a siren or sea gull cry are possible with more extreme settings Other functions associated with the Oscillators can be found in the Oscillators Menu See Pages 23 24 The Mixer makes it it possible to combine the outputs of Oscillators 1 2 and 3 the Noise source the Ring modulator and the external Audio Input The ability to mix together any or all of these sound sources makes it easy to create complex timbres M ixer osc 1 osc 2 osc 3 noise ring 1 2 ext input source level OSC 1 OSC 2 amp OSC 3 Knobs Controls the volumes of the three Oscillators Fully anticlockwise results in no signal In this position and with all the other Mixer levels turned down there will be no audio output Fully clockwise results in full volume for this Oscillator SOURCE Button and LEVEL Knob The SOURCE button selects which sound source the LEVEL knob will control With the NOISE position selected it controls volume of the White Noise Generator White Noise is useful for creating sound effects such as Wind With the RING
39. tempo rate of the arpeggiator and to provide a time base for synchro nization to other musical timings This clock may be derived internally or received from an external device that is able to send a master timing clock This is often known as a MIDI clock This setting determines whether the K Station s tempo synchronised features Arpeggiator Chorus Sync EQ Sync Delay Sync amp Panning Sync will follow the tempo of an external sequencer external clock or follow the tempo set by the TEMPO knob found in the Arpeggiator sec tion external clock When set to EXT external clock synchronisation is being used and the temp will be calculated from MIDI Clock messages received from a sequencer Make sure sure the external sequencer is set to transmit MIDI Clock Consult the sequencer manual for details Note Most sequencers do not transmit MIDI Clock while they are stopped Synchronization of the K Station to MIDI Clock will only be possible while the sequencer is actually recording or playing When set to INT the K Station s own internal clock is used for synchro nisation purposes The tempo of the internal clock is controlled by the Global Sync Mode NOTE 1 First Note when All Notes are Off NOTE P First Note after Program Change SNG ST Midi Song Start message TEMPO knob found in the Arpeggiator section MIDI Clock Input Status Menu Page 8 Sometimes it is desirable to monitor whether a sequencer is actually transmitt
40. the LFO 2 pulse amount that are not maximum or minimum values will produce clicks in the sound because the phase difference will be interrupted Advanced Features Sound 302 Oscillator Sync Example Oscillator 1 can sync Oscillator 2 so that each time Oscillator 1 com pletes it s cycle it resets the start cycle of Oscillator 2 When listening to only Oscillator 2 this has a very distinctive sound Here the Oscillator 2 level is 100 and Oscillator levels for Oscillators 1 amp 3 are both 0 Oscillator 1 has no envelope modulation whereas Oscillator 2 has a mod env depth of 45 The modulation envelope is set with an attack of 080 and a decay of 100 The sustain and release times for the mod envelope are 000 As the pitch of Oscillator 1 rises and falls this changes the way the Oscillator 2 wave is reset Try experimenting with the modulation envelope settings the mod env depth amount for Oscillator 2 and the Octave Semitone settings for Oscillators 1 amp 2 Sound 303 Ring Mod Example Here all the Oscillator levels are set to 000 The Ring Mod level is set to 100 The modulation envelope has an attack setting of 035 and a decay setting of 105 The mod env amount is set to 50 for Oscillator 2 and 40 for Oscillator 1 Try experimenting with the modulation envelope settings the mod env depth amount for Oscillators 1 amp 2 and the octave semitone settings for Oscillators 1 amp 2 Sound 304 Main Output EQ Filter Example The
41. to determine a threshold level where the Envelopes are triggered whenever the signal reaches or passes a certain loudness point The threshold is set by using the fol lowing Input Trigger Sensitivity function Input Trigger Sensitivity Menu Page 16 This function sets the audio input threshold level in other words how loud the external signal has to be in order to trigger the Envelopes Low values require a very loud signal to auto trigger Higher values progressively enable much quieter signals to trigger the Envelopes Note that it is necessary for a Program to have its Audio Input Triggering setting in the Envelopes Menu switched to ON in order for auto triggering to take place See Page 27 for details on how to set this NOTE If the external audio signal seems to be distorting when using a microphone or guitar without the distortion effect turned on try select ing LINE instead of MIC using the input sensitivity function Experiment with different settings until the external audio signal reliably triggers the K Station as required Whenever the K Station is auto triggered in this way it actually behaves as if a Middle C note has been played on the keyboard It may well be necessary to use the Mixer controls to turn down the lev els of the Oscillators if a pitched element to the sound is not required This is especially recommended if it is desired to hear only the external audio signal passed through the Filter Octave Bu
42. to the sound It will become thicker sounding Increasing the number of 23 notes to a maximum of 8 will result in very dense sounding textures Note As more voices are assigned to Unison the available polyphony will reduce accordingly For example using 8 voices in Unison mode will result in just one note of polyphony being available Unison Detune Menu Page 3 Unison Detune is used in conjunction with Unison Voices as described above When using more than one voice per note the Unison detune amount sets how much each voice is detuned relative to the others Adjust the amount until the desired effect is heard VCO Drift Menu Page 4 Controls the amount of tuning drift for the Oscillators Setting a modest value 10 for example will cause each Oscillator to slowly drift fraction ally out of tune Classic Analogue Synthesizers were known to gradual ly go out of tune as the internal circuits heated up This instability actually helped to give them their own unique character Preglide Semitones Menu Page 5 A Preglide is applied to the pitch of the Oscillators starting at a pitch determined by the Preglide amount in semitones Gliding up from a pitch occurs when the display indicates between 12 to 1 and gliding down from a pitch occurs when the display indicates between 1 to 12 At a setting of 0 no preglide is applied The time it takes to complete the Glide is determined by the PORTA MENTO knob on the front panel T
43. volume but also in pitch and timbre Sometimes this variation can be quite sub tle but still contribute greatly towards shaping the final sound Where an Envelope is used to control a one off modulation which occurs during the lifetime of a single note LFOs modulate by using a cyclic repeating wave pattern As discussed earlier Oscillators produce a constant waveform which can take the shape of a repeating sine wave triangle wave etc LFOs produce waveforms in a similar way but at a frequency normally too low to produce an audible pitched vibration that the human ear can perceive In fact LFO actually stands for Low Frequency Oscillator The waveforms generated by the LFOs may be fed to other parts of the synthesizer to create the desired movements in the sound LFOs speed e er e i m 2 s h Ifo waveform The K Station has two independent LFOs available which may be used to modulate different synthesizer sections and run at different speeds Pitch Time a A typical waveshape for an LFO would be a Triangle wave Imagine this slow moving wave being applied to an Oscillator s pitch The result would be that the pitch of the Oscillator slowly rises and falls above and below its original pitch This would simulate for example a violinist moving a finger up and down the string of the instrument whilst it is being bowed This subtle up and down movement of pitch is referred to as the Vibrato effect
44. will be at the beginning of the falling portion of the wave If this waveform is applied to pitch when a number of notes are played simultaneously the pitch of all the notes will rise and fall at precisely the same time If the LFO is not locked then each wave will be at a random position relative to the others In this pitch modulation example the pitch of all the notes will be changing out of synchronization with others 25 Advanced Features The LFOs Menu The Envelopes Menu Imagine a String section of eight violin players With the LFO locked and the LFO being used to create a vibrato all eight of the string play ers would have the bow in exactly the same position This obviously does not occur in a real string section and if it did the sound would be very unusual In reality each player s bow would be in a different posi tion which gives the strings a chorus type sound To simulate the string section the LFOs would not be locked Setting this to ON will lock the LFO Note When LFO Common To All Voices is set to ON changing the setting of the LFO Keysync function will have no effect Instead how a keysync is applied to the LFO is determined by the setting of the Global Sync Mode value found in the Global Menu See Page 35 in the Advanced Features chapter for details LFO Sync Rate Menu Pages 5 amp 10 Both LFOs may be synchronized to MIDI Clock As an example a very pleasing audio effect may
45. 5 103 Dance1 113 Dance2 123 Dance3 133 Dance4 143 Danced 104 Pad1 114 Pad2 124 Pad3 134 Pad4 144 Pad5 105 Keyboard1 115 Keyboard2 125 Keyboard3 135 Keyboard4 145 Keyboard5 106 Strings1 116 Strings2 126 Strings3 136 Strings4 146 Strings5 107 Brass1 117 Brass2 127 Brass3 137 Brass4 147 Brass5 108 Organ1 118 Organ2 128 Organ3 138 Organ4 148 Organ5 109 Soft Leadi 119 SoftLead2 129 Soft Lead3 139 Softlead4 149 Soft Lead5 Bank 2 Sounds 200 299 No Name No Name No Name No Name No Name 200 Bass11 210 Bass12 220 Bass13 230 Bass14 240 Bass15 201 Hard Lead11 211 Hard Lead12 221 Hard Lead13 231 Hard Lead14 241 Hard Lead15 202 Arpeggio11 212 Arpeggio12 222 Arpeggio13 232 Arpeggio14 242 Arpeggio15 203 Dance11 213 Dance12 223 Dance13 233 Dance14 243 Dance15 204 Pad11 214 Pad12 224 Pad13 234 Pad14 244 Pad15 205 Keyboard11 215 Keyboard12 225 Keyboard13 235 Keyboard14 245 Keyboard15 206 Trance1 216 Trance2 226 Trance3 236 Trance4 246 Trance5 207 Brass11 217 Brass12 227 Brass13 237 Brass14 247 Brass15 208 Motion1 218 Motion2 228 Motion3 238 Motion4 248 Motion5 209 FM1 219 FM2 229 FM3 239 FM4 249 FM5 Example Initialisation Sounds No Name No Name No Name No Name No Name 150 Bass6 160 Bass7 170 Bass8 180 Bass9 190 Bass10 151 HardLead6 161 Hard Lead7 171 HardLead8 181 Hard Lead9 191 Hard Lead10 152 Arpeggio6 162 Arpeggio7 172 Arpeggio8 182 Arpeggio9 192 Arpeggio10 153 Dance6 163 Dance7 173 Dance8
46. Button Pressing this button places the K Station immediately into Program Select Mode While in this mode a new Program may be selected by using either the PAGE PROGRAM buttons the DATA PROGRAM knob or by typing in a three digit entry by using the 0 9 Keypad Menu Select buttons As soon as this button is pressed Program Edit Mode or Menu Mode is cancelled MENUS Button Pressing this button selects Menu Mode In Menu Mode the LED located above the MENUS button will light If the K Station was already in Menu Mode when the button was pressed Menu Mode will be can celled and the K Station will return to Program Select Mode Program Select Mode may be also be selected at any time by pressing the PROGRAM button As soon as Menu Mode is entered the display will either show the first Page of whatever Menu was accessed last time or the last selected page of the previously accessed Menu This depends on the setting of the Global function New Menu Always Page 1 See page 36 It is possible to immediately select a new Menu by pressing the appropri ate 0 9 Keypad Menu Select button Note If an Effects Menu is currently being displayed selecting a differ ent Effect for editing by pressing the Effects SELECT buttons located within the Effects Section will result in the display showing settings relevant to the newly selected Effect COMPARE Button While this button is held down the K Station will recall the currently s
47. Controls how fast the dedicated Chorus LFO is oscillating A fairly slow speed is recommended Higher speeds tend to introduce a vibrato like quality to the sound Note The dedicated Chorus LFO should not be confused with the two LFOs available on the K Station s front panel Sync Rate Menu Page 3 Similar to Delay Sync the Chorus internal LFO may be synchronized to internal or external MIDI clock tempo The available Sync resolutions are Chorus Synchronisation to MIDI Clock table Display MIDI Clocks Synchronised to Display MIDI Clocks Synchronised to OFF Manual Rate 32nd T 2 32nd Triplet 1bar D 144 1 5 Bars 32nd 3 32nd 2 bars 192 2 Bars 16th T 4 16th Triplet 4bar T 256 4 Bar Triplet 16th 6 16th 3 bars 288 3 Bars 8th T 8 8th Triplet 5bar T 320 5 Bar Triplet 16th D 9 16th Dotted 4 bars 384 4 Bars 8th 12 8th 3bar D 432 4 5 Bars 4th T 16 4th Triplet 7bar T 448 7 Bar Triplet 8th D 18 8th Dotted 5 bars 480 5 Bars 4th 24 4th 8bar T 512 8 Bar Triplet 2nd T 32 2nd Triplet 6 bars 576 6 Bars 4th D 36 Ath Dotted 7 bars 672 7 Bars 2nd 48 2nd 5bar D 720 7 5 Bars 1bar T 64 1 Bar Triplet 8 bars 768 8 Bars 2nd D 72 2nd Dotted 9 bars 864 9 Bars 1 bar 96 1 Bar 7bar D 1008 10 5 Bars 2bar T 128 2 Bar Triplet 12bars 1152 12 Bars When a sync interval is selected the tempo of the Chorus LFO is con trolled by the Arpeggiator s TEMPO knob when MIDI Clock Source is set to INT or by the external sequencer s tempo when MIDI Clock So
48. DI devices but can lead to some quite unexpected results if careful note is not kept of exactly what is happening K Station Synth 2 etc Sequencer Soft Thru set to On Typical example of using the K Station as a Master Keyboard in a MIDI system MIDI Tutorial Because many sequencers re channelise MIDI information in this way it is quite possible to use the K Station as a master keyboard to supply MIDI information and notes that the sequencer will use to control other MIDI equipment for example a sampler To do this firstly the sequencer track must be selected which corresponds to the same MIDI channel that the sampler is using However it would noticed that as soon as notes are played into the sequencer from the K Station key board the K Station would play as well as the sampler To overcome this problem there is a feature on the K Station called Local Control Local Control Local Control is a setting found in the Global Menu see page 34 for details which in effect is a switch that connects or disconnects the K Station s keyboard and panel controls from the K Station s synthesis engine When the keyboard is played or the front panel controls are moved they still transmit the usual MIDI information but they have no direct control of the K Station When Local Control is set to OFF the only way that the K Station s keyboard or controls can be used to play the K Station is when the MIDI information sen
49. DWHEEL REVERB SEND 25 undefined msb REVERB DECAY 26 undefined msb MODWHEEL CHORUS SEND 27 undefined msb NON SYNC CHORUS RATE 28 undefined msb SYNC CHORUS RATE 0 34 non sync 32Triplet 12bars 29 undefined msb CHORUS FEEDBACK 30 undefined msb CHORUS MOD DEPTH 31 undefined msb CHORUS MOD CENTRE POINT 32 bank Isb BANK SELECT 1 4 33 modwheel Isb EQ LEVEL 0 1 63 64 65 126 127 LP LPshelf flat HPshelf HP 34 breath Isb EQ FREQUENCY 35 undefined Isb NON SYNC EQ MOD RATE 36 foot controller Isb SYNC EQ MOD RATE 0 34 non sync 32Triplet 12bars 37 portamento time Isb EQ MOD DEPTH 38 data entry Isb 39 volume Isb 40 balance Isb OSC1 SEMITONE 12 12 41 undefined Isb OSC1 CENT 50 50 42 pan Isb OSC1 BENDWHEEL PITCH AMOUNT 43 expression Isb OSC1 LFO1 PITCH AMOUNT 44 effect control 1 Isb OSC1 MOD ENV PITCH AMOUNT 45 effect control 2 Isb OSC1 PULSE WIDTH POSITION 0 50 or in phase double wave 46 undefined Isb OSC1 LFO2 PULSE WIDTH MOD 47 undefined Isb OSC1 MOD ENV PULSE WIDTH MOD 48 gen controller 1 Isb OSC2 SEMITONE 12 12 49 gen controller 2 Isb OSC2 CENT 50 50 50 gen controller 3 Isb OSC2 BENDWHEEL PITCH AMOUNT 51 gen controller 4 Isb OSC2 LFO1 PITCH AMOUNT Appendix A 2 MIDI Controller List 52 53 54 56 57 59 60 62 63 65 66 68 69 71 72 74 75 77 78 80 81 83 84 86 87 89 90
50. E A ETT 23 24 Unison DOtUNG wis eaei aaa 23 UNISON VO CES oocccccnncnccccononoonnccnncnnonononononnnnnnnnnnanononononinnnnnos 23 VGO Didac ini 23 VOCS Mode 2 tantas 23 WAVEFORM ButtOD ooccccccncccccccnconocononanonononononanoncnnnnononononono 15 Waye OTS iia ri taa ia 5 15 Outputs cu id 3 PAGE PROGRAM Buttons ccccoocoooccccccccncccccnoso 3 14 21 Panning Effect E a aA E emanadas sil 20 32 Mod Depth iarniri tirei iiie idonis ie ii eens 32 PROLG AEEA EATA EAE A AET 32 Sync Initial PositiON ociosos iia 32 SYNC Rallador 32 Function Display TiM8 ooooonnccnnncccnnnaccnnonccnnnorcnnnnarnn nan ncrnnnn 36 PIC E A A Re TA 5 9 Pitch Bend Messages cccooooooccccconononccnconananccnncnannnnonnnnnnns 11 A 12 Pitch bend Whe el ooooocccnncnccccccccnocnccnnnoncnnnnnnononacononanononnnos 13 34 Calibrating s coincide d 34 PO YPRONY coito tie ee 23 POr MeN O iia id 15 23 Power Sockets ae a eee eal 3 Preset Programs sinniet iaiia 3 4 34 39 PROGRAM ButtON oooccccccncnnnonononcnnnnnnnonononcnnnnonanonos 3 13 14 22 Program Change cccceesececeeeeeeeteeeeees 3 11 31 35 A 12 Program Edit MOde cccccceceeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeeeeeeaes 14 21 Program Level cocidas 26 Program Select Mode c ccecseeeeeeeeeeees 4 14 21 22 36 A O e 2 3 14 Pulse Width z octanos aa ito ra 15 Restoring Global Data ooooooooonicccnonoconicncconnoncccnnananinnnnnns 34 Restori
51. Frequency will be boosted and those below attenuated 50 Fa Unchanged Volume Level Volume Boost AAA volume Pos Cut EQ Frequency Point 10hz 500hz 1Khz 5Khz 20Khz EQ LEVEL set to 10 In the above example The EQ Frequency point has been set to 50 and the EQ LEVEL set to 10 This has the effect of gently boosting the lower bass end of the frequency spectrum and cutting the higher tre ble frequecies EQ Frequency Point Volume Boost 50 SS Volume HE Cut ae Per eet reer Unchanged Volume Level 10hz 500hz 1Khz 5Khz 20Khz EQ LEVEL set to 63 In this example the EQ LEVEL has been set to its maximum possible positive setting of 63 This results in a dramatic boost in the higher tre ble frequencies and a reduction in lower bass frequencies Panning The Panning effect dictates where in the stereo field a sound is placed when heard through stereo speakers or headphones It is possible to position a sound hard to the left hard to the right or anywhere in between The Effects LEVEL knob positions the sound in the stereo field When set fully counter clockwise the sound will only be heard on the left hand side At the full clockwise position the sound will be heard only on the right hand side When set at the 12 o clock position the sound is heard on both sides at an equal level 20 Effects Section Display and Data Entry Section Vocoder A Vocoder is a device which a
52. GES receive only PROGRAM DUMP REQUEST FOh SYSEX START 00h NOVATION ID 1 20h NOVATION ID 2 29h NOVATION ID 3 01h DEVICE TYPE 41h K STATION SyCh SYSEX CHANNEL 7Fh or current receive channel 41h MESSAGE TYPE Program dump request C CONTROL BYTE Reply will copy this value for C Vv SOFTWARE VERSION Don t care Vi VERSION INCREMENT Don t care B PROGRAM BANK 1 4 don t care if C 0 P PROGRAM NUMBER 0 99 F7h END OF EXCLUSIVE PROGRAM PAIR DUMP REQUEST FOh SYSEX START 00h NOVATION ID 1 20h NOVATION ID 2 29h NOVATION ID 3 01h DEVICE TYPE 41h K STATION SyCh SYSEX CHANNEL 7Fh or current receive channel 42h MESSAGE TYPE Program pair dump request Cc CONTROL BYTE Reply will copy this value for C Vv SOFTWARE VERSION Don t care Vi VERSION INCREMENT Don t care B PROGRAM BANK 1 4 Don t care if C 0 P PROGRAM NUMBER 0 2 4 98 F7h END OF EXCLUSIVE GLOBAL DATA DUMP REQUEST FOh SYSEX START 00h NOVATION ID 1 20h NOVATION ID 2 29h NOVATION ID 3 01h DEVICE TYPE 41h K STATION SyCh SYSEX CHANNEL 7Fh or current receive channel 43h MESSAGE TYPE Global data dump request 00h CONTROL BYTE Don t care Vv SOFTWARE VERSION Don t care Vi VERSION INCREMENT Ddon t care 00h PROGRAM BANK Don t care 00h PROGRAM NUMBER Don t care F7h END OF EXCLUSIVE Appendix MIDI System Exclusive MIDI System Exclusive Message Formats GLOBAL DATA BLOCK 256 bytes 23 255 Parameter POWER UP PROGRAM BANK 1 4 POWER
53. I network simply by connecting a cable from the second instrument s MIDI Thru to the third instru ment s MIDI In and so on MIDI Tutorial Some instruments may not have a MIDI Thru socket fitted In these cases the instrument should be placed at the end of the MIDI chain or a Thru box should be incorporated into the MIDI system Synth 1 Sequencer MIDI Thru Box Synth 2 Synth 3 Star method of connecting three MIDI devices to a sequencer A Thru Box simply provides a number of identical MIDI Thru sockets from a single MIDI In It is important to realise that MIDI information flows in one direction only along the cable It is not possible to have a MIDI In socket con nected to another MIDI In socket for example If this were done the MIDI network would simply not work In fact the only routings allowed are MIDI Out to MIDI In or MIDI Thru to MIDI In Some devices known as controllers are equipped with only a single MIDI Out socket and are used exclusively to generate MIDI data for controlling other instruments Examples of common MIDI controllers are controller keyboards these are simply keyboards with no synthe sizer attached drum percussion pads or footswitch controllers MIDI messages used by the K Station The K Station is capable of transmitting and responding to various types of MIDI events These are as follows NOTE MESSAGES A note message is transmitted every time a key on the K Station s
54. Manual LFO2 1 2 2 3 0 100 0 100 500uS 20 Seconds 1mS 20 Seconds pitch and modulation of pitch Osc 1 Level Osc 2 Level Osc 3 Level Noise Level FM Level External Input Level Frequency Resonance Mod Env Depth LFO 2 Depth Cut Off Keyboard Tracking Overdrive Q normalise Comprehensive Aftertouch Breath and Pitch Mod Wheel control of both static Mixer 0 100 0 100 0 100 0 100 0 100 0 100 5Hz 24kHz 0 Self Oscillation 24dB mode 100 to 100 100 to 100 0 100 0 100 0 100 filter freq and modulation of filter freq Velocity Attack Waveform Speed Delay Fade In LFO Sync Waveform Speed Delay Fade In LFO Sync Arpeggiator Amplifier Envelope 100 to 100 250uS 20 Seconds 1mS 20 Seconds 0 100 1mS 20 Seconds Mod Envelope 100 to 100 1mS 20 Seconds 0 100 1mS 20 Seconds LF01 Sample amp Hold Tri Saw Squ 0 Hz 1Khz 0 5 Seconds Internal MIDI Clock LF02 Sample amp Hold Tri Saw Squ 0 Hz 1Khz 0 5 Seconds Internal MIDI Clock Arpeggiator Speed Range Gate Time MIDI Clock Sync Keysync MIDI Sockets In Out Thru Audio Input Line Level 1 x Mono 1 4 Jack Audio Outputs Line Level 2 x Mono 1 4 Jack Reverb Level Echo Chamber Small Room Large Room Small Hall Large Hall Grand hall Decay Wheel Level Chorus Phaser Level Rate T
55. NC RATE 64 191 bpm 85 ARPEGGIATOR SYNC SETTING 0 15 32Triplet 1 bar 86 ARPEGGIATOR GATE TIME 100 GIVES TIED NOTE IN MONO MODE 87 ARP PATTERN 0 5 up down ud1 ud2 order random 88 ARPEGGIATOR CONTROL see packed parameter 7 89 VOCODER BALANCE 0 off 64 full vocoder 127 modulator only 90 VOCODER STEREO WIDTH 91 VOCODER SIBILANCE LEVEL Appendix A 10 MIDI System Exclusive MIDI System Exclusive Message Formats PROGRAM DATA BLOCK continued 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 EQ LEVEL 0 1 63 64 65 126 127 LP LP shelf flat HP shelf HP EQ FREQUENCY NON SYNC EQ MOD RATE SYNC EQ MOD RATE 0 34 non sync 32Triplet 12bars EQ MOD DEPTH DISTORTION LEVEL MODWHEEL DISTORTION DISTORTION COMPENSATION DELAY SEND LEVEL MODWHEEL DELAY SEND NON SYNC DELAY TIME SYNC DELAY TIME 0 19 non sync 32Triplet 2bars DELAY FEEDBACK DELAY STEREO WIDTH DELAY RATIO REVERB SEND LEVEL MODWHEEL REVERB SEND REVERB DECAY CHORUS SEND LEVEL MODWHEEL CHORUS SEND NON SYNC CHORUS RATE SYNC CHORUS RATE 0 34 non sync 32Triplet 12bars CHORUS FEEDBACK CHORUS MOD DEPTH CHORUS MOD CENTRE POINT PAN POSITION NON SYNC PAN RATE SYNC PAN RATE 0 34 non sync 32Triplet 12bars PAN MOD DEPTH EFFECTS TYPE CONTROL see packed parameter 8 EFFECTS GLOBAL SYNC CONTROL
56. OES speed er e Ol em 2 s h Ifo waveform SPEED Knob Controls the speed of the low frequency Oscillations An LED directly below the knob indicates the speed Faster speeds are set by turning the knob clockwise These are suitable for vibrato and tremolo effects Slower speeds are more appropriate for Pulse Width changes or spe cial effects DELAY Knob Controls how long after the note is struck the selected LFO begins to take effect Fully anticlockwise and the selected LFO effect will begin immediately Turning clockwise will cause the LFO effect to fade in The time of the fade in is dependent on the knob position This is used for delayed vibrato effects LFO Select Button Selects which LFO the SPEED DELAY and WAVEFORM controls relate to Select position 1 for LFO 1 and 2 for LFO 2 WAVEFORM Button Selects the waveform shape for the selected LFO TRI Triangle waveform gives the smoothest continuous change in level to the LFO When routed to pitch it introduces vibrato or a siren effect dependent of its speed setting When routed to Filter Cut off a Wow Wow effect results SAW Sawtooth waveform generates a rising level which then jumps back up to zero level Routed to the Filter Cut off it produces a rhyth mic pulse effect Routing it to pitch produces siren type sounds SQR Square waveform changes level instantly from minimum to max imum This waveform is useful for trills and computer game eff
57. RESONANCE MOD ENV DEPTH KEY TRACK and LFO 2 DEPTH knobs and the filter SLOPE button 4 LFO Section Contains the controls associated with the K Station s two LFOs These include the SPEED and DELAY knobs and the LFO select and WAVE FORM buttons 5 Envelopes Section Contains controls associated with the K Station s two Envelopes There are two sets of ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN and RELEASE controls Knobs are used for the Mod Envelope and Sliders are used for the Amp Envelope 13 LFOs Envelopes Mod resonance mod Ego attack pe key track lfo2 depth speed delay 9 er e en ern waveform 4 el el program menus 3 select program EQ utilities globa vocoder ai 11 6 Master Volume and Keyboard Octave buttons 7 Performance Controls Section Contains the PITCH bend and MODulation wheels 8 Arpeggiator Section Contains controls associated with the Arpeggiator These include the TEMPO knob and Arpeggiator ON OFF button 9 Effects Section Contains controls associated with the various effects These consist of the Effects LEVEL knob and the Effects SELECT buttons 10 Display and Data Entry Section Contains the display a DATA PROGRAM knob and two PAGE PRO GRAM buttons 11 Two Octave Keyboard 12 Mode and Keypad Section Contains the PROGRAM MENUS COMPARE and WRITE buttons and the numeric keypad Menu select buttons Main Features and Op
58. Range to LINE InSens LIN Input Sensitivity set to LINE Set to MIC for low level devices such as Guitars or Microphones Once set play or talk into the microphone the input device Advanced Features An InSens MIC The first five character blocks forming a horizontal bar to the left of the display will illuminate according to the level of the signal It is likely that they will all illuminate or just the lowest one or two to the left The Input Trim dB function must now be used to optimize performance Input Trim dB Menu Page 15 After Input Sensitivity Range has been set the sensitivity must be trimmed for best performance Whilst the input signal is present adjust this value using the DATA knob until the the first four blocks are fully lit and the fifth block lights occasionally as shown in the illustration below InTrim 3 The sensitivity level is now set correctly In order to hear the external signal through the effects processor or to make the signal trigger sounds the current PROGRAM selected has to have external audio enabled This is done from within the Envelopes Menu see the Audio Input Triggering and External Audio To Effects functions on Page 27 Setting an External Audio Signal to Trigger the Envelopes It is possible to make the K Station trigger automatically thus opening the Amplifier and Filter via the Envelopes whenever an external signal is present To do this it is necessary
59. See Pages 21 in the Main Features and Operation section for full details and for a description of how the Vocoder oper ates Additional functions relating to the Vocoder are to be found in the Vocoder Menu Use the PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu functions available See table below Vocoder Menu Page Function Display Value 1 Stereo Width VOC St Width 0 127 2 Sibilance Level VOC Sib Lev 0 127 3 SibilanceType VOC Sib Type HP Noi Stereo Width Menu Page 1 Determines how wide the stereo output of the vocoder will be The 12 bands of the Vocoder are panned one by one to the left and to the right Increasing the value moves the individual bands further away from the centre position Sibilance Level Menu Page 2 Determines the amount of sibilance there will be present in the final vocoded signal Typically these are the S and T types of sounds heard in speech Adding sibilance gives the Vocoder a more defined sound and helps make vocoded voices more intelligable Sibilance Type Menu Page 3 Determines if the vocoder uses real sibilance high pass filtered from the modulator or artificially generates it using noise When set to HP a high pass filter is used to extract the sibilance from the modulator Note this will allow some of the modulator signal to be heard When set to NOI Noise is used to artificially generate the sibilance 33 This menu contains various utility functions associated wi
60. a connected MIDI device is configured to transmit Aftertouch or Breath Control MIDI data if in doubt consult the device s manual for details In order to hear the effect of any of these settings press a key on the connected keyboard or blow into the breath controller while adjusting the values Note that the K Station s own keyboard does not generate Aftertouch data Aftertouch messages can only be sent from an external MIDI key board or sequencer Atouch Osc 1 2 3 Pitch Shift Menu Page 1 This setting is used to shift the absolute pitch of the Oscillators up or down in response to incoming Aftertouch data Set in the range 64 to 1 and any Aftertouch data will shift the pitch of the Oscillators downwards With a range of 1 to 63 any Aftertouch data received will shift the pitch of the Oscillators upwards Greater val ues increase the amount of pitch shifting applied At a setting of 0 Aftertouch messages will have no effect Atouch Osc 1 2 3 Pitch Mod LFO 1 Menu Page 2 Enables LFO 1 to modulate the pitch of the Oscillators introducing a vibrato effect As Aftertouch messages are received the LFO 1 modu lation will be applied As the Aftertouch data falls back towards zero the amount of LFO 1 modulation to the Oscillators pitch will also decrease Adjust this value to set the depth of pitch modulation applied by LFO 1 At a setting of 0 Aftertouch messages will have no effect For best results ensure
61. a mono timbral instru ment which means that it is only capable of playing one type of sound at any one time If it is desired to create complex pieces of music using a sequencer it will therefore become necessary to either use a multi track audio recorder to record each track played or a computer based hard disk audio recorder or include other instruments into the MIDI network alongside the K Station When using a sequencer some careful thought should be given as to the way the MIDI information is routed through the sequencer With most sequencers any MIDI information that appears at the sequencer s MIDI In socket is immediately re transmitted again from the sequencer s MIDI Out socket If desired it is sometimes possible to turn this feature off It usually called echo back or soft thru Consult your sequencer manual for details It is very important to realise that if soft thru is enabled on a sequencer the MIDI information re transmitted by the MIDI Out socket is always converted to the MIDI channel used by the currently selected sequencer track This means that if a track is selected on a sequencer which uses MIDI channel 2 and the sequencer then receives some MIDI information from a K Station sent on MIDI channel 1 it will be re transmitted by the sequencer not on MIDI channel 1 but MIDI channel 2 This is known as re channelising This would be quite useful for programming parts into the sequencer for other MI
62. adio interference regulation of the Canadian Department of Communications Le present appareil numerique n emet pas de bruits radioelectriques depassant les limites applicables aux appareils numeriques de la Classe B prescrites dans le reglement sur le brouillage radioelectrique edicte par le Ministere Des Communications du Canada This only applies to products distributed in Canada Ceci ne s applique qu aux produits distribues dans Canada Other Standards Rest of World This product complies with the radio frequency interference requirements of the Council Directive 89 336 EC Dette apparat overholder det gaeldenda EF direktiv vedr rendareadiost j Cet appareil est conforme aux prescriptions de la directivecommunautaire 89 336 EC Diese Ger ote entsprechen der EG Richtlinie 89 336 EC Specifications subject to change The information contained in this manual is believed to be correct at the time of going to press However Novation reserves the right to change or modify the specification without notice or obligation to update existing units Copyright 2002 Novation Electronic Music Systems Ltd Part No MAN KST UK Vers 1 1a anovation in music anything is possible Novation EMS Limited Platinum House 32 Clivemont Road Maidenhead Berkshire England SL6 7BZ Phone 44 1 628 678520 Fax 44 1 628 671122 E mail sales novationmusic com Novation USA Limited Int Toll free Tel 011 800 NOVATION 6682 8466 E mail salesusa
63. anual for details Advanced Features When Sync Rate is set to OFF the Panning effect will be at the rate determined by the Panning Rate setting Any incoming MIDI clock messages or Arpeggiator TEMPO settings will be ignored by the Panning effect LFO Sync Initial Position Menu Page 4 As well as being able to be synchronized to a MIDI clock tempo the Panning LFO may have its initial position set after a specific MIDI event is received see the Global Sync Mode function on Page 35 Pan LFO Sync Initial Postion OFF Off LFT Left MID Centre RGT Right The initial positions are shown in the table above For example if the Panning initial position sync is set to RGT Right after an appropriate MIDI event has been received the sound will begin in the right output audio channel and then move towards the left Note The Panning LFO should not be confused with the two LFOs available on the K Station s front panel 32 The Vocoder Menu The Utilities Menu The Vocoder menu The Utilities Menu Vocoder sounds have recently returned to popularity and are being used more frequently in modern Pop and Dance music typically to pro duce distinctive robot voice type effects Activating The Vocoder This is done by using the LEVEL knob found in the Effects section while the Vocoder is currently selected by the SELECT buttons This control is also used to balance the various elements used to create the Vocoder effect
64. as been done it will not usually become necessary to calibrate the wheels again Display Contrast Menu Page 4 Rotate the DATA PROGRAM knob to adjust the contrast of the K Station s display until it is easy and comfortable to read 34 The Global Menu The Global Menu This menu is used to change various settings which remain constant regardless of which Program is currently selected The Global Menu is selected by pressing the keypad 7 button when the K Station is in Menu Mode Use the PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu functions available See table below Global Menu not stored in programs Page Function Display Value 1 Memory Protection Mem Protect OFF ON 2 Midi Receive Channel Midi Rx Chan 1 16 3 Midi Transmit Channel Midi Tx Chan 1 16 4 Keyboard Transmit Channel Kbd Tx Chan 1 16 5 Master Tune Cents Master Tune 64 63 6 Local Control Local Cntrol OFF ON 7 Midi Clock Source Clock Source INT EXT 8 Midi Clock Input Status Ext Clock In ON bpm value 9 Global Sync Mode Glob Sync NOTE 1 SNG ST 10 Velocity Curve Vel Curve SOFT HARD 11 Function Display Time Display Time 0 127 12 Prog Mode Display Control Disp Control TIME PERM 13 New Menu Always Page 1 NewMenu Page OFF ON 14 Input Sensitivity Range InSens LIN MIC 15 Input Trim dB InTrim 10 20 16 Input Trigger Sensitivity In Trig Sens 0 127 17 Octave Buttons Control lt lt oct gt gt Kill OFF ON For display of control knob sett
65. ase the output volume of the Amp Envelope as Aftertouch is applied Negative values 1 to 64 decrease the output volume of the Amp Envelope as Aftertouch is applied At a setting of 0 Aftertouch messages will have no effect Routing Breath Control It is also possible to use incoming Breath Control MIDI messages to affect and modulate sounds The principle of using Breath Control is exactly the same as the way in which Aftertouch is applied The remaining five pages in the menu offer exactly the same features and routings as are available for Aftertouch but these settings apply to Breath Control information The Wheels Menu This menu controls how the K Station will respond to Pitch and Modulation from its own pitch and mod wheels It is selected by press ing the keypad 8 button when the K Station is in Menu Mode Use the PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu functions available See table below Wheels Menu Page Function 1 Osc 1 Pitch Bend Semitones Display Value BW Osc1 Bend 12 12 Filter Frequency Mod LFO2 Amplifier Gain post distortion MW FFreq Mod 64 63 MW Amp Gain 64 63 2 Osc 2 Pitch Bend Semitones BW Osc2 Bend 12 12 3 Osc 3 Pitch Bend Semitones BW Osc3 Bend 12 12 4 Osc 1 2 3 Pitch Shift in Semitones MW Pitch 64 63 5 Osc 1 2 3 Pitch Mod LFO1 MW Pitch Mod 64 63 6 Filter Frequency Shift MW Filt Freq 64 63 7 8 Oscillator 1 2 and 3 Pitch Bend Amount Menu Page 1 Th
66. ass filter Frequencies above the cut off point are reduced in volume 12 dB 24 dB Cut off frequency Volume The Filter in the K Station is a Low Pass type A cut off point is chosen and any frequencies below that point are passed and any above are fil tered out The setting of the FREQUENCY knob on the K Station panel dictates the point below which frequencies are removed This process of removing harmonics from the waveforms has the effect of changing the sounds character or timbre When the FREQUENCY knob is set Tequency fully clockwise the filter is set completely open and no frequencies are removed from the raw Oscillator waveforms When resonance is added frequencies at the cut off point are boosted in volume In practice there is a gradual reduction in the volume of the harmonics above the cut off point How quickly these harmonics are reduced in volume above the cut off frequency is determined by the Filter s slope This slope is measured in volume units per octave Since Volume is measured in decibels this slope is quoted in number of decibels per octave dB Typical values are 12dB or 24dB per Octave The higher the number the faster the harmonics are cut and the more pronounced the filtering effect 12 dB 24 dB slope The button on the K Station s front panel marked SLOPE allows either the 12dB or 24dB type filter slope to be selected resonance A further important feature
67. bility librarian programs should always maintain a match between the Vv and Vi byte values and the data block content SYSEX DATA DUMP MESSAGES CURRENT SOUND DUMP When received this will be the active sound It is not stored in flash The source bank and program number are irrelevant and the control byte is ignored FOh 00h 20h 29h 01h 41h SYSEX START NOVATION ID 1 NOVATION ID 2 NOVATION ID 3 DEVICE TYPE K STATION SYSEX CHANNEL MESSAGE TYPE CONTROL BYTE SOFTWARE VERSION VERSION INCREMENT PROGRAM BANK PROGRAM NUMBER PROGRAM BLOCK 128 bytes END OF EXCLUSIVE PROGRAM DUMP When received the sound is stored in flash at the supplied bank and program number if C 1 If C 0 the bank used is the currently selected bank FOh 00h 20h 29h 01h 41h SyCh SYSEX START NOVATION ID 1 NOVATION ID 2 NOVATION ID 3 DEVICE TYPE K STATION SYSEX CHANNEL MESSAGE TYPE CONTROL BYTE SOFTWARE VERSION VERSION INCREMENT PROGRAM BANK PROGRAM NUMBER PROGRAM BLOCK 128 bytes END OF EXCLUSIVE Appendix Transmitted 7Fh Received 7Fh or current receive channel Current sound dump Transmitted O Received don t care Transmitted O Received don t care Transmitted O Received don t care See PROGRAM DATA BLOCK On page A 10 for format Transmitted 7Fh received 7Fh or current receive channel Program dump 0 or 1 destination bank control Transmitted 1 4 received don t care if C 0 0 99 See PROGRAM DATA BLOCK On
68. ce repeated sounds resulting in a multiple echo effect Large amounts of feedback produces infinite echoes Sync Time Menu Page 3 Enables the time of the Delay repeats to be synchronized to the tempo of a song The following table gives the range of synchronization values available Advanced Features Delay Synchronisation to MIDI Clock table Display MIDI Clocks Synchronised to OFF Manual Rate 32nd T 2 32nd Triplet 32nd 3 32nd 16th T 4 16th Triplet 16th 6 16th 8th T 8 8th Triplet 16th D 9 16th Dotted 8th 12 8th Ath T 16 4th Triplet 8th D 18 8th Dotted 4th 24 4th 2nd T 32 2nd Triplet 4th D 36 4th Dotted 2nd 48 2nd 1bar T 64 1 Bar Triplet When a sync interval is selected the tempo of the Delay is controlled by the Arpeggiator s TEMPO knob when MIDI Clock Source is set to INT or by the external sequencer s tempo when MIDI Clock Source is set to EXT See Page 35 for setting the Global MIDI Clock Source from INT to EXT or vice versa When controlling the Delay Sync Time from a sequencer it is impor tant to ensure that the sequencer is transmitting MIDI Clock messages Consult the sequencer manual for details Note When the Sync Time function is set to OFF the timing of the delay repeats will be controlled by the setting of the Time function Menu Page 4 Any incoming MIDI clock messages or Arpeggiator TEMPO settings will be ignored by the Delay effect Stereo Width Menu Page 4 This sets the Stereo sprea
69. cessary to always send a bank select message before the program change message though recommended It is per mitted to omit the bank select but if this is done the program change message will select the sound from whatever bank of sounds is cur rently selected Channel Messages All of these different types of MIDI message detailed above include information detailing which MIDI channel was used when the message was transmitted MIDI channel messages will only affect receiving devices using the same MIDI channel For example a pitch bend mes sage sent using MIDI channel 1 would have no effect at all if it were received on a synthesizer set to respond on MIDI channel 2 Some MIDI messages do not include any MIDI channel information defined in them Some examples of these are MIDI CLOCK MESSAGES These are synchronization messages sent from a sequencer When received they enable tempo locked features of the K Station such as the arpeggiator and various effects settings such as Panning and Delay sync to follow the current tempo of the sequencer The K Station itself does not transmit MIDI clock messages so it can only be synchronized to follow the tempo of other devices and not vice versa 11 Whenever an external sequencer is started a Start Song MIDI mes sage is usually transmitted Certain features on the K Station can be set to reset their synchronisation when a Start Song message is received SYSTEM EXCLUSIVE MESSAGES
70. cillator Menu This chapter details the many advanced features available on the K Station Most of these are found in the various Menus available when the K Station is placed into Menu Mode See page 14 for details on selecting Menu Mode Each of the various Menus available will now be discussed in detail The Oscillator Menu To complement the front panel controls in the Oscillator section there are many other functions located in the Oscillators Menu This Menu is selected by pressing the keypad 1 button when the K Station is in Menu Mode Use the PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu functions available See table below Oscillator Menu Page Function Display Value 1 Voice Mode OSC Mode MONO POLY 2 2 Unison Voices OSC Unison OFF 8 3 Unison Detune OSC UniDtune 0 127 4 VCO Drift OSC VcoDrift 0 127 5 Preglide Semitones OSC Preglide 12 12 6 Portamento Mode OSC Porta EXP LIN 7 Start Phase OSC Start Ph OFF 14 8 Osc 1 2 Sync OSC 12 Sync OFF ON 9 Osc2 3FM Manual Level OSC 23FM Lev 0 127 10 Osc2 3FMEnv Amt OSC 23FM Env 64 63 Voice Mode Menu Page 1 This setting determines if the Program plays polyphonically or mono phonically Voice Mode MONO Mono No Auto Glide MONO AG Mono with Autoglide POLY 1 Normal Poly Mode POLY 2 Poly no note layering When set to MONO or MONO AG the Program plays monophonically ie only one note can be sounded at any one time If a chord is played on the keyboar
71. condi tion and may be useful for the creation of certain sounds for example key clicks on organ simulations If this is undesirable increase the Attack time until the clicks are inaudible DECAY Knob Slider Sets how quickly the envelope falls to a sustain level after the maxi mum level has been reached Set to zero this time is about one thou sandth of a second still instantaneous to the ear increasing exponen tially to twenty seconds when set to maximum To shorten decay times move this control towards zero and to lengthen decay times move this control towards maximum SUSTAIN Knob Slider Sets the level at which the envelope remains following the Decay phase only while a key is being held on a controller keyboard or there is a MIDI Note On command present When set to zero the envelope will decay to zero without being interrupted As the control is moved towards maximum the sustain level increases until when at maximum the sustain level is at its maximum level RELEASE Knob Slider Sets how quickly the envelope falls from the sustain level to zero once the note has been released When set to zero this time is about one thousandth of a second instantaneous to the ear increasing exponen tially to twenty seconds when set to maximum To shorten release times move this control towards zero and to lengthen release times move this control towards maximum Additional settings associated with the Envelopes ca
72. d it will be noticed that as each individual note is released the note sounding will revert back to the nearest played note The MONO AG setting enables Auto glide portamento to be trig gered whenever a note is played on the keyboard before the previously held down note has been released legato playing Using Auto glide in this way can greatly add expressiveness to a Program It is especial ly effective when applied to lead type sounds The monophonic settings are often useful when replicating sounds in the real world which would normally be played monophonically for example a bass guitar As their name implies the POLY 1 and POLY 2 settings allow poly phonic operation POLY1 allows successive playing of the same note s to be stacked together gradually producing a louder sound texture as the note s are repeatedly played With POLY2 if the same note s are played repeatedly they will use the same synthesizer voices as used previously thus avoiding the stacked note effect Unison Voices Menu Page 2 Unison allows more than one voice to be used for each note played on the keyboard This effect is useful when a very thick sound is required The K Station allows up to eight voices to sound layered one on top of another when just a single note is played To listen to the effect select Page 2 in the Oscillator Menu turn the DATA knob clockwise until the display shows 2 Play a note and listen
73. d between the long and short Delay times With a width setting of zero both delays appear in the middle of the stereo field Mono At maximum width setting the longer delay will appear on one output and the shorter on the other producing a dra matic stereo effect Left Right Time Ratio Menu Page 5 Delay Ratios Automatically adjusts the ratio of the longest Est Rigpi delay time and the shorter delay time into i timings that are musically useful 3 4 3 2 213 Use the DATA knob to select the most suit 211 able ratio A Simple equal 1 to 1 ratio is the 4 2 first entry in the table This setting sends a 311 delay of equal time to the left and right output 113 channels The number in the left column of an the table indicates the ratio of the delay time 4 4 that will be in the left channel versus the 1 0FF number in the right column OFF 1 For example if a delay of twice the time is required in the left channel compared to the right select the 2 1 option The final 1 OFF and OFF 1 options will result in no delay being heard in the channel indicated by the OFF Note Selecting a 1 1 ratio will produce a mono effect regardless of the Stereo width setting since the timing of the echos are equal Wheel Level Menu Page 6 Sets how much the movement of the K Station s Modulation wheel will introduce the delay effect 28 The Reverb Menu The Chorus Menu The Reverb Menu The Chorus Menu The Reverb Effect is an elec
74. e and Sine waves The Sawtooth Triangle and Sine waveforms may be duplicated within an Oscillator to provide thicker sounding waveforms Synchronization and FM between two Oscillators allow the generation of metallic or percussive timbres A white noise source completes the waveform engine External Audio Input The Mixer allows an external audio signal to be combined with the Oscillators and processed through the Filter and Envelopes Envelopes may also be auto triggered by an external signal Filter The filter in the K Station Synthesizer delivers the liquid sound of an analogue filter Selectable Low pass 12dB or 24dB cut off curves with Resonance Overdrive and Resonance normalize make it easy to faith fully recreate anything from distorted rave screams to tightly rounded bass patches Vocoder The 12 band Vocoder makes it easy to create Robot and Talky sound effects Introduction Arpeggiator The arpeggiator features six different pattern types with adjustable gate time for staccato effects Comprehensive MIDI control specification Adjustments of any controls transmit MIDI Controller numbers or NRPNs for real time recording by a sequencer or computer Powerful Effects The effects processor includes Distortion Stereo Chorus Phaser Reverb Synchronized Delay and Synchronized Stereo Panning Complex dynamic timbres may be created using tempo synchronized effects settings A final output EQ and Filter s
75. e can be reduced in volume to avoid distortion Using a mixing desk as a comparison this control can be thought of as the gain or trim control for the channel If a sound appears to be distorting unintentionally especially when complex chords are being played reduce the value of this setting Velocity To Env Level Menu Pages 2 3 amp 4 These functions determine how the Amp Mod and FM Envelopes respond to Velocity information Setting up a sound to make its volume respond to velocity Select the second Page in the Envelopes Menu ENV Amp Vel Adjust the DATA knob At a setting of zero a soft key stroke will pro duce a sound at the same volume as a hard key stroke At a maximum positive value 63 soft key strokes will be much quieter than hard key strokes At a maximum negative value 64 soft key strokes will be much louder than hard key strokes Setting up a sound to make its brightness or pitch respond to velocity Select the third Page in the Envelopes Menu ENV Mod Vel Adjust the DATA knob Turn the Filter FREQUENCY knob to a near zero set ting or until the sound almost disappears Turn the MOD ENV DEPTH knob in the Filter section to a maximum clockwise position In the Envelopes section Set the MOD ENV ATTACK and SUSTAIN knob to zero and the DECAY knob to nearly full While playing notes on the Keyboard adjust the DATA knob At a setting of zero there will be no effect on the brightness of the sound At maximum
76. e a little limiting especially for very complex pieces of music However some sequencers and MIDI ports for computers offer a neat way around this problem They can offer several different MIDI outputs each of which is treated as a separate MIDI system in its own right with its own set of sixteen MIDI channels The K Station has three MIDI sockets fitted at the rear labeled In Out and Thru Each one of these sockets has a specific purpose midi thru out in The MIDI In socket is used to receive MIDI information to the K Station such as telling it which notes to play from a sequencer for example The MIDI Out socket transmits any MIDI information which might be generated by the K Station For example if a note was played on the K Station s keyboard or one of the knobs were moved on the front panel The MIDI Thru socket simply re transmits any MIDI information that has been received at the MIDI In socket This socket is useful for con necting other instruments into the same MIDI network By connecting a cable from the K Station s MIDI Thru to another instrument s MIDI In socket both the K station and the second instrument could be con trolled simultaneously from a sequencer Synth 3 Sequencer Synth 1 Synth 2 Chain method of connecting three MIDI devices to a sequencer As seen above if desired the process can be repeated a third instru ment could be added to the same MID
77. e pitch to the next Increasing the amount will slow the time taken for the pitch of the first note to reach that of the second note played SEMITONE knob Raises or lowers the selected Oscillators pitch in semitone increments up to a full octave By setting the pitch of Oscillator 1 to zero and adjusting the pitch of Oscillator 2 and 3 by differing amounts results in some musically pleasing intervals Settings 5 a perfect 4th 7 a per fect 5th 3 minor 3rd 4 major 3rd 8 minor 6th and 9 major 6th offer the best results DETUNE Knob Sets the detune amount in Cents for the selected Oscillator 1 2 or 3 If it is set fully clockwise Oscillators pitch will be 50 cents sharper than its basic pitch fully anticlockwise and it will be 50 cents flat Slight detuning between each Oscillator will enrich the sound by intro ducing a beating between the Oscillators in the same way a 12 string guitar sounds richer than a 6 string Bass and lead sounds can be fat tened up using a small amount of detune Large amounts of detuning will lead to more extreme effects MOD ENV DEPTH Knob Controls the amount of pitch modulation to the currently selected Oscillator from the Mod Envelope In the centre position there is no effect on the oscillator s pitch anticlockwise the effect is negative i e the pitch drops and then rises and clockwise positive the pitch rises and then falls See Envelopes Section on Page 18 for the setting of the
78. e steps as notes are played on the keyboard This effect is akin to adding an extra Sine Wave Oscillator to the sound when notes are played on the key board LFO 2 DEPTH Knob Controls the amount of change to the filter Cut off set by the FRE QUENCY knob by LFO 2 In its central position there is no change to the filter Cut off frequency Adjusting the knob anticlockwise from cen tre will introduce an increasing amount of negative modulation The Filter will close and open in time with LFO2 this creates the popular wow wow effect of LFO2 wavefrom is set to Triangle Adjusting the knob clockwise from centre will introduce an increasing amount of positive modulation The filter will open and close in time with LFO 2 NOTE An external audio signal such as a microphone guitar or CD player may be processed by the filter and effects Refer to Page 36 in the Advanced Features Chapter for more details on setting up this feature More functions associated with the Filter can be found in the Filter Menu See Page 25 Main Features and Operation LFO Section Envelopes Section LFO Section Envelopes Section There are two LFOs Low Frequency Oscillators available on the K Station These produce regular electronic variations which are too low to be heard when converted into audio vibrations They can be used to modify various elements of the sound producing regular changes in pitch vibrato pulse width or filter Cut off
79. e to velocity Function Display Time Menu Page 11 In Normal operation whenever the K Station is in Menu Mode or Program Mode the display will show the current page within the cur rently selected menu If a knob is moved on the K Station s front panel the display will momentarily switch to show the moved knob s value After a while the display reverts to showing the menu page previously displayed Use this function to adjust the amount of time these temporary mes sages are displayed on the screen before reverting back to the previ ous display Short values give a very brief display period Longer val ues increase the display time A setting of 0 will inhibit the temporary messages being displayed altogether Prog Mode Display Control Menu Page 12 This function applies only when the K Station is not in Menu Mode It determines how the K Station will behave when a front panel control is altered When set to TIME the K Station will automatically return back to Program Select Mode after a short period of time determined by the Global Function Display Time setting as described above If set to PERM when a front panel control is moved the K Station will remain in Program Edit Mode until another mode of operation is select ed New Menu Always Page 1 Menu Page 13 All display menus including this Global one can operate in one of two different modes The first mode factory default setting specifies that each time a n
80. e waveform This will give a smooth traditional vibrato effect Advanced Features The Wheels and Arpeggiator Menu The Wheels Menu Opening or Closing the Filter using the Modulation Wheel Menu Page 6 The filter Cut off frequency may be raised opening the filter or low ered closing the filter directly from the modulation wheel using this menu option Positive values from 1 to 63 will open the Filter when the wheel is pushed forward A negative values from 1 to 64 will close the Filter when the wheel is pushed forward Filter Frequency Modulation from LFO 2 using the Modulation Wheel Menu Page 7 Enables LFO 2 to modulate the Cutoff FREQUENCY of the Filter The popular wow wow effect will be heard if LFO 2 waveform is set to Triangle A positive value 1 to 63 will open the filter in time with LFO 2 above the basic Cut off frequency A negative value 1 to 64 will close the filter in time with LFO 2 below the basic Cut off frequency Using a high value and setting LFO 2 to different waveforms will intro duce dramatic effects when moving the modulation wheel Control of Main Volume from the Modulation Wheel Menu Page 8 By routing the Modulation wheel to the amplifier the overall volume of the sound may be controlled Positive values of 1 to 63 increase the output volume of the Amp Envelope as the Modulation Wheel is pushed forwards Negative values from 1 to 64 decrease the output volume of the Amp Env
81. ect Bank 1 sound 8 press the 1 0 and 8 buttons The display will indicate that Program 108 has been selected Provided the K Station is not currently within a menu the keypad but tons may be used to select a new Program at any time 2 Using the PAGE buttons Ensure the K Station is in Program Select Mode by pressing the PROGRAM button The display will show the text Program along with the current Program number The PAGE buttons may now be used to move up or down to the next Program Pressing and holding either button for a short period will cause the Program number to advance decrease by a further 9 and then auto increment or 10 steps This is useful for auditioning facto ry preset sounds that are set ten locations apart For example Bass type sounds are at 100 110 120 etc 3 Using the DATA knob Ensure the K Station is in Program Select Mode by pressing the PRO GRAM button The display will show the text Program along with the current Program number The DATA knob may be used to move up or down to the next Program Turning the knob slowly will advance the current selection by one Program Moving the knob more quickly will increase the number of Programs advanced Once the end of a Program bank has been reached the first Program of the next bank will automatically be select ed 4 Using MIDI Program Change Commands A MIDI Program change message sent from an external sequencer or controller keyboard wi
82. ection complete with a tempo synchronized LFO allow for a performance to be automatically filtered and time locked from 32nd triplets through to several bars Data Compatibility The K Station has been designed to be totally data compatible with the Novation A Station This ensures that existing sound libraries and glob al settings can easily be transferred between the two types of machine Conventions used in this Manual The word Program refers to a collection of knob and switch settings that define an individual Sound These settings are then saved as a Program that has a corresponding number in the machines non volatile memory Throughout this manual the two words Sound and Program are fre quently referred to and essentially have the same meaning The word Preset refers to a Program which was set up at the factory to showcase some of the K Station s powerful sound possibilities Preset memories may actually be overwritten with new sounds but it is possible to restore them to the original factory set sounds if they have been overwritten by mistake Text in CAPITALS refers to a front panel control or legend even though the name of the control may actually be in lower case on the front panel It could be a knob or button For example FREQUENCY refers to the Filter frequency control knob MENUS refers to the Menu Mode button Connecting to audio equipment Listening to factory preset sounds
83. ects S H Sample amp Hold At a regular interval governed by the SPEED knob the level of the LFO jumps to a new random level and stays there until the next jump This creates a rhythmic effect particularly if routed to the Filter Cut off Routing this to pitch gives a less musical result but is useful for computer or machinery sound effects Additional settings associated with the LFOs can be found within the LFOs Menu See Page 25 Main Features and Operation AMP and MOD Envelopes The Envelopes are used to shape a sound throughout its duration The AMP Envelope determines the volume of the sound with respect to its duration The MOD Envelope may be used to control other sound elements of the synthesizer throughout the duration of the sound It can control Oscillator Pulse Width Filter frequency and Oscillator Pitch Envelopes Q Q 9 attack decay sustain release ATTACK Knob Slider Sets how quickly the envelope rises to its maximum level when a note is struck Fully anticlockwise and this rise time or slope is very fast less than half a thousandth of a second instantaneous to the ear increasing exponentially to twenty seconds when fully clockwise To shorten attack times turn this control towards zero and to lengthen attack times turn this control towards maximum Note When the attack time is set to Zero the instantaneous rise time of the Envelope may produce audible clicks This is not a faulty
84. eecceeeeececeeeeeeeeeees 14 Oscillator SectiOn oooooonnccccccnccnncnnnccnnononoss 15 Mixer SectiON oooccccccccncccnccnnnnonnnonnnnnonennneninnnos 16 Filter Section anita 17 LFO Sec iii 18 Envelopes SectiON ccccccccccccnnnnnnnnnnnnncinnninnnnos 18 Volume and Keyboard Octave Controls 19 Arpeggiator SectioN ocoonioooocnonssaiccaccnennns 19 Effects SectiON ooocooooccococccoconcconconnno nono nono nononononnnos 20 Display and Data Entry SectiON ooooonooocccccccccnn 21 Mode and Keypad SectiOnN ccccccccccccccnicninn 22 Table of Contents Advanced Features ccccsccccsssseesssseeeeees 23 Oscillator Menu oooccnnncccnocicnnccinnncncnccnonccinancnns 23 Fiter Ment Sia ihe es dooce We ee Ree a 25 LEOS Menta coso concordancia das 25 Envelopes MenNU ooccccccncncnnncnnnnnnnnnnnnnnninncnnnninnnnos 26 Effects Men s unica adan anni ada da tenes 28 Delay MON tarada A aniei ota 28 Reverb M nu ccccccccecssssesceseseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeueeeaes 29 Chorus MeNU ooccccnccccnccnnnnccnonccnnnncaconannnnaccnnncananan 29 Distortion MeNU ooooccconcccnnnncnnncnonancnnnancnnnanonaninnnno 30 EOG Me Usina 31 Panning Men esti is dia 32 Vocoder MEN ra t e aeaiia pain iep Ernia 33 Utilities Menu oooo nccnoninnnnnncncncncnocnnnna cono nccc nacos 33 Global Men viii 35 Wheels MeNU ooccccnnccccncccnncccnnononononcnanccnonancnannnnns 37 Aftertouch Breath Men 37 Arp
85. eeeees 13 28 29 30 34 Velocity CUurve ccceceseceeceeeeeeeeeceeeeeseaaeeeeeesesaeaeeeeseeeeaeeetees 35 Calibratihg ivonne 34 Vibrato Setting UP coin 37 Moca Adi 2 21 33 NOS O oi ai idiota 6 16 Activa IO iia its 21 33 Note Messages ccccciocococcccccconoccccconcnnoncncnnnnn no ncnncnnanancnnnns 10 19 Siblance eV ii e 33 NRPINS a E EAEN E E Mutts A E o 2 10 11 42 Sibilance Types ici rr bd 33 Stereo Width coccion 33 OCTAVE Buttons keyboard ooooooooonoccconocccccnonccccnnno 13 19 MOMO taa ate ta 5 Operating System Upgrade renren 11 VOLUME Kini ssscaceesi ces ccgeesegeeecs sceeees ies tas deidad 3 19 Original Vall e coo esp 21 OSCIIALONS ooo is 2 5 15 23 24 37 WaveforMS oooononnccncccnccccccnononoconccanonnnnnnnnno 5 9 15 18 23 24 DETUNE KnNObD oooccccnncnnccccccononnnccnonanonononononononcrnnnanononononinanonos 15 NOS o ESEE A ee e A ET 5 LFO 1 DEPTH Knob 0 ccccccccceecessesseeeeeeeceeeseeaeeaaeneeeees 15 Sample Hold ieina a e aae aaa eaa aean 18 MOD ENV DEPTH Kfob cccccceessscssseceeeceeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeees 15 O E AE 5 18 OCTAVE BUON vc c2 cccocidecsccceseteccdvevecesaccusoccoesdevusdeadetsedvevevees 15 Ni A A A te 5 PORTAMENTO KNOb ooccccccncccccccnoncnccncnnnononocononancnncnnnoncnononono 15 AE A A O AO 5 18 SEMITONE KNOb ccoo 15 Triangle cateo 5 Select BUTLON taciones Erica 15 WRITE BUON micii taei oeno en 4 13 22 33 34 Start Pha iii A E e 23 S E N
86. eggiator Menu ccoccocoiononiocncotonaniriaccccin a 38 Advanced Connection Diagram 39 Factory Preset Sounds Listing 40 A AA A 1 Technical SpecificatiON oooocococococnccicocccoccconccnnnos A 1 MIDI Controller List oooooonccnnnncccnnicccncccnncno A 2 MIDI NRPN List ccececcececeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees A 4 Packed Controller NRPN Details A 5 MIDI System Exclusive Messages A 6 MIDI Implentation Chart oooocccnccncnccnnicccinnnicnnins A 12 o A 1 1 Using this Manual Main Features Conventions used in this Manual Thank you for purchasing the Novation K Station Synthesizer This instrument is a keyboard version of the popular A Station sound module The design of the K Station has evolved from the classic Novation Bass Station using the very latest award winning Novation technology as found in acclaimed products such as the Nova and SuperNova ll The K Station is capable of producing an enormous range of high quality synthesized sounds and is an ideal machine for a home studio set up or for an experienced producer looking to add an extra dimension of controllable sound power Using this Manual This manual consists of six chapters Introduction Quick Start Guide Synthesis Tutorial MIDI Tutorial Main Features and Operation and Advanced Features For easy reference the chapter name is printed in the footer margin of each page An A
87. elected Program from its memory location temporarily losing any edits you have made to the sound since it was originally selected Releasing the button restores the edit buffer bringing back any changes made to the sound since it was originally selected This feature is useful when it is desired to check the original contents of the current Program s memory location before over writing it with the currently edited sound WRITE Button Pressing this button starts the procedure for saving Programs into memory This procedure is detailed in the section Saving a Sound on Page 4 If however this button is pressed while the Global Menu is currently active in Menu Mode instead of saving the currently edited Program the current settings of all Global settings will be saved into memory The display will briefly show GLOBALS SAVED The next time the K Station is switched on these values will be remembered 0 9 Keypad Menu Select Buttons While the K Station is in Menu Mode these buttons may be used to switch to a different Menu At all other times pressing one of these buttons will initiate Program Select Mode and the K Station will wait for the remaining digits of a three digit entry to be entered so that the appropriate Program may be selected from memory For this reason it is important to make sure that the K Station is already placed into Menu Mode before using these buttons to select a different Menu 22 The Os
88. elope as the Modulation Wheel is pushed for wards At a setting of 0 the wheel will have no effect The Arpeggiator Menu To complement the front panel controls in the Arpeggiator section there are many other functions located in the Arpeggiator Menu This is selected by pressing the keypad 0 button when the K Station is in Menu Mode Use the PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu functions available See table below Arpeggiator Menu Page Function Display Value 1 Pattern ARP Pattern UP RND 2 Octave Range ARP Octaves 1 4 3 Gate Time ARP Gate Tim 0 127 4 Latch ARP Latch OFF ON 5 Keysync ARP Keysync OFF ON 6 Sync Type ARP Sync 32T 1 bar 7 Arp Note Desitination ARP Notes INT EXT 1 E Pattern Menu Page 1 This determines the Arpeggio pattern played by the Arpeggiator There are six types of pattern available Arp Pattern UP Up DN Down UD1 Up Down UD2 Up Down end repeat ORD Order Played RND Random Up The arpeggio starts at the lowest note played and sweeps up through the notes until it reaches the highest note It then starts at the bottom again and repeats the sequence Down The arpeggio starts at the highest note played and sweeps down through the notes until it reaches the lowest note It then starts at the top again and repeats the sequence Advanced Features Up Down The arpeggio starts at the lowest note played and sweeps up through the notes until it reaches the highest note It th
89. ement will change Experiment with the above con trols until the desired sound is achieved Obtaining a Double Saw thick detuned sound A thick Double Saw detuned sound using just a single Oscillator may be created easily If necessary this sound can be stacked using addi tional Oscillators to product a huge sound Select one of the factory initialisation sounds 311 499 All of these initial sounds use only use Oscillator 1 set to a sawtooth as the source waveform Select POSITION using the PW SELECT button Rotate the PWM DEPTH PW POSITION knob fully clockwise As the control is rotated a double sawtooth wave is generated At this fully clockwise position the pitch will appear to double Select LFO 2 using the PW SELECT button Slowly rotate the PWM DEPTH PW POSITION knob Notice that there will be some move ment in the sound Select a sawtooth LFO wave using the WAVE FORM button in the LFOs section Press the LFO button to select LFO 2 Rotate the SPEED knob in this section and notice how the speed of the movement will change Experiment with the above controls until the desired sound is achieved PORTAMENTO knob This knob adjusts the Portamento effect With this control set to zero when the keyboard is played the pitches of notes change instantly from one pitch to another as different keyboard notes are played Turning the knob clockwise introduces the Portamento effect Notes will glide smoothly from on
90. en sweeps back down This is useful when playing three notes in songs with a 3 4 time signa ture Up Down end repeat The arpeggio starts at the lowest note played plays it twice and sweeps up through the notes until it reaches the highest note It then plays the top note again and sweeps back down Order Played The arpeggio plays the notes in the order they were played on the key board Once at the end of the notes played it repeats the sequence Random Notes played will be arpeggiated in a random order Octave Range Menu Page 2 Sets how many octaves the Arpeggio pattern will sweep through The sweep range is selectable from 1 to 4 octaves Gate Time Menu Page 3 Sets the gate time or duration of the notes being played by the Arpeggiator Small values of gate time produce a Staccato effect Large values produce a Legato effect Anticlockwise and the gate time is very short clockwise and the gate time is long Latch Menu Page 4 When activated remembers notes played on the keyboard even after the notes have been released Once all notes on the keyboard have been released the next chord to be played on the keyboard will clear the existing latch memory and only the newly played chord will be arpeggiated Note It is possible to control the Arpeggiator Latch On Off from an external Computer Sequencer Keyboard Transmit MID CC 64 Sustain with a value of 127 to turn the Arpeggiator latch ON and transmit cont
91. ent in a waveform which determine the tone of the final sound In summary the Oscillators generate Waveforms at a controllable pitch These Waveforms determine the initial character Timbre of the sound Ua a 1 Sine Wave Harmonic Sine waves These have just a single frequency This waveform produces the purest sound because it only has this single pitch frequency N N 1357 Triangle Wave Harmonic Triangle waves These contain only odd harmonics The volume of each is the inverse square of its position in the harmonic series For example the 5th har monic has a volume of 1 25th of the fundamental Nela 1 2 3 4 5 Sawtooth Wave Harmonic Sawtooth waves These have a rich proportion of harmonics containing all the harmon ics of the fundamental frequency The volume of each harmonic is inversley proportional to its position in the harmonic series LL 1 2 3 4 5 Square Wave Harmonic Square waves These only have only the odd harmonics present These are at the same volume as the odd harmonics in a sawtooth wave 1 2 3 4 5 Harmonic Noise Noise waves These have no fundamental frequency and therefore no pitched ele ment All frequencies are at the same volume Because they have no perceivable pitch noise waves are often useful for creating sound effects and percussion type sounds Synthesis Tutorial To extend the range of sounds that may be reproduced a typical Analogue synthesizer of
92. er 4 OSC1 SEMITONE 12 12 OSC1 CENT 50 50 OSC1 BENDWHEEL PITCH AMOUNT OSC1 LFO1 PITCH AMOUNT OSC1 MOD ENV PITCH AMOUNT OSC1 PULSE WIDTH POSITION 0 50 or in phase double wave OSC1 LFO2 PULSE WIDTH MOD OSC1 MOD ENV PULSE WIDTH MOD OSC2 SEMITONE 12 12 OSC2 CENT 50 50 OSC2 BENDWHEEL PITCH AMOUNT OSC2 LFO1 PITCH AMOUNT OSC2 MOD ENV PITCH AMOUNT OSC2 PULSE WIDTH POSITION 0 50 or in phase double wave OSC2 LFO2 PULSE WIDTH MOD OSC2 MOD ENV PULSE WIDTH MOD OSC3 SEMITONE 12 12 OSC3 CENT 50 50 OSC3 BENDWHEEL PITCH AMOUNT OSC3 LFO1 PITCH AMOUNT OSC3 MOD ENV PITCH AMOUNT OSC3 PULSE WIDTH POSITION 0 50 or in phase double wave OSC3 LFO2 PULSE WIDTH MOD OSC3 MOD ENV PULSE WIDTH MOD OSCs 1 2 3 MODWHEEL DIRECT PITCH DEPTH OSCs 1 2 3 AFTERTOUCH DIRECT PITCH DEPTH OSCs 1 2 3 BREATH DIRECT PITCH DEPTH OSCs 1 2 3 MODWHEEL LFO1 PITCH DEPTH OSCs 1 2 3 AFTERTOUCH LFO1 PITCH DEPTH OSCs 1 2 3 BREATH LFO1 PITCH DEPTH A 9 Appendix MIDI System Exclusive MIDI System Exclusive Message Formats PROGRAM DATA BLOCK continued 37 OSC1 LEVEL to filter 38 OSC2 LEVEL to filter 39 OSC3 LEVEL to filter 40 NOISE LEVEL to filter 41 OSC 1 2 RINGMOD LEVEL to filter 42 EXTERNAL INPUT to filter 43 FILTER OVERDRIVE 44 FILTER RESONANCE 45 FILTER Q NORMALISE 127 zero filter drive
93. er to produce a resultant more harmonically com plex waveform The following diagram illustrates that the higher the modulation between the Modulating wave and the Carrier wave the more the waveform changes Modulator Oscillator ae Modulation Level 0 30 A 90 Carrier Oscillator N Output Waveform ae ae A y In the illustration the Oscillators are producing Sine waves It is the change in harmonics over time that makes a sound interesting to our ears In FM synthesis an envelope generator is inserted between the modulator and carrier waveforms so that there is control over of how much of the frequency modulation is taking place with respect to time Adding this envelope constructs the basic FM building block as illus trated below Modulator ACeeLweerea Envelope Modulation 20 Carrier NAAA WY Output Waveform It can be seen that the output waveform begins being identical to the carrier but becomes more complex harmonics are added as the amount of FM modulation increases via the envelope It then returns to a simple wave again as the envelope decays The timbre of the Waveform is changing with time This is the opposite of subtractive synthesis where a low pass Filter is used to remove har monics To complete a simple synthesizer a further envelope is added to con tro
94. eration Modes and Menus Modes and menus The K Station has three modes of operation 1 Program Select Mode This mode enables a new Program to be selected from the front panel controls Program Select Mode may be selected at any time by pressing the PROGRAM button program While the K Station is in Program Select Mode the display will show the currently selected Program s number For example Prog Number 123 program program Once in Program Select Mode it is now possible to select a different Program by one of three methods i The DATA PROGRAM knob may be used to select a new Program Programs can be selected forwards or backwards from the one cur rently selected Turning the knob quickly increases the intervals jumped between Programs ii The PAGE BUTTONS may also be used to step forwards or back wards from the currently selected Program If a PAGE PROGRAM button is held down the Programs will jump in intervals of ten This can be useful since the Preset Programs have been grouped in types locat ed ten Programs apart iii Programs may also be explicitly selected by typing a three digit sequence on the numeric buttons The Program will not actually be selected until the third digit has been entered Note that the K Station does not have to be in Program Select Mode in order to select a new Program via MIDI from a sequencer for exam ple A new Program may be selected via MIDI at any time and
95. ew menu key is pressed the first Page in the menu list is always selected For example pressing the keypad button 2 selecting the Filter Menu while in Menu Mode will result in always selecting the menu Page showing the Filter Q Normalise setting The second mode specifies that the last accessed Page in the menu list is selected the next time that menu is accessed For example if the Filter Overdrive setting is being adjusted Filter menu Page 2 if a dif ferent menu is now selected for example the Oscillators Menu and the Filter menu is subsequently selected again the menu page show ing the Overdrive setting would be displayed again Select OFF for the last accessed menu page to be remembered when a menu is selected and ON for a newly selected menu to always dis play the first page in its menu list Using the External Audio Input In order to use an external audio input the K Station must be set up to correctly to respond to the level amplitude of the incoming signal Since the levels of these signals can vary substantially the Global menu functions Input Sensitivity Range and Input Trim dB detailed below must be adjusted for optimum performance This will minimize signal distortion and noise Input Sensitivity Range Menu Page 14 Connect the input device to the rear panel jack labeled INPUT When connecting devices such as CD players Turntables Mixing desks or other line level equipment set the Input Sensitivity
96. g 127 If the filter setting of the Program being listened to is at the 2 o clock position say 101 A slight movement of the the knob will result in the sound pinging to a brighter sound This is because the filter frequen cy will jump to a maximum 127 represented by the knob s current physical 5 o clock position In order to home in on the original program value a vertical slider bar with a top and bottom arrow will move up and down the display Although not visible the illustration above shows the vertical slider bar indicating that the knob is set too far above the Program s original value In the real display only tiny dot is visible next to the numeric value indi cating that the knob must be turned anticlockwise to get nearer the Program s original value Rotating the knob anticlockwise shows the slider bar approaching the original value A further rotation of the knob locates the original value This is indicat ed by slider moving down to cover the whole character next to the numeric value The effect is that it is completely white Experiment with the controls and notice how the slider homes in on the original value Main Features and Operation Mode and Keypad Section This section contains buttons associated with Mode selection writing Programs to memory comparing Programs in memory against edited Programs and selecting Programs directly by three digit entry PROGRAM
97. gs that can be transmitted by MIDI but because the number of dif ferent types of control change message is limited to just 128 the K Station sometimes has to use a more complicated arrangement for transmitting certain settings This method uses what is known as NRPNs 10 MIDI messages used by the K Station NRPN stands for Non Registered Parameter Number Users new to MIDI only need to know at this stage that NRPNs actually consist of three MIDI control change messages grouped together rather than a single MIDI control change message which is used normally A full list of MIDI Control Change messages and NRPNs used by the K Station can be found in the Appendix towards the end of this manu al PITCH BEND MESSAGES These messages are transmitted whenever the K Station s pitch bend wheel is moved AFTERTOUCH MESSAGES These messages are transmitted by some keyboards whenever already held down keyboard notes are pushed further or wiggled Aftertouch messages can be used to add extra expressiveness to a sound for example introducing an extra vibrato effect Although the K Station s keyboard itself cannot generate MIDI aftertouch messages the K Station s synthesizer engine can still respond to aftertouch if it is received via the MIDI In socket from another keyboard or sequencer The MIDI specification actually defines two different types of aftertouch message mono and poly The type recognized by the K Station is the m
98. he DATA knob Notice how the spit at the beginning of the sound may be accentuated Experiment with Oscillator 2 s pitch using the OCTAVE button and the SEMITONE and DETUNE knobs Adjusting the FM Envelope Attack and Decay Times Changing the various FM Envelope values is done from within the Envelopes Menu See Page 27 for details 24 The Filter Menu The LFOs Menu The Filter Menu The LFOs Menu To complement the front panel controls in the Filter section there are other functions located within the Filter Menu This is selected by pressing the keypad 2 button while the K Station is in Menu Mode Use the PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu functions available See table below Filter Menu Page Function Display Value 1 Q Normalise FILT Q Norm 0 127 2 Overdrive FILT Drive 0 127 Q Normalise Menu Page 1 This value controls the Resonance Normalise At zero when reso nance is applied the main audio signal will remain at normal levels Adjusting clockwise will reduce the signal level in relation to the reso nance level This feature enables the Filter to emulate many of the classic Filters such as the Moog type Oberheim type and Roland TB303 type Overdrive Menu Page 2 This value of this function controls how much the filter is overdriven When used in large amounts it will have the effect of making the sound richer and slightly distorted To complement the front panel controls in t
99. he LFO section there are many other functions located within the LFOs Menu This is selected by pressing the keypad 3 button while the K Station is in Menu Mode Use the PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu functions available See table below LFO Menu Page Function Display Value 1 LFO1 Delay Triggering LFO1 DelTrig SGL MLT 2 LFO1Keysync LFO1 Keysync OFF ON 3 LFO1 Keysync Phase Offset LFO1 Ksync PhO OFF ON 4 LFO1 Common to all Voices LFO1 Common OFF ON 5 LFO1 Sync Rate LFO1 Sync OFF 12bars 6 LFO2 Delay Triggering LFO2 DelTrig SGL MLT 7 LFO2 Keysync LFO2 Keysync OFF ON 8 LFO2 Keysync Phase Offset LFO2 Ksync PhO OFF ON 9 LFO2 Common to all Voices LFO2 Common OFF ON 10 LFO2 Sync Rate LFO2 Sync OFF 12bars When common keysync becomes global sync LFO Delay Triggering Menu Pages 1 amp 6 When the Voice mode is set to any of the Mono options see Page 23 different LFO delay settings are available for legato playing styles notes overlapping When the first note of a musical phrase is played it might be desirable to have an initial delay on the LFO If the LFO is routed to pitch modu lation a vibrato effect would be introduced after the delay time For the remaining legato notes a non interrupted vibrato might be required Setting this to SGL single achieves this Setting this to MLT Multi sets the LFO delay to apply to every note played LFO Keysync Menu Pages 2 amp 7 Each LFO waveform
100. he Preglide is triggered with every note received Portamento Mode Menu Page 6 Determines the type of curve applied when PORTAMENTO is used Two types of curve are available Exponential and Linear Linear Portamento sweeps through note intervals at a constant rate When Exponential Portamento is used the rate of sweep decreases through out the note sweep s duration Start Phase Menu Page 7 When synthesizing percussive or plucked type sounds there is a lot of detailed waveform information at the beginning of the sound It is often useful to have the Oscillator wave start in exactly the same place every time a key is pressed The start phase option allows the precise starting point of the Oscillator wave to be determined At a setting of 0 the wave will start at zero Degrees Each increment on the display shifts the start point of the wave approximately 24 degrees The wave will start at a random phase when set to OFF Osc 1 2 Sync Menu Page 8 This function provides a way of producing interesting piercing metallic sounds It does this by using the frequency of Oscillator 1 to periodical ly restart the waveform used by Oscillator 2 This technique is known as Oscillator Sync Set this to ON to activate Sync It should be remembered that the frequency of a waveform corre sponds to the number of waveform peaks cycles over a given period of time The frequency also determines the Oscillator s pitch Therefore if Oscil
101. he sound of many peo ple singing together hence the name Chorus in contrast to a single voice Instrumentally consider the sound of a 12 string guitar com pared to a 6 string guitar The very slight detuning of the individual strings actually gives a richer quality to the sound Chorus is an effect produced by mixing a continuously delayed version of the audio signal back with the original The timing of the delayed version is very small and is controlled by the Chorus s own internal LFO not to be confused with the two LFOs available on the K Station s front panel The characteristic swirling Chorus effect is the result The K Station s Chorus is also capable of behaving as a Phaser The way a Phaser works is in fact entirely different to the Chorus A portion of the audio signal is split off and phase shifted at certain frequencies It is then mixed back with the original signal to generate the character istic swishing effect The functions available in the Chorus Menu are Chorus Menu Page Function Display Value 1 Type CHOR Type CHORUS PHASER 2 Rate CHOR Rate 0 127 3 Sync Rate CHOR Sync OFF 12bars 4 Mod Depth CHOR Mod Dep 0 127 5 Mod Centre CHOR Centre 64 63 6 Feedback CHOR Feedbak 64 63 7 LFO Sync Initial Position CHOR Init Pos OFF RGT 8 Wheel Level CHOR Wheel 64 63 Type Menu Page 1 Determines whether the K Station s Chorus is behaving as a standard Chorus or as a Phaser Rate Menu Page 2
102. ice the pitch of Wave A Wave A Wave B gt Time If the number of peaks in the two waveforms vibrations are counted it will be seen that there are exactly twice as many peaks in Wave B as in Wave A Wave B is actually an octave higher in pitch than Wave A It is the number of vibrations in a given period that determines the pitch of a sound This is the reason that pitch is sometimes referred to as frequency It is the frequency of the waveform peaks which are counted during a given period of time Tone Musical sounds consist of several different related pitches occurring simultaneously The loudest is referred to as the Fundamental pitch and corresponds to the perceived note of the sound Pitches related to the fundamental are called harmonics The relative loudness of these harmonics compared to the loudness of all the other harmonics includ ing the fundamental determines the tone or Timbre of the sound Consider two instruments such as a harpsichord and a piano playing the same note on the keyboard and at equal volume Despite having the same volume and pitch the instruments would still sound distinctly different This is because the harmonics present in a piano sound are different to those found in a harpsichord sound Volume Volume which is referred to as the amplitude or loudness of the sound is determined by how large the vibrations are Very simply listening to a piano from a metre away would sound
103. in any mode 2 Program Edit Mode As soon as any of the front panel settings are altered the K Station will exit Program Select Mode and the display will show the new value of the control just altered By altering a setting in this way The K Station automatically enters Program Edit Mode If for example the Filter FREQUENCY knob was adjusted to 100 the display would now show filter freq 100 program program Note The character next to the first numeric digit will alter it s shape as controls are moved This is the Original Value indicator and is explained in detail on Page 22 Once a setting has been called up to the display in this way the DATA PROGRAM knob may also be used to adjust setting s value Main Features and Operation While in Program Edit Mode it is possible to return to Program Select Mode by pressing the PROGRAM button As in Program Select Mode itis also possible to select a new Program directly by entering three digits on the 0 9 Menu select buttons After selecting a new Program in this way the K Station will enter Program Select Mode Note By altering the Global Prog Mode Display Control setting it is possible to make the K Station always automatically revert back to Program Select Mode after a short period of time See Page 36 in the Advanced Features chapter for more details 3 Menu Mode Many of the K Station s more advanced features and utilities are only available from within me
104. ing MIDI Clock information This is especially useful for trou bleshooting if MIDI Clock Source is set to EXT To see if an external device is sending a MIDI clock select this Menu Page If an external clock is being received the display will indicate the tempo of the external clock If not will be displayed If ON is displayed synchronisation to the internal clock is being used Global Sync Mode Menu Page 9 If MIDI Clock Source is set to EXT external clock a clock synchro nization type may be selected using this function This allows the first note played after all notes have been released or the first note played after a MIDI Program Change or MIDI Start Song Message to synchro nize the Panning EQ Filter and Chorus LFO s and voice LFO s as described on page 26 This allows them to have their start position locked in time with the musical piece for stunning effects Velocity Curve Menu Page 10 The response to MIDI velocity information from an external device such as a MIDI controller keyboard or a sequencer may be set using this function A setting of SOFT indicates that smaller changes in velocity a lighter playing style will create a large change in response to velocity be it Advanced Features The Global Menu volume or any other modulation destination that velocity is routed to A setting of HARD indicates that higher changes in velocity a much harder playing style will create large changes in respons
105. ings not menu settings Memory Protect Menu Page 1 This is a safety switch used to prevent accidental erasure of memories and loss of data When set to ON writing Programs or Global data into memory will be prevented and a brief warning message shown on the K Station s display It is recommended that Memory Protect is left ON unless Programs are being edited for storing into memory or a System Exclusive dump from a sequencer is to be received Permanently saving any changes made to Global settings Any changes made to the Global settings will remain valid only while the power to the K Station is on To permanently save any new set tings the Global Memory must be saved To do this press the WRITE button at any time that the Global Menu is active A message SAVING GLOBALS will be appear for a short period on the display Once saved even if the power is turned off any new settings will be memo rised NOTE After permanently saving the Global settings the currently selected Program will be the default Program after applying power MIDI Receive Channel Menu Page 2 Specifies the MIDI channel on which the K Station will accept MIDI messages from a sequencer or other MIDI device MIDI Transmit Channel Menu Page 3 Specifies the MIDI channel used by the K Station for transmitting MIDI information when knobs and switches are altered on the front panel Keyboard Transmit Channel Menu Page 4 Specifies which MIDI channe
106. is setting is used to shift the absolute pitch of the Oscillators up or down in response to the Pitch left hand Wheel position Values 1 to 12 will result in a higher pitch from 1 to 12 semitones when the wheel is pushed forward Display values 1 to 12 will result in a lower pitch NOTE If the current program uses more than one Oscillator it is rec ommended that the bend amount is set equal for each Oscillator If chord type effects are required when moving the pitch wheel different pitch bend amounts may be set for each Oscillator Modulation Wheel Pitch shift in Semitones Menu Page 4 lt may be desirable to drastically change the pitch of all the Oscillators using the Modulation Wheel This setting is used to shift the absolute pitch of the all the Oscillators up or down in response to the Modulation right hand Wheel position Values 1 to 63 will result in a higher pitch from 1 to 63 semitones when the wheel is pushed forward Values 1 to 64 will result in a lower pitch Oscillator 1 2 and 3 Pitch Modulation from LFO 1 Menu Page 5 Enables LFO 1 to modulate the pitch of the Oscillators introducing a vibrato effect As the Modulation Wheel is pushed forwards LFO 1 modulation will be applied As the Modulation wheel is pulled back the amount of LFO 1 modulation to the Oscillators pitch will decrease Adjust this value to set the depth of pitch modulation applied by LFO 1 For best results ensure that LFO 1 is using a Triangl
107. l be transmitted as MIDI note on off infomation The MIDI note information will be present on the Keyboard Transmit channel See page 35 GLOBAL Menu Page 4 to change this channel number Setting the destination to E internal and external will route Arpgeggiated notes to both the MIDI output socket and the internal sound engine NOTE When the option is set to either EXT or E and the MIDI transmit channel and the Keyboard transmit channel are the same normal note on off information will be suppressed on the MIDI transmit channel If the MIDI transmit channel and the Keyboard transmit channel are dif ferent then Arpeggiated notes will be present on the Keyboard trans mit channel and normal notes played will be present on the MIDI trans mit channel Advanced Connection Diagram K Station must be set to Local OFF mode Audio Inputs Sustain Pedal MID IN Novation PSU6 Power supply MIDI OUT MIDI IN2 MIDI IN1 JOB mi PAUN Amplifer Mixer and Monitors External Audio Input Device Guitar Microphone CD Player The diagram above illustrates how the K Station is connected in a typi cal MIDI recording setup It utilises all the Input and Output features This setup allows real time recording of knob movements into a Computer Software Sequencer since both the MIDI output of the exter nal keyboard and the MIDI outp
108. l the output volume Advanced Features The complete FM building block is illustrated below Modulator Envelope used to control FM Modulation amount Carrier Envelope used to control Amplitude Salada Dal maces OSC 2 is able to FM OSC 3 via a dedicated FM envelope It is impor tant that it is realized that this Envelope is used only for FM purposes and is not one of the Envelopes available on the K Station s front panel The diagram below shows in block diagram format how the K Station can produce FM sounds OSC 2 NY FM Envelope ASS OSC 3 WwW AMP Envelope IS The easiest way to be totally familiar with FM is to take one of the fac tory preset FM sounds for example Bank 2 09 Sound 209 a bell sound and to experiment by modifying the various FM settings OSC 2 3 FM Manual Level Menu Page 9 Controls the amount that Oscillator 3 is directly Frequency Modulated by Oscillator 2 Whilst playing a note adjust this value by using the DATA knob Notice that increasing amounts of modulation level make the sound more metallic OSC 2 3 FM Envelope Amount Menu Page 10 Many sounds have complex harmonic movements at the start of the sound Introducing envelope modulation from an envelope with a fast attack and decay time to control the FM amount will simulate this fast changing harmonic effect Adjust this value by using t
109. l will be used for transmission whenever the K Station s keyboard is played or the Pitch Bend or Modulation Wheels are moved This number would normally be set to the same MIDI channel as the MIDI Transmit Channel but there may be circumstances for instance in a live performance situation where it would be desirable to set this to a different channel number Master Tune Cents Menu Page 5 Adjusts the master tuning of the K Station At the factory this value will have been set to 0 This setting of zero is equivalent to concert pitch tuning middle C 440 Hz 35 Local Control Menu Page 6 This function can be thought of as a switch which when set to OFF disconnects the front panel controls and keyboard from the K Station s synthesizer engine Playing the keyboard or moving any of the K Station s controls still results in the appropraite MIDI information being transmitted from the K Station s MIDI OUT socket but they will have no direct affect on the K Station itself The K Station will only be affected if the MIDI signals are routed back into the MIDI IN socket probably by a sequencer It is recommended that this is set to ON unless the full MIDI implica tions are appreciated of turning this OFF Please see Page 12 in the MIDI and Sequencers chapter the MIDI Tutorial section of this manu al for more details MIDI Clock Source Menu Page 7 The K Station requires a master timing clock in order to determine the
110. lar way All sequencers can record MIDI information exactly as played on the synthesizer s keyboard To do this with the K Station make sure the MIDI Out from the K Station is connected to the sequencer s MIDI In and start the sequencer recording Any keys played on the keyboard or knob wheel movements made will be faithfully recorded This is known as real time recording As long as the sequencer s MIDI Out is connected to the K Station s MIDI In this MIDI information can then be played back into the K Station exactly reproducing all the actions made and notes you played while recording the sequence On most sequencers it is also possible to enter new MIDI events in step time by explicitly defining each MIDI event without having to sup ply the relevant MIDI data to the sequencer s MIDI In socket Obviously some knowledge of MIDI is required in order to do this Nearly all sequencers offer multiple recording tracks These tracks behave in a similar fashion to multi track tape recorders except that instead of holding audio recordings they hold their own record of MIDI data Usually each sequencer track will contain MIDI data associated with a distinct MIDI channel By using sequencer tracks in this way it would typically be possible to build up a complex song arrangement with one track being used to control the drums another the bass line another the lead sound and so on It should be remembered that the K Station is
111. lators 1 and 2 are detuned from each other Oscillator 2 s wave form will be periodically interrupted and started again from the begin ning of the waveform cycle every time Oscillator 1 s waveform begins a new cycle The following diagram illustrates this Oscillator 1 Oscillator 2 Synced waveform Advanced Features The Oscillator Menu FM Synthesis It can be seen that the resulting synced waveform has subsequently been modified into a different shape Altering a waveform s shape in this way introduces new harmonics into the sound which gives the resulting waveform its distinctive synced sound qualities It should be realised that the greater the difference in tuning between the Oscillator waveforms the more pronounced the sync effect will become since more drastic changes will be made to the final synced waveform Changing the pitch of one of the Oscillators during the dura tion of a note for example modulated by an LFO will add a dynamic quality to the synced sound FM Synthesis The next two menu options allow sounds based on FM Frequency Modulation synthesis to be created Before looking at the operations of these controls a little explanation of FM synthesis follows Earlier in this manual the basics of subtractive synthesis were intro duced Terms such as harmonics timbre waveforms and oscillators became familiar FM Synthesis is the technique of using one waveform to Frequency Modulate FM anoth
112. lay multi 1 on bit 1 Ifo2 delay multi 1 on bits 2 3 2 bit Ifo1 waveform tri saw square s h bits 4 5 2 bit Ifo2 waveform tri saw square s h LFO 1 2 KEYSYNC LOCK PHASE CONTROL bit 0 Ifo1 keysync phase shift bit 1 Ifo1 keysync 1 on bit 2 Ifo1 lock O independent per voice 1 all voices same phase bit 3 Ifo2 keysync phase shift bit 4 Ifo2 keysync 1 on bit 5 Ifo2 lock O independent per voice 1 all voices same phase note that when lock is on keysync becomes global sync ie note when all notes off first note after prog change song start message ARPEGGIATOR CONTROL bits 0 1 2 bit number of octaves 1 2 3 4 bit 2 arpeggiator off fon 1 on bit 3 arpeggiator keysync control 1 on bit 4 arpeggiator latch control 1 on EFFECTS TYPE CONTROL bits 0 2 3 bit reverb type Ec Sr Sh Lr Lh gh values 6 7 not used bit 3 chorus phaser control O chorus 1 phaser EFFECTS GLOBAL SYNC CONTROL bits 0 1 2 bit chorus global sync off left centre right bits 2 3 2 bit pan global sync off left centre right bits 4 5 2 bit eq frequency global sync off low mid high EFFECTS VOCODER 8 EXTERNAL AUDIO CONTROL bit 3 vocoder sibilance type O hi pass 1 noise bit 5 external audio trigger control 1 enabled bit 6 external audio to fx control 1 enabled EFFECTS SELECT KEYBOARD OCTAVE bits 0 2 0 Delay 1 reverb 2 chorus 3 distortion 4 EQ 5 panning 6 vocoder bit 3 4 5 6 Signed value 0 Nominal Octave where middle C is 261Hz 4 Lowest Octave 5 Highest octave
113. le playing the keyboard adjust the Amplifier Envelope SUSTAIN control Notice how that the sound level when holding a key down changes Set this control to just over half Now adjust the RELEASE control Notice how when a key on the keyboard is released the sound will now gradually die away SUSTAIN control RELEASE control attack decay sustain release How quickly the sound dies away depends on the setting of this con trol The sound is still a little too bright Adjust the FREQUENCY con trol in the filter area Notice how the sound becomes softer as the con trol is rotated anticlockwise Continue to make adjustments until a desired sound is heard The first small edit is now complete on the K Station The edited sound must now be saved into a memory location if it is to be needed for the future Saving a sound Sounds may be saved in any memory location However it is recom mended that the user locations Banks 3 and 4 300 499 are used early on for saving new sound creations The factory preset sounds in Banks 1 and 2 may also be overwritten if desired Once these factory presets are overwritten they may only be retrieved by performing a factory restore See Page 33 A backup of the factory preset or user programs either one by one or by bank may be made to an external MIDI sequencer Also see Page 33 NOTE When the K Station is shipped from the factory the global memory protect switch is set to on The memory
114. lected Program in Program Select Mode The display will flash DONE and the K Station will return to Progam Select Mode Advanced Features Note It is only possible to restore Programs if the Global Memory Protect switch is turned OFF see Page 35 Note It is possible to abandon the restore procedure at any point by pressing the PROGRAM button and returning to Program Select Mode Restoring Global Data When this option is selected press the WRITE button to restore all Global Data The display will flash DONE and the K Station will return to Progam Select Mode Note It is only possible to restore Global Data if the Global Memory Protect switch is turned OFF see Page 35 Calibrate Wheel Menu Page 3 This utility allows the K Station s Pitch Bend and Modulation wheels to be calibrated for optimum performance To calibrate the wheels push the bend wheel outermost wheel fully forwards and then fully back wards The left hand side of the display will show a value of BEND 0 when the wheel is fully backwards and BEND 256 when the wheel is fully forwards Repeat this forward and backwards movement for the other Modulation wheel The display will show MOD 0 through to MOD 128 Finally press the WRITE key once A brief message CAL WHEEL SAVED will flash on the screen The K station will then return to PROGRAM mode The wheel calibration data is stored in memory along with all the Global data so once this h
115. ll instantly select the appropriate Program within the currently selected Program bank A MIDI Bank Change message CC32 received along with a Program change message will select the appropriate Program within the bank specified by the Bank Change message If Bank Change messages are used it is recommended that the Bank Change message is sent immediately before the following Program Change A Bank Change data value of 001 is used to select Bank 1 a data value of 002 is used to select Bank 2 etc Whenever a new Program is selected on the K Station both Bank Change and Program Change are transmitted via MIDI Out Note that the K Station does not have to be in Program Select Mode to respond to these MIDI messages They can be received at any time Quick Start Guide Editing a sound Saving a sound Listening to the factory demonstration Editing a sound Once familiar with the sounds that are available select Program num ber 499 This is a very basic synthesizer sound which can be used as a starting point to create a new more interesting sound for your own use When this sound is played from the keyboard it will be noticed that the volume of the sound instantly reaches its maximum level when a key is pressed and dies away instantaneously as soon as the key is released The most useful editing controls on the K Station are found on the front panel and some of these will be now be used to modify edit this basic program Whi
116. louder than if it were fifty metres away Wave A is louder than Wave B but is the same pitch Volume Wave A WN Wave B Vy Having shown that just three elements make up any sound these ele ments now have to be related to a Musical synthesizer It is logical that a different section of the Synthesizer Synthesizes or creates these different elements One section of the synthesizer the Oscillators can generate multiple waveforms which provide the pitch of the sound along with its raw har monic content tone These waveforms may be mixed together in a section called the Mixer The mixed signal is then fed into a section named the Filter which is responsible for further altering the tone of the sound It does this by removing filtering certain undesired har monic frequencies Lastly the filtered signal is fed into a final section the Amplifier which determines the final volume of the sound Oscillators Mixer Filter Amplifier Audio path of the main Synthesizer blocks Additional synthesizer sections LFOs and Envelopes provide ways of altering the pitch tone and volume of a sound by interacting with the Oscillators Filter and Amplifier They introduce changes in the char acter of a sound that evolve thoughout the duration of the sound Because the LFOs and Envelopes only purpose is to control modu late the other synthesizer sections they are commonly known as modulators These various synthesizer sections will now
117. lume It can be used to create a sound with a slow fade in D Decay time Adjusts the time it takes for the envelope to decay from full volume to the level set by the Sustain control while a key is held down S Sustain level Sets the volume level that the envelope remains at while the key is held down after the Decay time has expired R Release time Adjusts the time it takes when key is released from the Sustain level to zero It can be used to create sounds that slowly fade away in volume A typical synthesizer will have one or more envelopes One envelope is always applied to the amplifier to shape the volume of each note played Additional envelopes can be used to dynamically alter other sections of the synthesizer during the lifetime of each note Envelopes ORGO attack decay sustain release The K Station has a second Envelope Generator which may be applied in various interesting ways For example it may typically be used to modify the filter cut off frequency or change an oscillators pitch during the lifetime of a note LFOs Memories Summary Re Biter Like the Envelope Generators the LFO section on a synthesizer is a Modulator That is to say instead of forming a part of the sound syn thesis process it is used instead to modify modulate other synthesiz er sections For example altering the Oscillator pitch or Filter cutoff fre quency Most musical instruments produce sounds that vary not just in
118. lways available free of charge at the Novation web site From there it can be downloaded as an SMF Standard MIDI File Because the operating system update consists purely of MIDI system exclusive messages it can then be transferred to the K Station simply by playing the file on a sequencer directly into the K Station However as a safety feature the K Station has to be put into a special mode where it will accept the operating system update Full details on how to do this will be supplied when you download the update For list of the latest operating system updates please see the Novation Website www novationmusic com A MIDI Implementation Chart provides a concise way of telling at a glance which MIDI messages an instrument will transmit and respond to A MIDI Implementation Chart for the K Station can be found on in the Appendix towards the end of this manual MIDI Tutorial MIDI and Sequencers Summary MIDI and Sequencers A sequencer is simply a device which is capable of recording storing and playing back MIDI information Using a sequencer it is possible to construct very complex musical arrangements which would normally be impossible to play live It is also very easy to edit the MIDI data and remove any unintended mistakes or make changes in the playing style Many people nowadays use software sequencing packages on com puters but there are also dedicated hardware sequencers available which perform in a simi
119. me value is 0 FILTER FREQUENCY LFO2 MOD DEPTH FILTER Q NORMALISE 127 zero filter drive at max resonance FILTER OVERDRIVE FILTER FREQUENCY FILTER RESONANCE FILTER FREQUENCY MOD ENV DEPTH AMPLITUDE ENVELOPE ATTACK AMPLITUDE ENVELOPE DECAY AMPLITUDE ENVELOPE SUSTAIN AMPLITUDE ENVELOPE RELEASE AMPLITUDE ENVELOPE VELOCITY DEPTH may be used in future software releases MOD ENVELOPE ATTACK MOD ENVELOPE DECAY MOD ENVELOPE SUSTAIN MOD ENVELOPE RELEASE MOD ENVELOPE VELOCITY DEPTH VOICE LEVEL TO OUTPUT amp EFFECTS ALL NOTES OFF WITH FAST RELEASE receive only RESET CONTROLLERS receive only LOCAL ON OFF ALL NOTES OFF receive only ALL NOTES OFF receive only ALL NOTES OFF receive only ALL NOTES OFF receive only ALL NOTES OFF receive only A 3 Appendix MIDI NRPN List MIDI NRPN List The K Station uses a few NRPNs as detailed below Since less than 128 of them are used only one NRPN msb bank is needed Therefore only the NRPN Isb is transmitted received and the NRPN msb is ignored and is not transmitted For future compatibility assume that the NRPN msb is 0 NRPN Isb K STATION USE 0 FM FIXED LEVEL 1 FM ENVELOPE DEPTH 2 FM ENVELOPE VELOCITY DEPTH 3 FM ENVELOPE ATTACK 4 FM ENVELOPE DECAY 5 OSCs 1 2 3 MODWHEEL DIRECT PITCH DEPTH 6 OSCs 1 2 3 AFTERTOUCH DIRECT PITCH DEPTH 7 OSCs 1 2 3 BREATH DIRECT PITCH DEPTH 8 OSCs 1 2 3 MODWHEEL LFO1 PITCH DEPTH
120. n be found within the Envelopes Menu See Page 26 27 18 Volume and Keyboard Octave Controls Arpeggiator Section Volume and Keyboard Octave Controls Arpeggiator Section VOLUME Knob This control adjusts the overall output volume on both the Left and Right master audio outputs on the rear panel and the Headphone out put also on the rear panel Using a mixing desk as a comparison this control can be thought of as the channel volume fader Keyboard OCTAVE Buttons These buttons allow the K Station s two octave keyboard to be shifted up or down by a whole octave The entire MIDI note range of C 2 to G8 can be accessed To return to a mid position where the A above middle C on the key board is 440Hz Press BOTH the Up and Down Octave buttons simul taneously Note When set to the highest octave setting the top notes on the keyboard beyond G8 will not trigger the K Station or transmit MIDI Note messages because they will be outside of the note range defined by the MIDI specification The Keyboard octave setting is memorized along with all of the other sound information when a Program is written to memory 19 The K Station includes an Arpeggiator which breaks down chords into single notes and plays them one at a time For example if a C triad chord is held the notes C E and G will play one by one in sequence Which Arpeggiator pattern is used and how the sequence of notes are played is determined by setting
121. nalyzes selected frequencies present in an audio signal called a Modulator and superimposes these frequen cies onto another sound called the Carrier It actually does this by feeding the Modulator signal into a bank of band pass filters Each of these filters 12 of them on the K Station covers a set band in the audio spectrum from low to high frequencies In the K Station s Vocoder a Program for example a string sound is always used as the Carrier It is routed to another complete set of 12 filters that have the same frequency band settings as the bank of filters used for the Modulator Each of the outputs from the 12 band pass fil ters in the Modulator bank control the volume of each of filters in the Carrier bank The final character of the vocoded sound will depend greatly upon the harmonics present in the Carrier Program Programs very rich in har monics for example using Sawtooth Waves will generally give the best results Typically the Modulator signal used by a Vocoder would be a human voice speaking into a microphone This creates the distinctive robot or talky like sounds which have recently returned to popularity and are now being used more frequently in modern Pop and Dance music Bear in mind however that the Modulator signal need not be restricted to human speech Other types of Modulator signal can be used for example an electric guitar or drums and can often give quite unex pected and interesting res
122. ng ProgramMS n ziii ati eee 34 Reverb EffecCt oooocccccccccooonnonoconoconononocononnornnerononanonanononons 20 29 Decay Time oie 29 MY PO iaa adi 29 Wheel LOVE nato costs Seevedeieacetanaatesdbstnastondayeuctice tahoe 29 Ring M d latigi arsi niiin ietin eira n 16 Saving Global Memory ooooooococccnnnococononcnononcconancnonananonnnnno 36 SAVING SOUNGS ici 4 22 Selecting SQUNAS cocoa ie 3 SEQUENCES iiie iieii diea 3 11 12 19 33 Synchronisation cccceeseeeeeeees 11 19 26 28 29 31 38 System eXC USIVE ooooooocccnnncocccccccononancnncononanoncconcnannccnncnnnns 11 33 TOM a ad te cede 5 Utilities Men iio ie 33 34 Index 1 2 1 IMPORTANT NOTICE DO NOT MODIFY authori 2 IMPORTANT When connecting this produc could void your FCC authorization to use this y granted by the FCC to use the prod FCC Information U S A HIS UNIT This product when installed as indicated uct t to accessories and or another product use only hig product in the USA in the instructions contained in this Manual meets FCC requirements Modifications not expressly approved by Novation may void your h quality shielded cables Cable s supplied with this product MUST be used Follow all installation instructions Failure to follow instructions 3 NOTE This product has been tested and found to comply with the requirements listed in FCC Regulations Part 15 for Class B digital devices Compliance with the
123. ng the key board as each new location selected The Program number to be restored may also be selected using Numeric Keypad buttons Note that it is only possible to select a restored Program from Banks 1 or 2 Programs 100 299 Pressing the WRITE button again writes the restored Program into the destination Program as indicated by the display The display will flash DONE and the K Station will return to Progam Select Mode Note It is only possible to restore Programs if the Global Memory Protect switch is turned OFF see Page 35 Note It is possible to abandon the restore procedure at any point by pressing the PROGRAM button Restoring a whole Bank of Factory Preset Sounds When restoring a whole Bank of sounds the Bank of 100 sounds will be written to whatever Bank the currently selected Program belongs to If necessary select an appropriate destination Program Bank any Program within a Bank will select its Bank from within Program Select Mode then re enter Menu Mode and return to this Page in the Utilities Menu When the WRITE button is pressed the K Station will prompt for the Bank number to be restored from ROM as displayed below Rest B1 lt B1 Select the Bank to restore to by using the DATA knob Note that it is only possible to select Banks 1 or 2 as the restored Banks Pressing the WRITE button again restores the whole Bank of 100 Programs into the destination Bank the Bank used by the currently se
124. ninnnans 27 FREQUENCY KnOb cococccccccncccncccccconoconcnnncnnoncnonononacinnnnna 14 17 KEY TRACK KDOb cccccccccccccccccoconiconacananananananononnnnoncnnononanonos 17 LFO 2 DEPTH KnODiiiccccccccsetscieviseccecvcoccevscccusdevectvacvateustscces 17 MOD ENV DEPTH Knob ccccccecesesesessseeeeseeeeeseeeeeeens 17 OVErO Vete rdis acera Docta cave cawagaavsarsvadezectie sad ova its 25 Q Normalis iio irrita iio 14 25 RESONANCE iii lidia 7 17 20 RESONANCE KNOD ccococcccnccnnccnnncnononoconcnnnnnncncnonanononinnnan 7 17 SLOPE BUON siii ad 7 17 FMiSynthe sis as a ee aireado ela ASS 24 26 27 Env AttaCk A a eea e EE a RT 27 Env Deta aa 27 Envelope AMOun1 ccccccsececeeeceeeaeeeeeeeenaeeeeeeseeeeeeeeeees 24 Manual Level tic in ai 24 Front Panel Layout 2 2 ccc ceececceeseeeeeeeeceeseneeetonevessteeseutenees 13 Global Men minei asi 35 Global SYNC 30 31 32 35 Harmonic Content oooccccccnccccccccccnoconccnncnnnononononcncnnnnononononons 6 Keypad BUttONS oooooocccccnnnoccccccccccccccccccncnnnnccccnnos 3 13 14 22 PROS ns tacos 5 9 18 25 26 Common To All VOiCeS coococonnncncnnnncnnnonononocinananonos 25 26 DELAY Mobic 18 Delay Multi TrigQ T oooooconnncnonncccnncccnnoncccnnnrnnnnonnnn nan nnnnnn nos 25 KOYS YC canica isa 25 Select BUON cnairt onst neern orae apeti el ide 18 SPEED KND onto aia a a A N suecia 18 Syne R ta fe eee ae A E eee 26 Local control ee 12 35 A 9 Master Tune
125. novationmusic com Specification subject to change without prior notice www novationmusic com
126. nu is active in Menu Mode the display will be updated to show settings relevant to the newly selected Effect Effects LEVEL knob This control s function depends upon the Effect currently selected for editing by the SELECT buttons In most cases it will control the Effect s level but there are exceptions All possibilities are detailed in the table given below Effects Level Knob Effect Selected Function Display Value Delay Delay Level Delay Send 0 127 Reverb Reverb Level Reverb Send 0 127 Chorus Chorus Level Chrous Send 0 127 Distortion Distortion Boost Distortion 0 127 EQ EQ Cut Boost Equalisation 64 63 Panning Stereo Pan Position Pan Position 64 63 Vocoder Vocoder On Balance Vocoder Bal 0 127 21 Display and Data Entry Section program program As well as containing the display this section also contains controls whose vary according to which mode the K Station is currently in For more information on modes refer to the section Modes and Menus on Page 14 PAGE PROGRAM Buttons While in Program Select Mode these buttons may be used to advance decrease the currently selected Program If pressed and held down the Programs will start advancing decreasing in steps of ten Programs at a time This is useful since on the K Station similar types of sound are spaced apart at ten Program intervals While in Menu Mode these buttons are used to move up and down through the various linked pages wi
127. nus The K Station has ten separate menus each of which consists of several pages linked together Menu pages may only be accessed while the K Station is in Menu Mode Menu Mode is entered by pressing the MENUS button menus The K Station always indicates that Menu Mode is active by illuminat ing the LED situated above the MENUS button As soon as Menu Mode is entered the display will show a page of whichever menu was accessed the previous time Menu Mode was used For example if the Filter Menu had been previously selected the display would show one of the pages of the filter menu as below The exact page will depend on the setting of the New Menu Always Page 1 found in the Global Menu as described on page 36 The PAGE buttons to the left of the display can be used to navigate FILT Q Norm 013 program program forwards and backwards between the menu s pages Once the desired menu page has been reached the setting can be altered by using the DATA knob In Menu Mode a different menu may be selected by pressing the appropriate 0 9 Menu Select button The ten menus available are associated with the Oscillators Filter LFOs Envelopes Effects Utilities Global settings Wheels Aftertouch Breath Control and the Arpeggiator 1 2 utilities global 6 7 In Menu Mode it is still possible to alter any of the front panel controls but it will be noticed that when a knob is moved the display text for the knob just
128. of the Filter is the RESONANCE control Frequencies at the cut off point may be increased in volume by this control This is useful for emphasizing certain harmonics of the sound As the RESONANCE is increased a whistling like quality will be intro duced to the sound passing through the filter When set to very high levels RESONANCE actually causes the filter to self oscillate when ever a signal is being passed through it The resulting whistling tone being produced is actually a pure sine wave the pitch of which depends on the setting of the FREQUENCY knob the filter s cut off point This resonance produced sine wave can actually be used for some sounds as an additional sound source if desired 7 Synthesis Tutorial Envelopes and Amplifier Envelopes and Amplifier In earlier paragraphs it was determined how the pitch and timbre of a sound is synthesized This final part of the Synthesis Tutorial describes how the volume of sound is controlled The volume throughout the duration of a sound created by a musical instrument often varies great ly according to the type of instrument Key On Key Off Volume Time gt An Organ sound quickly attains full volume when a key on the keyboard is pressed It stays at full volume until the key is released at which point the volume level falls instantly to zero Key On Key Off Volume Time __ gt A Piano quickly attains full volume
129. ono type Poly aftertouch includes information in the MIDI message about which keyboard note was used to trigger the aftertouch effect Poly aftertouch is actually very rarely found nowadays as only a very few synthesizers ever used it PROGRAM CHANGE MESSAGES These messages are transmitted by the K Station whenever a new sound is called up from the front panel However the MIDI Specification actually only allows a MIDI program change message to select one of 128 different sounds When the MIDI specification was originally designed this was rarely a problem since synthesizers in those days rarely had more than 128 memories Modern synthesizers of today such as the K Station often offer very many more memories than this the K Station actually has 400 memories divided into four banks of 100 memories each so it is often convenient to send a MIDI program change preceded by an additional MIDI message which speci fies which bank of sounds the following program change message will select from The bank select MIDI message used for this purpose is actually a MIDI control change message CC32 is the control change number used Whenever a new sound is selected on the K Station the bank select MIDI message is transmitted followed closely by the appropriate MIDI program change message If these messages are then later played back into the K Station from a sequencer the appropriate sound will be then selected instantly It is not strictly ne
130. otes off first note after prog change midi song start 46 PARAMETER MOMENTARY DISPLAY TIME off 200 1200mS 47 MENU INITIAL PAGE MODE 0 first 1 last used 48 KEYBOARD TRANSMIT CHANNEL 49 NON MEMU MODE DISPLAY TIMEOUT NONE PERMANENT O TIME 1 PERMANENT 50 127 may be used in future software releases Appendix A 4 Packed Controller NRPN Parameter Details Packed Controller NRPN Details Refer to the lists of MIDI Controllers and NRPNs on Pages 42 44 1 ENVELOPES SINGLE MULTI OSC WAVEFORM KEYSYNC bit 0 amp env trigger O single 1 multi bit 1 mod env trigger O single 1 multi bit 2 fm env trigger O single 1 multi bits 3 6 4 bit wave keysync phase O free running 1 15 0 336 degrees in 24 degree steps UNISON POLY MODE FILTER TYPE bits 0 2 3 bit unison count O off 1 7 2 8 voices bits 3 4 2 bit voice polyphony mode 0 mono 1 mono autoglide 2 poly 3 poly with same note voice stealing bit 5 filter type 0 12dB 1 24dB per octave OSC 1 2 3 WAVEFORM PORTAMENTO MODE bits 0 1 2 bit osc1 waveform sine tri saw square pulse bits 2 3 2 bit osc2 waveform sine tri saw square pulse bits 4 5 2 bit osc3 waveform sine tri saw square pulse bit 6 portamento mode O exponential 1 linear OSC 1 2 3 OCTAVE OSC 1 gt 2 SYNC bits 0 1 2 bit osc1 octave 1 0 1 2 bits 2 3 2 bit osc2 octave 1 0 1 2 bits 4 5 2 bit osc3 octave 1 0 1 2 bit 6 osc1 gt 2 sync 1 on LFO 1 2 WAVEFORM DELAY MULTI MODE bit 0 Ifo1 de
131. ounds when it has been recorded with the record level far too high Much loved by guitarists Main Features and Operation distorted sounds have a very gritty dirty quality to them This is espe cially effective when applied to aggressive lead sounds The Distortion Effect also exaggerates any low level harmonics present within the sound Sounds using a level of RESONANCE in the Filter will especially benefit from added Distortion Use the LEVEL knob to introduce the Distortion effect EQ The EQ short for Equalization Effect provides a way of diminishing or emphasizing a specific frequency range within the final sound It is in fact a form of Filter similar to the one found in the K Station s Filter section It performs a similar function but it cuts or boosts certain fre quencies The actual frequency range which will be cut or boosted is determined by the EQ Frequency Point the EQ Frequency setting which is set within the Effects Menu See Page 31 in the Advanced Features chapter for details on how to set this The amount of cut or boost applied will depend on the position of the Effects LEVEL knob When set to the 12 o clock position no cut or boost is applied As the knob is turned anticlockwise from the 12 o clock position frequencies below the EQ Frequency point will be boosted and frequencies above the point will be attenuated As the knob is turned clockwise from the 12 o clock position frequencies above the EQ
132. ove 20 000Hz Volume EQ Frequency Point Boost L 5s EQ Amount 64 Unchanged Volume Level Volume Cut a Ohz 10hz 500hz 1Khz 5Khz 20Khz Frequency gt EQ Frequency set to 5 RY EQ Amount 64 EQ Frequency Point Z Unchanged Volume Level gt e Volume Boost Volume N Cut 10hz 500hz 1Khz 5Khz 20Khz Frequency _ gt EQ Frequency set to 50 To change the EQ frequency select Page 1 in the EQ Menu Adjust the DATA knob for the desired EQ frequency Mod Depth Menu Page 2 The real power of the EQ filter is the ability to move the EQ Frequency set point automatically with the dedicated LFO This control dictates how intense the movements are from the LFO Any amount of depth will result in EQ changes at the rate determined by the EQ rate control Note The dedicated EQ LFO should not be confused with the two LFOs available on the K Station s front panel To change the depth select Page 2 in the EQ Menu Adjust the DATA knob for the desired EQ Depth Mod Rate Menu Page 3 Determines the rate speed of the dedicated EQ LFO This LFO is able to modulate the EQ frequency see Mod Depth above To change the rate select Page 3 in the EQ Menu Rotate the DATA knob clockwise to increase the rate and anticlockwise to decrease the rate Note The dedicated EQ LFO should not be confused with the two LFOs available on the K Station s front panel 31 Sync Mod Rate
133. positive value 63 soft key strokes will produce a tone much softer than hard key strokes At a maximum negative value 64 soft key strokes will produce a tone much brighter sound than hard key strokes To affect the pitch adjust the MOD ENV knob in the Oscillator section Adjusting the Velocity Response of the FM Envelope Select a factory preset FM sound such as 209 Select the fourth page in the Envelopes Menu FM Env modulation Adjust the DATA knob Notice how the FM effect at the start of the sound becomes dependent on how hard the keys are struck 26 The Envelopes Menu Envelope Triggering Menu Pages 5 6 amp 7 These functions only apply to a sound which has been set up to behave in a monophonic manner see Voice Mode on Page 23 When the Voice mode is set to any of the Mono options different enve lope triggering options are available for legato playing styles notes overlapping When the first note of a musical phrase is played it might be desirable to have both the Amp and Mod envelopes trigger For the remaining legato notes just the Mod envelope re triggering would create the effect of the phrase becoming quieter and quieter When these are set to SGL single the appropriate Envelope will only be triggered when the first keyboard note is played Any subsequent legato style key presses will not re trigger the Envelope When set to MLT multi the appropriate Envelope will always re trig ger on each
134. ppendix on the final pages lists factory preset sounds MIDI controllers and MIDI implementation chart In order to become an expert user as quickly as possible it is recom mended that this manual is read in sequence chapter by chapter If sound synthesis is an unfamiliar subject then the chapter Synthesis Tutorial will provide a useful introduction to the techniques used to electronically simulate the sound of a musical instrument using an ana logue music synthesizer Another chapter MIDI Tutorial provides a useful introduction to the subject of MIDI and how it is used for communication between instru ments and or sequencers The chapter also describes how the K Station transmits and recognizes various types of MIDI messages If the general principles of Sound Synthesis and MIDI are already familiar then the Quick Start Guide is the place to begin Once familiar with the main features of the machine the Advanced Features section covers the Effects Arpeggiator Synchronization Triggering and the Utilities and will provide all of the information needed to operate the K Station in the most creative productive way Have fun Four hundred Program sound locations Two hundred factory programmed sounds are included and a further two hundred user sound memory locations are provided the two hun dred factory sounds may be overwritten Powerful Oscillators Three Oscillators provide Sawtooth Square Variable Pulse Triangl
135. pter MIDI Tutorial on Page 10 Elements of a sound To gain an understanding of how a Synthesizer generates sound it is helpful to have an understanding of the components that make up a sound be it musical or non musical The only way that a sound may be detected is by air vibrating the eardrum in a regular periodic manner The brain interprets these vibra tions very accurately into one of an infinite number of different types of sound Remarkably any sound may be described by just three terms and all sounds always have them They are Volume Pitch Tone What makes one sound different to another is the proportion of these three qualities initially present in the sound and how these three terms change throughout the duration of the sound With a musical synthesizer we deliberately set out to have precise con trol over these three terms and in particular how they can be changed throughout the duration of the sound These terms are often given dif ferent names Volume is referred to as Amplitude Pitch as Frequency and Tone as Timbre Pitch Taking the example of air vibrating the ear drum the pitch is deter mined by how fast the vibrations are For an adult human the lowest vibration perceived as sound is about twenty times a second which the brain interprets as a bass type sound and the highest is many thou sands of times a second which the brain interprets as an extreme tre ble type sound Wave B is tw
136. quencer recording and press the WRITE button to start transmission of Sysex data If the CURR SOUND option or GLOBAL DATA is selected then the display will flash DONE as confir mation that the transmission has taken place If PROG BANK1 through ALL P BANKS is selected the display will indicate progress of transmission by indicating DUMPING PROG XXX where XXX is the Program number Note Some sequencers such as Cubase sometimes have Sysex messages filtered out as a default setting If the sequencer appears not to have recorded the sysex dump into a track check that the sequencer is not set to filter out Sysex messages Consult the sequencer s manual for details Receiving a Sysex Dump Once Sysex data has been stored in a sequencer track the data can then be re loaded into a K Station by simply playing the sequencer track in the normal way If a single Sound is received via Sysex it is important to realise that it is only Program Edit Buffer which has been changed The newly received sound can immediately be played on the K Station s key board but if the new sound is to be kept it must be manually saved into a memory location in the normal way similar to a manually edited Program When a whole bank of sounds or the Global settings are received via Sysex the data is placed directly into the K Station s memories For this reason it is important to make sure that the Global Memory Protect switch is set to OFF see Page 35
137. r example repeatedly press the OCTAVE button until the 1 LED lights NOTE The 0 position corresponds to the pitch of 440Hz when note A above middle C is played WAVEFORM Button This control sets the currently selected Oscillator s waveform Repeatedly press until the desired waveform shape LED light PW Pulse Width SOURCE button and PWM Pulse Width Modulation DEPTH PW POSITION knob The function of the PWM DEPTH PW POSITION knob is dependent on the selection of the PW SELECT button With the POSITION setting selected the PWM DEPTH PW POSITION knob will manually control the pulse width of a square waveform the selected waveform for the Oscillator must be Square wave for this to happen In order to under stand how the Pulse Width knob affects various waveforms examples using factory presets are used See the following paragraphs titled Obtaining a classic Square Pulse PWM sound and Obtaining a Double Saw thick detuned sound With the PW POSITION knob in the central position the Pulse Width wave becomes a square wave As the knob is adjusted clockwise or anticlockwise the Pulse Width becomes narrower producing what is termed as a Pulse Wave With the LFO 2 position selected by the PW SELECT button the width of the Pulse Wave may be modulated by LFO 2 The intensity of this modulation is determined by the PWM DEPTH knob With the Pulse Width knob at central position there is no effect Turning clockwise or anticlock
138. rd and controls from the K Station s synthesizer engine When set to OFF playing the K Station s keyboard or moving the front panel controls only results in MIDI information being transmitted Setting Local Control to OFF allows the K Station to control other MIDI instruments without triggering notes or altering settings on the K Station directly 12 Front Panel Layout This chapter describes the main front panel controls and how they affect a sound and the operation of the K Station Front Panel Layout novation Oscillators Fite er portamento semitone detune pwm depth en pw position frequency el eo en ex el e e So e eu position o2 mod env noise ring 1 2 ext input 012 dB 248 oscillator octave waveform pwselect fol depth Effects source slope Arpeggiator delay el reverb chorus distortion PS tempo gt panning mo level v 1 Oscillator Section Contains the controls associated with the Oscillators These include the PORTAMENTO SEMITONE tune DETUNE PWM DEPTH PW POSITION MOD ENV DEPTH and LFO 1 DEPTH knobs and the OSCILLATOR select OCTAVE WAVEFORM and PW buttons 2 Mixer Section Contains the controls associated with the Mixer These include the OSC 1 level OSC 2 level OSC 3 level and source LEVEL knobs and the mixer SOURCE button 3 Filter Section Contains the controls associated with the Filter These include the FREQUENCY
139. roller number 64 with a value of 0 to turn the latch OFF Keysync Menu Page 5 When activated the arpeggio pattern will re start whenever a new note is played on the keyboard Sync Type Menu Page 6 Allows the Arpeggiator to be synchronized with an external sequencer A range of synchronization values are available Arpeggiator Sync to MIDI Clock table Display MIDI Clocks Synchronised to OFF Manual Rate 32nd T 2 32nd Triplet 32nd 3 32nd 16th T 4 16th Triplet 16th 6 16th 8th T 8 8th Triplet 16th D 9 16th Dotted 8th 12 8th 4thT 16 4th Triplet 8th D 18 8th Dotted 4th 24 4th 2nd T 32 2nd Triplet 4thD 36 4th Dotted 2nd 48 2nd 1bar T 64 1 Bar Triplet 2nd D 72 2nd Dotted 1 bar 96 1 Bar When a sync interval is selected the tempo of the Arpeggiator is con trolled by the Arpeggiator TEMPO knob when MIDI Clock Source is set to INT or by the external sequencer s tempo when MIDI Clock Source is set to EXT See Page 35 for information on setting the Global MIDI Clock Source 38 Arpeggiator and Advanced Connection Diagram The Arpeggiator Menu Arp Destination Menu Page 7 For flexibility the Arpeggiator output may be routed to a number of destinations Setting the Arp destination to INT routes the Arpeggiated notes to the internal sound engine This could be considered as the normal mode of operation Setting the destination to EXT will route the Arpgeggiated notes ONLY to the MIDI output socket and they wil
140. s chapter is read carefully if you are unfamil iar with how MIDI works Experienced users can skip this chapter and move on to the next chapter Main Features and Operation on page 13 About MIDI MIDI is an acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface The MIDI standard was devised in the early 80 s as a means for allowing musical instruments to communicate with each other as well as with other devices such as sequencers and computers Before the advent of MIDI it was very difficult if not impossible for instruments to effective ly communicate with each other especially if they had been made by different manufacturers Nowadays most types of electronic musical equipment are equipped with a MIDI interface fitted as standard including synthesizers drum machines samplers sequencers com puters and even some effects units The MIDI standard allows many different instruments to be controlled at once say from a sequencer using the same network of MIDI cables Each instrument in the MIDI chain is usually assigned its own unique MIDI channel and will only respond to information that it may receive on that particular channel The MIDI standard allows for sixteen different channels to be assigned to the various instruments in a MIDI network which of course means that it is possible to have up to sixteen instruments playing simultaneously within a MIDI system It might be felt that being restricted to just sixteen MIDI channels would b
141. s how much of the delayed signal is fed back to the input of the Chorus generator The Chorus effect benefits from low levels of feedback When acting as a Phaser see the Chorus Type setting on Page 29 the effect often requires higher levels of feedback LFO Sync Initial Position Menu Page 7 As well as being able to synchronize to MIDI clock tempo the dedi cated Chorus LFO may have its initial position set after a specific MIDI event is received see the Global Sync Mode function on Page 35 The initial positions available are shown in the table above For exam Chorus LFO Sync Initial Pos OFF Off LFT Left MID Centre RGT Right ple if the Chorus initial position sync is set to RGT after an appropri ate MIDI event the Chorus effect will move from the right to the left Wheel Level Menu Page 8 This sets how much movement of the K Station s Modulation wheel will introduce the Chorus effect Advanced Features The Distortion Menu Distortion is an effect commonly used by Guitar players However it is now increasingly used in the production of modern Dance music The Distortion effect gives the sound a hard edged distorted and dirty kind of quality Use the PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu functions available See table below Distortion Menu Page Function Display Value 1 Level Compensation DIST Comp 0 127 2 Wheel Level DIST Wheel 64 63 Level Compensation Menu Page 1 If distortion
142. s of the functions located in the Arpeggiator Menu See Page 38 in the Advanced Features chapter for more details on these Arpeggiator TEMPO Knob This controls the speed at which the Arpeggiator plays back its notes When turned fully anticlockwise the Arpeggiator will step through a sequence at 64 beats per minute Clockwise movement increases speed The maximum speed available is 191 b p m When the Global MIDI Clock Source value see Page 35 is set to INT this knob also controls the tempo of any synchronized Chorus Delay Panning or EQ effects See Pages 28 29 30 31 amp 32 for details on how to synchronise these When MIDI Clock Source is set to EXT the tempo of any synchro nized Arpeggiator Chorus Delay Panning or EQ will be controlled by the tempo of the external sequencer instead of the TEMPO knob which will have no effect on the speed If this knob appears to have no effect on the tempo the reason is prob ably due to MIDI Clock Source being set to EXT or that the external sequencer is currently stopped stopped sequencers do not usually transmit MIDI Clock messages ON OFF Button This activates deactivates the Arpeggiator While the Arpeggiator is activated the LED to the left of the button will be lit Pressing and holding this ON OFF button for longer than 1 second will cause the Arpeggiator to Latch When latched the Arpeggiator sequence will continue to play even after notes have been released
143. se requirements provides a reasonable level of assurance that your use of users manual may cause interference harmful interference which can be determined by turning the unit OFF and ON please try to eliminate Relocai te either this product or the device that is being affected by the interference Utilize power outlets that are on different branch Circuit breaker or fuse circuits or install AC line In the case of radio or TV interference relocate re orient the antenna If the antenna lead in is 300 ohm ribbon lead change the lead in to co axial type cable If these to distri bute this type of product The statements above apply ONLY to products distributed in the USA his product in residential environment will not result in harmful interference with other electronic devices This equipment generates uses radio frequencies and if not installed and used according to the instructions found in the to the operation of other electronic devices Compliance with FCC regulations does not guarantee that interference will not occur in all installations If this product is found to be the source of he problem by using one of the following measures ilter s corrective measures do not produce satisfactory results please contact the local retailer authorized CANADA The digital section of this apparatus does not exceed the Class B limits for radio noise emissions from digital apparatus set out in the r
144. t from the K Station is rout ed through the sequencer with the correct sequencer track selected back to the K Station s MIDI In socket When not connected correctly to a sequencer having Local Control set to OFF is a common cause of mistakenly assuming that the K Station is faulty When the K Station appears to ignore its keyboard and front panel controls setting Local Control to ON or selecting the correct sequencer track will usually rectify the problem The K Station transmits MIDI information whenever the keyboard is played front panel controls are moved or when a new Program is selected MIDI information is split into 16 channels The K Station can be set to receive transmit on any one of these channels at any one time MIDI information travels in one direction along a MIDI cable The only permitted connections are MIDI Out to MIDI In or MIDI Thru to MIDI In MIDI messages can be recorded into a sequencer and later replayed back into the K Station replicating whatever actions occurred when the MIDI messages were originally transmitted Sequencers usually re transmit any MIDI information they receive immediately converting the message s channel information into what ever MIDI channel the currently selected sequencer track is using Because of this the K Station may be used as a Master Keyboard to control all MIDI devices in a MIDI network An option called Local Control disables the K Station s keyboa
145. ten has more than one Oscillator By using more than one Oscillator when creating a sound it possible to achieve very interesting harmonic mixes It is also possible to slightly detune individual Oscillators against each other which creates a very warm fat sound The K Station has three independent Oscillators and a sep arate Noise Oscillator M ixer osc 1 osc 2 osc 3 noise ring 1 2 ext input source level For flexibility a mixer section is included so that the amplitude volume level of each of the Oscillators may be adjusted independently and mixed together to form a harmonically complex waveform OSC 1 OSC 1 VOLUME SA COMPLEX WAVEFORM INPUT TO FILTER MIX OF 05C1 283 As well as mixing together the individual Oscillators as shown in the diagram above the mixer section of the K Station also allows the rela tive volume levels of the Noise Oscillator Ring Mod and any external sound source to be set The Filter The Filter Cut off Volume frequency The K Station is an Analogue subtractive type of music synthesizer Subtractive implies that part of the sound is subtracted somewhere in the synthesis process The Oscillators provide the raw waveforms with plenty of harmonic content and it is the Filter that subtracts unwanted harmonics in a con trollable manner Filter frequency resonance mad Guu key track Ifo2 depth Frequency This diagram shows the response of a typical low p
146. th dumping data via MIDI restoring memories and wheel calibration The Utilities Menu is accessed by pressing the keypad 6 button while the K Station is already in Menu Mode Use the PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu functions available See table below Utility Functions Menu Page Function Display 1 Transmit Midi Sysex Dump Dump Value CURR SOUND GLOBAL DATA 2 Restore Factory Settings Restore ONE PROG GLOBAL D 3 Calibrate Wheels Calibrate BEND MOD 4 Display Contrast Contrast 0 64 Transmit Midi Sysex Dump Menu Page 1 The K station is capable of using MIDI System exclusive messages often shortened to Sysex to transfer dump a record of its memory contents for storage in a MIDI device usually a sequencer Saving data in this way is useful for building up sound libraries or creating an emer gency data backup in case of the K Station s memories becoming acci dentally over written It is also possible to link two K Stations or a K Station and an A Station together with a MIDI cable and use Sysex dumping as a means of directly transferring memory contents from one machine to the other To initiate a Sysex dump select the desired option using the DATA Transmit Midi Sysex Dump CURR SOUND Current Sound including edits PROG BANK 1 Program Bank 1 PROG BANK 2 Program Bank 2 PROG BANK 3 Program Bank 3 PROG BANK 4 Program Bank 4 ALL P BANKS All Program Banks GLOBAL DATA Global Data knob Start the se
147. that LFO 1 is using a Triangle waveform This will give a smooth traditional vibrato effect Atouch Filter Frequency Shift Menu Page 3 This setting is used to shift the Cutoff FREQUENCY of the Filter up or down in response to incoming Aftertouch data Set in the range 1 to 64 the Filter will close the Cutoff FREQUENCY will decrease as Aftertouch data is applied With a range of 1 to 63 the Filter will open the Cutoff FREQUENCY will increase as Aftertouch data is applied Greater values will open increase the Cutoff FREQUENCY as Aftertouch data is received At a setting of 0 Aftertouch messages will have no effect Atouch Filter Frequency Mod LFO 2 Menu Page 4 Enables LFO 2 to modulate the Cutoff FREQUENCY of the Filter intro ducing a wow wow effect As Aftertouch messages are received the LFO 2 modulation will be applied As the Aftertouch data falls back towards zero the amount of LFO 2 modulation to the Filter Cutoff FRE 37 QUENCY will also decrease Adjust this to set the depth of modulation applied by LFO 2 At a set ting of 0 Aftertouch messages will have no effect For best results ensure that LFO 2 is using a Triangle waveform This will give a smooth traditional wow wow effect Atouch Amp Gain post distortion Menu Page 5 Allows Aftertouch messages to directly alter the Amplifier level allow ing the overall volume of a sound to be altered Positive values of 1 to 63 incre
148. the K Station is in Menu Mode The Effects Menus comprise of seven separate sub Menus one for each different type of effect available on the K Station The actual sub Menu accessed will be determined by whichever Effect type is currently selected by the SELECT buttons within the Effects Section Effects delay reverb chorus distortion el select 0 panning vocoder In an Effect sub Menu it is also possible at any time to switch instantly to a new sub Menu relating to a different effect simply by selecting the effect using the Effects SELECT buttons The Delay Menu The comprehensive Delay effects processor has many programmable functions These may be edited to create the desired delay effect for a particular sound and saved along with the sound Use the PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu functions available See table below Delay Menu Page Function Display Value 1 Time DEL Time 0 127 2 Feedback DEL Feedback 0 127 3 Sync Time DEL Sync OFF 2 bars 4 Stereo Width DEL St Width 0 127 5 Left Right Time Ratio DEL L R Ratio 1 1 0 1 6 Wheel Level DEL Wheel 64 63 Time Menu Page 1 Controls the amount of time it takes for the delayed signal to be heard after the original signal Feedback Menu Page 2 Controls how much of the delayed signal is fed back into the delay input No feedback produces a slapback echo effect just one delayed sound with no repeats Small amounts of feedback produ
149. thin the currently selected menu DATA PROGRAM Knob In Program Select Mode this knob may be used to step forwards or backwards through the available sounds programs The interval used in stepping through the Programs is determined by how quickly the knob is turned In Program Edit Mode this knob may be used to adjust the value of any functions displayed on the screen In Menu Mode this knob is used to adjust the value of the function rel evant to the currently selected Menu Page Displaying a Program Edit When playing the K Station it is useful to know whether the current selected sound has been modified in any way from the original pro gram If any changes have been made to the program a knob has been tweaked or a button has selected a different function an asterisk will appear in the display soon after the tweak or button press has been made It will appear immediately to the left of the Program number when in Program Mode Prog Number 123 If the change is reversed the control returned to its position as defined by the original Program the asterisk will disappear Prog Number 123 Main Features and Operation Mode and Keypad Section Original Values of settings When adjusting a control it is useful to know how far away it is from the original value set by the program Suppose the FILTER FREQ KNOB is fully clockwise physically pointing to the 5 o clock position indicat ing a fully open settin
150. tput level This will maintain a good signal to noise ratio Make sure that the input volume setting on the system amplifier or mixer is initially set to zero The K Station is initially set when it leaves the factory to receive on MIDI channel 1 so if using an external master keyboard or sequencer to trigger the K Station ensure that it is set to transmit on this channel Playing the K Station s own keyboard master keyboard or sequencer will result in the currently selected factory preset sound being heard A complete listing of the factory preset sounds is on Page 40 The first few locations of the user memory sounds 300 305 contain initialisa tion examples The descriptions these examples is also on Page 40 Selecting Sounds There are four ways to step through the factory preset sounds In the K Station sounds are organized into 4 banks each bank con taining 100 sounds These are referred to as Banks 1 2 3 and 4 Bank 1 100 199 First bank of factory preset sounds Bank 2 200 299 Second bank of factory preset sounds Bank 3 300 399 First bank of user sounds Bank 4 400 499 Second bank of user sounds 1 Using the 0 9 Keypad buttons Ensure that Menu Mode is not active the LED above the MENUS but ton must not be flashing If the K Station is already in Menu Mode simply press the MENUS button again to cancel Menu Mode There must always be a three digit entry on the numeric keypad for example To sel
151. trol The phase can be moved from 180 to 180 degrees This can be automated by using an LFO to adjust the phase difference between the two waves When a triangle LFO 2 wave is selected this will ramp the phase dif ference of the double waves up and down and the result is similar to a chorus effect At moderate to high settings this sounds much like PWM of a square wave In this sound only oscillator 1 is used It is set to a sawtooth wave The PWM position is set centrally and the PWM position from LFO 2 is set to 30 LFO 2 speed is set to 65 with the waveform as a tri wave Try varying the speed of LFO 2 and the PWM position from LFO 2 amount for different effects Sound 301 Double Saw Example 2 When a sawtooth wave for LFO 2 is selected and used to modulate the phase difference between the two waves AND the LFO 2 pulse amount is set to maximum a complete change in phase occurs between the double waves from maximum to minimum 180 to 180 degrees during the cycle of 1 period of the LFO This then repeats immediately from 180 degrees again This is equivalent to two waves with a constant detune In this example only Oscillator 1 is used again It is set to a sawtooth wave The PWM position is set centrally and the PWM position from LFO 2 is set to 63 The LFO speed is set to 50 with the LFO 2 waveform as a saw wave Try varying the LFO speed to adjust the amount of detune between the double oscillators Note that settings for
152. tronic simulation of a room or building that is acoustically reflective When a sound is made in a room or large building there are sound reflections from all directions When a Reverb effect is applied it is these reflections of the sound that are being added Use the PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu functions available See table below Reverb Menu Page Function Display Value 1 Type REV Type CHAMBER G HALL 2 Decay Time REV Decay 0 127 3 Wheel Level REV Wheel 64 63 Type Menu Page 1 Different types of rooms and halls have different acoustics therefore different Reverb characteristics The K Station s Reverb processor fea tures six different Reverb types These range from a small room to a large hall Reverb Types CHAMBER Echo Chamber SROOM Small Room LROOM Large Room SHALL Small Hall LHALL Large Hall GHALL Grand Hall Turn the DATA knob to experiment with different types of Reverb not ing how different rooms affect the acoustic properties of the sound Decay Time Menu Page 2 This is the time it takes for the Reverb to die away after the original sound has decayed Very acoustically reflective rooms like those with metal or glass surfaces tend to have long decay times and non reflec tive rooms have short ones Wheel Level Menu Page 3 Sets how much movement of the K Station s Modulation wheel will introduce the Reverb effect This effect was originally designed to simulate t
153. ts to control more than one parameter These are noted as packed parameters and details are given The term pulse width is properly applied when squarewave is selected For other waveforms read pulse width as double waveform phase off set Double waveform phase offset is zero when the signed pulse width position parameter is 64 meaning 0 MIDI SPECIFIED USE K STATION USE 0 bank msb IGNORED NOT TRANSMITTED 1 modwheel msb MODWHEEL receive only 2 breath msb BREATH CONTROL receive only 3 undefined msb ARP PATTERN 0 5 up down ud1 ud2 order random 4 foot controller msb 5 portamento time msb PORTAMENTO TIME 6 data entry msb USED FOR NRPN DATA VALUES 7 volume msb VOLUME 8 balance msb PREGLIDE SEMITONES 12 12 0 preglide disabled 9 undefined msb ARP RATE 64 191 bpm 10 pan msb PAN POSITION 11 expression msb 12 effect control 1 msb NON SYNC PAN RATE 13 effect control 2 msb SYNC PAN RATE 0 34 non sync 32Triplet 12bars 14 undefined msb VOCODER STEREO WIDTH 15 undefined msb VOCODER SIBILANCE LEVEL 16 gen controller 1 msb MODWHEEL DISTORTION 17 gen controller 2 msb DISTORTION COMPENSATION 18 gen controller 3 msb MODWHEEL DELAY SEND 19 gen controller 4 msb NON SYNC DELAY TIME 20 undefined msb SYNC DELAY TIME 0 19 non sync 32Triplet 2bars 21 undefined msb DELAY FEEDBACK 22 undefined msb DELAY STEREO WIDTH 23 undefined msb DELAY RATIO 24 undefined msb MO
154. ttons KILL Control Menu Page 17 When Octave KILL is set to ON as soon as either the OCTAVE UP or DOWN button is pressed all notes will be turned off Set to OFF and notes will remain on even when the keyboard is being played in anoth er Octave Hanging notes may be cancelled by switching back to the former octave and re playing the same notes As a safety when in this mode all notes may also be turned off by pressing the PROGRAM button 36 The Aftertouch Breath Menu amp Wheels Menu The Aftertouch amp Breath Menu This menu controls how the K Station responds to Aftertouch and Breath Control CC2 MIDI messages It is selected by pressing the keypad 9 button when the K Station is in Menu Mode Use the PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu functions available See table below Aftertouch Breath Menu Page Function 1 Atouch Osc 1 2 3 Pitch Shift Display Value AT Pitch 64 63 2 Atouch Osc 1 2 3 Pitch Mod Ifo1 AT Pitch Mod 64 63 3 Atouch Filter Frequency Shift AT Filt Freq 64 63 4 Atouch Filter Frequency Mod Ifo2 AT FFreq Mod 64 63 5 Atouch Amp Gain post distortion AT Amp Gain 64 63 6 Breath Osc 1 2 3 Pitch Shift BR Pitch 64 63 7 Breath Osc 1 2 3 Pitch Mod Ifo1 BR Pitch Mod 64 63 8 Breath Filter Frequency Shift BR Filt Freq 64 63 9 Breath Filter Frequency Mod Ifo2 BR FFreq Mod 64 63 10 Breath Amp Gain post distortion BR Amp Gain 64 63 Ensure that
155. turn to Program Select Mode Using the Compare Function After editing a sound it may be useful to compare it to the originally stored program To illustrate this select Program 498 if not already selected and adjust the filter FREQUENCY control knob in the filter section until the sound is less bright Press and hold down the COMPARE button The sound being listened to will now be the originally stored program Notice in this example how the sound is now bright again Releasing the COMPARE button will switch to listening to the edited less bright sound again Listening to the factory demonstration To complete this Quick Start Guide section some time spent listening to the sounds that the K Station is capable of producing will be of ben efit when it comes to creating new sounds Press the MENUS button the LED above the button will light Simultaneously press the both the keypad 1 osc s and 2 filter buttons The Factory demonstration will begin to play Once the demonstration has finished the K Station will enter Program Select Mode It is also possible to stop the demonstration at any time while it is play ing by pressing the PROGRAM button to return immediately to Program Select Mode Elements of a sound Oscillators and Waveforms It is recommended that this chapter is read carefully if Analogue sound synthesis is an unfamiliar subject Users familiar with this subject can skip this chapter and move on to the cha
156. ty has been set for the input device see Page 36 turn the the DATA knob until the display shows ON The external signal should now be heard at the outputs It may now be processed by all of the various effects including the EQ Filter 2 Feeding External Audio Through The Filter Setting this function to OFF feeds the external audio signal into the K Station s Mixer and Filter section In order to hear the filtered signal repeatedly press the SOURCE button in the Mixer section until the EXT INPUT LED lights and turn up the LEVEL knob The K Station s Amplifier also needs to be triggered by the Amp Envelope This is done either by playing a note on the K Station s keyboard playing in a MIDI note message from a sequencer or setting the Amp Envelope to auto trigger when an external audio signal is present See the function Audio Input Triggering described above for details on how to do this Once an external audio signal has passed through the K Station s Filter it can still be processed by the Effects section in the same man ner as any other audio source Oscillator waveforms etc See Page 36 for more details of using external audio signals with the K Station Advanced Features The Effects Menus The Delay Menu The Effects Menus To complement the front panel controls in the Effects section there are many other functions located within the Effects Menus These are selected by pressing the keypad 5 button when
157. ults Modulator audio signals such as from a microphone or CD should always be fed into the K Station s AUDIO IN socket located on the rear panel The pitch of the final vocoded sound will depend on whatever pitch the Carrier currently selected Program is playing Notes can either be played on the K Station s keyboard or received via MIDI from an exter nal keyboard or sequencer These notes must be played simultaneous ly while the Modulator signal is present otherwise the Vocoder effect will not appear to work The Vocoder is activated and balanced by using the Effect LEVEL knob When this knob is turned fully counter clockwise the Vocoder is disabled As the knob is slowly turned clockwise from the full counter clockwise position the Carrier signal will be heard As the knob is moved towards the 12 o clock position the Carrier signal will diminish and the fully vocoded sound will become more prominent At the 12 o clock position only the fully vocoded will be heard The Carrier or Modulator signals will not be present As the LEVEL knob is moved clockwise from the 12 o clock position more of the raw Modulator sig nal will be introduced until at the fully clockwise position only the Modulator signal will be present More settings are available to help shape the final Vocoder Effect These are detailed on Page 33 in the Advanced Features chapter Note If either of the Effect SELECT buttons are pressed while the Effects Me
158. unction to OFF allows the LFO to run at its own speed which can be controlled by setting the LFO SPEED knob found on the K Station s front panel Advanced Features The Envelopes Menu To complement the front panel controls in the Envelopes section there are many other functions located in the Envelopes Menu This is selected by pressing the keypad 4 button when the K Station is in Menu Mode Use the PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu functions available See table below Envelope Menu Page Function Display Value 1 Program Level dB PROG Level 12 12 2 Velocity to Amp Env Level ENV Amp Vel 64 63 3 Velocity to Mod Env Level ENV Mod Vel 64 63 4 Velocity to FM Env Level ENV FM Vel 64 63 5 Amp Envelope Triggering ENV Amp Trig SGL MLT 6 Mod Envelope Triggering ENV Mod Trig SGL MLT 7 FM Envelope Triggering ENV FM Trig SGL MLT 8 FM Erv Attack ENV FM Attak 0 127 9 FM Env Decay ENV FM Decay 0 127 10 Audio Input Triggering ENV Aud Trig OFF ON 11 External Audio to Effects ENV In to FX OFF ON Program Level dB Menu Page 1 The value of this function adjusts the program output level This is used to maintain a consistent volume level avoiding distortion through out all sound Programs Delicate sounds such as those which use just one Oscillator and closed filter settings can be increased in volume using this control Conversely sounds that use all Oscillators and high polyphony 6 to 8 notes played at onc
159. und As the knob is turned anticlockwise the filter closes cutting out harmonics starting with the highest then increasingly lower ones until only the fundamental or nothing at all is allowed to sound fully anticlockwise If there is silence when the VOLUME knob is turned up it is most likely that the Filter is fully closed Turn the Frequency knob clockwise to open the filter RESONANCE Knob This knob controls the Resonance of the Filter The control will boost frequencies at the Cut off frequency On on some synthesizers this control is known as Emphasis since it will emphasize certain frequen cies At the zero position there is no effect Turning clockwise slowly introduces the emphasis Set fully clockwise the Filter will begin to self oscillate producing a new pitched element similar to feedback on an electric guitar Note At least a small signal must be fed into the Filter in order for the resonance to take effect It is not possible for the filter to self oscillate if no signal at all is fed into it If the K Station produces a high pitched whistling sound it is probably due to this knob is being adjusted too far clockwise If this self oscillat ing effect is not desired keep the Resonance control away from the extreme clockwise setting Increasing the Resonance is very good for bringing out modulation movement or change in the filter Cut off fre quency such as in Acid bass lines and other very edgy sounds
160. urce is set to EXT See Page 35 for information on how to change the Global MIDI Clock Source 29 Advanced Features The Chorus Menu The Distortion Menu When controlling the Chorus Sync Rate from a sequencer it is impor tant to ensure that the sequencer is transmitting MIDI Clock messages Consult your sequencer manual for details Note When the Sync Rate is set to OFF the timing of the Chorus sync will be controlled by the setting of the Rate Any incoming MIDI clock messages or Arpeggiator TEMPO settings will be ignored by the Chorus effect Mod Depth Menu Page 4 The Chorus has it own LFO which is continuously changing the delay time Mod Depth sets how much of the fixed delay time is being modu lated Large amounts of modulation will produce a more noticeable effect Moderate amounts are recommended Note The dedicated Chorus LFO should not be confused with the two LFOs available on the K Station s front panel Mod Centre Menu Page 5 The Stereo Chorus can actually be thought of as two continuously vari able delays The delay variations are being controlled by the Chorus dedicated LFO The LFO is constantly moving the two delay amounts from minimum to maximum When one delay is at max the other is at min hence the stereo effect The Mod Centre function moves the middle point between the Min and Max values Experiment with this control for the desired effect Feedback Menu Page 6 This function control
161. ut of the K Station are connected to the Computer Software Sequencer The Computer Software Sequencer MUST have at least 2 MIDI inputs to allow knob movements to be recorded at the same time as playing the keyboard If it does not then a MIDI merge box must be used to merge the MIDI information from the keyboard and the K Station into a single stream Consult the manufacturers user guide for the MIDI merge box for correct connection If the Master Keyboard is a Workstation it has a Synthesizer built in set it to Local Off or the equivalent in its MIDI setup 39 Master Keyboard Workstation Computer Sequencer Turn the Computer Software Sequencers Soft Thru or sometimes called Echo Back to the On or Enabled position Select a track in the Computer Software Sequencer and assign it to the MIDI receive channel of the K Station Play the keyboard and an audio output from the K Station should be heard through the Headphones Monitors Tracks on the Computer Software Sequencer that are assigned to the MIDI channel s of the workstation should also trigger sounds in the workstation Advanced Features Factory Preset Sounds Listing Factory Preset Sounds Listing Bank 1 Sounds 100 199 No Name No Name No Name No Name No Name 100 Bass1 110 Bass2 120 Bass3 130 Bass4 140 Bass5 101 Hard Lead1 111 Hard Lead2 121 Hard Lead3 131 Hard Lead4 141 Hard Lead5 102 Arpeggio1 112 Arpeggio2 122 Arpeggio3 132 Arpeggio4 142 Arpeggio
162. when a key is pressed and gradually falls back down to zero after several seconds even if a key is held Key On Key Off Volume Time gt A String Section emulation attains full volume gradually when a key is pressed It remains at full volume while the key is held down but once the key is released the volume level gradually falls to zero On an Analogue synthesizer changes which occur throughout the duration of a note are controlled by a section known as an Envelope Generator The K Station has two Envelope Generators The circuit of one of these is always connected to an Amplifier which controls the Volume of the sound when a note is played Note that on the K Station there are no controls in a section on the front panel which deal with the Amplifier directly The only way to hear and control an audio signal passing through the Amplifier is to modu late it by using Amp Envelope controls Synthesis Tutorial attack decay sustain release Each envelope generator has four controls which are used to adjust the shape of the envelope The Envelope controlling the Amplifier uses sliders Key On Key Off Volume Sustain Level Attack Decay Release Time When controlling Volume these controls adjust the following phases of the Envelope as shown in the illustration A Attack time Adjusts the time it takes when a key is pressed for the envelope to climb from zero to full vo
163. whenever an external audio signal is present Setting this function to ON automatically triggers the Amp and Mod Envelopes thus opening up the Amplifier wnenever the external audio signal strength reaches a certain threshold level This feature ensures that it is not necessary to play the K Station from its keyboard or a sequencer in order to hear the external audio signal processed through the Filter The setting of the threshold level sensitivity to external audio strength is done by adjusting the Input Trigger Sensitivity value found within the Global Menu See Page 36 for details When the Envelopes are auto triggered in this way the K Station actu ally plays a default note of Middle C If the Mixer levels of any of the three Oscillators are set above zero a pitched element to the sound will be heard pitched at Middle C whenever the Amp Envelope is auto triggered To remove this make sure each of the Oscillator Mix levels in the Mixer Section are set to zero See Page 35 for more details of using external audio signals with the K Station 27 External Audio To Effects Menu Page 11 This function determines where the external audio signal is fed into the K Station s audio signal path There are two possibilities 1 Feeding External Audio Directly To The Effects The external audio signal may be fed directly to the K Station s Effects section bypassing the Mixer Filter and Envelopes Once the input sen sitivi
164. wise introduces the effect Continuous variation in the width of a pulse waveform which is what is happening when LFO 2 is modulat ing it changes the harmonic content This is pleasing to the ear espe cially at lower pitches where all the associated harmonics fall within the audio range This creates the classic PWM sound as described below When modulated by the MOD ENV the effect is most apparent when using fairly long Mod Env Attack and Decay times Obtaining a classic Square Pulse PWM sound The PWM sound is one of the classsic analogue synthesizer sounds Select one of the factory initialisation sounds 311 499 All of these initial sounds use only use Oscillator 1 as the source waveform Select 15 a square waveform using the WAVEFORM button in the Oscillators section Notice how the timbre changes to a more woody sound Select POSITION using the PW SELECT button Rotate the PWM DEPTH PW POSITION knob and notice how the sound changes to a very thin nasal sound when the knob is towards the clockwise or anticlockwise end stop positions If fact the sound will extinguish completely at maximum settings Leave the knob at the 12 o clock position Select LFO 2 using the PW SELECT button Slowly rotate the PWM DEPTH PW POSITION knob Notice that there will now be some movement in the sound Select LFO 2 in the LFO s section using the LFO button Rotate the SPEED knob in this section and notice how the speed of the mov
165. y connect them externally with cables Additionally the settings of these front panel controls which of course determine the current sound or patch may then be stored in memory locations in the machine which can be recalled at any time An Analogue synthesizer can be broken down into five main sound generating or sound modifying modulating blocks 1 Oscillators that generate Waveforms at a certain pitches 2 A Mixer that mixes the outputs from the Oscillators together 3 A Filter that removes certain harmonics which changes the characteristic or timbre of the sound 4 An Amplifier that is controlled by an Envelope generator that alters the volume of a sound over time when a note is played 5 LFOs and Envelopes that can be used to modulate any of the above Much of the enjoyment to be had with a Synthesizer is with experi menting with the factory preset sounds and creating new ones There is no substitute for hands on experience Experiments with altering knobs and buttons will eventually lead to a fuller understanding of how the various controls alter and help shape new sounds Armed with the knowledge in this chapter and an understanding of what is actually happening in the machine when tweaks to the knobs and buttons are made the process of creating new and exciting sounds will become easy Have fun Synthesis Tutorial About MIDI MIDI messages used by the K Station It is recommended that thi
166. ype MIDI Clock Sync Feedback Mod Depth Centre MIDI clock sync inital Position Wheel Level Distortion Drive Compensation Wheel Level Panning Position Mod Depth Speed MIDI clock Sync Initial Position Delay Depth Time Feedback MIDI Clock Sync Stereo Width Ratio Wheel Level Vocoder On Off Sibilance Level Sibilance Type EQ Filter Depth Freq Mod Depth Mod Speed MIDI clock sync MIDI clock sync Initial postion Keyboard 2 Octave 25 keys with velocity sensitivity Pitch and Modulation Wheels Power 9 Volt D C 600 mA Dimensions W 525mm H 94mm D 295mm Weight 4 0 Kg A 1 Appendix MIDI Controller List MIDI Controller List Some controllers adhere to the normal midi specified use eg modwheel volume but most are used arbitrarily and no claim is made of compati bility with other Novation products or other manufacturer s products This is a common practice among manufacturers Whilst an attempt has been made to avoid misuse of standard controllers which could cause problems Novation takes no responsibility for com patibility issues Unless noted controllers are transmitted and received Unless noted values have the range 0 127 oo denotes a signed value where 64 represents zero Unless noted this is 64 0 63 stored as 0 64 127 another example is 12 0 12 stored as 52 64 76 denotes controller not used Some controllers use the available 7 data value bi

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