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X-Station manual V1.1.qxd

1. Cubase 5X File Edit Pro ect Audio MIDI Pool Transport Dev O Cubase Sx Project Untitled lios lt X STATION anovation In music anything is possible wiveprreget ASIO resolution 5 6 7 _ use dithering 7 AGL Device X Station y A gt ie Application priority Above Normal y T I Samplerate SS System performance Fast v 44 1 kHz x Output latency 787 samples 17 ms 9 48 kHz Input latency 274 samples 6 ms Time Display VST Inputs VST Multitrack VST Outputs VST System Link Video Player Windows MIDI Devices The X Station will be selected as the default device No other device will be selectable Sample Rate This will be set to 48kHz and cannot be altered It confirms that the speed of data flowing backwards and forwards through the USB cable is 48kHz This is not to be confused with Audio recording rates of 44 1 kHz and 48kHz Resolution This will be set to 24bits and cannot be altered It confirms that the size of data flowing backwards and forwards through the USB cable is up to 24bits This is not to be confused with the Audio recording bit depth set tings of 16bit or 24 bits Application Priority This will be set to High It will tell the Audio system to take priority over any other processes active in the PC At High priority it will allo
2. SLOPE SLOPE Effects Section EFFECTS CONTROL PAN Envelopes Section AMP ENV ATTACK ENV 1 ATTACK AMP ENV DECAY ENV 1 DECAY AMP ENV SUSTAIN ENV 1 SUSTAIN AMP ENV RELEASE ENV 1 RELEASE MOD ENV ATTACK ENV 2 ATTACK MOD ENV DECAY ENV 2 DECAY MOD ENV SUSTAIN ENV 2 SUSTAIN MOD ENV RELEASE ENV 2 RELEASE ENV 3 ATTACK ENV 3 ATTACK ENV 3 DECAY ENV 3 DECAY ENV 3 SUSTAIN ENV 3 SUSTAIN ENV 3 RELEASE ENV 3 RELEASE AMP VELOCITY ENV 1 VELOCITY MOD VELOCITY ENV 2 VELOCITY ENV 3 VELOCITY ENV 3 VELOCITY Ableton LIVE Panel Legend Actual Control Function Transport Section To Be Learnt Rewind Rewind FORWARD FORWARD Stop Stop Play Play RECORD RECORD Pan Section PAN 1 PAN 8 PAN 1 PAN 8 Send Section SEND 1 SEND 6 SEND 1 SEND 6 Volume Section VOLUME 1 VOLUME 8 VOLUME 1 VOLUME 8 MASTER VOLUME MASTER VOLUME Solo Mute Section SOLO 1 SOLO 8 SOLO 1 SOLO 8 MUTE 1 MUTE 8 MUTE 1 MUTE 8 Envelope Section ENV TRIGGER PUNCH IN ON OFF ENV REPEAT PUNCH OUT ON OFF Arp Section ARP LATCH METRONOME ON OFF Effect Section EFFECTS SELECT LOOP ON OFF EFFECTS LEVEL MASTER PAN EFFECTS CONTROL HEADPHONE OUTPUT Performance Control TOUCH PAD CROSS FADER assigned and then turn the appr
3. Audio Preferences Audio Hardware amp Drivers Surround System Performance TDM DSP Usage Audio Configuration Sample Rate Punch on the fly v Auto Input Monitoring Pre Fader Metering Set Audio Record Path Multi Instrument Mapped Instrument Touch Tracks Fader gt Refresh Freeze Files QUICK START GUIDE Selecting the X Station in LOGIC and Reason The screen will display a new MIDI instrument Icon Click the text at the top of the selection and enter X Station An X Station Icon appears aM GM Device Close the environment window The X Station may now be selected from the arrange page Now that the X Station has been setup for Audio and MIDI turn to page 9 for more information on using the Audio features Refer to Controlling a VST insturment on this page for more information on using the MIDI control features Selecting the X Station as the Audio device in REASON From the Main Reason screen open Preferences window from the pull down menu under Edit Reason File Edit Create Options Windows Help EL Undo Change Volume Ctri Z 7 Redo Gtr Y Cut Device Copy Device Paste Device Delete Device Select All Devices CHANNELS EE tamales CHANNEL 13 EE Ctrl Del Auto route Device Disconnect Device In the Preferences window click on the Audio Card Driver drop down selection box and select X Stati
4. The display behaves in the same way as when a front panel control is adjusted The current value being shown on the bottom line and the new value being shown on the top line MENU text in capitals is at the left of the display to inform that a MENU is selected Once in a Menu 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 moved will only be shown on the screen for a short period of time This time is set using the Function Display Timeout parameter in the Global Menu see page 25 After a short time the display will revert back to showing the current menu page It is possible to exit a Menu by pressing the current Menu button again or to move to another menu by pressing a different menu button Oscillator Select Button There are three independent Oscillators a Noise generator and a Ring Modulator Each one can be independently controlled by the buttons and knobs in the Oscillator area To make make the controls active and to see waveform and octave set tings for Oscillator 1 press the OSCILLATOR button once or more until the OSC 1 LED lights For Oscillator 2 press until the OSC 2 LED lights For Oscillator 3 press until the OSC 3 LED lights For the Noise generator press until the NOISE LED lights and for the Ring Modulator press until the X MOD LED lights OCTAVE Button Sets the basic pitch of Oscillator 1 2 or 3
5. DETAILED OPERATION Template Edit Mode The Template Edit CC Pages Template Edit Mode Editing A Template The menu in Template Edit Mode is used to define the settings of each of the programmable front panel controls which comprise a Template The pages which make up the menu are different according to the type of MIDI information to be transmitted by the control For example if a CC type of control is chosen the menu path will be differ ent for that of a SYSEX type control It is always the last touched control which is edited If no control has been touched since the X Station was turned on the default control selected for editing will be Pot one the knob at the top left corner The controls which can be edited are any of the programmable knobs but tons or sliders to the right of the display the pedals the joystick the X Y touchpad or any of the Transport buttons Because the displayed menu pages are always in context according to the type of MIDI message used by the currently selected control and in some cases the type of control itself the information shown on the display may change if a new control is touched during the editing process The first page of the Template Edit Menu is always displays prompts for the type of control In the example below it is a CC type The type of MIDI information that will be transmitted for the control is specified in this page The options available depend
6. To complement the Mixer LEVEL controls in the Osc Mixer section there are other Mixer functions located within the Mixer Menu This is selected by pressing the GATE button in the Amp Env section on the front panel Use the BANK PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu func tions available See the table below pa GATE Mixer Menu Page Function Top Line Display KELT 1 Overall Mixer Level MIXER Out Level 0 30dB 2 Osc 1 Mod gt Lfo1 MIXER Lfo1 gt Osc1 64 63 3 Osc 1 Mod gt Lfo2 MIXER Lfo2 gt Osc1 64 63 4 Osc 2 Mod gt Lfo2 MIXER Lfo2 gt Osc2 64 63 5 Osc 3 Mod A D Env MIXER ADenv gt Osc3 64 63 Overall Mixer Level Menu Page 1 MIXER Out Level Sets the audio output level of the mixer Here the level of the pre effects signal can be boosted or cut It is sometimes useful to adjust this setting if the synth patch is exceptionally quiet or is distorting while being processed by the Effects It is likely that if a monophonic factory sound is changed to polyphonic sound that playing more than one note at a time will cause the effects processor to clip In this situation reduce the mixer level LFO1 to OSC 1 Level Mod Menu Page 2 MIXER Lfo1 gt Osc1 Controls the amount of modulation applied from LFO 1 to Oscillator 1 The amount of modulation from the LFO is adjusted by using the DATA VALUE knob At a central setting of 0 no modulation is applied LFO2 to OSC 1 Level Mod Menu Page
7. d TEMPLATE TEMPLATE WRITE GLOBAL PLAY COMMON EDIT Template Common Mode Template common mode is used when editing settings which apply to the Template as a whole such as the Keyboard MIDI channel This mode is selected by pressing the TEMPLATE COMMON button See page 15 for details Template Edit Mode Template Edit Mode is used to edit change how each individual pro grammable control functions within a Template This mode is selected by pressing the TEMPLATE EDIT button See page 16 for details Global Mode Global mode is used to edit the various settings which apply across all Templates This mode is selected by pressing the GLOBAL button A second press of the global button will display the KS synth specific global features See pages 26 27 and page 52 for details Play Mode Play mode is used for used for normal performance All control values will be seen when any controls are moved in Play Mode This mode is selected by pressing the PLAY button Play Mode is also automatically selected when the X Station is switched on KS Synth Mode In this mode the X Station can be used as a Novation KS Synthesizer This mode is selected by pressing the PLAY button once more while already in Play Mode Pressing the PLAY button once more toggles back to Template Play Mode KS Synth Mode is discussed in detail in The KS Synthesizer chapter on pages 34 to 53 Using Menus Je PROGRAM 4 ly INST CHANNE
8. ADVANCED FEATURES Saving The Global Settings To Memory Once any of the Global settings have been altered in Global Mode they may be written to a special area of X Station memory for instant recall the next time the X Station is switched on The Global write procedure is invoked by pressing the WRITE button while in Global Mode If the Memory Protect switch is set On the fol lowing screen is displayed And the write procedure is halted After about half a second the X Station resumes in Play Mode It will be necessary to set the Memory Protect switch to Off before the X Station s memory can be over writ ten This is described on page 25 Otherwise pressing the WRITE button will write all Global settings to memory The display will show And around half a second later the X Station will return to the previous ly displayed page in Global Mode Note When the Global settings are written to memory the template number of the currently selected Template is also stored The next time the X Station is powered on this Template will immediately be selected in Play Mode Saving The Global Settings Upgrading The Operating System Upgrading The Operating System From MIDI As well as being undateable from USB see page 26 the operating system can be updated via the conventional MIDI in port The latest version of the operating system which Novation may publish from time to time is available for download from the Nova
9. DOWN button is held down for about one second the action auto repeats automatically incrementing or decrementing the value sent Once the button is released the display reverts back to showing the current Template s name after about half a second Use the BANK UP DOWN buttons to transmit a MIDI Bank Select message to a MIDI device When pressed the display shows 7 i cor ei bd and a Bank Select message is immediately sent After about half a sec ond the display reverts back to showing the current Template s name Note that the X Station always sends Bank Select messages using CC32 This is used by most MIDI equipment but some equipment may use CCO messages If this option appears not to change the Program bank on the MIDI device it may be necessary to define another tem plate control to transmit CCO values See pages 16 17 for details on assigning controller numbers to controls Changing The Action Of The Pitch Modulation Joystick To suit different playing styles the travel of the front to back movement of the modulation Joystick may be set to Sprung or Static When shipped form the factory it is set to Sprung Moving the joystick forward will always result in the stick returning to the forward position therefore setting any data assigned to it back to an original value For example if it is set to control the vibrato depth on a voice or oscilla tor then letting go of the stick wi
10. 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 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 33 SYNTHESIS TUTORIAL Envelopes And Amplifier On an Analogue synthesizer changes which occur throughout the dura tion of a note are controlled by a section known as an Envelope Generator The KS Synth has two main Envelope Generators The cir cuit of one of these is always connected to an Amplifier which controls the Volume of the sound when a note is played Note that 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 modulate it by using Amp Envelope controls AMP ENV MONO POLY GATE HOLD ON OFF ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN RELEASE
11. Panel Legend Actual Control Function Oscillator Section WAVEFORM WAVETABLE LEVEL ENV 2 VCA MOD PWM POSITION WAVES OSC MOD PWM ENV MOD ENV 1 WAVES MOD PWM POSITION WAVES SUB MOD ENV DEPTH ENV 3 ATTENUATE LFO DEPTH OSC LFO MOD ON OFF LFO Section DEST LFO SYNC ON OFF Envelopes Section MONO POLY KEYBOARD MODE F1 TRUE PPG ON OFF AMP VELOCITY ENV 2 VCA MOD Arp Section ARP LATCH ARP MODE Effects Section EFFECTS CONTROL _ BASIS Pro 53 Native Instruments Native Instruments PRO 53 Panel Legend Actual Control Function No template label is required Oscillator Section since the panel layout very OSC 1 2 WAVEFORM NO CONTROL much suits the Pro 53 OSC 1 2 SEMITONE OSC A B FREQUENCY OSC 2 DETUNE OSC B FINE TUNE format The controls within the OSC 1 2 NOISE LEVEL OSC A B NOISE MIX Pro 53 template need to be OSC 1 PWM POSITION OSC A B PULSE WIDTH PORTAMENTO GLIDE assigned or learnt to the Pro OSC 2 OCTAVE OSC B LFO ON OFF 53 There is a file within the Pro 53 folder on the X Station driver OSC 1 ENV DEPTH POLY MOD FILTER ENV AMOUNT OSC 1 LFO DEPTH POLY MOD OSC B AMOUNT resource CD which can be Filter Section imported into the Pro 53 which FILTER ENV DEPTH ENV FILTER MOD LFO Section has all the necessaly control LFO 1 DELA
12. Select a factory preset FM sound such as 189 Select the AD Envelope using the AMP MOD ENV 3 button Adjust the VELOCITY slider Notice how the FM effect at the start of the sound becomes dependent on how hard the keys are struck 42 THE KS SYNTHESIZER TRIGGER Button Controls the triggering of the Envelope currently selected by the AMP MOD ENV 3 button This function only applies to a sound which has been set up to behave in a monophonic manner see Polyphony Mode on Page 42 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 As well as affecting the two Envelopes available on the front panel it is also possible to set the triggering mode for the third AD Envelope When an Envelope s triggering is 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 trigger on each key press regardless of the playing style used REPEAT Button This button is not used in K
13. 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 QUENCY will also decrease Adjust this to set the depth of modulation applied by LFO 2 At a setting of 0 Aftertouch messages will have no effect For best results ensure that LFO 2 is using a Triangle or Sine wave form This will give a smooth traditional wow wow effect Atouch Amp Gain post distortion Menu Page 5 AT Output Level Allows Aftertouch messages to directly alter the Amplifier level allowing the overall volume of a sound to be altered Positive values of 1 to 63 increase 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 Level Menu Pages 6 10 BR Pitch Direct 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 four pages in the menu offer exactly the same features and routings as are available for Aftertouch but these settings apply to breath control 5De THE KS SYNTHESIZER The Pan Menu The Panning fu
14. then the dis play will show Off for that control In the example above the Y2 pad has been set to No control This display makes it easy to see exactly what each of the touchpad controls are doing and what is being sent to MIDI It is not possible however to see what type of controller and the controller number that is being sent out In order to do this Template Edit Mode must be select ed Template edit Mode In this mode touching any one of four quadrants selects the one of the X1 X2 Y1 or Y2 touchpad controls for edit and review This provides a quick and easy method to see what each of the four controls of the touchpad is programmed to control X1 Y1 X2 Y2 Press the touchpad in any of the four labeled quadrants to select the control for edit If the pad is pressed and kept pressed the display will show the name if already programmed in the Template of the control and its type of control and additional MIDI information in the same format than for any other control 21 DETAILED OPERATION Footswitch Pedal Saving Templates To Memory If the X1 area is pressed and kept pressed the display could show the The value to the bottom left of the display 32 is this example will indi following cate show the current position of the pedal The name of the pedal may be edited in Template edit mode if required The Expression Pedal normally transmits using CC11 The socket on the rea
15. ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN RELEASE SUSTAIN RELEASE Control Control How quickly the sound dies away depends on the setting of this control The sound is still a little too bright Adjust the FREQUENCY control in the Filter area FILTERS 1 2 ee FREQUENCY RESONANCE KEY TRACK ENV DEPTH LFO DEPTH OVERDRIVE C4 ON Notice how the sound becomes softer as the control is rotated anti clockwise Continue to make adjustments until a desired sound is heard The first small edit is now complete Editing A Synth Patch Saving A Synth Patch Saving A Synth Patch Edited sounds may be saved in any Synth patch memory location from 100 299 Note that once these factory presets are overwritten they may only be retrieved by loading in a Sysex dump See page 25 for saving a sysex backup of the factory preset or user programs NOTE When shipped from the factory the global memory protect switch is set to on The memory protect switch is a safety feature designed to prevent memories from being overwritten by accident In order to save a sound the global memory protect must be switched off If an attempt is made to save to a memory while the global memory protect is still switched on a brief warning message will be displayed CTET VELJ Epu T ET ERL p Ei No data will have been written to memory See page 25 for details on how to turn off Memory Protect To Save A Synth Patch To A Memory Location Press the WRITE button
16. 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 Turn the TOP LINE knob adjust the Mod Depth Mod Centre The Stereo Chorus can be thought of as two continuously variable delays The delay variations are being controlled by the Chorus dedicat ed 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 24e DETAILED OPERATION The Mod Centre function moves the middle point between the Min and Max values Turn the BOTTOM LINE knob to experiment with this con trol for the desired effect Press the BANK PAGE Up button and a final Menu display page appears as below Feedback This function controls how much of the delayed signal is fed back to the input of the Chorus generator The Chorus effect benefits from low lev els of feedback When acting as a Phaser see the Chorus Type setting on Page 22 the effect often requires higher levels of feedback Turn the TOP LINE knob to experiment with this control for the desired effect The Compressor In music it is the dynamic performance that will captivate the audience Although this is good for the listener it is often difficult for the recording engineer and the associated recording equipme
17. sound or the application Audio MIDI setup Install Novation X Station USB Driver Welcome to the Novation X Station USB Driver Welcome to the Mac OS X Installation Program You will be Introduction j guided through the steps necessary to install this software Continue About ASIO on Windows XP Once the drivers are installed a special piece of software known as an ASIO driver is available for use This ASIO Audio Stream Input Output driver allows for very fast direct communication between the X Station and the music sequencer audio recorder such as Cubase LOGIC Sonar etc and keeps audio delays down to a minimum If using a Windows system for optimum performance this ASIO driver must now be selected About Core Audio on MAC OS X Similar to Windows systems once the drivers are installed a special piece of software known as a Core Audio driver is available for use This also allows for fast direct communication between the X Station and the music sequencer audio recorder such as Cubase LOGIC Sonar etc and keeps audio delays down to a minimum If using a MAC system for optimum performance the Core Audio driver must now be selected QUICK START GUIDE Selecting The X Station as the Audio Device Open the music application such as Steinberg Cubase Emagic Logic Cakewalk Sonar MOTU Digital Performer or Propellerhead Reason and select the X Station as the Audio and MIDI Dev
18. 1 and 2 are detuned from each other Oscillator 2 s waveform will be periodically interrupted and started again from the beginning of the waveform cycle every time Oscillator 1 s waveform begins a new cycle The diagram below illustrates this Synced waveform NIN 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 Oscillator 1 Oscillator 2 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 Other functions associated with the Oscillators and Mixer can be found in the Oscillators and Mixer Menus See Pages 19 amp 21 The Filter Section FILTERS 1 2 Q Q Q FREQUENCY RESONANCE KEY TRACK SLOPE ENV DEPTH LFO DEPTH OVERDRIVE HPF ON The Filter can be used as a Low Pass High Pass or Band Pass type FREQUENCY Knob This controls the basic Cut off frequency of the Filter The Low Pass type of Filter is the most common type of Filter found on classic ana logue synthesizers and is musically the m
19. 3 MIXER Lfo2 gt Osc1 Controls the amount of modulation applied from LFO 2 to Oscillator 1 The amount of modulation from the LFO is adjusted by using the DATA VALUE knob At a central setting of 0 no modulation is applied LFO2 to OSC 2 Level Mod Menu Page 2 MIXER Lfo2 gt Osc2 Controls the amount of modulation applied from LFO 1 to Oscillator 2 The amount of modulation from the LFO is adjusted by using the DATA VALUE knob At a central setting of 0 no modulation is applied AID Env to OSC 3 Level Menu Page 5 MIXER ADenv gt Osc3 Controls the amount of modulation applied from the AD Envelope to Oscillator 3 The amount of modulation is adjusted by using the DATA VALUE knob At a central setting of 0 no modulation is applied 46 THE KS SYNTHESIZER The Filter 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 HOLD button in the J Amp Env section on the front panel Use the BANK HOLD PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu functions available See the table below Filter Menu Page Function Top Line Display WEIN 1 Velocity Sensitivity FILT Velocity 0 127 2 QNormalise FILT Q Normalise 0 127 Velocity Sensitivity Menu Page 1 FILT Velocity The Filter Menu The LFO Menu The LFO Menu To complement the front panel controls in the LFOs section there a
20. 56 Using The X Station With Reason 57 Known Anomalies With Reason ceeeeeees 57 Preset Template ListingS cccccceeeeeeeeeeeeneees 58 61 The KS Synth Patch Preset ListingS 0 cee 62 MIDI Implementation Chart 0 ccceeeeesteeeeseereeees 64 Safety CE Notices And Approvals ceee 65 INTRODUCTION Using This Manual Main Features Conventions Used Thank you for purchasing the X Station controller keyboard and synthe sizer The X Station is a state of the art product it turns any com puter into a complete professional music amp audio production workstation with hardware synthesizer audio amp MIDI interface control surface and effects processor all in one package with USB PSU or battery power When used with a computer running a MIDI Audio sequencer package it will provide a superb compact recording setup It may be used to control sequencers popular software virtual instru ments on a computer or traditional hardware instruments via either a USB connection or a standard MIDI interface In addition to the control features it contains two audio pre amplifiers together with a twin multi effects processor that allows the recording and replay of mono or stereo audio signals to and from a computer The front panel provides a wealth of programmable controls arranged in the format of a traditional synthesizer each of which can be configured to suit the n
21. Bank Select CC32 or CCO first Transmitting Bank Select does not affect a connected MIDI device The X Station sends a Bank select message using CC32 Some MIDI devices use CCO for this purpose It may be necessary to configure a control in a Template to send CCO instead System Exclusive messages not accepted by connected MIDI device There are several possible reasons 1 The MIDI device is set to filter out System Exclusive or 2 The Manufacturer ID is set incorrectly in the Sysex data consult your manual for details or 3 The Sysex message contains the wrong number of data bytes or 4 The Sysex message requires a checksum which has been calculated incorrectly consult your manual for details X Station cannot be selected as an AUDIO MIDI device from with in an application When opening an application that uses the X Station as it s source for MIDI and Audio and it is found that the X Station cannot be selected as the MIDI input either the X Station is grayed out or it does not appear in a list of available MIDI devices close the application wait for 10 sec onds reopen the application and try again For the Mac platform it is important that the X Station is turned on only once the Mac has booted fully If this is not done the true Novation combined core audio driver will not load The KS Synth stops responding to note data when the X Station is connected to a computer via USB If the computer do
22. Big Big String BrassString ChinOrgan Nose Bleed Is The Bass Sync Leader MONO Dance Trancer Home Front Fine Tines Symphones EV Bas Mr Ben Summertime F Bass Arksun Loop the Loop Perfect Poly Beauty Lives EPic Arco Strings Give me the Horn Throater MW Moving Out Techno Prison Machinery Bugs Lazy Strumit Fifthmas Harpsi Cord Square Law Classy Brassy Dancing fifths Elp Me 62 EP Clav Bass Hard Lead Hard Lead Hertz Ears Acid drop Impress Me Classic 303 Pad it Out Girls Toy Wake up Obie Joyful Plucky Organ Film It No Drama Arp an Sass Insect a Side Lets Dance Sweet Thing Velo 303 Wooden Arc Thud Bass Skanking Zy Lophone Don t Fret Classic Sync Pooch Glider KLM Rise up Legato Strings HarpiArp Draw the Bar ElectroClav Flat Puppet Prog Rocker Sticky Spitter My mighty Organ Time Traveler Gaviscon String of Pearls Pull the String Wow Bass Quite Times In the Moog Fade to Grey Maroder Dance Worgan Infinite Pad Club it Wired Arpeggio Ride the Pluck APPENDIX Hard Lead Brass Motion Hard Lead Bass Hard Lead The KS Synth Patch Preset Listings Passion Bass Bass Cake dear Hard Lead Rhythm Flight Go Lieth Paddle Wheel Bass Addict Join the Club Chick Career Thick Bass Big Benny Travelator Arabia Game Show A Touch 2 Much Mr Gurner Trance Bass A Wasp lan Vandal String Bass Choco Eclav Fruit Gums Sun Cream Hyperspice Circus of H
23. Each envelope generator has four slider controls which are used to adjust the shape of the envelope Key On Key Off Volume Sustain Level _ _ gt Attack Decay Release Time When controlling Volume these controls adjust the following phases of the Envelope as shown in the illustration Attack Time Adjusts the time it takes when a key is pressed for the envelope to climb from zero to full volume It can be used to create a sound with a slow fade in 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 Sustain Level This is unlike the other Envelope controls in that it sets a level rather than a period of time It sets the volume level that the envelope remains at while the key is held down after the Decay time has expired 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 The KS Synth has a second main Envelope Generator called the Mod Envelope which may be applied in various interesting ways For exam ple it may typically
24. Effects for the KS Synthesizer s Effects Hypersync Templates are not used It is not possible to use the X Station as a MIDI controller and KS Synth simultaneously The X Station can either be in the template mode or the synth mode at any one time Selecting KS Synth Patches The X Station is supplied with two banks of 100 synth patches all of which are editable and may be overwritten or modified The PLAY button is used to toggle between the Template mode and the KS Synth mode While in KS Synth Mode the text Synth Prog is always shown on the top line of the display above the Synth patches name For example There are two ways of selecting KS Synth Patches 1 Using the BANK PAGE Buttons amp DATA VALUE Encoder Press the PLAY button so the X Station enters KS Synth Mode the display will show the text SYNTH PROG and the LED above the PLAY button will be lit Use the DATA VALUE Encoder or PROGRAM buttons to select the desired Synth Patch The BANK PAGE buttons can be used to quickly switch between the two banks of 100 Synth patches Any one of the 200 available Synth patches can be selected to auto matically load whenever KS Synth Mode is initially selected In the above example Synth patch 100 ArkBass is the default selection To assign a different Synth patch as the default simply save the Global parameters while the Synth patch of your choice is selected Global parameter saving
25. Instrument eeeeee 7 Factory Supplied Templates cccceeeeseeeeeeeeeees 7 Using The Programmable Template Controls 8 Sending A Snapshot Of The Controls 10 Selecting A Sound On External MIDI Devices 10 Changing The Action Of The Pitch Mod Joystick 10 Audio Connection And Setul cecceeeeeeteeeeeeees 10 Setting Up The Microphone Or Instrument Inputs 10 Monor cess dee ceeeesazee cats ssn casa A ETEA 10 Recording And Listening cccccccceeseereeeeeenteeeeeeees 10 Recording And Listening With Effects ee 11 MIDI TUtOM al iis iccvvccecvecevescvcevecessexcvsvacereccuveseeverexests 12 INtrODUCUON r a de haaeiaa ENS asad 12 How MIDI Ports Are USEd 0 eceeeeeeeeeeeeeeetetteeeereeee 12 MIDI M SSaG S gt stccceciseedeseeseaedessereeaddeepeeedtadesesseaetecass 12 Detailed Operation ccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 15 Front Panel Layout ccccccecceeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeeeeeaeees 15 Modes And MemnuG cccccccceceeeeteeeeeeetcneeeeeetneeeeeees 16 USING Menus ainni riiin ene iieeee ene 16 Entering Textes teeter nda eaten eaet poeta 16 The Template Common Menu 2 0eeeeeeeeeeeees 17 Template Edit Mode Editing A Template 0 18 The Template Edit CC Pages 18 The Template Edit NRPN amp RPN Pages 0 19 The Template Edit MMC Pages 19 The Template E
26. LSBank Num 0 127 3 NRPN MSB Number NRPN MSBank Num 0 127 4 Value Display Type Display Type 0 127 64 to 63 5 Low Value Low Value 0 127 or 64 to 63 6 High Value High Value 0 127 or 64 to 63 ie Button Action Type Button Type Normal Step 8 Pot Slider Control Type Pot Slider Ctrl Jump Pickup 9 MIDI Channel MIDI Channel 1 16 10 MIDI Ports MIDI Ports U12 11 Control Name Control Name Text string LSB Number Menu Page 2 Sets the LSB Least significant byte of the NRPN RPN number MSB Number Menu Page 3 Sets the MSB Most significant byte of the NRPN RPN number For NRPN numbers less than 128 such as those used by the Novation Supernova 1 Rack and Nova Laptop ensure that this setting is zero The remaining menu pages are exactly the same in operation as those already described for the Template Edit CC menu pages These are described in detail on pages 16 amp 17 The Template Edit MMC Pages The following Menu pages are available if Control Type on menu page 1 is set to MMC These are only available if the control being edited is a button and would typically be used to control a sequencer or record ing device Template Edit MMC Pages Page Function Display Value 2 Device ID Device ID 0 127 3 MMC Command MMC Command Play Stop 4 MIDI Ports MIDI Ports U12 Device ID Menu Page 2 Sets the Device ID number for the MMC message MMC Comm
27. MIDI chan nels might be a little limiting especially if they are composing very com plex pieces of music However most current sequencers MIDI ports for computers and master keyboards 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 X Station may use any combination of its MIDI OUT amp USB ports for this purpose How MIDI Ports Are Used The X Station has three MIDI ports one labeled In and two Outs Additionally there is a USB port which acts in a manner similar to a combined MIDI IN MIDI OUT Each type of MIDI port has a specific purpose MIDI IN ports These are used by the X Station to receive incoming MIDI information It is possible to configure the X Station to immediately re transmit this MIDI information to any of the X Station MIDI Out ports or to the USB port This is detailed on page 25 The X Station can process incoming MIDI from the MIDI IN port or the USB port simultaneously MIDI OUT Ports These can transmit any MIDI information which might be generated by the X Station For example if a note was played on the X Station key board or one of the controls were moved on the front panel This MIDI information is intelligently merged with any MIDI being re transmitted after arriving at the MIDI IN USB ports USB Port This port is used to
28. Novation PSU 6 Power Supply i Joy z novation i m r oe s sine A ENR OO 000 OO l STAND ALONE AUDIO SETUP If powered loudspeakers are not available then the outputs must be connected to an amplifier which in turn will power non active loudspeak ers If batteries are fitted See previous page then it is not necessary to use the external power supply Playing the Synthesizer In stand alone operation the synthesizer may be used for live perform ance To activate the synthesizer press the PLAY SYNTH button PLAY SYNTH Novation PSU 6 Power Supply novation ee wit Co a Sound Modules coool TLL 020 O0 T 4 D STAND ALONE MIDI SETUP External sound modules may be directly connected to the MIDI output sockets If batteries are fitted then it is not necessary to use the exter nal power supply QUICK START GUIDE Driver Installation Windows XP and MAC OS X USB Driver Software Installation In order to use all of the features of the X Station it must be connected to a computer system using the supplied USB cable The USB connec tor is located on the rear panel Before it can communicate with the computer s USB connection port a special piece of software known as a USB driver must be installed The USB driver software converts information arriving at the computer s USB port into the correct f
29. Osc waveform Osc Pitch and Modulation controls Voice Portamento and Unison controls 4 Synth control Envelopes Section Sliders a Sigane to Amplifier Filter and Modulation envelopes Assignable envelope control buttons 5 Synth control Filter Section Filter Cutoff Resonance Key tracking Env and LFO modulation type and mode selection 6 Synth control Lfo Section LFO selection Waveform Speed and delay controls 7 Octave select and Monitor Section Keyboard Octave transpose buttons Output Level vol ume Headphone monitor volume and Input Ooutput mix control 8 Combined Modulation Pitch Bend Joystick Selectable sprung non sprung modulation 9 Programmable X Y Touchpad Up to 4 programmable parameters 2 for the X axis horizontal and 2 for the Y axis vertical 10 Aftertouch Sensitive Semi Weighted Keyboard X Station 25 has a 25 note keyboard 2 octaves X Station 49 has a 49 note keyboard 4 octaves X Station 61 has a 61 note keyboard 5 octaves 12 Synth control Arpeggiator Section Arp speed and mode controls 13 Synth control Effects control Section Effects send level and additional control DETAILED OPERATION Modes And Menus Using Menus Entering Text Modes And Menus The X Station has five modes of operation Each mode is selected by pressing a button in the Main display of the front panel The LED above each button indicates which mode is currently active d
30. Page 1 Global Menu Page Function Top Line Display KELTE 1 Memory Protect Mem Protect OFF ON 2 Memory Dump Dump CURR BANK 2 3 USB To MIDI Out USB to MIDI Out 12 4 MIDI In To MIDI In to U12 5 Global MIDI Channel Glob MIDI Chan 1 16 6 Pot Slider Override Pot Slid Ovride OFF PICKUP 7 Display Timeout Display Timeout 0 PERMANENT 8 Calibrate Pitch Bend Modulation Cal Pitch Mod 9 Calibrate Aftertouch Cal Aftertouch 10 Battery Charge Battery Charge OFF PSU USB 11 Power Status Pwr Status New O S from USB Retain Template Def SampleRate 12 New Operating System From USB 13 Retain Template Values 14 Default Sample Rate ON OFF 44 1K 48K Sets the Memory Protect switch This is a safety feature to prevent Templates or Global settings being accidentally over written Setting Memory Protect to On also prevents memories being over written by incoming System Exclusive Template dumps Memory Dump Menu Page 2 Selects either the currently selected Template all Template data or KS Synth Patch data to be saved in System Exclusive format Use the DATA VALUE encode to select the type of dump to be sent This fea ture is useful for creating libraries of X StationTemplates Synth Patches or as a safety backup Transmission of the Sysex dump is initiated by pressing the WRITE but ton while this menu page is displayed Sysex editor librarian programs can be downloaded from the internet as shareware
31. Section be a note message The tem ARP TEMPO ee ge ARP LATCH ARP LATCH F 6 plate can of course be used Effects Section without the keybinding functions EFFECTS SELECT LOOP ON OFF G6 if this is desired The MIDI shift button oscillator sync has been pro grammed as MIDI CC 117 to toggle the keybinding buttons between active and inactive To create the key bindings in Sonar choose Options Keybindings from the drop down list Click the radio button MIDI in the type of keys list To ensure that the keybindings are active tick the enabled box Assign the MIDI shift button the button Sync from the oscillator section of the X Station by click ing the controller radio button and entering 117 into the field to the right of this button as the MIDI Controller used for this MIDI shift button is 117 It will be necessary to find the following Fields from the list of functions MIDI sync Set Punch to Region Metronome during record Select Punch Region Set Loop to Selection Once a function has been found the corresponding button on the X Station can be pressed eg if Metronome during record has been found and high lighted press the Arp Latch button on the X Station Click the bind button to make this active Then repeat for the remaining four functions To assign the remaining parameter in the Sonar template click on the Options Control Surfaces tab from the top menu Click the add new sur face button Select C
32. The Delay and Reverb effects are now setup up for the Microphone on Channel 1 To apply the other effects processor to Channel 2 press the INPUT button Notice that the Input 2 LED lights indicating that Channel 2 is selected for editing Press either the UP or DOWN buttons until the corresponding LED next to the Distortion label lights Turn the LEVEL knob until the distortion effect is present The Effects Processors The Delay Effect The previous section describes the use of the effects MODE buttons for recording the signal dry or with the effects The MENU button and TOP LINE and BOTTOM LINE knobs are used to adjust additional parameters to taylor the effects to personal taste Once edited the settings may be saved in a template memory See page 20 Note In KS Synth Mode Channel 2 s Effects are always reserved for the Synth patches own use The Delay Effect To adjust the additional parameters for the delay effect use the UP and DOWN arrow until the Delay LED next the Delay label is selected The Level knob will set the amount of the delay effect If either the TOP LINE or BOTTOM LINE knob is adjusted the display will alter to display the Delay time and Feedback as shown below rt a or i LP my haa Delay Time Controls the amount of time it takes for the delayed signal to be heard after the original signal Use the TOP LINE knob to alter this setting titled as top line since it always adjusts the va
33. across to the appropriate Novation Distributor For more urgent enquires our tech support hotline can be called between 2 5pm Monday Friday on 0906 9592029 Please note these calls are charged at 0 75 per minute and this number is only available within the United Kingdom 56 e APPENDIX Using The X Station with Reason Using The X Station With Reason It is possible that when using the Reason instrument templates that cer tain controls don t respond as would be expected If this is the case it is most likely that the version of Reason being used is not responding to the incoming MIDI controller information correctly It is possible the template in use has been programmed incorrectly To check which controller numbers are being sent observe the LCD dis play when a control is moved The X Station will be sending these val ues over MIDI or USB Known Anomalies With Reason General Reason will NOT currently respond to Program change commands Therefore it is NOT possible to select new sounds from the X Station Reason 1 0 The transport bar will not respond to incoming MIDI messages and therefore will not work with the transport buttons Reason 2 0 The transport bar will respond to incoming MIDI messages but they are not allocated a standard MIDI control message They may however be Auto Learnt The Transport buttons have been factory pre pro grammed as below for all the Reason instruments Refer t
34. 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 switches are made the process of creating new and exciting sounds will become easy Have fun 356 THE KS SYNTHESIZER Introduction Selecting Synth Patches Introduction The X Station presents the exciting option of using the X Station key board as a dedicated synthesizer The synthesizer is an implementation of Novation s popular KS series of synthesizers the KS 4 KS 5 and KS Rack The sound engine is compatible with KS series Programs but there are some limitations The X Station KS Synth is mono timbral ie it can only play one type of sound at any one time The KS Synth will always operate in Program Mode Eight note polyphony is available Drum Maps are not implemented The Drum waveforms found on the KS4 KS5 and KS Rack are not available for the X Station KS synth oscillators and the X Station KS synth arpeggiator does not use drum patterns Two banks of 100 Programs are available 200 in total No Performances are used No parameters can be synchronised to external MIDI clock Audio signals cannot be fed through the Synthesis engine Auto input triggering and the vocoder are not available Only one Effects channel is available for the Audio Inputs Outputs When operating in KS Synth Mode the X Station uses channel 2
35. are used to access menus by pressing the relevant but ton The menus available are The Oscillator Mixer Section The Oscillators generate pitched waveforms as described in the Synthesis Tutorial chapter and these are fed into the Mixer Most of the controls which determine the pitch and waveform of the Oscillators and how they react to modulation are in this area of the front panel Also found here are the level controls for the Mixer OSCS MIXER EB Osc 1 GEB Osc 2 GB Osc 3 Noise WAVEFORM SEMITONE DETUNE LEVEL PWM oe X mod E Position FORTAMENTO UNISON ENV oa el eA DEPTH PW SELECT SYNC MONO POLY Selects the Oscillator Menu GATE Selects the Mixer Menu HOLD Selects the Filter Menu ON OFF Selects the LFO Menu DEST Selects the Arpeggiator Menu GATE Selects the Sync Menu F1 Selects the Wheels Menu F2 Selects the Aftertouch Breath Menu F3 Selects the Pan Menu As soon as a Menu is entered the display will show the first page of whichever menu was accessed the previous time the Menu was used For example if the Filter Menu had been previously selected the dis play would show one of the pages of the Filter Menu m ul LH Once any of the Menus have been selected the BANK PAGE buttons to the left of the display are be used to navigate forwards and back wards between the menu s pages Once the desired menu page has been reached the values are altered by using the DATA VALUE knob
36. be too quiet when AUDIGIN recording J PHANTOM Check that the Audio level that is being sent from the X Station to the recording Input 1 software is not too low or too high To do this look at the input meters within the Input 2 GAIN recording software Q BALANCE Adjust the LINE OUT LEVEL knob to ensure that the level on the input meters does not go too high consult the recording software documentation for more information on this input output LINE OUT LEVEL MONITOR PHONES VOL Using Phantom Power If the Microphone being used is a condenser type it will need to have a DC voltage normally 48V sent to it before if will generate any audio output signal Some microphones have their own power supply to do this but if not the X Station can supply the necessary voltage With the appropriate input channel selected LED lit press the PHANTOM button and the LED to the left of the button will light indicating that phantom power is being sent to the microphone on the selected channel WARNING Some Ribbon Dynamic and Electret type Microphones should NOT have phantom power delivered to them and if so may be damaged Check with the documentation supplied with the Microphone so see if it requires phantom power Monitoring The process whereby audio material already recorded into the audio sequencer is listened to by the artist or recording engineer while blend ed with any new material such as a
37. complex harmonic movements at the start of the sound Introducing envelope modulation with a fast attack and decay time to control the FM amount will simulate this fast changing harmonic effect There is a dedicated Envelope See below that can be applied to control the FM amount between the oscillators 2 and 3 The amount of modulation from the envelope can be adjusted by using the DATA VALUE 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 AD Envelope Attack and Decay Times Changing the AD Envelope attack and decay times which is used as the FM modulation envelope is done by selecting the AD Envelope using the AMP MOD ENV 3 button and using the ATTACK amp DECAY sliders as described on Page 40 OSC 2 to 3 FM Amount from LFO 1 Menu Page 9 OSC 2 gt 3 FM Lfo1 Allows the FM amount between Oscillators 2 and 3 to be modulated by LFO 1 Osc Fixed Note Replay Menu Page 10 OSC Fixed Note Rather than playing chromatically across the keyboard as is the usual case a sound may be set to just play a fixed note pitch when ANY note is played from the Keyboard or when triggered from an incoming MIDI note on event Use the DATA VALUE knob to change the pitch of the sound If desired save the sound in the normal way THE KS SYNTHESIZER The Mixer Menu
38. containing reference data It is assumed that the reader already has a basic knowledge of MIDI in order to configure user Templates Those with limited MIDI experience may find the MIDI Tutorial useful Although very little MIDI knowledge is required to use the the X Station with the factory programmed Templates It is recommended that this manual is read in sequence chapter by chapter The main features of both its MIDI controller capability and Audio oper ation are listed below MIDI Controller Section Main Features X Station features a superb two four or five octave semi weighted velocity sensitive keyboard with combined Pitch bend and Modulation joystick The keyboard is transposable up or down across the entire MIDI note range and can transmit Channel Aftertouch A programmable X Y touch pad surface for simultaneous control of mul tiple parameters is provided MIDI or USB operation USB and MIDI may be used simultaneously A MIDI OUT port a MIDI IN Port a Foot pedal input socket and a Footswitch input socket are available Power can be supplied by the USB port Batteries or a 9V DC adapter A virtual synthesizer control panel layout comprising 28 buttons 16 pots 3 encoders and 9 sliders are assignable to each template There is no need for template labels for control of most synthesizers Any front panel control may be configured to transmit on any MIDI channel to any destination utilising the comprehensive MIDI specif
39. driver installation will begin amp Novation X Station 2 4 3 Install the ASIO and MIDI drivers Uninstall the drivers Exit Click the icon install the ASIO and MIDI drivers Follow the on screen prompts to install the X Station drivers if the X Station or computer behaves erratically it may be neces sary to power it from an external PSU or batteries See page 3 MAC OS X Driver Software Installation With the X Station disconnected from the computer insert the CD labeled X Station USB Drivers Resources into the CD Rom drive Drag the X Station hqx file to the desktop and double click this icon to expand this A file will appear on the desktop called X Station Open this folder to reveal the X Station installer Double click the X Station Installer icon and follow the instructions that appear It will be necessary to enter the administrator password to complete the installation At the end of the installation the computer will prompt to be rebooted Accept this prompt Important Notice The X Station core audio driver cannot be loaded if the X Station is turned on and connected to the computer when the computer is boot ing Only connect the X Station to the computer or turn on when the computer has booted fully The X Station core audio driver is called Novation X Station This should be selected as the core audio driver to be used from the appro priate Audio application system preferences
40. functions to the front panel Reason Sampler NN19 Dr Rex NN XT Panel Legend Actual Control Function Oscillator Section K F PWM SAMPLE START legends Controls displaying SYNC OSC KEY TRACK No Control have no MIDI UNISON SAMPLE SOLO z Filter Section external control for that instru HPF ON FILTER ON ment If additional controls are Envelopes section Mod Env Switch required assign an unused FA Mod Env Filter Env Switch FILTER ENV INVERT controller number to a control Effects Section CONTROL SPREAD AMOUNT and use the Learn feature SELECT SPREAD MODE within Reason 59 e Preset Template Listing Nord Lead 3 Clavia No Template label is required since the panel layout suits the Nord Lead 3 for mat A few controls listed in the table shown on the right have different func tions to the front panel legends Oddity G Media No template label is required since the panel layout is suited to the Oddity Many of the controls do however have different functions than the legends indicate They are arranged in a logical order and the table opposite lists the differences PPG WAVE 2V Steinberg No template label is required since the panel layout is suited to the PPG Wave The PPG uses specific con troller numbers so there is no need to import a setup file There are no pref erences to set up The X Station oper ating system only al
41. 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 determined 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 thousands of times a second which the brain interprets as an extreme treble type sound Wave B is twice the pitch of Wave A Wave A Wave B 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 fre quency 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 a
42. it is advisable to exclusive ly reserve MIDI channel 16 of the X Station MIDI port to solely control Cubase Do not use MIDI channel 16 for MIDI or virtual instruments Template 1 controls MIDI tracks 1 8 Template 2 controls MIDI tracks 9 16 Template 3 controls Audio tracks 1 8 Template 4 controls Audio tracks 9 16 The template overlay sequencer mixer should be used with the Cubase SX templates Differences to the template overlay are shown in the here in the tables FN7 Native Instruments Use the supplied template label FM7 Native Instruments FM7 does not have a standard MIDI implemen tation There is a file entitled X APPENDIX Steinberg Cubase SX MIDI 1 2 Panel Legend Actual Control Function Send Section SEND 1 CHOOSE SEND 0 SEND 2 CHOOSE SEND 1 SEND 3 CHOOSE SEND 2 SEND 4 CHOOSE SEND 3 SEND 5 NOT ASSIGNED SEND 6 NOT ASSIGNED Panel Legend Actual Control Function Envelope Section ENV TRIGGER PUNCH IN ON OFF ENV REPEAT PUNCH OUT ON OFF Fa MASTER ON OFF Arp Section ARP TEMPO SYNC ON OFF ARP LATCH CLICK ON OFF Effect Section EFFECTS SELECT CYCLE ON OFF Steinberg Cubase SX AUDIO 1 2 Panel Legend Actual Control Function Envelope Section ENV TRIGGER PUNCH IN ON OFF ENV REPEAT PUNCH OUT ON OFF F3 MASTER ON OFF Arp Section ARP TEMPO SYNC ON OFF ARP LATCH CLICK ON OFF
43. modulation a particular parame ter will respond to over MIDI in order for this parameter to be able to respond to MIDI at all For example filter frequency is a parameter ai a Absynth will respond to if the filter Panel Legend Actual Control Function freq mod depth is set to an amount other than 000 Oscillator Section i WAVEFORM FM INDEX The X Station Audio can control the SEMITONE LFO1 S H following FM index LFO 1 2 amp 3 PETUNE Loz Sn Sample and Hold Rate Filter Envelopes Section Frequency Lfo 1 2 amp 3 Rate Lfo 1 2 pagon VOLUME amp 3 Mod Depth Pan Controls are DELAY DEPTH laid out as expected except those Etfects Section ESSE shown in the table to the right CTRL 2 PAN Albino Linplug Albino does not have a specific MIDI control list It has a mod matrix where a small number of MIDI controllers can be mapped to modulate some of the synthesizer functions Albino responds to MIDI continuous controllers 16 17 18 and 19 as well as controller 2 breath control and controller 4 Foot Control Controllers 2 and 4 have been mapped to the X and Y axis of the touch pad respectively and con trollers 16 to 19 to the following pots and encoders Linplug Albino Panel Legend Oscillator Section OSC 1 WAVEFORM OSC 1 SEMITONE OSC 1 DETUNE OSC 1 LEVEL Actual Control Function CONTROLLER 16 CONTROLLER 17 CONTROLLER 18 CONTROLLER 19 Atmosphere Synt
44. of musical synthesis discovered that just a few distinctive waves contained many of the most useful harmonics for musical 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 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 present in a waveform which determine the tone of the final sound Sine Waves a 1 Sine Wave Harmonic These have just a single frequency This waveform produces the purest sound because it only has this single pitch frequency Triangle Waves WL 13 57 Triangle Wave Harmonic These contain only odd harmonics The volume of each is the square of its position in the harmonic series For example the 5th harmonic has a volume of 1 25th of the fundamental The Oscillators And Mixer Sawtooth Waves NSn f 23 4 5 Sawtooth Wave Harmonic These have a rich proportion of harmonics containing all the harmonics of the fundamental frequency The volume of each harmonic is propor tional to its position in the harmonic series Square Waves TL
45. once to effectively become an envelope The selected LFO will repeat if the One Shot setting is off The selected LFO will only cycle once if the One Shot setting is on 48 THE KS SYNTHESIZER The Arpeggiator Menu To complement the front panel controls in the Arpeggiator section there are many other functions located in the Arpeggiator Menu Mop Env This is selected by pressing the DEST button in the Mod Env Env 3 section on the front panel Use the BANK PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the DEST Menu functions available See the table below Arpeggiator Menu Page Function Top Line Display WELT 1 Mode ARP Mode UP CHORD 2 Octave Range ARP Octaves 1 4 3 Pattern ARP Pattern OFF 1 32 4 Pattern Velocity On Off ARP Pattern Vel On OFF 5 Gate Time ARP Gate Tim 0 127 6 Keysync ARP Keysync OFF ON T Arp Note Desitination ARP Notes INT EXT E Mode Menu Page 1 ARP Mode Value Display UP DOWN UP DOWN 1 UP DOWN 2 PLAYED RANDOM CHORD This determines the Arpeggio mode used by the Arpeggiator There are seven types of mode available oOah wWwn 0 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 th
46. pressed not when it is released Step On the first button press the Low data value is transmitted Each sub sequent button press increments the data value until the High data value is transmitted The next button press after this results in the Low data value being sent and so on Data is only sent when the button is pressed not when it is released These button options allow a range of applications to be easily con trolled For example if there is a button on a software synthesizer that has three options then it may respond to a MIDI continuous controller number with a range of 0 2 This gives 3 states 0 1 amp 2 When pro gramming a button to control the software the low value would be set to 0 Menu page 4 detailed above and the high value would be set to 2 Menu page 5 detailed above The step option would then be selected Pot Slider Control Type Menu Page 7 This menu page is only accessible if a knob or slider has been selected as the control for editing Otherwise pressing PAGE UP from menu page 6 will bypass this page This setting determines how the knob or slider behaves There are two possible options Jump The knob or slider will immediately transmit MIDI when moved Pickup The knob or slider will only transmit MIDI once it has passed through the position represented by the control s data value as stored in the Template Note All the controls in the factory preset templates are set to
47. the X Station These are Osc Waveform Lfo Waveforms the Arp select con trols and the Osc 1 2 sync buttons These controls are set to No Control Reverb send level is sent by the LEVEL knob in the effects section and Delay Level sent by the CONTROL knob Please check the web site www novationmusic com for future updates that may include these new control features Stylus Spectrasonics No template label is required since the panel layout suits the format for both instru ments There are only ADSR controls for the Amplifier The filter Env time is controlled by the OVERDRIVE knob Spectrasonics Stylus Panel Legend Actual Control Function Oscillator Section LFO DEPTH ENV TIME PWM PAN Filter Section Filter 1 Filter 2 Select Master Filter Filter Select OVERDRIVE FILTER ENV TIME Envelopes section Mod Env3 Select Filter Env3 Select Amp Mod Env Select Amp Filter Env3 Select F1 FILTER ENV INVERT Effects Section CONTROL PAN MODULATION 61 APPENDIX The KS Synth Patch Preset Listings Bank Bank No Category Name No Category Name Brass Organ Hard Lead Bass Hard Lead ArkBass Trance Attack Round In Circles Azzeed Get me to Heaven Rodywhirl How Long String PPG Me Je t aime First Solo Garage Bass MonoSeq Crystal Harp Sine On Come On In Hark Angel
48. the Oscillators using the Modulation axis of the joystick This setting is used to shift the absolute pitch of the all the Oscillators up or down in response to the joystick position Values 1 to 63 will result in a higher pitch from 1 to 63 semitones when the joystick 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 MW Pitch Mod Enables LFO 1 to modulate the pitch of the Oscillators introducing a vibrato effect As the joystick is pushed forwards LFO 1 modulation will be applied As the joystick is pulled back the amount of LFO 1 modula tion 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 Triangle waveform This will give a smooth traditional vibrato effect Opening or Closing the Filter using the Modulation Wheel Menu Page 6 MW Filter Freq The filter Cut off frequency may be raised opening the filter or lowered closing the filter directly from the modulation axis of the joystick using this menu option Positive values from 1 to 63 will open the Filter when the joystick is pushed forward Negative values from 1 to 64 will close the Filter when the joystick is pushed forward The Wheels Menu Filter Frequency Modulation from LFO 2 using the Mod Wheel Menu Page 7 MW Filt Freq Mod Enable
49. 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 control the output volume The complete FM building block is illustrated below Modulator Envelope used to control FM Modulation amount Carrier AJ De ENS Envelope used to control Amplitude I gt OSC 2 is able to FM Frequency Modulate OSC 3 via the dedicated FM envelope It is important that it is realized that this Envelope is used only for FM purposes The diagram below shows in block diagram format how the KS Synth can produce FM sounds The easiest way to be totally familiar with FM is to take one of the fac OSC 2 VY FM Envelope I OSC 3 Ney AMP Envelope RS tory preset FM sounds for example Synth Patch 189 an electric piano bell sound and to experiment by modifying the various FM settings 45 The Mixer Menu OSC 2 to 3 FM Manual Level Menu Page 7 OSC 23 FM Level Controls the amount that Oscillator 3 is directly Frequency Modulated by Oscillator 2 Whilst playing a note adjust this value by using the PERF PROG DATA knob Notice that increasing amounts of modula tion level make the sound more metallic OSC 2 to 3 FM Amount from AD envelope Menu Page 8 OSC 2 gt 3 FMADEnv Many sounds have
50. voice or an instrument is known as Monitoring In order that a Microphone used for recording a vocal does not pick up any of the already recorded sound tracks of for example drums and bass back into the vocal track headphones are usually used by the vocalist A mix is sent to the Headphones of the live Microphone sound with the previously recorded material In a typical setup a separate audio mixer would be required to mix the signal from the live Microphone with the one already recorded Since the X Station provides independent headphone level and monitor knobs an external audio mixer is not required Zero latency monitoring The input signal from either microphone or instrument is converted to a digital signal and is sent to the computer via a USB connection It then goes into the music software application and is sent back for listening Using the ASIO driver software installed earlier the time delays this process causes are kept to a minimum It may however be annoying to the artist when making a new recording since this slight delay is per ceived as an out of time feel or as an echo if this delay time is long The X Station has a zero latency monitoring feature whereby a knob is provided to balance the previously recorded material with the live sound to be recorded There is also a knob LINE OUT LEVEL to control the level of the sig nal going to powered Loudspeakers With control over the output level to the
51. 00 Synth patches that is to say they affect all of the Synth patches in the same way These settings are The Audio settings for Channel 1 the KS Synth Effects use Channel 2 and can be unique for each Synth patch The operation of the Footswitch The operation of the Expression Pedal The operation of the Pitch Bend Modulation joystick The operation of the Touchpad The function of the Transport buttons The function of the SELECT and CONTROL controls in the Effects sec tion of the front panel Except for the Audio Channel 1 settings all of these features can be re programmed in a similar fashion to programming a control in Template Edit Mode in a standard X Station Template Simply press the TEM PLATE EDIT button from within KS Synth Mode and edit the feature in the normal way If re programming these features remember that they will behave in the same manner across all Synth Patches The KS Synth General Settings Saving The KS Synth General Settings Saving The KS Synth General Settings When an edited Synth Patch is written to memory in the procedure described on page 35 the General Settings are not included in the data saved To save the KS Synth General Settings press either the TEMPLATE COMMON or TEMPLATE EDIT button from KS Synth Mode the appropriate button LED lights and press the WRITE button The display shows Press the WRITE button to continue the saving process or the PLAY button to abandon th
52. 1 that the MIDI OUT 1 port will be used and a 2 indicates that the MIDI OUT 2 port will be used This setting applies across all Templates Global MIDI Channel Menu Page 5 In addition to selecting a new template using the DATA VALUE knob Templates or Synth Patches may also be selected by sending a Bank Select Program Change command from another MIDI device to the X Station See page 34 for full details on this In KS Synth Mode The X Station uses the Global MIDI Channel set ting as the MIDI receive transmit channel Pot Slider Override Menu Page 6 Allows the individual Pot Slider Control settings for each knob or slid er set in the Template Edit menu see page 17 to be overridden Three options are available Off Each knob or slider will behave according to its own settings as stored in the Template Jump Each knob or slider will immediately transmit MIDI when moved This applies globally to all knobs and sliders in all Templates Pickup Each knob and slider will only transmit MIDI once it has passed through the position represented by the control s data value as stored in the Template This applies globally to all knobs and sliders in all Templates Display Timeout Menu Page 7 When many controls are adjusted such as the LEVEL control in the effects section the display switches to show an updated value for peri od of time The time period is set by this Timeout value
53. 127 without pressing excessively hard The keyboard Aftertouch response is now calibrated The calibration is saved by saving the global settings See page 27 for details Normally it should not become necessary to calibrate the joystick again Battery Charge Menu Page 10 This page is used to set the battery charging options The available options are Off No charging Recommended when dry cells are used eg Alkaline Duracell PSU Max Only Maximum charge rate when external PSU is used No charge when powered by USB PSU Max USB Min Maximum charge rate when external PSU is used Light charge when powered by USB PSU Max USB Med Maximum charge rate when external PSU is used Medium charge rate when powered by USB This menu page is used to display as a status only the powering sta tus of the X Station The DATA VALUE encoder has no function here On the top line of the display can be seen the power source This will be PSU for the external PSU USB for USB powering or BAT if the X Station is being powered by dry cells On the bottom line are shown at the left the charging rate OFF LOW MID or HI To the right is shown the voltage level of any connected dry cells Operating System Upgrade from USB Menu Page 12 This menu page is used to upgrade to a newer Operating System O S via the USB port that Novation may publish from time to time The dis play will prompt to press the WRITE button After pr
54. 16 3 Keyboard MIDI Port Keyb MIDI Port U12 4 Overide MIDI Channel Overide MIDI Ch Off 1 16 5 Touchpad X Type Touchpad X Type No Spring Spring Centre 6 Touchpad Y Type Touchpad Y Type No Spring Spring Bottom 7 Auto Snapshot Send Auto Snapshot On Off 8 Not Synth Type Template Not Synth On Off Keyboard Velocity Curve Menu Page 1 Selects one of eight velocity tables governing the velocity response when playing the keyboard The velocity curves available are Velocity Force Curve selection No 3 is the default setting for the factory pre pro grammed templates and should be acceptable for most playing styles If a softer touch is required lighter key strokes give the same velocity output then curve No 2 or even No 1 would be suitable If a harder response if required then selecting No 4 5 or 6 would give the desired result Keyboard MIDI Channel Menu Page 2 Sets the MIDI channel used for transmission when the keyboard is played Note The MIDI channel used for the Pitch and Modulation joy stick is programmable within the template This channel value is over ridden if the Override MIDI Channel setting on page 4 of this menu or in Play Mode is used The Template Common Menu Keyboard MIDI Port Menu Page 3 Determines which MIDI USB port is used to send the MIDI information generated by playing the keyboard Eight different combinations of output ports can be selected w
55. 2 PAN Mod Rate This function controls the Panning LFO s speed If the Mod Depth 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 front panel Pan Initial Start Position Menu Page 3 PAN Init Posn As well as being able to be synchronized to the arpeggiator clock the Panning LFO may have its initial position set after a specific MIDI event is received see the Synth Global Sync function on Page 52 Pan LFO Sync Initial Postion Display Function 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 The Pan Menu Note The Panning LFO should not be confused with the two LFOs available on the front panel Chorus Initial Start Position Menu Page 4 CHOR Init Pos Similar to the Pan Initial Start Position on Menu page 3 this setting specifies the start position of the Chorus Effect LFO Note The Chorus LFO should not be confused with the two LFOs available on the front panel 53 THE KS SYNTHESIZER The KS Synth Mode Global Menu The KS Synth Mode Global Menu While i
56. 2 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 The Preglide is triggered with every note received Portamento Mode Menu Page 5 OSC Porta Mode 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 6 OSC Start Phase 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 3 degrees The wave will start at a random phase when set to OFF FM Synthesis The next three 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 t
57. CONTENTS Introduction ssssssssssssnsnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnna 2 Inthe Pa ackagocemicecirariai erinan aeaa aii 2 Product Registration eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrererrrrrmrressreenen 2 Using This Man aleirssieiriiniiereri iieii iih 2 MIDI Controller Section Main Features ee 2 Audio Section Main Features 2 Synthesizer Features eeceeeeceeeeeeeeeteeeeeeeetaeeeeeeenaees 2 Quick Start Guide ccecccceeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 3 Conventions used in this Manual 3 Connecting Up To equipment eeeeeeeeeeereeeeeeees 3 Stand Alone Operation ccccccceceeeeeeeeeesecseeeeeeeees 3 Playing the SyntheSiZer eccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeees 3 Windows XP USB Driver Installation eee 4 MAC OS X USB Driver Installation 0 eee 4 About ASIO on Windows XP cceeeeeeeeeeeeteeeeeteeeeeees 4 About Core Audio on MAC OS X 4 Selecting The X Station as the Audio Device 5 Selecting The X Station as the Audio Device in Cubase 5 The X Station Control Panel cccceeeeeeeeeeieeeeeee 5 About Latency citi ieecet ee eed leet 5 Selecting The X Station as the MIDI Device in Cubase 6 Selecting The X Station as the Audio Device in LOGIC 6 Selecting The X Station as the Audio Device in Reason 7 Selecting The X Station as the MIDI Device in Reason 7 Controlling a VST Plug In or Reason
58. CORD Pan Section PAN 1 PAN 8 PAN 1 PAN 8 Send Section SEND 1 SEND 6 NOT APPLICABLE Volume Section VOLUME 1 VOLUME 8 VOLUME 1 VOLUME 8 Preset Template Listing Subtractor Propellerhead Reason Subtractor Panel Legend Actual Control Function REASON Oscillator Section No template label is required LEVEL OSC 1 2 MIX since the panel layout suits PWM OSC1 2 PHASE UNISON OSCS RING MOD the REASON Subtractor A ICS FOER OSC FH few controls listed in the table fosc sync OSCS 1 2 PHASE MODE shown have different func Filter Section ti to the f t Il SLOPE LINK ON ions to the tront panel leg HPF ON FILTER 2 ON ends LFO DEPTH NO CONTROL OVERDRIVE NO CONTROL Envelopes section Mod Env3 Switch Mod Env Filter Env Switch F1 MOD ENV FILTER ENV INVERT MASTER VOLUME NOT APPLICABLE t k Solo Mute Section The key bindings are used to SOLO 1 SOLO 8 SOLO 1 SOLO 8 control the following set punch MUTE 1 MUTE 8 MUTE 1 MUTE 8 scillator Section to selector select punch region Gctave MOVE BANK UP record metronome on off MIDI UNISON MOVE BANK DOWN sync on off loop on off The key SYN MID SEMET orot k a invelopes Section bindings accept either a qwerty ENV TRIGGER SET PUNCH TO SELECTION G 5 keyboard key command and or ENV REPEAT SELECT PUNCH REGION A5 a MIDI function which can only ArP
59. Effect Section EFFECTS SELECT CYCLE ON OFF Station f7c inside the FM7 setup folder on the X Station Driver and Resource CD and also on the Novation website at www novationmusic com To load this file into the FM7 from the master section of the FM7 click on the controller load button Find the X Station f7c file and open this file Note this can then be saved to the c program files native instruments FM7 assigns folder where C is the hard drive that the FM7 is installed on From the FM7 preferences option make sure that the following options are checked MIDI controller range 000 127 Use OP A controllers for selected op Use 3 ccs for ratio 0 63 off 64 127 on OP select controller 9 Generic General MIDI 2 Roland Yamaha Korg Any Use this Template to control any instru ments which conform to General MIDI 2 they may need to be switched to this mode No Template label is required since the panel layout suits the General MIDI format A few controls listed in the table shown on the right have different functions to the front panel legends Note that the controls are limited Groove Agent Steinberg No template label is required since Groove Agent only responds to a few MIDI commands These are Ambience Humanise Shuffle Host BPM Volume Snare Stick selection Half Tempo and Vintage on off They are found on the controls as shown is the table opposite Halion Steinberg No templa
60. IDI will be sent from the USB port a 1 that the MIDI OUT 1 port will be used and a 2 indicates that the MIDI OUT 2 port will be used Control Name Menu Page 5 Here a name is given to the control for easy reference This is the name displayed on the screen when a Template control is moved see page 5 A cursor indicates which character in the name can be altered Use the CURSOR buttons to select a different character position and the DATA VALUE encoder to alter the character in the name While a name is being edited the Five TRANSPORT buttons provide the following useful functions REWIND button FAST FORWARD button STOP button START button RECORD button Upper Case Alphas Lower Case Alphas 0 9 Numbers Special Chars Replaces current character with a space character Using The X Y Touchpad The touchpad allows transmission of up to four MIDI data values The values depend on how a finger moves along the touchpad s X axis across and Y axis up down By moving a finger in a diagonal direc tion both X amp Y axis data are generated simultaneously The Template Edit Program Change Pages The X Y Touchpad Y1 Y2 X1 Play Mode In play mode the display will show the values being sent out to whatev er MIDI or USB port has been selected for example ee i et me La h f i eee 2n If any of the X or Y controls have been set to No Control
61. 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 The button on the section marked SLOPE allows either the 12dB or 24dB type filter slope to be selected A further important feature 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 32 SYNTHESIS TUTORIAL The diagram below shows the response of a typical low pass filter Freque
62. Jump mode MIDI Channel Menu Page 8 Sets the MIDI channel which the control will use for transmission MIDI Port Menu Page 9 Determines which MIDI USB port is used to send the MIDI information generated by touching the control Eight different combinations of output ports can be selected with any multiple combination possible A U shown on the display indicates the MIDI will be sent from the USB port a 1 that the MIDI OUT 1 port will be used and a 2 indicates that the MIDI OUT 2 port will be used Control Name Menu Page 10 Here a name is given to the control for easy reference This is the name displayed on the screen when a Template control is moved see page 5 A cursor indicates which character in the name can be altered Use the CURSOR buttons to select a different character position and the DATA VALUE encoder to alter the character in the name While a name is being edited the five TRANSPORT provide the follow ing useful functions REWIND button FAST FORWARD button STOP button START button RECORD button Upper Case Alphas Lower Case Alphas 0 9 Numbers Special Chars Replaces current character with a space character The Template Edit NRPN amp RPN Pages The following Menu pages are available if Control Type on menu page 1 is set to NRPN or RPN Template Edit NRPN Pages Page Function Display KELT 2 NRPN LSB Number NRPN
63. L 1 2 3 4 5 Square Wave Harmonic These only have only the odd harmonics present These are at the same volume as the odd harmonics in a sawtooth wave It will be noticed that the square waveform spends an equal amount of time in its high state and its low state The way in which this defined is known as the duty cycle A square wave always has a duty cycle of 50 which means it is high for 50 of the waveform cycle and low for the remaining 50 of the waveform cycle With the KS Synth it is possible to adjust the duty cycle of the basic square waveform to produce a waveform which is more rectangular in shape These are often known as Pulse waveforms As the waveform becomes more and more rectangular more even harmonics are intro duced and the waveform changes its character becoming more nasal sounding The width of the pulse waveform often known as Pulse Width can be altered dynamically by a modulator which results in the harmonic con tent of the waveform constantly changing This can result in the wave form having a very fat quality when the pulse width is altered at a mod erate speed 50 40 10 60 BP PE Various duty cycles of rectangular pulse waves When listening to a pulse wave it does not make any difference to the perceived sound whether the duty cycle is 40 or 60 since the wave form has just been inverted and the harmonic content between the
64. L CURSOR SNAPSHOT PANIC All operational modes except Play Mode allow various settings to be altered from within menus There is only one menu available in each mode and they are all accessed in the same way using the controls shown above When Play Mode is initially accessed the standard Template display shows the Template s name and location For example In all modes the first menu page is automatically selected when the mode is activated In Template Edit Mode for example the first menu page would be In menus the current value of a setting is always shown on the bottom line of the display justified to the right The value of a setting is always edited by turning the DATA VALUE encoder Sometimes a menu page will have several settings shown together on the bottom display line For example in the sysex editing menu Here there are five settings shown simultaneously A cursor indicates which one is currently selected for editing with the DATA VALUE encoder The CURSOR LEFT RIGHT buttons are used to move the cursor and select a different setting for editing Entering Text When entering text a cursor indicates the character in a name currently selected for editing For example when naming a control The DATA VALUE encoder alters the character at the current cursor position The CURSOR LEFT RIGHT buttons select a different charac ter in the name for editing While editing text the five TRANSPORT
65. LTER ENV INVERT Effects Section Synth 1 and Synth 2 is LEVEL DISTORTION AMOUNT accomplished by using the SELECT SPREAD MODE grey select buttons for exam ple in the Osc section the Osc1 Osc2 button is used to switch between the two synths Reactor Native Instruments Native Instruments Reactor Panel Legend Actual Control Function Reactor is an open ended synthesizer Oscillator Section plug in Like many other Native OSC 1 2 3 WAVEFORM OSC 1 2 3 WAVESHAPE Instrument Instruments Reactor does OSC 1 2 3 SEMITONE OSC 1 2 3 COURSE OSC 1 2 3 DETUNE OSC 1 2 3 FINE not have a default MIDI implementa OSC 1 2 3 LEVEL OSC 1 2 3 LEVEL MIX tion Instead controls need to be PORTAMENTO GLIDE OSC ENV DEPTH ENV OSC MOD assigned or learnt to Reactor The OSC LFO DEPTH LFO OSC MOD controls used in the Reactor template Filter Section cover the most useful controls that will FILTER FREQUENCY FILTER FREQUENCY be needed to control a Reactor ensemble and have been specifically designed to work with the Subtractive synth ensembles supplied as standard with Reactor There are a large num ber of controls that can be applied to a Reactor ensemble Not all available controls will be applicable to some Reactor ensembles RESONANCE RESONANCE KEYTRACK KEYTRACK FILTER EN
66. Loudspeakers it is very quick to switch between listening back to a new recording for example a new vocal take has been added to reverting to a Headphones only monitoring situation for recording a fur ther vocal Recording And Listening Listening Check that the Microphone s Headphones and Loudspeakers are plugged in and setup as described on the previous page If the session is purely for listening then turn up the LINEOUT knob and press the PLAY button on the software music sequencer Any audio information that has been previously recorded should be heard in the loudspeakers Notice that the headphones level may also be individually controlled by the PHONES VOL knob Q input output LINE OUT LEVEL MONITOR PHONES VOL Mono Recording If the Microphone and Loudspeakers are in the same room turn the LINEOUT knob fully anti clockwise to ensure no previously recorded audio information is being sent to the loudspeakers Rotate the MONITOR knob fully anti clockwise to listen to the Microphone input signal only Put on the Headphones and talk into the Microphone It should now be possible to hear the microphone in the Headphones If not check that the monitor button is pressed on the software music sequencers track consult the music software documentation on how to do this When recording a new track in this example a vocal press the record and play button consult the music software documentation on how to do this on th
67. MIDI CC 64 Sustain with a value of 127 to turn the Arpeggiator latch ON and transmit controller number 64 with a value of 0 to turn the latch OFF 43 THE KS SYNTHESIZER The Effects Section The Oscillator Menu The Effects Section EFFECTS In KS Synth mode all settings associated with the Effects are to be found within the Dual Multi Effects Processor section of the front panel LEVEL The section of the X Station front panel labeled Effects is used only to control the Synth s Part Volume level l SELECT Q CONTROL LEVEL Knob Sets the post Effects signal level Part Volume The setting can also be controlled by MIDI CC7 Volume SELECT Button amp CONTROL Knob These controls do not affect any of the KS Synth s sound parameters However they can be defined to transmit user defined MIDI information in a similar manner to the way controls are used in a standard X Station Template This is described in the section detailing KS Synth General Settings on page 53 The Oscillator Menu To complement the front panel controls in the Oscillator section there are many other functions located in the Oscillators Menu AMP ENV This is selected by pressing the MONO POLY but ton in the Amp Env section on the front panel Use the BANK PAGE up down buttons to scroll through MONO POLY the Menu functions available See the table below Oscillator Menu Page Function Top Line Display Valu
68. Music Systems Ltd V1 2 Trademarks All brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective companies of organizations 65
69. N MSB 2 260 128 2 CC 6 Data Entry 10 data value Many synthesizers do not use NRPNs Consult your synthesizer manu al for details of which NRPNs are recognised The use of NRPNs is detailed on page 17 Registered Parameter Messages These are known as RPNs and are similar in format to NRPN mes sages CC100 is used to define the RPN LSB and CC101 the RPN MSB usually zero As for NRPNs CC6 contains the actual data value RPN numbers assigned by the MIDI specification are Pitch Bend sensitivity Fine Tuning Coarse Tuning Tuning Program Select Tuning Bank Select RWN O Many synthesizers do not use RPNs Consult your synthesizer manual for details of which RPNs are recognised The use of RPNs is detailed on page 17 Pitch Bend Messages These messages are transmitted whenever the X Station s joystick is moved along the X axis It is also possible to define the X Y touchpad to transmit Pitch Bend As the name implies pitch bend messages are used to move sounding notes up or down in pitch 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 The MIDI specification actually defines two different types of aftertouch message Mono and Poly The type transmitted by the X Station is the Mono t
70. NTHESIZER SUSTAIN Sliders 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 Sliders 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 MOD ENV 3 Button Selects whether the MOD Envelope sliders control the MOD Envelope or the AD Envelope indicated on the front panel as Envelope 3 When the AD Envelope is selected only the ATTACK and DECAY sliders can be used The LED above the button indicates which Envelope is cur rently selected AMP MOD ENV 3 Button MOD ENV ENV 3 f j DEST GATE F1 F2 F3 TRIGGER REPEAT ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN RELEASE VELOCITY The MOD Envelope may be used to control other sound elements of the synthesizer throughout the duration of the sound It can control Osci
71. S Synth mode The Arpeggiator Section The Arpeggiator Section ARP TEMPO An Arpeggiator 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 set tings of the functions located in the Arpeggiator Menu See Page 24 for more details on these li LATCH TEMPO Knob 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 Arp ON Button Activates deactivates the Arpeggiator While an arpeggio is running it can be stopped immediately by pressing the ARP ON button again Arp LATCH Button Enables the Arpeggiator Latch feature which enables the Arpeggiator to remember the last set of notes played on the keyboard When Latch is activated the Arpeggiator sequence will continue to play even after 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
72. S SynthesiZet cssssseeeeeeseseeeeseneeeeeeees 36 Introduction se Neder 36 Selecting KS Synth Patches 36 Editing A Synth Patch Sound 37 Saving A Synth Patch eeeeeeeeteeeeeeenteeeeeeenaas 37 USING MENUS cctv ete Ra avteeieeeedaactee echt eee 38 The Oscillator Mixer Section 2 ceeeeeetees 38 The Filter S ction c ccccccecceeeeeeeeeeeeeeneceaeeeeeeeees 40 The LFOS Sectie tied egan ieai 41 The Envelopes Section cccccceceeeeeeeeeeseneeeeeees 42 The Arpeggiator Section cccceeeeseeeeeeettteeeeeeeaes 43 The Effects Section ccccccececeeeeeeeeeeeceeeeeeeeteeeeees 44 The Oscillator M Nu cccccceeceeeeeesecseeneecaeeeeeeeeees 44 The Mixer Menu cceeceeeeeececeeceeceeeeeeeeeeessennaneeeess 45 The Filter M nu 2 2 ccceceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeeeeeees 47 The LFO Menui dna chica ee aaa a aie 47 The Arpeggiator Menu ceececeeeesesteeeeeetteeeeeeeeaes 49 The Syne Menviec isia nite aie ad 50 The Wheels Menu 2 ccccccceceeeeeeeeeeeeceeeaeeeeeeeeees 51 The Aftertouch And Breath Menu 0 cccceeeeeee 52 The Pan Men iire neva ented 53 The KS Synth Mode Global Menu 54 Routing MIDI To And From The KS Synthesizer 54 The KS Synth General Settings cece 55 Saving The KS Synth General Settings 55 PDD ONGIX wcssicc sues pinnar a aa E akpa 56 Troupleshootinhgen erni a a EE A
73. Slider Control Type Pot Slider Ctrl Jump Pickup 8 MIDI Channel MIDI Channel 1 16 9 MIDI Ports MIDI Ports U12 10 Control Name Control Name Text string Controller Number Menu Page 2 Sets the MIDI continuous controller number assigned to the control Any controller number from 0 to 127 can be assigned however the MIDI standard defines controller numbers 0 6 32 38 96 97 98 99 100 101 amp 120 127 for specific specialised purposes These values should not be used unless the consequences upon the connected MIDI device are appreciated Value Display Type Menu Page 3 Determines whether values for the control are displayed in a signed 64 to 63 or unsigned 0 to 127 format Internally values are always stored within the Template data as 0 127 This setting only determines how the values are displayed on screen A value of 0 unsigned is exactly the same as 64 signed 60 unsigned is the same as 4 signed 68 unsigned is the same as 4 signed and so on For example a display type of 0 127 would be used for a control that is altering a volume setting and a type 64 to 63 would be used for a pan left and right control Low Value Menu Page 4 Sets the lowest data value which can be transmitted by the control This would normally be 0 however it might be desirable to set a range between 20 and 30 for the whole range of a slider In this case the lower value would be set to 20 It may be desired to
74. Template edit mode if required name is limited to 16 characters long A cursor indicates the current character in the name selected for editing Use the CURSOR LEFT ThE Footswiteh normally Aranemits Using GC64 RIGHT buttons to select a different character to edit Expression Pedal The currently selected character in the name can be altered by using the DATA VALUE encoder On this display the five TRANSPORT but In Play Mode the following display will appear if the Expression pedal is tons provide useful functions moved REWIND button Upper Case Alphas FAST FORWARD button Lower Case Alphas STOP button 0 9 Numbers START button Special Chars RECORD button Replaces current character with a space character 22 DETAILED OPERATION A further press of the TEMPLATE WRITE button brings up the display Here the Manufacturer name is edited in a similar manner to the Template Instrument name The Manufacturer name is limited to 13 characters long and is shown above the Instrument name when a new Template is selected in Template Select Mode A further press of the TEMPLATE WRITE button completes the write procedure and confirmation is shown on the display After about half a second the X Station returns to Template Edit Mode or Template Select Mode where it was before the write procedure was invoked Note It is possible to abandon the Template saving procedure at any point by pressing any of the TEMPLATE Mode but
75. V DEPTH ENV FILTER MOD FILTER LFO DEPTH ENV LFO MOD Slope FILTER SLOPE Type FILTER TYPE HPF ON HI PASS LFO Section LFO 1 SPEED LFO 1 RATE LFO 1 DELAY LFO 1 DELAY Envelopes Section AMP ENV GATE ENV GATE MOD ENV GATE TRIG ENV GATE F1 INVERT AMP ENV ATTACK AMP ENV ATTACK It is very easy to learn a MIDI function AMP ENV DECAY AMP ENV DECAY to a particular control by right clicking AMP ENV SUSTAIN AMP ENV SUSTAIN on a control within Reactor and then AMP ENV RELEASE AMP ENV RELEASE turning the appropriate control on the MOD ENV ATTACK FILTER ENV ATTACK MOD ENV DECAY FILTER ENV DECAY Remote Preference files have not MOD ENV SUSTAIN FILTER ENV SUSTAIN been included on the X Station MOD ENV RELEASE FILTER ENV RELEASE Drivers Resources CD because of the open ended nature of Reactor Instead it is suggested that users learn the functions they require to the controls they want to use or introduce to a Reactor model ReDrum Propellerhead REASON Use the supplied template label Drum since the panel layout does not suit the format of the ReDrum machine Two electronic templates ReDrum 1 and ReDrum 2 are used to control ReDrum Use the DATA VALUE encoder to quickly switch between the two The Mute and Solo buttons respond to Note On Off type messages and these are setup on the buttons above the sliders The top row of Nine rotary con
76. Y 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 Detune Menu Page 2 OSC Uni Detune Unison Detune is used in conjunction with the UNISON button as described on page 37 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 3 OSC Vco Drift 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 actu ally helped to give them their own unique character 44 THE KS SYNTHESIZER Preglide Semitones Menu Page 4 OSC Preglide 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 1
77. Y LFO NOISE MOD assignments This is the X LFO 1 WAVEFORM LFO ENV TRIGGER LFO 1 DEST LFO MIDI SYNC Station txt file Any control differ Envelopes Section ences are shown in the table AMP ENV ON OFF RELEASE ON OFF opposite FA VELOCITY ON OFF F2 INVERT FILTER ENV ON OFF MOD ENV ATTACK FILTER ENV ATTACK MOD ENV DECAY FILTER ENV DECAY MOD ENV SUSTAIN FILTER ENV SUSTAIN MOD ENV RELEASE FILTER ENV RELEASE Arp Section ARP TEMPO DELAY TIME ARP ON DELAY ON OFF Effects Section EFFECTS SELECT DELAY SYNC ON OFF EFFECTS CONTROL DELAY FEEDBACK EFFECTS LEVEL DELAY DEPTH APPENDIX Propellerhead RB 338 RB338 Propellerhead Panel Lege nd Actual Control Function No template label is required Oscillator Si ection Osc1 Osc2 Select Synth 1 Synth 2 Select since the panel layout suits Filter Section the RB338 format Only a Filter 1 Filter 2 Select Synth 1 Synth 2 Select limited set of controls are LFO DEPTH FILTER ENV DECAY ilable for MIDI trol OVERDRIVE ACCENT available for control Lfo Section Controls listed in the table Lfo1 Lfo2 Select Synth 1 Synth 2 Select shown have different func Envelopes section Amp Mod Select Synth 1 Synth 2 Select tions to the front panel leg VELOCITY Slider PAN Slider ends Selecting between E1 f FI
78. akewalk generic surface from the Control Surface list and click ok Set the MIDI input port to the X Station Set the MIDI output port to None Click Ok From the Tools Cakewalk Generic Surface menu click to open to view assignments To assign controls highlight a particular control by clicking it s radio button move the corresponding control on the X Station and then click the learn button in Sonar For the transport functions stop play and record and for the functions move bank left and move bank right it is also neces sary to set the Trigger Value to 127 Set the Number of Track Strips to 8 Set Parameter 1 to Volume Parameter 2 to Pan Parameter 3 to Solo and Parameter 4 to Mute and Parameters 5 to 10 to send level 1 to send level 6 depending on the number of active aux busses Assign the Remote volume 1 pan 1 mute 1 solo1 and send level 1 to send level 6 to Configure Strip Number 1 Then assign volume 2 pan 2 mute 2 solo 2 to Configure Strip Number 2 volume 3 pan 3 mute 3 solo 3 to Configure Strip Number 3 etc until all 8 strips have been assigned This assignment can then be saved and recalled when ever Sonar is opened For more detailed information regarding Sonar and Generic control surfaces see the in depth guide contained in the Sonar help The controls are shown in the table above Effects Section CONTROL MASTER VOL Supernova Nova Novation This template is suitable for use with any mod
79. and Menu Page 3 Defines the type of MMC message transmitted The available types are Stop Play F Fwd Rewind amp Record Record Strobe When a TRANSPORT button sends a MMC message the following dis play is shown on screen while the button is held down 19 DETAILED OPERATION The Template Edit Note On Off Pages The Template Edit SYSEX Pages This is similar to the display shown when other types of MIDI informa tion are transmitted by a control see page 5 Shown on the top line is the type of MMC command defined while on the bottom line at the left is the MMC number of the command followed by the usual MIDI mes sage type MIDI channel and port routing displays MIDI Ports Menu Page 4 Determines which MIDI USB port is used to send the MIDI information generated by touching the control Eight different combinations of output ports can be selected with any multiple combination possible A U shown on the display indicates the MIDI will be sent from the USB port a 1 that the MIDI OUT 1 port will be used and a 2 indicates that the MIDI OUT 2 port will be used Note MMC commands are not transmitted when a snapshot is acti vated The Template Edit Note On Off Pages The following Menu pages are available if Control Type on menu page 1 is set to Note On Off These are only available if the control being edited is a button Template Edit No
80. ar T 9 8th D 26 5 bars 10 4th 27 8bar T 11 2nd T 28 6 bars 12 4th D 29 7 bars 13 2nd 30 5bar D 14 ibar T 31 8 bars 15 2bar D 32 9 bars 16 1 bar 33 7bar D 17 2bar T 34 12bars SYNC Delay Time Menu Page 6 Enables the time of the Delay repeats to be synchronized to the tempo of the arpeggiator clock Synchronization rates up to 2 bars are available for the Delay Effect Delay Sync Setting LEUT Display 0 OFF 1 32nd T 2 32nd 3 16th T 4 16th 5 8th T 6 16th D 7 8th 8 Ath T 9 8th D 10 4th 11 2nd T 12 Ath D 13 2nd 14 ibar T 15 2bar D 16 1 bar 17 2bar T 18 1bar D 19 2 bars SYNC Chor Rate Menu Page 7 Similar to Delay Sync the Chorus internal LFO may be synchronized to arpeggiator clock tempo The available Sync resolutions are the same as those available for the LFO Delay time as shown in the earlier table SYNC Pan Rate Menu Page 8 A very pleasing audio effect may be heard when the Panning effect is synchronized to the tempo of a the arpeggiator The synchronization table given earlier for the LFO Delay time describes the musical timings available for the Pan 50 THE KS SYNTHESIZER The Wheels Menu This menu controls how the much response there is to Pitch and Modulation from the built in Pitch Modulation joystick The Sync Menu is selected by pressing the F1 button in the Mod Env Env 3 section on the front panel Use the BANK PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu fu
81. are three options available OFF The KS Synth can only be played by the X Station s keyboard provided Local Control is set to ON MIDI IN The KS Synth can only be triggered by MIDI messages arriving from the MIDI IN port or played by the X Stations keyboard provided Local Control is set to ON USB The KS Synth can only be triggered by MIDI messages arriving from the USB port or played by the X Stations keyboard provided Local Control is set to ON Routing MIDI To And From The KS Synthesizer In KS Synth Mode the X Station always receives and transmits using the Global MIDI Channel see page 25 for details on how to set this The Ports where MIDI information is transmitted when a front panel control is moved or the keyboard is played while in KS Synth Mode is determined by the Keyboard MIDI Port setting found in the Template Common Menu Note that it is entirely possible to be able to play the KS Synthesizer without it actually transmitting any MIDI information to any port The KS Synth can be triggered by incoming MIDI messages received at either the USB or MIDI IN port This is set by the Synth MIDI Source parameter detailed above At all times the KS Synth can be controlled by the front panel and by playing the X Station keyboard unless Synth Local Control see above is set to OFF Note it is not possible to have both the USB and MIDI IN selected for MIDI reception simultaneously This arrangement helps to avoid poten
82. ation on audio control and using the effects proces sor on recordings 11 MIDI TUTORIAL Introduction MIDI Ports MIDI Messages Introduction 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 often very difficult if not impossible for instruments to effectively communicate with each other especially if they had been made by dif ferent manufacturers Nowadays most types of electronic musical equipment are equipped with a MIDI interface fitted as standard includ ing synthesizers drum machines samplers sequencers computers and even some effects units The MIDI standard allows many different instruments to be controlled at once say from a sequencer or a controller keyboard such as the X Station 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 chan nel The MIDI standard allows for sixteen different channels to be assigned to the various instruments in a MIDI network This means that it is normally possible to have up to sixteen instruments playing simulta neously within a MIDI system Some people may feel that being restricted to just sixteen
83. ave different acoustics therefore different Reverb characteristics The Reverb processor features six dif ferent Reverb types These range from a small room to a large hall The type are Chamber Small Room S Room Large Room L Room Small Hall S Hall Large Hall L Hall and Grand Hall G Hall Turn the TOP LINE knob to experiment with different types of Reverb noting how different rooms affect the acoustic properties of the sound Reverb Decay Time 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 Turn the BOTTOM LINE knob to experi ment lower value settings will introduce short decays and higher value settings will create long decays The MENU button is non active when the Reverb option is selected since there are no additional Reverb parameters The Chorus Effect This effect was originally designed to simulate the sound of many peo ple singing together in unison hence the name Chorus in contrast to a single voice Instrumentally consider the sound of a 12 string guitar compared to a 6 string guitar The very slight detuning of the individual strings 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 dela
84. be used to modify the filter cut off frequency or change an oscillators pitch during the lifetime of a note MOD ENV ENV 3 J _ DEST GATE F1 F2 ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN RELEASE A third Envelope Generator called Envelope 3 is also used by the KS Synth for specialised purposes such as FM control Unlike the other two main Envelope Generators this Envelope only has Attack and Decay phases D A ar When Envelope 3 is selected by using the Envelope Env3 SELECT button the same front panel section is used as for the Mod Envelope as shown above but only the ATTACK and DECAY sliders can be used m It is possible to make the Envelope settings vary according to how hard a note is played on the X Station keyboard Notes struck with a good deal of force velocity will produce more dramatic changes than notes played lightly ED Amp The VELOCITY slider in the Envelopes Mod section controls how the envelopes Env 3 respond to note velocity TRIGGER REPEAT Note that there is only one slider which shared by all three Envelopes Use the Envelopes SELECT button first to select which envelope this slider will control 34 SYNTHESIS TUTORIAL LFOs 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 change modulat
85. button to move up the waveform list and the DEST button to move down the waveform list LFO Waveforms Value Display The three waveforms 20 21 and 22 are very special If one of these oN aE particular waveforms is selected for 2 SAWTOOTH LFO 1 this LFO can then be used 3 SQUARE to modulate one or more of the 4 RANDM S H oscillator frequencies to produce 5 QUANT S H the appropriate scale see page 6 CROSSFADE 37 7 EXP DEC1 8 EXP DEC2 To do this LFO1 should be set to 9 EXP DEC3 the unipolar mode see page 45 10 ATT EXP1 11 ATT EXP2 12 ATT EXP3 13 SUST EXP1 14 SUST EXP2 15 SUST EXP3 16 PIANOENV1 17 PIANOENV2 18 PIANOENV3 19 EXPUPDOWN 20 CHROMATIC 21 MAJ MODES 22 MAJOR 7 23 PATTERN 1 24 PATTERN 2 25 PATTERN 3 26 PATTERN 4 27 PATTERN 5 28 PATTERN 6 29 PATTERN 7 30 PATTERN 8 31 PATTERN 9 and the LFO mod depth assigned within the oscillator section should have a value of exactly 30 for a ris ing scale and 30 for a falling scale This can create very complex patches particularly when used in combination with the arpeggiator The Envelopes Section The Envelopes Section AMP amp MOD Envelopes AMP ENV 1 MONO POLY GATE HOLD ON OFF aa ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN RELEASE The Envelopes are used to shape a sound throughout its duration The AMP Envelope always determines the volume of the sound with respect to its duration THE KS SY
86. buttons provide the following useful functions REWIND button FAST FORWARD button STOP button START button RECORD button Upper Case Alphas Lower Case Alphas 0 9 Numbers Special Chars Replaces current character with a space character A further press of the BANK PAGE UP button allows the next menu page to be selected In the Template Select amp Global menus once the last menu page has been reached the BANK PAGE UP button will have no further action Similarly the BANK PAGE DOWN button re selects the previous menu page In the Template Edit menu once the last menu page has been reached pressing BANK PAGE UP loops the menu around to the first page again Note The content of some menu pages will vary according to a set ting s value elsewhere This particularly applies to the Template Edit Mode menu where the types of pages available will vary according to the current value of the Control Type setting found on the first menu page Each of the menu pages for the various operational modes will now be described in detail 16 DETAILED OPERATION The Template Common Menu The menu in Template Common Mode is used to alter settings which apply to the Template as a whole and are not specific to a single pro grammable control The menu pages available are Template Common Menu Page Function BIIEN KEIT 1 Keyboard Velocity Curve Velocity Curve T8 2 Keyboard MIDI channel Keyb MIDI Chan 1
87. chronization rate has been set to OFF when the feature will no longer be governed by the Arpeggiator s TEMPO knob setting SYNC Arp Tempo Menu Page 1 Allows Sets the basic timing division for the arpeggiator and also for any parameters that are synced to the arpeggiator clock Arp Sync Setting KELTA PEN 0 32nd T 1 32nd 2 16th T 3 16th 4 8th T 5 16th D 6 8th 7 Ath T 8 8th D 9 4th 10 2nd T 11 4th D 12 2nd 13 ibar T 14 2bar D 15 1 bar SYNC Lfo1 Delay SYNC Lfo2 Delay Menu Pages 2 amp 4 Allows either LFO s delay time to be synchronized to arpeggiator clock A range of synchronization values are available up to 12 bars in length SYNC Lfoi Speed SYNC Lfo2 Speed Menu Pages 3 amp 5 LFOs may be synchronized to Arpeggiator Clock As an example a very pleasing audio effect may be achieved when LFO 2 is modulating the filter cut off frequency and this is synchronized to the tempo of an arpeggio The synchronisation value selected is the period taken for the LFO to complete one whole cycle of its waveform To synchronize an LFO alter this value until the desired musical timing is displayed See the synchronization table given below for the LFO Delay synchronization for details on the settings available Sync Setting WETS Display Value Display 0 OFF 1 32nd T 18 1bar D 2 32nd 19 2 bars 3 16th T 20 Abar T 4 16th 21 3 bars 5 8th T 22 5bar T 6 16th D 23 4 bars 7 8th 24 3bar D 8 4th T 25 7b
88. connect the X Station to a computer that features a USB port It can be regarded as a special port that can send and receive MIDI information simultaneously It is the most convenient way of connecting to a computer avoiding the need to connect two sets of standard MIDI cables between the X Station and a separate MIDI inter face The information which flows through the USB connection con forms to the same Message format as standard MIDI Since MIDI information flows in one direction only along a standard MIDI cable it is not possible to have a MIDI In socket connected to another MIDI In socket If this were done the MIDI network would sim ply not work In fact the only two routings allowed are MIDI Out to MIDI In or MIDI Thru to MIDI In Keyboard Controllers such as the X Station are used to generate MIDI data for controlling other instruments Examples of other common MIDI controllers are drum percussion pads or footswitch controllers Of course the X Station is capable of much more than just controller key board duties MIDI Messages The X Station is capable of transmitting various types of MIDI events These are as follows Note Messages A note message is transmitted every time a key on the X Station key board is pressed down or released When a keyboard note is pressed down the MIDI message also includes velocity information This repre sents how hard the key was pressed down This velocity value can be used to add dynam
89. crease 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 AT Pitch Mod Enables LFO 1 to modulate the pitch of the Oscillators introducing a vibrato effect As Aftertouch messages are received the LFO 1 modula tion 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 that LFO 1 is using a Triangle or Sine wave form This will give a smooth traditional vibrato effect Atouch Filter Frequency Shift Menu Page 3 AT Filter Freq This setting is used to modulate 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 FRE QUENCY 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 AT Filt Freq Mod Enables LFO 2 to modulate the Cutoff FREQUENCY of the Filter intro
90. ct Positive values of 1 to 63 increase send level as the joystick is pushed forwards Negative values from 1 to 64 decrease send level as the joystick is pushed forwards At a setting of 0 the joystick will have no effect Wheel Chorus Send Menu Page 11 MW Chorus Level Enables the joystick modulation axis to control the send level to the Chorus effect Positive values of 1 to 63 increase send level as the joystick is pushed forwards Negative values from 1 to 64 decrease send level as the joystick is pushed forwards At a setting of 0 the joystick will have no effect Wheel Distortion Send Menu Page 11 MW Distort Level Enables the joystick modulation axis to control the send level to the Distortion effect Positive values of 1 to 63 increase send level as the joystick is pushed forwards Negative values from 1 to 64 decrease send level as the joystick is pushed forwards At a setting of 0 the joystick will have no effect 51 THE KS SYNTHESIZER The Aftertouch amp Breath Menu The Aftertouch amp Breath Menu This menu controls how the KS Synth responds to Aftertouch and Breath Control CC2 MIDI messages The Aftertouch Breath Menu is selected by pressing the F2 button in the Mod Env Env 3 section on the front panel Use the BANK PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu functions available See the table below a F2 Aftertouch Breath Menu Page Function T
91. d Actual Control Function Oscillator Section LEVEL OSC 1 2 MIX Envelopes Section Bass Station VST AU Novation DEST button TRIGGERING OPTIONS r i x Effects Section No template label is required since the CONTROL MASTER VOLUME panel layout suits the format for the Bass Station A few controls listed in the table shown on the right have dif ferent functions to the front panel legends Cubase SX 1 4 Steinberg The Driver Resource CD has a default project for Cubase SX included which will need to be used with the four Cubase SX templates for full control of this sequencer The Driver Resource CD also has both a Cubase SX and SX2 set up file To import this into Cubase click on the Devices tab at the top of the Cubase menu bar and select Device Setup from the drop down menu Click on the Generic Remote line from the list at the left of the pop up page Cubase names any external controller as Generic Remote Click on the import button at the right of the pop up page Import the X Station file from the CD Rom or from the hardrive if this file has been downloaded from the Novation website Click the Open button to import the file To use the tem plate it will be necessary to select the X Station as the MIDI input All controls have been set to transmit on MIDI channel 16 across each of the 4 electronic templates When using the Generic Remote with the X Station in Cubase
92. d by a factor of 2 to 1 This naturally has the effect of making any peaks in the incoming signal sound less loud The Compressor The effect of taming down the loudest parts of the signal will be increased as the Ratio is increased A setting of 1 0 will have no effect on the input signal Threshold Adjusting the TOP LINE knob will set the Threshold signal level where the compression takes effect If the whole of the input signal is to be compressed then setting this to 60dB will result in all signal levels from the quietest 60dB or less to the loudest 0dB to be compressed by the ratio set by the level control If compression is not required then setting a maximum threshold of OdB will have the effect of raising the threshold so high that even the loudest signal will not trigger the compression effect A typical useful setting would be 20dB since the compression effect would only be trig gered by fairly loud signals If either the TOP LINE or BOTTOM LINE knob is adjusted the display will alter to display the Threshold and Auto Gain settings below Auto Gain To ensure that the audio signal remains at a reasonably high level and does not become noisy an Auto Gain setting is provided Supposing that all signals above 20dB are being compressed at the rate of 2 0 If much of the input signal is above this threshold then the resultant signal level output would naturally become quieter overall The Aut
93. dio inputs Any monitoring of the signal by head phones or on the main left and right outputs will also be dry 2 Listen Record This option will enable the effects section and the computer system will record any audio data wet that is an amplified version of the signal appearing at the audio inputs together with any of the audio effects such as reverb Any monitoring of the signal by headphones or on the main left and right outputs will also be wet 3 Listen No Record Listen wet and Record Dry This option will enable the effects section BUT the computer will record any audio data dry that is an amplified version of the signal appear ing at the audio inputs Any monitoring of the signal by headphones or on the main left and right outputs will be wet This would be consid Recording And Listening With Effects ered as a very useful option when for example recording a voice the signal can be recorded dry but the artist will be able to listen monitor his or her performance with effects applied Adding Reverb In the effects section press the UP DOWN buttons to select the Reverb effect the corresponding LED will light Adjust the LEVEL knob for the desired amount of Reverb effect The effects processors are powerful multi effects type whereby one of each different effect may be applied simultaneously if desired See section Detailed Operation The Dual Effects Processor on page 21 for more inform
94. dit Note On Off Pages 20 The Template Edit SYSEX MESSAGE Pages 20 The Template Edit Program Change Pages 21 Using The X Y Touchpad 21 Using The Footswitch Or Pedal cccccecseeeeeeees 22 Saving A Template To Memory 22 The Dual Multi Effects Processot cc cece cece eee 23 Contents The Delay Eei eoira AET E A 23 The Reverb Effect cccccscceeceeeeeeeeeteeeeestneeaeeees 24 The Chorus Effecct ccccccececceeceeeeeeeeeseeeeeseneeeeeees 24 The Gompr SSOr ei edter tdci aaae 25 The Distortion Effect c cccccceeceeeeeeeeseeeneeeeeeeeeeeeees 26 The EQ ProCe ssOlressccstedccusaatdetgertes e a a 26 Advanced Featul es ccccccccccccccceeceeeeeeeeeeeeeees 27 Using The Transport Buttons 0 eceeeeeeeeteeeeeeeeee 27 The Global Mode Menu 2 ceeceecceeeeeeeeeeeeees 27 Saving The Global Settings To Memory 0 29 Upgrading The Operating System From MIDI 29 Synthesis Tutorial cccccccccsseeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeeee 30 Elements Of A SOUNG cccceceeeeeeeeeeeeeteceeeeeeeeees 30 The Oscillators And Mixet eccceeeeeeeeeeteeseees 31 Th Filterer aa aai r a 32 Envelopes And Amplifier ccceeeeesecseceeeeeeeeeees 33 OSes cesseskin Meth ites tenia watts A tic Lae Ete a 35 MemorieSic sciatica ida a ean hea 35 ELADA i AEE EEEE E EEEE EEPE 35 The K
95. e 1 Polyphony Mode OSC Poly Mode MONO POLY 2 2 Unison Detune OSC Uni Detune 0 127 3 VCO Drift OSC Vco Drift 0 127 4 Preglide Semitones OSC Preglide 12 12 5 Portamento Mode OSC Porta Mode EXP LIN 6 Start Phase OSC Start Phase OFF 1 127 7 Osc 2 3 FM Manual Level OSC 23 FM Level 0 127 8 Osc 2 3 FM Env Amt OSC 2 gt 3 FMADEnv 64 63 9 Osc 2 3 FM LFO1 OSC 2 gt 3 FMLfo1 64 63 10 Osc Fixed Note Replay OSC Fixed Note OFF C 2 G8 Polyphony Mode Menu Page 1 OSC Poly Mode This setting determines if the Synth patch plays in a polyphonic or monophonic manner r When set to MONO or MONO AG the Program plays monophonically ie only Value Display one note can be sounded at any one 0 MONO time If a chord is played on the key 1 MONO AG ae X 7 POLY1 board it will be noticed that as each 3 POLY2 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 triggered 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 especially effec tive 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 POL
96. e following MIDI messages would be needed CC32 Prog Change 5 5 selects Program Bank A on the Supernova 100 Synthesizers which implement Bank Select usually require that the appropriate Bank Select message is sent before a following Program Change message Synthesizers not implementing Bank Select need only receive a Program Change message Warning Many synthesizers will only accept a Program Change message if a Bank Select message has been received first Bank Select Messages may be sent from the X Station by either using the DATA VALUE encoder from from within Play Mode CC32 is always sent or by defining a control within a Template to transmit CCO or CC32 as appropriate Program Change messages may be sent from the X Station by either using the PROG PAGE UP DOWN buttons from within Play Mode or by defining a control within a Template to transmit Program Change Channel Messages All of the different types of MIDI messages outlined so far include infor mation 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 message 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 System Exclusive Messages Th
97. e 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 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 As with an Envelope the waveforms gener CFOS pa ated by the LFOs may be fed to other parts i of the synthesizer to create the desired el movements in the sound Gp 3 There are two independent LFOs available SPEED which may be used to modulate different synthesizer sections and run at different speeds Use the LFO SELECT button to WAVEFORM select LFO 1 or LFO 2 for editing uy AMOUNT DEST A typical waveshape for an LFO would be a Triangle wave Pitch Time __ Imagine this slow moving wave being applied to an Oscillator s pitch The result would be that the pitch of the Oscillator slowly ris
98. e the existing template file Because of this it is suggested that the existing template als file within Ableton is renamed as templatebak als so that it can be restored if necessary The usual path to this folder will be C Program Files Ableton Live 2 0 3 Preferences The Send controls 1 to 6 are not pre assigned in this template on purpose This allows these six controls to be learnt to Live as and when needed to a specific track or tracks send con trols The Live learn feature is activat ed by pressing the button towards the top right of the Live screen This will then turn all MIDI assignable controls blue Click on the control to be G Media impOSCar Panel Legend Actual Control Function Oscillator Section UNISON PORTA TYPE OSC1 LEVEL NOISE OSC BALANCE EFFECTS SECTION CONTROL VOLUME Roland JP800 8080 Panel Legend Actual Control Function Oscillator Section SEMITONE OSC CONTROL 1 DETUNE OSC CONTROL 2 OSC 1 LEVEL OSC 1 2 BALANCE OSC 2 LEVEL OSC 2 RANGE OSC 2 PWM OSC 2 FINE WIDE Native Instruments Kontakt Panel Legend Actual Control Function Oscillator Section OSC 1 WAVEFORM OCTAVE OSC 1 SEMITONE COURSE OSC 1 DETUNE CENTS OSC 1 LEVEL SAMPLE VOLUME PORTAMENTO GLIDE Filter Section FILTER FREQUENCY CUT OFF RESONANCE RESONANCE FILTER ENV DEPTH ENVELOPE AMOUNT
99. e save If WRITE is pressed the display shows and the KS Synth General Settings are stored The KS Synth General Settings can be thought of as residing in an additional 41st Template memory which is referenced whenever a KS Synth Patch is being used 55e APPENDIX Troubleshooting Troubleshooting X Station will not power up properly when connected to a Laptop computer via USB When using a USB connection to power the X Station from some Laptop computers it is possible that the X Station may not power up successfully If so this is due to the X Station not being able to draw enough power from the particular Laptop computer used The X Station requires approx 350mA of power to operate dependent on various conditions Switching on the Phantom power Turning up the monitor volume in the headphones and charging the batteries will add to the power consumption Although the USB specification dictates that all computers should be able to supply in 500mA of power which is ample for the X Station some Laptops are not able to supply this much current The solution is to either 1 Power the X Station from a suitable AC DC power adapter such as Novation PSU6 included 2 Insert Dry or rechargeable batteries recommended 3 Connect the X Station to a powered USB Hub Transmitting MIDI Program Change does not affect a connected MIDI device Some MIDI devices will not accept Program Change messages without receiving a
100. e sequencer and begin to talk or sing into the microphone The balance between the previously recorded tracks and the new live vocal may be adjusted to suit by rotating the MONITOR input to output knob Using Channel 1 and with the BALANCE knob set fully anti clockwise the live vocal will be sent to the left output of the Headphones or Loudspeakers Rotate the BALANCE knob to position it anywhere in the stereo field Once the recording is complete the finished updated recording can be played back and listened in either the Headphones or Loudspeakers or both by adjusting the LINE OUT LEVEL and PHONES VOL knobs 10 QUICK START GUIDE Dual Mono Recording If it is desired to record two different inputs simultaneously for example a guitar and om owt 1 gee a vocal repeat the setup process and set me innit 2 ANET the input gain for both the microphone and AUDIGUN the guitar independently Use the INPUT J button to switch between each input to set PHANTOM the signal level using the LED s Begin recording and use the BALANCE knob to Input 1 Q move the left to right position of either of the two inputs Within the sequencer set pe an one track to Input Channel 1 and the other track to Input Channel 2 Q BALANCE Stereo Recording Plug in a Stereo source such as a CD player and press the STEREO button Both input LED s will light Use the GAIN knob as previously described to set the appropriate
101. e 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 KEY TRACK Knob This controls the amount of change to the filter Cut off set by the FRE QUENCY knob by the pitch of the note played When the knob is turned fully anticlockwise there is no change to the filter Cut off fre quency 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 semitone 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 A40 THE KS SYNTHESIZER 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 cen
102. earing in the audio signal then try setting the performance to the next lowest setting Max Scrub Speed Normal BA enea ee Normal ka 20 24 Bit Recording m Software Monitoring Selecting the X Station as the MIDI device Cubase SX or SX2 Process Buffer Range medum FP Larger Disk Buffer Max Number of Audio Tracks 22 xf Universal Track Mode Rewire behavior Playback mode less CPU load fig In order to receive MIDI information from the X Station into Cubase the X Station must be selected as a MIDI device k b O Direct TDM Cubase SX Project Un Cubase SX Project Unt l In the Audio Driver preferences window click on the small blue square ae r box labeled Core Audio and the window will open up similar to the pa eae en Oa a illustration above From the drop down box titled Driver select MIDI 01 nru MDO Novation X Station A E ml NOTE If just X Station is listed turn the power off and then on again to the X Station The computer will then recognise that the unit is con T M nected and will make available as a selection the correct Novation X Off Station driver Buffer Size Adjustment Not Connected v XStation Emulated The Core Audio driver temporarily stores input and output audio sam ples in buffers Click on I O buffer size to adjust the buffer size Larger buffer sizes provide padding against system acti
103. eeds of the instrument to be controlled Each control can be stored within a Template memory for instant recall at a later time The X Station is equally at home in a live performance or studio situa tion where it can be used as a stand alone synthesizer MIDI controller keyboard and recording device Its comprehensive range of controls may be used to dynamically alter any sound parameters precisely and in real time whilst simultaneously recording and replaying stereo audio data In the package The X Station package contains the following list of items Main Keyboard X Station Unit Power Supply User Manual USB Cable Set of Template Overlays X Station Driver and Resources CD ROM When opening the package please make sure all of the items above are present if not then please contact your local dealer www novationmusic com Product Registration Please take the time to register your new Novation X Station Point your browser to www novationmusic com and complete the registra tion form We advise that you visit www novationmusic com from time to time to check for feature upgrades along with the appropriate docu mentation Using This Manual This manual consists of seven sections Introduction Quick Start Guide MIDI Tutorial Detailed Operation Advanced Features Synthesis Tutorial and The KS Synthesizer For easy reference the section name is printed at the top of each page An Appendix is also provided
104. el in the Supernova Nova range No Template label is required since the panel layout suits the Supernova format A few controls listed in the table shown different functions to the front panel legends It is only possi ble in this Template to set ALL three envelopes to single triggering or ALL three envelopes to multi triggering Virus A B C Access No Template label is required since the panel layout suits the Virus format A few controls listed in the table shown on the right have different functions to the front panel legends V Station Novation Novation Supernova Panel Legend Actual Control Function Envelopes section F1 ALL ENVS SINGLE F2 ALL ENVS MULTI Effects Section LEVEL REVERB LEVEL CTRL2 CHORUS LEVEL ACCESS VirusAB C Panel Legend Actual Control Function Oscillator Section PWM KEYFOLLOW LEVEL OSC BALANCE Filter Section OVERDRIVE SATURATION SLOPE ROUTING LFO Section DELAY SYMMETRY WAVEFORM SHAPE DESTINATION ENV MODE No template label is required since the panel layout suits the V Station The V Station MIDI controller list is the same as the Novation K Station A K Station may also be controlled with this template The A Station will also respond well with this template Certain parameters of the V Station are packed into one controller and are currently not possible to control by
105. elocities used when playing the keyboard notes are used by the Arpeggiator Gate Time Menu Page 5 ARP Gate Time 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 Keysync Menu Page 6 ARP Keysync When activated the arpeggio pattern will re start whenever a new note is played on the keyboard Arp Note Destination Menu Page 7 ARP Notes For flexibility the Arpeggiator output may be routed to a number of des tinations 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 Only notes played on the keyboard to gener ate the Arpeggio are transmitted as MIDI note on off messages If the Arpeggiator is to be controlled by a sequencer it is recommended that this setting is set to INT when the notes played on the keyboard are recorded into a sequencer track with Synth Local Control see page 29 set to OFF Beware setting this to EXT or I E while recording into a sequencer track will probably cause horrible MIDI feedback problems since any echoed notes will be interpreted as additional keyboard notes Setting the destination to EXT will route the ONLY the notes played by the Arpeggiator to the MIDI output soc
106. en starts at the top again and repeats the sequence Up Down The arpeggio starts at the lowest note played and sweeps up through the notes until it reaches the highest note It then 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 Chord All notes held on the keyboard are played simultaneously The Arpeggiator Menu Octave Range Menu Page 2 ARP Octaves Sets how many octaves the Arpeggio pattern will sweep through The sweep range is selectable from 1 to 4 octaves Pattern Menu Page 3 ARP Pattern Normally allows various rhythmic patterns to be applied to the Arpeggiator modes 32 different patterns are available Experiment with different patterns numbers to achieve the desired rhythm When set to OFF each note played has an equal duration Pattern Velocity Menu Page 4 ARP Pattern Vel When set to ON the note velocities for each note played by the Arpeggiator will be preset values When set to OFF the note v
107. es 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 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 modify or more commonly known as 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 LFOs Memories Summary Memories 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 physically connected together by combinations of cables known as patch leads A typical sound produced by this method would often involve connecting 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 recon nected in exactly the same way the sound would be lost for
108. es not have the MIDI driver installed Windows PC or Apple Mac running OSX or if an Apple Mac does not have an applica tion open that could use the MIDI driver stuck notes may occur as the X Station waits for communication with the computer Either load the driver Win OSX open an application that could use the X Station OSX even selecting the utility application Audio MIDI set up will suf fice or simply stop the X Station from transmitting data to the USB port set in the template common menu If a problem is encountered that is not covered in this manual please follow these steps 1 Check the FAQ pages of the Novation website The FAQ pages cover operational issues We find that most technical queries are covered here The FAQ pages can be reached from the support link at www novationmusic com If this does not answer your query then go to step 2 2 Contact your Local Distributor Local Novation Distributors are able to deal with Novation technical support queries To find out the contact details for the appropriate Novation Distributor please visit the distributor link at www novationmusic com 3 Contact Novation UK customers only If you are in the UK and need assistance please contact us by completing an email Support Request Form This can be found under the support link at www novationmusic com Please note that any sup port queries submitted to Novation that have been received from out side the UK will be passed
109. essing the WRITE button the display will show The new O S should now be sent from the host computer Operating systems can be sent with the Novation OS installers that can be down loaded with the latest operating systems from www novationmusic com As the OS is received a percentage of receipt is displayed When com pleted a prompt is made to switch the X Station Off and then back On again Retain Template Values Menu Page 13 Determines whether the current values for each control in the current Template are remembered when a different Template is selected When set to ON the current values are remembered If the original Template is selected again at a later time it is these remembered val ues which will be regarded as current Note These remembered values are lost when the X Station is pow ered off unless a Template is saved to memory When set to OFF the values are not remembered and every time a new Template is selected it will be the values stored in the Template memory data which are regarded as current The Retain Template Values setting should be used with the pot slider override control Menu page 6 set to Pickup Default Sample Rate Menu Page 14 Defines the internal audio sampling rate when the X Station is not con nected to a computer via USB When a USB cable is connected the computer specifies the sampling rate and altering this setting has no effect 28
110. ever Modern machines such as the Novation KS 4 KS 5 have all the blocks in one compact unit and the sound generating or modifying 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 physi cally 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 Summary 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 This 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 experiment ing with the factory preset sounds and creating new ones There is no substitute for hands on experience Experiments with altering knobs and switches will eventually lead to a fuller understanding of how the various controls alter
111. h Trilogy Synth Spectrasonics The external MIDI control for these two synths are the same so use this electronic template for either synth No template label is required since the panel layout suits the format Spectrasonics Trilogy Atmosphere Dream Synth Panel Legend Actual Control Function Oscillator Section Osc1 Osc2 Select Layer A B Select for both instruments The OCTAVE SOLO fs UNISON LAYER A B VIEW plug in works with two LFO DEPTH ENV TIME Layers A and B Use the PWM PAN SYNC LAYER A B ON OFF Osc Select grey buttons to switch between OSC controls for Layer A and B The layer ESAS view can be changed by Amp Mod Env Select pressing the Unison buttons F1 which is mapped to Layer Efecte Section switches The Pitch Mod Amp and Pan controls may be freely assigned to any of the No Control knobs Filter Section Filter 1 Filter 2 Select Envelopes section Master Filter Filter Select Filter Env3 Select Amp Filter Env8 Select FILTER ENV INVERT MASTER VOLUME B4 Upper Lower Native Instruments Use the supplied Template label B4 since the panel layout does not suit the format of the B4 Two Templates are used to control the B4 one for the Upper manual and one for the Lower manual Use the DATA VALUE encoder to quickly switch between the two Novation Bass Station VST Panel Legen
112. h data values between 0 99 can be used Any other values are ignored For example to select Template 30 from a sequencer send Bank Select CC32 0 Program Change 29 or to select Synth patch 199 from a sequencer send Bank Select CC32 33 Program Change 99 Whenever Synth patches are selected using this method the X Station always automatically enters KS Synth Mode 36 THE KS SYNTHESIZER Editing A Synth Patch Sound Once familiar with the sounds that are available use the PROGRAM buttons to select Synth patch number 299 Init Program 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 sound editing controls are found on the front panel and some of these will be now be used to modify edit this basic sound While 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 AMP ENV JE J JE MONO POLY GATE HOLD ON OFF
113. he Resonance Normalise At zero when resonance is applied the main audio signal will remain at normal levels Adjusting clockwise will reduce the signal level in relation to the resonance level This feature enables the Filter to emulate many of the classic Filters such as the Moog type Oberheim type and Roland TB303 type LFO Velocity Menu Pages 1 amp 8 LFO1 Velocity The intensity of the LFO may be set to respond to velocity As an example of this Set the LFO1 depth control to a positive value from the front panel such that pitch modulation occurs on Oscillator 1 Using this Menu setting the LFO1 velocity to a positive value Notice that when pressing a key on the keyboard a soft press results in a very small amount of pitch modulation or wobble and a hard press results in a large amount When an LFO is used in the mixer section as a modulation source this feature is useful for controlling the volume of each Oscillator in propor tion to how hard a key is struck LFO Delay Triggering Menu Pages 2 amp 9 LFO1 MonoDelTrig When the Polyphony Mode is set to any of the Mono options see Page 42 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 rema
114. he sound more punchy 25 DETAILED OPERATION The Distortion Effect The EQ Processor Release Time The compressor needs to know how quickly to turn off the compression effect once the signal level drops to below the threshold level Turning the BOTTOM LINE knob adjusts the Release time from 50mS to 5 Seconds If the Release time is set to a low value then the com pression effect will be turned off very quickly once the signal drops below the threshold level Setting to a longer time will result in the com pression effect gradually disappearing over a period Start by using a setting of about 64 Hold Time If the Attack and Release times are set to fast low values then it is useful to be able to Hold the compression effect for a time The Hold Time control allows a slight delay to set before the compressor initiates the release time phase Turning the TOP LINE knob adjusts the Hold time from 0 1mS to 200mS Seconds A setting of about 64 will give good results The Distortion Effect 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 To adjust the controls for the Distortion effect use the UP and DOWN arrow until the Distortion LED next the Distortion label is selected Turn the LEVEL knob until the Distortion effect is pre
115. he word Setting refers to any parameter which is edited from within a menu The word Synth Patch refers to a synthesizer memory which is accessed while the X Station is operating in the synthesizer mode 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 button slider or rotary encoder Connecting Up To Equipment In order to record or replay Audio or MIDI data it will be necessary to connect the X Station to a desktop or laptop computer with the appro priate MIDI and Audio recoding software installed When connected to a computer power will be supplied directly from the USB cable connection and it will not usually be necessary to fit batter ies or plug into an external PSU Laptop Operation When using a USB connection to power the X Station from a Laptop computer the X Station may not power up successfully This is due to the X Station not being able to draw enough power from the Laptop computer The X station requires approx 350mA of power to operate dependent on various conditions Switching on the phantom power turning up the monitor volume in the headphones and charging the batteries will add to the power consumption Although the USB specification dictates that all computers should be able to supply 500mA of current which is ample some Laptops are not able to supply as much as this The soluti
116. ica tion Available options include Controller numbers NRPNs RPNS Bank Change Program Change and definable System Exclusive Strings System Exclusive strings may be up to 20 bytes long Control data may be inserted anywhere within the System Exclusive message 40 Template editable memories are available Each Template contains definitions for all front panel controls Templates may be individually named for easy reference and saved to from an external sequencer via MIDI Sysex bulk dumps Audio Section Main Features Two Novation high precision low noise high bandwidth audio pre ampli fiers with phantom power and over 70 dB headroom deliver a warm clear signal typical of Novation s commitment to sonic excellence Complete multi effects processors are available per input channel fea turing simultaneous Reverb Chorus Phaser Delay Compressor Distortion and EQ Integrated USB low latency Audio and MIDI Requires just a single USB connection a computer High power independent headphone output with separate stereo con verter for zero latency monitoring of input signal with or without effects 44 1 48 Khz 24 bit simultaneous 2 channel Audio input and output operation Driver software included to run on Windows XP or MAC OSX Synthesizer Features The X Station includes a 3 oscillator virtual analog synthesizer model based on the renowned Novation KS series and is 8 voice polyphonic The extensive control interface provides i
117. ice Selecting the X Station as the Audio Device in Cubase SX or SX2 In Cubase SX or Cubase SX2 open the Device setup window from the pull down menu under Devices Cubase sx File Edit Project Audio MIDI Scores Pool Transport Devices Window Help Cubase Sx Project Untitled Ableton Live MIDI Device Manager Mixer F3 YASA XU Z Mixer 2 Mixer 3 Plug in Information Reason Time Display VST Connections VST Instruments VST Performance F12 Video TTT 2 AA 4 5 6 7 8 Show Panel In the Device setup window click on VST Multitrack A display similar to the following illustration will appear There are drop down selection boxes titled ASIO Driver and Clock Source Click on the ASIO Driver selection box and select X Station D Ol gt lelimay nea xi 7 M os a i MDEE 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 E 10 11 Setup Add Remove Input Latency 4 989 ms Output Latency 9 977 ms v Clock Source external Control Panel W Release ASIO Driver in Background VST Multitrack VST Outputs VST System Link Video Player Windows MIDI O Direct Monitoring Expert Help Reset Apply Reset All Cancel Selecting the X Station as the Audio Device The X Station Control Panel Certain audio settings may be changed by clicking on Control Panel in the Device setup window A panel will appear as illustrated below
118. ics to the sound depending on how hard the note was played It is also possible to configure buttons on the front panel to transmit Note messages such that a Note On message is sent when the button is pressed and the corresponding Note Off message sent when the but ton is released This is detailed on page 18 Control Change Messages These messages are commonly used to alter synthesizer parameters by MIDI In many of the Preset Templates it is actually Control Change messages which are sent when the front panel controls are moved The MIDI specification allows for 128 different types of controller mes sage 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 the X Stations modulation joystick is moved it will transmit MIDI control change information using CC1 All makes of syn thesizers will also use CC1 for modulation wheel data The Continuous Controller numbers rigidly defined include 0 6 32 38 96 97 98 99 100 101 amp 120 127 These are used for specialised specific purposes Many Control Change numbers have no set purpose within the MIDI specification For example whenever a Novation KS series Filter FRE QUENCY knob is moved it will transmit using CC105 There is no guarantee however that other makes of synthesizer will use this contro
119. ill slow the time taken for the pitch of the first note to reach that of the second note played Note that this knob affects all three Oscillators simultaneously WAVEFORM Knob This knob sets the currently selected Oscillator s waveform There are 16 waveforms available The first 4 of Oscillator Waveforms Value Display 0 SINE these are the traditional waveform 1 TRIANGLE shapes found on classic analogue 2 SAWTOOTH synthesizers The next 4 are special 3 SQR PULSE noise types The remaining 8 are digi 4 WHT NOISE tally sampled waveforms that provide 5 HP NOISE useful sources fro emulating more tra 6 BP NOISE ditional instruments and percussion 1 HBP NOISE sounds 7 ORGAN 9 HARPSICRD When this knob is at the fully anti 10 ELECPIANO clockwise position the Sine waveform 11 SLAP BASS is selected As the knob is turned 12 RHODPIANO clockwise the other traditional wave 13 RHOD TINE forms are selected After these the 14 WHURLYEP more complex harmonic waveforms 15 CLAVINET 16 ANABASS are available Raises or lowers the selected Oscillator s pitch in semitone increments up to a full octave 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 perfect 5th 3 minor 3rd 4 major 3rd 8 minor 6th and 9 major 6th offer the best results Use other settings for intentionally discordant s
120. imbre waveforms and oscillators became familiar FM Synthesis is the technique of using one waveform to Frequency Modulate FM another 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 90 Carrier Oscillator Mu Au aves AGW EN ay Output Waveform 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 modu lator 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 shown in the nex illustration The Oscillator Menu Modulator ODPL PII Envelope Modulation 20 Carrier UN It can be seen that the output waveform begins by 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 Output Waveform The timbre of the Waveform is changing with
121. in Octave jumps To change the basic pitch of the selected Oscillator to 1 octave for example repeatedly press the OCTAVE button until the display indicates that 1 has been selected NOTE The 0 position corresponds to the concert pitch of 440Hz when note A above middle C is played PW SELECT Button and PWM Knob The function of the PWM knob is dependent on the selection of the PW SELECT button With the POSITION setting selected the PWM knob will manually control the pulse width of a square waveform the select ed waveform for the Oscillator must be Square wave for this to hap pen In order to understand 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 PWM knob in the central position the Pulse Width wave becomes a square wave As the knob is adjusted clockwise or anti clockwise the Pulse Width becomes narrower producing what is termed as a Pulse Wave With the LFO position selected by the PW SELECT button the width of the Pulse Wave may be modulated by LFO 2 The intensity of this mod ulation is determined by the PWM knob With the knob at central posi tion there is no effect Turning clockwise or anticlockwise introduces the effect Continuous variation in the width of a pulse waveform which is what is happening when LFO 2 is modulating i
122. indicates that smaller changes in velocity a lighter playing style will create a large change in response to velocity be it 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 response to velocity Synth Local Control Menu Page 4 This function can be thought of as a switch which when set to OFF dis connects the front panel controls and keyboard from the internal syn thesizer sound engine Playing the keyboard or moving any of the controls still results in the appropriate MIDI information being transmitted from the MIDI OUT socket but they will have no direct affect on the synth sound engine The sound engine will only be affected if the MIDI signals are routed back into the MIDI IN or USB port probably by a sequencer It is recommended that Synth Local Control is set to ON unless the full MIDI implications are appreciated of having it set otherwise When not connected to a sequencer it will not be possible to play the KS Synth at all unless Synth Local Control is ON Setting the synth local control to off will stop the KS synth from playing voices directly when using the X Station as a master keyboard to play other software hardware instruments Synth MIDI Source Menu Page 5 Synth Midi Src Specifies which if any port can be used to trigger the KS Synth engine There
123. ing 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 the factory initialisa tion sound 299 Init Program This sound use only use Oscillator 1 as the source waveform For this oscillator select the sawtooth wave form using the WAVEFORM knob Select POSITION using the PW SELECT button Rotate the PWM knob fully clockwise As the control is rotated a dou ble sawtooth wave is generated At this fully clockwise position the pitch will appear to double Return the PWM knob to the 12 O clock position Select LFO using the PW SELECT button Slowly rotate the PWM knob Notice that there will be some movement in the sound Press the LFO button to select LFO 2 Select a sawtooth LFO wave using the WAVEFORM button in the LFOs section 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 one pitch to the next Increasing the amount w
124. ining 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 3 amp 10 LFO1 Keysync Each LFO waveform 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 on Page 46 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 Synth Global Sync setting found in the KS Synth Global Menu See Page 52 for details 47 The LFO Menu THE KS SYNTHESIZER LFO Keysync Initial Phase Offset Menu Pages 4 amp 11 LFO1 Init Phase 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 Polarity Menu Pages 5 amp 12 LFO1 Unipolar Determines whether the LFO modulates in a pos
125. inning 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 Imagine a String section of eight violin players With the LFO locked and the LFO being used to create a vibrato all sixteen of the string players would have the bow in exactly the same position This obvious ly 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 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 key sync is applied to the LFO is determined by the setting of the Synth Global Sync value found in the KS Synth Global Menu See Page 52 for details LFO One Shot Menu Pages 7 amp 14 LFO1 One Shot Determines if the selected LFO will repeat its waveform at the end of the first cycle throughout the duration of a voice or if the select ed LFO will only cycle through its waveform
126. input level The BALANCE knob behaves in a different way when recording a Stereo device Rotating it fully anti clockwise will result in the signal being summed into a MONO signal Rotating it fully clockwise will result in a WIDE Stereo signal As in the previous examples the balance between the previously recorded tracks and the new live stereo input may be adjusted to suit by rotating the MONITOR input to output knob Recording And Listening With Effects Most modern software audio sequencers allow the input signal to be monitored with low latency but this is only a copy of whatever is plugged into the audio input s An outstanding feature of the X Station is the ability to record and or monitor complete with effects such as Reverb without the need for an external hardware effects box or without the need to engage additional effects processors within the recording software This is particularly useful when recording vocals since the artist will nor mally prefer some amount of reverb in the headphones during a per formance It usually will help him her to envisage a live situation with some ambience in the room There are three options with regard to monitoring and recording the effects EFFECTS GB Bypass Listen Record Listen No Record 1 Bypass E This option will disable the effects section and the computer system will record any audio data dry that is an amplified version of the signal appearing at the au
127. ion EFFECTS CONTROL SPREAD APPENDIX panel and these are listed in the table opposite JP 8000 JP8080 Roland No Template label is required since the panel layout suits the JP8000 for mat A few controls listed in the table shown on the right have different func tions to the front panel legends Use the Oscillator Semitone and Detune controls to access Control 1 amp Control 2 for each Oscillator Pitch envelope Attack and Decay is available on Envelope 3 Kontakt Native Instruments No template label is required since the panel layout suits the format for Kontakt Kontakt is a very powerful sample plug in Like many other Native Instrument Instruments Kontakt does not have a default MIDI imple mentation Instead controls need to be assigned or learnt to Kontakt The controls used in the Kontakt template cover the most useful controls that will be needed to control a sampler Each has a unique MIDI continuous control number within the Kontakt template to help The controls are shown in the table opposite LIVE Ableton Use the Sequencer Mixer Template label with LIVE Ableton refers to it s preferences file as template set There is an Ableton Live template set file called template als within the X Station Ableton folder included on the X Station Drivers Resources CD This needs to be copied to the Ableton Live preferences program folder directory but this will replac
128. is described on page 27 Whenever a new Template or Synth patch is selected from front panel both Bank Change and Program Change messages can be transmitted via MIDI Out and or USB It is sometimes convenient to record these messages into a sequencer in real time 2 Using MIDI Bank Select amp Program Change Messages A MIDI Bank Select and Program change message sent from an exter nal sequencer or controller keyboard can be used to select a Template or Synth patch directly These messages should always be sent on the Global MIDI Channel The Global MIDI channel is set from within the Global Menu See page 25 for details The MIDI Bank Change message CC32 should always precede the Program Change message it is recommended that the Bank Change message is always sent immediately before the Program Change mes sage A Bank Change message with a data value of zero can be used to select a Template A Bank Change message with a data value of 33 is always used to select Synth patches 100 199 and a Bank Change message with a data value of 34 is always used to Synth patches 200 299 Note that if the Bank Change message is omitted a Program change message will always select a Template rather than a Synth patch The Program Change message specifies which actual Template or Synth patch is to be selected When selecting Templates only data val ues in the range 0 39 are valid Any other values are ignored For selecting a Synth patc
129. is is special type of MIDI message often referred to as Sysex System Exclusive messages 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 MIDI device will only accept a system exclu sive message designed especially for it For example If the Novation 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 Novation K Station Unlike other types of MIDI message System Exclusive messages do not have a fixed length The MIDI specification allows any number of data bytes each with a value between 0 to 127 between a Sysex Start byte and a Sysex End byte The first data bytes in a Sysex mes sage always contain the manufacturer ID This is unique to each Synthesizer manufacturer Some manufacturers such as Yamaha employ short Sysex messages for sound editing purposes rather than using Control Change mes sages The X Station can send short System Exclusive messages con taining up to 20 bytes including the manufacturer ID See page 18 for details The X Station employs sy
130. is responsible for further altering the tone of the sound It does this by removing filtering certain undesired harmonic 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 providing changes in the character of the sound which can evolve over time Because LFOs and Envelopes only purpose is to control modulate the other synthesizer sections they are commonly known as modulators These various synthesizer sections will now be covered in more detail 30 SYNTHESIS TUTORIAL The Oscillators And Mixer oscs MIXER GB Osc 1 GB Osc 2 GS Osc 3 Noise WAVEFORM SEMITONE DETUNE LEVEL PWM ae X mod B Position GHB Lfo os G9 Env mod PORTAMENTO ENY PERH dul Eae DEPTH PW SELECT SYNC The Oscillator is really the heartbeat of the Synthesizer It generates an electronic wave which creates the vibrations This Waveform is pro duced at a controllable musical pitch initially determined by the note played on the keyboard or contained in a received MIDI note message The initial distinctive tone or timbre of the waveform is actually deter mined by the wave s shape Many years ago pioneers
131. ith any multiple combination possible A U shown on the display indicates the MIDI will be sent to the USB port a 1 that the MIDI OUT 1 port will be used and a 2 indicates that the MIDI OUT 2 port will be used Override MIDI Channel Menu Page 4 This setting provides an override MIDI channel that is used instead of the channel defined for each of the programmable front controls The override channel also affects the X Station keyboard and Modulation Pitch Bend joystick When this is set to Off the channel override feature is disabled and each control will transmit using its own MIDI channel settings Note that the MIDI Inst Chan setting in Play Mode always has a higher priority than the value of this setting as defined here Touchpad X Type Menu Page 5 Sets how the touchpad behaves when a finger is placed on the pad The X type defines the horizontal plain The data value encoder scrolls through three types of Spring modes No Spring As soon as a finger is released from the touchpad the value of the touchpad will remain A subsequent touch to the pad will result in a slew to the new touch value Spring Left As soon as a finger is released from the touchpad the value of the touchpad will slew back to the Start position ie to the Low Value see page 16 for details Spring Center As soon as a finger is released from the touchpad the value of the touchpad will slew back to the center
132. itive and negative Middle C 2 Time Unipolar set to OFF direction or solely in a positive direction As an example of how this works imagine an LFO assigned to modu late an Oscillator s pitch while a key of middle C is played on the key board When Unipolar is set to OFF the pitch would be modulated between a note some interval below middle C and another note at an Pitch Middle C Pe Unipolar set to ON Time equal interval above middle C The interval between the notes is deter mined by the modulation amount applied to the pitch by the LFO If the LFO was modulating the pitch with Unipolar set to ON the pitch would only be modulated in a positive direction so the pitch would modulate between middle C and another note located at some interval above It is often useful to set an LFO s Unipolar setting to ON if an LFO is being used as a simple Envelope Generator by setting its ONE SHOT mode LFO Common to all voices Menu Pages 6 amp 13 LFO1 Common Each of the 8 voices notes of polyphony have two LFOs 16 in total The eight LFOs designated LFO 1 one per voice may be phase locked together and similarly the eight LFOs 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 sixteen are at the beginning of a the rising portion of the wave At a later point in time all will be at the beg
133. ixed Velocity used for button definitions Combined Modulation amp Pitch Bend joystick X O 0 127 127 Definable RPNs amp NRPNs 0 127 0 39 Valid For kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk Selecting Templates Single amp All Template data dumps Synth Patches OS upgrades Definable Strings MMC codes a a a Mode 2 OMNI ON MONO Mode 4 OMNI OFF MONO 64 e APPENDIX Safety CE Notices And Approvals IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS Warning When using electric products basic precautions should always be followed including the following 1 Read all the instructions and observe the graphic symbols above before using the product 2 Do not use this product near water for example near a bathtub washbowl kitchen sink in a wet basement near or in a swimming pool a swamp or the like 3 This product should be used only with a cart or a stand that is recommended by the manufacturer 4 This product either alone or in combination with an amplifier and headphones or speakers may be perfectly capable of producing sound levels that could cause permanent hearing loss Do not operate for a long period of time at a high volume level or at a level that is uncomfortable If you experience any hearing loss or ringing in the ears you should consult an audiologist 5 The product should be located so that its location or position does not interfere with or obstruct its normal flow of ventilation 6 The product
134. ket transmitted as MIDI note on off information Setting the destination to E internal and external will route Arpeggiated notes to both the MIDI output socket and the internal sound engine As with the EXT option it is the notes generated by the Arpeggiator which are transmitted via MIDI 49 THE KS SYNTHESIZER The Sync Menu The Sync Menu All of the settings associated with synchronising the Arpeggiator LFOs and Effects to the Arpeggiator clock are found here The Sync Menu is selected by pressing the GATE but ee 3 ton in the Mod Env Env 3 section on the front panel C Use the BANK PAGE up down buttons to scroll GATE through the Menu functions available See the table below Sync Menu Page Function Top Line Display Value 1 Sync Type SYNC Arp Tempo 32T 1 bar 2 LFO1 Sync Del Time SYNC Lfo1 Delay OFF 12bars 3 LFO1 Sync Speed SYNC Lfo1 Speed OFF 12bars 4 LFO2 Sync Del Time SYNC Lfo2 Delay OFF 12bars 5 LFO2 Sync Speed SYNC Lfo2 Speed OFF 12bars 6 Delay Sync time SYNC Delay Time OFF 2 bars 7 Chorus Phaser Sync Time SYNC Chor Rate OFF 12bars 8 Panning Sync Time SYNC Pan Rate OFF 12bars In all cases when a feature is synchronized the tempo is controlled by the Arpeggiator TEMPO knob In all cases when a features is synchronized to the Arpeggiator Clock its front panel controls for example LFO SPEED will have no effect These controls will only become effective once the feature s Syn
135. l change number for the same purpose A CC MIDI message can contain a data value anywhere in the range 0 to 127 Use of Control Change messages is detailed on page 16 Non Registered Parameter Messages Some synthesizers such as the Novation KS series actually have many more than 128 different parameters that can be transmitted by MIDI but because the number of different types of control change mes sage is limited to just 128 a more complicated arrangement for trans mitting additional parameters is used This arrangement is known as Non Registered Parameter Numbers NRPNs for short NRPNs actually consist of three MIDI control change messages grouped together rather than a single MIDI control change message which is normally used The first two CC messages define the NRPN number of the message CC98 is used to specify the least significant byte LSB of the NRPN number and CC99 is used to specify the most significant byte MSB of the NRPN number 12 MIDI TUTORIAL To calculate the MSB divide the full NRPN number by 128 The remainder is the LSB value Once the LSB amp MSB of the NRPN number have been sent CC6 known as Data Entry immediately follows This contains the actual data value to be sent in the NRPN As an example of how this works consider sending a data value of 10 on NRPN number 260 The three grouped Continuous Controller mes sages would be CC98 NRPN LSB 4 260 modulus 128 4 CC99 NRP
136. le This setting sends a delay of equal time to the left and right output chan Delay Ratios Left Right 1 1 nels The number in the left column of the table aa indicates the ratio of the delay time that will be in 34 the left channel versus the number in the right A column 2 1 For example if a delay of twice the time is 1 2 required in the left channel compared to the 3 1 right select the 2 1 option The final 1 OFF and 1 3 OFF 1 options will result in no delay being heard 4 1 in the channel indicated by the OFF 1 4 Note Selecting a 1 1 ratio will produce a mono Tom effect regardless of the Stereo width setting since the timing of the echos are equal NOTE The left Right delay ratio will only be heard if using a Stereo signal source The Reverb Effect The Reverb Effect is an electronic 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 To adjust the controls for the Reverb effect use the UP and DOWN arrow until the Reverb LED next the Reverb label is selected Turn the LEVEL knob until the Reverb effect is present If either the TOP LINE or BOTTOM LINE knob is adjusted the display will alter to display the Reverb Type and Reverb Decay as shown below Reverb Type Different types of rooms and halls h
137. ll remove any of the vibrato effect To set the stick to Static turn the X Station upside down Push down on the plastic slider below the joystick assembly and move the plastic switch to the opposite end of the cavity To return to Sprung mode repeat the procedure in the opposite direction Setting to static allows the stick to be left in a position where modula tion is applied without having to keep a finger pressed on the stick This can be useful when the mod wheel is assigned to control the speed switch of an organ rotary speaker Audio Connection And Setup At this stage it is assumed that the X Station is connected to a comput er and both the computer and the X Station are switched on Now that the software drivers have been installed connect the X Station to the other system devices These could be as shown in the illustration Novation PSU 6 Power Supply novation a ie ao 0000o oeo O0 F This is a basic Audio connection It will allow the recording of external signal sources such a those from a microphone or guitar and also allow the replay of Audio data from a sequencer to a pair of loudspeakers and headphones MIDI notes played from the keyboard and knob movements will also be sent to the sequencer If batteries are not fitted then an external power supply Novation PSU6 may need to be connected See page 5 If this is the case shut down the computer turn
138. llator Pulse Width Filter frequency and Oscillator Pitch ATTACK Sliders 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 increas ing 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 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 slightly until the clicks are inaudible DECAY Sliders 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 Selects whether the VELOCITY slider and TRIGGER button affect the Amp Envelope the Mod Envelope or the AD Envelope The LED above the button indicates which Envelope is currently selected VELOCITY Slider These functions determine how
139. lows a button to step though a range of values one value at a time This will be changed in a forthcoming version of the Remote OS This will then allow the PPG wave arpeggiator buttons to work in a more efficient and user friendly way In the envelope section the Amp enve lope is termed Env 2 and the Mod Envelope is termed env 1 Envelope 3 has only two parameters Attack and Decay Controls are listed in the table as shown Clavia Nord Lead 3 Template 37 Panel Legend Actual Control Function Oscillator Section OSC 1 SEMITONE OSC 1 SHAPE LEVEL OSC 1 2 MIX Filter Section OVERDRIVE DISTORT Envelopes section GATE INVERT F1 MOD ENV ATTACK TYPE F2 DECAY REL SE ON OFF F3 REPEAT ON OFF G Media Oddity Panel Legend Actual Control Function Oscillator Section ENV DEPTH FM1 LEVEL LFO DEPTH FM2 LEVEL OCTAVE FM1 SRC UNISON FM2 SRC SYNC PW MOD SRC Filter Section KEYTRACK HPF CUT OFF FREQ ENV DEPTH VCF MOD1 AMOUNT LFO DEPTH VCF MOD2 AMOUNT OVERDRIVE VCF MOD3 AMOUNT SLOPE VCF MOD1 SOURCE TYPE VCF MOD2 SOURCE HPF ON VCF MOD3 SOURCE Envelopes Section AMP ENV GATE KEYBRD GATE LFO REPT MOD ENV AR GATE KEYBRD GATE REPEAT LFO Section WAVEFORM TEMPO SYNC ON OFF DEST KYBD LFO RETRIG ON OFF DELAY AMOUNT SAMPLE HOLD OUT LAG Steinberg PPG WAVE 2 V
140. lue in the top line of the display Feedback 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 produce repeated sounds resulting in a multiple echo effect Large amounts of feedback produces infinite echoes Use the BOTTOM LINE knob to alter this set ting To access the remaining controls of the Delay effect processor press the MENU button Once in a display Menu the LED above the MENU button will be lit the BANK PAGE UP DOWN buttons may be used to scroll forwards and backwards through any additional Menu screens In the case of the Delay processor there is only the single page Menu as shown below Stereo Width This sets the Stereo spread 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 dramat ic stereo effect Use the TOP LINE knob to alter this setting Left Right Time Ratio This automatically adjusts the ratio of the longest delay time and the shorter delay time into timings that are musically useful 23 DETAILED OPERATION The Reverb Effect The Chorus Effect Use the BOTTOM LINE knob to select the most suitable ratio A Simple equal 1 to 1 ratio is the first entry in the tab
141. m my ha kn The display will now show the destination memory number where the Synth patch is about to be saved to In this example To Program 100 Notice that the destination memory is always initially set to the currently selected Synth patches number It is possible to save a Synth patch to a different memory location Use the DATA VALUE knob to select a different destination memory if required Any Synth patch location can be selected even if it previously contained a factory preset Press the WRITE button again On this display it is possible to edit the Synth patches name Use the Left and Right INST CHANNEL CURSOR buttons to move the cursor within the Patches name text Use the DATA VALUE knob to edit the character located at the cursor Press the WRITE button again and the write procedure is completed Note There are certain settings which are common to all Synth Patches which are not saved during this procedure See page 53 for details on these 37 THE KS SYNTHESIZER Using Menus The Oscillator Mixer Section Using Menus Many of the more specialised features and utilities of the KS Synth are accessed from menus There are nine separate menus each of which consists of several pages linked together AMP ENV MOD ENV ENV 3 CO E E E W E E E E MONO POLY GATE HOLD ON OFF DEST GATE F1 Fe F3 m In KS Synth mode the top row of buttons in the Envelopes section of the front panel
142. moa FREQUENCY RESONANCE KEY TRACK speep E Position ti SLOPE _ c OCTAVE E Env mod TYPE wai J p ef PORTAMENTO SoN ELAY ENV DEPTH LFO DEPTH modulation HPF ON LFO DEPTH OVERDRIVE 7 ARP EFF UNISON pw SELECT SYNC AMP ENV MOD ENV ENV 3 C N j d i j d C ji j d MONO POLY GATE HOD ON OFF OEST GATE i s il al 1 Numerous software or hardware synthesizers may be played directly from the X Station without the need for fitting a physical template overlay For clarity a few software synthesizers or real instrument emulations will benefit by placing one of the supplied labels over the front panel synthesizer area Factory Supplied Templates Sample Rate 48000 bd Output Latency Sms Latency Compensation Sms Channels extemal bd ASIO Control Panel If precise Audio settings such as latency need to be adjusted the X Station control panel may be selected and edited in a similar way to the Active Channels 2 out of 2 Clock Source Manufacturer Insturment Template Name Propellerheads Reason Malstrom Malstrom Propellerheads Reason ReDRUM Drum Propellerheads Reason Mixer Mixer Native Instruments FM7 FM7 Native Instruments B4 B4 QUICK START GUIDE Using The programmable Template Controls In addition to the 5 prep
143. n this control actually modulates the Mixer LEVEL from LFO 1 LEVEL Knob Controls the signal level sent to the Mixer for the currently selected Oscillator Noise Generator or Ring Modulator UNISON Button 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 Up to eight voices may layered one on top of another when just a single note is played To listen to the effect repeatedly press the UNISON Button until the display shows 2 Play a note and listen to the sound It will become thicker sounding Increasing the number of 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 4 voices in Unison mode will result in just two notes of polyphony being available 39 THE KS SYNTHESIZER The Filter Section SYNC Button This function provides a way of producing interesting piercing metallic sounds It does this by using the frequency of Oscillator 1 to periodically 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 corresponds to the number of waveform peaks cycles over a given period of time The frequency also determines the Oscillator s pitch Therefore if Oscillators
144. n KS Synth Mode an additional Global Menu is available which contains settings relevant to KS Synth operation To access this menu press the GLOBAL button to access Global Mode in the normal way Pressing the GLOBAL button once more brings up the extra KS Synth Mode Global Menu The following Menu pages are available KS Synth Mode Global Menu Page Function Top Line Display WEIN 1 Synth Tuning Synth Tune Cents 64 63 2 Synth Global Sync Synth Glob Sync PROG SONG 3 Synth Velocity Response Synth Vel Resp SOFT HARD 4 Synth Local Control Syn Local Cntrl OFF ON 5 Synth MIDI Source Synth Midi Src OFF USB Synth Tuning Menu Page 1 Synth Tune Cents Adjusts the master tuning 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 Synth Global Sync Menu Page 2 Synth Glob Sync 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 synchronize the Panning and Chorus LFOs as described on page 28 This setting allows them to have their start position locked in time with the musical piece for stunning effects Synth Velocity Response Menu Page 3 Synth Vel Resp 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
145. ncies above the cut off point are reduced in volume Cut off Volume frequency Frequency When resonance is added frequencies at the cut off point are boosted in volume Cut off frequency Volume Frequency In addition to the traditional Low Pass Filter type there is also a High Pass and Band Pass Filter The type of Filter used is selected by using the front panel Filter TYPE button The High Pass Filter is similar to the Low Pass Filter except that fre quencies below the cutoff frequency point are removed Frequencies above that point are passed When the FREQUENCY knob is set fully anti clockwise the filter is set completely open and no frequencies are removed from the raw Oscillator waveforms Cutoff Frequency E Frequency When the Band Pass Filter is used only a narrow band of frequencies centered on the cutoff frequency point are let through All frequencies outside this band are removed It is not possible to fully open this type of Filter allowing all frequencies to pass through Cutoff Frequency Frequency Envelopes And Amplifier Envelopes And Amplifier In earlier paragraphs it was determined how the pitch and timbre of a sound are synthesized This final part of the Synthesis Tutorial describes how the volume of sound is controlled The volume through out the duration of a sound created by a musical instrument often varies greatly according to the type of instrument Key On Key
146. nction performs the same function as the Panning knob on a mixing console It can be used to position a sound anywhere from left to right in the stereo field The Pan Menu is selected by pressing the F3 button in the Mod Env Env 3 section on the front panel Use the BANK PAGE up down buttons to scroll F3 through the Menu functions available See the table below Pan Menu Page Function Top Line Display KELT 1 Pan Mod Depth PAN Mod Depth 0 127 2 Mod Rate PAN Mod Rate 0 127 3 Pan Initial Start Position PAN Init Posn OFF RGT 4 Chorus Initial Start Position CHOR Init Posn OFF RGT Changing the Pan Position of a sound 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 Turn the Effects section BALANCE knob clockwise or anticlockwise to move the sound across the Stereo field Pan Modulation Depth Menu Page 1 PAN MOD Depth Introduces an amount of panning modulation which affects the location of the sound in the stereo field When set fully counter clockwise the sound will only be heard in the position set by the BALANCE control At the fully clockwise position the sound will be move automatically from the left to the right hand side at the rate determined by the pan ning rate control found in the Panning Menu Modulation Rate Menu Page
147. nctions available See the table below F1 Wheels Menu Page Function Top Line Display Value 1 Osc 1 Pitch Bend Semitones BW Osc1 Bend 12 12 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 Direct 64 63 5 Osc 1 2 3 Pitch Mod LFO1 MW Pitch Mod 64 63 6 Filter Frequency Shift MW Filter Freq 64 63 7 Filter Frequency Mod LFO2 MW Filt Freq Mod 64 63 8 Amplifier Gain post distortion MW Output Level 64 63 9 Wheel Delay Send MW Delay Level 64 63 10 Wheel Reverb Send MW Reverb Level 64 63 11 Wheel Chorus Send MW Chorus Level 64 63 Oscillator 1 2 and 3 Pitch Bend Amount Menu Pages 1 2 and 3 BW Osc1 Bend This setting is used to shift the absolute pitch of the Oscillators up or down in response to the joystick pitch bend axis position Values 1 to 12 will result in a higher pitch from 1 to 12 semitones when the joystick is pushed to the right 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 joystick different pitch bend amounts may be set for each Oscillator Modulation Wheel Pitch shift in Semitones Menu Page 4 MW Pitch Direct It may be desirable to drastically change the pitch of all
148. nd 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 louder than if it were fifty metres away Wave A is louder than Wave B but is the same pitch Volume Wave A MIM Wave B Wy 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 provide raw waveforms which provide the pitch of the sound along with its raw harmonic con tent tone These signals are then mixed together into a section called the Mixer and the mixed oscillator signal is then fed into a section named the Filter which
149. nstant access to most param eters making sound creation fast and intuitive The synthesizer is total ly integrated with computer recording setups The stereo audio output is sent straight through the USB cable onto the track into any ASIO com patible sequencer There are 200 excellent factory sound programs which have been care fully crafted to cover most styles of music and programs can be easily imported and exported into a sysex librarian QUICK START GUIDE Connecting Equipment Stand Alone Operation Playing the Synthesizer Conventions Used In This Manual The word Template refers to a collection of knobs encoders and but ton settings and the function of the footswitch pedal and X Y touchpad Each Template is numbered from 1 to 40 and can be saved in the X Station s non volatile memory The word Template Label refers to a coloured or blank overlay which sits neatly in the synthesizer control panel area The word Preset refers to a Template configured at the factory to showcase some of the powerful control possibilities Preset Templates may be over written by new settings The word Control refers to any of the front panel knobs assignable buttons encoders footswitch foot pedal joystick or the X Y touchpad Within a single Template Each control may be individually configured to transmit various types of MIDI information addressed on any combi nation of the MIDI OUT USB ports T
150. nt the keep the wide range of signal levels resulting for the dynamic performance under con trol Under control means that the peak levels must reduced to prevent overload and subsequent distortion The Compressor provides this control it simply reduces the difference between the loudest and quietest parts of the input signal by automati cally turning down the gain when the signal gets past a predetermined level In order get the compressor to behave in the correct manner for differ ent input signal conditions the settings when recording a vocalist may be quite different from those required for a Guitar solo various controls are provided These are Compression Ratio Threshold Attack Release Auto gain and Hold controls To adjust the controls for the Compressor use the UP and DOWN arrow until the Compressor LED next the Compressor label is selected Compression Ratio When the input signal exceeds a Threshold see next page for setting of the Threshold level the compressor reduces the level of the input signal The actual amount of this level reduction depends on the Compression Ratio setting The LEVEL knob adjusts the Compression Ratio and this is displayed as shown in the illustration below Turning the knob will set ratios from 1 0 to 13 7 in steps of 0 1 dB For example if this is set to Ratio 2 0 any part of the input signal that exceeds the Threshold Level will be attenuate
151. o Gain control is used to get the overall sound level back to a reasonable level A setting of 0 would result in no Auto Gain control The effect would be as described above whereby the overall signal would get quieter as a lower threshold level is set or if a higher compression ratio is set Higher settings will restore the signal to a reasonable level A maximum setting of 127 will cause the Auto Gain control to return the signal to the same loudness even with high compression ratios and low thresholds To access the remaining controls of the Compressor press the MENU button The BANK PAGE UP DOWN buttons may now be used to scroll forwards and backwards through any additional Menu screens Attack Time The compressor needs to know how quickly to apply the compression ratio once the threshold level has been exceeded Turning the TOP LINE knob adjusts the Attack time from 0 1mS to 200mS If the Attack time is set to a low value Fastest Attack time then the compression effect will be instantaneous Setting to a longer time will result in the input signal passing through unchanged for a longer time before being compressed Very often when recording percussive instruments such as Drums and Guitars setting the attack time to a medium setting say 20 40 will enhance the characteristics of the instrument since the transient portion at the start of the Drum beat or Guitar pluck will remain unchanged This has the effect of making t
152. o the Reason documentation for information on using the Auto learn feature Name cc Number Range Type Channel Rewind 112 0 127 Momentary 16 Forward 113 0 127 Momentary 16 Stop 114 0 127 Momentary 16 Play 115 0 127 Momentary 16 Record 103 0 127 Momentary 16 Malstrom There is no external MIDI control to change the Osc A or B Waveforms The Wave control for MODS A and B does not respond correctly to external MIDI control The X Station sends values from 0 31 and incorrect selection occurs Many of the A and B controls for the Malstrom are have been given the wrong controller numbers in the Reason documentation They are swapped A controls B and B controls A etc These have been altered in the X Station to allow correct operation with the application NN XT Use the Sampler Template The Touchpad is set to send Breath on CC 2 It has to be auto learnt since Wheel 2 does not respond as specified in the documentation Dr Rex Use the Sampler Template Transpose control does not respond correctly to external MIDI control Redrum Many of the controls do not respond correctly to MIDI Check the Reason Website www propellerheads se for recent updates 57 Preset Template Listing Absynth Native Instruments No Template label is required since the panel layout suits the Absynth for mat Absynth has very few parameters that can be controlled via MIDI It is necessary to specify a maximum amount of
153. of the four controls have to be programmed for the touch Station resumes in Play Mode It will be necessary to set the Memory pad It is perfectly OK to have just one value say the X1 axis pro Protect switch to Off before any X Station memories can be over writ grammed for the touchpad ten This is described on page 25 Otherwise pressing the TEMPLATE WRITE button brings up the first screen in the write process Using The Footswitch Or Pedal Normally MIDI Continuous Controller Numbers CCs 11 and 64 are used for the Expression Pedal and Sustain On Off Pedal These CC numbers are defined in all Factory Preset Templates but of course may be edited within a Template to transmit any other type of Controller data instead my Le Shown on the top line is the existing name of the Template this can be changed later in the write procedure see below On the bottom line is the Template memory location where the Template data is to be written this defaults to the current location A different destination memory In Play Mode the following display will appear if a footswitch is activat can be selected By using the DATA VALUE encoder ed A second press of the TEMPLATE WRITE button will show Sustain Footswitch The value to the bottom left of the display will indicate if the switch is On or Off On 127 Off 0 The name of the pedal may be edited in Here it is possible to edit the instrument name for the Template The
154. off the X Station and fit the batteries Ensure the X Station is still connected to the computer via the USB cable and switch both the X Station and the computer on at the same time Connect any other devices such as sustain and expression pedals if required to the rear panel jacks Finally switch on the power to any other powered devices such as the loudspeakers Each of the two Audio Inputs provided can except a wide range of audio signals from a low output level condenser microphone all the way up to a line level CD player The line output jacks deliver an unbal anced audio signal which will directly drive an audio mixer an audio power amplifier or powered loudspeakers QUICK START GUIDE Setting Up Inputs Monitoring Recording And Listening Setting Up The Microphone Or Instrument Inputs Both of the audio inputs allow either 1 4 jack plugs or XLR type con nectors to be plugged in and the input sensitivity of the high quality pre amplifiers can be adjusted to accommodate different signal levels Adjusting the Input Gain Select Input Channel 1 by pressing the INPUT button With a micro phone plugged into Channel 1 turn the GAIN knob until the GREEN LED next to the GAIN knob is fully lit when speaking or singing into the Microphone and the RED LED occasionally flashes This will set the gain of the preamplifier to input 1 the correct level for the Microphone such ne INPUT that it will not distort or
155. on ASIO driver audio J m Master Tune j 0 0 cent Audio Card Driver X Station ASIO driver 7 y example shown for Cubase by clicking on the ASIO control Panel but ton Click the X in the top right hand corner of the window to close the selection The X Station will now be selected as the default Audio device Selecting the X Station as the MIDI device in Reason In order to receive MIDI information from the X Station into Reason the X Station must be selected as a MIDI device Open the Preferences window as shown previously In the Page drop down selection click on the down arrow and select MIDI x Page MIDI X Sequencer To record into the Reason sequencer specify your master keyboard s MIDI input and MIDI channel here Pott X Station i Y Channel 1 X Click the X in the top right hand corner of the window to close the selection The X Station will now be selected as the default MIDI device Controlling a VST Plug In Instrument or a Reason Instrument The X Station control panel is arranged in the format of a typical ana logue subtractive synth design and Templates in the form of electronic memories that contain the specific control information for each instru ment are preset in the X Station OSCS MIXER FILTERS LFos m Osc 1 ee See os PLAY E noise a WAVEFORM SEMITONE DETUNE LeveL PWM x
156. on is to either 1 Power the X Station from the supplied AC DC power adapter 2 Insert Dry or rechargeable batteries recommended 3 Connect the X Station to a powered USB Hub The X Station will run on all types of C size dry or re chargeable cells Nicad batteries are rechargeable and will last approx 6 hours Alkaline batteries are normal high power dry cells They are not rechargeable and will last approx 12 hours Duracell batteries are extra high power long life dry cells They are not rechargeable and will last approx 24 hours The X Station will automatically sense the battery type and calculate charging rate depending on the condition of the battery Fitting Batteries Turn the X Station upside down and unclip the battery compartment using two fingers to push on the clips Observe the connection diagram imprinted on the plastic casing for 6 x C cells to the right of the battery cover Fit the cells as shown in the diagram Power Operation The X Station may be configured to charge or not charge the batteries if rechargeable s have been fitted from either the USB port the exter nal power supply or both See page 26 in the Global Menu Section for details Stand Alone Operation The X Station may be used as a stand alone synthesizer MIDI con troller and or a stand alone 2 channel Audio Mixer Pre amp with effects processors In this case it is not necessary to connect to a com puter system
157. ond to A MIDI Implementation Chart for the X Station can be found on page 57 14 DETAILED OPERATION m input 1 am Input 2 STEREO yo AUDIO IN TEMPLATE COMMON EMPLATE WRITE GLOBAL PLAY EDIT WAVEFORM PHANTOM a BANK PAGE PORTAMENTO OSCS MIXER Front Panel Layout FILTERS Q SEMITONE DETUNE LEVEL OCTAVE ENV DEPTH LFO DEPTH DEI UNISON modulation PI rakara a a Pa bau CS HPF ON AMOUNT DEST Q 200200 AMP ENV EFFECTS am ARP VALUE CC MIDI CHAN MIDI PORT a l INST CHANNEL CURSOR MONO POLY GATE Mod Env 3 ON OFF LEVEL BALANCE e LEVEL BOTTOM LINE lan DATA VALUE SELECT on SNAPSHOT PANIC t HEHHEE ued input output 4 REPEAT q octave LINE our LeveL Montron PHONES voL lt q gt gt ry gt ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN RELEASE ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN RELEASE VELOCITY CONTROL novation 2k SVT ATG 25 MOD PCH a 1 Audio Input and Effects Section Audio input channel and gain selection Effects control editing and selection 2 Main control and Display Section Mode control template selection and transport controls Menu selections and display cursor control 3 Synth control Oscillator Section Osc selection
158. op Line Display KELT 1 Atouch Osc 1 2 3 Pitch Shift AT Pitch Direct 64 63 2 Atouch Osc 1 2 3 Pitch Mod Ifo1 AT Pitch Mod 64 63 3 Atouch Filter Frequency Shift AT Filter Freq 64 63 4 Atouch Filter Frequency Mod Ifo2 AT Filt Freq Mod 64 63 5 Atouch Amp Gain post distortion AT Output Level 64 63 6 Breath Osc 1 2 3 Pitch Shift BR Pitch Direct 64 63 7 Breath Osc 1 2 3 Pitch Mod Ifo1 BR Pitch Mod 64 63 8 Breath Filter Frequency Shift BR Filter Freq 64 63 9 Breath Filter Frequency Mod Ifo2 BR Filt Freq Mod 64 63 10 Breath Amp Gain post distortion BR Output Level 64 63 Ensure that a connected wind controller MIDI device is configured to transmit Breath Control MIDI data if in doubt consult the device s man ual for details In order to hear the effect of any of these settings press a key down firmly on the X Station keyboard or blow into the breath controller while adjusting the values All Aftertouch settings will respond to the Aftertouch generated by play ing the X Station keyboard Atouch Osc 1 2 3 Pitch Shift Menu Page 1 AT Pitch Direct 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 any Aftertouch data will shift the pitch of the Oscillators downward With a range of 1 to 63 any Aftertouch data received will shift the pitch of the Oscillators upwards Greater values in
159. opriate control on the X Station Once the control s have been learnt the MIDI button should be clicked to disable the learn mode If needed a new template als file can then be made by clicking Options Preferences Defaults and then clicking the save button within the Set Save Template section of the pop up box Logic5 and Logic 6 Emagic Use the Template overlay titled Sequencer Mixer Preferences will need to be imported into Logic that are included in the Logic folder on the X Station Driver Resource CD Preference files are included for both Logic Platinum 5 and Logic Platinum 6 Only Logic Platinum can assign MIDI commands to key commands hence only Logic Platinum can utilize the LOGIC Panel Legend Actual Control Function Envelope Section ENV TRIGGER AUTODROP ON OFF ENV REPEAT REPLACE ON OFF Arp Section ARP TEMPO SYNC ON OFF ARP LATCH CLICK ON OFF Effect Section EFFECTS SELECT CYCLE ON OFF Preset Template Listing transport functions programmed into the Logic template To load the prefer ences into Logic 5 click on the Options tab at the top of the Logic menu bar and select key commands from the drop down menu Click on the Options tab at the top of the Logic menu bar and select Import Key Commands from the drop down menu To import preferences into Logic 6 click on the prefer ences tab under the Logic 6 menu bar and select key commands f
160. option It has a default value of 64 which will give about 0 5 seconds of display time before the display switches back to the previous screen The range of the control is 0 no timeout to permanent whereby the display does not switch back to a previous screen 27 ADVANCED FEATURES The Global Mode Menu Pitch Bend Mod Calibration Menu Page 8 Power Status Menu Page 11 Here the Modulation Pitch Bend joystick can be calibrated The joystick is moved from the extreme left to the extreme right The digits below the word Pitch will show 0 to 255 The joystick is then moved from the extreme top to the extreme bottom The digits below the word Mod will show 0 to 128 The joystick mechanism is now calibrated The calibration is saved by saving the global settings See page 27 for details Normally it should not become necessary to calibrate the joystick again Aftertouch Calibration Menu Page 9 Here the Aftertouch response of the keyboard can be calibrated The number on the right hand side is the sensitivity setting This is adjusted manually by using the DATA VALUE encoder Maximum pressure is applied to a keyboard note and the DATA VALUE encoder rotated until the digits on the left register a value of 127 The right hand digits should show a value of approximately 100 A few different keyboard notes should be tried to check that any key can achieve an Aftertouch maximum value of
161. or freeware Using such a program is recommended for building a library of templates and synthesizer programs A System Exclusive dump can be replayed into the X Station from a sequencer or sysex librarian at any time A single Template dump or The Transport Buttons The Global Mode Menu synth program will over write the edit buffer of the currently selected Template or synth program The changes will not be permanent unless the Template is then manually written to a memory following the proce dure detailed on pages 20 amp 21 In contrast All Template Sysex dumps always write directly into the X Stations memories This can be prevented by setting Memory Protect to On see above Note that synthesizer programs will only be received when the X Station is in the synthesizer mode USB To MIDI Out Menu Page 3 Enables the X Station to immediately re transmit MIDI arriving from the USB port to either or both of the MIDI OUT ports This feature is useful for some MIDI network configurations see pages 8 amp 9 This setting applies across all Templates MIDI In To Menu Page 4 Enables the X Station to immediately re transmit MIDI arriving at the MIDI IN port to the USB port or either of the MIDI OUT ports This fea ture is useful for some MIDI network configurations see page 10 Any multiple combination of ports is possible A U shown on the display indicates that MIDI data will be sent from the USB port a
162. ormat for use by the software Audio and MIDI interface used by the computers operating system Most music applica tion software Cubase Logic Cakewalk Sonar Digital Performer etc use this software Audio and MIDI interface to communicate with exter nal hardware devices such as the X Station or other keyboards and sound modules The USB driver software is located on the supplied driver and resource CD ROM and must be used with the Windows XP Operating System If using a PC with a different operating systems such as Linux Windows 95 98SE or 2000 USB support will not be available Windows XP USB Driver Software Installation With the X Station disconnected from the computer insert the X Station driver and resource disc If the computer does not automatically show an icon on the desktop for the CD double click the my computer icon The X Station driver disc is labeled as X Station Double click this icon to show the contents of the disc Find and double click the directory X Station USB Drivers Double click the icon Setup for the setup application Depending on the views set in Windows this icon may appear as setup exe in a list format X Station USB Drivers File Edit View Back 4 Address C D x Station USB Drivers Favorites Tools Help Search Files Currently on the CD SETUPMAIN 3 B XSTAUDIO XSTNUSB IMAGES XSTATION XSTNUSB DLL XSTNUSB SYS XSTATION XSTAUDIO The ASIO
163. ost useful especially for bass sounds As the FREQUENCY knob is adjusted anticlockwise harmon ics are gradually removed from the sound When almost closed only the fundamental frequency remains Fully closed and no sound at all passes With the High Pass Filter type as the FREQUENCY knob is adjusted clockwise harmonics are gradually removed from the sound When almost fully anticlockwise only the fundamental frequency remains When Fully clockwise and no sound at all passes With the Band Pass Filter type a narrow band of frequencies are passed centered on the position of the FREQUENCY knob This kind of Filter is useful when it is desired to pass only a small range of specif ic frequencies present in a sound 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 KS Synth produces a high pitched whistling sound it is probably du
164. ounds DETUNE Knob Sets the detune amount in Cents for the selected Oscillator 1 2 or 3 If it is set fully clockwise the Oscillator s 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 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 40 for the setting of the rise and fall times LFO 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 regu larly rises and falls If the LFO 1 is set to a 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 Note If the Noise Generator or Ring Modulator have been select ed with the OSC SELECT Butto
165. panel layout suits the Model E format A few controls listed in the table shown on the right have different functions to Panel Legend Actual Control Function Oscillator Section OSC 3 LFO MOD Filter Section OSC 3 NOISE MOD the front panel legends The Model E RESONANCE EMPHASIS ig LFO DEPTH FILTER MOD always uses specific controller num TYPE LOWER KEYTRACK bers so there is no need to import a HPF UPPER KEYTRACK A Effects Section setup file There are also no prefer TEVEL SPREAD ences to set up CTRL 2 PAN MS2000 Korg Korg MS2000 Template 36 No Template label is required since the panel layout suits the MS2000 format A few controls listed in the table shown on the right have different functions to the front panel legends Unlike most of the others templates this template uses SYSEX messages to control the various functions of the MS2000 rack or keyboard Panel Legend Actual Control Function Oscillator Section OSC 1 SEMITONE OSC 1 DETUNE LFO DEPTH OSC 1 WAVE CTRL 1 OSC 1 WAVE CTRL 2 VIBRATO DEPTH NN19 NN XT Dr Rex Sampler Propellerhead REASON No template label is required since the panel layout suits the REASON Samplers format This electronic template is suitable for control of the three sampler instruments in the Reason Rack The NN 19 Dr Rex and the NN XT Controls listed in the table shown on the right have differ ent
166. position ie the mean value of the low and high values this can be found by adding the low and high values together and then dividing by two Touchpad Y Type Menu Page 6 This display is identical to touchpad X type above except that the Y type defines the behavior in the vertical plain with the appropriate dis play messages Auto Snapshot Send Menu Page 7 Specifies whether a snapshot of all control data values are transmitted as soon as Play Mode is activated For each control the snapshot data is sent to whatever USB or MIDI port that is defined for the control in the Template data Any MMC func tions assigned to buttons are not sent in a snapshot Note that when the X Station is turned on it always automatically starts up in Play Mode However at this time an auto snapshot is not trans mitted even if this setting is On Not Synth Type Template Menu Page 8 With certain templates such as a Mixer and Drum machine type it is more convenient to have a configuration where the four buttons above the AMP ENV sliders and the five buttons above the MOD ENV sliders are all switched to a second function by pressing the MOD ENV but ton For example with any Drum type templates pressing this button Renamed SOLO MUTE re assigns all nine buttons to SOLO s or MUTE s for each channel When creating a Not synthesizer type tem plate set this to On for this alternative function to be active 17
167. r panel excepts a Tip Ring Sleeve type of 1 4 Jack The X Station sends power to the Tip and Sleeve and the poten tiometer in the pedal returns a voltage 0 5 Volts on the Ring con nection Saving A Template To Memory mA i Once a Template has been configured in Template Edit Mode it may The control would now be edited in the normal way as in the case ofa be written to any of the X Station s 40 Template memories Note that it rotary or slider control where the type high and low values display is possible to overwrite any of the Template presets loaded into the X type and MIDI options can be altered Station at the factory In the two displays above the X1 pad is given a name of filter frequency The Template write procedure is invoked by pressing the TEMPLATE and is set to a Continuous Controller type CC The continuous con WRITE button while in Template Edit Mode or Template Select Mode troller is number 74 and the current value is 55 If the Memory Protect switch is set On the following screen is dis played In Play Mode moving a finger across the touchpad would cause an incrementing value from 0 127 to be output as the finger is moved from left to right In Template Edit Mode to edit the next value say the Y1 value the top left quadrant has to be pressed and so on for the remaining X2 and Y2 controls And the write procedure is halted After about half a second the X Note Not all
168. r the TOP LINE or BOTTOM LINE knob is adjusted the display will alter to show the Treble and Bass settings as illustrated below 26 ADVANCED FEATURES Using The Transport Buttons INST CHANNEL CURSOR Q Prosa CO Co BOTTOM LINE a The transport buttons may defined in the same manner as any of the other programmable buttons in Template Edit Mode However they are ideally suited to controlling sequencers or recording device Therefore they can alternatively be assigned to transmit MIDI MMC MIDI Machine Control commands Each one of the 40 Template memories can hold its own set of defini tions for these five buttons The details of assigning MMC to these buttons and the range of MMC commands available is described in detail on pages 17 amp 18 Some sequencers such as Cubase Use other types of MIDI message for remote control purposes such as MIDI CC messages The TRANS PORT buttons can of course be configured to transmit these instead of MMC in the normal way Consult your sequencer documentation for full details of the MIDI messages used for remote control purposes The Global Mode Menu The menu in Global Mode is used to alter settings which apply to glob ally across all Templates Also found here are various utilities and infor mation displays When Global Mode is selected by pressing the GLOB AL button page 1 of the Global menu is automatically selected The available menu pages are Memory Protect Menu
169. re other functions located within the LFO Menu This is selected by pressing the ON OFF button in the Amp Env section on the front panel Use the BANK PAGE up down buttons to scroll through the Menu func This setting is used to modulate the Cutoff FREQUENCY of the Filter up or down in response to the velocity information present in incoming note messages or notes played on the keyboard Set in the range 1 to 64 the Filter will close the Cutoff FREQUENCY will decrease as velocity data is applied With a range of 1 to 63 the Filter will open the Cutoff FREQUENCY will increase as velocity data is applied Greater values will open increase the Cutoff FREQUENCY as velocity data is received At a setting of 0 note velocity will have no effect Q Normalise Menu Page 2 FILT Q Normalise ON OFF tions available See the table below LFO Menu Page Function Top Line Display KELTE 1 LFO1 Velocity LFO1 Velocity 64 63 2 LFO1 Triggering LFO1 MonoDelTrig SGL MLT 3 LFO1 Keysync LFO1 Keysync OFF ON 4 LFO1 Keysync Phase Offset LFO1 Init Phase 0 127 5 LFO1 Polarity LFO1 Unipolar OFF ON 6 LFO1 Common to all Voices LFO1 Common OFF ON 7 LFO2 Velocity LFO2 Velocity 64 63 8 LFO2 Triggering LFO2 MonoDelTrig SGL MLT 9 LFO2 Keysync LFO2 Keysync OFF ON 10 LFO2 Keysync Phase Offset LFO2 Init Phase 0 127 11 LFO2 Polarity LFO2 Unipolar OFF ON 12 LFO2 Common to all Voices LFO2 Common OFF ON This value controls t
170. ready described for the Template Edit CC menu pages These are described in detail on pages 16 to 17 Sysex Byte Edit Menu Page 9 Here the individual bytes of the System Exclusive message are defined Up to 20 data bytes can be defined on this menu page All data bytes are displayed in hexadecimal format A cursor indicates the byte currently being edited Use the DATA VALUE encoder to define the byte s value Any value in the range 0 to 7F DV or F7 can be selected DV Data Value indicates where the value that is going to altered by the control will be inserted F7 is an End of Message marker representing the last byte of the message This indicates where the End Of Exclusive MIDI byte will be placed All bytes following the 7F will not be transmitted If all 18 bytes of the System Exclusive message are used the F7 end of message value will be automatically inserted Use the CURSOR LEFT RIGHT buttons to select a different System Exclusive byte for editing Once the last data byte has been selected the lower line of the display will scroll two characters and a space to the left such that the next set of data values are in view Control Name Menu Page 10 Here a name is given to the control for easy reference This is the name displayed on the screen when a Template control is moved see page 5 A cursor indicates which character in the name can be altered Use the CURSOR buttons to select a differen
171. reverse the action of a particular control This can be done by swapping high and low val ues eg a normal control could have a low value of 0 and a high value of 127 To reverse the action of this control set the low value to 127 and the high value to 0 High Value Menu Page 5 Sets the highest data value which can be transmitted by the control This would normally be 127 or 63 however it might be desir able to set a range between 20 and 30 for the whole range of a slider In this case the higher value would be set to 30 Button Action Type Menu Page 6 This menu page is only accessible if a button has been selected as the control for editing Otherwise pressing PAGE UP from menu page 5 will bypass this page This setting determines how the button will behave There are four available options Normal The High data as on Menu page 5 value will be transmitted when the button is pressed Data is only sent when the button is pressed not when it is released 18 DETAILED OPERATION The Template EDit NRPN Pages The Template Edit MMC Pages Momentary The High data as on Menu page 5 value will be transmitted when the button is pressed The Low data value will be transmitted when the but ton is released Toggle Pressing the button alternates between transmitting the High data value and the Low data value The high value is sent on the first button press Data is only sent when the button is
172. rinted labels there are a further 3 blanks which may be customised for any specific instrument To fit a template label simply place over the synthesizer control panel area Check the front panel display area to see that PLAY mode is selected the LED above the button will be lit when in PLAY mode d l J TEMPLATE WRITE GLOBAL PLAY EDIT Rotate the encoder knob below the display to see the list of the elec tronic templates available With each click a new instrument electronic template will be selected Continue to rotate until the desired instrument is selected INST CHANNEL CURSOR 4 O Q ATA VALUE SNAPSHOT PANIC Rotate the filter frequency control as shown in the illustration below notice how the real time values of the controls are displayed FILTERS CI Q Q Q i FREQUENCY RESONANCE KEY TRACK a SLOPE QOO ENV DEPTH LFO DEPTH OVERDRIVE l HPF ON The display will appear similar to illustration below and the filter fre quency knob of the software instrument will rotate on the computers creen along with the corresponding change in sound Using The Programmable Template Controls Every Template contains definitions of the type of MIDI information to be transmitted when any of the assignable encoders knobs sliders buttons or X Y touchpad are used It is not mandatory tha
173. rom the drop down menu Click on the options menu within the Key Commands win dow and choose import key commands Please note that the existing key commands will be replaced for the version of Logic Platinum used For the sliders pots and encoders to work with the audio mixer it will be necessary use the default Logic arrangement lso This has MIDI channel splitters that are linked to the audio sliders within the environment This song can be loaded into Logic Audio Logic Gold and Logic Platinum versions 5 and above and can be saved as the autoload song See the more detailed pdf file included on the ReMOTE Audio Driver Resource CD for full details Malstrom Propellerhead REASON Use the supplied template label Malstrom A few controls are set to No Control These may be customised as required There are blank areas beneath these controls to write specific control names as applicable Mixer 1 2 Propellerhead REASON Use the supplied template label Sequencer Mixer since the panel layout does not suit the format of the Mixer Two electronic templates Mixer 1 and Mixer 2 are used to control the Mixer Use the DATA VALUE encoder to quickly switch between the two Level and pan controls for Channels 1 8 are available from Mixer 1 and 9 14 from Mixer 2 Undefined controls may be programmed to suit individual taste Model E Steinberg Steinberg Model E No Template label is required since the
174. s 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 MW Output Level By routing the joystick modulation axis to the amplifier the overall vol ume of the sound may be controlled Positive values of 1 to 63 increase the output volume of the Amp Envelope as the joystick is pushed for wards Negative values from 1 to 64 decrease the output volume of the Amp Envelope as the joystick is pushed forwards At a setting of 0 the joystick will have no effect Wheel Delay Send Menu Page 9 MW Delay Level Enables the joystick modulation axis to control the send level to the Delay effect Positive values of 1 to 63 increase send level as the joystick is pushed forwards Negative values from 1 to 64 decrease send level as the joystick is pushed forwards At a setting of 0 the joystick will have no effect Wheel Reverb Send Menu Page 10 MW Reverb Level Enables the joystick modulation axis to control the send level to the Reverb effe
175. s defined as a Momentary type it can become a reasonable trigger device for Drum type sounds or a one shot sample although the note velocity is fixed see below not dynamic Note Velocity Value Menu Page 3 Defines the fixed velocity value used in the MIDI Note On message transmitted when the button is pressed The remaining menu pages are exactly the same in operation as those settings already described for the Template Edit CC menu pages These are described in detail on pages 16 amp 17 The Template Edit SYSEX MESSAGE Pages The following Menu pages are available if Control Type on menu page 1 is set to SYSEX MESSAGE Template Edit SYSEX MESSAGE Pages Page Function Display Value 2 Value Display Type Display Type 0 127 64 to 63 3 Low Value Low Value 0 127 or 64 to 63 4 High Value High Value 0 127 or 64 to 63 5 Button Action Type Button Type Normal Step 6 Pot Slider Control Type Pot Slider Ctrl Jump Pickup 7 MIDI Channel MIDI Channel 1 16 8 MIDI Ports MIDI Ports U12 9 Sysex Byte Edit SYSEX MESSAGE _ 0 7F EM DV 10 Control Name Control Name Text string Value Display Type Menu Page 2 Low Value Menu Page 3 High Value Menu Page 4 Button Action Type Menu Page 5 Pot Slider Control Type Menu Page 6 MIDI Channel Menu Page 7 MIDI Ports Menu Page 8 These menu pages are exactly the same in operation as those settings al
176. sent Level Compensation If distortion is added to a sound it will tend to get louder In order to contain or compress the sound back to a reasonable level compensa tion control is provided If either the TOP LINE or BOTTOM LINE knob is adjusted the display will alter to show the Compensation and Output level as illustrated below Turn the TOP LINE knob to adjust the amount of level compensation Output Level If a highly distorted effect is required and the level compensation is turned up the overall sound level output will decrease even though the sound is very distorted Adjust the overall Output level using the BOTTOM LINE knob The MENU button is non active when the Distortion option is selected since there are no additional Distortion parameters The EQ Processor Occasionally it may be desirable to adjust the Bass Mid range or treble content of the incoming signal before committing to recording it For example it may be required to remove an annoying mid range hard edge present on a Brass sound prior to committing it to a recording The EQ processor can apply a boost or cut to the Bass Mid and Treble frequency ranges of the input signal To adjust the controls for the EQ processor use the UP and DOWN arrow until the EQ LED next the EQ label is selected Turn the LEVEL knob to adjust the Mid Range fre quency content The display will alter to show the Mid Range setting as illustrated below If eithe
177. should be located away from heat sources such as radiators heat registers or other products that produce 7 The product should be connected to a power supply only of the type described in these operation instructions or as marked on the product 8 The power supply cord of the product should be unplugged from the outlet when the product is left unused for a long period of time 9 Care should be taken so that objects do not fall or liquids are not spilled into the enclosure through openings 10 The product should be serviced by qualified service personnel when A The power supply cord has been damaged or B Objects have fallen or liquids have been spilled onto the product or C The product has been exposed to rain or D The product does not appear to operate normally or exhibits a marked change in performance or E The product has been dropped or the enclosure has been damaged 11 Do not attempt to service the product beyond those means described in this operating manual All other servicing should be referred to qualified service personnel FCC Information U S A authority granted by the FCC to use the product 1 IMPORTANT NOTICE DO NOT MODIFY THIS UNIT This product when installed as indicated in the instructions contained in this Manual meets FCC requirements Modifications not expressly approved by Novation may void your 2 IMPORTANT When connecting this product to accessories and or another product use onl
178. splayed QUICK START GUIDE Sending Snapshots Selecting External Sounds Joystick Audio Connection Sending A Snapshot Of The Controls It is possible to send a snapshot of current values to a connected MIDI device by pressing the SNAPSHOT button while in Play Mode The data values sent are the ones stored for each control in the Template data except for where a control has been moved since the Template has been loaded If a control has been moved the new value represented by the position of the altered control is sent instead of the stored value Be aware that when a snapshot is sent the current position of a control might not bear any relation to the data value sent in the snapshot if that control has not been touched since the Template was selected For each control the snapshot data is sent to the USB MIDI port as assigned to the control in the within the template data Any MMC func tions assigned to buttons are not sent in a snapshot It is possible for any Template to be set to automatically send a snapshot as soon as the X Station is placed into Play Mode See page 15 for details Selecting A Sound On External MIDI Devices In Play Mode it is possible to select sounds on external MIDI devices directly by using the PROGRAM UP DOWN buttons When a PROGRAM UP DOWN button is pressed the display shows St bd et ci bd i and a Program Change message is immediately sent If either PRO GRAM UP
179. stem exclusive messages for two distinct pur poses Firstly they can be used to back up all of the X Station memo ries and global data This feature is extremely useful in building up a Template library or a Synth program library on a computer or for making a safety copy of data in case the worst should happen Data backup is discussed in detail on Page 25 in the Advanced Features chapter 13 MIDI TUTORIAL MIDI Messages Secondly Novation also use system exclusive messages to enable an X Station to update its entire operating system via MIDI The latest operating system for the X Station is always available at the Novation web site From there it can be downloaded and installed with a propri etary installation utility See page 27 for details MIDI Machine Control MMC Messages These are are a range of messages designed to communicate with sequencers and recording devices In reality MMC commands are actu ally specialised forms of System Exclusive messages termed Universal which are designed to be recognised by any manufacturer supporting MMC When MMC commands are assigned to X Station controls only the MMC command need be specified The remainder of the MMC Universal System Exclusive message is automatically constructed by the X Station See page 17 for details on assigning MMC A MIDI Implementation Chart provides a concise way of telling at a glance which MIDI messages an instrument will transmit and resp
180. t changes the harmonic content This is pleasing to the ear especially 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 38 THE KS SYNTHESIZER Obtaining A Classic Square PWM Sound The Oscillator Mixer Section SEMITONE Knob The PWM sound is one of the classic analogue synthesizer sounds Select the factory initialisation sound 299 Init Program This sound use only use Oscillator 1 as the source waveform For this oscillator select a square waveform using the WAVEFORM knob in the Oscillators section Notice how the timbre changes to a more woody sound Select POSITION using the PW SELECT button Rotate the PWM 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 maxi mum settings Leave the knob at the 12 o clock position Select LFO using the PW SELECT button Slowly rotate the PWM knob Notice that there will now be some movement in the sound Select LFO 2 in the LFO Section using the LFO button 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 Obtain
181. t character position and the DATA VALUE encoder to alter the character in the name 20 DETAILED OPERATION The Template Edit Program Change Pages The following Menu pages are available if Control Type on menu page 1 is set to Program Change These are only available if the control being edited is a button Template Edit Program Change Pages Page Function Display WEIS 2 Program Change Value Prog Chg Value 0 127 3 MIDI Channel MIDI Channel 1 16 4 MIDI Ports MIDI Ports U12 5 Control Name Control Name Text string Program Change Value Menu Page 2 Sets the Program Change data value Be aware that some MIDI devices number Programs from 0 to 127 while others number them from 1 to 128 always the actual MIDI data value sent is in the range 0 to 127 In these cases it may be neces sary to reduce this setting by one in order to select the required Program Buttons assigned as Program Change always have a momentary action The MIDI Program Change message is transmitted when the button is pressed down MIDI Channel Menu Page 3 Sets the MIDI channel which the control will use for transmission MIDI Ports Menu Page 4 Determines which MIDI USB port is used to send the MIDI information generated by touching the control Eight different combinations of output ports can be selected with any multiple combination possible A U shown on the display indicates the M
182. t every control has to transmit MIDI information so it is possible that controls in a Template may be defined as No Control Data transmitted by a control is indicated on the bottom line of the dis play When a control is moved it will be one of the following Continuous Controller This is indicated by CC followed by the controller number Non Registered Parameter NRPN This is indicated by NRPN There is no controller number displayed Registered Parameter RPN This is indicated by RPN There is no controller number displayed MIDI Machine Control The screen shows MMC There is no controller number displayed The screen display when a control moved is slightly different for buttons using MMC 7 ae e t Li This is similar to the normal display shown when other types of MIDI information are transmitted except that the top line displays the type of MMC command defined while the bottom line at the left is the MMC number of the command defined for the button Only buttons can be assigned to send MMC When MMC is used there is no Control name used or displayed Note ON Note OFF The screen shows NOTE There is no controller number displayed System Exclusive The screen shows SYSEX There is no controller number displayed Program Change The screen shows PROGC There is no controller number displayed Pitch Bend The screen shows PBEND There is no controller number di
183. te On Off Pages Page Function Display Value 2 Note Value Note Value C 2 G8 3 Button Action Type Button Type Normal Toggle 4 Note Velocity Value Velocity Value 1 127 5 MIDI Channel MIDI Channel 1 16 6 MIDI Ports MIDI Ports U12 7 Control Name Control Name Text string Note Value Menu Page 2 Sets the note to be played when the button is pressed Any note value in the MIDI note range can be defined Button Action Type Menu Page 3 This setting determines how the button will behave For flexibility there are three available options Normal The velocity value See below will be transmitted when the button is pressed Data is only sent when the button is pressed not when released NOTE Caution is required when using this option since a permanent Note On message would be received by a device and there would be no corresponding Note Off command to silence an increasing number of Notes Momentary The velocity value will be transmitted when the button is pressed and a Note Off command Note On with zero velocity value will be transmitted when the button is released This would be the most commonly used option Toggle Pressing the button alternates between transmitting the veloci ty value data value and a Note off message The velocity value is sent on the first button press Data is only sent when the button is pressed and not when it is released It is clear to see that when a button i
184. te label is required since the panel layout suits the format for Halion Both Halion and Halion 2 have an identical MIDI specification so this template can be used for both plug ins The controls are as shown is the table opposite impOSCar Gmedia No template label is required since the panel layout suits the format for the impOSCar A few controls respond differently to the legend shown on the 58 e Generic General MIDI Panel Legend Actual Control Function Oscillator Section LFO DEPTH VIBRATO DEPTH LFO Section SPEED VIBRATO RATE DELAY VIBRATO DELAY Envelopes section F1 POLY MODE F2 MONO MODE Effects Section LEVEL REVERB LEVEL CTRL 2 PAN GROOVE AGENT Panel Legend Actual Control Function Oscillator Section OSC 1 WAVEFORM AMBIENCE OSC 1 SEMITONE __ HUMANISE OSC 1 DETUNE SHUFFLE Arpeggiator Section ARP TEMPO HOST TEMPO Effects Section EFFECTS CONTROL VOLUME Envelopes section Fi SNARE STICK F2 HALF TEMPO F3 VINTAGE ON OFF Steinberg Halion Panel Legend Actual Control Function Oscillator Section OSC 1 WAVEFORM OCTAVE OSC 1 SEMITONE COURSE OSC 1 DETUNE CENTS OSC 1 LEVEL SAMPLE VOLUME PORTAMENTO GLIDE Filter Section FILTER FREQUENCY CUT OFF RESONANCE RESONANCE FILTER ENV DEPTH ENVELOPE AMOUNT SLOPE SLOPE Effects Sect
185. the Amp Mod and AD Envelopes respond to Velocity information Setting up a sound to make it s volume respond to velocity Select the Amp Envelope using the AMP MOD ENV 3 button Adjust the VELOCITY slider At a setting of zero a soft key stroke will produce a sound at the same volume as a hard key stroke At a maximum posi tive 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 so its brightness or pitch respond to velocity Select the Mod Envelope using the AMP MOD ENV 3 button Adjust the VELOCITY slider In the Filter section turn the Filter FREQUENCY knob to a near zero setting or until the sound almost disappears Turn the ENV DEPTH knob in the Filter section to a maximum clockwise position In the Envelopes section Set the Mod Env ATTACK and SUSTAIN slid ers to zero and the DECAY slider to nearly full While playing notes on the Keyboard adjust the VELOCITY slider At a setting of zero there will be no effect on the brightness of the sound At maximum 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 ENV DEPTH knob in the Oscillator section Adjusting the Velocity Response of the AD Envelope
186. 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 interfer ence which can be determined by turning the unit OFF and ON please try to eliminate the problem by using one of the following measures CANADA he digital section of this apparatus does not exceed the Class B limits for radio noise emissions from digital apparatus set out in the radio 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 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 2004 Novation Electronic
187. tial MIDI feedback loops when incoming MIDI is being configured thru the X Station Playing The KS Synth From A Sequencer While Using The X Station As A Master Keyboard Set the Synth MIDI Source parameter to MIDI IN or USB as appropri ate Make sure the X Station is connected to the sequencer by MIDI in both directions this is achieved if the USB MIDI connection is made Set Synth Local Control to OFF The keyboard will now transmit MIDI information but will not play the KS Synth directly Select the sequencer track according to the instrument you wish to play or record via the X Station Keyboard The sequencer will now re chan nelise the MIDI information transmitted by the X Station appropriately With this configuration it is also possible to play the KS Synth without having to turn Synth Local Control back on Simply select the sequencer track using the same MIDI channel as defined by the Global MIDI Channel found in the Global Menu see page 25 and ensure that this sequencer track MIDI input is set to X Station and this sequencer track MIDI output is also set to X Station MIDI data will now flow from the X Station into the sequencer and the sequencer will route this data out of the sequencer into the X Station The KS synth will then respond to this data and play as expected 54 e THE KS SYNTHESIZER The KS Synth General Settings In KS Synth Mode there are some settings which are common across all 2
188. tion web site http www novationmusic com To install the operating system via the conventional MIDI port power up the X Station while simultaneously holding down the PHANTOM INPUT and STEREO buttons Send the operating system file from the Novation OS update utility It is also possible for an X Station to transmit the currently installed operating system for example to directly update another connected X Station by powering up the X Station while simultaneously holding down the INPUT STEREO and TEMPLATE COMMON BUTTONS but tons 29 e SYNTHESIS TUTORIAL Elements Of A Sound 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 chapter The KS Synthesizer on Page 34 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
189. tons The Dual Multi Effects Processor This section describes how to apply one or more effects to either or both of the audio input signals appearing on Channels 1 and 2 Three knobs labeled LEVEL TOP LINE and BOTTOM LINE and three buttons labeled MENU UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW are used to select and control the various parameters of the effects e There are two completely BCs independent multi effects AUDIO IN EFFECTS Bypass processors available one Listen Record Saad sten Najhecard Oe for Input Channel 1 and Day one for Input channel 2 An nee example is presented using n EEB Chorus i me E Compress V a Microphone plugged into Distortion pee GAIN Ea TORNE Channel 1 and a Guitar plugged into Channel 2 ome BALANCE MENU LEVEL BOTTOM LINE A Delay Echo effect with Reverb is required for the Microphone on Channel 1 and a Distortion effect is required for the Guitar on Channel 2 Check that the Input 1 LED to the left of the INPUT button is lit If not press the input button When the LED is lit the input channel is selected for effects editing Use the UP and DOWN ARROW buttons to select the Delay effect The corresponding LED next to the Delay label lights Turn the LEVEL knob until the Delay effect is present Press the DOWN arrow button once to select the Reverb effect Notice that the LED next to the Reverb label lights Turn the LEVEL knob until the Reverb effect is present
190. tor These may be independently adjusted and mixed together to form a new more harmonically complex waveform OSC 1 VOLUME VA COMPLEX WAVEFORM MIX OF OSC1 2 amp 3 INPUT TO FILTER OSC 3 _ Osc 3 VOLUME Use the Oscillator SELECT button to select the signal controlled by the LEVEL knob A column of LEDs above the button indicate which signal is currently selected The Filter The X Stations KS Synth is an Analogue subtractive type of music syn thesizer Subtractive implies that part of the sound is subtracted some where in the synthesis process The Oscillators provide the raw waveforms with plenty of harmonic con tent and it is the Filter that subtracts unwanted harmonics in a control lable manner FILTERS Q Q FREQUENCY RESONANCE KEY TRACK SLOPE ENV DEPTH LFO DEPTH OVERDRIVE HPF ON Three types of Filter are available The type of Filter most commonly found on synthesizers is the Low Pass type With a Low Pass Filter a cut off point is chosen and any frequencies below that point are passed Any frequencies above are filtered out The setting of the FRE QUENCY knob on the front panel dictates the point below which fre quencies are removed This process of removing harmonics from the waveforms has the effect of changing the sound s character or timbre When the FREQUENCY knob is set fully clockwise the filter is set com pletely open and no frequencies are removed from the raw Oscillator waveforms
191. tre 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 LFO 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 centre 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 OVERDRIVE Knob This knob 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 SLOPE Button Controls how drastically the frequencies above Low Pass below High Pass or around Band Pass 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 TYPE Button Determines whether the Filter is acting as a Low Pass High Pass or Band Pass
192. trols alter the Pitch of each Drum 1 9 in the first template and the Length in the second template There are many undefined controls and blanks areas are provided under these controls for customisation as required Consult the Reason documentation on using the auto learn feature within Reason for defin SH32 Roland No Template label is required since the panel layout suits the SH32 format A few controls listed in the table shown on the right have dif ferent functions to the front panel legends It is not possible to set the Osc waveform by MIDI 60 ing controls Roland SH32 Panel Legend Actual Control Function Oscillator Section LEVEL OSC 1 2 BALANCE Envelopes section MONO POLY PORTAMENTO TYPE ENV DESTINATION MOD ENV INVERT AMP ENV VELOCITY PATCH FX INS FX Effects Section CONTROL PATCH FX FEEDBACK APPENDIX SONAR Cakewalk Use the Sequencer Mixer tem plate overlay for Sonar As Sonar does not have a fixed MIDI implementation the tem plate controls will need to be learnt into Sonar in two places The first of these is via the key bindings menu and the second is from the Generic Surface con trol section of Sonar Cakewalk Sonar Panel Legend Actual Control Function Transport Section To Be Learnt REWIND REWIND FORWARD FORWARD STOP STOP PLAY PLAY RECORD RE
193. two is exactly the same 31 SYNTHESIS TUTORIAL The Filter Noise Waves Noise Harmonic 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 Digital Waveforms In addition to the traditional types of Oscillator waveforms detailed above the KS Synth also offers carefully selected digitally sampled pre set waveforms containing useful harmonic elements normally difficult to produce using traditional Oscillator waveforms The Mixer To extend the range of sounds that may be reproduced a typical Analogue synthesizer often 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 There are has three independent Oscillators and a separate Noise Oscillator GB Osc 1 EB Osc 2 GS Osc 3 Noi LEVEL PWM pee B Position Lfo G95 Env mod ioe Saale PW SELECT SYNC Some synths such as the Novation KS 5 often have a separate Mixer section available on the front panel On the X Station s KS Synth imple mentation a single LEVEL knob within the OSC MIXER section is used to adjust the levels of the Oscillators and Noise genera
194. type HPF ON Button This button is not used in KS Synth Mode FILTER SELECT Button This button is not used in KS Synth Mode since the KS Synth only has a single Filter More functions associated with the Filter can be found in the Filter Menu See Page 45 The LFOs Section The LFOs Section LFOS am m 2 aes There are two LFOs Low Frequency SPEED A Oscillators available on the KS Synth a These produce regular electronic varia tions which are too low to be heard when e converted into audio vibrations They can WAVEFORM modify various elements of the sound RT bt producing regular changes in pitch vibra AMOUNT DEST to pulse width or filter Cut off SPEED Knob Controls the speed of the selected LFO Faster speeds are set by turn ing the knob clockwise These are suitable for vibrato and tremolo effects Slower speeds are more appropriate for Pulse Width changes or special effects DELAY AMOUNT 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 the desired LFO for editing Only LFOs 1 or 2 can be selected on the KS Synth WAVEFORM amp DEST Buttons Selects the LFO waveform Use the WAVEFORM
195. umans PP3 Moving Target Flush All OSCS blazing F Ground Plink Lay Tex Ky Lee Sweep ChatterBox Metal Tines Rand n Rand Bow and Flex Twin Overdrive Hard Lead Pad On the Bounce Bass It Feels Like Hard Lead Whos from Mars Klavicord Radio Head Go to Church Suspender Simple Saw Initial Sound 63 Bootsy Bass Rub the Band Told you So On the Ice Banjo Strump Squeeze One Out Squeeler Liquid Brass Suck Me In Vibratine Dark Paper Suck the Guitar Fly By Soft Finger Lets Pluck Get the Timp Pins and Needles Witneys Pluck Rubber Bass Toy string Guitar OctaBass Swallow It Arp Fantasy Light Finger ResoBass At Mosfet Cyber Landing Accoustic Bass Eastern Bass Arp not Arp Press a Chord Chambers Glass Whisper Ali Gatter Blippy Welcome Brass Lick Quid Monster Modular MW Wurlit Stop It Soon Talk the Talk Kotoswitch HarpBeat Fminate Space Storm Init Program APPENDIX MIDI Implementation Chart Version 1 0 13 4 2004 Model Novation X Station Function Transmitted Received Remarks Default Changed Default Messages Altered Note On Note Off Channel Pitch Bend Control Change System Exclusive System Real Time System Common Mode 1 OMNI ON POLY Mode 3 OMNI OFF POLY Memorised in Template data 1 16 1 16 Memorised in X Template Data 0 127 X X X X O X X O 0 0 127 kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk F
196. upon the type of control selected for editing These are cc Continuous Controller Any controller number can be used however the MIDI standard defines controller numbers 0 6 32 38 96 97 98 99 100 101 amp 120 127 for specific specialised purposes These values should not be used unless the consequences upon the connected MIDI device are appreciated NRPN Non registered Parameter Number RPN Registered Parameter Number MMC MIDI Machine Control This can only be selected for buttons Note On Off Note On Note Off message This can only be selected for buttons SYSEX MESSAGE System Exclusive string This can contain a value altered by the con trol A string of up to 20 bytes can be defined for each control Program Change Program Change message This can only be selected for buttons Pitch Bend Pitch Bend This can only be selected for the X Y Touchpad No Control The control will transmit no MIDI when touched There are no further menu pages available if this option is selected The Template Edit CC Pages The following Menu pages are available if Control Type on menu page 1 is set to CC Template Edit CC Pages Page Function Display Value 2 Controller Number Controller Num 0 127 3 Value Display Type Display Type 0 127 64 to 63 4 Low Value Low Value 0 127 or 64 to 63 5 High Value High Value 0 127 or 64 to 63 6 Button Action Type Button Type Normal Step 7 Pot
197. vities that may inter ANDU MoE rupt the audio stream causing click and pops Setting a smaller buffer size will reduce audio latency Experiment with this setting to optimise audio performance for the system All MIDI Inputs bnk Off J pra Off In the project window click on the In drop down box and select X Station Emulated Now that the X Station has been setup for Audio and MIDI turn to page Click on OK and the X Station will now be selected as the default 9 Audio Connection and Setup for more information on using the Audio device Audio features Refer to page 7 Controlling a VST insturment for more information on using the MIDI control features Selecting the X Station as the MIDI device in LOGIC Selecting the X Station as the Audio device in LOGIC In order to receive MIDI information from the X Station into LOGIC the X Station must be selected as a MIDI device From the Main arrange page click on the Windows drop down menu and select Environment In LOGIC open the Audio Hardware amp Drivers window from the pull down menu under Audio as illustrated A page similar to the illustration will appear C arrow to select MIDI Instrument on the drop down Logic Pro File edit ENTA Options Windows 1 Help e00 Audio Window 389 tel Edit Functions Audio Sample Editor Cen Audio Mixer ui aa EXS24 Instrument Editor Import Audio File
198. w an uninterrupted stream of audio to flow from the sequencer Setting this to a lower priority will speed up other applications running on the comput er but may cause clicks and glitches to occur in the audio stream Use Dithering Sound quality can be improved by adding a amount of dither Leave this set to checked About Latency Latency is the amount of time it takes for the Audio Input Analogue sig nal to be converted to a digital signal sent along the USB system processed by the sequencer then sent back along the USB system and converted back to a Analogue output signal A latency time of anything more than approx 10mS will start to be noticeable QUICK START GUIDE Selecting the X Station in Cubase and LOGIC The amount of latency can be set by changing System Performance OOO Spacers 7 drop down box options The higher the specification speed of CPU and RAM memory of the computer being used the lower the latency may Audio Driver 3 be set The choices are Highspeed Rapid Fast Normal and Relaxed v M Core Audio System Memory Requirement 29 0 MB The default setting is Medium however for the best performance the Driver Novation X Station TD vosuttersee 728 Highspeed option should be selected ang aS S Volume Smoothing ms 50 _ 64 Busses After setting this option experiment with recording and replaying audio see next few pages If there are click and pops app
199. y high quality shielded cables Cable s supplied with this product MUST be used Follow all installation instructions Failure to follow instructions could void your FCC authorization to use this product in the USA Relocate either this product or the device that is being affected by the interference U to distribute this type of product he statements above apply ONLY to products distributed in the USA Communications du Canada his only applies to products distributed in Canada Ceci ne s applique qu aux produits distribues dans Canada ize power outlets that are on different branch Circuit breaker or fuse circuits or install AC line filter s n 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 these corrective measures do not produce satisfactory results please contact the local retailer authorized 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 these requirements provides a reasonable level of assurance that your use of this 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 users manual may cause interference harmful to
200. yed ver sion is very small and is controlled by the Chorus s own internal LFO not to be confused with the two LFOs available on the front panel The characteristic swirling Chorus effect is the result The Chorus is also capable of behaving as a Phaser The way a Phaser works is 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 characteristic swish ing effect To adjust the controls for the Chorus or Phaser effect use the UP and DOWN arrow until the Chorus LED next the Chorus label is selected Turn the LEVEL knob until the Chorus effect is present If either the TOP LINE or BOTTOM LINE knob is adjusted the display will alter to display the Chorus Type and Chorus Rate as shown below Type The type determines whether the Chorus is behaving as a standard Chorus or as a Phaser unit Turn the TOP LINE knob to switch between Chorus and Phaser types Rate The Rate 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 Turn the BOTTOM LINE knob to exper iment To access the remaining controls of the Chorus Phaser effect proces sor press the MENU button The BANK PAGE UP DOWN buttons may now be used to scroll forwards and backwards through any additional Menu screens Mod Depth
201. ype This affects all sounding notes simultaneously Poly aftertouch includes information in the MIDI message about which keyboard note was used to trigger the aftertouch effect allowing individ ual sounding notes to be affected Poly aftertouch is actually very rarely found nowadays as only a very few synthesizers ever used it Program Change amp Bank Select Messages These messages are used to remotely select sounds on a synthesizer The MIDI Specification 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 sel dom had more than 128 memories Modern synthesizers such as the Novation K Station offer many more memories than this the K Station for example 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 specifies which bank of sounds the following Program Change message will select from MIDI Messages The Bank Select MIDI message used for this purpose is actually a MIDI Control Change message CC32 is the control change number used by Novation and most manufacturers but a few manufacturers may use CCO instead Consult the synthesizer manual for details on the Bank Select Continuous Controller number used For example to select Program A100 on the Novation Supernova th

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