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Alesis Q20 User's Manual

1. ojo ovo BR WYN REN OD OT BR GO NF RR YN OV OT ABO MN FRE NI OD OT BR GFN FRE NI ON OT BR GOP FE NI ON OT GO NO e 84 Q20 Reference Manual Description of Controls Chapter 5 Reverb Type Parameters Page Hall 2 Decay 0 99 Damping Hi 0 99 Lo 0 99 Reverb Density 0 99 Diffusion 0 99 High Frequency Roll Off 200Hz 20 000Hz Predelay 1 250mS Mix lt 99 lt 50 gt 99 gt Reflection Level 0 99 Spread 0 99 Reverberation Swirl 0 99 Gate Trig Off Left Right L amp R Hold 10 500 mS Gate Release Time 0 5005 Gate Level 0 99 Plate 2 Decay 0 99 Damping Hi 0 99 Lo 0 99 Reverb Density 0 99 Diffusion 0 99 High Frequency Roll Off 200Hz 20 000Hz Predelay 1 250mS Mix lt 99 lt 50 gt 99 gt Reflection Level 0 99 Spread 0 99 Reverberation Attack 0 99 Gate Trig Off Left Right L amp R Hold 10 500 mS Gate Release Time 0 500mS Gate Level 0 99 Chamber 2 Decay 0 99 Damping Hi 0 99 Lo 0 99 Reverb Density 0 99 Diffusion 0 99 High Frequency Roll Off 200Hz 20 000Hz Predelay 1 250mS Mix lt 99 lt 50 gt 99 gt Reflection Level 0 99 Spread 0 99 Reverberation Attack 0 99 Gate Trig Off Left Right L amp R Hold 10 500 mS Gate Release Time 0 500mS Gate Level 0 99 Large Plate Decay 0 99 Damping Hi 0 99 Lo 0 99 Reverb Density 0 99 Diffusion 0 99 High Frequency Roll Off 200Hz 20 000Hz Predelay 1 250
2. f N f LESIS aig i EE e N LY X J S A NS To connect the Q20 to a single ADAT D Connect an EIAJ fiber optic cable such as Alesis OC OA or O1 from the DIGITAL OUT of the Q20 to the DIGITAL IN of the ADAT To test the cable and Q20 digital output plug one cable end into the Q20 The other end should emit a soft red light it is not dangerous to look directly at this light Connect another fiber optic cable from the Q20 s DIGITAL IN to the DIGITAL OUT of the ADAT O Note that the ADAT Optical inputs and outputs are 16 bit This means that a 20 bit signal from an ADAT Type II recorder M20 ADAT XT20 ADAT PCR etc will be truncated down to 16 bits automatically even if the Q20 is in thru mode The S PDIF I O is 20 bit Q20 Reference Manual 107 Chapter 7 Digital Connections To Two or More ADATs If using two or more ADATS they must be connected together so that they are in sync with each other This is accomplished by connecting each ADAT s SYNC OUT connector to the SYNC IN connector of the next ADAT in the chain as described in the ADAT Reference Manual The fiber optic cables that make up the digital buss need to be connected in the same order as the Sync cables The Q20 is inserted in the fiber optic loop from the output of the second ADAT to the input of the master ADAT The Q20 lets you turn its digital output into a throughput of the digital input This allo
3. a ont et tot o l Q20 Reference Manual Setting Up Chapter 1 When to use Balanced Connectors There are three options for connecting analog audio to the Q20 1 4 unbalanced 1 4 balanced TRS and XLR balanced If your source and destination use balanced connectors you should try to stay balanced throughout the chain Balanced cables have a higher signal level and have the ability to cancel out hum and noise which can make your mixes quieter XLR connectors have the added bonus of locking into place a good idea if you need to move your effects rack from place to place Keeping this in mind your order of preference when connecting the Q20 to a mixer should be to use the XLR connectors first then to use balanced 1 4 cables then unbalanced 1 4 cables if your mixer doesn t have balanced sends and receives Avoiding Ground Loops In today s complex studio there are many opportunities for ground loop problems to occur These show up as hums buzzes or sometimes radio reception and can occur if a piece of equipment sees two or more different paths to ground While there are methods to virtually eliminate ground loops and stray radio frequency interference most of the professional methods are expensive and involve installing a separate power source just for the sound system Here are some easy helpful hints that a professional studio installer might use to zap those stray hums and buzz
4. If the selected Block is not routed to the L R OUT the Level to L R parameter value will be NONE If the inputs are not routed to the outputs in the current Program the Direct Level will be NONE Likewise if none of the defined Blocks are routed to the L R OUT the Master Effects Level will be NONE Q20 Reference Manual 73 Chapter 5 Description of Controls Global When the GLOBAL button is pressed its LED will light The GLOBAL button gives us access to the following settings which affect the entire instrument Page 1 Adjust Display Contrast 1 10 This controls the contrast of the LCD display The value range is 1 10 and the default is 5 Use the VVALUE ENTER knob to adjust the contrast to a comfortable setting Page 2 Footswitch Range This page has two values which determine the start and end point of the range of Programs that are selectable via the ADVANCE footswitch connector Both values have a range of Preset 00 99 User0 00 99 and User1 00 99 For more information see the Footswitch section in Chapter 6 Page 3 VU Meter Peak Hold When set to ON the VU meters peak LED indicators will remain lit for about a second Page 4 Input Audio Source Normally this is set to ANALOG DATA for using the analog input connectors on the rear panel If using the Alesis Optical DIGITAL IN connector however this should be switched to OPTICAL DATA When us
5. This page has three parameters Mid Band Frequency Gain and Q or bandwidth Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to select a frequency from 200 to 10000Hz Press the PAGE gt button to move the cursor to the Gain parameter Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to set the Mid Band gain from 14 to 14 dB Set the Gain below 0dB to cut or above OdB to boost the selected Frequency a setting of OdB has no effect O Press the PAGE gt button to move the cursor to the Q parameter Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to set the Mid Band EQ s bandwidth from 20 to 2 50 octave Q20 Reference Manual 59 Chapter 4 Making Your Own Programs 60 Set the Q to a small number to effect the specific frequency you selected or to a larger number to affect a wider range of frequencies centered around the selected frequency Continue editing the remaining EQ parameters in a similar manner Mix Once we have setup our EQ Block the way we want we should then go to the Mix function to adjust the Block s output level This however is only necessary if all we want to do is EQ our input signal That would be fine except we have 7 more Blocks we can use to stack effects almost any way we want In the next section we will see how to route this EO Block into other Blocks Most of the time EQ Blocks are used to tailor the input signal before going into another Block or set of Blocks However they can also be useful at the end of the effects ch
6. Multi Tap Delay This is sort of like having five delays at once Each of the 5 taps have individual volume delay panning and feedback controls By adjusting the delay of each tap you can create sophisticated rhythms A Master Feedback control is available making it easy to adjust the total number of echoes for all taps at once gt LOut gt ROut Tap 3 Tap 4 Tap 5 Pan Pan Pan Tap 3 Tap 4 Tap 5 Delay Delay Delay Time Time Time Y Y Y Y Tap 1 Tap 2 Tap 3 Tap 4 Tap 5 Feedback Feedback Feedback Feedback Feedback Master lt Feedback lt Control lt lt Tap Tempo Mono Delay and Ping Pong Dry Signal These are similar to the mono delay and ping pong delay types but can have their delay time parameters set using a technique called tap tempo where you literally tap in the desired tempo to establish delay time using either the VALUE ENTER button or a footswitch You can select which footswitch jack either ADVANCE or BYPASS you want to use in Global Page 8 These types also sync to MIDI Clock pulses on the MIDI Inputs simply plug your sequencer or drum machine into the Q20 to sync the delays to the song s tempo An additional parameter called Beat Count is used to determine what note value your tempo tapping represents For example if you set the Beat Count to 1 4 then you can tap in quarter notes to e
7. for these connections nor will you hear any direct uneffected signal at the outputs Q20 Reference Manual Overview Chapter 3 CHAPTER 3 OVERVIEW The Architecture of the Q20 The Q20 provides eight Effect Blocks per Program each of which can serve as either EQ Pitch Delay or Reverb The display shows these Blocks from first to last between the L R IN left and right inputs and the L R OUT outputs The display also illustrates the routings between the Blocks In addition to the Block functions there is a set of Modulations which may be used in a Program These allow MIDI messages such as note numbers velocity after touch pitch bend or controllers to serve as controls over parameters in the Q20 This is discussed in further detail in Chapter 6 For now let s discuss the essence of Blocks and how they interact with each other What is a Block A Block is essentially a discrete effects processor that can be used alone or in conjunction with other Blocks Each Block has a Mono input and up to three outputs depending on its type left right and mix a mono mix of the left and right outs A Block requires that a signal be routed to it before it can effect the signal The Block must also have its output connected either to the L OUT or R OUT or both or to the input of another Block or to a series of Blocks which is in turn connected to either the L OUT or R OUT or both before the Block s effect can be heard
8. t E TU QT iul TERI TU m oe ttt Stereo In Stereo Out This connection is similar to the one described above However by utilizing two sends from the mixer we add one more cord and can now send a stereo signal to the Q20 s inputs Example if you connected effect sends 3 and 4 to the L and R INPUTS and had a stereo instrument such as a keyboard connected to two channel inputs of the mixer either one panned hard left and hard right you would send the left channel to send 3 and the right channel to send 4 Alternatively you could have two discrete effect sends between the Left and Right channel and process each separately within the Q20 For example the Left channel from send 3 could be a chorus and the Right from send 4 could be a reverb This is similar to Dual Mono described earlier Left Input Right Input 2500 T Left and Right Outputs Aux Send 3 Aux Send 4 HHPEREFHRHPEREPIHRIH Fea HIK H HH H EIEIBIEIEIEIEIEIBIEIE emt Prt Mt Ole 0 616 oo Mt ouqooeo o odoeoooo Ar Tr 0 T mH T Tt qt TTT T HH HH 12 Q20 Reference Manual Setting Up Chapter 1 Using Inserts By using individual channel inserts you can dedicate the Q20 to a specific channel or pair of channels on the mixer The Insert connections on the ba
9. D Connect the S PDIF output of the mixer into the S PDIF input of the Q20 Make sure that one of the post fader aux sends is routed to the S PDIF out Connect the S PDIF Output of the Q20 to a S PDIF Input on the digital mixer Make sure that the mixer is configured to return this signal to the L R bus Press GLOBAL then lt PAGE The display should read GLOBAL DIRECT SIGNAL Make sure this is set to MUTE to avoid really nasty feedback Q20 Reference Manual 109 Chapter 7 Digital Connections 110 Press lt PAGE until you reach Page 4 The display should read amp Turn the VALUE ENTER wheel to set the source to S PDIF DATA The DIG IN pixel will light in the top left corner of the display and the SAMPLE CLOCK SOURCE Page 5 will automatically switch to S PDIE If the DIG IN pixel at the top left corner of the display is flashing this means that the Q20 is not receiving digital clock Check your connections and the settings in your digital mixer to remedy this ALESIS Mixer S PDIF Out to Q20 S PDIF In Q20 S PDIF Out to Mixer S PDIF In o 000000000000000000000 o YAMAHA DR pooa ona m poo fu Sooo m oooo om pona 0000000000000000 OO 00 NUDO DU o0 B0000 DU To the Al 1 If you wish to route the digital output to a devic
10. DON AUDIO PEAK INPUT Left or right Channel or hm higher of left and right OFF THRESHOLD nanc Im y mo E MAX MODULATION eee IUDICI ENVELOPE OUTPUT c M a D I tt ATTACK TIME lt DECAY TIME gt Peak Follower The peak follower will follow the audio input to its loudest point and as the input level drops the peak follower drops at a constant rate determined by the Decay time 0 20 10 00 seconds Once the input level exceeds the Peak Follower s level the Peak Follower is raised to accommodate the higher level and then as the input signal again falls proceeds to fall again using the same Decay time Since the input levels may be too low at times for the Peak Follower to have ample effect its Gain may be set to multiply the input s level from x1 to x99 Peak Follower 1 and 2 have identical features and work as shown below SLOPE IS SET BY DECAY TIME sen 1 4 PEAK FOLLOWER OUTPUT Left or right Channel AUDIO PEAK INPUT figner of left and right 96 Q20 Reference Manual Advanced Applications Chapter 6 Ramp The Ramp Local Generator is similar to the Envelope Generator except that it doesn t have a release stage It lets you modulate a parameter s value by having it slowly move from a minimum to a maximum setting or vice versa depending on whether the modulation amplitude is set to a positive or negative amount The Ramp is useful for having an effect fade in b
11. When set to CONTINUOUS the Panning effect when triggered will move from one channel to the other and back again over and over until it is triggered again at which point the cycle begins again Q20 Reference Manual 37 Chapter 3 Overview 38 Trigger Source Trigger Source Parameter mode Page 4 determines what will trigger the Panning effect This can be set to Audio Left Audio Right Audio L amp R Advance Footswitch or Bypass Footswitch e When set to AUDIO LEFT AUDIO RIGHT or AUDIO L amp R the Panning effect will be triggered whenever an audio level greater than 12 dB is sensed at the selected input s e When set to either ADVANCE FOOTSWITCH or BYPASS FOOTSWITCH the selected footswitch will not perform its normal function that of advancing to the next Program or bypassing effects respectively Instead the Panning effect will be triggered when the selected footswitch is pressed Phase Inverter The Phase Inverter effect serves only one function it shifts the phase of the audio being fed into its input by 180 Phase inverting has many useful applications one of which is used to record additional tracks on a multi track recorder in order to simulate a surround effect The Phase Inverter has only one parameter Output Phase When the Output Phase is set to INVERTED the phase of the audio is shifted 180 When set to NON INVERTED the audio is left unchanged This can be useful for a varity of sound d
12. 0 99 Drive Level 1 0 11 0 Triggered Panning Speed 0 99 Doppler 0 99 Distance 0 99 Retrigger Point Left Right Alternating L R Sweeping Mode Continuous One Cycle Only Trigger Source Audio Left Audio Right Audio L amp R Advance Footsw Bypass Footsw Aal0O N Ra NiRainNRAaARIR a Phase Inverter 020 Reference Manual Output Phase Inverted Non Inverted 81 Chapter 5 Description of Controls 82 Pitch Pitch Type Mono Chorus Parameters Speed 0 99 Depth 0 99 Feedback 0 99 pai Chorus PreDelay 0 100mS Chorus Shape Sine Square Stereo Chorus Speed 0 99 Depth 0 99 Feedback 0 99 PreDelay Chorus 1 0 100mS 2 0 100mS Chorus Shape Sine Square Quad Chorus Speed 0 99 Depth 0 99 Feedback 0 99 PreDelay Chorus 1 0 100mS 2 0 100mS PreDelay Chorus 3 0 100mS 4 0 100mS Mono Flanging Speed 0 99 Depth 0 99 Feedback 99 0 99 Flanging Shape Sine Triangle Stereo Flanging Speed 0 99 Depth 0 99 Feedback 99 0 99 Flanging Shape Sine Triangle Phasor Phasor Speed 0 99 Depth 0 99 Mono Lezlie Lezlie Motor On Off Speed Slow Fast High Rotor Level 12dB to 6dB Stereo Lezlie Lezlie Motor On Off Speed Slow Fast High Rotor Level 12dB to 6dB Stereo Separation 0 99 Pitch Shifter Fine 0 99 Coarse 12 semi tone Pitch
13. If the selected Block is routed to the L R Outputs the display will read The letters RVB in the display example above indicate the selected Block is of the Reverberation type Other types are EQ for Equalization PCH for Pitch and DLY for Delay Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to adjust the Block s Level to the L R Outputs from 0 100 If the selected Block is not routed to the L R Outputs this setting will be NONE and you will not be able to adjust the value Press PAGE gt to advance to Mix Page 2 and adjust the Direct Level from Input The display will read Turn the VVALUE ENTER knob to adjust how much of the dry uneffected signal you wish to hear at the Q20 s outputs from 0 100 If the L R Inputs are not routed to the L R Outputs this setting will be NONE and you will not be able to adjust the value since there is no direct signal O If the Global Direct Signal Mute function is turned on the Direct Level From Input parameter will have no audible effect although its setting is remembered when you store the Program O Press PAGE gt to advance to Mix Page 3 and adjust the Master Effects Level Use the VALUE ENTER knob to adjust the Master Effects Level to the L R Outputs from 0 100 This parameter comes between the combined Effect Blocks outputs and the Q20 s outputs and controls the output levels of all active Blocks that are routed to the L R Outputs simultaneousl
14. The VALUE ENTER button can also be used to step through Pages in the currently selected mode Except when a value is flashing on and off in the display the VALUE ENTER button ordinarily doubles for the PAGE gt button If you change the value of a parameter that uses deferred mode you must press the VALUE ENTER button to enter the new value the display will stop flashing and then you can press it again to move to the next Page or to the next parameter if more than one parameter appears in the display This is a feature for power users who want to be able to move around the various pages quickly and make changes as fast as possible O Unique Exception When editing the Delay Time parameter of a Delay Block set to either Tap Tempo Mono Delay or Tap Tempo Ping Pong the VALUE ENTER button is used to tap in a tempo See Chapter 6 for more information Adjusting the Display Contrast Occasionally the characters in the LCD display may be difficult to read depending on the viewing angle and existing lighting conditions In such a situation adjust the contrast of the LCD display using the following procedure D Press GLOBAL The display will go to the Global Mode Page 1 Adjust the contrast by turning the VALUE ENTER knob The display s contrast and its value in the display will change 20 Q20 Reference Manual Your First Session with the Q20 Chapter 2 Auditioning Internal Programs Yo
15. more information see the Footswitch section in Chapter 6 O When Bypass is enabled all Effect Blocks are momentarily disabled and will not have audio routed from them to the outputs However if the Program does not route the L R Inputs directly to the L R Outputs you will not hear anything In order for Bypass mode to function correctly make sure the L R Inputs are routed to the L R Outputs and that the Global Direct Signal Mute function is turned off see below If the inputs are not routed directly to the outputs the BYPASS button acts more like a mute since nothing will be heard when it is enabled Block Bypass It is possible to bypass individual effect Blocks within a Program without bypassing all effects This can be done by holding down the BYPASS button and pressing the same numbered button as the Block you wish to bypass For example pressing 1 otherwise known as the BLOCK gt button while holding BYPASS will result in Block 1 being bypassed Repeat this process to disable Block Bypass for each separate Block When the BYPASS button is held the display will read When a Block is bypassed its Block outline will disappear and audio will pass through it unaffected If you store a Program while one or more of its Blocks are bypassed the Block s will still be bypassed when that Program is recalled lt Block gt This rocker button allows you to position the Block pointer above Blocks 1 through 8 o
16. transducers at either end used to produce reverb Popular in the 1970 s it is still prized for its transparent sound particularly on vocals and guitars Chamber 1 Reverb chambers are small rooms made of the hardest smoothest surfaces available often marble A loudspeaker is placed at one end and 1 or 2 microphones at the other end The decay time is adjusted by the distance from the microphones to the speaker and by sound diffusers placed in the room This algorithm works well for keyboards and acoustic instruments Room 2 This algorithm uses more DSP for a richer sound and smoother decay It compares quite favorably to high end studio reverbs for its rich sound The attack is also more reflective It sounds good on drums organs keyboards and guitars Hall 2 More processing is dedicated for a more realistic airy concert hall This is a classic reverb which sounds good on just about anything try it on vocals drums acoustic electric or orchestral instruments Q20 Reference Manual 49 Chapter 3 Overview Plate 2 A richer version of Plate 1 which uses more processing power for more density and a smoother decay Chamber 2 This is similar to Chamber 1 but uses more DSP for a thicker sound The high end in particular has a glassy decay which sounds excellent on synthesizers and pianos but try it on vocals too This will sound more realistic when using short decay times Large Plate This algorithm uses the
17. 3 Reverb Parameters Most of the reverb effects in the Q20 operate under the same set of control parameters which are listed and described in this section However reverbs which use more DSP provide parameters which take advantage of their extra processing power parameters which are not found in the other smaller reverb algorithms For example Reverberation Swirl is a parameter found in the Room 2 and Hall 2 types but not in Plate 1 And the Nonlinear reverb type does not provide gating options since it is already a gated reverb algorithm Here are the reverb parameters Decay The Reverb Decay determines how long the Reverb will sound before it dies away When using the Reverse Reverb type Reverb Decay controls the Reverse Time Damping Hi amp Lo These two parameters allow the Decay Time to be set separately for both the low and high frequencies of the Reverb This means that you have control over the tonal shape of the Reverb itself being able to make the high frequencies die faster if the effect is too bright and being able to make the lows die faster if the effect is too boomy This allows you to simulate different surfaces of a room or hall with softer surfaces absorbing more high frequencies and smaller rooms having faster low frequency decay Density Density controls how the first reflection of the reverb effect will appear When set to 0 the first reflection is heard alone without any other reflections Wh
18. Analog Audio Out These are balanced XLR jacks which connect to analog devices such as the effects returns on a mixing console These are true stereo balanced outputs and are represented by the OUT Block on the front panel LCD display These outputs are servo balanced meaning that if one leg of the signal is grounded the other leg will automatically increase 6dB to maintain the nominal output level Left Right Out 1 4 Analog Audio Out These are 1 4 TRS phone jacks which duplicate the XLR outputs for connection to devices which use 1 4 jacks These outputs are servo balanced meaning that if one leg of the signal is grounded the other leg will automatically increase 6dB to maintain the nominal output level Only one set of output jacks should be used at a time for optimal performance 80 Q20 Reference Manual Description of Controls Chapter 5 Effect Parameters The following charts are designed to act as a road map to assist you in locating parameters and their value ranges All of the following parameters may be found by first selecting the appropriate effect type pressing the PARAMETER button and using the lt PAGE gt buttons to navigate through the various pages The number of pages available depends on the effect type you ve selected The total number of pages will be shown in the left side of the display and the currently selected page number will have an underline beneath it Equalization Lowpass Fil
19. CLOCK OUT and the Q20 s 48 kHz CLOCK IN O If only using one ADAT without the BRC or AI 2 it is not necessary to connect the 48 kHz Clock In Global mode GLOBAL button s LED lit page 5 lets you select the Sample Clock Source This can either be Internal or Sample Clock When set to Internal the Q20 uses its own internal sample clock as a reference for its DSP However if you are recording the Q20 s digital output to ADAT using the BRC Master Remote Controller the Q20 must receive a 48 kHz clock signal from the BRC in order to maintain perfect sync with the ADAT system This requires that you connect a BNC to BNC cable between the BRC s 48 KHz Clock Out to the Q20 s 48 KHz Clock In When you are ready to record onto ADAT from the Q20 be sure to set the Q20 s Sample Clock Source function to Sample Clock To select the Sample Clock Source D Press GLOBAI The GLOBAL button s LED will light Press PAGE gt 5 times so that Page 5 is underlined in the display The display will read D If the Input Audio Source is set to Optical Data then the Sample Clock Source will be set to Optical and cannot be changed Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to select either INTERNAL or 48 kHz IN To a Digital Mixer Many digital mixers allow you to route the aux sends to the digital outputs for connection to external effects This is an ideal application for the Q20 To connect the Q20 to a digital mixer using S PDIF
20. Connect another MIDI cable from the Q20 s MIDI IN connector to the other MIDI device s MIDI OUT connector For more information about MIDI refer to Chapter 6 Digital Connections 16 Digital connections provide better fidelity than the analog inputs and outputs because you avoid converting the audio from digital to analog say from a digital mixer then to digital O20 input then analog Q20 output then digital again back into the mixer The Q20 provides two formats for direct digital connections ADAT Optical and S PDIF The Alesis Optical interface provides two EIAJ fiber optic connectors for DIG IN and DIG OUT These connectors use a proprietary Alesis multichannel format first introduced with the ADAT Multitrack Recorder The Q20 can send and or receive digital audio directly to from an ADAT or other devices which use the same optical interface The S PDIF inputs and outputs are provided on coaxial phono jacks and conform to the consumer digital interface format Sony Philips Digital Interface Format The proprietary Alesis Optical format carries up to 8 audio channels on a single fiber optic cable Since the Q20 has two channels left and right you may choose two of the incoming 8 channels for the Q20 to process or output ADAT Optical fiber optic cables of various lengths are available from your Alesis dealer The shorter the cable the better The OC cable is 5 meters long 16 4 and is the maximum length reco
21. No routes are added LEFT A route is added from the Block s output to the L OUTPUT RIGHT A route is added from the Block s output to the R OUTPUT BOTH Two routes are added from the Block s output to the L and R OUTPUTS Note All routes added using this Quick Route method will have a default routing level of 6 dB until they are edited Setting the Routing Levels Each time you add a patch cord to a Program the Q20 s display automatically prompts you to set its level This is done by adjusting the attenuation level between 48dB and 0dB or OFF When set at 0dB the signal is allowed to pass through at full volume with no attenuation When set to OFF the signal is fully attenuated and will not be heard at the patch cord s destination The default level for a newly added patch cord is 6dB This provides you with ample headroom for most applications The ideal level however should be as high as possible without causing distortion There are basically three places in the Q20 that can distort at the input A D converter within the blocks and at the output The routing levels within a well designed program are set so that none of these three will distort before the other ones do If the input is clipping it doesn t matter if you ve attenuated levels feeding from the input to a block it will still distort Input clipping is controlled by the front panel INPUT LEVEL controls Block clipping can be caused by routing lev
22. Program Changes ON Incoming MIDI program change messages received on the same channel the Q20 is set to will recall the same numbered Program in the cuerrently selected Bank Preset User 0 or User 1 in the Q20 Q20 Reference Manual 87 Chapter 6 Advanced Applications Selecting Banks via MIDI You can use MIDI Controller 0 messages to select one of the three Program Banks Preset User 0 or User 1 Controller 0 messages like all controllers can have a value between 0 and 127 however a value of 0 will select the Preset Bank a value of 1 will select the User 0 Bank and values from 2 to 127 will select the User 1 Bank If a Controller 0 message is received followed by a Program change message the QuadraVerb 2 will respond by selecting the appropriate Program number in the appropriate Bank Note Controller 0 messages will change Banks only if the Program Change Table is not being used MIDI Mode Page 2 Program Change Table Alternatively you can use a Program Change Table in the Q20 which re maps incoming program change messages so that they recall Q20 Programs of a different number This is especially useful since MIDI program changes only allow for 128 different programs to be recalled unless it is proceeded by a Bank select message see above Using the Program Table you can have any incoming MIDI program change message recall any of the 300 Programs in the Q20 This is done by assigning the MIDI Program Change
23. Q20 will store the currently selected Program in memory which is retained when the unit is turned off If you edit a Program the changes you made will still be there the next time you switch on the unit even if you hadn t stored the edited Program into memory yet However if you select another Program from memory before storing the edited Program your changes will be lost Although the Q20 has two banks Preset and User you can only store Programs in the User bank O The Preset bank cannot be permanently changed If you edit a Program selected from the Preset bank you will be able to make changes but when you attempt to Store the edited Program it will be stored into the User bank in the selected number location To store an edited Program into memory D Press the STORE button The STORE button s LED will light The display will read whereby X is User Bank 0 or 1 YY is a Program number from 0 to 99 and nnnn is the name of the program that will be overwritten Both the Program number and name will be flashing Q Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to select the Program number location in the User bank to store the edited Program into Press the VALUE ENTER button The display will momentarily read After storing the User Program location you chose will automatically be selected and shown in the display example if you edited Program 13 and stored it into location 25 Program 25 will be selected Au
24. Reference Manual 103 Chapter 6 Advanced Applications 104 Q20 Reference Manual Digital Connections Chapter 7 CHAPTER 7 DIGITAL CONNECTIONS Overview In addition to the analog inputs and outputs the Q20 accepts and transmits audio on two digital protocols ADAT Optical and S PDIF If your source and or destination accept it going digital is often the best way to connect the Q20 By using digital connectors you avoid the slight noise and distortion caused by converting from digital to analog and back again However digital connectivity has its own pitfalls as we ll see in this chapter The S PDIF inputs and outputs conform to the consumer standard digital protocol commonly found on DAT machines CD Players and digital mixers S PDIF is a two channel protocol so you don t need to worry abut setting the input and output channels like on the ADAT Optical inputs and outputs The Alesis Optical digital interface provides the means to communicate with other ADAT Group digital audio devices such as Alesis ADAT Multitrack Recorders The Alesis optical interface uses a proprietary 8 channel buss from which the Q20 can provide processing for 2 channels This means you can come into the Q20 s digital input from one or two tracks of an ADAT and go out of the Q20 s digital out to one or two ADAT tracks Alternatively you may wish to use the Q20 s analog inputs to process an instrument and record digitally direct to the AD
25. The four effect functions available in a Block are Equalization Pitch Delay and Reverberation Each one of these has several effect types Example Once a Block is assigned to use a Pitch function you can choose a Chorus Pitch Shifter Flanger etc A full list of all the available effects and their parameters is shown in Chapter 5 Selecting and Editing Blocks Editing a Program is done by first selecting one of the eight Blocks and then selecting a Block function Type Routing Parameter or Mix Use the lt BLOCK gt buttons to move the pointer in the display to the left or right The pointer appears as a down pointing triangle just above the Blocks thereby selecting one of the eight Blocks or the L OUT or R OUT the L OUT and R OUT are special Blocks which aren t really edited except when adjusting the mix The pointer s position indicates which Block is being edited There are four Block functions which are accessed by using the four Block function buttons TYPE ROUTING PARAMETER and MIX Pressing any of these buttons takes you to its related parameters and simultaneously turns on the button s LED to indicate the selected Block function TYPE The Type function is where you go first to define a Block A Block is defined as either EQ Pitch Delay Reverberation or Off This is done in Type Page 1 Once a Block is defined its effect type can be selected This is done in Type Page 2 If you need to move or copy a de
26. VALUE ENTER knob to select any of the 8 Modulators Press the PAGE gt button again to advance the cursor to the next field Use the VALUE ENTER knob to set the Modulator s amplitude from 99 to 99 Q20 Reference Manual 95 Chapter 6 Advanced Applications Local Generators The Q20 is equipped with two Local Generators which can be used as Modulation Sources Each Local Generator can be set to either one of five types Input Envelope Peak Follower Ramp LFO or Footswitch The first three allow different ways of having the audio signal at the Q20 s inputs modulate the parameters of a Program and the second two use internal sources The Input Envelope Peak Follower and Ramp Local Generators may be triggered by either the Left Input or Right Input or both Left and Right Inputs They may also be triggered by the Digital Input if Optical or S PDIF Data is selected as the Input Audio Source on Global Page 4 Input Envelope This uses an envelope similar to the type found in most synthesizers which is triggered once the audio signal at the Q20 s input s exceeds the Attack Threshold you have chosen 32 to 0dB Once this happens the envelope opens up at a rate determined by the Attack Time which can be set from 0 00 10 00 seconds Once the input level has dipped down below the Release Threshold 50 to OdB the envelope closes at a rate determined by the Release Time 0 00 10 00 seconds ONTHRESHOLD
27. ces conetedbee mo oreet iere ro Er ER peret 81 Equalization esce aa da 81 luo 82 TI CVA ERE 83 Reverb ration i conteste cot eec c es o erede secos ia 84 6 Advanced Applications eee eeeeer nnne nnne OF MIDEFuriCliOfiS 13 aper ico necia ht torno Ode vereri Beege dee e pde nx Mg awe e du T ga D aae e CE EE TE 87 Global MIDI Chanel bcc detto nta A Make mei ines adi pascua dat 87 Receiving Program CO esti 87 Selecting Banks via MIDL ooconionnoncnccnccnocaonannnncnnnnnoinonannononoconciorananncos 88 Program Change Tale ita 88 A A HH ER Home ted cde dod au ES e nene Rage dos 89 LORI Ta ME C RR TREES 90 Realtime Modulation Functions ssssssssse eee 91 Selecting the Modulator teede reren eoa a tal tene toit uE co nie sateen ter 91 Choosine a Tate GE oso pete oue iate Datla ien des tate Mus 92 Choosing A teed aoc eade So desc inti espe 95 Setting The Amplitalesss acer eire A rite tds 95 Local Generators coronas eret ratto Ule reiche reo ctore boedo conan 96 Footswitch CONO larisa mee KA IRAM qe 101 Program Adyarice ee dra ee eI e ses iste epe editada ce 101 By passing Effect sy ete Ee irato ee Te meds 101 Block Bypass via MIDI ie Deere orano ner eI een 102 Controlling Delay Time via Tap Tempo sssssee 102 MIDI Control of Tap Tempo Delay sss 103 7 Digital Connections mimi COO KR GE REG D EID ERG RR E ca 105 Jesi f Tc 105 D
28. either an Alesis BRC or AI 2 synchronizer Once connected it is necessary to set the Q20 s Sample Clock Source to 48kHz INPUT See Chapter 7 for more information Q20 Reference Manual 79 Chapter 5 Description of Controls Digital In ADAT Digital Audio In This is an EIAJ fiber optic jack which connects to the ADAT optical interface for receiving two of any eight digital audio channels See Chapter 7 for more information Digital Out ADAT Digital Audio Out This is an EIAJ fiber optic jack which connects to the ADAT optical interface for transmitting on two of any eight digital audio channels See Chapter 7 for more information S PDIF In S PDIF Digital Audio In This is a phono jack which connects to the S PDIF digital out of a device digital mixer DAT machine etc for recieving digital audio See Chapter 7 for more information S PDIF Out S PDIF Digital Audio Out This is a phono jack which connects to the S PDIF digital in of a device digital mixer DAT machine etc for transmitting digital audio See Chapter 7 for more information Left Right In Analog Audio In These are combination 1 4 TRS phone and XLR jacks which connect to analog source devices such as the effects sends of mixing consoles These are true stereo balanced inputs and are represented by the IN Block on the front panel LCD display They may be used with nominal input levels from 20dBV guitar level to 4dBu Left Right Out XLR
29. in the chain This is because the transmitting ADAT does not route the digital audio it receives thru to its output Example Let s say you have four ADATs and a BRC If you were to select tracks 9 and 10 tracks 1 and 2 on ADAT 2 as your source tracks for digital bouncing on the BRC you thereby designate ADAT 2 as the transmitter on the digital buss Q20 can now intercept any of that ADAT s 8 channels process them and output them back onto two channels which connects back to the first ADAT in the chain The Q20 s output could therefore be recorded onto ADAT 1 and 2 but not ADAT 3 This is because ADAT 2 is not routing its digital input thru to its output because it is routing its tape signal instead If you wanted to record the Q20 s digital output onto ADAT 3 the easiest solution is to swap tapes between ADAT 1 and 3 112 Q20 Reference Manual Digital Connections Chapter 7 From a QuadraSynth or QS series synth through the Q20 back to ADAT The QuadraSynth QS7 QS8 etc provide their four audio outputs Main Left Right and Aux Left Right on the first four channels of the Alesis Optical digital buss If you connect the QuadraSynth QS s digital output to the digital input of the Q20 you would select channels 1 and 2 if you wanted to process the two Main outputs or channels 3 and 4 if you wanted to process the Aux channels If you are using the QuadraSynth QS along with an ADAT system and the BRC or an AI 2 you wi
30. level controls effect the analog inputs and outputs only If you need to attenuate the digital inputs you can do this in Page 2 of the Routing pages See Chapter 4 for more information Q20 Reference Manual 19 Chapter 2 Your First Session with the Q20 The Value Enter Knob Located just to the right of the custom LCD display the VALUE ENTER knob is used to select Programs and adjust parameter values that appear in the display However it is not just a knob it is also a button Depending on what parameter you are editing the VALUE ENTER knob will work in either one of two ways Immediate The desired value is selected by turning the VALUE ENTER knob and immediately takes effect This is the case when adjusting most parameters Deferred The desired value is selected by turning the VALUE ENTER knob but the new value will only take effect after the VALUE ENTER button has been pressed The newly selected value will flash in the display until it is selected in this manner If you change the parameter back to its original setting the value in the display will not flash Also if you go to another Page or select another Function by pressing any button the parameter will be left unchanged If you went back to look at the previous parameter it will be set back to its original setting This mode is used for parameters that cause architectural changes such as changing a Block s function effect type and routing signals
31. lt 99 only the overdriven effect is heard e When set to CLEAN lt 00 gt CLEAN you have an even mix between the original uneffected signal and the overdriven signal e When set to 99 gt CLEAN the Overdrive effect cannot be heard at all Brightness The Brightness parameter Parameter mode Page 2 sets the tone of the Overdrive effect It can be set between 00 99 Higher numbers result in a brighter sounding overdrive Lower numbers result in a duller distortion sound Drive Level The Drive Level parameter Parameter mode Page 2 sets the level which the signal feeding the Overdrive effect must reach before the Overdrive effect will begin distorting It can be set between 1 0 and 11 0 If this number is very high the Overdrive effect will start to distort almost right away When set to a low number the distortion will not occur until the signal feeding the overdrive becomes louder than the Direct Level setting When you need that extra push try setting the Direct Level to 11 That s one louder init 36 Q20 Reference Manual Overview Chapter 3 Triggered Panning with Doppler This EQ Type creates the effect of audio moving back and forth between the left and right outputs The triggered part means that the effect only occurs when triggered by one of a variety of sources including Audio Left Right or Both Advance Footswitch or Bypass Footswitch Once the Panning effect is triggered it c
32. most processing available for a truly realistic reverb plate simulation It works well for a lush lead vocal piano or guitar especially when looking for a classic rock and roll sound Large Room This algorithm uses the most processing for the most realistic possible sound It has a nice smooth decay for drums and a fat attack to warm up guitars and percussion Try gating it for that classic British progressive rock drum sound Spring Classic guitar amplifiers used a suspended spring with transducers at either end to simulate reverb It produces a ringy resonant sound which can be good for vintage guitar applications With this algorithm you get the character of a spring without the boing Nonlinear An effect pioneered in the early 1980 s was gated reverb Either a live room or a digital reverb was sent through a noise gate which was then triggered by the input signal This created a large reverberant space which would cut off suddenly You can get this effect in any of the other reverb algorithms but Nonlinear simulates the sound of classic gated digital reverb programs It is generally used for drums and percussion Reverse Another popular trick in the 80 s was to record the reverb with the tape flipped over so it would play backwards in the mix It is a useful effect for drums and other percussive sounds it adds space without washing out the instrument 50 Q20 Reference Manual Overview Chapter
33. move it to Then to execute the move press the VALUE ENTER button The Block is moved and the routings repatched to recreate the same signal path Now you can redefine Block 1 as an EQ If you move a Block to a position already occupied by another Block the two Blocks will swap positions and their routings will automatically be swapped as well to maintain the identical signal path Since blocks can be routed in any order you like Block Move is primarily for visual feedback The input could be routed to Block 3 first for example then to Blocks 1 and 2 and to the outputs If you prefer you can rearrange the blocks so they are in the proper order on the screen To move a defined Block to another position D Press TYPE The TYPE button s LED will light Press PAGE gt twice to advance to Type Page 3 The display will look like this The right half of the display will flash Use the VALUE ENTER knob to select which Block you want to move 1 8 Press PAGE gt to advance the cursor to the next field Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to select where you want to move it to 1 8 Press VALUE ENTER to execute the move If the selected destination is already occupied by a defined Block the Blocks will slide into the now vacant positions 64 Q20 Reference Manual Making Your Own Programs Chapter 4 Block Copy amp Paste It is also possible to duplicate a single effect block includ
34. not perform its normal function that of advancing to the next Program or bypassing effects respectively Instead recording will be triggered when the selected footswitch is pressed Note If the Play Trigger and Rec Trigger parameters are set to the same source that trigger source will trigger recording only when the Sample Buffer is empty At all other times it will trigger playback of the Sample Buffer Example When using the same footswitch to trigger both recording and playback the first time you press the footswitch recording will begin thereafter pressing the footswitch will only playback the Sample Buffer until the Sample Buffer is cleared Note The Note parameter Parameter Mode Page 6 determines which MIDI note message will trigger either recording or playback of the Sample Buffer if either the Play Trigger or Rec Trigger is set to MIDI NOTE see above This parameter can be set to a specific note number from 0 C 2 to 127 A8 or to ALL in which case any MIDI note message will trigger playback of the Sample Buffer Note The MIDI note messages must be received on the same MIDI channel that the Q20 is set to MIDI Mode Page 1 Rec Audio The Rec Audio parameter Parameter Mode Page 6 determines whether or not the audio being recorded into the Sample Buffer will be routed to the audio outputs This can be set to either ON or MUTE e When set to ON the audio being fed to the Sampler effect will be heard at
35. output as an input source If the Global Direct Signal Mute function is turned on amy Programs which have the o L R IN routed to the L R OUT will not display these patch cords except when editing the Program s routings This is to avoid confusion when operating in this mode For more information on Global Direct Signal Mute see Chapter 2 28 Q20 Reference Manual Overview Chapter 3 Quick Route A new feature has been added to greatly simplify the task of creating Programs especially a 1 Block Program When a new Effect Block is created by changing its Block Function from OFF to either EQ Pitch Delay or Reverb and pressing the VALUE ENTER button the display will read the following Turning the VALUE ENTER knob lets you select from the following choices NONE LEFT RIGHT or BOTH After making your selection press the VALUE ENTER What occurs depends on what you just selected NONE No routes are added LEFT A route is added from the L INPUT to the Block s input RIGHT A route is added from the R INPUT to the Block s input BOTH Two routes are added from the L and R INPUTs to the Block s input The display will have advanced to the next page which will look like this Turning the VALUE ENTER knob lets you select from the following choices NONE LEFT RIGHT or BOTH After making your selection press the VALUE ENTER What occurs depends on what you just selected NONE
36. pages will vary from function to function The left side of the display will indicate the total number of pages within the selected Block function The page currently being displayed will be underlined When you find a parameter you wish to edit turn the VALUE ENTER knob until the desired value is displayed If the new value flashes in the display it means you must press the VALUE ENTER button to select the new value Routing Patch Cords Between Blocks The concept of routing involves selecting inputs for each active Block 1 through 8 and L OUT and R OUT and then adjusting the input levels of those routings you are using The ROUTING button will let you create patch cords that connect the input jacks to the Blocks or the Blocks to other Blocks and finally to the output jacks You may select the Left Input Right Input analog or digital inputs or the output of a Block L left R right or M mix You can even route a Block s M mix output back to its own input which can be used to create some rather stunning effects but the level setting for doing this is critical to avoid unwanted feedback Keep in mind that each Block can have many inputs coming from various sources All routings are considered input patch cords i e you can only make a route from the destination Block Example To set a route from Block 2 to Block 5 you d select Block 5 not Block 2 using the lt BLOCK gt buttons and then select Block 2 s
37. the QuadraVerb 2 s outputs while recording is taking place When set to MUTE the audio being fed to the Sampler effect will not be heard at the outputs This means you can sample audio without hearing it until you are ready to trigger the Sample Buffer Q20 Reference Manual Overview Chapter 3 Reverberation Reverb is made up of a large number of distinct echoes called reflections In a natural acoustic space each reflection s amplitude and brightness decays over time This decaying action is influenced by the room size the location of the sound source in the room the hardness of the walls and other factors The Q20 offers many types of reverberation Mono Room This uses a very small amount of DSP and is useful for combining with other effects or for dual mono reverb applications Room 1 This algorithm gives you the sound of a medium sized studio room It doesn t use a lot of DSP so it s useful for placing at the end of a guitar multi effect program or for using 2 reverbs at once for dual processing Try it on percussion and brass too Hall 1 This is a simulation of a large concert hall Halls tend to be large rooms with lots of reflective surfaces so sounds can swim around changing timbre over time It doesn t need a lot of DSP so you can use it on a guitar multi effect or a dual reverb send program Plate 1 This is a simulation of a classic echo plate a 4 by 8 suspended sheet of metal with
38. the Q20 via a footswitch This is the same as pressing the BYPASS button on the front panel Each time either the BYPASS button is pressed or the footswitch connected to the BYPASS jack is pressed Bypass mode is toggled on and off again When Bypass mode is turned on the BYPASS button s LED will be lit When Bypass is enabled all Effect Blocks are momentarily disabled and will not Q have audio routed from them to the outputs However if the Program does not route the L R Inputs directly to the L R Outputs or the Global Direct Signal is Muted you will not hear anything In order for Bypass mode to function correctly make sure the L R Inputs are routed to the L R Outputs and the Global Direct Signal Mute function is turned off If the inputs are not routed directly to the outputs the BYPASS button acts more like a mute since nothing will be heard when it is enabled Q20 Reference Manual 101 Chapter 6 Advanced Applications 102 Block Bypass via MIDI It is possible to engage Block Bypass via MIDI controller messages which the Q20 receives at its MIDI IN connector The following controllers can be used to bypass the following Blocks and Block types Note If one of these controllers is selected as a Modulation Source Modulation Mode Page 1 in a Program that controller s respective bypass function will be temporarily disabled while that Program is selected Controlling Delay Time via Tap Tempo When
39. the outputs The Delay Block s output is also fed into a Hall 1 Reverb which provides ambience to the un chorused signal The Reverb s stereo signals are routed to the Q20 s outputs and mixed with the Stereo Chorus s signals Meanwhile the Reverb s mono output feeds a Stereo Flanger whose stereo signals are also combined with the Stereo Chorus Reverb and the original input signal at the outputs Again use the Mix parameters to create just the balance you want 98 Stereo Plates This Program is very simple It routes the L and R IN through separate stereo type Reverb Blocks Plate 1 type to be precise Both stereo signals coming out of the two Reverb Blocks feed the L R OUT This creates a very clean stereo reverb effect that s great for vocals Play around with the Predelay and Decay parameters to adjust the attack and length of the reverb Q20 Reference Manual Your First Session with the Q20 Chapter 2 Adjusting Effects Levels Although we may not want to get started editing Programs just yet that s left for Chapter 4 it is usually necessary to have immediate control over the output levels of each Effect Block as well as the amount of direct level going from the inputs to the outputs These are found within Mix mode To adjust a Program s effect levels D Press the MIX button The MIX button s LED will light Use the lt BLOCK gt buttons to select any of the active Blocks in the display
40. this button allows us to name edit a name or rename a Program Names can contain up to 14 Characters and are selected by turning the VALUE ENTER knob The cursor is positioned by using the lt PAGE gt buttons Or you can press the VALUE ENTER button to advance the cursor to the right this helps make naming your Programs a fast operation Once chosen the name can be stored along with the Program using the STORE button see above Here is a chart of available characters Eit qi bee ee et ege nem ee spe D RS 3 4 5 16 7 8 9 lt Q A B C D JE FF G Hil J KIEL MINIO PIQIR S T U VIW X Y Z Y lab c de fo gi hi j k I imn o p iq r s t u v w x yz i1 gt MIDI When the MIDI button is pressed its LED will light and the display will move to MIDI Page 1 There are a total of 6 pages in all containing various MIDI related parameters For more information about MIDI parameters see Chapter 6 Page 1 MIDI Channel This sets the basic MIDI channel of the Q20 This is the channel used to receive MIDI program change messages for recalling Programs and for receiving controller pitch bend note or velocity information for controlling various effect parameters in realtime from an external MIDI source such as a controller or sequencer The MIDI channel can be set between 1 16 or set to Omni this lets the Q20
41. ALESIS Q20 User Manual Introduction Thank you for purchasing the Alesis Q20 Professional 20 Bit Master Effects Processor To take full advantage of of the Q20 s fuctions and to enjoy long and trouble free use please read this user s manual carefully How To Use This Manual This manual is divided into the following sections describing the various modes of the Q20 Though we recommend you take time to read through the entire manual once carefully those having general knowledge about effects devices should use the table of contents and index to reference specific functions while using this device If you are planning to use the digital I O read Chapter 7 carefully Chapter 1 Setting Up Deals with the necessary preparation before using including connections to other components such as instruments mixing consoles and multitrack recorders as well as digital connections to ADAT Chapter 2 Your First Session with the Q20 A basic introduction to getting the unit up and running auditioning the factory Programs adjusting levels comparing and storing edited Programs Chapter 3 Overview A detailed look at the signal processing capabilities of the Q20 the concepts of multi effect programming and a description of the many available effects Chapter 4 Making Your Own Programs A guided tour for programming typical single and multi effect applications Chapter 5 Description of Controls A dictionary of all paramete
42. AT or S PDIF digital outs This is possible because while the Q20 s inputs are set to either analog or digital all of the analog and digital outputs are always active Note that on the ADAT outputs you must determine which 2 channels of the digital buss 8 channels to assign the Q20 s digital outputs to Going digital is the preferred method of recording if you use the Q20 with an ADAT Since the DSP effects are created in the digital realm why not let them remain there while being transferred to a tape medium This chapter is designed to illustrate the precise ways of connecting the Q20 to various digital audio peripherals and how to manipulate the Q20 s digital routings It is divided into two parts The first half of this chapter details the connections to various digital audio sources and destinations The second half talks about the routing possibilities that are available on the Q20 for processing digital audio sources and transmitting to digital audio recorders Q20 Reference Manual 105 Chapter 7 Digital Connections Digital Clock Synchronization Before talking about digital clocks it s important to understand the one clock theory This simply states that when you synchronize multiple machines in this case digital audio recorders processors mixers etc there must be one master clock which they all sync to When there is more than one master clock these two clocks will eventually drift apart and you will hear cl
43. DI Thru This determines whether information received at the MIDI IN connector should be routed to the MIDI OUT connector When ON the MIDI OUT connector echoes any MIDI messages it receives on the MIDI IN connector Page 5 System Exclusive Receive This determines whether the Q20 will respond to any received MIDI SysEx messages SysEx System Exclusive is used to control the various parameters of the Q20 When ON the Q20 will respond to SysEx messages When off SysEx messages will be ignored Page 6 Send MIDI Program This page lets you dump out a single Program or the current Program being used edited or the entire User bank via MIDI The data is sent as SysEx information This can be sent to a MIDI storage device or to another Q20 Select either ALL or a Program number from 00 99 User bank only or EDIT the currently selected Program which is in the edit buffer When ALL is selected simply pressing the VALUE ENTER button starts the MIDI dump The display will read MIDI PROGRAM DUMP IN PROGRESS indicating that all 100 User Programs are being sent out the MIDI OUT connector If EDIT or 00 99 is selected a second value appears which lets you select which Program location to send the selected Program to This is useful when you are connected to another Q20 and wish to transfer a Program from one to the other but do not want to store it in the same location Q20 Reference Manual 77 C
44. Detune Detune Amount 99 Ring Modulator Spectrum Shift 100 Mono Trigger Flange Speed 0 99 Depth 0 99 Feedback 99 0 99 elelee wW INI eI NIele NIe INI Iel WINIE WINI e WIN Retrigger Point 0 255 N Sweeping Mode Continuous One Cycle Only C2 Trigger Source Audio Left Audio Right Audio L amp R Advance Footsw Bypass Footsw Stereo Trig Flange Speed 0 99 Depth 0 99 Feedback 99 0 99 Retrigger Point 0 255 Sweeping Mode Continuous One Cycle Only Trigger Source Audio Left Audio Right Audio L amp R Advance Footsw Bypass Footsw Q20 Reference Manual Description of Controls Chapter 5 Delay Delay Type Mono Delay Parameters Delay Time 0 1 5000mS Beat Count 1 2 1 4 1 4 1 4T 1 8 1 8 1 8T 1 16 1 32 dotted T triplet Feedback 0 99 Stereo Delay Left Delay 0 1 5000mS Beat Count 1 2 1 4 1 4 1 4T 1 8 1 8 1 8T 1 16 1 32 Left Feedback 0 99 Right Delay 0 1 5000mS Beat Count 1 2 1 4 1 4 1 4T 1 8 1 8 1 8T 1 16 1 32 Right Feedback 0 99 Ping Pong Delay Delay Time 0 1 5000mS Beat Count 1 2 1 4 1 4 1 4T 1 8 1 8 1 8T 1 16 1 32 Feedback 0 99 Multi Tap Delay Tap 1 Del 0 1 5000mS Vol Off 48 0dB L lt gt R lt 99 lt 50 gt 99 FB 0 99 Tap 2 Del 0 1 5000mS Vol Off 48 0dB L lt gt R lt 99 lt 50 gt 99 FB 0 99
45. Hz Predelay 1 250mS Mix lt 99 lt 50 gt 99 gt 86 Q20 Reference Manual Advanced Applications Chapter 6 CHAPTER 6 ADVANCED APPLICATIONS MIDI Functions The Q20 provides many MIDI functions including being able to respond to program changes sending and receiving Program information via SysEx dumps and realtime control over various effect parameters via MIDI controllers For more information about basic MIDI connections see Chapter 1 Global MIDI Channel The Global MIDI Channel is used to receive program change messages as well as other MIDI events for use with MIDI modulation To set the Q20 s MIDI channel D Press MIDI The MIDI LED will light and the display will read Q Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to set the Global MIDI Channel to either 1 through 16 or OMNI all 16 channels simultaneously Receiving Program Changes In order to recall programs or control parameters on the Q20 from a MIDI control device keyboard drum pad guitar or bass controller sequencer etc D Connect the control device s MIDI OUT to the Q20 s MIDI IN This provides a one way connection since this is all we need to control the Q20 via MIDI we don t require the Q20 to send MIDI information back to the other device Press MIDI The MIDI LED will light GS Press PAGE gt to access MIDI Page 2 The display will read Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to turn MIDI
46. IN or M out to EQ IN depending on which option you are viewing in the upper display All three options are routed to the EQ Block s input so their nomenclature is determined by their source ie FROM INPUT LEFT FROM INPUT RIGHT etc With the INPUT RIGHT option selected press the VALUE ENTER button This connects the signal from the Right input of the Q20 IN R to the input of the EQ module Upon pressing the VALUE ENTER button in step 3 the display automatically advances to Page 2 which is where we may set the level of this connection the volume from the right input to the EQ in The display now reads Q The patch cord will still flash until a level has been dialed in amp Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to select the input level for this connection Level Setting The input level is an important parameter the setting of which can have a drastic impact on the resulting effect It s default setting of 6 0dB represents the halfway point of its range 0 dB is the loudest using no attenuation while OFF mutes the route entirely Q20 Reference Manual 57 Chapter 4 Making Your Own Programs 58 You should set the level to accommodate the headroom the effect will need For example even if the front panel input levels are below clipping if you boost an EQ band it can distort the internal processor of the Q20 The 6 0 dB setting will accommodate most blocks but if there is clipping internally when the r
47. If the Rec Trigger parameter is not set to ENTER the sample will play for as long as the selected trigger source is detected Example If the Rec Trigger parameter is set to AUDIO LEFT amp RIGHT recording will begin once audio is detected at either the analog or digital inputs depending on which is selected as the Input Audio Source and continues until audio is no longer detected or until the Maximum Sample Length parameter has been reached Maximum Sample Length The Maximum Sample Length Parameter Mode Page 2 is the amount of time the Sampler effect will record audio once recording has begun see previous section This can be set from 250 0 ms to 5000 0 ms or 5 seconds in 1 ms increments Q If the Maximum Sample Length parameter is changed the Sample Buffer is erased 46 Q20 Reference Manual Overview Chapter 3 Start and End Pointers The Start and End parameters Parameter Mode Page 3 serve as pointers which determine the section of recorded audio the Sample Buffer will play back when triggered If you have recorded audio with the Rec parameter set to 1 SHOT see above you may end up with some empty silence at the beginning of your sample By adjusting the Start pointer you can have the Sample Buffer begin at the desired section of your recording when it is triggered If on the other hand you have an annoying mistake at the end of an otherwise perfect recording you can adjust the End pointer so that t
48. Page 2 The display will look like this Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to select either Direct or Deferred mode You can also directly select Programs using the front panel buttons By holding the PROGRAM button you can press PRESET or USER stenciled in gray to select either the Preset User 0 or User 1 bank 100 Programs in each Also while holding the PROGRAM button and using the 1 though 0 buttons stenciled in gray you can directly recall any Program from 00 99 in the current bank Preset or User you happen to be in 020 Reference Manual 69 Chapter 5 Description of Controls 70 Store Once you have created a new Program you can press STORE to store it The STORE button s LED will light You can now dial in a Program number from the User bank using the VALUE ENTER knob that you want to store it into you cannot store a Program into the Preset bank since this is stored in ROM Press either the STORE button or the VALUE ENTER button and your Program is stored The display will momentarily read PROGRAM STORED The STORE button s LED will turn off and you will be returned to whatever mode you were in prior to storing To cancel the operation without storing press any other button before pressing STORE or VALUE ENTER Once a Program is stored the previous Program in the selected location is replaced and cannot be retrieved Before storing you may want to transmit the entire con
49. R Outputs you will not hear anything In order for the Bypass mode to function correctly make sure the L R Inputs are routed to the L R Outputs and that the Global Direct Signal Mute function is turned off see below If the inputs are not routed directly to the outputs the BYPASS button acts more like a mute since nothing will be heard when it is enabled Global Direct Signal Muting 26 The purpose of this feature is to satisfy the conditions of a recording studio environment As described in Chapter 1 when connecting the Q20 to a mixing console s aux sends and returns it is generally desirable to remove the direct signal feed from the outputs of the Q20 This is because the signal coming back from the Q20 should only contain wet uneffected signal The dry signal is then combined with the returning wet signal at the mixing console Since most Q20 Programs route the L R IN signal to the L R OUT you will need to mute this connection when connecting to a mixer s aux sends and returns This can be done globally for all Programs To remove all direct routings of inputs to outputs on all Programs simultaneously D Press GLOBAI The GLOBAL LED will light Press lt PAGE once This selects Global Page 9 The display will read Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to the right until the display reads ON The next Program recalled which has the inputs routed to the outputs will not display the routes patch cords
50. SSION WITH THE Q20 Powering Up After making your connections turn on the system s power using this procedure D Before turning on the Q20 s power check the following items Have all connections been made correctly e Are the volume controls of the amplifier or mixer turned down Q Turn on the POWER switch on the front panel of the Q20 Upon power up the Q20 will display the last selected Program and the PROGRAM button s LED will be lit If this Program has been edited the display will indicate this by showing the word EDITED and by flashing the Program Number and Name in the upper display Turn on the power of the amplifier mixer and adjust the volume Setting Levels Proper setting of the INPUT LEVEL and OUTPUT knobs is crucial in order to achieve the maximum signal to noise ratio the concentric knobs allow the Left and Right Input levels to be adjusted separately As a good starting point set both input and output level controls at about 2 o clock or 65 of full This will decrease the possibility of overload distortion and keep the amount of background noise to a c Co2o O E INPUT LEVEL OUTPUT LEFT RIGHT C For quietest operation you should adjust the level of the source being sent to the Q20 so that the green 3dB LEDs in the Q20 s peak meter flash but not so loud that the red CLIP LEDs turn on A nominal input sound make the 12dB LED turn on Note The Input and Output
51. Tap 3 Del 0 1 5000mS Vol Off 48 0dB L lt gt R lt 99 lt 50 gt 99 FB 0 99 Tap 4 Del 0 1 5000mS Vol Off 48 0dB L lt gt R lt 99 lt 50 gt 99 FB 0 99 Tap 5 Del 0 1 5000mS Vol Off 48 0dB L lt gt R lt 99 lt 50 gt 99 FB 0 99 Master Feedback 0 99 Tap Tempo Mono Delay Delay Time 0 1 5000mS Beat Count 1 2 1 4 1 4 1 4T 1 8 1 8 1 8T 1 16 1 32 Feedback 0 99 Tap Tempo Ping Pong Sampling Q20 Reference Manual Delay Time 0 1 5000mS Beat Count 1 2 1 4 1 4 1 4T 1 8 1 8 1 8T 1 16 1 32 Feedback 0 99 Sample Play Looping 1 Shot Gated Rec 1 Shot Gated Maximum Sample Length 250 0 5000 0 mS Start 0 0 4950 0 mS End 50 0 5000 0 mS Play Trigger Enter Audio Left Audio Right Audio L amp R MIDI Note Advance Footswitch Bypass Footswitch Rec Trigger Enter Audio Left Audio Right Audio L R MIDI Note Advance Footswitch Bypass Footswitch MIDI Note 000 127 All Rec Output On Mute 83 Chapter 5 Description of Controls Reverberation Reverb Type Parameters Mono Room Decay 0 99 Damping Hi 0 99 Lo 0 99 Reverb Density 0 99 Diffusion 0 99 High Frequency Roll Off 200Hz 20 000Hz Predelay 1 250mS Mix lt 99 lt 50 gt 99 gt Gate Trig Off Left Right L amp R Hold 10 500 mS Gate Release Time 0 500mS Gate Level 0 99 Decay 0 99 Damping Hi 0 99 Lo 0 99 R
52. These Programs are numbered 0 through 99 The Q20 is shipped with 100 factory presets in the Preset bank these can be modified but not permanently changed All edited programs must be stored in the User bank Let s start by creating a simple single Block program starting from scratch then go on from there by adding other blocks We ll use Preset 99 which has been left un programmed for the purpose of this tutorial Refer to Chapter 2 for information on selecting programs PROGRAM FI C ES This program has the L R INs routed directly to the L R OUTs respectively Consequently there is no audible change to the signal we are feeding to it Our signal is clean dry now so let s add an effect If the Global Direct Signal Mute function is turned on any Programs which have the C L R IN routed to the L R OUT will not display these patch cords except when editing the Program s routings This is to avoid confusion when operating in this mode For more information on Global Direct Signal Mute see Chapter 2 There are generally five Block Functions available for creating and editing Programs which are Type Routing Parameter Mix and Modulation Modulation deals with controlling various parameters in real time via a MIDI controller This information is covered in Chapter 6 For now let s stick to the basics and go through the Functions one at a time Q20 Reference Manual 55 Chapter 4 Making Your Own Programs Progr
53. ain just before the L R OUT especially when you use the parametric and graphic EQs However since this is just a tutorial let s look at just how we go about mixing the EQ d signal with the original input signal D Press the MIX button The MIX button s LED will light If the display reads DIRECT LEVEL FROM INPUT you have not yet moved back to BLOCK 1 Press the lt BLOCK button to move the pointer in the display to Block 1 The display will now show you the first of three pages Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to adjust how much of the EQ s output is heard at the L R OUT Press the PAGE gt button to advance to Mix Page 2 The display will read Turn the VVALUE ENTER knob to adjust how much of the direct input signal is being routed to the L R OUT For an EQ the level would normally be 0 By adjusting this parameter you can create an ideal balance between the original uneffected signal at the inputs and the effected signal coming from the EQ Block If the Global Direct Signal Mute function is turned on the Direct Level From Input parameter will appear to have no effect However any changes you make will be remembered if you store the edited Program For more information on Global Direct Signal Muting see Chapter 2 Q20 Reference Manual Making Your Own Programs Chapter 4 Programming Multiple Blocks When you start adding more Blocks the same principles apply as described in th
54. ameter is not set to ENTER the sample will play for as long as the selected trigger source is detected Example If the Play Trigger parameter is set to AUDIO LEFT amp RIGHT the Sample Buffer will play as long as audio is detected at either the analog or digital inputs depending on which is selected as the Input Audio Source Q20 Reference Manual 45 Chapter 3 Overview If you attempt to trigger sample playback when no audio has been sampled the display will temporarily read Rec The Rec parameter also found on Page 1 of Parameter Mode determines how recording of audio shall begin This can be set to either 1 SHOT or GATED No matter which of these is selected recording can begin by pressing the VALUE ENTER button while the Rec parameter is selected Additionally recording can be triggered from a number of other sources including MIDI note footswitch or audio This is determined by the Rec Trigger parameter see page 4 e When set to 1 SHOT recording begins immediately once triggered for example by pressing VALUE ENTER button and continues for the amount of time specified in the Maximum Sample Length parameter see below e When set to GATED and recording is triggered for example by pressing the VALUE ENTER button recording of audio will begin and continue for as long as the selected trigger source is detected or until the amount of time specified by the Maximum Sample Length parameter has elapsed
55. amming A Single Block 56 pc Type A Block can provide Equalization Pitch Delay Reverberation or be turned OFF A program can contain up to eight Blocks which can be in almost any combination or order within the confines of available DSP memory The Block s Type determines not only what parameters are available in the Parameter function but also what routings are available in the Routing function Each Block can be modified according to the available parameters based on the Block s type and routed independently of the other Blocks D Press the TYPE button The TYPE button s LED will light Press the lt BLOCK button repeatedly until the pointer is above the leftmost Block in the display this is Block 1 s position The display will show page 1 of Type mode there are 3 pages in this mode Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to select EQUALIZATION as the Block Function The function will flash until you press the VALUE ENTER button Press the VALUE ENTER button The display will read This function allows you to quickly add routes to the new block from the input and to the output when writing simple programs For the purpose of this tutorial simply press the VALUE ENTER button twice The EQ module will now be displayed as Block 1 and the display automatically advances to Page 2 Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to scroll through the various EQ effect types By rotating the dia
56. an sweep from either left to right or right to left Retrigger Point either once or continuously Sweeping Mode depending on how you have the parameters set up Speed Speed Parameter mode Page 1 controls the rate at which audio will be panned between the two channels It can be set between 0 and 99 with 99 being the fastest Doppler Doppler Parameter mode Page 1 recreates the natural effect of pitch shifting that occurs when an object approaches and then passes you example an ambulance siren changing pitch as it races past you It has a range of 0 off to 99 maximum Distance Distance Parameter mode Page 1 controls how far forward or back the panned sound appears to be At higher settings the far L and R ends of the pan are not audible Retrigger Point Retrigger Point Parameter mode Page 2 determines on which channel Left Right or Alternating Left Right the panning motion will begin When set to LEFT or RIGHT the Panning effect will begin on the selected channel when triggered e When set to ALTERNATING L R the panning motion will alternate between beginning on either the Left or Right channel when triggered Sweeping Mode Sweeping Mode Parameter mode Page 3 determines whether the Panning effect will occur only once or continuously e When set to ONE CYCLE ONLY the Panning effect when triggered will move from one channel to the other and back and then stops until it is triggered again
57. ange the signal is split into three parts with a dry signal and a separate Delay section for both left and right channels with one channel flanging up while the other channel flanges down Once again this causes the effect to become more pronounced and dramatic DRY SIGNAL t FEEDBACK LEFT DAS FLANG ED OUTPUT DRY ANA RIGHT FLANG ED FEEDBACK OUIEUT gt DRY SIGNAL Phasor Another popular effect is the Phasor or Phase Shifter Although similar to flanging this effect is produced differently Again part of the signal is split from the original signal The Phasor shifts the phase of different frequencies in different amounts resulting in a comb filter effect when combined with the dry signal LFO PHASOR __ DRY gt PHASED SIGNAL OUTPUT DRY SIGNAL Mono Stereo Lezlie Cabinet With the Lezlie type selected the pitch change Block becomes a rotating speaker simulator This effect was extremely popular during the 1960 s and was achieved by mechanically rotating the speakers to produce complex timbral changes The Lezlie speaker system is most often used with tone wheel organs but is occasionally used for guitar amplification as well You have control over the motor on off speed slow fast and high rotor level 12 6dB which controls the brightness of the effect The stereo version gives you an additional parameter called Stereo Separation This gi
58. annel on the buss from 1 to 8 You can even route the same channel to both inputs Since the Q20 has two outputs left and right you get to chose which of the 8 channels on the outgoing optical buss they should be sent on Both outputs can be routed to any channel on the buss from 1 to 8 However you cannot assign both outputs to the same channel on the optical buss For the outputs to be routed at all the Digital Output Mode must be set to NORMAL see below Note that the front panel meters only monitor inputs 1 and 2 and the analog outputs will work only if the output channels are set to 1 and 2 Page 7 Digital Output Mode This determines how the ADAT DIGITAL OUT connector will function When set to NORMAL the Q20 s L R OUT is routed to the DIGITAL OUT connector When set to THRU whatever is received at the DIGITAL IN connector is passed on to the DIGITAL OUT connector without any processing occurring on the digital signal within the Q20 Use this mode when you are connected between to Alesis Optical devices such as ADAT between which you wish to bounce digital audio Page 8 Tap Tempo Footswitch This lets you choose which footswitch jack either ADVANCE or BYPASS will be used to provide a tap tempo source for setting delay time provided the selected Program uses one of the two available tap tempo delay types This requires that you have defined an Effect Block as one of the two Tap Tempo d
59. aried and a portion of the detuned signal can be fed back to the input to increase the effect Finally the waveform shape of the LFO can be changed from a sine wave to a more abrupt squarewave to make the pitch detuning more pronounced LFO DELAY DETUNE DRY __ X L CHORUSED SIGNAL FEEDBACK OUTPUT gp cc DRY SIGNAL Stereo Chorus In the case of a Stereo Chorus the signal is split into three parts with a dry signal and a separate Detuning section for both left and right channels When the left channel is detuned sharp the right is detuned flat and vice versa Once again this causes the effect to become more pronounced and dramatic All the parameters of the Mono Chorus are also found here although each of the two detuned signals has its own individual Predelay amount DRY SIG NAL FEEDBACK LEFT CHORUSED OUTPUT DRY DELAY SIGNAL RIGHT p CHORUSED FEEDBACK OUTPUT gt DRY SIG NAL 020 Reference Manual 39 Chapter 3 Overview Quad Chorus Quad Chorus modulates four delayed signals each with its phase offset by 90 Each of the four signals has a separate Predelay parameter allowing you to change the rhythm of the phasing Mono Flanging Flanging is similar to chorusing but modulates the delayed signal over a much shorter delay range typically 0 12ms This produces a jet airplane like sound Mono and stereo flanging is ava
60. arton was designed to protect the unit during shipping Please retain this container in the highly unlikely event that you need to return the Q20 for servicing The shipping carton should contain the following items This instruction manual Alesis Q20 with the same serial number as shown on shipping carton AC Power Cable Alesis warranty card Quick Reference Guide O It is important to register your purchase if you have not already filled out your warranty card and mailed it back to Alesis please take the time to do so now AC Power Hookup The Q20 includes an internal universal power supply which is compatible with any line voltage from 90 265 VAC 50 60 Hz It also includes a removable IEC power cable suitable for use in the country shipped to Note that the Q20 uses a soft power switch which will turn the unit on when plugged in It is good practice to turn your mixer inputs or returns down while connecting the Q20 C Alesis cannot be responsible for problems caused by using the Q20 or any associated equipment with improper AC wiring Line Conditioners and Protectors Although the Q20 is designed to tolerate typical voltage variations in today s world the voltage coming from the AC line may contain spikes or transients that can possibly stress your gear and over time cause a failure There are three main ways to protect against this listed in ascending order of cost and complexity Line spike surge protectors Relatively
61. audio cables are in good working order Cables with a detached ground wire will cause a very loud hum D Keep all cables as short as possible especially in unbalanced circuits If the basic experiments don t uncover the source of the problem consult your dealer or technician trained in proper studio grounding techniques In some cases a star grounding scheme must be used with the mixer at the center of the star providing the shield ground on telescoping shields which do NOT connect to the chassis ground of other equipment in the system Q20 Reference Manual 15 Chapter 1 Setting Up MIDI MIDI is an internationally accepted protocol that allows music related data to be conveyed from one device to another The MIDI connections on the Q20 provide five different functions e To recall programs using MIDI program change messages To control various parameters inside the Q20 in realtime via MIDI controllers example A keyboard s mod wheel or pedals etc e To convert MIDI Clock messages into delay settings on Tap Tempo Delay Blocks Tosend and receive SysEx System Exclusive dumps of individual programs or the entire bank of programs for storage and retrieval purposes e To pass on MIDI information thru the Q20 to another MIDI device To connect the Q20 s MIDI ports to another MIDI device D Connect a MIDI cable from the Q20 s MIDI THRU OUT connector to the MIDI IN connector of the other MIDI device Q
62. ay time to a delay effect than there is memory available Note If you have several delay Effect Blocks in a Program they will share the total amount of effect memory that is available If the total of all delay times equals that of available effect memory you will not be able to increase any of the delay times until you decrease the delay time of one or more of the delay Blocks LFOs The term LFO comes from the days of early synthesizers where tremolo and vibrato effects were created using a Low Frequency Oscillator to modulate another oscillator s pitch or the filter or amplifier volume In effect devices LFOs are used to create effects such as flanging chorus and Lezlie speaker emulation The Q20 provides 4 LFOs per Program Most pitch effects use 1 LFO but some use 2 Also some of the larger reverb effects use an LFO for a bigger sound Example If you try to add an effect using an LFO and you have already used all four LFOs in other Effect Blocks the error message OUT OF LFOs briefly appears Microprocessor Assistance Like most digital electronic music and audio products the Q20 uses a microprocessor to run all basic functions like recalling editing comparing storing and renaming Programs etc However some of the effect types use the microprocessor to assist the DSP chip in creating the effect and the microprocessor is capable of assisting in this way for only one effect per Program Three Pitch effects use the microproce
63. cated to a single channel for example a delay for a guitar and a gated reverb for a bass or process them in stereo for example with the left and right outputs of a keyboard routed through two reverb blocks Connect two cables to the L and R INPUTS of the Q20 from two mono sources or from the stereo output of the instrument then connect two other cables from the L and R OUTPUTS of the Q20 to a stereo amplification system or two mixer inputs From Instrument or Effects Send To Amplifier or Mixing Console ALESIS 9 C520 t avenss Note In most cases when plugging an instrument directly into the Q20 you ll use Programs which route the dry signal at the input s directly to the output s where it will be mixed together with the effected signal to achieve the proper wet dry mix at the Q20 s outputs If the program doesn t include this routing you will only hear the effected signal by itself Therefore it may be necessary to edit such programs to add these dry routes when using the Q20 directly with an instrument The Factory Preset programs usually include these routes Q20 Reference Manual 9 Chapter 1 Setting Up Interfacing to a Mixing Console The Q20 handles mono or stereo sends at all system levels The input circuitry of the Q20 can easily handle 4 dBu levels 17 5 dBu peaks while having enough input and output gain to interface with the lower 10 dBV signal levels o
64. ck of the mixer provide a way of inserting external processing equipment into the signal path The insert occurs after the input amplifier and before the main fader essentially it is the same as connecting the source instrument or microphone into the Q20 before the mixer s channel input However some mixing console s inserts come after the EQ section and may therefore be different from the original signal Usually insert connections require a special stereo splitting Y cord to be connected one stereo plug provides both send and return while two mono plugs connect separately to an input and output These are known as TRS connectors tip ring sleeve The tip of the stereo plug typically carries the send or output of the insert jack while the ring carries back the return The sleeve represents a common ground for both signals Check the manual of your mixer because some are wired differently for example having two separate jacks for send and receive Mono This involves connecting a 1 4 TRS tip ring sleeve to the Insert jack of a single channel on a mixing console The other end of the cable which splits into two 1 4 mono connectors are connected to the L INPUT and L OUTPUT respectively If you do not hear any audio after making these connections swap the input and output cables at the Q20 as these may be wired backwards If the cable is color coded usually the red jack represents the send which connects to the Q20
65. dback Stereo Trig Flange Trigger Speed Depth Feedback Mono Delay Delay Time Feedback Stereo Delay Left Feedback Left Delay Time Ping Pong Delay Delay Time Feedback Multi Tap Delay Tap 1 5 Delay Time Tap 1 5 Level Tap 1 5 Panning Tap 1 5 Feedback Master Feedback Tap Tempo Mono Delay Tap Tempo Ping Pong Delay Time Feedback Q20 Reference Manual Sampling Play Trig Rec Trig 93 Chapter 6 Advanced Applications 94 Reverberation Mono Room Room 1 Hall 1 Plate 1 Chamber 1 Spring Input Hi Rolloff Predelay Time Predelay Mix Decay Density Diffusion Damping Low Damping High Gate Trigger On Off Gate Hold Time Gate Release Time Gate Level Room 2 Hall 2 Plate 2 Chamber 2 Input Hi Rolloff Predelay Time Predelay Mix Reflection Level Reflection Spread Decay Density Diffusion Damping Low Damping High Reverberation Attack Gate Trigger On Off Gate Hold Time Gate Release Time Gate Level Large Plate Large Room Predelay Time Predelay Mix Reflection Level Reflection Spread Decay Density Diffusion Damping Low Damping High Reverberation Swirl Gate Trigger On Off Gate Hold Time Gate Release Time Gate Level Nonlinear Reverse Input Hi Rolloff Predelay Time Predelay Mix Reverb Time or Gate Time Diffusion Density Q20 Reference Manual Advanced Applications Chapter 6 Choosing a S
66. ditioning Programs before Storing Here is a handy trick you can use in a sticky situation Let s say you ve just created a killer Program and you want to store it but you don t know where If you are using Deferred Mode Program mode Page 2 you can scroll through a list of Programs and view their names without actually recalling them which would result in losing your edited Program If you want to hear what a Program sounds like simply press the COMPARE button to audition a Program without selecting it Once you ve found the location you want to store into you can simply press STORE twice to replace the selected Program with your newly created Program Q20 Reference Manual 25 Chapter 2 Your First Session with the Q20 Bypassing Effects At any time you can bypass all effects at once thereby allowing the direct signal to pass through the Q20 unchanged This can be done in two ways by pressing the BYPASS button on the front panel or by connecting a footswitch to the BYPASS jack and pressing the footswitch Each time either the BYPASS button is pressed or the footswitch connected to the BYPASS jack is pressed Bypass mode is toggled on and off again When Bypass mode is turned on the BYPASS button s LED will be lit When Bypass is enabled all Effect Blocks are momentarily disabled and will not have audio routed from them to the outputs However if the Program does not route the L R Inputs directly to the L
67. done from the destination Block not from the source Reaching the Outputs L R OUT The L OUT and R OUT are separately selectable like Blocks for routing purposes Whichever Block is determined to be the final effect in the chain whether your Program has one or multiple Blocks it needs to be routed to the L R OUT in order for you to hear it This can be done in mono if just one channel is needed by routing one or more Block outputs to either the L OUT or R OUT or in stereo by routing to both the L and R OUT Limit Handling 30 Within the limits of the available sample memory and DSP the Blocks can be linked in any order in almost any combination of the four basic types For instance you might have two EQ Blocks followed by four pitch Effect Blocks or one Block of each EO Pitch Delay type on the left channel and one of each type on the right channel followed by a stereo reverb a total of 7 Blocks Because the Q20 is so flexible occasionally you will have a combination of effects and or parameters that may overtax either the available memory or DSP power on board the unit When you attempt to program beyond the Q20 s capabilities no harm will be done but one of four error messages will appear in the display indicating you have exceeded the unit s limits This means you have to create your Program in a slightly different manner to obtain the final result you want If you are into programming computationally intensive comb
68. dulator takes to ramp down to zero modulation 100 Q20 Reference Manual Advanced Applications Chapter 6 Footswitch Controls Two footswitch jacks ADVANCE and BYPASS are provided on the back panel of the Q20 Program Advance The ADVANCE jack allows the Q20 s Programs to be advanced remotely from a footswitch The Program numbers included can be selected by setting the Footswitch Range found on Global Page 2 The range can be as small or large as you like including any the Preset or User banks or both Example If the Footswitch Range is from Preset 89 to User 0 14 the Programs will continuously cycle from Preset 89 to User 0 14 whenever the Advance footswitch is triggered To set the Footswitch Range D Press GLOBAL The GLOBAL button s LED will light Press PAGE gt to advance to Global Page 2 The display will look like this Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to select the Program number to be the beginning point of the Footswitch Range Preset 00 99 or User 0 00 1 99 Press PAGE gt to advance the cursor to the next field and use the VALUE ENTER knob to select the Program number that is to be the end point of the Footswitch Range When the last Program of the Footswitch Range is reached and the Advance footswitch is pressed again the first Program in the Footswitch Range will once again be selected Bypassing Effects The BYPASS jack allows you to bypass the effects of
69. e sss eee 10 When to use Balanced Connectors ttor tibia 15 Avoiding Ground Loops sss eee eren 15 MIDI Lino O 16 Digital CONMCCHONS 65K tei ete tert eh one ie err eser TOR REI a 16 TOOLS WICH c M O e o PEO PO tile ned er att dadadvce dsp bale tea aE ea 17 AVANCE A eedem re E HH rrr aas 17 hir 17 Tap Tempo iiec ete aet ete e e perte amiet codd i eee eee ee doge edes 18 2 Your First Session With The Q20 nnns 19 Powetirig Up stessi cnet m er e de e EE CHER 19 Seting Level ones o airoso a 19 The Value Enter Knob a a e 20 Adjusting the Display Contrast ts 20 Auditioning Internal Programs een eaaa A a eene 21 Switching Between Preset and User B riks dee perde inge 21 Example Propra Sneu deett ip re niet EEEE 22 96 VerbOfMy Dreams ss stetit te oe t odiada 22 97 Guitar Rack oisi custo rs Ee ee tato Mr dee ades 22 O8 Stereo Plates cse heat sia 22 Adjusting Effects Levels e m tete ee boe he Ta ius 23 Comparing an Edited Program to its Original Settings ssssssseses 24 Restoring an Edited Program to its Original Settings ccccmcooooooocconcncconnnonanannnnnnnnos 24 Storing Edited Programs i serieei raees e P E a A E EE E ERSA 25 Auditioning Programs before StoriNgB coooooooconccncnoononononononnnonononnananononnnnnnoninns 25 Bypassimg EBffectse 502 esse ostenta pote Ie ia E Aoc EO AAEE EEES 26 Global Direct Signal Muling eseese ra ieme A Ea R E II eere 26 3 Overv
70. e previous section However the routing options begin to increase since as you add more Blocks the number of input sources increases Let s take our simple 1 Block Program and add two more Blocks We ll route the output of the EO into a Mono Delay then through a stereo reverb such as Hall 1 before going to the main outputs First we ll add the new Blocks Then we ll reroute the signal so that they are chained together in series Defining New Blocks Adding the two additional Blocks is done in the same way as described earlier except this time we ll choose Delay and Reverb as the functions D Press TYPE The TYPE button s LED will light Use the lt BLOCK gt buttons to move the pointer in the display to Block 2 The display will look like this Turn the VALUE ENTER knob until the display reads DELAY and press the VALUE ENTER button three times The display advances to Type Page 2 Since this is the type of effect we want let s move on and add the Reverb Press BLOCK gt so that the pointer is above Block 3 9 Turn the VALUE ENTER knob until the display reads REVERBERATION and press the VALUE ENTER button The display advances to Type Page 2 Turn the VALUE ENTER knob until the display reads HALL 1 and press the VALUE ENTER button The display will flash until the VALUE ENTER button is pressed Q20 Reference Manual 61 Chapter 4 Making Yo
71. e channels 5 and 6 that you would use To route the Q20 s Left and Right outputs to the digital buss D Press GLOBAI The GLOBAL LED will light Press PAGE gt six times to advance to Global Page 6 The display will read Press the PAGE gt button two more times to advance the cursor to the third field in the display Use the VALUE ENTER knob to select an output on the digital buss for the Left channel to be routed to You can select any of the 8 channels except for the channel the Right output is assigned to you cannot route both the Left and Right outputs to the same channel of the digital buss Press the PAGE gt button to advance the cursor to the next field Use the VALUE ENTER knob to select an output on the digital buss for the Right channel to be routed to You can select any of the 8 channels except for the channel the Left output is assigned to Record enable those same track numbers in this case 1 and 2 on the connected ADAT You will be able to monitor the Q20 s output on those tracks of the connected ADAT Q20 Reference Manual 111 Chapter 7 Digital Connections From ADAT through the Q20 back to ADAT When routing ADAT tracks to the Q20 to be recorded back to ADAT how you go about it depends on whether or not you are using a BRC If you have one or more ADATS with no BRC then you simply connect the digital buss of the ADATs and Q20 in a loop descr
72. e that uses the AES EBU standard you can connect the Q20 to an Alesis AI 1 discontinued This can be done directly by connecting the Q20 s OPTICAL OUT to the AI 1 s ADAT IN or the Q20 s OPTICAL IN connected to the AI 1 s ADAT OUT Alternatively if you are using multiple ADATs and the BRC as described above you can simply insert the AI 1 into the fiber optic chain either before or after the Q20 From a QuadraSynth or QS series Synthesizer The Alesis QuadraSynth 54 QS7 QS8 QSR and many other synths and sound modules have Alesis Optical digital outputs These devices provide their four analog audio outputs on the first four channels of the 8 channel digital buss Simply connect a single fiber optic cable between the QuadraSynth QS s DIGITAL OUT connector and the Q20 s DIGITAL IN connector If an ADAT is being controlled by a BRC or AI 2 the QS s clock must be controlled by the 48 KHz OUT of the BRC or AI 2 Connect a BNC cable from the BRC or AI 2 to the QS s 48 KHz IN jack Q20 Reference Manual Digital Connections Chapter 7 Routings To specific ADAT tracks To route the Q20 s digital outputs to specific ADAT tracks depends on which of the 8 channels of the buss you use If you want to record in stereo onto tracks 1 and 2 of ADAT or 9 and 10 on ADAT 2 in a chain route the Q20 s Left output to channel 1 and its Right output to channel 2 Likewise if you were recording onto tracks 5 and 6 then it would b
73. ed LED s flash on input lower the input level You may also need to lower the routing level if a block is receiving signal from more than one source On the other hand the best signal to noise ratio is achieved when signals are as loud as possible without clipping In the case of a one block program the routing from the block to the L and R outputs should be at 0 0 dB Multiple block programs will need lower settings to avoid clipping at the output blocks Press the VALUE ENTER button to set the level from 48 0dB to OdB Press the BLOCK gt button to move the pointer to the OUT R Block The OUT L and OUT R are selectable as separate destination Blocks The display will flash Note that the flashing patch cord now connects the EQ1 M to the OUT R and if we turn the VVALUE ENTER knob we can see the following possible input sources for the right output Note that the route from Input Right can t be added because it s already there as part of the default patch 99 As we scroll through the various input sources the display will flash each one s patch cord while selected Let s choose EQ 1 MIX this is the Mix output of our EQ which is Block 1 This is not to be confused with EQ 1 IN MIX which is the signal being received at the EQ Block s input With EQ 1 MIX selected press the VALUE ENTER button Like before the display automatically advances to page 2 and now asks us to set the level f
74. ees 67 Output Level o AAA A ret vede ye etus 67 LED Meter cscs rete ip reU eei tete iege tele 67 Display iicet et A te Het Hee Pt de Mee e erts 67 RN 68 O eee e eg 69 a NA 70 eoe 70 A ete de e denter ere ed ia det ER dene 7 Block LAA etie eui hs ES 71 PAG T 71 TY PO vest i o A e ii 72 Parameters sd d eei eie en ie eade i eie 72 A ees eerte enne ete e Dey e ae e eene aea e Lee Ie ee EH eene 73 hU iD MM 73 GOD al sath e 74 IN AINE i 2o peine titer sti dett eei eate E 76 MIDI Seu A A AAA ch Me ie bam O ea Redi 76 Modulation eie AO dwotgvantete 78 PowWetz 42 sei o e RT Haee org res OH ee eres 78 jecur 79 PQ WEE ices iu ioci ete ente eerie ee e ene er e e In e e PE n es 79 A VI A 79 MIDE TAP Qu dies 79 DPS cidos Bypass POO Wild aii ire 79 Advances serete teess Program Advance Footswitch sess 79 48KHz in Sample Clock Input sssseeee 79 Digital In ADAT Digital Audio In sse 80 Digital Out ADAT Digital Audio Out eee eee 80 Digital In S PDIF Digital Audio In 2 eer 80 Digital Out S PDIF Digital Audio Ott eret bic peteret 80 Left Right In Analog Audio Tni scare ca 80 Left Right Out XLR Analog Audio OE vesc tiet do eee ttr 80 Left Right Out 1 4 Analog Audio Out 2 caer ete teet 80 Q20 Reference Manual 5 Contents Effect Paramelets
75. elay types and that the desired footswitch jack has been selected for controlling tap tempo Page 9 Global Direct Signal The purpose of this feature is to satisfy the conditions of a recording studio environment When connecting the Q20 to a mixing console s aux sends and returns it is generally desirable to remove the direct signal feed from the outputs of the Q20 Since most Q20 Programs route the L R IN signal to the L R OUT you will need to remove this connection from the Programs routing when connecting to a mixer s aux sends and returns However this can be done globally for all Programs using this function If it is set to ON the inputs will be heard at the outputs if the are routed this way in the current Program By setting this function to MUTE you can remove this connection for all Programs without having to delete the patch cords in each that route the inputs to the outputs When set to MUTE recalling a Program which has the L R IN routed to the L R OUT will not display those patch cords so as to avoid confusion You can however still add or delete these connections as well as adjust the Direct Signal Level in Mix mode and these changes will be remembered when you store the edited Program However as long as the Global Direct Signal function is set to MUTE you will not hear the effect of any of these edit Q20 Reference Manual 75 Chapter 5 Description of Controls Name Selecting
76. elect Hall 1 Plate 1 Non Linear etc using the VALUE ENTER knob Another page is included in Type mode which allows you to move a defined Block to another position If you defined Block 1 as a Delay and later decide to first have the input signal routed through an EQ you can move the Delay Block to make room for it First select the Block to be moved press PAGE to advance the cursor to the next field and select the Block you want to move it to Then to execute the move press the VALUE ENTER button The Block is moved and the routings repatched to recreate the same signal path Now you can redefine Block 1 as an EQ If you move a Block to a position already occupied by another Block the two Blocks will swap positions and their routings will automatically be swapped as well to maintain the identical signal path Defined Blocks Undefined Blocks Parameter Once a type of effect has been chosen pressing the PARAMETER button allows us to see and choose the available parameters for that specific effect Example This is where you define specific attributes of a Block the boost or cut of an EQ or the decay time of a Reverb Some effects have many more parameters and these can be found by PAGE ing through while in Parameter mode 72 Q20 Reference Manual Description of Controls Chapter 5 Routing In order for us to hear our signal through the Q20 it must be routed from input to output Also in order for us
77. els to the block that are too high or by Q20 Reference Manual 29 Chapter 3 Overview processing within the block itself for example a boost in EQ or feedback in a chorus or delay Output clipping can be controlled using the Master Effects Level parameter in the MIX function The OUTPUT LEVEL control is analog and cannot lower the distortion caused when the output of multiple blocks are too loud for the output D A converter to handle Keep in mind when setting routing levels that each time you double the number of sources the output rises 6 dB If there are four blocks feeding another block those routes may all need to be set to 12 dB to avoid clipping On the other hand if a program consists of a single delay or reverb block input and output routings may be set to 0 dB without distortion It is also important to note that each patch cord in a Program uses 1 of the total DSP power available However if the signal is attenuated by setting the level below 0dB 2 of DSP is used The following section discusses how the Q20 reacts when DSP is nearly fully taxed One way to free up more DSP power when you need it is to set some or all of your patch cord levels to 0dB The L R IN These appear on the far left side of the Block section in the display They are not selectable with the lt BLOCK gt buttons This is because we are always routing from the L R IN and in keeping with our convention all routing is
78. en set to 99 the first reflection appears to fade in and then fade out This is because a number of reflections will occur just before and just after the first reflection in addition to the remaining reflections heard after the first reflection Thus the reverb sounds more dense Diffusion Diffusion determines the thickness of the reverb sound by adding more reflections to the reverb s decay With lower diffusion settings you may be able to actually hear the individual echoes that make up the overall reverb sound With higher diffusion settings the echoes increase in number and blend together washing out the reverb s decay Greater diffusion works better with percussive sounds whereas less amounts of diffusion work well with vocals and other sustained sounds DIFFUSION OF 0 DIFFUSION OF 99 rme rmr rm lt mr Him BU NE LL LU L TME TME Fewer reflections More reflections Note The illustration above reflects a Density setting of 0 Q20 Reference Manual 51 Chapter 3 Overview 52 Input High Frequency Roll Off This is a lowpass filter that can be set between 200Hz and 20kHz and attenuates all frequencies above this value by 6dB per octave Predelay All the reverb effects also have pre delay parameters Predelay slightly delays the reverb itself up to 250 ms so that the dry signal more easily stands out from the reverb A bit of predelay can make certain instrumen
79. ernal Generators These can be used as an alternative to external MIDI control allowing the audio signal at the Q20 s inputs to control the effect parameters in realtime Page 4 lets you choose what type each of the two Input Generators should be There are two types to choose from Input Envelope and Peak Follower The first field lets you select which Input Generator you wish to edit The remaining pages are used to setup the parameters for the Input Generators For more information about the Input Generators see Chapter 6 Power The POWER switch turns the AC power to the unit ON or OFF Q20 Reference Manual Description of Controls Chapter 5 Rear Panel Power This is a standard IEC spec power jack for the internal universal power supply This supply works with almost any power source worldwide from 90 265VAC 50 60Hz The Q20 comes with a line cord suitable for the destination to which the keyboard is shipped The AC cord supplied is designed to connect to an outlet that includes three pins with the third round pin connected to ground The ground connection is an important safety feature designed to keep the chassis of electronic devices such as the Q20 at ground potential Unfortunately the presence of a third pin does not always indicate that it is properly grounded Use an AC line tester to determine this If the outlet is not grounded consult with a licenced electrician MIDI In This is a 5 pin DIN standa
80. es D KEEP ALL ELECTRONICS OF THE SOUND SYSTEM ON THE SAME AC ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT Most stray hums and buzzes happen as a result of different parts of the sound system being plugged into outlets of different AC circuits If any noise generating devices such as air conditioners refrigerators neon lights etc are already plugged into one of these circuits you then have a perfect condition for stray buzzes Since most electronic devices of a sound system don t require a lot of current except power amplifiers it s usually safe to run a multi outlet box or two from a SINGLE wall outlet and plug in all of the components of your system there KEEP AUDIO WIRING AS FAR AWAY FROM AC WIRING AS POSSIBLE Many hums come from audio cabling being too near AC wiring If a hum occurs try moving the audio wiring around to see if the hum ceases or diminishes If it s not possible to separate the audio and AC wiring in some instances make sure that the audio wires don t run parallel to any AC wire they should only cross at right angles if possible GO TO ELIMINATE HUM IF THE ABOVE HAS FAILED A Disconnect the power from all outboard devices and tape machines except for the mixer and control room monitor power amp B Plug in each tape machine and outboard effects device one at a time If possible flip the polarity of the plug of each device turn it around in the socket until the quietest position is found C Make sure that all of the
81. esign applications Try creating your own feedback loop in a delay by making a route which feeds back into the delay s input and inserting this phase inverter Or try flipping the signal out of phase before sending it through a chorus or flange for a thinner sound The Phase Inverter can also be useful in video post production as a quick and dirty surround panner Q20 Reference Manual Overview Chapter 3 Pitch Effects The Pitch effects alter the pitch of a signal in various ways to produce layered timbres that are more complex than the original signal Although some of these effects can sound similar to one another depending on the parameter settings each is achieved differently and can be quite dramatic under the right circumstances Pitch effects are achieved by splitting the signal into at least two parts effecting the pitch of one of the parts then mixing them back together This eventual mixing is essential since the overall sound of the effect is achieved by the actual difference between the normal uneffected signal and the effected signal The various types of Pitch are Mono Chorus The Chorus effect is achieved by taking part of the signal slightly delaying it and then slightly detuning it as well The detuning is further effected by being modulated by an LFO which causes the detuning to vary Many parameters are available in this scheme The Predelay can be varied the LFO depth can be varied the LFO speed can be v
82. esponsibility On occasion you may be using enough effects simultaneously that no more processing power is available from the main microprocessor example when you try to create more than three Multi Tap Delays in a Program In these cases the following message will appear Finally if a Delay Block has its delay time to 5 seconds 5 000 0 ms and you try to create another Delay Block and set its delay time to 460 ms or higher you will get a Effect Memory is Full message There is actually 5 455 9 ms of delay memory available Although you could create 8 Delay Blocks they all share the available delay memory Therefore when setting the delay time of each Delay Block you would only have available the amount of delay memory not being used by the other Delay Blocks When all memory is being used the following message will appear Q20 Reference Manual 117 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting M aintenance Service 118 Cleaning Disconnect the AC cord then use a damp cloth to clean the Q20 s metal and plastic surfaces For heavy dirt use a non abrasive household cleaner such as Formula 409 or Fantastik DO NOT SPRAY THE CLEANER DIRECTLY ONTO THE FRONT OF THE UNIT AS IT MAY DESTROY THE LUBRICANTS USED IN THE SWITCHES AND CONTROLS Spray onto a cloth then use cloth to clean the unit Refer All Servicing to Alesis We believe that the Q20 is one of the most reliable multi effects processors that can be made using current techn
83. everb Density 0 99 Diffusion 0 99 High Frequency Roll Off 200Hz 20 000Hz Predelay 1 250mS Mix lt 99 lt 50 gt 99 gt Gate Trig Off Left Right L amp R Hold 10 500 mS Gate Release Time 0 500mS Gate Level 0 99 Decay 0 99 Damping Hi 0 99 Lo 0 99 Reverb Density 0 99 Diffusion 0 99 High Frequency Roll Off 200Hz 20 000Hz Predelay 1 250mS Mix lt 99 lt 50 gt 99 gt Gate Trig Off Left Right L amp R Hold 10 500 mS Gate Release Time 0 500mS Gate Level 0 99 Plate 1 Decay 0 99 Damping Hi 0 99 Lo 0 99 Reverb Density 0 99 Diffusion 0 99 High Frequency Roll Off 200Hz 20 000Hz Predelay 1 250mS Mix lt 99 lt 50 gt 99 gt Gate Trig Off Left Right L amp R Hold 10 500 mS Gate Release Time 0 500mS Gate Level 0 99 Chamber 1 Decay 0 99 Damping Hi 0 99 Lo 0 99 Reverb Density 0 99 Diffusion 0 99 High Frequency Roll Off 200Hz 20 000Hz Predelay 1 250mS Mix lt 99 lt 50 gt 99 gt Gate Trig Off Left Right L amp R Hold 10 500 mS Gate Release Time 0 500mS Gate Level 0 99 Decay 0 99 Damping Hi 0 99 Lo 0 99 Reverb Density 0 99 Diffusion 0 99 High Frequency Roll Off 200Hz 20 000Hz Predelay 1 250mS Mix lt 99 lt 50 gt 99 gt Reflection Level 0 99 Spread 0 99 Reverberation Attack 0 99 Gate Trig Off Left Right L amp R Hold 10 500 mS Gate Release Time 0 500mS Gate Level 0 99
84. f many recording systems The Q20 may be connected to a mixing console in several ways Usually it is connected to the auxiliary send and return controls of the mixer Another method of interfacing is to connect the unit directly to the insert send and return patch points of the channel that is to be effected Still another way of interfacing the Q20 to a mixer or recording console would be in line across the output of your mixing console This last setup would be used only if you needed to effect the entire mix Using the Aux Sends Generally mixing consoles provide two types of auxiliary sends pre fader sends for creating a cue headphone mix and individual post fader effect sends Typically if a mixer has more than two sends per channel 4 6 or 8 perhaps the first two sends are reserved for the cue sends while the remaining sends are used to feed effects If you are using a mixer with more than two sends connect the Q20 using post fader sends Using a mixer s aux sends poses a distinct advantage each channel has its own level control feeding the aux output and eventually the Q20 input This allows you to make a mix of any channels you want to go to the effects by using the individual channels aux send levels on the mixer Most consoles also have aux master controls which set the overall level of each aux output Coming back from the Q20 s outputs into the mixer you have two options connecting to dedicated return inpu
85. f this warranty Next day service is available for a surcharge Field repairs are not normally authorized during the warranty period and repair attempts by unqualified personnel may invalidate the warranty Service address for customers in the USA Alesis Product Support 3630 Holdrege Avenue Los Angeles CA 90016 Q20 Reference Manual
86. fined Block to another position you would go to Type Page 3 and 4 Q20 Reference Manual 27 Chapter 3 Overview ROUTING Once a Block is defined you must select its input source and route its outputs either to another Block s input or to the L OUT or R OUT This is done in Routing Page 1 Once an input source is selected you can adjust its level feeding to the Block s input using Routing Page 2 If you decide to delete a routing that has already been added you will use Routing Page 3 PARAMETER This is where you adjust the selected Block s parameters The number of pages available and the parameters found in them will be determined by the Block s type Some effect types have only one or two parameters on a single page while other effect types particularly reverbs use all nine pages with as many as four parameters on a single page MIX The Mix function provides three parameters on three separate pages When a defined Block is selected Mix Page 1 lets you adjust its level going to the L R Outputs Page 2 lets you adjust the Direct Signal Level and Page 3 lets you adjust the Master Effects Level If however an undefined Block is selected or the L R OUT is selected there will only be two pages available in the Mix function Direct Signal Level and Master Effects Level Once a Block function is selected use the lt PAGE gt buttons to scroll through the various pages within a Block function The number of available
87. h of which there are 8 per Program Choose the Target i e what is to be modulated Choose the Source i e what is doing the modulating and Set the Amplitude or amount of modulation Keep in mind that a target may be modulated by more than one source Likewise a single source can modulate as many as 8 different targets It is this kind of flexibility that matrix modulation affords C Modulation sources must be received on the same MIDI channel the Q20 is set to in order for the Modulators to function properly Selecting the Modulator Once you press the MODULATION button you can turn the VALUE ENTER knob to select one of the eight Modulators Think of each Modulator as a modulation patch which routes a Source to a Target using a particular amplitude D Press MODULATION The MODULATION button s LED will light and the display will read The cursor appears beneath the Modulator number This is Modulation Page 1 which allows you to choose a Target see below Q Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to select a Modulator 1 8 At any time you can move between the 8 Modulators by first moving the cursor back to the far left of the display using the lt PAGE gt buttons and then turning the VALUE ENTER knob to select a different Modulator Q20 Reference Manual 91 Chapter 6 Advanced Applications Choosing a Target Once you have selected a Modulator you must then select the Target to be modu
88. hapter 5 Description of Controls 78 Modulation The Q20 allows you to set up to 8 modulation routings which can control almost any parameter within a Program in realtime This is especially useful for live applications where the performer can actually interact or automate the changes in one or more effects When the MODULATION button is pressed its LED will light and the display will advance to Modulation Page 1 There are a total of 9 pages in Modulation mode Pages 1 through 3 let you select a Modulator or modulation patch which provides the means for routing a particular MIDI such as pitch bend or one of the Internal Generators to modulate one of the Block parameters used in the current Program In each of the first three page the first field lets you select a Modulator from 1 to 8 The second field of page 1 lets you choose a Block in the current Program The Block Type will be shown as an abbreviation EQ PCH DLY REV along with its location number i e DLY 1 means Block 1 which is a Delay type The third field is where you choose a particular parameter to be modulated The list of available parameters depends on the selected Block s type The second field of page 2 lets you select a Source to modulate the chosen Target The second field of page 3 lets you adjust the amount of modulation Amplitude either positively or negatively from 99 to 99 Pages 4 through 9 allow you to define the two Int
89. he Sample Buffer stops playback before the mistake occurs The Start pointer can be set from 0 0 ms to at least 50 ms below the End pointer s current setting The End pointer can be set from at least 50 ms above the Start pointer s current setting to the Maximum Sample Length parameter s setting Both can be adjusted in 1 ms increments While adjusting either the Start or End pointer values you can trigger the Sample Buffer by pressing the VALUE ENTER button This way you can audition your changes as you make them Note If the Sample Play parameter is set to LOOPED and the Sample Buffer is triggered the Sample Buffer will continue to use the same Start and End settings while it is looping playback If you make changes to the Start and End pointers you must press the VALUE ENTER button to retrigger the Sample Buffer and hear your changes Play Trigger The Play Trigger parameter Parameter Mode Page 4 determines how playback of the Sample Buffer will be triggered When set to ENTER the Sample Buffer will only be triggered by pressing the VALUE ENTER button while the Sample Play parameter is selected However even when another trigger type is selected you will always be able to trigger the Sample Buffer using the VALUE ENTER button in this manner When set to AUDIO LEFT AUDIO RIGHT or AUDIO LEFT amp RIGHT the Sample Buffer will be triggered whenever an audio level greater than 12 dB is present at either the anal
90. he programmability of the unit makes it possible to come across various error messages when exceeding its limitations This is the Q20 s limit handling software kicking in Depending on the message you get you may have to modify your Program by altering or removing unnecessary Blocks in order to complete the task The error message will vary depending on what limitations you are attempting to exceed If you are using two reverb Blocks and you try to create a third the following message will appear This means there is not enough processing power available to create the additional effect But there may be enough available to add an EQ two pitch effects and two delays or some other combination If you have created four pitch Blocks and you try to create a fifth the following message will appear This means that there are no more available LFOs low frequency oscillators which are required by all pitch effects However the larger reverb effects Plate 2 Room 2 Chamber 2 and Hall 2 use 1 LFO each This means if you had three Pitch Blocks and a reverb Block using one of the larger reverbs you would not be able to add a fourth Pitch Block Also the Pitch type Mono Lezlie uses two LFOs which means that when using it you will only have two LFOs available While the Q20 has a custom DSP chip that processes all the effects some of the effects available require that the main microprocessor assist in handling some of this r
91. helf EQ 3 Band Parametric EQ and 4 Band Parametric EQ Multiband EQs can be used to flexibly and accurately tailor the tonality of a signal The 3 band and 4 band parametric EQs in the Q20 can be used to boost and cut multiple bands with the added flexibility of controlling the bandwidth of one or two mid bands The multiband EQs provide plenty of equalization in a single Block effect For instance the 2 band sweep shelving EQ can be used as a loudness control be boosting both low and high frequencies Lowpass cutoff frequency set to 150Hz Highpass cutoff frequency set to 4kHz The three band parametric can be applied to a mix to simultaneously eliminate hiss boost bass and highlight a cowbell Although it is possible to overlap the different bands you should be careful to not to be redundant Bandwidth 14dB 11dB Gain 14dB IN boost Cutoff 0dB Cutoff Cutoff Frequency Frequency Je Gain 14dB i cut 11dB 14dB 2 Band Sweep Shelving 3 Band Parametric Bandwidth Bandwidth X 14dB l l l 0dB 1 Cutoff Frequency l l 11dB _ 14dB 4 Band Parametric 5 Band Graphic EQ A graphic EQ is a set of bandpass filters of fixed frequencies and of equal bandwidths spaced evenly across the audible frequency range The 5 Band Graphic EQ in the Q20 has bandwidths that are two octaves wide at 63Hz 250Hz 1kHz 4kHz and 16kHz Graphic EQs are used for general tonal
92. hift parameter For example if Spectrum Shift is set to 100 the input and all its harmonics will be shifted up nonharmonically by 100 Hz Triggered Flanging The new Mono Trigger Flange and Stereo Trigger Flange effects Pitch function are identical in every way to their original counterparts Mono Flanging and Stereo Flanging respectively except that they both provide an additional function they can be triggered to produce a sweeping effect Three additional parameters have been added to make this possible Retrigger Point The Retrigger Point parameter Parameter mode Page 2 determines at which point in the Flanger effect s cycle it should begin when triggered This can be set to a value between 0 and 255 On the Mono Triggered Flange a value of 64 will produce a downward sweep 42 Q20 Reference Manual Overview Chapter 3 Sweeping Mode The Sweeping Mode parameter Parameter mode Page 3 determines whether the Flanger effect will occur only once or continuously e When set to ONE CYCLE ONLY the Flanger effect when triggered will cycle once and then stop until it is triggered again When set to CONTINUOUS the Flanger effect when triggered will cycle continuously until it is triggered again at which point the cycle begins again at the Retrigger Point of the cycle Trigger Source The Trigger Source parameter Parameter mode Page 4 determines what will trigger the Flanger effect This can be set to Aud
93. ibed earlier in this chapter With the BRC you can select up to eight tracks of one ADAT to be output on the digital buss which connects to all ADATs and the Q20 as described earlier for track bouncing In this situation the BRC determines by choosing your digital source tracks which ADAT in the chain is transmitting Only one ADAT can transmit on the digital buss at any single moment All other ADATs are put into a digital thru mode whereby they can receive all eight channels even record them and pass them along to their digital outputs without adding anything Although the BRC does not determine which tracks are going to the Q20 it does determine which ADAT is transmitting Therefore even if you do not intend to route the same tracks to the digital buss for bouncing it is unlikely that you would want to do this at the same time anyway you must use the BRC to choose at least one of the tracks on the ADAT you wish to process audio in the Q20 The Q20 then intercepts any two of the 8 channels coming from the transmitting ADAT and then processes them and routes them to the same or different channel numbers to be recorded back onto another ADAT in the beginning of the loop This means that if you connect Q20 to the digital buss between the last and first ADAT in a multi unit BRC system you can process any two channels BUT you can record the Q20 s output only to the same ADAT that is transmitting or any ADAT that comes before it
94. icks and pops in your digital signal Digital signals are self clocking they carry a word clock along with them Usually the receiving unit automatically adjusts its sample clock to follow the rate of the incoming digital signal When the receiving unit must synchronize to another clock for example an ADAT synchronized to SMPTE time code a conflict may occur between the clocks that will result in audible clicks in the signal For this reason in more complex setups the Q20 features a 48 kHz IN jack This is to synchronize the sample clock of the Q20 s analog to digital converter to the BRC or M20 If you re using the Q20 only to process signals that come via the optical input from the ADATs this connection is not necessary because the optical clock coming in is already indirectly synchronized by the BRC The 48 kHz connection IS necessary if the Q20 is the originator master clock of the optical for the rest of the system from its analog inputs while the rest of the system is seeing the BRC as the master A complete diagram of every single possible setup with every possible input would be needlessly complex Just remember that there can only be one master clock If the BRC is the master the Q20 must be synchronized to its clock via the optical or the 48 kHz in If you have a single ADAT with no BRC the Q20 becomes the master clock source whenever the ADAT is set to DIGITAL IN and the Q20 s Input Audio Source is set to ANALOG O Note If
95. iew conccnncncnnnnanonnnonnnanannnannnnnnannnnnnrnnanananannnnnana mona rananaranananas 27 The Architecture of the Q20 anas eas a a a a aR N i 27 What is a BOCK Dd 27 Selecting and Editing Blocks irienn pper oee e 27 Routing Patch Cords Between Blocks cocidos iii ia 28 Quick Rotten ie eG Re e ated edt ok ie P foes 29 Setting the Routing eve debe too Ea tes A ers 29 Thel RIN os ide hGoeetie A A teMd ULT 30 Reaching the Outputs L R OUT sisccencchancconssts terceeete este toten aia nee En ei a dde 30 Limit Haridling usto edere dem a 30 Equalization eet een uei eee cete trei 32 lui miee rt n A NA 32 ohelyino POR ues tatesn tust a nort ap MDC M DI M DE 33 Single Band EQS seeen iain eier iege dete e per aitete 33 Q20 Reference Manual 3 Contents Multiband EQS m 34 5 Band Graphic EQ cse seg ortu rn geom uses fe vidi dite a S qu AU 34 Resonator iot tis tera Meares sb tube ciate esee ads dds leagues 35 Mono Stereo Tremolo cceceeeeee eee hene mhee esee eres err se rne ne nn 35 Stereo Simulation ce teh etis ase idee b ces bens cer tst EE eie seed 35 Overdrive tese deb eet e eed edet ee eei 36 Triggered Panning with Dopplet ehe HOP eats 37 Phrases liv Crier ara lesa 38 o JT 39 MONO HOUDSo useless A a 39 Stereo COTA ita 39 Quad Chorus iie tre be a a a va 40 Mono Flan ging i eise nde ub intende AE 40 Stereo P
96. igital Clock Synchronization srera te 105 CONMECHONS A s e e Gee si rae deed da e e Lote odere tees gue d 107 lo a Single ADA Do 22 on tte es A tie tede Mee tendere haer 107 TozLwo on More ADAL Sutton res Pub Eia Dess Pa ford Tes Sgt 108 To Two or More ADATS with a BRC or AI2 eeeeeeeeeen 109 Toa Digital Mixer Sodio n o uode debt i e ees 109 Jo the AIT sees e e ebrei uw gue dtes el 110 From a QuadraSynth or QS Series Synthesizer 110 IRo tifigs iiie o ii tr ee A rares 111 To specific AD AT tracks onines iie es 111 From ADAT through the Q20 back to ADAT seeeeeeeeeen e 112 From the QuadraSynth or QS Series through the Q20 back to ADAT 113 8 Trouble ShootinhQg e iiexe exeo x n is OLD Trouble Shbg tie idea iaa c aepo lobe 115 Checking thie Sof ware Version is ad aa 116 Re inmitializing nen dep MOD e A Eaa EE uolet 116 Total Resets M 116 Error Messages ne e Heer 117 Maintenance Service AEE E E T EES E 118 Refer All Servicing To Alesis oerte nm ein e ie E iee EE AEE ee 118 Obtaining Repair Service snese E E een 118 MIDI Implementation Chart 324555 oet b robe bi 119 SpecifiICatlons isis isxanasaviu sace ARA oyVE iia calas LA Effects Processing Index eese nnns 122 6 Q20 Reference Manual Contents Q20 Reference Manual 7 Setting Up Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1 SETTING UP Unpacking and Inspection Your Q20 was packed carefully at the factory and the shipping c
97. ignal is to pass through unchanged Applications for shelving EQs include removing high end hiss and tightening up the sound of a bass instrument The Highpass Shelving EQ is useful to compensate for a lackluster source that needs its high end brightened The Lowpass Shelving EQ can be set to cut low frequencies to eliminate PA rumble 14dB 14dB 313908 A ee ee 411dB _ Gain 14dB boost Cutoff 0dB Frequency 0dB Gain 14dB cut 4tdB Lo Lco 4dB 14dB 14dB Lowpass Shelving EQ Highpass Shelving EQ Single Band EQs 1 Band Low Parametric and 1 Band High Parametric A single band parametric EQ allows frequencies within its passband to be amplified boosted or attenuated cut while allowing the remainder of the audio information to pass through unchanged The Q20 provides a low frequency version 20Hz to 2000Hz and a high frequency version 1500Hz to 10kHz Single band parametric filters work well to highlight specific frequencies in a mix for instance bringing a tambourine to front and center or boosting a repetitive bass line to achieve a realistic inner city throb Bandwidth 14dB A 110B 5 AM scs 0dB Center Frequency Bandwidth bee E M RU NEN ARN Center Frequency 7dB 1 Band Parametric 1 Band Parametric boost w low bandwidth cut w high bandwidth Q20 Reference Manual 33 Chapter 3 Overview Multiband EQs 2 Band Sweep S
98. ilable and the flange modulation sweep can be triggered in order to sync up with the rhythm of your playing First used in the 1960s Flanging was achieved by the use of two tape recorders that would record and play back the same program in synchronization By slowing down one tape machine and then letting it catch up with the other different phase cancellations would occur at different frequencies Since the slowing down of the tape machines was done by hand pressure against the flanges of the tape supply reels the term Flanging came into being The effect of Flanging is achieved by splitting and slightly delaying one part of the signal then varying the time delay with an LFO The delayed signal is then mixed with the original sound to produce the swishing or tunneling sound FLANG ED FEEDBACK OUTPUT DRY SIGNAL gt DRY SIGNAL Many parameters are available from varying the speed and depth of the LFO to feeding back part of the signal to make the effect stronger The Feedback parameter Parameter mode Page 1 of all four Flanger effects Mono Flanging Stereo Flanging Mono Trigger Flange and Stereo Trig Flange may be set to negative values as well as positive Negative values results in the signal being fed back to be out of phase creating a more hollow sound The value range goes from 99 to 0 to 99 40 Q20 Reference Manual Overview Chapter 3 Stereo Flanging In the case of the Stereo Fl
99. inations of effects you may have to learn to compromise in certain situations There are four categories to consider with regards to programming limitations DSP power Effect Memory LFOs and Microprocessor Assistance Q20 Reference Manual Overview Chapter 3 DSP The DSP Digital Signal Processor chip inside the Q20 is what processes all signals in the digital domain and creates all of the effects sometimes with the assistance of the microprocessor The DSP chip has a limit to how many instructions per sample it can handle Some effects take up a large number of instructions while others take only a few Generally reverbs are big DSP hogs while most other effects use relatively small numbers of instructions When you route patch cords between Blocks each connection requires 1 of DSP power 2 if the level is not 0 0dB If you run out of DSP power the error message DSP IS FULL briefly appears If this happens consider substituting an effect that uses fewer instructions for one of the more DSP demanding effects you may be using Effect Memory The on board effect memory is primarily used for delay effects but sometimes used by reverb effects for pre delay In total you have 5 4559 seconds or 5 455 9 ms although the maximum delay time any single delay effect may have is 5 seconds Once this memory has been allocated the error message EFFECT MEMORY IS FULL will briefly appear when you try to apply more del
100. inexpensive these are designed to protect against strong surges and spikes acting somewhat like fuses in that they need to be replaced if they ve been hit by an extremely strong spike Line filters These generally combine spike surge protection with filters that remove some line noise dimmer hash transients from other appliances etc e Uninterruptible power supply UPS This is the most sophisticated option A UPS provides power even if the AC power line fails completely Intended for computer applications a UPS allows you to complete an orderly shutdown of a computer system in the event of a power outage and the isolation it provides from the power line minimizes all forms of interference spikes noise etc Q20 Reference Manual 7 Chapter 1 Setting Up Audio Connections The connections between the Q20 and your studio are your music s lifeline so use only high quality cables These should be low capacitance shielded cables with a stranded not solid internal conductor and a low resistance shield Although quality cables cost more they do make a difference Route cables to the Q20 correctly by observing the following precautions e Donot bundle audio cables with AC power cords e Avoid running audio cables near sources of electromagnetic interference such as transformers monitors computers etc e Use balanced cables whenever possible e Do not place cables where they can be stepped on Stepping on a cable ma
101. ing all of its parameter settings into any other User Program This feature is called Block Copy amp Paste and it is found in Type mode Page 4 The concept is simple first you select a Block with the lt BLOCK gt buttons and copy it Then select another Block location even in another Program and paste in the original Block To copy and paste a Block D Recall the Program which has the Block effect you wish to copy Select the desired Block by using the lt BLOCK gt buttons to position the down pointing arrow above it in the display With the Block selected press the TYPE button to select Type mode Press the PAGE button once to select Page 4 of Type Mode This display should look like this Press the VALUE ENTER button to copy the selected block The display will momentarily read Optional Press PROGRAM and use the VALUE knob to select another Program Select the Block position you wish to paste the copied Block into by using the BLOCK gt buttons to move the down pointing arrow in the display Press the TYPE button followed by the PAGE button to select Type mode Page 4 Turn the VALUE knob to select the PASTE function This display should look like this 40 Press the VALUE ENTER button to paste the copied Block The display will momentarily read The Block will now appear in the selected location If another Block already exi
102. ing the S PDIF inputs this parameter should be set to S PDIF DATA When the input is set for either ADAT or S PDIF the DIG IN indicator will light At the same time the Sample Clock Source parameter see below is automatically switched to OPTICAL or S PDIF Page 5 Sample Clock Source Normally when using the analog inputs this parameter is set to Internal so that the Q20 uses its own INTERNAL sample clock for processing effects in the digital domain However if you are recording digitally onto ADAT using the Q20 s optical connectors and you are using either an Alesis BRC or AI 2 synchronizer you must feed the master 48 kHz clock signal back to the Q20 so that it is in sync with the recording system This is done by connecting a BNC cable from the clock source BRC or AI 2 to the 48kHz IN connector no the Q20 and then setting the Sample Clock Source parameter to 48kHz INPUT If the Input Audio Source parameter is set to OPTICAL INPUT or S PDIF INPUT this parameter will automatically be set and you will not be able to change its setting 74 Q20 Reference Manual Description of Controls Chapter 5 Page 6 Dig In Out Channels When using the Alesis Optical DIGITAL IN connector Input Audio Source must be set to OPTICAL DATA see above this page allows you to select which of the 8 channels on the optical buss will be routed to the L and R IN Both inputs can be set to receive any ch
103. io Left Audio Right Audio L amp R Advance Footswitch or Bypass Footswitch When set to AUDIO LEFT AUDIO RIGHT or AUDIO L amp R the Flanger effect will be triggered whenever an audio level greater than 12 dB is sensed at the selected input s e When set to either ADVANCE FOOTSWITCH or BYPASS FOOTSWITCH the selected footswitch will not perform its normal function that of advancing to the next Program or bypassing effects respectively Instead the Flanger effect will be triggered when the selected footswitch is pressed Q20 Reference Manual 43 Chapter 3 Overview Delay Delay provides a discrete repetition of a signal By adding feedback within the effect the delayed signal can repeat many times with each successive decay softer than its predecessor Each Delay type allows you to adjust delay time in milli seconds but also displays the equivalent tempo in BPM beats per minute with the exception of Multi Tap Delay The Q20 offers four types of delay Mono Delay and Stereo Delay Mono Delay provides a single delay of signal up to 5000 0ms this is subject to the limit of delay time being used by other Blocks Feedback is also available to increase the complexity of the signal The stereo version provides two separate delays which can be individually adjusted for delay time and Feedback Ping Pong Delay So called because the output bounces from left to right in stereo with the speed determined by the delay time
104. l we can also see various Sheloing Parametric and Graphic types of EQs As we dial through the EQ types they will flash in the display Let s select a 3 Band Parametric EQ Press the VALUE ENTER button The EQ type will now be selected for Block 1 and the display will move back to Page 1 of the Type function Q20 Reference Manual Making Your Own Programs Chapter 4 Routing Routing is the Function used to connect audio between the L R IN and the Effect Blocks and the L R OUT We must route audio to both the inputs and outputs of our EQ Block in order to hear its effect Routing is always done by selecting the destination where you want the audio to go to and assigning it a source where you want the audio to come from After making a connection you can then adjust the level of the source s signal D Use the lt BLOCK gt buttons to select the EQ Block we just created If you just finished the previous tutorial the EQ Block should already be selected Q The IN L R is not selectable as a Block Press ROUTING The ROUTING button s LED will light and the display will read The cursor appears under the setting INPUT LEFT which is flashing Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to scroll through the various options The choices are INPUT LEFT INPUT RIGHT or EQ 1 MIX As you scroll through notice the flashing patch cord which appears in the lower display connecting IN L to EQ IN or IN R to EQ
105. lan sing soo Mr e i ee ede ste i S 41 E A ou t tL e us 41 Mono Stereo Lezlie Cabinet ccc cceecccsecccescccuecceusccceuscccueceeucceaeeceuneceees 41 AAA od Seid niehonss idee atin tendit dips tiu 42 Pitch PIG LING NM MD MM t 42 Ring Modulator ert tie a ted eoe Ree ese Ee ee ts 42 A e e tbe Ls idR e E ue EUER A EH Rega 42 a iut esiste ft icta 44 Mono Delay and Stereo Delay ssssssssssssee eee 44 Ping Pong Delays i e E ei ER edu etenim 44 M lt Tap Dela ites iiec entes i tts 44 Tap Tempo Mono Delay and Ping Pong ssss enete ease eeeeeeeee 44 Sampling utet teet rs Ta ime tenet e erste densest ined 45 Reverberationil ee tein da caia 49 Mono ROOM taria 49 leone PETI 49 Hall Tides dag obuia fedt nb dar oa va co a a enia Edo edidi 49 Plate Li ee eene A da ie 49 Chamber ausos cete ns fpei Cue Od ia ala 49 IRoo0m2z3 soa pere rte Po E e ira Eos rueda naaa sate sass 49 DIST tl ea clu ol ooa atit cela ne eta nad ba tfi NOS ta POR 49 Plate 2 M 50 Chamber lla tete conde etie ties 50 Large Platesis noia 50 Large IROOM iieri d ER genesis 50 PUIG ae ect Ode edo e de e dur pM d e LUE 50 Nonlirieat 2 ei aare i et a a a deiade 50 Reyerses P DLE 50 Reverb Parameters 4c exe ie cree et eee deed aoe 51 Decay ete n Meneses i f eee ix east e ue ucl Er I M had 51 Damping Hi amp Lo ooccccccncncncncnnncnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnononononininininininenenes 51 Reverb Densit
106. lated The Target is broken down into two parts first you choose one of the active Blocks in the current Program then you choose a parameter within the Block D With MODULATION selected its LED should be lit press PAGE gt The cursor will advance to the second field in the display The cursor appears beneath the Modulator Target Block Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to select a Block The display will look different depending on each Block s defined type In the display example above the first Block is a Delay DLY The number 1 tells us this is Block 1 If you turn the VALUE ENTER knob you will see other options defining the Block s type and number example PCH 2 EQ 3 OUT L MIX etc GS Press PAGE gt to advance the cursor to the next field in the display The cursor appears beneath the Modulator Target Parameter Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to select a Parameter to be modulated in the selected Block The parameters available will of course depend on the selected Block s type Here is a list of possible Target Parameters listed with each effect type Type Effect Target EQ Lowpass Filter Frequency Bandpass Filter Bandpass Frequency Bandpass Width Highpass Filter Frequency Lowpass Shelf Frequency Gain Highpass Shelf Frequency Gain 1 Band Low High Bandpass Gain Parametric Bandpass Width 2 Band Sweep Shelf Lowpass Frequency Lowpass Gain Highpass Frequency High
107. lipping is shown when the red LEDs flash if the red LEDs flash while the 3 LEDs do not light the levels within the Q20 s program should be lowered Display The Q20 is equipped with a custom LCD display which provides among other things a complete view of the signal routing used by the current Program MIDI Input Indicator Digital Input Indicator Alphanumeric Display PROGRAM 3 GE 6 7 8 9 E eat TETUR Program Number Status program Blocks Routing Page Indicators Block Pointer RVBR 101 142 100 IN 1 Q20 Reference Manual 67 Chapter 5 Description of Controls 68 Note This illustration shows all display flags and routes patch cords turned on at once Actual displays show only some of these at any time DIG IN Illuminates if the INPUT AUDIO SOURCE is switched to OPTICAL DATA in the Global functions MIDI Illuminates if MIDI signals are present at the MIDI IN Alphanumeric Display This 32 character display indicates types of effects parameters of effect mode etc It also allows us to select and enter types and amounts of an effect Includes a 14 character entry section for naming the Programs PAGE 1 9 Indicates the total number of pages available in the currently selected mode with an underline to indicate the current page Some functions have more pages than others A REVERB effect may have seven pages of parameters the MIDI button will ha
108. ll need to supply the QS with a 48 kHz Clock source from the BRC or AI 2 see earlier in the chapter for more information about the 48 kHz Clock The Q20 does not need to receive a 48 kHz Clock from the BRC or AI 2 since it will be synchronizing to the OS s clock coming in on its digital inputs which in turn will be synchronized to the 48 kHz clock coming from the BRC or AI 2 This is extremely important to make sure that all the digital devices are synchronized to the same sample clock Note that this chapter covers only a few of the possible digital connections to the Q20 There are dozens of products in the ADAT Group with more added every day which take advantage of the flexable ADAT Optical digital signal With the addition of the S PDIF connectors it s tough to find any product with digital connectors which isn t compatible with the Q20 Use these explanations as examples when designing your own digital studio Q20 Reference Manual 113 Chapter 7 Digital Connections 114 Q20 Reference Manual Troubleshooting Chapter 8 CHAPTER 8 TROUBLESHOOTING Troubleshooting Index If you are experience problems while operating the Q20 please use the following table to locate possible causes and solutions before contacting Alesis customer service for assistance Symptom Cause Solution The display does not light No power Check that the power when the ON OFF switch cable is plugged in is turned on properly Di
109. locks and then to the L R OUT Value Enter The VALUE ENTER knob is used to adjust values in the display However it is also a button Depending on what you are editing the VALUE ENTER knob will work in either one of two modes Immediate The desired value is selected by turning the VALUE ENTER knob and immediately takes effect This is normally the case when selecting Programs see next page and for adjusting most of the numeric parameters Q20 Reference Manual Description of Controls Chapter 5 Deferred The desired value is selected by turning the VALUE ENTER knob but the new value will only take effect after the VVALUE ENTER button has been pressed The newly selected value will flash in the display until it is selected in this manner If you change the parameter back to its original setting the value in the display will not flash Also if you go to another Page or select another Function by pressing any button the parameter will be left unchanged If you went back to look at the previous parameter it will be set back to its original setting This mode is used for parameters that cause architectural changes such as changing a Block s function effect type and routing signals For Power Users The VALUE ENTER button can also be used to step through Pages in the currently selected mode Except when a value is flashing on and off in the display the VALUE ENTER button ordinarily doubles for the PAGE g
110. mS Mix lt 99 lt 50 gt 99 gt Reflection Level 0 99 Spread 0 99 Reverberation Swirl 0 99 Gate Trig Off Left Right L amp R Hold 10 500 mS Gate Release Time 0 500mS Gate Level 0 99 Large Room Decay 0 99 Damping Hi 0 99 Lo 0 99 Reverb Density 0 99 Diffusion 0 99 High Frequency Roll Off 200Hz 20 000Hz Predelay 1 250mS Mix lt 99 lt 50 gt 99 gt Reflection Level 0 99 Spread 0 99 Reverberation Swirl 0 99 Gate Trig Off Left Right L amp R Hold 10 500 mS Gate Release Time 0 500mS Gate Level 0 99 m N 0M0 XD OTF AI SVINI e WO rg Mo 0 BH GQ NIe WO CONT ON OT BR SIN e WO OOP NT OV OT A SVINI Ie O OO NI OT AININ Q20 Reference Manual 85 Chapter 5 Description of Controls Decay 0 99 Damping Hi 0 99 Lo 0 99 Reverb Density 0 99 Diffusion 0 99 High Frequency Roll Off 200Hz 20 000Hz Predelay 1 250mS Mix lt 99 lt 50 gt 99 gt Gate Trig Off Left Right L amp R Hold 10 500 mS Gate Release Time 0 500mS Gate Level 0 99 RN UOI mxBBbB Nonlinear Gate Hold Time 0 99 Reverb Density 0 99 Diffusion 0 99 Input High Frequency Roll Off 200Hz 20 000Hz Predelay 1 250mS Mix lt 99 lt 50 gt 99 gt Reverse Reverse Time 0 99 Reverb Density 0 99 Diffusion 0 99 Input High Frequency Roll Off 200Hz 20 000
111. mmended For S PDIF connection you should use good quality video type phono cables Q20 Reference Manual Setting Up Chapter 1 Footswitches On the rear panel you will find two footswitch jacks labeled ADVANCE and BYPASS Any momentary single pole single throw footswitch normally open or normally closed will work for the two footswitch functions These should be plugged in prior to power up so that the Q20 can configure itself for the type of footswitch being used Advance The ADVANCE jack lets you scroll through the Programs in memory by advancing to the next higher numbered Program each time the connected footswitch is pressed The Q20 will wrap around whenever it reaches the end of available Programs and the Advance footswitch is pressed again You can set a range of Programs to be used thereby cutting off other Programs from being recalled in this manner For example if you set the range to be User 0 10 through User 0 24 only Programs within this range will be recalled using the Advance footswitch If Program 0 24 is selected and the footswitch is pressed again Program 0 10 is recalled To adjust the Advance Footswitch s set of Programs D Press GLOBAL The GLOBAL LED will light Press PAGE gt once This selects page 2 and the display will read Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to adjust the Program number to begin the range Preset 00 99 User 0 00 1 99 Press PAGE gt
112. nd HUGE It is achieved by dropping the level of the signal very rapidly after the initial attack making a short sharp sound There are four gating parameters available in most of the reverb types These include Gate Trigger Source Hold Time Gate Release Time and Gate Level The Trigger Source can be either the Left or Right inputs or both Or this can be set to OFF when you do not wish to use the gating effect The Hold Time determines how long the gate will be held open before it begins to turn off this can be set from 10 to 500 ms The rate at which it closes is determined by the Gate Release Time which can be set from 0 to 500 ms The Gate Level controls the level of the reverb signal after the gate closes In other words if the Gate Level is set to 99 then no reverb will sound after the gate turns it off If the Gate Level is set to 50 then some reverb signal will still be present even after the gate turns off the main reverb signal Q20 Reference Manual 53 Chapter 3 Overview 54 Q20 Reference Manual Making Your Own Programs Chapter 4 CHAPTER 4 MAKING YOUR OWN PROGRAMS Getting Started Because the Q20 s custom LCD display clearly shows the audio routings between each of the 8 possible Effect Blocks creating and modifying your own patches is extremely easy and flexible There are 300 possible Program locations available divided into three banks Preset User 0 and User 1 of 100 Programs each
113. nks in the Q20 Preset User 0 and User 1 They each contain 100 Programs However the Preset bank cannot be permanently changed You can edit the Preset Programs but you can store them only in the User banks To switch between the Preset and User banks follow these steps D Press and hold the PROGRAM button Use the lt BLOCK and lt PAGE buttons to select either PRESET or USER Press the lt PAGE again to toggle between the two User banks The currently selected Bank will be displayed in the top row of the LCD display Also when the Preset Bank is selected the display will show the word PRESET beneath the PROGRAM number in the lower left corner Q20 Reference Manual 21 Chapter 2 Your First Session with the Q20 Example Programs 22 The following are descriptions of the three example Programs in the Preset bank 96 VerbOfMyDreams This Program is fairly simple in design using only 3 Blocks to provide EQ Delay and Reverb It is designed for a mono audio source to be connected to the R INPUT In the display you can see the R IN routed to the first Block which is defined as a 3 Band Parametric EQ The M output of the EQ then is routed to the next Block which is a Mono Delay The M output of the Delay is then routed to the next Block which is a Room 2 Reverb The L output of the Reverb is routed to the L OUT while the R output of the Reverb is routed to the R OUT Also the R IN is routed to both
114. nt panel controls Unknown software conflict cosmic rays boogieman men or static electricity Disconnect MIDI input Power down and power up If this doesn t work try reinitialization then total reset see later in this chapter MIDI Program Changes are off by 1 Transmitter doesn t display true MIDI Program Change numbers Change the transmitter to display 0 127 or setup a Program Table in the Q20 Checking the Software Version The current software version may be determined by holding GLOBAL and pressing PROGRAM The display will indicate the currently installed software version Re initializing To re initialize the Q20 hold down both PROGRAM and COMPARE while turning on the power This will reset all Global parameters to their default settings and will initialize the edit buffer so that the current Program is set to its default settings no Blocks routings However none of the Programs in the User bank or the Preset bank are changed when re initializing the unit this way Total Reset A more drastic version of re initializing the Q20 will erase all User Programs as well as resetting all Global parameters Hold down PROGRAM COMPARE and lt BLOCK simultaneously while turning on the power 116 Q20 Reference Manual Troubleshooting Chapter 8 Error Messages Although the digital signal processing power in the Q20 is powerful and features plenty of memory t
115. og or digital inputs depending on which is selected as the Input Audio Source e When set to MIDI NOTE the Sample Buffer will be triggered by an incoming MIDI note message as determined by the Note parameter see below e When set to either ADVANCE FOOTSWITCH or BYPASS FOOTSWITCH the selected footswitch will not perform its normal function that of advancing to the next Program or bypassing effects respectively Instead the Sample Buffer will be triggered when the selected footswitch is pressed Q20 Reference Manual 47 Chapter 3 Overview 48 Rec Trigger The Rec Trigger parameter Parameter Mode Page 5 determines what will trigger the recording of audio into the Sample Buffer When set to ENTER recording will only be triggered by pressing the VALUE ENTER button while the Rec parameter is selected However even when another trigger type is selected you will always be able to trigger recording using the VALUE ENTER button in this manner When set to AUDIO LEFT AUDIO RIGHT or AUDIO LEFT amp RIGHT recording will be triggered whenever an audio level greater than 12 dB is present at either the analog or digital inputs depending on which is selected as the Input Audio Source When set to MIDI NOTE 4 recording will be triggered by an incoming MIDI note message as determined by the Note parameter see below e When set to either ADVANCE FOOTSWITCH or BYPASS FOOTSWITCH the selected footswitch will
116. old has been passed 5 Peak Follower Source Input which the Peak Left Right L amp R Follower looks at for Modulation cues Peak Follower Gain x1 Amount of gain for the x99 input before the Peak Follower looks at its signal for low level signals Peak Folw Decay 0 20 After the Generator is 10 00 Seconds triggered this is the rate of the decay Ramp Trigger Source Input which the Ramp Left Right L amp R looks at for Modulation cues Ramp Atk Threshold This is the level which 40 0dB triggers the Ramp to begin Modulating Ramp Rise Time 0 00 This is the rate which 10 0 Seconds the Ramp will rise to its peak value 7 7 5 7 Chapter 6 Advanced Applications Generator Type Page Display Description __ LFO Cycle Time 0 14 This is the time it takes 35 14 Seconds for the LFO to make one complete cycle Page Footswitch 5 Footswitch Source This is the footswitch Advance Bypass that is monitored for Modulation cues This setting overrides the default function of the footswitch i e The effect won t bypass if the Bypass Footswitch is assigned as a modulator Low Freq Oscillator Action Type This specifies the Momentary Latched footswitch s function either active only when stepped on or as an on off control Attack Time 0 00 10 00 This is the time the Seconds modulator takes to ramp up to the peak value Decay Time 0 00 10 00 This is the time the Seconds mo
117. ology and should provide years of trouble free use However should problems occur DO NOT attempt to service the unit yourself High voltage high current DC voltages are present at several points within the chassis Service on this product should be performed only by qualified technicians NO USER SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE Obtaining Repair Service Before contacting Alesis check over all your connections and make sure you ve read the manual Customers in the USA If the problem persists call Alesis USA at 1 800 5 ALESIS and request the Product Support department Talk the problem over with one of our technicians if necessary you will be given a return authorization RA number and instructions on how to return the unit All units must be shipped prepaid and COD shipments will not be accepted For prompt service indicate the RA number on the shipping label If you do not have the original packing ship the Q20 in a sturdy carton with shock absorbing materials such as styrofoam pellets the kind without CFCs please or bubble pack surrounding the unit Shipping damage caused by inadequate packing is not covered by the Alesis warranty Tape a note to the top of the unit describing the problem include your name and a phone number where Alesis can contact you if necessary as well as instructions on where you want the product returned Alesis will pay for standard one way shipping back to you on any repair covered under the terms o
118. om a pair of speakers placed somewhere around the listener By doing so the sound appears spatially distributed and takes on a lively new ambiance When placed at 0 degrees there is virtually no effect At 90 degrees there is an illusion that the speakers are on either side of the listener At 99 degrees the sound appears to come from slightly behind the listener s head Perceived Speaker Placement A o X 99 99 Listener Q20 Reference Manual 35 Chapter 3 Overview Overdrive Two new distortion effect types finish out the set of EQ effects Soft Overdrive and Hard Overdrive The Soft Overdrive has less gain and provides slightly less distortion than the Hard Overdrive Also there will still be a slight bit of distortion when using the Soft setting if the signal feeding the Overdrive effect is below the Drive Level setting see below The Hard setting will only provide distortion when the signal feeding the Overdrive effect is above the Drive Level setting Tip In addition to their obvious advantage when used with guitar signals the Overdrive effects work extremely well with other instruments such as a harmonica or rock organ sounds especially when followed by a Lezlie effect Balance The Balance parameter Parameter mode Page 1 controls the output mix of the Overdrive effect It can be set anywhere from OVERDRIVE lt 99 to OVERDRIVE lt 00 gt CLEAN to 99 gt CLEAN e When set to OVERDRIVE
119. once and use the VALUE ENTER knob to adjust the Program number to end the range Preset 00 99 User 0 00 1 99 Bypass The Bypass footswitch jack lets you turn the Bypass function on and off from a connected footswitch When pressed the BYPASS LED will light indicating that Bypass mode is enabled When pressed again the BYPASS LED will turn off For more information about Bypass mode see Chapters 2 and 5 Q20 Reference Manual 17 Chapter 1 Setting Up 18 Tap Tempo Either footswitch jack can be used to provide a tap tempo source for setting delay time provided the selected Program uses one of the two available tap tempo delay types This requires that you have defined an Effect Block as one of the two Tap Tempo delay types and that the desired footswitch jack has been selected for controlling tap tempo To select a footswitch jack for use with a Tap Tempo Delay D Press GLOBAL The GLOBAL LED will light Press lt PAGE twice to select Global Page 8 The display will read Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to select either the ADVANCE or BYPASS footswitch jack depending on which one you wish to use to control tap tempo Note that some programs can override these footswitch settings by re assigning pedals as Local Generator Sources in the Modulation pages See Chapter 6 for more information Q20 Reference Manual Your First Session with the Q20 Chapter 2 CHAPTER 2 YOUR FIRST SE
120. or indicating that you may now turn the VALUE ENTER knob and select either Input Generator 1 or 2 depending on which you want to define In the display example above Input Generator 1 is defined to be an Input Envelope Press the PAGE gt button to advance the cursor to the next field Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to select either Input Envelope or Peak Follower to be the selected Input Generator s type Press the PAGE gt button to advance to Modulation Page 5 Q20 Reference Manual Advanced Applications Chapter 6 Each Local Generator s pages differ from page 5 Each Local Generator type s parameters are explaned in the chart below Generator Type Page Display Description Envelope D Env Trigger Source Input which the Left Right L amp R Envelope looks at for Modulation cues Env Attack Threshold Level which triggers the 32 0dB Envelope to begin Peak Follower Modulating Env Release Threshold Level below which the Q20 Reference Manual 99 48 0dB Envelope will stop Modulating and start to decay Env Attack 0 00 10 00 Time which the Env Release 0 00 10 00 Envelope takes to ramp Seconds up to its peak value after the Attack Threshold has been passed and the time it takes to ramp down to zero after the release threshold has been passed Env Hold Time 0 00 The amount of time that 10 00 Seconds the Envelope will hold at peak value before the release segment after the release thresh
121. ource Once you have chosen a Modulator and a Target it is time to select a Source This is done in Modulation Page 2 If you have been following along so far let s continue where we left off from the last set of steps D After selecting the Target Block and Parameter press PAGE gt to advance to Modulation Page 2 The display will look like this The cursor appears beneath the Modulator indicating that you can now turn the VALUE ENTER knob to select any of the 8 Modulators Press the PAGE gt button again to advance the cursor to the next field Use the VALUE ENTER knob to select a Modulation Source Choose from any of the following Modulation Sources Pitch Bend Aftertouch Note Number Note Velocity Controllers 000 123 Local Generator 1 Local Generator 2 Setting the Amplitude Once a Modulator s Target and Source have been defined it is then time to set the Amplitude This is the amount of modulation control the Source will have over the Target This number can be set to 00 for no effect all the way to 99 for maximum effect or down to 99 for maximum negative effect i e inverted control If you have been following along so far let s continue where we left off from the last set of steps D After selecting the Target and Source press PAGE gt to advance to Modulation Page 3 The display will look like this The cursor appears beneath the Modulator indicating that you can now turn the
122. parameter described above to TABLE then select a MIDI program change number and assign it a Program Example If you programmed the Table so that program message 101 was mapped to Preset 33 and message 102 was mapped to User 0 39 then sending a MIDI program change message of 101 to the Q20 would recall Program Preset 33 and sending a message of 102 would recall Program User 0 39 To incorporate and modify the Program Change Table D Press MIDI The MIDI LED will light Press PAGE gt to access MIDI Page 2 The display will read Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to the right to set the MIDI Program Change parameter to TABLE Press PAGE gt to access MIDI Page 3 You can edit the program change table which can substitute alternate Programs Preset 00 99 User0 00 99 and User1 00 99 for each of the 128 MIDI program change messages 88 Q20 Reference Manual Advanced Applications Chapter 6 Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to select a program change number from 000 127 to be re mapped Press PAGE gt to advance the cursor to the second field in the display Use the VALUE ENTER knob to select a Q20 Program for the selected MIDI program change message to be re mapped to Preset 00 99 or User 0 00 1 99 SysEx Storage To send and receive program information via SysEx dumps using a computer or some other SysEx storage device such as the Alesis NanoTracker or ano
123. pass Gain 3 Band Parametric EQ Lowpass Frequency Low pass Gain Bandpass Frequency Bandpass Gain Bandpass Width Highpass Frequency Highpass Gain 92 Q20 Reference Manual Advanced Applications Chapter 6 Effect Target 4 Band Parametric EQ Lowpass Frequency Lowpass Gain Low BP Frequency Low BP Gain Low BP Bandwidth High BP Frequency High BP Gain High BP Bandwidth Highpass Frequency Highpass Gain 5 Band Graphic EQ 63 Hz Band Gain 250 Hz Band Gain 1KHz Band Gain 4KHz Band Gain 16KHz Band Gain Resonator Tuning Decay Mono Stereo Tremolo Speed Depth Shape Stereo Simulator Stereo Spread Soft Overdrive Effect Mix Brightness Hard Overdrive Effect Mix Brightness Triggered Panning Trigger Speed Doppler Distance Phase Inverter Output Phase Mono Chorus Speed Depth Feedback Stereo Chorus Speed Depth Feedback Quad Chorus Speed Depth Feedback Mono Flanging Speed Depth Feedback Stereo Flanging Speed Depth Feedback Phasor Speed Depth Mono Lezlie Speed Depth Motor On Off Speed Slow Fast High Rotor Level Stereo Lezlie Speed Depth Motor On Off Speed Slow Fast High Rotor Level Stereo Separation Pitch Shifter Pitch Fine Pitch Coarse Pitch Detune Pitch Detune Ring Modulator Spectrum Shift Mono Trigger Flange Trigger Speed Depth Fee
124. r above L OUT or R OUT These buttons are used in conjunction with the TYPE ROUTING PARAMETER and MIX buttons to determine which Block you wish to edit When you are editing Block parameters the Q20 remembers which page you were in last for each Block This makes programming easier since when you go from one Block to another which may be of a different effect type with different parameters pages you will be back in the same page you left when you return to the previous Block to do more editing lt Page gt This rocker button allows you to scroll back and forth through the pages indicated under PAGE maximum of 9 in the display Sometimes a Page has more than one parameter in it in this situation the lt PAGE gt buttons will step through each parameter field separately before moving on to the next page Q20 Reference Manual 71 Chapter 5 Description of Controls Type Use the TYPE button to define the type of effect in the selected Block Once a Block has been chosen and the TYPE button is pressed we can dial through with the VALUE ENTER knob to choose the function of that Block from EQUALIZATION PITCH DELAY REVERBERATION or OFF Once the general function of a Block has been selected by pressing the VALUE ENTER button the display will automatically advance to the second page of the Type function where we can define the specific effect of the Block Example If it is a Reverberation Block you can s
125. rameter Modulation settings However you can move around the various pages and view these original settings and therefore see the actual differences in settings you have changed Pressing COMPARE a second time exits Compare mode the COMPARE button s LED will turn off and the edited version of the Program will be accessed You can go in and out of Compare mode as often as you like as long as the display indicates EDITED i e if the Program hasn t been edited yet there is nothing to compare it to Restoring an Edited Program to its Original Settings 24 If you decide to abort the changes you have made to a Program this can be done in two easy steps To restore an edited Program to its previous unedited version D Press PROGRAM to select Program mode The PROGRAM button s LED will light and the display will flash the selected Program number and name Press the VALUE ENTER button This recalls the last stored version of the currently selected Program number and the word EDITED disappears from the display Consequently any changes you had made to the Program before recalling are lost unless you stored the edited Program into memory Q20 Reference Manual Your First Session with the Q20 Chapter 2 Storing Edited Programs Once you are satisfied with the changes you have made to a Program or are creating a new Program from scratch you will need to store your edited Program back into memory The
126. rd MIDI plug which connects to any MIDI compatible equipment such as a MIDI sequencer that will send program changes and controller information to the unit MIDI Thru Out This is a 5 pin DIN standard MIDI plug which connects to any MIDI compatible equipment such as a keyboard or another effects device Provided for sending system exclusive commands for storing programs It also relays all messages received on the MIDI IN if MIDI THRU is enabled Bypass Bypass Footswitch This is a 1 4 phone jack which connects to a footswitch either normally open or normally closed When the footswitch is pressed the signal will bypass the effects chain allowing an instant comparison between the dry and wet signal The red LED on the BYPASS button on the front panel will illuminate Advance Program Advance Footswitch This is a 1 4 phone jack which connects to a footswitch either normally open or normally closed When the footswitch is pressed the currently selected program number is advanced by one When 99 is reached it will roll over to 00 However you can create a range of Programs to be used in conjunction with this footswitch in the Global menu page 2 See Footswitch Range earlier in this Chapter 48kHz in Sample Clock Input This is a BNC connector which connects to an external master clock from an external device to synchronize digital output It needs to be used when recording the digital outputs of the Q20 to an ADAT system that uses
127. respond to all 16 channels Page 2 MIDI Program Change This determine whether or not the Q20 will respond to incoming MIDI program change and bank select messages This can be set to either ON recognize OFF ignore or TABLE use Program Table When turned on the Q20 will recognize program change messages received on the same MIDI channel it is set to receive on and respond by calling up the equivalent Program number from the User bank When set to TABLE the Program that is recalled is based on how the Program Table is set up see below 76 Q20 Reference Manual Description of Controls Chapter 5 Page 3 Program Table The Program Table allows you to intercept incoming program change messages and have them recall specific Programs in either the Preset bank or the User bank which may not be the same number value as the program change message received There are 128 different possible MIDI program change messages 000 through 127 However the Q20 has 300 Programs to choose from Therefore the Program Table allows us to choose which of the 300 Programs will be recalled when certain program change numbers are received The first value indicates the MIDI program change you wish to remap 000 127 The second value in the display indicates the Program you wish to be recalled Preset User 0 or User 1 00 99 You can remap each of the 128 program change numbers if so desired Page 4 MI
128. rom the EQ 1 MIX output going to the Right Output Q9 Turn the VALUE ENTER to select a level from 48 0dB to OdB 100 Press VALUE ENTER button to set the level Q20 Reference Manual Making Your Own Programs Chapter 4 We have now connected the output of the EQ to our Right output Having connected both an input and output to our EQ Block we can now hear the effect and change the parameters Parameter Now we will choose the desired parameters for our EQ D Press the PARAMETER button The PARAMETER button s LED will light O If the display reads RIGHT OUTPUT SELECTED you have not yet moved back to BLOCK 1 Press the lt BLOCK button to move the pointer in the display to Block 1 The display will now show you the first of three pages These are the only two parameters on this page Low Pass Frequency and Gain The cursor appears beneath the Frequency setting in the display above it is set to 1000Hz your display may read something different Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to select a frequency between 200 and 10000Hz GS Press the PAGE gt button to move the cursor to the Gain parameter Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to set the Low Pass gain from 14 to 14 dB Set the Gain below 0dB to cut or above OdB to boost the selected Frequency a setting of OdB has no effect Press the PAGE gt button to advance to Parameter Page 2 of this EQ Block The display will look like this
129. rs buttons and connectors including Global and MIDI mode parameters Chapter 6 Advanced Applications Advanced uses of the Q20 such as MIDI functions Modulation Local Generators footswitches and using tap tempo to control delay times Chapter 7 Digital Connections How to use the Q20 s digital ins and outs in an all digital studio Chapter 8 Troubleshooting Contains the Troubleshooting Index maintenance and service information and MIDI implementation chart Conventions The buttons knobs and rear panel connectors are referred to in this manual just as their names appear on the Q20 using all capital letters and in brackets Examples PROGRAM button lt BLOCK button VALUE ENTER knob button DIGITAL IN connector etc O When something important appears in the manual an icon like the one on the left will appear in the left margin This symbol indicates that this information is vital when operating the Q20 Q20 Reference Manual 1 Q20 Reference Manual Contents CONTENTS 1 Setting Una is Y Unpacking and Inspections ieis oeei eiie E E AE e i E a eiia 7 AC Power Hookup asi iiien soe UE eaa EE E E e te EiS 7 Line Conditioners and Protectors sssssssssssee ee 7 Audio Conmnectiofis olestie delude Eee cote tete eee Ins 8 Typical Applications esce eerte e ee He Een em eos 8 Interfacing Directly with Instruments ul etre tete tee eoe tlle oen 9 Interfacing to a Mixing Consol
130. s INPUT and black is the return which connects to the OUTPUT Ds Un He GSS t Left Input Left Output Channel Insert Q20 Reference Manual 13 Chapter 1 Setting Up 14 Stereo In the case where a stereo instrument such as a keyboard or sampler is connected to two separate channels of a mixing console you will need two 1 4 TRS cables one for each channel The connection is made in a similar fashion as described above l Ji Ja a gag o o Ja a LEY FERRER ERE RE RR ERE REET EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHH Using Main Outputs When you want to effect everything on the mixer you can connect the Q20 between the mixer s outputs and the amplifier s or tape machine s inputs This is done by using two cables to connect the Left and Right Main Outputs of the mixing console to the L and R INPUTS of the Q20 The L and R OUTPUTS of the Q20 are then connected to a stereo amplifier or two input channels of another mixing console for sub mixing applications Left Right Output Output R Input Input Left Right Master Master Out Out Power Power Amp Amp Left Right Input Input x x mm ep v Out to Speakers EEE
131. shaping y P MA 414dB _ 0dB 14dB _ L Frequency p 5 Band Graphic EQ 34 Q20 Reference Manual Overview Chapter 3 Resonator A resonator is a special filter whose response is so sharp that it actually imparts a pitch to any signal going through it By tuning the resonator to your instrument and balancing their relative amplitudes you can accentuate different harmonics in a guitar tone for instance This can be very useful to dramatically change the character of an instrument s sound Mono Stereo Tremolo The Mono Tremolo modulates the amplitude of its input signal according to three parameters speed which controls how often the sound changes amplitude depth controlling how strong the tremolos will be and shape which controls whether the amplitude transitions will be hard drastic or soft gradual Mono tremolo can recreate the sound of older guitar amps Stereo Tremolo alternates the loudness of the signal in opposite channels according to the same three parameters as the Mono Tremolo effect On slow speeds with a soft shape stereo tremolo provides continuous automated panning At low to moderate depths and moderate speeds the vibrating sound of traditional electric pianos can easily be reproduced Stereo Simulator This effect is useful for widening a flat sound to produce a wider stereo field It takes a mono sound source and creates the illusion that sound is emanating in stereo fr
132. splay is blank Display contrast is set Adjust the display either too high or low contrast Press GLOBAL turn VALUE ENTER No audio is heard The digital input is Press GLOBAL press PAGE selected gt fourti mes thenturn VALUE ENTER knob wunterdocwi se Bypass is on with no Select another program direct routings set with routings Bypass is on with Global Go to GLOBAL page 9 and Direct Signal Mute On set it to OFF Bypass is on with Direct Go to MIX and set Direct Level From Input set to Level to 100 NONE Program being edited has Go to ROUTING page 3 no input or output Delete Route and check routings the existence of routings for each block and the L R OUT by rotating the VALUE control to see all inputs to that block Effect output level is low Master Effects Level is Press MIX and raise the on a single Program below 100 level Clicks are heard in the Digital clock conflict Provide a master 48 kHz audio using digital I O clock or repatch the system Set the receiving unit s clock to external ADAT clock set Hold SET LOCATE and improperly press DIGITAL IN until the display says DIG Distortion red LEDs flash Internal DSP is clipping Lower the LEVEL of any before meter is full rate feeding a block that is overloading Q20 Reference Manual 115 Chapter 8 Troubleshooting Symptom Cause Solution Unit does not respond to fro
133. ssor Phasor Stereo Lezlie and Ring Modulator Only one of these three may be used per Program Example If you try to create a Ring Modulator effect type when either a Phasor or Stereo Lezlie effect is already in use in the Program the error message BLOCK COMBINATION NOT ALLOWED briefly appears In the back of this manual you will find an index of effect types listing the percentage of DSP Effect memory and number of LFOs required by each Use this as a reference when one or more categories of limit handling have been exceeded and you wish to learn what options exist in reorganizing the Program Q20 Reference Manual 31 Chapter 3 Overview Equalization Equalization or EQ provides the ability to control the timbre or coloration of an audio signal by changing the frequency response of a Q20 audio path Filters and EQ can be used to compensate for frequency deficiencies in microphones and other sound equipment The EQ family of functions in the Q20 contains filters equalizers and several other highly useful studio effects Filters Lowpass Bandpass and Highpass A filter allows the passing of frequencies within a certain range called a filter s passband and removes frequencies outside that range The Q20 features a Lowpass Filter which removes frequencies above its cutoff frequency i e it allows low frequencies to pass through and a Highpass Filter which removes frequencies below its cutoff frequency At the c
134. stablish delay time and tempo If instead you set the Beat Count to 1 8T you can play in eighth note triplets to establish the delay time 44 Q20 Reference Manual Overview Chapter 3 Sampling Once a Block is de fined as a Delay function you can select the Sampler effect type The Sampler has one mono input and one mono output Two Sampler Blocks can be used in a single Program to provide stereo sampling one for the Left channel the other for the Right Note In the case where a Program uses two Sampler Blocks for stereo sampling both Sampler Blocks will use the same parameters In other words changing the parameter settings of either Sampler Block will affect the other O The Sampler cannot be used if a Stereo Lezlie Phasor Ring Modulator Mono or Stereo Triggered Flanging or Triggered Panning Block is active and vice versa Before sampling you should set the Maximum Sample Length parameter page 2 to determine how long the Sampler effect will record audio once recording has begun You can sample up to 5 seconds of audio depending on available memory using either the analog or digital inputs depending on which is selected as the Input Audio Source in Global Mode page 4 The sampled audio is stored in the Sample Buffer The Sample Buffer can then be triggered in a variety of ways O Changing the Maximum Sample Length parameter bypassing the effects or changing a Block type or Delay effect s delay time in a Block
135. sted in the selected location it will be replaced Q20 Reference Manual 65 Chapter 4 Making Your Own Programs Changing Effect Types 66 If you already have defined a Block and assigned its routings you can still change its Function and Effect Type Usually this doesn t disturb anything else However if the Block was defined as a mono effect and you change it to a stereo effect the Q20 will make the necessary changes in routings and vice versa Here s an example Let s say you have a Mono Delay Block that has its mono output M routed to the ROUT Now you go into Type mode and change it to a Stereo Delay As soon as you press the VALUE ENTER button and make the change the display momentarily reads Now the Block has three outputs L left R right and M mono In this case the Q20 automatically assigned the R output of the Delay to the R OUT Since the M output of the Delay Block had originally gone to the R OUT the Q20 assumed you wanted to continue having the Block go to this output So logically it routed the Block s new R output to the R OUT Let s say we did the opposite i e change a stereo effect into mono The exact opposite would happen Once we changed the stereo effect into a mono effect type the display would momentarily read In this case if only one of the effects outputs had been routed to one of the Q20 s OUTS it would be rerouted to come from the new mono Block s M o
136. t button If you change the value of a parameter that uses deferred mode you must press the VALUE ENTER button to enter the new value the display will stop flashing and then you can press it again to move to the next Page or to the next parameter if more than one parameter appears in the display This is a feature for power users who want to be able to move around the various pages quickly and make changes as fast as possible O Unique Exception When editing the Delay Time parameter of a Delay Block set to either Tap Tempo Mono Delay or Tap Tempo Ping Pong the VALUE ENTER button is used to tap in a tempo See Chapter 6 for more information Program This button is used in conjunction with the VALUE ENTER knob to select the Program number in the display When its LED is lit turning the VALUE ENTER knob selects a different Program using one of two modes Direct or Deferred Direct mode immediately recalls the displayed Program as you turn the VALUE ENTER knob Deferred mode lets you scroll through the Programs in the display by turning the VALUE ENTER knob but you must press the VALUE ENTER button to actually recall a Program You can choose between either Direct or Deferred mode by going to Program Page 2 using the following steps To select either Direct or Deferred Program Selection Mode D Press the PROGRAM button The PROGRAM button s LED will light Press PAGE gt to advance to Program
137. tents of the User bank into a SysEx storage device See Chapter 6 for more info User Program Write Protect This function has been added to prevent the accidental erasure of User Programs Write Protect affects all Programs in the User bank To enable User Program Write Protect D Press STORE The STORE button s LED will light Press PAGE gt to advance to Store Page 2 The display will read Use the VALUE knob to turn the User Program Write Protect function ON or OFF If the User Program Write Protect is enabled and you attempt to store a Program the display will temporarily read This message indicates that you must first turn off the User Program Write Protect function in order to store a Program into the User banks Compare Once a Program has been edited the word EDITED will appear in the display below the Program number If COMPARE is pressed its LED will light and you will temporarily hear and see the original version of the Program This allows you to compare the changes you ve made with the original Q20 Reference Manual Description of Controls Chapter 5 Bypass Each time the BYPASS button is pressed Bypass mode is toggled on and off When Bypass mode is engaged its LED will light This bypasses the effects chain allowing you to make an instant comparison between the effected signal and the clean signal Bypass mode can also be enabled using the BYPASS footswitch For
138. ter Lowpass Fc frequency 20Hz 10kHz Bandpass Filter Bandpass Fc 200Hz 10kHz BW bandwidth 0 20 2 50 Octaves Highpass Filter Highpass Fe 100Hz 20kHz Lowpass Shelf Lowpass 20Hz 10kHz Gain 14dB Highpass Shelf Highpass 100Hz 20kHz Gain 14dB 1 Band Low Parametric Bandpass 20Hz 2000Hz Gain 14dB BW 0 20 2 00 Octaves 1 Band High Parametric Bandpass 200Hz 10kHz Gain 14dB BW 0 20 2 50 Octaves 2 Band Sweep Shelf Lowpass 20Hz 10kHz Gain 14dB Highpass 100Hz 20kHz Gain 14dB 3 Band Parametric Lowpass 20Hz 10kHz Gain 14dB Mid Band 200Hz 10kHz Gain 14dB BW 0 20 2 50 Octaves Highpass 100Hz 20kHz Gain 14dB 4 Band Parametric Lowpass 20Hz 10kHz Gain 14dB Low Mid 20Hz 2kHz Gain 14dB BW 0 20 2 00 Octaves High Mid 1500Hz 10kHz Gain 14dB BW 0 20 2 50 Octaves Highpass 100Hz 20kHz Gain 14dB 5 Band Graphic 63Hz 250Hz 1kHz 4kHz 16kHz 14dB Note All bands have a two octave bandwidth Resonator Resonator Tuning A0 A5 4 Octaves Decay 0 99 Mono Tremolo Speed 0 99 Depth 0 99 Shape Soft Hard Stereo Tremolo Speed 0 99 Depth 0 99 Shape Soft Hard Stereo Simulator Stereo Spread 0 99 Degrees Soft Overdrive Effect Mix Overdrive Clean Brightness 0 99 Drive Level 1 0 11 0 Hard Overdrive Effect Mix Overdrive Clean Brightness
139. the L and R OUT to combine the original dry signal with the wet signal coming from Block 3 The EQ Block is used to tailor the sound before further processing occurs You should make adjustments here based on the signal you feed through it if the higher frequencies of the input signal do not sound as good through the Reverb as the mids and lows try attenuating them in the EQ The Delay is used to thicken the sound by adding a few very fast echoes The Reverb adds ambiance as if you were ina large chamber and completes the total effect Using the Mix function you can adjust the output level of the Reverb Block and the Direct Signal to create the balance you are looking for 97 Guitar Rack This Program includes two Pitch Blocks feeding a delay Block into another Pitch Block then into a Reverb Block and finally yet another Pitch Block This is a prime example of the flexibility the Q20 offers to programmers The Program creates a thick swirling ambient effect that greatly enhances an electric guitar s sound The R IN is routed to Blocks 1 and 2 as well as the L and R OUT The first two Pitch Blocks are defined as Pitch Detune type but are set to different detune amounts to create a thicker sound The Delay Block is a Mono Delay which provides a very quick slap back by using a small delay time and no feedback The third Pitch Block provides a Stereo Chorus which swirls the detuned delay signal and feeds directly to
140. ther Q20 D Connect the other device s MIDI OUT to the Q20 s MIDI IN Q Connect the Q20 s MIDI OUT to the other device s MIDI IN This provides two way communication between the devices 8 Press MIDI The MIDI LED will light Press lt x PAGE to select MIDI Page 6 The display will read Use the VALUE ENTER knob to select a User Program from 0 00 1 99 or the current Program being used EDIT or ALL User Programs To send all User Programs turn the VALUE ENTER knob all the way to the right to select ALL Optionally when sending a single Program to another Q20 you can choose to send it to a different location When you select a Program to be sent the second field which represents the destination location is linked and moves along with it To select a different location number to send this Program to Press PAGE gt and use the VALUE ENTER knob to select a destination location 0 00 1 99 or EDIT If you chose to send ALL User Programs the second field will disappear Set the receiving MIDI device to receive or record the MIDI information about to be sent from the Q20 Press the VALUE ENTER button to transmit If sending ALL User Programs during the dump the display will read Q20 Reference Manual 89 Chapter 6 Advanced Applications 90 If sending a single Program the display will not change when the VALUE ENTER button is pressed since this effecti
141. ting Page 2 where you can adjust the level of this signal going into the Delay in Block 2 This defaults to 6 0dB which is the halfway point between maximum and minimum This gives you enough overhead so that if later you need more gain you can raise this signal to a higher level Press VALUE ENTER to set the input level The display will automatically return to the Add Route page Press the BLOCK gt button until the pointer appears above Block 3 Q20 Reference Manual Making Your Own Programs Chapter 4 Turn the VALUE ENTER knob until the display looks like this Press VALUE ENTER to select the route The display will flash until the VALUE ENTER button is pressed At the same time the patch cord connecting the Delay to the Reverb will appear Set the level on page 2 as before O Press the BLOCK gt button until the pointer appears above L OUT and turn the VALUE ENTER knob until the display looks like this Press VALUE ENTER to select the route The display will flash until the VALUE ENTER button is pressed At the same time the patch cord connecting the Reverb to the L OUT will appear M Press BLOCK gt and then press VALUE ENTER to route the right output of the Reverb in Block 3 to the R OUT The display should look like this before pressing VALUE ENTER Adjusting Parameters At this point the tutorial ends since there are so many directions
142. to MIDI clock D Connect the sequencer or drum machine s MIDI OUT to the Q20 s MIDI IN This provides a one way connection since this is all we need to control the Q20 s delay time via MIDI clock we don t require the Q20 to send MIDI information back to the sequencer or drum machine Select a Program that uses either the Tap Tempo Mono Delay effect or the Tap Tempo Ping Pong effect or both 9 Set your sequencer or drum machine to output MIDI clock Usually MIDI clock will be output from your sequencer or drum machine only when it is in play when not playing no MIDI clock information is sent Play some audio through the Q20 to hear the effect Note If the MIDI clock s tempo changes the Q20 will chase it If the MIDI clock signal is discontinued the delay time will remain set to the last tempo which the MIDI clock had been The delay s Beat Count parameter found to the right of the Delay Time parameter is used to determine what note value the effect should synchronize to Example If you set the Beat value to 1 4 then you can synchronize to the quarter note beats of the incoming MIDI clock If instead you set the Beat value to 1 8T you can synchronize to eighth note triplets relative to the incoming MIDI clock signal You can also set the Beat value to a dotted note variation such as 1 8 which lets you synchronize to the dotted eighth note beats relative to the incoming MIDI clock signal Q20
143. to hear our effects the signal must be routed through the Blocks that contain our chosen effects Pressing the ROUTING button selects Routing Page 1 This is where you can dial through with the VALUE ENTER knob all the possible connections Once you find the route you want press VALUE ENTER to select it This automatically advances the display to Routing Page 2 where you can enter a level for that connection Page 3 allows you to delete any unwanted patches Selection Parameters Defined Blocks Add Route From LOUT ROUT Level From Delete Route From Undefined Blocks None BLOCK IS OFF Mix Allows us to create a mix of the input signal the levels of effects sent to the outputs and the Master effects level If an unassigned Block is selected or the L R OUT the Mix function will have only two pages These let you control the Direct signal level being routed to the outputs and adjust the master effects level of all Blocks routed to the outputs Normally these are adjusted as a percentage of the total level When a defined Block is selected a new Page 1 is added and the other two pages move down Page 1 becomes page 2 Page 2 becomes Page 3 Page 1 will now let you adjust the selected Block s level going to the L R OUT Selection Parameters Defined Blocks Level to L R Direct Level From Input Master Effects Level LOUT ROUT Direct Level From Input Undefined Blocks Master Effects Level
144. ts or connecting to channel inputs The former is good if your mixer provides dedicated inputs called returns for effect devices like the Q20 If your mixer does not have these or you have already used them all consider connecting the Q20 to channel inputs or unused tape returns You may also want to take advantage of better EQ panning or automation options on your console s channel inputs 10 Q20 Reference Manual Setting Up Chapter 1 Setting the Effect Dry Balance No matter where you connect the output of the Q20 into the mixer you are in control of the balance between the mixer s channel inputs the uneffected signal being routed to the aux sends and the Mix and the effect returns coming from the Q20 The effect returns generally should only contain effected signal and not have any uneffected signal mixed with it since these two signals are blended together at the mixer If the Program you are using has the L R IN connected to the L R OUT you may be getting some dry uneffected signal at the return Generally this is not desirable when using the Q20 with a mixer since the dry signal is already being heard through the original channel s fader Therefore in a mixer application you will want to cut the Q20 s Program s path which connects the inputs to the outputs This can be done in three ways Go to the Mix parameters to bring down the direct level e Go to the Routing function of each program and remo
145. ts such as snare drums sound bigger Predelay Mix This allows you to balance the amount of predelay to direct signal as a percentage of each This gives you the ability to hear a bit of the reverb before the loudest part of the reverb the predelayed reverb sounds and makes for a bigger smoother sounding reverb Reflection Level and Spread This is only used with the more complex reverb algorithms such as Room 2 Hall 2 Plate 2 Chamber 2 and Large Plate Level controls the amplitude of the early reflections Spread controls the reflection s density or how close they are together Reverberation Swirl This adds a type of stereo chorus like the effect to the output of the reverb Only used in Room 2 Hall 2 and Large Plate this parameter is most useful for smoothing the decay of the reverb when set at a low value When set to a high value it creates a more dramatic detuning effect Reverberation Attack Only used in Plate 2 and Chamber 2 this controls the amount of extra signal added to the beginning of the reverb s effect which in turn controls the intensity of the reverb s attack Q20 Reference Manual Overview Chapter 3 Gating Of all the different reverb types only two types do not provide gating parameters Reverse and Nonlinear Gating is the process which abruptly cuts off the reverb s decay for a more choppy sound This effect was very popular on drums in the 80s because it makes them sou
146. type while Input Generator 2 is set to a Peak Follower type Once you are in Modulation Pages 4 through 7 you can select which of the two Input Generators you want to edit much the same way you would select a Modulator in Modulation Pages 1 through 3 Low Frequency Oscillator The LFO Local Generator lets you modulate a parameter s value in a cyclical fashion The LFO has a single parameter Cycle Time which can be set between 14 and 35 14 seconds Because the LFO produces a back and forth motion its effect is identical whether the Modulation Amplitude parameter is set to a positive or negative amount Footswitch This local generator allows you to use the Bypass or Advance Footswitches as modulation sources This is useful when you want to switch effects on and off rotary speed fast and slow or other on off modulation destinations Note that assigning the Advance or Bypass footswitches as local generators overrides their default functions i e assigning the Bypass footswitch as a modulation source won t bypass the effect you re modulating Q20 Reference Manual 97 Chapter 6 Advanced Applications 98 Editing the Local Generators To select the Input Generators types and edit their parameters O Press MODULATION The MODULATION button s LED will light Press PAGE gt seven times or until Modulation Page 4 is underlined The display should look like this The cursor appears beneath the Generat
147. u can audition the Programs in the Q20 by using the VALUE ENTER knob or the front panel buttons whenever the Q20 is in Program mode the PROGRAM button s LED will be lit To select a Program using the VALUE ENTER knob D Press PROGRAM The PROGRAM button s LED will light Q Turn the VVALUE ENTER knob Note The VALUE ENTER knob has two modes when used for selecting Programs Direct and Deferred Direct mode immediately recalls the displayed Program as you turn the VALUE ENTER knob Deferred mode lets you scroll through the Programs in the display by turning the VALUE ENTER knob but you must press the VALUE ENTER button to actually recall a Program For more information on choosing between Direct and Deferred mode see Chapter 5 To select a Program using the front panel buttons D Hold the PROGRAM button Use the 1 through 0 buttons to directly select Programs 00 through 99 These are the right most ten buttons on the front panel which double for BLOCK gt TYPE ROUTING etc The top line of the display will change to indicate the currently selected Program number from 00 99 and its name PROGRAM FIT The left side of the display always indicates the currently selected Program number 00 99 Directly beneath the two digit Program number the word E A PRESET will appear when the Preset bank is selected Switching Between Preset and User Banks There are three ba
148. ur Own Programs 62 Deleting Unnecessary Routings Now that we ve added our new Blocks we want to reroute the signals so that the EQ output no longer directly feeds the L R OUT but instead goes into the Delay Block and then into the Reverb Block Then we ll route the Reverb Block to the L R OUT so we can hear our effects at work The first step however is to delete the unnecessary routings before adding the new ones D Press ROUTING The ROUTING button s LED will light Press the BLOCK gt button until the pointer appears above R OUT GS Press x PAGE to advance to Routing Page 3 The display will look like this Turn the VALUE ENTER knob until the display reads EQ 1 MIX and press the VALUE ENTER button The display will flash until the VALUE ENTER button is pressed At the same time the patch cord connecting the EQ out to the R OUT will disappear Patching In The New Blocks Now its time to reroute the signal so the effects form a chain D Press ROUTING The ROUTING button s LED will light Press the lt BLOCK button until the pointer appears above Block 2 GS Turn the VALUE ENTER knob until the display looks like this Press VALUE ENTER to select the route The display will flash until the VALUE ENTER button is pressed At the same time the patch cord connecting the EQ to the Delay will appear Also the display will automatically advance to Rou
149. using either of the two Delay types which allow for tap tempo adjustments of delay time either of the two footswitch jacks may be assigned to provide tap tempo control This is an alternative way of setting the delay time of a tap tempo type delay rather than tapping the VALUE ENTER knob This can be a great utility for live applications where the delay time can be adjusted to match your playing tempo simply by tapping your footswitch to the beat of the music To select either the BYPASS or ADVANCE footswitch to control tap tempo D Press GLOBAI The GLOBAL button s LED will light Press PAGE lt twice to move to Global Page 8 The display will read Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to select either the ADVANCE or BYPASS footswitch jack depending on which one you wish to use to control tap tempo When either BYPASS or ADVANCE is selected that footswitch will not perform its normal function until the Tap Tempo Footswitch parameter is set to the other footswitch jack or to NONE Q20 Reference Manual Advanced Applications Chapter 6 MIDI Clock Control of Tap Tempo Delay If you are using a Program that uses either Tap Tempo Delay effects Tap Tempo Mono Delay and or Tap Tempo Ping Pong you can control the delay time of the effect s via MIDI clock This makes it possible to synchronize the delay time to the precise tempo of an external MIDI sequencer or drum machine To synchronize delay time
150. utoff frequency each filter attenuates the signal level by 3dB and attenuates by 6dB per octave outside the passband The Bandpass Filter passes frequencies near its center frequency and removes all others The Bandpass Filter has a bandwidth parameter to control how wide in octaves the passband is Bandwidth is inversely related to the conventional Q value that is the higher the O value the lower the bandwidth Bandwidth is used in the Q20 because it is a more familiar term to many musicians and is more intuitive Cutoff Frequency Cutoff Frequency 0dB 0dB Level Frequency Level Frequency Lowpass Filter Highpass Filter Center Frequency Center Frequency 0dB 0dB A A E a ee 3dB N l l l DE lt lt a Bandwidth Bandwidth Level Frequency Level Frequency Bandpass Filter Bandpass Filter low bandwidth high bandwidth 32 Q20 Reference Manual Overview Chapter 3 Shelving EQs Lowpass Shelf and Highpass Shelf A shelving EQ can boost or cut frequencies in its pass band while allowing the frequencies outside its pass band to go through it The shelving EQs of the Q20 provide gains from 14dB to 14dB in 0 1dB increments Shelving filters are well suited for applications in which high or low frequencies need to be boosted or cut but the remainder of the audio s
151. utput If both the Left and Right outputs of the stereo Block were connected to the L R OUT then the mono effect s M out would now be connected to both the L OUT and R OUT Q20 Reference Manual Description of Controls Chapter 5 CHAPTER 5 DESCRIPTION OF CONTROLS Front Panel Input Level Left and Right These concentric knobs one within the other control the incoming level of our analog signal and the relative balance between the two input channels This gain staging allows us to maintain a superior signal to noise ratio and eliminate any overloading of the Q20 s inputs This feeds directly to the LED ladder Output Level This controls how much signal we are returning to our mixing console or whatever else it s connected to Matching levels throughout the recording mixing chain will allow us to get the cleanest possible recordings LED Meter This is a visual indicator of level It is a four step LED light emitting diode ladder with steps at 32dB 12dB 3dB green LEDs and the red LED indicating CLIP The dB markings refer to how much headroom is remaining before overload As with all meters a certain amount of experimentation is necessary before you feel comfortable as different types of signals with sharper attack times will affect the LEDs differently The meters have several sources so they can detect overloads caused by internal gain or feedback as well as by the INPUT LEVEL controls Internal c
152. ve six pages for example Some pages have more than one parameter field Use the lt PAGE gt buttons to advance the cursor through each parameter field in a page and to access the other pages in a selected function PROGRAM 00 99 Indicates the PROGRAM number currently selected PRESET Indicates if the PROGRAM selected is a PRESET and if any modifications have been made to the PRESET EDITED This indicates that the currently selected Program has been edited modified from its original version as it is stored in memory You must Store a Program after editing it if you want to make those changes permanent Otherwise if you select another Program before saving the edited one your edits will be lost L R IN This represents the inputs of the Q20 which need to be routed to the OUT L R before it can pass along its signal Along the way the signal may be routed through a variety of effects These inputs are fed directly by the L and R INPUT connectors on the rear of the unit Blocks 1 8 Eight selectable discrete effects processors that can be used together or separately Choices are Off Equalization EQ Pitch PCH Delay DLY and Reverberation RVB L R OUT These are the outputs of the Q20 They feed the L and R OUTPUT connectors on the rear of the unit Patch Cords A fully programmable series of connections representing patch cords that connect the L R IN to a variety of effects Blocks Block outputs to other B
153. ve the patch cords connecting the inputs to the outputs Turn on the Global Direct Signal Mute function This is the easiest method O Most Preset Programs route the L R IN signal to the L R OUT When connecting to a mixer s aux sends and returns the Global Direct Signal Mute should be set to MUTE To remove all direct routings of inputs to outputs on all Programs simultaneously D Press GLOBAL The GLOBAL LED will be lit Press lt x PAGE once This selects Global Page 9 The display will read Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to the right until the display reads ON The next Program recalled which has the inputs routed to the outputs will not display the patch cords for these connections nor will you hear any direct uneffected signal at the outputs Q20 Reference Manual 11 Chapter 1 Setting Up Mono In Stereo Out If you only want to feed the Q20 a mono input but wish to connect both of its outputs back to the mixer you will need three audio cables Connect a cable from an effect send to the L INPUT of the Q20 another cable from the L OUTPUT of the Q20 to an effect return or other mixer input and another cable from the R OUTPUT of the Q20 to an adjacent mixer input Left Input QQ Left and Right Outputs EE uu Ft oeeo Prt o 3 ae o BUTTER EIEIEIE Ed H Hdd fealty
154. vely takes no time at all When you send a SysEx dump back to the Q20 it will automatically go into receive mode you do not have to do anything special When this occurs the display will momentarily read If you don t want the Q20 to receive SysEx dumps go to MIDI Page 5 and set System Exclusive Receive to OFF MIDI Thru In order to pass on MIDI information from a control device thru the Q20 to another MIDI device D Connect the control device s MIDI OUT to the Q20 s MIDI IN Connect the Q20 s MIDI OUT to the MIDI IN of the other device you wish to control Press MIDI The MIDI LED will light Press PAGE gt four times to advance to MIDI Page 4 The display will read Turn the VALUE ENTER knob to the right to turn MIDI Thru ON Q20 Reference Manual Advanced Applications Chapter 6 Realtime Modulation Functions You can use various MIDI messages such as note number velocity aftertouch or pitch bend etc to control parameters in the Q20 such as delay time room size etc This is accomplished by way of the Q20 s MIDI Modulation Matrix Modulation parameters are stored in the Program and therefore can be setup differently for each of the Programs in memory Use the MODULATION button to program which MIDI messages control which parameters in each Program and by how much This is done by following three steps D Select a Modulator or modulation patc
155. ves you control over how wide the stereo signal should appear There are two different rotating speaker simulation types to choose from circular and linear Circular uses a complex elliptical equation for a realistic forward back depth The Linear scheme is a simpler panning routine which provides a wider stereo spread You can select between the two simulation types by setting the Stereo Separation parameter to either a positive or negative value Experiment with both to find which works better which your music Q20 Reference Manual 41 Chapter 3 Overview Pitch Shifter This effect type shifts the pitch of the input signal by a fixed amount This creates a thickening effect similar to the difference between a 12 string and 6 string guitar DRY __ EFFECTED SIGNAL SIGNAL DRY SIGNAL Pitch Detune This effects detunes the pitch of the input signal by or 99 cents A cent is 1 100 of a semitone A pitch shift of 99 cents applied to a C natural will make it sound as a C sharp The input signal is not split therefore if you want to create dissonance you must route the input signal to the outputs and blend them together for the desired effect Ring Modulator This generates an outer spacey metallic distorted version of the input signal by modulating it against an internally generated digital oscillator This shifts the frequency spectrum upwards or downwards depending on the setting of the Spectrum S
156. which comes before the Sampler Block will ERASE THE SAMPLE BUFFER Therefore it is recommended that the Sampler effect be used in Blocks 1 and or 2 If you are adding the Sampler effect to an existing Program you should use the Move Block command to rearrange the existing Blocks and make room for the Sampler Block Sample Play The Sample Play parameter Parameter Mode Page 1 determines how the Sample Buffer will play back once it is triggered This can be set to either LOOPING 1 SHOT or GATED No matter which of these is selected the Sample Buffer can be played by pressing the VALUE ENTER button while the Sample Play parameter is selected Additionally playback of the Sample Buffer can be triggered from a number of other sources including MIDI note either footswitch or audio This is determined by the Play Trigger parameter page 4 e When set to LOOPED the Sample Buffer will play back in a continuous loop mode when triggered and will loop indefinitely until another Program is selected or the Sample Play mode is changed or a new sample is recorded or the Maximum Sample Length parameter is changed which would also result in the Sample Buffer being erased When set to 1 SHOT the Sample Buffer will play only once when triggered e When set to GATED the Sample Buffer will play back in a continuous loop mode only as long as the trigger source is detected i e as long as the VALUE ENTER button is held If the Play Trigger par
157. ws you to move audio through the Q20 even when you don t want to use it to process anything without having to repatch your fiber optic cables More information about digital audio routing can be found in the next section To connect the Q20 to two ADATSs D Connect an EIAJ fiber optic cable available from your dealer from the DIGITAL OUT of the Q20 to the DIGITAL IN of the first ADAT Connect another fiber optic cable from the first ADAT s DIGITAL OUT to the second ADAT s DIGITAL IN Connect another fiber optic cable from the second ADAT s DIGITAL OUT to the Q20 s DIGITAL IN Connect a dual male 9 pin D cable from the first ADAT s SYNC OUT to the second ADAT s SYNC IN ADAT 2 Optical Out to Q20 Optical In Q20 Optical Out to ADAT 1 Optical In m COLD N 108 Q20 Reference Manual Digital Connections Chapter 7 To Two or More ADATs With a BRC or AI 2 If your ADAT system has an Alesis BRC Master Remote Controller the fiber optic cables that make up the digital buss need to be connected in the same order as the Sync cables If your ADAT system uses the BRC or the Alesis AI 2 Synchronizer the Q20 s digital clock must be synchronized to the clock coming from the BRC or AI 2 Connect a BNC to BNC cable such as the Alesis BN cable between the BRC s 48 kHz
158. xer s input channels to the Q20 s input s and have control over the level of each channel being sent There are other combinations of input and outputs possible when you begin using the Alesis optical digital input and output See the Digital Connections section later in this Chapter For more information on interfacing with other digital audio equipment see Chapter 7 8 Q20 Reference Manual Setting Up Chapter 1 Interfacing Directly with Instruments DX When connecting audio cables and or turning power on and off make sure that all devices in your system are turned off and the volume controls are turned down The Q20 has two balanced inputs and two balanced outputs These provide three different analog audio hookup options e Mono Connect a cable to the L INPUT of the 020 from a mono source and another cable from the L OUTPUT of the Q20 to an amplification system or mixer input Mono In Stereo Out While still using a mono input you could connect two cables to the L and R OUTPUTS of the Q20 to a stereo amplification system or two mixer inputs From Instrument or Effects Send To Amplifier or Mixing Console Dual Mono or Stereo Source The Q20 may be used with two different instruments simultaneously or with a stereo instrument The hookup is the same the difference is in the routing used within a program A program may process the two inputs discretely using blocks dedi
159. y 33 3 o nsa sii t todas euo os adde N i resto ido 51 DIU SOM dd dd ie me p t de ee dried 51 Input High Frequency Roll Qf is edet OR err tees tpa 52 Predial 52 Predelay Mision iii anche 52 Reflection Level and Spread sosisini a a a a EE R A n Ea 52 Reverbetation Swirl ete eene osuere Ree 52 Reverberation Attack ee te tiene het tees 52 A onini Hi EE 53 4 Q20 Reference Manual Contents 4 Making Your Own Programs comoncncnronononcnronononcarananonencaannnana DD Getting Started enint usos idest bier orb dl Anas t 55 Programming A Single Block ssssssseses Hee 56 Aye 6 coo cest o ein tim ete esr te ebbe d erts 56 enroll E 57 Parameter ie Iig Te eei Henne 59 Mito E A idas 60 Programming Multiple Blocks se n aa tte eee cece eee 61 Defining New Blocks ente t ede be aded e ates 61 Deleting Unnecessary Routings sssesssseee en 62 P tching Tri The New Blocks dedero inp tete Rice 62 Adjusting Parameters ced e eee e eet a eid Red dedita 62 Moving Swapping and Copying Blocks ssssssssseeee 64 Block Moyve diastolic pets ees M tos i bte eat seii sieh 64 Block Copy amp Paste i noted Opi Reb dee e irte RATEN 65 Chance Effect Types niori eei eerie seu vacca hess adesse fes udo cs 66 5 Description of Controls hoieea e eoo r on aua ouo a ond ak savni s OF Front Panel isti Hle IM Ue oret dein testae red da ie e atea 67 Input Leyel i 6 eoo Te eee eee diete acie
160. y However it does not change the individual output levels of Effect Blocks that are routed internally i e to other Blocks Q20 Reference Manual 23 Chapter 2 Your First Session with the Q20 pc Use the lt BLOCK gt buttons to select other Blocks and adjust their levels as described above Mix parameters affect the Program and are only temporary unless the Program is stored into memory before a another Program is recalled See later in this Chapter for more about comparing and storing edited Programs Comparing an Edited Program to its Original Settings PROGRAM EB L I EDITED The left side of the display always indicates the currently selected Program Once a Program has been edited the word EDITED appears in the lower left part of the display just below the Program Number indicator If the PROGRAM button is pressed the PROGRAM button s LED will light the display will also indicate the Program has been altered from its stored version by flashing the Program number and name in the upper section of the display By pressing COMPARE you can temporarily access the original version of the Program you are editing that is the last Program saved to the currently selected location number This allows you to hear the differences created by changing parameters in the Program While you are in Compare mode the COMPARE button s LED will be lit Also you cannot adjust any of the Type Routing Pa
161. y modulating its output level Try it out on a chorus or flanger s output patch cord level to slowly have the effect become more and more dramatic The Ramp s Trigger Source can be either the Left or Right input or both inputs The Ramp is triggered when the audio at the input s exceeds the Attack Threshold you have chosen 40 to 0 dB Once triggered the Ramp will increase or decrease the modulation destination at a rate set by the Rise Time 0 00 to 10 00 seconds It will then stay set at full indefinitely When it senses that the audio at the input s has fallen below the Attack Threshold setting the Ramp is ready to be re triggered However it will remain at full until it is re triggered when the audio at the input s exceeds the Attack Threshold at which point the Ramp will instantly drop down and climb back up again ATTACK THRESHOLD 2222224 Moo 2 2 ene eee ee ees AUDIO PEAK INPUT Left or Right Channel or l l I higher of Left and Right I 1 I ppom MAX MODULATION I I RAMP OUTPUT ct I L4 RISE TIME Modulation Page 4 allows you to select the type of each Input Generator The remaining pages in Modulation Mode will appear differently in the display depending on which type of Input Generators you have selected This may be confusing at times since both generators could be set to Input Envelope type or you could have Input Generator 1 set to an Input Envelope
162. y not cause immediate damage but it can compress the insulation between the center conductor and shield degrading performance or reduce the cable s reliability e Avoid twisting the cable or having it make sharp right angle turns e Never unplug a cable by pulling on the wire itself Always unplug by firmly grasping the body of the plug and pulling directly outward e Although Alesis does not endorse any specific product chemicals such as Tweek and Cramolin when applied to electrical connectors are claimed to improve the electrical contact between connectors Typical Applications The analog audio inputs and outputs are typically used in one of three ways e from one or two effect aux send outputs of a mixer and out to the effect return inputs of the mixer or from a line level instrument like a guitar or keyboard with either a mono or stereo output and out to an amplifier or mixer input or e from the stereo buss outputs of a mixer to a mix down tape machine or amplifier When used with a mono source the Q20 is placed between the source and the mixer amplifier Although the source may be mono both the LEFT and RIGHT outputs can be connected to the inputs of a mixer amplifier if stereo processing effects are desired Alternatively you could use the INSERTS on your mixer to patch in only the left or right channel of the Q20 If using the effect sends of a mixer you have the advantage of sending any of the mi
163. you can go in Each type of effect has its own set of parameters Using the steps in the first section of this Chapter you can get an idea of how to edit the other effect s parameters even though they each perform a different function Refer to Chapter 5 for a list of controls including a list of the parameters used in each of the available effects We highly recommend experimentation in this area Because the Q20 is so flexible you ll be able to create effect combinations never before possible Example You can route a Block s output to its own input to create interesting feedback effects However the level of this patch cord is very important to avoid unwanted clipping This is why when such a feedback connection is made the level is automatically set to 100 attenuation 48dB to avoid sudden unexpected loud levels Only through experimentation and examination of the Preset Programs can you start to create truly innovative effect Programs Q20 Reference Manual 63 Chapter 4 Making Your Own Programs Moving swapping and copying blocks Block Move A third page is included in Type mode which allows you to move a defined Block to another position If you defined Block 1 as a Delay and later decide to first have the input signal routed through an EQ you can move the Delay Block to make room for it First select the Block to be moved press PAGE gt to advance the cursor to the next field and select the Block you want to
164. you experience problems clicks etc with an ADAT system set to digital input it may be that the ADAT s clock source is set to internal even though its Digital In is pressed This will only happen if you ve set it this way for making tape copies See your ADAT manual for more information Note that the front panel level controls have no effect on a digital signal The INPUT LEVEL controls will affect an analog input being converted to digital and the OUTPUT LEVEL control affects the analog outputs only If you need to change the levels in all digital mode you must do so by editing the program using page 2 of the Routing function When the input is set to Digital the meters will show only the level of the signals on Channels 1 and 2 of the ADAT Optical interface regardless of which channels are selected by the Q20 However internal clipping within a program will still be shown by the Clip LEDs 106 Q20 Reference Manual Digital Connections Chapter 7 Connections To a Single ADAT Connection between the Q20 and one or more ADATS is a simple task of creating a digital audio network that loops all the devices together When using a single ADAT simply connect two fiber optic cables between the devices to provide two way communication l f Asis amp lle po O Cao ADAT Optical Out to Q20 Optical In Q20 Optical Out to ADAT Optical In F 9009 OOO Ed Ed

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