User manual AKAI XR20 REFERENCE MANUAL

[. . . ] GROUND RULES CONNECTION DIAGRAM TOP PANEL PHYSICAL LAYOUT GENERAL CONTROLS NAVIGATION BUTTONS MODE BUTTONS SETUP BUTTONS TRANSPORT CONTROL BUTTONS REAR PANEL PHYSICAL LAYOUT DISPLAY LAYOUT BASICS HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE XR20 10 STEPS TO INSTANT GRATIFICATION (SETUP AND CHECKOUT) THE INSTRUMENT LAYERS PLAYBACK / RECORD BASICS RECORDING PATTERNS STEPS TO RECORDING A PATTERN PRACTICE MODE RECORDING OTHER PARTS (1-SHOT AND SYNTH) PATTERN PLAY MODE PLAYING PATTERN SEQUENCES WITH THE PADS RECORDING PATTERN SEQUENCES INTO A SONG ASSIGNING PATTERNS TO THE PADS SELECTING, EDITING AND CREATING DRUM SETS SELECTING A DRUM SET CREATING AND EDITING DRUM SETS EFFECTS SAVING YOUR DRUM SETS RECORD SETUP PAGE 1: SELECT THE QUANTIZATION VALUE (QUANTIZE SELECT) PAGE 2: GATE PAGE 3: SELECT THE SWING VALUE (SWING SELECT) PAGE 4: ENABLE CLICK AND SET RHYTHM (CLICK SELECT) PAGE 5: SET CLICK VOLUME (CLICK VOL) PAGE 6: VELOCITY SENSITIVITY PAGE 7: BEAT VALUE PAGE 8: NOTE VALUE PAGE 9: PATTERN LENGTH PAGE 10: OFFSET A PATTERN OR DRUM PART PAGE 11: NAME THE PATTERN (NAME) EDITING PATTERNS ­ ERASE FUNCTIONS ERASING DRUM EVENTS WHILE RECORDING ERASING AN ENTIRE PATTERN ERASE ALL EVENTS PLAYED BY A PARTICULAR DRUM PAD ERASE ALL INSTRUMENT EVENTS IN SUBPATTERN 5 5 5 8 EDITING PATTERNS ­ TRANSPOSITION 9 9 10 10 11 11 12 13 14 14 15 16 16 21 21 21 21 22 22 22 22 23 23 23 29 29 30 30 31 31 31 31 32 32 32 33 33 33 34 34 34 34 34 SYSTEM SETUP 45 Page 1 / MIDI CHANNEL 45 Page 2 / RECEIVE MIDI NOTES 45 Page 3 / TRANSMIT MIDI NOTES 46 Page 4 / ASSIGN MIDI NOTE NUMBERS TO DRUM PADS 46 Page 5 / ACCEPT EXTERNAL CLOCK VALUE 47 Page 6 / SEND CLOCK VALUE TO OTHER DEVICES 47 Page 7 / MERGE MIDI IN WITH MIDI OUT 48 Page 8 / SELECT DRUM SETS VIA MIDI PROGRAM CHANGES 48 Page 9 / TEMPO SELECTION 49 Page 10 / MAP DRUM NOTES 49 PAGE 11 / MANUAL DRUMSET OVERRIDE 51 Page 12 / LEDs 51 Page 13 / BACKLIGHT BRIGHTNESS 51 Page 14 / BATTERY LEVEL 51 Page 15 / LOW BATTERY WARNING 52 Page 16 / CHECK AVAILABLE MEMORY 52 Page 17 / SEND SONG AND PATTERN DATA TO MIDI SYS EX STORAGE DEVICE 52 SENDING MIDI SYSEX SONG AND PATTERN DATA TO THE XR20 53 APPLICATIONS MIDI SYNC APPLICATIONS STRATEGIES FOR ASSEMBLING PATTERNS AND SONGS UNDERSTANDING RHYTHMIC NOTATION MIDI IMPLEMENTATION CHART KEY FEATURES TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 54 54 55 56 57 58 58 SONG MODE PLAYING SONGS RECORDING A SONG IN REAL-TIME MANUAL SONG CREATION (SONG STEP EDIT MODE) SETTING SONG TEMPO INSERTING A TEMPO CHANGE IN A SONG CONTROLLING PLAYBACK POSITION LOOP A PATTERN INDEFINITELY START FROM THE MIDDLE OF A SONG ERASING AN ENTIRE SONG SAVING YOUR SONG APPEND A SONG NAME A SONG (NAME) 38 38 39 40 42 42 43 43 43 44 44 44 44 PATTERN STEP EDITING (STEP EDIT MODE) ADDING A NEW DRUM TO A STEP ERASE A DRUM SOUND FROM A STEP CHANGE A DRUM SOUND'S VOLUME IN A GIVEN STEP EXIT STEP EDIT MODE 36 36 37 37 37 37 EDITING PATTERNS ­ COPY/SAVE FUNCTIONS SAVING A PATTERN COPYING A PATTERN APPENDING A PATTERN 35 35 35 35 INTRODUCTION WELCOME TO THE XR20 DRUM MACHINE! The XR20 includes high-fidelity drum, 1-shot and synth sounds, and is easy to operate. You can easily switch among the different instrument layers in real-time. As you strike the 12 pads (each of which can be assigned to any of the available sounds), the XR20's on-board sequencer records exactly when you triggered the sounds and the dynamics of your playing. Data can be saved so that it is retained in memory even if the power is turned off. [. . . ] The display shows ASN MODE (short for Assignment Mode), the currently selected pad number, and the mode assigned to that pad. Select the sound set which you would like to edit by pressing DRUM, 1-SHOT or SYNTH. Press the pad (the display will show the pad number in the upper right corner). Enter the desired mode with the INC/DEC buttons, the number keypad (buttons 1-4) or the VALUE dial. 27 PAGE 12: OUTPUT Background The XR20 includes two independent stereo output pairs (Main and Aux). You can direct any pad to either output pair, and pan the sound within the selected output's stereo field (see page 4 of the Drum Set menus). This allows several output assignment options: Mono: Plug into one of the output pair jacks; the XR20 is smart enough to know that plugging in one plug means you must want mono. Stereo with Fixed Placement: Plug the left Main output into the left channel of your amp (or mixer), and the right Main output into the right channel. The default voice mix for the preset Drum Sets pans the drums between the Main output jacks in a way that works well for most applications. Stereo with Variable Placement: Plug the left Main output into the left channel of your amp (or mixer), and the right Main output into the right channel. With the User Drum Sets, you can pan the drums between the Main output jacks as desired. Separate Synth/Drum Outputs: Standard drum kit sounds can be spread in stereo and assigned to the Main outputs, with synth sounds assigned to the Aux outputs. Run the outputs to a mixing console or computer audio interface, and you can treat the drum kit and synth sounds as two submixes. This technique might also be useful if you're recording the part on your DAW or disk recorder; feed the drums to two tracks, and the synth parts to two other tracks. By default, pad sounds are output through the Main connections on the rear of the unit. However, you also have the option of outputting individual pads through the Aux connection. Please note that the Synth sounds can only be output as a group; in other words, all Synth sounds will either be output through the Main or Aux connections. Select the sound set which you would like to edit by pressing DRUM, 1-SHOT or SYNTH. Use the INC/DEC buttons, Value Dial or number buttons (1 chooses the Main output pair, 2 selects the Aux output pair). PAGE 13: DRUM SET NAME On this page you can assign a name to your Drum Set. If you wish to edit and rename one of the Preset Drum Sets, copy it to a User location first. You will see the cursor underneath the letter which is currently selected. Use the INC / DEC buttons or the VALUE dial to change the letter above the cursor. PAGE RIGHT moves the cursor forward, while PAGE LEFT moves the cursor backwards (or goes back to the previous menu page if the first letter is selected). 2. 28 EFFECTS The Effects settings are stored per kit. Each Kit can have separate Reverb, Compression / EQ settings that are specific to that kit. [. . . ] To save time, use the Copy function to copy the main Pattern to the Fill, and then add variations to the Fill in real time or with Step Edit mode. Assemble Short Patterns into Longer Patterns with the Copy Function It's less time-consuming to work with short Patterns, since you don't have to wait for the entire Pattern to cycle through before overdubbing or "spot erasing" events. After assembling several short Patterns, use the copy function to append Patterns into a longer Pattern. Example: Create four eight-beat Patterns, then use the copy function to combine these into a single 32-beat Pattern. Save Memory Through Song Steps Whenever possible, repeat Patterns using Song steps rather than program long Patterns. Example: Suppose you have a 16-measure figure where the first three groups of four measures are identical, and the final group of four measures provides some sort of variation. [. . . ]