User manual ALESIS QS8

[. . . ] ALESIS QS7 and QS8 Reference Manual Introduction Thank you for purchasing the Alesis QS7/QS8 64 Voice Expandable Synthesizer. To take full advantage of the QS's functions, 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 QS. To get the most out of your QS, read the entire manual once, then use the table of contents and index to reference specific functions while using the instrument. Deals with the necessary preparation before playing, including connections to external devices. [. . . ] The Release is the time that the envelope takes to get from the sustain level back down to nothing. Setting the Release time to 0 is good for playing those short funky riffs that you hear on a clavinet. Setting the Release time to 99 will take the envelope a very long time to reach zero level. 68 QS7/QS8 Reference Manual Editing Programs: Chapter 6 Delay (00 to 99) Page 5 This is the amount of time that the envelope will wait before doing anything; very useful if you want to affect one element of a sound sometime after the sound starts. When the Delay is set to 0, the envelope attacks right away, without any delay. Play some notes while turning up the delay and see that the time between playing the note and hearing the effect of the Filter Envelope gets progressively longer as the Delay control is turned up. This indicates that the Delay stage of the envelope will wait indefinitely until the key is released before continuing on to the remaining envelope stages (Attack, Decay, etc. ). This requires that the Filter Envelope's Trigger parameter (see next page) is set to "Freerun". However, when the Delay is set to "Hold", "Freerun" mode is forced on regardless of the Trigger parameter's setting. Sustain Decay (00 to 99) Page 6 This is the amount of time that the envelope will take during the sustain stage to bring the level down to 0. If this is set to 99, the envelope will remain at the Sustain level until the note is released. When set to 0, the envelope's level will immediately jump down to 0 upon reaching the sustain stage. Trigger (Normal, Freerun, Reset, Reset-Freerun) Page 7 The Trigger mode determines how the envelope will function. You may select either Freerun or Reset, or both (Reset-Freerun) or neither (Normal). When set to Normal, the envelope will always start at its current level (i. e. , if another note had been played which triggered the envelope's cycle, playing another note in the middle would not interrupt the cycle). Also in Normal mode, the envelope will immediately advance to its release stage upon releasing the note. When set to Freerun, the envelope will complete its entire cycle, even if the note is released in the middle. When set to Reset, the envelope starts at the beginning whenever a new note is played. When set to Reset-Freerun, the envelope will start at the beginning whenever a new note is played and will complete its entire cycle, even if the note is released in the middle. If a sound layer's Keyboard Mode parameter (found in the Pitch Function, Page 10) is set to "Mono", the Filter Envelope will only retrigger when playing legato if the Trigger Mode is set to either "Reset" or "Reset-Freerun". Time Tracking (On or Off) Page 8 This determines whether or not keyboard position will affect the cycle speed of the envelope. When turned on, playing toward the higher end of the keyboard will result in a faster envelope cycle; playing toward the lower end of the keyboard will result in a slower envelope cycle. However, this does not effect the attack time, but only the decay, sustain, sustain decay and release segments. The envelope's timing doubles or halves over a range of two octaves. Sustain Pedal (On or Off) Page 9 This determines whether or not the Sustain Pedal will have an effect on the envelope. When turned on, holding down the Sustain Pedal while playing short notes is virtually the equivalent to holding down those notes on the keyboard with some subtle but QS7/QS8 Reference Manual 69 Chapter 6: Editing Programs important differences. If the Delay and Attack are set to 0 and either the Decay is 0 or the Sustain is 99, the envelope will immediately jump to the release stage (if not already there) when the note is released and the sustain pedal is held down. [. . . ] Unlike a Start command, which re-starts a sequencer or drum machine from the beginning of a song each time it occurs, sending a continue message after stop will re-start units from where they were stopped. GENERAL MIDI General MIDI is an extension of the MIDI standard designed to meet the demands of the ever-growing multimedia industry, and to make simple the act of playing commercially produced MIDI sequences. The QS is a perfect General MIDI companion, since its Mix Mode uses 16 channels. Although many channels are commonly used for specific types of instruments (Example: Channel 1 is usually piano, channel 2 is usually bass, etc. ), channel 10 is always used for drums. General MIDI also standardizes the placement of sound types in a sound device's memory bank. [. . . ]