INTRODUCTION
S3200XL Operator’s Manual - Version 1.00
Page 21
HOW THE S3200XL WORKS
Despite its versatility, the S3200XL is very straightforward and once you have a basic grasp of
the flowcharts shown on the next pages, things will make more sense.
Basically, you can have SAMPLES. These are the pieces of raw digital audio that are always the
basis of any sound in the S3200XL. These may be derived from floppy disk, hard disk
(including Magneto Optical (MO) Disks, removable cartridge types), CD ROM or, of course, you
may sample your own sounds via the analogue or the digital inputs.
Once you have a raw sample, there are many things you can do with it within EDIT SAMPLE.
You may TRIM it - that is, remove any unwanted audio from the start or end. You may CHOP it -
that is, remove a section in the middle and splice the two remaining sections together or you
may CUT it - that is, remove a section in the middle and keep the gap thus created. You may
also EXTRACT part of the sound - that is isolate a section (such as one snare drum in a
breakbeat) and extract that snare hit from the original. You may also TUNE and/or REVERSE
the sample.
Of course, one problem always associated with sampling is LOOPING. Because any given
sample is only a few seconds long, if you want to sustain that sample longer than its original
length, some method has to be sought to do this. This is LOOPING. A loop is a section of the
sound that repeats as long as you hold your finger on the key and is set by setting a start and
end point for the loop. This is something of an art and a science and something we won’t delve
into here in great detail. To make looping as easy as possible, the S3200XL has FIND and
CROSSFADE functions to help you set good loops.
Other sample editing functions include TIMESTRETCH which allows you to lengthen or
shorten a sample without changing its pitch (again, we will look at this in more detail later in this
manual) and RE-SAMPLING, a technique that allows you to squeeze the optimum
performance out of available memory space. On the S3200XL, you may also NORMALISE a
sample’s level for optimum signal to noise performance.
Once you have edited a sample you place it into a PROGRAM.
A PROGRAM is where you assemble your sample(s) for playback. In a program, you allocate a
sample to a KEYGROUP (in fact, you can allocate 4 samples to one keygroup for layering,
velocity switching and velocity crossfading but more on that later!). A program may have as little
as one keygroup spanning the entire keyboard or as many as one keygroup for every key each
with four samples in them! To overcome the abrupt tonal discrepancies sometimes
experienced when two different samples are placed ‘side by side’ on the keyboard, positional
keygroup crossfading can be used for a smoother transition.
Once in a keygroup, the sample may be passed through resonant filters for tonal modification,
through amplifiers for amplitude control and through a pan section for stereo placement.
Keygroups may be freely assigned to the individual outputs for external processing on a
mixing console.
On top of this, you may apply modulation from 2 x Low Frequency Oscillators (LFOs) for vibrato
and other effects. A SINGLE TRIGGER LEGATO mode allows you to emulate solo instruments
such as woodwind and brass more realistically and to allow for greater expression when playing
synth bass parts or lead sounds.
One powerful feature of the S3200XL is the flexible ASSIGNABLE PROGRAM MODULATION
known as APM for short) in EDIT PROGRAM. Using this, any modulation source may be routed
to virtually any control input. In this way, the S3200XL is a powerful synthesiser as well, except
that you may use almost any sampled sound (of your own or from a sound library) as the basis
of your own powerful and expressive sounds.
