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E-Mu EMAX II, Operation Manual

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E-Mu EMAX II Operation Manual Download Page 194

Emax II operation manual

183

Recording good samples is not always easy; creating a really super set of sounds requires
patience, practice, and skill. Sure, you can get musically useful results within a few days
after working with the Emax II, but as you learn your craft the quality of your samples
will improve dramatically.

Sampling is a multi-stage process, and consists of:

■

 Taking the best possible sample.

■

  Manipulating the sample within Emax II for maximum musicality (looping, splicing).

■

 Efficiently combining samples into presets.

Part One: TAKING THE BEST POSSIBLE
SAMPLE

What comes out of the Emax II can only be as good as what you put in: Strive for
maximum fidelity when sampling. Here are some ways to increase sample quality.

GENERAL TIPS

■

 

Live Sampling

:

 

Sample “live” whenever possible, rather than recording a sound on

tape then sampling from the tape.

■

 

Beware of Overloads

:

 Emax II is a digital recording device. Unlike analog recording

devices, distortion does not increase slowly past a certain level; rather, it increases
rapidly above the overload point, and produces a “non-musical,” splattering type of
distortion. Monitor your levels carefully.

■

 

Use a Sampling Rate Twice the Highest Frequency Produced by the Sound

Source:

 

Because the Emax II can use different sample rates, you can optimize the sample

rate for the particular sound. For instance, if the sound source is a kick drum, a 20k
sample rate can be used to conserve memory because the kick drum does not have very
much high frequency energy over 8k Hz. Whereas, if a cymbal were to be sampled, a 39k
sample rate might be needed to capture the very high frequencies produced by the
cymbal. Although this example is theoretically correct, the distortion produced by low
sample rates can sometimes enhance the sampled sound. Use your ear for final
judgement!

■

 

Sampling Direct vs. Sampling via Microphone:

 Whenever possible, sample elec-

tronic instruments directly into the Emax II. Avoid using a recording console, direct box,
or other device in between the instrument and the Emax II,  unless the device is of very
high  quality (ie. low noise).

THE ART OF SAMPLING

by Craig Anderton

General Tips

Summary of Contents for EMAX II

Page 1: ...EMAX II OPERATIONS MANUAL Copyright E mu Systems Inc ...

Page 2: ... Green Hills Road Scotts Valley CA 95066 831 438 1921 Important Notice In order to to obtain warranty service on yourEmaxII theserialnumberstickermustbeintactandyou must have a sales receipt or other proof of purchase If there is no serial number sticker on your unit please contact E mu Systems at once This product is covered by one or more of the following U S patents 3 969 682 3 986 423 4 404 52...

Page 3: ...Emax II operation manual ...

Page 4: ...sonnelifyouareindoubtastowhethertheproduct is properly grounded Do not modify the plug provided with this product if it will not fit the outlet have a proper outlet installed by a qualified technician CAUTION If the 2201 06 Emax II is rack mounted a standard 19 inch open frame rack must be used make sure ventilation openings on the rear of the 2201 06 Emax II are not blocked USER MAINTENANCE INSTR...

Page 5: ...n with an amplifier and headphones and speakers may be capable of producing sound levels that could cause permanant hearing loss Do not operate for a long period of time at a high volume level or at a level that is uncomfortable If you experience any hearing loss or ringing in the ears consult an audiologist 8 This Emax II may be equipped with a polarized line plug one blade wider that the other T...

Page 6: ...ocessing of a Voice 27 Guided Tour No 4 Realtime Control Programming 31 Guided Tour No 5 Basic Sampling 33 Guided Tour No 6 Digitally Processing Samples 35 Guided Tour No 7 Managing the Bank 38 Guided Tour No 8 The Sequencer 38 Guided Tour No 9 Make Your Own 39 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS 41 Selecting the Current Preset 43 Exiting a Function 43 Keyboard Numbering Protocol 44 Disk Handling 44 FUNCTION BUT...

Page 7: ... Floppy 64 9 Floppy Restore 64 9 Special 65 1 Copy Software 65 2 MIDI Master 66 3 Recalibrate 67 4 Audition Note 67 5 MIDI Analyzer 68 6 SCSI Boot ID 68 7 Install Disk 69 Software Revision 69 SAMPLE 71 1 VU Mode Gain 73 2 Place Sample 73 3 Sample Rate 74 4 Sample Length 75 5 Threshold 76 6 Arm Sampling 76 7 Force Sampling 77 8 Stop Sampling 77 0 Change Sample 77 DIGITAL PROCESSING 79 0 Change Voic...

Page 8: ... Preset 109 5 Copy Preset 110 6 Rename Preset 110 7 Preset Size 111 8 Save All 16 Bit 112 PRESET DEFINITION 113 1 Copy Voice 115 2 Edit Assignment 118 3 Erase Voice 120 4 Stereo Voice 121 5 Crossfade 123 6 Arpeggiator 126 7 MIDI 133 8 Pitch Bend Range 138 9 Realtime Controls 138 0 Stack Presets 144 DYNAMIC PROCESSING 147 00 Change Voice 149 11 Attenuation Tuning Delay 151 12 VCA AHDSR 151 13 Filte...

Page 9: ...k Status 174 2 Track Preset 174 3 Auto Extend 175 4 Erase Track 176 5 Bounce Track 176 6 Supermode 177 ADVANCED APPLICATIONS 181 The Art of Sampling 183 Part 1 Taking the Best Possible Sample 183 Session 1 Sampling from Tape 186 Session 2 Sampling Acoustic Instruments 187 Session 3 Sound Effects 190 Part 2 Manipulating the Sample 192 Part 3 Multi Sampling 195 Fix It in the Mix 197 Multi Timbral Op...

Page 10: ...rpolate 216 7 Load Parameters 217 8 Save Parameters 217 9 Erase Parameters 218 0 Synthesize 218 Approaching Spectrum Synthesis 219 Spectrum Synthesis Experiments 219 Digital Sound Transfer 221 MIDI Supplement 223 APPENDIX 229 Velocity Charts 230 Emax II Memory Expansion 235 Technical Specifications 236 MIDI Implementation Chart 237 Note to Frequency Conversion Chart 238 Index 239 Warranty 243 ...

Page 11: ...Emax II operation manual ...

Page 12: ...Emax II operation manual 1 INTRODUCTION Introduction WHAT S AN EMAX II 2 INSTANT GRATIFICATION 3 CONNECTION INSTRUCTIONS 5 CONNECTION DIAGRAM 6 ...

Page 13: ...for real time control over pitch filter cutoff AHDSR attack rate level LFO modulation index etc Two programmable footswitches for real time control over sustain release sustenuto patch change and sequencer start stop Velocity sensitive keyboard where keyboard dynamics can control any or all of the following VCA level VCA attack VCF cutoff VCF attack and VCF Q Thekeyboardcanplayuptosixteennotessimu...

Page 14: ...u just can t wait another second before hearing the Emax II we understand Follow the directions below EXACTLY as given and get ready to hear some great sounds Incidentally incaseyoumakeamistakeorrunintoproblems don tworry Thisprocess is described in greater detail later 1 With the Emax II unplugged patch the rear panel Right Left or Right Mono jack to the input of a high quality amplification syst...

Page 15: ... display to call up different presets Press a two digit number start with 01 and play the keyboard for awhile then press 02 and play 03 04 etc At some point you will run out of factory presets and the display will say Empty Preset If you want vary the control wheels towards the left hand side of the keyboard They may not be active with some presets as they perform different functions with differen...

Page 16: ...mewherebetweeninstrument and line level Care should be taken when connecting to an instument amplifier so that the delicate nerve cells in your ears are not damaged SUBMIX OUTPUTS There may be times when different equalization or reverb settings are desired on the various instruments that have been sampled Emax II has eight polyphonic outputs that can be used when individual processing on specific...

Page 17: ...iagram On Off Sample In Sub C Sub B Sub A Main Outs Mono Mix Headphones Footswitch 1 Footswitch 2 Footpedal RS422 MIDI In MIDI Out Thru Clock In Clock Out Send Return Effect Device Power 110 220 Power Switch Microphones or Line Out of Mixer Mixer Computer SCSI Hard Disk Amp Speakers MIDI Keyboard Home Stereo Male RCA plug to Male Phone plug To Main Outs L R Ring Right Channel Tip Left Channel ...

Page 18: ...low 32 channel operation Use cords that have been designed specifically for MIDI While regular 5 pin DIN cords may work they are not shielded correctly for MIDI use and may cause ground loops between equipment FOOTSWITCH AND PEDAL CONNECTION Two control footswitch jacks are provided for performance control of sequencer arpeggiator sustain release X switch and preset advance The footswitches need n...

Page 19: ... on RS 422 CONNECTION The RS 422 connector is a high speed serial communication port which allows data to be transferred to and from an external computer at a high rate 500K baud The connection cable to the external computer will generally be supplied with a software package such as Sound Designer by Digidesign and will not usually be available from your music dealer 110V 220 V SELECTOR The 110V 2...

Page 20: ...II operation manual 9 EMAX II BASICS SAMPLING BASICS 11 THE BANK 12 SAMPLES VOICES 12 MAKING A PRESET 13 THE CURRENT PRESET 13 THE CURRENT VOICE 13 MORE ABOUT VOICES 14 OTHER DEFINITIONS 15 THE BIG RE CAP 17 ...

Page 21: ...Emax II operation manual 10 ...

Page 22: ... so first Emax II converts audio signals into numbers It does this by examining sampling the incoming signal levelatamaximumrateof39 000timesasecond andsequentiallyrecordsthesedifferent levels in computer memory The diagram below shows a one second percussive sound being sampled The magnified view shows how the samples define the instantaneous level of the signal Once stored in Emax II s memory ba...

Page 23: ...w material with which the instrument works The total available sampling time can be divided up any way you like one long sample lots of short samples a few medium samples or any combination thereof Note that a sample is a digital recording of a complete sound or each snapshot of the sound that makes up the recording THE BANK An Emax II bank is all the data currently loaded into its memory Each pre...

Page 24: ...yboard Note that the same sample can be assigned to more than one range of the keyboard in a given preset Also that sample can be assigned to more than one preset 3 Choose from a number of options that further define the preset such as assigning voices to partially or fully overlap other voices thus producing doubling effects assigningdynamiccontroltoindividualvoicesinapreset erasingpresetsyoudon ...

Page 25: ...ION Each module contains individual numbered Functions Example function 2 in the MASTER module checks the amount of memory remaining ACTIVATING A MODULE To work with a module you must first activate it Press the button associated with the desired module The display will then show the Module Identifier THE MODULE IDENTIFIER When you activate a module the display identifies which module you have act...

Page 26: ...y transmit 1 bit at a time Each device on the SCSI bus has its own ID number so that it can distinguish its data from data meant for another device Each SCSI device must have its own unique ID number Most SCSI devices have hardware defined ID numbers This means that there is a little switch somewhere on the device to change the ID number Keep SCSI cable lengths as short as possible Data errors may...

Page 27: ...nd of a session to save save your work PRESET MANAGE MENT 8 periodically in case of power failure or some other unforeseen circumstance which might erase the bank s memory Since the disk hard disk or floppy contains a record of the bank data loading the disk back into the bank transfers all the voice preset and sequencer data into the bank this willreplacetheexistingbankdata ifany Therefore youcan...

Page 28: ...All hard disk banks should be backed up on floppy disk Should you improve the preset voice sample or sequence later you can always replace the original with the revisedversion andifsomethinggoeswrong theoriginalwillstillbeavailabletosave you the hassle of starting from scratch THE BIG RE CAP One more time A Sample is a raw sound that upon being recorded into the Bank immediately becomes a Voice To...

Page 29: ...Emax II operation manual 18 ...

Page 30: ...g the Current Voice Guided Tour No 3 27 Dynamic Processing of a Voice Guided Tour No 4 31 Realtime Control Programming Guided Tour No 5 33 Basic Sampling Guided Tour No 6 35 Digitally Processing Samples Guided Tour No 7 38 Managing the Bank Guided Tour No 8 38 The Sequencer Guided Tour No 9 39 Make Your Own ...

Page 31: ...Emax II operation manual 20 ...

Page 32: ... you would really rather hear something else load in the strings several sections of the tour will refer to specific sounds on that disk Occasionally during a tour you will be told to refer to something like PRESET DEFINITION 4 SAMPLE 2 or some other name This means that you will find more information in the specified section of the manual s reference section For example PRESETDEFINITION 4 indicat...

Page 33: ...ugh the available hard disk banks StopwhenyoufindthebanklabeledArcoStrings 4MEmaxIIs Piano Strings then press ENTER AnalternatemethodofloadingaharddiskbankistopressLOAD BANK thensimply type in the number of the bank using the numeric keypad The display will show the current preset number and name the cursor will flash underneath the first digit Start playing the keyboard and adjust the Volume slid...

Page 34: ... Select selects which disk drive will be used and Transpose as you probably suspect transposes the keyboard Sequencer This module is a 16 track solid state control data recorder While optimized for downloading MIDI data from other sequencers it has some very useful featuressuchasMonooperationwhendrivenviaMIDI abilitytore assignpresets track bounce and so on It consists of the Sequencer Setup modul...

Page 35: ...MODULE SELECTING FUNCTIONS DE ACTIVATING A MODULE Here s important background information on how to access the various module functions As the tours progress we ll relate this information to practical examples Activating Each module has an associated switch Most of these are found in the right most series of blue buttons however the Sequencer Setup and Sequencer Manage module buttons are found in ...

Page 36: ... voice to be that one voice and process it To process more than one voice at a time specify a group of voices to be the current voice and process all voices simultaneously Thissectioncovershowtoidentifywhichkeyboardkeysbelongtowhichvoice andhow to specify which voices or voices make up the current voice For a short form version of this tour see DYNAMIC PROCESSING 00 and DIGITAL PROCESSING 0 Begin ...

Page 37: ...e sample itself See GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS 3 for details on the keyboard numbering protocol Lo A 1 Pri 01 Orig F 0 This lower display line remains as is until you play the first A From this we can conclude that voice 01 s original pitch is F 0 and that it was transposed to cover the range from A 1 to G 0 If there were both primary and secondary voices present the display might look something like th...

Page 38: ...ice Thus the current voice now extends from V03 to V07 and covers the range from D2 to D4 3 You will now see the module identifier which means you re ready to start modifying thesoundsinthebankwiththeDynamicProcessingmodule thesubjectofthenexttour 4 The assigned current voice will remain as is until you either change the current voice assignment change presets or load another bank If you switch be...

Page 39: ... slider to hear the results of changing the slider This is true when making any changes to the sound not just while you re in the Filter function or the Dynamic Processing module By the way now might be a good time to mention that although we are changing the sounds in the bank the sounds on the disk remain unchanged This is because we haven tsavedthebanktodisk Thus youcanfoolaroundwiththebanksoun...

Page 40: ...ier then key in 13 6 We re back at the familiar Filter Setup screen Move the cursor under Env and select 40 to invert the envelope Note that the envelope effect is not all that noticeable when you play a chord This is because the envelope forces the cutoff frequency in a negative direction andsincethecutofffrequencyisalreadyfairlylow itcan tgothatmuchlower 7 Now move the cursor under Fc and increa...

Page 41: ... then ENTER to re load the disk Select preset 10 as the current preset Press the DYNAMIC PROCESSING button 2 Let s make the entire keyboard the current voice Press the DYNAMIC PROCESSING button again which selects the entire keyboard 3 Key in 17 and read over DYNAMIC PROCESSING 17 The velocity to level setting shouldbe06 movetheslidertoselectdifferentvalues andnotetheeffects EmaxIIplays softer as ...

Page 42: ...nd Check further and you ll see that pitch bending affects only the range from A 3 to C7 This is because pitch bend can be enabled for any voice or voices within a preset In this case pitch bend was only enabled for the voices that span from A 3 to C7 voices 07 12 Let s have pitch bend affect the entire keyboard Key in DYNAMIC PROCESSING 22 and select the entire keyboard as the current voice surel...

Page 43: ...center detent spring return type 2 Right wheel continuously variable type 3 Pressure from external MIDI controller 4 Control voltage pedal plugs into rear panel PEDAL jack also accepts any 0 to 10V control voltage source 5 MIDI control A can be assigned to any MIDI controller 6 MIDI control B can be assigned to any MIDI controller 7 Footswitch 1 plugs into rear panel FOOT SWITCH 1 jack 8 Footswitc...

Page 44: ...ent presets and voices We re talking versatility here so if you feel like taking out the next couple of hours and checking out all the possibilities be our guest Note When assigning the footpedal make sure it s plugged in to prevent unpredictable results 4 Ohyes andtherearefootswitchestoo Butbeforeexperimentingwiththefootswitches sources 7 and 8 we need to understand the difference between looped ...

Page 45: ...ther portions of the keyboard SAMPLE 2 and also practice terminating the sampling process SAMPLE 8 As long as you do not de activate the module new samples will replace previous samples on the keyboard 7 To save the sample as part of a preset de activate the sample module Since memory was cleared prior to sampling Emax II created a preset 00 called Untitled and this is the preset that holds your n...

Page 46: ...ect a voice so press a key within the range of the voice that you want to work on and press ENTER TRUNCATING A VOICE 1 Choose DIGITAL PROCESSING 1 to truncate the ends from voices 2 Vary the data slider as you play a key in the range assigned to the current voice Notice the start of the voice will disappear Use this technique to get rid of silence at the start of a voice or for effects 3 Movethecu...

Page 47: ...t point in a second sample the first sample end and second sample start are then joined together See DIGITAL PROCESS ING 6 to graphically see how this process works then follow the instructions given to splice two samples together Make sure any loops are turned off in the samples for best results COMBINING VOICES Combining mixes two samples together digitally into a single sample whose length equa...

Page 48: ...hen NO to exit truncation 10 Now we are ready to loop the sound Press 2 to select looping To loop first move the data slider to make the loop length about 10 000 to 14 000 samples long Next move the start point into the sustained portion of the ahhh sound so that the ticking sound becomes softer When you get a fairly good loop press ENTER The display says Autoloop Y N Press YES You now should have...

Page 49: ...unctions to get a feel for how they work PRESET MANAGEMENT 8 lets you save the bank to disk GUIDED TOUR 8 THE SEQUENCER The Emax II sequencer is a scratchpad for musical ideas and is not intended to be a sophisticated do all whiz bang However you can create sequences on a fancy com puter and using Supermode download these sequences via MIDI into the sequencer SEQUENCER SETUP 6 For now we ll check ...

Page 50: ... words It s better that you just start playing The best way to learn Emax II is to dive right in Remember you can experiment as much as you want on stuff in the bank you have to actually save the bank to disk in order to alter the contents of the disk and in case you re nervous you can even write protect the disk Try to spend some time not playing with but rather practicing with the instrument Aft...

Page 51: ...Emax II operation manual 40 ...

Page 52: ...Emax II operation manual 41 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS SELECTING THE CURRENT PRESET 43 EXITING A FUNCTION 43 KEYBOARD NUMBERING PROTOCOL 44 DISK HANDLING 44 ...

Page 53: ...Emax II operation manual 42 ...

Page 54: ...want as the current preset press ENTER Increment or decrement the current preset as displayed in the top line with the CURSOR buttons This method is useful for live performance arrange your presets in the desired order and step through them as needed Use a footswitch to advance through the presets 3 To see the current preset number at any time de activate any active modules and look at the display...

Page 55: ... octave higher spans the range of C2 B2 The next octave higher spans the range of C3 B3 The next octave higher spans the range of C4 B4 The next octave higher spans the range of C5 B5 The very highest note is C6 Note Emax II is able to accommodate an 88 note keyboard over MIDI from keys A 1 to C7 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS 4 DISK HANDLING Disks represent the sum total of your experience with Emax II and...

Page 56: ...backup Hard disk drives should be considered extremely fragile ie do not drop your Emax II on a hard surface If you treat your Emax II gently and with dueconsiderationyoushouldgetyearsoffaithfulservicefromtheharddisk Harddisks are great LABELING DISKS Write on an adhesive label which you then attach to the disk Always label your disks so that you don t confuse blank and recorded disks WRITE PROTEC...

Page 57: ...Emax II operation manual 46 disk slot disk eject button label FLOPPY DISK DRIVE Open to PROTECT Close to UNPROTECT Slide 3 5 Micro Disk Write Protect Slide Switch GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS Disk Handling ...

Page 58: ...Emax II operation manual 47 TRANSPOSE 49 SELECT DRIVE 50 LOAD BANK 50 ENTER DATA 51 FUNCTION BUTTONS ...

Page 59: ...Emax II operation manual 48 ...

Page 60: ...ays Transpose D Play a Key 2 To Transpose Continue to press TRANSPOSE and press a key between C1 and C3 The display shows which keyboard key you have selected for the transposition ratio compared to C2 3 To Retain the Transposition Release TRANSPOSE its LED stays lit to remind you that the Emax II is transposed 4 To Cancel the Transposition Press and hold TRANSPOSE press C2 then release TRANSPOSE ...

Page 61: ...he amount of memory remaining Simply select the desired drive and press ENTER to select a particular drive FUNCTION LOAD BANK A disk stores presets voices and sequences Load Bank loads all data on the disk into the Emax II Whenthemachineisfirstturnedon asoundbankisnotautomaticallyloaded Anytime you want a bank of new sounds you must use Load Bank to transfer disk data into the Emax II 1 Insert the...

Page 62: ...never you load the bank FUNCTION ENTER DATA ENTER is something that Emax II rather than you activates Just as you can activate a module to tell Emax II something you want to do Emax can activate this module to tell you something it wants you to do Sometimes the display will ask you for data i e such as keying in a number to indicate a parameter you want to change A flashing ENTER LED means that ei...

Page 63: ...Emax II operation manual 52 ...

Page 64: ... Custom 61 1 Copy HD to HD 61 2 New Banks Only 62 3 Selected Banks 62 4 Custom Backup 63 5 Continue Backup 63 6 Backup to Floppy 63 7 New Banks to Floppy 64 8 Selected to Floppy 64 9 Floppy Restore 64 9 SPECIAL 65 1 Copy Software 65 2 MIDI Master 66 3 Recalibrate 67 4 Audition Note 67 5 MIDI Analyzer 68 6 SCSI Boot ID 68 7 Headroom 69 8 Install Disk 69 Software Revision 69 MASTER ...

Page 65: ...Emax II operation manual 54 ...

Page 66: ...aried see DYNAMIC PROCESSING 11 3 Press ENTER to return to the module identifier or de activate the module to return to Select Preset MASTER 2 MEMORY REMAINING How close are you to filling up the Emax II memory with samples and presets This command puts a dipstick in the memory to find out 1 Activate MASTER 2 With an empty memory bank the display says Sample 524288 Preset 028144 The sample memory ...

Page 67: ...y curve 2 As you play a key the lower line will display the MIDI velocity value with 127 being the highest possible value This helps you see how each velocity curve reacts to the dynamics of your playing 3 Press ENTER to return to the module identifier or de activate the module to return to Select Preset Note The velocity curve is stored as part of the preset MASTER 4 ERASE ALL MEMORY This procedu...

Page 68: ... has never been used previously and must be prepared for operation The hard disk has developed one or more Disk Read Errors making one or more banks unavailable Formatting will re initialize the hard disk and erase any existing banks Hard disk crashes are not frequent occurrences which may lull you into a false sense of security However Murphy s Law dictates that a crash will occur when you have s...

Page 69: ...simply load the software into its memory from the hard disk In either case the display will say Format Disk Select a Drive FORMAT FLOPPY Select SCSI 0 in order to format a floppy disk then press ENTER FORMAT HARD DISK If you want to format a hard disk select the correct SCSI ID numberoftheharddiskandpressENTER Whenformattingaharddisk disconnectany other HDs if possible to avoid accidently formatti...

Page 70: ...his function lets you erase an entire bank from a hard disk in order to make room for other sounds 1 Activate MASTER 6 The display says Erase Disk Bank BXX Name of Bank where XX is the bank number and Name of Bank is the name of the bank Note The Name of Bank is simply the current preset at the time that the bank was saved 2 Select the hard disk bank that you wish to erase and press ENTER The disp...

Page 71: ...mal functions MASTER 8 BACKUP RESTORE This module allows you to backup either a portion or the entire contents of the hard disk on 3 5 micro floppy diskettes These functions make backup so easy that you will have no excuse for not backing up all your hard disk banks Remember If you would hate to lose it BACK IT UP Note Please read through all of the Backup Restore procedures and try them out as we...

Page 72: ...d disk The display shows Backup SCSI X Needs YYMB where X is the currently selected SCSI drive and YY is the amount of HD memory on the destination drive needed to back it up Press ENTER to continue and the display says SCSI X to SCSI _ Use the numeric keypad to enter the destination drive ID number then press ENTER The display will show the amount of memory avaialable on the destination drive in ...

Page 73: ...nce a previous backup 3 Selected Banks This mode allows you to select a range of banks to be copied The copy mode can either be interactive or automatic After the standard backup prompts are complete the display will say Select Low Bank BXX Name of Bank where XX is the bank number and Name of Bank is the name of the bank Use the data slider to select the lowest bank to be backed up then press ENTE...

Page 74: ... Backup 07 10Auto SCSI1 Same OK 5 Continue Backup Thisfunctionisusedwhenbackinguptoaremovablemediadeviceortoaseriesofdisks from a larger disk If the destination HD become filled and cannot receive the entire backup Emax II remembers which banks have not been backed up and allows you to change the removable media or switch SCSI ID numbers The Continue Backup function allows you to continue backing ...

Page 75: ...s to Floppy This function is identical to a normal backup to floppy except that only banks that have been changed or added to since the last backup are eligible to be backed up 8 Selected to Floppy This function allows you to choose a range of banks to be backed up You select the starting and ending bank numbers of the banks you want backed up 9 Floppy Restore This function is simply an automated ...

Page 76: ...s disk transfers memory manage ment and so on Occasionally E mu enhances the operating system Each version of the operating system is numbered as indicated when you move the data slider all the way to the top while in Special As newer versions are introduced use this function to copy the new software on to disks containing the old software Everything else on the old disk samples presets sequences ...

Page 77: ...ydisk ifapplicable andpressENTERtoinitiatethetransfer Aftercopyingthesoftwaretoafloppy youhavetheoptionofcopyingthesoftwareonto another disk insert the disk then press YES or exit back to the module identifier press NO 2 MIDI Master This contains three functions Channel Chan allows you to set the MIDI channel of the Emax II and ignore the programmable channels in each preset Overflow Ovfl is used ...

Page 78: ...he display will ask if you want to save results If so press YES otherwise press NO The wheels and sliders should be calibrated so that the Post setting ranges from 0 255 The recalibrate footswitch function allows the Emax II to use either of two types of footswitches normally open or normally closed If your footswitch seems to work backwards try changing the setting of the footswitch select from F...

Page 79: ...analyzer recognizes most MIDI messages but does not display System Exclusive or Active Sensing messages 6 SCSI Boot ID This function allows you to select which SCSI drive 0 floppy 1 7 HD Emax II will scan on initial power up for its operating software Note Emax II will always boot from floppy if a formatted floppy disk resides in the drive on power up The display says Preferred Boot Drive SCSI X w...

Page 80: ...e played at once The default headroom setting is 6 dB which is a good compromise between a good signal to noise ratio and having a bit of remaining headroom If you hear clipping from the Emax II raise the amount of headroom The headroom setting is retained when power is switched off 8 Install Disk TheInstallDiskutilityallowsyouinstallnewfeatures memoryexpansion etc intothe Emax II as they become a...

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Page 82: ...Emax II operation manual 71 1 VU MODE GAIN 73 2 PLACE SAMPLE 74 3 SAMPLE RATE 74 4 SAMPLE LENGTH 75 5 THRESHOLD 76 6 ARM SAMPLING 76 7 FORCE SAMPLING 77 8 STOP SAMPLING 77 0 CHANGE SAMPLE 77 SAMPLE ...

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Page 84: ... the barsfurtherovertotheright Thesignalcanbemonitoredthroughthemainoutputs The Emax II VU meter is a peak hold type which briefly holds the highest level attained The signal levels on the VU meter should be set as follows for optimum results Emax II with Mono Sampling capabilities only The signal level should be set so the peak does not exceed the level shown in the Mono Sampling diagram above Em...

Page 85: ...ext parameter to be changed or press ENTER to return to the module identifier Lo Chooses the sample s low transposition point Change this with the data slider or play the desired keyboard key Move the cursor to the next parameter to be changed or press ENTER to return to the module identifier Hi Chooses the sample s high transposition point Change this with the data slider or play the desired keyb...

Page 86: ...e chart below shows sample rates versus time this chart assumes that all of the Emax II s sample and sequence memory is empty SAMPLE TIME seconds RATES 1 M 2 M 3 M 4 M 5 M 6 M 7 M 8 M 20 000kHz 26 1 52 5 78 6 104 9 131 1 157 3 183 5 209 7 22 050kHz 23 7 47 6 71 3 95 1 118 9 142 7 166 4 190 2 27 778kHz 18 9 37 7 56 6 75 5 94 4 113 2 132 1 151 31 250kHz 16 8 33 5 50 3 67 1 83 9 100 7 117 4 134 2 39 ...

Page 87: ...d will Hint Set the lowest possible threshold If the beginning of a sound is cut off the threshold is too high If there s a delay before the beginning of a sound the threshold is too low and was probably triggered by some noise prior to the actual signal Note Once sampling has begun the Emax II will continue sampling even if the signal falls below the threshold level To stop sampling refer to SAMP...

Page 88: ... key in 7 Sampling will begin immediately and the display will say Sampling 2 After reaching the end of the sample length if set with SAMPLE 4 being stopped manually SAMPLE 8 or when the Emax II runs out of memory the display will return to the module identifier 3 If you are satisfied with the sample de activate the module SAMPLE 8 STOP SAMPLING End sampling at any time by keying in 8 After sampli...

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Page 90: ... 3 RELEASE LOOP 88 4 LOOP MODE 91 5 TAPER 92 6 SPLICE 93 7 COMBINE 95 8 CROSSFADE LOOP 96 9 DIGITAL EFFECTS 98 1 Gain Attenuation 98 2 Reverse Sound 99 3 Change Sample Rate 99 4 Change Pitch 100 5 Transform Multiplication 101 6 Spectrum Synthesizer 103 DIGITAL PROCESSING ...

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Page 92: ...nt buttons While selecting the voice the lower display line will show the voice number and its original pitch After selecting the voice to be processed press ENTER 3 If the sample to be processed is used in other presets processing the sample will process the sample in those other presets Therefore the display asks Used Elsewhere CopyItFirst Y N Press NO and any processing will affect other preset...

Page 93: ...e noise gated reverb effect on drums Use to isolate a particular section of a sample 1 Activate DIGITAL PROCESSING 1 2 Use the arrow keys to move the cursor under either the Start or End point The display will show these as Tr Start End XXXXXXX XXXXXXX 3 The seven digits under Start indicate in number of sample points how much is being cut off the start of the voice The seven digits under End indi...

Page 94: ...ittheDigitalProcessingmoduleorchangethecurrent voice DIGITAL PROCESSING 0 this temporary truncation will be lost 5 If you invoke this function to try and truncate a sample that has already been truncated but for which the truncation has not been made permanent the display will first ask Make Truncation Permanent Y N 1 2 3 4 Time in Seconds Start 39 000 Percussive Sound Envelope Adjusting the Trunc...

Page 95: ...on for specifics Note also that the Emax II offers two loops each of which can loop a different portion of the signal The Sustain Loop is operative when the key is down and the Release Loop is operative in the release phase when the key is up Applications Looping provides infinite sustain effects extends short samples and if the loop time is rhythmically related to a composition produces interesti...

Page 96: ...the increment and decrement keys or enter a six digit number Loops have a minimum start point of 3 samples and a minimum length of 32 samples 1 2 3 4 Loop Length Start First the note plays to the end of the loop etc 1 2 3 4 Key Depression Key Release then replays the marked loop for as long as the key is held down 5 6 1 2 3 4 Time in Seconds Loop Start 39 000 Percussive Sound Envelope Loop Length ...

Page 97: ...shows the waveform where a sample is to be looped As the signal loops note the discontinuity at the splice point This can produce an annoying ticking or popping sound Fortunately the Emax II can help find the optimum splice point for you Set loop points as best you can then press YES to invoke Autoloop The computer will look for nearby points that can be spliced together with minimum discontinuity...

Page 98: ...anual 87 Start Length Loop 1 Loop 2 Manually set Loop Points 3 The display now asks if you want to Autoloop Autoloop Y N Press YES to autoloop NO if you have a good loop and want to continue DIGITAL PROCESSING Autolooping ...

Page 99: ...very smooth loops 5 After establishing the desired loop points press ENTER The display asks Truncate After Loop Y N Press YES to discard all voice data after the loop end point this conserves memory However if you might want to use the same sample later with a different loop point press NO to keep the entire sample intact or save the preset containing the original sample to disk DIGITAL PROCESSING...

Page 100: ...creases the loop Length Select the parameter to adjust with the cursor buttons Adjust the coarse value with the data slider and fine value with the increment and decrement keys or enter a six digit number 3 Remember L sets the Length not the end point of the loop When S moves the loop end point as determined by the loop Length moves in tandem with S After finding a good loop press ENTER This loop ...

Page 101: ... the Emax II will choose the correct splice point from a technical standpoint not a musical one Therefore if you find a good splice point write down the SandLnumbersbeforeinvokingAutoloop ShouldAutoloopproduceaninferiorsplice point you can regain your original settings 5 If desired repeat steps 2 to 4 until you get the best possible loop Note Sometimes it will be impossible for you or the computer...

Page 102: ...ReleaseLoop youcan loop the final portion of the sample so that the loop will keep playing even after you lift your finger off the key for as long as the VCA release lasts Backwards reads the voice out of memory in the reverse order from which it was stored Backwards mode uses the Sustain Loop for its release and the Release Loop for its sustain Applications Backwards tape effects simulation Rever...

Page 103: ...e DIGITAL PROCESSING 5 The display shows Taper Start End 00ms 000ms 2 Start taper fade in ranges from 00 milliseconds ms to 99 ms End taper fade out ranges from 000 ms to 999 ms Use the arrow keys to position the cursor under the parameter to be adjusted Set the value with the data slider 3 After setting the desired taper point press ENTER The display will say Tapering When tapering is complete th...

Page 104: ...lways make sure you have a backup of anything that you splice in case the splice does not turn out well Applications Splice an unusual attack to one sample or unusual decay on to another 1 Activate DIGITAL PROCESSING 6 This voice provides the first part of the spliced sound 2 The display now says Splice From P XX Select A Preset where XX is a preset number Since there are two samples used in splic...

Page 105: ...e keypad Example At the nominal sampling rate E028000 means that the end point is located one second into the first sample The keyboard will be inactive and you will not hear anything if you play it 6 The six digits following the S indicate in samples the second voice s Start point Adjust the coarse value with the data slider and fine value with the increment and decrementkeys ortypeinasix digitnu...

Page 106: ...CES Combining voices mixes one sample with another thus producing a more complex voice The combined voice ignores any looping tuning or level changes programmed in the individual voices it works solely on the original digital voice information To loop the combined voice it is necessary to treat it as a single voice and set loop points as described in DIGITAL PROCESSING 2 Applications Mix octave hi...

Page 107: ...asks Combine Changes Data OK If you re having second thoughts press NO Otherwise press YES to permanently combine the two samples 5 The display will say Combining for as long as it takes to combine the two samples Depending on the sample length this can be a very long process if you need to catch up on your reading now is a good time Or you can send out for pizza DIGITAL PROCESSING 8 CROSSFADE LOO...

Page 108: ...o apparent level shift After making your choice press ENTER 3 After taking a few seconds the Emax II will ask Truncate after Loop Y N After you have made your choice the Emax II will return to the module identifier 0 100 50 50 100 0m 1m 2m 3m 4m 5m 6m 7m 8m 9m 10m Loop End Loop Start 100 50 0 50 100 0m 1m 2m 3m 4m 5m 6m 7m 8m 9m 10m EFFECT OF CROSSFADE LOOPING Sine Wave and Silence Forward Loop Af...

Page 109: ...sfading it DIGITAL PROCESSING 9 DIGITAL EFFECTS Activate DIGITAL PROCESSING 9 The display will say Digital Effects 1 6 Slider Use the data slider or increment buttons to catalog the various options 1 Gain Atten 2 Reverse Sound 3 Change SmpRate 4 Change Pitch 5 Transform Mult 6 Spectrum Synth 1 Gain Atten Alters the level of a voice 1 Select with the slider and press ENTER or key in 1 from the keyp...

Page 110: ...SSING menu press NO The reverse sound function reverses a sample with it s loop points intact however the loop is turned off Note Reverse Sound requires memory space to perform its calculations In some cases there may not be enough memory left to reverse the sound in which case the display warns you 3 Change Sample Rate Allows you to digitally resample a sound at a different sample rate Applicatio...

Page 111: ...ory be sure to use the actual Emax II rates in the OldRate column Sample Rate Conversion requires memory space to perform its calculations In some cases there may not be enough memory left to convert the sound in which case the display warns you 4 Change Pitch Allows you to digitally change the pitch of a sound Application Change the pitch of a sound in order to splice or combine it with another s...

Page 112: ...e uncommon frequencies are discarded Transform Multiplication works best using harmonically rich sounds The length of the resulting sound will be equal to the length of the current voice 1 After selecting the current voice select DIGITAL EFFECTS 5 and the display will say TranMultWith P01 Select a Preset 2 Use the slider to select the preset containing the second voice press ENTER and the display ...

Page 113: ...se willing to take the time to come up with something completely different Begin your experiments with short percussion sounds or the InstAttacks on the Spectrum Synthesis disk as these will give good initial results TRANSFORM MULTIPLICATION EXPERIMENTS and HINTS Use speech as one of the voices a pitched sound for the other Via TM it is possible to speak from within violins bassoons cymbals etc si...

Page 114: ... the display will say Synth Changes Data OK 2 If it s OK to write over the current voice press YES If not press NO to return to the module identifier If you pressed YES the display will now say Synth Options 0 9 Slider 3 Use the slider to catalog the various options 1 Freq Spectrum 2 Time Slice 3 Ampl Contour 4 Pitch Contour 5 Pitch Ratios 6 Crossfade 7 Load Backup 8 Save Backup 9 Erase 0 Synthesi...

Page 115: ...Emax II operation manual 104 ...

Page 116: ...max II operation manual 105 1 LOAD PRESET 107 2 SAVE COMPRESSED 108 3 CREATE PRESET 109 4 ERASE PRESET 109 5 COPY PRESET 110 6 RENAME PRESET 110 7 PRESET SIZE 111 8 SAVE ALL 16 BIT 112 PRESET MANAGEMENT ...

Page 117: ...Emax II operation manual 106 ...

Page 118: ...ayedonthelowerline Whenyoufind the desired preset press ENTER 4 The display now says Load PXX To PYY Select A Preset where XX is the number of the source preset and YY the number of the destination preset this defaults to the first empty preset Select the desired destination preset use the data slider or numeric keypad and press ENTER If the preset is not empty a message will appear asking if you ...

Page 119: ...disk or NO to return to the module identifier While saving the display will counsel patience When the save is complete the Emax II will return to the module identifier Banks of 1 megabyte or less can be saved as compressed to a floppy disk only Using the Save Compressed function to create Emax I disks The compressed format is the same data format used in the Emax I This function can be used to cre...

Page 120: ...e existing preset Press YES to overwrite NO to return to the module identifier 2 The display will now give you the chance to rename the preset Name the preset as described in PRESET MANAGEMENT 6 and then pressENTER to return to the module identifier PRESET MANAGEMENT 4 ERASE PRESET Here s how to erase an unneeded preset 1 Activate PRESET MANAGEMENT 4 The display says Erase Preset XX Select A Prese...

Page 121: ... first empty preset Select the desired destination preset use the slider or numeric keypad and press ENTER If the preset is not empty a message will appear asking if you want to overwrite the existing preset 2 The display will now give you the chance to rename the preset so that the destination preset has a different name from the the source preset Name the preset as described in PRESET MANAGEMENT...

Page 122: ...ch sample memory and preset memory each preset takes up 1 Activate PRESET MANAGEMENT 7 The display says Preset Size PXX Use Data Slider where XX defaults to the current preset Select the preset whose size you want to check and then press ENTER 2 The display now says PresMem SampMem XXXXXX YYYYYYY where XXXXXX is the preset memory in bytes and YYYYYYY is the sample memory in 16 bit sample words Aft...

Page 123: ...ys Save All 16 Bit to X disks Y N where X is the number of floppy disks required to save the bank 3 To save the preset press YES or press NO to return to the module identifier HARD DISK If you are saving to a hard disk the display says Save Bank to BXX Name of Bank where X X is the bank number and Name of Bank is the name of the current preset at the time that the bank was saved 4 Use the data sli...

Page 124: ... manual 113 1 COPY VOICE s 115 2 EDIT ASSIGNMENT 118 3 ERASE VOICE 120 4 STEREO VOICE 121 5 CROSSFADE 123 6 ARPEGGIATOR 126 7 MIDI 133 8 PITCH BEND RANGE 138 9 REALTIME CONTROLS 138 0 STACK PRESETS 144 PRESET DEFINITION ...

Page 125: ...Emax II operation manual 114 ...

Page 126: ...GetVoiceFrom PXX Select A Preset where XX defaults to the current preset Select the preset that contains the voice s to be copied then press ENTER 3 The display now shows Copy Pri Sec or Both Voices XXX where XXX is either Pri Sec or Both Copying a voice back to a subset of its former range gives you another voice using the same sample which may be separately processed Use the Copy Voice function ...

Page 127: ...es use the data slider While selecting the low key the lower display line will show the voice number and its original pitch When the display shows the desired low key press ENTER The display now asks you to choose the Hi Key Copy XX to YY Select Hi Key where YY defaults to the highest note of the previously selected voice Press the highest key of the range you want to copy or to quickly select the...

Page 128: ...e s to a primary or secondary location then press ENTER 9 The display now says Lo XX Select New LoKey where XX defaults to the previously selected low key Press the low key of the desired range in the destination preset The lower display line will show the voice number and original pitch in the destination preset Attempting to place the low note in such a way that the range cannot be assigned prod...

Page 129: ...ts to the lowest note of the lowest voice whether Pri or Sec Press a key in the range of the voice that you want to edit or to quickly select the voice use the data slider While selecting the voice the lower display line will show the voice number and its original pitch After selecting the voice to edit press ENTER Edit Assignment Tip Ring Tip Ring Tip Ring Tip Ring Tip Tip Ring SUB B SUB C MAIN R...

Page 130: ...o select the desired parameter to be changed Note You can also use the data slider to show the available keys To select the output channels Out over which the voice will appear move the cursor under Out and select the desired output Main or one of theA B C submix outs Press ENTER and the Emax II will return to the module identifier A voice may be assigned to any stereo output pair Edit Assignment ...

Page 131: ...ilable voices use the data slider While selecting the low key the lower display line will show the voice number and its original pitch When the display shows the desired low key press ENTER The display now asks you to choose the Hi Key Lo XX Hi YY Select Hi Key where YY defaults to the highest note of the previously selected voice 4 Pressthehighestkeyoftherangeyouwanttoeraseortoquicklyselectthehig...

Page 132: ...olated after a stereo voice has been created or unpredict able and undesirable side effects may result wrong pitches etc PRESET DEFINITION Stereo Voice Stereo Voice mode may be used to stack voices without loss of polyphony since the primary and secon dary voices need not be the same instru ment 1 Activate PRESET DEFINITION 4 The display shows Lo XX Stereo Off Select Lo Voice where XX defaults to ...

Page 133: ...nstoselectwhetherstereovoice is on or off then press ENTER The Emax II will inform you that secondary parameters will be altered if you select stereo voice on If that s okay press YES otherwise press NO to abort and the Emax II will return to the module identifier Note Stereo Voice mode automatically pans the primary and secondary voices to opposite sides If the stereo pan position DYNAMIC PROCESS...

Page 134: ...er as you play softer while the other voice will become louder as you play softer and softer as you play harder Velocity switch is similar however there is a threshold above which one voice plays and below which the other voice plays Primary Voice Secondary Voice Overlap Range When playing in the shaded range if the secondary voice equals Hard then the primary voice becomes progressively softer an...

Page 135: ...ing the overly thin and overly muffled voices in the correct proportion can produce an overall timbre that ends up sounding just right 1 Activate PRESET DEFINITION 5 The display says Lo XX Select Lo Key where XX defaults to the lowest note of the lowest voice Press a key in the range of the low voice that is to be crossfaded or to quickly select the voice use the data slider While selecting the vo...

Page 136: ...rd velocity but according to the real time controller that has been assigned See Preset Definition 9 Realtime XSwitch Crossfading occurs not according to keyboard velocity but according to the real time footswitch 4 If you choose any option except for Positional XFade the display says Pri or Sec Voice Equals Hard Sec Use the data slider to select whether the primary or secondary voice will Fade in...

Page 137: ...lect the various Arpeggiator options or press ENTER to jump back to the module identifier The first arpeggiation option display says Arpeggiator off Select on off Select the desired arpeggiator status with the ON or OFF buttons To jump back to the module identifier press ENTER otherwise press the right arrow cursor key to continue the setup 3 The next display says Tempo 120 00 040 240 Inc Dec Use ...

Page 138: ...r Use the data slider to catalog the various modes UP held notes arpeggiate continuously from lowest to highest pitch DOWN held notes arpeggiate continuously from highest to lowest pitch UP DOWN held notes first arpeggiate from lowest to highest pitch then from highest to lowest then repeat this cycle FWD ASSIGN held notes arpeggiate continuously in the order in which the keys were pressed BKWD AS...

Page 139: ...o menu items let s define a couple of terms Anarpeggio Intervalspecifieswhatadditionalintervalswillbeplayedifyouplayakey For example suppose you played C2 with an interval of 5 a major fifth and up mode arpeggiation the Emax II would arpeggiate between C2 and G2 An arpeggio Extension specifies how many times the interval will be extended For example with an interval of M3 major third and an extens...

Page 140: ...setup Note that you can change the interval inreal time for some really nifty arpeggiation effects 10 But wait there s more The next great option is Harmony 1 This option plays a second note at the chromatic interval from the base note specified on the display The interval is adjustable from a minor second up to a major tenth The display says Harmony 1 off Use Data Slider Use the ON and OFF button...

Page 141: ...hosen in the previous step MIDI Emax II s arpeggiator syncs to MIDI clock signals coming in over the MIDI in port click 24 Emax II s arpeggiator syncs to 24 pulses per quarter note signals appearing at the clock input jack click 48 Emax II s arpeggiator syncs to 48 pulses per quarter note signals appearing at the clock input jack click 96 Emax II s arpeggiator syncs to 96 pulses per quarter note s...

Page 142: ...or key to continue the setup 14 But wait there s still more Key Repeats sets the number of times that each note plays before moving on to the next note in the arpeggio The display says Key Repeats 1 Use Data Slider Use the ON and OFF buttons or the DATA SLIDER to select the desired number of repeats on each note 1 8 15 The next arpeggiator option is Cruz Control which fits the number of notes you ...

Page 143: ...rpeggiated or use the data slider then press the RIGHT ARROW key The cursor will move to the second note in the display which now says Range XX to C7 Select Hi Key where XX is the note you just selected Now play the note that corresponds to the highest note in the range you want arpeggiated or use the data slider The display will confirm your choice press ENTER to jump back to the module identifie...

Page 144: ...ions The first display says Basic Channel 01 01 16 Slider ThisisthedefaultchanneloverwhichthisparticularEmaxIIpresetwillsendandreceive MIDI information To change channels use the data slider or the numeric keypad To jumpbacktothemoduleidentifierpress ENTER otherwisepresstherightarrowcursor button to continue the setup MIDI channels can be set globally using the MIDI Master function MASTER Special ...

Page 145: ...other MIDI instruments To jump back to the module identifier press ENTER otherwise press the right arrow cursor key to continue the setup Note There is no specific standard between manufacturers regarding what program patch willoccuron slave synthesizerswhenaparticularprogramisselectedonthe master synthesizer Some instruments number programs sequentially while others arrange programs in banks e g ...

Page 146: ...item of interest is Lt Wheel pwh 00 33 Slider Moving the data slider upwards increases the MIDI controller number assigned to the left wheel while moving the data slider downwards decreases the controller number Or hold either button to fast forward or fast backward through the range of MIDI controller numbers off 00 to 33 You may also enter a two digit value with the numeric keypad however thiswi...

Page 147: ...gned a controller number to the Left Wheel in step 9 To return to the module identifier press ENTER otherwise press the right arrow cursor button to continue the setup 12 We re not done yet The next displays says Pressure chp 00 33 Slider You may now assign a controller number chp the MIDI standard for monophonic pressure to the keyboard s pressure aftertouch function in exactly the same manner as...

Page 148: ...controller numbers see the MIDI supple ment Controller numbers are assigned in exactly the same manner as you assigned a controller number to the Left Wheel in step 9 To jump back to the module identifier press ENTER otherwise press the right arrow cursor key to continue the setup 14 The next display shows MIDI B 01 00 33 Slider Assign a controller number to control source B in exactly the same ma...

Page 149: ...l pedal etc the second digit the control source sdestination filtercutoff pitch etc Selectthecontrolsourcetowhichyouwant to assign a destination by keying in the appropriate control source number 1 Left wheel center detent spring return type 2 Right wheel continuously variable type 3 Pressure sent from an external MIDI keyboard that has pressure sensitivity 4 Pedal A D plugs into rear panel PEDAL ...

Page 150: ...e right hand side of the module These are described in more detail below Note Realtime functions usually control all voices on the keyboard However when making up a preset it is possible to exempt voices from real time control This is described fully in DYNAMIC PROCESSING 22 Control Enable Note For some presets on factory disks default destinations will already have been selected For other presets...

Page 151: ... up the Q to simulate the most commonly used wa wa sound Note This function interacts with the filter module frequency and envelope settings If the wheel does not seem to be working correctly check these settings Example If the filter cutoff is already at maximum you will not be able to use the wheel to increase the cutoff frequency Therefore for the right wheel to cover the greatest possible filt...

Page 152: ...ol source first select the control source then select 5 To change the LFO rate and LFO variation refer to section DYNAMIC PROCESSING 15 Application This destination is most often assigned to the right wheel rotating the wheel away from you increases the amount of filter modulation filtrato which is a type of timbre modulation Assigning this destination to the pedal provides foot controlled filtrat...

Page 153: ...lter and VCA attack rates are determined solely by the wheel setting Destination 8 PANNING PANNING controls the spatial placement of the sound in the stereo field To assign this destination to the control source first select the control source then select 8 Application Hint When assigned to the left wheel rotating the wheel away from you places the sound in one channel rotating the wheel towards y...

Page 154: ...orloopednotes wherethelasteightnotesplayedwillsustainforaslongasthe footswitch is pressed If you play an unlooped sound while the footswitch is pressed it will play through its entire length whether or t you are holding down a key then stop Destination Footswitch 4 RELEASE For footswitch controlled release first select the footswitch then select 4 Any note playedwhilethefootswitchispressedwillplay...

Page 155: ...to advance out of that preset Hint Use this function to return the display to the preset identifier mode when the sequencer is playing enabling you to play different presets while listening to the sequencer Special Note The Emax II is designed to work with two types of footswitches If your footswitch seems to work backwards refer to Recalibrate located under Special in the Master module PRESET DEF...

Page 156: ...thru YY where XX is the current preset and YY is the last preset that will be stacked 3 Use the slider to select the number of presets to be be stacked Press ENTER after making your choice and the E A preset may be stacked with up to three adjacent presets Stack Presets PRESET DEFINITION ...

Page 157: ...Emax II operation manual 146 ...

Page 158: ...149 11 ATTEN TUNING DELAY 151 12 VCA AHDSR 151 13 FILTER SETUP 154 14 FILTER AHDSR 156 15 LFO SETUP 157 16 LFO TO 158 17 VELOCITY TO A 159 18 VELOCITY TO B 160 19 PANNING 161 20 CHORUS 162 21 KYBD MODE 163 22 CONTROL ENABLE 164 DYNAMIC PROCESSING ...

Page 159: ...Emax II operation manual 148 ...

Page 160: ...rst screen and say Lo XX Select Lo Voice where XX defaults to the lowest note of the lowest voice Press a key in the range of the low voice that you want to process or to quickly select the low voice use the data slider While selecting the low voice the lower display line will show the voice number its original pitch After selecting the low voice press ENTER 5 The display now says Lo XX Hi HH Sele...

Page 161: ...just a portion of the voice assignment simply copy the desired range PRESET DEFINITION 1 back into the current preset Emax II will now consider this a whole new voice for independent processing Copying a voice back to a subset of its former range gives you more voices that use the same samples Using this technique you could dynamically process each key separately if so desired COPY The sample cove...

Page 162: ...IDI input to the onset of the note The range is 0 to 63 3 After making your selections press ENTER to return to the module identifier DYNAMIC PROCESSING 12 VCA ENVELOPE This function sets the attack hold decay sustain and release characteristics of the VCA s AHDSR envelope generator Application Change a voice s dynamics with respect to time 1 Activate DYNAMIC PROCESSING 12 The display will say A A...

Page 163: ...ialdecaytimefrom01to32 highervaluesincreasetheinitial decaytime 32gives infinitedecay envelopestaysatmaximumamplitudeforaslong as you hold down keys S Sustain Variestheenvelopesustainlevelfrom01to32 highervaluesgivehigher sustain levels R Release Varies the release time from 01 to 32 higher values increase the release time A setting of 32 inhibits the release phase of the envelope thus keeping the...

Page 164: ...he keys This is like the HOLD function found on standard synthesizers The sound will continue to sustain unless you play more notes than there are available channels in which case previously assigned channels will be assigned to newly played notes If a key is released during the Hold H phase the Release R phase begins level key down key released A H R time DYNAMIC PROCESSING VCA Envelope ...

Page 165: ...correspond to higher filter cutoff frequencies hence a sound with more treble The maximum filter sweep range is most obvious with Env set to 00 Q Varies the Q resonance from 00 to 99 Higher values correspond to increased resonance accentuating the filter cutoff frequency which gives a purer more whistling sound Env Varies the effect of the filter envelope see DYNAMIC PROCESSING 14 on the filter cu...

Page 166: ...t 1 00 the timbre of a voice remains constant as you play up the keyboard This generally gives the most realistic synthesizer and instrument sounds With overtracking keyboard amount greater than 1 00 the overall timbre of the voice becomesbrighterasyouplayhigheruponthekeyboard Thisisusefulforplayingupper keyboard register leads that really cut while also playing a more sedate muted line in the low...

Page 167: ...owing descriptions of the five parameters A Attack VariestheFilterenvelopeattacktimefrom01to32 highervaluesincrease the attack time H Hold Setsthedurationofthepeakattainedduringtheattackphase Ifakeyisheld down longer than the hold duration the decay phase will begin If a key is released during the hold duration the release phase will begin D Decay Variestheinitialdecaytimefrom01to32 highervaluesin...

Page 168: ...d quality to ensemble sounds by provid ing slightly different vibrato rates for each key being held down This can make orchestral voices sound truly polyphonic 1 Activate DYNAMIC PROCESSING 15 The display will say Rate Delay Vari XXX XX XX 2 Select the desired parameter for adjustment with the cursor buttons then use the data slider to change the parameter value These are the available parameters ...

Page 169: ...NG 16 The display will say Vib Trem Fc Pan XX XX XX XX 2 Select the desired parameter for adjustment with the cursor buttons then use the data slider or increment buttons to change the parameter value as desired Vibrato Determines the extent to which the LFO modulates pitch Range is from 00 to 15 with higher values giving more modulation Tremolo Determines the extent to which the LFO modulates the...

Page 170: ...r adjustment with the cursor buttons then use the data slider to change the parameter value Here are your choices Level Determinestheextenttowhichkeyboardvelocitycontrolsdynamics Whenset to 00 the overall level is at maximum loudest possible dynamics no matter how forcefully or softly you play the keyboard Progressively higher values give a progres sively wider dynamic range by making soft sounds ...

Page 171: ...lyplayednotesarefairlycloseto ifnotthesame as concertpitchandaresomewhatlowerinpitchthanforcefullyplayednotes whenset to 15 forcefully played notes are much higher in pitch than softly played notes This can be useful for percussive sounds 3 After making your selections press ENTER to return to the module identifier DYNAMIC PROCESSING 18 VELOCITY TO VCA ATTACK FILTER ATTACK PANNING This function ti...

Page 172: ... matter how hard or soft you play the panning will remain as set in DYNAMIC PROCESSING 19 Panning Increasing the value causes the signal to pan in the opposite direction of the current spatial placement the higher the value the greater the difference in stereo spread between soft and forceful keyboard playing Example With the voice panned slightly to the left and a high pan velocity value playing ...

Page 173: ...tofdetuning Chorusdetuningisvariablefrom1to20cents at the original pitch 2 After making your selections press ENTER to return to the module identifier Note Chorusing uses both halves of one channel as in Stereo Voice mode PRESET DEFINITION 4 Therefore you can still play sixteen note polyphony while in Chorus mode Using Chorus mode with Stereo samples detunes the primary and secondary voices from e...

Page 174: ...re playing drum parts on the keyboard you might want to assign the bass drum to the entire left most octave of the keyboard so that it makes an easy target compared to hitting one key In this case put the bass drum into Nontranspose mode so that no matter where you hit the sound is consistent Or if you have an environmental oceansoundlayeredbeyondamelodicline butdon twanttheoceantotransposeasyou p...

Page 175: ...arious real time control destinations see PRESET DEFINITION 9 in the following order Pitch LFO to Pitch LFO to Filter LFO to VCA Filter cutoff frequency Level Attack and Pan 3 The default setting for all destinations is ON To exempt the current voice from a particular control destination press OFF Example To exempt the current voice from being pitch bent press OFF when the display shows Pitch 4 Af...

Page 176: ... MANAGE 168 167 167 167 1 TEMPO 168 2 CLOCK SOURCE 169 3 LOAD SEQUENCE 169 4 ERASE SEQUENCE 171 5 COPY SEQUENCE 172 6 RENAME SEQUENCE 173 1 TRACK STATUS 174 2 TRACK PRESET 174 3 AUTO EXTEND 175 4 ERASE TRACK 176 5 BOUNCE TRACK 176 6 SUPERMODE 177 SEQUENCER SETUP SEQUENCER ...

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Page 178: ... recording This may be varied in real time with the data slider Yes you can slow down tempo for the hard parts and speedupfortheeasyones Ifyouwishtostartrecordingbeforeanynotesareplayed For example To begin with a rest press ENTER Stop has two options If you press it once while the sequence is playing the sequence will stop at its end If you press Stop twice while the sequence is playing it will s...

Page 179: ...t mode allowing you to change presets while a sequence is playing Pressing play returns to tempo display SEQUENCER MANAGE 1 TEMPO This sets the tempo for Emax II s internal clock 1 With the sequence module active press MANAGE then select 1 The display says Tempo 120 00 040 240 Slider Use the data slider or the numeric keypad to adjust the tempo through the range from 40 240 Beats Per Minute Press ...

Page 180: ...n over the MIDI IN port click 24 Emax II s sequencer syncs to 24 pulses per quarter note signals appearing at the Clock Input jack click 48 Emax II s sequencer syncs to 48 pulses per quarter note signals appearing at the Clock Input jack click 96 Emax II s sequencer syncs to 96 pulses per quarter note signals appearing at the Clock Input jack 3 Press ENTER when you ve made your selection Emax II r...

Page 181: ...lay now says Load SXX To SYY Select Sequence where XX is the sequence number selected in the previous step source sequence and YY is the sequence number the loaded sequence will have in the Emax II s bank destination sequence this defaults to the first available empty sequence Use the slider or numeric keypad to select one of the 50 sequences in the Emax II 3 Press ENTER after choosing the desired...

Page 182: ...k To erase a sequence from disk you must first load the disk erase the sequence then save the bank to disk PRESET MANAGEMENT 2 1 With the Sequencer Manage module active select 4 2 The display says Erase SXX Select Sequence where XX is a two digit sequence number Use the slider or numeric keypad to select the sequences in memory After selecting the sequence to be erased press ENTER The display says...

Page 183: ...ave in Emax II s bank destination sequence this defaults to the first available empty sequence Use the slider or numeric keypad to select one of the 50 sequences in Emax II 3 Press ENTER after choosing the desired sequence and the sequence will be copied If you have chosen to copy into a non empty sequence the display will prompt you with AppendSXX to SYY Select Sequence Press ENTER to append SXX ...

Page 184: ...increment buttons or numeric keypad to select the sequences in memory available for naming 3 After selecting the sequence to be renamed press ENTER The display says Rename Sequence SXX seq name Use the cursor buttons to select the character to be changed Select the character itself with either the data slider moving the slider all the way to the bottom of its travel produces a space the increment ...

Page 185: ...ed sequence tracks that have been recorded will show 3 Use the ON YES and OFF NO buttons to select the track status R record P playback or M mute 4 Track status mode can also be entered while a sequence is playing by pressing the SEQUENCER SETUP button while in play mode This is convenient for muting tracks on playback Please note that record is not active in the play mode Pressing the play button...

Page 186: ...e select 3 The display shows Auto Extend off Select on off UseONtoselectAutoExtend OFFtode select Aftermakingyourchoice pressENTER 3 Assuming that you have selected Auto Extend you are now ready to extend your sequence Press Record then Play to put the sequencer into record mode Let the sequence play for as long as desired to end the sequence press Stop 4 Once you have extended the sequence rememb...

Page 187: ...et Press ENTER EmaxII whichalwaysdoeswhatitcantohelpyoupreventembarrassing mistakes asks Are You Sure Y N If yes press YES otherwise press NO SEQUENCER SETUP 5 BOUNCE TRACK You may bounce a track to any other sequencer track or even bounce several tracks one at a time into a composite track 1 Select the current sequence whose track you want to bounce 2 With the Sequencer Setup module active select...

Page 188: ...mportant to remember that each Emax II Track corresponds to a particular MIDI channel In other words Emax II Track 5 downloads on MIDI channel 5 SUPERMODE MAPPING Create the SUPERMODE MAP This may already be done for you Check your sequences 1 Select a new sequence and record a short blank sequence of any length Don t play any notes Since each track listens on the corresponding MIDI channel repeat...

Page 189: ...ows Super Mode off Select on off Press ON to enable SuperMode Remember to make sure SuperMode is off press OFF button when you ve finished downloading 5 Select the tracks you want to download and put them in record mode according to the instructions in SEQUENCER SETUP 1 For example if you want to download five tracks MIDI channels place the five Emax II tracks corresponding to each of the MIDI cha...

Page 190: ...nnel numbers assign proper presets to desired tracks To download sequences into Emax II via MIDI 1 Copy SuperMode Map with proper track preset assignments to another sequence location Manage 5 2 Turn Auto Extend on Setup 3 3 Turn MIDI Start Stop on for the current preset Preset Def 7 4 Choose MIDI clock Manage 2 5 Hit Play on source sequencer MIDI IN MIDI Seq Track Emax II Preset Preset 05 Preset ...

Page 191: ...Emax II operation manual 180 ...

Page 192: ...IMBRAL OPERATION 201 MULTI TIMBRAL BANKS 203 SPECTRUM SYNTHESIS 205 Overview 205 Spectrums 206 Time Slice 207 Creating Sounds 208 Interpolation 209 1 Frequency Spectrum 210 2 Time Slice 211 3 Amplitude Contour 213 4 Pitch Contour 214 5 Pitch Ratios 216 6 Interpolate 216 7 Load Parameters 217 8 Save Parameters 217 9 Erase Parameters 218 0 Synthesize 218 Approaching Spectrum Synthesis 219 Spectrum S...

Page 193: ...Emax II operation manual 182 ...

Page 194: ...t increase slowly past a certain level rather it increases rapidly above the overload point and produces a non musical splattering type of distortion Monitor your levels carefully Use a Sampling Rate Twice the Highest Frequency Produced by the Sound Source BecausetheEmaxIIcanusedifferentsamplerates youcanoptimizethesample rate for the particular sound For instance if the sound source is a kick dru...

Page 195: ...s the safety advantage of using a three wire plug so use this technique only as a last resort and exercise extreme caution Make sure the Emax II chassis has some other path to ground usually via the audio input and output cables Having two paths to ground can cause ground loops but having no paths to ground can cause a potential shock hazard if there s an equipment malfunction in the studio Using ...

Page 196: ...fects all by itself DYNAMIC PROC ESSING 20 Compression Compression can be helpful when looping sounds since it evens out levelchanges thusmakingiteasiertofindanequal levelsplicepoint Ifappropriate use Emax II s VCA and AHDSR or velocity control to restore the original signal dynamics Audio Exciters To brighten up a sampled signal use a psycho acoustic enhance ment device such as the Aphex Aural Ex...

Page 197: ...e optimizedforaudiorecordingandaregenerallysmallerandmoreconvenienttouse All of the advantages of VCR PCM recording apply to DATs with the added advantage of DAT recorders being fully integrated small size units Maintaining Sample Quality with Reel to Reel Follow common sense recording practice be extremely careful about mic placement use noise reduction when recording samples on to tape limit the...

Page 198: ... good sampling mics What this usuallymeansisthatthemichasaveryflatandaccuratefrequencyresponse asopposed to say vocal mics that boost the high end for more vocal presence Mic placement is crucial Sounds that come from several directions as is the case with acoustic instruments which tend to radiate sound tend to be out of phase with respect to each other If the mic picks up these multiple signals ...

Page 199: ... an electric guitar will pick up some of the string and finger noises usually lost through the pickup and when mixed in with the standard pickups gives a more natural sound Don t overdo it though or the sound could become gimmicky Basses tend to gain more snap when you attach a contact mic to the body I ve had good results by attaching a contact mic to the headstock or by mounting it in some of th...

Page 200: ... as possible sources of acoustic instrument sounds Many music school students will be happy to work in a high tech environment so that they as well as you can learn about sampling Remember though that this kind of work is very difficult It takes a particular breed of musician to play parts and notes over and over again while you adjust levels and try to get a good sound It helps if the musician kn...

Page 201: ...tape has a pause control and index counter includes Dolby noise reduction and an LED peak VU meter so you can get a sense for whether a signal is being recorded at a proper level and comes with a reasonably high quality condenser mic It also has a transport that is quite immune to vibration One of my favorite features though is size I can stick the Walkman headphones extra set of batteries microph...

Page 202: ...ough there saworldofsoundoutthereandyoudon thavetosaveeverything Unless you need sound effects on a professional basis try to keep your collection of tapes manageable Keep A Windscreen Handy A lot of outdoor samples are ruined by wind noise And if you take samples while you are walking or moving a wind screen is a virtual necessity Try To Get As Much Level As Possible On Tape If you re using an in...

Page 203: ...eate dynamics in an otherwise static sound However the envelope generators on the Emax II can do much more than just add dynamics One of their most useful purposes is to help reduce any noise that may be in the sample itself To illustrate how this works let s say you have a plucked sample from a guitar bass or piano recorded on tape It s a great sample but has quite a bit of residual noise in the ...

Page 204: ...mportant part to the ear in identifying a sound It takes only about 50 to 150 milliseconds to recognize the difference between say a trumpet and a guitar After this period of time the signal tends to settle down into a more repetitive pattern thatisoflessinteresttotheear Ifsomeotherinstrumentbeginsplayingduringthedecay of the original sound your ear will tend to focus its attention on the new soun...

Page 205: ...e noticed that sounds with few harmonics are particularly prone to noise problems Applyingtherightkindofenvelopetothefilterwillhelpdramaticallytowardslowering the overall amount of noise Signal Processing with the Emax II Pitch Transposer with Regeneration To make a voice sound as if it is being pitch shifted downward and regenerated hit three or four adjacent keys from the same sample at the exac...

Page 206: ...ull compared to their respective original samples As a result when you cross over from the G3 to the G 3 you ll notice a distinct timbral difference There are two common ways to minimize this problem One involves the use of filter tracking and the other requires equalizing the sample as it gets recorded into the Emax II Filter Tracking If you re not sure what filter tracking is refer to the Dynami...

Page 207: ...uency would transpose upward as well to 400 Hz and the guitar wouldn t sound so bassy anymore Conversely transposing downwards an octave would lower the frequency to 100 Hz which would be very bassy Sometimes it s possible to equalize the signal being sampled to minimize the formant shift problem Generally the tool of choice for this task is the parametric equalizer an equalizerthatcanboostorcutas...

Page 208: ...u have to solve the problem during the mix when the singer isn t around to re do the part Simple Sample the offending word complete with pop into the sampler Next use the truncationfunctiontocutoffthepopatthebeginningofthesample Well maybenotthe entire pop usually you want to leave in just enough to retain a bit of the P sound When the plosive has been properly tamed send the truncated sample back...

Page 209: ... note was just flat enough to blow the take Or was it Sample the note into the sampler and punch over the existing bad note Only this time artfully move the pitch bend wheel at just the right moment to bring the note up to pitch This is the kind of salvage job that can make a singer your friend for life Incidentally you can also use this technique during the recording process to help a singer hit ...

Page 210: ...heywon t take up much memory since all you have to do is loop a few cycles Then make up a little sequence that spits out these tones in the right order for calibration Some samplers will have a hard time dealing with a 10 kHz signal but if you sample at a fast sample rate and sample the tones at a moderate level you should have something good enough to use Keyboard players who would like to endear...

Page 211: ...ecorders with very useful editing capabilities Next time you need to fix something in the mix see if a sampler won t do the job in the quickest sim plest and most cost effective manner FIX IT IN THE MIX Fixitinthemix This article was originally published in the December 1986 issue of Electronic Musician magazine and is used with permission ...

Page 212: ...Preset Definition 7 are ignored Instead incoming MIDI data will be individually channelled into respective sequencer tracks Remember MIDI channel numbers correspond to the same track numbers MIDI IN MIDI Seq Track Emax II Preset Preset 05 Preset 09 Preset 22 Preset 50 Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3 Ch 16 1 2 3 16 WHAT IS A SUPERMODE MAP It is the sequence labeled 00 on all E mu factory disks in which all 16 track...

Page 213: ...slaved the Emax II sounds to your sequencer and finished working on the music it is possible to download all the data into the Emax II so you won t have to carry the dedicated sequencer around with you In doing this you re actually turning that Supermode Map into a real sequence Remember when downloading that the Super mode Map was only recorded for one second and your download will terminate afte...

Page 214: ...preset if you desire 6 Go back to step 3 and select the next preset that you want on your multi timbral disk Continue until you run out of memory or have enough presets 7 Save the bank PRESET MANAGEMENT 8 or your work will be lost NOT ENOUGH SAMPLE MEMORY Problems come when you see the flashing error message Not Enough Sample Memory Thismessageistellingyouthatyouhaverunoutofsamplememory OnanEmaxII...

Page 215: ...rfectly fill out the mix And too many fat sounds can create MIDI Soup a huge stifling sound Keep experimenting until you get everything just right Creating Multi Timbral banks fulfills the promise of sampling technology by letting you have any sound where and when you want it Take advantage of it Multi Timbral Banks MULTI TIMBRAL BANKS THE HARD WAY No money left over for memory OK OK Here s what y...

Page 216: ...cally over time Simply being able to create any waveform is not enough The waveform of a sound must vary over time or the sound is static and uninteresting Enter the Time Slice Emax II s Spectrum Synthesis allows you to specify up to 24 complex waveforms called Spectrums and to either step or fade through them during the course of the sound The 24 waveform locations are called Time Slices since th...

Page 217: ...m memory and can be customized by using the sophisticated complement of edit parameters that areincluded Afterasoundhasbeencreateditmaybespliced combined andprocessed in the same manner as a sound that has been sampled into the Emax II ABOUT SPECTRUMS The spectrum synthesizer development disk contains 95 pre programmed spectrums for you to use or you may create and store your own Each spectrum may...

Page 218: ...und A Time Slice is simply a Spectrum which has been placed at a Time Slice location You can create a time slice and save it as a spectrum or place a previously created spectrum at a time slice SPECTRUM SYNTHESIS Timeslices 100 0 100 55 20 8 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Partials Spectrums Adding these partials together in these ratios produces this waveform Spec...

Page 219: ...llreplacethesampledsound Remember to back up the sample first START SYNTHESIZING Now you that you have defined a location and length for the sound its time to start synthesizing 1 Enter the DIGITAL PROCESSING module and select the voice you just created 2 Press 9 on the keypad to access the Digital Effects menu 3 Press 6 on the keypad to access Spectrum Synth The display will read Synth Changes Da...

Page 220: ...e and slowly move the slider You will see that the Emax II has created time slices 2 23 These time slices represent the gradual transition from time slice 1totimeslice 24 Movethesliderallthewaytothebottom Thedisplaywillshow None exit Press ENTER to return to the Synth Options menu SYNTHESIZE AtthispointitistimetotelltheEmaxIItogeneratethesoundthatyouhavedefined This is done by pressing 0 Synthesiz...

Page 221: ...display countdown 5 4 3 2 1 When the countdown finishes the drawing process starts The cursor position automatically moves from left to right each position of the cursor denoting one partial By raising and lowering the slider as the cursor moves across the screen you can draw the amplitude of each of the twenty four partials The bar graph displays the relative amplitude of the partials D Press NO ...

Page 222: ... move Press ENTER C Press NO three times to get to the MOVE screen D Press YES The display will read Move SP01 to TS01 E Use the slider to select the number of the time slice where you want to move the spectrum F Press ENTER to execute the move Note After executing a function in the Frequency Spectrum options menu it is not necessary to exit the menu before accessing another function For example y...

Page 223: ...sh to edit Press ENTER C Press NO to get to the time slice EDIT screen Press YES to edit D Use the slider to enter the amplitude of the partials Amplitude is shown inpercen tages on the right hand side of the screen E Use the cursor buttons to move from partial to partial F Press ENTER then NO twice to return to the Additive Options menu COPY a Time Slice Use for placing the same time slice at two...

Page 224: ...y creation of the volume envelope of a specific partial A Press 3 on the keypad to access the Amplitude Contour menu options B Use the slider to select the number of the partial whose amplitude contour you wish todraw Press ENTER C Press YES to start the drawing countdown You will see the display countdown 5 4 3 2 1 When the countdown finishes the drawing process starts The cursor positionautomati...

Page 225: ... to F Press ENTER to execute the copy then YES to make another or NO to return to the Synth Options menu Note After executing a function in the Amplitude Contour options menu it is not necessary to exit the menu before accessing another function For example you may DRAW an amplitude contour then EDIT and COPY it before returning to the Synth Options menu 4 PITCH CONTOUR In this menu you may draw e...

Page 226: ... E Use the cursor buttons to move from time slice to time slice F Press ENTER then NO twice to return to the Synth Options menu COPY a partial s Pitch Contour Use for copying the pitch contour of a partial to one or more partials A Press 4 on the keypad to access the Pitch Contour menu options B Usetheslidertoselectthenumberofthepartialwhosepitchcontouryouwishtocopy Press ENTER C Press NO two time...

Page 227: ...d to access the Pitch Ratios menu B Use the slider to select the partial whose ratio you wish to define C Press the right cursor button to select the partial tuning tens column D Use the slider YES NO buttons or the keypad to enter the ratio you desire E Press the right cursor button to select the partial tuning hundreds column F Use the slider YES NO buttons or the keypad to enter the ratio you d...

Page 228: ...er the bank is empty or full C Press ENTER to execute the load and return to the Synth Options menu 8 SAVE PARAMETERS Use to save Time Slices Amplitude Contours and Pitch Contours All Parameters into one of the three backup banks from the current memory A Press 8 on the keypad to access the Save Parameters function B Use the slider to select the backup bank you wish to save the current memory to T...

Page 229: ... Emax has finished its calculations play your sound E Press ENTER again to return to the Synth Options menu Note After returning to the Synth Options menu the sound will no longer be active on the keyboard The only time you can hear your sound while in the Synth Options menu is immediately after it has been synthesized Also Note There are two modes of synthesis Smooth and Stepped Smooth will produ...

Page 230: ...tweenthem thensynthesize AddSpectrumstothesoundinordertoaddcomplexity CreatesoundsbyusingtheAmplitudeContourfunction Thismaybeamoreintuitive way for you to synthesize sounds Amplitude Contour lets you draw the amplitude envelope for each partial as shown in the Amplitude Contour diagram Use combina tions of Time Slicing and Amplitude Contouring Insert wildly varying Spectrums at each Time Slice lo...

Page 231: ...n primenumberedharmonics Fibonaccisequences ie 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 or squares cubes etc You name it If you have Sound Designer by Digidesign try taking a sampled sound and running a frequency analysis on it Next make a print out of the frequency plot and try to copy the partial envelopes using the Amplitude Contour function in Spectrum Synthesis It probably won t sound exactly like the real sound bu...

Page 232: ...a MIDI command The other device must be the initiator In sending or receiving a sample dump the Emax II uses sample numbers to identify which sample will be transmitted or where a sample will be placed Emax II has an 88 note keyboard range Primary Voices are sent and received using sample numbers 0 87 and Secondary Voices are sent and received using sample numbers 256 343 For example If the Emax I...

Page 233: ...range expansion The solution is to delete sequences presets or voices until the disk loads 2 The minimum Loop Length on the Emax II is 32 samples If Emax I voices are loaded which have Loop Lengths of less than 32 samples the loop may be turned off of the transposition range may be limited The solution is to re loop those voices 3 The Emax II has a few features which are different from the Emax I ...

Page 234: ... puter souls in fact MIDI could not exist without microcomputers Computers are decision makers and they base those decisions on the data they receive However to be useable by a computer any data has to first be translated into a number basedlanguagethatthecomputercanunderstand Actually whenyoupressakeyboard key with a computer based instrument you are not directly controlling the sound source Inst...

Page 235: ...tes on the Emax II regardless of what MIDI mode you select 16 channels huh Sounds like a lot of patch cords to me MIDI information is transmitted serially which means that all data is sent in sequence As a result a single line can carry the MIDI information for all 16 channels with each instrument monitoring all the words that pass over the MIDI interface but responding only to the data on its par...

Page 236: ...if both synthesizers can respond to dynamics You llalsowanttotransmitthatdatafromonesynthtoanother Wealsoneed some information about the system tempo as set by a drum machine or sequencer MIDI s vocabulary encompasses all these considerations as well as many others For a more detailed description of the complete MIDI vocabulary refer to the book MIDI For Musicians AMSCO Publications a division of ...

Page 237: ...rs 0 to 63 and lets the manufacturer decide how it wants to adapt these MIDI controllers to its machine In addition to the controller numbers MIDI supports two special controllers that are used so often they have their own commands These are pitch wheel and channel pressure The Emax II supports MIDI controller numbers 0 to 31 as well as pitch wheel pwh and channel pressure chp for a total of 33 po...

Page 238: ...r number is 07 If you assign the Emax II Level Real Time destination to the footpedal and also send the footpedal information out over the MIDI controller 07 both instruments should fade in and out together DEALING WITH MIDIOSYNCRACIES There are occasional compatibility problems between MIDI gear from different manu facturers however many problems are created by operator error and or a lack of und...

Page 239: ...Emax II operation manual 228 ...

Page 240: ...Emax II operation manual 229 APPENDIX VELOCITY CURVES 230 EMAX II MEMORY EXPANSION 235 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 236 MIDI IMPLEMENTATION CHART 237 NOTE FREQ CONVERSION CHART 238 INDEX 239 WARRANTY 243 ...

Page 241: ... 60 40 20 0 More Output More Velocity 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 3 Heavy Handed 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 More Output More Velocity 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 2 Heavy Handed 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 More Output More Velocity 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 VELOCITY CURVES ...

Page 242: ...xponential 1 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 More Output More Velocity 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 4 Heavy Handed 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 More Output More Velocity 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 5 Clipped 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 More Output More Velocity 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 ...

Page 243: ...140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 More Output More Velocity 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 7 Concaved Exponential 2 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 More Output More Velocity 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 8 Concaved Exponential 3 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 More Output More Velocity 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 ...

Page 244: ...0 40 20 0 More Output More Velocity 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 11 S Shape 1 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 More Output More Velocity 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 10 Concaved Exponential 5 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 More Output More Velocity 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 VELOCITY CURVES ...

Page 245: ... operation manual 234 VELOCITY CURVES 13 S Shape 3 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 More Output More Velocity 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 14 Trigger 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 More Output More Velocity 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 ...

Page 246: ... 7 117 4 134 2 39 0625kHz 13 4 26 9 40 3 53 7 67 1 80 5 94 107 4 Sample rates shown in bold have a maximum continuous sampling time equal to that of the 39kHz rate Emax II performs automatic sample rate conversion on the sample then frees up the additional memory for subsequent sampling Information about the memory expansion kits is available from your local E mu dealer INCREASE YOUR MEMORY The am...

Page 247: ...o 600Ω INPUT IMPEDANCE 5 kHz OUTPUT IMPEDANCE Stereo 100 kΩ Mono 2 5 kΩ Audio 600 Ω MIDI In Out Thru DATA ENCODING Input 16 bit Linear Output 18 bit Linear MAX INPUT SAMPLE RATE 39kHz SIGNAL TO NOISE 90 dB DYNAMIC RANGE Input 90 dB Output 102 dB FREQUENCY RESPONSE 20 Hz 19 kHz THD N 05 STEREO PHASE Phase Coherent 1 1 kHz POWER REQUIREMENTS 45 Watts EMAX II TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ...

Page 248: ...ence N N Active Sensing N N System Reset N N System Exclusives Y Y Call for Documentation Y implemented N not implemented SuperMode is an Emax II MIDI mode designed to enhance the se quencer MIDI interface It is basically equivelent to Poly Mode On for all 16 channels simultaneously When SuperMode is on the Omni Poly setting is ignored but the MIDI notes wheels flag of the current preset is still ...

Page 249: ...Hz 880 00 Hz 830 61 Hz 783 99 Hz 739 99 Hz 698 46 Hz 659 26 Hz 622 25 Hz 587 33 Hz 554 37 Hz 523 25 Hz 493 88 Hz 466 16 Hz 440 00 Hz 415 31 Hz 392 00 Hz 369 99 Hz 987 77 Hz C6 D6 D6 E6 F6 F6 G6 G6 C6 1661 22 Hz 1567 98 Hz 1474 98 Hz 1396 91 Hz 1318 51 Hz 1244 51 Hz 1174 66 Hz 1108 73 Hz 1046 50 Hz A6 A6 B6 C7 C7 D7 D7 E7 F7 F7 G7 G7 A7 A7 B7 C8 C8 D8 D8 E8 F8 F8 G8 G8 A8 A8 B8 7458 62 Hz 7040 00 H...

Page 250: ...2 cruz control 131 current preset 13 current voice 13 25 changing 81 149 cursor 16 D data slider 17 decay 151 153 156 default 16 delay LFO delay 157 voice delay 151 disk drive selection 50 floppy disk 15 45 handling 44 labeling 45 write protecting 45 hard disk drive 15 45 57 multi timbral disk 203 204 downloading sequences 178 179 202 E enable control 164 enter button 51 envelope generator descrip...

Page 251: ...ing 55 MIDI A B 138 139 analyzer 68 channel selection 133 INDEX HD bank load 67 input 7 key number chart 221 level control 138 139 140 local control 135 master functions 66 modes 134 224 output 7 overflow 66 panning control 138 139 142 preset change 134 questions answers 223 227 sample dump 221 222 specifications 236 start stop 134 realtime controllers 135 137 thru 133 mix outputs 5 118 163 modula...

Page 252: ... sample length selection 75 sample rate selection 74 sample rate vs time chart 75 sample start theshold 76 INDEX stop sampling 77 saving basics 17 compressed format 108 16 bit format 112 spectrum synth params 217 SCSI 8 SCSI boot ID 68 secondary 14 send return cables 5 sequencer 165 basic description 23 guided tour 38 select sequence 168 sine wave 205 207 software revision display 69 solo mode 163...

Page 253: ...h 123 125 velocity curves selection 56 diagrams 230 234 guided tour 30 velocity sensitive keyboard 15 vibrato 158 viewing angle 67 voice voice assignment 73 editing 118 voice attenuation 151 current voice 13 copy voice 115 voice delay 151 description 12 14 erasing 120 primary voice 14 secondary voice 14 stereo 121 volume MIDI volume control 138 140 W wheel pitch wheel range See pitch wheel assignm...

Page 254: ...ective islimitedtorepairorreplacementoftheunit at E mu s option In no event shall E mu Systems be liable for damages based on inconvenience whether incidental or consequential loss of use of the unit loss of time interupted operation or commercial loss or any other consequential damages Some states do not allow limitation of the duration of implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of inci...

Page 255: ...Emax II operation manual 244 ...

Page 256: ... Recording Recording Just Messing Around What percentage of your income is derived from music Where did you first learn about this E mu product What led you to choose this E mu product Where will this product be used Studio Tour Local Venue Home Studio Church Living Room Other What other equipment are you using with this product mixer amp effects If you own a computer what type Which of the follow...

Page 257: ...ual 246 NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES BUSINESS REPLY MAIL FIRST CLASS PERMIT NO 209 SANTA CRUZ CA E mu Systems Inc P O BOX 67127 SCOTTS VALLEY CA 95067 7127 POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE Fold Here ...

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