E-Mu SP-12 Owner'S Manual Download Page 13 | Manualshive

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GETTING READY

© E-mu Systems, Inc. 1985

Page 13

Enhanced by The Emulator Archive 2002 www.emulatorarchive.com

1B INSTANT GRATIFICATION!

Yes, the SP-12 is an extremely versatile device. But that versatility means that in
order to learn about all the options, you’ll have to spend a few hours with the SP-12
and this manual.

If you’re patient enough to actually do that right now, we salute your willpower.
Chances are, though, you can hardly wait to start making some sounds. So, we’ll
short circuit the learning process a bit with this little exercise. Follow these steps
EXACTLY as given.

1. Hook up the SP-12 as described previously, then turn up the METRONOME

VOLUME control about halfway. MIX VOLUME and the monitor system levels
should be set as described in the previous Section.

2. Push the SONG/SEGMENT button until the SEGMENT light glows.

3. Locate the ten number buttons (0 - 9) towards the right of the SP-12. Press 9

and then press 9 again. The display says Seg 99 and shows the tempo in
Beats per Minute. Seg 99 will have a default length of two measures (which
we’ll leave as is for now).

4. Hold down RECORD and press RUN/STOP; both their LEDs will be lit to

indicate you are in record mode. You should also hear the metronome (if not,
check the METRONOME VOLUME control).

5. The eight large buttons along the bottom of the SP-12 play various drum

sounds -- note that the harder you hit a button, the louder the sound. Play in
time with the metronome, and whatever you play will be recorded. You will
have two measures to play to; they repeat over and over again to allow for
easy multitracking of drum parts. To play additional drum sounds, hit the
SELECT button to audition other banks of drums.

6. For now, you can only play 8th notes; later on, we’ll cover how to play all the

other note values.

7. When you’ve finished recording, press RUN/STOP (the RUN/STOP light goes

out). To play back what you’ve recorded, press RUN/STOP again
(RUN/STOP light glows).

8. Congratulations! You have now experienced about 0.5% of the SP-12’s

capabilities. To find out about the other 99.5%, keep reading.

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Summary of Contents for SP-12

Page 1: ...SP 12 SAMPLING PERCUSSION SYSTEM OWNERS MANUAL By Craig Anderton Version 2 3 1985 E mu Systems Inc Scotts Valley CA All Rights Reserved ...

Page 2: ...stepping and fast forwarding 10 The Current Song Display 10 The Current Segment Display 10 BEEP MESSAGES 10 PART 1 GETTING READY 11 1A SETUP 12 1B INSTANT GRATIFICATION 13 1C BACKGROUND THE PERFORMANCE MODULE 14 1D SELECTING DRUM SOUNDS 14 1E ADJUSTING THE MIX 15 1F TUNING THE DRUMS CHANGING DECAY SET UP 18 16 1G BACKGROUND SETTING UP ADDITIONAL SOUNDS 16 1H ACCESSING EXITING MULTILEVEL SET UP 12 ...

Page 3: ...RECT 29 2E SETTING AUTO CORRECT 31 2F RECORDING A SEGMENT IN REAL TIME 31 2G RECORDING A SEGMENT IN STEP TIME 33 2H ERASING A SPECIFIC DRUM SOUND 34 2I ERASING A SPECIFIC NOTE OF A DRUM TRACK 34 2J COPYING AND APPENDING SEGMENTS 35 2K ADDING SWING 36 2L SWAPPING DRUM SOUNDS 37 2M COPYING SOUNDS 37 2N CLEARING THE MEMORY 38 2M CHECK REMAINING MEMORY 38 PART 3 CREATING A SONG 39 3A CREATING A SONG O...

Page 4: ...ETTING LEVELS PRIOR TO SAMPLING 55 4C ASSIGNING THE SAMPLE 56 4D SETTING THE SAMPLING THRESHOLD 56 4E SETTING THE SAMPLE LENGTH 57 4F INITIATING AND STOPPING SAMPLING 57 4G DELETING A USER SOUND 58 4H MODIFYING A SAMPLE VIA TRUNCATION AND LOOP 59 PART 5 SAVING YOUR DATA 62 5A BACKGROUND SAVING DATA 63 5B GENERAL CARE HANDLING OF DISKS CASSETTES 63 Labeling 64 Write protecting disks and cassettes 6...

Page 5: ... OF SAMPLING 82 PART 1 TAKING THE BEST POSSIBLE SAMPLE 82 PART 2 MANIPULATING THE SAMPLE 86 APPENDIX C UNDERSTANDING TIME SIGNATURES 89 APPENDIX D UNDERSTANDING MIDI SMPTE 90 What does the MIDI cable do 90 What does MIDI stand for 90 How can information control a synthesizer or drum machine 90 How does MIDI differentiate between different instruments 91 16 channels huh Sounds like a lot of patch c...

Page 6: ...TION E mu Systems Inc 1985 Page 6 Enhanced by The Emulator Archive 2002 www emulatorarchive com INTRODUCTION WHAT IS IT SP 12 GROUND RULES SETTINGS AND VALUES THE TRANSITORY NATURE OF SEGMENT MODE BEEP MESSAGES ...

Page 7: ...es Thanks to 12 bit sound digitizing the drum sounds have a crispness and dynamic range unattainable with the more common and inexpensive 8 bit digitizing technology Best of all despite the wide range of functions the SP 12 is remarkably easy to learn and use After even a short period of familiarization creating drum parts becomes second nature We have made every effort to make the SP 12 s operati...

Page 8: ... the module will be locked out After you have finished working with a module de activate it by pressing the switch again the associated LED will extinguish or select a different module Accessing Functions Within the Module The Set up Cassette Disk Sync and Sample modules include a printed list of functions When the module is active you can select the desired function by keying in its number Exampl...

Page 9: ...nerally the display will confirm what you have chosen when it shows the desired setting or value press ENTER Leading Zeroes You will often need to enter numbers via the keypad If the function you have selected requires that you enter a two digit number you must enter a leading zero when entering a single digit number Example Enter 07 instead of 7 If the function you have selected allows for enteri...

Page 10: ...h values shown in the display Each time you press one of these buttons you will step through one value Holding down these buttons fast forwards in the case of Right Arrow or fast backwards in the case of Left Arrow through the values The Current Song Display When you first turn on the SP 12 the display will show the Current Song and tempo for that song The Current Song remains as is until changed ...

Page 11: ...ORMANCE MODULE 1D SELECTING DRUM SOUNDS 1E ADJUSTING THE MIX 1F TUNING THE DRUMS CHANGING DECAY 1G BACKGROUND ADDITIONAL SOUNDS 1H ACCESSING EXITING MULTILEVEL 1I ACCESSING EXITING MULTIPITCH 1J ACCESSING DYNAMICS 1K STORING DEFINING A MIX 1L AUDITIONING SELECTING A MIX 1M ASSIGNING DRUM SOUNDS TO OUTPUT CHANNELS 1N PLAYING BACK SEGMENTS 1O SETTING TEMPO 1P PROGRAMMING THE METRONOME ...

Page 12: ... jack on the rear panel and a high quality amp or mixing console The better the sound system the more life like the sound of the SP 12 3 Make sure the ON OFF switch is in the OFF position Plug the line cord into a properly wired three wire AC outlet 4 Turn the MIX VOLUME and METRONOME VOLUME controls all the way to the left 5 Turn the ON OFF switch to ON the SP 12 will run a self test where all LE...

Page 13: ... again The display says Seg 99 and shows the tempo in Beats per Minute Seg 99 will have a default length of two measures which we ll leave as is for now 4 Hold down RECORD and press RUN STOP both their LEDs will be lit to indicate you are in record mode You should also hear the metronome if not check the METRONOME VOLUME control 5 The eight large buttons along the bottom of the SP 12 play various ...

Page 14: ... memory and recalled when creating a song 1D SELECTING DRUM SOUNDS The row of eight large buttons Drum Play buttons along the bottom of the SP 12 play the different drum sounds The SELECT button left of Play buttons chooses between four different banks of drum sounds Bank ii consists of sampled drum sounds these come loaded with factory sounds but you can also sample your own sounds To audition th...

Page 15: ...MIX LED lights The display graphically shows the level of each drum in the selected bank 2 Vary the slider above the corresponding Drum Play button to vary the level of each individual drum As soon as you move the slider the graph in the display will jump to its new position 3 Note that MIX settings are not stored while in segment mode If you come up with a particularly good mix you can save the m...

Page 16: ...graphically shows the relative tuning or decay of each drum the center line indicates normal pitch or decay 4 Vary the slider above the corresponding Drum Play button to vary the individual tuning plus or minus a fifth for each drum set for tuning change As soon as you move the slider the corresponding display graph will jump to its new position The higher pitched the drum the taller the bar the l...

Page 17: ...TI button and select TUNE DECAY the display shows the relative pitch of each sound Use the sliders as described earlier to set the pitch Whenever you select the bank containing the multileveled sound it will still be in multilevel mode This will be indicated by the MULTIMODE LED next to the TUNE MIX MULTI switch being on To turn off multilevel 1 Activate the SET UP module if it is not already and ...

Page 18: ... of the multipitched Bank Press the TUNE MIX MULTI button and select MIX then use the sliders as described earlier to set the levels 5 Whenever you select the bank containing the multipitched sound it will still be in multipitch mode This will be indicated by the MULTIMODE LED next to the TUNE MIX MULTI switch being on To turn off multi pitch 1 Activate the SET UP module if it is not already and s...

Page 19: ... NO 1K STORING DEFINING A MIX SET UP 15 The SP 12 memorizes up to eight different mixes each mix contains the level data for all four banks When creating a song this mix information can be stored as part of the song so that different songs or different sections of the same song have different mixes To store a mix for later use 1 After perfecting the mix activate the SET UP Module by pressing its s...

Page 20: ...els However this may be changed in the following manner 1 Activate the SET UP Module by pressing its switch Its LED will glow and the display will ask for a function from the list printed to the right of the SET UP switch 2 Key in 17 CHANNEL ASSIGN The display asks you to select a sound select it using the appropriate Bank select and Drum Play buttons Note that you can consecutively hit different ...

Page 21: ...lay continuously the RUN STOP light will glow except for a blink at the beginning of the segment and you will hear a metronome clicking along with the segment adjust METRONOME LEVEL to suit If instead of hearing a rhythm pattern you hear a beep the segment you ve selected has never been put in record mode which means it cannot contain any drum sounds Key in a different segment number To stop a seg...

Page 22: ... the button down to increment through the tempo 1 BPM at a time Press the Left Arrow button once to decrease the tempo by 1 BPM Hold the button down to decrement through the tempo 1 BPM at a time Use the keypad to enter the tempo directly accurate to 1 10th BPM four digits Leading zeroes must be entered Use Slider 1 to vary the tempo Tap the tempo you want on the TAP REPEAT button The SP 12 will c...

Page 23: ...t 1 4 quarter notes this is the default value 1 4 t quarter note triplets 1 8 eighth notes 1 8 t eighth note triplets 1 16 sixteenth notes 1 16 t sixteenth note triplets 1 32 thirty second notes 1 32 t thirty second note triplets Click sends a 24 pulses per quarter note signal out the rear channel MET OUT jack for synchronizing other devices to the SP 12 3 When the display shows the desired metron...

Page 24: ...ASING A SEGMENT 2C DIMENSIONING A SEGMENT 2D UNDERSTANDING AUTO CORRECT 2E SETTING AUTO CORRECT 2F RECORDING A SEGMENT IN REALTIME 2G RECODING A SEGMENT IN STEP TIME 2H ERASING A SPECIFC DRUM SOUND 2I ERASING A SPECIFIC NOTE OF A DRUM TRACK 2J COPYING AND APPENDING SEGMENTS 2K ADDING SWING 2L SWAPPING DRUM SOUNDS 2M COPYING SOUNDS 2N CLEARING THE MEMORY ...

Page 25: ...described in Section 2F 5 Selecting the desired bank of drum sounds for recording this may be changed at any time during the recording process 6 In real time entering record mode and playing drum sounds the SP 12 s memory remembers what you play in time with the metronome in step time entering record mode and stepping through each step of the segment playing drum sounds as required at the various ...

Page 26: ...you had keyed in prior to starting the erase process For example if you had first selected segment 01 but then decided to erase segment 51 after erasing 51 you would return to 01 If you want to continue working with segment 51 make sure you key it back in again so that 51 appears in the display 2C DIMENSIONING A SEGMENT SETTING TIME SIGNATURE AND OR BAR LENGTH Dimensioning a segment defines the se...

Page 27: ...to shorter rhythmic values tap the Left Arrow key to step from shorter to longer rhythmic values or hold the button to fast forward 4 When the display shows the desired time signature denominator press ENTER The time signature will now be stored with the segment 5 To set the number of measures and beats in the segment segment length press SEGMENT LENGTH The display will probably show the default v...

Page 28: ...he appropriate number of beats and measures have gone by press RUN STOP a second time If you do not press RUN STOP precisely on the beat it will be auto corrected by the SP 12 see next section for more information on Auto Correct 3 If you miss the desired end point of the segment hit RUN STOP again to re start the process Press RUN STOP again when the segment is the desired length Also note that y...

Page 29: ...es in a measure of 4 4 Fig 2 1 Suppose you want to record a bass drum on every quarter note but your sense of timing is a little shaky The upper row of dots in Fig 2 2 shows where you might have played the four bass drum beats The first one is a little behind the beat the second a little in front of the beat the third right on the beat and the fourth slightly behind the beat The lower row of dots ...

Page 30: ...long drum parts use low resolution to record most of a part and then switch over to finer resolution to record more complex rhythms Note that recording triplets is easy since there are four triplet Auto Correct options and that alternating between triplet and non triplet Auto Correct modes lets you record complex polyrhythms Another option is high resolution mode where the SP 12 places beats exact...

Page 31: ...glows the metronome will start The RUN STOP LED will blink off at the beginning of the segment and there will also be an accented metronome beat at the beginning of each measure 3 Play the various drums where you want them to occur in the segment The segment will repeat over and over so you may overdub as many drum beats as you like For example record a basic bass drum part first then snare drum s...

Page 32: ...e slider as you play the Play buttons Hint Don t forget about the wonders of Auto Repeat holding down REPEAT a drum sound and varying its pitch while recording produces some absolutely fabulous effects in particular try the cowbell f Access multimode by activating the SET UP module however its LED will not light if accessed during recording and proceed as described in Sections 1H and Recording Seg...

Page 33: ...play will indicate your exact location in the segment in measures and beats and show the step rate It will also indicate which sounds are recorded on that beat up to four sounds more than four sounds is indicated by a symbol in the display 3 Play the various drums where you want them to occur in the segment or hold ERASE and press any Drum Play buttons containing sounds to be erased The display wi...

Page 34: ...h all the notes you want to erase or choose HiRes which steps through the segment at the equivalent of sixty fourth note triplets 2 Put the SP 12 into record mode by holding down RECORD and pressing RUN STOP so that the RUN STOP light glows 3 Press ERASE while holding down ERASE press the Play button or buttons corresponding to the sound or sounds you want to erase For real time erasing press the ...

Page 35: ...ered the same number for both the segment to be copied and the segment to be copied to e g segment 23 to be copied into segment 23 the SP 12 will go into append mode and the display will ask you how many times you want the segment to play up to 99 times For example if you want segment 23 to play through three times instead of just once you would enter 03 This number may be keyed in via the keypad ...

Page 36: ...ft Arrow buttons step through the various swing options 3 When the display shows the desired swing value press ENTER Notes Swing can help add a more human feel to a series of repeating segments For example if you repeat the same segment four times try setting a swing factor of 514 for say the third segment This results in a series of segments that are more psycho acoustically interesting than mere...

Page 37: ... Swapping is particularly useful when sampling Suppose you record a part with one snare drum sound and then six months later you sample a new mind boggling snare sound Simply record the new sample into one of the User sounds and swap the existing snare sound for the User sound 2M COPYING SOUNDS You may copy any sound into any other sound thus replacing the original sound with the copy Generally th...

Page 38: ...talog the various special functions note that there are three separate memory clearing options 3 Key in 12 to clear all memory The display will ask if you really want to do this If so press YES 4 Key in 15 to clear all sound memory this erases all samples in the SP 12 The display will ask if you really want to do this If so press YES 5 Key in 16 to clear all sequence memory This keeps the samples ...

Page 39: ...W 3B SELECTING A SONG 3C CHAINING SEGMENTS TOGETHER 3D ENDING A SONG 3E EDITING SONGS STEPPING INSERTING DELETING 3F USING REPEATS 3G CHANGING THE SONG DRUM SOUND MIX 3H SETTING SONG TEMPO 3I PROGRAMMING TEMPO CHANGES WITHIN A SONG 3J JUMPING TO A SUB SONG 3K PROGRAMMING TRIGGER OUTPUTS 3L STARTING AT A SPECIFIED POINT IN THE SONG 3M EFFICIENT USE OF MEMORY ...

Page 40: ...o play back the song press RUN STOP To create a song press the REC EDIT button to enter EDIT mode its LED will light EDIT mode is a safety feature that prevents accidental song step erasures After entering EDIT mode key in the number of each segment you want chained together in the order in which you want them to play To save memory space repeat commands let you repeat a segment or group of segmen...

Page 41: ...such as indefinite repeat programmed metronome outputs and so on These will be described in detail in this section Remember To work with a song you must be in song mode press the SONG SEGMENT button until the SONG light glows 3B SELECTING A SONG To choose a particular song 1 Press the SONG SEGMENT button so that the SONG light glows 2 Key in the two digit song number with the keypad Leading zeroes...

Page 42: ... 3B then press REC EDIT to enter EDIT mode 3 Key in the first segment number in this case 61 The display s lower line confirms your choice for the first song step 4 Press ENTER or Right Arrow whichever you prefer This enters the first segment number into step 1 and advances to step 2 the display s lower line now says Step 2 to confirm that you have reached the second step 5 Key in the next segment...

Page 43: ... line will indicate that this step will continuously loop the song 2 To link the end of your first song to the beginning of another song press END a flashing cursor will appear after End then key in the two digit number of the song you want to link The display s lower line will confirm your choice by saying Link song number 3 To stop the SP 12 completely after the song press END a flashing cursor ...

Page 44: ...o things happen This step becomes available for entering a song step and all subsequent steps are automatically renumbered to reflect the addition of the inserted step for example what used to be step 5 now becomes step 6 step 6 becomes step 7 step 7 becomes step 8 etc You may now key in the instruction for the new step 5 in this case it would be a segment number After entering the instruction pre...

Page 45: ...ing multiple segments As you write out the order of steps for a song take these repeat instruction steps into account consider the following song as an example Song Step Segment to Be Played Song Step Segment to Be Played Step 1 61 Step 17 65 Step 2 61 Step 18 66 Step 3 61 Step 19 67 Step 4 61 Step 20 68 Step 5 62 Step 21 65 Step 6 63 Step 22 66 Step 7 67 Step 23 67 Step 8 68 Step 24 68 Step 9 65 ...

Page 46: ...in repeat command when you press REPEAT if a begin repeat already exists then the SP 12 will give you an end repeat command when you press REPEAT 2 At step 2 key in the segment number then press ENTER to enter this step into the SP 12 s memory 3 At step 3 press REPEAT the display s lower line will show the end repeat sign and the default setting of 02 repeats with a flashing cursor under the first...

Page 47: ... and execute this loop ignoring any other loops 3G CHANGING THE SONG DRUM SOUND MIX A song initially has a default drum sound mix where all drums are at the same level However you may insert a change mix command as one of the song steps usually the first song step will specify the desired initial mix Segments which play after the change mix command will reflect the new mix You may select from any ...

Page 48: ...ce to increase the tempo by 1 BPM Hold the button down to increment through the tempo 1 BPM at a time b Press the Left Arrow button once to decrease the tempo by 1 BPM Hold the button down to decrement through the tempo 1 BPM at a time c Use the keypad to enter the tempo directly accurate to 1 10th BPM four digits Leading zeroes must be entered d Vary Slider 1 e Tap the tempo you want on the TAP R...

Page 49: ... or 00 00 for Ritardando A cursor will be flashing under the first 0 4 The first pair of digits signifies the tempo increase or decrease In BPM up to 99 within the constraints of the 140 to 2140 BPM range the second pair of digits signifies the number of beats over which this change is to occur up to 32 beats Use the keypad to key in the desired BPM change then press ENTER Next key in the desired ...

Page 50: ...program the SP 12 to output trigger pulses during the course of a song This technique allows the SP 12 to generate pulses every quarter note quarter note triplet eighth note eighth note triplet sixteenth note sixteenth note triplet thirty second note or thirty second note triplet These pulses appear at the MET OUT jack on the back and can drive arpeggiator inputs on synthesizers sequencers and oth...

Page 51: ...L STARTING AT A SPECIFIED POINT IN THE SONG The SP 12 should be stopped Activate the SET UP module and key in 21 Enter the song step where you want the SP 12 to begin the display s lower line confirms your choice When you press RUN STOP to start the SP 12 it will begin at the designated song step This starting point will be memorized until changed For example if you enter segment mode and then ret...

Page 52: ...peat the Identical measure 7 times this only requires three song steps begin repeat the segment number of the measure and end repeat 7 times followed by an additional song step for the fill Remember the most efficient way to use memory is to repeat segments whenever possible Song steps take up very little memory space compared to the memory needed to record a segment any time you can replace segme...

Page 53: ...ING YOUR OWN SOUNDS 4A SAMPLING AN OVERVIEW 4B SETTING LEVELS PRIOR TO SAMPLING 4C ASSIGNING THE SAMPLE TO A PARTICULAR USER NUMBER AND OUTPUT CHANNEL 4D SETTING THE SAMPLING THRESHOLD 4E SETTING THE SAMPLE LENGTH 4F INITIATING AND STOPPING SAMPLING 4G DELETING ERASING A USER SOUND 4H MODIFYING A SAMPLE VIA TRUNCATION AND LOOPING ...

Page 54: ...gh User 8 Copy these over to bank 1 Erase the User sounds and record eight new User sounds Copy the new User sounds over to bank 2 Erase the User sounds and record eight new User sounds Copy the new User sounds over to bank 3 Erase the User sounds and record eight new User sounds which remain in User 1 through User 8 There is a catch with the Turbo SP 12 five seconds of sampling time the average l...

Page 55: ...s for most electrified instruments and 140 is suitable for mic level signals For the highest quality recording we recommend using the 00 dB setting exclusively If additional gain is required use a low noise outboard preamp The display s bottom line is a moving bar VU meter with peak hold which briefly holds the highest level attained The VU meter may or may not be showing any activity 3 Play the s...

Page 56: ... are two ways to initiate sampling Threshold sensitive sampling and forced sampling SAMPLE 9 With threshold sensitive sampling once sampling is armed sampling begins whenever the signal to be sampled exceeds the programmable threshold level To set the threshold level 1 With the SAMPLE module active key in 4 The display shows the regular bar graph display on the bottom line and a single bar on the ...

Page 57: ... seconds remaining in each zone You cannot record a 1 0 second sound at this point although you can record two 0 5 second sounds To check the remaining memory available for sampling query the sample length as described above 4F INITIATING AND STOPPING SAMPLING You ve set the level the threshold the sample length and assigned the sound to be sampled to the right User Sound and output channel now it...

Page 58: ...ll ask you to confirm your choice by pressing YES if you press NO you will remain in the module whereupon you can re select the Delete function or any other SET UP module function 3 After pressing YES the sample will be deleted Note If you have copied a User sound over to another bank deleting the original User sound will not erase the copied sound The copied sound must itself be specifically eras...

Page 59: ... Sound to be truncated If this is the desired User Sound press ENTER If not key in the desired User Sound with the keypad and then press ENTER 3 The display s top line will now show the Start point which defaults to 00000 and the User Sound being truncated The display s bottom line will show the End point of the sample which defaults to the sample length and Loop Length which defaults to NONE Exam...

Page 60: ...y showing the truncation loop parameters proceed to step 7 Otherwise activate the SET UP module and key in 19 The display s top line will show the User Sound to be truncated looped If this is the desired User Sound press ENTER If not key in the desired User Sound with the keypad and then press ENTER 8 Slider 5 gives coarse control over the loop length while Slider 6 gives fine control Moving the s...

Page 61: ... Emulator Archive 2002 www emulatorarchive com Fig 4 1 Note Activating SET UP and selecting SPECIAL FUNCTION 19 sets a default decay for all sounds as set by Slider 1 This is useful if you loop a sound and want it to decay but also want to produce different pitched sounds ...

Page 62: ...ed by The Emulator Archive 2002 www emulatorarchive com PART 5 SAVING YOUR DATA 5A BACKGROUND SAVING DATA 5B GENERAL CARE AND HANDLING OF DISKS AND CASSETTES 5C HOOKING UP THE 15K1 DISK DRIVE OR CASSETTE 5D FORMATTING DISKS 5E DISK AND CASSETTE OPERATIONS ...

Page 63: ...n the display will advise you to Insert Disk and Press Enter or Start Cassette and Press Enter As soon as you press ENTER the load save verify etc function will begin Note With cassettes make sure the cassette is past the non recording leader tape at the beginning of the cassette We will assume that you are a forward thinking kind of person and have trotted down to your local toy store or discount...

Page 64: ... make whirring and clunking sounds these are normal Labeling Labelling your disks and cassettes will save frustration keep a log of where data is saved With disks write on an adhesive label that you then attach to the disk Writing on the disk can damage it but if you re the gambling type at least use a felt tip pen and apply very little pressure Write protecting disks and cassettes Write protectin...

Page 65: ...anced by The Emulator Archive 2002 www emulatorarchive com To write protect a cassette knock out the little tabs on the back of the case as shown in Fig 5 3 These can be covered over with masking tape later if you want to un write protect them Fig 5 3 ...

Page 66: ...nd the 1541 2 Patch the disk cable from the plug above the 1541 s fuse post to the SP 12 s rear panel disk jack see Fig 5 4 Fig 5 4 3 Turn on the disk drive and then turn on the SP 12 4 To insert the disk in the drive first make sure that the latch is in the open position see Fig 5 5 5 Next insert a disk label side up with the labelled side going in last see Fig 5 6 Fig 5 5 Fig 5 6 ...

Page 67: ...atted correctly for the SP 12 Note Formatting a disk that already contains data will bulk erase any data on the disk being formatted Always check that disks are either blank or contain nothing you want to save before formatting A disk need only be formatted once unless you want to use the bulk erase aspect of formatting We recommend using 5 25 double sided double density 48 TPI floppy disks Avoid ...

Page 68: ... memory is full While waiting for the sounds to be saved you have an excellent opportunity to learn a new language become an airline pilot or take a brief overseas vacation And we might as well warn you now you may need two disks to save all the sounds If so the display will ask you to insert Disk 2 press YES to continue the saving process Cheer up though it doesn t take anywhere near as long to s...

Page 69: ...ved correctly The display will let you know if all is well Catalog Disk Key in 2 then 9 Cassette Key 1 then 9 If you re curious what segments and sounds are on a disk or cassette this will tell you Segments are indicated by numbers and sounds by their User number Us1 Us2 etc or by their location if they were copied to a bank other than bank II If you have more segments or sounds than can fit on th...

Page 70: ...torarchive com PART 6 MIDI SYNC SMPTE 6A MIDI CHANNEL AND MODE SELECT SET UP 22 6B BACKGROUND SYNCHRONIZATION 6C INTERNAL SYNC SYNC 1 6D MIDI SYNC SYNC 2 6E SMPTE SYNC SYNC 3 6F CLICK SYNC SYNC 4 6G WRITING SMPTE TIME CODE ON TAPE 6H WRITING A 24 PULSES PER QUARTER NOTE CLICK SYNC TRACK ON TAPE ...

Page 71: ...ming in over the basic channel specified in step 2 The SP 12 sounds may now be played from a MIDI keyboard If the SP 12 is in Omni mode it will respond to notes played on the keyboard regardless of the MIDI keyboard s transmitting channel If the SP 12 is in Poly mode it will respond to notes only if the keyboard and SP 12 are tuned to the same MIDI channel If the MIDI keyboard provides velocity dy...

Page 72: ... 1 Hihat 3 B1 Tom 1 C2 Tom 2 C 2 Claps 1 D2 Tom 3 D 2 Claps 2 E2 Tom 4 F2 ElTom 1 F 2 Ride 1 G2 ElTom 2 G 2 Ride 2 A2 ElTom 3 A 2 Crash B2 ElTom 4 C3 User 1 C 3 User 2 D3 User 3 D 3 User 1 E3 User 5 F3 User 6 F 3 User 7 G3 User 8 After selecting the desired mode press ENTER 4 The display now asks whether or not you want the pitch keys option If you press YES and play and hold a key for a specific ...

Page 73: ...ck track on tape Section 6H To send a click output from the SP 12 while it is in segment mode to another device program the metronome for a click output see Section 1P This click output signal appears at the MET OUT jack and starts and stops as a segment is started and stopped using RUN STOP 2 To send a click output from the SP 12 while it is in song mode program the Click output as described in S...

Page 74: ...30 the standard frame rate for American television and video This is the default 30df the standard NTSC colour videotape frame rate When the display shows the desired SMPTE frame rate press ENTER 3 Enter the SMPTE time code point where you want the segment or sequence to begin The SMPTE time code format is HH MM SS FF where H hours M minutes S seconds and F frames one frame is equivalent to 1 30th...

Page 75: ...th a 214 pulses per quarter note click However some devices put out 48 Linn 96 Oberheim or 384 Fairlight pulses per quarter note click signals Use the Left Arrow and Right Arrow buttons or keypad to key in a divisor between 01 and 99 to divide the incoming click signal However there is one complication the SP 12 reads both the rising and falling edge of a clock pulse What this means is that it thi...

Page 76: ...ter setting levels press ENTER to stop writing Roll the tape back to where you want the SMPTE to start go into record mode leave a few seconds of blank tape and then press 14 to start recording the time code on tape Always record more time code than you think you ll need You can erase it later if you don t use it and if you ever need it you ll be glad it s there In fact many people simply stripe a...

Page 77: ... the click track usually an outer track such as 8 16 or 24 4 Press RUN STOP to generate the click signal Use this signal to set record levels before rolling tape Set about a 3 VU record level After setting levels press RUN STOP again to stop the click Roll the tape back to where you want the click track to start enter record mode leave a few seconds of blank tape and then press RUN STOP to start r...

Page 78: ...ems Inc 1985 Page 78 Enhanced by The Emulator Archive 2002 www emulatorarchive com PART 7 MIXING AND PROCESSING 7A MIXING AND PROCESSING OVERVIEW 7B PSEUDO AUTOMATED MIXDOWN 7C CREATING AMBIENCE 7D USING SPECIAL EFFECTS IN THE STUDIO ...

Page 79: ...ted mix down effect You won t believe how handy this is until you actually try it 7C CREATING AMBIENCE In most cases you ll plug the drum outputs right into the mixing console and pan these sounds across the stereo field While that will give you a good clear sound some people may find it too clear and clinical The solution is to add ambience a feeling of acoustical space to help give a more live s...

Page 80: ...with reverb If you want to reverb specific beats advance the reverb send control just before the beat then turn it down after the beat That one beat will be sent to the reverb and reverberated Echo units when synched as closely as possible to the tempo of the song can add interesting synchro sonic effects For example try feeding the SP 12 s snare output into an echo unit whose echo time equals a q...

Page 81: ...hive com APPENDIX APPENDIX A THE ART OF SAMPLING APPENDIX B UNDERSTANDING RHYTHMIC NOTATION APPENDIX C UNDERSTANDING TIME SIGNATURES APPENDIX D UNDERSTANDING MIDI SMPTE APPENDIX E TIPS ON CREATING REALISTIC DRUM PARTS APPENDIX F TIPS ON USING CASSETTE INTERFACES APPENDIX G HOW THE SP 12 WORKS ...

Page 82: ...g direct vs sampling via microphone Whenever possible sample electronic instruments directly into the SP 12 Avoid using a recording console direct box or other device in between the instrument and SP 12 Maintain the instrument to be sampled Tune your instrument if applicable and check that the instrument doesn t have any loose parts that rattle squeak or make other noises Sampling acoustic instrum...

Page 83: ... of signal processors when recording samples External Preamp If you need to preamplify the signal being sampled set the Sample section GAIN SET to 00 dB and use an external high quality preamp to increase the signal level going into the SP 12 The SP l2 preamp noise level while acceptable is sometimes not as quiet as an external mic preamp Limiting Dynamic Range Limiting the signal being sampled ca...

Page 84: ...sheen without adding the stridency encountered with excessive high frequency equalization Using noise reduction A number of single ended noise reduction units such as the MicMix Dynafex or Rooktron Hush are now available these do not require that the noisy signal have been previously encoded as is the case with Dolby and dbx If your source signal is noisy one of these devices can help to greatly c...

Page 85: ...udio adapter makes for a very compact and portable package Although splicing is not easy with VCR based audio systems you can generally do the required signal splicing and manipulation within the SP 12 A good alternative to the VCR adapter approach is to use a Sony Beta Hi Fi or VHS Hi Fi recorder the audio tracks are of excellent quality Maintaining sample quality when sampling from tape recordin...

Page 86: ...is will help create the smoothest looping effect Set a loop after the initial attack of the gong and loop as short a section of the sound as possible to conserve memory see Fig Appendix i Truncate that portion of the sound after the loop end point With looping the sound will have infinite sustain For a more realistic effect use SET UP function 18 DECAY TUNE SELECT to set the gong for decay Use the...

Page 87: ...APPENDIX E mu Systems Inc 1985 Page 87 Enhanced by The Emulator Archive 2002 www emulatorarchive com ...

Page 88: ...ic There are four sixteenth notes per quarter note Thus there are sixteen sixteenth notes per measure of 4 4 music There are eight thirty second notes per quarter note Thus there are thirty two thirty second notes per measure of 4 4 music There are also notes that span a greater number of beats than quarter notes A half note equals two quarter notes Therefore there are two half notes per measure o...

Page 89: ... that each of these notes is a quarter note 4 4 indicates that each measure includes four quarter notes Usually the downbeat first beat of each measure is emphasized by a metronome to help you get a feel for the meter 3 4 and 4 4 are the most common time signatures but they are by no means the only ones In jazz both 5 4 where each measure has five 1 4 notes and 7 4 where each measure has seven 1 4...

Page 90: ...is a link between musical instruments that speaks data in computer language How can information control a synthesizer or drum machine First we need to know a bit about computers since MIDI instruments have microcomputer 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 a...

Page 91: ...at is applicable to multi voice synthesizers Therefore mono mode is not implemented in the SP 12 16 channels huh Sounds like a lot of patch cords to me MIDI information is transmitted serially meaning 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 resp...

Page 92: ... you don t get discouraged when things go wrong One of the major problems is data clogging of the MIDI data stream If MIDI is handling drum data keyboard synthesizer data timing data and so on an excess of information can cause the system to slow down or possibly malfunction If this occurs try to figure out what data can be filtered out of the MIDI stream For example keyboard aftertouch informatio...

Page 93: ...nd spaces Keep it simple Drums are not a melodic instrument but a rhythmic instrument Often a simple backbeat is more effective than trying to do elaborate series of drum rolls Beware the three armed drummer Remember that a drummer has two feet and two hands therefore you can t have a bass drum high hat two toms a snare drum and rim sound occurring at the same time Make sure that your parts are ph...

Page 94: ...o much data that sifting out one particular group of sounds or sequences can take forever Another problem is drop outs With audiotape a short drop out while annoying is no big deal If that drop out occurs in the middle of your data though look out The cassette interface will receive garbled information and may not even be able to load the data at all A better alternative is the certified data cass...

Page 95: ...on is over plug the cassette player back into the SP 12 and start loading the data Another option is to record the voice at a low enough level that the interface simply ignores it Maintain a back up cassette Recording multiple saves is one way to prevent the loss of valuable data another is maintaining a second cassette on which you also record the data several times That way if something drastic ...

Page 96: ...nctions are controlled by a built in microcomputer that is as powerful and in some cases more powerful than some of the personal computers that are now available Song and segment information is recorded in RAN random access memory although RAM normally loses its data when the power supply is turned off the SP 12 includes battery backup which preserves data in RAM for up to five years The SP 12 is ...

Page 97: ...tion assignments as printed on the front panel If you wish to abort the erase procedure simply answer NO to the REALLY prompt in the LCD display CAUTION All information not saved to cassette or disk will be lost forever when the CLEAR ALL MEMORY function is complete 13 MEMORY REMAINING The LCD display will show you available sequencer note memory for segments and songs in percentage and available ...

Page 98: ...n keypad to confirm and execute copy Catalog functions Use slider 1 Now the COWBELL sound is found in both the COWBELL and RIM locations 7 PRESS 17 copy sound on keypad Copy sound Select sound 8 PRESS USER 1 button the sound to be copied User 1 Select sound 9 PRESS COWBELL button the destination location User 1 Cowbell Confirm Y N 10 PRESS YES on keypad to confirm and execute copy Catalog function...

Page 99: ...0 31 short long is available Note that all RAM sounds in the tune mode will be affected by this setting 20 D K TUNE RANGE This function applies to RAM sounds only and provides three ranges of tuning or decay length depending on the selection made in Set up function 18 Decay I Tune Select The three ranges are accessed using the and buttons This feature works independently for each RAM sound Experim...

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