Kurzweil PC3, Musician'S Manual

Page: 225 / 308

Song Mode and the Song Editor
Getting Started with the Sequencer
12-1
Chapter 12
Song Mode and the Song Editor
Getting Started with the Sequencer
The PC3’s sequencer is a powerful and versatile tool for songwriters, composers, and anyone
else who wants to record and play back songs. As with any tool, however, it’s best to start with
the basics. If you are familiar with other sequencers, you will have no problem using Song mode
in the PC3. Read through this section, however, to learn about the features that make the PC3’s
sequencer unique.
What is a Sequencer?
A sequencer is similar in some ways to a multi-track tape recorder: you can record and play back
all sorts of music and sounds, layer sounds on top of other sounds, and change or manipulate
things that you’ve previously recorded. Unlike a tape recorder, however, you do not actually
record sounds with a sequencer. Rather, you are recording commands that cause sounds to be
played. Nonetheless, we will sometimes explain sequencer features by drawing analogies to
familiar tape recording techniques such as splicing and overdubbing.
There are several advantages to recording a song by sequencing. For one thing, sequencer
commands take up much less disk space than digitally recorded music would, so you can get a
lot of information (that is, music) per megabyte. Furthermore, you can easily make changes to
your sequences. For example, you can change individual notes, transpose parts, or change
instrumentation. Lastly, you can share the sequences you create with other musicians.
Song Mode: The MAIN Page
The Song mode MAIN Page allows real time recording and playback, song and track selection.
From this page you can view and edit the tracks’ channel, program, volume and pan settings, as
well as other useful items.
Parameter Range of Values Default
Current Song Song List 0*New Song*
Recording Track 1 to 16, None, Mult 1
Program Program List Current Program