PC88 Made Easy
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15. Using the Arpeggiator
One often overlooked feature of the PC88 is the arpeggiator. This can be a lot of fun to
play with - you can get many interesting and unusual effects. Basically, an arpeggiator
takes notes that you play and repeats them in a pattern. Typically, you might use it to
arpeggiate chords that you play, but it can have other uses such as playing percussion
patterns.
This tutorial will be a bit different from the others - instead of creating a specific
arpeggiator effect, we will experiment with various parameters and hear the different
results.
You can use the Arpeggiator in both the Internal Voices and MIDI Setups mode. We will
start in Internal Voices mode, but if you find a specific set of parameter values that you
like as you explore through the tutorial, you can simply press the Store button to save
the settings as a single zone Setup.
1.
Start in Internal voices and call up any sound that you want to work with. To best
hear the effects of the arpeggiator, you might want to start with a program that has a
percussive attack, such as piano, marimba, guitar, etc.
2.
Press the Arpeggiator button. Turn the Arp Active parameter On. Play a chord on the
keyboard. You should hear the notes arpeggiated. If you hear nothing at all, go to the
Global Menu and check to make sure the Clock parameter is set to Internal. If you hear
notes but they arenÕt arpeggiated, press the >> three times to make sure Zone Enable is
On and once more to make sure Latch Mode is set to Keys.
Try playing a single note. Notice that it is repeated. Try adding more notes. As you
press them they are added to the arpeggio. Let go of one of the keys. Notice that note is
dropped from the arpeggio while the others continue. Notice that the arpeggiator plays
the notes in the specific order that you strike them. Also notice that the loudness of the
arpeggiated notes depends on how hard you strike the keys.
Hold the sustain pedal and let go of the keys. Notice that even though the notes ring out
like they would when you press the sustain pedal, the arpeggiation stops. In order for
the arpeggiator to work, the keys must be held down, or otherwise latched (we will cover
various latching methods in the next tutorial).
Now turn the Arp Active parameter back to Off.
3.
Hold the Controllers button and press the ÒFÓ controllers button. Set the Switch Type
to Toggle. Press the >> button, then 116, then Enter. The PC88 uses MIDI controller 116
to turn the arpeggiator on and off. Press the >> button and set the On Value to 64. Press
the >> button twice and set the Off Value to 0. Since a Switch controllers has only two
states (On or Off), any value between 0 and 63 is considered Off and and any value
between 64 and 127 is On. Now if you turn the button on andstrike the keys, you will
hear arpeggiation. If you turn the button off, then you will just hear the notes you
played. Leave the button turned on.
4.
As long as we are programming the controllers, we will set something else that we will
use later. Hold the Controllers button, strike any key and press down. The display will
