Mayer MD900 Instruction Manual Download

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MD900

Instruction manual

Summary of Contents for MD900

Page 1: ...MD900 Instruction manual ...

Page 2: ...1 Instruction manual V1A 29 5 2022 Mayer EMI ...

Page 3: ...AL PANEL FUNCTIONS 11 FOCUS KEYS 11 ASSISTANCE DISPLAY 11 REAR CONNECTIONS 12 COMMISSIONING 13 CONNECTIONS DETAILS 14 USB 2 0 HOST INTERFACES 14 USB MASS STORAGE 14 PEDAL SUSTAIN HOLD 14 EXPRESSION PEDAL 14 MIDI IN 15 MIDI THRU 16 MIDI OUT 16 AUDIO IN L R 16 AUDIO OUT L R OUT L 16 TOUCH DISPLAY OVERVIEW 17 PARAMETER LABEL 18 MIDI LEARN 18 SYNTHESIZER STRUCTURE 19 ARRANGER 21 SAVE 22 SAVE AS 22 ...

Page 4: ...4 SIDECHAIN 25 FADEOUT 25 START 25 END 25 PITCH 25 KEY 25 PARTS 26 SYNTH A B C D 27 PRESET SELECTION 27 SAVE PRESET 27 VOICE MODE 28 MASTER 29 LEVEL 29 PART 29 EXPEDAL 29 MUTE 29 CLIP LAUNCHER 30 TRACK 30 CLIP 30 OPEN 31 TAKE OVER 31 TEMPO 31 OPERATION 31 NAME 31 MIDI SEQUENCER 32 TRANSPOSE 32 IMPORT 32 LOOP 32 MIDI GRID 33 ...

Page 5: ... 40 MIDI INPUTS 40 VOICE STRUCTURE 42 SPECIAL FEATURE 43 VOICE SHUTDOWN 43 UNISONO DETUNE 43 GLIDE 44 KBD MODE 44 VOICE A B C D 45 OSCILLATOR WAVETABLE MODE 46 WAVETABLE SELECTION 47 PARAMETER 47 FINE 48 COARSE 48 FM RANGE 48 DETUNE 48 UNISONO 48 SPREAD 48 PAN 48 OSCILLATOR ALGORITHM MODE 49 COMMON PARAMETERS 49 SHAPE P2 49 MODULATIONS 49 ALGORITHM 49 PANEL 50 ...

Page 6: ...NEL 53 FILTER A B 54 INPUT 54 CUTOFF 54 RESO 54 KBD TRACK 54 ENV AMT 54 LINK 54 TYPE 55 PANEL 55 LFO 1 2 3 56 DELAY 56 DEPTH 56 SYNC 56 RATE 56 DIV 57 NOTE 57 PANEL 57 ENVELOPE GENERATORS 58 ATTACK 58 DECAY 58 SUSTAIN 58 RELEASE 58 RATIO A 59 RATIO DR 59 VELOCITY 59 MODE 59 PEDAL 59 SUSTAIN 59 HOLD 59 ...

Page 7: ...6 PANEL 60 MODULATIONS MATRIX 61 DEFAULT 61 CLEAR 61 SRC 61 AMOUNT 61 DST 61 SIGNAL SUMMING 61 SIGNAL ANIMATION 62 PANEL 62 ...

Page 8: ...nel with maybe not so obvious functions For a better overview you will find a schematic representation of the respective section in the chapters All names like knobs sliders and buttons are printed in BOLD in the manual and correspond to those on the MD900 panel Furthermore the menu items of the touch display are shown in BOLD CURSIVE in the manual Note A lot of care has been taken in the preparat...

Page 9: ...2 0 host maximum 1 5A in total The scope of delivery also includes country adapters for US EU UK AU Operation Do not place any liquids on the MD900 such as drinks or similar Make sure that the device is stable during operation The MD900 must not be exposed to direct sunlight No heat sources in the immediate vicinity Care Do not open the MD900 Repair and maintenance may only be performed by qualifi...

Page 10: ...DI devices such as controllers or keyboards Any other use is not permitted and excludes any warranty claims against MAYER EMI Disposal The MD900 is manufactured in compliance with the European Union RoHS Nevertheless this device is hazardous waste and must not be disposed of in household waste For disposal please contact your dealer or Mayer EMI www mayer emi at ...

Page 11: ... NOISE Oscillator Sample based 3 Mixer OSC1 OSC2 Noise 4 Wave shaper 5 Filter A B section 6 LFO section 7 Envelope Generators 8 PART Selection 9 Quick navigation keys Selection wheel 10 Touch display 11 Keyboard Mode Volume Main Volume Headphone Figure 1 Front panel ...

Page 12: ... matrix this is indicated by the LED flashing Pressing the focus button again terminates the assignment mode More about this in the MODULATIONS MATRIX Assistance Display Some of the sections have their own assistance display which shows detailed information Furthermore parameter details are displayed during the setting This is very helpful for the value retrieval function see TRACKING If a paramet...

Page 13: ...t 2 USB 2 0 Host connectors 3 Pedal connectors Sustain Hold Pedal optional functions see ENVELOPE GENERATORS Expression Pedal 4 DIN MIDI Ports IN OUT THRU 5 Audio connectors Stereo Audio Input OPTIONAL Mono Right channel stereo audio output Mono Left channel Figure 4 Connections ...

Page 14: ...C D from the DIN MIDI IN jack MIDI settings see MIDI Settings After powering on the MD900 the Initial Preset default is loaded on all 4 Parts The MASTER appears in the touch display when the MD900 is ready to play Info After power on it takes about 40 seconds until the MD900 is ready to play The volume can be adjusted at the MAIN LEVEL and this also changes the volume of the headphones which can b...

Page 15: ...gers the Sustain Hold function regardless of the switching function The Sustain Hold function can be selected preset specific sound program and per envelope generator see ENVELOPE GENERATORS Sustain Selects between two different release times Hold Holds the sustain phase regardless of the release of the keyboard keys Expression Pedal This is a stereo jack socket to which an expression pedal volume...

Page 16: ...MD900 15 MIDI IN This DIN MIDI input jack allows the connection of a MIDI keyboard or controller according to MIDI 1 0 specification The control of the Drum Sampler see ...

Page 17: ...ternal sound generators AUDIO IN L R This stereo jack is an audio input for future expansions effects etc Input level 2Vpp AUDIO OUT L R OUT L The OUT L R stereo jack socket can optionally be connected to a mixer audio interface active speakers using a TS stereo cable or is the Right output The OUT L mono jack socket is the Left output Info Further explanations about the functionality of the MIDI ...

Page 18: ...ng section e g Oscillator 1 Each continuous controller group can have up to 5 levels I e the corresponding parameter of the group can be selected on the touch display and then be changed by means of the endless controller The pressing function of the endless controller depends on the active parameter and is explained in the corresponding sections Figure 5 Touch Display ...

Page 19: ...the corresponding sections Pressing the ESC ENTER key at the same time starts stops all active sequencers arpeggiators drums see Clip Launcher Parameter Label In the Figure 6 Parameter Label the parameter Label is shown in detail here NAME VALUE and UNIT are displayed MIDI Learn If the LABEL has a blue marking in the upper right corner of the frame the MIDI Learn Mode can be activated by pressing ...

Page 20: ...MD900 19 Synthesizer structure Figure 7 Synthesizer Structure ...

Page 21: ...terrelationships The components are operated or set via the main menu and are explained in detail in the manual at the corresponding sections This figure serves for a better understanding It should be noted that each PART has its own stereo effect section stack The sequencers and arpeggiators are also available 4x ...

Page 22: ...ouching the row After the arrangement has been loaded the MIDI settings are taken from the arrangement the MIDI settings are stored in the arrangement If necessary these can be adjusted Save the arrangement afterwards with SAVE SAVE_AS to save your MIDI settings Figure 8 ARRANGER Attention After starting the MD900 the default arrangement is loaded In this case the MIDI settings are automatically s...

Page 23: ...ntroller is taken over immediately which can lead to value jumps If tracking is activated changes are only taken over when the controller value reaches above below the current value Thus jumps in the value can be avoided See Figure 3 Assistance Display M TUNE The parameter M TUNE MASTER TUNE allows tuning all four synthesizers A B C D together this is done in 100 cents Attention Only the arrangeme...

Page 24: ...gered by the internal drum sequencer or externally via MIDI channel 10 Therefore we call it only briefly DRUM KIT The drum kit groups the 14 instruments e g kick snare hats toms percussions etc together with all their settings and sample selections See Figure 9 Drum KIT GRID see DRUM Pattern Info The samples for DRUM NOISE wave files can be loaded into the MD900 by the user see md900 backup restor...

Page 25: ...e relationship to the file structure Each instrument has its access location to its samples which are offered for selection Samples selection list The independent drum instruments are one shot sample players Selection FILTER By means of this parameter the displayed list can be filtered by sample groups Figure 11 DRUM INSTRUMENT Figure 10 DRUM SAMPLE STRUCTURE ...

Page 26: ...ssible to a zero crossing END End point selection in total length It is automatically tried to set this end point as close as possible to a zero crossing In addition the signal is faded out during the set time fadeout PITCH Change the output frequency in relative to the sample base frequency KEY Sets the MIDI note to which this instrument can be triggered by MIDI channel 10 Info The DRUM sample pl...

Page 27: ... of on the one hand loading the sound presets for the corresponding PARTs and on the other hand assigning the operation be it via the TOUCH display or the control panel to the corresponding PART This is done in the PARTs section with the help of the buttons A D with which this switching takes place As in Figure 12 PART displayed PARTs A D are distinguished by colors for better orientation These co...

Page 28: ...ies to the others B C D in the same way Figure 13 Category The presets are grouped by the category With the button of the same name the List View can be switched to select one See Figure 13 Category If a category is now selected in the List View the presets are listed and can now be selected and loaded in the same way See Figure 14 Presets Save Preset Saving a loaded preset is done by pressing the...

Page 29: ...st the tuning of the corresponding SYNTH in cents 100 to the normal tuning Voice Mode With the VOICE MODE parameter you can define how the voice assignment should be done MONO monophonic the same voice is always assigned and emulates the behavior of a monophonic synthesizer POLY Is the polyphonic mode UNI2 3 4 UNISONO assigns 2 3 4 voices Info The VOICE MODE parameter can also be set on the panel ...

Page 30: ...sample player has this level in the ARRANGER tab and allows mixing into the stereo sum See ARRANGER PART Shows with blue background the part which is active in the menu and on the panel EXPedal This touch button can be used to activate deactivate an expression pedal for the corresponding PART blue background indicates activated When the EXPedal is activated the volume can be controlled via the exp...

Page 31: ...ivated via this controller Navigation must still be done via the touch screen TRACK The tracks are the columns PART A D DRUM TRACK 6 7 and are permanently linked to the respective instrument s PART A D corresponds to SYNTH A D DRUM corresponds to the drum sample player TRACKS 6 7 are intended for the control of external sound generators in the future CLIP The so called CLIPs can now be inserted in...

Page 32: ...P Creates an arpeggiator or drum CLIP CreateSEQ Creates a sequencer CLIP MIDI track Copy Copies a selected CLIP to the clipboard Paste Copies from the clipboard to the selected CLIP Delete Delete the selected CLIP First an operation is selected then the corresponding CLIP field is selected and finally the operation is executed by pressing the Encoder knob NAME This label can be used to name a CLIP...

Page 33: ...h of the MIDI file is in quarter notes and is not automatically the end for the repeat see LOOP TRANSPOSE Allows to transpose up to 3 octaves when importing IMPORT This touch button performs the import of the selected standard MIDI file mid into the CLIP The name from the MIDI file not the file name is taken as the clip name LOOP This parameter specifies the length in bars BARs where the repetitio...

Page 34: ...uch display the range can be selected by holding and moving Both in the time level and in the pitch level If an active clip is opened and displayed in the grid the current position is visualized by a cursor Figure 18 MIDI GRID Info The MIDI Grid is a pure display and it can not be edited Info The MIDI sequencer has only a playback function in the current XVAOS version ...

Page 35: ...ll be played as a substitute o none No play o last The last key played o last 1 Oct The last key played increased by 1 octave o last 1 Oct The last key played decreased by 1 octave o first The first key played o first 1 Oct The first key played increased by 1 octave o first 1 Oct The first key struck decreased by 1 octave ORDER Sets the order in which the struck keys are sorted K1 K5 o pitchup Pit...

Page 36: ...site the corresponding step K1 K2 K3 K4 K5 Figure 21 ARP ASSIGN If not all keys are played notes are played as substitutes according to the settings Substitute CHORD plays all played notes on this step FIX is for future extension MODE This menu tab defines the Step Mode OFF No note is played in this step ON In this step the note is played HLD Hold extends the note from the previous step LEG Legato...

Page 37: ...0 semitones no transposition to B 11 semitones Figure 23 ARP SEMITONE OCTAVE This menu tab allows transposition of the note value in octave up down 0 corresponds to the note value of the step without transposition Info The note played depends on the root note of the corresponding step Figure 22 ARP OCTAVE ...

Page 38: ...of virtual control voltage to the corresponding synth engine This allows step specific modulations These virtual control voltages are found with the same name in the modulation matrix as a source and can be switched there The GATE parameter sets the note ON OFF ratio The TEMPO parameter sets the beats per minute BPM Figure 24 ARP VELOCITY Info The preset must have the velocity setting in the envel...

Page 39: ...ated deactivated at the corresponding step in the grid The last selected grid field can now be assigned an alternative instrument with the SEL parameter e g clhat or ophat Furthermore the velocity can be adjusted from 0 100 with the parameter ACCENT See Figure 26 DRUM PATTERN In the selection mode a grid field can be selected without deactivating it Thus a change of the alternative instrument SEL ...

Page 40: ... wheel can be used to switch to the next page s Pattern Duplication Once you have created a pattern page it is easy to duplicate it For example increase the number of steps from 16 to 32 use the selection wheel to move to page 17 32 and then press the STEPS knob the previous page 1 16 will be duplicated to page 17 32 ...

Page 41: ...gned to P1 To assign the connected USB MIDI device go to the tab MIDI Devices see Figure 27 DEVICES Pressing the UPDATE touch button updates the Devices list right MIDI Inputs In the MIDI tab the MIDI routing configuration will be setup To assign a MIDI Input Port Channel select one of the sub tabs IN A B C D Track 6 Track 7 Additional settings are adjustable for the MIDI Input in this view Figure...

Page 42: ...or LABEL START END sets the active range where this part accepts note ON OFF values this is useful for splitting the keyboard LABEL TRANSPOSE shifts octave wise upwards LABEL BEND UP sets the pitch bend range upwards in semitone steps LABEL BEND DW sets the pitch bend range down in semitone steps LABEL Velo Curve MIDI velocity correction curve ...

Page 43: ...MD900 42 Voice structure Figure 29 Voice structure ...

Page 44: ...y with the possibilities of the wavetable or algorithm oscillators the sound design can already be very complex by using these oscillators in conjunction with the multimode filters On the other hand there are plenty of modulation sources Together with the two filter paths and the extensive modulation possibilities of the oscillators these allow the greatest possible movement motion in the sound Vo...

Page 45: ... The KBD MODE parameter allows to set the articulation behavior in the MONO voice mode NORM The EGs envelope generators are triggered with every keystroke regardless of whether legato or staccato is played LEGATO If legato is played only the pitch is taken over The EGs are not triggered With staccato the EGs are triggered when each key is played GLIDE_LEGATO Only with a legato playing mode the GLI...

Page 46: ...identifier A B C D the corresponding PART is displayed by which this voice was requested If the identifier is an x then this voice is deactivated see Figure 30 VOICE Overview Info On the panel it is possible to navigate directly to this menu via the PARTs with the keys A B C D According to the selected key See Figure 1 Front panel Figure 30 VOICE Overview Info The VOICE button on the panel can be ...

Page 47: ...rs of the oscillator are accessible via the panel The Spect Morph parameter is only accessible via the touch display The following is the oscillator view on the touch display See Figure 31 WAVETABLE OSCILLATOR As shown in the figure it is possible to switch between the 2D 3D view In the 2D view the phase position and the current phase position modulation are also displayed Figure 31 WAVETABLE OSCI...

Page 48: ...from 0 256 this parameter is modulable PHASE Phase position 0 100 SPECT MORPH Selection of the spectral morphing algorithm The frequency spectrum is changed by different variants By changing the wavetable position and changing the morph depth parameter MORPH P2 surprising textures are created H SHIFT Shifts after the fundamental frequency parts of the spectrum to higher positions IH STRETCH Pulls ...

Page 49: ...umber of unison oscillators UNISONO Unison mode expands the number up to 4 of active oscillators x2 x3 x4 At x1 and x5 this mode is inactive 2x x3 x4 is almost the same as described above but with the difference that every second unison oscillator is shifted down by 1 octave From a number of 2 unison oscillators the oscillator output signal is split into STEREO With the DETUNE the total detuning i...

Page 50: ... SHAPE P2 These two parameters change the waveform depending on the selected algorithm Parameter Range Shape 0 256 P2 0 100 Modulations Most of the parameters are targets for modulation in the modulation matrix They can be switched there with various sources Exceptions are the enumerations like ALGORITHM UNISON and SPECT MORPH These are exclusively manually adjustable ALGORITHM Is the selection of...

Page 51: ...SE only in the positive pulse duration a special type of pulse width change PANEL The panel operation of the oscillator is identical to the value labels in terms of parameters and it can be set alternately on the main display or on the panel Switching the oscillator mode is done by long pressing the SEL MODE endless control Long pressing of the UNISON key switches between mute unmute i e the oscil...

Page 52: ...onstant MODE The MODE parameter determines the playback behavior REPEAT Repeats the whole sample TRANS Transition is played only once LOOPED If loop markers are included in the sample area highlighted in gray the sample is repeated between Loop Start End If no loop markers are present the entire sample is repeated PAN By means of this parameter it is possible to shift the left right part 0 to 100 ...

Page 53: ...ot confirmed within 4 seconds the name jumps back to the currently loaded noise sample However if the selection is confirmed beforehand by briefly pressing the Encoder this selection will be loaded SHAPER Is not implemented in the current version and is reserved for future versions Attention Please make sure that the SHAPER is not routed These settings are stored in the preset And can otherwise ca...

Page 54: ...he OSC 1 2 exclusively through filter A Is also available as destination in the modulation matrix FLT Blend This parameter allows smooth crossfading between the two filters A B paths OSC1 OSC2 NOISE These parameters set the signal volume of the corresponding oscillators PANEL At the panel the oscillator levels the routing or filter blend can be set in the same way and with the same name The XFADE ...

Page 55: ...l into the FILTER 0 100 CUTOFF This parameter sets the cutoff frequency of the filter 50Hz 17200Hz Short press of the Encoder knob toggles between fine and coarse frequency setting RESO The Resonance parameter sets the amount of feedback 0 100 Depending on the filter type it can lead to self resonance KBD TRACK This parameter shifts more or less the cutoff frequency depending on the set value 0 10...

Page 56: ...s 12dB MOOGVCF_HP Moog style VCF high pass 12dB SEM_LP12 Curtis Style low pass 12dB SEM_BP12 Curtis Style band pass 12dB SEM_HP12 Curtis Style high pass 12dB SEM_NS12 Curtis Style notch 12dB PANEL The filter can be operated from the panel with the most important parameters CUTOFF RESO TYPE Changing the ENV AMT Envelope Amount can be done by holding down the TYPE button while turning the CUTOFF kno...

Page 57: ...times per second DELAY This parameter allows to delay the LFO output signal 0 008s 45s DEPTH The signal depth of the output signal 0 100 SYNC The SYNC parameter defines the operating mode or synchronization The following operating modes are available RUN Continuous generation of the output signal KBD With each new note played the phase is reset BPM Is in phase with the song position and BPM Beat p...

Page 58: ...ular 2x Dotted 1x Mod Factor is controlled by modulation 0 32 Dotted 33 66 Regular 67 100 Triplet PANEL LFO panel operation is done in the same way only the DIV and NOTE parameters cannot be controlled from the panel The selection of the waveform is done with the encoder WAVE By pressing the focus button the corresponding LFO can be selected in the touch display Figure 40 LFOs PANEL ...

Page 59: ...nerator state is also displayed See Figure 41 EG ATTACK This parameter sets the rise time 0 5ms 32s DECAY This parameter sets the fall time 0 5ms 32s to sustain SUSTAIN This parameter sets the hold value 0 100 which is valid until the key is released again RELEASE This parameter sets the fall time 0 5ms 32s from the hold value SUSTAIN to the value 0 NR PANEL Modulations Matrix Default Routing 1 AM...

Page 60: ...f the EG These are the following ADSR All 4 Phases Standard Mode AR Attack Release AD Attack Decay AD_LOOP similar to AD repeats independently until released PEDAL If a sustain hold pedal is connected this parameter is set to OFF then everything works as described before SUSTAIN Selects between two release times Release when the pedal is not pressed Release B when the pedal is pressed HOLD If the ...

Page 61: ...continues to indicate to which of the two EGs the controls are assigned The value changes are shown in detail in the assistance display If the TRACKING function has been activated some of the controller LEDs may not light up while others do If a value is picked up the Tracked LED lights up and the controller position is identical to the value If it is not lit the controller position is not identic...

Page 62: ...meter is used to select the source SOURCE of a selected entry AMOUNT By means of this parameter the signal of the source of a selected entry can be attenuated or inverted 0 100 This is indicated by the bar in red blue blue inverted DST By means of this parameter the signal destination DESTINATION of a selected entry can be selected SIGNAL SUMMING If different signal sources are assigned to the sam...

Page 63: ... out 375 Hz Rate 100 8 FLTA OUT FILTER A Signal out 100 9 FLTB OUT FILTER B Signal out 100 10 CVA Control Voltage A Arpeggiator 0 to 100 11 CVB Control Voltage B Arpeggiator 0 to 100 12 CVC Control Voltage C Arpeggiator 0 to 100 13 MIDI VEL MIDI Velocity 0 127 0 to 100 14 MIDI AFT MIDI Aftertouch 0 127 15 MIDI MOD MIDI Modulation Wheel 0 127 16 FIX Signal 100 17 MIDI NOTE MIDI Note 0 127 100 18 RA...

Page 64: ...E A Cross Fade OSC1 OSC2 to Filter A 100 32 OSC1 FMAMT Common OSC1 FM Amount 0 100 33 OSC2 FMAMT Common OSC2 FM Amount 0 100 34 OSC1 AMAMT Common OSC1 AM Amount 0 100 35 OSC2 AMAMT Common OSC2 AM Amount 0 100 36 OSC1 AM Common OSC1 Amplitude Modulation 0 100 37 OSC2 AM Common OSC2 Amplitude Modulation 0 100 38 EG A ATTACK Amplifier A Envelope attack time 100 39 EG A DECAY Amplifier A Envelope deca...

Page 65: ...DI GRID 33 Figure 19 ARP SETTINGS 34 Figure 20 ARP MODE 35 Figure 21 ARP ASSIGN 35 Figure 22 ARP OCTAVE 36 Figure 23 ARP SEMITONE 36 Figure 24 ARP VELOCITY 37 Figure 25 ARP CVA B C 37 Figure 26 DRUM PATTERN 38 Figure 27 DEVICES 40 Figure 28 MIDI PART Input 40 Figure 29 Voice structure 42 Figure 30 VOICE Overview 45 Figure 31 WAVETABLE OSCILLATOR 46 Figure 32 ALGORITHM OSCILLATOR 49 Figure 33 OSCIL...

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