6
With the amplifier or mixer off or muted, connect the AC adaptor to the MiniNova {25}, and
plug it into the AC mains. Turn the MiniNova on by moving the rear panel switch {26} to
ext DC. After completing its boot sequence, the LCD display will indicate the Patch which
has been loaded. If the TYPE/GENRE knob has not been moved since the last power-off,
this will be the last Patch used. If the TYPE/GENRE knob has been moved, the Patch
loaded will be the lowest-numbered (or lowest alphabetically-sorted, depending on the
setting of the SORT switch) in the selected Type or Genre.
Turn on the mixer/amplifier/powered speakers, and turn up the Master Volume control
[23] until you have a healthy sound level from the speakers when you play the keyboard
.
Using headphones
Instead of speakers via an amplifier and/or an audio mixer, you may wish to use a pair of
stereo headphones. These may be plugged into the rear panel headphone output socket
{30}.
The main outputs are still active when headphones are plugged in. The MASTER
LEVEL control [23] also adjusts headphone level.
NOTE: The MiniNova headphone amplifier is capable of outputting a high signal level;
please take care when setting the volume.
A WORD ABOUT MENU
NAVIGATION
The MiniNova has been designed to give the player maximum control over sound character
and system operation with the minimum of hassle.
The menu system is always entered by
pressing the MENU button [8]. The menu system consists of six individual menus:
Audio In
Global
Arp
Chord
Edit
Dump
Step between the menus with the PAGE
I
and
H
buttons [7], and press OK [9] to enter the
desired menu. Use the PAGE buttons again to access the parameter you wish to change;
use the DATA control [6] to alter the parameter value.
The menu system can be exited by pressing the MENU/BACK button again; otherwise,
it will automatically time-out after a short period, and the screen will revert to display the
currently-loaded Patch information.
Scrolling through Patches
Your MiniNova comes pre-loaded with a set of factory Patches, which may be auditioned at
any time, providing you are not in the menu system.
The Patches are arranged as 3 banks
(A to C), each with 128 patches (000 to 127). Banks A and B come pre-loaded with a full
set of factory Patches, while Bank C contains 128 copies of an Initial Patch, which you can
either overwrite, or use as the basis for creating your own sounds. With the TYPE/GENRE
selector [4] set to ALL, either rotate the DATA control [6], or use the
PATCH
I
and
H
buttons [11]
to step through the patches.
The new sound is loaded as soon as the patch
data shows in the display.
The Patch set can be browsed in either bank and numerical order, or alphabetically by
name, according the setting of the SORT switch [5].
Searching through Types or Genres
Apart from being arranged in 3 banks, the patches are also categorised for you according
to the type of sound; this makes finding suitable sounds much easier. Each patch
belongs to both a Genre and a Type; the Genre broadly indicates the musical area for
which the patch might be suitable, the Type alternatively arranges the patches by sonic
characteristics. Use the TYPE/GENRE control to select the Type or Genre in which you
are interested.
Once the Type or Genre has been specified, the patch set can again be browsed either in
numerical or alphabetical order.
The Genres and Types are listed below:
TYPES
GENRES
All
Vocoder/VocalTune
Rock/Pop
Bass
R&B/Hip Hop
Keyboard/Lead
Dubstep
Pad/Strings
House/Techno
Arp/Movement
D&B/Breaks
Classic Synth
Using the FAVORITE button to load Patches
You can assign up to eight of your favourite Patches to the eight Performance Pads, and
then quickly reload them without needing to search through the whole Patch list.
Assigning a Patch to a Pad
With the Patch already loaded, press and hold the FAVORITE button [17], and
simultaneously press and hold a Pad button. The display will show
AssignIn
, with
a 3 second countdown timer. After 3 seconds, the display changes to
Favorite
Assigned
, and the Patch is now assigned to that Pad. Note that the Pad turns red to
confirm the assignment.
Loading a Patch from a Pad
Press and hold the FAVORITE button; all the Pads will flash blue (unless the currently-
loaded Patch is one that was previously assigned to a Pad, in which case, the Pad shows a
steady red). While they are flashing, press the Pad which has the Patch you want assigned
to it, and that Patch will now be loaded. The LCD will confirm the new Patch by name.
Demo Mode
Press the two PATCH
I
and
H
buttons [11] simultaneously, and the MiniNova will enter
Demo Mode. Using any control will cause a brief description its function to be displayed
on the LCD screen. Note that none of the controls (except master volume) or keyboard are
active in Demo Mode.
MODIFYING SOUNDS -
USING THE PERFORMANCE
CONTROLS
The MiniNova is equipped with a set of controls specifically designed for use in live
performance. These allow you to modify the sound of the loaded patch in a variety of
interesting and sometimes startling ways!
These controls are found in the PERFORM, PADS and ARP areas of the control panel
(see items 12 - 21 on page 4 ).
Parameter Controls
While playing live, it is often desirable to manually adjust some aspect or other of the sound
– i.e., “tweak” a particular parameter. Although the MiniNova’s design allows you to access
all the parameters defining a particular sound, it is useful if the most important parameters
that you need while playing live are readily available, on a convenient set of controls. These
are the four rotary controls to the right of the control panel, see item 12 on page 4.
Use these four knobs in conjunction with the Perform Row Selector switch [13]. An
LED will illuminate to show you which of the six banks of available parameters the knobs
are assigned to. Note that Rows 3 to 6 always control the same parameters, regardless of
the patch you have loaded – though the actual effect of the control will quite likely sound
different! Rows 1 and 2 place the four knobs into “Tweak” mode, where the parameters
they control vary with the patch (see below).
Don’t worry too much at this stage what words like “Resonance” and “Sustain” mean – all
these (and many other) terms are explained in much greater detail further on in the manual.
Just try to become familiar with the actual sonic effect you hear when you adjust each of the
parameters in turn, for different categories of patch.
The four knobs used for “tweaking” will almost never be in the correct position
relative to the value of the parameters they control which are stored as part of the
currently-loaded Patch. For example, in the Patch A000 (“BassIsWet DC”), the
value of the Filter Envelope Decay Time parameter is 27. If the Tweak control for this (RC2
in Row 4) is set to – say – 2 o’clock, the knob position implies a completely different value.
The LCD display includes two arrows which tell you which way to turn the knob to get the
knob position to “match” the stored parameter value. As long as Pot Pickup is set On (in
the Global Menu), the knob will have no effect until both arrows are off. If Pot Pickup is
Off, turning the knob will immediately alter the parameter, which may produce an audible
“jump”. See page 13 for more information on Pot Pickup.
Vocoder
Voc/MFX
Turn
Turn
Turn
Vocoder
Voc/MFX
