What is it good for?
It lets you change the tone color of the built-in instrument voices. For example, timbre shift lets you turn the acoustic grand
piano into a bright rock ’n’ roll piano. You can also select a particular timbre (such as the piano sound at the low A) and play
it over the entire keyboard.
How about chorusing?
The 150FS chorusing is software chorusing, not the kind you get with an external effects box. It works by generating extra
notes (up to seven) for each MIDI note. Each extra note may be successively detuned, delayed and attenuated so you can
create a variety of effects such as phasing/flanging, chorusing and echo. The detune range is enormous (up to 2000 cents) so
you can chorus in musical intervals such as fifths -- i.e., 700 cents.
How about vibrato?
The vibrato LFO is a variable symmetry oscillator. There are two waveshapes available: triangle and square; a symmetry
control acts like pulse width modulation. You can also select whether the vibrato works above, below or about the nominal
pitch.
How do I control the effects?
Each sound layer has parameters that control how the chorusing and vibrato effects are applied. Either (or both) effect can be
switched on or off or enabled by the mod wheel and/or by mono or polyphonic afterpressure (aftertouch). Another parameter
controls pitch bend, which can be disabled, controlled by the pitch wheel, afterpressure, or both.
You mentioned a graphic equalizer?
Yes. Each program has an eight-band graphic equalizer. Each sound layer has a parameter to turn the equalizer on or off.
How many programs can I have?
The 150FS allows program numbers from 1 to 255. But the size of a program varies with the number of sound layers. A
typical number of user programs is 100. This does not include programs provided in the 150FS’s ROMS.
255 programs? MIDI allows only 128!
We’ve thought of that. The 150FS includes a 128 element program list that lets you map MIDI program numbers to 150FS
programs. You can split the list two or four ways if you like (e.g., to create four banks of thirty-two programs each).
What about polyphony? How may notes can it play?
The 150FS can produce up to 16 notes at once. You can start up to eight notes simultaneously; beyond that, you’ll start to
hear delays.
Delays?
Yes, delays. If you create a program with four sound layers, each MIDI note will actually produce four notes. So if you play
a six-note chord, you trigger 24 note events. The 150FS will immediately play eight of these voices, and the remainder of the
voices (up to 240 partials simultaneously) will be heard as previously-triggered notes are released.
Does this mean I can’t use the layering and chorusing?
No. It just means that your demands must be reasonable. Excessive chorusing and layering should be used to create sounds
that you would play monophonically (i.e., one note at a time). For polyphonic playing, you should limit the number of notes
per MIDI note to three (e.g., three layers or one layer with two-note chorusing or two layers with one-note chorusing on one
of the layers).
So how does it work with MIDI?
The 150FS features OMNI, POLY and the Kurzweil MULTI modes of MIDI operation. In Multi Mode, the 150FS is multi-
timbral. You can assign separate programs to all 16 MIDI channels. Each channel has separate controls (pitch wheel, mod
wheel, etc.). The 150FS is also one of the few instruments that is responsive to polyphonic afterpressure.
Polyphonic afterpressure?
Yes. Afterpressure can be used to control pitch bend, chorus detune and/or vibrato depth on a per-key basis.
What synthesizers produce afterpressure?
Many synthesizers produced within the last few years produce monophonic (channel) afterpressure. The Kurzweil
MIDIBOARD is the only one, however, that produces polyphonic afterpressure.
