21
Performan ce
Mode Ð Practical
Knowledge
L
Now that we have looked in detail at the
CS1x sound components and its Arpeg-
giator, let‘s devote some time to its Per-
formance Mode.
The following three subjects should generate particular
interest: use of the knobs and Scenes, Effect applications
and, finally, tips and tricks for live applications. If you haven‘t
already transferred the relevant sound bank (“TUTOR-
PFM.MID”) to your CS1x, you should do so now.
Scenes – what are they?
Let‘s begin with Scenes. You may not be familiar with this
term. The principle that it is based on, however, is easily
explained: each of the two Scene switches can be used to
store all six knob positions in a Performance, which can later
be recalled by simply pressing the right switch. In the sim-
plest case scenario, each switch is used to select a tonal vari-
ation of the sound used. You could for instance use the knobs
to speed-up a pad sound‘s fade-in and out times, thereby
making it more suitable for rhythmic or solo playing, and
then save these settings to one of the Scene switches. Now
you can effortlessly change between the two sound types
without having to switch Performances.
A M P L E :
Let‘s assume you often play pad sounds, but want to use
them also in other ways. The Preset sound P101 allows you
to switch at lightning speed from a slow fade synth pad
(Scene 1) to another variant (Scene 2) that can be used for
melodic phrases or certain themes. Often it is helpful enough
to be able to call-up different filter settings with the Scenes
(P093), but as you can already alter the Filter‘s frequency
with knob 5, using Scenes may seem a little awkward. How-
ever, ask yourself how often you have been able to spontane-
ously find exactly the right frequency with the knob.
Synth brass sounds also benefit greatly from having two
variants ready to call-up. The Preset sound P110 reveals itself
to be particularly flexible. Whilst the Scene 2 setting is suited
to pad parts, Scene 1 lends itself to much more up-front key-
board riffs. The golden middle ground, a nicely balanced
brass sound, is occupied by the Performance itself, i.e. when
none of the Scene keys are depressed.
The tonal possibilities offered by Scenes increase dramat-
ically, however, when both Scenes are activated simulta-
neously. You can now ‘fade’ between the two stored knob
positions, from Scene 1 to Scene 2 and back again. The
CS1x‘s Utility mode factory settings assign this task to the
Mod wheel as standard. Just as effective however is the use
of a connected rocker pedal. Doing so will leave the Mod
wheel free for other tasks like Filter or Vibrato effect. Of
course you will need to assign these playing aids afresh in
the Utility mode. Select the ASSIGN CTRL NO and press
one of the Scene switches. Now use the Up/Down knob to
find the “Foot Ctrl” setting – and you‘re done.
So, what can be done with this? Well, let‘s say you have
programmed a high Resonance value for Scene 1, and a low
value for Scene 2. Increasing the Controller value (MW/FC)
will now continuously decrease the sound‘s Resonance. Of
course if you only want to vary a sound‘s Resonance you can
achieve this just as easily with the respective knob – the use
of Scenes would be illogical here. The point is that you can
control many modulations simultaneously with Scenes – a
single movement can affect the central Envelope parameters
(knobs 1+2), Filter (knob 4+5) and a further two freely defin-
able Control knobs (3+6) all at once – to great effect!
The best results can be achieved with clever programming
of Assign1/2. You can for instance achieve morph-like
effects if you are working with volume level modulation. Put
simply: a piano changes into a string sound. Or you can use
Scene morphing to shape a moderate pad sound into a cut-
ting sequencer sound – the possibilities are endless. Let‘s
explore such sounds using the ‘learning by doing’ principle!
Don‘t worry, we aren‘t going to leave you out in the cold. We
have five examples that show what can be fabricated with
the Scenes.
Day to Day things
Before we begin you should know how to store a Scene.
This is basically very easy: first arrange the knobs as desired.
Once you have hit on an interesting sound you can save this
variant by holding down the Store key and then pressing the
first Scene switch. Now create another variant and save this
one to Scene 2. It is important that the two variants comple-
ment in each other tonally. Always bear in mind that any
morphing occurs first from Scene 1 to Scene 2!
Knob positions for Scene Morphing
If you wish to fade in a sound you should take care that the
first Scene doesn‘t result in a relatively loud or harmonically
rich sound. Initially, both Scene settings are stored in the
working memory of the CS1x. You will need to save your
Scene settings together with the compete Performance or
they will be lost every time you change to another Perfor-
mance or into the Multi mode. Be careful, it‘s easy to make a
little mistake here: you should reset all the knobs to their
middle position before you actually store your Performance,
otherwise you will have inadvertently changed your entire
Performance!
You should also be aware of the following: you may occa-
sionally have played with the knobs and wondered why no
changes could be heard. Strange, how can this be
explained? It‘s quite simple: if you have activated one or both
of the Scenes, any knob movements are simply ignored. The
knob settings you have made will have no effect even when
the Scenes are deactivated.
Scene1
Atack
-64
Relese
0
Asgn1
33
C.Off
8
Rez
13
Asgn2
-64
Scene1
Atack
0
Relese
10
Asgn1
0
C.Off
8
Rez
-12
Asgn2
63