CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 2 - DRUM
Contents
1. 47 6 1 nis s pbsE ctun citu DoD ead 47 6 2 MIDI MESSAGE BASICS saved PEDE RAP LB P apa HERR REUS NR 48 6 3 CHANNEL 5 5 525002 2 2 nr RR T anuo 48 GiGA VOICE MESSAGES eaa aa uno tore eo an ies 48 6 3B Mode 4 4 50 6 4 SYSTEM COMMON MESSAGES eese nnn nnne 51 6 5 BOOKS ON MID Mere ROSE 51 6 6 VIDEOS ON 11 1 nennen nnne nnne nnne 51 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Thank you for purchasing the Alesis D4 Drum Sound Module The D4 provides over 500 high quality drum percussion sounds many of them in stereo that use the same drum recording expertise responsible for making the SR 16 and HR 16 standards in the music world And thanks to Dynamic Articulation which triggers different samples according to velocity the D4 s sounds have a realism and presence that make these sounds stand out in any track or performance 1 0 PRINCIPAL FEATURES e Over 500 Sounds Sounds include 99 kicks 99 snares 55 cymbals 92 toms 76 percussion sounds and 80 effects 48 kHz Sample Rate and 20 Hz 20 kHz Bandwidth The D4 s high sample rate and full bandwidth insure maximum audio clarity from each sound 12acousti2. OO 45 124 0 125 0 126 Mono On 0 16 0 Off 127 Poly On 0 6 3B Mode Messages There two messages that determine the MIDI mode i e how the D4 will receive MIDI data The Omni message determines how many channels will be recognized Omni On means that data from all channels will be received Omni Off limits the number of channels usually to one The Mono Poly message deals with voice assignment within the synthesizer In Mono mode only one note at a time plays in response to voice messages in Poly mode as many voices can play notes as are available to play notes The D4 implements two different MIDI modes Omni On Poly Mode 1 The D4 responds to MIDI data occuring on any channel Omni Off Poly Mode 3 The D4 is tuned to a single MIDI channel from 1 to 16 6 4 SYSTEM COMMON MESSAGES Intended for all units in a system some of these messages are Song Position Pointer This indicates how many MIDI beats normally a 16th note have elapsed since a piece started up to 16 384 total beats It is primarily used to allow different sequencers and drum machines to auto locate to each other so that if you start one sequencer the other device will automatically jump to the same place in the song whereupon both continue on together System Exclusive This message called sys ex for short is considered exclusive because different manufacturers send and
3. 24 4 4 CONTROLLER 2 111111111 mannanna 24 4 5 PROGRAM CHANGE TABLE wi2 2 2 252 dedsgadegadeds dadetsdadedadadvdedadadadedaasdagedeeedadadatedes 26 4 6 SAVE DATA VIA MIDI eren na 26 4 6A Save to 28 4 7 RECEIVE DATA FROM ANOTHER MIDI 28 4 7A Load from 40400000 00 nnne 29 CHAPTER 5 EXTERNAL TRIGGERING ABOUT TRIGGER PARAMETERS eese nennen nnne nnn nnne 32 5 DR dpi UR 36 5 1 TRIGGER 36 5 2 TRIGGER VELOCITY SELECTION rie es 37 5 3 TRIGGER PARAMETER SELECTION 40 5 7 TRIGGER GAIN SELECTION vas 43 5 8 FOOTSWITCH MODE 44 5 8A Understanding Hi Hat Pedal Mode 45 CHAPTER 6 MIBE SUPPLEMENT 47
4. Programmable Drumset Rootnote Note Data to Sound Generator 1 4 ABOUT THE USER INTERFACE The D4 is very easy to edit The various buttons are organized as follows Store Voice i Power Volume Data Wheel Preview Note Chase Tune Output Headphone Jack Display Cursor Buttons External Trigger Drum Set 1 4A Function Buttons The eight Function buttons select eight different groups of parameters as shown on the LCD Pushing a Function button lights its associated LED and deselects any previously selected Function button its LED goes out The functions are Voice Chooses the drum sound to be edited and or assigned Tune Sets the drum sound s tuning Mix Sets the drum sound s Volume and Pan parameters Output Selects one of the two sets of stereo outputs Drum Set Selects one of the 21 Drum Sets Ext Trig Determines which trigger inputs will trigger which drums and sets up trigger input response for the most reliable triggering Group Determines how a drum sound or group of drum sounds will respond to successive series of triggers MIDI Edits D4 MIDI parameters 1 4B Cursor Buttons Upon selecting a function the LCD will show one or more editable parameters A cursor underline will appear under whichever parameter is ready to be edited You can select a different parameter to be edited by pressing the appropriate cursor button see next paragraph until the selected parameter is underlined Pressing the
5. cursor button moves the cursor from left to right or from the top line to the bottom line Pressing the cursor button moves the cursor from right to left or from the bottom line to the top line 1 4C Multi Page Functions The MIDI and Ext Trig functions have more parameters than can fit on a single screen the MIDI function has five different screens Ext Trig also has five To access different pages within these functions either Press the Ext Trig or MIDI button to advance to the next page Upon reaching the last page in the series further pressing of these buttons wraps around to the first page in the series Repeatedly pressing either cursor button will eventually move past all the parameters on the current LCD screen to another LCD screen 1 4D Editing Parameter Values 10 After selecting the parameter to edited use the Data wheel to vary its value Once a Drum Set has been edited a period appears in the display after the Drum Set number Example This Drum Set has not been edited DRUMSET 00 Standard Stuff This Drum Set has been edited Note the period DRUMSET 00 Standard Stuff The period reminds you that if the Data wheel is rotated and another set selected any changes made to the current Drum Set will be lost 1 4E The Store and Note Chase buttons The Store button saves edited Drum Sets by overwriting existing Drum Set data with the contents of the edit buffer Note Chase allows a MIDI note or
6. 4 0 DRUM SET ROOT NOTE 1 The first page is the Drum Set Root Note screen which says DRUMSET ROOT NOTE 036 C1 This sets the lowest note in the window of 61 consecutive MIDI notes from MIDI note number 36 to 96 to which the D4 will respond when the root note is altered all drum note and trigger assignments move in parallel Example If the root note is changed from 36 to 35 then all notes will be triggered by a note one value lower than the existing assignment e g what was triggered by note 96 will now be triggered by note 95 what was triggered by note 72 will now be triggered by note 71 etc Unlike other MIDI parameters this value 0 67 is stored as part of a Drum Set and can be different for each Drum Set 20 2 Turn the Data wheel to select the desired Drum Set root note 21 4 1 MIDI CHANNEL SELECTION The D4 can receive and transmit MIDI data in Omni mode receives data appearing on any of the 16 MIDI channels transmits data over channel 1 or Poly mode transmits and receives over any one of the 16 MIDI channels Use Omni when playing the D4 from an external MIDI controller MIDI drum pads MIDI keyboard etc since it s not necessary to match channels When several instruments are being driven by MIDI e g when a sequencer sends out data over several channels to different instruments use Poly mode so that the D4 tunes in to only the channel containing drum data 1 The top line of the second pag
7. It is the pad being triggered by stand vibrations from the first snare hit Signal 3 is a second real hit from the snare pad As you can see the XTALK threshold is set at a value of 30 represented by the dotted line The two snare hits signals 1 and 3 both register well above the XTALK threshold However the tom signal 2 registers too soft at 20 and is correctly ignored by the D4 If the XTALK level had been set at an improper value in this case lower than 20 signal 2 would exceed the XTALK threshold and the D4 would have triggered the sound This illustrates how proper adjustment of the XTALK parameter will result in the elimination of this interaction between the pads DCAY This parameter represents the signal decay time or the amount of time between once a pad has been struck and triggers to when it will trigger again from another hit This is one of the more tricky issues of triggering Here s why When hits are spaced 2 or more seconds apart the first signal has plenty of time to decay completely making it easy to determine the second signal as an actual hit However when playing quick repetitive hits it is much more difficult to determine where one hit ends and the next one begins To further complicate things some drum sounds especially acoustic drums take a long time to decay During this period part of the decay can be interpreted as another closely spaced hit This is where the DCAY control comes in The
8. MIDI In MIDI Out has other applications as described in section 4 2 1 2D Hook Up External Triggers rear panel The D4 s drum sounds be triggered by non MIDI electronic drum pads audio signals from tape drum sounds from other drum machines etc 1 If you re using a hi hat pad connect its output to rear panel trigger input 1 2 Connect up to 11 more pads to any of the remaining 11 rear panel trigger inputs 1 2 Hook Up Power rear panel 1 Locate the AC adapter and check that the AC adapter s INPUT spec printed on the adapter label uses the correct voltage for your part of the planet 2 Insert the AC adapter s smaller plug into the 9V AC Power jack on the D4 s rear panel and plug the AC adapter itself into a source of AC power Use only the AC adapter supplied with the D4 use of any other AC adapter will void your warranty Note To prolong the AC adapter s life unplug it when not in use turning the D4 s power switch to off is not sufficient to disconnect the AC adapter from AC power Alesis recommends plugging your AC powered devices into a switched barrier strip so that turning off the barrier strip turns off power to your gear 1 2F Turn On Power 1 Turn on the D4 s front panel On Off switch by pushing on it then turn on your monitoring system The D4 s LCD should light to indicate that power is being received Caution It is always good practice to keep your monitoring system s level all the wa
9. Bank and Drum Sound on the bottom line Example NOTE 054 F 2 01 Big O To select a drum Bank place the cursor under the drum Bank name and turn the Data wheel Bank options are Kik Kick Snr Snare Cym Cymbals and hi hats Tom Tom toms Pre Percussion Efx Effects 15 To select a drum sound within the Bank place the cursor under the drum sound and turn the Data wheel The accompanying chart included with the D4 shows the names of all available drum sounds 3 2 TUNE Press Tune and the LCD shows the selected MIDI note number on the top line and the Pitch on the bottom line Example NOTE 054 F 2 PITCH 0 00 To change the pitch one semitone at a time place the cursor under the units leftmost digit and turn the Data wheel To change the pitch one cent at a time place the cursor under the tens middle digit and turn the Data wheel The range is from 3 00 most sharp to 0 normal pitch to 4 00 most flat 3 3 MIX Press Mix and the LCD shows the selected MIDI note number on the top line and two parameters Volume and Pan on the bottom line Example NOTE 054 F 2 VOL 90 PAN lt gt To change the Volume place the cursor under the Vol value and turn the Data wheel Values are variable from 00 to 99 The D4 has two pairs of stereo outputs Drum sounds can be assigned to either pair of outputs as described in section 3 4 and placed anywhere within the stereo field of the assigned outp
10. DCAY control adjusts the time and threshold of the signal decay making it possible for the D4 to correctly determine whether closely spaced signals are real hits or just decay 30 Selecting a higher DCAY value long decay times will allow for the most reliable triggering but may miss quickly repeated hits Lower DCAY values shorter times will respond to quickly repeated hits but may be more prone to false triggering Experimentation with these levels is necessary to achieve the proper results Example This chart simulates the waveform of a snare drum hit The first big point in the signal is the actual hit the rest of the waveform is all decay Since the DCAY time threshold is adjusted too low the DCAY level curves off too soon allowing a second point during the signal s decay to exceed the threshold Once this happens the D4 will trigger the sound On the other hand this chart shows the same hit but with the DCAY parameter set at a higher value Notice how the DCAY threshold is slightly higher and stays consistent for a longer time before it tapers off Now only the initial strike of the drum triggers the D4 e NOISE The noise floor is is the signal level threshold vibration or sound must exceed before it can trigger a drum sound When selecting lower values very soft signals hits will trigger the D4 While this allows for the greatest sensitivity there s a chance that unwanted exterior signals such as vibrations from
11. IN Jack Trigger Jacks Aux Output Jacks 1 2A Installation For most applications the D4 should be installed in a rack frame so that you can tap the Preview button without causing the unit to slide around The D4 generates very little heat so it is not necessary to leave an empty space for ventilation above or below the unit 1 2B Hook Up Audio rear panel 1 Turn down the master volume control of your monitoring system PA mixer instrument amp etc 2 Turn down the D4 s front panel volume control 3 Connect the D4 s Main stereo outputs to a suitable stereo monitoring system or mixer 4 The D4 s Aux jacks can provide additional outputs for selected drums To use these optional outputs patch them into your monitoring system or mixer 5 To monitor via headphones plug them into the front panel Phones jack If you monitor only through headphones it is not necessary to hook up the Main and or Aux outputs Note The front panel volume control simultaneously sets the level of the Main Aux and Headphone ouputs 1 2C Hook Up MIDI rear panel MIDI commands can trigger the D4 s drum sounds select different Drum Sets and control the overall level 1 Connect the MIDI Out from the source of MIDI data sequencer MIDI drum pads trigger to MIDI converter keyboard etc to the D4 s rear panel MIDI In 2 To distribute the MIDI signal present at the D4 s MIDI In to other units connect the D4 s MIDI Out Thru to the other units
12. They were used for everything from sound generation to storing parameters in memory for later recall In 1983 the MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface specification was introduced to better exploit the computers inside these new musical instruments primarily to insure compatibility with equipment from other manufacturers MIDI expresses musical events notes played vibrato dynamics tempo etc as a common language consisting of standardized digital data This data can be understood by MIDI compatible computers and computer based musical instruments Before electronics music was expressed exclusively as written symbols By translating musical parameters into digital data MIDI can express not only the types of musical events written into sheet music but other parameters as well such as amount of pitch bend or degree of vibrato 6 1 MIDI HARDWARE MIDI compatible devices usually include both MIDI In and MIDI Out jacks which terminate in 5 pin DIN style connectors The MIDI Out jack transmits MIDI data to another MIDI device As you play a MIDI controller such as a keyboard data corresponding to what you play exits the MIDI Out jack Example If you play middle C the MIDI Out transmits a piece of data that says middle C is down If you release that key the MIDI Out transmits another piece of data that says middle has been released If the keyboard responds to the dynamics of your playing the note data will include d
13. acoustic trigger to choose a particular note and therefore its assigned drum sound to be edited 1 4F The Preview Button You can tap the velocity sensitive Preview button at any time to trigger the currently selected sound 11 CHAPTER 2 DRUM SET MANAGEMENT In most cases you will call up a particular Drum Set when you want to use the D4 Drum Sets can be selected named edited and saved stored 2 0 SELECTING DRUM SETS 1 Press the Drum Set function button its LED will light The LCD will show a Drum Set number on the upper line and the Drum Set s name on the lower line similar to the example below DRUMSET 00 Standard Stuff Turn the Data wheel clockwise to select higher numbered drum kits or counterclockwise to select lower numbered drum kits Each click calls up a Drum Set between 00 20 2 1 STORING NAMING AN EDITED DRUM SET Drum Sets can be edited in many ways including naming as described in subsequent sections As mentioned in section 1 4D a period after the Drum Set number indicates it has been edited To save these edits the Drum Set must be stored to memory prior to selecting another Drum Set see section 1 3B for more information on how edited parameters are stored in an edit buffer To save an edited Drum Set 1 AgI ora Press the Store Button The LCD s top line shows the memory location into which the Drum Set will be saved the lower line shows the Drum Set name Use the Data wh
14. drum risers bass cabinets or even people jumping up and down on the dance floor may trigger a sound Higher settings are useful when trying to extract drum sounds from tape where other sounds are present often the snare or kick drum will be louder than other sounds so setting the threshold above the other sounds will allow the snare or kick to trigger the D4 However the higher the threshold the more likely that the instrument s full dynamic range won t be captured and some soft hits to the pad may not be recognized Note The NOISE parameter in the D4 is similar to XTALK in that the level you set determines whether the trigger will fire on softer signals But there is a difference The NOISE parameter looks only at exterior causes of the signal whereas the XTALK parameter looks at all of the other triggers in the D4 to determine whether the soft signal it is receiving is actually a real hit GAIN This is the signal strength that the transducer is sending to the triggers in the D4 It s adjustment is very similar to that of a tape recorder s VU meter With the gain set too low soft hits may never be recognized With the gain set too high you may experience false or double triggering A properly adjusted gain setting will allow the highest dynamic range for the pad being used The gain is the most important parameter in the D4 It must be correctly set for the remaining parameters to work properly and to assure reliable tri
15. noisy stage Normally a higher XTALK setting would be used to eliminate interaction between the pads and a high NOISE floor setting would be selected to reject the high level of ambient noise and vibration In certain cases with crosstalk and noise floor settings too high softer hits might become rejected because the D4 assumes that they are noise Instead of compromising between the two parameters there are two methods which can improve this scenario Method One 1 First attach an inexpensive contact transducer to the center of the drum stand and plug it into a D4 input 2 Next go to the VCURVE page under the EXT TRIG function and select the VCURVE setting of 0 Unassigned for this trigger 3 Goto the next page and set the XTALK DCAY and the NOISE levels all to 00 This low level will allow the maximum amount of noise and stand vibrations to be detected by the D4 4 Press the EXT TRIG button again to get to the GAIN page showing the bar graph meter display Using the meter adjust the level to select a hotter than usual GAIN setting Since in this case the gain is effected only by the the stand vibrations a very strong signal is needed to maximize the trigger s performance 5 Now as the stage vibrates or when other signals trigger the drum stand transducer the suppression function will note this signal and determine that any softer signals coming from the other three pads must be crosstalk Also if the suppression funct
16. single sound hard left or hard right so that it appears over only one output One possible application is to use one stereo pair for a mix of drum sounds and the other stereo pair as two individual outputs for specific drum sounds that may need separate processing Velocity sensitive Preview button Audition sounds at the D4 itself so you don t have to go back and forth between a controller and the D4 when making drum kit assignments or checking out sounds Headphone jack This is excellent for practicing or for creating drum kits while other activity is taking place in the studio hat pedal footswitch This lets you incorporate a footswitch to create very realistic hi hat effects Note chasing You can select a note for editing or previewing based on the most recently received MIDI note or trigger input Drum sound editing Vary tuning mix and panning as well as assign drums to groups for special effects such as hi hat sounds that cut each other off or cymbals that restrike 1 1 RETURN YOUR WARRANTY CARD NOW Your warranty will be in effect and you will receive product update information only if you send in your warranty card 1 2 HOOKUP INSTANT GRATIFICATION This section describes how to hook up the D4 select Drum Sets and audition different drum sounds For more detail on these and other operations refer to Chapters 2 5 Power MIDI THRU OUT Jack Main Output Jacks Footswitch Jack MIDI
17. so that the first character of the Bank name is underlined as in the following example NOTE 038 D1 Snr 01 Raw Hide Use the Data knob to change Banks The drum sound number will reset to 01 To listen to other sounds within the Bank repeat steps 3 and 4 and tap the Preview button as needed 1 21 Assign Drum Sounds to Particular MIDI Notes 1 Press the Voice button 2 Use the cursor buttons to place the cursor under the MIDI note number the top line 3 Rotate the Data knob and select the note to which you want to assign a particular drum sound 4 Select the desired Bank and drum sound as described in section 1 2H Audition Different Drum Sounds NOTE It is important to note that your MIDI controller keyboard or drum pad controller must have its MIDI note numbers assigned to the corresponding set of note numbers which you have selected for the D4 You now know how to select Drum Sets Banks and individual sounds as well as how to assign sounds to MIDI notes However there is much more to the D4 The next part describes all of the D4 s editing features in detail Please read the entire manual at some point to understand the D4 s many capabilities 1 3 BASICS AND DEFINITIONS 1 3A The Voice Each time the D4 receives a MIDI or acoustic trigger it plays a voice A voice is a sound generating element with several variable parameters Drum sound tuning volume output assignment the voice s audio output can go to
18. use the cursor buttons to go from one page to another by cursoring past the parameters on the current screen For more details see sections 1 4B and 1 4C In the rest of this section we ll assume you know how to select the appropriate page 28 About Trigger Parameters The D4 now offers five user controllable trigger parameters These are VCURVE This represents the velocity curve or the sensitivity of the trigger input There are eight separate curve tables 0 through 7 Using these settings it is possible to adjust the D4s triggers to accompany a wide variety of playing styles and to help compensate for sensitivity variances between different brands of drum pads and triggers The lower the setting the less sensitive the velocity curve and the higher the setting the more sensitive For example a pad using a setting of 7 will reach a MIDI velocity of 127 with just a moderate strike For a pad whose VCURVE setting is 1 only a very hard hit would generate such a velocity For average type of play striking pads with velocities ranging from very soft to very hard the default setting of 4 is ideal in achieving the full range of sensitivity which corresponds to MIDI velocities of 1 through 127 Note Curve 0 is named Unassigned The function of this curve is explained fully in section 5 2 Trigger Velocity Section XTALK Crosstalk Sometimes hitting one pad will cause a nearby pad to false trigger or crosstalk This i
19. which lets a footswitch act like a hi hat pedal and Drumset Advance pressing the footswitch increments the Drum Set to the next higher number past 20 it wraps around to 00 again You can use either a normally closed or normally open momentary contact footswitch Plug it in to the rear panel footswitch jack before powering up the D4 on power up it will automatically sense the footswitch polarity and calibrate itself accordingly If your footswitch seems to respond backwards turn off the D4 make sure the footswitch plug is fully inserted into the footswitch jack then turn power back on 1 Select the fourth Trigger page which shows FOOTSWITCH MODE HI HAT PEDAL 2 Use the Data wheel to select the desired footswitch function 3 When Hi Hat Pedal mode is selected the External Trigger has two more pages The fifth Trigger page shows the MIDI note number that the footswitch will trigger when it is pressed 4 The sixth Trigger page shows the MIDI note number that Trigger Input 1 will play when that pad is hit while the footswitch is held closed 40 5 8A Understanding Hi Hat Pedal Mode This is a feature for hardcore drummers It s a little complicated but hang in there the D4 finally gives you a way to get truly realistic hi hat effects with electronic drums An acoustic hi hat produces three main types of sound Open hi hat The pedal is up so that the upper and lower cymbals do not touch Striking the upper cymbal
20. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 0 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 4 PRINCIPAL FEATURES E a 1 RETURN YOUR WARRANTY CARD 2 HOOKUP INSTANT GRATIFICATION 4 1 44 4 1 1 nnns 2 1 2A 3 1 2B Hook Up Audio rear 3 1 2C Hook Up MIDI rear 2 3 1 2D Hook Up External Triggers rear 4 1 2E Hook Up Power rear 4 T 2F Turn On POWOL oerte eee e ete e 4 1 26 Select DIUI Sela creer nee e M cen cce bodies 5 1 2H_Audition Different Drum SOUTS suia oci tie toot 5 1 21 Assign Drum Sounds to Particular MIDI 7 BASICS AND 2 2 tuntur ae 7 The MOIGB ttt EE PRETI E 7 1 3B About the Edit Buffer 8 1 30 AbOUEDOIQUIIS co eco ote ede ue 8 1 3D MIDI Note 8 9 1 4 Function 10 TAB 2222 em 10 RAG Multi
21. NCTION BUTTONS The function buttons allow you to edit Drum Set parameters on a fairly detailed level 3 0 NOTE CHASE DRUM NOTE SELECTION The Voice Tune Mix Output and Group buttons all require selecting a particular drum note for editing The top line of each of these screens shows the note that is being edited For example the Voice selection screen shows NOTE 054 F 2 Kik 01 Big O There are two ways to select the drum sound to be edited or previewed Place the cursor under the note and turn the Data wheel to select a different note D4 has a function called Note Chase When this button is enabled an incoming MIDI note or trigger will select the note to be edited This makes it easy to change the same parameter for all drums call up the editing function voice tune mix etc and select various drums by playing their associated keys The display will read out the note name and MIDI number Note Chase can also be used as a piece of MIDI test equipment to determine the note number of an incoming MIDI note This will only happen if the sending device is on the same MIDI channel as the D4 and if the sending note is within the note range of the currently selected drum kit Also whenever the D4 receives a signal to play one of its sounds via either trigger or MIDI input the Note Chase LED will flash 3 1 VOICE Press Voice and the LCD shows the selected MIDI note number on the top line and two parameters drum
22. Page UPC OIA fcc 10 1 4D Editing Parameter 11 1 4E The Store and Note Chase 11 1 4F 11 CHAPTER 2 DRUM SET MANAGEMENT 2 0 2 1 2 2 SELECTING DRUM 5 5 1 1 11 nennen nnmnnn nnmnnn nnn 12 STORING NAMING AN EDITED DRUM SET eene 12 RECALLING FACTORY DRUM SETS eee 14 CHAPTER 3 FUNCTION BUTTONS NOTE CHASE DRUM NOTE 15 VOICE E 15 iieri Det visse rE toi 16 MIX qe 16 OUTPUT 17 DRUM SET a 18 EE 19 GROUP BUTTON 19 MIDE BUTTON 20 CHAPTER 4 MIDI FUNCTIONS 4 0 DRUM SET ROOT aaaia 21 4 1 MIDI CHANNEL 4 nonan annaas 23 4 2 MIDI THRU OUT 4 4 23 4 3 PROGRAM CHANGE
23. ages 4 5 PROGRAM CHANGE TABLE 1 The fourth MIDI page shows the Program Table Example PROGRAM TABLE 000 00 The lower left three digit number represents the incoming Program Change number The lower right two digit number represents the D4 Drum Set that will be selected in response to the displayed Program Change number To edit the Program Change table 1 Place the cursor under the incoming left MIDI Program Change number 2 Usethe Data wheel to select the desired Program Change number 3 Press the gt cursor button to move the cursor under the D4 Drum Set number right 4 Use the Data wheel to select the desired Drum Set to be called up in response to the specified Program Change number 5 Repeat steps 1 4 until the table is edited as desired 4 6 SAVE DATA VIA MIDI The D4 s memory requires power to save data so when the power switch is off the memory s contents are normally backed up with an internal battery However it is vitally important to back up what s in the 0475 memory mechanical problem surge on the power line a quick zap of static electricity or operator error could alter the data in memory Save your data whenever you ve done enough work on something that you wouldn t want to lose that work f possible make two backups and store the second backup in a different physical location from the primary backup The D4 converts its program data into a special type of MIDI data called System Excl
24. c trigger inputs Drummers can trigger D4 sounds with conventional drum pads as well as MIDI pads Studios can trigger D4 sounds from existing taped drum tracks to replace taped sounds with the D4 s high quality drum sounds Older drum machines with individual outputs can be revitalized by using them to trigger the D4 sounds instead of triggering the drum machine s internal sounds Full MIDI implementation The 04 master volume responds to MIDI controller 7 allowing for smooth fades and easy changes in overall dynamics as well as to other important MIDI controllers including pitch bend Program change commands can call up different Drum Sets Simultaneous MIDI trigger operation Notes can be triggered by MIDI and or triggers simultaneously Trigger to MIDI conversion Triggers received by the D4 are converted into MIDI note data that appears at the MIDI Out Thru connector Single rack space size The D4 fits conveniently into a single rack space 21 programmable drum kits Assign different drums to different MIDI notes or triggers to create a kit and recall individual kits with Program Change commands A footswitch when pressed can increment from one drum kit to the next Multiple outputs The D4 offers four outputs which are arranged as two stereo pairs Any sound can be sent to either stereo pair and panned to any of seven positions in the stereo field However these can also serve as individual outputs if you pan a
25. causes it to ring until it is struck again or until the pedal begins closing Foot closed hi hat This is the sound generated by pushing down on the pedal it is not initiated by hitting the hi hat with a drum stick but by the sound of the upper cymbal striking the lower one Closed hi hat Once the hats are closed pedal down then striking the upper cymbal with the drumstick produces the closed hi hat sound To replicate these individual effects 1 Patch a drum pad the hi hat striking surface into D4 Trigger input 1 and a footswitch for opening and closing the hi hat into the footswitch input Hi Hat Pedal must be selected for the footswitch mode If it isn t assigned already assign an open hi hat sound to the note triggered by Trigger Input 1 Press the EXTERNAL TRIG button until the display shows the Footswitch Closing note This is the note that will be played when the footswitch is pressed If it hasn t been assigned already assign a closing hi hat sound to this note This Will give the hi hat a realistic closing sound as opposed to an abrupt switch from an open sound to a closed sound Note that you don t necessarily have to use hi hat sounds while using this mode If you wish you can use any sound available in the D4 Press the EXTERNAL TRIG button until the display shows the Footswitch Held note This is the note that will be played when Trigger 1 is struck AND the footswitch is held If it hasn t bee
26. cord or Play Stop is therefore the VCR s power up default status The D4 includes several default settings Example If you want to save a Drum Set the D4 will default to saving it to its existing memory slot However if desired you can save to another location in memory Defaults save time by giving you a setup that s instantly ready to go sometimes you ll need to change only a few parameters to modify the default setup to your liking Often the default is whatever was selected last Example If the D4 was set to Drum Set 14 just before you shut off power upon power up the D4 will return to Drum Set 14 1 3D MIDI Note Range The D4 s sounds can be assigned to any note within a 5 octave 61 note range from MIDI note 36 to 96 However this range may be shifted using the Root Note feature section 4 1 For example the bottom root note could be shifted to MIDI note 0 in which case the highest note would be five octaves above that or MIDI note 60 Shifting the root note to the highest possible value 67 means that the highest note will end up on MIDI note 127 Alesis D4 Trigger Note Relationship External Triggers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Programmable Drumset trigger note number assignments any trigger be assigned any note number within the 61 note window MIDI IN DATA Ex Mn 4 000 036 096 127 C2 C1 C6 G8 LL 61 Note Window 3
27. d 127 calls up Drum Set 01 Caution Some MIDI devices number Program Changes as 1 128 others as 0 127 and some as banks of programs Use the Program Change Table to compensate for these differences 1 The top line of the third page shows the Program Change status Example PROG CHANGE ON CONTROLLERS ON 2 Make sure the cursor is under the Program Change status 3 Use the Data wheel to select a status of On the D4 selects Drum Sets when it receives Program Change commands or Off the D4 ignores Program Change commands Note that even with status set to On you can still select Drum Sets manually at any time 4 4 CONTROLLER ENABLE The D4 can respond to several standardized MIDI controllers appearing at the D4 s MIDI In jack 6 Data Slider 0 127 This allows an external data slider assigned to controller 6 to vary values just as if you were using the Data wheel 7 Main Volume 0 127 Controller 7 messages set the D4 s master volume Note that this is independent of velocity settings With many D4 sounds velocity affects the sound s timbre so lowering velocity to change the level may affect the timbre Controller 7 messages alter the overall volume of the entire kit without affecting any sound s timbre 96 Data Increment 0 or 127 Send any value for this controller and the currently selected parameter s value will increment by one 97 Data Decrement 0 or 127 Send any value for this controller and the currently selec
28. e shows the channel status Example CHANNEL OMNI THRU OFF 2 Make sure the cursor is set under the channel status 3 Turn the Data wheel to select Omni or one of the 16 channels selecting a single channel automatically puts the D4 in Poly mode 4 2 MIDI THRU OUT SELECTION When on this function passes data appearing at the MIDI In to the MIDI Out Thru jack as well as to the D4 s internal circuitry This input data is merged with any data being generated by the D4 Example If the D4 is being used for trigger to MIDI conversion and Thru is on the notes generated by the triggers will be merged with the data appearing at the MIDI In jack When off the MIDI Out Thru jack serves as a MIDI Out only from the D4 Input data present at the D4 s MIDI In is not passed through 1 The bottom line of the second page shows the Thru status Example CHANNEL OMNI THRU OFF 2 Place the cursor under the Thru status 3 Turn the Data wheel to select Off Out Thru acts as a MIDI Out jack or On Out Thru acts as a MIDI Thru jack 4 3 PROGRAM CHANGE ENABLE 22 Program Change commands can change Drum Sets at any time including while the D4 is playing A Program Change Table section 4 5 determines which Drum Set will be called up in response to a particular Program Change number The default is Program Changes 00 20 call up Drum Sets 00 20 so do Program Changes 21 41 42 62 63 83 84 104 and 105 to 125 126 calls up Drum Set 00 an
29. eel to select the memory location into which the edited Drum Set should be saved as shown by the cursor This defaults to the location of the currently selected Drum Set but can be changed to any set from 00 to 20 Important Saving to a Drum Set overwrites any existing data in that Drum Set To rename the Drum Set press the gt cursor button The cursor will jump to the first character of the name Use the Data wheel to select the desired character Characters available in addition to a blank space Yen symbol and left and right arrows are amp f 0 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 gt 2 A B C E F G H J L M N O P Q 12 5 U V X Y Z ks 2 a b f g h i j k m n q r S t u V Ww y 2 4 After naming the Drum Set and selecting where it should be stored press the Store button again The LCD will briefly show DRUMSET STORED to confirm that it has been stored The Store LED will then go out and the D4 will return to the mode it was in prior to the Store button being pressed Note If you change your mind and want to cancel the storage process press any of the eight Function buttons before pressing Store a second time Your edits will remain intact until you select another Drum Set 2 2 RECALLING FACTORY DRUM SETS The D4 includes 21 factory programmed Drum Sets that are useful in a wide range of applications To recall one of the factory Drum Sets 1 Press and hold the Drum Se
30. either one of two sets of stereo outputs panning the voice s audio output can be positioned at any of the seven positions available within the stereo field of the chosen set of outputs and MIDI note number Each voice is velocity sensitive the harder you hit a drum pad or the Preview button or the higher the velocity value of the MIDI trigger the louder the drum sound assigned to the pad will play Thanks to the Dynamic Articulation techniques mentioned earlier the timbre tonal content and pitch will often change as well just like real drums 1 3B About the Edit Buffer Whenever you select a Drum Set all parameters associated with the Drum Set load into a temporary memory buffer As you edit the Drum Set changes are made to this temporary version rather than the original Drum Set This is important for two reasons f you don t like the results of your edit you can always revert to the original Drum Set Ifyou do like the results of your edit you must save the buffer s contents It can overwrite the original Drum Set data or be written to a different Drum Set If you select another Drum Set the data in the edit buffer will be overwritten with the newly selected Drum Set s parameters 1 3C About Defaults A default is a setting that is automatically assumed until you purposely change it Example When you turn on a VCR it automatically defaults to Stop you have to purposely tell the machine to go into Re
31. ess An excellent text for those just getting started with MIDI synthesis and related topics The Murphy s Law MIDI Book by Jeff Burger Alexander Publishing Emphasizes applications and problem solving Using MIDI by Helen Casabona and David Frederick Alfred Publishing A general guide to MIDI with an emphasis on applications Understanding MIDI and Understanding MIDI 2 by various authors Amordian Press A collection of MIDI oriented articles from Musician magazine Descubriendo MIDI by Jos Valenzuela Alesis Publishing A thorough overview of MIDI in Spanish suitable for beginners and or advanced users 6 6 VIDEOS ON MIDI The Basics Of MIDI featuring Craig Anderton with Steve Smythe Alesis Publishing An overview of the concepts and applications of the MIDI interface Available through Alesis Command Performance Accessory Collection 47
32. ggering with the D4 5 0 TRIGGER SELECTION There are 12 input triggers with corresponding rear panel jacks Each is edited independently so it is first necessary to select a trigger input for editing Note The MIDI note number default settings for the D4 triggers can be found in the D4 Factory Drumset Reference Chart Editable parameters are identical for all 12 triggers and the trigger set up is global for all drum sets 1 The first Ext Trig page shows three parameters such as TRIG 01 VCURVE 4 NOTE 046 A 1 As with the other screens the cursor buttons move between the three parameters 32 2 Place the cursor under the TRIG parameter 3 Turn the Data wheel to select the desired trigger for editing 5 1 TRIGGER NOTE SELECTION Each trigger can be assigned to any MIDI note number which is associated with a corresponding drum sound programmed according to the instructions in section 3 0 Trigger note assignments are recalled as part of a Drum Set whenever a new set is selected 1 The first Ext Trig page shows three parameters Example TRIG 02 VCURVE 4 NOTE 036 C1 2 Place the cursor under the Note parameter 3 Turn the Data wheel to select the note that will be assigned to the selected trigger input 5 2 TRIGGER VELOCITY SELECTION The velocity sensitivity of each trigger input can be adjusted to accompany a wide variety of playing styles and to help compensate for sensitivity variances between var
33. he type of pads used When triggering from acoustic drums the factors involved are staggering Not only do the type and size of drum make a big difference but things such as if the drum is single or double headed the tension of the head s the muffling and the trigger placement all play very important roles in getting good results and proper tracking of your play For more detailed tips and suggestions in these areas please refer to Tips On External Triggering From Acoustic Drums included in the D4 literature package 5 6 TRIGGER NOISE LEVEL SELECTION When in a high noise floor level situation such as playing live on a stage with bass cabinets nearby it may be necessary to adjust the NOISE parameter level If your situation does not necessitate the need to make these type of adjustments skip this section and go on to 5 7 Trigger Gain Selection 1 After selecting the desired Trigger whose noise level needs to be set place the cursor under the NOISE parameter Example TRIG 03 XTALK 30 DCAY 10 NOISE 00 2 Turn the Data wheel to select the desired level of suppression necessary to stop the pad from false triggering 00 is minimum 99 maximum Stage noise and rumble the stability of drum risers and platforms volume and crowd vibrations are all factors in choosing the proper level 38 Remember In keeping potential problems to a minimum it is always a good idea to try to keep some distance between your pad or drum kit and
34. ible only with D4 system exclusive data for example you cannot load system exclusive data from another drum device into the D4 The following describes how to load data from the Alesis DataDisk other system exclusive storage devices work similarly but please refer to the owner s manual for your particular device to find out how to set it up to send MIDI sys ex data Note When loading the Edit Buffer via sys ex be sure and save the Drum Set before changing to another Drum Set Otherwise the data will be lost 4 7A Load from DataDisk 1 Connect the DD MIDI Out to the D4 MIDI In 2 Insert the disk into the DD that contains the file to be loaded into the D4 3 Press the DD SEND button The display says SEND FILE Alesis D4 filename 4 Press the DD DO YES button The D4 automatically senses the presence of this data no button pushing is required The DD display says SENDING Alesis D4 filename the D4 display says RECEIVING SYSEX DATA FROM MIDI Note that loading sys ex data overwrites the resident memory 5 The D4 will revert to whatever screen was showing prior to receiving MIDI data 27 CHAPTER 5 EXTERNAL TRIGGERING External triggering has three main uses M Driving D4 sounds from electronic drum pads Some electronic drum pads provide MIDI triggers when hit these can feed directly into the D4 s MIDI input Other pads generate analog triggers which can interface with the trigger inputs Using contact transducers tr
35. iggers mounted on acoustic drums to trigger sounds from the D4 These transducers can be plugged directly into the D4 trigger input which will convert the trigger s signal to MIDI information Drum substitution If the drum sounds on a tape are poorly recorded and the sounds to be substituted are on different tracks or sufficiently far apart in pitch that equalization can help separate the sounds these drum sounds can trigger the high fidelity drum sounds inside the D4 All of these applications present certain challenges With electronic drum pads crosstalk from one drum hit can leak into another drum pad and trigger it accidentally Acoustic drum pickups are much more finicky than electronic pads They are subject to extraneous noise pickup varying gain and system noise all of which make reliable triggering difficult The D4 includes five editable parameters that let you electronically tailor the D4 trigger inputs to the characteristics of your drum transducers It may take considerable experimentation to achieve reliable triggering then again it may not At some point you ll hit on the right combination of transducer placement and D4 parameter values necessary for proper triggering The external trigger function contains six pages of parameters When you first press the Ext Trig button it calls up the first page Pressing the Ext Trig button again calls the second page a third time calls the third page and so on You can also
36. ion sees a soft signal from the three main pads but little or no signal from the drum stand transducer it will assume that the pad signals are valid hits and trigger the D4 sounds Method Two In severe cases this is another way in which the Unassigned feature can be used For this scenario lets use the bass as the reason the surrounding noise level is making proper triggering difficult Each time the bass player pops a string the vibration triggers the tom 1 pad 1 First take a direct out from the bass amplifier and plug it into an unused trigger input on the D4 2 Next go to the VCURVE page under the EXT TRIG function and select the VCURVE setting of 0 Unassigned for this trigger 34 3 Goto the next page and set the XTALK DCAY and NOISE levels all to 00 This low level will allow the maximum signal to be detected by the D4 4 Press the EXT TRIG button again to get to the GAIN page Using the bar graph meter adjust the level according to the severety of the false triggering If notes are constantly triggering use a high gain If only occasional select a lower level Note The peak level indicator a period explained in section 5 7 will not appear next to the value when in the Unassigned mode 5 Now when the D4 receives a signal from the tom 1 pad which was generated by the string pop from the bass not only will it compare this signal to the other drum pads it will also compare it to the bass In essence the D4 is
37. ious brands of drum pads and transducers For example a hard hitting player might have a difficult time in playing the softer velocity sounds available in the D4 due to the high impact of most of his hits Using a lower VCURVE setting 1 3 would require a much harder strike to generate a full MIDI velocity of 127 and make it much easier to obtain the more subtle velocity sounds when playing the drum pad When using a higher VCURVE setting 5 7 the opposite applies or a much softer hit would generate a MIDI velocity of 127 1 While in the first Ext Trig page place the cursor under the VCURVE parameter Example TRIG 02 VCURVE 4 NOTE 036 C1 2 Turn the Data wheel to select the sensitivity value desired to suite the style of play or the pads being used The default setting of 4 is the median velocity curve For average play hits ranging from very soft to very hard this curve gives you the full range of sensitivity which corresponds to MIDI velocities 1 through 127 33 Note The setting of 0 Unassigned is selected by rotating the Data wheel fully counterclockwise This is a special case VCURVE setting which allows a trigger input to contribute to the D4 s master suppression threshold However it will not trigger any sounds or MIDI note messages In certain circumstances this setting can help suppress false triggering on the other inputs Example Suppose three drum pads are mounted on a single drum stand while set up on a
38. med to choose between two possible states such as on off Each type of controller is stamped with its own controller identification number Not all controller numbers have been standardized for specific functions but the following indicates the current list of assigned controllers Numbers in parenthesis indicate the controller range Bank Select 0 127 Modulation Wheel 0 127 Breath Controller 0 127 Early DX7 Aftertouch 0 127 Foot Controller 0 127 Portamento Time 0 127 Data Slider 0 127 Main Volume 0 127 Balance 0 127 10 Pan 0 127 11 Expression 0 127 16 General Purpose 1 0 127 17 General Purpose 2 0 127 18 General Purpose 3 0 127 19 General Purpose 4 0 127 32 63 Least Significant Bits Controllers 0 31 0 127 64 Sustain Pedal 0 or 127 65 Portamento On Off 0 or 127 66 Sustenuto Pedal 0 or 127 67 Soft Pedal 0 or 127 69 Hold 2 0 or 127 80 General Purpose 5 0 or 127 81 General Purpose 6 0 or 127 82 General Purpose 7 0 or 127 83 General Purpose 8 0 or 127 92 Tremolo Depth 0 127 93 Chorus Depth 0 127 94 Celeste Depth 0 127 95 Phase Depth 0 127 96 Data Increment 0 or 127 97 Data Decrement 0 or 127 98 Non Registered Parameter MSB 0 127 99 Non Registered Parameter LSB 0 127 100 Registered Parameter MSB 0 127 101 Registered Parameter LSB 0 127 121 Reset All Controllers 0 122 Local Control On Off 0 or 127 123 All Notes Off 0
39. n assigned already assign a closed hi hat sound to this note Using the Group function section 3 7 assign all the hi hat sounds to Group 1 so that you can t have two different hi hat sounds ringing at the same time The hi hat sounds could be assigned to Group 2 if you re already using Group 1 for other drum sounds If you strike the hi hat pad while the footswitch is not pressed you ll hear the open hi hat sound Pressing the footswitch triggers the foot closed sound at the same velocity as the most recent open hi hat hit just like a real hi hat you don t have to strike the pad simply closing the hi hat by pressing the footswitch triggers the sound 41 Striking the pad while the footswitch is held down plays the closed hi hat sound 42 CHAPTER 6 MIDI SUPPLEMENT This chapter is an abridged version of material from Power Sequencing with Master Tracks Pro Pro 4and The Complete Guide to the Alesis 16 and MMT 8 copyright 1990 and 1989 respectively by AMSCO Publications and is adapted with permission 6 0 MIDI BASICS Most current electronic instruments and signal processors including the D4 contain an internal computer Computers and music have been working together for decades which is not surprising considering music s mathematical basis consider frequencies harmonics vibrato rates tunings etc In the mid 70s microcomputers became inexpensive enough to be built into consumer priced musical instruments
40. nearby speaker cabinets especially bass cabinets Whenever possible try to aim them so they are not facing directly towards your set up Also avoid unsteady drum risers and hardware 5 7 TRIGGER GAIN SELECTION To compensate for differences in transducer outputs the gain for each trigger can be set independently 1 The third Ext Trig page shows two parameters Example TRIG 01 GAIN 50 As with the other screens the cursor buttons move between the two parameters The Trig parameter is identical to the one on the first two Ext Trig pages and allows you to select different Trigger inputs for editing 2 After selecting the desired Trigger whose gain needs to be set place the cursor under the GAIN parameter 3 Turn the Data wheel to select the desired amount of gain 00 is minimum gain 99 maximum gain 39 4 To aid in the adjustment of this parameter strike the pad or drum whose transducer is plugged into the selected input The lower LCD line will turn into a bar graph meter that shows the peak strength of the transducer signal Adjust the gain so that a powerful strike results in the meter reaching the right most side of the display and a period appears to the right of the GAIN number This period indicates that the input is reaching it s full dynamic range When a trigger s gain is properly adjusted the period will appear only on the strongest hits 5 8 FOOTSWITCH MODE There are two footswitch options Hi Hat Pedal
41. olates the bass from the noise floor and thinks the bass is a another drum pad It will now treat it the same as any other pad and filter out the unwanted signals Note Note Chase will not follow any trigger that has been set to Unassigned To view an Unassigned trigger s VU style bar graph meter in order to adjust gain section 5 7s use the Data wheel to select the corresponding trigger input section 5 0 35 5 3 TRIGGER PARAMETER SELECTION To compensate for differences in transducer outputs the crosstalk decay time and noise floor level for each trigger can be set independently These are Global settings that apply to all Drum Sets 1 The second Ext Trig page shows four parameters Example TRIG 02 XTALK 30 DCAY 10 NOISE 00 As with the other screens the cursor buttons move between the three parameters 5 4 TRIGGER CROSSTALK SELECTION If several pads are mounted on one stand or rack it is possible to experience interaction or crosstalk problems Adjustment of the XTALK parameter makes it possible to resolve these problems Note configurations where some pads are individually mounted the default setting of 30 may be sufficient making it unnecessary to adjust this parameter In that case skip this section and go on to 5 5 DCAY Control Selection 1 After selecting the desired Trigger place the cursor under the XTALK parameter Example TRIG 03 XTALK 30 DCAY 10 NOISE 00 2 Turn the Data wheel to selec
42. omatically terminate any sound that is still decaying This is useful with many percussion sounds such as tambourine agogo etc Group 1 and 2 A newly triggered voice assigned to a particular group 1 or 2 will cut off a voice assigned to the same group if the older voice is still sustaining The classic use of this is with hi hats a closed high hat will cut off an open hi hat and hitting an open hi hat sound will cut off a closed hi hat The D4 can play up to 16 voices at a time so it s possible to run out of voices if you play a flurry of notes and have lots of drum sounds assigned to Multi mode If 16 sounds are playing and you ask the D4 to play another one the sound that s closest to finishing its decay cycle will be stolen so that the most recent sound can be played In practice it s difficult and usually not artistically desirable to create drum parts so complex that voice stealing becomes a problem However if this is a 18 problem try assigning all the toms to a group so that they only use up one voice time 3 8 MIDI BUTTON Press MIDI and the LCD shows the root note for the selected drumset on the bottom line Example DRUMSET ROOT NOTE 036 C1 MIDI options are spread over five different screen displays which are described in detail in Chaper 4 3 9 COPYING A NOTE S PARAMETERS TO ANOTHER NOTE After editing a note s Voice Tune Mix Output and Group parameters you may wish to copy these setting
43. receive data over MIDI which is intended only for that manufacturer s equipment Example Sending a D4 message to an Ensoniq SD 1 won t do anything but the message will be understood by other D4s This data often contains information about individual instrument programs Timing Clock A master tempo source such as a sequencer emits 24 timing messages clocks per quarter note Each device synchronized to the sequencer advances by 1 24th of a quarter note when it receives the clock message thus keeping units in sync after they ve both started at the same time Many devices subdivide this clock signal internally for higher resolution e g 96 pulses per quarter note Start Signals all rhythmically based units when to start playing Stop Signals all rhythmically based units when to stop playing 46 Continue Unlike a Start command which re starts a sequencer or drum machine from the beginning of a song each time it occurs sending a continue message after stop will re start units from where they were stopped 6 5 BOOKS ON MIDI The preceding does not substitute for reading a good book on the subject of MIDI For further information refer to the following MIDI For Musicians and The Electronic Musician s Dictionaryby Craig Anderton AMSCO Publications The former was written specifically for musicians with no background in MIDI and the latter defines terms related to musical electronics Music Through MIDI by Michael Boom Microsoft Pr
44. s are very sensitive so an increase of as little as 2 or 3 can make a difference in suppression Also an unnecessarily high XTALK setting actually suppresses the sensitivity of the trigger input resulting in the occasional loss of softer hits If a situation where a high XTALK setting is necessary to stop false triggering but pad sensitivity loss is noticeable try this combination Start by slightly lowering the GAIN setting for the pad This should make it possible to lower the XTALK value which will allow the pad sensitivity to increase With some experimentation and time you should be able to find the right combination 37 5 5 TRIGGER DCAY CONTROL SELECTION If a pad or drum double triggers when it is struck it may be necessary to adjust the DCAY level This is evident when shortly after the initial strike to a pad a second trigger from the same pad is generated or it double triggers Note With certain pads it may not be necessary to adjust this parameter In that case skip this section and go on to 5 6 Noise Control Selection 1 After selecting the desired Trigger whose decay level needs to be set place the cursor under the DCAY parameter Example TRIG 03 XTALK 30 DCAY 10 NOISE 00 2 Turn the Data wheel to select the desired level of decay suppression necessary to stop the pad from double triggering 00 is minimum 99 maximum This level will depend on your current set up including the mounting configurations and t
45. s generally due to stand vibrations which can affect the other pads These vibrations send signals to the nearby pads which can cause false triggering The XTALK adjustment acts as a suppression control A higher value adjustment equals greater suppression of the signal a lower value equals less suppression Therefore the higher the value setting the less likely the nearby pad or drum will trigger from stand or head vibrations This is how it works First you strike a pad and the D4 triggers its sound Shortly after this hit the D4 receives a secondary softer signal from a nearby pad Before the D4 will play this softer signal it will scan the other inputs to determine whether this was a legitimate hit or simply a vibration from a stand or head It does this by comparing the level of this soft signal with the threshold level set in the XTALK parameter If this secondary signal level is greater than the allowable threshold level the D4 will trigger its sound If the signal is less than the allowable threshold level the D4 will ignore it By adjusting the crosstalk level to a higher value you set a higher threshold for the signal to exceed and reduce the ability of a pad drum to crosstalk The following chart shows a scenario with a properly adjusted XTALK level 29 This chart represents three signals which seen by the D4 Signal 1 is a legitimate hit from the snare pad Signal 2 is the Tom 1 pad but it is not a hit
46. s to another note number This can be useful for setting up chromatic tunings for adjacent keys 19 1 Press and hold the Note Chase function button While holding this button press the Store button Release both buttons The Store LED will light and the display shows something like COPY 036 C1 042 F 1 2 The cursor will be under the destination note number Use the Data wheel to select the note 5 To complete the operation press the Store button The display will confirm that the source note s settings have been stored to the destination note To copy the source note s setting to additional destination notes simply repeat steps 2 and 3 until finished NOTE this function only affects the drum set data in the edit buffer In order to make these changes permanent you must store the drumset as described in section 2 1 CHAPTER 4 MIDI FUNCTIONS This function contains five pages of parameters When you first press the MIDI button it calls up the first page Pressing the MIDI button again calls the second page pressing it again calls the third page and so on If the fifth page is showing and you press the MIDI button again it will revert to the first page Remember that you can also use the cursor buttons to go from one page to another by cursoring past the parameters on the current screen For more details see sections 1 4B and 1 4C In the rest of this section we ll assume you know how to select the appropriate page
47. shows MIDI note number on the top line and the name of the currently selected drum sound on the lower line Here s a typical screen NOTE 038 D1 Snr 25 Piccolo This example shows that the sound will be triggered by MIDI note 038 belongs to the Snare Snr Bank is the 25th sound of the snare Bank and is named Piccolo Note that the 25 is underlined An underline cursor indicates that a parameter is available for editing The cursor may be moved to edit either of the two available parameters in this page In this case you could choose a different snare sound with the Data wheel If the cursor was under Snr then you could choose a different Bank Tap the Preview button to hear the sound shown on the LCD Since this button is velocity sensitive harder taps will give a louder sound If you don t hear anything and you re tapping the button with sufficient force check your audio connections and volume levels for your monitoring system and D4 To audition other drum sounds within the selected Bank check that the cursor is under the drum number If not use the cursor buttons to move the cursor under the instrument name parameter in the lower half of the display Rotate the large Data wheel Each click of the knob will call up a new drum sound until you reach either the highest or lowest numbered sound within the Bank Tap the Preview button to hear the selected sound To audition other banks of sounds press the left cursor button
48. so be useful if you re recording the part on tape feed the drums to two tape tracks and the percussion to two other tracks Adjust the balance between the two in the mix or fade the percussion in and out independently of the trap drum sounds Or process the two groups individually 3 5 DRUM SET Press Drum Set and the LCD shows the selected Drum Set number on the top line and the Drum Set s name on the bottom line Example DRUMSET 00 Standard Stuff 17 To select a particular Drum Set turn the Data wheel Numbers range from 00 to 20 Drum Set selection and management was already covered in more detail in Chapter 2 3 6 EXT THIG Press Ext Trig and the LCD shows the Trigger input and Trigger Characteristics Type on the top line and the note associated with the Trigger on the bottom line Example TRIG 01 TYPE 01 NOTE 050 D2 External triggering is a somewhat complex topic and is described in detail in Chapter B 3 7 GROUP BUTTON Press Group and the LCD shows the selected MIDI note number on the top line and drum s Mode on the bottom line Example NOTE 054 2 MODE MULTI To change the mode turn the Data wheel There are four options Multi When triggering a note repeatedly each trigger will cause the sound to go through its entire decay This is useful with cymbals since early strikes continue to decay as you play later strikes Single When triggering a note repeatedly a new hit will aut
49. t function button While holding this button press the Store button Release both buttons The display shows something like RECALL ALESIS SET 01 INTO 01 2 The cursor will be under the Drum Set to be recalled Use the Data wheel to select the desired Drum Set As soon as you select a Drum Set it will be loaded into the edit buffer and overwrite any existing edit buffer data careful so you can play some notes and make sure it s the right set 3 Press the cursor button to select the destination Drum Set number for the recalled Drum Set 4 Use the Data wheel to select the desired destination memory slot To recall all of the original factory Drum Sets press the cursor button one more time 5 To complete the operation press the Store button The display will confirm that whatever you selected has been stored If you change your mind and want to cancel the recall process press any of the eight Function buttons before pressing Store a second time Note Remember that recalling a Drum Set overwrites the edit buffer contents If you cancel the recall operation by pressing one of the eight Function buttons any Drum Set you recalled will remain in the edit buffer but Drum Sets 00 20 will remain unchanged This can be useful for auditioning the various preset Drum Sets Also note that if you are concerned about overwriting data you want to keep save the D4 s memory first as described in section 4 6 13 14 CHAPTER 3 FU
50. t the desired level of crosstalk suppression necessary to stop the problem pad from triggering 00 is minimum 99 maximum This level will depend entirely on your current pad or drum configuration Remember When experiencing an interaction problem the trigger that needs adjustment is the pad that is false triggering not the pad being struck One easy way to remedy an interaction problem is to silence the pad s which are not false triggering Example Suppose you hit the snare pad and the tom 1 pad triggers 1 First go to the MIX page and reduce the volume of the snare pad to 00 Now when you hit the snare pad you won t hear it but you will hear the tom 1 pad when it false triggers 2 Next press the EXT TRIG button twice which gets you to the XTALK parameter page and select the tom 1 trigger to edit 36 3 Place the cursor under the XTALK parameter While you hit the snare pad triggering the tom pad gradually raise the crosstalk level of the tom 1 pad 4 Continue to raise the level until the tom pad stops triggering when you apply hard hits to the snare pad By using this technique you have isolated the problem drum and made it easy to dial in the proper XTALK value without the sound from the other drum becoming distracting or confusing 5 Finally return to the MIX page and reset the volume of the snare pad to it s original level Note Always increase the XTALK value in small amounts for two reasons The value
51. ted parameter s value will decrement by one 98 Non Registered Parameter MSB 0 127 This allows for remote control editing of virtually all parameters via continuous controller messages The controller value selects the parameter to be edited The data entry slider can then change the parameter s value The controller data slider messages can be recorded into a sequencer to allow for complex sequenced parameter control 23 99 121 1 Non Registered Parameter LSB 0 127 This works similarly to controller 98 but the controller value selects the Least Significant Byte of the parameter to be controlled Reset All Controllers 0 Any value sent for this controller resets volume to maximum pitch bend to zero and restores all non registered parameters to their default values Pitch Bend Sending a pitch bend command prior to triggering a note or group of notes will change the pitch of the notes being triggered Pitch bend messages sent while a drum sound is playing have no effect on the sound The amount of pitch bend range depends on the sound you ve called up and can deviate by more than the amount allowed by the tuning function The bottom line of the third page shows the Controllers status Example PROG CHANGE ON CONTROLLERS ON 2 Make sure the cursor is under the Controllers status 24 3 Use the Data wheel to select a status of On the D4 responds to controller messages or Off the D4 ignores controller mess
52. usive or sys ex data that can be sent over MIDI This data can go to another D4 or to a MIDI system exclusive storage device such as the Alesis DataDisk a computer running System Exclusive storage software or a musical instrument capable of recording System Exclusive data Either way your data is backed up To allow for running several D4s in the same MIDI setup System Exclusive data is channelized In other words if you save the data over channel 1 to a DataDisk when you read back data from the DataDisk the D4 must be set to channel 1 or Omni 25 which receives all channels to retrieve this data It s good idea to include the channel assignment in the System Exclusive file name to prevent possible confusion To back up 1 Connect the D4 s MIDI Out to the MIDI In of the other D4 or system exclusive storage device such as the DataDisk Select the fifth MIDI page Sysex Backup With the Sysex Backup page selected the Store LED will light Use the Data wheel to call up one of the four available types of data for backup figures in parenthesis give the approximate amount of memory required by each type Edit Buffer data 500 bytes Trigger Setup data 50 bytes Program Table data 150 bytes System All data which includes Drum Sets trigger setup program table and MIDI assignments 8Kbytes Press the Store button The display will say SENDING SYSEX DATA OUT MIDI to confirm that data is being sent The sys e
53. uts via the pan function To change a drum s panning position in the stereo field place the cursor under the Pan value and turn the Data wheel The seven available pan positions correspond to the number shown in parentheses hard left 1 soft left 2 left of center 3 center 4 right of center 5 soft right 6 and hard right 7 Note When heard from the drummer s perspective the high hat will usually be on the left snare and kick in the center and toms trailing from left center to right Of course one of the advantages of electronic drum sets is that you need not follow any standard way of placing drum sounds in the stereo field 3 4 OUTPUT Press Output and the LCD shows the selected MIDI note number on the top line and the drum s Output assignment on the bottom line Example 16 NOTE 054 F 2 OUTPUT MAIN To change the output assignment turn the Data wheel To send the drum sound to the Main outputs select Main To send the drum sound to the Aux outputs select Aux Having two stereo output pairs allows for several options Stereo with Fixed Placement Plug the left Main output into the left channel of your amp or mixer and the right Main output into the right channel The default voice mix for the preset Drum Sets pans the drums between the Main output jacks in a way that works well for most applications Stereo with Variable Placement Plug the left Main output into the left channel of your amp or mi
54. voice is the most basic unit of sound generation Usually each voice plays one note at a time so the number of notes you can play at one time will be limited by the available number of voices MIDI messages that affect voices include Note On Corresponds to a key being pressed down values range from 000 lowest note to 127 highest note Middle C is 60 Note Off Corresponds to a key being released values are the same as note on Velocity Corresponds to dynamics values range from 001 minimum velocity to 127 maximum velocity A velocity of 000 is equivalent to a note off message Pressure Indicates the pressure applied to a keyboard after pressing a key Program Change Sending a Program Change command from a sequencer or other MIDI keyboard can change synth patches automatically There are 128 Program Change command numbers Also note that not all units number programs consistently Some number them as 000 127 others as 001 128 and still others arrange programs in banks of 8 programs such as A1 A8 B1 B8 C1 C8 etc 44 Pitch Bend This bends a note from its standard pitch Continuous Controller Footpedals breath controllers and modulation wheels can vary sounds as you play thus adding expressiveness MIDI allows for 64 continuous controllers these act like potentiometers in that you can choose one of many different values and 58 continuous switch controllers these can act like continuous controllers but some are assu
55. x receiving device should indicate that it is receiving data After the transfer is complete the D4 s LCD reverts to the Sysex Backup page Note The MIDI Thru function is disabled while Sys Ex is being transmitted 4 6A Save to DataDisk Here s an example of how to save D4 MIDI data to the Alesis DataDisk 1 2 Connect the D4 MIDI Out to the DataDisk DD MIDI In Insert a formatted disk into the DD If the disk is not formatted insert it in the drive and press the DD Format switch When the DD display says FORMAT DISK press DO YES When the display says ARE YOU SURE press DO YES again Press the DD Receive button The display says RECV ONE SYSEX WAITING FOR DATA Press the D4 MIDI button if you are not already in the MIDI function and select the Sysex Backup page Select the type of data to be saved System Edit Buffer Trigger Setup Program Table 26 6 Press the D4 Store button The D4 display says SENDING SYSEX DATA OUT MIDI and the DD display says RECEIVING Alesis D4 to indicate that data has been received 7 To prevent future confusion name the DD file using the DD NAME function 4 7 RECEIVE DATA FROM ANOTHER MIDI DEVICE The D4 will automatically load D4 system exclusive data present at its MIDI In Therefore there is no associated function since reception can occur at any time that a sys ex storage device or another D4 sends data through its MIDI Out into the D4 s MIDI In The D4 is compat
56. xer and the right Main output into the right channel Pan the Drum Set drums between the Main output jacks as desired Stereo with Individual Outputs This requires a stereo mixer with at least four channels and provides individual outputs for any two drum voices Plug the left Main out into a mixer channel panned fully to the left Plug the right Main out into a mixer channel panned fully to the right Plug the left Aux output into a third channel panned to center for now and the right Aux output into a fourth channel also panned to center for now Decide which two voices should be individual voices such as kick and snare assign these to the Aux outputs and all other drums panned as desired to the Main outputs Pan the kick full left and the snare full right Thus the kick will appear in the left aux output and the snare will appear in the right aux output These outputs can feed different signal processors and then be sent to a mixing board Make sure that the drums selected for individual outputs are panned to the extreme left or right in the D4 Otherwise some of the sound from one drum will leak into the other output Separate Percussion Drum Outputs Standard drum kit sounds can be spread in stereo and assigned to the main outputs with percussion sounds spread in stereo and assigned to the Aux outputs Run the outputs to a mixing console and you can treat the drum kit and percussion sounds as two submixes This technique might al
57. y down until all units feeding it have been turned on Although the D4 doesn t make noise on power up or power down other units may not operate in an equally polite manner 2 Turn up the D4 s front panel volume control about halfway Turn up the monitoring system s volume control to a low level to prevent blasting your amp and speakers After the D4 starts making sounds adjust the monitoring system levels for a comfortable listening level 1 2G Select Drum Sets 1 After turning on power the LCD will show a sign on message If the LCD does not light check your power connections 2 Press the Drum Set button its LED will light The LCD will show a Drum Set number on the upper line and the Drum Set s name on the lower line similar to the example below DRUMSET 00 Standard Stuff 3 Trigger 04 notes via MIDI or acoustic triggers Different MIDI notes within the range of 36 96 or triggers should trigger different drum sounds 4 Turn the Data wheel clockwise to select higher numbered drum kits or counterclockwise to select lower numbered drum kits Each click calls up a Drum Set You cannot select a Drum Set number lower than 00 or higher than 20 1 2H Audition Different Drum Sounds Drum sounds are organized as Banks of individual drum sounds Available Banks are Kik Kick Snr Snare Cym Cymbals and hi hats Tom Tom toms Prc Percussion Efx Effects Press the Voice button and its LED lights The display
58. ynamics information too Moving the modulation wheels and pedals attached to many synthesizers will also generate data associated with the wheel or pedal being used The MIDI In jack receives data from another MIDI device In addition to the type of performance data described above rhythmically oriented MIDI devices e g drum 43 machines can often transmit and or receive additional MIDI timing messages that keep other rhythmically oriented units in a system synchronized with each other An optional MIDI Thru jack provides a duplicate of the signal at the MIDI In jack This is handy if you want to route MIDI data appearing at one device to another device as well Some devices like the D4 switch their MIDI Out between the Out and Thru functions Example Suppose a keyboard s MIDI Out feeds the D4 s MIDI In If the D4 s MIDI Out is set to function as a Thru jack you could patch it to the input of an MMT 8 sequencer Thus the keyboard would control the D4 and be able to record data into the sequencer Note that any notes generated by the D4 would be recorded into the sequencer as well 6 2 MIDI MESSAGE BASICS The are two main types of MIDI messages Channel messages which are channel specific consist of Voice and Mode messages System messages which do not have a channel number and are received by all units in a system include Common Real Time and Exclusive messages 6 3 CHANNEL MESSAGES 6 3A Voice Messages A synthesizer s
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