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1. 0 POINTS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Tip The Tracking Generator can be used to turn a variable control such as the Mod Wheel or velocity into a switch by setting all of the points to 0 except for point 10 Only near the maximum input will anything other than 0 come out of the Tracking generator You can patch the Mod Wheel somewhere else in addition to the Tracking Generator giving you gradual control of one function with the full range of the Mod Wheel while switching on a second function only at the top of the wheel However the Tracking Generator interpolates between steps this is sort of like playing connect the dots In other words the Tracking Generator does not step directly from one point to the next but ramps from point to point QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Programs Input In Page 1 of the TRACK function Quad Knob 1 selects the input of the Tracking Generator Note Number e Velocity e Release Velocity e Aftertouch e Poly Pressure e Mod Wheel e Pitch Wheel e MIDI Volume e Sustain Pedal e Pedal 1 e Pedal 2 e PLFO e FLFO e ALFO e PENV e FENV AENV e Random e Trig Rate e Cont A D For detailed descriptions of each of these sources see the section Modulation Source in the Mod section on pages 67 69 Points 0 10 00 100 Quad Knobs 2 3 and 4 in page 1 of the TRACK function control the leve
2. Quad Page in Parameter Function Page Knob Manual Tuning Type Pitch 1 4 57 Velocity Filter 1 4 59 Velocity Curve Crossfade Amp 1 1 61 Voice Select Group Assign Voice 1 1 54 Voice Select Sound Name Assign Voice 1 3 54 Volume Level 1 1 55 Mix Parameters Quad Page in Parameter Function Page Knob Manual Effect MIDI Channel Effect 1 4 44 Effect Link Effect 1 3 44 Effect Number Effect 1 1 44 Effect Type Effect 1 3 44 Keyboard QS only Range 2 4 43 MIDI In Range 2 1 43 MIDI Out Range 2 3 43 MIDI Group S4 only Range 2 4 43 Name Mix Name 1 10 1 44 Program Effect Bus Effect Level 1 2 44 Program Effect Level Effect Level 1 1 43 Program Enable Program Assign 1 4 41 Program Output Level 1 3 41 Program Pan Level 1 2 41 Program Volume Level 1 1 41 Program Select Number Program Assign 1 1 41 Program Select Type Program Assign 1 3 41 Range Lower limit Range 1 1 42 Range Upper Limit Range 1 2 42 Tuning Octave Pitch 1 1 42 Tuning Semitone Pitch 1 3 42 132 QuadraSynth User s Manual Index 48 kHz CLOCK IN 25 110 ADAT 25 Aftertouch 15 amp 61 filter 60 pitch 57 AI 1 25 COMPARE 29 34 contrast 12 107 copy a sound 83 demo 12 digital I O 25 Drum Mode 53 79 EDIT 4 30 edit buffer 34 40 Effect Clip 87 Configuration 88 92 94 Delay 100 Mix 106 Modulation 104 Name 105 Patch 18 Pitch 101 Reverb 95 send level
3. e Pitch LFO This is the same modulation signal provided by the Pitch LFO The Frequency LFO and Amplitude LFO can also be selected as modulation sources e Pitch Envelope This is the same modulation signal provided by the Pitch Envelope The Frequency Envelope and Amplitude Envelope can also be selected as modulation sources e Random This provides a different modulation value every time you hit a key Example With vintage analog synth patches use pitch as the destination and apply a very slight amount of random modulation Each note will have a slightly different pitch which simulates the natural tuning instability of analog circuits e Trigrate This is a Trigger Rate Follower which monitors how fast notes are being played on the keyboard For example if routed to the Effect send of a Program you could automatically have more effect when playing slowly and less effect when playing quickly QuadraSynth Reference Manual 69 Editing Programs e MIDI continuous controllers A B C D Four incoming MIDI controllers can be recognized by the QuadraSynth and used as modulation sources These controllers are assigned as A B C and D within Global Mode see Chapter 8 e Tracking Generator This accepts the output of a signal processed by the Tracking Generator module see page 81 Modulation Destination Quad Knob 2 selects one of several modulation destinations You can find out more about these parameters and how they affect
4. QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Programs e When layers of a Program are designed to be used together and the individual layers by themselves wouldn t be used alone for example the percussion layer of the organ sound Use Mix Mode e When you want to layer more than four voices In Mix Mode it is possible though not advisable to stack all 64 voices onto a single key When each sound is likely to be used by itself by other setups For example if you are programming three different keyboard splits each of which uses the same left hand bass patch it makes sense to use Mix Mode e When you want different sounds to respond to different MIDI channels QuadraSynth Signal Flow The Four Sounds of a Program Each Program is made up of at least one to four s A sound is made up of several components including a voice the original sound material which passes through a low pass filter and an amplifier The voice filter and amp modules each have direct modifiers Pitch LFO Filter LFO Amp Envelope which affect how each will function in the Program You can layer these sounds together or divide them into regions of the keyboard or a combination of these things The following diagram illustrates the signal flow within each QuadraSynth Program Zal Je L les EN EE FE p3 x yu gt pitch bend etc LULU
5. This sets the Program s pitch in 12 semitones steps from 2 transposed down 2 octaves to 2 transposed up two octaves Semitone 12 to 12 semitones Sets the oscillator pitch in steps from 12 transposed down one octave to 12 transposed up one octave Setting the Range and MIDI 46 Each sound can be restricted to a specific range of the keyboard This is ideal for creating splits e g bass in the lower octave and a half piano in the middle three octaves and strings in the upper octave When you start to setup a MIX it may be confusing if many of the channels have their Keyboard parameter turned off In order to hear anything on a particular channel enable Keyboard control and set the Range so that the low note and high note values are set beyond where you want to play Look at the MIDI MONITOR section of the display A thick line will appear above any active MIDI channels as you play notes or send notes to the QuadraSynth from a sequencer on those channels Range Page 1 Lower Limit MIDI note 000 to 127 C 2 to G8 Specifies the lowest note of the sound s keyboard You can set the lower limit by holding Quad Switch 1 and tapping the key on the keyboard you want to set as the lowest note in the range High Limit MIDI note 000 to 127 C 2 to G8 Specifies the highest note of the sound s keyboard range You can set the high limit by holding Quad Switch 2 and tapping the key on the keyboard you want to
6. below either the word MIX or PROGRAM Turn the QuadraSynth s master VOLUME control to maximum The best signal to noise ratio is achieved when VOLUME is set to maximum This is a digital volume control and lower settings have lower resolution Turn on the power of the amplifier mixer and adjust the volume The Quad Knobs To the right of the display are four knobs referred to as Quad Knobs 1 4 each with its own button These four knobs are linked to the parameters that appear in the right side of the display The lower line of the alphanumeric display will show the abbreviated name of each parameter with a bar graph below it representing the current setting of the parameter Y jj 0000 1 EFFECT MM aa j LIL MER A 1 2 3 4 Y VALUE By turning Quad Knob 1 you adjust the setting of the first parameter on the left Turning Quad Knob 2 adjusts the next parameter and so on Once a Quad Knob has been turned or its button has been pressed the top line of the display will immediately show the parameter s name and current setting At this point the parameter will have a thick underline beneath its bargraph indicating that you can now use the VALUE and 1 buttons to adjust the parameter s setting The parameters in the display change depending on which function and page are selected Not all four Quad Knobs are active in all windows there are many pages
7. swell the amplitude of brass and horn parts QuadraSynth Reference Manual 65 Editing Programs Amplitude LFO Depth 99 to 99 At 00 the has no effect Higher positive values increase the amount of LFO modulation Negative values give the same apparent effect but with reversed LFO phase i e if the amplitude would normally be increasing with depth set to a positive number the amplitude would instead be decreasing at that same moment had the depth been set to a negative number Amplitude LFO parameters such as speed and wave shape are programmed within the ALFO Function see page 73 Tip Amplitude LFO set to a triangle wave gives tremolo effects Each sound can be restricted to a specific range of the keyboard This is ideal for creating splits e g bass in the lower octave and a half piano in the middle three octaves and strings in the upper octave Lower Limit MIDI note 000 to 127 C 2 to G8 Specifies the lowest note of the sound s keyboard range You can set the lower limit by holding Quad Switch 1 and tapping the key on the keyboard you want to set as the lowest note in the range High Limit MIDI note 000 to 127 C 2 to G8 Specifies the highest note of the sound s keyboard range You can set the high limit by holding Quad Switch 2 and tapping the key on the keyboard you want to set as the highest note in the range QuadraSynth Keyboard Range C 2 C 1 CO Cl C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C86G8 P
8. Sustain Pedal On or Off This determines whether or not the Sustain Pedal will have an effect on the envelope When turned on holding down the Sustain Pedal while playing short notes is virtually the equivalent to holding down those notes on the keyboard with some subtle but important differences If the Delay and Attack are set to 0 and either the Decay is 0 or the Sustain is 99 the envelope will immediately jump to the release stage if not already there when the note is released and the sustain pedal is held down If a long attack is set and the envelope does not reach the end of the attack segment when the note is released it will be skipped and the envelope will jump immediately to the sustain decay segment If a long delay is set and the envelope has not reached the attack segment before the note is released the envelope will remain at 0 However if Freerun is turned on the envelope will continue through the delay attack decay and sustain segments and remain at the sustain decay segment This is exactly the same as holding down the note on the keyboard When the Sustain Pedal parameter is turned off the Sustain Pedal will have no effect on the envelope Level 00 to 99 This is the initial output level of the envelope Velocity Modulation 00 to 99 This determines how keyboard dynamics will affect the envelope level When set to 99 note velocity controls the envelope s output notes played hard will deliver a higher envelo
9. Playing the QuadraSynth The QuadraSynth is shipped from the factory with a full bank of 128 Preset Programs sounds and 128 User Programs Additionally there are 100 Preset Mixes and 100 User Mixes 128 Preset Effects Patches and 128 User Effects Patches Program Mode and Mix Mode The QuadraSynth is always in one of two main modes Program Mode or Mix Mode O If you ever get lost press either the PROGRAM button or the MIX button to get back to their respective modes e Press the PROGRAM button to select Program Mode In Program Mode the QuadraSynth plays a single Program The display will look like this QuadraTime l PRESET NUMBER TYPE The current PROGram and EFFECT number are displayed and the Program s name appears in the top right The current MIDI channel is shown at left e Press the MIX button to select Mix Mode In Mix Mode the QuadraSynth can combine up to 16 Programs for stacking sounds together splitting the keyboard into different regions or working with a MIDI sequencer The display will look like this MIDI chn 1234567891011 1213141516 QuadraZone MIX i PROG EFFECT f preset _ _ preset presser NUMBER TYPE All MIDI channels that are active in the current Mix are shown at the top left to indicate multitimbral operation The current MIX and EFFECT numbers are displayed along with the Mix s name The PROGram number display shows the program assigned to the u
10. Therefore much thicker and richly textured sounds can be created In Mix mode the QuadraSynth can be used in a wide range of applications It can be used for live performance in which sounds are layered or assigned to sections of the keyboard It can also be used as a multitimbral sound source for desktop music and home studio applications Each Mix can select any one of the 256 Effects Patches Large Hall Chorus etc Even though there may be 16 Programs in a Mix there can only be one Effects Patch per Mix In Mix Mode the QuadraSynth can respond to messages on up to 16 MIDI channels simultaneously different channels are available depending on which Mix is selected Program Edit Mode In Program Edit mode you can change the various settings which determine the sound of an individual Program or create an entirely new Program from scratch In Program Edit mode you can e select which sample waveform from the 16 megabytes of onboard sample ROM will be used in each of the 4 sounds e change the tone level attack and decay characteristics modulation inputs and pitch of each layer QuadraSynth Reference Manual Overview e select which Effect Patch will be used by the Program set the effect level for each sound layer and set which of the four effect sends each layer will use for signal processing such as reverb delay and chorus or any combination of these Mix Edit Mode Mix Edit mode lets you change the parameters
11. controls the transposition or pitch of the keyboard Quad Knob 4 controls the instrument s overall master tuning Use the PAGE lt and buttons to scroll through the 6 pages of Global Edit mode The following sections describe in detail each of the parameters found in the six Global Mode pages LCD Contrast In Page 1 of Global Edit mode Quad Knob 1 adjusts the LCD Display Contrast 00 to 121 Whenever the GLOBAL button is pressed the display will always revert to Page 1 with the Display Contrast parameter selected This is so that if the display contrast is set too high or too low and is unreadable you can easily adjust it even if you can t see what you re doing Master Pitch and Master Tuning In Page 1 of Global Edit mode Quad Knob 3 adjusts the QuadraSynth s overall pitch 12 to 12 up or down an octave Adjust this parameter when you wish to globally transpose all sounds Quad Knob 4 adjusts the QuadraSynth s overall Master Tuning 99 to 99 up or down 1 2 step Adjust this parameter when tuning the QuadraSynth to other instruments These parameters have no effect on drum sounds the Range settings or MIDI Out The parameters that appear in Page 2 of Global Edit mode will be different on an S4 than on the QuadraSynth keyboard The next four parameters are only found on the QuadraSynth keyboard They are not accessible on the S4 These are followed by the single parameter that appears on an S4 s G
12. volume 55 Program Mode 13 14 28 Quad Knob 31 Edit Mode 110 Quad Knobs 11 re initializing 83 115 Samples 55 56 Select 31 Software Version 116 Sound Card 35 Store 29 35 38 88 VALUE 11 31 34 Velocity 15 133
13. ALFO ALFO 2 2 71 Mod Wheel Level FLFO FLFO 2 2 70 Modulation Destination Mod 1 2 66 Modulation Gate Mode Mod 1 4 66 Modulation Level Mod 1 3 66 Modulation Source Mod 1 1 64 Name Program Name 1 10 1 79 Output Level 1 3 56 Pan Level 1 2 55 PENV Depth Pitch 2 4 58 PENV Level PENV 3 3 73 PENV Trigger PENV 2 4 72 PENV Velocity Depth PENV 3 4 73 PLFO Delay PLFO 1 3 67 PLFO Depth Pitch 2 3 57 PLFO Level PLFO 2 1 68 PLFO Mod Wheel Level PLFO 2 2 68 PLFO Speed PLFO 1 2 67 PLFO Trigger PLFO 1 4 67 PLFO Waveform PLFO 1 1 67 Pitch Wheel Range Filter Filter 2 1 60 Pitch Wheel Range Pitch Pitch 2 1 57 Portamento Pitch 3 1 58 Portamento Rate Pitch 3 3 58 Range Lower limit Range 1 1 62 Range Upper Limit Range 1 2 62 Release Amp AENV 1 4 76 Release Filter FENV 1 4 74 Release Pitch PENV 1 4 72 Sound Enable Misc 1 4 79 Sound Overlap Range 1 3 63 Sustain Amp AENV 1 3 76 Sustain Filter FENV 1 3 74 Sustain Pitch PENV 1 3 72 Sustain Decay Amp AENV 2 2 77 Sustain Decay Filter FENV 2 2 74 Sustain Decay Pitch PENV 2 2 73 Sustain Pedal Amp AENV 3 2 77 Sustain Pedal Filter FENV 3 2 75 Sustain Pedal Pitch PENV 3 2 73 Time Track AENV AENV 3 1 77 Time Track FENV FENV 3 1 75 Time Track PENV PENV 3 1 73 Track Input Track 1 1 79 Track Points 0 10 Track 1 2 3 2 4 1 4 79 Tuning Semitone Pitch 1 1 57 Tuning Detune Pitch 1 3 57 QuadraSynth User s Manual 131 Index
14. Avenue Los Angeles CA 90016 Customers outside the USA Contact your local Alesis dealer for warranty assistance Do not return products to the factory unless you have been given specific instructions to do so QuadraSynth Reference Manual 123 APPENDIX A Troubleshooting 124 QuadraSynth Reference Manual APPENDIX B MIDI Supplement APPENDIX B MIDI SUPPLEMENT MIDI Basics Most current electronic instruments and signal processors including the QuadraSynth 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 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 ensure compatibility of equipment between 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
15. Channel 1 Press both FUNCTION lt and buttons simultaneously so the words PROGRAM ASSIGN are underlined Turn Quad Knob 3 to the right so that PROGRAM TYPE USER appears in the top right of the display Turn Quad Knob 1 to scroll through the Programs until you find one you wish to overwrite with the new edited Program Take a note of the number Press PROGRAM to enter Program mode This recalls the edit buffer in Program mode which is your edited Program Press STORE The top right of the display will read STORE PRG AT XXX where XXX is a User Program number from 000 127 Use Quad Knob 1 to enter the Program number you noted in step 6 Press STORE again The Program is now stored QuadraSynth Reference Manual 41 Overview 42 To audition Programs before overwriting them with STORE O when editing a Program in Mix mode While in Mix Program Edit mode press PROGRAM This selects Program mode but retains your changes to the Program in Mix Edit Turn Quad Knob 3 to the right so that PROGRAM TYPE USER appears on the top line of the display Use Quad Knob 1 to scroll through the Programs until you find one you wish to overwrite with the new edited program Take a note of the number Press MIX This recalls the edit buffer in Mix mode which contains your edited Program Press SELECT twice until EDITING PROGRAM appears
16. EFFECT PRESET preset _ _ EDITED EDITED NUMBER TYPE PRESE EDITED EDITING MIX PROGRAM SOUND 1 2 3 4 EFFECT CLIP PROGRAM ASSIGN VOICE LEVEL EFFECT LEVEL PITCH FILTER AMP RANGE MOD EFFECT NAME PLFO FLFO ALFO PENV FENV AENV TRACK tn CONFIG REVERB DELAY MIX MISC GLOBAL m PAGE 123456789 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 COMPARE Page Number Strip Page Cursor Quad Knob bar graph meters Function List Compare indicato Quad Knob Cursor Function Cursor Global indicator Clip indicator Note This illustration shows all display flags turned on at once Actual displays show only some of these at any time The display has eight main sections MIDI monitor and selection strip Selects different MIDI channels for the programs in mix mode a thick underline indicates the selected channel monitors keyboard and incoming MIDI activity thick lines above active channel numbers indicates activity either from the keyboard or MIDI In and chooses the basic MIDI channel in Program mode e Current Mix Program and Effect strip Shows the currently selected Mix and or Program and its associated Effect Editing Status Indicates what you are editing either Mix Edit Program Edit or Effects Edit after pressing SELECT 1 2 3 4 indicates which sound 1 4 is selected for editing when in Program Edit mode or which effect send 1 4 is selected for editing when in
17. Effects Patch from Effects Edit mode Itis possible for different Programs and Mixes to share the same Effects Patch So keep in mind that when you edit an Effects Patch it may affect the sound of any other Programs and Mixes that use the same Effects Patch QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Effects While routing sounds into the effects processor the word CLIP will temporarily appear in the display if the input to the effects is being overloaded If this should occur try reducing the Input Levels for each of the effects devices in the current configuration and if necessary reduce the Effects Levels in the Mix Program Editing Effects The Effects Patches themselves are not edited in Program Edit or Mix Edit mode but could you guess it Effects Edit mode You can enter Effects Edit mode by pressing the SELECT button until the display looks something like this cry 12345678910111213141516 Stereo Chorus MIX y PROG EFFECT ID preset preset _ L T EDITING 1 PITCH CONFIG REVERB DELAY MIX PAGE 1 2 The basic method of navigating through the displays in Effects Edit mode is similar to that in Program Edit and Mix Edit modes e The FUNCTION lt and buttons are used to select a function Pitch Mod Name Configuration Reverb Delay and Mix e Ifa function has more than one page the display will indicate the number of pages available in the bottom left corner Use the PAGE
18. Effects Edit mode Press EDIT 1 to cycle through the four sounds sends When Edit 4 mode is selected press EDIT 4 all four numbers appear to indicate that all four sounds are available for simultaneous editing Edit 4 mode is available in Program Edit mode only Functions list Displays the various editing functions available in a particular editing mode Use the FUNCTION lt and buttons to select a function as indicated by the small line cursor underneath one of the words in the list When a function is chosen the page number strip and right hand side of the display will show values related to that function Only the functions used by the current edit mode will be displayed and selectable 34 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Overview e Page number strip Some functions have too many options to fit on a single screen These functions use multiple screens with each screen considered a page This strip shows which page is selected by underlining the page number The PAGE lt and buttons allow you to select a page Name strip When in Mix mode the name of the currently selected Mix will appear here Likewise when in Program mode the name of the currently selected Program will appear here In any Edit mode or Store mode the name of the currently selected parameter will appear here indicating it is selected for editing using the VALUE 1 and buttons e Quad Knob Button Label strip This line is used to
19. If the selected Configuration has a particular effect on more than one effect send for example Config 1 has a delay on each send then some Mod Destination parameters will be listed more than once For example the Delay Time parameter will appear four times D1 Time D2 Time D3 Time and D4 Time In the case of Pitch where you can choose from various pitch effects different parameters are available depending on the effect chosen However the Mod Destinations retain their names Example If the Resonator is the Pitch effect the Pitch Speed Modulation Destination controls the first parameter in the Resonator Tuning Mod Level The Mod level is the amount that the Destination parameter will be affected by the Mod Source Use Quad Knob 3 to affect the Destination parameter by a positive or negative amount In other words if the Reverb Decay was selected as the Destination with the mod wheel as the Source the mod wheel could be programmed to cause the Reverb to increase the decay positive or decrease the decay negative Name The function allows you to change the name of the you are editing Use the PAGE and buttons to move the cursor through each character in the current name Use Quad Knob 1 to change the selected character Here is a chart of available characters 1 amp Jes feds Je 0 112 43 41551566789 lt gt OABCODEFG HII Y K IL MN O
20. Knob 3 all the way to the right the top line of the display will change to read MIX TYPE PRESET yO After switching between the Preset and User banks press Quad Button 1 to see the name of the Mix in the display again User memory and Preset memory are described in detail in Chapter 4 QuadraSynth Reference Manual 17 Your First Session with the QuadraSynth 18 Editing a Mix In this section we will assign Programs to and set volume levels for the 16 MIDI channels in a Mix for playing back tracks from a MIDI sequencer However there is much more about a Mix that may be edited Refer to Chapter 5 for more about Mix editing Press MIX and select a Mix using one of the three methods described above Press SELECT The top line of the LCD s function list will read EDITING MIX Simultaneously press both the FUNCTION lt and buttons MIDI chan 1234567891011 1213141516 Mystic5ths MIX il PROG IZI EFFECT AL preset preset l preset _ _ NUMBER TYPE ENABLE EDITING MIX PROGRAM ASSIGN LEVEL EFFECT LEVEL PITCH RANGE EFFECT NAME PAGE 1 Use the MIDI and buttons to select a MIDI channel for editing The MIDI monitor and selection strip will indicate the selected MIDI channel with an underline These buttons wrap around e g ifyou re on channel 16 and press MIDI gt you ll select channel 1 If channel 1 is selected and you press MIDI you ll se
21. Let s look at each module s function in detail This digitally based oscillator provides the actual raw sounds from the 16 Megabyte library of on board samples The oscillator s pitch can be tuned to a fixed frequency or modulated Modulation is the process of varying a parameter dynamically over time the oscillator pitch can be modulated by envelope keyboard pressure pedal LFO and other control sources described later QuadraSynth Reference Manual 53 Editing Programs 54 Note that the waveforms in the QuadraSynth are different from those found in samplers or many sample playback units Because the QuadraSynth has its own filter module and amplitude module for each voice the pure waveforms are relatively bright as bright as the original instrument can be and have a constant sustaining amplitude like an organ So if you listen to a piano voice without setting the filter or amp to the correct settings it won t decay after it is hit as you might expect This gives you the freedom to create the timbre and dynamics you want instead of being chained to the parameters of the original sample Lowpass Filter A filter varies a signal s harmonic content by progressively increasing attenuation above a specified The higher frequencies are filtered while the lower frequencies are allowed to pass thru When the cutoff frequency is set high the sound becomes brighter when set low the sound becomes bassier since fewer harmonic
22. Program Edit or a Program in Mix Edit to an effect send you can adjust the Effect Send Level O To route a Sound Program only to an effect send and not the Main or Aux outputs assign the Output parameter of the Sound Program to OFF assign its Effect Bus to one of the four effect sends and adjust the Effects Level Outputs o Main Left Aux Lef 1 SOUND o Main Right o Aux Right Effect Sends Effect pun Level n 2 O 3 4 The configuration determines the arrangement of effect functions of each effect send Imagine a configuration as an arrangement of multiple effects processors patched together at the end of each effect send Example In one configuration effect send 3 has its own separate reverb while in another configuration it has its own delay and a level control feeding a reverb shared with send 1 When you re programming effects you will need to refer to the charts on pages 91 95 for the effect configuration you re using so you know how the paths from different effect functions interact The Effect functions consist of Pitch Delay and Reverb Each function has several types to choose from For example the Pitch effect can be either a chorus a flange a resonator etc The Reverb can be a large hall plate gated etc The parameters available for an effect function depend on the selected effect type Some effect types have very f
23. Quad Page in Parameter Function Page Knob Manual Aftertouch Depth Amp Amp 1 2 61 Aftertouch Depth ALFO ALFO 2 3 71 Aftertouch Depth Filter Filter 2 2 60 Aftertouch Depth FLFO FLFO 2 3 70 Aftertouch Depth Pitch Pitch 2 2 57 Aftertouch Depth PLFO PLFO 2 3 68 AENV Level AENV 3 3 77 AENV Trigger AENV 2 4 77 ALFO Delay ALFO 1 3 70 ALFO Depth Amp 1 3 62 ALFO Level ALFO 2 1 71 ALFO Mod Wheel Depth ALFO 2 2 71 ALFO Speed ALFO 1 2 70 ALFO Trigger ALFO 1 4 70 ALFO Waveform ALFO 1 1 70 Attack Amp AENV 1 1 76 Attack Filter FENV 1 1 74 Attack Pitch PENV 1 1 71 Decay Amp AENV 1 2 76 Decay Filter FENV 1 2 74 Decay Pitch PENV 1 2 72 Drum Mode Misc 1 1 79 Effect Bus Effect Level 1 2 56 Effect Level Effect Level 1 1 56 Effect Program Effect 1 1 56 Effect Type Effect 1 3 56 FENV Depth Filter 2 4 60 FENV Level FENV 3 3 75 FENV Trigger FENV 2 4 75 FENV Velocity Depth FENV 3 4 75 Filter Frequency Filter 1 1 59 FLFO Delay FLFO 1 3 69 FLFO Depth Filter 2 3 60 FLFO Level FLFO 2 1 69 FLFO Mod Wheel Level FLFO 2 2 70 FLFO Speed FLFO 1 2 69 FLFO Trigger FLFO 1 4 69 FLFO Waveform FLFO 1 1 69 Keyboard Tracking Filter 1 2 59 Keyboard Mode Pitch 3 4 58 QuadraSynth User s Manual Index Quad Page in Parameter Function Page Knob Manual Mod Wheel Level
24. Quad Button 1 4 and press VALUE to disable or VALUE f to enable Example Holding Quad Button 1 and pressing VALUE will disable sound 1 QuadraSynth Reference Manual 83 Editing Programs Programming Drum Sounds 84 To program a sound in Drum Mode you must first enable Drum Mode for that particular sound in the Misc Function see previous section Quad Knob 4 is always used to select a Drum 1 10 regardless of which Function or Page is selected except Effect Name and Misc For an explanation of the basics of Drum Mode see page 56 When using Edit 4 mode sounds using Drum Mode will be unavailable for editing only sounds not in Drum Mode will be editable in the bargraph display If a sound is in Drum mode the display will show drmX whereby X is the sound number 1 4 If you enable Drum Mode for a sound while in Edit 4 mode the QuadraSynth will automatically switch to Edit 1 mode for that layer Assign Voice The Assign Voice function is where you choose the particular sample for the selected drum 1 10 Similar to the normal Assign Voice function sounds are divided into groups After selecting the group using Quad Knob 1 you then select the sample within the group using Quad Knob 2 Here is a chart listing the various drum samples in their respective groups Group Sample Kick Stab Kick Deep Kick Spike Kick Flap Kick GarageKick PillowKic Elect Kick Sna
25. QuadraSynth keyboard does not generate poly pressure the sound generators can respond to poly pressure signals entering via the MIDI In Example Assign poly pressure to the sound s amplitude in a string ensemble patch You can then increase the level of selected notes of a held chord to pull some notes out of the chord e Pitch Wheel The two wheels to the left of the keyboard are modulation sources see below The leftmost wheel Pitch always controls the oscillator pitch but can be tied to other parameters as well Modulation Wheel The rightmost wheel Modulation is traditionally assigned to LFO amount level so that rotating the wheel away from you introduces vibrato However it is also well suited to controlling timbre vibrato speed and many other parameters MIDI Volume MIDI can produce a variety of controller messages see the MIDI supplement in the back of this manual Of these controller 7 which controls channel volume is one of the most frequently used Example Assign the filter cutoff as the destination and you can have the signal become less bright as it becomes lower in volume e Sustain Pedal The sustain switch plugged into the sustain pedal jack provides this modulation signal e Pedal1 The pedal plugged into the Pedal 1 jack provides this modulation signal Typically this may be mapped to AENV Amp to act as a volume pedal Pedal 2 The pedal plugged into the Pedal 2 jack provides this modulation signal
26. There is no Edit 4 mode for Mixes or Effects Press EDIT 1 repeatedly to select a sound for editing The status line in the display will indicate SOUND 1 or SOUND 2 etc as you continue to press EDIT 1 To view and edit parameters for all four sounds at once press EDIT 4 The status line in the display will indicate SOUND 1 2 3 4 In Edit 4 mode the four Quad Knobs represents the four sound layers of a Program The currently selected parameter s name will appear at the top right of the display QuadraSynth Reference Manual 37 Overview while above each bargraph are the words SND1 SND2 SND3 SND4 If a sound is disabled the display will show the sounds name in lower case snd1 means that sound 1 is disabled If a sound is in Drum mode the sound s name will read drmX where X is the sound number 1 4 Notice that the assignments of the Quad Knobs and the number of pages in a function change between Edit 1 and Edit 4 mode For example in Edit 1 mode the LEVEL function has only one page which shows the Volume Pan and Output of a single sound In Edit 4 mode the Level function has three pages all four sound volumes are page 1 all pans are on page 2 and all outputs are on page 3 Resetting a Parameter Value It s often convenient while editing to return a parameter to its default setting usually but not always 0 This normally involves turning a Quad Knob or repeatedly pressi
27. as well Reverb Page 1 cnan 12345678910111213141516 INPUT1 DELAY OUT MIX i PROG EFFECT ILI IL PRESET N 1 N 2 BALANCE LEVEL EDITING 1 EFFECT PRESET PRESET PITCH MOD CONFIG REVERB DELAY MIX PAGE 1234 The Reverb function is used to edit Reverb parameters In all configurations page 1 of the Reverb function selects what the reverb is hearing i e where the input of the reverb is coming from The source can come directly from the Effect bus the output of other effects in the chain before it or a mix of several of them Example In Configuration 1 page 1 of the Reverb function shown above allows you to select either one or two sources to be routed to the reverb s input You can choose from the Delay output the Delay input the Pitch output and the uneffected send input dry signal You can then adjust a balance between these and set an overall input level Input 1 In configurations 1 and 3 there are two inputs to the Reverb Both Inputs 1 and 2 can select a signal from several locations in the signal chain Quad Knob 1 can select either the Pitch output or the Delay output as Input 1 If the signal is taken from the Pitch output the Reverb will be chorused flanged detuned or resonating depending upon which Pitch type is selected Note that the delay signal may already have passed through the Pitch module depending on the Input settings of the Delay module Input 2
28. be decreasing at that same moment had the depth been set to a negative number Filter LFO parameters such as speed and wave shape are programmed from within the FLFO Function see page 72 Tip Filter LFO is good for giving wah wah effects at slower LFO speeds and for adding shimmering with higher LFO speeds Depth 99 to 99 The Filter Envelope is one of the most important settings in making a program Many programs will use the Filter Envelope to determine the tonal character of the sound over time attack decay sustain and release At 00 the filter envelope has no effect Positive values raise the filter from the baseline cutoff frequency according to the envelope shape and negative values similarly lower the cutoff frequency The higher the number negative or positive the greater the effect Filter Envelope parameters such as attack and decay time are programmed within the FENV Function see page 76 64 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Programs 13 choices This selects how the sound will respond to the dynamics of your playing the keyboard A LINEAR curve is the norm whereby the increase in level is equal to the increase in velocity the velocity values increase as you play harder Many of the Velocity Curves make up sets to be used by 2 3 or 4 sounds in order to facilitate velocity crossfading whereby a different sound is played depending on how hard or soft the keyboard is played As explained
29. data to a card that contains a ROM READ ONLY bank it will be in bank 1 this means you cannot save anything into bank 1 Insert the card into the sound card slot on the back panel of the QuadraSynth or front panel of the S4 Press STORE Use either PAGE or to select Page 6 of the Store function This selects the SAVE TO CARD option Use Quad Knob 1 to select a bank location on the card to store to 1 8 If the card contains a ROM bank it will be bank 1 Therefore you will only be able to save into bank locations 2 8 Press STORE to transfer the data from the QuadraSynth onto the card If the display reads CARD IS WRITE PROTECTED switch the write protect switch on the card to off and repeat the procedure Loading from External Card Insert the card into the card slot on the back panel Press STORE Use either PAGE lt or to select Page 7 of the Store function This selects the LOAD FROM CARD option Use Quad Knob 1 to select the bank on the card you wish to load 1 9 Press STORE to transfer the data from the card into the QuadraSynth QuadraSynth Reference Manual 117 MIDI Transfer And Storage Operations Saving Programs via MIDI Sys Ex 118 As an alternative to storing data to a card the QuadraSynth lets you transmit internal data via MIDI messages This data can be sent to a storage device such as the Alesis DataDisk or recorded i
30. device as well QuadraSynth Reference Manual 125 APPENDIX B MIDI Supplement MIDI Message Basics 126 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 Channel Messages Mode Messages There are two messages that determine the MIDI mode i e how a device 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 Channel Messages Voice Messages A synthesizer s 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 va
31. earlier many of the samples to choose from when assigning voices are already velocity switching These samples usually have the word Velo or the letter V in their names indicating that there is actually more than one sample per note which can be selected by how hard or soft each note is played However the velocity point at which these sounds change is fixed and cannot be altered If you want to create your own velocity crossfading Program assign the single sample versions of the same samples BrtRhdsVel is made up of BrtRhdsHrd and BrtRhdsSft to two or more sounds then use the appropriate velocity curves for each sound in a three way velocity split sound 1 would use curve 1 of 3 sound 2 would use curve 2 of 3 while sound 3 would use 3 of 3 INVERTED MAXIMUM MINIMUM 0 VELOCITY 127 o VELOCITY 127 o VELOCITY 127 o VELOCITY 127 10F2 20F2 10F3 20F3 Qe repro rm lt mr o VELOCITY 12 0 VELOCITY 127 o VELOCITY 127 0 VELOCITY 127 Depth 99 to 99 At 00 aftertouch has no effect on the litude Applying aftertouch with this parameter set to a positive value raises the amplitude conversely applying aftertouch with a negative value will make the sound softer the harder you press The higher the number either positive or negative the greater the effect for a given amount of aftertouch Tip Use aftertouch to
32. from each Program layer to the effects processor Oo If you enter Program Edit mode from Mix Mode you will not be able to change the Effect Patch of the individual Programs since this function is overridden by the Mix s Effect function Always select the Effect Patch for a Mix from Mix Edit mode The QuadraSynth offers you a choice of what parameters to use for effects e The Effect Patch can be selected by the Mix itself or linked to one of the Programs in the Mix For example you can use Effect Patch 127 for the Mix or say use whatever effect is used by the program on MIDI channel 10 e Similarly the effect levels and bus assignments can be set directly by the Mix or you can use the same levels and buses that were stored in each Program Effect Level The Effect function is where each channel may be given its own Effect Level and Effect Bus assignment 00 to 99 or PROG This determines the amount of signal from the selected channel that will be sent to the effects using one of the four effects buses as determined by Quad Knob 2 QuadraSynth Reference Manual 47 Mix Mode 1 2 3 4 or PROG Quad Knob 2 determines which effect bus the selected channel will be routed to When set to PROG the effect bus assignment will be that stored by the channel s Program 1 2 3 or 4 overrides the Program s bus assignment sending all sound layers of the Program to the chosen bus Effect The Effect function is wh
33. 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 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 C has been released If the keyboard responds to the dynamics of your playing the note data will include dynamics 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 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
34. of this approach is that the controller must send many channels of duplicate MIDI messages simultaneously Note that in Program mode the Mix Group Channel parameter has no effect Typical Application 2 Using the QuadraSynth with an External Sequencer The QuadraSynth can generate MIDI signals that are recorded by a sequencer On playback the sequencer sends this data back into the QuadraSynth which then serves as a multitimbral sound module Mix mode The sequencer can generate data over several channels in Mix mode the QuadraSynth can be programmed so that individual Programs play sequenced data on specific channels Example If the sequencer transmits a piano part over channel 1 a bass part over channel 2 and a drum part over channel 10 you could set up a QuadraSynth Mix so that a piano sound plays only the MIDI data assigned to channel 1 a bass sound plays only the MIDI data assigned to channel 2 and drums play only the MIDI data assigned to channel 10 The QuadraSynth can store up to 100 User Mixes Connect the sequencer s MIDI Out to the QuadraSynth s MIDI IN and the QuadraSynth s MIDI OUT to the sequencer s MIDI In This allows the QuadraSynth to send data to the sequencer for recording and play back data from the sequencer QuadraSynth Reference Manual 25 Connections 26 MIDI COMPUIER N MIDI INTERFACE fop OUT pe EEE cc 1 CLINT J If you are driving other MIDI gear such as an expande
35. one parameter in this page Chorus Input Level Quad Knob 1 lets you adjust the level of the signal coming from the Pitch output going into the Reverb otherwise the signal comes purely from the Pitch input The other parameters and pages in the Reverb function are identical regardless of which Configuration is being used Only page 1 is different because of the fewer input choices the Reverb has in this Configuration Send Input Levels If Configuration 1 is selected and you press EDIT 1 to advance to effect send 2 the display will now show you the parameters that represent the signal levels on send 2 going into the Reverb Note that there is now only 1 page available since the other reverb parameters are found back on effect send 1 Press EDIT 1 again to advance to send 3 and the display will still look the same but now the parameters adjust the signal levels on send 3 going into the Reverb If you press EDIT 1 again and advance to send 4 the display will look like this cuan 123456789 101112131415 16 END4 lt 00 gt DI MIX i1 PROG pp EFFECT ILI preset I PRESET EVE PRESET _ _ EDITING 4 EFFECT PITCH MOD CONFIG REVERB DELAY MIX PAGE 1 There are only two parameters Balance and Input Level This is because in Configuration 1 effect send 4 only has a Delay effect and not a Pitch effect like the other effect sends do Quad Knob 1 controls the Balance between the Delay ou
36. sce ile A o nia aid 28 Program Modet naeia niie dei le Selig ah tara n Ar 28 MIX MOG viticolo Salata tcs 28 Program Edit Mode acarici reste 28 MixEdit Modesti allea diia 29 Effects Edit Mode ll sila tai deine ala 29 Global Edit Mod rn ala licia ie aa lara 29 store Mode ii atenta 29 Compare Modena ela aaa 29 The User Interface Display Functions Pages and Parameters 30 About THe DISplayitunia laccate cesare 30 MIDI Buttons iii iii 31 Quad Knop Editing snesen a a a a a e ie ii heat 31 QuadraSynth Reference Manual 3 Contents Parameter Editing caso al ua iaia ii 31 Editing Program Parameters ii 32 Edit4 and Edit1 Modes cirio ie iena Aaa 33 Resetting a Parameter Value ee er a a a ENT 34 Comparing Edited and Stored Versions i 34 Preset Memory and User Memory ii 35 OA oa E CORRI IERI IRON E TE 35 a A A re e ea a A E EE PTAA RS 36 StoresaniEffechi cutanea ti lia 36 DOPE aMi tia eee 36 To Audition Programs Before Storing 37 5 Mix Mode coccocccccncncnnnnonnnonanonnnnnnncnnnnnncnnnnn camara romana roca cnn DO What Mix Mode Desine gese ala lio iaia ne 39 Mix Edit Moden sero oe foo IAE A E E A A AA AA eta 39 Understand tie Edit Bu cat o 40 Program Assign foreach MIDI Channel uu lia 41 Level setting for Each Prog rans icona 41 TE LCI A AS accu A A A AAA 41 Setting the Range a
37. shows the number of pages in a function an underline shows the currently selected page e g if the display shows 1 2 3 then page two is selected Press the PAGE gt button to select the next higher numbered page and PAGE to select the next lower numbered page Press both PAGE lt and gt simultaneously to get back to the first page of the selected function Select a parameter on the page for editing There can be up to four editable parameters on a page The right side of the display shows these parameters with both text and bar graph meters to give instant visual feedback concerning a parameter s value Each of the four columns has an associated Quad Knob and Button the leftmost column monitors Quad Knob Button 1 the second from left column monitors Quad Knob Button 2 etc Turning a Quad Knob or pressing its Button selects the associated parameter for editing The currently selected parameter is indicated by a thick line at the bottom of one of the four bar graph meters Change the parameter value You can edit the value either by turning the associated Quad Knob for large value changes or pressing the VALUE y and 1 buttons for smaller changes Each bar graph indicates a parameter s approximate value increasing a value increases the column height With bipolar values that can go positive or negative turning a knob clockwise increases the column height upward from the midpoint and turning a k
38. the Mod Wheel parameter will have no effect unless either the Aftertouch or the Level is set to raise the FLFO output If both the Level and Aftertouch are set to 00 and the Mod Wheel parameter is set to 99 the Mod Wheel will have no effect on the tremolo from the FLFO Aftertouch 99 to 99 This is the modulation amount of Aftertouch over the Filter LFO s Level A positive value raises the level as more Aftertouch is applied A negative value will lower the amount of FLFO level as more Aftertouch is applied Amp LFO Page 1 The Amp LFO is usually used to add tremolo to a sound The se Amp LFO variables will have an effect only if the AMP LFO DEPTH in the AMP function is set to a value other than 0 or if Amp LFO is a source in the MOD function Wave 7 choices The waveform determines the shape of the LFO Use Quad Knob 1 to select either Sine Triangle Square Up Sawtooth Down Sawtooth Random or Noise See the diagram in the Wave section of the PLFO description on page 70 Speed 00 to 99 Quad Knob 2 controls the speed or rate of the LFO For fast modulation increase this value For slower modulation decrease this value Delay 00 to 99 This is the amount of time that is to occur before the LFO kicks in Sometimes it is desirable to have modulation come in a moment or two after a note has been played rather than starting instantly The higher the value the slower the LFO kicks in Trigger Mono Poly K
39. the QuadraSynth as a master keyboard to play other MIDI devices be sure the Keyboard Mode is set to FRM MIX The Keyboard Mode parameter is found on Page 2 of Global mode for more information see Chapter 8 Caution Do not attempt to connect more than three or four units together using thru connections as this may impede the MIDI data flow to the connected devices Instead insert a MIDI patch bay to the QuadraSynth s MIDI OUT so that all devices receive its MIDI information simultaneously Using the S4 in Live Performance Depending on the capabilities of your MIDI controller keyboard you have two different options available for how the S4 will respond when it is in Mix mode If your controller can only issue commands on one or two MIDI channels simultaneously you may want to set the S4 s Mix Group Channel parameter on page 2 of the Global display to a channel between 1 and 16 so that your controller can play a mix of several S4 programs in response to a single channel of MIDI QuadraSynth Reference Manual Connections If you have a master controller or QuadraSynth which can send on multiple MIDI channels you may want to set Mix Group Channel to off To create layers or stacks your controller must send multiple MIDI messages to the 4 simultaneously This offers you the added control of changing the sound from the controller by sending Program Change commands on individual channels within a mix A disadvantage
40. the QuadraSynth for servicing Upon receiving the QuadraSynth carefully examine the shipping carton and its contents for any sign of physical damage that may have occurred in transit If you detect any damage do not destroy any of the packing material or the carton and immediately notify the carrier of a possible claim for damage Damage claims must be made by you Contact your Alesis dealer The shipping carton should contain the following items This instruction manual plus lists of Mixes and Programs Alesis QuadraSynth with the same serial number as shown on shipping carton Sustain pedal keyboard only AC Power Cable keyboard only or power supply 54 Alesis warranty card O It is important to register your purchase if you have not already filled out your warranty card and mailed it back to Alesis please take the time to do so now AC Power Hookup The QuadraSynth works with the voltage of the country it is shipped to either 110 or 220V 50 or 60 Hz and comes with a line cord or power supply suitable for the destination to which the keyboard is shipped S4 Sound Module owners Check the label on the AC adapter to ensure that the input voltage is correct for your area Insert the AC adapter s smaller plug into the 9V AC Power jack on the S4 s rear panel Then plug the AC adapter itself into a source of AC power preferably a power strip with its own on off switch Alesis recommends turning off power to the supply or un
41. volume once the signal falls below a certain level across the output of the reverb thereby causing the initial attack of the reverb to sound very big but the tail of the reverb to be cut off very quickly Although this effect is not found in nature it works great for modern drums percussion and any quickly repeated transient source Reverse The Reverse Reverb type is an inverted reverb in which the volume envelope is reversed This means that the signal begins softly but grows louder until it is cut off rather than loud to soft as normal Pre Delay Time Pre Delay is the slight delaying of the Reverb itself so that the dry signal more easily stands out from the Reverb A bit of Pre Delay can sometimes make certain instruments such as snare drums sound bigger Use Quad Knob 2 to adjust the Pre Delay Time in 10ms intervals and or use Quad Knob 3 to adjust the Pre Delay Time in 1ms intervals This Pre Delay is part of the Reverb itself don t confuse it with the separate Delay modules available under the Delay function Pre Delay Mix Quad Knob 4 allows you to mix the amount of Pre Delay into the Reverb signal path This gives you the ability to hear a bit of the Reverb before the loudest part of the Reverb the Pre Delayed Reverb sounds This makes for bigger and smoother sounding Reverb settings Reverb Page 3 Input Filter This is a low pass filter which comes before the Reverb input Use Quad Knob 1 to adjust the fi
42. you to select any of the 256 Effect Patches for use by the Program Quad Knob 1 selects the Effect Patch number 0 127 while Quad Knob 3 switches between the Preset or User banks of Effect Patches This effect number is saved with the Program itself Each time you change between Programs the effect number each Program is linked with will be shown in the display Note that only one Effect Patch can be selected by a Program unlike most other program functions you can t select Effect 12 on Program Sound 1 Effect 24 on Program Sound 2 etc The effect you use can have a dramatic effect on the sound of a Program and some Effects Patches are designed specifically for use with a given Program If you want to change the characteristics of a particular effect for example to make a delay time longer you must enter Effects Edit mode and store your changes in the User Effects bank see Chapter 7 for more information If you store an edited Effect into a different Effect Patch number the Program will automatically use the new Effect Patch i e you don t have to enter the new number into the Effect parameter However the EDITED flag will appear in the display next to the PROG number indicating that you must store the Program itself if you want it to recall the new Effects Patch in the future If you enter Program Edit mode from Mix Mode you will not be able to change the Effect Patch of the individual Programs since this function is ove
43. 1 PITCH mode when you want a program sound layer to play a single pitch throughout the entire keyboard range In 1 PITCH mode the QuadraSynth will play the sample used for note C3 for all notes in the range 1 PITCH mode is often used for layering a noise or drum sound behind another sound that is pitched for example to fatten up a bass guitar sound with a hint of kick drum or to have the same cymbal hit every time any note is played QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Programs Filter Page 1 Frequency 00 to 99 This sets the filter s initial cutoff frequency Lower values give a duller sound since this removes more harmonics higher values let through more harmonics which gives a brighter sound Tip Signals with complex harmonic structures are most affected by the filter Examples A sine wave has virtually no harmonics so you will not hear any significant changes as long as the filter cutoff is higher than the note pitch If the filter cutoff is lower than the note pitch you will either not hear the note or it will be very soft A harmonically rich sample such as brass or white noise will be greatly affected by the filter If the Filter Frequency is set to maximum in most cases all other variables in the Filter function will have no effect Most other filter functions raise the filter frequency and it can t be greater than 99 So if you want to use filter effects proper setting of this initial cutoff frequency is cruc
44. 19 Effects Edit 29 87 footswitch 24 FUNCTION 30 32 Global 31 Global Edit 29 107 Headphones 9 Keyboard Curve 108 Mode 24 45 108 Sensitivity 108 Transpose 108 Local Off 46 Master Pitch and Master Tuning 107 Memory Preset 35 User 35 MIDI 21 22 23 31 119 120 122 controllers 120 IN 21 OUT 21 45 Program Select 110 QuadraSynth User s Manual INDEX System Exclusive 21 112 THRU 21 MIDI channel 15 Mix 31 Mix Edit 17 29 39 Effect 44 MIDI Channel 44 Program Link 44 Effect Bus 44 Effect Level 43 keyboard 43 Level 41 MIDI 43 Name 44 output 41 pan 41 Pitch 41 octave 42 semitone 42 range 42 Mix Group Channel 109 Mix Mode 13 16 28 39 Modulation Wheel 15 Name Effects Patch 105 Mix 44 Program 79 outputs 9 PAGE 31 32 pedal 24 109 Pitch Bend 15 polyphony 45 63 Power 7 11 Program 31 Program Edit 28 54 57 Amp 51 61 Aftertouch 61 Velocity Curve 61 Amp Envelope 76 Amp LFO 62 70 Assign Voice 54 Drum Mode 53 79 80 Amp Envelope 82 Effects Level 81 Level 80 Pitch 81 Range 82 velocity 81 Effect 56 Bus 56 Level 56 Effects Patch 53 Envelope 52 Filter 59 Aftertouch 60 cutoff frequency 50 lowpass 50 Pitch Wheel 60 Velocity 59 Filter Envelope 60 73 Filter LFO 60 69 Keyboard Mode 58 LFO 51 Modulation 51 64 Name 79 pan 55 Pitch 57 Aftertouch 57 Pitch Wheel 57 Pitch LFO 57 67 Portamento 58 Range 62 Sound 48 49 Sound Enable 79 Sound Overlap 63 Tracking Generator 78 Voice 50
45. 4 i DELAY 4 e L 3 AMP a DELAY 4 REVERB 4 Pitch 1 Delay 1 Reverb 1 Lezlie Mono delay Plate 1 Plate 2 Hall Room Large Gate Reverse Pitch 2 Delay 2 Reverb 2 Mono chorus Mono delay Balance and level to Reverb 1 Stereo chorus Stereo delay Mono flange Ping pong delay Stereo flange Pitch Detune Resonator Mono chorus Mono delay Balance and level to Reverb 1 Mono flange Resonator Mono delay Send delay mix and level to Reverb 1 QuadraSynth Reference Manual 9 YI Editing Effects This is similar to Configuration 1 except it provides a Lezlie effect on send 1 which emulates a rotating speaker effect commonly heard with organ sounds This is followed by a Delay effect before going to the single stereo Reverb effect Sends 2 and 3 have Pitch modules preceding Delay modules then routed to Reverb 1 Send 4 has only a Mono Delay effect which may also be routed to the Reverb 98 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Effects Reverb can be thought of as a great number of distinct echoes called reflections that occur so fast that our ear hears them blurred together as one In nature different sized spaces give distinctly different sounding reverbs depending on the size and shape of the space and the texture of surfaces that the reflections bounce off of The various parameters in the effects processor make it possible to simulate nearly any natural reverberant space that can be imagined and a few artificial ones
46. 7 or use the VALUE and 1 buttons Use Quad Knob 3 to select either the Preset bank or the User bank MIDI chan 1234567891011 1213141516 Ch Dly Rev1 MIX il PROG TIT EFFECT TIT preset _ _ PRESET preset _ NUMBER TYPE LINK CHAN EDITING MIX gt PROGRAM ASSIGN LEVEL EFFECT LEVEL PITCH RANGE EFFECT NAME PAGE 1 In Mix Edit mode the Effect function has two additional parameters Quad Knob 3 turns on and off the Link function Quad Knob 4 lets you select which Channel 1 16 of the Mix you wish to link to If Link is on and you set the Channel to 1 then the Mix will automatically use the Effects Patch used by the Program on Channel 1 When the Link function is off Quad Knob 4 is still used to determine what MIDI channel the Effects Patch will be set to for receiving MIDI controller information for the Modulators see the Mod section later in this chapter for more on real time MIDI control The number of the Effects Patch you wish to use the effect send levels and effect bus assignments are saved as part of a Program or Mix from Program Edit or Mix Edit mode Keep in mind that these are separate from any changes that will be made to the Effects Patch itself If you are changing settings in both modes you will have to STORE not only the Effect Patch but the Program and or Mix in order to hear your changes in the future The actual arrangement of depth of reverb delay time etc is saved as an
47. BAL i l FX SEND 2 e PITCH2 i LO DELAY 2 Era l E Honim PITCH 2 i DELAY2 REVERB2 i BAL i FX SEND 3 e PITCH3 ui i e Lit DELAY 3 e i BAL a UE PITCH 3 DELAY 3 REVERB 3 E BAL i FX SEND 4 e DELAY4 1 JT awe A REVERB4 Mono chorus Mono delay Plate 1 Stereo chorus Stereo delay Plate 2 Mono flange Ping pong delay Room Stereo flange Large Pitch Detune Gate Resonator Reverse Mono chorus Mono delay Balance and level to Reverb 1 Stereo chorus Stereo delay Mono flange Ping pong delay Stereo flange Pitch Detune Resonator Mono chorus Mono delay Balance and level to Reverb 1 Mono flange Resonator Mono delay Send delay mix and level to Reverb 1 Q QuadraSynth Reference Manual 9 Editing Effects Think of the diagram as a road map showing all possible paths from the starting points FX SEND 1 through 4 to the ultimate destinations MAIN LEFT and MAIN RIGHT at the top of the page The dotted lines indicate the divisions between different functional blocks and the solid lines indicate signal paths between the blocks and controls The diagram is similar to a block diagram for a mixer with signal moving generally from the left to the right The number next to each function name represents one of the four effect sends For example Delay 2 refers to the Delay effect on effect send 2 This Each of the four sends has its own Delay effect but while the Delay effects on sends 1 and 2 are stere
48. By using Quad Knob 2 Input 2 can have as its source either the Pitch output the Delay output or the dry effect send signal If the signal is taken from the Delay output the Reverb will be delayed by the amount of delay time set for the Delay If the signal is taken from the Pitch output the Reverb will be chorused flanged detuned or resonating depending upon which Pitch type is selected If the signal is taken from the effect send the Reverb will receive direct uneffected signal Input Balance Quad Knob 3 allows you to control the balance between Reverb Inputs 1 and 2 and therefore control the blend between the various input sources This makes it possible to have the signal from the Pitch or Delay sections or the direct effect send in any combination or amount QuadraSynth Reference Manual 99 Editing Effects Input level Quad Knob 4 controls the overall Input Level going into the Reverb Chorus Input Level If Configuration 2 is selected refer to block diagram of Configuration 2 earlier in this chapter the first page of the Reverb function will look like this cuan 12345678910111213141516 MIX MITI PROG EFFECT PRESET l preset _ I_ PRESET IN LEV 00 IN G rit LIL EDITING 1 EFFECT PITCH MOD NAME CONFIG REVERB DELAY MIX PAGE 1234 The Configuration has two Reverbs one on send 1 which send 2 can share the other on send 3 which send 4 can share There is only
49. FT Y A CHO RUSED OUTPUT DRY SIGNAL RIGHT CHO RUSED FEEDBACK OUTPUT DRY SIGNAL Mono Flange First used in the 1960s Flanging was achieved by the use of two tape recorders that would record and play back the same program in synchronization By alternately slowing down one tape machine and then the other different phase cancellations would occur Since the slowing down of the tape machines was done by hand pressure against the flanges of the tape supply reels the term Flanging came into being The effect of Flanging is achieved by splitting and slightly delaying one part of the signal then varying the time delay again with an LFO The delayed signal is then mixed back with the original sound to produce the swishing or tunneling sound DELAY FEEDBACK FLANGED OUTPUT DRY SIGNAL DRY SIGNAL Many variables are available from varying the speed and depth of the LFO to feeding back part of the signal to make the effect stronger Stereo Flange In the case of the Stereo Flange the signal is split into three parts with a dry signal and a separate Delay section for both left and right channels with one channel flanging up while the other channel flanges down Once again this causes the effect to become more pronounced and dramatic 106 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Effects DRY SIGNAL FEEDBACK NK LEFT FLANG ED OUTPUT DRY SIGNAL RIGHT FLANG ED OUTPU
50. ION lt returns to the previous function As you select the different edit Functions the page number strip shows how many pages exist for that function and the right part of the display will show the parameters on the current page Some functions have more parameters than will fit on a single display page and therefore will have multiple pages as indicated in the lower left corner of the display To select a page within a particular edit function use the PAGE and gt buttons Press the PAGE button to advance to the next higher numbered page or PAGE lt to return to the next lower numbered page To adjust a parameter on a page either e Turn the associated Quad Knob 1 4 e Press the associated Quad Button 1 4 to select a parameter in the display then adjust its setting with the VALUE and 1 buttons Edit 4 and Edit 1Modes A Program is made up of four sounds Sometimes you need to edit four variables of a single Program sound for example the attack decay sustain release parameters of an envelope Other times you may want to edit one variable in all four layers for example the attack parameter of each layer These two different methods of editing a Program are available under the EDIT 1 and EDIT 4 buttons The only difference between the two modes is what variables will appear in the display at the same time You can switch between Edit 1 and Edit 4 modes at any time Note
51. Input between the signal coming from the Pitch effect output if applicable and the dry effect send Time Left Time Right Time This is the actual Delay time which determines the amount of time the input signal will be delayed Use Quad Knob 2 to adjust the delay time in 10 ms intervals use Quad Knob 3 to adjust the delay time in 1 ms intervals Feedback Left Feedback Right Feedback Quad Knob 4 is used to adjust the Delay Feedback which is a portion of the delay signal output being fed back into the input This results in the delay repeating itself The more feedback the more repeats 104 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Effects The Pitch function is used to edit Pitch parameters Pitch Page 1 The first page of the Pitch function will look different depending on the selected Configuration and which effect send you are editing Normally there will only be one parameter Pitch Type However in the case of Configuration 2 a second parameter Delay Input is also available Pitch Type The Pitch Type function allows access to 6 pitch altering modes The Pitch types available are Mono Chorus Stereo Chorus Mono Flange Stereo Flange Pitch Detune and Resonator Although some of these effects can sound similar to one another depending on the parameter settings each is achieved differently and can be quite dramatic under the right circumstances Pitch effects are achieved by splitting the signal into two pa
52. Introduction Thank you for purchasing the Alesis QuadraSynth 64 Voice 76 Key Master Keyboard or S4 QuadraSynth 64 Voice Sound Module To take full advantage of the QuadraSynth s functions and to enjoy long and trouble free use please read this user s manual carefully How To Use This Manual This manual is divided into the following sections describing the various modes of the QuadraSynth Though we recommend you take time to read through the entire manual once carefully those having general knowledge about synthesizers should use the table of contents and index to reference specific functions while using the instrument Chapter 1 Setting Up Deals with the necessary preparation before playing including connections to external devices Chapter 2 Your First Session with the QuadraSynth This section provides a brief tour of the QuadraSynth shows you how to audition the various sounds of the QuadraSynth and points out the various performance features Chapter 3 Connections Details rear panel connections like MIDI footpedals and the optical digital interface proper hook up procedures plus application examples Chapter 4 Overview Covers the structure of sound sources within the QuadraSynth how to read and navigate through the LCD display pages how to edit parameters and how to store edited Programs Mixes and Effects Chapter 5 Mix Mode Explains how to create and edit Mixes Chapter 6 Editing Programs How to create an
53. LFO Speed of all Pitch types with the exception of Pitch Detune and Resonator Depth Quad Knob 3 is used to adjust the LFO Depth of all Pitch types with the exception of Pitch Detune and Resonator The LFO Depth which is the amount of pitch alteration can be adjusted to produce the desired effect Feedback Quad Knob 4 is used to adjust the LFO Feedback of all Pitch types with the exception of Pitch Detune and Resonator A portion of the output of the Pitch section can be fed back into the input in order to make the effect more tonal or pronounced Detune If the Pitch type is Pitch Detune page 2 will have only this parameter Use Quad Knob 1 to adjust the tuning of the Pitch Detune effect Resonator Tuning and Decay If the Pitch type is Resonator page 2 of the Pitch function will have two parameters Use Quad Knob 1 to adjust the Resonator tuning and Quad Knob 3 to adjust the Resonator Decay The Mod function lets you control various effects parameters from the various controls on the QuadraSynth keyboard after touch pitch bender etc or from the MIDI input This is extremely useful when dynamic or real time control is required in a live playing situation It is possible to control up to 2 parameters simultaneously The assignments are saved with the Effects Patch Don t confuse the Mod function of the Effect with the Mod function used by the Programs they are independent destinations though they can co
54. MIDI back to the QuadraSynth on a different MIDI channel usually the MIDI channel that the selected record track is assigned to In FRM MIX or CH SOLO mode the QuadraSynth sounds are internally played from the QuadraSynth keyboard so any echo features of the sequencer should be turned off When using the QuadraSynth with a MIDI sequencer the usual choice for the Keyboard Mode is OUT 1 This is equivalent to turning the QuadraSynth s local control off For more information see page 45 Using the S4 with a Sequencer For most sequencer applications the S4 s Mix Group Channel parameter on page 2 of the Global display should be set to OFF See page 109 for more information Pedal and Footswitch Hookup The QuadraSynth keyboard has two PEDAL jacks that accept a Roland model EV 5 or equivalent volume control pedal or a standard switch pedal Each pedal can be assigned to independent modulation functions within a program Example One pedal could control volume and the other vibrato depth The SUSTAIN footswitch jack accepts a momentary footswitch unit included with the unit itis packed in the center of the end caps This provides the same function as the sustain or damper pedal on a standard keyboard You can use either a normally closed or normally open momentary contact footswitch Plug itinto the rear panel SUSTAIN footswitch jack before powering up the QuadraSynth on power up it will automatically sense the footsw
55. ND ALL TO MIDI command in the Program Store function is an easy shortcut to this QuadraSynth Reference Manual 119 MIDI Transfer And Storage Operations 120 QuadraSynth Reference Manual APPENDIX A Troubleshooting APPENDIX A T ROUBLE SHOOTING Trouble Shooting Index If you are experience problems while operating the QuadraSynth please use the following table to locate possible causes and solutions before contacting Alesis customer service for assistance Symptom Cause Solution The display does not light No power Check that the power when the ON OFF switch cable is plugged in is turned on properly Display is blank Display contrast is set Adjust the display contrast either too high or low Global p 1 Quad Knob 1 No sound Bad connections Check your audio cables if necessary swap cables Volume is turned down Turn VOLUME knob up Keyboard Mode is set Set the Keyboard Mode to incorrectly FRM MIX Global p 2 No MIDI input in Mix Bad connections Check MIDI cables mode cannot control One or more channels Make sure the MIDI IN through MIDI MIDI IN switch is off parameter is turned on for the channel s you wish to control via MIDI Keyboard Mode is set Make sure the Keyboard incorrectly Mode Global p 2 is set to FRM MIX Notes sustain Sustain pedal was Turn off power and turn continuously plugged in after power on again was turned on Re initializ
56. O Even if a channel is enabled here it will not play unless the proper settings in the RANGE function MIDI IN and or KEYBOARD On Off and LOW HIGH are made Level Setting for Each Program The second function of Mix Edit is Level 00 to 99 This parameter sets the overall volume for a sound Higher numbers give higher levels Pan lt 3 to gt 3 or PG This determines the position of the selected channel When set to PG the panning setting will be that of the Program assigned to the selected channel However you can override this setting by selecting a different value thereby assigning the channel s panning between the left and right outputs of either the MAIN or AUX outputs depending on the Output assignment see below Output MAIN AUX OFF or PROG This determines the audio assignment for the selected channel When set to PROG the channel will use the Output assignment of the Program However you can override this assignment by setting this parameter to something different Selecting MAIN or AUX will assign the channel to the MAIN or AUX audio outputs When set to OFF the channel will not be sent to either set of outputs but can still feed an effect bus Pitch The function lets you transpose a channel s Program in either semitone or octave increments By using both parameters together you have a total transposition range of 3 octaves QuadraSynth Reference Manual 45 Mix Mode Octave 2 to 2 octaves
57. P QR S T UV WiXx Y Z i 2 _ ajb e die f g hi jj k jl mnjo p qir s t u vw x yz QuadraSynth Reference Manual 109 Editing Effects Mix 110 Not to be confused with an actual or Mix mode the Effect s Mix function is where you can mix the various signal levels of all the effects to the Main Left and Right outputs of the QuadraSynth Only effect modules that have access to the Main outputs will appear on the Mix page There is a separate Mix page for each of the four effect busses whose effect modules feed the main output Note that the Mix page doesn t control how much the individual effect modules feed to each other only how much they feed to the Main outputs corn 12345678910111213141516 MIX PRESET EFFECT PRESET PROG MITI ni IL TCH REVERB PRESET EDITING 1 EFFECT PITCH MOD CONFIG PAGE 1 REVERB DELAY MIX Depending on the selected Configuration the order of the effects will differ for example in Configuration 1 the order reads Pitch Delay Reverb but in Configuration 2 the order is Delay Pitch Reverb Pitch Level Adjusting this value will cause the Pitch Output Level to increase or decrease The Pitch Output level is the level for the Pitch Section of the QuadraSynth s effects processor to the Main outputs and should be set as desired Even if this parameter is set to 00 the output
58. Pedal 1 while Quad Knob 3 selects the controller for Pedal 2 O When recording into a MIDI sequencer be careful not to accidentally assign either Pedal 1 or Pedal 2 to a controller which may already be used by another control like MIDI Volume controller 7 or Mod Wheel controller 1 If Pedal 1 is assigned to controller 1 Mod Wheel and the pedal is moved it will only control those parameters which are programmed to be modulated controlled by Pedal 1 However if you record the QuadraSynth s MIDI Out into a sequencer while doing this when the sequencer plays back it will be sending back controller 1 information which will not only control parameters modulated by Pedal 1 but will control the Mod Wheel as well QuadraSynth Reference Manual 113 Global Settings MIDI In Page 5 of Global Edit mode Quad Knob 1 determines the MIDI Program Select mode Off On Mix Select Channel 1 16 When set to Off the QuadraSynth will not respond to incoming MIDI program change messages nor will it transmit program changes When turned On the QuadraSynth will respond to incoming program change messages but it will respond differently depending on whether Program mode or Mix mode is selected In Program mode the MIDI and buttons determine on which MIDI channel the QuadraSynth will receive MIDI program change messages as well as other messages like notes controllers etc The Program recalled will be the same number as th
59. 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 receive data over MIDI which is intended only for that manufacturer s equipment Example Sending a QuadraSynth message to an Alesis D4 Drum Module won t do anything but the message will be understood by other QuadraSynths 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 Continue Unlike a Start command which re starts a sequencer or drum machine from the beginning of a song each time
60. REA O RT 81 Filter tania eretti ili e au 81 O Baas AaS 81 O O o CIRO S20 82 O O 82 COpyine Sounds mt iii cases 83 Initializing Programs irene i lion 83 7 EditingrEffecis aaa About Signal Processing eniin oee er E ai ia reina 85 Selecting an Effects Patcher ae innate A A ig a I ie 86 CID iii ola 87 Editing Effecisin Lira lia ina ee eine 87 Storing Effects Patches arie lee 88 COnMSUTAHONS tail idiota idiotas 88 Re Veritas ia TE E E E eE E E E Panis Ss 95 DAS E E RR RA RR RI O O 100 RR ZII 101 A A A E EN 104 Names e AA r PA A ES DIA 105 MiS NA SAS 106 8 Global Settings os 07 Editing Global Parameters cece Yero EEA EErEE EOE AEST PUATA EEA 107 ECD Gontrasto rn al e La 107 Master Pitch and Master TUNNE acid 107 Keyboard Sensitivity QuadraSynth only ui a ili 108 Keyboard Curve Qu dtaSynti only ss sasi n a lore 108 Keyboard Transpose QuadraSynth only cosita iaia tin fara 108 Keyboard Mode Quadra Synth Only ia 108 Mix Group Channel 54 Sound Module only ici io 109 Controller Did a e r r E E 109 Pedal Land ZAS ME A E lau 109 MIDI Program Selectas romo fel a Pe E EA ee eE NERE densa nac ubico conan RER 110 Edit Mode sigari o loto ninia 110 48 KHz Clock Input oli ie ae intone aaa 110 9 MIDI Transfer And Storage OperatiONS comoocororonononcanonononcanoss LIL Saving to Exterival Car alia eau 111 Loading from External Card i 111 Savi
61. Saw Fltr 1 Saw Fltr 2 Saw Fltr 3 Saw Fltr 4 Saw Fltr 5 Saw Fltr 6 Saw Fltr 7 Velo Saw MiniSquare Sqr Fltr 1 Sqr Fltr 2 Sqr Fltr 3 Sqr Fltr 4 Sqr Fltr 5 Sqr Fltr 6 Velo Sqr Mini Peak Mini Tri Tri Fltr 1 Tri Fltr 2 Tri Fltr 3 Tri 4 Velo Tri Rectanglar Rct Fltr 1 Ret Fltr 2 Ret Fltr 3 Ret Fltr 4 Ret Fltr 5 Ret Fltr 6 Ret Fltr 7 Velo Rect Mini Thin Thn Fltr 1 Thn Fltr 2 Thn Fltr 3 Velo Thin HardSync 1 HardSync 2 HardSync 3 HardSync 4 HardSync 5 HardSync 6 HardSync 7 Velo HSync Additive 1 Additive 2 Additive 3 Additive 4 Additive 5 Digital 1 Digital 2 Digital 3 Digital 4 Digital 5 Digital 6 Digital 7 Digital 8 Digital 9 Science 1 Science 2 Science 3 Science 4 Science 5 Science 6 Noise Bass Brite Bass StudioBass Slap Bass Velo Bass Slap w pop Bass Pops Fretless Stik Acoustic Fat Synth SynAcoustc FM Bass FilterBass Bass Wavel Bass Wave2 Bass Wave3 Guitar Nylon Nylon Vel Nylon Harm Acoustic AcoustcVel AcoustHarm 12Str Elec 6 Str Elec 6 Str Velo 6 Str Harm Power Gtr Brass Ensemble Pows Trumpet Mute Trmpt TrmpySplit Trombone Mute FHorn Soft FHorn Velo FHorn Tuba Hard Tuba Soft Tuba Velo Tuba Blats Wdwind Bassoon Oboe Clarinet Flute Vibr Flute Bari Sax Tenor Hard Tenor Brth Tenor Velo Alto Sax Soprano Bari Combo Sax Combo String SoloViolin Solo Viola Solo Cello Violin Ptz Cello Ptz Bass Ptz Harp Elect Harp Ens
62. T FEEDBACK DRY SIGNAL Pitch Detune As the name implies Pitch Detune takes a part of the signal and detunes it either sharp or flat When mixed back with the original dry signal the popular 12 string guitar effect is produced DRY EFFEC TED SIG NAL SIGNAL DRY SIGNAL Resonator This can be thought of as a highly resonant filter or a filter that is tuned to a specific frequency with a lot of emphasis which will cause the frequency that the resonator is set at to be highly accentuated Delay Input Quad Knob 2 can adjust the level of the signal coming from the Delay output going into the Pitch Input The Delay Input parameter is only available when editing a effects bus which has the Delay effect ahead of the Pitch effect in the selected Configuration Example Configuration 2 effect send 1 Pitch Page 2 If the Pitch type is Mono Chorus Stereo Chorus Mono Flange or Stereo Flange page 2 of the Pitch function contain the following four parameters Waveform Shape Quad Knob 1 determines the LFO s waveform shape This parameter only appears when the Mono or Stereo Chorus or Flange are selected The Waveform Shape of the LFO can be changed from a sine waveform which provides a smoother more even sound to a square or triangle waveform which makes the Chorus or flange effect more pronounced QuadraSynth Reference Manual 107 Editing Effects Mod 108 Speed Quad Knob 2 is used to adjust the
63. Wheel parameter is set to 99 the Mod Wheel will have no effect on the vibrato from the PLFO Aftertouch 99 to 99 This is the modulation amount of Aftertouch over the Pitch LFO s Level A positive value raises the level as more Aftertouch is applied A negative value will lower the amount of PLFO level as more Aftertouch is applied QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Programs Filter LFO Page 1 The Filter LFO is most often used to apply tremolo like or wah wah effects to a sound O The following Filter LFO variables will affect the sound only if the FILTER LFO DEPTH on Page 2 of the FILTER function is set to a value other than 0 or if Filter LFO is a source in the MOD function Also note that the Filter LFO may have no effect if some other modulation source or setting has already pushed the filter cutoff frequency to its maximum Wave 7 choices The waveform determines the shape of the LFO Use Quad Knob 1 to select either Sine Triangle Square Up Sawtooth Down Sawtooth Random or Noise For a graphic representation of these waveforms see the diagram in the Wave section of the PLFO description on page 70 Speed 00 to 99 Quad Knob 2 controls the speed or rate of the LFO For fast modulation increase this value For slower modulation decrease this value Delay 00 to 99 This is the amount of time that is to occur before the LFO kicks in Sometimes it is desirable to have modulation come in a
64. ad Knob 4 to select a drum 1 10 to edit Amp Velocity Curve 13 choices Quad Knob 1 in the Amp function lets you select one of 13 velocity curves This determines how the drum will respond to the dynamics of your playing the keyboard Use Quad Knob 4 to select the drum 1 10 you wish to edit A LINEAR curve is the norm whereby the increase in level is equal to the increase in velocity the velocity values increase as you play harder Many of the Velocity Curves make up sets to be used by 2 3 or 4 drums in order to facilitate velocity crossfading whereby a different drum is played depending on how hard or soft the keyboard is played However each drum must be in a different sound layer of the Program in order to be stacked on the same note If you want to create your own velocity crossfading Program assign the related versions of the same drum samples Conga High and Conga Lo the same key in different Program Sound layers then use the appropriate velocity curves for each drum in a three way velocity split drum 1 would use curve 1 of 3 drum 2 would use curve 2 of 3 while drum 3 would use 3 of 3 For more details about the 13 velocity curves see the illustration on page 64 QuadraSynth Reference Manual 85 Editing Programs 86 Note 000 to 127 C 2 to G8 Each drum can be assigned to a single note which will trigger the drum sound when played Quad Knob 1 specifies the note assig
65. adraSynth s MIDI allowing you to trigger other devices from the same controller which is feeding the QuadraSynth Simply connect the QuadraSynth MIDI THRU to the other devices MIDI IN Note that the MIDI THRU jack will not send messages from the QuadraSynth s keyboard itself MIDI MIDI MIDI TIRI INTERA MS SH e rr O Mor The MIDI sends MIDI data from the QuadraSynth s keyboard to other MIDI devices but can also send data see the MIDI supplement to a storage device such as the Alesis DataDisk for later recall QuadraSynth Reference Manual 23 Connections Typical Application 1 MIDI Keyboard Master Controller for Live Use 24 Most live applications use the QuadraSynth to generate sounds with possibly the MIDI output driving other MIDI devices such as a QuadraSynth S4 rack unit QuadraVerb Plus and other keyboards and sound modules etc To drive MIDI controlled devices from the QuadraSynth patch the QuadraSynth s MIDI OUT to the MIDI device s MIDI IN If there is more than one MIDI device patch the first devices MIDI THRU to the second devices MIDI IN the second device s MIDI THRU to the third device s MIDI IN etc In Program mode the keyboard sends and receives MIDI information on only one MIDI channel at a time In Mix mode however the keyboard can transmit on as many as 16 MIDI channels each with its own keyboard range for more information on Program mode and Mix mode see Chapter 4 When using
66. ain and two Aux audio outputs These can provide an amplification system or mixer with several different audio hookup options Mono Connect a mono cord from the MAIN L Audio Output to a mono amplification system or individual mixer input e Stereo Connect two mono cords from the MAIN L and MAIN R Audio Outputs to a stereo amplification system or two mixer inputs e Dual Stereo Four Individual Outs Connect two mono cords from the MAIN L and MAIN R Audio Outputs and two mono cords from the AUX L and AUX R Outputs to a dual stereo amplification system or four mixer inputs e Stereo Headphones Plug a set of high quality stereo headphones into the rear panel PHONES jack QuadraSynth Reference Manual 9 Setting Up 10 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Your First Session with the QuadraSynth CHAPTER 2 Your First Session WITH THE QUADRA SYNTH Powering Up After making your connections turn on the system s power using this procedure Before turning on the QuadraSynth s power check the following items e Have all connections been made correctly e Are the volume controls of the amplifier or mixer turned down e Is the volume of the QuadraSynth turned down Turn on the ON OFF power switch on the rear panel of the QuadraSynth Upon power up the QuadraSynth will display the last selected Program or Mix If this Program Mix has been edited the display will indicate this by showing the word EDITED
67. and buttons to scroll through a function s pages e Use the EDIT 1 button to select which of the four effect sends you want to edit the EDIT 4 button will not let you edit multiple sends but rather will switch the display back to Program Edit mode and enable Edit 4 mode The important thing to understand is the hierarchy of the displays Think of it as a three dimensional game of Chess where you can move among three different axes Each function has 1 or more pages But the number of pages a function has available will differ when another effect send is selected using the EDIT 1 button For example if you are using Configuration 1 and trying to edit the Reverb parameters you would need to have effect send 1 selected because that s where the Reverb is located So you not only have to be aware of how to select a function and a page but how to select the effect send as well Not all effects are available in each Configuration For example if you were to select the Pitch function on effect send 4 in Configuration 1 the display would read NOT IN THIS CONFIG This is because a Pitch module is available on sends 1 2 and 3 in Configuration 1 but not on send 4 as you can see in the chart on page 90 Storing Effects Patches QuadraSynth Reference Manual 91 Editing Effects Once an Effects Patch has been altered the display will show the word EDITED next to the Effects Patch number This indicates tha
68. ansmit on a particular MIDI channel Then set the S4 to receive on the same channel see next section In Mix Mode the S4 can receive on up to 16 channels at once with a different program on each channel However many Mixes were created with layering in mind not just for multitimbral use To emulate the operation of the QuadraSynth keyboard the S4 has a special Mix Group Channel parameter on page 2 of the Global menu For multitimbral operation from a sequencer set this parameter to OFF To play all the mix layers from a single MIDI channel set it to the same channel as your controller 1 16 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Your First Session with the QuadraSynth QuadraSynth Reference Manual 15 Your First Session with the QuadraSynth 16 Selecting the MIDI Channel While in Program Mode the QuadraSynth can transmit and receive information on any single MIDI channel of the 16 available channels The currently selected channel appears at the top left of the display QuadraTime PROG PIFI PRESET preset NU Use the MIDI lt and buttons to select a MIDI channel from 1 16 The display will change to indicate the currently selected MIDI channel Realtime Performance Functions The QuadraSynth provides various controls for altering the sound as you are playing Try out some of these functions while playing the keyboard The sound of the effects can also be affected by u
69. at only the left Aux output QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Programs Effects Level The function determines how much of the selected drum is being routed to the effects processor and on which bus Quad Knob 1 adjusts the Effect Send level 00 to 99 and Quad Knob 2 selects the Effects Bus 1 2 3 or 4 Use Quad Knob 4 to select the drum 1 10 you wish to edit Pitch Pitch 12 00 to 12 00 The function lets you transpose the selected drum up or down one octave in micro step 1 4th of a half step increments and lets you modulate the drum s pitch with velocity Quad Knob 1 determines the tuning of the selected drum 12 00 Use Quad Knob 2 to select how much you wish velocity to affect the selected drum s tuning 0 7 When this value is set to 7 the drum will be played sharp when the associated note is played hard when played soft the drum s tuning will be unaltered Use Quad Knob 4 to select the drum 1 10 you wish to edit Filter Velocity gt Filter 0 to 3 The Filter function lets you control the brightness of the selected drum by modulating the filter frequency with Use Quad Knob 1 to set the Velocity gt Filter parameter 0 3 When set to 3 playing the associated note will result in a brighter sound more high frequencies while playing softer will result in a duller sound less high frequencies When this parameter is set to 0 velocity will have no affect on the filter Use Qu
70. ations in today s world the voltage coming from the AC line may contain spikes or transients that can possibly stress your gear and over time cause a failure There are three main ways to protect against this listed in ascending order of cost and complexity e Line spike surge protectors Relatively inexpensive these are designed to protect against strong surges and spikes acting somewhat like fuses in that they need to be replaced if they ve been hit by an extremely strong spike Line filters These generally combine spike surge protection with filters that remove some line noise dimmer hash transients from other appliances etc e Uninterruptible power supply UPS This is the most sophisticated option A UPS provides power even if the AC power line fails completely Intended for computer applications a UPS allows you to complete an orderly shutdown of a computer system in the event of a power outage and the isolation it provides from the power line minimizes all forms of interference spikes noise etc SUSTAIN PEDAL1 PEDAL2 THRU OUT IN 48KHZIN DOTA L AUX R L MAIN R PHONES POWER INPUT ON OFF 000000 10000 I I FOOT pats LA mio 1 4 Audio Cables Pedal Switch Stereo Amp QuadraSynth Reference Manual Setting Up About Audio Cables The connections between the QuadraSynth and your studio are your music s lifeline so use only high quality cables These should be low capaci
71. ator so that it stops when you are not playing any notes This can be used on sounds with medium to long release times where an interesting effect like tremolo is intended to be active while holding notes down but deactivated as the sound is fading away after being released QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Programs Pitch LFO Page 1 The Pitch LFO is most often used to apply vibrato to a sound O The following Pitch LFO variables will make a difference in the sound only if the PITCH LFO DEPTH on Page 2 of the PITCH function is set to a value other than 0 or if the Pitch LFO is a source in the MOD function Wave 7 choices The waveform determines the shape of the LFO Use Quad Knob 1 to select either Sine Triangle Square Up Saw Down Saw Random or Noise SINE TRIANGLE SQUARE UP SAW DOWN SAW RANDOM NOISE Speed 00 to 99 Quad Knob 2 controls the speed or rate of the LFO For fast modulation increase this value For slower modulation decrease this value Delay 00 to 99 This is the amount of time that is to occur before the LFO kicks in Sometimes it is desirable to have modulation come in a moment or two after a note has been played rather than starting instantly The higher the value the slower the LFO kicks in 99 99 IME gt Trigger Mono Poly Key Mono or Key Poly The Trigger parameter determines how the LFO should be triggered or started There are four possible se
72. banks to or from a QuadraCard PCMCIA memory card accessory Compare Mode Once a Program has been edited in Program Edit mode or an Effects Patch has been edited in Effects Edit mode or a Mix has been edited in Mix Edit mode the word EDITED will appear in the display next to the Mix Program Effect number If COMPARE is pressed the word COMPARE will appear in the display and you will temporarily be hearing and seeing the original version of the Mix Program Effect If you are editing a Mix and press COMPARE the original unedited MIX is temporarily recalled Likewise if you are editing a Program or Effects Patch and press COMPARE the original Program or Effect will be temporarily recalled Pressing COMPARE again switches back to the edited version and the word COMPARE disappears from the display QuadraSynth Reference Manual 33 Overview The User Interface Display Functions Pages and Parameters The key to the QuadraSynth user interface is the combination of the Display and four Quad Knobs Buttons 1 4 located toward the right of the front panel The Display constantly informs you of the QuadraSynth s status About the Display m Editing Status Current Mix Program and Effect Strip MIDI Channel Cursor Quad Knob Button Label Strip r MIDI Monitor Selec tion Strip Mix Pro gra m Effec Para meter Name Strip MIDI MP 1234567891011 1213141516 Mi xPrgName MIX PROG 111
73. brato speed of the sound if the Program is edited to use the pedal s QuadraSynth Reference Manual Your First Session with the QuadraSynth Auditioning Mix Mode Mix Mode allows you to assign a Program to each of the 16 MIDI channels This makes it easy to create multitimbral setups for use with an external MIDI sequencer Additionally a MIX can be used to layer sounds together or split the keyboard in a number of ways or any combination of these There are many different ways to program a Mix For more about Mix Mode refer to Chapter 5 For more about connecting the QuadraSynth to a MIDI sequencer see Chapter 3 Press the MIX button The display will change to Mix Mode Select a Mix from 00 99 using one of these three methods e Rotate Quad Knob 1 e Press the VALUE or 1 button This assumes that Quad Knob 1 is active as shown by a heavy underline beneath the NUMBER indicator If the underline does not appear press Quad Button 1 before using the VALUE buttons Use the MIX PROGRAM SELECT 1 0 buttons for direct entry Leading zeroes must be entered for Mixes 0 9 Example Press 0 then 5 for Mix 5 If you start entering a number and change your mind wait a few seconds and the QuadraSynth will revert to the previous Mix number You can switch between User and Preset Mixes with Quad Knob 3 By either pressing Quad Button 3 and then pressing VALUE 1 or by turning Quad
74. can be thought of as control over how thick the reverb will be DIFFUSION OF O DIFFUSION OF 99 L L E E V V E E L L TME gt TIME gt Reflections further apart Reflections closer together Density In order to explain exactly what density is we must refer to the previous explanation of Reverb Diffusion We already know that reverb consists of distinct echoes called reflections The most important of these and the loudest is the First Reflection Usually in nature there is a space of time between the First Reflection and all of the other reflections that make up the reverb sound field If you listen to only the reverb with the Reverb Density set at 00 you will hear your source sound repeat a short bit of silence and then the onset of the reverb As the Reverb Density is increased the time between the First Reflection and the rest of the reverb reflections is decreased until you can no longer distinguish the First Reflection separately If you listen to the Reverb by itself with the Density set to 99 it will seem to explode since the First Reflection will no longer be perceived as a separate echo This parameter can be quite useful with highly transient source material such as percussion where the sound can sometimes become confused by the First Reflection seemingly causing an additional hit DENSITY OF O DENSITY OF 99 L L E E V V E E L L TIME gt TIME 1st reflection further apart 1st reflect
75. correct To re initialize the QuadraSynth 1 Press PROGRAM to enter Program mode 2 Turn the unit off 3 While holding down both Quad Buttons 1 and 4 turn on the power The QuadraSynth will come on showing Program 00 and Effect 00 with the EDITED flags showing in the display These are the edit buffers set to the default settings This will also reset all Global parameters to their default settings and will initialize all edit buffers so that all Mix Program and Effects parameters are reset to their default settings However none of the Programs Mixes or Effects are changed when re initializing the unit You can proceed to edit then STORE at any Program or Effect location you like QuadraSynth Reference Manual 87 Editing Programs 88 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Effects CHAPTER 7 EDITING EFFECTS About Signal Processing The built in effects processor of the QuadraSynth is similar to that of the Alesis QuadraVerb capable of generating multiple fully digital effects simultaneously The QuadraSynth effects processor has four inputs or effect sends You might think of these as the typical post fader sends found on a mixing console In a Program each of the four Sounds can be assigned to one of the four effect sends In a Mix each Program can use its own effects routing or you may override this and assign the entire Program all 4 sounds to one of the four effect sends Once you assign a Sound in
76. d edit Programs Chapter 7 Editing Effects How to create and edit Effects Patches Chapter 8 Global Settings Describes all global functions such as Master Tuning Display Contrast Keyboard Mode Edit Mode and 48 kHz Clock In Chapter 9 MIDI Transfer and Storage Operations Discusses MIDI functions and how to store sounds either to a MIDI device or to a RAM card Appendices MIDI basics trouble shooting maintenance and service information MIDI Implementation Chart and an Index Conventions The buttons knobs and rear panel connectors are referred to in this manual just as their names appear on the QuadraSynth using all capital letters and in brackets Example PROGRAM button MIDI and buttons Quad Knob 1 etc When text from the QuadraSynth s display is quoted it is indicated by a set of quotation marks Example EDITING SOUND 4 O When something important appears in the manual an icon like the one on the left will appear in the left margin This symbol indicates that this information is vital when operating the QuadraSynth QuadraSynth Reference Manual 1 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Contents CONTENTS L Setting Ubi Unpacking and Inspection erei onon i 7 ACIPOWED cta eri A ia 7 Line Conditioners and Protectors i 8 About Audio Cables girini ie aa liana alal 9 Basic Audio Hook P nirereseta r a EEEE L EE E e ie aa 9 2 Your First Session With The QuadraSyn
77. diting Programs Trigger Normal Freerun Reset Reset Freerun The Trigger mode determines how the envelope will function You may select either Freerun or Reset or both Reset Freerun or neither Normal When set to Normal the envelope will always start at its current level i e if another note had been played which triggered the envelope s cycle playing another note in the middle would not interrupt the cycle Also in Normal mode the envelope will immediately advance to its release stage upon releasing the note When set to Freerun the envelope will complete its entire cycle even if the note is released in the middle When set to Reset the envelope starts at the beginning whenever a new note is played When set to Reset Freerun the envelope will start at the beginning whenever a new note is played and will complete its entire cycle even if the note is released in the middle Filter Envelope Page 3 Time Tracking On or Off This determines whether or not keyboard position will affect the cycle speed of the envelope When turned on playing toward the higher end of the keyboard will result in a faster envelope cycle playing toward the lower end of the keyboard will result in a slower envelope cycle However this does not effect the attack time but only the decay sustain sustain decay and release segments This feature will result in only a subtle change The envelope s timing doubles or halves over a range of two octaves
78. ds not in Drum Mode will be editable in the bargraph display If a sound is in Drum mode the display will show drmX whereby X is the sound number 1 4 QuadraSynth Reference Manual 57 Editing Programs If you enable Drum Mode for a sound while in Edit 4 mode the QuadraSynth will automatically switch to Edit 1 mode for that layer Program Edit Functions 58 Assign Voice To edit a Program you must select Program Edit mode Press SELECT from Program Mode Editing Program will appear in the display s edit status section Piano GrandPiano PROG EFFECT PIFI PIFI preset I preser _ _ GROUP NAME EDITING PROGRAM SOUND 1 ASSIGN VOICE LEVEL EFFECT LEVEL PITCH FILTER AMP RANGE MOD EFFECT NAME PLFO FLFO ALFO PENV FENV AENV TRACK CONFIG REVERB DELAY MIX MISC GLOBAL PAGE 1 The function is the most fundamental part of Program editing It is where you choose the particular sample that forms the basis of a sound To avoid scrolling through long lists of samples remember there are over 16 Megabytes of sounds in here sounds are divided into groups After selecting the group you then select the sample within the group Group 16 options Choose from among 16 different sample groups see chart in next section Name Selects one of the available samples by name from the selected group or OFF no sample selected Each group has a variety of samples from which you can choose although some gr
79. e While in Program mode you can use SELECT to access Program Edit mode and Effects Edit mode While in Mix Mode pressing SELECT alternates between Mix Edit mode Program Edit mode and Effects Edit mode Pressing GLOBAL accesses Global Edit mode pressing COMPARE accesses Compare mode and pressing STORE accesses Store mode Here are descriptions of these modes Program Mode Program mode lets you play the QuadraSynth s various Programs one at a time The QuadraSynth contains 128 Preset and 128 User Programs i e the sounds of various instruments effects ensembles etc that show off just how cool this instrument really is Initially both the Preset and the User Programs contain data loaded in at the factory The User Programs can be edited or replaced with your own Programs However you cannot replace the Preset Programs because these are stored in ROM permanent memory Each Program can select any one of the 256 Effect Patches Large Hall Chorus etc In some cases the Program is heavily dependent on its effect in others the effect is more subtle In Program Mode the QuadraSynth responds to or generates messages on a single MIDI channel Mix Mode Mix mode lets you audition the QuadraSynth s various Mixes and use it as a MIDI master controller The QuadraSynth contains 100 Preset Mixes and 100 User Mixes A Mix can combine up to 16 different Programs and the keyboard can generate up to 16 channels of MIDI data at once
80. e MIDI program change message that is received from whichever bank Preset or User is currently selected When a Program is recalled from the front panel the QuadraSynth will transmit the equivalent program change message on this same MIDI channel In Mix mode when MIDI Program select is on program changes received on any of the 16 MIDI channels will be received by the same numbered MIDI channels in the current Mix The Mix itself will not respond to program changes When set to Mix Select Channel 1 16 the QuadraSynth will change mixes in response to program change messages received on the same MIDI channel as selected by this parameter from whichever bank Preset or User is currently selected Program change messages received on any other channel other than the one selected by this parameter will change the individual Programs in the Mix on the same channels the messages are received on The Quad Knobs 1 4 have two editing modes Immediate and Pass thru When using the Quad Knobs to adjust parameter values you may prefer using one mode over the other In Page 5 of Global Edit mode Quad Knob 3 determines the Edit Mode of the four Quad Knobs When set to Immediate parameter values jump immediately to the Quad Knob s exact position the moment it is moved When set to Pass thru the Quad Knob must be turned beyond the parameter s current setting before it becomes live and begins adjusting the parameter s value 48 KH
81. e able to edit anything This is because you are seeing what is in memory not what is in the edit buffer QuadraSynth Reference Manual Overview Preset Memory and User Memory The QuadraSynth has two internal memory banks for Mixes Programs and Effects Patches and The Preset bank is kept in ROM Read Only Memory and therefore cannot be altered However the User bank is stored in RAM Random Access Memory Anytime you want to keep an edited version of a Mix Program or Effects Patch you will store it into the User bank If you want to permanently change a Mix Program or Effect Patch that is in the Preset bank you can store the edited version into the User bank in either the same number location or a different number location However this requires that you store over losing whatever was previously in that location If you don t want to lose any of the sounds in the User bank you should back up the entire bank to either an external SRAM PCMCIA card or via MIDI System Exclusive into a data storage device like the Alesis DataDisk or a MIDI sequencer See Chapter 9 for more information on external storage Operations Storing The STORE button selects Store mode Store mode has 7 pages which you can scroll through by using the PAGE lt and buttons Each page in Store mode provides a different type of storage copy or data transfer function When storing edited Mixes Programs or Effects into the User bank you wil
82. e begins Release 00 to 99 Eventually you will let go of the note that you ve been holding either by releasing the note on the keyboard or releasing the sustain pedal if it was pressed It is at this point that the Release portion of the envelope takes effect The Release is the time that the envelope takes to get from the sustain level back down to nothing Setting the Release time to 0 is good for playing those short funky riffs that you hear on a clavinet Setting the Release time to 99 will take the envelope a very long time to reach zero level Filter Envelope Page 2 Delay 00 to 99 This is the amount of time that the envelope will wait before doing anything very useful if you want to affect one element of a sound sometime after the sound starts When the Delay is set to 0 the envelope attacks right away without any delay Play some notes while turning up the delay and see that the time between playing the note and hearing the effect of the Pitch Envelope gets progressively longer as the Delay control is turned up Sustain Decay 00 to 99 This is the amount of time that the envelope will take during the sustain stage to bring the level down to 0 If this is set to 99 the envelope will remain at the Sustain level until the note is released This is the normal setting for organ type sounds When set to 0 the envelope s level will immediately jump down to 0 upon reaching the sustain stage QuadraSynth Reference Manual E
83. e general procedure with minor variations D Select the type of parameters you want to edit with the corresponding button MIX PROGRAM or GLOBAL Mix parameters edit a Mix Program parameters edit a Program Effects parameters can be edited from within a Mix or a Program see below Global parameters edit general characteristics that affect the entire instrument Select an Edit Mode with the SELECT button Example If you pressed PROGRAM the SELECT button switches between two groups of functions one for editing the Program s sound Program Edit mode and the other for editing the associated Effect Effects Edit mode If you re editing a Mix the QuadraSynth Reference Manual 35 Overview 36 SELECT button switches between three groups of functions one for editing the Mix s parameters Mix Edit mode one for editing the Programs in the Mix Program Edit mode and the last for editing the associated Effect Effects Edit mode Use the FUNCTION lt and buttons to select a function level pitch etc Press FUNCTION gt to move toward the end of the list and FUNCTION lt to move back toward the beginning The selected function will be underlined in the display Press both FUNCTION lt and gt simultaneously to get back to the first function in the list Ifa function has multiple pages select the appropriate page by using the PAGE and buttons The LCD s page number strip
84. eady pushed the filter cutoff frequency to its maximum QuadraSynth Reference Manual 77 Editing Programs 78 Attack 00 to 99 This is the amount of time the envelope will take until it reaches its maximum output level Setting the Attack to 0 will give a sharp edge to the sound if the Delay is also set to 0 in FENV Page 2 see below a setting of 99 will result in a much slower attack taking many seconds before the envelope gets to maximum Decay amp Sustain 00 to 99 As soon as the attack portion of the envelope finishes when the level reaches maximum the envelope will decay decrease in level The level it reaches is set by the Sustain control how long it takes to get there is set by the Decay control In the special case where the Sustain level is all the way up 99 then there is no decrease and the Decay time segment is bypassed Whatever level the sustain is set to is the level that the decay section of the envelope will head for Depending on the setting of the Sustain Decay control see below the envelope will either hold at the sustain level until you release the note on the keyboard or decay to 0 at the Sustain Decay rate which is on page 2 of the envelope You can create a long plateau at the start of a note by setting the Sustain to 98 and the Decay to 99 This will cause the envelope to take the maximum amount of time to get from peak level to a level of 98 before the Sustain Release portion of the envelop
85. elf must be saved A Mix consists of up to 16 Programs each assigned to a specific MIDI channel and one Effect Patch The QuadraSynth has 100 User Mixes plus 100 Preset mixes This is extremely useful for multitimbral setups where the QuadraSynth plays back different sounds on different MIDI channels Because of the 64 voices and built in effects the QuadraSynth is often the only sound generator needed QuadraSynth Polyphony The QuadraSynth provides 64 voice polyphony i e how many notes can play at once If a program uses one sound up to 64 notes can play at once Layering two sounds allows for 32 note polyphony and layering four sounds 16 note polyphony Layering is a powerful technique that allows you to build up complex timbres This is crucial because acoustic instruments have extremely complex evolving sounds QuadraSynth Reference Manual 31 Overview and by comparison many synths sound static Being able to layer up to four sounds allows for creating large ensembles e g brass section consisting of alto amp tenor sax trumpet and trombone or extremely realistic versions of single instruments When creating layered Programs keep polyphony in mind If all Programs in a Mix use all four available sounds the QuadraSynth will quickly run out of voices Modes 32 The QuadraSynth is always in one of two main modes Program mode or Mix mode Pressing PROGRAM selects Program mode while pressing MIX selects Mix mod
86. er the filter can simulate more realistic acoustic sounds Filter Page 2 Depth 99 to 99 QuadraSynth Reference Manual 63 Editing Programs Determines how moving the pitch bend wheel affects the filter cutoff frequency Example With positive settings bending pitch up raises the filter cutoff frequency and bending pitch down lowers the filter cutoff frequency With negative settings bending pitch up lowers the filter cutoff frequency and bending pitch down raises the filter cutoff frequency Depth 99 to 99 At 00 aftertouch has no effect on the cutoff frequency Applying aftertouch with this parameter set to a positive value raises the filter cutoff frequency conversely applying aftertouch with a negative value lowers the filter cutoff frequency The higher the number either positive or negative the greater the effect for a given amount of aftertouch Tip Many acoustic instruments sound brighter as you play them more forcefully in particular brass gets brighter as you blow harder Using aftertouch to increase a sound s brightness can give more control and realism with acoustic instruments Depth 99 to 99 At 00 the filter LFO has no effect Higher positive values increase the amount of filter LFO modulation Negative values give the same apparent effect but with reversed LFO phase i e if the filter cutoff frequency would normally be increasing with depth set to a positive number the cutoff would instead
87. ere you select what Effect Patch will be used by the Mix Or you can link the Effect to one of the Programs in the Mix Number 000 to 127 This determines the Effect Patch number 000 127 for the selected Mix Effect Type Preset or User This determines whether the selected Effect is from the Preset bank or User bank On or Off This determines whether the Mix s Effect will be linked to one of the Programs in the Mix When Program Link is on the Channel parameter Quad Knob 4 determines which channel s 1 16 Program will select the Effect EFX 1 to 16 When the Link parameter is turned on see above the EFX MIDI Channel parameter determines which channel s Program s Effect Patch will be used for the entire Mix In other words when Link is on and the Channel is set to 3 the Mix will use the Effect Patch normally used by the Program assigned to channel 3 When Link is off the Channel parameter determines which MIDI channel the Effects Patch will use for MIDI modulation for example if a MIDI controller is used to vary delay time Naming a Mix 48 The function allows you to change the name of the The Mix name can be up to 10 characters long Use the PAGE and buttons to position the cursor Quad Knob 1 selects the character Here is a chart of available characters LITA l8 1 fe 0 ft 7243 4155166 78 9 lt g
88. ermanent you must store the Program into the User bank Refer to Chapter 4 for information about storing changes QuadraSynth Reference Manual 19 Your First Session with the QuadraSynth Setting the Effects Level Each Program can use up to four sounds for either layering or splitting the keyboard Each of these sounds has its own effects as well as effects bus assignment Many of the Programs in the QuadraSynth use only one or two sound layers while others may use all four sounds You can adjust the effect send amount for each sound independently or you can view edit all four sounds simultaneously While still in Program Edit mode press the FUNCTION lt button six times from the EFFECT Function or until the words EFFECT LEVEL are underlined in the display This is where you determine how much level will be sent from the current Program sound layer to the effects processor and on which of the four busses EFFECT LEVEL 99 PROG 1 EFFECT PRESET PRESET LEVEL BUSS EDITING PROGRAM SOUND 1 ASSIGN VOICE LEVEL EFFECT LEVEL PITCH FILTER AMP RANGE MOD EFFECT NAME PLFO FLFO ALFO PENV FENV AENV TRACK MISC PAGE 1 Turn Quad Knob 1 to adjust the effect send level of the selected sound 1 4 For the most dramatic effect set this to 99 Press the EDIT 1 button to select another sound to adjust The display will indicate SOUND 1 or SOUND 2 etc to indicate which of the
89. es built in to other functions Selecting the Modulator 1 to 6 Use the PAGE lt and PAGE buttons to select one of the six modulators modulator 1 is page 1 modulator 2 is page 2 modulator 3 is page 3 etc All modulators work in the same way so only one will be described here Modulation Source Quad Knob 1 selects one of several modulation sources e Note provides a modulation signal that corresponds to the note played on the keyboard higher keys give higher values Example Use this modulation source to obtain a different sound in the upper and lower keyboard ranges e Velocity relates to how fast a key goes from the key up note off to the key down note on position and therefore represents the dynamics of your playing e Release velocity relates to how fast a key goes from the key down note on to the key up note off position Example Use this to affect the level of a sound s release based on how fast you remove your fingers from the keys QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Programs e Aftertouch Pressing on the keys after they re down generates this control signal Aftertouch is also called channel pressure and represents an average of all keys being pressed This affects any keys that are held down The harder you press on the keys the greater the degree of modulation e Polyphonic Pressure This is similar to aftertouch but each key can respond to individual pressure messages Although the
90. eters and save this in memory as a program The QuadraSynth comes with 128 factory preset programs and 128 user editable programs Program Sound Layers 52 The simplest method of programming is to take one voice process it through the filter and amp sections and if desired add some effect to it However more elaborate Programs usually consist of 2 to 4 layers with each layer making its own distinct contribution to the sound for example e Anorgan program with Program 1 set to a sustained organ waveform and Program Sound 2 set to a percussion waveform with a fast decay e A piano program with one layer tuned normally and a second layer tuned an octave higher e Asynthesizer program with one layer set to a sharp attack waveform a second layer set to an acoustic waveform and a third layer with a slow attack string waveform This may remind you of Mix Mode where playing the keyboard can sound up to 16 different Programs at once There are many similarities In Mix Mode you can make the same kind of layered Mix as you can with the four sounds of a Program But there are differences Use Program Layers e Ifyou want multiple sounds to respond to a single MIDI channel For example if you need to play a layered synthesizer sound that was assembled in Mix Mode instead of Program Mode you must send 3 Note On messages from your sequencer one for each channel for every note a layered program would need only one Note On message
91. ew parameters while others have many For example the stereo delay effect has about twice as many parameters as the mono delay effect since the stereo delay has two adjustments left and right for several parameters Consequently the more parameters an effect has additional pages become available for that function The number of pages the currently selected function has and the current page are always shown in the bottom left of the display Each effect has stereo outputs which may be routed to the Main Left and Right outputs using the Mix function the Aux Left and Right outputs do not use the internal effects processing QuadraSynth Reference Manual 89 Editing Effects Selecting an Effects Patch 90 To select an Effects Patch from either the User bank or the Preset bank you must be in either Program Edit mode if currently using Program mode or Mix Edit mode if using Mix mode by pressing the SELECT button until the correct display appears Use the FUNCTION lt and buttons to scroll through the functions in the display until the word EFFECT is underlined The display should look like this from Program Edit mode Ch Dly Rev1 EFFECT PRESET NUMBER TYPE EDITING PROGRAM SOUND 1 ASSIGN VOICE LEVEL EFFECT LEVEL PITCH FILTER AMP RANGE MOD EFFECT NAME PROG IF l PRESET _ PLFO FLFO ALFO PENV FENV AENV TRACK MISC PAGE 1 Use Quad Knob 1 to select an Effects Patch 0 12
92. ey Mono Key Poly The Trigger parameter determines how the LFO should be triggered or started There are four possible settings Mono Poly Key Mono and Key Poly A description of these settings is found in the Trigger section of the PLFO description on page 70 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Programs Amp LFO Page 2 Level 00 to 99 This is the base output level of the Amp LFO If you want to have a constant value of tremolo even without using the Mod Wheel or Aftertouch set LEVEL above 00 The Mod Wheel and Aftertouch will add or subtract from this base level Example If Level is set to 10 and the Mod Wheel parameter is set to 10 there will always be some tremolo and raising the Mod Wheel will add more tremolo On the other hand if the Mod Wheel parameter is set to 10 raising the Mod Wheel to the top will cancel out all tremolo Mod Wheel 99 to 99 This is the modulation amount of the Mod Wheel over the Amp LFO s Level A positive value raises the level when the Mod Wheel is moved up and lowers the level when moved down Negative settings of this parameter will decrease the output level of the ALFO as the Mod Wheel is raised Since the output level of the ALFO cannot be less than zero A negative setting of the Mod Wheel parameter will have no effect unless either the Aftertouch or the Level is set to raise the ALFO output If both the Level and Aftertouch are set to 00 and the Mod Wheel parameter is set to 99
93. fferent set of four channels As you play through each zone it will send MIDI messages corresponding to that key range and trigger the corresponding channels Note that certain controllers such as pitch bend and aftertouch will send on all channels at once The MIDI Monitor indicators in the display will show which channels are active QuadraSynth Reference Manual Global Settings CH SOLO In this mode the only sounds coming from the QuadraSynth and the only MIDI messages will come from the layer or range of the underlined MIDI channel in the display This allows you to isolate individual channels in a Mix So if you play in a range of the keyboard that is active on MIDI CH 1 and 1 is underlined you ll hear it All other ranges or layers will not respond to the keyboard they will continue to respond to incoming MIDI messages on their respective channels Use the MIDI lt and buttons to hear each channel in turn OUT 1 OUT 16 The QuadraSynth will generate MIDI messages from the keyboard regardless of the Range settings for that channel in the Mix but it will not play the internal sound Use this mode if you re using a MIDI sequencer with an ECHO feature the sound will be activated by messages appearing at the MIDI IN connector after it s made the round trip through the sequencer This is the QuadraSynth s equivalent to LOCAL OFF Mix Group Channel s4 Sound Module only The Mix Group Channel parameter is the o
94. fore contacting Alesis check over all your connections and make sure you ve read the manual Customers in the USA If the problem persists call Alesis USA at 1 800 5 ALESIS and request the Product Support department Talk the problem over with one of our technicians if necessary you will be given a return authorization RA number and instructions on how to QuadraSynth Reference Manual APPENDIX A Troubleshooting return the unit All units must be shipped prepaid and COD shipments will not be accepted For prompt service indicate the RA number on the shipping label If you do not have the original packing ship the QuadraSynth in a sturdy carton with shock absorbing materials such as styrofoam pellets the kind without CFCs or bubble pack surrounding the unit Shipping damage caused by inadequate packing is not covered by the Alesis warranty Tape a note to the top of the unit describing the problem include your name and a phone number where Alesis can contact you if necessary as well as instructions on where you want the product returned Alesis will pay for standard one way shipping back to you on any repair covered under the terms of this warranty Next day service is available for a surcharge Field repairs are not normally authorized during the warranty period and repair attempts by unqualified personnel may invalidate the warranty Service address for customers in the USA Alesis Product Support 3630 Holdrege
95. four sounds is being edited Press the EDIT 4 button to display the effect send levels of all four sounds simultaneously use Quad Knobs 1 4 to adjust each sound s effect level The display will indicate SOUND1234 EFFECT LEVEL 99 PROG f EFFECT PRESET PRESET SND1 SND2 SND3 EDITING PROGRAM SOUND 1 2 3 4 ASSIGN VOICE LEVEL EFFECT LEVEL PITCH FILTER AMP RANGE MOD EFFECT NAME PLFO FLFO ALFO PENV FENV AENV TRACK MISC PAGE 1 2 Note If a sound is not enabled in a Program its title will be shown in lowercase snd4 and turning that control will have no effect on the sound until the sound is enabled To enable a sound hold down its respective Quad Button i e 3 for Sound 3 and press VALUE 1 20 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Your First Session with the QuadraSynth QuadraSynth Reference Manual 21 Connections CHAPTER 3 CONNECTIONS Basic MIDI Hookup MIDI is an internationally accepted protocol that allows musical related data to be conveyed from one device to another See the MIDI Supplement in Appendix B if you are not familiar with how MIDI works The MIDI connections provide three different functions To trigger the QuadraSynth from a MIDI control device keyboard drum pad guitar or bass controller sequencer etc connect the control devices MIDI OUT to the QuadraSynth s MIDI IN amm The MIDI jack carries a replica or echo of the signal appearing at the Qu
96. g at different speeds Key Mono This is identical to MONO but whenever a new note is played the LFO is retriggered instead of continuing from wherever it may be in its cycle Key Poly This is almost identical to POLY but whenever a new note is played the LFO is retriggered instead of continuing from wherever it may be in its cycle Pitch LFO Page 2 Level 00 to 99 This is the base output level of the Pitch LFO If you want to have a constant value of vibrato even without using the Mod Wheel or Aftertouch set LEVEL above 00 The Mod Wheel and Aftertouch will add or subtract from this base level Example If Level is set to 10 and the Mod Wheel parameter is set to 10 there will always be some vibrato and raising the Mod Wheel will add more vibrato On the other hand if the Mod Wheel parameter is set to 10 raising the Mod Wheel to the top will cancel out all vibrato Mod Wheel 99 to 99 This is the modulation amount of the Mod Wheel over the Pitch LFO s Level A positive value raises the level when the Mod Wheel is moved up and lowers the level when moved down Negative settings of this parameter will decrease the output level of the PLFO as the Mod Wheel is raised Since the output level of the PLFO cannot be less than zero a negative setting of the Mod Wheel parameter will have no effect unless either the Aftertouch or the Level is set to raise the PLFO output If both the Level and Aftertouch are set to 00 and the Mod
97. g to another QuadraSynth see below Press STORE to transmit the data out the MIDI Out connector To send a single Program via MIDI to a different Program number Follow steps through in the instructions above Use Quad Knob 1 to select a Program You may select any Program in the User bank 0 to 127 or the Program Edit buffer EDIT or any of the 16 Mix Edit buffers EDm01 to EDm16 As this value is changed the second parameter destination will be linked Use Quad Knob 2 to select a Program number to send the selected Program to If this value is turned all the way up the SEND ALL TO MIDI option will be selected and the first value will jump all the way up At this point you will not be able to adjust the destination value with Quad Knob 2 until you use Quad Knob 1 to re select the Program to be transmitted QuadraSynth Reference Manual MIDI Transfer And Storage Operations Press STORE to transmit the data out the MIDI Out connector The procedure is similar for sending Mixes and Effects Page 4 of the Store function allows you to send any one of the Mixes and Effects are sent via Page 5 O To be able to exactly duplicate a Program in the future make sure that you also store the Effect Patch that the Program uses unless you re sure the Effect won t ever be changed Similarly if a Mix is stored you may want to store each of the Programs used in the Mix as well as the Effect The SE
98. h and MIDI Out This is different from the Velocity Curve parameter in Program Edit which determines how a sound will respond to incoming velocity information either from the keyboard or from MIDI In Keyboard Transpose QuadraSynth only In Page 2 of Global Edit mode Quad Knob 3 controls Keyboard Transposition 12 to 12 up or down 1 octave This determines the note number that the keyboard will transmit to the QuadraSynth s sounds and to MIDI Out If you are using a MIDI sequencer use this function when you wish to record notes outside of the keyboard s normal note range note numbers 28 103 When set to 12 the keyboard range is note numbers 16 91 Likewise if set to 12 the range would be 40 115 Keyboard Mode quadraSynth only 112 In Page 2 of Global Edit mode Quad Knob 4 selects the Keyboard Mode FRM MIX CH SOLO OUT 1 OUT 16 This determines how the keyboard will function when using Mix Mode only when using Program mode use the MIDI and buttons to set the MIDI OUT channel for the whole instrument But when using the QuadraSynth in Mix Mode you have the option to transmit on several MIDI channels at once or to temporarily isolate certain channels within a Mix FRM MIX The MIDI channels sent out will correspond to whatever layers or splits the Mix is set up for For example in Preset Mix 01 Four Zones the keyboard is split 4 ways from left to right each zone is linked to a di
99. he Mix using Effects Edit Mode more in Chapter 6 In Program Edit Mode you can select to be used by the Program Each of the four sounds in the Program has its own Effect Level control and can be assigned to any one of the four effect buses Patch select Effect Level and Bus information is saved with the Program when you store it back into memory When you need to edit the effects themselves configuration reverb type room size chorus speed etc those changes are saved with the Effects Patch when you store it back into memory Drum Mode 56 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Programs Any one or all of the four sounds in a Program can be put in The Drum Mode parameter is found in the Misc Function see last section of this chapter Note that Drum Mode isn t the only way to hear drums or percussion from a Program In Standard mode if you select a kit such as Rock Kit 1 as the voice of a Program sound an entire arrangement of preset pre mapped drum sounds will be assigned across the keyboard If you select a single drum such as Tympani as the voice that single drum sound will sound across the keyboard range with a different pitch on each note the original sample pitch will appear on C3 However Drum Mode changes the nature of the ASSIGN VOICE function allowing you to make up your own drum kit from a selection of 82 different samples 7 kicks 8 snares 4 hi hats 14 toms 5 cymbals 31 percussion and 13
100. he mono Delay then a stereo Pitch effect and finally a stereo Reverb effect Send 2 has no effects of its own but can be routed to the same Reverb effect as send 1 Send 3 is routed through a mono Pitch effect and then a stereo Reverb effect Send 4 has no effects of its own but can be routed to the same Reverb effect as send 3 Effect send 1 s Delay Pitch and Reverb can feed the Mix output directly Unlike the first configuration however Pitch 3 can be routed to the Mix only after passing through Reverb 3 96 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Effects Configuration 43 4 Sends 1 Lezlie AUX LEFT AUX LEFT AUX RIGHT AUX RIGHT MAIN LEFT MAIN LEFT MAIN RIGHT i amp DE i i a MAIN RIGHT 11213 r 314 MIX 1 FX SEND 1 0 LEZLIE 3 DELAY 1 BAL AMP A Lil gt 1 n AHH REVERB AMP l i PITCH 1 DELAY 1 REVERB 1 BAL FX SEND 2 PITCH 2 e DELAY 2 PO BAL e J e Lal gt L oe b 2 AMP PITCH 2 DELAY 2 REVERB 2 BAL FX SEND 3 0 PITCH3 DELAY 3 e BAL 1 9 L SO 4 3 AMP PITCH 3 DELAY 3 REVERB 3 BAL FX SEND
101. her ranges or layers will not respond to the keyboard they will continue to respond to incoming MIDI messages on their respective channels however Use the MIDI lt and buttons to hear each channel in turn OUT 1 OUT 16 The QuadraSynth will generate MIDI messages from the keyboard regardless of the Range settings for that channel in the Mix but it will not play the internal sound Use this mode if you re using a MIDI sequencer with an ECHO feature the sound will be activated by messages appearing at the MIDI IN connector after it s made the round trip through the sequencer This is the QuadraSynth s equivalent to LOCAL OFF QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Programs CHAPTER 6 EDITING PROGRAMS Overview Synthesizer programming is the art and science of shaping sounds in a particular way by altering the parameters of various modules Like music itself learning synth programming is an ongoing process Although this manual presents information about synthesizer programming no manual can offer a complete course in programming at least for a price that customers would be willing to pay If you re new to synthesizer programming the best way to learn is to adjust different parameters as you play to discover how different parameter values affect the sound Also become familiar with the signal and modulation flow within the QuadraSynth as shown in the various block diagrams included in this manual so that y
102. hes maximum the envelope will decay decrease in level The level it reaches is set by the Sustain control how long it takes to get there is set by the Decay control In the special case where the Sustain level is all the way up 99 then there is no decrease and the Decay time segment is bypassed Whatever level the sustain is set to is the level that the decay section of the envelope will head for Depending on the setting of the Sustain Decay control see below the envelope will either hold at the sustain level until you release the note on the keyboard or decay to 0 at the Sustain Decay rate which is on page 2 of the envelope You can create a long plateau at the start of a note by setting the Sustain to 98 and the Decay to 99 This will cause the envelope to take the maximum amount of time to get from peak level to a level of 98 before the Sustain Release portion of the envelope begins Release 00 to 99 Eventually you will let go of the note that you ve been holding either by releasing the note on the keyboard or releasing the sustain pedal if it was pressed It is at this point that the Release portion of the envelope takes effect The Release is the time that the envelope takes to get from its current level back down to nothing Setting the Release time to 99 will take the envelope a very long time to reach zero level Pitch Envelope Page 2 Delay 00 to 99 This is the amount of time that the envelope will wait before do
103. his determines whether or not keyboard position will affect the cycle speed of the envelope When turned on playing toward the higher end of the keyboard will result in a faster envelope cycle playing toward the lower end of the keyboard will result in a slower envelope cycle However this does not effect the attack time but only the decay sustain sustain decay and release segments This feature will result in only a subtle change The envelope s timing doubles or halves over a range of two octaves Sustain Pedal On or Off This determines whether or not the Sustain Pedal will have an effect on the envelope When turned on holding down the Sustain Pedal while playing short notes is virtually the equivalent to holding down those notes on the keyboard with some subtle but important differences If the Delay and Attack are set to 0 and either the Decay is 0 or the Sustain is 99 the envelope will immediately jump to the release stage if not already there when the note is released and the sustain pedal is held down If a long attack is set and the envelope does not reach the end of the attack segment when the note is released it will be skipped and the envelope will jump immediately to the sustain decay segment If a long delay is set and the envelope has not reached the attack segment before the note is released the envelope will remain at 0 However if Freerun is turned on the envelope will continue through the delay attack decay and su
104. ial This is the baseline from which all other filter parameters will raise or lower open or close the filter If the Filter Frequency is set to 00 and no other parameters are set to raise it dynamically no sound will pass through the filter at all there will be silence If the Amp settings are wide open and you can t hear anything check the Filter Frequency setting Since the waveforms in ROM are recorded at the brightest possible setting in many cases dynamic filtering is crucial to making a program sound natural Keyboard Track On or Off When off the filter cutoff remains constant across the keyboard Higher notes will be more affected than lower notes since the filter cutoff is comparatively lower for higher notes than lower ones When on the filter frequency tracks the keyboard pitch Therefore if using the filter creates a particular harmonic structure when you play one key playing a different key will shift the filter frequency to maintain the same harmonic structure 99 to 99 At 00 velocity has no effect on the filter cutoff With positive values playing harder increases the filter cutoff More positive values drive the cutoff frequency higher for a given amount of velocity More negative values drive the cutoff frequency lower for a given amount of velocity Tip Many acoustic instruments such as acoustic guitars sound brighter when you play them more forcefully Adding a little positive velocity control ov
105. ides a sweeping glide from one note to another over a variable amount of time A good example of this type of sound is a steel guitar where a note slides from one pitch to another Exponential Linear 1 Speed This provides the sweep s curve e With an exponential curve the pitch change seems to happen more rapidly at first then slows down as it approaches the ending pitch e A linear curve produces a constant pitch change throughout the glide Normally the greater the interval the pitch difference between the two notes the longer the glide For example a glide between two notes a whole step apart would take much less time than a glide between two notes an octave apart The 1 Speed curve maintains a constant glide rate regardless of the pitch difference between notes Rate 0 to 99 Sets the glide duration Higher numbers give longer glide times The Rate value is affected by the Portamento value see above Mono Poly or 1 Pitch In Mono mode you can play only one note at a time just like vintage monophonic synthesizers Poly mode allows you to play polyphonically Note that portamento behavior is more predictable in mono mode Tip With a feedback guitar patch that uses one sound for the guitar and one sound for the feedback setting the feedback sound to Mono Keyboard Mode insures that your feedback whistle will be monophonic which more accurately mimics what happens when you play lead guitar Use
106. igned controllers Numbers in parenthesis indicate the controller range Function 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 Pan 0 127 Expression 0 127 General Purpose 1 0 127 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 0 124 Omni Off 0 125 Omni On 0 126 Mono On 0 16 0 Omni Off 127 Poly On 0 IDO DN pa Rh NDR QuadraSynth Reference Manual 127 APPENDIX B MIDI Supplement 128 System Common Messages Intended for all units in a system some of these MIDI messages are Song
107. ing If your unit behaves erratically or freezes the first step is to power down the unit and power it back up again Disconnect any cables connected to the MIDI IN jack and make sure that a sequencer or keyboard is not sending messages to the QuadraSynth that would make it behave erratically such as a long stream of pitch bend messages on 16 channels simultaneously If these steps do not solve the problem you must re initialize the software Make sure your mod wheel is all the way down before re initializing otherwise the zero position of the mod wheel will be incorrect To re initialize the QuadraSynth hold down both Quad Buttons 1 and 4 while turning on the power This will reset all Global parameters to their default settings and will initialize all edit buffers so that all Mix Program and Effects parameters are reset to their default settings However none of the Programs Mixes or Effects are changed when re initializing the unit QuadraSynth Reference Manual 121 APPENDIX A Troubleshooting Checking Software Version The current software version may be determined by holding GLOBAL and pressing PROGRAM The QuadraSynth will indicate the current software version installed in the upper right display Maintenance Service 122 Cleaning Disconnect the AC cord then use a damp cloth to clean the keyboard s metal and plastic surfaces For heavy dirt use a non abrasive household cleaner such as Formula 409 or Fan
108. ing anything very useful if you want to affect one element of a sound sometime after the sound starts When the Delay is set to 0 the envelope attacks right away without any delay Play some notes while turning up the delay and see that the time between playing the note and hearing the effect of the Pitch Envelope gets progressively longer as the Delay control is turned up Sustain Decay 00 to 99 This is the amount of time that the envelope will take during the sustain stage to bring the level down to 0 If this is set to 99 the envelope will remain at the Sustain level until the note is released When set to 0 the envelope s level will immediately jump down to 0 upon reaching the sustain stage Trigger Normal Freerun Reset Reset Freerun The Trigger mode determines how the envelope will function You may select either Freerun or Reset or both Reset Freerun or neither Normal When set to Normal the envelope will always start at its current level i e if another note had been played which triggered the envelope s cycle playing another note in the middle would not interrupt the cycle Also in Normal mode the envelope will immediately advance to its release stage upon releasing the note When set to Freerun the envelope will complete its entire cycle even if the note is released in the middle When set to Reset the envelope starts at the beginning whenever a new note is played When set to Reset Freerun the envelope will star
109. instruments whose timbre and dynamics change often radically over the duration of a note modulation is the key to making rich and expressive sounds The vibrato of a flute the expression pedal of an organ a wah wah pedal on a guitar all of these are examples of modulation You re probably familiar with the mod wheel of a synthesizer that typically adds vibrato to a Program as it is raised But in synthesizer programming modulation is used to control even the basic characteristics of a voice its attack decay and release times for example Every box in the signal diagram on page 51 pointing towards the Voice Filter or Amp boxes is a modulation source The amount of modulation the time it takes place and what controls such as key velocity footpedals aftertouch mod wheel etc affect it are important parameters in every Program The QuadraSynth provides the modulation flexibility of patch cord based instruments but with the convenience and ease of use of digital technology With some parameters the modulation amount can be positive or negative A positive control signal increases the value of the parameter being controlled A negative control signal decreases the value of the parameter being controlled Setting modulation to 00 turns off the modulation source Example Keyboard velocity can either make a sound brighter the harder you play or make it less bright or have no effect on the filter at all You have the freedom to set mod
110. ion closer together If the select Reverb type is Large the Density parameter is unavailable QuadraSynth Reference Manual 103 Editing Effects The Delay function is used to edit Delay parameters Delay Page 1 The QuadraSynth s effects processor has three different Delay types available Note Some delay modules only feature a mono Delay and therefore the Delay Type parameter will be unavailable Instead the parameters normally found on page 2 of the Delay function are shown in page 1 and there are no other pages please refer to next section for a description of those parameters Delay Type Ping Pong This is called a Ping Pong Delay because the output bounces from side to side left to right in stereo with the speed determined by the delay time The maximum delay time is 399 milliseconds Stereo Delay The Stereo Delay is actually two separate delays which can be individually varied The maximum delay time for each delay is 399 ms Mono The Mono Delay has the advantage of twice the available delay time or 799 ms in Configuration 1 1199 ms in Configuration 2 Delay Pages 2 and 3 In Page 2 of the Delay Function you will find the remaining parameters for the Delay function If the Stereo Delay type is selected you can press PAGE again to advance to Page 3 This is because the Stereo Delay type has parameters for both the Left and Right channels Input Quad Knob 1 is used to balance the Delay
111. is the level that the decay section of the envelope will head for Depending on the setting of the Sustain Decay control see below the envelope will either hold at the sustain level until you release the note on the keyboard or decay to 0 at the Sustain Decay rate which is on page 2 of the envelope You can create a long plateau at the start of a note by setting the Sustain to 98 and the Decay to 99 This will cause the envelope to take the maximum amount of time to get from peak level to a level of 98 before the Sustain Release portion of the envelope begins Release 00 to 99 Eventually you will let go of the note that you ve been holding either by releasing the note on the keyboard or releasing the sustain pedal if it was pressed It is at this point that the Release portion of the envelope takes effect The Release is the time that the envelope takes to get from the sustain level back down to nothing Setting the Release time to 0 is good for playing those short funky riffs that you hear on a clavinet Setting the Release time to 99 will take the envelope a very long time to reach zero level Amp Envelope Page 2 Delay 00 to 99 This is the amount of time that the envelope will wait before doing anything very useful if you want to affect one element of a sound sometime after the sound starts When the Delay is set to 0 the envelope attacks right away without any delay Play some notes while turning up the delay and see that
112. it occurs sending a continue message after stop will re start units from where they were stopped This appendix is an abridged version of material from Power Sequencing with Master Tracks Pro Pro 4 and The Complete Guide to the Alesis HR 16 and MMT 8 copyright 1990 and 1989 respectively by AMSCO Publications and is adapted with permission QuadraSynth Reference Manual Index MIDI IMPLEMENTATION CHART Function Tra nsmitted Recognized Remarks Basic Default 1 16 1 16 Channel Changed 1 16 each 1 16 each Memorized Default Mode 3 Mode 3 Mode Messages X X Alt ere d kkkkkkkk Note 0 127 0 127 Number True Voice ROR RR RE 0 127 Velocity Note On O O Note Off O O After Keys O O Touch Ch s O O Pitch Bender O O Control 0 120 0 O Change Prog O 0 127 O1 0 127 Change True KKK KK KKK 0 127 System Exclusive O O System Song Pos X X Common Song Sel X X Tune X X System Clock X X Realtime Commands X X Aux Local On Off X X Messages All Notes Off X X Active Sense X X Reset X X Notes 1 O X is selectable Mode 1 OMNI ON POLY Mode 3 OMNI OFF POLY O Yes Mode 1 OMNI ON MONO Mode 4 OMNI OFF MONO X No QuadraSynth User s Manual 129 Index APPENDIX C PARAMETERS INDEX Program Parameters 130
113. itch polarity and calibrate itself accordingly O If your footswitch seems to respond backwards notes sustain unless the footswitch is pressed turn off the QuadraSynth make sure the footswitch plug is fully inserted into the footswitch jack then turn the power back on QuadraSynth Reference Manual 27 Connections Digital Audio Optical Hookup The QuadraSynth can send digital audio directly into ADAT which provides better fidelity than using the analog inputs and outputs The digital I O connector follows a proprietary Alesis format that carries all four audio outputs on a single fiber optic cable Either pair of outputs can be converted into standard AES EBU or S PDIF stereo digital audio format by using the Alesis AT 1 interface Fiber optic cables of various lengths are available from your Alesis dealer The shorter the cable the better The model OC cable is 5 meters long and is the maximum length recommended To hook up the optical cable Remove the two pieces of clear plastic tubular sleeving if present that protect the tips of the optical cable plug Insert one cable end into the QuadraSynth DIGITAL OUT and the other end into the ADAT or AI 1 DIGITAL IN To test the cable and QuadraSynth digital output plug one cable end into the QuadraSynth The other end should emit a soft red light it is not dangerous to look directly at this light Recording Digital Audio Once the fiber optic connection is made bet
114. iven amount of aftertouch Tip Aftertouch is useful for creating keyboard controlled string bend effects Low settings are good for humanizing synthesized sounds since aftertouch changes can give very slight pitch changes as associated with acoustic instruments Depth 99 to 99 At 00 the pitch LFO has no effect Higher positive values increase the amount of Pitch LFO modulation Negative values give the same apparent effect but with reversed LFO phase i e if the pitch would normally be increasing with depth set to a positive number the pitch would instead be decreasing at that same moment had the depth been set to a negative number Pitch LFO parameters such as speed and wave shape are programmed within the PLFO Function see page 70 Pitch Envelope Depth 99 to 99 At 00 the pitch envelope has no effect Positive values raise the pitch from the baseline according to the envelope shape while negative values similarly lower the pitch The higher the number negative or positive the greater the effect Pitch Envelope parameters such as attack and decay time are programmed within the PENV Function see page 74 QuadraSynth Reference Manual 61 Editing Programs 62 Positive Envelope Negative Envelope 99 99 0 0 99 99 TIME gt TIME gt Pitch Page 3 About portamento When you play a key and then a second key normally the sound jumps instantly from one pitch to another Portamento prov
115. l use the first page of Store mode for more information about the other pages of Store mode see Chapter 9 If you press STORE while in Mix mode the display will look like this MIDI chan 1234567891011 1213141516 STORE MIX AT 00 MIX Ii PROG MID EFFECT MII preser ILL preser L preser ILI NUMBER Press STORE EDITED PAGE 1234567 Once you have edited a Mix a Program or an Effect the word EDITED will appear in the display If this word appears next to the Mix Numter the Mix has been edited if it appears next to the Program Number the Program has been edited if it appears next to the Effect Number the Effect has been edited Each edit mode type requires its own store operation For example if while making a new Mix you also make changes within one of the Programs such as lowering the filter level and make changes within the Effect such as increasing the reverb decay time you must press STORE three different times from Mix Edit Program Edit and Effect Edit modes in order to save your work If you select a different Mix while in Mix Edit mode or a different Program in Program Edit mode you will lose all changes you have made unless you perform a store first O You can only store Mixes Programs and Effects into their respective User banks The Preset banks are permanently stored in ROM and cannot be saved over QuadraSynth Reference Manual 39 Overview 40 Store a Program D While i
116. lect channel 16 Use Quad Knob 3 to choose between Preset and User Programs Use Quad Knob 1 to select a Program for the selected Channel Don t use the MIX PROGRAM SELECT 1 0 buttons while in any edit mode If you do you will be kicked out of Mix Edit mode and will select another Mix losing your changes Use Quad Knob 4 to enable or disable the Program on the selected Channel When enabled the Channel number will appear in the top left of the display When disabled the Channel number will not appear unless selected for editing using the MIDI and buttons in which case it is underlined To set the Program s level press the FUNCTION button once so that LEVEL is underlined in the display Use Quad Knob 1 to adjust the level O Repeat steps until all desired Programs are assigned to all desired MIDI channels and have the appropriate levels Changes to Mix parameters are temporary and will be lost if another Mix is selected To make changes permanent you must store the Mix into the User bank Refer to Chapter 4 for information about storing changes QuadraSynth Reference Manual Your First Session with the QuadraSynth Auditioning Effects Each Program and Mix uses one of the 256 Effects Patches to enhance the sound You select which Effect you wish to use from Program Edit or Mix Edit mode While the Program remembers which Effect Patch to use and how much sound to send to i
117. lobal Edit Page 2 QuadraSynth Reference Manual 111 Global Settings Keyboard Sensitivity Quadrasynth only In Page 2 of Global Edit mode Quad Knob 1 adjusts how sensitive the keyboard s velocity will be 00 to 99 When set to 0 the keyboard will not transmit any velocity no matter how hard or soft the keys are played all notes will be treated as having a velocity of 64 right in the middle When set to 99 the keyboard will have maximum sensitivity allowing the greatest difference between soft and loud notes in terms of velocity control Adjust this value to create the ideal sensitivity for your playing style By lowering this value from 99 you limit how loud and soft notes may be played Keyboard Curve QuadraSynth only In Page 2 of Global Edit mode Quad Knob 2 selects the Keyboard Velocity Curve There are three options Weighted Plastic and Maximum When set to weighted the keyboard will have the velocity response of a weighted keyboard This means you will really have to play hard to get the loudest notes When set to plastic the keyboard will have the velocity response of a typical plastic keyboard Plastic is not as sensitive as Weighted therefore playing soft will not result in the same soft notes as Weighted mode produces When set to Maximum no velocity response is available and all notes are given a maximum velocity value of 127 This parameter only affects the keyboard s output to the sounds in the QuadraSynt
118. long delay is set and the envelope has not reached the attack segment before the note is released the envelope will remain at 0 However if Freerun is turned on the envelope will continue through the delay attack decay and sustain segments and remain at the sustain decay segment This is exactly the same as holding down the note on the keyboard When the Sustain Pedal parameter is turned off the Sustain Pedal will have no effect on the envelope Level 00 to 99 This is the initial output level of the envelope Velocity Modulation 00 to 99 This determines how keyboard dynamics will affect the envelope level When set to 99 note velocity controls the envelope s output notes played hard will deliver a higher envelope output than notes played soft When set to 0 note velocity will have no effect on the envelope s output level Filter Envelope Page 1 Filter Envelope is crucial whenever you want the tonal quality of a note to change over time differently from its overall level Example When you want the initial attack of a note to be bright but want the sustaining part to be filtered O The following Filter Envelope variables will only have any effect if the FILTER ENVELOPE DEPTH on Page 2 of the FILTER function is set to a value other than 0 or Filter Envelope is a source in the MOD function Also note that the Filter Envelope may have no effect if some other modulation source or the basic setting of the filter has alr
119. ls of points 0 2 Points 3 6 are found on page 2 while points 7 10 are on page 3 The Name Function allows you to change the Program s name The name can be up to 10 characters long Use the PAGE and buttons to position the cursor Quad Knob 1 selects the character Here is a chart of available characters 1 e 1 fe fe 1 0 ft 7243 4 5 16 7 8 9 lt gt QA BC DEFG HII Y K IL MMN O P QR S T UV WiX Y Z XY 1 2 _ ajb ec die f g hi jj k jl mnjo pi qir s t u vw x yz fare Misc This enables and disables Drum Mode which allows you to assign individual drum sounds to individual keys To Program a sound in Drum Mode refer to the next section Programming Drum Sounds This is the master on off switch for the selected sound 1 4 of the current Program To avoid using up polyphony unnecessarily set Sound Enable to OFF for any sounds that will not be used in a Program When using Edit 4 mode disabled sounds will have the word sndx where x is a sound from 1 to 4 appear in lowercase letters above each bar graph meter in the display Active sounds will have the word SNDX appear in uppercase letters Turning sounds off is a convenient way to isolate a particular sound you are editing A quick way to turn a sound on and off from anywhere within Program Edit mode is to hold the corresponding
120. lter frequency Lower the Input Filter to remove high frequencies from the input signal before they go into the Reverb Decay The Reverb Decay determines how long the Reverb will sound before it dies away When using the Reverse Reverb type Reverb Decay controls the Reverse Time Low Decay and High Decay These two parameters allow the Decay Time to be set separately for both the low and high frequencies of the Reverb This means that you have control over the tonal shape of the Reverb itself being able to make the high frequencies die faster if the effect is too bright and being able to make the lows die faster if the effect is too boomy This allows you to simulate different surfaces of a room or hall with softer surfaces absorbing more high frequencies and smaller rooms having faster low frequency decay If the selected Reverb type is Gate the Low Decay parameter is unavailable QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Effects Reverb Page 4 Diffusion Reverb can be thought of as a great number of distinct echoes called reflections that occur so fast that our ear hears them blurred together as one Diffusion is the space between these echoes On some Reverb programs you may actually hear the multiple echoes repeating when the diffusion amount is set to 00 As you increase the diffusion amount you will no longer perceive distinct echoes and will observe the Reverb sounding thicker Therefore the Reverb Diffusion amount
121. lues 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 Mono pressure Aftertouch represents the average amount of pressure applied by all keys Poly Pressure produces individual pressure messages for each 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 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 these can act like continuous controllers but some are assumed to choose between two possible states such as on off QuadraSynth Reference Manual APPENDIX B MIDI Supplement 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 ass
122. ly store your Program or Effects Patch data you can always go from Program mode to Mix mode or vice versa without losing your changes That s because Program mode has a Program edit buffer and an Effects edit buffer and Mix mode has its own Mix edit buffer along with 16 Program edit buffers and its own Effects edit buffer These buffers are retained when going back and forth between Program mode and Mix mode thus making it easy to search for a suitable location to store your newly created Program or Effects Patch Example While in Program Edit mode go to Mix mode and scroll through the Program list on one of the Channels while editing a Program from Mix mode go to Program mode to scroll through the Program list The way to tell the difference between a program edited in Program mode and one edited from Mix mode is simple in Program mode the MIX number does not appear in the display O You will lose your changes if you remain in the same mode and recall a different Mix Program by pressing the MIX PROGRAM SELECT 1 0 buttons To audition Programs before overwriting them with STORE when editing a Program in Program mode While in Program Edit mode press MIX This selects Mix mode but retains your changes to the Program in an edit buffer Using MIX PROGRAM SELECT 1 0 or Quad Knob 1 select Mix 90 Press SELECT to enter Mix Edit mode and press both MIDI and gt buttons simultaneously to select
123. malized configurations are built in to every program for ease of programming In addition the QS Modulation Matrix gives back much of the flexibility of a modular synthesizer allowing you to map various modulation sources to multiple destinations for special needs If you re a beginner all of the normalized pathways are easy to find as you gain experience you can explore more advanced features QuadraSynth Reference Manual 51 Editing Programs How the QuadraSynth Generates Sound The QuadraSynth uses custom integrated circuits developed by the Alesis engineering team specifically for the QuadraSynth These resemble the types of chips used in computers and other digital devices In fact you can think of the QuadraSynth as a special purpose computer designed to generate and process audio Although the user interface maintains the metaphor of modules in fact all sounds are simply a set of numbers reflecting how you ve programmed the various sound parameters For example when you change the filter cutoff frequency you re not actually messing with a filter you re telling the computer to simulate the effect of messing with a filter Each module is represented by parameters that appear on one or more display pages The Quad Knobs and Buttons change these parameters All patching is done via software so the only patch cords you need are those that go to your mixer or amplifier You can take a snapshot of the QuadraSynth s param
124. mbl Strings AttkString SynthStrng TapeString Ethnic Harmonia FM Harmnca EuroAccrdn Elec Banjo Asian Drum Waterphone Voice Choir Aahs Choir Oohs Voice EFX1 Voice EFX2 Voice EFX3 SndFX Zap Attk 1 Zap Attk 2 Zap Attk 3 Mini Attk Pop Pop Attk Bottle Hit Metal Attk1 Metal Attk2 SambaWhstl Drums Stndrd Kit Rock Kit 1 Rock Kit 2 Dance Kit Stab Kick Deep Kick Spike Kick Flap Kick GarageKick PillowKick Elect Kick Studio Snr TurboSnare PiccoloSnr Crisp Snr Power Snr Dance Snr Rimshot Side Stick Power Tom Mid Tom Floor Tom Slam Tom Cannon Tom Closed Hat Edge Hat Open Hat FootClosed Cym Ride Cym Bell Cym Crash Cym China Cym Splash Percus Tympani TbularBell Orch Combo Agogo Bongo Cabasa Castanet Clave Conga Hit Conga Slap Cowbell FingerSnap Guiro Long GuiroShort Hand Clap Log Drum Maracas Shaker ShortWhstl Tambourine Timbale Triangle TriangleMt Vibrasmack Wood Block Level Each sound in a program can have its own level pan position and output assignment With up to four sounds per program this allows for a wide variety of stereo effects and level balances between the sounds Volume 00 to 99 This sets the overall for a sound Higher numbers give higher levels Pan 3 to 3 There are 7 available locations in the stereo two channel field Far left 3 mid left near left center 0 near right mid right and far right 3 The pan value is mai
125. me from the same source Note Modulating any effect parameter with the exception of chorus speed while audio is passing through it can result in audio artifacts or noises due to discontinuities in the modulation source Selecting the Modulator The are two Modulators You can select between these by using the PAGE lt and gt buttons Page 1 displays the parameters of Modulator 1 while page 2 displays the parameters for Modulator 2 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Effects Mod Source The Mod Source parameter selects the MIDI controller which will remotely cause a change modulate in one or two of the parameters in the effects processor Nearly every MIDI controller can become a Mod Source using controllers A D set in Global mode page 3 with the most common controllers appearing as a direct option in the display Quad Knob 1 selects the Mod Source The options for the Mod Source are e After Touch e Mod Wheel e Pitch Wheel e MIDI Volume e Sustain Pedal e Pedal 1 and Pedal 2 e Controller A D Mod Destination The Mod Destination is the parameter that will be controlled by the selected Mod Source Quad Knob 2 selects the Mod Destination The possible Destination parameters are e Pitch Speed e Pitch Depth e Pitch level e Pitch Balance e Delay Time e Delay Feedback e Delay Level e Reverb Balance e Reverb Input e Reverb Decay e Reverb Low Decay e Reverb High Decay e Reverb Diffusion e Reverb Level
126. moment or two after a note has been played rather than starting instantly The higher the value the slower the LFO kicks in Trigger Mono Poly Key Mono or Key Poly The Trigger parameter determines how the LFO should be triggered or started There are four possible settings Mono Poly Key Mono and Key Poly A description of these settings is found in the Trigger section of the PLFO description on page 71 Filter LFO Page 2 Level 00 to 99 This is the base output level of the Filter LFO If you want to have a constant value of tremolo to the filter even without using the Mod Wheel or Aftertouch set LEVEL above 00 The Mod Wheel and Aftertouch will add or subtract from this base level Example If Level is set to 10 and the Mod Wheel parameter is set to 10 there will always be some filter tremolo and raising the Mod Wheel will add more tremolo On the other hand if the Mod Wheel parameter is set to 10 raising the Mod Wheel to the top will cancel out all tremolo QuadraSynth Reference Manual 73 Editing Programs 74 Mod Wheel 99 to 99 This parameter sets how much the Mod Wheel will increase or decrease the Filter LFO s Level A positive value raises the level when the Mod Wheel is moved up and lowers the level when moved down Negative settings of this parameter will decrease the output level of the FLFO as the Mod Wheel is raised Since the output level of the FLFO cannot be less than zero a negative setting of
127. n either Program mode or Program Edit mode after making your edits press the STORE button Select the memory location to which you want to store the Program using Quad Knob 1 or the VALUE and 1 buttons Don t use the MIX PROGRAM SELECT 1 0 buttons Doing so will result in recalling a different Program and you will lose your changes Press STORE again to complete the operation Store an Effect While in Effects Edit mode after making your edits press the STORE button Select the memory location to which you want to store the Effects Patch using Quad Knob 1 or the VALUE and 1 buttons Press STORE again to complete the operation Store a Mix While in either Mix mode or Mix Edit mode after making your edits press the STORE button Select the memory location to which you want to store the Mix using Quad Knob 1 or the VALUE and 1 buttons Do not use the MIX PROGRAM SELECT 1 0 buttons Doing so will result in recalling a different Mix and you will lose your changes Press STORE again to complete the operation Storing a Mix only stores the Mix parameters not the individual Programs or Effect Patch used in the Mix Ifyou have edited any of the Programs in the Mix or the Effects Patch you must store them separately QuadraSynth Reference Manual Overview To Audition Programs Before Storing To look for an available memory location to permanent
128. n you select a Mix from memory it is copied into the Mix Edit buffer the 16 Programs of that Mix are copied into the 16 edit buffers and the Mix s Effect Patch is copied into the Effects buffer If you make changes to the Mix they are only temporarily kept in the edit buffer until a new Mix is selected from memory Therefore you MUST store your edited Mix if you want to keep it If in the course of making a Mix you enter Program Edit mode by pressing SELECT and edit one or more Programs in the Mix the edits you make are entered into a separate buffer Note however that you DO have to STORE each edited Program in the User bank in the same or different Program number location before selecting a different Mix or your changes will be lost The same goes for editing the Effects patch If you select another Mix before storing your changes will be lost QuadraSynth Reference Manual Mix Mode Program Assign for each MIDI Channel The first function of Mix Edit is Program Assign Program Number 000 to 127 This determines the Program Number 000 127 for the selected MIDI channel Program Type Preset or User This determines whether the selected Program is from the Preset bank or User bank Enable On or Off This determines whether the selected channel is enabled or disabled When disabled no sound will be heard The Channel number in the display for a disabled channel will not appear except when selected for editing
129. nd ID EN one 42 Effects in Mix Mod CAPA aa rie iii 43 Effect kegel arine eierens da 43 Effects iero E E Since 44 Naming MIK sasina ia ea NRO 44 Poly pony Mix Mod rna A a a A A 45 Using the Quadrasynith as a Master Keyboard etnias dots se coed eeed sees doit 45 Setting MIDI Out Channels for Mix QuadraSynth Keyboard only 45 6 Editing PFOQGraMS uni ana ii OVEIVIEW eine iaia 47 The Normalized Synth Volere 47 How the QuadraSynth Generates Solid rire fa 48 Program Sound Layers avi sanitaria iii Siate 48 Quadiasynth Sictal Flower 49 The Bort Sounds ota Prostata era 49 MOI RN I e E LIT 50 Eowpass Filter ee e abili alieni 50 O IE 51 About Modulationi sx iii ea loin eee 51 A ia anali 51 Envelopesutiraniathb londra alati eo tit 52 About Signal Processing arci ia Dial iii Or 52 Drum Moderar dia in aereo 53 Programy Edit PUCH A Aa 54 Assign Voice saeed iii 54 Level tion alri nali Isle pila ii 55 O ES 56 Effect td I Ai io 56 e PRETE O TATOO 57 Filter other n ni 59 RSI 61 IRampen ita O O E E 62 Modena 64 PEO das 67 4 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Contents A A aaa 69 O A eci 70 A 71 FilterEnvelopes asi cs unioni narnia biella ilo 73 Amp Envelope sir iaia alii na E dak eaten 76 Name inten lolita ngi benna ans 79 A T la eil iii er 79 Programming Drum SoundsS ii 80 ASSIM VOICE critico LISTE IA TREO ENI caian 80 OO 80 Effects Level acota tie Ae aa Sl 81 Piterni io
130. nderlined MIDI channel QuadraSynth Reference Manual 13 Your First Session with the QuadraSynth 14 Auditioning Internal Programs Press the PROGRAM button You can now play the QuadraSynth keyboard the Program will be whatever was selected when last in Program mode Program number 00 127 Select a Program in any of three ways e Rotate Quad Knob 1 e Press Quad Button 1 and then use the VALUE or 1 button Use the MIX PROGRAM SELECT 1 0 buttons for direct entry Leading zeroes must be entered for Programs 0 19 Example Press 0 then 0 then 5 for Program 5 press 0 then 1 then 3 for Program 13 Only begin with 1 if you are selecting a Program from 100 127 If you start entering a number and change your mind wait a few seconds and the QuadraSynth will revert to the previous Program number 1 2 3 4 5 li a A Y 1 VALUE You can switch between User and Preset programs with Quad Knob 3 By either pressing Quad Button 3 and then pressing VALUE 1 or by turning Quad Knob 3 all the way to the right the top line of the display will change to read PROG TYPE PRESET After switching between the Preset and User banks press Quad Button 1 to see the name of the Program in the display again User memory and Preset memory are described in detail in Chapter 4 Auditioning Programs on the S4 Sound Module To hear Programs on the 54 set your MIDI controller to tr
131. new note and thereby ensure there are voices available to play other sounds if necessary QuadraSynth Reference Manual 67 Editing Programs 68 Mod About General Purpose Although there are several dedicated modulators in the QuadraSynth e g the pitch can always be modulated by the pitch LFO and pitch envelope sophisticated synthesizer programming demands the ability to use as many modulation sources as possible to modulate as many modulation destinations as desired The QuadraSynth arranges its modulation source outputs and modulation destination inputs into a matrix so that any selected source can connect to any of several destinations There are six general purpose matrix modulators which allows you to control up to six parameters with any of several control sources Use the MOD functions to setup your own customized control of a program such as e Using one or both of the PEDAL inputs to control volume brightness filter cutoff effect level LFO speed etc e Using velocity to increase or decrease the attack speed of an envelope so playing softly makes the sound fade in while playing hard causes an immediate attack e Using release velocity to increase decrease the release time of an envelope so quick releases of the keys cut off the end of the sound while slow key releases allow the sound to fade away gradually The MOD functions give you the freedom to go beyond the standard modulation sourc
132. ng Programs via MIDI Sys Ex ii 112 QuadraSynth Reference Manual 5 Contents APPENDIX A Trouble Shooting momoocononononcananonencananancncarananonnanas L15 Tr ble Shooting TAC A AA AA AAA 115 EA A nai ear eri 115 Checking SOL Ware VEIS oso e Na lr 116 Maintenance Service cccccssecccseccnssccccscccesscsessecsecensssessesceunsesuescecsesseesseseesceensess 116 CAOS EA e alone 116 AAA cinici ir ra ici ieri 116 Warranty Information iii 116 Obtaining Repair Service iii 116 APPENDIX B MIDI Supplement 1 1 111000srr cenere renna ia renna nine DD MIDI BaSles irtuii iii eil ione 119 MIDI HardWare seee ai ii pare ela peo 119 MIDI Message Basics iii 120 Channel Messages Mode Messages cisiitin reirnos iii 120 Channel Messages Voice Messages riada 120 System Common Messages rrera iere i 122 MIDI Implementation Cl 123 APPENDIX C Parameters Index s ssssssssssnunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnna nn 124 Program Parameters oooomoconononononononnnnnononnnonononononononnnononnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnoninnnnnnnnninineniness 124 Mix Parameters ios 126 6 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Setting Up CHAPTER 1 SETTING Up Unpacking and Inspection Your QuadraSynth was packed carefully at the factory and the shipping carton was designed to protect the unit during shipping Please retain this container in the highly unlikely event that you need to return
133. ng the VALUE and 1 buttons but here s a quicker way To reset a parameter to its default setting Select the parameter you wish to reset using the methods described earlier Simultaneously press both the VALUE and 1 buttons Comparing Edited and Stored Versions 38 When you edit a Program or Mix you are actually editing a copy which is in a temporary edit buffer Therefore to retain the results of your edit you must save it to a particular memory location see the next section on Storing If you change memory locations before saving the buffer will be replaced and your edits lost Because the original Program Mix remains undisturbed you can compare the edited version to the original by using the Compare function You can only select Compare mode when either Mix Edit Program Edit or Effects Edit is selected and the word EDITED appears in the display below either MIX PROG or EFFECT Press COMPARE The word COMPARE will appear in the display while the word EDITED will disappear Press COMPARE again to exit Compare mode and return to the edited version The word COMPARE will disappear from the display and the word EDITED will reappear Pressing MIX PROGRAM GLOBAL STORE or the MIX PROGRAM SELECT 1 0 buttons will also exit Compare mode While Compare mode is selected you can move around to view the various parameters but you will not b
134. nly parameter that appears in Global Edit Page 2 if you re using an S4 sound module it is not found on the QuadraSynth keyboard version Quad Knob 2 controls which MIDI channel the keyboard will be recognized on Off 1 16 This is the channel that will control any of the 16 parts of a Mix which have their KEYBOARD parameter enabled in the Range Function If however this happens to be the same channel that has its MIDI IN parameter enabled as well notes will NOT double trigger as you might expect The S4 is smart enough to know you really don t want to waste voices unnecessarily Controller A D Assignment The QuadraSynth allows you to assign up to four general purpose MIDI controllers These MIDI controllers are assigned a letter A D In Page 3 of Global Edit mode you can choose which MIDI controllers 0 to 120 to assign as Controllers A B C and D For a listing of all MIDI controllers and their designations see page 123 in the MIDI Supplement towards the end of this manual Pedal 1 and 2 Assignment Like the MIDI Controllers A D the two footpedal controls Pedal 1 and Pedal 2 can be assigned to a MIDI controller In Page 4 of Global Edit mode you can assign which MIDI controllers 0 to 120 that Pedal 1 and Pedal 2 will be transmitted as over MIDI Out Simultaneously if the same MIDI controller is received it will control any modulations that use either Pedal 1 or Pedal 2 Quad Knob 1 selects the controller for
135. nment of the selected drum 000 to 127 C 2 to G8 You can also set the note assignment by holding Quad Switch 1 and tapping the key on the keyboard you want to set as the note for the drum Use Quad Knob 4 to select the drum 1 10 you wish to edit Only one drum can be assigned to a single note within a single Program sound layer If more than one drum in a single sound is assigned to the same note number only the higher number drum will sound Decay 0 to 99 Quad Knob 1 in the Amp Envelope function lets you adjust the Decay time of the selected drum 00 to 99 If this is set to 0 only the very beginning of the drum sample is played setting this to 99 will cause the entire drum sample to play Use Quad Knob 4 to select the drum 1 10 you wish to edit Mute Group Off 1 2 or 3 This is an important feature when using multiple sounds of the same instrument Mute Groups allow multiple drums to share a single voice For example if you have assigned a Closed Hat and an Open Hat to two different notes playing either note should cut off the other if it had recently been played This creates a more realistic sound since an actual Hi Hat is only capable of making one sound at a time In the Amp Envelope function Quad Knob 2 is used to assign the selected drum to one of the three Mute Groups In our example above both Hi Hat drums would be assigned to the same Mute Group The additional Mute Groups can be used by other so
136. nob counterclockwise increases the column height downward more negative value from the midpoint Always refer to the parameter name strip in the display above the bargraphs for the current parameter label and value Editing Program Parameters Here is an example of how to use the QuadraSynth s editing features to change Program parameters Feel free to make changes and twist dials these will not be made permanent unless you store the Program described later Simply selecting another Program cancels the results of any edits you ve made unless you ve stored the Program Press the PROGRAM button This selects Program mode QuadraSynth Reference Manual Overview Select a Program using either Quad Knob 1 the VALUE and 1 buttons or the MIX PROGRAM SELECT 1 0 buttons The currently selected Program will appear in the upper right of the display Press the SELECT button Pressing this button toggles between Program Edit mode and Effects Edit mode The display s editing status line will indicate either Editing Program or Editing Effect To change edit status press the SELECT button again For now select Editing Program Select the desired function by using the FUNCTION lt and buttons to step through the various options in the function list Assign Voice Level Effect Level Pitch Filter Amp etc Pressing FUNCTION gt advances to the next function and FUNCT
137. ntained even if the Output value is changed see below Output Main Aux or Off The Output parameter has three settings Main Aux or Off To send the sound s output to the Main outputs select Main To send the sound s output to the Aux outputs select Aux To turn off the sound s output set this parameter to Off Note however that the sound may still feed an Effect Send To send a sound to an individual output use Output in conjunction with Pan Example Panning a sound full left and selecting the Aux outputs means that the sound will appear at only the left Aux output QuadraSynth Reference Manual 59 Editing Programs 60 Effect Level The QuadraSynth isn t just a synthesizer it also has a built in effects system and mixer with four effect buses and sends This section lets you feed the sound to one of the effect buses for processing For more on effect buses see Chapter 6 00 to 99 Determines how much of the sound feeds the chosen effect bus see below Higher values mean that the sound will be more effected 1 to 4 Selects which of the four buses the sound will feed thereby determining which effect s will process the sound Each Effects Patch has its own unique arrangement of effects Example In Effects Patch 12 bus 1 may be a Chorus Delay Reverb while in Effects Patch 27 bus 1 may just be a Flanger See Chapter 7 for more information on editing Effects Patches This function allows
138. nto a MIDI sequencer or sent to another QuadraSynth You have a choice of sending any single Program in the User bank 00 to 127 or what is in the current Program Edit buffer or what is in any of the 16 Mix Edit Program buffers or the entire User bank 100 Mixes 128 Programs 128 Effects Patches plus Global data In the case of sending data to another QuadraSynth you can send any individual Program to the same location or any other location in the receiving QuadraSynth including any of its 17 Program Edit buffers To send the entire User bank via MIDI Connect a MIDI cable between the QuadraSynth s MIDI Out and the MIDI In of a device capable of receiving the data DataDisk another QuadraSynth etc Press STORE Use either PAGE lt or to select Page 3 of the Store function Turn Quad Knob 1 to the right until the upper right display reads SEND_ALL TO MIDI Press STORE to transmit the data out the MIDI Out connector To send a single Program via MIDI Follow steps through in the instructions above Use Quad Knob 1 to select a Program You may select any Program in the User bank 0 to 127 or the Program Edit buffer EDIT or any of the 16 Mix Edit buffers EDm01 to EDm16 As this value is changed the second parameter destination will be linked This is because most often you will want to transmit a Program to the same Program location The only time to do otherwise is when sendin
139. o the Delay effects on sends 3 and 4 are mono Each effect send can be routed through the Reverb Since there is only one Reverb effect it is found in the first effect send see next section on Reverb Reverb parameters that set the sound of the reverb itself such as high and low decay reverb type predelay etc are found only when EDITING 1 is displayed However each of the 4 effect sends has controls for how much dry signal and how much effected signal are sent to the Reverb effect For example the Reverb 2 block allows you to send signal to the reverb from four different points in the second effects chain the send input itself the output of Pitch 2 the input of Delay 2 or the output of Delay 2 You can even send a combination of these points to the reverb But to change any other reverb parameters you must return to editing Reverb 1 Each Pitch Delay and Reverb module has its own independent Mix output level i e how much of their output is routed directly to the Main Left and Right outputs The Mix function is where you determine how the effects will actually be heard Mix 1 for example is where you can control the outputs of Pitch 1 Delay 1 and Reverb 1 to the main outputs The Mix parameter controls how much an effect block feeds directly to the main outputs but doesn t control how much it feeds to any other blocks that may follow it For example when Pitch 1 s Mix control is set to 0 it is still available as an input
140. ocessors etc can be used to process a sample A Sound is the combination of a sample with its associated processing A Program consists of up to four sounds These sounds can be layered split over specific keyboard ranges or selectively overlapped The QuadraSynth has 128 User Programs that you can modify and 128 Preset Programs that are permanently installed in the QuadraSynth at the factory although the Preset Programs can be edited they must be stored into the User bank to permanently retain your changes A Program can also be processed by any of 256 different Effects Patches such as chorus reverb and EQ arranged in 128 Preset and 128 User Effects Patches Each Program can have its own Effect Patch or several Programs may use the same Effect Patch Note that each Effects Patch has its own memory location apart from the Programs and Mixes This location can have the same number as the Program being effected or the Program can select an Effect Patch in a different location Example Suppose Effect Patch location 001 holds a nice clean room reverb sound that you want to use on several different Programs Assign Effect Patch 001 using the Program s effect parameter to each Program that should use this Effect Patch Because Effects Patches have their own memory locations they must be saved independently if you call up a Program and edit the Effect Patch saving the Program will not save the Effect Patch edits The Effect Patch its
141. of an existing Mix Up to 16 Programs can be active in each Mix and Mix Edit mode sets up how each will be played Mix Edit mode allows you to e select which Programs will be played by the different MIDI channels and by the keyboard in multiple layers or splits e set the output level effects level and pan of each Program in the Mix e select which Effects Patch will be used by the Mix Effects Edit Mode Effects Edit mode is used for setting up the Digital Signal Processing effects Each Effect Patch has 4 effect bus inputs and an internal configuration of multiple effects such as reverb delay and pitch related effects chorus flange etc You can determine what kinds of effects are used on each bus change parameters such as reverb decay time or chorus speed of effects set modulation such as having the modulation wheel change the delay time and set the effects mix how much reverb delay and chorus on the output of each effect bus Global Edit Mode Use Global Edit mode to set various parameters which effect the entire instrument such as overall master tuning display contrast MIDI controller settings keyboard sensitivity and how the unit will respond to or generate messages during Mix mode Store Mode Store mode is used for storing changes of Programs Mixes and or Effects into the User memory bank It is also used for transmitting the QuadraSynth s parameters over MIDI for data storage purposes and for loading
142. of the Pitch section is still available depending on the bus and configuration to following Delay and Reverb sections Delay Level Adjusting this value will cause the Delay Output Level to increase or decrease The Delay Output level is the level for the Delay Section of the QuadraSynth s effects processor to the Main outputs and should be set as desired Even if this parameter is set to 00 the output of the Delay section is still available depending on the bus and configuration to following Pitch and Reverb sections Reverb Level Adjusting this value will cause the Reverb Output Level to increase or decrease The Reverb Output level is the level for the Reverb Section of the QuadraSynth s effects processor to the main outputs and should be set as desired QuadraSynth Reference Manual Global Settings CHAPTER 8 GLOBAL SETTINGS Global Edit mode is where you will find several parameters which affect the entire instrument such as overall master tuning display contrast controller settings keyboard mode edit mode and the 48 kHz input Editing Global Parameters Press the GLOBAL button The display will change to Global Edit mode page 1 The total number of pages six is indicated in the lower left corner of the display The currently selected page number will be underlined There are three parameters available for editing in Global Page 1 Quad Knob 1 controls the display contrast e Quad Knob 3
143. ong with other controls Envelopes generators provide a modulation signal that varies over time from the time you strike the key until after you let go There are three independent envelope generators QuadraSynth Reference Manual 55 Editing Programs for pitch filter and amp in each Program Sound An envelope generator has different effects on different modules Example The Amp Envelope creates level changes Amplitude that decays over time creates percussive effects plucked strings drums etc Amplitude that increases over time gives the effect of brass woodwind and some bowed instruments Each envelope generator has the standard attack decay sustain and release parameters found on most synthesizers along with delay sustain decay and different triggering options DECAY SUSTAIN LEVEL RELEASE ATTACK SUSTAIN DECAY m lt zmr ME NOTEON NOTE OFF L About Signal Processing The signal processing section of the QuadraSynth provides the same kind of power as the Alesis QuadraVerb It is a complete digital signal processing unit with four input buses simultaneous multiple effects and flexible signal routing Sound Effects le gt P e rocessor reverb delay chorus etc There are 128 different Preset Effects Patches plus another 128 User Effects Patches to choose from The Effects parameters themselves are edited separately from either the Program or t
144. ou can understand the many ways in which you can process a signal as it works its way from oscillator to output The Normalized Synth Voice The first synthesizers were comprised of various hardware modules some of which generated signals and some of which processed those signals These were designed to be general purpose devices since nobody was quite sure how they would be applied some engineers used them as signal processors while keyboard players treated them as musical instruments Therefore patch cords connected the inputs and outputs of the various signal generating and processing modules which is why particular synth sounds were called patches Changing a patch involved manually repositioning patch cords and adjusting knobs and switches recreating a patch required writing down all the patch settings on paper so they could be duplicated later Even then due to the imprecision of analog electronics the patch might not sound exactly the same Over the years certain combinations of modules seemed to work better than others and since patch cords were troublesome to deal with eventually these modules were wired together in a normalized configuration Synthesizers such as the MiniMoog Prophet 5 and others eliminated the need for patch cords by containing a normalized collection of sound modules including oscillators filter envelopes LFOs etc The QuadraSynth offers the best of both worlds The most commonly used nor
145. oups such as waves have more samples than others Here is a chart listing the various samples in their respective groups Group Sample Piano GrandPiano Dark Piano No Hammer Piano wave BrtRhdsHrd BrtRhdsSft BrtRhdsVel MidRhdsHrd MidRhdsSft MidRhdsVel Rhdes Hard Rhdes Soft Rhdes Velo DynaRhds 1 DynaRhds 2 FM Piano Wurlser Organ FullDrwbar 3 Drawbars Jazz Tone Percus 2nd Percus 3rd Mellow DrtyChurch 60 s Combo Keybrd Clavinet FMClav Hrd FMClav Sft FMClav Vel Harpsicord FM Harpsi Marimba Hd Marimba Sf Marimba V FMMrmba Hd FMMrmba Sf FMMrmba V MrmbaWave Vibraphone VibesWave Glock FM Pluck H FM Pluck S FM Pluck V FMPlukWave Synth SyncSweep1 SyncSweep2 SyncSweep3 SyncSweep4 SyncSweep5 SncSweepV1 SncSweepV2 MicroWavel MicroWave2 MicroWave3 MicroWave4 MicroWaveV FiltSweep1 FiltSweep2 Filtsweep3 Filtsweep4 FiltSweep5 FiltSweep6 Filtsweep7 FltSweepV1 FltSweepV2 DigtlStik1 DigtlStik2 DigtlStik3 DigtlIStikV AnalogSqr1 AnalogSqr2 AnalogSqr3 AnalogSqr4 AnalogSqrV SyncLead 1 SyncLead 2 SyncLead 3 SyncLead 4 SyncLead 5 SyncLead V MicroPercl MicroPerc2 MicroPerc3 MicroPercV Perc Filt1 Perc Filt2 Perc FiltV AnalogBuzz1 AnalogBuzz2 AnalogBuzz3 AnalogBuzz4 Analog Res FM Bell Whistle QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Programs Wave Pure Sine 10 Pulse 15 Pulse 20 Pulse 25 Pulse 33 Pulse 50 Pulse Velo Pulse Mini Saw
146. pe output than notes played soft When set to 0 note velocity will have no effect on the envelope s output level QuadraSynth Reference Manual 79 Editing Programs 80 Amp Envelope Page 1 The Amp Envelope is crucial for all sounds because it sets the basic characteristics of the note whether it attacks quickly or slowly sustains or decays Some Programs may leave the Amp Envelope in a sustaining mode and provide attack and decay using the Filter Envelope the effect is slightly different Unlike Pitch and Filter Envelope the Amp Envelope is always fully active there is no second page to the AMP function adjusting how much envelope is applied to the amp Attack 00 to 99 This is the amount of time the envelope will take until it reaches its maximum output level Setting the Attack to 0 will give a sharp edge to the sound if the Delay is also set to 0 in AENV Page 2 see below a setting of 99 will result in a much slower attack taking many seconds before the envelope gets to maximum Decay amp Sustain 00 to 99 As soon as the attack portion of the envelope finishes when the level reaches maximum the envelope will decay decrease in level The level it reaches is set by the Sustain control how long it takes to get there is set by the Decay control In the special case where the Sustain level is all the way up 99 then there is no decrease and the Decay time segment is bypassed Whatever level the sustain is set to
147. percussion effects You can map any of these samples to any single key of the keyboard that does not already have a drum assigned to itin that layer When a sound is in Drum Mode you can assign 10 different drum sounds to 10 different keys in that layer If all four sounds in a Program are placed in Drum Mode you could assemble 40 drum sounds In Drum mode individual drums cannot be stretched across a range of the keyboard each occupies a single key Each of the 10 drum sounds has its own set of parameters in each of the functions in the display Pitch Filter Effects Level etc You can use Quad Knob 4 in each function page to select one of the 10 drum sounds to edit Here is a block diagram of a sound in Drum Mode Range Voice Filter Amp Pan Output Amp Envelope Effects Effects Drum 1 Level Buss Drum 2 puma cs F F n n L Drum 10 l Sound 1 Sound 2 Sound 3 Sound 4 When Drum Mode is enabled the sound will have fewer parameters for editing Consequently not all Function labels will appear in the LCD display as when Drum Mode is turned off Specifically the LFOs and all Envelopes with the exception of the Amp Envelope are unavailable In addition the parameters in most other functions will differ O When using Edit 4 mode sounds using Drum Mode will be unavailable for editing only soun
148. plugging it when the S4 is not in use to prolong its life Use only the AC adapter supplied with the 54 use of any other adapter will void your warranty QuadraSynth owners With the QuadraSynth off plug the female jack end of the AC cord into QuadraSynth s AC socket and the male plug end into a source of AC power It s good practice to not turn the QuadraSynth on until all other cables are hooked up The IEC spec AC cord included with the QuadraSynth do not substitute any other AC cord is designed to connect to an outlet that includes three pins with the third round pin connected to ground The ground connection is an important safety feature designed to keep the chassis of electronic devices such as the QuadraSynth at ground potential Unfortunately the presence of a third pin does not always indicate that it is properly grounded Use an AC line tester to determine this If the outlet is not grounded consult with a licensed electrician QuadraSynth Reference Manual 7 Setting Up Do not operate any electrical equipment with ungrounded outlets Plugging the QuadraSynth into an ungrounded outlet or lifting the unit off ground with a three to two wire adapter can create a hazardous condition Alesis cannot be responsible for problems caused by using the QuadraSynth or any associated equipment with improper AC wiring Line Conditioners and Protectors Although the QuadraSynth is designed to tolerate typical voltage vari
149. r module or MIDI responsive signal processor you ll usually drive these from the sequencer if it has additional MIDI outputs However you can also use the QuadraSynth s MIDI THRU connector to drive other modules since the Thru carries a replica of what appears at the QuadraSynth s MIDI IN which is the same as the sequencer s MIDI OUT About the Keyboard Mode In a Mix the QuadraSynth s keyboard may be set up in several ways using the Keyboard Mode parameter found on Page 2 of Global mode You need to determine which way is best for your application The Keyboard Mode parameter determines how the keyboard will function with regard to MIDI in Mix mode The keyboard sends on only one MIDI channel and the sequencer is used to set the MIDI channel of each track Keyboard Mode OUT 1 OUT 16 Or the keyboard is split or layered sending on many MIDI channels at once and the sequencer records each channel onto a different track FRM MIX QuadraSynth Reference Manual Connections Or the keyboard only sends on one MIDI channel but you change the channel on the QuadraSynth for each separate track on the sequencer CH SOLO In OUT 1 OUT 16 mode you will not hear the QuadraSynth unless your sequencer echoes the MIDI data back to the QuadraSynth s MIDI IN This is a way of verifying that the sequencer is set to receive properly Depending on the capabilities of your sequencer it may auto channelize the echoed
150. re Delay Mix Reverb Type The QuadraSynth has seven different reverb types all stereo each of which simulates a different space or produce a different ambient effect Use Quad Knob 1 to select one The different Reverb types are Plate 1 amp 2 The two Plate reverb types simulate an artificial device known as a Plate In the early days of recording Plates were extremely popular because they were almost the only way to provide any sort of artificial ambiance to a recording The sound of a well tuned Plate has become quite popular over the years especially when used on vocal or drum sounds Room The Room reverb type simulates not only rooms of different sizes but rooms with different surface materials as well A room with soft surfaces such as carpet will produce a reverberant sound with much less high end treble than a room with hard surfaces This reverb type can easily simulate both examples and many many more Hall Much larger than a room Halls are characterized by their high ceilings irregular shapes and generally uniform density of reflections Large Much larger than a hall this reverb type emulates large ambient spaces such as amphitheaters gymnasiums etc Gated Gated Reverb is a very popular effect on drums first found on English records in the early 1980s This reverb type can simulate applying a noise gate a device that QuadraSynth Reference Manual 101 Editing Effects 102 automatically decreases the
151. re Studio Snr TurboSnare PiccoloSnr Crisp Snr Power Snr Dance Snr Rimshot Side Stick Hi Hat Closed Hat Edge Hat Open Hat FootClosed Toms Hi Pwr Tom Lo Pwr Tom Hi Mid Tom Mid Tom Lo Mid Tom Hi Flr Tom Floor Tom Lo Flr Tom Hi Slam Tom Md Slam Tom Lo Slam Tom Hi Cannon Mid Cannon Lo Cannon Cymbal Cym Ride Cym Bell Cym Crash Cym China Cym Splash Percus Tympani TbularBell Asian Drum Cabasa Castanet Clave High Agogo Low Agogo High Bongo Lo Bong Conga High Conga Lo Conga Slap Cowbell Triangle TriangleMt Guiro Long GuiroShort Hand Clap Shaker Maracas Tambourine Timbale Hi Timbale Lo Log Drum Vibrasmack WoodBIk Hi WoodBlk Lo Waterphone SambaWhstl ShortWhstl Percus Zap Attk 1 Zap Attk 2 Zap Attk 3 Mini Attk Pop Pop Attk Bottle Hit Metal EX Attk1 Metal Attk2 Fingersnap Voice EFX1 Voice EFX2 Voice EFX3 Level Each of the 10 drums in a sound can have its own level pan position and output assignment The function provides these controls Use Quad Knob 1 to adjust the selected drum s level 00 to 99 Quad Knob 2 to adjust pan position lt 3 to gt 3 and Quad Knob 3 to select the Output assignment Main Aux or Off Use Quad Knob 4 to select the drum 1 10 you wish to edit To send a drum to an individual output use Output in conjunction with Pan Example Panning a drum full left and selecting the Aux outputs means that the drum will appear
152. rogram Sound Range O If the lower limit is set above the high limit there will be no sound from this program layer 66 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Programs 00 to 99 This determines how many voices can overlap on the same pitch Example If you hold the sustain pedal down and play the same note over and over Sound Overlap determines how many voices are available for that note and thus how many voices will overlap play simultaneously In the old days different brands of synthesizers offered different voice allocation schemes One brand used a method called rotate mode in which each time a note was struck a new voice was used Another brand used a different method called reassign mode whereby if a note is played and then played again the same voice is used both times In other words a new voice is used each time a new note of a different pitch is played The Sound Overlap value lets you choose a comfortable setting between rotate mode and reassign mode When the value equals 99 you are always in rotate mode using up polyphony if the value is 00 you are always in reassign mode conserving voices Set the value anywhere between 00 and 99 and you will get a combination of both with partiality toward whichever mode the value is closest to A piano sound requires some Sound Overlap but not a lot it isn t natural to hear too many voices on the same note On the other hand having only one voice per pitch i
153. rridden by the Mix s Effect function Always select the Effect Patch for a Mix from Mix Edit mode Pitch Page 1 Semitone 24 to 24 semitones Sets the oscillator pitch in semitone steps from 24 transposed down two octaves to 24 transposed up two octaves Detune 99 to 99 cents QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Programs Sets the oscillator pitch in cents from 99 transposed down 99 100 of a semitone to 99 transposed up 99 100 of a semitone Detune Type Normal or Equal With Normal selected the percentage of detuning remains the same over the entire range of the keyboard so the effects of detuning sound the same no matter which key you play With Equal selected the absolute amount of detuning remains the same over the entire keyboard so any detuning seems less pronounced as you play higher up on the keyboard Pitch Page 2 Range 0 to 12 semitones Determines the maximum amount of pitch bend when the pitch bend wheel is either full forward or back Example When set to 12 the pitch wheel will bend 1 octave 12 semitones Depth 99 to 99 At 00 aftertouch has no effect on Applying aftertouch by pressing harder on the keyboard or via MIDI messages with this parameter set to a positive value raises the pitch conversely applying aftertouch through a negative value lowers the pitch The higher the number either positive or negative the greater the amount of pitch change for a g
154. rts effecting the pitch of one of the parts then mixing them back together This eventual mixing is essential since the overall sound of the effect is achieved by the actual difference between the normal uneffected signal and the effected signal So that you can better understand the differences between the Pitch type effects and therefore better apply them to your music here is a brief explanation of each Mono Chorus The Chorus effect is achieved by taking part of the signal slightly delaying it and then slightly detuning it as well The detuning is further effected by being modulated by an LFO which causes the detuning to vary Many variables are available in this scheme The LFO depth can be varied the LFO speed can be varied and a portion of the detuned signal can be fed back to the input to increase the effect Finally the waveform shape of the LFO can be changed from a smooth triangle to a more abrupt squarewave to make the pitch detuning more pronounced DRY SIGNAL C HO RUSED FEEDBACK OUTPUT DRY SIGNAL Stereo Chorus In the case of a Stereo Chorus the signal is split into three parts with a dry signal and a separate Detuning section for both left and right channels When the left channel is detuned sharp the right is detuned flat and vice versa Once again this causes the effect to become more pronounced and dramatic QuadraSynth Reference Manual 105 Editing Effects DRY SIGNAL FEEDBACK a LE
155. s are present Cutoff Frequency Sai ae pe ina e reer N Frequency Response Curve x Filter N Amplitude Frequency 00 t__ gt 99 The cutoff parameter changes the frequency at which the high frequency response starts to roll off Lower values give a lower cutoff frequency A value of 00 will cut all sound off Static non changing filter settings can be useful but varying the filter cutoff dynamically over time often produces more interesting effects Modulating with velocity produces brighter sounds with louder dynamics which produces a more accurate acoustic instrument simulation Modulating with an envelope can create a pre defined change in harmonic structure such as having a brighter attack and bassier decay Each voice filter combination is followed by an amplifier whose level can be controlled by a variety of modulation sources This allows for creating sounds with percussive or slow attacks particular types of decays tremolo etc Filter and amp settings can interact If the filter cutoff is extremely low then no signal will get through no matter how the amp is set Similarly setting the amp for a short decay won t let you hear any filtering set for a longer decay This is because the volume will reach zero before the filter decay finishes QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Programs About Modulation modifies some aspect of a sound over time Since oscillators make static sounds unlike acoustic
156. set as the highest note in the range If the lower limit is set above the high limit there will be no sound from this program layer QuadraSynth Keyboard Range 60 72 84 96 120127 servi i hai vem Cc 2 C 1 C3 C4 C5 C6 C8 G8 Program Sound Range QuadraSynth Reference Manual Mix Mode Range Page 2 MIDI In On or Off This determines whether or not the selected channel will respond to incoming messages on the same channel MIDI Out On or Off This determines whether or not the selected channel will transmit MIDI messages This has no effect on the 54 module it only applies to the QuadraSynth keyboard Keyboard On or Off Keyboard Model only This determines whether or not the selected channel will respond to the pitch bend and mod wheels foot pedals and sustain pedal of the QuadraSynth itself MIDI Group On or Off S4 Sound Module only This determines whether the selected channel will respond to MIDI messages from the selected Mix Group Channel when that is enabled on page 2 of the Global menu For example if MIDI Group is set to ON on Mix channels 1 2 3 and 4 and Mix Group Channel is set to 16 all four channels will play when a note on message is received on MIDI channel 16 Effects in Mix Mode In Mix Mode you can have only one Effect Patch active per Mix However the Mix s Effect Patch still has 4 independent effect buses and you can decide the effect send level and routing
157. several MIDI channels at once and to temporarily isolate certain channels within a Mix This is done with the Keyboard Mode function From Mix mode press GLOBAL Press PAGE to get to Page 2 Press Quad Button 4 You will see KBD MODE in the top right of the display You can use the VALUE and 1 buttons or Quad Knob 4 to set the Keyboard Mode The options are FRM MIX CH SOLO and OUT 1 OUT 16 FRM MIX In this mode the MIDI channels sent out will correspond to whatever layers or splits the Mix is set up for For example in the Preset Mix bank there are several Mixes in which the keyboard is split in two or more ways from left to right each of these zones is linked to a different set of channels As you play through each zone it will send MIDI messages corresponding to that key range and trigger the corresponding channels Note that certain controllers such as pitch bend and aftertouch will send on all channels at once The MIDI Monitor indicators in the display will show which channels are active QuadraSynth Reference Manual 49 Mix Mode 50 CH SOLO In this mode the only sounds coming from the QuadraSynth and the only MIDI Out messages will come from the layer or range of the underlined MIDI channel in the display This allows you to isolate individual channels in a Mix So if you play in a range of the keyboard that is active on MIDI CH 1 and 1 is underlined you ll hear it All ot
158. show the labels of the bar graph meters which determine the functions of the four Quad Knobs and Buttons These labels change depending on which function and page is currently selected The labels are abbreviations of the parameters the complete name and value of a selected parameter will appear in the Name strip e Quad Knob bar graph meters When a Quad Knob controls a function s parameter an associated bar graph appears which reflects the Knob s setting Note Not all four Quad Knobs are active in all pages MIDI Buttons The MIDI lt and buttons serve two purposes In Program mode they select the basic MIDI channel the QuadraSynth will receive and transmit MIDI messages on In Mix mode they are used to select one of the 16 Programs for viewing and editing Quad Knob Editing The Quad Knobs have two editing modes Immediate and Pass thru When using the Quad Knobs to adjust parameter values you may prefer using one mode over the other When set to Immediate parameter values jump immediately to the Quad Knob s exact position the moment it is moved When set to Pass thru the Quad Knob must be turned beyond the parameter s current setting before it becomes live and begins adjusting the parameter s value The editing mode is set in Global Edit mode Page 2 using Quad Knob 3 For more information about selecting the Quad Knobs editing mode see Chapter 8 Parameter Editing All parameter editing involves the sam
159. sing the same controllers The effect of these realtime controllers varies from Program to Program in some they may not be active and in others they may have a dramatic effect e Velocity The volume and tonal quality of the sound will change according to how hard you play the keyboard e Aftertouch The action of pressing a key down after playing it is called aftertouch it is also sometimes referred to as Pressure since it corresponds to the amount of pressure being applied to the keyboard Pitch tone and volume among other things can be changed using aftertouch e Pitch Bend Wheel While playing a note you can move the PITCH BEND WHEEL up to raise the pitch or down to lower the pitch The amount of pitch bend available can be different for each Program Modulation Wheel Adjacent to the PITCH BEND WHEEL is the MODULATION WHEEL By raising the wheel you can add expressive modulation effects such as vibrato or tremolo while you play The type of modulation effect can be different for each Program Further expressive control is available with a pedal switch included or expression pedal optional see page 25 By connecting a pedal switch to the SUSTAIN jack on the rear panel you can have the sound sustain even after you release the keys By connecting an expression pedal to one of the pedal jacks PEDAL 1 or PEDAL 2 you can use the pedal to change the volume or tone or some other quality such as reverb depth or vi
160. sirable mix Note that the stacking of Programs in Mix Mode is in addition to any sounds that may be stacked in the four sound layers of each Program e Split the keyboard into different zones for example the classic bass guitar on the left hand side of the keyboard and synth or piano on the right You can split the keyboard into as many as 16 zones as is demonstrated on Preset Mix 00 e Transmit on different MIDI channels simultaneously Receive up to 16 MIDI channels from an external sequencer with each channel representing a different instrument bass on Ch 1 piano on Ch 2 drums on Ch 10 trumpet on Ch 16 Mix Mode is the multitimbral mode of the QuadraSynth Set the relative level panning and effect send of each MIDI channel hence Mix Mode Mix Edit Mode To edit a Mix you must select Mix Edit mode Press SELECT from Mix Mode Editing Mix should appear in the edit status section of the display MIDI chan 1234567891011 12131415 16 MysticSths MIX pl PROG IZI EFFECT E preser _ preset L_ preset _ _l NUMBER TYPE ENABLE EDITING MIX PROGRAM ASSIGN LEVEL EFFECT LEVEL PITCH RANGE EFFECT NAME PAGE 1 Note This illustration shows a Mix with all 16 MIDI channels enabled If a channel is not enabled its number will not show in the display unless the MIDI cursor is under the number Editing a Mix begins with using the MIDI and buttons to select the MIDI channel you want and a
161. sn t natural either let s say you played a loud note with the sustain pedal held followed by a soft note the second note would abruptly cut off the first On a real piano the string would still be resonating from the first loud note when the second soft note was played thus the two notes would overlap Sound Overlap is especially useful in Drum Mode In Drum Mode each drum sound is designated to one note or sometimes a group of notes When playing one note for a drum sound such as a snare and you attempt to play a roll the Sound Overlap controls how much of an overlap will exist between each pair of notes If the Sound Overlap value is set low you are more likely to hear old notes getting cut off This function has added value when the Program s Keyboard Mode parameter is set to Mono instead of Poly When playing monophonically Sound Overlap controls the amount of overlap between notes Normally even if the sound has a long release time playing a new note in Mono Mode will cut off the previous note By adjusting the Sound Overlap value you can still hear the previous note fading away after the new note has been played O It is important to note that Sound Overlap can have a negative effect on polyphony If you have Sound Overlap set to 99 hold the sustain pedal and play a series of notes you will run through all 64 voices in no time By adjusting the Sound Overlap to a lower value you decrease the number of voices used by each
162. ssigning a Program number for the channels you want to QuadraSynth Reference Manual 43 Mix Mode Keyboard Mode FRM MIX 1 Channel 3 use Each channel may be enabled or disabled without changing any of its parameter settings When a channel is disabled its number will not appear in the upper left display except when it is selected for editing You can set levels effect levels and bus assignments pitch transposition keyboard ranges if making a split or layer and MIDI parameters for each individual channel Each function is selected using the FUNCTION lt and buttons and if necessary the PAGE lt and buttons A Mix also includes an Effects Patch which can be any of the 256 Effects Patches or you can link the Mix to use an Effect associated with one of its 16 Programs Here is a simplified diagram of the signal path in Mix mode MIDI Output MIDI Out Output gt gt AuxR Keyboard 1 4 Effects Processor reverb dela y chorus etc Effects Level Buss Channel 1 gt Effects x o Land e Channel 2 Understanding the Edit Buffers In Mix mode there are 16 edit buffers one for each channel plus another buffer for the Mix parameters Level Pitch Range etc and yet another buffer for the Effects Processor Whe
163. stain segments and remain at the sustain decay segment This is exactly the same as holding down the note on the keyboard When the Sustain Pedal parameter is turned off the Sustain Pedal will have no effect on the envelope Level 00 to 99 This is the overall output level of the envelope QuadraSynth Reference Manual 81 Editing Programs 82 Tracking Generator The Tracking Generator is used to scale a modulation source For example normally you could modulate the Amp volume of a sound using velocity the harder you play the louder the sound gets The amount of change in volume is equal to the change in velocity this is called linear control If instead however you set the Tracking Generator s input to velocity and then routed the Tracking Generator to the Amp using the Mod function you can make your own customized map of the control velocity has over the sound s level The Tracking Generator divides the range of the input into 11 points 0 10 each of which can be set between 0 and 100 If you boost the value of one of the lower points you make the input more sensitive in its lower register By creating a non linear curve using the velocity example above you can scale the velocity s control over the sound s volume just the way you want LINEAR 100 LA oLA POINTS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 NON LINEAR 100 NO
164. t 0OABCDEFOG HI Y KKLMNOPQOQRSTUVWxXxoyYoz II XY 1 l _ 0 ajb e die f jgih fi jj k jl minjo p qir s t u vw x yz gt QuadraSynth Reference Manual Mix Mode Polyphony in Mix Mode The QuadraSynth has 64 note polyphony In Mix Mode if you have all 16 MIDI channels assigned to the same keyboard range and each channel s Program has only one active Program Sound you ll have 4 note polyphony as you play the keyboard but a really thick layer This is extreme of course but should tell you what you can expect when you really pile on the layers from the keyboard Using the QuadraSynth as a Master Keyboard Mix Mode gives the QuadraSynth the capabilities of a MIDI master keyboard You can layer the QuadraSynth s internal sounds with an external synthesizer s sounds without using up internal polyphony by adjusting the proper parameters in the Mix Edit mode Example You can have 2 layers or a split played directly from the QuadraSynth simultaneously playing on external synthesizers using a MIDI channel which has its internal QuadraSynth s sound turned OFF Setting MIDI Out Channels for Mix in Global Mode QuadraSynth Keyboard only The QuadraSynth offers a wide variety of ways to set the MIDI output Itis very easy in Program Mode you just use the MIDI lt and buttons to set the MIDI channel for the whole instrument But when using the QuadraSynth in Mix Mode you need to be able to transmit on
165. t and to which of the four effects buses all Effects Patch editing is done outside of the Program in Effects Edit Mode see Chapter 6 In a Mix you can combine several Programs and use one of the Effects Patches All the Programs can use this one Effects Patch or bypass it Also each Program in the Mix can either retain its own effects settings send level and bus or you can override and reroute them with the Mix Mode effects settings In this section we will audition the various preset Effects patches from PROGRAM mode Press PROGRAM and select a Program using the VALUE and 1 buttons The display will change to Program Mode Press SELECT The display will change to Program Edit mode The last function and page selected will be shown in the display To get back to the first function simultaneously press both FUNCTION lt and gt Press FUNCTION eight times or until the word EFFECT is underlined Ch gt Dly gt Revl 1 EFFECT L PRESET NUMBER TYPE EDITING PROGRAM SOUND 1 ASSIGN VOICE LEVEL EFFECT LEVEL PITCH FILTER AMP RANGE MOD EFFECT NAME PLFO FLFO ALFO PENV FENV AENV TRACK MISC PROG f PRESET PAGE 1 Use Quad Knob 1 to select an Effect Patch from 00 127 The display will change to indicate the currently selected Effect s number and name O Changes to Program parameters are temporary and will be lost if another Program is selected To make changes p
166. t at the beginning whenever a new note is played and will complete its entire cycle even if the note is released in the middle QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Programs Pitch Envelope Page 3 Time Tracking On or Off This determines whether or not keyboard position will affect the cycle speed of the envelope When turned on playing toward the higher end of the keyboard will result in a faster envelope cycle playing toward the lower end of the keyboard will result in a slower envelope cycle However this does not effect the attack time but only the decay sustain decay and release segments This feature will result in only a subtle change The envelope s timing doubles or halves over a range of two octaves Sustain Pedal On or Off This determines whether or not the Sustain Pedal will have an effect on the envelope When turned on holding down the Sustain Pedal while playing short notes is virtually the equivalent to holding down those notes on the keyboard with some subtle but important differences If the Delay and Attack are set to 0 and either the Decay is 0 or the Sustain is 99 the envelope will immediately jump to the sustain decay stage if not already there when the note is released and the sustain pedal is held down If a long attack is set and the envelope does not reach the end of the attack segment when the note is released it will be skipped and the envelope will jump immediately to the release segment If a
167. t the current Effects Patch in the edit buffer is different from what is stored in memory While in Effects Edit mode press STORE at any time to go to Store mode Store mode has several pages but the main storing function is found in the first page cuan 12345678910111213141516 MIX PRESET PRESET PROG 7 EFFECT ILI PRESET l EDITING 1 EFFECT PITCH MOD CONFIG REVERB DELAY MIX PAGE 1 2 STORE EFX AT 000 ER Press STORE To store the edited Effects Patch into the same location it was recalled from simply press STORE again and it will be stored To store the edited Effects Patch into a different location use Quad Knob 1 to select a different Effects Patch number 000 127 to store it to Configurations A is essentially the starting point of any Effects Patch You must select the Configuration you are going to use before making any other edits since all routings and parameters change to their default settings each time you change the configuration Each Configuration is a unique arrangement of multiple effect blocks distributed across the four effect sends Some effect sends may have three different effects pitch delay and reverb on them Configurations also determine where the signal to a block comes from and where the output of each block goes to the main outputs the next effect in line or even to an effect block belonging to another effect send The Configuration diagrams on the next si
168. tance shielded cables with a stranded not solid internal conductor and a low resistance shield Although quality cables cost more they do make a difference Route cables to the QuadraSynth correctly by observing the following precautions e Do not bundle audio cables with AC power cords e Avoid running audio cables near sources of electromagnetic interference such as transformers monitors computers etc Do not place cables where they can be stepped on Stepping on a cable may not cause immediate damage but it can compress the insulation between the center conductor and shield degrading performance or reduce the cable s reliability e Avoid twisting the cable or having it make sharp right angle turns Never unplug a cable by pulling on the wire itself Always unplug by firmly grasping the body of the plug and pulling directly outward e Although Alesis does not endorse any specific product chemicals such as Tweek and Cramolin when applied to electrical connectors are claimed to improve the electrical contact between connectors Basic Audio Hookup pu When connecting audio cables and or turning power on and off make sure that all devices in your system are turned off and the volume controls are turned down Because the QuadraSynth includes extensive signal processing as well as a full complement of sounds you can make great sounds with nothing more than an amplifier or a set of headphones The QuadraSynth has two M
169. tastik DO NOT SPRAY THE CLEANER DIRECTLY ONTO THE FRONT OF THE UNIT AS IT MAY DESTROY THE LUBRICANTS USED IN THE SWITCHES AND CONTROLS Spray onto a cloth then use the cloth to clean the unit Maintenance Here are some tips for preventive maintenance e Periodically check the AC cord for signs of fraying or damage e Make sure the entire bottom part of the keyboard is supported so that the case is not subjected to unnecessary bending e Place a dust cover over the QuadraSynth when it is not in use Warranty Information This product is warranted by Alesis to the original purchaser against defects in material and workmanship for a period of 1 year for parts and 90 days for labor from the date of purchase Complete terms of the Limited Warranty are stated on the Warranty Card packed with the product Please retain a copy of your dated sales receipt for proof of warranty status should repairs be necessary Refer All Servicing to Alesis We believe that the QuadraSynth is one of the most reliable keyboards that can be made using current technology and should provide years of trouble free use However should problems occur DO NOT attempt to service the unit yourself The full AC line voltage as well as high voltage high current DC voltages are present at several points within the chassis Service on this product should be performed only by qualified technicians THERE ARE NO USER SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE Obtaining Repair Service Be
170. th s ssssssnssnnnnnnnnnnnnn LL Powenng Upa ni iii 11 The Qrad Kobe Lisa 11 Adjusting the Display Contrasti 12 Playing the Demo Sequence 12 Playing the QuadraSynth nosena id tn 13 Program Mode and Mix Mode ii 13 Auditioning Internal Programs ii 14 Auditioning Programs on the 4 Sound Module 14 selecting the MIDI Chanel a 15 Realtime Performance Functions cece eeeeesteseeeeeeeeeenennsnsaeeeeees 15 Auditioning Mix Modes A iena orali fai 16 Editing a MiX yssit e ae etti 17 Auditioning Effects conocio litro i i iii 18 Setting the Effects Level 19 3 Connections ccccccocnnnncnannncncnnanaconananonananonnnnnnnnnernnnnrenannnnnnanannanaranazaZL RUIDO ale A a ia 21 Typical Application 1 MIDI Keyboard Master Controller for Live Use 22 Using the S4ih LivePertotmanee s assolate lla 22 Typical Application 2 Using the QuadraSynth with an External Sequencer 23 About the Keyboard Mode idol A nsitascoebebegpelcta leds 24 Posing the SA witha EE ni ias 24 Pedal and Footswitch Hookup auris 24 Digital Audio Optical Hop ni ni rial 25 Recording Digital Audio ii 25 AS KAZ Clock In deede oaee easier 25 4 OVervieW sssssssssssnnnnnnnnnnnnunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnmnnn nananana nanmanna aa 27 Basic Architecture o ld 27 CuadraSynta Polyphony arnesa ean a a E ie tis A E a unless bees 27 Modes tie
171. that have only one active Quad Knob QuadraSynth Reference Manual 11 Your First Session with the QuadraSynth Adjusting the Display Contrast Occasionally the characters in the LCD display may be difficult to read depending on the viewing angle and existing lighting conditions In such a situation adjust the contrast of the LCD display using the following procedure Press GLOBAL The display will change to the Global Page Adjust the contrast by turning Quad Knob 1 or use the VALUE and 1 buttons 1 The contrast and its value in the display will change LCD DISPLAY 062 DI CONTRAST PITCH TUNE PROG PRESET EFFECT PRESET PAGE 123456 VALUE Playing the Demo Sequence The QuadraSynth has a built in demo sequence which demonstrates the wide variety of sounds this amazing instrument is capable of generating In order to get the full effect of the demo we recommend that you connect both the LEFT and RIGHT outputs to your sound system or listen on headphones To play the demo sequence Hold the GLOBAL button and press MIX The upper right display will read Playing Demo Press MIX to stop Press MIX to stop the demo The demo was composed specially for the QuadraSynth by Stephen Kay There will be no MIDI OUT messages during the demo and the keyboard will be disabled 12 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Your First Session with the QuadraSynth
172. the Mod Wheel will have no effect on the tremolo from the ALFO Aftertouch 99 to 99 This is the modulation amount of Aftertouch over the Amp LFO s Level A positive value raises the level as more Aftertouch is applied A negative value will lower the amount of ALFO level as more Aftertouch is applied Pitch Envelope Pitch Envelope Page 1 Pitch Envelope can lead to dramatic effects since it can cause the pitch of a single key to change drastically over time It s typically used in special effect synthesizer programs but it may also be used more subtly in an acoustic program to simulate the characteristic of some instruments to go sharp on the initial attack especially when played hard O The following Pitch Envelope variables will have an effect only if the PITCH ENVELOPE DEPTH on Page 2 of the PITCH function is set to a value other than 0 or if Pitch Envelope is a source in the MOD function Attack 00 to 99 This is the amount of time the envelope will take until it reaches its maximum output level Setting the Attack to 0 will make the pitch go to maximum immediately on hitting the key if the Delay is also set to 0 in PENV Page 2 see below a setting of 99 will result in a much slower attack taking many seconds before the envelope gets to maximum QuadraSynth Reference Manual 75 Editing Programs 76 Decay amp Sustain 00 to 99 As soon as the attack portion of the envelope finishes when the level reac
173. the sound in their respective sections e g to find out how Pitch Envelope Attack affects the sound see page 74 on Pitch Envelopes e Pitch e Filter Cutoff e Amplitude e Effect Send e Pitch LFO Speed e Pitch LFO Amp e Pitch LFO Delay e Pitch Envelope Delay e Pitch Envelope Attack e Pitch Envelope Decay e Pitch Envelope Sustain Decay e Pitch Envelope Release e Pitch Envelope Amp e Filter LFO Speed e Filter LFO Amp e Filter LFO Delay e Filter Envelope Delay e Filter Envelope Attack e Filter Envelope Decay e Filter Envelope Sustain Decay e Filter Envelope Release e Filter Envelope Amp e Amplitude LFO Speed e Amplitude LFO Amp e Amplitude LFO Delay e Amplitude Envelope Delay e Amplitude Envelope Attack e Amplitude Envelope Decay e Amplitude Envelope Sustain Decay e Amplitude Envelope Release e Portamento Rate Amplitude Envelope Amp Modulation Level 99 to 99 At 00 the modulation source has no effect on the destination Higher positive values increase the amount of modulation Negative values also increase the amount of modulation but with negative phase i e if the modulation would normally be increasing with depth set to a positive number the modulation would instead be decreasing at that same moment had the depth been set to a negative number Gate Mode Off or On When Gate Mode is on the selected Modulator will only be routed while notes are being played In other words you can gate the effect of the Modul
174. the time between playing the note and hearing the effect of the Pitch Envelope gets progressively longer as the Delay control is turned up QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Programs Sustain Decay 00 to 99 This is the amount of time that the envelope will take during the sustain stage to bring the level down to 0 If this is set to 99 the envelope will remain at the Sustain level until the note is released When set to 0 the envelope s level will immediately jump down to 0 upon reaching the sustain stage Trigger Normal Freerun Reset Reset Freerun The Trigger mode determines how the envelope will function You may select either Freerun or Reset or both Reset Freerun or neither Normal When set to Normal the envelope will always start at its current level i e if another note had been played which triggered the envelope s cycle playing another note in the middle would not interrupt the cycle Also in Normal mode the envelope will immediately advance to its release stage upon releasing the note When set to Freerun the envelope will complete its entire cycle even if the note is released in the middle When set to Reset the envelope starts at the beginning whenever a new note is played When set to Reset Freerun the envelope will start at the beginning whenever a new note is played and will complete its entire cycle even if the note is released in the middle Amp Envelope Page 3 Time Tracking On or Off T
175. to Delay 1 and Reverb 1 Think of the Mix function in the QuadraSynth s effects section as being similar to the effect return control on a mixing console For example if Effect Send 1 s Mix Reverb Output parameter is set to 0 you won t be able to hear reverb regardless of how much input you feed it from any of the effect buses 94 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Effects Configuration 2 4 Sends 2 Reverb AUX LEFT AUX LEFT AUX RIGHT AUX RIGHT MAIN LEFT Y MAIN LEFT MAIN RIGHT MAIN RIGHT i i Aa MIX1 MIX3 a See Sees Eo pareados rr rr e a ig el FX SEND 1 0 DELAY e i DI e PITCH t 1 dI REVERB js AMP iI AMP if ii DELAY 1 di PITCH1 REVERB 1 taeanae hannnenne ne FX SEND 2 i t AMP i REVERB 2 perpensar aida dii e e is i FX SEND 3 i e PITCH a REVERB AMP i y LO PITCH3 UL REVERB3____ i FX SEND 4 1 AMP REVERB 4 Delay Reverb T Mono delay Mono chorus Plate 1 Stereo chorus Plate 2 Room Hall Large Gate Reverse Reverb 2 Level to Reverb 1 Reverb 3 Mono chorus Plate 1 Plate 2 Room Hall Large Gate Reverse Reverb 4 Reverb 4 Level to Reverb 3 al QuadraSynth Reference Manual 9 Editing Effects This differs from Configuration 1 in many ways In this Configuration there is only one Delay effect two Pitch effects and two Reverb effects Effect send 1 is routed through t
176. tput and the dry effect send signal while Quad Knob 3 controls the overall input level to the Reverb 100 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Effects If Configuration 2 is selected and you press EDIT 1 to advance to effect send 2 while the Reverb function is selected the display will look like this cuan 12345678910111213141516 MIX MITI PROG r EFFECT ILI ILI PRESET PRESET l PRESET EDITING EFFECT PITCH MOD CONFIG REVERB DELAY MIX PAGE 1 Quad Knob 1 lets you adjust the level of the signal coming from effect send 2 going into the Reverb Send 2 in this Configuration has no effects of its own Therefore there are no input or input mix controls in this page since there is only one possible signal choice Send 2 is intended to be used for signals that you want to send to Reverb 1 but bypass Delay and Pitch 1 In Configuration 2 send 4 is similar to send 2 in that it has no effects of its own but serves as a bypass going directly to Reverb 3 Reverb Page 2 Pressing the PAGE button will advance the display to Page 2 of the Reverb function However you must have the correct effect send selected 1 4 in order to get at the Reverb parameters in Config 1 the Reverb parameters are found only on effect send 1 in Config 2 they are found on sends 1 and 3 since there are two separate Reverbs Here you will find parameters for selecting the Reverb type adjusting Pre Delay Time and P
177. ttings Mono Poly Key Mono and Key Poly When playing multiple voices in a single sound each voice has its own LFO However the LFO Trigger parameter determines whether or not they should be in sync and whether or not they can be retriggered independent from one another QuadraSynth Reference Manual 71 Editing Programs 72 Mono All voices LFOs are in sync with each other If you hold a chord and then play new notes on top of the chord all voices LFOs will be moving in the same direction and at the same speed Because of this modulating the LFO Speed using a voice specific source such as velocity or one of the envelopes for example will have no effect you will be allowed to do this but you won t hear any difference This is because these modulation sources are meant for polyphonic purposes These include Note Number Velocity Release Velocity PLFO FLFO ALFO PENV FENV AENV Random Trig Rate and Tracking Generator However modulation sources which are not voice specific will still have an effect while the LFO Trigger is set to MONO These include Aftertouch Mod Wheel Pitch Wheel MIDI Volume Sustain Pedal Pedal 1 Pedal 2 and Controllers A D Poly Each voice s LFO is independent If you hold a chord some voices LFOs will be moving in one direction while others move in the other direction If the LFO Speed is being modulated by one of the envelopes for example the LFO s of each voice may be runnin
178. ulation any way you want even in ways that are the opposite of what they would be on an acoustic instrument If a baseline setting exists for a parameter modulation amounts add or subtract values from the existing setting However modulation cannot force a value beyond its maximum range For example if the amp is already at its minimum value lowest level you could apply positive modulation to raise the level But applying negative modulation will not affect the amp level since it s already at its lowest value and cannot go any lower The QuadraSynth lets you assign several modulation sources to one modulation target parameter which allows for interaction between two modulation signals Example If the amp parameter responds to both the envelope generator and a pedal the parameter will follow the general envelope shape but will also be influenced by the pedal Low Frequency Oscillator The pitch filter and amp modules each have a dedicated LFO module for modulation The term LFO stands for low frequency oscillator and comes from how modulation was created in the early synth days an oscillator set to a low frequency could modulate some aspect of the sound routing the LFO to the pitch for example would create vibrato The LFO creates a cyclic periodic modulation this amount can be constant and or varied with a variety of modulation sources mod wheel is one of the most popular Each LFO has a waveform shape and speed al
179. under the MIX number in the display Press STORE The top line of the display will read STORE PRG AT XXX where XXX is a User Program number from 000 127 Use Quad Knob 1 to enter the Program number you noted in step 3 Press STORE again The Program is now stored At this point your edited Program is stored however the Mix your were auditioning before storing the Program still has the old Program number assigned if the edited Program was saved to a different Program number location Therefore you need to re select the new Program number from within Mix Edit mode O Press MIX then SELECT to access Mix Edit mode Use the MIDI and buttons to select the MIDI channel you want and use the VALUE 1 and buttons or Quad Knob 1 to select the Program number QuadraSynth Reference Manual Mix Mode CHAPTER 5 Mi M ope What Mix Mode Does Mix Mode is one of the most powerful features of the QuadraSynth While in Program Mode you can play only one Program at a time in Mix Mode you can play up to 16 Programs at once either from the keyboard as layers or splits or from an external sequencer via 16 MIDI channels or a combination of both With Mix Mode you can do the following Combine stack or layer different Programs so they can be played simultaneously from the keyboard For example stack a piano on top of a brass patch and a string patch adjusting the volume of each for a de
180. unds that you wish to cut off each other but do not want to interfere with the Hi Hat sounds Use Quad Knob 4 to select the drum 1 10 you wish to edit QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Programs Copying Sounds While editing a Program it is helpful to be able to copy a sound to another sound in either the same Program or a different Program especially if you are building a split or layered Program This can be done very easily from within the Store function To copy a sound to another sound in the same Program or to the same sound in a different Program From Program Edit mode press STORE Use either PAGE lt or to select Page 2 of the Store function Use Quad Knob 1 to select which sound 1 4 in the currently selected Program to copy from Use Quad Knob 2 to select which sound 1 4 in the currently selected Program to copy to or to select which Program 0 127 to copy to The selected sound will be copied into the same sound location in the selected Program If you select to copy sound 2 to Program 45 the sound will be copied into sound 2 of Program 45 Press STORE to copy the sound Initializing Programs If you want to start programming from scratch you can easily reset all parameters to their default settings by re initializing the software Make sure your mod wheel is all the way down before re initializing otherwise the zero position of the mod wheel will be in
181. ween the QuadraSynth and ADAT or an AI 1 the QuadraSynth will output audio on the first four channels of the digital bus the bus is capable of handling eight channels of digital audio The Main Left and Right outputs are routed to channels 1 and 2 while the Aux Left and Right outputs are routed to channels 3 and 4 Note that the volume knob controls the level of all analog and digital output channels simultaneously Set the volume to maximum for most applications 48 kHz Clock In If your ADAT system has an Alesis BRC Remote Controller the QuadraSynth s digital clock must be synchronized to the clock coming from the BRC Connect a BNC to BNC cable such as the Alesis BN cable between the BRC s 48 kHz CLOCK OUT and the QuadraSynth s 48 kHz CLOCK IN For more information about using the 48 kHz clock see page 110 in Chapter 8 When using only one ADAT without the BRC it is not necessary to connect the 48 kHz Clock DIGITAL IN DIGITAL 28 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Connections QuadraSynth Reference Manual 29 Overview CHAPTER 4 OVERVIEW Basic Architecture The QuadraSynth contains digitized acoustic and electronic samples organized into 16 banks of sound groups The banks are Piano Waves Woodwind Voice Organ Bass String Sound FX Keyboard Guitar Ensemble Drums Synth Brass Ethnic Percussion Several functions filter amplitude envelope pitch envelope LFO multiple modulation sources signal pr
182. x pages provide a crucial road map you ll need to guide you through the many paths that are possible in each configuration Refer to them as you program the effect The Configuration function is used to select the Configuration for the Effects Patch you are editing Use the FUNCTION lt and gt buttons to scroll through the functions in the display until the word CONFIG is underlined The display should look like this from Mix Edit mode cian 1234567891011 1213141516 MIX i1 PROG EFFECT LI L PRESET PRESET PRESET _ EDITING EFFECT PITCH MOD CONFIG REVERB DELAY MIX PAGE 1 SENDS 1 REVERB IGURATION Quad Knob 1 is used to select the Configuration As you scroll through the various Configurations each one s name will appear in the upper right section of the display 92 QuadraSynth Reference Manual Editing Effects Here is a run down of the various Configurations Configuration 1 4 Sends 1 Reverb AUX LEFT AUX LEFT AUX RIGHT AUX RIGHT MAIN LEFT OOO OTOCOTO MAIN LEFT MAIN RIGHT DI ADD MAIN RIGHT O23 1121314 MIX 1 t i 1 BAL l FX SEND 1 e PITCH1 y Ll DELAY 1 e Pe il i REVERB i j A AMP PITCH1 DELAYI REVERB 1
183. z Clock Input 114 In Page 6 of Global Edit mode Quad Knob 1 turns the 48 kHz Clock Input on and off When turned off the QuadraSynth uses its own internal sample clock as a reference for playing back the sampled sounds that make up a Program or Mix However if you are recording the QuadraSynth to ADAT using the Digital Out fiber optic cable and also have a BRC Master Remote Controller the QuadraSynth must receive a 48 kHz clock signal from the BRC in order to maintain perfect sync with the ADAT system This requires that you connect a BNC to BNC cable between the BRC s 48 kHz Clock Out to the QuadraSynth s 48 kHz Clock In When you are ready QuadraSynth Reference Manual Global Settings to record onto ADAT from the QuadraSynth be sure to turn on the 48 kHz Clock Input function For more on connecting the BNC to BNC cable see page 25 QuadraSynth Reference Manual 115 MIDI Transfer And Storage Operations CHAPTER 9 MIDI TRANSFER AND STORAGE OPERATIONS Saving to External Card The entire contents of the QuadraSynth s User memory 100 Mixes 128 Programs 128 Effects Patches can be stored to an Alesis QuadraCard RAM card inserted into the Sound Card slot on the QuadraSynth Depending on the amount of RAM a particular card has up to 8 complete banks can be stored onto it The QuadraCard is a type of PCMCIA SRAM card it has 256K of memory and will store 4 complete banks A 512K PCMCIA card can store 8 banks When saving

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