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Akai XR20 Reference Manual - V1.3

1. GENERAL CONTROLS 1 LCD Thedisplay helps you keep track of system parameters and settings as you use the XR20 2 PADS The 12 pads are used to trigger sounds on the XR20 The pads can address 3 different types of sounds drums 1 shot and synth To select which sounds are controlled by the pads press one of the three Pad Play buttons DRUM 1 SHOT SYNTH In addition the pads can be used to trigger entire Patterns while in Pattern Play Mode 3 PAD PLAY BUTTONS These 3 buttons select which sounds are triggered when you hit the pads Press the corresponding button to control the following sounds with the pads SYNTH Selects the Synth sounds associated with the current Drum Set In addition you can hold down this button and use the INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial to transpose the synth sounds up or down an octave DRUMS Selects the Drum sounds associated with the current Drum Set 1 SHOT Selects the 1 Shot sounds associated with the current Drum Set 4 NOTE REPEAT While programming Patterns hold down this button and press a pad to create a roll The roll will last for as long as the pad is being held down This lets you play a series
2. 1 Select the sound set which you would like to r edit by pressing DRUM or 1 SHOT Note that this parameter is not available for Synth sounds The volume of the Synth sounds can only be adjusted as a group see Instrument Layer Volume above 2 Press the pad the display will show the selected pad number in the upper right corner and the volume setting for the pad on the top line 3 Enter the desired volume from 00 off to 99 maximum volume with the number keypad INC DEC buttons or VALUE dial 24 www americanmusical com AKA professional E PAGE 5 PANNING Each pad can also be assigned to one of seven positions within the stereo spectrum To change a pad s panning position 1 Select the sound set which you would like to edit by pressing DRUM 1 SHOT or SYNTH Please note that the Panning setting will affect all Synth sounds similarly In other words changing one Synth pad s Panning setting will affect all the other Synth sounds in the Drum Set Press the pad the display will show the pad number and the pad s panning position on the top line Enter the desired pan position from full left to full right using the number keypad INC DEC buttons or VALUE dial The seven available pan positions correspond to the number buttons shown in parenthesis hard left 1 soft left 2 left of center 3 center 4 right of center 5 soft right 6 and hard right 7 The display will show lt
3. 2 Usethe PAGE RIGHT LEFT buttons to select the step number that the inserted ann nen nan step should occupy For example to i vn mma a insert a step after step 04 select step aa 05 1 He ALDE nn un USER 3 Press and hold SAVE COPY and keep holding it down until step 6 You should see the screen shown on the right 4 Enter the two digit Pattern number to be inserted 5 Press REC DO IT The new step is inserted and all subsequent steps are automatically renumbered to reflect the addition of the inserted step e g what used to be step 05 is now step 06 what used to be step 06 is now step 07 etc 6 Release the SAVE COPY and REC DO IT buttons Deleting a Step The XR20 should be in Step Edit Mode 2 Usethe PAGE RIGHT LEFT buttons to select the step number to be deleted 3 Press and hold ERASE You will see the screen shown on the right 4 While continuing to hold ERASE press het hottia REC DO IT The step is deleted and Mana all subseguent steps are automatically T al re numbered to reflect the deletion of the inserted step e g what used to be step 06 is now step 05 what used to be step 07 is now step 06 etc 5 Release the ERASE and REC DO IT buttons Replacing a Step 1 The XR20 should be in Step Edit Mode 2 Usethe PAGE RIGHT LEFT buttons to select the step number to be replaced 3 Enter the new Pattern number with appropriate A or B Fill or User Preset
4. PAGE 12 OUTPUT Background The XR20 includes two independent stereo output pairs Main and Aux You can direct any pad to either output pair and pan the sound within the selected output s stereo field see page 4 of the Drum Set menus This allows several output assignment options Mono Plug into one of the output pair jacks the XR20 is smart enough to know that plugging in one plug means you must want mono Any pan settings are ignored Do not plug into both outputs or stereo will be activated Stereo with Fixed Placement Plug the left Main output into the left channel of your amp or mixer and the right Main output into the right channel The default voice mix for the preset Drum Sets pans the drums between the Main output jacks in a way that works well for most applications Stereo with Variable Placement Plug the left Main output into the left channel of your amp or mixer and the right Main output into the right channel With the User Drum Sets you can pan the drums between the Main output jacks as desired Separate Synth Drum Outputs Standard drum kit sounds can be spread in stereo and assigned to the Main outputs with synth sounds assigned to the Aux outputs Run the outputs to a mixing console or computer audio interface and you can treat the drum kit and synth sounds as two sub mixes This technique might also be useful if you re recording the part on your DAW or disk recorder feed the drums to two tracks and the s
5. Press REC to accept the change Go to another page or press RECORD SETUP again to cancel 32 louder VOLUME guieter Loud Response A v softer TAP FORCE harder PATTERN USER fa on ELLER RECORD www americanmusical com PAGE 9 PATTERN LENGTH This page allows you to specify the length of the selected am m sus mmm um u Pattern in steps For example 2 steps of a 4 4 time at signature equal 2 bars of 4 4 tunes 0 Use the INC DEC buttons the number buttons or the VALUE dial to select the desired step length for the Pattern aa an atann Press REC DO IT to accept this change or press the ST RECORD PAGE or RECORD SETUP buttons to cancel PAGE 10 OFFSET A PATTERN OR DRUM PART Offset shifts the selected Pattern or individual drum parts ahead of or behind the beat in 1 384th note increments to allow for altering the feel of a sequence Note that this only affects already recorded parts mi don un nn 1 Hint 96 sub beats equal 14 note RECORD The XR20 should be in Pattern mode and stopped The display says OFFSET which will be 00 no offset 1 Press the pad to be offset as confirmed by the display If you don t select a pad offset affects the entire Pattern 2 Enter the two digit offset value with the INC DEC buttons VALUE dial or number buttons Positive numbers shift events ahead of the beat lead negative numbers shift events behind the beat lag The default
6. www americanmusical com AKAI professiona z PAGE 2 INSTRUMENT LAYER VOLUME This page allows you to adjust the volume of each instrument layer drums 1 shot synth Adjusting this level will affect all the sounds in the selected a layer m To adjust the volume of an instrument layer DRUM SET 1 Select the instrument layer which you would like to edit by pressing DRUM 1 SHOT or SYNTH 2 Adjust the overall volume with the INC DEC buttons the VALUE dial or the number buttons 99 MAXIMUM VOLUME 0 OFF E PAGE 3 ASSIGNING SOUNDS TO PADS You can assign any of the XR20 s sounds to any of the pads or to more than one pad Each individual Drum Set can have its own drum sound assignment However please note that Synth sounds can only be selected as a group i e you cannot assign different Synth sounds to different pads To assign a sound to a pad 1 Select the instrument layer which you would like to edit by pressing DRUM 1 SHOT or SYNTH Note that Synth sounds can only be modified as a group 2 Press the pad the display will show the pad number in the upper right corner and the name of the sound assigned to the pad on the top line 3 Enter the desired sound number with the number buttons the INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial When using the number buttons enter a leading zero if necessary PAGE 4 PAD VOLUME Each pad s volume can be adjusted on this page To change a pad s volume
7. These indicators let you know that appear on the display which Pad Play Mode is currently selected i e which sounds the are shown in BOLD When pads are controlling or which instrument layer you are currently referring to a numbered editing step in a set of steps the step number will be in 9 Quantize Shows the current guantization setting in standard parenthesis for example music notation or OFF if quantization is off En er 10 Selected function Shows which function is currently or step edit mode selected Drum Set System Setup Record Setup etc 13 www americanmusical com AISA HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE XR20 The Cursor When the XR 20 wants you to enter a number in the Dialog box the display will show the previously entered number or the default number and the first digit will have a small underline called the cursor If the cursor is not present the number is there for reference only You are expected to enter something only if the cursor is present The INC DEC Buttons The two small buttons with the up arrow and down arrow symbols next to the number keys are called the INC DEC buttons respectively Pressing the INC button once increases the value of the entire number indicated by the cursor not just a single digit by one Pressing the DEC button once decreases the value of the entire number indicated by the cursor not just a single digit by one Example lf the display shows 00 an
8. User Patterns will remember the selected Drum Set assignments Preset Patterns have fixed Drum Set assignments if you exit from the Preset Pattern the XR20 will forget any assignment you made CREATING AND EDITING DRUM SETS The XR20 s 12 pads can be assigned to various drum sounds with different levels tuning panning triggering mode output jack assignment etc Each set of pad parameters is given a number and collectively called a Drum Set Drum Set assignments have their own dedicated memory and can be thought of as equivalent to the programs or patches found in synthesizers Note that A and B User Pattern share Drum Set assignment General instructions for Drum Set creation are Note that if you edit a Drum Set any Pattern 2 Use the PAGE RIGHT and LEFT buttons to select different will be affected pages of functions the display s lower right window shows the page number The Drum Set pages are described below 3 Select the instrument layer which you would like to edit drums 1 shot synth by pressing the corresponding button Adjust values on pages if necessary as described for each page 5 After making all needed changes save the Drum Set if desired see Saving Your Drum Sets section then press DRUM SET again to exit Note To select sounds for the 1 Shot or Synth section of the kit press the corresponding button for these sections and then edit the parameters the same way you would for the Drums 23
9. gt when panning position is center Background The XR20 has two pairs of stereo outputs Drum sounds can be assigned to either pair of outputs see page 11 of the Drum Set menus and be placed anywhere within the stereo field of the assigned outputs via the pan function m PAGE 6 TUNING Each pad s tuning can be adjusted in increments of 1 semitone 12 semitones maximum To change a pad s tuning 1 Select the sound set which you would like to edit by pressing DRUM 1 SHOT or SYNTH Please note that Synth sounds cannot be transposed individually only as a group In other words transposing one Synth note will transpose all other Synth sounds by the same value Press the pad the display will show the selected pad number in the upper right corner Enter the desired tuning with the INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial The range is from 12 most sharp to O normal pitch to 12 most flat 25 www americanmusical com J m PAGE 7 ATTACK ENVELOPE SYNTH ONLY The attack envelope Synth only affects how the Synth sound will play after you hit the pad Attack determines the amount of time it takes for the Synth sound to fade in after it has been triggered With longer attack times it takes longer for the sound to reach full volume after it has been triggered Note that the Attack setting cannot be set individually per pad In other words changing the Attack setting will affect the Attack settin
10. the display will tell you that there is no more memory left Immediately save the XR20 s data and determine whether you can erase any unwanted Patterns or Songs to free up some memory Page 17 SEND SONG AND PATTERN DATA TO MIDI SYS EX STORAGE DEVICE SEND OUT MIDI This page allows you to convert the XR20 s Pattern and Song information into MIDI system exclusive data and send this data through the MIDI out This data can be transferred to software and hardware devices which support MIDI SysEx storage There are two main reasons to save your work Although the XR20 can typically store many cmt am events eventually it will run out of memory You s st M can save the memory contents fill up the memory with new Patterns and Songs and re load the old data when needed It is vitally important to back up what s in the XR20 s memory A mechanical problem surge on the power line a quick zap of static electricity or operator error could alter the data in memory Save your data whenever you ve done enough work on something that you wouldn t want to lose that work If possible make two backups and store the second backup in a different physical location from the primary backup While on this page press REC DO IT to send XR20 Pattern and Song data as SysEx data The display will say SENDING MIDI to confirm that data is being sent Note Typically the MIDI OUT would connect to another XR20 s MIDI IN or a system exclusive
11. 0 Loud Note that the Medium setting can be selected only with the INC DEC buttons or VALUE dial Refer to the chart on the right for information on response curves RECORD As you can see soft response weights the response toward softer sounds with medium response the level is directly proportional to how hard you tap the pad loud response weights the response toward louder sounds Fixed volume plays back the associated drum sound at one of eight possible volume levels With Fixed Volume 1 all drums assume the level of the softest possible tap regardless of how hard you tap the pads With Fixed Volume 8 all drums assume the level of the loudest possible tap regardless of how hard you tap the pads Fixed Volumes 2 7 provide the levels between the softest and loudest extremes with lower numbers giving softer levels PAGE 7 BEAT VALUE When recording seguences in Pattern Mode this is the upper value or the amount of beats in the meter setting of the selected Pattern for instance the 2 of a 2 4 time signature Enter the value with the INC DEC number buttons or the VALUE dial Press REC to accept the change Go to another page or press RECORD SETUP again to cancel PAGE 8 NOTE VALUE When recording seguences in Pattern Mode this is the lower note value of the meter setting of the selected Pattern for instance the 4 of a 2 4 time signature Enter the value with the INC DEC number buttons or the VALUE dial
12. FUNCTIONS 34 ERASING DRUM EVENTS WHILE RECORDING 34 ERASING AN ENTIRE PATTERN 34 ERASE ALL EVENTS PLAYED BY A PARTICULAR DRUM PAD 34 ERASE ALL INSTRUMENT EVENTS IN SUB PATTERN 34 SAVING A PATTERN COPYING A PATTERN APPENDING A PATTERN EDITING PATTERNS TRANSPOSITION STEP EXIT STEP EDIT MODE SONG MODE PLAYING SONGS MODE SETTING SONG TEMPO ERASING AN ENTIRE SONG SAVING YOUR SONG APPEND A SONG NAME A SONG NAME SYSTEM SETUP Page 1 MIDI CHANNEL PADS DEVICES EDITING PATTERNS COPY SAVE FUNCTIONS 35 35 35 35 36 PATTERN STEP EDITING STEP EDIT MODE 36 ADDING A NEW DRUM TO A STEP 37 ERASE A DRUM SOUND FROM A STEP 37 CHANGE A DRUM SOUND S VOLUME IN A GIVEN 37 37 38 38 RECORDING A SONG IN REAL TIME 39 MANUAL SONG CREATION SONG STEP EDIT 40 42 INSERTING A TEMPO CHANGE IN A SONG 42 CONTROLLING PLAYBACK POSITION 43 LOOP A PATTERN INDEFINITELY 43 START FROM THE MIDDLE OF A SONG 43 44 44 44 44 45 45 Page 2 RECEIVE MIDI NOTES 45 Page 3 TRANSMIT MIDI NOTES 46 Page 4 ASSIGN MIDI NOTE NUMBERS TO DRUM 46 Page 5 ACCEPT EXTERNAL CLOCK VALUE 47 Page 6 SEND CLOCK VALUE TO OTHER 47 48 Page 7 MERGE MIDI IN WITH MIDI OUT Page 8 SELECT DRUM SETS VIA MIDI PROGRAM CHANGES 48 Page 9 TEMPO SELECTION 49 Page 10 MAP DRUM NOTES 49 PAGE 11 MANUAL DRUMSET OVERRIDE 51 Paae 12 LEDs 51 Page 13 BACKLIGHT BRIGHTNESS 51 Page 14 BATTERY LEVEL 51 Page 15 LOW BATTERY WARNING 52
13. and other rhythms that feature drums 1 shot samples and an accompanying synth parts Note that the only way to modify a Preset Pattern is to copy it to a User Pattern where it can be edited User Patterns are Patterns you can program edit and save The PRESET USER button selects between these two banks of Patterns m Playing Patterns 1 To play Patterns the XR20 needs to be in Pattern Mode To do this press the PATTERN SONG button which toggles between the two modes The display will show PATTERN in the upper right corner when the XR20 is in Pattern Mode 2 Select a Pattern you wish to play with the INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial 3 To play the selected Pattern press the PLAY button 16 www americanmusical com AKAI hW m Selecting the Next Pattern to be Played While a Pattern is playing you can select to go to another pattern in several ways 1 Usethe INC DEC buttons or VALUE dial to select the next Pattern The newly selected Pattern will play back as soon as the current Pattern plays through its entire length The display shows the Pattern to be played next 2 Enter the two digit Pattern number with the number buttons If an A Pattern is currently playing the new Pattern number will play the A variation If a B Pattern is currently playing the new Pattern number will play the B variation You can also enter a two digit Pattern number followed by A or B or PRESET USER to call up an A or B or Pr
14. data storage device such as MIDI seguencer 52 www americanmusical com mm o ASA N professional SENDING MIDI SYSEX SONG AND PATTERN DATA TO THE XR20 If you wish to load Pattern and Song data back into the XR20 please follow the instructions below Please note that this operation will erase any Song and Pattern data which exists on the XR20 Connect a 5 pin MIDI cable from your MIDI SysEx device to the XR20 s MIDI IN Turn off the XR20 Hold down the SAVE COPY button Turn on the XR20 while holding down the SAVE COPY button 5 After a few seconds you should see the um screen displayed on the right The XR20 is ready to receive data DD 6 Now transfer the MIDI system exclusive data into the XR20 Refer to your MIDI SysEx device s documentation for information on transferring MIDI SysEx 7 Once the transfer is complete turn off the XR20 and then turn it back on SYSTEM 53 www americanmusical com is APPLICATIONS MIDI SYNC APPLICATIONS XR20 As MIDI Timing Master The XR20 can control several other slave MIDI drum machines or sequencers by turning on MIDI Clock Out which sends XR20 timing information down the MIDI line 1 2 The diagram on the right shows a XR20 serving as the MIDI system master clock with a sampler device set as a slave To slave the sampler or any external device accepting MIDI in use a 5 pin MIDI cable to connect the MIDI OUT of the XR20 to the MIDI IN of the d
15. demo song hold PATTERN SONG and press PLAY www americanmusical com AKAI M The Two Types of Patterns The XR20 introduces exciting new Song construction technigues The XR20 excels at live performance something usually not associated with drum machines The key to using these advanced features is to understand the different types of available Patterns Preset Patterns provide a variety of hip hop rhythms programmed by professional producers User Patterns are Patterns you can program edit and save The PRESET USER button selects between these two master banks of Presets It is important to note that the only way to modify a Preset Pattern is to copy it to a User Pattern where it can be edited The Four Types of Sub Patterns There are 100 of each type of Pattern numbered 00 99 However each numbered Pattern actually contains four different Sub Patterns A pair of independent Main Patterns A and B selected by their respective buttons A pair of associated Fill Patterns A Fill and B Fill selected by pressing the FILL button when either A or B is selected The Fills primarily provide transitional Patterns between Main Patterns which makes for more realistic drum parts The associated Fill Patterns share the same length Drum Set and name as their Main Patterns e g if A is 16 beats A Fill is 16 beats Otherwise they are independent The reason for pairing the two different A and B Patterns to
16. gt MIDI IMPLEMENTATION CHART Basic Default X Channel Changed X X Note Number True Voice X Note On X Velocity Note Off X om 1 Program 0 127 X Change System Exclusive o lo RESTORE MIDI Mode only Song Pos 0 X MIDI out only System Song Sel 0 X Common Tune X X System Clock O O Realtime Commands X X Local On Off Aux Active Sense Messages Reset GM On Notes Available for Synth sounds only O YES X NO 57 www americanmusical com KEY FEATURES 32 voice polyphony Microphone input Professional drum machine so you can record and play back your own beats 12 natural feeling velocity sensitive drum pads Large 32MB sound set featuring drum 1 shot and synth sounds Dynamic Articulation stereo samples with reverb and ambience for realistic playing 100 Preset 100 User drum kits with a large collection of sounds assignable to any pad Built in Effects Reverb EO and Compression Built in rhythm patterns to complement your playing Large LCD display with easy to navigate interface MIDI output to play external MIDI devices MIDI input for using the XR20 as a drum expander module 2 Footswitch inputs for controlling Start Stop and Count A B Fill High guality 24 bit stereo aux L R and headphone outputs AC or battery powered batteries not included Lightweight durable enclosure TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Audio Outputs Pads Sample DAC Bit Resolution Sounds Sound
17. if you want to start with a different part you may want to add more instruments to your Pattern s arrangements To record a 1 Shot or Synth part to your Pattern 1 Press the 1 SHOT or SYNTH button and play the sounds on the pads in the same manner as the DRUM mode The SYNTH mode will have a pitched sample that will play across the pads the notes corresponding to each pad are indicated in the upper right corner of the pad 2 Pressthe REC and PLAY buttons The Pattern will start recording Play your synth or 1 shot part 3 Press STOP when completed 21 www americanmusical com m PATTERN PLAY MODE Pattern Play mode allows you to play sequences of Patterns by triggering Patterns with the pads To enter Pattern Play Mode press the PATTERN PLAY button PLAYING PATTERN SEQUENCES WITH THE PADS Press the PATTERN PLAY button 2 Press a pad and the Pattern associated with the pad will begin playing As the Pattern reaches its end it will continue to loop from the beginning 3 Now press a different pad The Pattern associated with the pad will begin playing as soon as the previously selected Pattern reaches its end RECORDING PATTERN SEQUENCES INTO A SONG 1 Press the PATTERN SONG button to get into Song Mode the display should indicate SONG in the upper right corner 2 Pressthe PATTERN PLAY button 3 Press REC and PLAY simultaneously to begin recording 4 Press the pads to trigger the sequence of Patt
18. is playing the next time you press PLAY the Song will start from the beginning 7 If you press PLAY while a song is playing the song will pause Press PLAY again to resume playback Press PAGE RIGHT while a song is playing to advance playback to the next Song step Press PAGE LEFT while a song is playing to restart playback from the current Song step LOOP A PATTERN INDEFINITELY In Song Perform mode pressing and holding FILL until the end of a song step will cause that step to repeat A footswitch plugged into the Count A B Fill jack will perform the same function For example you can use this feature if a soloist decides to take another few bars Another use is if two Songs share the same tempo Follow the first Song with a blank Pattern then append the second Song Between Songs hold down the footswitch on the blank Pattern song step then release to start the second Song START FROM THE MIDDLE OF A SONG You need not start a Song from the beginning each time in Record mode a Song can start at any Song step 1 Make sure the XR20 is in Record mode Press the REC button even if you don t plan to record anything 2 Use the INC DEC buttons to select the Song step at which you want the XR20 to start playing 3 Press PLAY The XR20 will start playing at the downbeat of the selected Song step If you don t want to extend the Song length use the normal Playback mode before reaching the end of the Song press REC again so
19. of drum hits without having to repeatedly press the pads and is typically used to create steady 16th note hi hat parts guarter note kick drum parts snare rolls etc The timing of the Note Repeat sequence is specified by the Quantization and Swing settings in the Record Setup menu 5 TAP TEMPO You can use this button to tap in a tempo The XR20 will average the time between successive taps and will derive a tempo You can also change the tempo by holding down the TAP TEMPO button and using the VALUE dial or the INC DEC buttons The LED will blink at a rate egual to the tempo displayed on the screen s bottom right corner 9 www americanmusical com AISA 10 A amp B Each Pattern consists of two Main sub patterns A amp B You can select each of the two sub patterns by pressing its corresponding button These sub patterns allow you to program variation in your Patterns i e sub pattern A is the verse sub pattern B is the chorus FILL Each Pattern also includes two Fills associated with each of the two sub patterns The Fills are used to transition from one sub pattern to another i e transition from verse to chorus ERASE This button allows you to erase Patterns or Songs Hold this button down and the screen will prompt you to verify that you want to erase the selected element To erase the part press the REC button while the ERASE button is being held down In addition ERASE allows you to erase specific
20. pej i want to record snare with eighth note quantization but Tr ettet mt high hats with 16th note guantization SET RECORD QUANTIZE ee N The note icon displays the quantization value in j standard rhythmic notation See the chart below Enter the desired guantization value with the INC DEC buttons VALUE dial or number buttons 1 quarter note 2 quarter note triplet 3 8th note 4 8th note triplet 5 16th note 6 16th note triplet 7 32nd note 8 32nd note triplet 9 and 0 Off equivalent to 1 384th note resolution Tip Ouantization is most effective when used sparingly If you re NOTE VALUE DISPLAY NOTE NAME recording a drum part guantize the kick and snare but try recording the 1 4 J OUARTER NOTE hi hat in real time or guantize the hi hat and record the snare in real time Another trick is to combine 1 6 l QUARTER NOTE TRIPLET both quantized and non quantized parts Example hand claps often 1 8 J EIGHTH NOTE sound too mechanical when quantized when humans clap hands you end up with a bunch of 1 12 ds EIGHTH NOTE TRIPLET different sounds happening within a few milliseconds of each other A good way to simulate this effect yet 1 16 J 16th NOTE still have a rock solid rhythm is to J record a guantized hand claps part 1 24 3 16th NOTE TRIPLET then turn off guantization and try to double the part Sometimes what you overdub will be right on the beat 1 32 32nd NOTE but sometime
21. save the selected Pattern including all sub patterns A B and FILL to a specific location overwriting any data which may already exist Please note that you need to save your Patterns if you wish to access them after you power cycle the unit 1 The XR20 should be in Pattern mode and stopped PATTERN 2 Select the Pattern you wish to save USER 3 Press and hold the SAVE COPY button and keep holding Meme OT it down until step 6 The display says SAVE TO PATT i ror imi 7 A 4 Enter the destination Pattern number with the INC DEC E m n Z buttons number buttons or the VALUE dial 5 Press REC DO IT The display says SAVE DONE 6 Release the SAVE COPY and REC DO IT buttons COPYING A PATTERN The following operation will copy only the selected sub pattern A B or FILL to another destination If the current Pattern is shorter than the destination the part will be copied to the beginning leaving the remainder blank Copying a sub pattern longer than the destination Pattern will automatically lengthen the destination Pattern 128 Beat maximum 1 The XR20 should be in Pattern mode and stopped 2 First select a Pattern 3 Then select A B or FILL sub pattern to be copied by pressing the corresponding button n varan PATTERN 4 Press and hold the SAVE COPY button and keep holding USER it down until step 6 mA W 5 While holding the SAVE COPY button press PAGE WILL a RIGHT The display says COPY TO
22. the Fill s associated Main Pattern A or B continues to play rather than switch from A to B or B to A Hold down TAP TEMPO and use the VALUE dial or INC DEC buttons to change the tempo 15 www americanmusical com AKAI M THE INSTRUMENT LAYERS The XR20 allows you to play three different kinds of sounds with the pads These sounds are available in three different Play Modes or Banks These are DRUM 1 SHOT and SYNTH and are accessible by pressing the corresponding button on the top panel DRUM This Pad Play mode allows you to play up to twelve Drum sounds with the pads 1 SHOT This Pad Play mode allows you to play up to twelve 1 Shot sounds with the pads SYNTH This Pad Play mode allows you to play up to 3 Octaves of a key mapped synth sample s on the pads To transpose the synth sounds press and hold the SYNTH button and then use the INC DEC buttons or VALUE dial to transpose up or down an octave PLAYBACK RECORD BASICS m Using the Transport Controls To stop playback and go back to the beginning of the current Pattern or Song press the STOP button Press PLAY to play the Pattern or Song from the current location Press PLAY again while a Pattern or Song is playing to pause it Press PLAY to continue playing the Pattern or Song from the location where it was paused m Preset and User Patterns There are two types of Patterns in the XR20 7 Preset Patterns provide a variety of styles
23. the REC LED is no longer illuminated If you do want to extend the Song length remain in Record mode 43 www americanmusical com ERASING AN ENTIRE SONG 1 The XR20 should be in Song Mode 2 Use the number buttons INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial to select the Song to be erased PE 3 Press and hold the ERASE button You will see the ii screen shown on the right 4 While holding down the ERASE button press REC DO IT The display says SONG ERASED and erasure is complete 5 Release the ERASE and REC DO IT buttons SAVING YOUR SONG When you are finished putting together your Song you will need to save it to permanent memory Please note that all Song data will be lost if you turn off the XR20 before saving your Song 1 The XR20 should be in Song Mode aT TR 2 Use the INC DEC buttons the number keypad or the VALUE dial to select the Song which you would like to i save 3 Press and hold the SAVE COPY button aan 4 Press REC DO IT to save the song The display will show SAVE DONE 5 Release the SAVE COPY button APPEND A SONG You can use this feature to append all content from the selected Song to the end of another Song Appending a Song to an empty destination will create an identical copy of the Song Note that you can double the Song seguence by appending a Song to itself 1 2 The XR20 should be in Song Mode Select the Song to be copied to itself with the number b
24. time even during playback through the use of Program Change messages To have the XR20 receive Program Change messages use the INC DEC buttons or VALUE dial to select ON Select OFF to have the XR20 ignore Program Change messages Program Change PC 00 selects User Drum Set 00 PC 01 selects User Drum Set 01 PC 02 selects User Drum Set 02 etc However be aware that some devices number Program Changes as 1 128 others as 0 127 and some as banks of programs Tip If the device generating Program Changes follows a non standard protocol it s a good idea to make up a conversion chart which shows which Program Changes call up which Drum Sets Please note that in order to access User kits you will need to send a Bank Select message along with the Program Change Refer to the table below for information on how to access different BANKMSB BANKLSB PROGCHANGE SELECTION 03100 00 99 PRESET DRUM KITS EE NE 00 99 USER DRUM KITS 0 0 009 PRESET1 SHOTKITS 0 4 009 USER 1 SHOTKITS 0 0 00 99 PRESETSYNTHKITS 0O 0099 USERSYNTHKITS 48 www americanmusical com Page 9 TEMPO SELECTION TEMPO AKAI This function describes how the XR20 will use tempo data when playing back Patterns If you choose GLOBAL the XR20 will use a global mm ui tempo setting and will ignore any tempo data associated H with a Pattern ti a MIL If you choose PERPAT the XR20 will use the tempo hmm
25. 8 beat A Main Pattern is playing and you press the FILL button on beat 4 The A Fill Pattern will play the last 4 beats and then automatically transition into the B Main Pattern Conversely if B Main is playing and you press Fill after B Fill has played the XR20 will transition to the A Main Pattern You can select the Fill at any time while the Main Pattern is playing However Fills do not have to be transitional Patterns If you press the FILL button or footswitch before the Fill has finished playing and hold it down until after the Fill has played i e past the downbeat of the next Pattern the XR20 will return to the original Main Pattern Example Suppose an 8 beat A Main Pattern is playing and you press the FILL button on beat 4 but hold it down past beat 8 The A Fill Pattern will play the last 4 beats then the XR20 will return to the A Main Pattern 18 www americanmusical com AKAI Fills cannot start on the downbeat since a Fill by definition starts at some point into the Main Pattern However anything you record on the Fill downbeat will play on the first downbeat following the Fill i e the downbeat of the next Pattern To show why this is a useful feature consider that when coming out of a fill you ll often want to hit something like a cymbal crash on the downbeat of the next Pattern yet not have that crash repeat every time the Pattern plays This way of handling Fills lets the downbeat cymbal crash be part of th
26. DI note number etc Each pad is velocity sensitive the harder you hit the pad the louder the sound assigned to the pad will play Thanks to the dynamic articulation technigues mentioned earlier the timbre will often change as well just like the way that real instruments produce sound when played with different amounts of force There are eight levels of pad volume resolution from soft to loud However when using the XR20 as a drum sound expander and triggering sounds via MIDI they respond to all 127 MIDI volume levels www americanmusical com AKAI m CONNECTION DIAGRAM N D gi 8 10 As you hook up the XR20 the volume control on your power amp and the XR20 should be all the way down and power to both units should be Off Plug 4 TS cables from the MAIN OUTPUTS to an amplifier mixer or speaker system For mono sound you can connect only one output Alternatively you can connect a pair of 4 TRS headphones to the PHONES OUTPUT to practice quietly Connect your microphone to the MICROPHONE input Connect a MIDI device such as a sampler or sound module to the MIDI OUT of the XR20 Connect a MIDI device such as a percussion controller to the MIDI IN of the XR20 If you have TS footswitches connect them to the START STOP and COUNT A B FILL jacks Plug the included power adapter 12V DC 500mA into the adapter
27. EC buttons or VALUE dial to select ON Select OFF to have the XR20 MIDI OUT transmit XR20 timing and note data only Example Turning MIDI OUT to MIDI THRU can be handy for some system applications Assume a MIDI keyboard connects to the MIDI IN on the XR20 and the unit serves as the master clock for a sequencer the MIDI OUT from the XR20 is connected to the seguencer s MIDI IN With MIDITHRU set to ON the keyboard note data will be passed through the XR20 and appear at the sequencers MIDI IN Other XR20 settings should be DRUM IN set to OFF so the XR20 doesn t respond to your keyboard playing and CLOCKOUT set to ON so that the XR20 clock drives the sequencer DRUMOUT should also be OFF so that the sequencer doesn t record the XR20 drum notes Plugging the sequencer MIDI OUT to the keyboard MIDI IN plays back the sequenced notes through the keyboard Technically speaking MIDI timing data as provided by a master unit such as a sequencer received at the XR20 s MIDI IN is not sent to the MIDI OUT However this will appear to be the case since the XR20 will generate its own timing data in response to the timing data received at its MIDI IN if CLOCK IN and CLOCK OUT are both ON Page 8 SELECT DRUM SETS VIA MIDI PROGRAM CHANGES PRG CHNG A Program Change is a message sent to devices which imam em causes them to switch to a new program or bank of im im t m sounds Drum Set selection on the XR20 can be controlled externally at any
28. ET If you were editing a Preset Drum Set and want to save it you will be given the option to save it to a User Drum Set since you cannot overwrite a Preset Drum Set This technigue can also copy one Drum Set to a different Drum Set Also remember that if you change Patterns before saving your Drum Set all of your edits will be lost 29 www americanmusical com AKAI HM RECORD SETUP Several parameters such as guantization swing metronome options Pattern length are often adjusted prior to recording a Pattern General instructions are 1 Press the RECORD SETUP button 2 Use the PAGE buttons to select different pages of functions the display s lower right window shows the page number These pages are described below 3 Adjust values on pages if necessary as described for each page 4 After making all needed changes press RECORD SETUP again to exit or choose another page PAGE 1 SELECT THE QUANTIZATION VALUE QUANTIZE SELECT Background As you record a Pattern guantization shifts all drum events to the nearest selected rhythmic value to eliminate small timing errors For example with a guantization value of 1 16 all drum events you play will be shifted to the nearest 16th note Ouantization shifts your playing to the specified beat re on while you play so choose the desired value before playing out your rhythms Remember that you can also ss un change quantization while recording if for example you imi
29. Each step also called a sub beat is 1 96th of a beat in duration so at maximum resolution it takes 96 steps to move through a guarter note To save time you can step through the Pattern at various note values as set by the guantization value which is why it s preferable to select the guantization rate at which the Pattern was recorded Example A 16th note consists of 24 sub beats so setting the guantization value to 1 16 lets you step through the Pattern 24 sub beats at a time The following chart relates the number of sub beats to note guantization values NOTE VALUE NOTE NAME SUB BEATS 1 24 16th NOTE TRIPLET 1 32 32nd NOTE 1 48 32nd NOTE TRIPLET ar J 36 www americanmusical com H First you will need to make sure that you are in Pattern Mode PATTERN should be displayed in the upper right corner of the screen To enter Pattern Step Edit Mode press the STEP EDIT button BEAT SUB BEAT PAD NUMBER The display now shows the beat and sub beat If a drum event exists on this beat sub beat the nom Zam om display will also show the drum pad that played the event and the event volume If more than one drum event occurs on the same sub beat the PAGE RIGHT LEFT buttons step forward or backward respectively through each drum one lt fl USER at a time m STEP EDIT QUANTIZE If no drum event exists on this beat sub beat J i the display will show no pad number and EMPTY in place of volume
30. Example Create four eight beat Patterns then use the copy function to combine these into a single 32 beat Pattern Save Memory Through Song Steps Whenever possible repeat Patterns using Song steps rather than program long Patterns Example Suppose you have a 16 measure figure where the first three groups of four measures are identical and the final group of four measures provides some sort of variation Recording this as one 16 measure Pattern will take up more memory than recording two Patterns one of the first group of four measures and one of the last group of four measures and while in Song mode repeating the first group three times followed by the last group once Odd Time Signatures For time signatures based on guarter notes changing the number of beats in a Pattern can also change the time signature Example Programming a Pattern seven beats long will yield a measure of 7 4 Programming a Pattern 14 beats long will yield two measures of 7 4 Time signatures such as 2 4 3 4 5 4 9 4 and so on are easy to implement For time signatures based on eighth notes it s easiest to double the tempo so that each beat lasts an eighth note instead of a guarter note However you will have to take this into account when guantizing and setting the metronome if the display says a guarter note it will be read as an eighth note Plan carefully when mixing different time signatures within the same piece If some Patterns use a time signatu
31. PATT un a USER 6 Enter the destination Pattern number into which the current sub pattern will be copied with the INC DEC buttons number buttons or the VALUE dial 7 Now select which sub pattern you would like to copy the data into by pressing A B or FILL 8 Press REC DO IT The display says COPY DONE 9 Release the SAVE COPY and REC DO IT buttons APPENDING A PATTERN This operation adds the current Pattern including all sub patterns A B and FILL to the end of a selected Pattern Note that Patterns can only be appended to Patterns of the same time signature i e a 3 4 Pattern can only be appended to another 3 4 Pattern 1 The XR20 should be in Pattern mode and stopped 2 Select the Pattern you would like to append 3 Press and hold the SAVE COPY button and keep holding it down until step 6 4 While holding the SAVE COPY button press PAGE RIGHT twice The display should say APPND TO PATT 5 Enter the destination Pattern number where you would like to append the original Pattern with the INC DEC buttons number buttons or the VALUE dial 6 Press REC DO IT The display says APPEND DONE 7 Release the COPY and REC DO IT buttons HEN NUNN BEEN N mon a PATTERN omiaan USER L L LI Li LLLI eo LLI LLLI 35 www americanmusical com M EDITING PATTERNS TRANSPOSITION Each Pattern on the XR20 has a Pattern Transposition setting 0 by default This setting allows you t
32. Page 16 CHECK AVAILABLE MEMORY 52 Page 17 SEND SONG AND PATTERN DATA TO MIDI SYS EX STORAGE DEVICE 52 SENDING MIDI SYSEX SONG AND PATTERN DATA TO THE XR20 53 APPLICATIONS 54 MIDI SYNC APPLICATIONS 54 STRATEGIES FOR ASSEMBLING PATTERNS AND SONGS UNDERSTANDING RHYTHMIC NOTATION MIDI IMPLEMENTATION CHART 57 KEY FEATURES 58 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 58 www americanmusical com www americanmusical com AKAI INTRODUCTION WELCOME TO THE XR20 DRUM MACHINE The XR20 includes high fidelity drum 1 shot and synth sounds and is easy to operate You can easily switch among the different instrument layers in real time As you strike the 12 pads each of which can be assigned to any of the available sounds the XR20 s on board sequencer records exactly when you triggered the sounds and the dynamics of your playing You can play back your sequences and edit them in various ways Data can be saved so that it is retained in memory even if the power is turned off If the memory fills up with drum Patterns and Songs this data can be saved permanently to MIDI System Exclusive storage devices The XR20 also includes a library of Preset Patterns prepared by professional drummers and musicians for those who want to start creating Songs in the fastest and easiest way possible GROUND RULES The XR20 consists of two main elements 7 The drum sounds themselves recorded in high resolution multi sample stereo format For
33. Patterns to create a Song The currently selected mode will be indicated on the display PRESET USER This button toggles between Preset and User Patterns The selected mode will be indicated in the upper right corner of the display Preset Patterns provide a variety of rock jazz pop and other rhythms programmed by professional drummers and cannot be overwritten or edited the only way a Preset Pattern can be edited is to copy it to a User Pattern User Patterns are Patterns you can program edit and save as you wish STEP EDIT Pressing this button enters Step Edit Mode for Pattern or Song editing depending on which of the two modes is selected This mode allows you to step through your Pattern or Song seguence to correct any mistakes The display will indicate STEP EDIT while in Step Edit Mode and the current step will be displayed on the top line To move through the steps of the seguence use the PAGE RIGHT LEFT buttons PATTERN PLAY This button enables Pattern Play Mode In this mode you can play pre selected Patterns in a seguence using the pads to trigger the Patterns in real time See Playing Patterns With the Pads section 10 www americanmusical com MT Oo SETUP BUTTONS 19 20 21 22 SYSTEM SETUP Pressing this button calls up various system settings and preferences such as MIDI options note assignments clocking as well as display brightness and others The display will indica
34. ad Bright to select it then choose how much Reverb you would like to Country apply to the corresponding sound Crunch Dance m Page 3 EQ and Compression Type Hip Hop There are several types of EQ and Compression curves These Jazz settings will affect the sound of your drumset to accentuate Lo Boost certain frequencies as well as loudness settings You can Roc1 select EQ and Compression curves with the INC DEC buttons RoomGate Roc2 or the VALUE dial Note For EQ and Compression there is no send parameter m Page 4 EQ and Compression ON OFF This page allows you to enable and disable the EO from the signal chain Press a pad to select it and use the INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial to select whether you would like to enable EO and Compression SAVING YOUR DRUM SETS After changing parameter settings it is important to save the Drumset otherwise your settings will not be retained 1 To save your set press and hold the SAVE COPY button The display shows SAVE SET the currently selected Drum Set number location and a two digit number that s the same as the currently selected Drum Set You will notice the REC LED begin to blink 2 To save the Drum Set to the current location press REC 3 To save the Drum Set to a different location enter the new Drum Set number with the INC DEC buttons number buttons allowable range is 00 99 or the DATA dial 4 Finally press REC to save to the selected location DRUM S
35. additional realism many sounds use advanced dynamic articulation techniques so that these sounds when hit loudly have a different timbre than when they re hit softly An internal sequencer to control and trigger the sounds The Pattern Song Recording Method When recording with a drum machine it s often easier to divide a song into shorter individual Patterns and work on these rather than record an entire song A typical Pattern might be 8 16 or 32 beats long and correspond to a verse chorus bridge instrumental intro etc While recording these Patterns the XR20 will be in Pattern Mode The XR20 holds 100 Preset i e can t be edited Patterns and 100 user programmable Patterns each of which can be from 1 to 128 beats long After perfecting these Patterns Song Mode offers two ways to create a song Program a list of Patterns in the order in which they are to be played 7 Select Patterns in real time and the XR20 will remember your performance The XR20 stores up to 100 User programmable Songs Breaking a song into Patterns saves time since elements of a song often repeat Example The second verse might have the same drum pattern as the first verse Rather than record the same Pattern twice simply record one Pattern then list it twice when assembling a Song This also saves memory thus leaving room for more Patterns and Songs since listing a Song step takes up much less memory than recording a Pattern Tip To hear a
36. ay a Song press the PATTERN SONG button When in Song Mode the display will indicate SONG in the upper right corner of the screen Select the Song you wish to play with the number keypad INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial After you select the Song press the PLAY button Note that the XR20 will not attempt to play blank songs i e if the display shows EMPTY SONG The screen will change as shown to the right The step number will be displayed on the top line of the display on the left The current beat will be displayed on the right n The pattern assigned to the current step will be displayed on the bottom line A B or FILL and PRESET USER will be displayed as well depending on which sub pattern is selected for the step 38 www americanmusical com RECORDING A SONG IN REAL TIME To record a sequence of Patterns in real time follow the steps below 1 Switch to Pattern Mode the display should say PATTERN and select the first Pattern which you would like to use in your Song Remember to specify A B or FILL sub pattern as well Press the PATTERN SONG button again to switch back to Song Mode the display should show SONG Press the REC button to enable Record Mode the REC LED will illuminate Now press the PLAY button to begin recording the Song The Pattern which you selected above will begin to play and you will see the screen shown on the right To select the Pattern which should
37. be played next use the INC DEC buttons Alternatively you can use the VALUE dial or you can enter the Pattern number with the number keys You can also specify which sub pattern should be played by pressing the A B or FILL button The screen will change to display NEXT and the cued Pattern number on the bottom line The Pattern will begin playing as soon as the current Pattern plays through its end and will be entered as the next Song step Continue to select the rest of the Patterns for your Song When finished press STOP NOTES If you enter a new Pattern number Preset or User A or B while the first Pattern is playing the new Pattern will begin playing after the first Pattern has finished and be stored as another Song step in the Song If you let the original Pattern keep playing it will add a new Song step with its Pattern number every time it repeats In addition to selecting different Patterns you can press FILL at any time The XR20 will remember where you pressed FILL As in Pattern mode pressing FILL will automatically transition to the B Pattern if the A Pattern is currently playing and vice versa or will continue playing the same Pattern if the FILL button is held past the end of the Fill A Fill can transition into any Pattern number A or B by specifying the Pattern before the end of the Fill and releasing FILL before the Fill has finished playing If you hold FILL past the end of the Fill the associated Ma
38. ber but then change your mind halfway through you don t have to key in or remember the original number again just wait two seconds and the display will revert to the original setting Buttons that Toggle Some buttons SYSTEM SETUP RECORD SETUP PATTERN SONG PRESET USER EFFECTS toggle between two states Each button press sets the switch to its alternate state Example Press the PATTERN SONG button once to change from Pattern to Song press again to change from Song to Pattern Example Press RECORD SETUP to call up the Record Setup menu press RECORD SETUP again to exit the Record Setup menu 14 www americanmusical com m AKA professional 10 STEPS TO INSTANT GRATIFICATION SETUP AND CHECKOUT 1 10 Connect the Main outputs either left or right for a mono monitoring system or both for stereo to a musical instrument amplifier PA or plug headphones into the headphone output on the back of the XR20 The amp and XR20 volume control on back should be all the way down counter clockwise Leave the MIDI OUT jack rear panel disconnected for now Plug the XR20 s AC adapter into the wall The smaller plug inserts in the 12V DC Power jack on the back Turn on the rear panel ON OFF switch and then turn on the amplifier The LCD will illuminate The upper right of the ua at E PATTERN display should say PATTERN and not SONG oo PRESET if it shows SONG press the PATTERN SONG button so the display
39. cking situation 7 MICROPHONE Connect your microphone to this 14 input The input signal will be mixed with the audio from the unit 8 MIDI OUT THRU Use a five pin MIDI cable to connect the MIDI OUT of the XR20 to the MIDI IN of an external MIDI device 9 MIDI IN Use a five pin MIDI cable to connect the MIDI OUT of an external device to the MIDI IN of the XR20 10 START STOP FOOTSWITCH Connect a 14 TS footswitch to this input to remotely start and stop playback on the XR20 11 COUNT A B7 FILL Connect a 4 TS footswitch to this input to remotely control pattern playback on the XR20 12 KENSINGTON LOCK The XR20 may be secured to a table or surface using this Kensington Lock slot 12 www americanmusical com H SONG PATTERN PRESET USER i TT 1 mon TT A B IN EN FILL 111 m ad DRUMSETEDITED lt 4 3 SETUP SYSTEM COMP EQ REVERB a TEMPO __ RECORD DRUMSET STEP EDIT QUANTIZE 9 7 N ASER 7 The LCD is divided into several windows Each window contains information that helps you monitor the XR20 s status and or indicates what type of data should be entered 1 Name dialog box real time Song Pattern readout beat counter This is the most commonly used area of the display It shows Pattern and Song names the beat counter if a Pattern or Song is playing and the Pattern including A B Fill Preset or User designators that is currently playing in Song mo
40. d you want to enter 01 tap the INC button once These buttons as well as the PAGE buttons also have a scroll feature If you press and hold a button after a short pause the display will either increment or decrement at a rapid rate The VALUE dial In addition to the INC DEC buttons you may also use the large VALUE dial to guickly increment and decrement through values and settings Turn the dial clockwise to increment through the available values or turn the dial counter clockwise to decrement The NUMBER buttons The number buttons 0 9 can also be used to directly input values into the XR20 Please note that when using the number buttons it is important to enter leading zeros if necessary If a value to be edited is a two digit number you must enter a two digit number If the number is a three digit number you must enter a three digit number If necessary enter a leading O i e a zero at the beginning of the number to fill out the reguired number of digits Example The beat length is a three digit number To enter a beat length of 16 enter 016 Automatic Revert This feature may confuse you at first but save you from potential problems as you become more familiar with the machine If all the reguired digits of a number aren t entered within two seconds the display will revert back to the previous number with the cursor under the first digit of the previous number This is handy because if you start to enter a new num
41. data SWING OFF EVENT VOLUME To navigate through the steps at the current guantization rate use the PAGE RIGHT button to move forward or PAGE LEFT to move backward If a drum exists between those beats that fall on the current guantization value the drum will sound as you go past it but the display will not stop on that drum If swing is on step mode will step in swinged increments ADDING A NEW DRUM TO A STEP While in Pattern Step Edit Mode use the PAGE buttons to select the step where the drum is to be added Press the pad that corresponds to the sound you want to add That drum along with its volume how hard the pad was hit will be recorded into the displayed step If you play a pad and there is already a drum event played by that pad on the displayed step you will edit the volume rather than add another event This is true even if there are several events on the displayed beat and an event other than the one to be edited is showing ERASE A DRUM SOUND FROM A STEP While in Pattern Step Edit Mode use the PAGE buttons to locate the step containing the drum to be erased While holding down the ERASE button press REC DO IT The drum that was being displayed will be erased CHANGE A DRUM SOUND S VOLUME IN A GIVEN STEP Use the PAGE buttons to select the step containing the drum whose volume needs to be changed Either press a number button from 1 8 1 softest 8 loudest use the INC DEC buttons or VALUE dial or tap th
42. de When acting as a dialog box it lists parameters and the value to be edited e g MIDI channel and the channel number 2 Pattern Song readout also Drum Set edit and drum pad readout This shows the selected Song or Pattern number with Patterns the A B Fill Preset or User designators are also shown In operations that reguire selecting a drum pad this window displays the drum pad number 3 Drumset Edited indicator If you have edited a Drum Set to which a particular Pattern was assigned the display also shows DRUMSET EDITED This is a reminder that you need to save your changes if you would like to be able to recall them at a later time 4 Page number and tempo display When stopped or running this shows the current tempo For functions that have multiple pages of parameters Record Setup System Setup etc this portion of the display shows the currently selected page number 5 Pattern Play indicator This segment is lit when in Pattern Play Mode 6 Synth and Octave Transposition indicators SYNTH indicates that the pads are controlling synth sounds while the OCTAVE indicators 1 1 let you know whether the sounds are transposed up or down an octave no indicator will be present when there is no transposition 7 Swing Shows the current swing rhythm expressed as a Throughout the text button percentage or OFF if swing is off names are shown in Sat de sen UPPER CASE and words 8 Drums 1 Shot indicator
43. drum set that you want to use for the pattern ahead of time You can change this later For instructions on selecting a Drum Set see the section SELECTING EDITING AND CREATING DRUM SETS Note that a Drum Set is a collection of sounds such as the Drums 1 Shot and Synth sound Therefore if you would like to change the Synth sound in a Pattern for example you will need to modify the Drum Set to contain a different synth instrument Note Instead of playing on the pads you can also record remotely by sending MIDI notes to the XR20 Make sure that MIDI device you are playing has settings that correspond to XR20 s sounds MIDI Channel and note numbers Note When sending MIDI data into the drums when the XR20 is not recording i e the XR20 serves as a drum sound expander module the drum sounds respond to 127 different levels of dynamics However if MIDI is used as a trigger during the recording process the Pattern will guantize the incoming level to the nearest of eight levels the same eight levels produced by tapping the pads at various levels PRACTICE MODE If you want to practice your beat with a metronome the XR20 only plays the metronome when recording you can use Practice Mode While in Pattern Mode User Patterns should be selected press the REC button and you will hear the metronome sound but the XR20 will not record what you play on the pads RECORDING OTHER PARTS 1 SHOT AND SYNTH After recording your Drum part or
44. ds such as sirens explosions etc Group 1 through 8 Pads assigned to a particular group 1 through 8 will cut each other off if a group pad is struck while another pad assigned to the same group continues to sound The classic use of this is with hi hats a closed hi hat will cut off an open hi hat and hitting an open hi hat sound will cut off a closed hi hat The XR20 can play up to 32 voices at a time so it s possible to run out of voices if you play a flurry of notes and have lots of pads in the Multi assign mode If 16 sounds are playing and you ask the XR20 to play another one the sound that s closest to finishing its decay cycle will be stolen so that the most recent sound can be played In practice it s difficult and usually not artistically desirable to create drum parts so complex that voice stealing becomes a problem However if this is a problem try assigning all the toms to a group so that they only reguire one voice at a time The display shows ASN MODE short for Assignment Mode the currently selected pad number and the mode assigned to that pad To change the mode associated with a given pad 1 Select the sound set which you would like to edit by pressing DRUM 1 SHOT or SYNTH 2 Press the pad the display will show the pad number in the upper right corner 3 Enter the desired mode with the INC DEC buttons the number keypad buttons 1 4 or the VALUE dial 27 www americanmusical com AISA
45. e 13 BACKLIGHT BRIGHTNESS BACKLITE On this page you can adjust the brightness of the tor display Note that lower brightness settings will help preserve battery life Use the INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial to adjust the brightness setting OFF 1 9 or FULL for maximum brightness SETUP SYSTEM Page 14 BATTERY LEVEL BATT LVL This page indicates the remaining battery charge 51 www americanmusical com AKAI Page 15 LOW BATTERY WARNING LO BATT On this page you can specify the threshold the battery should reach before warning of low battery This warning will let you know when it is time to replace the batteries or plug in the power adapter Use the number buttons INC DEC buttons or the i n VALUE dial to select a percentage of the full battery charge Page 16 CHECK AVAILABLE MEMORY MEM FREE This page shows the approximate amount of free pg memory available expressed as a percentage of the total amount It is important to check memory from time to time mum because the XR20 always requires some free memory s system for proper operation If the available memory falls below 15 or so immediately save the XR20 s data as described below Some operations may not be possible even if a small amount of memory is left This is because the XR20 duplicates a Pattern before it is modified length change offset change etc If you try to alter a Pattern that takes up more memory than is available
46. e Fill instead of the Main Pattern A footswitch plugged into the Count A B Fill jack duplicates the FILL button function when playing Patterns in Perform mode Background This way of handling Patterns explains the logic behind having A B and Fill Patterns In typical pop tunes A would be the verse and B the chorus A Fill provides the Fill that transitions from verse to chorus and B Fill provides the Fill that transitions from chorus to verse Thus one of the numbered Patterns may be all you need to put together a tune This structure makes it possible to put together songs in minutes using the Preset Patterns It also makes it easy to play drum parts live For example if there s a solo happening over the A Main Pattern you can keep the Pattern repeating until the solo is about to end at which point you select the Fill that leads out of the A Main Pattern Using the Start Stop Footswitch When the XR20 is stopped pressing a footswitch plugged into the Start Stop footswitch jack is eguivalent to pressing PLAY When the XR20 is running pressing the footswitch is eguivalent to pressing STOP Background The rear panel Start Stop footswitch jack accepts a momentary normally open or normally closed footswitch available at most music stores for remote or foot control of the stop and start functions The XR20 checks the footswitch on power up to determine whether it is normally open or normally closed so make sure the footswitch is p
47. e displayed drum pad at the desired level If you play a pad to change the level and there are several events on the same step the display need not show the specific drum whose volume you want to edit EXIT STEP EDIT MODE To exit step mode press STOP RECORD SETUP or PLAY the latter will begin playing the Pattern from the beginning 37 www americanmusical com AISA After creating the Patterns that make up a Song it s time to string those Patterns together to create a complete Song You can use Preset Patterns User Patterns or a combination of both to create your Song There are three ways to create Songs In real time As the XR20 plays in Song Mode when the REC button is pushed you can select the sequences of Patterns and Fills in real time the XR20 will remember the sequence of Patterns and Fills you select Manually Select Song mode and program a list of Patterns and Fills in the order in which the Patterns are to be played You can specify the beat and sub beat on which the Fill takes over from the associated main Pattern A combination of real time and manual recording Create a Song in real time then edit it manually to insert extra Song steps delete Song steps change tempo etc The XR20 holds up to 100 Songs numbered 00 99 and each Song can contain up to 254 steps Each step holds either a Pattern number or Fill Each Song remembers the tempo at which it was last played PLAYING SONGS 1 To pl
48. er buttons 1 54 2 58 3 62 4 0 Swing Off PAGE 4 ENABLE CLICK AND SET RHYTHM CLICK SELECT The metronome is designed to help you keep track of fr time while recording On this page you can enable or rm disable the metronome as well as select the rhythm of mz ter ste mi the click ME Enter the click value with the INC DEC or number buttons 1 quarter note 2 quarter note triplet 3 8th note 4 8th note triplet 5 16th note 6 16th note triplet 7 0 Click Off P RECORD Note that the click is audible only when recording PAGE 5 SET CLICK VOLUME CLICK VOL This page allows you to adjust the volume of the metronome The display shows CLICK VOL and a two digit number representing click volume 00 inaudible 99 maximum volume Enter the desired click level with the INC DEC number buttons or by turning the VALUE dial RECORD 31 www americanmusical com PAGE 6 VELOCITY SENSITIVITY Velocity Sensitivity describes how the pads will output sound depending on the applied velocity i e how hard the pads are struck This feature allows players with a heavier or lighter touch to customize the pad response to accommodate their particular playing style To select the desired dynamic response use the INC DEC buttons the VALUE dial or the number buttons 1 Fixed 1 2 Fixed 2 3 Fixed 3 4 Fixed 4 5 Fixed 5 6 Fixed 6 7 Fixed 7 8 Fixed 8 9 Soft and
49. ere the second line indicates the Pattern which you have selected for the first step step 00 Press the PAGE RIGHT button to go to the next Song step Enter the Pattern for the next step Continue in a similar fashion until you have entered all the Patterns for the Song You can always change the Pattern associated with a particular step by navigating to the step with the PAGE RIGHT LEFT buttons and entering a new Pattern Adding a Fill to Your Song 1 With the XR20 in Step Edit Mode use the PAGE RIGHT LEFT buttons to select the step where the Fill is to be added 2 Press and hold the FILL button 3 Enter the number of beats and sub beats after the start of the current step in which the Fill is to start playing with the number buttons and INC DEC buttons respectively It is not necessary to press PLAY the step will remember where the Fill is to occur As the Song plays the step where the Fill occurs the display will show FILL when the Fill begins playing 40 www americanmusical com m AKA professional Removing a Fill from Your Song While in Record mode there are two ways to remove a Fill from a Song 7 When the Fill step appears press the A button for an A Pattern or press the B button for a B Pattern and the Fill will be removed 7 When the Fill step appears press and hold the FILL button and press ERASE Inserting a New Step Between Two Existing Song Steps The XR20 should be in Step Edit Mode
50. erns you wish to record You can also trigger the A B or FILL parts of the selected pattern 5 Press STOP when you are finished Note that you can only record a Pattern Play sequence into an empty Song Make sure that you select an empty Song or erase an existing song prior to recording To listen to the sequence you just recorded in Pattern Play Mode 1 Press the PATTERN SONG button to get into Song Mode the display should indicate SONG in the upper right corner 2 Press PLAY to play the recorded sequence ASSIGNING PATTERNS TO THE PADS 1 Press the PATTERN PLAY button to get into i PATTERN Pattern Play Mode H 2 Press the PAGE RIGHT button The display will show the last pad which was pressed and the pattern number to which it is assigned 3 Press the pad you wish to modify The pad number will be displayed on the top line 4 Usethe INC DEC buttons the VALUE dial or the number buttons to choose the Pattern assignment for the selected pad The assigned Pattern will be displayed on the bottom line 5 You can also press A or B to choose whether the selected pattern s A or B part will be played when the pattern is triggered 6 Press another pad to select it and then adjust the Pattern assignment in a similar fashion 7 After you have assigned the pads press the PATTERN PLAY button to exit the assignment mode 22 www americanmusical com AKAI mho SELECTING EDITING AND CREATING DRUM SETS What is a D
51. eset or User Pattern regardless of the Pattern that is currently playing m Selecting Individual Patterns 1 Make sure the XR20 is in Pattern Mode 2 Enter a two digit Pattern number remember to enter a leading O if necessary 3 Press the A button to select the A Main Pattern or B to select the B Main Pattern To select a Fill Pattern first select the desired Main Pattern A or B then press the Fill Button 4 Press PRESET USER to select either a Preset or User Pattern 5 When a Main Pattern reaches its end it will loop back to the beginning and continue playing from that point unless you select a new Pattern selected a Fill Pattern initially or stop the Pattern If you select a User Pattern that contains no data the display says EMPTY PATTERN If you select a User Pattern that contains data but has not yet been named the display says NO NAME Notes If you change your mind or select the wrong Pattern you can select a new Pattern number at any time before the next Pattern begins If you press STOP before the next Pattern begins playing the XR20 will stop and remain on the currently selected Pattern 7 To immediately jump to the next Pattern in the sequence press the PAGE RIGHT button 7 To immediately return and begin playing from the start of the current Pattern press PAGE LEFT 17 AKAI professional www americanmusical com m Changing Pattern Tempo The tempo range extends from 30 to 300 beats
52. events in real time as you record your patterns Simply hold down the ERASE button as the Pattern plays and press the pad corresponding to the sound you wish to erase Any events assigned to the pad will be erased from the moment the pad is pressed until either the pad or the ERASE button is released SAVE COPY This button accesses various save copy append functions MUTE This button allows you to mute a selected instrument layer Hold down the button and press the DRUM 1 SHOT or SYNTH to mute the corresponding instrument layer To un mute the layer press the corresponding button again while MUTE is being held down NAVIGATION BUTTONS 11 12 13 14 INC DEC These buttons are used to increment and decrement through values and settings on the XR20 VALUE DIAL This dial can also be used to increment and decrement values and settings NUMBER BUTTONS Alternatively you may use the number buttons to input values directly PAGE RIGHT LEFT These two buttons are used to go between pages of options when browsing menus and settings MODE BUTTONS 15 16 17 18 PATTERN SONG This button toggles between the two different modes on the XR20 In Pattern Mode you can play record and edit individual patterns Patterns are short i e 8 beat 16 beat etc rhythm sequences which are assembled together to create Songs A Song is a seguence of Patterns In Song Mode you can perform or program your
53. evice Turn on MIDI Clock Out page 6 of the Record Setup menus Program the slave units to not follow their internal clocks but to accept external MIDI Clock and Start Stop data Refer to each device s manual to find out how to do this Enable the slave s Song Position Pointer if it is available Press PLAY on the XR20 The slave units should start at the same time and progress at the same tempo If the slaves respond to Song Position Pointer you can start an XR20 Song at any point and after a few seconds the slaves will catch up and synchronize from that point on XR20 As MIDI Timing Slave The XR20 can be controlled by external devices through MIDI Clock This allows you to sync playback and tempo on the XR20 to your external MIDI device 1 2 XR20 serving as a MIDI system slave with a synth workstation device set as the master clock source To slave the XR20 use a 5 pin MIDI cable to connect the MIDI OUT of the master clock device to the PAPER MIDI IN of the XR20 BEE The diagram on the right shows a Ve Turn on MIDI Clock In on the XR20 page 5 of the Record Setup menus Program the master unit to send MIDI Clock Refer to each de
54. g for all pads in the Synth group To change the Synth attack envelope Select the Synth group by pressing SYNTH 2 Enter the desired Attack setting for the sound using the number buttons INC DEC buttons or VALUE dial m PAGE 8 DECAY ENVELOPE The Decay envelope is available for all Pad Play Modes Drums 1 Shot Synth and affects the amount of time before the sound stops ringing out This allows you to get the effect of a deep drum sound that will decay over a specific period or with a short decay time a short staccato hit To change a pad s decay envelope 1 Select the sound set which you would like to Tr 5 edit by pressing DRUM 1 SHOT or SYNTH 2 Press the pad the display will show the pad number DRUM SET 3 Enter the desired Decay amount for the sound using the number keypad INC DEC buttons or VALUE dial Note Setting the decay envelope to 0 allows you to sustain the selected sample for as long as the corresponding pad is held down m PAGE 9 RELEASE ENVELOPE SYNTH ONLY The Release envelope parameter Synth only describes the amount of time that it takes for the Synth sound to fade out after you release the pad Note that the Release setting cannot be set individually per pad In other words changing the Release setting will affect all pads To change a Synth pad s Release envelope i vare dann 1 Press the pad the display will show the pad number point 2 Enter t
55. gether is simply so that you can switch back and forth between them rapidly in live performance or while improvising Note that a Pattern s A B and FILL Sub Patterns have egual lengths and use the same Drum Set collection of drum 1 shot and synth sounds as well as effects parameters Note that even though there are only 100 Patterns the A and B variations double that to 200 Patterns and the Fills double that again to 400 Patterns Added to the Preset Patterns 800 total Patterns are available How Looping Simplifies Recording To simplify recording a Pattern will loop over and over again Example Suppose you want to record an 8 beat pattern While recording the pattern will record through all 8 beats then immediately jump back to the beginning and continue recording through all 8 beats again The XR20 will remain in record mode and continue to loop until you press STOP or switch over to Pattern Play mode You will hear any previously played parts as you record new parts You can also erase drum hits while the pattern is looping to correct for errors www americanmusical com mm o ESS What s a Voice Each of the 12 large pads triggers a voice A voice is a sound generating element with several variable parameters sound assignment tuning volume output assignment the voice s audio output can go to either one of two sets of stereo outputs and furthermore to anywhere within the stereo field of the chosen set of outputs MI
56. have separate Reverb Compression EQ settings that are specific to that kit To change Effects settings press the EFFECTS button while you are in Pattern Mode Effect settings can only be changed on User Patterns In order for the Effects settings to be remembered you must save the Drum Set after you make your settings Note All the Effects are sent bused out the Main outputs If you have a sound that is selected to go out the Aux output no effects will be applied to that sound The Effects selection and settings are similar to the Record Setup and Drum Set modes After you press the EFFECTS button you will be taken to the first page To move between the different pages and parameters use the PAGE RIGHT LEFT buttons The current parameter value can be changed with INC DEC buttons the number keypad or the VALUE dial Note that you can turn Effects on and off on a per pad basis z Page 1 Reverb Type There are several Reverb types you can choose on this page You can select the Reverb type for the selected Drum Set by REVERB COMPRESSION pressing the INC DEC buttons or using the VALUE dial TYPES AND EQ TYPES Off m Page 2 Reverb Send Amount Master 1 You can determine the send amount by pressing the INC DEC Radio 1 buttons or use the Value Dial This affects how much wet Radio 2 signal is mixed with the original dry signal The more wet SoftHype the signal is the more reverb effect you will hear Press a p
57. he desired Release amount for the DRUM SET sound using the number keypad INC DEC buttons or VALUE dial 26 www americanmusical com HT ho m PAGE 10 FILTER Pad Filter allows you to make changes to the tonal characteristics of a sound by removing the higher frequencies from the sound This allows you to make a particular drum sound darker with more pronounced bass The higher the value the more high frequencies will be allowed to pass through The lower values will cut off the higher frequencies of the sound in a more pronounced fashion resulting in a more muted sound To change the filter setting associated with a given pad 1 Select the sound set which you would like to msn mummin edit by pressing DRUM 1 SHOT or SYNTH coon ings 2 Press the pad the display will show the pad number ufo 3 Enter the desired filter amount using the number keypad INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial Remember that lower values will result in a duller more muted sound PAGE 11 TRIGGERING MODE ASN MODE Background Each mode affects triggering in a different way Multi When hitting a pad repeatedly each hit will cause the sound to go through its entire decay This is useful with cymbals since early strikes will continue to decay as you play later strikes Single When hitting a pad repeatedly a new hit will automatically terminate any sound that is still decaying This is useful with many 1 shot soun
58. her devices don t respond to the MIDI note data Page 4 ASSIGN MIDI NOTE NUMBERS TO DRUM PADS NOTE This page allows you to specify which MIDI Note Number is associated with a given pad This number describes both the MIDI Note which will trigger the pad when controlling the XR20 externally as well as the MIDI Note which will be sent out to other MIDI devices when the associated pad is struck The display shows the note number name in the upper left and the drum pad number in the upper right window 1 First select which instrument layer you wish to edit by pressing DRUMS 1 SHOT or SYNTH r 2 Press the drum pad to be assigned to a MIDI Note setup system as confirmed by the Drum Pad Number display 3 Enter the note number name with the number buttons INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial Note MIDI Note assignments are global and affect every Pattern MIDI note assignments are not individually selectable for each Pattern The default note assignments for each instrument layer are shown below Note The Synth part cannot have MIDI Note numbers assigned These are preset to start at MIDI Note number C2 048 DRUMS 1 SHOT SYNTH www americanmusical com Page 5 ACCEPT EXTERNAL CLOCK VALUE CLOCK IN Playback and tempo on the XR20 can be controlled by external devices through MIDI Clock if The external device sequencer drum machine etc generates MIDI timing signals 7 These signals go from the externa
59. i data stored with each Pattern For example if Pattern s syst 01 s tempo is set to 90 and Pattern 02 s tempo is set to 120 the XR20 will increase the tempo when switching from Pattern 01 to Pattern 02 Page 10 MAP DRUM NOTES NOTE MAP Within each Pattern MIDI notes can either be mapped to 12 different sounds in NORMAL mode or they can be mapped to any of five drumset groups User Drumsets 00 09 10 19 20 29 30 39 etc in MULTI DRUMSET mode Any of these drumset groups can cover MIDI notes 000 through 119 This makes the XR20 ideal for use as a drum sound module triggered by either an electronic drum kit or set of electronic drum pads or by notes from a seguencer Note that while in this mode you cannot record notes into a Pattern via MIDI It is assumed that you will be using the XR20 strictly as a drum sound expander module The chart on the following page shows which drum pads of which d which MIDI notes The logic to this assignment is that there are 12 rum sets are triggered by drum pads per octave of notes so pad 1 always starts on a C note MIDI notes 000 012 024 036 048 060 072 084 096 and 108 Remember that these drum assignments must be saved as Drum Sets in order to retain the note map assignments 49 www americanmusical com M Drum note map in MULTI DRUMSET mode NOTE In this chart Pad and MIDI note number values for drumset 00 also apply to drumsets 10 20 30 and 40 va
60. in Pattern will continue playing and any Pattern you may have previously specified for the next Step will be forgotten When recording a Song the Count A B Fill footswitch duplicates the FILL button function IMPORTANT If you have already recorded material in a Song pressing REC and PLAY will not allow recording until after the last Song step However you can overdub Fills at any time and these will be recorded in the Song where played Under these conditions holding FILL past the downbeat doesn t make any difference the Patterns used in Song steps are not altered 39 www americanmusical com AKAI professiona MANUAL SONG CREATION SONG STEP EDIT MODE Another way to sequence your Song is to use Step Edit Mode In this mode you can manually enter Pattern numbers for each step of the Song 1 Select Song mode the display should indicate SONG in the upper right corner and select a desired Song number with the number keypad INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial For the purposes of this example let s assume that you are starting a fresh Song the display should say EMPTY SONG Press the STEP EDIT button to enter Step Edit Mode The REC led will illuminate and you will see the screen shown on the right Now use the number keypad INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial to select the first Pattern for the Song If desired choose between the A B variations and Preset User options You will see the screen on the right wh
61. is positive numbers to enter a negative number with the number buttons press DEC first Example To offset a part 1 16th note later enter 24 as the offset value since 24 sub beats eguals a 1 16th note 3 Press REC to enter this number into the XR20 The display will show OFFSET DONE and will reset the offset counter back to 00 Note The display counter resets after you exit the function Therefore it does not keep track of the total amount of offset but only changes in offset Note Drums offset to before the first beat wrap around to the end of the Pattern drums offset past the end of the last beat wrap around to the beginning of the Pattern PAGE 11 NAME THE PATTERN NAME This page allows you to name the currently selected Pattern KIIN PATTERN The display shows NAME and the current name or NO ar Sant ont USER NAME if the Pattern has not yet been named To name use ow the PAGE RIGHT LEFT buttons to select the character to be changed select the desired character with the INC DEC buttons or VALUE dial Lower case and upper case letters numbers punctuation and various special purpose characters are available You can also enter numbers with the number buttons 33 www americanmusical com EDITING PATTERNS ERASE FUNCTIONS ERASING DRUM EVENTS WHILE RECORDING While the XR20 is recording you can erase any individual drum event or series of events in real time to fix up errors Erasure occurs only on those bea
62. jack and the adapter into a power source Alternatively you may choose to power the unit by inserting 6 AA batteries into the bottom compartment Press the POWER switch to turn on the unit Tap the pads to hear sounds You can switch among the three different sound categories for the pads by pressing the corresponding button DRUMS 1 SHOT SYNTH Adjust the volume control on the rear panel to a suitable listening level Note that you may also connect the stereo Aux output to a speaker system or amplifier using a 4 TRS cable The XR 20 can be setup to output sounds through the Main or Aux connections Main by default See Creating and Editing Drum Sets Page 12 Output for more information www americanmusical com mm o AISA professional XRCO BEAT PRODUCTION CENTER DATA TEMPO PAD 10 A PAD 11 At DRUM 1 SHOT SYNTH lt Dic gt STEP 0 isk lt sna PAGE PAGE ace gt ices PATTERN 1 Kg e USER PAD 7 F PAD 8 G PAD 9 G NOTE REPEAT PAD 4 i W 3 aLL MUTE souo k SYSTEM PAD 1 PAD 2 CE PAD 3 SETUP
63. l device s MIDI OUT to the XR20 s MIDI IN m CLOCK IN is ON To have the XR20 recognize clock timing messages present at its MIDI input use the INC DEC buttons or VALUE dial to select ON if no clock messages are present the XR20 will follow its internal clock tempo Select OFF to have the XR20 ignore clock messages and follow its internal clock tempo regardless of what timing data appears at the MIDI IN SETUP SYSTEM Tip When using the XR20 as an expander module set CLOCK IN to OFF so that timing signals don t start playing a Pattern Page 6 SEND CLOCK VALUE TO OTHER DEVICES CLOCKOUT The XR20 can generate MIDI Clock timing signals to which other devices can synchronize if The external device sequencer drum machine etc can respond to MIDI timing signals 7 These signals go from the XR20 s MIDI OUT to the external device s MIDI IN 7 CLOCKOUT is ON To have the XR20 generate timing data at its MIDI out use the INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial to select ON Select OFF to inhibit MIDI timing signals from appearing at the MIDI out jack Tip When slaving the XR20 to other devices CLOCKOUT should be OFF and CLOCK IN should be ON 47 SETUP SYSTEM www americanmusical com Page 7 MERGE MIDI IN WITH MIDI OUT MIDITHRU To have the XR20 merge data appearing at the MIDI IN KE a with the timing and or note data transmitted through the ae MIDI OUT you can enable MIDITHRU Use the INC D
64. lues for drumset 01 also apply to drumsets 11 21 31 and 41 etc DRUM DRUM PAD 09 m 4 09 m 4 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 10 11 12 ra KN 6 8 Cam 6 8 E 6 8 Kul 10 H 12 O O OI O O OI OIO O OO O D Q O 00 0 O O 0 AN O COIN 01 85 Go PO 00 N 50 www americanmusical com m ase professional PAGE 11 MANUAL DRUMSET OVERRIDE SET MODE Each Pattern has an associated assigned Drum Set However you can tell the XR20 to ignore these stored assignments and retain the currently selected Drum Set regardless of whether or not you change Patterns This is useful if you want to hear how a Pattern would sound with a different Drum Set just set one up manually as opposed to the one stored with the Pattern Use the INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial to select fr PATT each Pattern uses its assigned Drum Set or i i MANUAL the XR20 will retain the currently selected S drum assignments regardless of which Pattern is oi chosen SETUP SYSTEM Note If changing Patterns doesn t call up different Drum Sets this parameter is probably set to MANUAL instead of PATT Page 12 LEDs LEDS OFF On this page you can specify whether the LEDs on the eta XR20 will be lit or turned off to preserve battery life TT Use the INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial and select fue enn OFF to turn off the LEDs owe o SETUP SYSTEM Select ON to turn on the LEDs Pag
65. lugged in and you re not pressing it down when you turn on power The NOTE REPEAT Button While playing and recording Patterns the NOTE REPEAT button is used to create a series of notes at the desired quantization rate as described in the section RECORD SETUP Note Repeat sequences can be played live and can be recorded into a Pattern during real time playing m Using Note Repeat The Note Repeat function triggers a drum sound at the current swing value and quantization rate e g eighth notes 16th notes etc if quantization is off though this function is inactive This lets you play a series of drum hits without having to repeatedly press the pads and is typically used to create steady 16th note hi hat parts guarter note kick drum parts snare rolls etc Press a pad on the first beat of what will be a series of hits and hold it down Immediately after pressing the pad press and hold the NOTE REPEAT button The drum will be retriggered at the current guantization rate for as long as the pad and NOTE REPEAT button are held down All hits will be at the same volume as the first pad hit 19 www americanmusical com AKA professional m The MUTE Button The MUTE button can be used to mute the different instrument layers while the XR20 is playing To Mute Parts 1 Play a Pattern 2 Press and hold the MUTE button 3 Press one of the Instrument buttons DRUM 1 SHOT or SYNTH That particular instrumen
66. o guickly transpose the selected Pattern s Synth content The Pattern Transposition setting will be stored along with all other Pattern parameters once the Pattern is saved into memory See Editing Patterns Save Copy Functions section for information on saving Pattern data To change Pattern Transposition 1 The XR20 should be in Pattern mode 2 Press and hold SYNTH 3 While holding down SYNTH press the PAGE RIGHT button 4 The screen will display PATTRANS on the top line along with the current transposition setting on the bottom line 5 Usethe DATA dial or INC DEC buttons to select the transposition in semitones 12 to 12 semitone range Please note Pattern Transposition affects all sub patterns contained in the selected Pattern Please note Pattern data needs to be saved to memory for the Pattern Transposition setting to be recalled the next time you load the Pattern PATTERN STEP EDITING STEP EDIT MODE Step editing is an approach of entering notes and other values for a Pattern in a non realtime method Step mode provides detailed Pattern editing Note that step does not refer to Song steps but to the steps in a Pattern that hold drum events You can move through a Pattern one step at a time stop at each event as desired and delete the event add an event or change an event s volume While occasionally somewhat tedious Step Edit mode allows editing drum parts to your exact specifications
67. on press REC ENTER l Rane i U mm A again The display will read FILL ERASED EEE 6 Release both buttons Tip To retain the Drum Set assignment length and name when you erase Pattern hold ERASE and tap each drum pad This erases the drum events assigned to that pad but retains all other Pattern parameters This erases all events in a Pattern played by a specific pad The r PATTERN Drum Set s parameters will not be affected ii mii USER Hun Hn map une i 1 The XR20 should be in Pattern mode and stopped saa ape par a i i Press and hold ERASE 3 While holding down ERASE tap a pad to erase all events played by that pad The display shows the drum pad number whose events were erased You can continue to erase more drum sounds while ERASE is held down ERASE ALL INSTRUMENT EVENTS IN SUB PATTERN This operation allows you to erase all instrument events for example all Drum events in the selected sub pattern The Drum Set s parameters will not be affected PATTERN 1 The XR20 should be in Pattern mode and stopped mi 2 Press and hold ERASE 3 While holding down ERASE press and hold the button corresponding to the layer which you would like to erase DRUMS BASS PERC 4 While holding down the 2 buttons press REC ENTER to erase all instrument events in the selected sub pattern 34 www americanmusical com EDITING PATTERNS COPY SAVE FUNCTIONS SAVING A PATTERN The following operation will
68. options 41 www americanmusical com mn SETTING SONG TEMPO There are two ways to set tempo Method 1 1 Press STOP if the Song is playing 2 Press the TAP TEMPO button several times at the desired tempo The LD32 will average the time between taps and derive a tempo Note If a footswitch is plugged into the Count A B Fill jack tapping the footswitch at the desired rate is equivalent to pressing the TAP TEMPO button Method 2 1 Alternatively you can press and hold the TAP TEMPO button and use the INC DEC buttons or VALUE dial to select a new tempo INSERTING A TEMPO CHANGE IN A SONG This option allows you to insert a tempo change at a selected Song step Press STOP if the song is playing 2 Press the STEP EDIT button to enter Song Step Edit mode 3 Press and hold TAP TEMPO and press PAGE RIGHT to enter the Tempo Event Edit Mode 4 Atempo change can be inserted at any beat of the Song Step While holding TAP TEMPO use the PAGE buttons to select the beat within the step 5 While holding TAP TEMPO use the INC DEC buttons number keypad or the VALUE dial to set the tempo 6 Release the TAP TEMPO button to return to the previous page Note If you would like to erase an existing Tempo Change event navigate to the beat where the event occurs while holding TAP TEMPO and press ERASE 42 www americanmusical com a AEA professional CONTROLLING PLAYBACK POSITION If you press STOP while a song
69. ot affect MIDI velocity data being sent by the controller For keyboards that do not provide a full range of velocity ON V2 will allow the drums to be played at full volume without having to send full velocity from the MIDI controller SETUP SYSTEM Background Select ON V1 or ON V2 if you re using the XR20 as an expander module or want to play real time drum controllers into the XR20 as it plays a Pattern or Song Select OFF if you re using the XR20 as a drum machine slaved to a seguencer when OFF the XR20 follows the seguencer timing data but not note data you don t want it to play other parts Note that in this scenario Clock In page 5 of the System Setup menus must be set to ON 45 www americanmusical com m Page 3 TRANSMIT MIDI NOTES DRUM OUT 1 SHOT OUT SYNTH OUT The XR20 can output MIDI data from pad hits and Pattern or Song seguences through the MIDI OUT connection on the rear panel This allows you to send data into a seguencer for recording or to drive other sound modules from the XR20 1 To change an instrument layers MIDI OUT properties first select DRUMS 1 SHOT or SYNTH 2 To have the XR20 output MIDI note data from pad hits or when playing a Pattern Song use the sew system INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial to select ON Select OFF if you don t want the XR20 to transmit note data Tip If the XR20 is acting as a drum machine and provides the master clock to a MIDI system select OFF so that ot
70. per minute Tempo can be changed while the XR20 is stopped or running There are two ways to set tempo 1 Before playing a Pattern tap the TAP TEMPO button several times at the desired tempo The XR20 will average the time between taps and derive a tempo the display will update the tempo with each tap If a footswitch is plugged into the Count A B Fill jack tapping the footswitch at the desired rate is eguivalent to tapping the TAP TEMPO button Hold down the TAP TEMPO button and turn the VALUE dial to select a new tempo Alternatively you can use the INC DEC buttons while holding down TAP TEMPO to increase or decrease by 1 BPM or hold down to scroll through the tempo values Note that you can customize how the XR20 deals with tempo In the System Setup pages page 9 you can specify whether the XR20 will follow the tempo associated with each Pattern or whether the unit will follow a global tempo setting ignoring any tempo data associated with the Patterns m Selecting Fill Patterns Fill Patterns are the key to creating expressive drum parts However Fill is a sophisticated feature that requires some explanation Fills are always the same length and use the same Drum Set as the associated Main Pattern This lets you drop in a Fill at any time As soon as you press the FILL button the Fill takes over from the Main Pattern and starts playing until the end of the Fill Fills are transitional Patterns Example Suppose an
71. re based on guarter notes and others on eighth notes you will need to double the tempo for the guarter note based Patterns to match up with the eighth note based Patterns 55 www americanmusical com M UNDERSTANDING RHYTHMIC NOTATION Measures A piece of music is divided into smaller units called measures also called bars and each measure is divided into beats In the XR20 each beat is further sub divided into 96 sub beats Rhythmic Values for Notes With a measure written in a 4 4 time signature there are 4 beats per measure and each beat represents a guarter 1 4 note Thus there are 4 guarter notes per measure of 4 4 music With a 3 4 time signature the numerator indicates that there are 3 beats per measure while the denominator indicates that each of these beats is a quarter note 1 4 There are two eighth notes per guarter note Thus there are eight eighth notes per measure of 4 4 music There are four 16th notes per quarter note Thus there are sixteen 16th notes per measure of 4 4 music There are eight 32nd notes per guarter note Thus there are thirty two 32nd notes per measure of 4 4 music There are also notes that span a greater number of beats than quarter notes A half note eguals two guarter notes Therefore there are two half notes per measure of 4 4 music A whole note equals four quarter notes so there is one whole note per measure of 4 4 music We keep referring these notes in 4 4 time because tha
72. rum Set The XR20 features different sets of sounds which you can use in your Patterns and Songs A Drum Set is a collection of settings that affect the Drum 1 Shot and Synth sounds within the set as well as the mix parameters and effects setup The XR20 includes 100 Preset and 100 User Drum Sets Note that edited Preset Drum Sets may only be saved in a User Drum Set location Each Drum Set includes the following n DRUM 1 SHOT SOUNDS These are the drum and 1 shot sounds which are loaded when the Drum Set is recalled SYNTH SOUNDS This is the Synth sound which is loaded when the Drum Set is recalled PAD PARAMETERS These are the pad and parameter settings associated with the Drum Set These settings include volume panning tuning filter etc EFFECTS SETTINGS These are the effects settings which will be recalled the next time that the Drum Set is selected and include Reverb EG and Compression SELECTING A DRUM SET Press the DRUM SET button 2 The currently selected Drum Set s name is displayed on the top line and the set number is shown on the bottom line To select the drum and 1 shot sounds to be used with this set press the DRUMS or 1 SHOT button To select the synth sounds to be used with this set press the SYNTH button 3 Enter the desired Drum Set number from 00 to 99 with the number buttons INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial With the number buttons enter a leading zero if necessary Note
73. s Accessible via Pads Sounds Accessible via MIDI Polyphony Panning Velocity Response Timing Resolution Time Signature Range Tempo Range Notes Patterns Songs Kits MIDI Prog Change Response Sync Footswitch Jacks Functions Microphone Input Other Features Power 1 TRS 4 aux 2 TS main 1 TRS 4 phones 12 velocity sensitive w Dynamic Articulation 16 24 700 12 120 32 voice 7 position user programmable 8 loudness levels via pads 127 via MIDI 96 ppg 1 128 beats per pattern 30 300 BPM 150 000 200 100 user 100 preset 100 100 user 100 preset Kit MIDI Clock with Song Position Pointer Start Stop Count A B Fill TS 1 4 Step Editing Stereo Samples Reverb and Compressor EO effects 12 VAC External Transformer UL and CSA Approved 6 AA batteries not included MANUAL VERSION 1 3 58 www americanmusical com www americanmusical com www akaipro com
74. s it will be off by just enough to add that human touch 1 48 32nd NOTE TRIPLET Note The quantize value also sets the step length in Step Edit mode 384th NOTE 30 www americanmusical com Hp JA E PAGE 2 GATE When entering Synth parts in Step Edit Mode the Gate parameter specifies the duration of notes as a percentage of the guantization value For example if you have selected a gate time of 99 which is eguivalent to 100 of the guantization value RECORD and a quantization value of note the synth notes will be note in duration PAGE 3 SELECT THE SWING VALUE SWING SELECT Background Swing affects the timing of pairs of egual value notes Each note normally defaults to taking up 50 of the total duration of both notes adding swing lengthens the first note of the pair and to keep the total duration of both notes the same shortens the second note of the pair This imparts the kind of feel found in most shuffles and jazz tunes as well as a laid back rhythm and groove often found in hip hop R n B and pop music For example with Swing set to 62 the first note of the pair takes up 62 of the total duration of the pair of notes while the second note takes up 38 of the total duration Swing shifts notes as specified while you record so i choose the desired value before playing out your mass vu em rhythms m tn i HIN i Enter the desired swing percentage with the INC DEC buttons VALUE dial or numb
75. shows PATTERN Start hitting the pads Adjust the volume control for a comfortable listening level and check out the sounds Try pressing one of the Pad Play Mode buttons DRUMS 1 SHOT SYNTH to access the different instrument layers and play the pads To hear the built in demo hold down the PATTERN SONG button and press PLAY To stop the demo press STOP If you want to play along with the demo feel free to bash away on the pads To hear a Preset Pattern stop the XR20 and KEN LLL E NUNN Le LL press the PRESET USER button to select imin tt emt i PRESET Preset Patterns the display should show tw tuat i m m n a a PRESET Then press PLAY to hear the Ili li Preset Pattern LI LI PATTERN Try the following 7 While in Preset Patterns enter a two digit number between 00 99 using the number keys then press PLAY Press the INC button to select the next higher numbered Preset Pattern It will play at the end of the current Pattern 7 Press the DEC button to select the next lower numbered Preset Pattern 7 Press the B button to select the B variation of the selected Pattern 7 Press the A button to select the A variation of the selected Pattern Press FILL briefly while a Main A or B Pattern is playing Note how the Main Pattern switches from either A to B or B to A after the Fill has played Press FILL and hold it down until after the Fill has played If the FILL button is held down past the next downbeat
76. t is the most commonly used time signature in contemporary Western music Triplets The above notes divide measures by factors of two However there are some cases where you want to divide a beat into thirds giving three notes per beat Dividing a guarter note by three results in eighth note triplets The reason why we use the term eighth note triplets is because the eighth note is closest to the actual rhythmic value Dividing an eighth note by three results in 16th note triplets Dividing a 16th note by three results in 32nd note triplets Rests You can also specify where notes should not be played this is indicated by a rest which can be the same length as any of the rhythmic values used for notes Time Signatures 4 4 and to a lesser extent 3 4 are the most common time signatures in our culture but they are by no means the only ones In jazz both 5 4 where each measure consists of five guarter notes and 7 4 where each measure consists of seven guarter notes are often used In practice complex time signatures are played like a combination of simpler time signatures for example some 7 4 compositions would have you count each measure not as 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 but as 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 It s often easier to think of 7 4 as one bar of 4 4 followed by one bar of 3 4 or the other way around depending on the phrasing since as we mentioned 4 4 and 3 4 are extremely common time signatures 56 www americanmusical com BR JA a
77. t sound will be muted 4 To un mute the instrument layer press the corresponding button DRUM 1 SHOT SYNTH while holding down MUTE z Playing Songs 1 To play a Song press the PATTERN SONG button until SONG is displayed in the upper corner of the screen 2 Select the Song you want to play with the INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial 3 After you select the Song press the PLAY button 4 To stop playback press the STOP button 20 www americanmusical com RECORDING PATTERNS Note An empty Pattern defaults to an 8 beat length 2 Bars with 16th note quantization and swing off 50 If you need to change the length it is best though not essential to do so before recording Other parameters can be changed while you re recording STEPS TO RECORDING A PATTERN 1 First begin by selecting User Patterns the display should indicate PATTERN and USER Next select an empty User Pattern with the INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial the display should show EMPTY PATT 3 Press the RECORD and PLAY buttons simultaneously The XR20 will begin recording 4 Play the sounds on the pads As you record the display will show the current beat number 5 The Pattern will loop during the record process so that you can overdub different drums on different passes 6 To stop recording press STOP 7 Press PLAY to audition the Pattern from the beginning When recording your pattern it s a good idea to locate the
78. te SYSTEM and SETUP when you are in System Setup You can move between the different pages of settings with the PAGE RIGHT LEFT buttons and change the settings on the selected page with the VALUE dial or the INC DEC buttons To save your settings so they are recalled the next time you boot up the XR20 press the SAVE button while in this menu and then press REC to confirm the save To exit System Setup press the SYSTEM SETUP button again RECORD SETUP Pressing this button calls up various recording settings such as Quantization Swing Pattern Length Time Signature etc The display will indicate RECORD and SETUP while you are in Record Setup Mode You can move between the different pages of settings with the PAGE RIGHT LEFT buttons and change the settings on the selected page with the VALUE dial or the INC DEC buttons To exit Record Setup press the Record Setup button again DRUM SET This button calls up the Drum Set Mode options where you can select different drum 1 shot sounds synth sounds change individual pad sounds and modify parameters such as Volume Tuning Panning etc The display will indicate DRUM SET while you are in Drum Set Mode You can use the PAGE RIGHT LEFT buttons to move between the different pages of settings and you can use the VALUE dial or INC DEC buttons to change the settings on the selected page When you modify or customize a Drum Set you will need to make sure that you save it press the SAVE button
79. the parameters on the following pages remain as set even if you turn off power until the parameters are changed again Page 1 MIDI CHANNEL MIDI CH When controlling the XR20 with external MIDI devices such as MIDI drum pads and keyboards you can specify MIDI Channel settings for each instrument layer on this page The XR20 can receive MIDI data on any 1 of 16 MIDI Channels or an all 16 Channels simultaneously Omni Mode 1 To change which channel an instrument layer is receiving MIDI data on first select the instrument layer by pressing DRUMS 1 SHOT or SYNTH 2 Select the desired MIDI channel for the instrument layer using the number buttons INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial With the number buttons enter a leading zero if necessary 00 selects Omni mode Tip When several instruments are being driven by MIDI it is a good idea to assign different MIDI Channels not Omni for each instrument in the mix This ensures that the instrument will receive only the data intended for it Page 2 RECEIVE MIDI NOTES DRUM IN 1 SHOT IN SYNTH IN The display shows DRUM IN 1 SHOT IN or SYNTH depending on which mode is currently selected This page features two different MIDI input velocity curves ON V1 and ON V2 To have the XR20 receive note messages at its MIDI input use the INC DEC buttons to select ON V1 or ON V2 Select OFF to have the XR20 ignore note messages ON V1 is a normal linear velocity curve and will n
80. then press REC to confirm in order to be able to access it later To exit Drum Set Mode press the Drum Set button again EFFECTS This button calls up the Effects menu where you can select the effects which are stored and recalled with every Drum Set These effects include Reverb EO Compression and feature ready to use presets To move between the different pages in the Effects Menu use the PAGE RIGHT LEFT buttons You can use the VALUE dial or INC DEC buttons to enable and disable the selected effect or to change the displayed settings TRANSPORT CONTROL BUTTONS 23 24 25 PLAY If the XR20 is stopped pressing PLAY will play the sequence from the current position If the XR20 is playing pressing PLAY will pause the seguence You can continue playing the seguence from the position where it was paused by pressing PLAY again In addition you may use the PAGE RIGHT and PAGE LEFT buttons while the unit is playing to advance to the next Pattern if one is pending or start playing from the beginning of the current Pattern and cancel any pending Pattern respectively STOP Press this button to stop the current sequence and go back to the start of the Pattern or Song Ouickly pressing STOP twice sends a MIDI Panic message to the internal voices of the XR20 and to external devices connected via MIDI A Panic message effectively stops all sounds which may be playing This is useful in situations where a certain sound may be s
81. ts that coincide with the current guantization and swing values turn quantization off to erase a drum wherever it occurs 1 The XR20 should be in Record Mode 2 Press and hold ERASE 3 While holding down ERASE press the pad corresponding to the sound to be erased just before the first event to be erased and release just after the last event to be erased To erase a single event tap the pad on that single event ERASING AN ENTIRE PATTERN If you erase both Main and Fill Patterns associated with a numbered Pattern or you erase a Main or Fill Pattern and the other is empty the Drum Set assignment but not its Drum Set parameters name and length will revert to the default settings i e the Drum Set with the same number as the Pattern EMPTY PATTERN as the name and a length of 8 beats However as long as either a Main or Fill Pattern contains previously programmed data the numbered Pattern will remember the Drum Set assignment name and length PTO 1 The XR20 must be in Pattern mode and stopped to allow erasing annan gunn one ann annen aino a Pattern im HID om im o 2 Enter the two digit Pattern number to be erased with the number fm t fm 1 or INC DEC buttons 3 Press and hold the ERASE button The display says PATTERN ERASE 4 While continuing to hold the ERASE button press REC ENTER The display says PATTERN ERASED followed by FILL fm i USER EASES en N m 5 While continuing to hold the ERASE butt
82. tuck and will not turn off REC Press and hold this button before pressing PLAY to initiate recording The REC button also functions as a DO IT command when prompted for action by the display for example when erasing songs The REC button LED It will blink when you are reguired to confirm or cancel an action 11 www americanmusical com nta o REAR PANEL PHYSICAL LAYOUT HD AUXL R MAIN RIGHT MAIN LEFT PHONES MICROPHONE W N NN OUT THRU M OUTPUTS _ INPUT MIDI FOOTSWITCHES _ 500mA 1 DC IN The supplied power adapter should be connected to a live outlet to power the unit Alternatively the unit may be powered with 6 AA batteries inserted in the bottom compartment Please refer to illustration in compartment for proper battery insertion 2 ON OFF SWITCH This switch turns the unit on and off 3 VOLUME This knob controls the overall volume of the XR20 4 W TS RIGHT LEFT OUTPUTS These connections will output the audio from the XR20 Connect these outputs to an amplifier or a speaker system For mono sound you can connect only one output 5 PHONES Connect headphones to this output for quiet practicing 6 AUX L R The XR20 can also output instrument layers through this auxiliary connection For example this allows you to output your drum and synth tracks on separate channels which can be useful in a recording tra
83. uttons INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial Press and hold the SAVE COPY button While holding the SAVE COPY button press the PAGE RIGHT button You will see the screen shown on the right While continuing to hold the SAVE COPY button enter the same Song number as the one selected in step 2 Press REC DO IT to copy the song to itself Release the SAVE COPY and REC DO IT buttons NAME A SONG NAME 1 Press RECORD SETUP If the Song has been named the name will show on the top line If the Song has not been named the display says NO NAME Enter the name using the PAGE RIGHT LEFT buttons to select the character to be changed selected character is indicated by a cursor underneath it and the INC DEC buttons or Value Dial to select the desired character Lower case and upper case letters numbers punctuation and various special purpose characters are available You can also enter numbers with the number buttons 44 www americanmusical com SYSTEM SETUP This Mode accesses important System functions General instructions are 1 Press the SYSTEM SETUP button Use the Page up and down buttons to select different pages of functions the display s lower right window shows the page number The pages are described below 3 Adjust values on pages if necessary as described for each page 4 After making all needed changes press SYSTEM SETUP again to exit or choose another page Note All
84. vice s manual to find out how to do this Press PLAY on the master clock device The XR20 should start at the same time and progress at the same tempo oS 20 o o o gt NIA 54 www americanmusical com AKAI Mh STRATEGIES FOR ASSEMBLING PATTERNS AND SONGS Ideally you should be able to translate your inspirations into tangible form with a minimum amount of effort The following tips and technigues help speed up the process of creating Patterns and Songs Create Fills Ouickly with the Copy Function Many times a Fill will simply be a variation on another Pattern but with a few minor differences to add variety or serve different musical purposes To save time use the Copy function to copy the main Pattern to the Fill and then add variations to the Fill in real time or with Step Edit mode Assemble Short Patterns into Longer Patterns with the Copy Function It s less time consuming to work with short Patterns since you don t have to wait for the entire Pattern to cycle through before overdubbing or spot erasing events After assembling several short Patterns use the copy function to append Patterns into a longer Pattern
85. www americanmusical com X Ae BEAT PRODUCTION CENTER REFERENCE MANUAL www americanmusical com www americanmusical com TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 5 WELCOME TO THE XR20 DRUM MACHINE 5 GROUND RULES 5 CONNECTION DIAGRAM 8 TOP PANEL PHYSICAL LAYOUT 9 GENERAL CONTROLS 9 NAVIGATION BUTTONS 10 MODE BUTTONS 10 SETUP BUTTONS 11 TRANSPORT CONTROL BUTTONS 11 REAR PANEL PHYSICAL LAYOUT 12 DISPLAY LAYOUT 13 BASICS 14 HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE XR20 14 10 STEPS TO INSTANT GRATIFICATION SETUP AND CHECKOUT 15 THE INSTRUMENT LAYERS 16 PLAYBACK RECORD BASICS 16 RECORDING PATTERNS 21 STEPS TO RECORDING A PATTERN 21 PRACTICE MODE 21 RECORDING OTHER PARTS 1 SHOT AND SYNTH 21 PATTERN PLAY MODE 22 PLAYING PATTERN SEQUENCES WITH THE PADS 22 RECORDING PATTERN SEOUENCES INTO A SONG 22 ASSIGNING PATTERNS TO THE PADS 22 SELECTING EDITING AND CREATING DRUM SETS 23 SELECTING A DRUM SET 23 CREATING AND EDITING DRUM SETS 23 EFFECTS 29 SAVING YOUR DRUM SETS 29 RECORD SETUP 30 PAGE 1 SELECT THE OUANTIZATION VALUE OUANTIZE SELECT 30 PAGE 2 GATE 31 PAGE 3 SELECT THE SWING VALUE SWING SELECT 31 PAGE 4 ENABLE CLICK AND SET RHYTHM CLICK SELECT 31 PAGE 5 SET CLICK VOLUME CLICK VOL 31 PAGE 6 VELOCITY SENSITIVITY 32 PAGE 7 BEAT VALUE 32 PAGE 8 NOTE VALUE 32 PAGE 9 PATTERN LENGTH 33 PAGE 10 OFFSET A PATTERN OR DRUM PART 33 PAGE 11 NAME THE PATTERN NAME 33 EDITING PATTERNS ERASE
86. ynth parts to two other tracks By default pad sounds are output through the Main connections on the rear of the unit However you also have the option of outputting individual pads through the Aux connection Please note that the Synth sounds can only be output as a group in other words all Synth sounds will either be output through the Main or Aux connections To change a pad s output assignment 1 Select the sound set which you would like to edit by pressing DRUM 1 SHOT or SYNTH 2 Press the pad the display will show the pad number 3 Use the INC DEC buttons Value Dial or number buttons 1 chooses the Main output pair 2 selects the Aux output pair DRUM SET PAGE 13 DRUM SET NAME On this page you can assign a name to your Drum Set Please note that only User Drum Sets can be named renamed and saved If you wish to edit and rename one of the Preset Drum Sets copy it to a User location first To name the selected Drum Set 1 You will see the cursor underneath the letter cn which is currently selected Use the INC DEC buttons or the VALUE dial to change the letter above the cursor 2 Use the PAGE RIGHT PAGE LEFT buttons to move the cursor PAGE RIGHT moves the cursor forward while PAGE LEFT moves the cursor backwards or goes back to the previous menu page if the first letter is selected 28 www americanmusical com EFFECTS The Effects settings are stored per kit Each Kit can

Akai XR20 Reference Manual - V1.3

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