E-Mu Emulator II User Manual

EMULATOR II+

OWNERS

MANUAL

By Craig Anderton

OS Version 3.1 and 3.1 HD

Restored by the Emulator Archive ▪ www.emulatorarchive.com

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................11

WHAT’S AN EMULATOR II?............................................................................................. 12

WELCOME TO THE EII+ and EII+HD ...........................................................................................13

MANUAL RESTORATION NOTES................................................................................................13

SEND IN YOUR WARRANTY CARD NOW! ...................................................................... 14

HOW TO USE THIS MANUAL........................................................................................... 17

DEFINITIONS: HOW THE EMULATOR II ORGANIZES SOUND ...................................... 18

Sampling Basics .............................................................................................................................18

The Emulator II “Map”.....................................................................................................................19

The Bank ........................................................................................................................................21

The Voice .......................................................................................................................................21

The Preset ......................................................................................................................................21

Voice Processing ............................................................................................................................22

The Disk Archives...........................................................................................................................23

The Keyboard .................................................................................................................................24

The Output Channels .....................................................................................................................24

Re-cap ............................................................................................................................................24

Always Remember to Save Your Work..........................................................................................24

OTHER DEFINITIONS ....................................................................................................... 25

THE GUIDED TOURS ..............................................................................26

HOW TO USE THE GUIDED TOURS ................................................................................ 27

GETTING READY FOR THE GUIDED TOURS.................................................................. 27

GUIDED TOUR #1: MEET THE EMULATOR .................................................................... 28

DISK HANDLING............................................................................................................................28

LOADING A PERFORMANCE DISK .............................................................................................28

SELECTING DIFFERENT PRESETS............................................................................................28

THE EMULATOR II’s “MODULAR” PHILOSOPHY........................................................................29

ACTIVATING and DE-ACTIVATING MODULES, SELECTING FUNCTIONS ..............................30

LOADING OTHER PERFORMANCE DISKS.................................................................................30

TUNING THE EMULATOR II TO OTHER INSTRUMENTS...........................................................31

TRANSPOSING THE KEYBOARD................................................................................................31

FORMATTING DISKS ....................................................................................................................31

GUIDED TOUR #2: SPECIFYING THE “CURRENT VOICE”............................................ 32

BACKGROUND..............................................................................................................................32

IDENTIFYING WHICH KEYBOARD KEYS BELONG TO WHICH VOICE ....................................32

GUIDED TOUR #3: THE FILTER and VCA/LFO MODULE............................................... 36

BACKGROUND..............................................................................................................................36

SPECIFYING THE CURRENT VOICE...........................................................................................36

CONTENTS

FILTER FUNCTION 1: CHANGING CUTOFF FREQUENCY, Q, and ENVELOPE ......................36

FILTER FUNCTION 2: LFO AMOUNT AND KEYBOARD TRACKING .........................................37

FILTER FUNCTION 3: ADSR SETTINGS .....................................................................................37

VCA/LFO FUNCTION 1: ADSR SETTINGS ..................................................................................38

VCA/LFO FUNCTION 2: LFO SETTINGS .....................................................................................38

GUIDED TOUR #4: REAL TIME CONTROL and VIBRATO DEPTH................................. 39

BACKGROUND..............................................................................................................................39

SELECTING A CONTROL SOURCE and CONTROL DESTINATION .........................................40

REAL TIME FUNCTIONS ..............................................................................................................40

PROGRAMMING VIBRATO DEPTH .............................................................................................41

GUIDED TOUR #5: THE DYNAMIC KEYBOARD.............................................................. 42

BACKGROUND..............................................................................................................................42

ASSIGNING KEYBOARD VELOCITY TO DYNAMICS .................................................................42

GUIDED TOUR #6: BASIC SAMPLING............................................................................. 43

SETUP............................................................................................................................................43

GUIDED TOUR #7: DIGITALLY PROCESSING SAMPLES .............................................. 45

PLAYING A VOICE BACKWARDS................................................................................................46

TRUNCATING A VOICE ................................................................................................................46

LOOPING A VOICE........................................................................................................................47

SPLICING VOICES ........................................................................................................................47

COMBING VOICES........................................................................................................................47

SAVING VOICES ...........................................................................................................................47

GUIDED TOUR #8: OTHER VOICE DEFINITION FUNCTIONS ........................................ 48

CHECKING SOUND LENGTH .......................................................................................................48

SOLO MODE..................................................................................................................................48

VOICE ATTENTUATION AND TUNING ........................................................................................48

CONTROL ENABLE.......................................................................................................................48

GUIDED TOUR #9: MANAGING THE BANK .................................................................... 49

WHAT’S IN THE BANK? ................................................................................................................49

COPYING AND ERASING WITHIN THE BANK ............................................................................49

GUIDED TOUR #10: CREATING PRESETS and LIBRARY DISKS.................................. 50

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS.....................................................................51

1 - SELECTING THE CURRENT PRESET ........................................................................ 52

2 - ASSIGNING THE CURRENT VOICE............................................................................ 53

3 - EXITING A FUNCTION ................................................................................................. 55

4 - LIBRARY DISK VOICE NUMBERING PROTOCOL ..................................................... 55

5 - DISK HANDLING.......................................................................................................... 56

Common Courtesy for Disks ..........................................................................................................56

Disk Type........................................................................................................................................56

The Disk Drive ................................................................................................................................56

CONTENTS

Labeling Disks ................................................................................................................................56

Write-Protecting Disks....................................................................................................................57

Single-drive vs. Dual-drive Emulator Il’s.........................................................................................58

Inserting the Disk in the Drive ........................................................................................................58

Always have a Disk in the Top Drive!.............................................................................................58

6 - SELECTING REAL TIME CONTROL FUNCTIONS...................................................... 59

7 - CATALOGUING............................................................................................................ 60

8 - KEYBOARD NUMBERING PROTOCOL ...................................................................... 61

MASTER CONTROL MODULE................................................................62

DYNAMIC ALLOCATION .................................................................................................. 63

TUNE ................................................................................................................................. 63

TRANSPOSE ..................................................................................................................... 64

DOUBLE MEMORY ........................................................................................................... 65

DOUBLE MEMORY HARD DISK SAVES......................................................................................66

FILTER MODULE.....................................................................................67

0 - CHANGE CURRENT VOICE ........................................................................................ 68

1 - FREQUENCY, Q, ENVELOPE AMOUNT ..................................................................... 68

2 - LFO AMOUNT, KEYBOARD AMOUNT........................................................................ 69

3 - ADSR SETTINGS ......................................................................................................... 70

LFO/VCA MODULE..................................................................................71

0 - CHANGE CURRENT VOICE ........................................................................................ 72

1 - ADSR SETTINGS ......................................................................................................... 72

2 - LFO PARAMETERS AND VCA AMOUNT.................................................................... 73

VOICE DEFINITION MODULE .................................................................74

00 - CHANGE CURRENT VOICE ...................................................................................... 75

11 - TRUNCATE START and END of SAMPLE ................................................................ 76

12 - SET LOOP START and LOOP LENGTH POINTS...................................................... 80

About Autolooping ..........................................................................................................................83

CONTENTS

13 - FORWARD/REVERSE LOOP..................................................................................... 87

14 - SPLICE....................................................................................................................... 89

About Autosplicing ..........................................................................................................................91

15 - SOUND LENGTH........................................................................................................ 93

21 - VELOCITY ASSIGNMENT TO LEVEL and ATTACK................................................. 94

22 - VELOCITY ASSIGNMENT TO FILTER....................................................................... 96

23 - VIBRATO DEPTH ....................................................................................................... 98

24 - VOICE ATTENUATE/TUNE........................................................................................ 98

25 - SOLO MODE .............................................................................................................. 99

26 - LOOP IN RELEASE.................................................................................................... 99

27 - BACKWARDS MODE............................................................................................... 100

28 - COMBINE VOICES................................................................................................... 101

28 - COMBINE VOICES................................................................................................... 102

29 - CONTROL ENABLE ................................................................................................. 103

30 - SAVE VOICE TO DISK ............................................................................................. 104

PRESET DEFINITION MODULE ............................................................105

11 - GET VOICE............................................................................................................... 106

12 - COPY/NAME VOICE................................................................................................. 107

13 - ERASE VOICE.......................................................................................................... 108

14 - ERASE SEQUENCE ................................................................................................. 109

15 - ERASE PRESET....................................................................................................... 110

16 - ERASE BANK........................................................................................................... 111

17 - CATALOG VOICES .................................................................................................. 111

18 - CATALOG SEQUENCES ......................................................................................... 112

19 - CATALOG PRESETS ............................................................................................... 112

20 - MEMORY REMAINING............................................................................................. 113

CONTENTS

21 - CREATE PRESET .................................................................................................... 114

22 - ASSIGN VOICE ........................................................................................................ 115

23 - EDIT ASSIGNMENT ................................................................................................. 117

24 - DE-ASSIGN VOICE .................................................................................................. 119

25 - VELOCITY SWITCH ................................................................................................. 120

26 - VELOCITY CROSSFADE ......................................................................................... 121

27 - POSITIONAL CROSSFADE ..................................................................................... 122

28 - NONTRANSPOSE .................................................................................................... 123

29 - ARPEGGIATOR........................................................................................................ 124

30 - MIDI SETUP.............................................................................................................. 126

31 - COPY/RENAME PRESET......................................................................................... 130

32 - REPLICATE PRESET............................................................................................... 131

SAMPLE MODULE.................................................................................132

1 - VU MODE ................................................................................................................... 133

2 - DEFINE VOICE........................................................................................................... 133

3 - GAIN SET ................................................................................................................... 135

4 - THRESHOLD SET...................................................................................................... 135

5 - SAMPLE LENGTH...................................................................................................... 136

7 - ARM SAMPLING ........................................................................................................ 136

9 - FORCE SAMPLING.................................................................................................... 137

0 - STOP SAMPLING....................................................................................................... 137

DISK MODULE.......................................................................................138

1 - GET BANK DISK 1..................................................................................................... 139

2 - GET BANK DISK 2..................................................................................................... 140

3 - SPACE REMAINING................................................................................................... 141

3 - DISK IDENTITY .......................................................................................................... 142

CONTENTS

4 - COPY DISK ................................................................................................................ 142

5 - CATALOG VOICE....................................................................................................... 144

6 - ERASE VOICE............................................................................................................ 144

7 - SAVE BANK ............................................................................................................... 146

8 - FORMATTING A PERFORMANCE OR LIBRARY DISKETTE................................... 147

HARD DISK SUPPLEMENT...................................................................149

BACKGROUND : WHY HARD DISKS............................................................................. 150

THE HARD DISK PERSONALITY ................................................................................... 150

POWER-ON WITH HARD DISK MODEL......................................................................... 151

HARD DISK SECTION NOTES........................................................................................ 151

DISK 2 - GETTING A BANK FROM HARD DISK ............................................................ 152

DISK 7 - SAVING A BANK TO HARD DISK.................................................................... 153

DISK 8 - FORMATTING FLOPPIES IN A HARD DISK SYSTEM..................................... 154

HARD DISK SPECIAL FUNCTIONS................................................................................ 155

SPECIAL 22 - FORMATTING .......................................................................................... 155

Important Note: Errors ..................................................................................................................157

SPECIAL 21 - SHOW HARD DISK ERROR LOCATION................................................. 158

SPECIAL 20 - ERROR SCAN.......................................................................................... 159

SPECIAL 19 - ENTER ERROR LIST ............................................................................... 160

SPECIAL 18 - AUTO HARD DISK BACKUP................................................................... 161

SPECIAL 17 - COPY HARD DISK SOFTWARE.............................................................. 161

REALTIME CONTROL MODULE...........................................................162

CONTROL 0 - Destination: OFF..................................................................................... 163

CONTROL 1 - Destination: PITCH.................................................................................. 163

CONTROL 2 - Destination: FILTER Fc........................................................................... 163

CONTROL 3 - Function: LEVEL..................................................................................... 164

CONTENTS

CONTROL 4 - Function: LFO to PITCH.......................................................................... 164

CONTROL 5 - Function: LFO to FILTER Fc................................................................... 165

CONTROL 6 - Function: LFO to LEVEL......................................................................... 165

CONTROL 7 - Function: ATTACK RATE ....................................................................... 166

FOOTSWITCH 0 - Function: OFF................................................................................... 166

FOOTSWITCH 1 - Function: SEQ CTRL ........................................................................ 166

FOOTSWITCH 2 - Function: SUSTAIN........................................................................... 166

FOOTSWITCH 3 - Function: RELEASE.......................................................................... 167

FOOTSWITCH 4 - Function: SUSTENUTO .................................................................... 167

FOOTSWITCH 5 - Function: ADVANCE PRESET.......................................................... 167

ENTER MODULE ...................................................................................168

ENTER DATA .................................................................................................................. 169

SEQUENCER MODULE.........................................................................170

BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................... 171

WORKING WITH A SEQUENCE.................................................................................................171

ACTIVATING AND DE-ACTIVATING THE MODULE..................................................................172

THE “CURRENT SEQUENCE” ....................................................................................................172

NOTES, PRESETS, TRACKS, and CHANNELS .........................................................................172

SETUP PROTOCOL ....................................................................................................................173

SEQUENCER EXT CLOCK ............................................................................................. 174

DEFINE 1 - Function: CREATE SEQUENCE.................................................................. 178

DEFINE 2 - Function: TIME SIGNATURE....................................................................... 179

DEFINE 3 - Function: SEQUENCE LENGTH.................................................................. 180

DEFINE 4 - SUPERMODE ............................................................................................... 181

SETUP 1 - Function: SELECT TRACK........................................................................... 183

SETUP 2 - Function: TEMPO.......................................................................................... 184

SETUP 3 - Function: AUTO CORRECT.......................................................................... 184

SETUP 4 - Function: CUE............................................................................................... 185

CONTENTS

SETUP 5 - Function: SMPTE START ............................................................................. 186

SETUP 6 - COUNTDOWN ............................................................................................... 186

RECORD, PLAY and STOP............................................................................................. 187

Record ..........................................................................................................................................187

Playback .......................................................................................................................................187

Stop ..............................................................................................................................................187

SELECT SEQUENCE ...................................................................................................... 188

EDIT 1 - ERASE TRACK ................................................................................................. 189

EDIT 2 – PUNCH-IN......................................................................................................... 190

EDIT 3 – BOUNCE TRACKS ........................................................................................... 191

EDIT 4 - STORE CONTROLS.......................................................................................... 192

EDIT 5 – REASSIGN PRESET......................................................................................... 193

EDIT 6 – APPEND SEQUENCE....................................................................................... 193

ADVANCED APPLICATIONS ................................................................194

THE ART OF SAMPLING ................................................................................................ 195

PART 1: TAKING THE BEST POSSIBLE SAMPLE........................................................ 196

GENERAL TIPS ...........................................................................................................................196

SAMPLING FROM TAPES ..........................................................................................................197

PART 2: MANIPULATING THE SAMPLE........................................................................ 198

TIPS ON MANIPULATING SYNTHESIZER SAMPLES...............................................................199

“SIGNAL PROCESSING” WITH THE EMULATOR II ..................................................................199

PART 3: EFFICIENTLY COMBINING SAMPLES INTO PRESETS ................................. 201

I. The Situation .............................................................................................................................201

II. Getting ready ............................................................................................................................201

III. Sampling the Voices................................................................................................................202

PART 4: CREATING MULTI-INSTRUMENT PRESETS .................................................. 204

MIDI SUPPLEMENT...............................................................................207

BASICS: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT MIDI ................................................... 208

What does the MIDI cable do?.....................................................................................................208

How can information control a synthesizer? ................................................................................208

How does MIDI differentiate between different MIDI instruments? ..............................................209

16 channels, huh? Sounds like a lot of patch cords to me!..........................................................209

What kind of words does the MIDI language include? .................................................................209

TYPICAL MIDI APPLICATIONS ...................................................................................... 210

CONTENTS

CREATING A “MIDI PRESET” WITH THE EMULATOR II .............................................. 211

FINDING OUT ABOUT OTHER SYNTHESIZER’S MIDI CAPABILITIES ........................ 212

DEALING WITH “MIDIOSYNCRACIES” ......................................................................... 213

SMPTE SUPPLEMENT ..........................................................................214

SMPTE OVERVIEW......................................................................................................... 215

SMPTE PROTOCOL........................................................................................................ 215

APPENDICES.........................................................................................217

APPENDIX A: GLOSSARY OF TERMS .......................................................................... 218

APPENDIX B: EMULATOR II FUNCTIONS, DEFAULT SETTINGS, and CONTROL

RANGES.......................................................................................................................... 220

APPENDIX C: EMULATOR II ERROR MESSAGES........................................................ 224

Emulator II Credits.......................................................................................................... 226

INTRODUCTION

WHAT’S AN EMULATOR II?

The Emulator II is a responsive, surprisingly easy-to-use musical instrument with staggering creative possibilities. It’s also a sound effects designer’s dream come true, a composer’s personal orchestra, a recording studio’s chance to have hundreds of acoustic and electronic instruments “on call” at any time, a university’s research tool...but most of all, it provides the means for some truly special musical experiences. To give you a better idea of its capabilities, here are just some of the Emulator II’s highlights.

* * * * *

Rather than synthesizing sounds, the Emulator II digitally records (“samples”) real-world sounds into its memory. If you want the Emulator II to sound like a piano, sample a piano; if you want it to sound like a barking dog, sample a dog.

These sounds may then be modified with the Emulator II’s analog synthesizer processors and/or state-of-the-art digital processors. The analog-type processors include:

 Lowpass voltage-controlled filter (VCF) with ADSR envelope generator  Voltage-controlled amplifier (VCA) with ADSR envelope generator  LFO with adjustable rate, delay, and speed variation  Two programmable modulation wheels for real-time control over pitch, filter cutoff, ADSR

attack rate, level, LFO modulation, etc.

 Two programmable footswitches for real-time control over sustain, release, sustenuto,

“patch” change, and Sequencer

 Velocity-sensitive keyboard, where keyboard dynamics can control any or all of the

following: VCA level, VCA attack, VCF cutoff, VCF attack, and VCF Q.

The keyboard can play up to eight notes simultaneously. Like standard analog synthesizers, there is a complete set of modifiers for each note; so, when we refer to the “filter” or we are really talking about eight filters and VCA’s.

Digital processing techniques include:

 Truncation (shortening the beginning and/or end of the sample)  Looping the sample (or any portion thereof)  Digitally combining (mixing) two samples  Sound reversal (“backwards tape” effects)  Splicing two samples together (imagine a soprano voice changing into a guitar note...)  Advanced split capabilities -- assign a different sample to each note of the keyboard, or

split in more conventional ways (i.e. cellos in lower octaves, violins in upper octaves).

 Easy doubling, plus velocity-controlled crossfading and switching between doubled

samples

 Individual tuning and attenuation for each sample  Ultra-flexible, programmable arpeggiation  Eight channel sequencer with (among other features) auto correct, track bounce, cuing,

punch-in/punch out, and the ability to drive eight MIDI instruments. It also responds to dynamics and remembers modulation wheel settings.

INTRODUCTION

Sounds are stored on commonly available double-sided, double-density (DS/DD) 5.25” floppy disks (as used with many personal computers). Thanks to sophisticated disk management techniques, it’s easy to save, organize, retrieve, rename, and catalog various sounds. In fact, if the Emulator II was just a computer it would be pretty impressive: There’s almost four times more RAM (memory) than a basic IBM PC, and the two disk drives store as much data as fourteen Commodore-64s!

For outside-world interfacing, the built-in eight-track sequencer (and the arpeggiator) can sync up to a 24, 48, or 96 pulses-per-quarter note click track, SMPTE time code, or MIDI; there’s also a complete complement of MIDI functions, as well as an RS-422 port for control via external computer.

Despite all this flexibility the Emulator II is nonetheless not that hard to learn...as you will see during the course of this manual.

WELCOME TO THE EII+ and EII+HD

If you have purchase the enhanced version of the Emulator II, it has all the features of the original with new expanded capabilities as well. Throughout this manual, you’ll find references to the Emulator II. Just ignore the name difference. All instructions for the operation of the Emulator II are compatible with those for the Emulator II+ and Emulator II+HD, except for the Double Memory and Hard Disk sections described later in this manual. Please refer to specific sections for the instructions on procedures that you are not familiar with.

If you have just purchased an Emulator II+ or Emulator II+HD, please refer to the Double Memory Section in this manual for operating instructions.

If you have just purchased an Emulator II+HD please refer to the Hard Disk Supplement in this manual for operating instructions and other pertinent advice.

MANUAL RESTORATION NOTES

This manual is a collation of all the known User Instructions for the EII, EII+ and EII+HD. It includes information on all operating systems release up until the final OS 3.1 and OS 3.1 HD versions of late 1987. It is based around the Owners Manual for OS 2.3 - the last full manual released by E-mu Systems in 1985. All original errors have been corrected, except for the sampling rate, which is incorrectly stated as 27,500 Hz rather than the actual sample rate of 27,777Hz.

The manual was restored in June 2002 by the Emulator Archive - www.emulatorarchive.com We have tried to keep as much of the original style as possible, but we have made it easier to use and included all the supplements as sections. This manual is not for resale or reproduction and it is FREE.

Rob Keeble Sussex, UK June 2002

Thanks to Craig Anderton for writing a great manual. Thanks to E-mu Systems for the best sampler in the universe.

INTRODUCTION

SEND IN YOUR WARRANTY CARD NOW!

It is vital that you send in your warranty card so that we can notify you of enhancements, new features, and (nobody’s perfect) software bugs & cures. Sending in the warranty card also entitles you to a free one-year subscription to “The Emu-Letter”, a bi-monthly company bulletin carried in Electronic Musician (formerly Polyphony) magazine. You also become a part of the Emulator II Users Group, your passport to the near- legendary annual parties where (among other things) Emulator II owners swap disks, gossip, and tips.

But none of these wonderful things will happen to you unless you send in your warranty card. Don’t miss out: Send it in now!

INTRODUCTION

INSTANT GRATIFICATION!

If you just can’t wait another second before hearing the Emulator II, we understand. Follow the directions below EXACTLY as given and get ready to hear some great sounds. (Incidentally, in case you make a mistake or run into problems, don’t worry. This process is described in greater detail in Guided Tour #1.)

1. Making sure that the Emulator II is unplugged; patch the rear panel MIX OUT jack to the input of a high quality amplification system.

2. Turn the front panel MIX OUT volume control (located near the Emulator II logo) fully counter-clockwise.

3. Check that the rear panel voltage selector is set for the correct voltage in your part of the world.

4. Plug the Emulator II line cord into an AC outlet.

5. If you are not familiar with how to handle computer disks, you will have to delay your Instant Gratification somewhat. Please turn to the GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS section and read the part labeled GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS 5 on proper disk handling. If you know how to treat disks with the proper loving care, then proceed.

6. Check that there are no disks currently in the disk drive(s). If there are, or if the disk drives contain cardboard packing materials, turn the drive latches to their counter-clockwise positions (see Fig. GENINS-3 in the GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS section), remove the disks or packing materials, and put them in a safe place.

7. Turn on power. All LED’s will flash for a moment, except for the disk drive LED’s which will continue to flash. The display will say Insert Diskette.

8. Select one of the factory disks supplied with the Emulator II, and insert it label side ~ with the label going in last into the top disk drive (or the only disk drive with a single-drive Emulator). Fig. GENINS-4 in the GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS section shows how to insert a disk. When the disk is seated in the drive, turn the disk drive latch clockwise until it is pointing straight down. The drive LED will turn on steadily, and the display will start communicating with you.

9. When the drive LED turns off, turn up the MIX OUT control and start playing the keyboard. All right!! The display will show you the number (P followed by two digits) and name of the sound you are playing. These sounds are called Presets, for reasons that will become clear later.

10. Use the calculator-type keypad underneath the display to call up different Presets. Press a two-digit number; start with 01 and play the keyboard for a while, then press 02 and play, 03, 04, etc. At some point you will run out of factory Presets, and the display will say NOT FOUND.

If you want, vary the modulation wheels towards the left hand side of the keyboard. They perform different functions with different Presets.

INTRODUCTION

11. To try out Presets from other factory disks, open the latch, remove the existing disk, and insert another factory disk. Close the latch. Now, find the portion of the front panel labeled “DISK” (towards the lower-right hand corner). Press its switch, and its LED will light up. Now press 1 on the keypad. The disk drive will start making noises, and you will be on your way to loading another bunch of sounds into the Emulator II. When the drive LED goes out, press the DISK switch once more, then start playing the keyboard and selecting more Presets.

* * * * *

By now you should be pretty impressed, but there’s much more to come...so keep reading, and you’ll find out all about it.

INTRODUCTION

HOW TO USE THIS MANUAL

The Emulator II is not an instrument that can be mastered in a few days. Therefore, this manual is organized so that you can take “guided tours” of different sections of the Emulator II and learn at your own pace.

The manual comprises five major parts:

1. Definitions This section explains how the Emulator II organizes sounds. It’s not exactly

easy reading, but pay close attention - it lays vital groundwork for the rest of the manual.

2. Guided Tours This part describes several “guided tours” you can take through the

Emulator manual’s Reference Section to help learn the instrument’s operation. Each tour gives any necessary background information, and then directs you to particular parts of the Reference Section where concepts are further developed. By following these tours in the order presented, subjects are introduced logically and build on previously introduced material.

3. Reference Section This is the heart of the manual, and describes every function

available on the Emulator II.

4. Advanced Applications (the Art of Sampling, MIDI and SMPTE supplements)

This includes information on how to get the most out of the Emulator II.

5. Appendix If you’re not sure what a VCF is, or what Q really means, relax...the answers

are here. Whenever you see a technical word or abbreviation that you don’t know, check this section for the definition.

Caution: Much of the manual presents material as a series of steps. Always read to the end of each numbered step before pushing any buttons! Sometimes a step presents several alternatives, and tells you which one to choose at the end.

INTRODUCTION

DEFINITIONS: HOW THE EMULATOR II ORGANIZES SOUND

Forget everything you’ve ever learned about voices, presets, and channels: The Emulator II does things differently from traditional keyboard instruments.

Sampling Basics

The Emulator II is conceptually like a tape recorder in that it records sound. However, the recording process is very different since the Emulator II is recording into computer memory.

Computers can accept information only in the form of numbers, so the Emulator converts audio signals into numbers. It does this by examining (sampling) the incoming signal level 27,500 times a second, and sequentially recording these different levels in computer memory. Figure 1 shows a one-second percussive sound being sampled. The magnified view shows how the samples define the instantaneous level of the signal. Once stored in the Emulator II’s memory bank, these samples may be played back (in the proper sequence, of course) to reconstruct the original signal. If a two second sound was being sampled, it would require 2x 27,500 or 55,000 samples. Shorter sounds require fewer samples.

Figure 1

Just like tape, a sound can be manipulated once it has been recorded. Playing back, the samples in the reverse order from which they were stored plays the sound backwards. Playing back the samples at a faster rate than the rate at which they were stored raises pitch; playing back at a slower rate lowers pitch (like a tape recorder’s variable speed control).

INTRODUCTION

The Emulator II “Map”

Sure, you’re anxious to start coaxing wonderful sounds from the instrument -- but like ground school for pilots, the following is a necessary part of learning how to play the Emulator II. It is important to understand how the Emulator II organizes sounds in order to make best use of the instrument in the shortest possible time. Also, many terms will be introduced now that will show up later in the manual.

You can think of the Emulator II as resembling a collection of modules, linked by various pathways (see the Map in Figure 2). These paths indicate how information flows within the Emulator II; let’s take a closer look at what makes up this information, and how it is transferred from one section of the instrument to another.

INTRODUCTION

The Bank

The Bank contains all of the Emulator II’s memory (where, among other things, the sounds are recorded), plus a high-performance Central Computer. The Bank is the central storehouse for all of the Emulator II’s data. Although the memory is volatile, meaning that the data disappears when you turn off power, the Bank data can be saved permanently on disk to keep a record of your work. (This process is somewhat like saving the data in a regular polyphonic synthesizer to cassette, but using disks results in far more efficient operation.)

Also note that because the memory is volatile, when you first turn on the Emulator II there’s nothing in the Bank. Before you can make any sounds, data must be loaded into the Bank from disk or by sampling sounds.

Since we now have a place to store information temporarily (the Bank), and a way to store information permanently (saving to disk), let’s take a look at the different kinds of information being stored.

The Voice

Sampling a sound using the instrument’s “Recording Studio” capabilities (upper left-hand block) creates what the Emulator II calls a Voice, the “raw material” with which the instrument works. (Voices can also be loaded in the Bank from disks, as described later.) This Voice could be a sampled drum sound, violin note, jet plane, zither, oboe, steam press, or whatever. And if having the entire world, as a potential sound source isn’t enough for you, the Emulator II can also process Voices in a wide variety of ways (as we’ll discuss in “Voice Processing”).

The Bank can store up to 99 Voices, each with its own two-digit Voice number and name (i.e. V21 Grand Piano). The total available sampling time is 17.6 seconds (484,000 samples); the Bank Voices can divide up the 17.6 seconds any way you like (i.e. ten 1.76 second samples, eighty-eight 200 millisecond samples, one 17.6 second sample, etc.).

A Voice can be assigned to a single note on the keyboard, but may be transposed polyphonically to cover up to a two-octave range. The process of assigning, and optionally transposing, Voices to specific ranges of the keyboard is called making a Preset. Note: It is often necessary to use multiple Voices to make up a Preset, since wide-range transposition alters the Voice’s timbre. Therefore, using multiple samples and transposing each over a small range usually gives the most realistic sound.

The Preset

Making a Preset is a three-step process:

1. Give the Preset a number (i.e. P03) and name. The Bank can hold up to 99 Presets.

2. Assign the desired Bank Voices to different ranges of the keyboard (for example, with

five Voices you could assign each Voice to cover one octave of the keyboard.) This is represented in Figure 2 by the path connecting the Voice Locations to the Preset Creation/Voice Assignment Area. Note that the same Voice can be assigned to more than one range of the keyboard in a given Preset, and also, Voices can be combined in more than one way to make more than one Preset.

INTRODUCTION

3. Choose from a number of options that further define the Preset, such as assigning

Voices to partially or fully overlap other Voices (thus producing doubling effects), assigning dynamic control to individual Voices in a Preset, erasing Presets you don’t like, cataloguing Presets, cataloguing the Bank Voices to see what’s available for making up a Preset, adding arpeggiation, setting up MIDI parameters, etc.

Note that a Preset does not store the actual sounds that make up the Voices in the Preset; rather, it stores data about the Voices (which ones to use, where they are assigned on the keyboard, whether they should respond to keyboard dynamics, and the like). Because of this, Presets do not take up as much Bank memory as Voices since data takes up less memory space than sounds. (For an analogy, think of the cassette interface in a digital drum machine. In just a few seconds, the cassette can record all of the patch data for the entire machine; it would take far longer to record the actual sounds of all the drum machine patterns and sequences.)

OK...that’s the story on creating Voices and assigned them to the keyboard to make up a Preset or Presets. Now let’s take a look at processing Voices.

Voice Processing

Once a Voice is loaded in the Bank and assigned to a Preset, it can be sent to the Analog and Digital Processing modules. However, since (as mentioned earlier) a Preset typically contains several Voices, we need to specify which Voice, or Voices, we want to process. This is called selecting the Current Voice, another three-step process:

1. Call up a Preset that contains the Voice(s) to be processed.

2. Choose the Voice to be processed, or select several Voices and group them together so

that they are all processed simultaneously (this group of Voices is still referred to as the “Current Voice”).

3. Send the Current Voice through the Analog and Digital Processing modules, whereupon

they return back to the Bank in their modified form. All Presets containing these Voices will reflect the changes caused by processing.

The Current Preset

As you found out in the “Instant Gratification” section, as soon as a Performance disk is loaded a Preset will be ready to go. This is the Current Preset. If you select another Preset, or create a Preset, this becomes the Current Preset.

When you sample a sound to create a Voice, the Voice is automatically assigned to the two lowest octaves (unless you specify otherwise) of the Current Preset. If the Bank was not empty and you had a Preset selected, the sample will replace whatever sample was already in the lowest two octaves of this Current Preset. (However, you do not over-write the Voice itself, which stays safely tucked away in the Bank; you are simply over-writing the Voice assignment in that particular Preset.)

If the Bank was empty prior to sampling (it’s generally best to clear the memory before sampling; among other advantages, this allows for the maximum possible sampling time), the Bank will automatically create a “NULL PRESET” into which it will assign the Voices that you sample. Each successive Voice you sample will be assigned to the lowest two octaves of the

INTRODUCTION

keyboard (unless you specify otherwise), and over-write the previous Voice assignment (although as mentioned in the end of the last paragraph, the sampled Voices themselves remain in memory).

The Disk Archives

So far, we’ve loaded a bunch of Voices into the Bank, created some Presets containing those Voices, and done some Voice processing. However, remember that the Bank only retains this information for as long as the Emulator II is plugged in and turned on. Of course, we don’t expect you to leave the thing on all the time, which brings us to the subject of saving data on disks.

There are two types of Emulator II disks, Performance disks and Library disks.

Commanding the Central Computer to “Save Bank” causes it to shuttle all the Bank data (Voices, Presets, and Sequencer Sequences) on to a Performance disk. This disk permanently stores data so that even after turning off the Emulator II. The disk will contain a record of your work.

IF YOU DO NOT SAVE A BANK TO DISK, ALL BANK DATA WILL BE LOST WHEN YOU TURN OFF THE EMULATOR II. Do not wait until the end of a session to save -- save your work

periodically in case of power failure or some other unforeseen circumstance which might erase the Bank’s memory.

Since the Performance disk contains a record of the Bank data, loading the disk back into the Bank transfers all the Voice, Preset, and Sequencer data into the Bank (this will replace the existing Bank data, if any). Therefore, you can work a Bank of sounds out at leisure, and save the results of your work on disk; when you go to a gig, simply take the Performance disk with you and load all your hard work from disk into the Emulator II in a few seconds.

Library disks record and play back Voices only (unprocessed or processed), and contain no Preset information. They are useful when building up a library of raw sounds. For example, you might want to sample an instrument, but are unclear about what kind of Presets you want to make up from these sampled Voices. Simply save the individual Voices to the Library disk, and then load them into the Bank at a later date when you want to create some Presets. And, if while creating the Preset you process the Voices too heavily and wish that you had the originals back, no problem...they are still preserved on the Library disk.

Think of the Performance disk as something you take with you on gigs, and of the Library disk as a means of storing a collection of raw sounds which can be used later on to make up Performance disks. Note: With either disk type, if you pull a Voice or Preset from a disk, alter it, and then save it to that same disk without changing its identifying number, the disk will erase the original version and replace it with the processed version.

Incidentally, the process of having new data erase and replace old data is called over-writing.

INTRODUCTION

The Keyboard

Note the two paths coming from the keyboard in Figure 2; the LFO, VCA, VCF, and ADSR Analog Signal Processors are tied to keyboard dynamics (for example, playing harder can alter the loudness, attack time, filter cutoff, etc.), as are some Preset assignment characteristics (i.e. playing louder assigns a different Voice to a particular key).

The Output Channels

The Central Computer assigns keyboard keys to the output channels. When you play a key, that key’s sound is assigned to Output Channel 1. If you hold this key and play another key, the new key’s sound will be assigned to Output Channel 2. The Emulator II includes eight channels, so you can play up to eight sounds simultaneously. Each channel has its own output jack, and there is also a master output jack, which mixes the eight channels together. Individual Voices can also be restricted to particular channels, which will be covered in detail later when we discuss the Emulator II’s sequencer.

Re-cap

One more time: A Voice is a sampled sound. It is temporarily stored in the Emulator II’s Bank and may be permanently stored on a Library disk. While a sampled Voice must be assigned to a Preset prior to processing, a sampled Voice may nonetheless be processed immediately after sampling since the Emulator automatically assigns the sampled Voice to a Preset it creates, called the Null Preset.

To create a new Preset, make sure you have all the Voices required for the Preset in the Bank, number and name a Preset, then assign combinations of Voices from the Bank to specific sections of the keyboard. By specifying one or more of these Voices as the Current Voice, the Current Voice may then be processed by the Emulator II’s analog and digital signal processors.

Since loading in a Performance disk fills the Bank with Voices and Presets, you can group these Voices into new Presets, process the Voices, or alter the existing Presets.

Always Remember to Save Your Work Once a Bank contains the desired Presets and Voices, it must be saved to a Performance disk.

Specific Voices can be saved to a Performance disk as part of a Bank, or saved individually to a Library disk.

INTRODUCTION

OTHER DEFINITIONS

Booting the Emulator II is not a repair technique; rather, it is a computer term that means

“putting a disk in the disk drive after you first turn it on, and having the computer read software necessary for its operation from that disk”. (It’s easy to see why this was shortened to “booting”.) To boot, insert a Performance or Library disk in the drive before, or just after, you turn on the Emulator II. Closing the disk drive latch tells the Emulator to start reading the software. Once booted, the instrument is ready to go. (Note: Booting from a Performance disk takes longer than booting from a Library disk since after booting, the Emulator II loads the Performance disk Bank data.)

A Default setting is what we’ve judged to be a useful initial setting, and remains in effect until you change it. For example, the mic preamp in the sampling section defaults to zero gain when you first turn on the Emulator II. Had it defaulted to the maximum gain position, this might have blasted your ears off if you accidentally put in a line level signal, so we figured zero gain was better.

The display’s cursor, a small line, will flash when it wants data from you about the number or letter under which it is located. Entering a new value over-write the old one, whereupon the cursor moves on to the next number or letter (if applicable).

Note: If the Emulator II is expecting a two or three-digit number, you must enter all the required digits even if some of these are zeroes (called “leading zeroes”). For example, if the Emulator II is expecting a three-digit number and you want to enter 8, you would enter 008. If it were expecting a single-digit number, entering 8 would be sufficient.

Saving is the important process of saving your work to disk. Despite what computer manufacturers would like you to believe, computers are not infallible and besides, the world sometimes plays cruel tricks (like a power surge in the middle of a sampling session). To help defy Murphy’s Law (“if anything can go wrong, it will”), whenever you have done enough work on a Voice or Bank that you would hate to lose it, save it on at least one disk. Should you improve the Voice or Bank later, you can always replace the original with the revised version -and if something goes wrong, the original will still be available to save you the hassle of starting from scratch.

THE GUIDED TOURS

HOW TO USE THE GUIDED TOURS

Occasionally during a tour you will be told to refer to something like PRESET DEFINITION 11, DISK 8, SAMPLE 2, or some other name. This means that you will find more information in the specified section of the manual’s Reference Section. For example, PRESET DEFINITION 11 indicates that the information is in the Preset Definition chapter under section 11; DISK 2 indicates that the information is in the Disk chapter under section 2. Note that these chapters are arranged in the same order as you encounter the Emulator II front panel “modules” if you move from left to right along the top row of modules, then move from right to left along the lower row of modules.

Figures are referred to by a shorthand name for the chapter and a number. For example, Fig.

GENINS-3 would be the third figure in the GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS chapter.

GETTING READY FOR THE GUIDED TOURS

Have you sent in your warranty card yet? Listen, we’re not kidding! Send it in!!

Okay. Now you can proceed.

1. Set up the Emulator II as described earlier under Instant Gratification. After completing

step 6, return to this section.

Remember - at this point playing the keyboard will not produce sound. In order to hear

anything, you must “load” a sound into the Emulator II from disk (which we’ll describe shortly).

2. Make sure you have about a half-dozen 5.25” blank disks (double-sided/double-density,

48 TPI) on hand, plus a paper and pencil for taking notes.

THE GUIDED TOURS

GUIDED TOUR #1: MEET THE EMULATOR

This tour covers how to:

 Care for diskettes  Load a Bank from a Performance disk when first turning on power  Select different Presets from the Bank  Load additional Performance disks  Tune the Emulator II to other instruments  Transpose the keyboard

...and also discusses the Emulator II’s “modular” design philosophy.

DISK HANDLING

Disks are delicate and store valuable data. Before proceeding, carefully read GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS 5 (“Disk Handling”) for important information on how to care for your disks.

LOADING A PERFORMANCE DISK

1. Turn on the Emulator II, then insert the Grand Piano disk in Drive 1 according to the

instructions given in the next to last section of GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS 5 (“Disk Handling”).

2. After about 20 seconds of loading time, the display will show the Current Preset number

and name (the cursor will flash underneath the first digit). Start playing the keyboard and turn up the MIX OUT control for a comfortable listening level.

SELECTING DIFFERENT PRESETS

1. The Bank you just loaded contains several Presets. To call up a new Current Preset, use

the keypad underneath the display. Note that “leading zeroes” must be entered for Preset numbers (i.e. type 0 and 2, not just 2, to call up Preset 02). Now type 0 then 2 on the keypad; these will replace the numbers indicated by the flashing cursor.

2. The display says P02 Piano #2. Play the keyboard...hey, it sounds just like a piano!

3. Now call up more Presets (refer to GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS 1, “Selecting the Current

Preset”), steps 1 and 2). If you make a mistake and enter a number for which there is no Preset, the display will list the entered Preset number and say NOT FOUND; try calling up the desired Preset again. To find out what Presets are available on the disk, refer to PRESET DEFINITION 19, “Catalog Presets”.

When you’re ready to check out some more sounds, proceed.

THE GUIDED TOURS

THE EMULATOR II’s “MODULAR” PHILOSOPHY

The Emulator II front panel is divided into modules. Each module will be discussed in detail later on; the following is intended mostly as background information. Each module affects a certain area of the Emulator II’s operation. Refer to the map (Fig. INTRO-2) to see how some of these modules fit into the Emulator II’s overall structure.

Master Control. This includes controls that affect the entire keyboard (such as Tune, Volume, and Transpose), a ten-digit calculator-like keypad with numbers printed above the keys, the display, and four sliders, which set variable parameters (described later). Note that keypad switch 7 doubles as a NO button and keypad switch 9 doubles as a YES button (sometimes the Emulator II will ask you yes-no questions, and this is how to communicate with it).

Sequencer. This module is an eight-track solid state recorder with sophisticated features such as SMPTE and MIDI control, punch-in and erase, track bounce, cue, and auto correct.

Filter. You can dynamically change the timbre of any Voice or group of Voices (in other words, the Current Voice) via lowpass filtering. The filter features variable cutoff, variable Q, variable envelope amount (normal or inverted), variable keyboard tracking, LFO modulation, and includes its own ADSR envelope generator.

VCA/LFO. You may change the attack/decay/sustain/release characteristics of the Current Voice by modulating the VCA with its associated ADSR envelope generator. This module also sets most LFO parameters.

Voice Definition. With this powerful module, you may edit a Voice’s length, loop (e.g. infinitely sustain) any portion of the Voice (with several different looping options), have the Emulator II automatically find the best loop points (“AutoLoop”), adjust the relative mix of various Voices, save Voices to disk, and perform other Voice-related operations. This module also sets independent keyboard touch sensitivity for each of several filter and VCA destinations (dynamics, cutoff frequency, Q, attack time) and programs the mix (audio balance) for each individual Voice in the Preset.

After modifying Voices, don’t forget chat the only way to keep these modifications is to save them to disk. Otherwise, any changes will be lost as soon as power to the Emulator II is interrupted.

Preset Definition Does all the “housekeeping” for the Emulator II: You may name Voices or Presets, erase them, copy them, assign Voices to different places on the keyboard, “catalog” the names of Voices and Presets stored in the Bank, etc. Other Preset Definition functions include MIDI and arpeggiator selection as well as three keyboard-related special effects (velocity switch, velocity crossfade, and positional crossfade).

Sample. This “recording studio” module records sounds from the outside world into the Bank. Features include adjustable preamp gain, variable threshold setting, and adjustable sample length.

Disk. The DISK module archival data traffic between the Emulator II and its disks. Sounds may be stored on disk, read back from disk, catalogued, and more.

THE GUIDED TOURS

Special. This module mostly contains test routines. However, because of its computer-based

nature, the Emulator II can be updated easily. This module will also access any new functions dreamed up by the wizards at E-mu. Calling up its Catalog will tell you what special functions are present.

Real-Time Control. This assigns different destinations (pitch, filter cutoff, VCA attack, etc.) to your choice of the two modulation wheels (located at the left of the keyboard), foot pedal, three MIDI control channels, and dual programmable footswitches.

Enter. Just as you can activate a module to tell the Emulator II something you want to do, the Emulator II can activate this module when it wants to signal ~ to do something. It communicates in one of two ways: by flashing the ENTER light, or turning it on steadily. The significance of the two states will be explained later.

ACTIVATING and DE-ACTIVATING MODULES, SELECTING FUNCTIONS

Here’s important background information on how to access the various module functions. In the next section of this tour, we’ll relate this information to a practical example.

Activating: Each module, except for Master Control and Sequencer, includes a switch and accompanying LED. Pushing this switch “activates” the module, as indicated by the LED lighting up. (Note: There must be a disk in the drive when you activate any module; the disk drive may run for a second or two before the module LED lights up.) The display’s top line will give a Module Identifier (such as “VCA/LFO”, “Disk”, “VoiceDef”, or the like), followed by the range of possible numbers you may enter to call up various module functions (see below).

Selecting functions: Each module includes a printed list of functions on the front panel; these functions are available when the module is active. Selecting a module function requires keying in its associated number with the keypad. We will shortly give an example of how this all works.

De-activating: When you’re finished with the module either press its button again to deactivate, or simply activate a new module.

Hint: Any time you make a mistake, get confused, or otherwise get “lost in the module” and need to bail out, simply de-activate the module. Then, re-activate and try again.

LOADING OTHER PERFORMANCE DISKS

So far, so good...now it’s time to move on from the piano. The following instructions are for a dual-drive Emulator II; see the end of this section for single-drive Emulator II instructions.

1. Select the Performance disk of your choice and insert it into the disk drive of your

choice.

2. If the Performance disk was inserted in Drive 1, refer to DISK 1. (“Get Bank Disk 1”). If

the Performance disk was inserted in Drive 2, refer to DISK 2 (“Get Bank Disk 2”) instead. After following the directions in the indicated section, return to this section.

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